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.

December 9, 1994

The Hockey News December 9, 1994

<div class="byline">-Chris Stevenson</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02685/8250532-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">A fan is suing because he can&rsquo;t see Craig Billington and Co. play.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03435/8250525-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="148" height="145"></div>A Brockville, Ont., lawyer is escalating his legal battle with the Ottawa Senators over his season-ticket money.John Johnston, who was suing the club for a refund for cancelled games, now wants all his season ticket money reimbursed.&ldquo;I bought the tickets on the basis of the season starting in October,&rdquo; Johnston told the Brockville Recorder and Times. &ldquo;Since the club hasn&rsquo;t put an NHL team on the ice as promised, I think I&rsquo;m entitled to all my money back.&rdquo;Johnston is seeking $6,000 in Ontario Small Claims Court.In his original claim, Johnston wanted $500 for five cancelled games and $1,000 in punitive damages. He said he&rsquo;d donate any damages awarded to minor hockey.The Senators have been refunding ticket money or applying it with interest to future ticket purchases.&ldquo;The majority of the ticket holders are happy with the refund program,&rdquo; said Senators&rsquo; senior vice-president Bernie Ashe, who said the club will fight the matter in court if need be. &ldquo;Out of 4,000 season-ticket subscribers, Mr. Johnston is the only one to go for litigation.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Senators&rsquo; defenseman Chris Dahlquist continues to collect his paycheck during the lockout because of a stubborn hip injury. The veteran sustained the injury in Ottawa&rsquo;s last pre-season game against the Philadelphia Flyers and hasn&rsquo;t been given a clean bill of health by club doctors. He&rsquo;ll continue to receive his $415,000 U.S. salary until doctors decide he is capable of playing&hellip; The Senators hope to change their uniform next season, adding French to their logo to reflect the bilingualism of the national capital region. The changes will go to the league for approval Dec. 15. &#9632;</div>

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IN THIS ISSUE

Seeking refund, damages for lost Senators’ games

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011096/8251324-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad Werenka, Milwaukee</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

<div class="byline">-Rich Chere</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021202/8250432-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bruce Driver thinks full season would have silenced Devil critics.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03873/8250425-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="138" height="149"></div>Back in the autumn of 1988, it was said the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; memorable playoff run the previous spring had been a fluke.To the embarrassment of veterans such as Bruce Driver, it turned out to be just that as Devils missed the playoffs the following season.The disappointment of six years ago weighs heavily on Driver&rsquo;s mind during this season&rsquo;s NHL labor dispute.The 32-year-old defenseman wonders if a shortened or canceled season would lead skeptics to think last season&rsquo; appearance in the Stanley Cup semifinal was pure luck.&ldquo;I would like that chance to have a full season to prove that what we did last year wasn&rsquo;t a fluke,&rdquo; Driver said.NOTEBOOK: Owner John McMullen said a group from Orlando contacted him about moving the Devils to the Florida city. &ldquo;Someone called me, I&rsquo;d say a little over a month ago,&rdquo; McMullen told the New York Post. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t had any further discussions with them.&rdquo; The city is interested in obtaining a hockey team to share the Orlando Arena with the National Basketball Association&rsquo;s Magic.Center Brian Rolston remained out of the lineup at Albany (American League) because of a directive from the NHL. It was not a decision made by the River Rats or Devils&hellip; Sophomore goalie Martin Brodeur said he was considering an offer to play in Europe if the NHL season were canceled. Brodeur&rsquo;s status with the Devils remains up in the air. The NHL&rsquo;s rookie of the year last season was locked in a contract dispute.Team physicians said defenseman Jason Smith&rsquo;s knee injury, which required reconstructive surgery, was not as serious as the injury sustained by John MacLean in 1991. &#9632;</div>

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Driver looking for chance to prove ’93-94 no fluke

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01951/8251386-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stacy Roest, Medicine HatMark Szoke, Lethbridge</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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WESTERN LEAGUE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011622/8249377-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="331" height="451"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Dryden</figcaption></div>Brett Lindros&rsquo; half-minute of hockey heaven was magical, but it didn&rsquo;t represent the most satisfying moments of a special weekend.The Kingston Frontenacs&rsquo; right winger scored six goals in three games, including a hat trick in 31 seconds against the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s, Saturday, Nov. 19. For Lindros, though, none of those goals equalled a prettier one the night before against the Peterborough Petes or two decisive goals the following day against the Owen Sound Platers.The three-day outburst tripled Lindros&rsquo; season total of three goals in nine Ontario League games. &ldquo;I hadn&rsquo;t lit it up,&rdquo; Lindros said. Then came the fireworks. He scored at 18:47, 19:02 and 19:18 in the first period against the 67&rsquo;s. Amazingly, the rapid-fire hat trick isn&rsquo;t a Kingston team record for fastest three goals. Brad Rhiness scored three times in 28 seconds in a 1975 game. Bill Mosienko set the NHL standard of 21 seconds in 1952.Frontenacs&rsquo; coach Gary Agnew said it was just a matter of time before Lindros broke out. &ldquo;When he goes to the net there are a lot of people who seem to get out of the way,&rdquo; Agnew said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021369/8249370-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="427" height="768"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brett Lindros (Photo by Jim Leary/BBS)</figcaption></div>Lindros, drafted ninth overall by the New York Islanders last summer, made the NHL team with a crash-and-bum brand of hockey. Few expected him to make the Islanders as an 18-year-old (he turns 19 on Dec. 2), but Lindros had three goals, five points and 16 penalty minutes in eight exhibition games.His six-goal OHL weekend was well-timed, coming in the wake of Islanders&rsquo; general manager Don Maloney&rsquo;s remarks at a Toronto news conference involving all league GMs. Maloney said he was embarrassed by the size of the contract signed by Lindros Sept. 30. The bruising winger has a deal worth about $6.7 million over five seasons. Maloney said, &ldquo;When you make a deal like that you want to put your head in the sand and not call any of the other 25 GMs.&rdquo;Maloney was criticized for signing Lindros to the big deal when owners were trying to hold the line and convince players during collective bargaining talks that inflationary contracts are suicidal for the sport.Lindros was surprised by Maloney&rsquo;s comments.&ldquo;When I first heard it, I didn&rsquo;t really understand what he was saying,&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;He was embarrassed? Why did he sign it, then? I didn&rsquo;t hold a gun to his head. If he thought it was that bad a deal for them, why would he do it?&rdquo;After discussing thematter with his father/agent, Carl, Lindros understood Maloney was talking about the state of the game, not his contract. &ldquo;At the same time,&rdquo; Lindros said, &ldquo;I would have liked to hear from him instead of on national TV.&rdquo;Maloney said he meant no disrespect towards Lindros and said the player and his father should be proud of their performances at training camp and the bargaining table.&ldquo;The only thing I regret (about the contract) was the timing of it,&rdquo; Maloney said. &ldquo;The house is burning down and we come along and throw a bucket of gasoline on it. If you asked me would I do it again, knowing the ensuing furor it might cause-in a New York second, the answer would be, &lsquo;Absolutely.&rsquo;&rdquo;Why the excitement over Lindros? Because he plays a hyper-aggressive style and is expected to develop a decent scoring touch. Lindros wants to average two points per game in the OHL this season-and with nine goals and 19 points in 12 games he was within reach of that target. Points are more important than PIMs for the player who had four goals and 94 penalty minutes in 15 games with Kingston after coming back from a knee injury in 1993-94.He had yet to fight this season and does not intend to&hellip;&ldquo;Unless it&rsquo;s a situation where 1 get angry or a teammate is taking some abuse,&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve basically fought everybody in this league that has any reputation and I&rsquo;ve done fairly well and I just don&rsquo;t see any point (in fighting). A lot of the guys know I haven&rsquo;t fought in 12 games. Some guys take liberties out there.&rdquo;They might have to be careful. For this future New Yorker, the statute of liberties could well run out. &#9632;

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Lindros going for points, not penalty minutes

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chiet</div>The NHL is contemplating its latest-ever close to the regular season. Planning has been done for an April 26 conclusion if the lockout is lifted and play begins. The regular season ended April 14 last season. The NHL has made plans for 60- and 54-game regular seasons. It would need to be up and running soon before or after Christmas to get the longer season in. A 54-game season could start as late as early January. The latter scenario seems more likely than the former-assuming a new collective bargaining agreement is reached. Much work remained to be done on the CBA. The NHL, which has officially cut 24 games from the 84-game regular season, is planning a 10-day training camp-including two exhibition games. Count on this second set of pre-season games being free for, at the very least, season-ticket subscribers. The league recognizes a goodwill gesture will help rebuild fan loyalty. Under the NHL schedule plans, the playoffs would begin by late April and end by June 30. There has been speculation the league would reduce the first two rounds of the playoffs to best-of-five series, but the most recent plans provide for best-of-seven series throughout. Regardless, there will be no out-of-confer-ence play during the regular season. The 12 Western Conference teams will play only one another while the 14 Eastern Conference teams do the same. Hardest hit by such a schedule would be the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, the only two Eastern time-zone teams in the Western Conference. Under the 60-game plan, they would play six games against each of five Central Division rivals (30 games) and five against each of six Pacific Division opponents (30). A 54-game schedule would mean playing one less game against Pacific foes. In a 60-game format, Eastern Conference teams would play their six intra-division rivals five times each (30 games) and seven interdivision rivals four times each (28). The remaining two games would be home-and-home series against close rivals. In a 54-game format. Eastern Conference teams would play all 13 intra-confer-ence rivals four teams each (52) and play home-and-home series with close rivals. It is not impossible, but highly unlikely, the league could play a 60-plus schedule if a quick labor settlement occurred&hellip; The American League could have as many as seven new teams over the next three seasons. Candidate cities include three former AHL towns (Baltimore, Halifax and Moncton), plus four others (Manchester, N.H., Lowell, Mass., Reading, Pa., and Wilkes-Barre, Pa.). The AHL has 16 teams. All but one is affiliated with an NHL team and the Worcester IceCats are expected to be affiliated by next season&hellip; Top candidates for NHL expansion include Phoenix, Denver and Portland. They would be Western Conference-friendly cities. Two are in the Mountain time zone (Phoenix and Denver) and the other is in the Pacific time zone&hellip; If the San Jose All-Star Game were cancelled, the Sharks would push for the 1997 game. The Boston Bruins, who will open at the Shawmut Center next year, have the 1996 game locked up&hellip; The final statistical achievement of Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s glorious career has been jeopardized by the lockout. No. 99 is already in firm possession of the big three: he leads the NHL in career goals (803), assists (1,655) and points (2,458). Gretzky would love to add a fourth, more esoteric, numerical feat. He wants to earn more assists than any other player has points. Gordie Howe stands second in all-time NHL points with 1,850. That leaves Gretzky 196 assists short of surpassing Howe. Gretzky would need at least two-plus seasons to make that final leap. The Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center has not revealed how much longer he plans to play, but Gretzky indicated last year he would play long enough to challenge Howe&rsquo;s point total. &ldquo;It would be pretty wild if I got 1,851 assists before I retire,&rdquo; Gretzky said at the 1994 All-Star Game in New York. Ex-L. A. superstar Marcel Dionne is the only other player with more points (1,771) than Gretzky has assists. Howe, by the way, has a special gift for Gretzky to honor his passing of Howe on the all-time goal list last year. Howe arranged for print No. 99 of a limited edition painting that depicts Howe throughout his illustrious hockey career. Howe kept No. 9 for himself&hellip; Larry Brooks of the New York Post has provided thorough coverage of the NHL lockout. An interview with NHL Players&rsquo; Association boss Bob Goodenow elicited a response worth repeating. Goodenow was accused of calling NHL executives &ldquo;liars&rdquo; because the labor leader cast doubt on the relevancy of NHL financial figures. &ldquo;Oh, please,&rdquo; Goodenow said, &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t called anyone a liar. What I have said is that people structure their businesses differently and we don&rsquo;t want to analyze the structure of 26 businesses. What is the litmus test regarding the league&rsquo;s financial health? Is it the value of franchises which keep going up? Is it investment bankers forecasting great things for hockey? Is it people lining up to buy expansion teams? Or is it one or two or three teams out of 26 in trouble?&rdquo;&hellip; At least one former Cornell Big Red wondered about a Nov. 25 Stan Fischler column, in which he said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman played hockey at Cornell. It implied, quite unintentionally, Bettman played varsity hockey when he in fact played on intramural teams. Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; left winger Kent Manderville said the commissioner was not, to his knowledge, a Big Red player. Bettman didn&rsquo;t play for the varsity squad and would not be described as an accomplished hockey player. Nor has he ever professed to be. Manderville played two years at Cornell&hellip; Russia&rsquo;s Central Army team of 1978-bom players, featuring highly touted left winger Sergei Samsonov, launches its Ontario tour Dec. 4 against the Pickering Panthers in Madoc. Samsonov has been called the best Russian player since Pavel Bure, Samsonov, 16, had no points in three regular-season games with Central Army&hellip;. Last year, the NHL administration floated the idea of creating a pool of Teague players&rsquo; who would be available to all teams in injury crisis situations. Under the plan, these players would be first-rate minor leaguers not under contract to individual NHL teams. Likely candidates would be those in their mid-20s no longer considered prospects, but who would be capable short-term replacements in the NHL. The league suggested they would serve as an alternative player pool for teams forced to make trades (motivated by shortterm needs) and pick up expensive contracts when series of injuries hit at once. Teams would be mandated to call upon their own reserves until surpassing a set number of injuries. Then, rather than press an overmatched youngster into duty, they could summon a player from the league pool. The league plan did not receive much support.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011938/8249429-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="349" height="367"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021547/8249422-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="341" height="501"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marcel Dionne</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03977/8249415-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1080" height="1864"><figcaption class="caption-body">A shortened NHL season would mean no inter-conference games.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04547/8249408-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="337" height="487"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Goodenow</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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NHL plans short years

