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.

October 14, 1994

The Hockey News October 14, 1994

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011759/6728606-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow, center, is joined by Guy Carbonneau, left, and Ken Baumgartner at a Sept. 29 press conference in Toronto&rsquo;s SkyDome.</figcaption></div>On a day out-of-work NHL players gathered in Toronto, so did fog-filled clouds. They hung over the city, blotting out the heavens so much like failed collective bargaining talks obliterated the season&rsquo;s start.When the sun emerged late in the afternoon Oct. 1, only the skies were clearer. The future of relations between NHL management and labor remained cloudy.&ldquo;We have very wide differences,&rdquo; said NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Bob Goodenow.Whether they can be bridged will determine when and if there is NHL hockey this season. The best hockey league in the world was shut down for at least two weeks Sept. 30 when commissioner Gary Bettman turned down the players&rsquo; offer to play throughout negotiations in exchange for reinstated rollbacks and a no-lockout pledge.Bettman postponed the start of the 1994-95 regular season from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15 and said the existing schedule would be picked up then if a new deal is reached or substantial progress has been made.Seventy-five games were scheduled for the first two weeks of the season and, under Bettman&rsquo;s proposal, would be part of a reconfigured season that could stretch deep into June.He did not say when the league would begin cancelling games if the season doesn&rsquo;t get under way Oct. 15.Ownership said playing the season without an agreement would only defer settlement of an industry-wide predicament and, in Bettman&rsquo;s words,&rdquo;exacerbate the problem.&rdquo;He said the league has &ldquo;profound&rdquo; economic troubles, a contention that flies in the face of rising franchise values and expansion opportunities.Players, who have yet to receive paychecks this season, called the delay a lockout. Owners, who have superior leverage at this stage of the season, called it a postponement because games are supposed to be made up. Fans, who have paid for tickets, called it frustrating. Opening night was to feature 12 games, but Hockey Night in North America was dark.&ldquo;It tugs at everybody&rsquo;s heartstrings,&rdquo; said Ottawa Senators&rsquo; defenseman Brad Shaw.The first casualties of war-even if only temporarily-were the players and more than $3,000 in average player salary; the owners and about $3.6 million in projected average daily NHL revenue; and the faint hope hockey could avoid its second labor disruption in 30 months.&ldquo;We are looking for labor peace,&rdquo; said Boston Bruins&rsquo; owner Jeremy Jacobs,&rdquo;but we are fully prepared for the alternative.&rdquo;&ldquo;We&rsquo;re prepared to go a whole year without salaries,&rdquo; said forward Troy Loney of the New York Islanders. &ldquo;We have that resolve.&rdquo;A source said player representatives left the Oct. 1 meeting with union due refunds (lockout checks, if you will) in the amount of $3,000 to $6,000. Union dues are approximately $3,000 per season.Players were asked some time ago to submit estimates of monthly expenses to give the union a sense of where its membership stood financially. It&rsquo;s believed the union has a $40-million lockout fund. The NHLPA has discussed staging fund-raising/charity-event games that could potentially attract TV interest in Canada.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021199/6728599-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="380" height="504"></div>Underestimating the resolve of union members could be a mistake. Many players view strong support of the NHLPA as payback for inroads the union has made on their behalf. They believe, if not for a powerful NHLPA, salaries wouldn&rsquo;t have more than doubled to nearly $600,000 (U.S.) over the past four to five years.So, too, would it be wrong to think NHL management solidarity is fragile. Owners say they are fighting for their lives and have to make a stand. The expired CBA is so distasteful to them the owners aren&rsquo;t negotiating from it as much as they are from a new model more to their liking.There is a sense, too, owners view a hard line as payback for the player strike of two years ago. The players held the playoffs hostage in 1992 and now the owners are holding the whote season hostage.New talks were scheduled for Oct. 4, but many wondered how negotiations could accomplish in two weeks what eluded them in 16 months. Reality was, though, if the two sides met continuously over 12 days, they could approximate the amount of time spent together throughout fruitless previous rounds.The final days of pre-season skirmishes were eventful as both sides positioned themselves to curry public favor. No time was devoted to solving core issues that stand in the way of a new CBA.Foremost among them are an entry-level system of player compensation, salary arbitration and a revenue-sharing system that meets the needs of large-and small-revenue NHL teams and the players.A potential trade-off is for the NHL to give in on restructured arbitration in exchange for a system of entry-level salaries. But what would the union be gaining? It already has arbitration-or it did until Bettman unilaterally abolished it during the summer. (See page 8 for look at negotiation issues and comparative data from the National Basketball Association, National Football League and Major League Baseball.)The most challenging of all issues facing negotiators is a tax system. Players have expressed a willingness to partially atone for the sins of their free-spending employers. But they say they won&rsquo;t surrender hard-fought rights to prop up a false economy founded on the survival of weak links in what they believe is an otherwise strong chain of teams.Bettman said more than half of the league&rsquo;s 26 teams will lose money this season. Goodenow said all the objective information points to a healthy and strong league. The NHLPA has received substantial team revenue reports on teams, but doesn&rsquo;t have profit-and-loss statements.Both sides have proposed systems to redistribute income.The NHL plan calls for a payroll tax on teams that exceed a league-established deductible. The most-commonly heard deductible is $15 million (U.S.), which is about the projected league average payroll this season and $1 million more than that used in the league model. (See NHL chart on this page.)The NHL tax starts at five per cent and tops out at 125 per cent on surplus increments of $250,000: $12,500 on the first $250,000 (five per cent); $25,000 on the second (10 per cent); $37,500 on the third (15 per cent); and so on.The players have suggested a plan that taxes payrolls and gate receipts at 5.5 per cent. (See NHLPA chart on this page.) They say the owners&rsquo; system would drive payrolls down to team deductibles, depressing player salaries and limiting contributions to a proposed re-allocation pool. Owners say the NHLPA system would cost 22 of 26 teams more money than their own plan. Both would yield about $30 million.&ldquo;We asked them, &lsquo;Where&rsquo;s the problem, what are your concerns?&rsquo;&rdquo; said union vice-president Ken Baumgartner. &ldquo;(The NHL said) &lsquo;Oh we&rsquo;re concerned with the small-market teams, we need this pool of money through this transition time, to keep them healthy until they get their new arenas on line and other broadcasting opportunities.&rsquo;&ldquo;As things have gone along, it has become increasingly evident the pool of money is secondary compared to keeping salaries down and behavior modification of the higher-spending teams; they want to whack those teams. And what would happen to their pool is, at those levels of taxation, teams would move to the average to avoid the taxes, which would dry up any pool used to help out the small markets.&rdquo;League general counsel Jeff Pash said teams&rsquo; competitive instincts won&rsquo;t allow that to happen; some teams will still pay a premium for the privilege of signing big-ticket players. He also said liberalized free agency will create an upward pressure on salaries. The NHL says it has proposed a floating tax rate that would address that problem and guarantee players no less money than they receive now.&ldquo;We are not looking to bite into all the gains the players have made over the years,&rdquo; Jacobs said. &ldquo;Our future should be a collective bargaining agreement that makes sense to everybody.&rdquo;If an agreed-upon tax rate proves restrictive and teams don&rsquo;t spend enough money to create a meaningful re-allocation fund, the rate could be adjusted to encourage more spending. Further, the league says its system would have a transition clause that effectively sets different deductibles for different teams.As an example, let&rsquo;s say the league deductible was $15 million (U.S.). Teams with higher payrolls would be taxed on the overage. Deductibles, though, could be pegged to payroll figures as of July 1. Under that plan, a team whose total 1994-95 payroll is $20 million, but was only $18 million as of July 1. would have the latter as its deductible-and not $15 million. It would be taxed on $2 million-and not $5 million.The NHL has said it&rsquo;s looking for a pool of at least $30 million for its re-allocation fund. Several criteria would have to be met for low-revenue teams to receive subsidies. To be eligible, they would likely have to rank in the lower half of team revenues, spend a certain amount of revenues on salaries and have a team payroll at least 70-75 per cent of the&rsquo; league average.At the owners&rsquo; Sept. 30 news conference, Bettman would not commit to sharing of gate receipts-a sticking point for players-but said it could be considered as part of an overall plan.Bettman invited players to hold unsupervised team practices after Sept. 30, but they weren&rsquo;t expected to take him up on the offer while the lockout/postponement was in effect.Meanwhile, Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; defenseman Chris Chelios set a league record for impropriety and stupidity. He said,&rdquo;If I was Gary Bettman I&rsquo;d be worried about my family, I&rsquo;d be worried about my well-being now. Some crazed fans, or even a player-who knows?-they might take matters into their own hands and figure they get him out of the way and things might get settled.&rdquo;Chelios apologized, but his remarks stood out among many suddenly aimed at Bettman. Infuriated by the spate of verbal and written as-saults-Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; defenseman Matt Schneider had the message,&rdquo;Bettman Sucks,&rdquo; taped to his helmet-the commissioner said the insults demeaned the players and their sport.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s one person in hockey,&rdquo; added Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke,&rdquo;who doesn&rsquo;t think Chelios is an idiot for saying that-including the players.&rdquo;Even Wayne Gretzky took a shot-at Bettman, calling the commissioner a &ldquo;business manager&rdquo; for the owners. Gretzky joined eight other NHL-ers for a Sept. 29 news conference in Toronto where the union made its no-strike, no-lockout proposal.One day later, Bettman was flanked by representatives of 20 teams in New York where he rejected the offer. Unknown is how the owners would have reacted had the players said they would play under Aug. 1 rollback terms, which dramatically changed their working conditions.Bettman said he will reinstate benefits when a new CBA is reached, but it would be a shrewd move for him to act before then as a goodwill gesture.Some goodwill would go a long way in the current climate.&ldquo;Right now, there are huge differences and I just don&rsquo;t see hockey being played this year,&rdquo; Gretzky said.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011599/6728592-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="1511" height="1823"><figcaption class="caption-body">NHL commissioner Gary Bettman postponed 1994-95 season&rsquo;s start until Oct. 15.</figcaption></div><h2>THE PLAYERS&rsquo; SOLUTION</h2>Here&rsquo;s how the NHL Players&rsquo; Association-proposed 5.5 percent tax on team payrolls and gate receipts would work if applied in 1993-94. Sixteen teams would have paid into a re-allocation pool and 10 teams would have received subsidies under the plan to ensure their revenues equal at least 84 per cent of the league average. Listed are combined tax (in 1,000&rsquo;s of dollars), subsidy payments and revenues as a percentage of the league average. Totals aren&rsquo;t exact because of rounding.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021078/6728585-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="716" height="1056"></div><h2>THE OWNERS&rsquo; SOLUTION</h2>Here&rsquo;s how the NHL-proposed luxury tax on team payrolls would work if applied in 1993-94. Fifteen teams would have paid into a re-allocation pool. Subsidized teams aren&rsquo;t specified. Teams are taxed in rising increments of five per cent on each $250.000 above the $14-million (U.S.) deductible to a maximum of 125 per cent. Teams with payrolls below $14 million aren&rsquo;t taxed. Listed are team payrolls (in 1.000&rsquo;s of dollars), taxable amount and total tax. Totals aren&rsquo;t exact because of rounding.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03692/6728578-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="716" height="1056"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Is it the beginning or end?

The Hockey News intends to continue publishing throughout the NHL labor disruption. Our mandate is to cover the entire hockey world, not just the NHL.Depending upon the length of the lockout/postponement, we may be forced to re-evaluate our plans, but in the short term, we will keep you up to date on the NHL management-labor dispute and provide coverage of the more than 10 other leagues we follow closely for you.Entrants in our Supreme Pool are advised we will continue to accept selections until two days into the regular season, whenever that may be. If play begins Oct. 15 as hoped, entries post-marked as late as Oct. 17 will be accepted. For further details, see our notice on page 22.Meanwhile, we at The Hockey News are also changing the way we do business to get the news to you earlier than ever. As of next issue (Oct. 21 cover date), we begin closing weekly issues on Friday instead of Monday, as has been our practice. The change in publication days is in response to reader concerns and promises to facilitate faster delivery to your home and favorite newsstand.Ed Pearce,<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011483/6728375-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="309" height="119"></div>Publisher<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021223/6728368-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="1253" height="2730"><figcaption class="caption-body">Theoren Fleury was the pre-season&rsquo;s hottest scorer. Pages 5, 29 (PHOTO by Jim Leary/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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The Hockey News

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01449/6729785-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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CLASSIFIED

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div>He came to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the answer to the club&rsquo;s yawning void at center ice.But after three weeks, the Leafs decided Mats Sundin isn&rsquo;t a center after all&mdash;at least full-time.The talented Swede will see action all over the place for the Leafs this season, but his initial assignment will be as a left winger.&ldquo;It really doesn&rsquo;t matter to me,&rdquo; shrugged Sundin.&ldquo;He can play any position,&rdquo; said head coach Pat Bums. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to just bolt him in one place. I&rsquo;m going to use him everywhere.&rdquo;During camp Sundin played center and on both wings.In the final pre-season game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Sundin play left wing alongside center Mike Ridley and right winger Mike Gartner and finally began to find his stride. When the Leafs headed for a three-day training retreat, Sundin spent all his time working with Ridley and Gartner.Sundin played on Joe Sakic&rsquo;s left side at times for the Quebec Nordiques and also played the wing for Sweden at various world hockey events.GOING DOWN: The Leafs sent five rookies to the minors in the 48 hours before the NHL lockout began.Todd Warriner, Matt Martin, Darby Hendrickson, Eric Lacroix and Kenny Jonsson were assigned to the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs of the American League.Under the terms of his three-year, $2.8-million deal, Jonsson was supposed to receive his $500,000 salary unless he was sent back to Sweden. But with the season postponed, the Leafs worked out a side deal that would pay Jonsson a better-than-average minor-league salary, but not his full NHL wage.NOTEBOOK: The Leafs sent center David Sacco to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Oct. 28 in exchange for Terry Yake. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited as heck because they&rsquo;re building a great team,&rdquo; Yake said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m tickled pink to be part of it.&rdquo;Stew Gavin&rsquo;s comeback bid was derailed by a back injury, but the 34-year-old has no regrets. &ldquo;It was like a fantasy,&rdquo; Gavin said. &ldquo;I got to put the jersey on again, I scored a goal and heard them chant my name again.&rdquo; That goal against the Montreal Canadiens and the familiar accompanying chants of &ldquo;Stewww&rdquo; were the best moments he could muster. Gavin, who scouted last season for the Dallas Stars, may play with the Baby Leafs or try to hook up with another team later in the 1994-95 season.Four Leaf home starts were postponed because of labor problems, including the much-anticipated Oct. 13 home date against Quebec. That game was supposed to feature the homecoming of Wendel Clark. A concussion Clark sustained in the pre-season, however, might have kept the former Leaf captain out of the game anyway&hellip;The Leafs were 3-0-1 in four pre-season overtime games.Damien Cox is a hockey writer for The Toronto Star.<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 28: David Sacco. C, traded to Anaheim for Terry Yake. RW. Oct. 29: Matt Martin, D. Darby Hendrickson. LW. and Todd Warriner, LW. assigned to St. John&rsquo;s (AHL). Oct 30: Kenny Jonsson. D. and Eric Lacroix, LW. assigned to St. John&rsquo;s.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Doug Gilmour. Mike Ridley, Mike Eastwood.RW&mdash;Nikolai Borschevsky. Mike Gartner. Mike Craig. Terry Yake.LW&mdash;Dave Andreychuk, Mats Sundin. Bill Berg. Ken Baumgartner.RD&mdash;Dmrtri Mironov, Garth Butcher, Drake BerehowskyLD&mdash;Dave Ellett, Jamie Macoun, Todd Gill.G&mdash;Felix Potvin. Damian Rhodes. Pat Jablonski.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kent Manderville, LW. broken left wrist, indefinite. &#9632;

Sundin enters, stage left

&ldquo;I could&rsquo;ve invested better by throning a dart at the New York Stock Exchange.&rdquo;&ndash;Devils&rsquo; owner John McMullen says he hasn&rsquo;t made any profit from his team since buying it 13 years ago. Page 12.&ldquo;The (owners) turned the system into a monster and they want us to slay it.&rdquo;&ndash;Islanders&rsquo; forward Steve Thomas on the labor dispute. Page 14.&ldquo;If you&rsquo; re a rookie, this was the wrong year to make it&rdquo;&ndash;Flyers&rsquo; freshman Chris Therien. Page 12. &#9632;

QUOTABLE

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>The NHL&rsquo;s decision to lockout the players and postpone the season could have an adverse effect on its relationship with the NHL Officials&rsquo; Association. The league and NHLOA agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement last season, but it has yet to be ratified. One clause in the contract, subtitled Force Majeure, states officials will be paid 45 days from either Sept. 30 or the date of a players&rsquo; strike, whichever is later. Since the players are not on strike, officials feel they should be paid status quo, no matter how long the postponement lasts. Some are concerned, however, the league might arbitrarily change the wording of the contract to get out of having to pay them. &ldquo;We agreed in principal on the contract,&rdquo; said NHLOA president Terry Gregson. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t see the league coming up with a new term to replace the word &lsquo;strike&rsquo; from out of left field. Force Majeure means out of their control. A lockout is not out of their control.&rdquo;&hellip;St. Louis Blues&rsquo; goalie Curtis Joseph and other players have said they would consider playing in the International League. Europeans could play in one of the top leagues overseas. It&rsquo;s possible, but not likely for high-priced players who would be gambling against injury. In the short term, the league would argue its players are under contract and not eligible to play elsewhere. The courts would likely uphold that contention unless the dispute drags on and players are being kept from earning a living for a lengthy period of time&hellip;A shortened season would make it a challenge for Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; veteran right winger (and NHL Players&rsquo; Association president) Mike Gartner to extend his NHL-record streak of 15 consecutive 30-goal seasons&hellip;Bryan Murray has his work cut out for him as general manager of the Florida Panthers. The Panthers were 1-8-0 in pre-season games. They scored just 16 goals, allowed 36 and managed just 13 shots on goal in their only home appearance&hellip;Chris Kontos has no regrets about turning his back on a contract offer from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kontos is playing Swedish First Division hockey for Skelleftea this season. The 30-year-old hasn&rsquo;t shut the door on a return to the NHL, but knows his chances of getting back are slim. He had his best season with the expansion Lightning in 1992-93. Tampa Bay offered $225,000 to return, but Kontos wanted at least $325,000, so he bolted the Bolts and played for Canada at the 1994 Winter Olympics. There were no firm offers from NHL teams this past off-season. Kontos won&rsquo;t say how much he is earning this season. The center-left winger has 54 goals and 123 points in 230 NHL games. His claim to fame was scoring nine goals in 11 playoff games for the Los Angeles Kings in 1989. &ldquo;NHL teams know what I can do,&rdquo; Kontos said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of one team deciding I can fill a need for them.&rdquo;&hellip;NHL general counsel Jeff Pash, a key player in collective bargaining negotiations, was ranked among the top five college debaters in the U.S. while attending law school at Harvard University&hellip;Players be warned: have so much as the toe of your skate in the crease when your team scores and the goal will be waved off in the NHL this season-even if they aren&rsquo;t interfering. That&rsquo;s the instruction from the league to its officials. &ldquo;No harm, no foul doesn&rsquo;t matter,&rdquo; said Terry Gregson. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s no goal.&rdquo; Officials have also been instructed to be more vigilant identifying and ejecting instigators of fights&hellip;It&rsquo;s immaterial to the current dispute, but players are nonetheless suspicious of commissioner Gary Bettman&rsquo;s hockey knowledge. He has been accused of not recognizing some of the game&rsquo;s top players. St. Louis Blues&rsquo; left winger Brendan Shanahan says Bettman was coached by NHL vice-president Brian Burke during an Aug. 18 player-owner meeting in Toronto. &ldquo;As each player spoke up,&rdquo; Shanahan said,&rdquo;Brian Burke would lean over and whisper that player&rsquo;s name in Mr. Bettman&rsquo;s ear. It was pretty evident. From where we were sitting, we could even hear the name being said-that along with the team that he plays for.&rdquo; Some players told the league they appreciated Bettman&rsquo;s efforts to learn their names&hellip;Don Biggs doesn&rsquo;t lay awake at night worrying about making it back to the NHL. Biggs, 29, is part of a new breed of players signing lucrative, long-term minor-league contracts. He has a new four-year deal with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the IHL. The feisty little center has been exceptional at the minor league level. He led the American League in scoring two years ago and was among Cincinnati&rsquo;s top point-getters (30-59-89 in 80 games) last season. Biggs will earn $93,500 this season and a total of $468,500 over the next four seasons. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think about playing in the NHL now,&rdquo; Biggs said. &ldquo;If I played in the NHL now I&rsquo;d just get spot duty; probably on the fourth line. In the IHL, I get a chance to play a regular shift, kill penalties and play the power play.&rdquo; Biggs has two goals in 12 career NHL games, all with the Philadelphia Flyers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021453/6728461-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="368" height="368"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011656/6728454-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="1515" height="2855"><figcaption class="caption-body">Whatever happened to Chris Kontos? He&rsquo;s scoring goals for Skelleftea in Sweden. (Photo by Tim Parkor)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Officials fear for their pay

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div>A big heart inside a little body is the best description for Theoren Fleury.Now the Calgary Flames&rsquo; right winger can boast a Little Hart for what could be the shortest NHL season ever.The Hockey News declared Fleury winner of the Little Hart Trophy, given to the most valuable player of the pre-season. He led the league with seven goals and 13 points in six games.With NHL commissioner Gary Bettman postponing the Oct. 1 start of the regular season, a greater emphasis has been put on pre-season scoring statistics-tongue in cheek, mind you.Capturing the Little President&rsquo;s Trophy for the best pre-season winning percentage was the Hartford Whalers, who had a 5-1-1 record.Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Alexander Selivanov won the Little Calder Trophy as rookie of the preseason. He had six goals and eight points in seven games.Selivanov&rsquo;s teammate Daren Puppa captured the Little Vezina Trophy for compiling a 1.70 goals-against average in six games.For full pre-season statistics, see page 29. Other notable statistical achievements during the pre-season include:&#9633; Bella Enrico. Tampa Bay defenseman Enrico Ciccone was the bad boy of the pre-season with 74 penalty minutes, followed by Calgary&rsquo;s Sandy McCarthy (72), Dallas Star Shane Churla (65) and Edmonton Oiler Shayne Corson (63).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011584/6728492-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="582" height="764"><figcaption class="caption-body">Daren Puppa was the league&rsquo;s best goalie in the pre-season.</figcaption></div>&#9633; Big numbers. Edmonton hopeful Marc Laforge hasn&rsquo;t done anything out of the ordinary during the pre-season. He had no points and 59 penalty minutes in six games. In 336 pro games since 1988, Laforge has six goals and 1,615 penalty minutes.&#9633; Rookie crop. Seven rookies led their teams in pre-season scoring, including Mighty Ducks of Anaheim&rsquo;s Paul Kariya, Florida Panther Doug Barrault, New York Islander Zigmund Palffy, Ottawa Senator Pavol Demitra, San Jose Shark Viktor Kozlov, Tampa Bay&rsquo;s Selivanov and Vancouver Canuck Mike Peca.&#9633; Option year? Players bucking for a comeback season include Calgary&rsquo;s Michael Nylander (12 points in seven games), Hartford&rsquo;s Jimmy Carson (six points in four games), Los Angeles King Dan Quinn (six points in nine games), New York Ranger Ed Olczyk (eight points in six games) and St. Louis Blue Vitali Prokhorov (12 points in seven games).&#9633; Brother act. Eighteen-year-old Buffalo prospect Wayne Primeau matched the goal output of his older brother Keith in Detroit. Each had one goal, but Wayne did it in seven fewer games. Brett Lindros of the Islanders had three goals and five points in eight games, one more goal than his older brother Eric of the Philadelphia Flyers. &#9632;

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Big-hearted Fleury wins Little Hart

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>The NHL&rsquo;s annual garage sale-the waiver draft-fell victim to the league-imposed work stoppage.The draft was scheduled for Sept. 28, but was postponed due to uncertainty of the start of the season. According to league rules, the draft must be held within seven days before the start of the season. It will be rescheduled once a start has been determined.Teams released their protected lists, identifying players available to be selected. New lists will be compiled when the draft is rescheduled.Teams may protect 18 skaters and two goalies. Players under 25 with fewer than 60 NHL games are exempt.The Detroit Red Wings left goalie Bob Essensa unprotected, but a team interested in him would likely trade with the Wings hoping they would pay a portion of his $1.2-million contract.Listed below are players who were available in the waiver draft.Anaheim: Dean Ewen, LW, Mark Ferner. D; Tim Sweeney, LW; Jim Thomson. RW. Allan Bester. G.Boston: Bill Armstrong, D; Mike Bodnarchuk, RW; Denis Chervyakov, D; Brett Harkins. C; Dennis Holland. C; Drmrtri Kvartalnov. LW: Guy Larose. C: Scott Lindsay. RW; Daniel Marois. RW; Kurt Seher. D: Paul Stanton, D: Darren Stolk. D; Scott Bailey. GBuffalo: Todd Copeland. D; Dale Degray. D: Kevin McClelland. RW. Gates Orlando. C; Drrk Rueter. D. Hannu Virta. D. Jim Wiemer. D; Randy Wood, LW.Calgary: Neil Eisenhut. C: Len Esau. D; Mark Greig, RW; Francois Groieau. D; Dan Keczmer, D: Dale Kushner, LW.Chicago: Bruce Cassidy. D: Craig Fisher. C; Daniel Gauthier. LW; Michel Goulet, LW; Tony Horacek. LW; Christian Ruuttu, C; Rich Sutter. RW. Bril Watson. RW; Jeff Hackett. GDallas: Dave Barr, RW; Robin Bawa, RW; Todd Bergen. C. Gerd Donnelly. D: Alan Haworth. C: Jason Heder. D; David Jensen. D; Cal McGowan, C: Mtke Needham. RW; Mark Pederson LW; George ServWs. LW; Ville Siren. D.Detroit: Sergei Bautin. D. Gord Kruppke, D; Andrew McKim, C; Bob Essensa. G.Edmonton: Alexander Kerch, RW; Wayne Cowley. G: Andrew Verner, G.Florida: Peter Andersson, D; Jeff Daniels. LW; Dallas Eakins, D: Jeff Greenlaw, LW: Jam&laquo; Leach. RW; Stephane Richer. D; Frederic Chabot. G; Danny Lorenz. GHartford: Rick Bennett, D; Jeff Chychrun. D; Ted Crowley. D. Scott Daniels. LW; Jarret Reid, C; Steve Yule, D; Mario Gosselin, G.Los Angeles: Rob Brown, RW; Rob Cowie. D; Donald Dufresne, D; Michael Gaul, D; Brian McReynolds. C; Brett Seguin. C. Dave Thomlinson, LW; Dixon Ward. RW; Tim Watters, D; Andre Racicot. GMontreal: Bryan Fogarty, D; Mats Nasiund, LW.New Jersey: BiS Armstrong. LW. Tap&laquo; Levo. D; Kent Nilsson. C; Reid Simpson, LW.Islanders: Niclas Andersson. LW: Bob Beers. D; Andy Bnckley. LW; David Chyzowskl. LW: Gord Dineen. D; Kevan Guy. D; Chris Luongo. D; Jell Madill. RW; Kip Miller, C; Brian Mullen, RW; Jason Simon. LW; Milan Tlchy, D; David Volek. LW; Frank Pietrangelo. G.Rangers: Don Biggs. C; Craig Duncanson. RW; Glen Featherstone. D; Peter Fiorentino. D; Lee Giffin, RW; Mike Hartman. LW; Jim Hiller. RW; Mike Hudson. C; Dean Kolstad. D. Shawn McCosh. C.Ottawa: Corey Foster. D; Steve Konroyd. D; Francois Leroux. D; Derek Mayer. D; Michel Picard, LW. Lance Pitlck. D: Darren Rumble. D; Brad Shaw, D.Philadelphia: Ai Conroy. C. Tracy Egeland. RW. Je&laquo; Finley, D; Willie Huber. D; Bob Wilkie, D; Norm Foster, G.Pittsburgh: Steve Bancroft, D; James Black, C; Greg Brown, D: Jett Christian, LW; Mike Dagenais. D; Larry DePalma. C; Justin Duberman. RW: Todd Hawkins. RW: Robert Melanson. 0; Lenoid Toropchenko, C.Quebec: Mike Hurlbut. D; Reggie Savage. C: Steve Tuttle. RW: Ed Ward. RW.St Louis: Igor Korolev. RW: Basil McRae. LW: Kevin Miehm. C: Greg Parks, C. Tom Tilley. DSan Jose: Dale Craigwell. C: Rob Gaudreau. C. Lee J. Leslie. LW: J-F Quintin. LW. Bryan Schoen. G.Tampa Bay: Marc Bureau, C; Adam Creighton, C. Enc Dubois, D: Gerard Gallant, LW; Bill McDougall, C: Jason Ruft, LW: Mike Greenlay. G: Wendell Young, G.Toronto: Rich Chernomaz, RW, Chris Govedaris. LW. Bruce Racine, G.Vancouver: Jose Charbonneau, RW; Brian Glynn. D: John McIntyre. C; Adrien Plavsic. D; Risto Siltanen. D; Behn Wilson, D.Washington: Kerry Clark, RW; Brian Curran. D; Todd Nelson, DWinnipeg: Arte Blomsten, D; Luciano Borsato, C; Randy Gilben. C. Dean Kennedy. D; John LeBianc. RW: Wayne McBean. D: Oleg Mikoulchik, D; Rob Murray, C; Mark Visheau. D: Harijs Vitolinsh. C; Stephane Beauregard. G; Sean Gauthier. G. &#9632;

Postponement holds up draft

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN Staff</div>The Pittsburgh Penguins and center Mario Lemieux settled a lawsuit filed by a woman injured during a game at the Civic Arena almost six years ago.Terms of the settlement, which was reached Sept. 29 with Patricia A. Ward from the Pittsburgh suburb of Swissvale, were not disclosed.The agreement was reached after two days of testimony in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. An effort to settle the dispute before it went to trial had been unsuccessful.Lemieux, who did not testify or comment during the course of the trial, was not present when the settlement was announced.The incident occurred during a Jan. 14, 1989 game in Pittsburgh.Lemieux&rsquo;s attorney, Theodore O. Struk, said Lemieux was trying to retrieve the puck for officials during a second-period stoppage in play. He intended to shoot the puck off the glass, then grab it. Instead, he inadvertently shot the puck into the seats, where it struck Ward.Ward received stitches, developed chronic sinus problems and eventually underwent plastic surgery to repair the bridge of her nose.Ward, who testified she has fully recovered, was seeking compensation for medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering.TV CONSOLATION: With the NHL postponing the start of the season, hockey fans who would have watched an NHL doubleheader on CBC&rsquo;s Hockey Night In Canada Oct. 1 were treated to sitcoms and movies.Games scheduled to be broadcast the first week of the lockout on ESPN were to be replaced with taped programming not related to hockey. Games on ESPN2 were to be replaced with American and International League games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021138/6728547-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="578" height="858"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Forbes is new commissioner of the Colonial League.</figcaption></div>Games scheduled for The Sports Network were to be replaced by taped games from Roller Hockey International and title boxing matches.FORBES IN CHARGE: Mike Forbes is halfway to his goal.The new commissioner of the Colonial League envisions a 16-team league which develops players on a secondary feeder network with a solid foundation of respect.The fourth-year minor pro league has eight teams, some of which have working agreements with NHL clubs.And the league&rsquo;s credibility container is about half full, half empty, depending upon your perspective.&ldquo;This is a long-term project for me,&rdquo; said Forbes, the former NHL defenseman who replaced former NHL referee Bob Myers as CHL commissioner. &ldquo;There is a great window of opportunity for growth and expansion in minor pro hockey.&rdquo;Forbes, 37, was general manager of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the IHL last season.&ldquo;The league came along very well in my three years, but the one thing I&rsquo;m most concerned about is credibility,&rdquo; Myers said. &ldquo;It took the East Coast League five or six years before people really started acknowledging it. We want to be worthy of that same respect.&rdquo;NO DEAL YET: The NHL and Canadian Hockey League were still working on an agreement to cover junior-aged players affected by the NHL postponement.It&rsquo;s speculated the league will allow teams to sign junior players up to 72 hours after the end of the work stoppage.Teams which signed junior players this season will likely be allowed to return them to their junior teams for the duration of the dispute. Normally, players sent back to junior must stay there for the entire season.Meanwhile, just eight of the 26 first-round picks have signed with their teams. Oleg Tverdovsky, (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim). Jamie Storr (Los Angeles Kings) Jason Weimer. (Tampa Bay Lightning), Brett Lindros, (New York Islanders) Jeff Friesen. (San Jose Sharks), Eric Fichaud, (Toronto Maple Leafs) Evgeni Ryabchikov (Boston Bruins) and Yan Golubovsky, (Detroit Red Wings) have signed contracts. &#9632;

f0005-02

Flipped puck lawsuit settled before verdict

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>Four professional sports leagues, three in labor turmoil. Unrest on the factory floor has never been greater.The NHL and Major League Baseball have ground to a halt as negotiations on new collective bargaining agreements take center stage. The National Basketball Association may be headed for a similar fate. Training camps were scheduled to open Oct. 7, but court battles have suggested the season could be in jeopardy.Only the National Football League, which signed a six-year CBA with its players in May, 1993, has found a peace plan acceptable to players and owners alike.That the four leagues had bargaining agreements expire within one year of each other is coincidence.That they face common difficulties are not: All sports franchise owners, spooked by spiralling salaries, say they need salary caps or some form of revenue sharing to bring costs under control.They say stemming the flow of red ink is crucial for all teams, in particular the small-market clubs which account for one-quarter of all cities among the four leagues.No hard-and-fast definition for small-market team exists, but what&rsquo;s important is a club&rsquo;s revenue-earning potential and financial standing relative to competitors. Market size, the value of broadcasting contracts, arena size, ownership and luxury boxes, and ancillary income are key determinants of franchise have or have-not status.All four leagues need ways to provide aid to struggling teams. The NFL and Major League Baseball provide cushions for low-revenue clubs by sharing gate receipts. The NHL and the NBA don&rsquo;t.NHL players, who have the lowest average salary among the four leagues at an estimated $600,000 (U.S.), have proposed a tax on team payrolls and gate receipts to create a pool for redistribution among low-revenue clubs.Players in the NHL and Major League Baseball have rejected salary cap proposals, while their NBA brethren are trying to rid themselves of a cap first agreed to in 1983.Football players are the only athletes to currently embrace a salary cap. Their labor relations history explains why. One of the most important factors in negotiations is the ghosts of labor battles past.Football players had failed strikes of 1982 and 1987 fresh in their minds when they sat down with owners last year. Union solidarity disintegrated during both strikes.&ldquo;When you have that in your history, that is definitely going to adversely affect your bargaining position,&rdquo; said multi-sport player agent Tom Reich. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t expect that to happen in baseball or hockey.&rdquo;So when offered the chance to get liberalized free agency and a guaranteed percentage of owners&rsquo; income, football players jumped. The price was a cap.A new television deal with Fox and league expansion by two teams next year, which brings expansion money to owners and more jobs for players, would have been difficult to achieve without labor peace.In baseball, players don&rsquo;t believe teams are hurting as much as owners claim. The league offered players a 50/50 split of all revenues, guaranteeing at least $1 billion in annual player compensation if revenues don&rsquo;t fall below current levels. Players balked.And in hockey, where salaries have long lagged behind those in other pro sports, players acknowledge the small-market problem exists. But they feel agreeing to a cap would compromise hard-earned gains and be tantamount to getting locked up for the owners&rsquo; spending insanity.<h2>BASEBALL</h2>Major League Baseball 28 teams.Small-market teams Five of 28: Milwaukee, Montreal, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Seattle.Status Season suspended Aug. 12 due to the players&rsquo; strike. The collective bargaining agreement expired in December, 1993.Roster 25 players.Average salary 1994: $1.2 million (U.S.).Salary cap The owners want one, the players don&rsquo;t, and the fields are empty. The owners&rsquo; proposal offers players 50 per cent of all revenues and a guaranteed league-wide floor of $1 billion per year. Payrolls would range from 84 per cent of the average to 110 per cent of the average. The players currently earn approximately 58 per cent of projected revenues.Entry draft Unlimited number of rounds.Entry-level salaries No restrictions under old CBA, but owners want to set a cap.Free agency Under terms of the expired collective bargaining agreement, there is unrestricted free agency after six years in the league. Owners offer restricted free agency after four years subject to right of first refusal, and unrestricted after six.Salary arbitration Players with three to six years Major League experience and the top 17 per cent of players (on the basis of statistical performance) with two-plus seasons are eligible. A major irritant for owners, arbitration would be eliminated under their proposal.Gate sharing American League visiting teams receive 20 per cent of the gate and the American League 2.5 per cent. Visiting teams in the National League receive 4.5 per cent of the gate and the National League 28 cents on every ticket over $1.Revenue sharing Baseball Network sold $130 million (U.S.) in TV advertising for the 1994 season; $114 million was earmarked for the teams. With no playoffs, 70 per cent of the money had to be refunded and clubs ended up with just over $1 million each. The league receives 20 per cent of revenues from teams&rsquo; local television contracts. Retail sales of licenced merchandise in 1993 reached $2.5 billion; team shares likely total less than 10 percent.<h2>BASKETBALL</h2>National Basketball League 27 teams.Status Relations between the players and the league are strained. The two sides have battled in court over issues related to the salary cap. which the players want removed. They both pushed the cap in 1983 as part of a strategy to promote the sport, but the players now feel it is outdated. The collective bargaining agreement expired in June, 1994.Small-market teams Eight of 27: Atlanta. Denver, Indiana. Milwaukee, Minnesota, Sacramento. Seattle, Washington.Roster 12 players.Average salary 1993-94: $1.6 million (U.S.).Salary cap Under terrtls of the expired collective bargaining agreement, it was $15.2 million per team in 1993-94. Players receive 53 per cent of league revenues from gate receipts and national and local TV and radio income. All teams must spend at least 85 per cent of the cap. A team is allowed to exceed the cap only to replace retired or injured players, resign its own free agents or extend the contracts of veterans.Entry draft Two rounds.Entry-level salaries No restrictions. Top 1994 draft picks Jason Kidd (Dallas), Donyell Marshall (Minnesota) and Grant Hill (Detroit) signed contracts reportedly worth $140 million combined.Free agency There is unrestricted free agency for players with four years NBA experience and who have signed two contracts. Restricted free agency, which provides teams the right to match offers, is available to any player who has completed his contract, but the salary cap has proved a heavy barrier to player movement.Salary arbitration None.Gate sharing None during the regular season. During the playoffs, the home team pays a fee to the league to cover playoff costs.Revenue Sharing Network TV contracts netted teams $9.2 million each in 1993-94. Each team&rsquo;s share of licensed merchandise was about $10.9 million Collectively, teams received seven per cent of total merchandising sales.<h2>FOOTBALL</h2>National Football League 28 teams.Status Players and owners signed a new and controversial five-year collective bargaining agreement in May, 1993. Included is the first-ever NFL salary cap.Small-market teams Eight of 28: Buffalo, Green Bay, Kansas City, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Tampa, Washington.Roster 53 players.Average salary 1993-94: $737,000 (U.S.).Salary Cap $34.6 million this season. This represents 64 per cent of projected gross revenues per team. Gross revenues are defined as gate receipts, TV and radio revenues and some licensing monies. (Players also receive $4.4 million in benefits per team.) Players are guaranteed their share of gross revenues will not drop below 58 per cent. Minimum team payrolls are calculated annually and equal 50 per cent of projected team revenues. The minimum this season is $27 million. Eighteen teams exceed the cap this season through allowable prorated bonuses. Some players are upset the cap has restricted free agency, particularly for older players with big contracts.Entry draft Seven rounds.Entry-level salaries Teams are allotted different amounts to sign rookies depending on the number selected and draft choice positions. Allotments ranged between $3 million and $4.5 million this season.Free Agency Players have unrestricted free agency after four years. There is no compensation or right to match. One designated franchise player per team is not eligible for free agency, but must be paid at least the average of the top five players at his position. Teams retain the right to match free agent offers for two designated transition players, who must be paid at least the average of the top 10 players at their positions.Salary Arbitration None.Gate Sharing Visiting team gets 40 per cent.Revenue Sharing National television revenue in 1993 worked out to $35 million per team. Merchandising income equalled about $4.8 million per team.<h2>HOCKEY</h2>National Hockey League 26 teams.Status Owners effectively locked out players at regular season&rsquo;s start Oct. 1. At least 75 games were postponed by commissioner Gary Bettman, who announced the regular season will start Oct. 15 at the earliest. Old collective bargaining agreement expired September, 1992.Small-market teams Six of 26; Calgary, Edmonton, Hartford. Ottawa. Quebec. WinnipegRoster Owners have tong thought teams could get by with 17 skaters and two goalies. Players favor 18 and two.Average salary Estimated 1994-95: $600.00 (U.S.).Salary cap The league says if Isn&rsquo;t seeking a salary cap. but its luxury-tax system would have a chifling effect on salaries. It proposes a tax that penalizes teams which exceed a set ceiling or deductible (i.e. $15 million U.S., with exceptions). A sliding scale taxes teams progressively in five percent increments for every $250,000 payroll surplus over the deductible or trigger mechantsm. The maximum tax rate is 125 per cent.Entry Draft 11 rounds. Owners propose cutting the draft to eight rounds, plus one compensatory round for teams losing free agents. Players want the entry draft reduced to six rounds.Entry-level salaries Owners believe the signing of high-priced rookies have contributed to salary escalation. The league wants to limit a player&rsquo;s earning power over the first three years of his career through a cap. scale or salary pool. Performance bonuses could be negotiated. Controlled raises would be in effect during the first three years. Players say a rookie cap is unacceptable, recognizing a rising tide raises all ships.Free Agency: All players are currently eligible for free agency at the end of their contracts, but compensation, equalization and teams&rsquo; right-to-match restrict movement at virtually every level. There is some agreement on a new system based on a combination of age and NHL experience. Details are far from finalized. The basics are: Entry Phase-Players would not be eligible for free agency during their first three years: Intermediate Phase-Players aged 22 to 27 or 28 would be subject to less-restrictive free agency then now. Teams would retain the right of first refusal and be entitled to draft-choice compensation; Senior Phase-Players would become unrestricted free agents at 28 or 29 and the player&rsquo;s old team would be eligible for draft-pick compensation. Teams could designate one unrestricted free agent as a franchise player and retain the right of first refusal if he is paid a salary comparable to the league&rsquo;s top players at his position. The top eight clubs would be limited to two Iree-agent signings and the bottom eight to two free-agent losses. Players have objections to the three-phase plan, including the provision that prevents a franchise player from being an unrestricted free agentSalary arbitration Players under the age ol 30 are eligible for arbitration entering their option years. NHL owners say arbitration is more inflationary than free agency and want it restructured significantly, at the very least. The most important change would be to limit eligibility. Players are adamant the only change should be in style. They want a final-offer system implemented in which both sides submit proposals and an arbitrator chooses one or the other. Arbitrators can currently choose any figure he deems appropriate.Gate sharing The NHL has none and teams are extremely reluctant to share gate receipts.Revenue sharing Teams currently share national TV income (CBC. ESPN and Fox) and the league&rsquo;s cut of merchandising sales, which equalled about $40 million last season. Both parties acknowledge the need to redistribute the wealth from high-revenue teams for the benefit of small-market teams. Players propose a 5.5 percent tax on team payrolls and gate receipts. They say that would put $30 million into a league distribution fund to be split among small-revenue NHL teams. Their plan would see all small-market, low-revenue teams receive subsidies that would raise their revenues to more than 80 per cent of the league average. &#9632;

Sports status reports

I must be missing something.I am a fourth-year university student and by the time I&rsquo;m finished my education, I will have spent about $25,000. When I graduate, do you think I have a prayer of getting a job paying $100,000 in the first year? I don&rsquo;t think so, yet that&rsquo;s the minimum an NHL player gets.Why are the players complaining? If a salary cap is introduced, star players will still get millions of dollars and Joe Average will get Joe Average pay. We all know Joe Average pay in professional sports is a lot higher than Joe Average pay in most other industries.It&rsquo;s truly getting ridiculous. Most of us learned to sign our name at about four years of age. Now people are getting hundreds of thousands of dollars to do just that.Billy-Joe McInnis,&nbsp; Bridgewater, N.S.<h2>Bettman must go</h2>To be blunt, the NHL must get rid of commissioner Gary Bettman. I can no longer take his arrogance and better-than-thou attitude.The NHL is in serious need of an impartial mediator to bring Bettman back to earth.Mike Clough,&nbsp; LaSalle, Ont.<h2>Bolts big, better</h2>I read Mike Brophy&rsquo;s column on the Tampa Bay Lightning (THN, Sept. 16) and it made me puke.How dare he say there is nothing to be excited about in Tampa Bay. I attended the Lightning training camp in Lakeland and the team looks bigger and better than ever.Mr. Brophy, why don&rsquo;t you leave that frozen wasteland of the north and visit the Lightning in sunny Florida? I&rsquo;m sure the Dome is big enough to accommodate your head. Who knows, you may be awestruck by what you see.Ilene Thompson,&nbsp; Lakeland, Fla.<h2>Tampa was taken</h2>I was going to complain about Mike Brophy&rsquo;s column in the Sept. 16 issue concerning the Tampa Bay Lightning, but then I went to a preseason game and watched the team get dismantled by a St. Louis Blues&rsquo; team loaded with such superstars as Tony Twist and Denis Chasse.The thing that bothers me most is the Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim received more favorable expansion rules than Tampa Bay and the Ottawa Senators. Is that fair play?The drain on talent led to the neutral-zone trap, which has bored fans across the continent. The drain also made scorers harder to find and the free agency system makes the costs of finding one too prohibitive.Though the expansions to Anaheim and Miami were successful for the league, they were not so good for the game we all love.Stephen Lyman,&nbsp; Tampa, Fla.<h2>Good work, Sam</h2>I would like to congratulate Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; rookie general manager Sam McMaster on the great job he has done so far.With the additions of players such as Rob Brown, Yanic Perreault and Troy Crowder, the Kings have talent and a physical presence up front.Michel Petit will make the defense a little more stable and veteran Dan Quinn should score some goals. Rick Tocchet is much bigger and more physical than Luc Robitaille and should help the Kings enormously.The re-signing of Rob Blake was essential and with Darryl Sydor and Alexei Zhitnik, the defense corps is in good shape.McMaster showed his smarts at the draft by taking goalie Jamie Storr and tough guy Matt Johnson. In Storr, the Kings get a young talented goalie who will play for many years.The Kings should do much better this year and any credit for that should go to McMaster.Darryl Raffay,&nbsp; Simcoe, Ont.<h2>Fame shame</h2>Once again, the Hall of Fame selection committee has passed over Roy Conacher and Lome Chabot.Conacher had 226 goals in 490 career games and won two Stanley Cups with the Boston Bruins. Had he not missed almost four full seasons at the peak of his career for World War II military service, there is little question he would have been the NHL&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer ahead of Nels Stewart&rsquo;s 324 goals.Of all NHL goaltenders who have played more than 100 career games, Chabot has the fourth-lowest goals-against average at 2.03 in 411 games. With 73 career shutouts, Chabot blanked the opposition in 17.8 per cent of the games he played.It is beyond my comprehension why these players were not inducted into the Hall several decades ago.Pete Tingley,&nbsp; Sussex, N.B.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;

Players are spoiled, bring on salary cap

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011571/6728685-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Mika Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021111/6728716-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="574" height="744"><figcaption class="caption-body">Zigmund Palfy</figcaption></div><h2>Tampa donates to good cause</h2>1. Tampa Bay Lightning Sent down Alexander Selivanov so he could make some money.2. Eric Fichaud Toronto Maple Leaf prospect records shutout in first Quebec League game.3. Zigmund Palfy Islander rookie paces team with seven pre-season goals.4. Hartford Whalers Impressive 5-1-1 pre-season record indicator of good things to come?5. Todd Simon Buffalo farmhand scores five goals, eight points in first two AHL games with Rochester.<h2>Chelios threats make no sense</h2>1. Chris Chelios Chicago Blackhawk veteran&rsquo;s threat to Gary Bettman just plain stupid.2. NHL postponement The league can call it whatever it wants: It&rsquo;s a lockout.3. Short-sighted critics It&rsquo;s shameful people would make fun of Bettman&rsquo;s height or religion.4. Dominik Hasek Buffalo police rule alcohol involved in Sabre goalie&rsquo;s recent car crash.5. Wings-Hawks Let&rsquo;s put an end to war of words concerning Bob Probert. &#9632;

f0009-02

PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011630/6728747-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="379" height="530"></div>The vision is clearly etched in hockey fans&rsquo; memories.A young Ron Hextall slapping the goalposts in the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; net. Whack! Whack! Whack!He was the goalie who would stand up for himself, guarding his crease from pucks and players like it was Fort Knox. He would slash, crosscheck and fight. He was more than just a goon goalie-he could play the game, too. Hextall&rsquo;s puckhandling skills helped change the way the position is played.Hextall made crisper, more accurate passes out of his team&rsquo;s zone than many defensemen. He even scored two goals, rifling the puck the length of the ice when the opposition pulled its goalie.He led the league in minutes played twice; won a Vezina Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s best goalie; a Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff&rsquo;s most valuable player even though his team lost in the final; and recorded 19 shutouts in his first three NHL seasons.If only the Flyers could turn back the clock. Unfortunately, they can&rsquo;t.The Flyers&rsquo; who are desperate to make the playoffs after five years on the sidelines, brought Hextall back to Philadelphia from the New York Islanders in exchange for goalie Tommy Soderstrom Sept. 22.Flyer fans excited at the prospect of Hextall&rsquo;s return to Philadelphia should be wamed:&rsquo;The trade really amounts to a step sideways. If Hex-tall represents an upgrade in goal, it&rsquo;s marginal.One pro scout feels it may even be a step backwards.&ldquo;He has so many bad habits,&rdquo; the scout said. &ldquo;Whether he knows it or not, he looks like a mess out there. He wanders. When he comes out of his net he leans in one direction so if the puck goes other way, he has no hope of getting back. These are things as players, we picked up on and exploited.&rdquo;Even if Hextall has a good season in Philadelphia, his acquisition won&rsquo;t mask the team&rsquo;s other big need: defense. Behind the existing group of blueliners, the Flyers need a superstar goalie who can win games singlehandedly.Hextall has given little indication the past five seasons he is capable of doing that consistently. He retains the same fighting spirit he displayed as a youngster, but his skills have eroded.The Flyers&rsquo; other goalie, 24-year-old Dominic Roussel, remains unproven.Hextall has heard the skeptics-those who wonder if he was just a three-year wonder-but doesn&rsquo;t let them get him down.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re a controversial professional athlete, and I would say I fit that category, there are always those who want to see you fail,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;I care only about what my teammates and organization think.&rdquo;Injuries held Hextall back his final three seasons with the Flyers, but he has been relatively healthy the past two years with the Quebec Nordiques and Islanders.Both years he was a solid performer in the regular season-with Quebec two years ago he was considered by many the most valuable player in the Adams Division-but faltered in the playoffs.With the Nordiques he was a star in each of the first four playoff games against the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round, but slumped as Quebec blew a 3-1 series lead. He was 03 in last season&rsquo;s playoffs with the Islanders with a 6.08 goals-against average and.800 save percentage.So why would the Flyers, a team with goaltending problems galore, put their faith in a goalie surrounded by so many questions?&ldquo;Because I believe Ron Hextall can still be a winning goalie in this league,&rdquo; said Flyers&rsquo; general manager Bob Clarke.Clarke scoffs at the notion he is trying to recycle Flyer retreads by bringing Hextall home.&ldquo;Flyer history remains Flyer history,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to put together a team that will succeed this season. Period.&rdquo;Hextall said it feels great to be home. Clearly, the man bom to be wild was also bom to be a Flyer.The Brandon. Man., native enjoyed his greatest success playing on a Flyers&rsquo; team that played a strict defensive system enforced by coach Mike Keenan. Ed Belfour and Mike Richter enjoyed the same luxury playing for Keenan with the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers.Hextall&rsquo;s homecoming, meanwhile, was a disaster. He allowed all nine goals in a 9-0 whitewash by the Boston Bruins Sept. 27. It was only a pre-lockout game and the team was playing for the fifth time in six nights, but it was a horrible sight.It left some wondering if he still has it.&ldquo;Just give me the opportunity to play and I&rsquo;ll answer that question,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;I like to do my talking on the ice.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