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Mike Brophy</div>The Quebec Major Junior League has broken new ground in Canada with its implementation of a comprehensive drug and alcohol policy.The QMJHL released a 12-page policy document Nov. 24, which stated the use of illegal substances, alcohol, anabolic steroids and growth hormones is unacceptable.The QMJHL is the first of the three Canadian Hockey Leagues to institute a formal policy.League personnel-from players to front-office employees-must sign a form by Dec. 15 which says they will operate within the confines of the policy. Anyone suspected of having a substance problem is subject to a drug test.First- and second-time offenders will be offered help to overcome their problem. A third offense could lead to punitive measures, said QMJHL president Gilles Courteau.CHL spokesman Jim Price said the Ontario and Western leagues don&rsquo;t have similar policies, but noted team representatives attend drug and alcohol awareness seminars.Courteau said the QMJHL&rsquo;s policy has been in the works for two years.&ldquo;We want to help players who might have a problem and for them to know they can confidentially seek help,&rdquo; Courteau said. &#9632;

Quebec League first with formal drug-alcohol policy

<div class="byline">By Dave Eminian</div>The International League&rsquo;s push into large markets is driving a wedge between itself and the NHL and may lead to a parting of the ways.As more independent teams join the thriving league, the competition level rises. That puts NHL affiliates in the delicate position of balancing winning against prospect development.San Jose Sharks&rsquo; director of hockey operations Dean Lombardi said it has gotten to the point where NHL teams are discussing an IHL pullout.&ldquo;It is not in the execution stage, but it&rsquo;s being talked about moreso than in the recent past. What hits you in the face is watching the American League games on TV and seeing the (Cape Breton) Oilers with 13 or 14 of their kids playing. They are doing a better job than we are in getting their kids ice time.&ldquo;To win, or develop players-it gets harder and harder to balance the two in the IHL.&rdquo;It has always been a precarious balance, but the IHL has tipped those scales in one direction by adding five independent teams in two years.Counting expansion San Francisco for next season, the IHL will have eight independents and 10 direct affiliates. The league plans to add several more independent entries by the end of the decade.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s probably an unstable situation,&rdquo; acknowledged IHL commissioner Bob Ufer. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll move in one direction or another. I think what you&rsquo;ll see is NHL teams sending six-to-eight bubble players down to IHL clubs. I think generally you&rsquo;ll see greater independence.&rdquo;NHL teams say that could signal an exodus back to the AHL.One NHL plan could be to co-share farm clubs in the low-budget AHL. The average pay in the AHL is $37,000; in the IHL it&rsquo;s $62,000, according to Professional Hockey Players&rsquo; Association executive director Larry Landon.The IHL&rsquo;s movement into bigleague markets has caused a mass migration of career minor-leaguers from the AHL and Europe.Not everyone agrees, however, that the IHL competitiveness isn&rsquo;t conducive to prospect development. Detroit Vipers&rsquo; coach Rick Dudley points to Petr Sykora, his team&rsquo;s teenaged phenom.&ldquo;He is a much better player today than he was when he came to us. That has to be good,&rdquo; Dudley said. &ldquo;If (prospects) can&rsquo;t compete at this level, then I don&rsquo;t think they&rsquo;ll be regular NHLers.&ldquo;I think the (NHL) views the IHL as a nuisance and they&rsquo;ll use an excuse to get out. The truth is we pay more for players. If there was no IHL, the NHL teams could get the same players for $30,000 in the AHL.&rdquo;NHL teams operating in the IHL, meanwhile, are not without controls.&ldquo;We do hire the coaches and they do know who they answer to,&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;But the issue remains whether you are operating with a common goal (developing players). To have a deal in any business, you have to have similar interests.&rdquo; &#9632;

IHL success may lead to NHL pullout

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy </div><div class="byline">-with a file from Richard Pollak</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011891/8249532-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kirk McLean&rsquo;s team donated 16 goals in a charity game in Oshawa. (Photo by Jim Mclsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div>The San Antonio Iguanas&rsquo; are dedicating their first season to Bill Goldsworthy who was forced to resign as coach of the Central League expansion team after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg and pneumonia.Goldsworthy, 50, spent two weeks in a Memphis hospital intensive care unit after complaining of leg pains following a Nov. 11 game. He was transferred from ICU to a private room Nov. 24.&ldquo;We are really going to miss Bill behind the bench,&rdquo; said Paul Jackson, San Antonio&rsquo;s leading scorer. &ldquo;He was an inspiration and a leader.&rdquo;The Kitchener, Ont., known as &lsquo;Goldie&rsquo; during his NHL career, native played 771 games and had 541 points for the Boston Bruins, Minnesota North Stars and New York Rangers.Iguanas&rsquo; defenseman Dean Shmyr said the players vowed to dedicate the season to Goldsworthy.EAGLE A FUGITIVE: A U.S. district judge is referring to troubled former hockey executive Alan Eagle-son as a fugitive.The Financial Post reported Judge Nathaniel Gorton wrote in a statement &ldquo;a court should not afford a fugitive who is unwilling to submit to its jurisdiction and stand trial for an alleged crime, the opportunity to improve his position by challenging the jurisdiction of the court.&rdquo;Eagleson, the former executive director of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, faces 34 counts of fraud and racketeering in the U.S. He is claiming innocence and tried to reclaim $2 million (U.S.) in assets frozen by U.S. officials. Eagleson is also trying to reclaim foreign assets and properties in Florida, New York and London.Those motions were thrown out by Gorton.IT&rsquo;S OFFICIAL: The NHL Officials&rsquo; Association has given thumbs up to its collective bargaining agreement with the NHL.Former NHLOA president Terry Gregson, who was a major player for his organization&rsquo;s negotiating committee, said not all votes were in, but more than 30 of the association&rsquo;s 59 members elected to accept the deal which gives them the percentage needed to get the deal signed.Negotiations concluded when the NHL and NHLOA agreed on a payment schedule should the 1994-95 season be wiped out.&ldquo;I feel good about it,&rdquo; Gregson said. &ldquo;I just wish we were working.&rdquo;GENERAL DELIVERY: Jason Arnott of the Edmonton Oilers scored three goals and John MacLean of the New Jersey Devils added two as a team of NHLers whipped the Ontario League&rsquo;s Oshawa Generals 16-7 in a Nov. 23 charity game.The NHL team was made up of mainly of General graduates. Former Oshawa goalies Kirk McLean and Peter Sidorkiewicz shared duties for the major-junior Generals.Proceeds from the game go towards the United Way and the junior team&rsquo;s scholarship fund. &#9632;

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‘Goldie’ forced to retire

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>Wayne Gretzky and the NHL Players&rsquo; Association may be at loggerheads with the NHL during collective bargaining agreement talks, but that isn&rsquo;t stopping The Great One from spreading the hockey gospel in Europe.Gretzky has assembled a team of NHL all-stars to participate in a 10-day. six-game tour of Finland, Sweden and Norway. The tour kicks off Dec. 3 in Helsinki with a game between the 99 All-Stars against Finnish champion Jokerit.&ldquo;One day (the lockout) will be over and we&rsquo;U all be working together again,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;Right now (NHL commissioner) Gary Bettman is doing what he thinks is best for the league and (NHLPA executive director) Bob Goodenow is doing what he thinks is best for the players.&ldquo;This is a great opportunity for us to promote the game. It won&rsquo;t be knock &lsquo;em down, drag &lsquo;em out hockey. It&rsquo;ll be fast-paced, skill-oriented games and a chance to show the people in Europe how good our game is.&rdquo;NHLers who have committed to the tour are Al Maclnnis and Brett Hull of the St. Louis Blues; Sergei Fedorov and Paul Coffey of the Detroit Red Wings; Mark Messier, Steve Larmer and Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers; Kirk Muller of the Montreal Canadiens; Grant Fuhr of the Buffalo Sabres; Russ Courtnail of the Dallas Stars; Charlie Huddy, Marty McSorley, Pat Conacher, Rob Blake, Tony Grana-to and Kelly Hrudey of the Kings.L.A.&rsquo;s Jari Kurri, who is playing for Jokerit during the lockout, will be loaned to the 99 All-Stars for the opening game of the tour and will play on a line with Gretzky.The 99 All-Stars will be coached by ex-NHLer Doug Wilson.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021341/8249563-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="481" height="636"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky says a CBA deal would halt his Euro-tour.</figcaption></div>Gretzky said if there is a sudden agreement between the NHL and NHLPA while his tour is in progress, the players would cancel the remaining games and head straight back to North America.&ldquo;Everybody I&rsquo;ve done a deal with in Europe understands first and foremost our responsibility is to the NHL,&rdquo; Gretzky said.Participating NHLers were scheduled to assemble in Detroit Nov. 28, practise for a couple of days, then play a bon voyage game against the International League&rsquo;s Detroit Vipers Dec. 1 at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The proceeds from that game will go to the NHL retired Players&rsquo; Association fund and Detroit-area amateur hockey leagues.The European-tour schedule is as follows: Nov. 3 vs. Jokerit in Helsinki, Fin.; Nov. 4 vs. Ilves Tampere in Tampere, Fin.; Nov. 6 vs. Norwegian All-Stars in Oslo, Nor.; Nov. 9 vs. Djurgarden in Stockholm, Swe., Nov. 11 vs. Goteburg in Goteburg, Swe.; Nov. 12 vs. Malmo in Malmo, Swe. &#9632;

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Fun, goodwill aim of 99 tour

If the lockout ends in time to save the season, the NHL will probably go to a 50-game schedule.There&rsquo;s no problem with that, but the NHL must devise a fair schedule. Let&rsquo;s allow every fan to see the Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers once and Wayne Gretzky once.How, you ask? Simple. Schedule each team to play each other twice. Once home and once on the road for a total of 50 games.Phil Cotroneo, Kensington, Calif.<h2>Rich experience</h2>I recently took my wife and our two children, aged six and three, to a Richmond Renegades Sunday matinee game.The kids whooped, hollered and booed with the passion of the most ardent NHL fan. By the time the game ended, my kids had met the Renegades&rsquo; mascot, caught a souvenir Frisbee and managed to sweettalk a neighboring fan into giving them a puck.The game was great-the &lsquo;Gades won won a breakaway goal in over-time- and the quality was as good as an Ottawa Senators-Winnipeg Jets game.Total damage for the after-noon-$35. We got more than our money&rsquo;s worth in entertainment. It&rsquo;s too bad the average NHL fan can&rsquo;t say the same.John Kurec, Chesterfield, Va.<h2>Greed abounds</h2>I am a journalist based in Bangkok. I have spent a lot of time travelling through Vietnam (where the average person makes 50 cents per day), Cambodia (where the average person makes 25 cents a day) and Burma (where the average person is lucky to just get paid).Michael J. Fox recently released a movie called Greedy. Why don&rsquo;t you all go see it, Messrs. Bettman, Sin-den, McMullen, Goodenow, Gartner and Baumgartner?Scott Murray, Bangkok, Thailand<h2>No Hot Line?</h2>In your Nov. 25 piece about the greatest lines in hockey history, you overlooked one of the most innovative and exciting lines of all time.For four years, the Hot Line of Ulf Nilsson, Anders Hedberg and Bobby Hull skated for the Winnipeg Jets and terrorized the opposition in the World Hockey Association.Moments after the Edmonton Oilers won their first Stanley Cup, coach-general manager Glen Sather said the Oilers were modeled after the WHA&rsquo;s Jets and their brand of EuroCanadian hockey.It&rsquo;s too bad NHL fans never witnessed this great offensive unit.Gordon Heck, Richmond. B.C.<h2>What a waste</h2>If the owners get their way and salaries come under control, I don&rsquo;t believe ticket prices will ever come down.I&rsquo;m sure the owners will take that money and put it in their pockets. And the fans will never notice any difference-except for the fact that they wasted half a season.Steve Desrosiers, Merrimack, N.H.<h2>Selling signs</h2>In your Nov. 18 story on ticket prices, Florida Panthers&rsquo; president Bill Torrey is quoted as saying owners have to sell their teams in order to make money.If that&rsquo;s the case, the owners should sell their teams to people who care about hockey.Daniel Wissemes, Bensenville, III.<h2>East not least</h2>The Atlantic provinces have been shut out again. When the NHL Players&rsquo; Association held its 4-on-4 tournament recently, there were teams from the United States and Western Canada, Ontario and Quebec.But it seems we don&rsquo;t exist in Atlantic Canada because we didn&rsquo;t have a team. We would have a decent team with Wendell Young in goal; Al Maclnnis, Don Sweeney, Cam Russell, Keith Brown and John Slaney on defense; and Glenn Murray, Mike McPhee, Dwayne Norris, Gerard Gallant and Mike Eagles up front.These guys and their areas deserve recognition. Don&rsquo;t forget that the real birthplace of hockey is Windsor, N.S., not Kingston or Montreal.Paul Barry, Dartmouth, N.S.<h2>Stan has flipped</h2>I am a fan of Stan Fischler, but I truly think he has lost his marbles. How can he compare U.S. hockey to Canadian hockey (THN, Nov. 25)?While the U.S. has made great strides, Canada has supplied Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.Tom Boghean, Calgary, Alta.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;

Fifty games fine, but make it fair

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012101/8249618-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><h2>Branch sticks it to chopper</h2>1. Axe-man felled David Branch suspends Sudbury&rsquo;s Gary Coupal entire season for vicious stick foul.2. Brett Mosienko Kingston Frontenacs&rsquo; Brett Lindros shoots three goals in 31 seconds.3. Bears roar Low-ranked Brown University off to amazing 5-0-0 start in ECAC play.4. That&rsquo;s more like it Alexandre Daigle starts poorly, then scores 12 points in four QMJHL games.5. Player of week QMJHL president Gilles Courteau institutes drug-alcohol policy.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021400/8249649-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="511" height="661"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexandre Daigle</figcaption></div><h2>What are they thankful for?</h2>1. Bunch of turkeys Negotiators break from CBA talks to celebrate American Thanksgiving.2. Didn&rsquo;t learn his lesson Sudbury&rsquo;s Gary Coupal booted from OHL for third serious stick foul.3. Double trouble San Jose Shark Sandis Ozolinsh busted for drunk driving, having no licence.4. Wings clipped Soviet Wings go 0-7-0, score 14 goals and surrender 41 intourof IHL.5. Decline the penalty Colgate Red Raiders&rsquo; power-play unit fires blanks, going l-for-35. &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chief</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011904/8249680-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The NHL lockout continued as December beckoned and the season was threatened. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/Bemstein)</figcaption></div>If it&rsquo;s debatable whether the expired collective bargaining agreement provided greater leverage for management or labor, there should be no such doubt in a new CBA-assuming one is reached this year.Proposals hashed out over four days of meaningful dialogue were intended to equip general managers with the tools to cut improved business deals with their players.No issues of significance had been checked off as of Nov. 24.But the two sides were creeping toward management-friendly changes at the entry level (rookie cap), in Group I free agency (elimination of equalization), arbitration (reduction in eligibility and modified rules) and contract language (elimination of the option year). Player-friendly changes were in free agency (reduced draft-pick compensation for restricted free agents and increased opportunities to become unrestricted free agents).The key question was: Would those tentative steps and more expected to come be enough to curb NHL inflation and satisfy owners who have seen profitability decline in recent years? The possibility of an NHL luxury tax, the ultimate inflation fighter, being re-inserted into negotiations kept full-fledged optimism from surrounding the talks.Players had made significant concessions in a bid to conceive a collective drag on salary escala-tion-but it was based on the absence of a luxury tax. The revenue reallocation and distribution system-affectionately nicknamed &lsquo;R2-D2&rsquo; by the league-was set aside to facilitate real talks taking place. If, when or how it re-emerges as an NHL demand, would decide the War of &rsquo;94.&ldquo;This is like a war-throwing live babies back and forth at each other,&rdquo; said Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; owner Bill Wirtz. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bloodbath.&rdquo;When last seen the NHL-proposed luxury tax had an expected trigger point of about $15 million and maximum marginal tax rate of 122 per cent. Even at a reduced rate, such a tax wouldn&rsquo;t be palatable to the players. &lsquo;R2-D2&rsquo; is NHL commissioner Gary Bettman&rsquo;s mechanism for establishing a link between revenues and player compensation-one of his principle CBA objectives.Tied to the system is a lower-level desire to subsidize small-revenue teams. The league wants a deal that allows all teams to be competi-tive-a common objective for management in the NHL, Major League Baseball, National Football League and National Basketball Association. &ldquo;This is what every sport is wrestling with,&rdquo; said NHL vice-president Brian Burke. &ldquo;It is not unique to hockey and it&rsquo;s not a short-term problem. It&rsquo;s the ultimate problem.&rdquo;That problem is manifested in disparate revenue bases. Most NHL team revenues last year ranged from about $35 million (U.S.) to $20 million (U.S.). One method of evening out revenue bases-median 1993-94 team revenues were in the range of $25 million (U.S.)-would be revenue-sharing. Possibilities include splitting up currently shared league revenues disproportionately (i.e. television, licensing and merchandising monies) or breaking new ground with regular-season or playoff gate sharing.Player payrolls, like revenues, are wide ranging in the league. Projected payrolls this season go from about $10 million to $24 million (U.S.). A tax is seen as the most effective means of leveling the paying field and keeping teams such as the St. Louis Blues from skewing the marketplace with wild spending habits. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see a deal being done without a tax,&rdquo; said one GM.The New York Post said the league was pondering several options: a tax on ffee-agent signings; a capped tax; a bell-curve tax; and a tax that would only take effect under certain conditions (a.k.a. a safety-net tax).Players&rsquo; Association executive director Bob Goodenow is fiercely opposed to the luxury tax. It is considered a back-door salary cap and not until the tax was set aside did true negotiations begin for the first time in the 570-plus days since talks officially opened. The most dysfunctional talks in sports labor history have had more stops and starts than a peewee practice.It came as no surprise talks adjourned for three days over the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. (There was no word on whether Groundhog Day would be observed if negotiations stretched to February.)The parties were expected to continue hammering out a non-tax package when talks resumed Nov. 25. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a long, long way from solving all the problems,&rdquo; said one GM, who projected a best-case scenario of teams opening training camps Dec. 15. The two sides were working on a three-tiered player reservation system.Details were not final, but here are the basics:&#9633; Entry level: Two-way contracts and a rookie salary cap covering a player&rsquo;s first three years were in the works, but there was disagreement on the maximum salary. The NHL proposed $2 million over three seasons; the NHLPA wanted the cap set at $1.5 million per season. Unclear was how Europeans and U.S. college players, who generally don&rsquo;t arrive in the NHL until after 20, would fit into an entrylevel system. There was agreement on length of the draft-eight rounds (reduced from 11), including one compensatory round of extra league picks for teams which lose unrestricted free agents. Disagreement centers on the age of draft-eligible players. The league wanted a 20-year-old draft and would probably settle for a 19-year-old draft. The union wanted to maintain the 18-year-old draft. At the very least, an opting-in clause would have to be included for 18-year-olds-but those players would enter at their own risk. The NHL believes an older draft would minimize mistakes by teams and proposed young players be discouraged from entering the draft prematurely by dropping the amount of money available to lower draft picks.&#9633; Restricted free agency: Teams would retain the right to match players for five seasons after their entry-level apprenticeship-provided a qualifying offer at least 15 per-cent higher than the previous year&rsquo;s salary were made. Maximum draft-pick compensation to teams losing free agents would drop from five to either three or two first-round picks.&#9633; Unrestricted free agency: Players would be free to sign with any team at age 28 provided they have eight years NHL experience or 10 years pro experience. It was expected there would be no limit on free-agent signings or losses. Hotly disputed was whether players would agree to a franchise player clause, under which teams could exempt players from unrestricted free agency by meeting defined financial terms. The NHLPA was opposed to the designation because it would eliminate top players from market and deprive the best players of freedom granted lesser players.Among the myriad unresolved issues (and not likely to be addressed until late in negotiations) were transition arrangements. A new deal-the owners want a six- or seven-year contract, the players want it shorter-would take effect this season, but it wouldn&rsquo;t be practical to implement all new measures immediately. Players and teams would be most affected in areas of free agency, arbitration and entry-level salaries.For example:&#9633; Players such as Keith Tkachuk of the Winnipeg Jets are eligible for Group I free agency under the old CBA. The NHLPA surrendered equalization-the driving force behind inflated Group I contracts-for free agents under 24. Grandfathering can be expected to protect players in their option years.&#9633; About 270 players are eligible for arbitration this year under the old rules. More than 40 filed before the September deadline. Proposed changes in arbitration could limit eligibility to restricted free agents; make the process nonbinding (giving teams the option to walk away from arbitration awards and declare players unrestricted free agents); and limit players with whom players can compare themselves when making a case for raises. The NHL doesn&rsquo;t want restricted free agents using unrestricted free agents as comparable players.&#9633; There will likely be a signing window during which teams can sign entry-level players under the old unabridged terms. That&rsquo;s when the likes of Florida Panthers&rsquo; No. 1 overall pick Ed Jovanovski will sign with NHL teams. &#9632;

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Talks move tentatively

<div class="byline">By Al Morganti</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011989/8249718-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="307" height="487"></div>After hearing all the up-to-the-minute rumors about the status of the labor strife in the NHL, Eric Lindros stopped for a moment and considered his most immediate concern.&ldquo;You mean we might come back to training camp (soon)?&rdquo; Lindros asked. &ldquo;Heck, I&rsquo;ve been studying for a big mid-term. I&rsquo;m really ready for this thing.&rdquo;Lindros was pretending to be upset at the prospect of a resolution. He was speaking from a house near the campus of the University of Western Ontario, where he is living with nine other students. He had just returned from an economics&rsquo; lecture.Economics? How do you teach economics to a 22-year-old who makes $3.5 million a year? How do you explain the theory of supply and demand when the demand for his own autograph never seems to balance with what he is able to supply?Easy; you let Lindros get a glimpse of what life might have been like if he wasn&rsquo;t framed as some sort of national treasure from the time he was about 12 years old.&ldquo;The thing is, I&rsquo;m not just here for the course,&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;In the first place, I got here so late in the semester I could only take one course. Mostly, I&rsquo;m here for a chance to experience college life.&rdquo;To the average college freshman, it might sound strange that a multi-millionaire could envy their lifestyle. But Lindros, while he&rsquo;s missing his enormous paycheck during the lockout, is catching up on some living.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve really found this enjoyable,&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not just talking about the learning. I just had no idea of how much you get from going to college. Just something like college spirit is impressive to me.&ldquo;You always hear about it, but when you live it, it really affects you. Our college football team just (won the national championship) and you could feel the excitement everywhere.&rdquo;Amazingly, Lindros is a young man who has heard the roar of thousands at hockey rinks around the world and he is impressed by the simplicity of college spirit.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021489/8249711-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="433" height="816"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Lindros</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I really get caught up in it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The whole atmosphere has been just great. It&rsquo;s something you really have to experience. Mind you, I&rsquo;m not saying, &lsquo;Oh, I&rsquo;d rather do this than what I&rsquo;m doing,&rsquo; but while we&rsquo;re out, why not experience a part of life I never would get to experience.&rdquo;That said, Lindros was anxious to hear the latest gossip on the labor negotiations. He wants to know when the phone call will be made that tells him to get back to the Philadelphia area. He has been skating every morning, but needs to get back in shape and finally get back on the ice in a meaningful situation.&ldquo;I was looking at the numbers recently,&rdquo; Lindros said, &ldquo;and at this rate, I think I&rsquo;ll be about 30 years old when I play 400 games.&rdquo;Due to circumstances both within and beyond his control, Lindros has played just 126 games in what should have been his first three NHL seasons. (Year 1, you&rsquo;ll remember, was the Quebec holdout).When you consider he likely won&rsquo;t play more than 50 this season, he&rsquo;ll only have 175 NHL games to his credit in four years.At that same point in his career, Wayne Gretzky had played 319 regular-season games (missing just one), and 33 playoff games (for those Flyers&rsquo; fans who have forgotten, they&rsquo;re the ones played after the snow melts).That would be about 145 more regular-season games than Lindros after four seasons, or about 37 per season.A comparison to Mario Lemieux is just as striking. Lemieux had played 292 games after four seasons, or about 125 more than Lindros is likely to play.These are players to which Lindros is often compared, but it will be nearly impossible for him to come anywhere close to their output if he keeps missing games.Of course this year, he didn&rsquo;t have much choice.&ldquo;I believe in what our union is doing,&rdquo; said Lindros. &ldquo;But mostly, I just want to get back on the ice. I&rsquo;ve got a lot of time to make up.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Lindros learning, living at college

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011829/8249756-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Providence&rsquo;s Brett Harkins hates being teased about being a saint. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>Some would claim Brett Harkins has nothing to complain about.But it&rsquo;s nothing, as in no penalty minutes, that has the Providence Bruins&rsquo; scoring ace worried. And Harkins admits he&rsquo;s growing tired of being teased about the big zero in his life.Through 22 games Harkins led the American League Bruins in scoring with eight goals and 24 points, but hadn&rsquo;t commited a foul worthy of time in the penalty box.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll probably take a penalty on purpose just to get everybody off my back,&rdquo; Harkins said. &ldquo;A former teammate, Steve Maltais, phoned me a while ago and said, &lsquo;Hey Harks, I was looking at the stats and see you have 200 points already. That&rsquo;s amazing. Oops, that&rsquo;s not 200 points; it&rsquo;s 20 points and zero penalty minutes.&rsquo; Then he laughed his head off. Even my own family is giving me the business. They&rsquo;re embarrassed. They tell me to go out and trip somebody. Just do anything to get rid of that zero.&rdquo;Harkins, 24, is one of this year&rsquo;s hockey saints-players who had averaged more a point per game, but had played strictly within the rules. Veteran pro Hubie McDonough of the International League&rsquo;s San Diego Gulls led his team in scoring through 20 games with 12 goals, 27 points and no penalties. Likewise Russian import Vitali Yachmenev of the Ontario League&rsquo;s North Bay Centennials. He led the OHL in scoring with 25 goals and 53 points in 23 games and, you guessed it, no penalty minutes.Harkins, a ninth-round pick by the New York Islanders in 1989, signed with the Bruins as a free agent last summer. He scored 22 goals and 69 points with 23 penalty minutes as a rookie pro with the Adirondack Red Wings. Harkins had one fight-he claims it was a draw-with Scott Pellerin of the Albany River Rats.&ldquo;Some guys can go out and run other players through the boards because they are big enough,&rdquo; Harkins said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m 6-foot-l and barely weigh 180 pounds. Hitting is not my game. It&rsquo;s not what I get paid for.&rdquo;Scoring runs in the Harkins family, but saintly hockey doesn&rsquo;t. Harkins&rsquo; brother Todd is two years older and led the IHL&rsquo;s Chicago Wolves in scoring with eight goals and 19 points in 18 games. He also had 92 penalty minutes. At 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, Todd plays a more aggressive game than his brother, but doesn&rsquo;t question Brett&rsquo;s toughness.&ldquo;He sticks his nose in there and gets it dirty,&rdquo; Todd said. &ldquo;Brett will take a hit to make a play and players who do that are not soft. He&rsquo;s the type of player who likes to control the play; not let the play control him.&rdquo;What if Brett goes the entire season without taking a penalty?&ldquo;Then I would call him a soft player,&rdquo; Todd said. &ldquo;To do that would mean you were avoiding contact in a contact sport.&rdquo;True hockey saints kill opponents without throwing fists or elbows. Foul them and they won&rsquo;t foul back; they&rsquo;ll score on your team when you are in the penalty box. Lest we forget, scoring is the ultimate form of intimidation and revenge.&ldquo;The classic example of the ultimate competitor whose penalty total is always low is (Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; right winger) Joe Mullen,&rdquo; said Calgary Flames&rsquo; general manager Doug Risebrough. &ldquo;He plays every shift hard every game. He just doesn&rsquo;t put himself in a position to take bad penalties.&rdquo;Mullen&rsquo;s 41 penalty minutes last season were a career high. He has averaged 36 goals and 18 penalty minutes a season over 13 years.Similarly, Yachmenev knows his ticket to the NHL is scoring goals. At 5-foot-9 and 180-pounds and not especially fast, he makes up for deficiencies by playing smart. He was the Canadian Hockey League&rsquo;s top rookie last season with 61 goals, 113 points and 18 penalty minutes.&ldquo;My job is to score goals,&rdquo; Yachmenev said. &ldquo;I know I have done things that I should have gotten penalties for, but the refs didn&rsquo;t call me,&rdquo;Yachmenev does have a skeleton in his closet. He was suspended two games this season after being nailed with a 10-minute and game misconduct for verbally abusing an official. Misconduct penalties are not applied toward a player&rsquo;s penalty total in the CHL.&ldquo;We played a game in Oshawa on a Friday night where he was hooked, grabbed and slashed all night long and no penalties were called,&rdquo; said North Bay coach and general manager Shane Parker. &ldquo;On Sunday at home we had the same ref (Bill Prisniak) and basically the same thing happened. Vitali just lost it.&rdquo;McDonough, 31, is the most surprising member of the All Saints Club. He did, after all, accumulate 61 penalty minutes last season. The former NHLer is reminded nightly to stay out of the penalty box by teammates.They needn&rsquo;t bother.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always felt kind of silly sitting in the penalty box-especially when the other team scores a power-play goal,&rdquo; McDonough said. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a complete waste of time being in the box. At this level I&rsquo;m a playmaker and scorer.&rdquo;A saintly scorer at that.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021255/8249749-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="739" height="991"></div> &#9632;