Flyers taking big chance on Hextail

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div>Try as he may, Mats Sundin hears the whisper from the comer of his consciousness, the voice of doubt overpowering reason.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s making more than you,&rdquo; the voice reminded him last season. The fact former teammate Joe Sakic was making $2.2 million to Sundin&rsquo;s $850,000 ate at Sundin&rsquo;s confidence.&ldquo;The Toronto Manle Leafs traded Wendel Clark for you,&rdquo; the voice says to him now. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to be better.&rdquo;Sundin counters with logic.&ldquo;Wendel Clark was one of the most popular players in Toronto, so there&rsquo;s pressure for the three of us who came to Toronto,&rdquo; Sundin said. &ldquo;You try not to think about it, but unfortunately, it&rsquo;s there in the back of your mind.&rdquo;Sundin, who came to the Leafs with defenseman Garth Butcher and left winger Todd Warriner for defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre and forward prospect Landon Wilson, had a mediocre pre-season. But Sundin and the Leafs know doubt is a frequent by-product of change. The antidote for doubt is effort, talent and time.&ldquo;I try to remind myself all the time, &lsquo;Try to play your game, do the best you can,&rsquo;&rdquo; Sundin said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been telling myself that a lot.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure he feels some pressure,&rdquo; said Maple Leafs&rsquo; general manager Cliff Fletcher. &ldquo;But you see the plays he makes, the extra skills and the hockey sense he brings and you know he&rsquo;s going to be an effective player.&rdquo;At 6-foot-4 and 204 pounds, Sundin has an abundance of physical gifts. Like his power-play linemate Dave Andreychuk, Sundin is big boned and durable. He has missed only four games in as many NHL seasons.Sundin is an excellent skater. He ranks alongside Eric Lindros of the Philadelphia Flyers and Al lafrate of the Boston Bruins as one of the league&rsquo;s premier jumbo jets.He is also versatile. In addition to employing Sundin at center, Maple Leafs&rsquo; coach Pat Bums used him as a right winger beside Doug Gilmour and at left wing flanking Mike Ridley.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very talented player who can play any forward position,&rdquo; Bums said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to use Mats Sundin everywhere I can.&rdquo;Sundin has never scored fewer than 23 goals in a season and crested with 47 two years ago. At 24, he should have been one of Quebec&rsquo;s untouchables.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021210/6728778-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="962" height="1949"><figcaption class="caption-body">Toronto plans to use Mats Sundin at all three forward spots. (Photo by Robert Skeosh/BBS)</figcaption></div>But for the Nordiques, one of the most disheartening aspects of last year&rsquo;s 28-point tumble out of the playoffs was the play of Sundin after the club made it clear it would not renegotiate his five-year contract, which had three years remaining.After 29 games, the Nordiques had a 12-12-5 record. Sundin scored twice in that 29th game, a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators and was on pace for a 55-goal, 105-point season.The next day, Nordiques&rsquo; president Marcel Aubut said Sundin&rsquo;s deal would not be renegotiated. Sundin felt he had a verbal promise from the Nordiques the deal would be redone.Sundin then went eight games without a goal and scored six in his final 55 games. The Nordiques went 2230-3 the rest of the way and while Sundin finished the year with a respectable 85 points, he was non-existent in the second half.All season, Sundin said he was unaffected by the contract hassle, but in retrospect, he concedes he probably was. Doubt had crept into Sundin&rsquo;s mind and it followed him on to the ice.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to say for sure, but maybe it hurt my confidence a little,&rdquo; Sundin said. &ldquo;It was unfortunate, but in the back of my head, I really wanted to show that it wasn&rsquo;t bothering me.&ldquo;It came out in the press that I wasn&rsquo;t playing well because of my contract and I kept denying it. The whole team wasn&rsquo;t playing well.&rdquo;The Leafs say Sundin&rsquo;s lapse in confidence was more a product of environment than anything else.&ldquo;We felt it was a team situation and it was not so much about an individual player,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;He still averaged more than a point a game.&rdquo;Money is the least of Sundin&rsquo;s worries with the Leafs. He signed an $11-million, five-year deal in training camp, voiding the last three years of his Nordiques&rsquo; deal.Now, Sundin said, is the time to begin silencing any lingering doubts.&ldquo;I felt very fortunate they decided to do something about my contract,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It feels really good to be in this organization, surrounded by players who have gone so far in the playoffs the last two years. This is very exciting.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-02

Turning over new Leaf

<div class="byline">By Dave Joseph</div>Ed Jovanovski can put away the shorts and sandals. It&rsquo;s unlikely he&rsquo;ll find much use for them this winter in Windsor.The No. 1 overall pick in this year&rsquo;s draft was sent back to his Ontario League team Oct. 1 after playing inconsistently in seven preseason games and after the Panthers were unable to negotiate a contract with Jovanovski&rsquo;s agent, Anton Thun.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all going to benefit me in the long run,&rdquo; Jovanovski said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident I&rsquo;ll get the job done and I&rsquo;m confident I&rsquo;ll be able to work on the fundamentals I need to improve on.&rdquo;Thun and Panthers&rsquo; general manager Bryan Murray said the two sides had nearly bridged a $6-million gap in negotiations before Jovanovski departed. There was hope at one point a news conference could be called Sept. 30 to announce the big defenseman had inked a four-year deal.But Murray said even if a contract had been signed, Jovanovski was likely headed back to the Spitfires.&ldquo;We always wanted to do what was best for the kid,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Ed started off the pre-season very confidently. He played very well. But we wanted to see how he would play when veteran NHL players started playing more in the pre-season games.&ldquo;In the last couple of games, I think he may have lost his confidence. He started questioning himself. He became a little more tentative.&rdquo;When the Panthers drafted Jovanovski, they were hoping he would become a physical presence and offensive threat on the blueline. In the seven games he played, Jovanovski not only proved he could rush the puck, but he wasn&rsquo;t afraid to throw his body around. But, in the end, Murray said returning Jovanovski to Windsor was the right decision.&ldquo;Down there he&rsquo;ll play 35 or 40 minutes a night and if he makes the odd mistake, he has got a chance to come right back,&rdquo; Murray said.Murray and Thun said contract negotiations will continue through the start of the season. If they come to terms and meet the lockout criteria for signing junior players, there&rsquo;s an outside chance Jovanovski will play in Florida this season.LITTLE ACTIVITY: Management told players ice time, equipment and training staff would be available to them at the Panthers&rsquo; training facility in Pompano Beach through the postponement, but players stayed away.The only ones expected to use the training staff were Brian Benning (recovering from shoulder surgery) and Gord Murphy (rehabilitating from a separated right shoulder).Meanwhile, coach Roger Neilson was hoping to keep the team together by holding golf outings.&ldquo;I hope no one goes to the Bahamas or anything like that,&rdquo; Neilson said.Captain Brian Skrudland said, for now, no one was going anywhere.&ldquo;A of of us have young families, and we&rsquo;re not going to leave with the kids in school and all,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: With no games to play, right wingers Jamie Linden and Doug Barrault were sent to the team&rsquo;s International League affiliate, the Cincinnati Cyclones. Both had strong camps and may have stuck if the start of the season wasn&rsquo;t postponed. &ldquo;Both could use games,&rdquo; Bryan Murray said. &ldquo;It certainly motivated us to do things a little sooner.&rdquo; Barrault led the Panthers in pre-season scoring with four goals and one assist.<h2>FLORIDA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 1: Ed Jovanovski. D, returned to Windsor (OHL). Jamie Linden, RW. and Doug Barrautt. RW. assigned to Cincinnati (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Rob Niedermayer. Stu Barnes, Brian Skrudiand, Jesse Belanger.LW&mdash;Dave Lowry, Jeff Daniels, Mike Hough, Bill LindsayRW&mdash;Scott Mellanby, Bob Kudetski, Jody Hull, Andrei Lomakin.LD&mdash;Geoff Smith, Brent Severyn, Peter Andersson, Brian Benning.RD&mdash;Keith Brown, Randy Moller, Joe Cirella. Gord Murphy.G&mdash;John Vanbiesbrouck, Mark Fitzpatrick.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

Jovanovski sees good in demotion

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div>If the league&rsquo;s labor troubles weren&rsquo;t enough a headache for New Jersey Devils&rsquo; owner John McMullen and general manager Lou Lamoriello, the team&rsquo;s decision-makers were assured of migraines after hearing threats from goaltender Martin Brodeur.The 1993-94 rookie of the year vowed to play out his option this year after the Devils failed to sign him to a new contract by Oct. 1.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s for real,&rdquo; said Brodeur, who was the league&rsquo;s lowest-paid goalie last season at $140,000. &ldquo;But it all depends on what happens with the (collective bargaining) agreement and Group I free agents.&rdquo;Under the previous CBA, Brodeur would become a free agent with compensation, but the Devils would not having matching rights. The Devils lost Brendan Shanahan in that manner to the St. Louis Blues in 1991.Brodeur and his agent, Gilles Lupien, had been asking for a deal worth between $1 million and $1.4 million per season. The Devils&rsquo; best offer was reported to be $750,000.Lupien said the Devils lost their chance to sign his client.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve been fair with (Lamoriello), but if he doesn&rsquo;t think so, what can I do?&rdquo; Lupien asked. &ldquo;How long does he want to work on this? Ten years? I think Lou thinks I&rsquo;m a nice guy and I&rsquo;ll change my mind. But he obviously doesn&rsquo;t know me. I guess he&rsquo;ll find out otherwise.&rdquo;Lamoriello said he would not be held hostage by Lupien.&ldquo;Martin is a great kid and Gilles is a good person,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d love to get the boy signed. But it&rsquo;s a question of doing what&rsquo;s right and what&rsquo;s fair.&rdquo;NO WIN: In an effort to explain how the NHL needs financial restructuring, John McMullen said in his 13 years as owner of the Devils he had not made a dime in profits.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not complaining,&rdquo; McMullen said,&rdquo;but these teams are not the bonanzas that are insinuated. It&rsquo;s a struggle. I could&rsquo;ve invested better by throwing a dart at the New York Stock Exchange.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Devils felt Russian-born rookie Sergei Brylin needed to work on his English as much as his play and demoted the center to the Albany River Rats of the American League&hellip;Veteran goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz, hoping to land on someone&rsquo;s NHL roster, wasn&rsquo;t thrilled with Devils&rsquo; decision to protect him in the waiver draft.<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 29: Sergei Brylin. C. Mike Dunham. G, Chris McAlpine. D. and Cale Hulse. D, assigned to Albany (AHL). David Emma, C, Jim Dowd. C. Jaroslav Modry, D. Sheldon Souray. D. McAlpine. D, and Brad Bombardir. D. signed multi-year contracts.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Alexander Semak. Jim Dowd. Bobby Carpenter. Bobby Hohk, David Emma.LW&mdash;Valeri Zelepukin. Corey Millen. Tom Chorske, Mike Peluso. Ben Hankinson.RW&mdash;John MacLean. Stephane Richer. Claude Lemieux, Bill Guerin, Randy McKay.LD&mdash;Bruce Driver, Tommy Albelin. Scott Niedermayer.RD&mdash;Ken Daneyko, Jaroslav Modry, Jason Smith.G&mdash;Martin Brodeur, Peter Sidorkiewicz.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Scott Stevens, D. sore ankle, day-to-day Chris Terreri, G. pinched nerve in shoulder, indefinite. &#9632;

Sophomore Brodeur vows to play out option after no deal

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div>What do you call a 6-foot-5, 237-pound rookie defenseman who can move opponents away from his net?A sure bet to make the Philadelphia Flyers.Chris Therien began training camp as a longshot to be a Flyer. He played six games last season with the Hershey Bears of the American League after playing for the Canadian Olympic team, but was hardly impressive.&ldquo;He was so inconsistent and so poor defensively, we weren&rsquo;t sure if he could even play in the AHL,&rdquo; said general manager Bob Clarke.Therien spent all summer working out at the Flyers&rsquo; training facility in Voorhees, N.J., and it paid off.The Flyers opened camp with 16 defensemen. By the end of camp, Therien was still around and would have played opening night if not for the league-mandated postponement.Therien played in all but two preseason games. His performances weren&rsquo;t spectacular, but steady enough to impress the Flyers&rsquo; staff.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s using his size and strength more than I was led to believe he would,&rdquo; said coach Terry Murray. &ldquo;He has tremendous lateral ability.&rdquo;Clarke called Therien the most pleasant surprise in training camp. &ldquo;If a kid 6-foot-5, 237 can play, that&rsquo;s like a home run for us.&rdquo;A third-round pick in 1990, Therien saw improvement when he joined the Olympic team from Providence College. More games, more exposure and more ice time in pressure situations taught him to use his size to his advantage.&ldquo;In college, I never had to use my size and strength that much,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I like to play that way.&rdquo;The 22-year-old Therien accepted an assignment to Hershey the day the league announced its postponement until Oct. 15. He understand he needs to play regularly to continue in his development.&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re a rookie,&rdquo; he smiled,&rdquo;this was the wrong year to make it.&rdquo;FOR SALE?: Flyers&rsquo; owner Ed Snider surprised observers when he said he might consider selling the team if the owners don&rsquo;t prevail in the labor standoff.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really interested in selling the club unless we can&rsquo;t find solutions,&rdquo; said Snider, the only owner left from the six-team expansion in 1967. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not in this for glory. I&rsquo;m not in this for profit. But I&rsquo;m also not in this to go down in flames.&rdquo;Snider is under pressure because he owns the current CoreStates Spectrum and is also building the new $200-million-plus CoreStates Arena just down the street.&ldquo;If we can&rsquo;t find solutions-if the players think I&rsquo;m hiding money or doing all these dastardly things-then it&rsquo;s not something I really want to be in,&rdquo; Snider said.NOTEBOOK: Goalie Ron Hex-tall equaled his all-time worst performance when he gave up nine goals in a 9-0 pre-season loss to the Boston Bruins Sept. 27. He also gave up nine goals in a game in 1986-87&hellip;Garry Galley, recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, did not see pre-season action, but was ready to play when the season was delayed.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 29: Chris Therien, D, Vladislav Boulin, D. and Jason Bowen. LW, assigned to Hershey (AHL) Sept. 30: Dan Kordic. D, assigned to Hershey.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Eric Lindros, Rod BrintfAmour, Craig MacTavish.LW&mdash;Josef Beranek. Shjon Podein, Brent Fedyk, Phil Crowe. Rob DiMaio.RW&mdash;Mikael Renberg, Mark Recchi. Patnk Juhlm. Dave Brown.LD&mdash;Rob Zettler. Shawn Anderson, Jeff Finley.RD&mdash;Dimitri Yushkevich, Ryan McGill. Kevin Halter.G&mdash;Ron Hextail. Dominic Roussel.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kevin Dineen, RW. broken left thumb, indefinite. Garry Galley, D. sore shoulder, day-to-day Mark Lamb, C, bruised foot, day-to-day. Stu Malgunas, D. sore left knee, indefinite. &#9632;

Therien making impact

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div>When the start of the NHL season was postponed by the labor dispute, the New York Rangers didn&rsquo;t mind.The delay was almost a relief for an organization that had been hit hard by injuries, involved in difficult contract talks with captain Mark Messier and had a shorter off-season than most with a Stanley Cup win and the Mike Keenan fiasco.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to be honest,&rdquo; said Rangers&rsquo; coach Colin Campbell. &ldquo;It might not be right, but (the lockout) was going to happen no matter what I thought and my hope was that this was going to happen because of the situation we&rsquo;re in.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough, tough thing to repeat and we didn&rsquo;t need the added pressure of nine injuries. We need time.&rdquo;Kevin Lowe and Adam Graves were the latest injury victims. Lowe had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder and was expected to be out until mid-November and Graves was to be kept off skates after tests revealed an inflamed disc in his back.If the season were to start Oct. 15, Graves wouldn&rsquo;t be ready and he probably won&rsquo;t be effective until November. In the meantime, he will see a specialist.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s badly injured,&rdquo; said Rangers&rsquo; general manager Neil Smith. &ldquo;He has had a nagging back injury and on the advise of our medical people, if he keeps on going on it, it may have to be scoped. At this stage, it&rsquo;s better to rest it.&rdquo;Lowe&rsquo;s injury, which came during overtime of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final against the New Jersey Devils, kept him out of the entire pre-season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011493/6728881-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="738" height="1199"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Rangers are treating Adam Graves&rsquo; inflamed back disc injury with caution.</figcaption></div>Graves and Lowe join Sergei Zubov (sprained knee), Joey Kocur (shoulder surgery) and Joby Messier (sprained knee) on the sidelines. Add in unsigned Messier and five others who are nursing less serious injuries and the Rangers would have been in sad shape to open their first title defense in 54 years.ONE DOWN: Free-agent goalie Mike Richter agreed in principle to a new four-year contract with the Rangers worth about $10.7 million.Now the team&rsquo;s focus has turned to their holdout captain, Mark Messier.&ldquo;With all the things going on with the league, (the delay is) understandable,&rdquo; Messier said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re just going to be patient.&rdquo;Richter, who played out his option last year, had plenty of ammunition entering contract talks. He set team records with a 20-game unbeaten streak and 42 regular-season wins, was named the All-Star Game MVP and capped his season with an outstanding run to the Stanley Cup.The 28-year-old will earn between $2.5 million to $2.9 million per season.NOTEBOOK: Neil Smith refuted a claim by St. Louis Blues&rsquo; president Jack Quinn that the Rangers still owe the Blues another player in the Mike Keenan affair. &ldquo;We consummated a deal, the commissioner made a ruling and it&rsquo;s over,&rdquo; Smith said&hellip;The Rangers used a loophole to protect an extra player for the postponed waiver draft. They claimed free agent Mark Osborne hadn&rsquo;t actually signed his contract, and thus did not have to be protected. Once Osborne signs, the Rangers must pass him or another player through waivers.Mike Hudson, made available in the waiver draft, said he wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if he wound up in St. Louis with Keenan. The Rangers, at Keenan&rsquo;s suggestion, claimed Hudson in the last waiver draft&hellip;One of the postponed games was the first meeting with Keenan&rsquo;s Blues at St. Louis Oct. 13.Rookie tough guy Darren Langdon made the team in Joey Kocur&rsquo;s absence, but was assigned to the team&rsquo;s affiliate, the Binghamton Rangers of the American League, to play during the NHL lockout.<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 27: Jean-Yves Roy, RW. and Eric Cairns. D, recalled from Binghamton (AHL). Sept. 28: Roy, Cairns and Jeff Neilson. RW, assigned to Binghamton. 129: Mike Richter. G. agreed to terms on multi&middot; jntract. Sept. 30: Corey Hirsch, G. Mattias NorD. Barry Richter. D, Michael Stewart, D, Peter tino. D. and Darren Langdon. LW, assigned to imton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Petr Nedved, Sergei Nemchinov. Mike Hudson.LW&mdash;Stephane Matteau. Mark Osborne. Nick Kypreos, Mike Hartman.RW&mdash;Alexei Kovalev, Steve Larmer. Brian Noonan.LD&mdash;Brian Leetch, Jay Wells.RD&mdash;Jeff Beukeboom, Alexander Karpovtsev.G&mdash;Mike Richter, Glenn Healy.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Glen Featherstone, D. sprained neck, day-to-day. Greg Gilbert, LW, sprained knee, day-to-day. Adam Graves, LW, inflamed back disc, indefinite, Joey Kocur, RW, right shoulder surgery, indefinite. Kevin Lowe, D, left shoulder surgery, indefinite. Joby Messier, D. sprained left knee, indefinite. Eddie Olczyk, C. bruised hand and sprained ankle, day-to-day Sergei Zubov, D, sprained left knee, indefinite. &#9632;

f0013-01

Cup champs in no hurry to start anyway

<div class="byline">By Jeff Williams</div>The combination of Brett Lindros&rsquo; potential as a player and his value as a marquee name convinced the New York Islanders to open their wallets for their 1994 first-round pick.The Islanders signed the right winger to a five-year deal believed to be worth about $6 million Sept. 30. Lindros was reportedly asking for $4 million over three years, plus two per cent of the gate.The agreement culminated a whirlwind month for Lindros. Neither the 18-year-old nor the Islanders were sure he could make the team when camp began.Lindros showed from Day 1, however, he was capable of keeping up. He finished first in the overall conditioning exercises and scored three goals in eight exhibition games.&ldquo;It was as much getting to know him as a person,&rdquo; said general manager Don Maloney. &ldquo;He not only has physical maturity, but mental maturity. He&rsquo;s smart, willing to learn and willing to work. And his hands smoothed out. He started handling the puck well. Geez, it surprised us.&rdquo;Maloney and Brett&rsquo;s father Carl, who acts as his son&rsquo;s agent, carefully watched Brett&rsquo;s progress through training camp.&ldquo;I knew coming in he was going to be a player,&rdquo; Carl said. &ldquo;I just didn&rsquo;t know if it would be this year. There came a point, maybe the second or third exhibition game, when it seemed like it was really coming together for him.&rdquo;The Islanders are not expecting Brett to produce like his older brother Eric. Rather, they hope he can one day be that next Bobby Nystrom or Clark Gillies, the kind of big bruising forward who can score 20 goals. Lindros is 6-foot-3, 210 pounds and still growing.&ldquo;He was really nervous the first week,&rdquo; said coach Lome Henning,&rdquo;but once he got into a game we said, &lsquo;Whoa, this guy has the tools.&rsquo;&rdquo;Lindros didn&rsquo;t come to the Islanders with a wealth of experience. He split last season between the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario League and the Canadian Olympic team. He sustained injuries to his right knee in 1993 and 1994, from which he seems completely recovered.Lindros pledged to do what the Islanders require of him: work hard and play for the team. It&rsquo;s expected the fans will love his rough style. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s what this franchise wants and needs,&rdquo; Maloney said.Just after signing the agreement, Lindros was sure to be on fans&rsquo; good side when he said: &ldquo;I now officially hate the Rangers.&rdquo;MONSTER PROBLEM: Left winger Steve Thomas turned a fine phrase to describe the players feelings about the labor negotiations.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011578/6728912-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="576" height="837"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brett Lindros surprised the Islanders with his puckhandling.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The (owners) turned the system into a monster and they want us to slay it,&rdquo; Thomas said.While the Islanders are providing practice ice and the services of their training staff, it didn&rsquo;t seem likely many players would be taking the club up on its offer. Thomas went home to Toronto.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s important for me to stay in shape.&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;But it isn&rsquo;t in our best interests to come here.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Brian Mullen, who is attempting to come back after missing all of last season, wasn&rsquo;t protected from the waiver draft by the Islanders. Mullen, who underwent open heart surgery last September and suffered a seizure in March, is unlikely to be claimed by another team.<h2>N.Y. ISLANDERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 26: Gord Dineen. D, Chris Luongo. D, Chris Mannucci. C. Dan Plante. RW, and Derek Armstrong C, assigned to Denver (IHL). Sept. 27: Bryan McCabe. D, returned to Spokane (WHL) Sept. 30: Frank Pietrangelo. G. loaned to Minnesota (IHL). Brett Lindros. RW. signed multi-year contract.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Prerre Turgeon, Ray Ferraro, Travis Green. Ron Sutter.LW&mdash;Marty McInnis, Benoit Hogue, Troy Loney, Derek King. Dave Chyzowski. Yar Kaminsky, Brian Mullen.RW&mdash;Steve Thomas, Brett Lindros, Zigmund Palffy, Patrick Flatley. Brad Dalgarno. Mick Vukota.LD&mdash;Darius Kasparaitis, Dennis Vaske. Rich Piton, Scott Lachance.RD&mdash;Bob Beers, Vladimir Malakhov, Dean Chynoweth.G&mdash;Jamie McLennan, Tommy S&ouml;derstr&ouml;m.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

f0014-01

Lindros earns big-time deal

<div class="byline">By Roy Cummings</div>The Tampa Bay Lightning has thrown goaltender Wendell Young to the wolves-the Chicago Wolves.The first player ever selected by the Lightning, Young was loaned to the International League team, but it looks like the end of the line for him in Tampa Bay.The move was precipitated in part by a season and a half of injury problems. But the Lightning said the emergence of J.C. Bergeron, who beat Young out in a battle for the backup job, made it impossible to keep Young around.&ldquo;Wendell is a good guy, a good goalie and when people think of him, they should think of all the things he did for the Tampa Bay Lightning organization both on and off the ice,&rdquo; said director of hockey operations Tony Esposito.On the ice, Young, 31, helped give the Lightning credibility as he shared goaltending duties with Pat Jablonski during Tampa Bay&rsquo;s initial 23-victory, 53-point season. Off the ice, Young was a regular at charity events and booster club meetings and while he was out with a shoulder injury last season, he served as a color commentator on radio broadcasts.Before shipping him to the Wolves, the Lightning offered that radio job to Young on a permanent basis. But Young turned it down, saying he believes he still has something to offer.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m capable of revitalizing my career and getting back to this level,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud to say I was the first player in team history and that I was part of the inaugural season.&rdquo;WIEMER WAITS: The Lightning sent first-round draft choice Jason Wiemer back to the Portland Winterhawks of the Western League, but he&rsquo;ll be back with the Lightning as soon as the NHL season begins.Wiemer, who was expected to sign a contract with the Lightning, earned a spot on the roster with an impressive camp. He said he was a little disappointed to be going back to junior after earning a job in the NHL, but said the opportunity to play while others sit will be good for him.&ldquo;This way, I&rsquo;ll be in good shape and ready to play,&rdquo; Wiemer said. &ldquo;And having been here already, I&rsquo;ll know what to expect.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Rookie Alexander Selivanov, who made the Lightning with a solid camp, was assigned to the Atlanta Knights of the IHL to get playing time and cash. &ldquo;The bottom line is, Selivanov has not been in the NHL and he needs the money,&rdquo; said Lightning general manager Phil Esposito. &ldquo;I feel sorry for the kid.&rdquo;<h2>TAMPA BAY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 29: Wendell Young, G, loaned to Chicago (IHL). Brent Gretzky, C, and Jason Ruff. LW. assigned to Atlanta (IHL). Sept. 30: Cory Cross, D. Chris Li-Puma, D. and Alexander Selivanov, RW, assigned to Atlanta (IHL). Oct. 1: Jason Wiemer, LW. returned to Portland (WHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Brian Bradley, Chris Gratton, Denis Savard. Adam Creighton.LW&mdash;John Tucker, Petr Klima, Mikael Andersson. Rob Zamuner, Gerard Gallant.RW&mdash;Jim Cummins, Danton Cole, Marc Bureau, Rudy Poeschek.LD&mdash;Marc Bergevln, Eric Charron, Enrico Ciccone.RD&mdash;Shawn Chambers, Chris Joseph, Roman Hamrlik.G&mdash;Daren Puppa, J.C. Bergeron.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

End of era as first Bolt Young moves on to join IHL’s Wolves

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div>For only the third time in the 13 years David Poile has operated the team, the Washington Capitals have a new captain.The team announced Sept. 29 Dale Hunter will wear the captain&rsquo;s &lsquo;C&rsquo; after it was learned free-agent defenseman Kevin Hatcher no longer wants to play in Washington and has asked to be traded.Forward Kelly Miller and defenseman Sylvain Cote are the alternate captains.&ldquo;Coach Jim Schoenfeld held a team meeting to discuss leadership issues,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;The results of that meeting were very clear: these three players are our leaders both on and off the ice.&rdquo;Schoenfeld also named a group of veterans whom he said would be consulted on team and player issues. They are Dave Poulin, Calle Johansson, Craig Berube, Michal Pivonka and Joe Reekie as well as the three captains.&ldquo;We felt it was critically important to have our leadership team in place,&rdquo; Poile said a day before the lockout.A year ago at this time, Hunter was serving a suspension that totaled 30 games, including pre-season. It was the longest suspension for an on-ice incident in NHL history. Hunter slammed into Pierre Turgeon of the New York Islanders after a goal was scored during Washington&rsquo;s final playoff game the previous spring.Hunter is a well-known prankster who is always causing mayhem in the dressing room. On the ice, he is quiet, intense and very strong around the net. He also has a reputation for standing up for teammates.This is Hatcher&rsquo;s second holdout in four years. He made $1,325 million last season and was asking for $3.5 million this year. The club was offering $2.5 million per year, which would have made the defenseman the highest-paid player in franchise history.&ldquo;After months of negotiations and discussions, we are no closer to an agreement,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;More importantly, in a personal conversation, Hatcher requested a trade from the Washington Capitals. He said he no longer wants to play here, that he felt under-appreciated by management and the fans.&rdquo;Poile said he will try to accommodate Hatcher, but will make sure he gets the best possible deal. Poile said he would like to get a major-league defenseman for Hatcher, who has been playing with the Detroit Vipers of the International League.BITTER PILL: Rookie defenseman Ken Klee earned a roster spot, but was sent to the Portland Pirates of the American League to get ice time once the lockout was announced.He was definitely not a happy camper.&ldquo;No one wanted the NHL season to open more than me,&rdquo; said the native of Indianapolis. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been working my whole life to make the NHL.&ldquo;I started skating when I was 18 months old to get here. And now there is such an emptiness, it&rsquo;s hard to describe.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The team is allowing the players to work out at the club&rsquo;s Piney Orchard training facility during the lockout.<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 30: Ken Klee, D. and Kevin Kaminski. C. assigned to Portland (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Juneau, Dale Hunter. Pat Peake, Jason Allison.LW&mdash;Dimttri Khristich, Michal Pivonka, Steve Konowalchuk, Craig Berube, Randy Burridge.RW&mdash;Kelly Miller. Peter Bondra, Keith Jones, Todd KrygierLG&mdash;Joe Reekie, Calle Johansson. John Slaney.RD&mdash;Jim Johnson, Sylvain Cote.G&mdash;Don Beaupre. Rick Tabaracci, Ofie Kolzig<h3>INJURIES</h3>Rob Pearson, RW. broken right thumb, indefinite. Dave Poulin, C, sprained left knee, indefinite. &#9632;