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According to Hoyle: Playing by the rules

Val Fonteyne left his mark on the NHL by not leaving marks on others.The 5-foot-9, 155-pound left winger was a checking specialist who played the puck more than the body.Fonteyne earned just 28 penalty minutes in 820 regular-season games (1959-1972). That represents 14 minors in 13 seasons-or an average of one for every 59 games.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t very big, so there was no way I could be a fighter.&rdquo; said Fonteyne. now 61 and living in Wetaskiwin, Alta. &ldquo;If I had to take a guy out, I would try. I certainly didn&rsquo;t shy away from the rough going&rdquo;Fonteyne played for the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL. He scored 75 goals and 229 points. Fonteyne completed five seasons (including three in a row) without earning so much as a single penalty.The little winger&rsquo;s record was even more gentlemanly than Frank Boucher, the New York Rangers&rsquo; center who won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanlike play so many times (seven) they final gave him the award during the 1930s. &#9632;

The Saint: Fonteyne went years between penalties

<div class="byline">By Kevin Dupont</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011960/8249818-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="319" height="499"></div>All it takes to keep a tab on some of your favorite hockey names these days is a compass, binoculars and a AAA travel guide to Finland (ask for Teemu Selanne), Switzerland (give Doug Gilmour a ring) or the Czech Republic (Jaromir Jagr is still the one with the longest hair).And of course there&rsquo;s one of your former NHL favorites, Walt Poddubny, who covered a few of the NHL republics in his decade-including stops in Edmonton, Toronto, New York, Quebec and New Jersey.Poddubny now resides in, let&rsquo;s see here&hellip; Worcester, Mass? He was last seen in, let&rsquo;s take another look&hellip; Nauheim, Germ?It&rsquo;s beginning to look like rhyme, reason and all the laws we hold to be true-such as no Zamboni can travel more than 160 feet in a straight line-have all disappeared. The guys we think should be here are on the other side of the ocean. The guys over there are back over here. New world order means no order at all.Not only is Poddubny no longer in Nauheim, but he now fashions himself to be more of a coach than a player. Next he&rsquo;ll be telling us he never really was a card-carrying member of The Three Stooges&rsquo; fan club.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021421/8249811-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="445" height="666"><figcaption class="caption-body">Walt Poddubny</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;m still a Stooges fan,&rdquo; said Poddubny, who&rsquo;ll be 35 when this season ends, provided we haven&rsquo;t all switched to a new calendar. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s nothing like when I was in my early 20s, back in Toronto. I&rsquo;ve still got all the tapes, but I bet I haven&rsquo;t watched them in years. They&rsquo;re back in the archives at home in Thunder Bay.&rdquo;Hey, Moe. Hey, Larry: What&rsquo;s this, the guy went and grew up on us? The nerve. Suddenly, he&rsquo;s talking X&rsquo;s, O&rsquo;s, motivation and team chemistry. He has a one-year deal with Jimmy Roberts, the Worcester IceCats&rsquo; coach and general manager, to play and help out behind the bench. He has run a few optional practices, stood behind the bench a few times and fancies someday dressing again in the NHL-this time in tailored suit instead of a sweaty sweater.&ldquo;A new direction,&rdquo; Poddubny said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my commitment. Hey, if the NHL got back in a few weeks and someone called and said they needed me for insurance, I&rsquo;m not saying I wouldn&rsquo;t go. Jimmy and I would have to sit down and talk. But this is where I am now and I want to make something of it.&rdquo;The IceCats, predictably, have taken the American League more like kitten than tigers. It&rsquo;s an expansion franchise without an NHL affiliation and coaches Roberts and Poddubny must deal daily with the typical issues of a first-year minor league team in search of an identity.Some guys are on the way up, some on the way down. Most of the time, it looks like everyone is moving sideways, waiting to be told to go away-for the right, or the wrong reason. Such is life in the on-deck circle of big-league sports.&ldquo;One of the things you are here for, as a coach, is a sounding board for the young guys,&rdquo; Poddubny said. &ldquo;They have to have someone to talk to.&rdquo; By a quick count, Poddubny figures he played for at least a dozen coaches across his NHL trek. Given his years in Toronto covered 1982-86, his quick computation could be off by no more than 10 or 12. He saw some good ones, some bad ones, borrowed coaching bits from a few, discarded a lot from many.&ldquo;I played for some of the best and some of the worst- and the best was probably John Muckier,&rdquo; he said, thinking back to his early days in Wichita of the Central League. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve still got vivid memories of his practices. He was one of those guys, you know&hellip; not the kind everyone liked, but you all respected him. I know that sounds cliche, but it&rsquo;s not.&rdquo;Worcester likely is the end of Poddubny&rsquo;s playing road. He banged home 95 points in 40 games for Nauheim last year, but hasn&rsquo;t found the AHL an easy re-entry. In his first 14 games, he had eight points. He knew there would be an adjustment, due to his age and two-year European fling, but the bump and grind of North American hockey has been slightly tougher than he expected.&ldquo;I want to get back (to the NHL) as a coach,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;ve got to begin somewhere.&rdquo;And it&rsquo;s Worcester, the first step in Walt Poddubny&rsquo;s new world. &#9632;

f0010-01

Wally’s world tour takes him to AHL

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div>Thinking about it, even four years after the fact, is enough to give Joe Yannetti, the Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; assistant director of scouting, the yips.On draft day, June 16, 1990, the Jets risked losing power forward Keith Tkachuk for journeyman Scott Amiel and the long-since-retired Jeff Parker.The Jets were putting the finishing touches on a deal with the Buffalo Sabres that had as its principals Dale Hawer-chuk and Phil Housley.There was one large hitch. The Sabres coveted Niagara Falls Thunder left winger Brad May and were unsure they could land him with their 19th choice. More names were thrown about and the final package emerged as Housley, Amiel, Parker and the 19th choice for Hawer-chuk, the 14th choice and future considerations.After deliberations between then-Winnipeg general manager Mike Smith, director of scouting Bill Lesuk and Yannetti, it came down to Yannetti&rsquo;s accrued intelligence. The Jets wanted to make the deal, but not at the expense of losing Tkachuk.Would the Hartford Whalers, Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers or Vancouver Canucks nab the prize prospect? Would the Boston Bruins, drafting two spots behind Winnipeg, trade up and land Tkachuk, a Bostonarea product?To Yannetti&rsquo;s eternal relief, Tkachuk was still available at 19.&ldquo;The team I was most worried about was Boston,&rdquo; Yannetti said &ldquo;But it worked out well for everyone. Buffalo got the player they wanted and so did we.&rdquo;Give Yannetti bonus points for understatement. The 1990 draft is considered a rich one and Keith Tkachuk, 22, is emerging at or near the top of a class that includes Owen Nolan, Petr Nedved, Keith Primeau, Jaromir Jagr and second-round jewels Geoff Sanderson and Felix Potvin.Sanderson and Tkachuk tied for the class lead in goals last season with 41, but Tkachuk had 14 more assists and with 255 penalty minutes, almost as PIMs as Primeau, Jagr and Sanderson combined.No player in his age group, with the exception of Eric Lindros, brings as much malice and scoring prowess.&ldquo;You have to do it consistently, Keith hasn&rsquo;t been an all-star,&rdquo; cautions Jets&rsquo; coach-GM John Paddock. &ldquo;But certainly, as he showed last year, Keith has the potential to be among the very top power forwards.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03884/8249849-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="865" height="1860"><figcaption class="caption-body">Captain Keith Tkachuk likes the direction the Jets are taking. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>Small wonder the Jets&rsquo; planned change from a European to a more North American style this season has Tkachuk licking his chops.&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s great,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I was brought up doing. It plays to my strengths, my size and the way I like to play the game.&rdquo;Tkachuk&rsquo;s size is his strength. He is 6-foot-2, 210 pounds and bull strong. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll run over a guy who is 5-foot-5 or a guy who is 6-foot-5,&rdquo; Yannetti said. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t care.&rdquo;Tkachuk flourished last season despite the team&rsquo;s slide. He was the only Jets&rsquo; player to appear in all 84 games and has missed one game due to injury in just over two seasons.With Alexei Zhamnov down with back problems, Paddock tried Tkachuk at center. When the season starts, Tkachuk will be back on Zhamnov&rsquo;s left, but Paddock reserves the right to repeat the experiment this season.&ldquo;I think his spot is on the left wing, but out of necessity, out of trying not to put all our eggs in one basket, we might have to,&rdquo; Paddock said.Tkachuk enjoyed an up-and-down training camp. A contract hassle kept him out of the first two days of camp, then he struck a deal worth $2 million this year just before the Jets took off for an exhibition tournament in Finland.Paddock was disturbed at his captain&rsquo;s stance.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad it&rsquo;s resolved and we&rsquo;re hopeful of a long-term solution, but I think that (the holdout) was the wrong thing to do,&rdquo; Paddock said.&ldquo;That was probably my toughest time in hockey,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;I really learned the game of hockey is a business. I&rsquo;m very happy that I signed and I&rsquo;m glad to be playing.&rdquo;On the ice, Tkachuk has flashed last year&rsquo;s form. He had two goals and eight assists in four exhibition games.Tkachuk becomes a free agent at season&rsquo;s and could be in high demand depending on how the new collective bargaining agreement alters the player-movement landscape. But he would like his situation to be settled before it comes to shopping his talents.&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know the rules, but I&rsquo;m hoping I can sit down with Winnipeg and get a long-term contract,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;Hopefully, we can get back to playing hockey and get the contract settled.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-03

High risk, high yield

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011737/8249880-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rangers&rsquo; Mark Messier still has contract talks to wrap up once a new CBA is reached. (Photo by Tim Parker)</figcaption></div>Mark Messier has spent most of his adult life in two places: hockey arenas and spotlights.But since carrying the Stanley Cup around Madison Square Garden June 14, he has been conspicuously absent from both.The New York Rangers&rsquo; captain has skated just a couple of times since winning his sixth NHL championship in 11 years. A self-imposed lockout-otherwise known as a contract hold-out-kept him away from training camp and preseason games.A self-imposed exile-mostly to his home in Hilton Head, S.C.-has kept him out of the headlines during the collective bargaining negotiating.The CBA low profile is curious, considering Messier&rsquo;s role in the 1992 strike.First, he pulled the Rangers off the practice ice, sparking the union to order its troops not to practice. Then he held a news conference in midtown Manhattan, which turned into a union news conference with NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Bob Goodenow and his ranking soldiers in attendance.Then he made a big appearance with Wayne Gretzky and a few other previously uninvolved veterans-even suggesting the formation of a new league as an altemative-shortly before the settlement was reached.The player known as one of the greatest leaders in the game today says he doesn&rsquo;t feel needed this time around.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to effect the younger generation more, the kids who have 10 years left in their careers and the kids still in junior,&rdquo; Messier said. &ldquo;What we&rsquo;re going through now is going to have an effect on the future of the game. So for guys like myself, who have two or three years left, the only way it affects us is we&rsquo;re not playing.&ldquo;I still have an obligation, just like the guys who played before us had an obligation to us. I think there has been a lot of good representatives on our part and I haven&rsquo;t really felt it was necessary for me to be involved.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s the first time in recent memory Messier, who turns 34 in January, hasn&rsquo;t been front and center. His willingness and ability to take a leading role has been the hallmark of his career.The top line on that resume reads: 1994 Eastern Conference final, Game 6.That was the night Messier matter-of-factly guaranteed a victory for the Rangers, who were one loss from elimination against the New Jersey Devils. Messier delivered three goals in the third period as the Rangers overcame a 2-0 deficit to win 4-2.But as goaltender Mike Richter said after that game, Messier doesn&rsquo;t have to score a single goal to be a great leader. (Although once his career is over, he&rsquo;ll be among the top point producers of all time).The little things he does off the ice are equally as important.For instance, when he first arrived in New York in a 1991 trade with the Edmonton Oilers, he rearranged the dressing-room furniture so that a big table and Gatorade buckets would be out of the middle.&ldquo;I want to see my teammates&rsquo; eyes when I talk to them,&rdquo; he said.There was the time in St. Louis, after a big victory, Messier ordered the team bus driver to change routes. Instead of taking the team back to the hotel, the bus stopped at a pub for a little celebration.He regularly organizes team outings: a day of golf at his country club in Los Angeles; a spree at his favorite tailor shop in Toronto. Everyone, from coach to trainer, is invited. On the surface, these acts may seem trivial, but they help form a bond which players take onto the ice.When Messier himself will get onto the ice again for an NHL game is unclear. (He had, however, committed to play for Gretzky&rsquo;s Eurotour team). There&rsquo;s no guarantee his contract will fall into place once a new CBA is reached.Messier wants a two- or three-year contract extension worth more than $6 million a year so he can join his good buddy, Gretzky, in the salary stratosphere. There&rsquo;s no indication the Rangers&rsquo; new ownership group will be easily budged.It&rsquo;s already acknowledged long layoffs during the lockout are more likely to hurt the NHL&rsquo;s veterans. With difficult contract negotiations still in the offing, Messier faces a longer time away from the game than most.That reality has brought the end of his career into sharper focus, but Messier assures us we haven&rsquo;t seen the last of him.&ldquo;If this was going to be it, it wasn&rsquo;t a bad way to go out, was it?&rdquo; Messier said with a laugh. &ldquo;No, I still have some legs left in me.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-01