Call him captain Hunter

<div class="byline">By Stan Fisctiler</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011364/6728991-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Has Pavel Bure&rsquo;s contract left enough money for his teammates? (Photo by Tim Parker)</figcaption></div>The New York Rangers are 3:1 favorites to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, according to Betting Hockey, a 230-page guide to NHL wagering published in Las Vegas. Author Bobby Bryde told Bluelines he has five reasons for picking the Rangers to take it all again. &ldquo;First,&rdquo; Bryde said,&rdquo;there&rsquo;s Mark Messier. Second, they have the best point tandem in Brian Leetch and Sergei Zubov. Third, they won&rsquo;t face Ranger killer Mario Lemieux. Fourth, the jinx is gone, the pressure is off. Fifth, Mark Messier.&rdquo; Bryde lists the Detroit Red Wings second at 7:1 and the Toronto Maple Leafs third at 8:1. The Ottawa Senators are the longest of long shots to win the Cup at 900:1. The Hartford Whalers are second worst at 100:1&hellip;You have to wonder how long Neil Wilkinson and Tie Domi can co-exist as Winnipeg Jet teammates after their pre-season bout in which Wilkinson broke his thumb. Although it originally was characterized as a fun fight, the clash was anything but, Wilkinson said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how it was for Tie, but I don&rsquo;t throw punches for fun,&rdquo; Wilkinson said. &ldquo;It got pretty serious.&rdquo;&hellip;Hockey&rsquo;s labor versus management war has had an ironic twist for Danton Cole. The Tampa Bay Lightning veteran, on labor&rsquo;s side in this dispute, is on management&rsquo;s side when he&rsquo;s off the ice. Cole owns an engineering firm in Lansing, Mich., with friends and empathizes with club owners. &ldquo;I think all companies have a right to make money,&rdquo; Cole said.<h2>Lack of Capital</h2>Kevin Hatcher&rsquo;s logic-or is it math?-is perplexing. The free-agent defenseman turned down $2.5 million per season with the Washington Capitals for less than $1 million this season to play for the Detroit Vipers of the International League. Which would you pick?&hellip;Peter Sidorkiewicz&rsquo;s career had been given up for dead a year ago because of chronic shoulder problems. But Sidorkiewicz vows he&rsquo;s fit and ready to establish himself again as a regular in the NHL. Sidorkiewicz, who split the season between the Albany River Rats of the American League and the Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL, told Bluelines a trip to the minors turned it around for him. &ldquo;I needed ice time to regain my confidence and show me that the shoulder was no problem,&rdquo; Sidorkiewicz said. &ldquo;I was sent to Fort Wayne and got to play right up to the championship. That&rsquo;s what did it for me.&rdquo;<h2>Don&rsquo;s dilemma</h2>New York Islanders&rsquo; general manager Don Maloney had a tough decision on whether to keep Brett Lindros with the team or send him back for another year of junior with the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario League. Eric&rsquo;s kid brother, who signed a five-year deal with the Isles, was on a constant upward curve during training camp and just as importantly, proved himself to be a great character player. &ldquo;He gives the club a spark on and off the ice,&rdquo; said Islanders&rsquo; head coach Lome Henning. What Lindros needs is precisely what turned Bob Nystrom from a plumber to an indispensible Islander-power skating lessons from Laura Stamm&hellip;The Rangers aren&rsquo;t the only Stanley Cup finalists with salary-mad players. Sergio Momesso of the Vancouver Canucks has been hinting that management has squeezed other players because of Pavel Bure&rsquo;s multi-million dollar deal.<h2>Devil of a time</h2>Picking Kirk Muller as captain of the Montreal Canadiens was a natural move, but it has enormous possibilities of bombing. When Muller wore the &lsquo;C&rsquo; with New Jersey Devils as a 21-year-old, he tended to do too much, try too hard and wound up playing under his potential. Watch out&hellip;People worth rooting for: Mark Tinordi, for his grit; Pat LaFontaine, for his talent; Calle Johansson. for his comeback; and Pat Conacher, for his durability&hellip;Tee-mu Selanne will never be as dominant as he was as a rookie.<h2>Be not afraid</h2>The sleeper among new Russians is Alexander Selivanov of Tampa Bay. If he makes an impact in the NHL, Selivanov will credit Slava Fetisov who jetted with Selivanov from Moscow to New York &ldquo;Slava encouraged me a great deal,&rdquo; Selivanov said. &ldquo;He told me not to be afraid of anybody.&rdquo;&hellip;.1 want to be there when Luc Robitaille skates against Wayne Gretzky for the first time. They&rsquo;re scheduled to meet Oct. 22. &#9632;

f0016-01

Blueshirts favorites for Cup in ’94-95? You bet!

<div class="byline">By Kevin Johnston</div>Hockey players haven&rsquo;t had much to celebrate, but Adam Deadmarsh is an exception.The Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; second first-round selection in the 1993 draft impressed the team so much that he was signed to a three-year contract worth $2.1 million.Even though Deadmarsh showed up to camp at his own expense and was without a contract,&rdquo;it&rsquo;s probably the best move I&rsquo;ve ever made.&ldquo;How can you prove yourself by staying at home and practising with your junior team?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I felt ready for it. And look at what has happened. It&rsquo;s really great to make the NHL when you&rsquo;re only 19.&rdquo;The Nordiques were likely to send Deadmarsh back to the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western League for the duration of the labor dispute. But once it ends, the rugged right winger will be back up for good.&ldquo;Adam is a determined young man,&rdquo; said Nordiques&rsquo; coach Marc Crawford. &ldquo;He deserves to be here with us. He&rsquo;s aggressive and doesn&rsquo;t hesitate to go to his teammates&rsquo; defense. He&rsquo;s all you want in a player.&rdquo;Deadmarsh, who scored 43 goals and 95 points to go with his 212 penalty minutes in Portland, had a goal and four points in seven games and was second on the team with 24 P1M.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still having trouble believing I&rsquo;m here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;To make this team, a team with so many talented players, it&rsquo;s great. This is a team that can go far, very far. And I want to be part of everything good that happens to the Nordiques.&rdquo;SAKIC SOUNDS OFF: The normally reserved Joe Sakic blasted NHL commissioner Gary Bettman over the labor dispute.&ldquo;Gary Bettman doesn&rsquo;t care or not if there is hockey this fall,&rdquo; Sakic said Sept. 28. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t even know the sport he&rsquo;s in charge of. We are led by a man who doesn&rsquo;t even recognize his star players when he sees them.&rdquo;Sakic said this would have been the best time for hockey to carve out an identity in the United States.&ldquo;It was the ideal time to get on the map big-time,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But now we can clearly see the bosses had made up their minds a long time ago.&rsquo;&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Reggie Savage was furious when he was told that he had been assigned to the Cornwall Aces of the American League. &ldquo;Here I am, a French kid from Quebec,&rdquo; Savage said. &ldquo;And (general manager) Pierre Lacroix has been saying since he got here that if he had to choose between two players of equal talent, that he would go for the local flavor. I guess that doesn&rsquo;t hold anymore.&rdquo;<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 26: Reggie Savage, C. Rene Corbet, LW, Dwayne Norris. C, Janne Laukkanen. D. and Jon Klemm, D, assigned to Cornwall (AHL). Sept. 26: Adam Deadmarsh, RW. signed multiyear contract. Sept 29: Garth Snow, G, and Mike Hurtbut, D, assigned to Cornwall.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Mike Ricci. Claude Lapointe.LW&mdash;Wendel Clark, Chns Simon. Vah eri Kamensky. Martin Rucinsky.RW&mdash;Owen Nolan. Andrei Kovalenko, Scott Young, Adam Deadmarsh, lain Fraser, Paul MacDermid.LD&mdash;Steven Finn, Alexei Gusarov, Curtis Leschyshyn.RD&mdash;Uwe Krupp, Sylvain Lefebvre. Craig Wolanin, Adam Foote.G&mdash;Stephane Fiset, Jocelyn Thibault.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bob Bassen, RW. separated nght shoulder, indefinite. David Karpa, D, fractured right west, indefinite. &#9632;

Deadmarsh no deadbeat in camp as rookie signs three-year deal

<div class="byline">By Chris Stevenson</div>Radim Bicanek and Stanislav Neckar represent the future of the Ottawa Senators, the nucleus on their blueline for the next 10 years.That the two of them were denied their rightful place in the NHL by a labor dispute remains a confusing and bewildering thing for Bicanek.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s brutal. It&rsquo;s disappointing, but there&rsquo;s nothing I can do,&rdquo; he said.He unabashedly admits he knows little of the issues.A lockout might as well be something that happens when your keys are in the car and you&rsquo;re not; a salary cap could be something to keep your head warm in February.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know&hellip;that&rsquo;s up to the old guys,&rdquo; said Bicanek, waving one of his hands in the direction of Senators&rsquo; assistant player representative Kerry Huffman, who was being interviewed by a reporter nearby.Bicanek said he figures he has earned a job here and should be on the team when the season starts-whenever that is.&ldquo;I think so. I hope so,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The coach gave me lots of chances to play. Nine games and I played in seven of them. I think I&rsquo;ll stay here. I just keep playing until they tell me not to play anymore.&rdquo;When the players were locked out, Bicanek was sent to the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario League, where he played last season.Neckar, meanwhile, Ottawa&rsquo;s second round pick in the June draft, couldn&rsquo;t agree to terms on a contract and bolted for the Detroit Vipers of the International League.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going on there,&rdquo; said Neckar&rsquo;s agent Rich Winter. &ldquo;I guess we&rsquo;ll talk to (the Senators) organization when they want to win.&rdquo;WELCOME BACK: The Senators recalled defenseman Dmitri Filimonov from the P.E.I. Senators of the American League on the eve of the lockout so they could avoid paying him on his $445,000, one-way contract.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe they did this,&rdquo; said Filimonov&rsquo;s agent, Mark Gandler.Defenseman Darren Rumble, meanwhile, had to be glad he broke his thumb while playing for the farm team or the same thing might have happened to him.He&rsquo;s scheduled to make $300,000 this season on a one-way deal.The Senators, meanwhile, refused to take the team picture Sept. 29.&ldquo;Why should we do something that the team is going to use and promote? There&rsquo;s no use doing that,&rdquo; Brad Shaw said.NOTEBOOK: If the Senators had taken their team photo, disgruntled center Alexei Yashin, who wants to be traded because the club will not renegotiate his contract, would not have been in it. &ldquo;I have to keep my stance,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I put on the uniform for my teammates and the fans. I refuse to do anything on behalf of the team.&rdquo;<h2>OTTAWA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 22: Chad Penney, LW, Michel Picard. LW, Greg Pankewicz. RW, and Dmitri Filimonov. D, assigned to P.E.I. (AHL). Sept. 27: Jean-Francois Labbe. G, assigned to P.E.I. Sept. 29: Radim Bicanek, D. assigned to Belleville (OHL). Filimonov recalled from P.E.I. Stanislav Neckar, D. signed with Detroit (IHL). Sept. 30: Claude Savoie. RW, Pavol Demitra, LW, assigned to P.E.I.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Alexei Yashin, Alexandre Daigle, Troy Murray.LW&mdash;Randy Cunneyworth, Dave Me&middot; Llwain. Sylvain Turgeon, Bill Huard, Claude Boivin.RW&mdash;Pat Elynuik, Scott Levins. Gene Davydov. Dave Archibald.LD&mdash;Kerry Huffman, Jim Paek, Dennis Vial, Chris Dahlquist, Norm Maciver.RD&mdash;Brad Shaw. Sean Hill, Steve Konroyd, Dmitri Filimonov.G&mdash;Craig Billington. Darrin Madeley.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Phil Bourque, LW. fractured vertebrae, Indefinite. Troy MaHette, LW. broken right thumb, indefinite. &#9632;

Bicanek confused by strife

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div>His brethren in the NHL Players&rsquo; Association may be locked out, but not Dale Hawerchuk.He&rsquo;s suspended.The veteran center jumped the gun on commissioner Gary Bettman and the Buffalo Sabres, walking out of camp in a contract dispute just hours before the rest of the players were told the start of the season had been postponed. The issue is money.&ldquo;I said before camp that I wasn&rsquo;t going to report because I felt my deal had been reneged on,&rdquo; Hawerchuk said. &ldquo;Gerry (Sabres&rsquo; executive vice president Meehan) said &lsquo;Look, if you sit out we&rsquo;re not going to negotiate. If you get in, we&rsquo;ll get it done by the end of camp.&rsquo;&rdquo;Hawerchuk, who came to camp entering his option year, claims his contract has been violated by Bettman because he suspended the arbitration process. Hawerchuk said had his case been taken to arbitration, he would have received a mandated one year plus an option. He said Buffalo&rsquo;s latest offer was for one season only.Meehan said Hawerchuk had been offered a one-year deal with an option year, to be at the option of the club, not the player.&ldquo;He could have signed that contract that we offered him at a very high level,&rdquo; Meehan said.Hawerchuk, who reportedly was close to signing a deal earlier in camp, said the Sabres changed the offer.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really disappointed,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not asking for Pat LaFontaine money, I&rsquo;m not asking for Alex Mo-gilny money.&rdquo;Hawerchuk is said to be asking for $6.9 million over three years with an additional $1 million in bonuses.HASEK BACK: Goalie Dominik Hasek returned to camp with a contract extension after a four-day holdout.The 29-year-old received a three-year deal worth about $8 million, but incentives could earn Hasek another $3 million. Hasek was entering his option year.&ldquo;If he has another year like last year,&rdquo; said Hasek&rsquo;s agent, Rich Winter,&rdquo;he will surpass Patrick (Roy) as the highest-paid goaltender in the game.&rdquo;Meanwhile, a reported minor fender bender involving Hasek apparently was a great deal more serious. Police were called to investigate the accident in which Hasek&rsquo;s car reportedly flipped over several times.A police report noted alcohol use, but Hasek was not charged.NOTEBOOK: The Sabres left veteran forward Randy Wood unprotected in the waiver draft and there were indications the Florida Panthers were set to take him before the draft was postponed. Wood, who was a free agent and signed with the Sabres just prior to the scheduled draft, was somewhat surprised by the action, but figured he was deemed expendable so that the Sabres could free dollars to offset Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s contract extension.<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 28: Dominik Hasek, G. signed three-year contract extension. Sept. 30: Date Hawerchuk, C. suspended indefinitely by team. Jason Dawe. RW; Scott Thomas. RW; Victor Gordiouk, LW and Philippe Boucher. D. assigned to Rochester (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pat LaFontaine, Derek Plante, Bob Sweeney. Dave Hannan.LW&mdash;Yuri Khmylev. Craig Simpson. Brad May, Rob Ray, Kevin McLelland.RW&mdash;Alexander Mogilny. Donald Au-dette. Wayne Presley, Randy Wood.LD&mdash;Petr Svoboda, Doug Houda. Ken Sutton.RD&mdash;Doug Bodger, Craig Muni. Richard Srnehlik. Denis Tsygurov.G&mdash;Dominik Hasek, Grant Fuhr.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

Hawerchuk gets jump by walking out of camp

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div>It can be a dirty job and for the past few years nobody has been able to fill it for the Boston Bruins.Jay Miller had it for awhile, then passed it on to Lyndon Byers, who couldn&rsquo;t do it because he was injury prone. Darin Kimble was recruited in 1992-93, but couldn&rsquo;t hold on.After playing last season without an enforcer type, the Boston Bruins think they&rsquo;ve found their man. Marc Potvin, a right winger signed as a free agent June 28, won the position without much of a fight.&ldquo;I feel lucky I was able to come here in the first place,&rdquo; said Potvin, who started last season with the Los Angeles Kings before a trade brought him to the Hartford Whalers. &ldquo;The Bruins have given me a great opportunity.&rdquo;Potvin made the most of his chance in eight exhibition games. As expected, he mixed it up (24 penalty minutes), but he also scored three goals, which tied him with Ray Bourque for second on the team.&ldquo;Why has Marc been given the chance to play so much when maybe some others haven&rsquo;t?&rdquo; coach Brian Sutter said. &ldquo;Because he earned it. Marc works hard. He knows what we expect and works hard to do it.&rdquo;Potvin, a 6-foot-1, 200-pounder, has shown a bit of touch at other levels. He averaged 15 goals over a four-year college career at Bowling Green and had 13 goals and 29 points in 1991-92 for the Adirondack Red Wings of the American League when he was in the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; system.The minor-league years were marked more by stupendous penaltyminute totals-an AHL-leading 365 in 1990-91, 314 more in &rsquo;91-92.&ldquo;The way they&rsquo;ve described my job is to go up and down my wing, finish all my checks and get involved,&rdquo; Potvin said. &ldquo;The days of going out to fight, then sitting in the box are over.&rdquo;SOME PERSPECTIVE: Criticism of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was more subtle in Boston than it was in some other cities and second-year center Bryan Smolinski tried to make some sense of it.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough situation for him,&rdquo; Smolinski said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great businessman and he&rsquo;s known as the man who put the (salary) cap in the NBA, but he doesn&rsquo;t know hockey as well. Up in Canada, he&rsquo;s known as the guy who&rsquo;s going to shut the game down and Canadians don&rsquo;t like that.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the same as if Gordie Howe came down to the U.S. and shut down baseball. Americans wouldn&rsquo;t take too kindly to that.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: A 22-save shutout (18 stops in the first two periods) against the Philadelphia Flyers Sept. 27 gave rookie Blaine Lacher a spot on Boston&rsquo;s final roster. Lacher finished 2-0-1 with a 2.13 goals-against average in four games&hellip;Defenseman Al lafrate remained away from the club, continuing to rehabilitate in Michigan from off-season knee surgery.<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 29: Bill Armstrong, D, Clayton Beddoes. C, Mike Bodnarchuk, RW, Denis Chervyakov, D, Brett Harkins. LW. Fred Knipscheer. C. Daniel Lacroix, LW, Sandy Moger, C, Alex Nikolic. LW. Grigori Panteleev, LW, Jon Pratt. C, Evgeny Ryabchikov, G. Darren Stoik. D, Tim Tookey. C. Phil von StefenelH. D, Jeff WeUs, D, and Sergei Zholtok. C, assigned to Providence (AHL). Kurt Seher, D. assigned to Charlotte (ECHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Adam Oates. Bryan Smolinski, Jozef Stumpel.LW&mdash;Marius Czerkawski, Mikko Makela, Ted Donato. Brent Hughes.RW&mdash;Cam Neeiy, Glen Murray. Steve Leach, Steve Heinze, Marc Potvin.LD&mdash;Don Sweeney, Alexei Kasatonov, John Groden, Jon Rohloti.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque. David Shaw, Jamie Huscrott, Paul Stanton.G&mdash;Vincent Riendeau. Blaine Lacher. John Blue.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Al lafrate, D, left knee surgery, indefinite. Cam Stewart, LW, strained right knee ligament, indefinite. &#9632;

Potvin seizes opportunity and wins without fight

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div>It was decided long ago-about the time the defending Stanley Cup champions were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs-the Montreal Canadiens must become bigger.Still, the Canadiens traditionally have been an organization that doesn&rsquo;t make sweeping changes. But had the regular season started Oct. 1, the Canadiens would have opened the year carrying 27 players-including six newcomers.And even that wouldn&rsquo;t have been enough to appease some fans, since most of the newcomers came from within the organization.Four big forwards made the team, led by 6-foot-6, 240-pound left winger Gerry Fleming. He was joined by Donald Brashear, another left winger who is 6-foot-3 and 214; right winger Turner Stevenson, 6-foot-3 and 200, and center Brian Savage, 6-foot-2 and 191.Bigger, however, didn&rsquo;t necessarily translate into better, with Montreal winning only three of nine pre-season games.Brashear, Stevenson and Savage were expected to be integral parts of the team. But with the start of the season postponed. Brashear and Stevenson were assigned to Montreal&rsquo;s American League affiliate, the Fredericton Canadiens.The two players were visible throughout training camp as management gave them every opportunity to make the team.Brashear led the Canadiens in penalty minutes with 26. He threw his weight around, fought when necessary and scored one goal and three assists, as did Stevenson.&ldquo;What was happening last year was that a few of us would get hit,&rdquo; said Kirk Muller,&rdquo;and that would be followed up with another little shot and a jab. I&rsquo;d be spending a lot of time trying to handle that.&rdquo;But Muller noticed a positive difference after only a few pre-season games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d get the first hit and I&rsquo;d handle that,&rdquo; he said,&rdquo;but there was no follow-up. I think having some size around helped a lot.&rdquo;The other newcomers to Montreal&rsquo;s lineup, defenseman Yves Racine and center Jim Montgomery. came via trades.SCHNEIDER SOUNDS OFF: Canadiens&rsquo; players were largely silent in the weeks leading up to the lockout. But that changed late in training camp when defenseman Mathieu Schneider lashed out at NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.Schneider taped the words &lsquo;Bettman Sucks&rsquo; to his helmet at one practice. Later, he lashed into a verbal barrage, charging Bettman with attempting to destroy the game.&ldquo;The players are fed up,&rdquo; Schneider said. &ldquo;We fought to get where we are. One guy has come in and taken it away. Bettman has got a gun to our head. Any other sport would have laughed at him, like we are. How far is the NHL prepared to see it through? Until they ruin the game?&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Bryan Fogarty would have been exposed in the waiver draft had it not been postponed by the NHL. The Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; first-round choice in 1987, signed by the Canadiens as a free agent late last season, is trying to salvage his career and played better as camp progressed. But he&rsquo;s one of eight veteran rearguards on Montreal and the Canadiens couldn&rsquo;t protect all of them in the waiver draft.Left winger Gilbert Dionne made the final roster despite not playing in any pre-season games due to a bruised hip and pulled groin.<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 30: Donald Brashear, LW. and Turner Stevenson. RW, assigned to Fredericton (AHL)<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;John LeClair, Kirk Muller. Brian Savage, Jim Montgomery, Paul DiPietro.LW&mdash;Vincent Damphousse, Pierre Sevigny. Gerry Fleming, Benoit Brunet, Mario Roberge.RW&mdash;Mike Keane. Brian Bellows, Oleg Petrov, Ed Ronan.LD&mdash;Yves Racine, Mathieu Schneider, Peter Popovic. Jean-Jacques Daigneault.RD&mdash;Eric Desjardins, Lyle Odelein, Patrice Brisebois, Bryan Fogarty.G&mdash;Patrick Roy. Ron Tugnutt.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Gilbert Dionne, LW, pulled groin, indefinite. &#9632;

Bigger, stronger, but better?

<div class="byline">By Viv Bernstein</div>Andrew Cassels has been the Hartford Whalers top center since John Cullen was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in November. 1992. But last season, being No. 1 took on new meaning.Cassels not only was the top offensive center, he was the No. 1 checking center, the No. 1 center on the power play and one of the top penalty killers. For Cassels, it might have been one too many jobs. He dropped to 58 points after scoring 86 points in 1992-93.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I had a bad year,&rdquo; Cassels said. &ldquo;It just seemed like I was doing a lot of checking against their No. 1 lines and a lot of nights, I was more worried about defending instead of maybe trying to be offensive.&rdquo;Whalers&rsquo; coach Paul Holmgren wants to ease the load this season and has great expectations for his center. Cassels won&rsquo;t be asked to check the opponents&rsquo; top line as often and probably will see less time penalty killing.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s one of the most underrated centers and one of the most underrated playmakers,&rdquo; Holmgren said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve compared him to Doug Gilmour. He&rsquo;s competitive like Gilmour, he&rsquo;s smart like Gilmour defensively and he&rsquo;s gifted offensively&rdquo;Cassels hopes the addition of free-agent center Jimmy Carson and a healthy Darren Turcotte will relieve some pressure.&ldquo;In a lot of situations last year, if (our line) didn&rsquo;t get a couple of goals, we weren&rsquo;t going to win,&rdquo; Cassels said. &ldquo;We have a lot of guys who could be 20-goal scorers. Hopefully, we&rsquo;ll have five or six of them this year.&rdquo;Holmgren plans to use Cassels playing between Pat Verbeek and Geoff Sanderson on a Russian-style five-man unit that will include defensemen Glen Wesley and Chris Pronger.MOMENTUM ON HOLD: In light of the lockout, ESPN2 declared the Whalers Stanley Cup champions for the 1994-95 season. The Whalers were 5-1-1 in the pre-season.&ldquo;So many good things were happening,&rdquo; said general manager Jim Rutherford. &ldquo;The other part I feel good about is the togetherness of our team and the work that went into training camp by the players and the coaching staff.&ldquo;As excited as I am about getting things going, I&rsquo;m not excited about losing money.&rdquo;Rutherford projects the Whalers could lose between $8-10 million this season, which is why he said he supports commissioner Gary Bettman&rsquo;s decision to postpone the start of the season until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.The layoff isn&rsquo;t easy on anyone, though.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s brutal,&rdquo; Geoff Sanderson said. &ldquo;Practising, working out. getting ready for the past month and it&rsquo;s all shut down. We did everything for nothing.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Rookie defenseman Marek Malik won a job with the Whalers, but was sent to the Springfield Falcons of the American League when the start of the season was postponed&hellip;Center Igor Chibirev. who has asked for a trade, was suspended when he did not report to Springfield.<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept 27: Robert Petrovicky. C, Igor Chibirev. C. Jim Agnew, D. and John Stevens. D, assigned to Springfield (AHL). Sept 29: Lyndon Byers, RW, released Sept. 30: Marek Malik. D. assigned to Springfield. Chibirev suspended without pay for failing to report to Springfield.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Andrew Cassels. Darren Turcotte, Jimmy Carson. Mark Janssens.LW&mdash;Geoff Sanderson. Andrei Nikolishin, Robert Kron. Ted Drury, Paul Ranheim, Jim StormRW&mdash;Pat Verbeek. Jim Sandlak, Jocetyn Lemieux. Steve Rice.LD&mdash;Chris Pronger. Alexander Godynyuk, Frantisek Kucera.RD&mdash;Glen Wesley. Adam Burt. Brad McCrimmonG&mdash;Sean Burke, Jeff Reese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jeff Chychrun, D, concussion, indefinite Kevin Smyth, LW. left thumb surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Hopes high for Cassels to out together big year

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div>The postponement to the start of the 1994-95 season delayed a great irony in Pittsburgh. It is all but guaranteed, when NHL play resumes, that Ron Francis will inherit Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s position as captain of the Penguins.That means he will be the designated leader of a team coached by a man, Ed Johnston, who was general manager of the Hartford Whalers when then-Whalers&rsquo; coach Rick Ley stripped Francis of his captaincy during the 1990-91 season. Johnston traded Francis to Pittsburgh later that season in a deal that is still reviled in Hartford.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a funny game, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo; Francis said.For his part, Johnston tried to distance himself from the events in Hartford.&ldquo;I was in a different role as general manager in Hartford,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;Few people know the circumstances of what happened there and why it did happen.&rdquo;When the lockout began, the Penguins had not formally named Francis captain, nor even acknowledged anyone will wear the *C.&rsquo; Still, Johnston agreed it is all but guaranteed Pittsburgh will have a captain and added,&rdquo;That won&rsquo;t be too hard of a decision to make.&rdquo;When Johnston ran through the qualities he is seeking in a captain, it sounded as if he were reading from Francis&rsquo; biography.&ldquo;I want a guy who leads by example,&rdquo; Johnston said,&rdquo;a hard worker who the players look up to. A guy who, when he says something in the room, they pay attention. A guy who does everything, on and off the ice, for us.&rdquo;Francis, typically, downplayed the impact he would have as captain, citing the number of accomplished veterans with whom he works.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s probably not as important on this club as on a lot of clubs because we&rsquo;ve got a lot of great leaders in our locker room,&rdquo; he said.WHAT LOCKOUT?: The lockout took effect more than 30 hours before Pittsburgh&rsquo;s scheduled home-opener, but that didn&rsquo;t keep the Penguins from taking to the ice against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Civic Arena Oct. 1. Kind of.The Penguins were there that night, all right, and so was a team wearing Blackhawks&rsquo; uniforms. The catch is, the players inside the Chicago sweaters play for the Cleveland Lumbeijacks of the International League, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s farm team, and their game didn&rsquo;t generate any highlights. Just a few movie scenes.Howard Baldwin, the Penguins&rsquo; chairman of the board, is producing a movie called Sudden Death, set against the backdrop of a Stanley Cup final between Pittsburgh and Chicago. He had hoped to use footage from the opener in the film, but had to recruit players for game scenes when the lockout delayed the start of the season.Penguins&rsquo; player representative Larry Murphy got approval from the NHL Players&rsquo; Association and players taking part in the movie were paid an undisclosed sum.NOTEBOOK: The Penguins sent center Len Barrie and defenseman Chris Tamer to Cleveland the day the lockout was announced, but both figure to rejoin the Penguins when season begins. Barrie, 25, was particularly impressive in training camp.<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 26: Richard Park. C. returned to Belleville (OHL). Sept. 29: Ian Moran, D. Paul Dyck. D. Patrick Neaton. D. Joe Dziedzic. LW. and Olie Sundstrom. G. assigned to Cleveland (IHL). Sept. 30: Len Barrie. C, Chris Tamer, D, and Brian Farrell, LW. assigned to Cleveland.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ron Francis. John Cullen, Martin Straka.LW&mdash;Luc Robitaille, Kevin Stevens, Shawn McEachern, Jim McKenzie.RW&mdash;Jaromir Jagr, Joe Mullen. Tomas Sandstrom. Doug Brown. Markus Naslund.LD&mdash;UIf Samuelsson. Grant Jennings, Greg Hawgood.RD&mdash;Larry Murphy, Kjell Samuelsson. Peter Taglianetti. Greg Brown.G&mdash;Tom Barrasso, Ken Wregget.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

Francis shoo-in for captain once season begins

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01919/6729197-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="382" height="532"></div>Impertinent thoughts on pertinent topics:&#9633; For the second year in a row, the San Jose Sharks are better than the Los Angeles Kings. Some reasons? Dean Lombardi in the front office plus Viktor Kozlov, Jeff Friesen, Pat Falloon, Tom Pederson and Vlastimil Kroupa who have the potential for being one of the NHL&rsquo;s best young units. I expect career years from Jeff Norton and the league&rsquo;s sixth-most underrated player, Ulf Dahlen.&#9633; The anti-Bettman camp&rsquo;s favorite rap against the commissioner is that he&rsquo;s a &ldquo;New York lawyer.&rdquo; So, why wasn&rsquo;t the expression hurled at John Ziegler, also a New York lawyer, by way of Detroit? Answer: Ziegler isn&rsquo;t Jewish.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02616/6729190-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="573" height="967"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith Tkachuk</figcaption></div>&#9633; If Bettman handed Bob Goodenow the Declaration of Independence as a league compromise, what do you bet the NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director would study it and reply,&rdquo;It still comes out salary cap.&rdquo;&#9633; There is a new Ulf Samuelsson and his name is Mattias Norstrom. For his sake, let&rsquo;s hope the New York Rangers&rsquo; defenseman survives as long as his Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; counterpart. He will if he learns to keep his stick down for half a game.&#9633; The St. Louis Blues will discover they lost the Petr Nedved for Esa Tikkanen-Doug Lidster deal by about five miles and 10 years.Nedved and Alexei Kovalev will be the NHL&rsquo;s best one-two offensive combo in a year.&#9633; I liked Pat Bums better before he went Hollywood.&#9633; Seriously, is Alexandre Daigle good enough to make the Detroit Vipers? I mean their second line.&#9633; Let&rsquo;s face it, the bottom line on Mark Messier&rsquo;s holdout was that he figured his summer vacation was too short. The sooner Messier signed, the faster his sabbatical would end.&#9633; Did you ever notice hockey labor negotiations are much like a National Basketball Association game? The first 99 per cent of the time is wasted. You only have to wake up for the final minutes for something to happen.&#9633; Ron Hextali&rsquo;s return to the Philadelphia Flyers is the most interesting experiment of the season. Hex-tall, through the whole, ugly 1993-94 mess, remained the ultimate team player, thoroughly respected in the New York Islanders&rsquo; dressing room. If Hextall turns it around in Philly, Bob Clarke is executive of the year. If not, it was still a worthwhile reclamation project.&#9633; Brett Hull labeling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch &ldquo;garbage&rdquo; shows his acute ignorance of both math and diplomacy. The Post-Dispatch is the only daily in town, so you can&rsquo;t win taking them on. That is, unless Mike Keenan buys a newspaper of his own which, at his salary, is entirely possible.&#9633; Mike Vernon had better learn in a great, big hurry not to keep the Detroit media waiting 25 minutes for anything. Least of all explanations about a loss.&#9633; Mike Milbury really should be an NHL coach. The problem is he&rsquo;s going to be such a good TV analyst, Milbury will wind up like his pal Don Cherry, not wanting ever to go back behind a bench again.&#9633; The Los Angeles Kings protected Pat Conacher and the Tampa Bay Lightning left Adam Creighton unprotected. You bet there&rsquo;s a message there: Keep the motor running at all times. For verification, check with Gaetan Duchesne.&#9633; If Keith Tkachuk played alongside Mark Messier, he would be better than Adam Graves. Maybe he is already.&#9633; Ten Best smiles in hockey: 1. Glenn Healy; 2. Luc Robitaille; 3. Mathieu Schneider; 4. Pat LaFontaine; 5. Jacques Lemaire; 6. Garry Galley; 7. Craig Wolanin; 8. Brendan Shanahan; 9. Marc Bergevin; 10. Tie Domi. Glen Sather just missed because his is a smirk.The best four-letter word to describe this thing called postponement: Dumb. &#9632;

f0024-01

Sharks still best team in California

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div>The scent of victory, only two years removed, lingers in the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; dressing room and to Luc Robitaille it made the trip due east from Lotusland all the more worthwhile.Over eight NHL campaigns with the Los Angles Kings, Robitaille, 28, has witnessed victory and defeat in almost identical measures. In the span of Robitaille&rsquo;s career, the Kings went four games under.500 and won six of 13 playoff series.Statistically, Robitaille&rsquo;s career has been anything but mediocre. His 63-goal 1992-1993 performance is the standard for left wingers and he has averaged 49 goals per season.But if winning really is the only thing that lasts, Robitaille&rsquo;s ascension from the ninth round of the 1984 draft really has been nothing more than a rollicking annual trip around the exact same block. If that was ever enough, it isn&rsquo;t anymore.Like the kid from the wrong side of the tracks, Robitaille, acquired by the Penguins for right winger Rick Tocchet and a second-round draft choice, has never forgotten the low regard he garnered entering the league. Now, firmly tenured with seven first-or second-team all-star selections, he wants more.&ldquo;Being drafted in the ninth round meant I always wanted to prove I belonged,&rdquo; Robitaille said. &ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s not about doing better. It&rsquo;s about winning something.&rdquo;That hunger was satisfied in part by a win at the World Championships last spring. Robitaille cap tained Canada&rsquo;s first title team in 33 years and won the gold medal with a goal in the shootout.&ldquo;Winning that tournament meant a lot to all of us,&rdquo; Robitaille said,&rdquo;but it was no Stanley Cup.&rdquo;Obscured by his easy manner and unlined face is the fact Luc Robitaille is a durable, often chippy presence. He has bettered 80 minutes in penalties four times and reached the century mark in 1993.Robitaille shuffled through the last four months of last season with a broken right ankle. The injury went undiscovered until an MRI test after the worlds and Robitaille underwent off-season surgery to correct the problem.&ldquo;The reason I&rsquo;m in the NHL isn&rsquo;t because of my talent,&rdquo; Robitaille said. &ldquo;I love to play and I love to play to win. It&rsquo;s not like I&rsquo;m tearing people apart, but I&rsquo;ll do anything to win.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03399/6729228-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="963" height="1953"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kings&rsquo; fan favorite Luc Robitaille didn&rsquo;t leave L.A. on great terms. (Photo by C.J. Relke)</figcaption></div>Not everyone agrees. Of Robitaille&rsquo;s 86 points last season, just 26 were scored on the road. And most stinging to Robitaille about the trade from Los Angeles was Kings&rsquo; coach Barry Melrose&rsquo;s assessment that the club lacked grit.&ldquo;For him to come out and say that, it bothered me,&rdquo; Robitaille said. &ldquo;I would be lying if I said it didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s kind of squirrely,&rdquo; said an NHL scout. &ldquo;Sometimes, he&rsquo;ll run a defenseman. Sometimes he doesn&rsquo;t play the body at all, sometimes he slashes a defenseman&rsquo;s arms. He&rsquo;s very unpredictable and that makes him dangerous.&rdquo;&ldquo;I talked to Brian Burke who was in Vancouver when they had all those series with Los Angeles,&rdquo; said Penguins&rsquo; coach Ed Johnston. &ldquo;They tried everything, run him one way or the other, but every night, he was their best player.&rdquo;Robitaille&rsquo;s passing from Los Angeles wasn&rsquo;t without acrimony. He was critical of Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s role in acquiring Tocchet. In the wake of the trade, Tocchet said he had been told by Gretzky in the summer the club was interested in him.&ldquo;Everybody knows a good management team will ask their player what they think of a player,&rdquo; Robitaille said,&rsquo;&rdquo;but if it&rsquo;s to the point where players make decisions, I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s right.&rdquo;The deal made sense for Pittsburgh on several levels. Contract talks with Tocchet&rsquo;s agent Steve Mountain were fruitless. The loss of Mario Lemieux for the season and two consecutive playoff losses nudged the Penguins to the perimeter of the league&rsquo;s elite teams and a personnel shakeup was needed. Kevin Stevens, returning from extensive surgery to his face and skull, turned in a credible 41-goal, 88-point season, but the severity of the injury and a sub-par playoff reinforced the need to prop up the team&rsquo;s left flank.Robitaille&rsquo;s chances for the game&rsquo;s ultimate reward are inexorably linked to the return of Lemieux. The Penguins not only acquired Robitaille to play with his friend Lemieux, but to perhaps draw him back to the game.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure that was a consideration (in acquiring Robitaille), Johnston said. &ldquo;We hope when Mario feels good, he&rsquo;ll look at it that way and say, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve got a chance to go back to play with Jaromir Jagr and Luc.&rsquo; That may be a little more incentive.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-03

Greatness or bust

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecklng</div>Veteran Peter Stastny was as surprised as anyone when the St. Louis Blues protected him in the waiver draft that ultimately was postponed.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m on the list that&rsquo;s protected?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect this at all. Why would they protect me?&rdquo;A logical question considering his age (38) and contract (two years at $1 million per season).&ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost an honor to be protected,&rdquo; Stastny said.Blues&rsquo; general manager and coach Mike Keenan was happy to hear that.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad he feels that way,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;We feel very positive about him.&rdquo;In the Blues&rsquo; final pre-season game, Stastny scored the tying goal in a 3-3 tie with the Winnipeg Jets.&ldquo;He demonstrated he can still play hockey pretty well,&rdquo; Keenan said.Stastny never doubted that, even though others did. There was a suspicion his contract was a sham to enable him to clear waivers and join the Blues late last season. It was believed Stastny would retire after the season and the Blues wouldn&rsquo;t owe him a dime.&ldquo;I knew I&rsquo;d come back,&rdquo; said Stastny, about to enter his 15th season. &ldquo;I have three basic conditions to keep playing. I have to be healthy, I have to produce results and I need to be motivated. If any of these three are not there, it would be the end of my career and I&rsquo;d walk away with a smile on my face.&rdquo;KEENAN CALL: Mike Keenan called on NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Bob Good-enow Oct. 1 to &ldquo;stop the nonsense, set aside their egos, get on with the business at hand and get the job done.&rdquo;&ldquo;I hope Mr. Goodenow and Mr. Bettman realize what an opportunity they have to come out of this in a positive light,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;This is no time to be posturing or focusing on strategy.&rdquo;As far as the break, Keenan will use the time to familiarize himself with players in the organization and get settled in St. Louis. Because of his 60-day NHL-imposed suspension after he signed with the Blues, Keenan could not so much as set up an office before Sept. 24.&ldquo;In terms of catch-up time, it helps alleviate the pressures we were under because of the suspension,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to see some of our top junior players. I&rsquo;d like to see the team in Peoria. I can get organized and help prepare our season here.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The day before the start of the season was postponed, the Blues sent Ian Laperriere and Dan Laperriere to the Peoria Rivermen of the International League in a move that Mike Keenan said was precipitated by the uncertainty of the NHL&rsquo;s labor situation.<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 28: Dan Laperriere, D, and Ian Laperriere, C, assigned to Peoria (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Craig Janney, Guy Carbonneau. Esa Tikkanen. Peter Stastny, Greg Parks, Igor Korolev.LW&mdash;Brendan Shanahan, Kevin Miller. Vitali Prokhorov. Philippe Bozon. Craig Johnson. Tony Twist Basil McRae.RW&mdash;Brett HuH. Denny Felsner, Denis Chasse, Kelly Chase, Vitafi Karamnov.LD&mdash;Steve Duchesne. Murray Baron, Bill Houlder.RD&mdash;AI Maclnnis, Rick Zombo, Doug Lidster. Tom Tilley.G&mdash;Curtis Joseph. Jon Casey.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

Motivated Stastny ‘can still play hockey pretty well’ at 38

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div>Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; general manager Bob Pulford is tired of hearing people within the Detroit Red Wings organization second guess his team for its handling of Bob Probert.Wings&rsquo; senior vice-president Jimmy Devellano ripped into Hawks&rsquo; coach Darryl Sutter not long ago for a critical comment Sutter made about the direction the Wings gave Probert in his time there. Devellano leveled another blast Sept. 25.When told Probert still hadn&rsquo;t started his league-ordered substance abuse treatment program, Devellano pointed the finger at the Hawks and chastised them for thinking they could do what the Red Wings couldn&rsquo;t in nine years.&ldquo;It sounds familiar,&rdquo; Devellano said. &ldquo;Nothing is ever easy with this guy. You always have to disrupt your team. That&rsquo;s why Darryl Sutter was such an ignoramus to say such things.&ldquo;They signed him in July and had all this time to straighten him out and still haven&rsquo;t done it. It&rsquo;s sad. It goes to show you how troubled this guy is. They&rsquo;re completely naive.&rdquo;That brought an angry response from Pulford.&ldquo;Devellano doesn&rsquo;t know what he&rsquo;s talking about,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;If he had taken time to consult people, Bob Probert might not be in the trouble he is now.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious they quit on him,&rdquo; Sutter said.According to Pulford, doctors at the ASAP Family Treatment Center in Van Nuys, Calif., where Probert will attend, have told the Hawks they don&rsquo;t want him to begin until they&rsquo;re convinced a proper aftercare program has been established in Chicago.Probert still hadn&rsquo;t started his rehab as of Oct. 1.&ldquo;When he&rsquo;s ready to go into rehab the doctors will decide, not the Blackhawks,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;If he can play this year, fine. If he can&rsquo;t, that&rsquo;s fine too. Our purpose is to try and help the young man to live a productive life.&ldquo;That was the trouble with Detroit. They only worried about him playing hockey. We&rsquo;re doing it the right way. People might not believe what we&rsquo;re saying, but it&rsquo;s fact.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01854/6729307-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="572" height="676"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Chelios apologized for his threatening comments.</figcaption></div>Once Probert does begin the rehab, he will be in the program for a minimum of 28 days.CHELIOS UPROAR: Hawks&rsquo; legal counsel Gene Gozdecki didn&rsquo;t expect Chris Chelios to face any disciplinary action from the NHL for his controversial comments about commissioner Gary Bettman.&ldquo;We have no such expectations,&rdquo; Gozdecki said. &ldquo;Chelios apologized to Mr. Bettman, to the league and to (Hawks&rsquo; owner) Mr. Bill Wirtz.&rdquo;Chelios could be fined up to $50,000 by the league for his words, although a suspension was unlikely.He said after practice Sept. 28 that if he was Bettman he would &ldquo;be worried about my family, about my wellbeing right now.&rdquo;&ldquo;After 11 years in the league you think I would have learned,&rdquo; Chelios said. &ldquo;But it got down to my livelihood. I felt I was being threatened. I just made a mistake.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Players declined management&rsquo;s offer for use of the United Center for workouts during the lockout. Instead they practised at a suburban rink partly owned by Jeremy Roenick. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t need their ice,&rdquo; Roenick said&hellip;Christian Ruuttu missed all of camp after having a bad reaction to medication he was taking for a urinary infection. His temperature hit 106 degrees.Darryl Sutter was angry at the league for postponing the waiver draft after making clubs announced protected lists. &ldquo;That was very poor management on the part of the NHL,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;What do you tell those guys who are out there hanging?&rdquo; Ruuttu, Rich Sutter and Jeff Hackett were among Hawks left unprotected.<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 30: Ivan Droppa, D. Steve Dubinsky. LW, Sergei Krivokrasov, LW. Jeff Shantz, C. and Christian Soucy, G. assigned to Indianapolis (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Jeremy Roenick, Bernie Nicholls, Brent Sutter, Christian Ruuttu.LW&mdash;Patrick Poulin. Paul Ysebaert. Brent Grieve, Rich Sutter.RW&mdash;Tony Amonte, Joe Murphy. Dirk Graham, Darin Ktmble.LD&mdash;Gary Suter. Steve Smith, Cam Russell. Keith CarneyRD&mdash;Chris Chelios, Eric Wetnrich. Greg Smyth.G&mdash;Ed Belfour, Jeff Hackett.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tony Horacek, pulled ribs, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0027-01

Probert front and center of adversarial squabble

<div class="byline">By Mike Heika</div>The promising career of Dallas Stars&rsquo; defenseman Richard Matvichuk is on hold.Matvichuk tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee Sept. 25 in a pre-season game with the Edmonton Oilers at Reunion Arena. He is expected to be out six to eight months and coach-general manager Bob Gainey said he feels more comfortable putting Matvichuk on the shelf until next September.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d look at having a 12-month period where he has to get himself here on the first of September next year in great shape,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;I think we have to overcome the medical problems, then we&rsquo;ll have a hockey player we can work with.&rdquo;The injury comes at a time when the 21-year-old Matvichuk seemed ready to make a giant step. He was rushed into the lineup in 1992-93 when Stars&rsquo; captain Mark Tinordi broke his collarbone. He spent most of last season at the Stars&rsquo; International League affiliate, the Kalamazoo Wings, but was called up when Tinordi broke his leg. Both times he was called up, he struggled.This season, Gainey had plans for Matvichuk. He was bringing the offensive defenseman along slowly. The dividends may not have been realized this year, but Gainey&rsquo;s system-which has nurtured the careers of Mike Modano and Derian Hatcher-was aimed at Matvichuk this season. He was the primary project and one Gainey felt confident would be ready to make significant contributions by the second half.Now, Matvichuk will have to concentrate on improving his health.&ldquo;I was looking at this as the first stepping stone in my career and that stepping stone, or mountain, just got higher,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just going to have to climb over it. And once I do, it&rsquo;ll be all downhill.&rdquo;ON VACATION: The delay to the start of the season left the Stars&rsquo; players with few ice time options.North Texas has one NHL-sized rink, the one the Stars use as a practice facility. There are several smaller rinks in malls, but most already are packed with youth hockey leagues and open skating.However, Stars&rsquo; officials have said they will open their rink to players at any time, as they did in the summer. StarCenter, located adjacent to the Dallas Cowboys&rsquo; training facility in a part of Irving called Valley Ranch is undergoing a $4.5-million remodeling project and has served as home to the Stars&rsquo; practices.Management is scheduled to move all operations into the building in November.Goalie Andy Moog, vice-president of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, said the Stars don&rsquo;t have plans to skate as a group, but may schedule something closer to the proposed start pf the season.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Mike McPhee chose the perfect time to have arthroscopic knee surgery Sept. 28. Stars trainer Dave Surprenant said he expects McPhee would be ready for Dallas&rsquo; scheduled Oct. 15 game with the Ottawa Senators at Reunion Arena&hellip;Bob Gainey used the 15-day delay to send left winger Mike Kennedy to Kalamazoo and rookie center Todd Harvey to the Detroit Jr. Red Wings of the Ontario League. Both may return to the Stars this season.<h2>DALLAS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 30: Mike Kennedy, LW, assigned to Kalamazoo (IHL). Todd Harvey, C, returned to Detroit (OHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mika Modano, Peter Zezei, Neal Broten. Dean Evason.LW&mdash;Trent Klatt. Dave Gagner, Brent Gilchrist, Alan May.RW&mdash;Jarkko Varvio, Russ Courtnail, Paul Broten, Shane Churla.LD&mdash;Mark Tinordi. Derian Hatcher, Craig Ludwig.RD&mdash;Grant Ledyard, Paul Cavallim, Doug ZmolekG&mdash;Andy Moog. Darcy Wakaluk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Richard Matvichuk, D. tom left knee ligaments, out for season. Mike McPhee, LW, arthroscopic knee surgery, day-to-day. &#9632;

Matvichuk out until 1995-96

<div class="byline">By Keith Gave</div>In a move that speaks volumes for the new order of business in Detroit and around the NHL, the Detroit Red Wings left goalie Bob Essensa unprotected in the waiver draft as a way of getting rid of his $1.2-million salary.The decision came a few days after coach Scotty Bowman insisted he wasn&rsquo;t going to just give away players with value. Also available on Detroit&rsquo;s waiver list was injured defenseman Sergei Bautin, recovering from a knee injury.Essensa and Bautin were acquired last March 8 from the Winnipeg Jets for goalie Tim Cheveldae and center Dallas Drake. The waiver draft was postponed pending negotiations between the NHL and the players&rsquo; association.Bowman described the club&rsquo;s decision regarding Essensa as &ldquo;strictly financial.&rdquo; The Wings tried to trade him, but found little interest because teams felt his salary was prohibitive.That Essensa is the odd-man out of the Wings&rsquo; goaltending plans comes as no surprise to him. Bowman made it clear he didn&rsquo;t feel he could win with Essensa when he traded defenseman Steve Chiasson to the Calgary Flames for goalie Mike Vernon in the off-season. Chris Osgood, who as a rookie proved more reliable in the playoffs last spring, will be Vernon&rsquo;s backup.&ldquo;I knew something had to give,&rdquo; Essensa said. &ldquo;The prospects of playing third fiddle aren&rsquo;t that appealing. At the same time you hate to leave because there&rsquo;s some unfinished business to attend to here.&rdquo;DOUBLE TROUBLE: Few have been as hard hit as Wings&rsquo; owner Mike Hitch in today&rsquo;s sports labor revolution.More than a month before the hockey season was postponed by an owners&rsquo; lockout, the baseball season ended when players went on strike. Hitch also owns the Detroit Tigers. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s double jeopardy. It&rsquo;s not a fun game,&rdquo; Hitch said.While labor problems are frustrating. Hitch accepts them as a fact of business life.&ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t soured me on sports,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s part of our economic system. Businesses have problems and labor problems are not unusual.&rdquo;The problem, Hitch said, is ever-escalating salaries and it&rsquo;s no different in Detroit.&ldquo;Our payroll has gone up $6 million this year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Where&rsquo;s the money going to come from? The poor fans keep being taxed.&rdquo;Clearly Hitch, who always has described himself as a fan, is getting exasperated.&ldquo;If a player is entitled to make $7 million, isn&rsquo;t the owner entitled to make a million or two? What I&rsquo;d like to ask the players is, &lsquo;What can we work out, because we&rsquo;re bleeding. Let&rsquo;s do something for the game, for the fans, or we&rsquo;re going to price ourselves out of business.&rsquo; We&rsquo;re asking for help.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Five Wings were among more than 100 players in attendance at an Oct. 1 briefing in Toronto by their union leadership. Defenseman Terry Carkner, the Wings&rsquo; player rep, was accompanied by teammates Steve Yzerman, Paul Coffey. Bob Rouse and Greg Johnson. &ldquo;It was excellent,&rdquo; Carkner said. &ldquo;If you didn&rsquo;t feel comfortable before, you feel comfortable now because you know they&rsquo;re trying to do what&rsquo;s best for the game.&rdquo;<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept 29: Aaron Ward, D. and Craig Martin. RW. assigned to Adirondack (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Sergei Fedorov, Keith Primeau. Kris Draper, Greg Johnson. Mike Sitlinger.LW&mdash;Slava Kozlov. Shawn Burr, Mike Krushelnyski, Tim Taylor, Micah Aivazofi.RW&mdash;Dino Ciccarelli. Ray Sheppard, Martin Lapointe, Darren McCarty.LD&mdash;Paul Coffey, Nicklas Lidstr&ouml;m, Mark Howe, Mike Ramsey. Terry Carkner.RD&mdash;Vladimir Konstantinov. Bob Rouse. Bob Halkidis. Jason York.G&mdash;Mike Vernon, Chris Osgood. Bob Essensa.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Sergei Bautin, D, tom left knee ligaments, indefinite. Steve Yzerman, C, back surgery, day-to-day. &#9632;

Essensa odd-goalie out, but who can afford him?