Messier takes back-seat role

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011911/8249911-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don&rsquo;t count out Shark Viktor Kozlov as Calder Trophy candidate. (Photo by Babineau/Smith)</figcaption></div>Somewhere, ensconced in the San Jose Sharks&rsquo; video library, there is a tape that in large part determined why Viktor Kozlov is a prized member of the organization.The footage is devoted to two 18-year-olds mesmerizing their opposition. One is Viktor Kozlov. The other is Mario Lemieux.Because of Kozlov&rsquo;s size-he is 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds-his hands and vision, there really is no other comparison. It is hazardous, of course, to compare a Russian who has never played an NHL regular-season game with the era&rsquo;s most magnificent talent. But from what the Sharks have seen, Kozlov fits the mold.&ldquo;You hate to say it, but the analogy is Lemieux,&rdquo; said Dean Lombardi, the Sharks director of hockey operations. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not Mario Lemieux right now, but when you&rsquo;re looking at a player, you ask yourself, &lsquo;Who is he like?&rsquo; That&rsquo;s why we took a tape of Lemieux&rsquo;s draft year and spliced Kozlov in.&rdquo;Once he saw the two side by side, Lombardi was sold.&ldquo;I think Mario might have been further along at this stage, but the vision, hand skills, reach, you can see it with both guys. There&rsquo;s a clip of Lemieux where you can&rsquo;t make the play unless you have a wing span of a 747. I&rsquo;ve seen Vik do that.&rdquo;Vik, speaking through an interpreter from his Moscow apartment, demurs.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t really had the chance to watch Mario play, but if somebody says something like that, obviously it&rsquo;s huge compliment,&rdquo; Kozlov said. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t think so.&rdquo;In selecting Kozlov sixth overall in the 1993 draft, the Sharks took a first-round flyer on an obviously talented, but inconsistent prodigy. The two sides couldn&rsquo;t agree to a contract so Kozlov spent a second season with Moscow Dynamo.He scored 16 goals and 25 points in 22 games and signed a one-way, $3.45-million, four-year deal with the Sharks Aug. 23.When the lockout became reality, the Sharks signed Kozlov to a contract with the International League&rsquo;s Kansas City Blades. But the NHL ruled players signed to NHL deals couldn&rsquo;t sign with minor league teams. Kozlov was yanked off the Kansas City roster and he returned to Russia to play for Dynamo.He may not be in Moscow for long. Kozlov&rsquo;s agent, Paul Theofanous, is negotiating with teams in the German Elite league. With collective bargaining agreement negotiations coming down to short strokes, Kozlov will wait and watch from Moscow.Lombardi and coach Kevin Constantine both are suffering a little separation anxiety. &ldquo;At least he&rsquo;s playing in Russia now,&rdquo; Constantine said. &ldquo;But a player is in his most formative years when he is between 17 and 23. To have a player his age sitting idle is pretty hard to take.&rdquo;Lombardi puts it even more succinctly.&ldquo;To invest that kind of money in him and not having an asset like that maturing, it&rsquo;s very frustrating,&rdquo; Lombardi said.Kozlov can play all three forward positions, but in the pre-season Constantine used him at left wing on the club&rsquo;s No. 1 line. That&rsquo;s No. 1 as in draft choices-center Jeff Friesen, last year&rsquo;s first rounder, and 1992 first choice, right winger Pat Falloon, also man the unit.The line was the Sharks&rsquo; best in the pre-sea-son. Kozlov finished with four goals and three assists in seven games and Falloon enjoyed a quality and quantity of chances he hasn&rsquo;t seen since he left Spokane in 1991.While his NHL employers project his future, Kozlov sits in Moscow and waits. To mention a Calder Trophy showdown with Paul Kariya and Peter Forsberg invites a Transatlantic shrug. It is all so faraway.Said Kozlov: &ldquo;All I can say is that I will try.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-01

Kozlov touted as Lemieux clone

By now, we all realize Manon Rheaume-for all her pluck and pioneering ways-is mainly a product of affirmative action.People ask: Is Rheaume, the first women to. play hockey professionally, good enough to play in the International League? No.The Las Vegas Thunder answered that question by shipping her down to the East Coast League after one less-than-stellar outing. On the basis of her ability, Rheaume doesn&rsquo;t meet the IHL standard.That she got into a game had less to do with her supplanting Pokey Reddick or Clint Malarchuk in the Las Vegas goal and more to do with the fact the game was on ESPN2 and made a good storyline for television.Ultimately, Rheaume will be remembered as the woman who broke hockey&rsquo;s gender barrier, not for any remarkable on-ice achievements.As a goaltender, she is game but small, and doesn&rsquo;t have enough quickness to counter-effect the latter shortcoming. With Rheaume standing in there, shooters see a lot of net.No, the real inroads for women in hockey may not be in playing, but officiating.One of these days. Heather McDaniel of Glen Ellyn. Ill., will become the first professional female referee. The Central League promised McDaniel she would make her debut prior to 1995.Unlike Rheaume, McDaniel will be forced to make it on ability alone. The NHL isn&rsquo;t going to hire her out of curiosity. On the other hand, if she develops into one of the top 20 referees in North America, they will not establish any artificial barriers based on sex.According to Bryan Lewis, the NHL&rsquo;s director of officiating, a woman stands a better chance of making it as a referee than as a linesperson because of the physical demands of the latter job.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021503/8249942-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="313" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Duhatschek</figcaption></div>Nowadays, NHL linesmen possess the physical stature of an NFL linebacker. They&rsquo;re either as tall as Mike Cvik or as broad as Ron Asselstine. A referee&rsquo;s size is less important than the other qualities required to do the job: Judgment. positioning, skating, the ability to work under pressure.None of the above characteristics would necessarily disqualify a woman.Physiologically, could a woman ever play in the NHL on her own merits and not as a shabby publicity stunt? In goal, perhaps. Elsewhere, it is highly unlikely.So what does that mean for someone like Hayley Wickenheiser, a 17-year-old from Calgary who is arguably the best teenage female player in North America? In September. Wick-enhciser was two cuts away from making a local midget triple A team. She is demonstrably better than many male players of her own age. But good enough to play professionally? Probably not.Lewis&rsquo; advice to Wickenheiser is the same as it would be to any of the quality players who graduate from major junior every year and just aren&rsquo;t good enough to advance: When that door closes, consider a career in refereeing.It may require some dues-paying at the minor level, but if you develop and eventually get to the NHL. the rewards-financial and otherwise-are great.As for McDaniel. NHL people are not going to go out of their way to scout her first pro game. However, if they get good reports on her work, then they promise to go in and take a look, same as they would for any other up-and-coming official.Male or female. &#9632;

f0012-02

How about female refs in pros?

<div class="byline">By Kevin Allen</div>Agent Rich Winter has never been one to confine himself to conventional weapons when fighting battles. Given the right cause, he gladly escalates conflicts to all-out war.He has proven that in battling Alan Eagleson over the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, the NHL over pension money and the Edmonton Oilers over Grant Fuhr.He has lived at ground zero for so long, it could now be used as his permanent mailing address. If Winter was given a nickname by the hockey world, it might be &lsquo;Nuclear Winter.&rsquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve gone from a point in time when I was considered to be one of the craziest agents who always had his finger on the nuclear button,&rdquo; said Winter, &ldquo;to an agent whose ideas are (now respected).&rdquo;There is no denying Winter, 37, has made his mark. He championed the cause of removing Eagleson long before it was popular and was most recently vindicated when the Canadian Law Society charged Eagleson with misconduct. It was in response to a complaint Winter filed in 1990. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the final nail,&rdquo; Winter said.Yet Winter&rsquo;s reputation is not one easily defined, even after the fall of Eagleson. It&rsquo;s being kind to say some general managers don&rsquo;t like him. One just rolled his eyes when asked whether he would discuss Winter.At best, some agents view him as a maverick, while others see him as a loose cannon. No one could argue with the fact he is a radical in a very conservative sport.At the November NHLPA-agents&rsquo; caucus in Toronto an agent stood up and said if anyone had any complaints about the way the union was running the negotiations, they should address them in the meeting and not in public. &ldquo;Everyone,&rdquo; the agent said, &ldquo;looked right at Rich Winter.&rdquo;Winter says he has undertaken his missions knowing the consequences would be harsh. He remembers a chat he had with his uncle, Morris Strong, who was then United Nations Secretary of the Environment.&ldquo;He told me crusaders get crucified more than rewarded,&rdquo; Winter recalled.The Edmonton native isn&rsquo;t sure how he developed a taste for fighting causes. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like I got it sitting around the family dinner table,&rdquo; Winter said. &ldquo;My father owned funeral homes. He wasn&rsquo;t a crusader.&rdquo;Oddly, the zeal he possesses in shaking up the hockey world may have been acquired on the volleyball court with the University of Calgary Dinosaurs. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s when I learned I found the biggest challenges most exciting,&rdquo; Winter said. &ldquo;When a friend told me I would never make the team, that&rsquo;s all I needed to hear.&rdquo;Winter said he was never a great player, but the sport took him all over the world for competition. Some of the defining moments of his life came during practices, not the matches.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011741/8249973-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="493" height="871"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rich Winter denies having ulterior motives for his crusades.</figcaption></div>He recalls one drill in which players were required to achieve 10 clean kills before they were allowed to rest. &ldquo;By the time, you got to eight or nine, you are virtually dead,&rdquo; Winter said. &ldquo;But that exercise taught me how to get through things when it gets difficult.&rdquo;The Eagleson fight was most difficult for Winter, particularly because his motives were questioned.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how anyone in their wildest dreams could think that I thought this was the smartest way to get clients,&rdquo; Winter said. &ldquo;Nor did I want to move to Toronto (and take over the NHLPA). I don&rsquo;t even like Toronto.&rdquo;He said back in the early days, people would ask him why he would attempt a risky move like challenging Eagleson.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t understand why other agents weren&rsquo;t doing it,&rdquo; Winter said. &ldquo;It was just wrong what Eagleson was doing. It was immoral and I thought it was criminal.&rdquo;It was a happenstance meeting between agent Ron Salcer and Winter at a seminar in Malibu, Calif., that started the Eagleson crusade. Winter joked he and Salcer would someday be jointly awarded &ldquo;NHLPA man of the Year&rdquo; for their efforts.Winter knows that isn&rsquo;t likely to happen. His methods and beliefs sometimes run contrary to Bob Good-enow&rsquo;s. It was even speculated Winter and Goodenow, the executive director of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, might lock horns at the agent meetings, but they were, in fact, cordial to each other.&ldquo;Rich&rsquo;s heart has always been in the right place,&rdquo; Salcer said. &ldquo;Maybe he isn&rsquo;t always socially acceptable, but he&rsquo;s always trying to do the right thing. He has always been misunderstood.&rdquo;Winter is a man who stirs the pot, even before it begins to cook. He said he will court offers from the Detroit Vipers to keep Petr Sykora in the International League next season if he finds the NHL offering not to his liking.&ldquo;I find the draft process frightening. I like to be in control,&rdquo; he said.His client base, once small, now has grown to 40, and includes Esa Tikkanen, Martin Straka, Peter Bon-dra and Michal Pivonka.There have been low points. &ldquo;The lowest was when Grant Fuhr accused me of stealing his money,&rdquo; said Winter, who felt vindicated in an out-of-court settlement.Salcer admires Winter&rsquo;s resiliency. &ldquo;When he lost Ron Hextali and Grant Fuhr as clients, I thought he would be devastated, but he wasn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He just moved on. I know he feels vindicated today.&rdquo;He is buoyed by his belief some players, particularly retired players, respect his efforts.&ldquo;I remember once Ron Salcer told the Washington Capitals: how can Rich be a bad guy? He married a woman who has three kids,&rdquo; Winter said.He converted to the Mormon faith several years ago and he and wife, Cindy, now have five children.At an Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; pre-season game, he realized his hockey life had also changed when he ran into some retired players and they were slapping him on the back.&ldquo;My wife said:, &lsquo;This is weird,&rsquo;&rdquo; Winter said. &ldquo;She was used to cold stares.&rdquo;To him, the Law Society&rsquo;s response to his Eagleson complaint was almost like a final chapter of his acquittal. &ldquo;For the first time,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;everyone believes me.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0013-01

‘Nuclear Winter’ earning respect

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Robyn Norwood</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011888/8250004-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="137" height="121"></div>The unemployment claim filed because of the lockout by Mighty Ducks of Anaheim defenseman Don McSween has been approved.McSween received his first benefits&rsquo; check Nov. 21.McSween filed a claim Oct. 2, the Monday after the season was supposed to begin. California law states locked-out employees are eligible for unemployment benefits. McSween received a check covering three weeks at the maximum benefit of $230 a week, payable to workers making the equivalent of about $30,000 a year or more.&ldquo;In my position I feel like I&rsquo;ve got to make use of everything available to me,&rdquo; said McSween, 30, who was making $30.000-$50.000 a year as a minor leaguer before he broke in with the Ducks last season. He earned about $100,000 last season before agreeing to a contract last summer that was to pay him about $300,000 this season.&ldquo;We pay into the system and are eligible to make a claim and obviously (the government) feels we are eligible,&rdquo; McSween said.Unemployment benefits are actually paid by employer payroll taxes.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d hoped hockey would be going by now, but this helps pay the rent,&rdquo; McSween said. &ldquo;If the season is canceled, then I&rsquo;ll look for other work. But as long as my ability to work in my field is stymied and I&rsquo;m not working, I&rsquo;m eligible for benefits for 26 weeks.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: John Tanner, the former Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; goalie acquired for depth after Ron Tugnutt was traded to the Montreal Canadiens, has struggled with San Diego of the International League. Tanner, who once outplayed Stephane Fiset, Ron Hextali and Jacques Cloutier in Nordique training camps, was 1-3-1 with a 4.71 goals-against average. Playing behind Allan Bester, he recently went three weeks without a start&hellip; The Ducks are gambling there is still demand for merchandise. They opened two holiday stores in the affluent Orange County area. &#9632;</div>

f0014-01

Unemployment benefits help McSween pay rent

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03996/8250035-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="487" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body">Harry Sinden</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021435/8250042-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="139" height="145"></div>It figures. Bob Tindall finally gets a nice new job and because of the NHL lockout, he can only do half of it.Previously the Boston Bruins&rsquo; director of scouting, Tindall was promoted by team president Harry Sin-den at about the same time the lockout began. His new job involved part of his old one-tracking Bruin draftees-but his duties include scouting the NHL.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s something we never really had,&rdquo; Tindall said. &ldquo;Marcel Pelletier (pro consultant) and Bart Bradley (director of player evaluation) got to games in their areas, but we never had someone doing it full-time.&rdquo;There was nobody doing that because of the lockout, but Tindall still likes his new job. He busied himself with car trips from his home in Toronto to nearby minor pro league games, and kept in contact with the junior and college players he hadn&rsquo;t had a chance to see yet.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice,&rdquo; Tindall said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m able to see some of our prospects over a two- or three-game period, so I can write up good, detailed reports.&rdquo;Best of all, Tindall only has himself to worry about. All the other scouts&rsquo; schedules, expenses and assorted headaches now belong to Gordie Clark, the former assistant coach now handling many of Tindall&rsquo;s old responsibilities.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>When and if an NHL season get under way, Tindall has a feeling scouting players may be his most important duty.&ldquo;If a new CBA makes free agency less restrictive we&rsquo;ll need to have a better idea of who&rsquo;s out there and what they can do,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: Though most Bruin scouts have been restricted to short trips, Gordie Clark did make a recent journey to see Western League games. The Bruins shouldn&rsquo;t have any qualms about spending some money to scout, because they have two first-round draft picks in each of the next three years-their own, plus the Hartford Whalers&rsquo; from the Glen Wesley trade. &#9632;

f0014-03

New job Bob put on hold

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04691/8250080-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="499" height="877"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexander Mogilny</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05468/8250073-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="131" height="139"></div>There are numerous people in Western New York wondering about executive vice-president Gerry Meehan&rsquo;s future with the Buffalo Sabres.Including Gerry Meehan.Long considered a contender for the job as president and chief executive officer once Seymour H. Knox III retired, Meehan appeared as surprised as anyone when Doug Moss, an executive with Madison Square Garden, was recently hired.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard on many levels they (ownership) are happy with my performance,&rdquo; Meehan said. &ldquo;At the same time I need a meaningful path. Does this guy coming in block this path?&ldquo;If I decide we can work together and I can run my end of things without interference, then I think we&rsquo;ll get along. But I need someone to say that to me.&rdquo;Knox is ill and hospitalized with an undisclosed ailment. Moss has yet to arrive in Buffalo. Robert E. Rich Jr., a member of the executive board, sent a message to Meehan through the media indicating he was secure, but it was worded in such a way that seemed to be only for the short term.Meehan, a former player who has been in the front office for more than 10 years, was hired as assistant general manager in 1984.&ldquo;During recent planning sessions of our organization, we identified that the future of the organization with the Crossroads Arena might be more in the direction of marketing instead of sports administration,&rdquo; Meehan said. That appears to be where it&rsquo;s going. &ldquo;I think a fresh look is good at any time.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Alexander Mogilny has decided to play for Moscow Spartak for the duration of the NHL lockout. &#9632;</div>

f0014-04

VP Meehan in limbo?

<div class="byline">-Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011723/8250111-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="145" height="139"></div>In mid-November, during the darkest days of the collective bargaining negotiations, Calgary Flames&rsquo; veteran center Kelly Kisio decided to do something constructive to pass the time.So the 35-year-old Kisio, who graduated from high school in 1978, enrolled in a pre-employment carpentry course at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. The 16-week course runs seven hours a day, five days a week.Apart from staving off boredom, the course will improve Kisio&rsquo;s woodworking skills.Kisio knows spending a year away from the game could cost him what&rsquo;s left of his career. He has played 11 years in the NHL. After signing with the Flames as a free agent in the summer of 1993, Kisio struggled through an injury-filled first season in Calgary and this was to be his redemptive year.Then came the lockout and all the uncertainty that comes with being an aging player signed to a seven-figure contract. Kisio is the first to acknowledge if the work stoppage doesn&rsquo;t end soon, this could be the end of his career.&ldquo;Probably for me, if we don&rsquo;t play this year, then I&rsquo;ve probably played my last game,&rdquo; Kisio said.Kisio played in Davos, Switzerland in 1982 before the NHL discovered him, but said he would not go back to Europe.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had enough moving around,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been away from my family too much already. I&rsquo;m using the time to hang around with the kids and see some of their hockey.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Zar-ley Zalapski spent the first six weeks of the lockout away from the rink. First, Zalapski went on a fishing trip to Idaho. Later, he headed to North Carolina to golf. He didn&rsquo;t get back on the ice until five days before the Flames&rsquo; Nov. 22 exhibition game against the University of Calgary Dinosaurs. For that game, coach Joe Nieuwendyk moved Zalapski to forward. &ldquo;Didn&rsquo;t matter to me,&rdquo; said the offensive-minded Zalapski. &ldquo;I play forward anyway. I just line up on defense.&rdquo;&hellip; Nieuwendyk, who missed all of training camp with back spasms, started skating again Nov. 18 as the latest step in his rehabilitation program. &#9632;</div>

f0015-01

Lockout brings retirement into focus for veteran Kisio

<div class="byline">-Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021234/8250149-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="517" height="1483"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Chelios</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03866/8250142-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="139" height="133"></div>Tired of being locked out, Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; defenseman Chris Chelios accepted an offer to play hockey in Switzerland for the club team in Biel.&ldquo;Enough is enough,&rdquo; Chelios said. &ldquo;I want to go play somewhere and stay in shape. I&rsquo;ll be back when it&rsquo;s over. I&rsquo;m doing what&rsquo;s best for myself and my family.&rdquo;Chelios refused to discuss the terms of his deal, saying only he was on a game-to-game contract.Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; star Doug Gilmour was reportedly getting $1,500 a game to play in the same Swiss league.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the money,&rdquo; Chelios said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of playing and staying in shape.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s better than nothing. I don&rsquo;t even worry about (the lockout) anymore. It&rsquo;s out of my hands.&rdquo;Chelios said he made the decision to look elsewhere to play after returning from Hamilton, Ont., where he participated in the 4-on-4 tournament sponsored by the NHL Players&rsquo; Association.Until Chelios went to Switzerland, Christian Ruuttu had been the only Hawk playing in Europe. Ruuttu is back in his native Finland playing for HIFK Helsinki.Chelios played his first game in Switzerland Nov. 19, then made the nine-hour return flight to Chicago the next day to attend to some personal business.He planned on returning to Switzerland on Nov. 24 and would stay until taking a break at Christmas. That is, of course, if the lockout doesn&rsquo;t end first.&ldquo;The game was a lot more physical than I expected and there were a lot of cheap shots,&rdquo; Chelios said. &ldquo;I thought it would be a little more wide open.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Michel Goulet has been skating with a handful of Blackhawks during the lockout, but has yet to make a decision about his future. Goulet has been advised by Hawks&rsquo; doctors to retire after suffering a severe concussion. in a game last March&hellip; Former Hawks Brian Noonan and Greg Gilbert of the New York Rangers and Troy Murray of the Ottawa Senators were skating with their ex-teammates during the lockout. &#9632;</div>

f0015-02

Impatient Chelios accepts job offer from Swiss team

<div class="byline">-Mike Heika</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011685/8250180-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="125" height="125"></div>Saying he needs playing time to get ready in case the NHL has a shortened season, left winger Dave Gagner has signed a game-to-game contract with Courmayeur to play in Italy.Gagner arrived Nov. 23 and said he planned to return to Dallas Dec. 13. If the NHL lockout has not ended by that time, he said he would consider returning to Italy.&ldquo;I got off to a slow start last year and I didn&rsquo;t think I helped the team as much as I could have,&rdquo; said the 29-year-old who scored 32 goals and 61 points last season. &ldquo;I was afraid of getting off to a slow start again this year, and I knew all this sitting around wouldn&rsquo;t help.&rdquo;Gagner said he had been in contact with friend Danny McCann of International Sports Management about possibly playing in Europe, but nothing materialized. But the Italian idea was broached on a Friday and Gagner was on a plane Tuesday.He said he&rsquo;s not making the move for money. Courmayeur will pay a per game fee, as well as transportation and lodging. Most importantly, it will pay for an insurance policy on his 1994-95 salary of $875,000.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not about money, it&rsquo;s about getting myself ready,&rdquo; Gagner said. &ldquo;It was a difficult decision, but there are parts of me that are excited about the opportunity. It&rsquo;ll be a good experience for me.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Stars&rsquo; owner Norman Green said following the lock-out- or in the event there is no NHL season-he will seek a financial partner to help with the team. Green has had 100 per-cent ownership since purchasing the North Stars from George and Gordon Gund in 1990. He said he is unsure what percentage of the team he will make available. &ldquo;I would be looking not for a buyer, but for a financial partner,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;It just makes sense in the sports business society as it is run today.&rdquo;&hellip; Defenseman Mark Tinordi has been practicing, working out and playing golf during his time off. He said he has felt no pain in the leg he broke last season. &#9632;</div>

f0016-01

Gagne signs to play in Italy fearing another slow start

<div class="byline">-Keith Gave</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03994/8250211-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="481" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Yzerman</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021316/8250218-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="125" height="121"></div>The NHL lockout has cost Detroit hockey fans one of their most cherished traditions: Hockey night on New Year&rsquo;s Eve.Instead of a Red Wings&rsquo; game against the San Jose Sharks this Dec. 31, the Joe will be packed with country music fans for a Brooks and Dunn concert.&ldquo;Obviously with the lockout and us not knowing if and when it&rsquo;s ever going to end, we still have to continue to do business here,&rdquo; said Wings&rsquo; senior vice-president Jimmy Devel-lano. &ldquo;That particular night would normally be a hockey night, a very popular hockey night. But we couldn&rsquo;t run the risk.&rdquo;There is no out clause either, Devellano noted, meaning even if a new collective bargaining agreement was reached in time, the Wings&rsquo; New Year&rsquo;s Eve date would still be off.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve already let the league know we can&rsquo;t work with that date anymore,&rdquo; Devellano said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a broken tradition, sure, but there have been a lot of broken traditions this fall, unfortunately.&rdquo;Devellano has been among the most optimistic regarding a settlement, but was cautious when a renewed round of talks in Boston seemed to produce the first progress at the bargaining table in months.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s just put it this way, it seems both sides are working harder,&rdquo; Devellano said. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s crucial because of the number of games that are being lopped off the schedule.&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>NOTEBOOK: The Wings denied reports out of Montreal that a trade involving captain Steve Yzerman for Canadiens&rsquo; defenseman Mathieu Schneider is a done deal. &ldquo;I guarantee that Steve Yzerman has not been traded,&rdquo; coach and director of player personnel Scotty Bowman told the Detroit News. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t be any more definite than that, can you?&rdquo;&hellip; Slava Kozlov, playing for Central Army, sustained several broken teeth, a bad cut around his mouth and a slight concussion in a 4-0 win over Krystal in which he had a goal and two assists. &#9632;

f0016-03

Annual game won’t fly now

<div class="byline">-Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04752/8250256-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="487" height="889"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Weight</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05547/8250249-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="127" height="142"></div>With NHL teams locked out, he can forget about Manhattan so Kevin Primeau will take Berlin. He knows German. He knows hockey. And he knows a golden opportunity when it calls him.That&rsquo;s why the Oiler assistant coach leapt at the chance to coach Preussen Berlin in the German league for the remainder of their season after they fired Billy Flynn.Oilers&rsquo; general manager Glen Sather granted Primeau a leave of absence and will not replace him if the NHL season gets under way. The Oilers would use another staff member to take Primeau&rsquo;s place in the press box.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a challenge, but I&rsquo;ll have mixed feelings if things start up (in the NHL),&rdquo; Primeau said. &ldquo;Unfortunately, if they don&rsquo;t, it&rsquo;ll be a good scenario for both me and (the Oilers). From Glen&rsquo;s side it was not a bad scenario and from my side it was a good scenario.&ldquo;Any time you can get some more head-coaching experience at a high level, it&rsquo;s great. It&rsquo;s a chance to get back behind the bench and run things for awhile.&ldquo;Knowing I can come back is very positive. I was very happy with Glen giving me the opportunity.&rdquo;Primeau is no stranger to Europe having coached in Switzerland for a number of years. He heard about the job from a friend of his in Italy. He inherits a team that is among the league leaders in points and boasts former NHLers Tony Tanti and John Chabot as its imports.NOTEBOOK: Center Doug Weight signed with Rosenheim Nov. 8&hellip; Two days after turning down a job with his former Swedish club team Farjestad, Oiler defenseman Fredrik Olausson signed a deal with Erwald in Austria. &#9632;</div>

f0016-04

Coach takes assignment

<div class="byline">-Dave Joseph</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011504/8250294-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="487" height="889"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rob Niedermayer</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021174/8250287-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="145" height="133"></div>Four hours from Calgary in the tiny town of Cranbrook, B.C., Florida Panthers&rsquo; center Rob Niedermayer has run out of ways to amuse himself.The fifth player chosen in the 1993 NHL entry draft, Niedermayer has spent the last few months staying in shape by skating with his brother. New Jersey Devils&rsquo; defenseman Scott, working out with the Cranbrook Colts junior B team, and hunting sheep and elk in the surrounding mountains. What&rsquo;s next?&ldquo;Ice fishing,&rdquo; he laughed.Niedermayer, whose promising rookie season fizzled after separating his right shoulder in November, is so frustrated with the lockout he has asked the Panthers to allow him to play junior hockey.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to play somewhere,&rdquo; Niedermayer said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t play in the World Junior Championships, because I&rsquo;m three days too old. That only leaves junior or going to Europe. But I&rsquo;d like to play somewhere. I don&rsquo;t think I can improve off last year if I&rsquo;m not putting the things I learned last year into use.&rdquo;Panthers&rsquo; general manager Bryan Murray intends to ask the league if Niedermayer could go back to junior in the first week of December if the lockout isn&rsquo;t resolved.NOTEBOOK: John Vanbiesbrouck, the Panthers&rsquo; representative during the NHL Players&rsquo; Association 4-on-4 event, said players talked shop during the games. &ldquo;We know it&rsquo;s a long grind in order to hammer out a deal,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but we feel we&rsquo;re going forth in good faith,&rdquo;&hellip; Coach Roger Neilson recently checked out No. 1 pick Ed Jovanovski in Windsor if the Ontario League. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s making crisp passes and his toughness is much more apparent,&rdquo; Neilson said. &#9632;</div>

f0017-01

Junior job for antsy Rob?