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>The more they&rsquo;re together, the better things will be for the Winnipeg Jets.Keith Tkachuk, Alexei Zhamnov and Teemu Selanne will be the punch line to any story about the Jets this season. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s anybody who can convince me that those three shouldn&rsquo;t play together,&rdquo; said Jets&rsquo; coach-general manager John Paddock.Selanne, Tkachuk and Zhamnov can do little about the passes and shots their fellow forwards make, but they&rsquo;re hoping Paddock finds enough balance and depth among his other forwards that he won&rsquo;t be forced to break them up.If Paddock can trade for a second-line center and get reasonable scoring contributions from the likes of Nelson Emerson, Thomas Steen, Dallas Drake, Darrin Shannon, Sheldon Kennedy and Russ Romaniuk, there will be less temptation to take Tkachuk out of the mix to spread the offensive balance through his lineup.&ldquo;I like center, but I think I&rsquo;m a left winger,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;I broke into the league as a left winger, a power forward who has a style going up and down. I don&rsquo;t want to get too caught up in the circling game that you need at center.&rdquo;Given just a little freedom on a sheet of ice, the trio can do heavy damage, as seen recently in Finland.Selanne strutted his deadly aim and uncanny opportunism, Tkachuk was virtually unstoppable around the net and Zhamnov&rsquo;s back tune-up has his engine purring beautifully.Tkachuk would rather stay put with Selanne and Zhamnov.&ldquo;Sure I do,&rdquo; Tkachuke said. &ldquo;If it was any indication the way we played in Europe, it could be a fun year if we all stay healthy.&rdquo;&lsquo;NO PRACTICE: The Jets played their final two pre-season games on home ice, Sept. 26 against the St. Louis Blues and Sept. 27 against the Vancouver Canucks. Before the first game and after the second, the Jets shook hands in a show of solidarity with their opponents, much to the displeasure of Winnipeg Arena fans.Some displeased spectators even threw things after the Jet-Canuck handshakes.And with the situation looking grim on the labor front, John Paddock dropped plans for on-ice practices Sept. 28 and 29, running his club through off-ice workouts only.&ldquo;The way things look, there really isn&rsquo;t much point,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;Our game was very poor (against Vancouver). Obviously there are a lot of distractions. And the one thing we don&rsquo;t want to risk with a practice on the ice is an injury.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: By the time the lockout started, the Jets had 25 players remaining on the roster, including injured defensemen Neil Wilkinson and Dave Manson&hellip;If the season&rsquo;s start is in fact delayed until Oct. 15, the Jets would lose three road and three home dates. The postponement, however, would give Winnipeg five of its first six games at home if the season does begin on Oct. 15, a positive factor since the club is desperate to get off to a good start after its 57-point season of a year ago.<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 29: John LeBlanc, LW. assigned to Springfield (AHL). Mike O&rsquo;Neill, G. assigned to Fort Wayne (IHL). Deren Quint. D, assigned to Seattle (WHL). Sept 30: Michal Grosek. RW, assigned to Springfield.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Aiexei Zhamnov. Dallas Drake, Thomas Steen, Randy Gilhen, Mike Eagles, Luciano Borsato.LW&mdash;Keith Tkachuk. Darrin Shannon, Russ Romaniuk, Kris King.RW&mdash;Teemu Selanne, Nelson Emerson. Sheldon Kennedy, Tie Domi.RD&mdash;Teppo Numminen, Stephane Quintal, Dean Kennedy. Arto Blomsten.LD&mdash;lgor Ulanov, Darryl Shannon, Brent Thompson.G&mdash;Tim Chevefdae, Stephane Beauregard.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dave Manson, D. groin puh, Oct 15. Wayne Mc-Bean, left wrist surgery, indefinite. Neil Wilkinson, D. &#9632;

Breaking up would be hard to do for terrific trio

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01787/6729424-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01890/6729417-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="3065" height="3481"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01822/6729410-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="3113" height="3499"></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

SCOREBOARD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01883/6729455-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rochester center Todd Simon had eight points in his first two games. (Photo by Alex Cutrone)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01800/6729486-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">AHL veteran Jim Hrivnak won his first career IHL game.Left winger Rob Brown scored two goals in two Phoenix setbacks. (Photo by Mel Baley)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By Andy Baggot</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01890/6729517-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tampa Bay draft choice Brent Peterson is Michigan Tech&rsquo;s top returning goal man. (Photo by Ross Dettman)</figcaption></div>If there was a moral to the story of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association season in 199394 it was this: There are no guarantees.Wisconsin and Colorado College offered the best examples of that.Wisconsin was the unanimous pre-season choice of opposing coaches to win the Mac-Naughton Cup and was expected to challenge for its sixth national title, but a suspect attitude within the ranks led to a third-place finish and an ouster in the National Collegiate Athletic Association quarterfinals.Colorado College, meanwhile, won its first regular-season crown since 1957, but was upset in the opening round of the WCHA playoffs by Michigan Tech. The Tigers were subsequently snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee.Going into the new season, Colorado College returns a huge nucleus of talent and figures to retain its status as a title challenger.Minnesota, which features excellent goaltending; St. Cloud State, which returns all but one starter up front; and Northern Michigan, which has proven skill throughout, are expected to be in the championship hunt as well.Teams are listed in predicted order of finish. Last year&rsquo;s records, finishes and playoff fortunes are in parentheses.1. Minnesota Golden Gophers (18-10-4, second place, won league championship). Coach: Doug Woog. Though not what you would call a spectacular team, the Gophers used an admirable work ethic to advance to the NCAA Final Four where they lost to Boston University in the semifinal.Returnees include Jeff Callinan and Jeff Moen, the top two goalies back in the WCHA, and center Brian Bonin, a 24-goal scorer. Defensemen Mike Crowley and Jason Godbout and winger Joe Pankratz are premier recruits who should help ease the loss of wingers Jeff Nielsen and defenseman Chris McAlpine.2. Colorado College Tigers (18-9-5, first place, lost first round). Coach: Don Lucia. After finishing no higher than fourth in the previous 13 seasons, the Tigers are looking to entrench themselves in the first division.Lucia, the American Hockey Coaches&rsquo; Association coach of the year in 1994, will look to the likes of Jay McNeill an all-WCHA firstteam center, Kent Feams, a second-team choice on defense, and goaltender Ryan Bach to lead the way.3. Northern Michigan Wildcats (17-14-1, fifth place, lost second round). Coach: Rick Comley. The Wildcats have an intriguing mix of experience and skill, the kind that usually finds itself in the midst of a title chase.In center Greg Hadden and wingers Mike Harding and Kory Karlander, the Wildcats have three of the better forwards in the league. The key will be how a developing blueline corps holds up and whether Dieter Kochan can handle the demands of being the only proven goalie.4. St. Cloud State Huskies (16-12-4, fourth place, lost final). Coach: Craig Dahl. Were it not for an unexpectedly muddled goaltending situation, the Huskies would be a strong favorite to win the MacNaughton Cup. Neil Cooper was the heir apparent to replace Grant Sjerven and lead a team that lost only one starter from last season, but Cooper is out for the year after being injured in a September car accident.Jason Jiskra was recruited to help, but he has been ruled ineligible. As of now, Dave Stone, who was 1-3-2 in 1991-92 and 5-3-0 in 1992-93 before skipping last season, is the No. 1 guy. That puts a lot of pressure on the likes of defenseman Kelly Hultgren, a second-team all-WCHA pick last season.5. Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (12-17-3, seventh place, lost first round). Coach: Mike Sertich. Two years ago, it was Derek Plante. Last season, it was Hobey Baker Award winner Chris Marinucci. Do not expect to see a great player rise up to lead the defensive-oriented Bulldogs this season.There is enough quality depth to make things very interesting, though. Rod Aldoff and Brett Larson pace a group of five veteran defensemen in front of Taras Lendzyk and Jerome Butler, a pair of proven goalies. Rusty Fitzgerald and Brad Federenko are looking for support at forward.6. Wisconsin Badgers (19-12-1, third place, lost semifinal). Coach: Jeff Sauer. Since last season, no team in the country has been gutted of talent more than the Badgers. Not only did a large senior class move on, so did two prominent underclassmen. Center Kelly Fairchild, a first-team all-league pick and the top returning scorer, opted to mm pro. So did Jim Carey, the top statistical goaltender in the WCHA during his two seasons.Kirk Daubenspeck, who played in four games last season, takes over in goal with rookie walk-on Jake Sober the likely backup. It helps to have six veteran defensemen back, led by Brian Rafalski, but wingers Jamie Spencer and Max Williams are the only returnees with 10 or more goals.7. Denver Pioneers (11-18-3, ninth place, lost first round). Coach: George Gwozdecky. The inability to turn the Pioneers into title contenders cost Frank Serratore his job as coach after last season. Taking over is former Miami of Ohio coach George Gwozdecky, who inherits a veteran team with some intriguing potential.Five of the top six goal-scorers return, as does the goaltending tandem of Sinuhe Wallinheimo and Jim Mullin.8. Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves (1416-2, sixth place, lost first round). Coach: Brush Christiansen. In their first full season in the WCHA, the Seawolves last year learned the importance of winning at home (they were only 88-1) and winning the close games (7-10-2 in games decided by two or fewer goals).UAA has the necessary personnel capable of making good on those lessons, including second-team all-WCHA goalie Lee Schill, five veteran defensemen and seven of the top nine scorers.9. Michigan Tech Huskies (8-19-5, 10th place, lost semifinal). Coach: Bob Mancini. Despite having an all-America in goalie Jamie Ram, a veteran defense in front of him and a goals-against average of 3.28, the Huskies finished in the WCHA cellar. Why? They scored three goals or fewer in 73 per cent of their games.Ironically, the top returning scorer in the league is MTU center Pat Mikesch, who had 14 goals and 50 points. Along with Brent Peterson and Randy Stevens, Tech has some firepower. The question now is, can Luciano Caravaggio step in and be an adequate replacement for Ram?10. North Dakota Fighting Sioux (11-174, eighth place, lost first round). Coach: Dean Blais. After winning the NCAA title in 1987, the Fighting Sioux finished no higher than third in the next seven campaigns. That, coupled with a huge dropoff in attendance, helped lay the foundation for the firing of Gino Gasparini as coach after last season.Former UND assistant Dean Blais assumes the reins of a club that returns all-rookie team right winger Landon Wilson and goalie Toby Kvalevog. Depth in goal and on defense are the strengths of this entry.<h2>Pivotal Players</h2>Top players for each WCHA team, including their positions, ages and NHL rights.Alaska-Anchorage: Lee Schill, G, 23, (undrafted). Second-team all-WCHA choice last year. Colo. College: Jay McNeill. C, 22, (undrafted). Only returning player to be named all-league.Denver: Angelo Ricci, C, 22, (undrafted).Needs 64 points to crack DU&rsquo;s all-time top-10.Mich. Tech: Pat Mikesch, C, 21. (undrafted). Top returning scorer in the WCHA with 14-36-50.Minnesota: Brian Bonin, C, 20, (Pittsburgh). One of top all-around players in league.Minnesota-Duluth: Rusty Fitzgerald. C, 22. (Pittsburgh). Physical, blue-collar type player.North Dakota: Landon Wilson, C, 19, (Quebec). First-round Toronto pick dealt to Quebec.N. Michigan: Greg Hadden, C. 23, (undrafted). Pound for pound, toughest player in WCHA.St. Cloud State: Kelly Hultgren, D, 23, (undrafted). Led Huskies in scoring from blueline.Wisconsin: Brian Rafalski, D, 21. (undrafted). Undersized and consistently underrated.<h2>Fabulous Frosh</h2>Here&rsquo;s an early line on the WCHA&rsquo;s top rookies, in alphabetical order.Anders Bork, C. 19. Denver. Sat out last season after being recruited out of Sweden.E.J. Bradley, C, 19, Wisconsin. With so many openings, Philadelphia pick will excel.Mike Crowley, D. 19, Minnesota. Philadelphia draftee is good enough to step right in.Cal Elfring, D. 18, Colo. College. Expected to fill the void of all-WCHA pick Shawn Reid.Jason Godbout, D. 18, Minnesota. Property of Pittsburgh will have an immediate impact. &#9632;

f0034-01

Go-pher the gold

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01847/6729548-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Senior Mike Latendresse should help Maine rebound from a forgettable season. (Photo by Vincent Muzik)</figcaption></div>The last game the Boston University Terriers played, they lost 9-1. That&rsquo;s hardly a ringing endorsement for a team favored to win the national championship.That last game was the National Collegiate Athletic Association title match against Lake Superior State in April. The Terriers have had all summer to seethe about it and are back stronger than ever.&ldquo;BU should be the team to beat nationally,&rdquo; said coach Shawn Walsh of the Maine Black Bears, the only Hockey East team to win a national championship (1993). &ldquo;They&rsquo;re deep and very experienced. And they&rsquo;ve been through (the NCAA tournament) before.&rdquo;Boston University has qualified for the NCAA tournament the past three years.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to be a four-way battle for the league title between BU, Northeastern, New Hampshire and Maine,&rdquo; Terriers&rsquo; coach Jack Parker said. &ldquo;And the other five are going to be real solid teams. That&rsquo;s what makes our league so tough every night.&rdquo;Teams are listed in predicted order of finish. Last year&rsquo;s records, finishes and playoff fortunes are in parentheses. All nine teams make the playoffs.1. Boston University Terriers (21-3-0, first, won league championship). Coach: Jack Parker. The senior-laden Teniers return six of their top seven scorers and have secured a top-flight recruiting class including the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; first-round draft pick, defenseman Jeff Kealty. A bicycle accident sidelined veteran goalie J.P. McKersie for the year, but Derek Herlofsky, who had alternated with McKersie, returns.All-Hockey East first teamer Jacques Joubert heads up a list of quality returning forwards along with Jay Pandolfo and Shawn Bates. Another first team all-star, Rich Brennan, and senior Kaj Linna anchor a veteran defense corps.2. Northeastern Huskies (10-8-6, fourth, lost semifinal). Coach: Ben Smith. With the exception of 1993-94 leading scorer Mike Taylor and No. 4 scorer Tom O&rsquo;Connor, virtually every significant regular is back for the Huskies, who lost to the eventual national champion Lake Superior State in overtime in the NCAA tournament.The Huskies should be strong on defense, led by first-team all-star Francois Bouchard. Keeping oft-injured goalie Todd Reynolds healthy will be a key. J. F. Aube and his 28 goals return up front. He is one of a league-high five returning Huskies who scored at least 10 times a year ago.3. Maine Black Bears (3-20-1, eighth, lost quarterfinal). Coach: Shawn Walsh. The Bears just want to forget last year&rsquo;s forfeit-filled season, which led to an ongoing NCAA probe. The return of U.S. Olympic team defenseman Chris Imes and defenseman Jeff Tory, who was ruled ineligible by the NCAA after playing in three games, will give the Bears one of the premier blueline corps in the country. Both defensemen are offensive threats.Blair Allison had a good freshman season in goal and should be even better this year. Goalscoring will be the big concern as sophomores Reg Cardinal, Dan Shermerhom and Tim Lovell will have to bury the puck more often this year. Senior speedster Mike Latendresse was a second team all-star last year, but his eligibility status is up in the air.4. Providence Friars (9-13-2, fifth, lost quarterfinal). Coach: Paul Pooley. The Friars begin a new era under former three-year Lake Superior State assistant Paul Pooley. He replaces Mike McShane.Pooley inherits Providence&rsquo;s top five scorers from last year&rsquo;s team, led by second team allAmerica Chad Quenneville, and a veteran junior-laden defense corps. Senior Bob Bell returns in goal. The Friars should be significantly improved over a year ago, although there will be an adjustment period to the new coach. One of Pooley&rsquo;s first chores will be to improve the Friar special teams, which were among the worst in the league last season.5. New Hampshire Wildcats (13-9-2, third, lost semifinal). Coach: Dick Umile. The Wildcats graduated three of their top six scorers, but there are plenty of good forwards back, including their top two men in Eric Flinton and Nick Poole. A veteran defense corps in front of goalies Trent Cavicchi and Mike Heinke should make for one of the best defenses in the league. Cavicchi had a very good season (2.95 goals-against average, .896 save percentage).New Hampshire&rsquo;s biggest disadvantage is that it won&rsquo;t have much of a home-ice advantage. The Wildcats&rsquo; home rink is being transformed into a recreation center, so the team is waiting as a new arena is being built. The Wildcats will be playing in different venues all season with four home games scheduled in Portland, Maine and nine in the JFK Coliseum in Manchester, which is about an hour away from their Durham campus. That is bound to take its toll.6. UMass-Lowell Chiefs (14-6-4, second, lost final). Coach: Bruce Crowder. The Chiefs were hit hard by graduation as first-team all-star goalie Dwayne Roloson and four of the top seven scorers have departed. Hockey East rookie of the year Greg Bullock (24 goals) is back, but he will need plenty of help up front from the likes of 14-goal man Christian Sbrocca and a bunch of returnees who failed to eclipse the eight-goal mark last year.The defense should be the team&rsquo;s strength, led by sophomore Eddy Campbell, a 1993 draft pick of the New York Rangers. Freshmen Martin Fillion and Scott Fankhouser and sophomore Craig Lindsay (just 162 minutes played last year) will battle for the goaltending job.7. Boston College Eagles (7-12-5, sixth, lost quarterfinal). Coach: Jerry York. The Eagles begin a new era under long-time Bowling Green skipper Jerry York. He replaces Steve Cedorchuk. The Eagles&rsquo; strength is between the pipes in all-rookie team goalie Greg I ay lor (14-15-5, 3.47 GAA, .892 save percentage). David Hymovitz and Ryan Haggerty, who combined for 35 goals, provide York with a couple of quality forwards.The new coach will have to do some rebuilding with the emphasis on speed.8. Merrimack Warriors (8-14-2, seventh, lost quarterfinal). Coach: Ron Anderson. The Warriors have graduated their top two scorers. But last year&rsquo;s impressive freshman class, featuring 6-foot-5 all-rookie team defenseman John Jakopin and goalie Martin Legault, have put the Warriors on an upward swing. Mark Comforth is a solid defenseman.The Warriors may not move up the standings, but they will be more competitive and could be a factor down the stretch.9. UMass-Amherst Minutemen (20-9 as independent): Coach: Joe Mallen. The Minutemen begin their first season in Hockey East with a freshman and sophomore lineup. UMass went 1-6-0 against Division 1 teams a year ago and will suffer growing pains this year.But they have some good returning players in forwards Rob Bonneau and Warren Norris, defenseman Jaynen Rissling and goalie Dave Kilduff and they should improved over the course of the season.<h2>Pivotal Players</h2>Top players for each Hockey East team, including their position, ages and NHL rights.Boston College: Greg Taylor, G, 20, (undrafted). Was league&rsquo;s top freshman goalie.Boston U.: Jacques Joubert, C, 23, (Dallas).Intense, gritty center had five winning goals.Maine: Chris Imes, D, 22, (Florida). Was steadiest defenseman for U.S. Olympic team.Merrimack: Martin Legault, G. 20, (undrafted).Consistently keeps teams in games.N. Hampshire: Trent Cavicchi, G, 20, (undrafted). Sophomore started last 11 games.Northeastern: J. F. Aube, LW, 21, (undrafted).Thirteen of 28 goals were on power play.Providence: Chad Quenneville, C, 22, (undrafted). Agile center led team with 40 points.UMass-Amherst: Jaynen Rissling, D, 22, (undrafted). Rearguard had 22 points in 19 games.UMass-Lowell: Greg Bullock, C-LW, 21, (undrafted) League&rsquo;s top rookie last year.<h2>Fabulous Frosh</h2>Here&rsquo;s an early line on Hockey East&rsquo;s top rookies. In alphabetical order.Jeff Kealty, D, 18, BU. First-round Quebec pick is rangy, has great hockey sense.Chris Drury, C, 18, BU. Younger brother of Ted is quick and shifty.Eric Nickulas, C. 19, New Hampshire. Fourthround draft pick of Boston Bruins in 1994.Tom O&rsquo;Connor, D, 18, UMass-Amherst. Rugged defenseman is Pittsburgh draft pick.Shawn Wansborough, LW, 18. Maine. Had 103 points and 224 penalty minutes in Jr. A. &#9632;

f0035-01

Revenge of the Terriers

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggie</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01798/6729579-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cornell&rsquo;s junior center Brad Chartrand needs to improve upon his 18-point season. (Photo by Vincent Muzik)</figcaption></div>A lot of goal judges in the Eastern College Athletic Conference are going to wind up with sore fingers this winter.With the graduation and defection of many of the league&rsquo;s top goalies, the ECAC has all the makings of an offense-oriented season.Four of the league&rsquo;s top six goalies, including Aaron Israel, who left Harvard after his sophomore year to turn pro, are gone. Many teams will be alternating inexperienced goalies in the first half of the season, looking for a solid No 1.That scenario will play right into the hands of the Clarkson Golden Knights, who should have enough offensive weapons to take the heat off their own inexperienced goalie.With the return of right winger Marko Tuom-ainen, defenseman Brian Mueller and the addition of transfer center Claude Morin, Clarkson is the team to catch in the ECAC.Teams are listed in predicted order of finish. Last year&rsquo;s records, finishes and playoff fortunes are in parentheses. Ten of the 12 teams qualify for the playoffs.1. Clarkson Golden Knights (13-5-4, second, lost semifinal). Coach: Mark Morris. Morris&rsquo; biggest coup was getting Tuomainen (23 goals and 51 pointp) and Mueller, an All-America, (56 points) to return for their senior years. They finished third and fourth in league scoring. Then Morris picked up Morin, a CCHA all-star last season and the leading scorer at Kent State, which dropped its program.The only concern is in goal, where sophomore Gregg Malicke will be pushed by junior college transfer Jonathon Parrella.2. Vermont Catamounts (10-6-6, fifth, lost quarterfinal). Coach: Mike Gilligan. For years, everyone has talked about the potential of the Catamounts. This should be the year potential turns into something more tangible.Sophomore Tim Thomas (3.03 goals-against, .900 save percentage) is the top returning goalie in the league. He played in every ECAC game for the Cats last year. The offense boasts 1994 rookie of the year Martin St-Louis, classmate Eric Perrin, as well as senior Dom Ducharme. Five of the seven returning defensemen played in 30 or more games last year.3. Harvard Crimson (16-2-4, first, won league championship). Coach: Ronn Tomassoni. The defection of Israel and the graduation of three solid defensemen leaves the Crimson suspect on defense. Junior Tripp Tracy was the top goalie in the ECAC as a freshman, but had a mediocre.872 save percentage last year.Senior center Steve Martins (25 goals and 60 points) was the leading scorer and ECAC player of the year while senior right winger Cory Gustafson was one of the big surprises, pumping in 22 goals.4. RPI Engineers (12-6-4, third, lost final). Coach: Dan Fridgen. Fridgen inherits a skilled offensive team from Buddy Powers, who left for Bowling Green. Five of last year&rsquo;s top six scorers-including junior center Bryan Richardson, senior center Craig Hamelin and senior right winger Wayne Clarke-are back.The pressure will be on junior goalie Mike Tamburro, who has to fill the skates of Neil Little. But Tamburro faces a stiff challenge from rookie Brian Masotta. a fourth-round draft pick of the Ottawa Senators.5. Union Skating Dutchmen (10-9-3, sixth, lost quarterfinal). Coach: Bruce Delventhal. The Dutchmen were the surprise team in the ECAC last year and will contend for home ice in the playoffs this season. Senior goalie Mike Gallant anchors a veteran defense, but Union&rsquo;s biggest strength is its offense.Senior Chris Albert has developed into one of the most consistent forwards in the league while sophomore center Troy Stevens and sophomore right winger Chris Ford are as talented as any forwards in the league.6. Colgate Red Raiders (10-10-2, seventh, lost quarterfinal). Coach: Don Vaughan. Offense will be no problem as the Red Raiders return several scorers, including sophomore right winger Mike Harder, who led the nation with six shorthanded goals.The defense is also experienced, so either junior Matt Weder or senior Jason Gates will have to step up in goal.7. Brown Bears (12-7-3. fourth, lost semifinal). Coach: Bob Gaudet. It looks like a rebuilding year for the Bears, but never count out a Gaudet-coached team. Senior captain Mike Traggio. the best defensive defenseman in the league, anchors the defense and junior Mike Parsons replaces all-ECAC goalie Geoff Finch.The trick will be finding the right combinations up front. The key forwards are juniors Rayn Mulhern and Brian Jardine, who finished second and third in team scoring last year.8. Princeton Tigers (7-13-2, ninth, lost preliminary round). Coach: Don Cahoon. If junior goalie James Konte plays up to his potential, the Tigers could be the most improved team.Senior center Ian Sharp and junior center J.P. O&rsquo;Connor are a couple of the best two-way forwards in the league. Seniors David Scowby and Gavin Colquhoun, as well as 6-foot-4, 215 pound junior Jason Smith are the top returnees on defense.9. Cornell Big Red (7-10-5, eighth, lost quarterfinal). Coach: Brian McCutcheon. Opponents will find it tough to score on the Big Red this year, but a lack of scoring could also be Cornell&rsquo;s undoing. Senior goalie Andy Bandurski will play behind a veteran defense which includes Blair Ettles and Christian Felli.Sophomore center Vinnie Auger was voted the league&rsquo;s top rookie, but he&rsquo;ll need more support from senior Jake Karam and juniors Mike Sancimino, Brad Chartrand and P.C. Drouin.10. St. Lawrence Saints (8-14-0, 10th. lost preliminary round). Coach: Joe Marsh. Injuries and a lack of scoring plagued the Saints last year and scoring could be a problem again this year. The only proven scorer is junior right winger Burke Murphy. None of the other returning forwards scored more than six goals last year.Sophomore goalie Jon Bracco will play behind a young defense which features juniors Jeff Kungle and Tom Perry.11. Yale Bulldogs (5-16-11, 11th, missed playoffs). Coach: Tim Taylor. Taylor returns from a season with the U.S. Olympic team to find an experienced team that needs a dose of confidence. Last year&rsquo;s top goal-scorers-Andy Weidenbach and Zoran Kozic-are back, as is senior goalie Todd Sullivan.If the Bulldogs can get through a demanding non-league schedule, the ECAC stretch run will look easy.Dartmouth Big Green (4-17-1, 12th, missed playoffs). Coach: Roger Demment. Goaltending is the biggest concern, as sophomore Ben Heller (6.17 GAA, .803 save percentage) played in just eight games last year. Freshman Darik Buchar of Hibbing, Minn., could win the job. Senior Dion DelMonte is the top returning scorer and the return of Bill Kelleher, who missed most of the season with a broken arm, will help.<h2>Pivotal Players</h2>Top players for each ECAC team, including their positions, ages and NHL rights.Brown: Mike Traggio, D, 22, (undrafted). Best defensive defenseman in ECAC.Clarkson: Brian Mueller, D. 22, (Hartford).School&rsquo;s first All-America since Mark Morris.Colgate: Mike Harder, RW, 21, (undrafted).Fourth Colgate rookie to score 46 points.Cornell: Vinnie Auger. C, 19, (Quebec). Highest-scoring freshman since Kent Manderville.Dartmouth: Bill Kelleher, C, 21, (undrafted).Broke his arm in the fourth game last season.Harvard: Steve Martins, C, 21, (undrafted). Legitimate contender for Hobey Baker Award.Princeton: Ian Sharp, C, 21, (undrafted). One of best defensive forwards in league.RPI: Bryan Richardson, C, 20. (undrafted). Gifted passer in Adam Oates-Joe Juneau mold.St. Lawrence: Burke Murphy, LW, 21, (Calgary). Has 66 points in 62 career games.Union: Mike Gallant, G, 22, (undrafted). Emerged as one of nation&rsquo;s top goalies.Vermont: Martin St-Louis, C, 19. (undrafted).One of most explosive skaters in league.Yale: John Emmons, LW, 20, (undrafted). Hardhitting winger has international experience.<h2>Fabulous Frosh</h2>Here&rsquo;s an early line on the ECAC&rsquo;s top rookies, in alphabetical order.Doug Battaglia, LW, 18, RPI. Had 74 points and 212 penalty minutes in 47 Jr. A games.Chris Clark, RW, 18, Clarkson. Loves to hit. cause trouble along boards.Brian Masotta, G, 19. RPI. First American goalie selected in 1994 draft.Chris Patrick, D, 18, Princeton. Craig Patrick&rsquo;s nephew has best bloodlines in college hockey.Jason Reid, D. 18, Vermont. Offensive defenseman with great size. &#9632;

f0036-01

Heat of Knights

<div class="byline">By Matt Carlson</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01716/6729610-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steady defenseman Gino Pulente will help Lake Superior defend its national crown. (Photo by Vincent Muzik)</figcaption></div>The Michigan State Spartans are poised to reconquer the Central Collegiate Hockey Association this season.Defending National Collegiate Athletic Association champion Lake Superior State Lakers and incumbent CCHA regular-season winners Michigan Wolverines figure to battle Michigan State to the wire. Still, the Spartans, who last won in 1989-90 and once seemingly owned that spot, have the warriors to retake the summit.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a legitimate pick,&rdquo; said Spartans&rsquo; coach Ron Mason. &ldquo;We have as good an offensive team as we&rsquo;ve had in some time and we&rsquo;ve got Mike Buzak back in goal. It&rsquo;s the kind of year I get excited about.&rdquo;Mason&rsquo;s core group of forwards-including seniors Steve Guolla, Rem Murray, Steve Suk, Dean Sylvester (from Kent State) and junior Anson Carter-will generate offense.Teams are listed in predicted order of finish. Last year&rsquo;s records, finishes and playoff fortunes are in parentheses. Ten of 11 teams qualify for the playoffs1. Michigan State Spartans (17-8-5, third, lost semifinal). Coach: Ron Mason. MSU&rsquo;s defense-and the impact of a promising freshman class including forwards Mike Watt and Richard Keyes-will determine whether the Spartans are very good or a powerhouse.On the blueline, MSU lacks an established leader. Mason hopes juniors Bart Vanstaal-duinen and Chris Smith, along with senior Chris Sullivan, deliver steady work. Also a key is sophomore Chris Slater, returning from a fractured ankle. Three freshmen-Jon Gaskins, Tyler Harlton and Kevin Harper-may get a shot.2. Lake Superior State Lakers (18-8-4, second, lost final). Coach: Jeff Jackson. The NCAA champs lost four key players, including goalie Blaine Lacher. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have some tough times in the first half,&rdquo; Jackson said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m not going to change my philosophy. We&rsquo;re going to give young guys a chance.&rdquo;Before long, the Lakers, who have been to the NCAA final three straight seasons (winning twice), figure to be running smoothly. The offensive leaders are seniors Wayne Strachan and Rob Valicevic. Brad Willner, Keith Aldridge and Gino Pulente secure the blueline of a team that&rsquo;s always strong defensively. Sophomores Paul Sass and Sean Kulick try to fill Lacher&rsquo;s spot in goal.3. Michigan Wolverines (24-5-1, first, won league championship). Coach: Red Berenson. &ldquo;We have big holes in goal and on offense,&rdquo; said Berenson, noting the losses of Steve Shields, David Oliver and Brian Wiseman. However, the Wolverines have enough talent to plug the gaps and remain powerful.Mike Knuble is the CCHA&rsquo;s premier power forward and joins Jason Botterill and Brendan Morrison. The Wolverines also have a young but deep defense led by junior Steve Halko. Goaltending is the big question. Senior Al Loges, who has played just 11 college games, and freshman Marty Turco will battle for the top job.4. Western Michigan Broncos (18-10-2, fourth, lost semifinal). Coach: Bill Wilkinson. After losing to Wisconsin in the opening round of the NCAA tourney last spring, Wilkinson vowed his team would be back soon. With some luck, that could be this season.The Broncos have a balanced attack, led by juniors Chris Brooks, Jamal Mayers and Jeremy Brown. Juniors Darren Maloney and Misha Lapin, a Russian import, lead the defense with senior Brian Renfrew the main man in goal.5. Bowling Green Falcons (15-13-2, sixth, lost quarterfinal). Coach: Buddy Powers. The biggest news in Bowling Green is behind the bench, where Powers takes over for Jerry York, who moved on to Boston College after 15 years with the Falcons. Powers most recently was head coach at Colgate.Senior Brian Holzinger and sophomore Curtis Fry are BG&rsquo;s top returning producers, Meanwhile, the team has a steady group of rearguards that has been bolstered by the addition of junior Quinn Fair from Kent State. Sophomore goalie Bob Petrie, an all-rookie team selection, is solid.6. Miami Redskins (17-12-1 fifth, lost quarterfinal). Coach: Mark Mazzoleni. George Gwozdecky accepted a lucrative offer in Denver after helping the Redskins build credibility. Mazzoleni has a mandate to continue that. He previously led the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point to three NCAA Division II titles.The 1994-95 Redskins are short on talent. Miami needs big offensive years from junior center Kevyn Adams and Andrew Miller, Jason Mallon and Marc Boxer. Senior Dan Daikawa and junior Justin Krall lead the defense while junior Kevin Deschambeault takes over in goal.7. Illinois-Chicago Flames (8-20-2, ninth, lost preliminary round). Coach: Larry Pedrie. If the Flames can avoid a fifth consecutive horrific start, they figure to improve this season.UIC&rsquo;s core of forwards isn&rsquo;t the flashiest, but they have some straight-forward offensive ability. The Flames have the CCHA&rsquo;s most experienced blueline brigade, led by four seniors. Unless he falters, sophomore Paul Spencer will be UIC&rsquo;s starting goalie.8. Ferris State Bulldogs (12-17-1, seventh, lost preliminary round). Coach: Bob Daniels. After a scare from the administration last season, hockey is secure at Ferris State for the immediate future. Daniels will have an experienced team, led by seniors forwards Tim Christian and Gary Kitching. However, the Bulldogs must have a new netminder step up and fill the spot vacated by graduated Craig Lisko.9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-16-5, eighth, lost in first round). Coach: Ric Shafer. Things might be looking up at Notre Dame where the rink has been refurbished and a new athletic director who played the sport is aboard.This year, the Irish&rsquo;s attack will be led by junior Jamie Ling, senior Brent Lamppa and sophomore Tim Harberts. However, the Irish have to fill key spots on defense and in goal. And Notre Dame must improve its power-play and penalty-killing effectiveness to move up.10. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-19-5, 10th, lost preliminary round). Coach: Jerry Welsh. Last season, the Buckeyes tightened up defensively and shaved off dozens of goals. Problem was, they couldn&rsquo;t score, averaging just 2.47 goals per game.Defensive play and goaltending-where Tom Askey and Kurt Brown are set-shouldn&rsquo;t be a problem. However, the offense is the CCHA&rsquo;s weakest. OSU needs more production from senior Steve Richards and junior Joe Sellers.Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks (8-7-0, affiliate team, lost preliminary round). Coach: Dave Laurion. The Nanooks lost 50 per cent of their scoring from last season-Dean Fedorchuk, Tavis MacMillan and Don Lester.Warren Carter. Corey Spring and Trent Schachle will be among the players expected to pick up the slack. Junior defenseman Dallas Ferguson will lead the blueline corps.UAF, which joins the CCHA full-time next season, will play 14 games against CCHA teams and again will participate in the playoffs.<h2>Pivotal Players</h2>Top players for each CCHA team, Including their positions, ages end NHL rights.Bowling Green: Brian Holzinger, C, 22, (Buffalo). Crafty pivot needs to boost production.Ferris State: Tim Christian, RW, 23, (undrafted).Hard working winger always puts in full day.Illinois-Chicago: Chris MacDonald, C. 23, (undrafted). 6-foot-5 center has to be more aggressive.Lake State: Sean Tallaire, RW. 21, (Vancouver).Was Lakers&rsquo; leading scorer as sophomore.Miami: Kevyn Adams, C, 20, (Boston). First-rounder one of league&rsquo;s most skilled players.Michigan: Mike Knuble, RW, 22, (Detroit). CC-HA&rsquo;s premier power forward.Michigan State: Steve Guolla, LW 21, (Ottawa). League&rsquo;s top offensive threat.Notre Dame: Jamie Ling, C, 21. (undrafted).Smallish center pivotal to Irish attack.Ohio State: Tom Askey, G, 20, (Anaheim).Weak offense makes job even tougher.Western Michigan: Chris Brooks, C, 22, (undrafted). Smallish forward skilled scorer.Alaska-Fairbanks: Warren Carter, RW, 23, (undrafted). Nanook&rsquo;s top returning scorer.<h2>Fabulous Frosh</h2>Here&rsquo;s an early line on CCHA&rsquo;s top rookies in alphabetical order.Steve Duke, D, 19, Western Michigan. Loves to jump into attack from blueline.Robb Gordon, C, 18, Michigan. Vancouver draft pick ran up 158 points in Jr. A.Richard Keyes, C, 19, Michigan State. Led NAJHL in scoring for second straight year.Marty Turco, G, 19. Michigan. Dallas draft pick will be thrown into fire right away.Mike Watt, LW, 18, Michigan State. Edmonton draft pick was big scorer in Stratford (Ont.). &#9632;

f0037-01

Fine State of affaire

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Tom Watt has a new appreciation for movie critics Siskel and Ebert. This reviewing stuff is hard work and it&rsquo;s not always fun.Which is why Watt is quite happy to be back behind the bench. A career coach who spent the past two seasons in front-office positions for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Watt will make his minor-pro coaching debut with the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs in the American League.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been a coach a long time and coaching is what I do best,&rdquo; said the 59-year-old Watt, who served as head coach for six NHL seasons with the Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks and Maple Leafs.But the past two seasons, for the first time in 26 years, Watt wasn&rsquo;t a coach. In 1992-93, he was Toronto&rsquo;s director of player personnel. Last season he was director of professional scouting.&ldquo;I saw 171 professional hockey games last year,&rdquo; Watt said. &ldquo;My job was to make a book on the 25 other organizations.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d go to a game and it was like going to a movie. I&rsquo;d watch the game and give every player a grade. But I had no stake in the performance, no stake in the outcome.&rdquo;When you&rsquo;re a coach, you do figure prominently in the outcome of a game.&ldquo;What I was doing last year wasn&rsquo;t unpleasant, but it wasn&rsquo;t really want I wanted to be doing,&rdquo; said Watt, the NHL&rsquo;s coach of the year with the Jets in 1982. &ldquo;I like the competition every day, I like being on the ice.&rdquo;Watt didn&rsquo;t immediately say yes when Toronto general manager Cliff Fletcher asked if he wanted to go to St. John&rsquo;s as Marc Crawford&rsquo;s replacement.&ldquo;I hesitated at first, but not for hockey reasons,&rdquo; Watt said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m originally from Toronto and I was back in my hometown. I&rsquo;d been away for 11 years in Calgary, Winnipeg and Vancouver and the hesitation was because I didn&rsquo;t know if I wanted to be moving around again.&ldquo;But the chance to coach again was exciting.&rdquo;The AHL will present a different challenge for Watt. St. John&rsquo;s is Toronto&rsquo;s development team, so the young prospects need playing time. They must learn the pressures of protecting a one-goal lead, of winning critical faceoffs.&ldquo;In the NHL, you&rsquo;re life-and-death to win every night,&rdquo; Watt said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little different in the American League because you have two duties. The first is to win every game and the second is to develop players.&ldquo;Sometimes the young kid will be taking the faceoff with the goaltender pulled. You may have two kids killing that penalty in the last minute of a game.&rdquo;STILL TALKING: The AHL continues its bargaining sessions with the Professional Hockey Players&rsquo; Association and started the season without a contract.The PHPA represents players in the AHL, International League and East Coast League. It is seeking reforms in per diem, playoff pool distribution, insurance benefits and licensing fees. Director Larry Landon said a strike is unlikely.AHL president Dave Andrews said while many issues haven&rsquo;t been resolved, the season shouldn&rsquo;t be interrupted.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s anything in our talks that is going to make the board of governors want to lock players out or that will make the players want to strike,&rdquo; Andrews said. &ldquo;The one thing that isn&rsquo;t a part of our collective bargaining agreement is salary and salary is usually the things that prompt people to go on strike.&rdquo;WAIVER OVERSIGHT: The Adirondack Red Wings were forced to play their season opener without their best defenseman, Gord Kruppke, and one of their best wingers, Andrew McKim.An oversight by the Detroit Red Wings due to the postponement of the Sept. 28 NHL waiver draft made the players ineligible.In order to play in a minor-league game, a veteran must be exposed to waivers for 48 hours. The two were on Detroit&rsquo;s unprotected list for the waiver draft and if they weren&rsquo;t claimed, they then officially clear waivers.But when the draft was postponed, they had to be put on waivers in order to be assigned to Adirondack. The Red Wings hesitated a day meaning Kruppke and McKim weren&rsquo;t eligible to play the Sept. 30 opener.HOT TICKET: An NHL lockout could help AHL teams gain more exposure, but the baseball strike may have a bigger impact at the gate. &ldquo;I recall as a general manager that you cringed about how many home games you had in October because there was baseball on TV every night,&rdquo; said Dave Andrews, former GM of the Cape Breton Oilers. &#9632;

Watt back in trenches after ‘critical’ respite

<div class="byline">By Dave Eminian and Ken Campbell</div>It took the Detroit Vipers exactly one game to get into the International League record book.Playing their first game in team history, the Vipers broke the IHL attendance record when 20,182 fans showed up to The Palace in Auburn Hills to see the Vipers defeat the Cleveland Lumberjacks 7-4. Former NHLer Ron Wilson had three goals in the game, including the winner. &middot;The next night, the Vipers posted the secondbest mark in league history when 18,248 watched the Vipers defeat the expansion Chicago Wolves 6-5 in a shootout.The games smashed the previous league record for attendance, which was set in February when 17,875 showed up at the Bradley Center for a Milwaukee Admirals&rsquo; game.The Vipers guaranteed satisfaction and delivered. The team offered fans a money-back guarantee plus tickets for the next home game if they weren&rsquo;t satisfied. Just 44 fans took them up on the offer for the first game and 35 for the second.&ldquo;We knew we&rsquo;d have some refunds,&rdquo; said Vipers&rsquo; manager of media services Robert King, &ldquo;but we knew with the team we have and the product we put together, most of the people would be satisfied.&rdquo;The postponement of the NHL season probably helped, but King said the team has been confident about drawing big numbers right from the start.&ldquo;Even before the lockout we had 5,000 season tickets,&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;This area has great hockey fans.&rdquo;Free-agent defenseman Kevin Hatcher, meanwhile, has decided not to play for the Vipers this season after all. Hatcher, who can&rsquo;t come to terms with the NHL&rsquo;s Washington Capitals, had played with the Vipers during the pre-season.WHAT ABOUT BONK?: Will the $5-mil-lion man return to Las Vegas?Teenage phenom Radek Bonk, who scored 42 goals and 87 points for the Las Vegas Thunder last season, missed the Thunder&rsquo;s first game of the season Oct. 1 and may still end up with the NHL&rsquo;s Ottawa Senators this season.Bonk reportedly received an offer from the Senators, who picked Bonk third overall in the 1994 entry draft. The Senators had originally offered Bonk $5 million (Cdn.) and were turned down. Their latest offer was rumored to be for the same amount in U.S. funds.Bonk&rsquo;s contract situation has caused some uncertain times for the Thunder, who hoped to have him in uniform for this season. Bonk played all of the pre-season games with the Thunder.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t finalized a contract yet for Radek Bonk for the regular season,&rdquo; said Las Vegas head coach and general manager Bob Strumm. &ldquo;We made an agreement with him that allowed him to play for us (in pre-season).&rdquo;The new offer would be closer to Bonk&rsquo;s demands, but if he rejects it, the Thunder will be happy to take him. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been working daily to finalize something with Bonk,&rdquo; Strumm said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re close, very close.&rdquo;GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: The IHL has a chance to steal some thunder from the NHL in terms of national television exposure during the NHL&rsquo;s labor disruption.ESPN2 and the IHL announced they had reached an agreement to replace scheduled NHL games with IHL contests.ESPN2 will also air some American League games. The first game televised by the network was the Oct. 2 match between expansion teams Houston Aeros and Denver Grizzlies.The IHL said individual team television broadcast packages this season will amount to 40 per cent of the league&rsquo;s games being on the air somewhere.I-OPENERS: The defending Turner Cup champion Atlanta Knights were the only one of the league&rsquo;s 17 teams that didn&rsquo;t play the opening weekend.IHL senior vice-president and director of operations Tom Berry said the league&rsquo;s two preseason rule experiments-making players serve their entire penalties even if a goal is scored and conducting three games in a format using four 12-minute quarters-received mixed reviews. &ldquo;The experiment with the power play seems to increase the number of scoring opportunities, but there has also been some sentiment the penalty is too severe,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The IHL is ideally postured to experiment with changes which will maximize the entertainment of our fans.&rdquo; &#9632;

Vipers enter record book with opening-night throng

<div class="byline">By Bandy King</div>Forget the thousands of dazzling plays he made in an 18-year NHL career.The best move Marcel Dionne ever made in hockey came last year, when he decided to invest in the East Coast Hockey League&rsquo;s South Carolina Stingrays.The Stingrays, playing in the new 11,000-seat North Charleston Coliseum, were a first-year gold mine, averaging 9,151 fans per game.Their attendance ranked third in all of minor-pro hockey, behind only the Milwaukee Admirals (9,509) of the International League and the Providence Bruins (9,203) of the American League.&ldquo;At the beginning I was basing everything on drawing 4,000 people,&rdquo; said Dionne, who holds the title of director of special projects. &ldquo;I thought hockey might be hot here, but not this hot.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great story. There&rsquo;s no way you could have convinced me we&rsquo;d put up numbers like that. Shoot, we tried to get some local investors to come in, but they wanted no part of it. Now, they wish they had.&rdquo;Dionne said the overwhelming response at the gate was due to &ldquo;a lot of elements that banded together.&rsquo;&ldquo;First, everybody just fell in love with hockey,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Plus, we had a new building. Also, it gave everybody something new to do. Every night was like a social event and it just kept getting bigger and bigger. Our walk-up sales were incredible.&rdquo;On the ice, the Stingrays, coached by former NHLer Rick Vaive, were very competitive for an expansion unit, going 33-26-9 and making the playoffs.&ldquo;It was heck of a good way to start,&rdquo; Dionne said. &ldquo;And from the look of things-we&rsquo;ve sold about 3,500 season tickets already-the fans can&rsquo;t wait till the puck drops again.&rdquo;CHARLOTTE&rsquo;S WEB: More than one ECHL coach says the club to watch this season is the Charlotte Checkers.&ldquo;Charlotte is going to be loaded,&rdquo; said one East Division coach. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ll do my recruiting in Charlotte this year. I think I&rsquo;ll just hang around their camp try and pick up all of their discards.&rdquo;All the talk is making Charlotte coach John Marks feel like a marked man. Marks was named ECHL coach of the year after leading the Checkers to 39-25-4 record.&ldquo;They want my discards, eh?&rdquo; Marks said, laughing. &ldquo;Well, if that&rsquo;s the case, I sure hope I discard the right ones.&rdquo;LEAGUE HIRE: The ECHL has named Richard Adams as its vice president, business operations.Adams&rsquo; primary responsibility will be to develop a feasible plan for the marketing and licensing of league logos and trademarks of the league and its member clubs. &#9632;

NHL legend Dionne scores big doing the Charleston

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Todd McLellan realizes he has an tough act to follow.He is successor to Graham James as coach of the Western League&rsquo;s Swift Current Broncos.James guided Swift Current to two WHL titles and one Memorial Cup before leaving in June to establish a major-junior franchise in Calgary for the 1995-96 season.&ldquo;Graham was an institution for eight years and did some incredible things with the franchise,&rdquo; said McLellan, 27. &ldquo;But there comes a time for the passing of the torch. That time has come now.&rdquo;McLellan and GM Doug Mosher team up to replace James, who worked in a dual capacity for eight seasons. James took over when the Broncos moved from Lethbridge to Swift Current for the 1986-87 season.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to-and I&rsquo;m not able to&mdash;fill Graham&rsquo;s shoes,&rdquo; said McLellan, who previously coached the Saskatchewan Jr. League&rsquo;s North Battleford North Stars.&ldquo;We have to adjust to the talent we have now. We don&rsquo;t have the same horses in the stable that we had in the past. I&rsquo;m going to put my shoes down beside Graham&rsquo;s. Hopefully, eight years from now, someone will come in and put his shoes right beside ours.&rdquo;Swift Current lost its first two games, falling 5-2 and 5-4 to the Moose Jaw Warriors.GREAT RECEPTION: Prince George Cougars&rsquo; owner Rick Brodsky dealt with conflicting emotions on opening weekend.The British Columbia city&rsquo;s first two majorjunior games were witnessed by enthusiastic overflow crowds. To Brodsky&rsquo;s chagrin, Prince George lost twice to the Tacoma Rockets, 6-3 Sept. 23 and 7-3 the following evening.&ldquo;Standing out there for the opening ceremonies was one of the best feelings I&rsquo;ve ever had,&rdquo; said Brodsky, who doubles as the Cougars&rsquo; general manager.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re so happy to be here and, with the way the crowd responded, they showed they&rsquo;re happy we&rsquo;re here. It felt good. Now I&rsquo;m going to jump off a bridge. It&rsquo;s just a game, right?&rdquo;Brodsky moved the Cougars from Victoria to Prince George after the 1993-94 season.A crowd of 2,184 packed the 1,860-seat Coliseum to watch the first game. The second contest was witnessed by 2,088 fans. Prince George boasts 1,530 season-ticket holders.VOODOO ECONOMICS: Owners of Roller Hockey International&rsquo;s Vancouver VooDoo are pursuing a major-junior franchise.&ldquo;Our target is to have a Western League team in Vancouver, starting next year,&rdquo; said Mike King, co-owner and president of the VooDoo.King indicated he is most interested in purchasing the Moose Jaw Warriors and moving them west, but the Warriors don&rsquo;t sound interested in selling.&ldquo;Moose Jaw probably came to mind because we have experienced financial trouble and there had been rumors about us moving,&rdquo; Warriors&rsquo; president Larry Booth said. &ldquo;But (King) has not contacted us in any formal way.&ldquo;If he did, we&rsquo;d say, &lsquo;No, we&rsquo;re not moving.&rsquo;&rdquo;WHL president Ed Chynoweth said the 16-team league does not plan to expand to anywhere other than Calgary next season.Chynoweth added the VooDoo group can attempt to buy an existing franchise and move it to Vancouver.STILL BLAZING: The Kamloops Blazers won their first two regular-season home dates.Big surprise&hellip;The victories extended the Blazers&rsquo; regularseason home-ice winning streak to 31 games, dating back to last season.Kamloops is chasing the WHL record of 38 straight home conquests, spanning overlapping seasons.The New Westminster Bruins (who are now the Blazers) established that mark between March 18, 1973 and Oct. 6, 1974. &#9632;

Brand-new Broncos’ coach has big shoes to fill

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>Christmas came early for the Windsor Spitfires.In the same week, they had NHL first-rounder Ed Jovanovski and top scorer Bill Bowler returned from pro teams. The addition of those two makes the Spitfires sure-fire contenders for first place in the Ontario League&rsquo;s new West Division.Jovanovski, 18, was the first pick in the 1994 NHL draft by the Florida Panthers, but he was returned to junior when contract talks stalled. The bruising defenseman had 15 goals and 50 points with 221 penalty minutes as a rookie last season.Bowler, a gifted 20-year-old center, was invited to the International League&rsquo;s Cincinnati Cyclones&rsquo; camp, farm team of the Panthers.Spitfires&rsquo; rookie coach Mike Kelly wasn&rsquo;t counting on having the two stars back.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t want to get into a situation where we depend on somebody,&rdquo; Kelly said. &ldquo;We have to be accountable for the wins and losses.&rdquo;With Jovanovski and Bowler, the Spitfires should do lots of winning. Bowler has the opportunity to become the most prolific point scorer in OHL history. He entered the season 147 points behind Stan Drulia, who had 479 points in four seasons with the Belleville Bulls, Hamilton Steelhawks and Niagara Falls Thunder.Bowler, the Spitfires&rsquo; 13th-round pick in 1991, has 116 goals and 332 points in three seasons. He had 123 points last season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a premier point-getter in this league,&rdquo; Kelly said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not only a goal-scorer, he makes the players around him play better.&rdquo;At the same time the two players were saying hello, tough-guy Cory Evans said goodbye. The 20-year-old left winger told Kelly he didn&rsquo;t have &ldquo;the fire in my gut.&rdquo;&ldquo;Cory needs to play with fire,&rdquo; Kelly said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an emotional player. That&rsquo;s his game. But if he doesn&rsquo;t have that emotion, he&rsquo;s not going to be effective. I told him to go home and take a couple of weeks to think about it. The door is open if he wants to return.&rdquo;STAR-SPANGLED PLAYERS: Four OHL players are among the 14 named to the U.S. national junior team for the 1995 World Junior Championship Dec. 26 to Jan. 4 in Red Deer, Alta.Jamie Langenbrunner of the Peterborough Petes. Richard Park of the Belleville Bulls and Sean Haggerty of the Detroit Jr. Red Wings are forwards, while Rory Fitzpatrick of the Sudbury Wolves is on defense. Langenbrunner and Park were on the 1994 team.An additional eight players will be named by USA Hockey prior to Dec. 1.Jason Bonsignore of the Niagara Falls Thunder rejected summer invitations. He was unhappy with his ice time at the 1994 tournament and said then he wouldn&rsquo;t participate again.Bonsignore was the highest-selected U.S.-bom player in the 1994 NHL draft, going fourth overall to the Edmonton Oilers.SIGN OF THE TIMES: The word on the new officials&rsquo; dressing room at the Sarnia Arena, home of the Sting, says REFS.But between the F and S and after the S are letters that are covered over by masking tape.However, those two letters still show through and spell out REFUSE. It&rsquo;s a room formerly used for garbage.IMPRESSIVE: Belleville rookie left winger Daniel Cleary was player of the week for the period ending Sept. 25.The Harbor Grace, Nfld, native, had five goals and nine points in his first three games for an early lead to the points race. He was the Bulls&rsquo; first pick, 11th overall, but because of his late December birthdate, Cleary isn&rsquo;t eligible for the NHL draft until 1997.STUNNING DEBUT: Sudbury rookie goalie Dave MacDonald celebrated opening night and his 18th birthday with a 3-0 win over the London Knights Sept. 23&hellip;Ten players were suspended for two games each after a six-on-six brawl between the Kitchener Rangers and Guelph Storm Sept. 25. Rangers&rsquo; goalie David Belitski battled Storm counterpart Andy Adams. &#9632;