<div class="byline">-Viv Bernstein</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03853/8250325-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="145" height="133"></div>Some Hartford-area fans who have grown tired of playing the waiting game during the NHL labor dispute are taking action.A group of Whalers&rsquo; fans formed an organization called FANS-Fans Against Non-Performing Sports. Their goal is to have a voice in labor disputes, rising ticket prices and the reduction of games on free television.&ldquo;Nobody is really representing the fans,&rdquo; said John Bolton of West Hartford, a Whalers&rsquo; season ticketholder who formed the organization. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re the consumer. No one seems to care about the fan. We&rsquo;re the ones that buy into their product.&rdquo;The group held its first public rally in Hartford Nov. 23. Although membership is less than a dozen, Bolton said he has at least 50 supporters.&ldquo;During the merger talks between the NHL and WHA, fans in Quebec, Edmonton and Winnipeg boycotted Molson beer (Molson owns the Montreal Canadiens),&rdquo; Bolton said. &ldquo;When they stopped buying that product, you had momentum. Next thing you know, the Whalers were in the NHL. Fans can make a difference.&rdquo;Bolton&rsquo;s solution to the NHL lockout is a &ldquo;virtual lockout&rdquo; in which revenues and salaries are held by a third party while negotiations continued and games are played.NOTEBOOK: Coach Paul Holmgren on playing a 60-game schedule this season: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s better than no games. To be honest, just give me one game. I&rsquo;m dying to coach one game. I&rsquo;m frustrated.&rdquo;&hellip; The Whalers bought out the contract of center Jarrett Reid, their sixth pick in the 1992 entry draft. Reid played for Springfield of the American League and Richmond of the East Coast League this season.Pat Verbeek and Brad McCrimmon, who agreed to make a public appearance on behalf of the Whalers for the Athletes Helping Athletes seminar Dec. 1, pulled out to attend an NHL Players&rsquo; Association function. Goalie Sean Burke and defenseman Adam Burt will represent the Whalers at the seminar. &#9632;</div>

f0017-03

Whaler fans form group to give customers voice

<div class="byline">-Rick Sadowski</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05437/8250356-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="511" height="912"><figcaption class="caption-body">Barry Melrose</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04626/8250363-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="137" height="125"></div>Barry Melrose has managed to squeeze in some work behind the bench despite the lockout, even if the level of competition is just a bit lower than he is accustomed to.The Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; coach has been working with his youngest son&rsquo;s hockey team in Culver City, Calif. Unlike his dad, who was a grinding defenseman, Adrien Melrose, 9, skates at center and left wing.&ldquo;He likes to score goals; he likes the glory,&rdquo; Melrose said. &ldquo;From my standpoint, it&rsquo;s a lot of fun. I guess I&rsquo;m probably the highest-paid coach in squirt hockey history.&rdquo;Melrose also had some dental work done and received treatments to alleviate allergy problems he claims were caused by west coast smog.&ldquo;I never had problems until I came out here,&rdquo; Melrose said. &ldquo;I guess when you can see what you&rsquo;re breathing it&rsquo;s no good for you.&rdquo;Assuming the NHL begins play at some point this season, Melrose thinks an abbreviated season could be good for the Kings, even though it might take a while for them to click because of the massive roster changes made over the summer.&ldquo;With guys like Dan Quinn, Rob Brown and Troy Crowder trying to make good impressions, I think that should work to our advantage,&rdquo; Melrose saidNOTEBOOK: Kings&rsquo; coaches, staff members and broadcasters served U.S. Thanksgiving Day meals Nov. 22 at the Covenant House in Hollywood, a shelter for 200 homeless and runaway children&hellip; As expected former Bruce McNall associate Patricia Linden pleaded guilty Nov. 21 to a conspiracy charge for diverting $13 million from a rare coin fund McNall set up for Merrill Lynch & Co. to other McNall-run firms. Another former associate, Bruce Bargmann. has agreed to plead guilty to a bank-fraud charge for helping McNall cover up a loanpayment deal with phony team cashflow records by diverting $7 million in season-ticket revenue to McNall Sports and Entertainment.</div><div style="clear: both;"> &#9632;</div>

f0017-05

Coach finds new team

<div class="byline">-Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011564/8250394-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="139" height="121"></div>It&rsquo;s one of those pesky rumors that has refused to die. It started last August, and there it was again, nearly three months later.It was speculated Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; defenseman Mathieu Schneider was going to be traded to the Detroit Red Wings for center Steve Yzerman.Any trade, of course, couldn&rsquo;t be announced until the NHL&rsquo;s labor dispute is settled, but there was nothing preventing general managers from conducting discussions during the impasse.Indeed, Montreal GM Serge Savard admitted having talked with the Red Wings, but said Yzerman, scheduled to earn $3.5 million (U.S.) this season, was too rich for his blood-especially if a payroll tax system is implemented.The two team&rsquo;s respective coaches, Montreal&rsquo;s Jacques Demers and Detroit&rsquo;s Scotty Bowman, also denied the trade was in the works. However, Larry Kelly, Yzerman&rsquo;s Ottawa-based agent, shed a different light.&ldquo;There have been too many rumors not to have some substance to it,&rdquo; Kelly said.Schneider said he hasn&rsquo;t ruled out the possibility of being dealt.&ldquo;I know (a trade) is going to happen,&rdquo; Schneider said. &ldquo;The city and media have been crying for a big trade. I could be involved.&rdquo;The 25-year-old is coming off his finest year, having scored 20 goals and 32 assists in 75 games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to play my whole career in Montreal, but I realize the chances of that are slim and none,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Benoit Brunet has turned down the opportunity to play in France during the lockout&hellip; Goalie Patrick Roy is doing lots of playing these days-golf, that is. He travelled to Las Vegas, where he played a round with professional golfer Fred Couples. &#9632;</div>

f0018-01

Habs’ welcome Matt laid out for Yzerman?

<div class="byline">-Jeff Williams</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04585/8250463-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="145" height="145"></div>Mick Vukota is the New York Islanders&rsquo; hired fist-employed to protect his teammates.This season, should it take place, will be a test of Vukota&rsquo;s resilience. It was to be his eighth as an Islander and he ranks third on the current roster in games played with 421. Only Pat Flatley (611) and Derek King (461) have played more.But unlike Flatley and King, Vukota&rsquo;s career has been spent on the fourth line, primarily as an enforcer. On some nights, he is lucky to see more than a couple of shifts.His future is uncertain, given the fact the Islanders have drafted recently for toughness as well as skill.The 1994 first rounder, mighty 6-foot-4, 215-pound Brett Lindros, is big, strong and willing to fight.Todd Bertuzzi, playing for Guelph of the Ontario League, was the 1993 first-rounder. He is heavier (227 pounds) than Lindros and just as willing to use his fists.This could mean that when Bertuzzi makes the big club in 1995, Vukota could be on his way out. That&rsquo;s the kind of speculation he&rsquo;s always had to deal with.&ldquo;No matter what level I played at, I always had to fight for a job,&rdquo; Vukota said. &ldquo;I know it will be a challenge to stay here, but I like challenges.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Islanders are having their employees defer some of their pay until the lockout is over. Those making more than $50,000 per year are deferring 25 per cent. Those who make under $50,000 are deferring 15 per cent&hellip; At last Benoit Hogue is able to take advantage of the striped bass season in the Atlantic off Long Island&rsquo;s east end. He has caught a couple of 25-pounders this fall, though he&rsquo;d rather be collecting on his new $1.2-million contract. &#9632;</div>

f0018-04

Vukota’s job on the line

<div class="byline">-Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011075/8250494-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="134" height="129"></div>Brian Leetch needed to keep himself busy in order to avoid going nuts without hockey.So the New York Rangers&rsquo; superstar defenseman, who suffered a double-whammy without his favorite spectator sport, baseball, has become a huge college football fan. More exactly, he has become a huge Boston College football fan.&ldquo;I love the tailgating and hanging out,&rdquo; said Leetch, who attended four of his alma mater&rsquo;s games including a trip to Florida for a B.C.-Miami game.&ldquo;It was like winning the (Stanley) Cup when we beat Notre Dame.&rdquo;Leetch&rsquo;s other activities included watching his brother&rsquo;s hockey games at West Point, and, he added matter-of-factly, getting engaged.On the down side, Leetch is worried about the condition of the players if and when the regular season begins.&ldquo;We won&rsquo;t be in top condition, for sure,&rdquo; said Leetch, who has skated 10 or 11 times in recent weeks. &ldquo;The quality of the games will suffer.&rdquo;After winning the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy last year, Leetch was really anxious to get it going.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been on a set schedule my whole life,&rdquo; Leetch said. &ldquo;When I got ready for this season, then they took it away, I just got really down. I&rsquo;m just starting now to get mentally ready again.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: In an interesting charity venture, the Stanley Cup met college football&rsquo;s Heisman Trophy to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Several members of the Rangers&rsquo; organization showed up at the Heisman&rsquo;s home, New York City&rsquo;s Downtown Athletic Club Nov. 21. and fans could have their pictures taken with both fabled trophies for a fee. &#9632;</div>

f0021-01

Leetch engages in many other activities

<div class="byline">-Wayne Fish</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04323/8250563-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="138" height="127"></div>Rod the Bod is now Rod the Bored.Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, who is known for his solid physique and love for the game, can&rsquo;t wait for the games to begin again. A seven-week long NHL stoppage is not the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; left winger&rsquo;s idea of a vacation.Brind&rsquo;Amour, 24, was working out three times a week with a group of Flyers at a suburban rink, but those sessions didn&rsquo;t come close to filling his appetite for hockey.&ldquo;The first week was sort of emotional,&rdquo; Brind&rsquo;Amour said. &ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s to the point where I&rsquo;m just tired of looking for things (in the talks).&rdquo;Even players such as Brind&rsquo;Amour get weary of playing shinny.&ldquo;The first couple days we were really into it because we figured, &lsquo;Hey, let&rsquo;s stay ready.&rsquo; Now the motivation factor has dropped,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It started as day-to-day, now it&rsquo;s month-to-month. It&rsquo;s hard for the guys to stay motivated.&rdquo;Brind&rsquo;Amour was looking forward to this season having been promoted to a line with Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg last year. Shifting from center to left wing, Brind&rsquo;Amour finished strong with a career-high 97 points.When the season starts? Brind&rsquo;Amour said it won&rsquo;t take long to get ready.&ldquo;A couple weeks to set the tempo, that&rsquo;s all,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: Mikael Renberg scored two goals in his first game for Lulea of the Swedish Elite league&hellip; Coach Terry Murray compiled depth charts on all 26 NHL teams for future scouting reports.Mark Recchi on why some of the Flyers are working out three times a week: &ldquo;You never know if things could start up. If they do, then maybe we&rsquo;ll have the jump on some teams.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

f0021-04

Brind’ Amour losing faith

<div class="byline">-Dave Molinari</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011213/8250594-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="117" height="117"></div>Ulf Samuelsson has worked out a deal to return to his hockey roots. But he would just as soon the contract never take effect.Samuelsson is scheduled to join Leksand, his old team in the Swedish Elite League, when it begins a North American tour Dec. 10.The agreement will be moot if the NHL lockout ends by then, and that clearly is Samuelsson&rsquo;s preference.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping every day that something might happen between now and Dec. 15,&rdquo; he said.He wouldn&rsquo;t disclose what Leksand will pay him, calling the financial facet of his deal &ldquo;not even secondary&rdquo; to his desire to play. He did say, however, he will earn &ldquo;enough to pay for my insurance policy and to pay the bills.&rdquo;Samuelsson is a charter member of the group of Pittsburgh players which has been skating three times a week since the lockout began.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting closer to game shape,&rdquo; Samuelsson said.Samuelsson believes it is critical for him to see game action this winter, because the 1994-95 season is his option year. He feels the rust that would form on his game while he spends a winter on the sidelines could seriously erode any leverage he would have in negotiations.&ldquo;Obviously, we&rsquo;re going to play hockey sometime,&rdquo; Samuelsson said. &ldquo;It makes sense to play somewhere this year.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh forward Shawn McEachern played just eight games with Kiekko-Espoo in Finland before returning home. Early reports out of Finland said he had been released, but McEachern&rsquo;s agent, Mark Witkin, said McEachern decided to return home after sustaining a &ldquo;slight&rdquo; back injury&hellip; Mario Lemieux, who is taking the season off for health reasons, reiterated what he has said all along in an interview in the December issue of Inside Sports. That is, he will return next season only if he is nearly 100 percent healthy. &#9632;</div>

f0022-01

Samuelsson makes deal he’d prefer not to honor

<div class="byline">-Kevin Johnston</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03671/8250625-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="497" height="940"><figcaption class="caption-body">Claude Lapointe</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02890/8250632-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="139" height="139"></div>Claude Lapointe has a pain in his back. He doesn&rsquo;t want additional hurt in his wallet.The fourth-year center claims he should be among the injured Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; players being paid during the lockout because he injured his back during the final pre-season game.&ldquo;I was actually pulled from the game in the third period,&rdquo; Lapointe said. &ldquo;Then we went to Charlevoix for a mini-camp before the regular season was supposed to start and I felt pretty bad. I even missed a whole practice. My agent Gilles Lupien and I feel that I should be paid because I was injured back then.&rdquo;All the players were told the day the season was scheduled to begin that, if they needed treatment, they should report to physiotherapist Jacques Lavergne, said Jean Martineau, director of the team&rsquo;s media relations. Wendel Clark, Bob Bassen and Dave Karpa were the only ones who did so. Bassen and Karpa are still receiving treatment while Clark was deemed to be healthy about two weeks ago.&ldquo;During training camp, I could feel the pain,&rdquo; Lapointe said. &ldquo;But I was still able to skate. Which isn&rsquo;t the case right now. Last summer, I felt the same pain, but it went away for a while.Quebec general manager Pierre Lacroix said Lapointe must take the issue up with the Players&rsquo; Association.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>&ldquo;When the season was postponed, we were given guidelines by NHL management,&rdquo; Lacroix said. &ldquo;We explained everything to the players. So now it&rsquo;s my job to uphold these directives. Claude is a member of a union. It&rsquo;s up to him to take matters up with the union.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Nordiques&rsquo; Sylvain Lefebvre, Craig Wolanin and Stephane Fiset visited the Donnacona Maximum Security Jail as celebrity guests for the inmates&rsquo; annual sports banquet&hellip; Goalie Jocelyn Thibault, assigned to Sherbrooke of the Quebec League, remains sidelined with a sore shoulder. &#9632;