Eddy Jo, Billy Bo, set to go

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>Before this season, Beauport Harfangs&rsquo; right winger Eric Daze had designs on a Quebec League scoring title.So much for that. Daze (pronounced DAH-zay) missed the Harfangs&rsquo; first five games while putting on an impressive performance at the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; training camp. When he finally returned to Beauport. Sebastien Bordeleau of the Hull Olympiques had already accumulated 35 points.Catching Bordeleau will be difficult enough, but Harfangs&rsquo; coach Joe Canale will make it even tougher on the Blackhawks&rsquo; fourth-round pick in 1993.&ldquo;My priority is to build this team and Daze knows that,&rdquo; Canale said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to just put him on the ice just to get points. If the game is going well I&rsquo;m going to go with four lines. I want him to get quality goals.&rdquo;Last season, Daze became the first player in team history to score 50 goals, finishing the year with 59 goals and 107 points in 66 games, good for 10th place in the league scoring race.&ldquo;We already know he can score, but what&rsquo;s important for him now is to focus on his weak points,&rdquo; Canale said. &ldquo;His ambition should be to become a pro and to do that he&rsquo;s going to have to work on his weaknesses. If he didn&rsquo;t have any weaknesses he wouldn&rsquo;t be here. Last year he scored 59 goals, but if he scores 65 this year it doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean he&rsquo;s a better player.&rdquo;Daze, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 213 pounds, has to work on his play in the defensive zone and his aggressiveness-he only had 31 penalty minutes last season.Putting the puck in the net isn&rsquo;t a problem.&ldquo;He has such a long reach and once he jumps on that puck it takes him one or two strides and he&rsquo;s right in front of the goalie,&rdquo; Canale said. &ldquo;Good goal-scorers are relentless. They want the puck and they want to go to the net. They want to make the difference. Last year Daze showed us he could do that.&rdquo;BORDELEAU STREAK ENDS: The Laval Titan did what no other team in the QMJHL had been able to do this season: keep leading scorer Sebastien Bordeleau off of the scoresheet.Laval beat Hull 6-3 Sept. 25 and in the process, put an end to Bordeleau&rsquo;s seven-game scoring streak to open the season. Bordeleau, the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; third-round pick in the 1993 NHL entry draft, accumulated a whopping 14 goals and 35 points in his first seven games of the season-an average of five points per game.The Titan also managed to keep Bordeleau&rsquo;s linemates, wingers Michael McKay and JeanGuy Trudel, off the scoresheet, marking the first time the trio had been blanked. McKay (24 points) and Trudel (22) ranked second and third, in league scoring.Bordeleau said the reason for his own early season success and the good fortune of the line is quite simple.&ldquo;We all have good speed and we&rsquo;ve been keeping it simple,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We just skate, shoot and go to the net. We&rsquo;re not trying to do anything too fancy.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Chicoutimi Sagueneens&rsquo; goalie Eric Fichaud picked up a shutout in his first game after being sent back to junior by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Fichaud, Toronto&rsquo;s first-round pick in this year&rsquo;s NHL entry draft, made 18 saves in the Sagueneens&rsquo; 3-0 victory over the St-Jean Lynx Sept. 23 for his fifth career shutout&hellip;The Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs beat the Drummondville Voltigeurs 2-1 Sept. 23 for their first victory of the season after six consecutive losses to start the year.Before the start of the season, Halifax Mooseheads&rsquo; coach Clement Jodom said his expansion team would be able to steal some games due to the strong goaltending duo of Jean-Sebustien Giguere and Frederic Cassivi Well, Giguere proved his coach right Sept. 23, making 38 saves in a 4-3 victory over the Sherbrooke Faucons. The Faucons outshot the Mooseheads 41-17. &#9632;

High-flying Harfang Daze back to prove his points

<div class="byline">By Robyn Norwood</div>Terry Yake was the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim&rsquo;s leading scorer in their inaugural season. Now he&rsquo;s just another ex-Duck.Yake was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for minor-league center David Sacco, a 1994 U.S. Olympian and the younger brother of Duck winger Joe Sacco.The Ducks haven&rsquo;t been sentimental with personnel decisions in their first year. They&rsquo;ve now traded their first All-Star Game participant (Alexei Kasatonov), first captain (Troy Loney), first game-winning goalie (Ron Tugnutt) and first goal-scorer (Sean Hill).If the key to success as an expansion team is getting rid of your expansion players, the Ducks are on their way. They&rsquo;re putting their faith in rookie wingers Paul Kariya and Valeri Karpov and the continued emergence of center Bob Corkum, whose 51 points last season trailed Yake&rsquo;s 21-goal, 31-assist season by one point.Yake had a poor training camp-his usual slow start, he says-and became the victim of an improving team. Rookie Karpov won a spot on the first line at right wing and rookie John Lilley was ahead of Yake on the second line.Joe Sacco had a 14-goal second half last season and tough guy Todd Ewen is an automatic in the lineup. That left Yake struggling for ice time.Coach Ron Wilson even said Yake was in danger of being the fifth right winger, especially after scoring only one goal in the final two months last season.&ldquo;Terry has a history of being inconsistent,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got roles for certain people and the role he was falling into, he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to play. If he&rsquo;s on the third or fourth line, would he be able to check?&rdquo;Yake was disappointed and sad to leave Anaheim, but the thought of playing with Doug Gilmour, Mats Sundin or Mike Ridley lifted his spirits.&ldquo;If I scored 50-something points (here), maybe with a team like that I&rsquo;ll pick up a few more,&rdquo; Yake said.LOCKOUT LOOKOUT: Duck players were so convinced the season wouldn&rsquo;t start as scheduled, they cleaned out their dressing room stalls lock, stock and barrel the day before commissioner Gary Bettman&rsquo;s announcement.Players reserved ice time at a local rink at a cost of $300 an hour and though Duck management offered to pay for it, the NHL Players&rsquo; Association will foot the bill.Once the owner-imposed work stoppage became official, defenseman Don McSween and goalie Guy Hebert returned home for family reasons.NOTEBOOK: John Lilley made the Ducks as the second-line right winger, but was temporarily assigned to the San Diego Gulls of the International League in a lockout-related move&hellip;Steve Rucchin, a center from the University of Western Ontario who almost made the team after being taken in the supplemental draft, is playing with San Diego, but will likely sign with the Ducks after the labor situation is resolved. He&rsquo;ll likely stay with the Gulls until later in the season.<h2>ANAHEIM</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 27: Allan Bester, G, assigned to San Diego (IHL) Sept. 28: Terry Yake, RW. traded to Anaheim for David Sacco. C. Sept. 30: John Lilley. RW. assigned to San Diego.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Anatoli Semenov, Bob Corkum. Stephan LeI beau, Shaun Van Allen, Pathk Carnback. DavidLW&mdash;Paul Kariya, Garry Valk, Peter Douris, Stu Grimson, Tim Sweeney.RW&mdash;Valeri Karpov, John Lilley, Joe Sacco. Todd Even.LD&mdash;Bobby Dollas, Randy Ladouceur. Robert Dirk, Myles O&rsquo;Connor.RD&mdash;Tom Kurvers, Don McSween. David Williams.G&mdash;Guy Hebert. Mikhail Shtalenkov.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Steven King, RW. right shoulder rehabilitation and left shoulder soreness, indefinite. Jim Thomson, RW. left shoulder rehabilitation, indefinite. Oleg Tverdovsky, D, groin pull, day-to-day. &#9632;

Another first bites the dust

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div>The word mistrust never left Dana Murzyn&rsquo;s lips, but everything the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; defenseman said screamed it loud and clear.&ldquo;If the owners could legitimately show the players the game is in such bad shape, I&rsquo;m sure we&rsquo;d be willing to adjust our concerns,&rdquo; Murzyn said after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman postponed the season. &ldquo;It seems the owners feel we don&rsquo;t care about the game, that we only care about our own salaries, but I think players are reasonable people. I hope what&rsquo;s being said isn&rsquo;t just a public relations battle and the sides do want to get things worked out.&rdquo;Murzyn, a 10-year veteran, also found Bettman&rsquo;s Sept. 30 admission the league had yet to make its best offer another disturbing aspect to the CBA negotiations.&ldquo;I thought it was very important to start the season on time and to find out now he didn&rsquo;t make his best offer, I find that a little disheartening,&rdquo; Murzyn said. &ldquo;If we do get to the next deadline, how do we know their next offer will be the best one?&rdquo;Canucks&rsquo; owner Arthur Griffiths bristled at the players&rsquo; association for not believing the league has financial problems.&ldquo;The current system would see us lose our marbles and our wallets,&rdquo; said Griffiths, whose family has controlled the franchise since the mid-1970s. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not prepared to see us go back to the fans year after year, escalating our cost for the ticket buyer. The fact of the matter is collectively there&rsquo;s a loss and the players have seen financials from the league. Now it&rsquo;s an issue whether or not we&rsquo;re telling the truth.&ldquo;What frustrates me as an owner and fan and someone who respects our players tremendously is hearing we&rsquo;re not honest. That&rsquo;s remarkable. I have nothing to hide.&rdquo;Griffiths says the Canucks only turned a $600,000 profit last season despite 12 sold out dates during the run to the Cup final. Top ticket prices rose from $42 to $63 for 1994-95.CRAVIN&rsquo; WORK: Center Murray Craven might turn out to be one of the lucky ones if the NHL is shut down beyond Oct. 15. As a free agent, there is nothing to prevent him from signing with an independent team in the International League or even going to Europe.&ldquo;I guess I have that option,&rdquo; Craven said. &ldquo;I could maybe go to Europe for a while if some team had an injury to one of its imports. If I did, I wouldn&rsquo;t agree to anything unless I had an escape clause to come back to the NHL.&rdquo;Craven is hung up on whether he is a restricted Group II or unrestricted Group V free agent or perhaps something entirely different under a new CBA. In any case, he currently is a man without a team in a league with no games.&ldquo;It looks like I&rsquo;ll be no further behind anyone else financially,&rdquo; Craven said.NOTEBOOK: Center Mike Peca, who had made the big club, was dispatched to the Syracuse Crunch of the American League on the eve of the lockout, along with defenseman Jassen Cullimore and right winger Dane Jackson. Peca will almost certainly be recalled whenever the NHL resumes play&hellip;Pavel Bure tried to inject a little humor into the work stoppage. &ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;ll go back to Russia,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re still playing there.&rdquo;<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 29: Mike Peca, C. Jassen Cullimore. D. and Dane Jackson, RW. assigned to Syracuse (AHL). Sept. 30: Jeff Brown. D. agreed to four-year contract.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Trevor Linden, Cliff Ronning, John McIntyre.LW&mdash;Greg Adams. Geofl Courtnail. Sergio Momesso, Shawn Antoski, Gino Odjick.RW&mdash;Pavel Bure. Martin Gelinas. Nathan LaFayette, Tim Hunter, Joe Charbonneau.LD&mdash;Bret Hedican, Dave Babych. Dana Murzyn, Brian Glynn. Adrien Plavsic.RD&mdash;Jeff Brown. Jyrki Lumme. Jiri Slegr.G&mdash;Kirk McLean. Kay Whitmore.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Gerald Diduck, D, foot surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Murzyn, Griffiths banter microcosm of bad blood

<div class="byline">By Rick Sadowski</div>His financial empire has crumbled, his banking practices are under a U.S. federal investigation and a mountain of debts forced him to sell a majority interest in his precious hockey team, the Los Angeles Kings, last May.But despite legal and financial woes that are expected to end in a plea of guilty to bank fraud and three other criminal counts-and possibly a prison term-minority owner Bruce McNall has hardly become a recluse.McNall, who also holds the title of team president, remained visible at Kings exhibition games and claims to be taking a more active role in the daily operations of the club than he did a year ago.&ldquo;My attitude is, try and keep things as normal as possible,&rdquo; McNall said. &ldquo;You have to take the good with the bad. I didn&rsquo;t take all of my successes that seriously and this&hellip;&ldquo;There are serious issues about life and death and these are certainly serious. But when you visit a hospital for a charity event and you see kids who are dying, now that is serious. So I try and keep things in perspective.&rdquo;McNall also intends to keep his 28 per-cent interest in the Kings if at all possible-along with his title-but he does not want to become an embarrassment to the team or to the NHL.He hinted he might step down if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman or majority owners Jeffrey Sudikoff and Joseph Cohen felt that such a move would be in everyone&rsquo;s best interest.As part of the $60 million transaction with Sudikoff and Cohen-all proceeds went to Bank of America to cover a loan-McNall received what is believed to be a 10 per-cent interest in a new arena the Kings&rsquo; executives plan to build.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve talked to the league,&rdquo; McNall said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve told Gary I will do whatever is right at the appropriate time. I may do something at some point in time, like I did as chairman when I stepped down. But everyone has been very supportive. No one has asked me to do anything like that.&rdquo;GRETZKY SPEAKS OUT: Kings&rsquo; captain Wayne Gretzky is usually diplomatic about sensitive issues such as the labor dispute, but he was critical of Gary Bettman after a Sept. 27 exhibition game with the Dallas Stars.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing to me that one person has taken the bull by the horns and decided we&rsquo;re not going to play the game,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been playing all these years and to have a guy who has only been in our game one year do this, it&rsquo;s very frustrating.&rdquo;Gretzky played the next night at the Forum when the Kings dropped an 8-4 decision to the San Jose Sharks, then left without speaking to reporters.NOTEBOOK: The Kings reached an agreement Sept. 23 with right winger Rick Tocchet on a new four-year contract that will pay him about $8 million, with a substantial amount believed to be deferred. Tocchet, who underwent surgery in June to repair a degenerative disk in his back, was entering the option year of a contract worth $997,000. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve spent a lot of time analyzing his health, and doctors say the operation was a success,&rdquo; said Kings&rsquo; general manager Sam McMaster. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s healed.&rdquo;<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 22: Andre Racicot. G. signed two-year contract and assigned to Phoenix (IHL). Sept. 23: Rick Tocchet, RW. agreed to four-year contract. Bnan McReynolds, C, Dave Thomlinson. LW, and Tim Watters. D, assigned to Phoenix. Sept. 29: Kevin Brown, LW. and Eric Lavigne. D. assigned to Phoenix.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Robert Lang. Kevin Todd. Pat Conacher.LW&mdash;Dan Quinn, Rob Brown. Mike Donnelly, Warren Rychel, Matt Johnson.RW&mdash;Jari Kurri, Rick Tocchet. Tony Granato, John Druce. Gary Shuchuk, Dixon Ward.LD&mdash;Alex Zhitnik, Darryl Sydor. Charlie Huddy.RD&mdash;Rob Blake, Michel Petit, Marty McSorley. Donald DufresneG&mdash;Kelly Hrudey, Robb Stauber, Jamie Storr.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Troy Crowder, RW, neck strain, indefinite. &#9632;

McNall says he’ll step down if it’s in best interests

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div>On the last day of practice, the Calgary Flames finally had their goaltending battle clarified.By an injury.Andrei Trefilov, sporting an impressive 0.93 goals-against average in four games and making a strong bid for regular employment, twisted his right knee in a shooting drill and had to be helped off the ice. The next day, he underwent surgery to repair tom cartilage. It&rsquo;s the same knee that kept Trefilov out of action for almost two months last season.With Trefilov out indefinitely, the Flames were going to start the new season with holdover Trevor Kidd and newcomer Jason Muzzatti in goal.Muzzatti didn&rsquo;t exactly back into the job either. He was equally impressive in camp, posting a 1.17 GAA in four appearances. Unfortunately for Muzzatti, the decision to postpone the start of the season by 15 days meant a return trip to the Saint John Flames to start the season in the American League.The Flames sent three prospects-Muzzatti, plus forwards Vesa Viitakoski and Mark Greig-down because of the postponement. Muzzatti and Viitakoski had made the team and Greig was close.Injuries that kept two regulars-Joe Nieuwen-dyk and Gary Roberts-out of action allowed coach Dave King to get a long look at his young players and newcomers. For the most part, King liked what he saw:&#9633; Viitakoski had eight points in seven games, playing mainly on a line with Theo Fleury and Michael Nylander.&#9633; Nylander was perhaps the most impressive player after Fleury. Relegated to the press box for four of last year&rsquo;s seven playoff games, he came into camp and received a chance to play on one of the two scoring lines. He responded with 11 points in seven games.&#9633; Defenseman Phil Housley finished with 10 points in six games and his partner, Steve Chiasson, contributed steadiness on the blueline.Even the power play began to click, with Housley manning the right side and Chiasson alternating with Zarley Zalapski on the left.All in all, it made King anxious to get the season started. &ldquo;Usually, at this time of year, you&rsquo;re full of optimism,&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;This year, frustration overrides everything else.&rdquo;WHAT&rsquo;S COOKING?: Right winger Ron Stem knew exactly what he was going to do if the two-week postponement stretched out indefinitely: Go to work in his southeast Calgary restaurant.As a cook?No, said Stem, that could drive people away. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll work the door and maybe bar tend for a while,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: The Flames completed a minor deal on the day the postponement was announced, sending a pair of unsigned Euro-peans-Robert Svehia and Magnus Svensson to the Florida Panthers for a third-round choice in 1996 and a conditional draft pick in 1997.<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 30: Jason Muzzatti. G, Vesa Viitakoski, LW, and Mark Greig, RW. assigned to Saint John (AHL). Robert Svehia, D. and Magnus Svensson, D, traded to Florida for third-round pick in 1996 and conditional pick in 1997.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Michael Nylander, Robert Reichel, Joel Otto. Kelly Kisio.LW&mdash;Gary Roberts. Paul Kruse, Mike Sullivan.RW&mdash;Theo Fleury, Ron Stem, Wes Walz. Sandy McCarthy.LD&mdash;Zarley Zalapski, Steve Chiasson. Frank Musil, Roger Johansson. Dan Keczmer.RD&mdash;Phil Housley, James Patrick, Trent Yawney, Kevin DaN.G&mdash;Trevor Kidd.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Joe Nleuwendyk, C. back spasms, indefinite. Andrei Trefilov. G, tom knee cartilage, indefinite. &#9632;

Muzzatti gets backup goaltending job by default

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div>Roman Oksiuta smiled and pointed to the back of his head.&ldquo;My eye is here,&rdquo; said the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; big Russian right winger, explaining two blind backpasses that found the tape on the sticks of Jason Arnott and Dean McAmmond one preseason night against the Dallas Stars.Coach George Burnett has no doubt Oksiuta knew exactly what he was doing on both occasions. Nor does Igor Kravchuk.&ldquo;Those passes were prepared,&rdquo; Kravchuk said. &ldquo;I know he saw those guys. It&rsquo;s dangerous if you drop the puck and you didn&rsquo;t look.&rdquo;&ldquo;He played with (Sergei) Fedorov when they were kids. Fedorov is a skilled player. He did everything. He&rsquo;d just give the pass to Roman and he put the puck in the net. But he can make a pass or a play. He can shoot from the point.&rdquo;There has never been much doubt about Oksiuta&rsquo;s skills since he came to the Oilers from the New York Rangers in the Kevin Lowe deal, though his awkward skating style seems inefficient. The doubts have always been with his overall commitment.&ldquo;There were nights when he didn&rsquo;t need edges on his skates because he never used them,&rdquo; said Burnett, who coached Oksiuta with the Cape Breton Oilers of the American League. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to sacrifice defense or good habits, but it&rsquo;s important that we look at what the upside is when he has the puck. We&rsquo;ll work on his play away from the puck. He&rsquo;s getting steadily better.&rdquo;Oksiuta almost gave up on his career last year. He left Cape Breton when family problems became too much to deal with from Sydney. He had already disappointed the Oilers by showing up at camp at a 242 pounds. Even on a six-foot-four frame it was far too flabby.By contrast, he showed up this fall at a slim and trim 214. He&rsquo;s playing at about 210. He is still inconsistent, still a questionable defensive player, but his mind is mostly on hockey.&ldquo;He was struggling last year. He messed himself up,&rdquo; Kravchuk said. &ldquo;He went back to Moscow, got in trouble with the coaching staff. Now his family is here, his daughter is happy. He stopped drinking. Everything is OK.&rdquo;Oksiuta was assigned to Cape Breton Sept. 30, but only because of the NHL lockout.AHL BOUND: Seven players felt the effect of the lockout as they landed in Cape Breton.General manager Glen Sather was asked why he didn&rsquo;t send more players to the farm.&ldquo;For one thing, you can&rsquo;t have 30 guys in Cape Breton,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And I didn&rsquo;t send anybody down there making a one-way contract. It&rsquo;s an economic decision.&rdquo;Left winger Shayne Corson approached Sather about playing in Cape Breton, but was told he&rsquo;d have to sign a minor-league deal first.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to pay him $800,000 to play in Cape Breton,&rdquo; Sather said.NOTEBOOK: Oilers&rsquo; trainer Ken Lowe had an epileptic seizure while exercising at the Coliseum Sept. 30. He later recovered&hellip;Rookie David Oliver led the team with four pre-season goals, all rebounds near the crease. &ldquo;A garbage goal could win a Stanley Cup Game 7 in overtime and nobody would be complaining,&rdquo; he said.<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 30: Jason Bonsignore, C. returned to Niagara Falls (OHL). Ryan Smyth. LW, returned to Moose Jaw (WHL). Ian Herbers, D. Marc Laforge. D. Todd Marchant, C, Roman Oksiuta, RW. David Oliver, RW, Peter White. C, and Tyler Wright, C. assigned to Cape Breton (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Jason Arnott. Scott Thornton, Vladimir Vujtek.LW&mdash;Shayne Corson, Dean McAmmond, Scott Pearson, Louie DeBrusk.RW&mdash;Kedy Buchberger, Kirk Maltby, Mike Stapleton.LD&mdash;Luke Richardson, Bryan Marchment. Boris Mironov.RD&mdash;Fredrik Olausson, Igor Kravchuk, Gord Mark.G&mdash;Bill Ranford, Fred Brathwaite.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Adam Bennett, D, knee ligament surgery, indefinite. Nick Stajduhar, D. basal skull fracture, indefinite. Doug Weight, C. bruised and sprained left ankle, day-to-day. &#9632;

Roman wasn’t built in a day

<div class="byline">By Mike Weaver</div>It hasn&rsquo;t taken long for rookie forwards Viktor Kozlov and Jeff Friesen to make a mark with the San Jose Sharks.Kozlov, 19, and Friesen, 18, shared the team lead in scoring during exhibition games with seven points each.They were at their best in a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins Sept. 27, when each had four points while skating on a line with Pat Falloon, who set up one of two goals Kozlov scored in the game. The line was on the ice for four of the team&rsquo;s six goals.&ldquo;They were about as good as any line on this team has been in a long time,&rdquo; said Sharks&rsquo; coach Kevin Constantine. &ldquo;There is a strong possibility that we&rsquo;ll keep them together.&rdquo;Friesen, who signed a four-year deal worth $3.2 million Sept. 30, made the team after being the 11th overall pick in the NHL entry draft in June. He said skating with Kozlov and Falloon has been a good fit for him.&ldquo;This is a great line to play with,&rdquo; Friesen said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re all young, and if we can connect as a line, we&rsquo;re going to help this team. I hope we can be the line that pushes everyone to a new level.&rdquo;The Sharks have been trying to figure out where Kozlov and Friesen best fit into their lineup and Constantine has liked what he has seen of them skating together with Falloon. Friesen had two goals and five assists in seven exhibition appearances and Kozlov, the sixth overall pick in the 1993 draft, had four goals and three assists in six outings.&ldquo;You look at that line and it just looks good,&rdquo; Constantine said. &ldquo;If a line looks good and is getting results, sometimes that&rsquo;s all you need to know.&rdquo;KEEP AWAY: Sharks&rsquo; players planned to stay in the Bay Area during the first two weeks of the lockout if it appeared some progress was being made on collective bargaining agreement talks.The players planned to rent ice and skate informally as a group.&ldquo;Everybody will stay in shape,&rdquo; said defenseman Jeff Norton, the team&rsquo;s player representative on the NHL Players&rsquo; Association. &ldquo;We want to keep the team together.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Sharks&rsquo; forwards Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov agreed in principle to renegotiated contracts that make them the highest-paid players on the team. Each will earn about $1 million in 1994-95. Director of hockey operations Dean Lombardi had been working to give Larionov and Makarov raises since signing Viktor Kozlov to a four-year deal worth $3.45 million during the summer&hellip;Right winger Rob Gaudreau, who scored 23 goals as a rookie two seasons ago, was among the players left unprotected by the Sharks for the NHL waiver draft. Others were center Dale Craig-well and minor-league wingers J.F. Quintin and Lee J. Leslie.The Sharks completed their exhibition schedule with three consecutive victories to finish the pre-season with a record of 3-3-2.<h2>SAN JOSE</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Sept. 27: Igor Larionov. C. and Sergei Makarov, RW, agreed to contract extensions. Sept. 29: Kevin Wortman. D, assigned to Kansas City (IHL). Sept. 30: Jeff Friesen, C. signed multi-year contract. Andrei Nazarov. LW. and Michal Sykora. D, assigned to Kansas City. Shean Donovan. RW, returned to Ottawa (OHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;lgor Larionov, Todd Elik. Jeff Friesen, Jamie Baker.LW&mdash;Johan Garpenlov. Gaetan Duchesne, Viktor Kozlov, Bob Errey. Ray Whitney.RW&mdash;Sergei Makarov. Ulf Dahlen, Pat Falloon, Jeff Odgers, Rob Gaudreau.LD&mdash;Jeff Norton, Vlastimll Kroupa. Shawn Cronin, Ilya Byakin.RD&mdash;Sandis Ozolinsh, Tom Pederson, Jay More.G&mdash;Arturs Irbe, Jimmy Waite, Wade Flaherty.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dale Cralgwell, C. broken right ankle, indefinite. Mike Rathje, D. strained stomach muscle, day-to-day. &#9632;

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October 14, 1994

Is it the beginning or end?

The Hockey News

CLASSIFIED

Sundin enters, stage left