f0022-03

Ailing center wants salary

<div class="byline">-Dave Luecking</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011095/8250663-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="145" height="139"></div>Bigger is not always better as far as Brendan Shanahan is concerned.Worried about filling out in places he&rsquo;d rather keep lean, the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; left winger has accepted an offer to play for Dusseldorf of the German league while the NHL labor dispute is in progress.Shanahan, who left for Germany Nov. 25, is the Blues&rsquo; first non-Euro-pean to head overseas.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to stay in shape,&rdquo; Shanahan said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a little speedy guy who gets his legs back in a couple of days. I&rsquo;m a big lumbering guy with chugging wheels and they&rsquo;re growing thick on me.&rdquo;Other Blues playing in Europe are Russians Igor Korolev and Vitali Prokhorov, Finn Esa Tikkanen and Slovakian Peter Stastny.Shanahan, meanwhile, said he has recovered from a shoulder injury sustained in training camp. It was the same shoulder operated on after an injury in the World Championships.Shanahan might be entitled to some compensation because of the injury.NOTEBOOK: Blues&rsquo; President Jack Quinn was pleased with the progress of the owners negotiations with the players. &ldquo;This is what everyone wanted early-on, continuous meetings,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re meeting seven-to-eight hours at a time, and that, to me, indicates progress is being made to some degree. There&rsquo;s some continuity to it,&rdquo;&hellip; Player rep Guy Carbonneau said negotiations have reached crunch time. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not at the end yet, but the end is coming,&rdquo; Carbonneau said. &#9632;</div>

f0023-01

Shanahan off to Germany

<div class="byline">-Mike Weaver</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02762/8250694-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="147" height="147"></div>For the third time in less than a month, a member of the San Jose Sharks landed in jail after being arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.This time it was defenseman San-dis Ozolinsh. who was stopped at 3:46 a.m. by the California Highway Patrol Nov. 22.Ozolinsh. 22, was driving alone and without a license in San Jose in a black 1993 BMW 325-1, a CHP spokeswoman said. She said a computer check indicated Ozolinsh has never had a California driver&rsquo;s license.Ozolinsh was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail, cited and then released. He refused to comment on the arrest when reached by phone at his San Jose home.Sharks&rsquo; defensemen Shawn Cronin and Ilya Byakin were arrested on suspicion on drunken driving in separate incidents in late October.&ldquo;The most frustrating thing from our standpoint is we haven&rsquo;t been able to deal with these things before they happened.&rdquo; Sharks&rsquo; director of hockey operations Dean Lombardi said. &ldquo;The main thing is when you get into a situation like this, you want to support them. Under normal circumstances, there would be more day-to-day interaction and maybe these things wouldn&rsquo;t happen.&rdquo;Cronin and Byakin were arrested after attending a gathering of players at a teammate&rsquo;s house on Oct. 24. Blood-test results indicated Byakin had a blood-alcohol content of.23 (almost three times California&rsquo;s legal limit of.08) at the time of his arrest. Cronin, who crashed his car on a San Jose highway, refused a blood test. Both players have court dates in December.NOTEBOOK: The Sharks and the Cow Palace in Daly City have agreed to void a contract calling for the team to play at least one exhibition game there every season for three more years. The sides voided the agreement after the International League announced Nov. 22 an expansion franchise will play at the Cow Palace next season&hellip; Former Sharks&rsquo; defenseman and tough-guy Link Gaetz has resurfaced with the San Antonio Iguanas of the Central League. &#9632;</div>

f0023-02

Ozolinsh in hot water

<div class="byline">-Roy Cummings</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011170/8250725-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="133" height="133"></div>The Tampa Bay Lightning&rsquo;s Japanese owners will no longer try to run their fledgling hockey franchise from a Tokyo office tower.The team&rsquo;s general partner, Koku-sai Green Ltd., has decided the time has come to place a chief executive in Tampa and keep him there.Saburo (Steve) Oto has replaced the seldom-seen, non-English speaking Yoshio Nakamura as president of Lightning Partners Ltd., the company that oversees the business operation of the hockey club. Nakamura has also been removed from his post as chairman of the board and replaced by Takashi Okubo, the president of Kokusai Green Ltd.The changes, Oto said, are mostly structural in nature and have nothing to do with Nakamura&rsquo;s performance or that of the team governor, David LeFevre.&ldquo;This project is no longer in its infancy,&rdquo; Oto said. &ldquo;The business has grown and we are changing with that growth.&rdquo;In his new role, Oto will oversee the work of LeFevre and Lightning president and general manager Phil Esposito. &ldquo;Nothing is changing as far as what these two men do,&rdquo; Oto said.In addition to strengthening the Lightning&rsquo;s business operation, Oto said he was brought in to exemplify Kokusai Green&rsquo;s commitment to the Bay area.&ldquo;This move is an indication of Kokusai Green&rsquo;s commitment to this team and the Bay area,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This team will be here for years to come, as will 1.1 am building a home in Avila and I have my Rorida driver&rsquo;s license. I&rsquo;m not going anywhere and neither is this hockey team.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Lightning learned the injury to Jason Wiemer&rsquo;s ankle may not be as bad as first thought. Wiemer sustained a fractured ankle, but doctors determined the fracture was not as severe as originally diagnosed&hellip; The Lightning scheduled an Open House for fans at the ThunderDome Dec, 2. The event will include a display with the Stanley Cup. &#9632;</div>

f0024-01

Japanese owners place new man in Tampa Bay

<div class="byline">-Damien Cox</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03585/8250756-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="496" height="872"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cliff Fletcher</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02830/8250763-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="133" height="133"></div>It certainly wasn&rsquo;t something Cliff Fletcher wanted to do.For years, the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; general manager has stayed away from assuming key positions on league committees despite being one of the NHL&rsquo;s most experienced and successful executives. At the top of his &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll pass&rsquo; list has always been any involvement in collective bargaining sessions with the players&rsquo; union.&ldquo;I just don&rsquo;t have the stomach for that kind of thing,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;General managers are deal-makers. Collective bargaining doesn&rsquo;t always work that way, though, which is why the process is so frustrating for so many of us.&rdquo;Fletcher either changed his attitude or was persuaded otherwise when he joined the NHL negotiating team for labor talks with the players 48 days into the NHL lockout.Fletcher, who has felt somewhat estranged from the center ice of NHL powerbroking since commissioner Gary Bettman took over, clearly has become of more importance to Bettman and his NHL lieutenants during the lockout. When the owners held a New York news conference to announce their dismissal of a union proposals, there was Fletcher sitting at Bettman&rsquo;s right hand.Then, with talks stalling, Fletcher was brought into the actually negotiating sessions. Why? The Leaf GM has always been known as a moderate; one who takes pride in the fact he has never failed to sign any player that he really wanted.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>Fletcher&rsquo;s inclusion in the process was widely greeted as a positive development.&ldquo;Cliff wouldn&rsquo;t allow himself to be part of it if he didn&rsquo;t think he had a fighting chance to make a difference,&rdquo; said one player agent.NOTEBOOK: Doug Gilmour managed six assists, but no goals in his first three games with SC Rapper-swil-Jona of the Swiss league. In his first three games, Gilmour was named Rapperswil&rsquo;s player of the game twice. &#9632;

f0024-03

Fletcher at CBA table

<div class="byline">-Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04401/8250801-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="523" height="907"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pavel Bure</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05272/8250794-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="125" height="121"></div>If Rick Ley is seeking a life beyond hockey, the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; coach can always look for work as a film critic.Ley has spent countless hours watching Hollywood&rsquo;s contributions waiting for the lockout to be lifted, or the season scrubbed.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve probably watched a thousand movies,&rdquo; Ley said. &ldquo;Sometimes I&rsquo;ve watched five in a day.&rdquo;He has yet to do any scouting because Canuck management has been attempting to hold down costs with no revenues coming in.&ldquo;There are days when I try to pump myself up to be as upbeat as I can,&rdquo; Ley said. &ldquo;But when it&rsquo;s raining and dreary outside and there is nothing to occupy my time, I start feeling sad about the situation. I just want to get on with it.&rdquo;To compound Ley&rsquo;s miseries, his wife Ellen went east for a month to visit their daughter who attends university in Hartford. The trip was to coincide with a Canuck road trip. Ellen Ley&rsquo;s ticket was non-refundable, leaving the coach on his own in Vancouver.&ldquo;And it was at a time when there weren&rsquo;t many golf games.&rdquo; Ley grimaced. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s when I was watching all those movies.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Canucks and star forward Pavel Bure could be headed for a dispute over lockout wages. Bure&rsquo;s agent, Ron Salcer, claims the Russian Rocket&rsquo;s $4.5 million in salary and bonuses for 1994-95 must be paid in full no matter how many games are cancelled. Canuck owner Arthur Griffiths doesn&rsquo;t agree. &ldquo;If it is arbitrated and we are told we owe him the money, we&rsquo;ll pay it,&rdquo; Griffiths said. Bure, meanwhile, has decided to play for Moscow Spartak for the duration of the lockout. &#9632;</div>

f0024-04

Ley’s season flick-ering

<div class="byline">-Dave Fay</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011129/8250832-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="137" height="113"></div>The Washington Capitals are paying close attention to what their top two minor league goalies are doing. Chances are one of them could be tending goal for Washington if the NHL season ever starts.Jim Carey, who was assigned to the Portland Pirates of the American League without ever facing a shot as a pro, is one of the key reasons the defending Calder Cup champs are atop the standings.Byron Dafoe, who has been in the system since 1991, opened the season with a win in Portland then was loaned to Phoenix of the International League when the Roadrunners came up short due to injuries. While his stats are not as eye-opening as Carey&rsquo;s, he is not blessed with the Portland defense in front of him, either.The Capitals broke training camp with Don Beaupre firmly entrenched as No. 1; Rick Tabaracci and Olie Kolzig as his co-backups. Three-goalie rotations don&rsquo;t work in the NHL so that was a situation that had to be resolved. The lockout has delayed the inevitable.The key to who opens the real season depends on conditioning and the length of Camp II. A short conditioning period would leave Carey and Dafoe in better shape physically and mentally to step in immediately while the others work themselves into playing shape.Beaupre, Tabaracci and Kolzig have been working out through the lockout, but playing shinny against buddies is a lot different than actual game conditions.NOTEBOOK: Center Pat Peake, who made it through training camp without so much as a nick, sprained an ankle playing racquetball and will be off skates for a short period&hellip; Tired of waiting it out in Maryland, center Dale Hunter moved back to Petrolia, Ont., to help his brother Mark on the family farm. Goalie Don Beaupre, meanwhile, is using this opportunity to get a new house settled in the Minneapolis area. Beaupre is the Capitals&rsquo; player rep. &#9632;</div>

f0027-01

Finding No. 1 goaltender minor problem for Caps

<div class="byline">-Tim Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03539/8250863-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="481" height="870"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Manson</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02760/8250870-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="127" height="141"></div>The NHL lockout gives Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; athletic therapist Phil Walker an odd feeling-kind of like toys, but no Christmas.Walker has a new toy-the Jets have obtained a Hyperbaric Therapy Unit- and nobody to share it with. The Jets followed the lead of the Vancouver Canucks becoming the second NHL club with such a treatment chamber.The unit, which is believed to accelerate healing via breathing high concentration of oxygen under about double regular atmospheric pressure, arrived during the last week of September, just before the lockout began.&ldquo;We really haven&rsquo;t had much use for it because nobody has been around,&rdquo; Walker lamented. &ldquo;We did use it, though, with Dave Manson, who missed training camp with a groin injury. He was already four to five weeks past his injury, so that wasn&rsquo;t the ideal situation. After four or five times in the chamber, we saw a dramatic improvement in his strength and range of motion.&rdquo;Walker said the Jets checked out the Canucks&rsquo; experiences and successes with the HTU last season, and that made their decision to acquire one very easy.&ldquo;In concert with with other regular treatment of injuries, it seems to decrease recovery time,&rdquo; he said.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>The Jets had a devastating 1993-94 in terms of injuries, losing about 300 man-games to various ailments.NOTEBOOK: Are Winnipeg hockey fans starved for action? It would seem so, since 7,555 showed up at the Arena Nov. 18 for a Western League match between the Brandon Wheat Kings and Lethbridge Hurricanes&hellip; Circle July 8, 1995, on your calendars if the NHL season finally gets going. That&rsquo;s the probable new date for the annual entry draft to be staged at Winnipeg Arena. The draft had originally been scheduled for June 17&hellip; The Jets have reassigned goalie Sean Gauthier from Fort Wayne of the International League to Canada&rsquo;s national team. &#9632;

f0027-03

Jets’ new toy sitting idle

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011170/8250901-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"></div>There&rsquo;s faceoffs & playoffs, bonuses, acquisitions, predictions, coaches & contracts, front office & backrooms, long shots, slapshots & cheap shots, arbitration, incarceration, injuries & inquiries, grinders & tough guys, rosters, routs & records, statistics, ballistics, penalties, royalties, draft picks & prospects, free agents & pension funds, breakaways, power plays & trade aways&hellip;Can your newspaper say all that?<h2>&hellip; We Fill In The Gaps</h2>Call 1-800-268-7793 to subscribe. &#9632;

f0028-01

The Hockey News

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>It&rsquo;s difficult to believe Greg Bullock could go overlooked. The freewheeling UMass Lowell sophomore with the free-flowing, rock-star hair is usually the most conspicuous player on the ice.But virtually all college recruiters passed him over two years ago and the River Hawks offered him a scholarship almost as an afterthought.Now the Cambridge, Ont., native has everyone thinking again.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s the best offensive player in the country,&rdquo; said University of Maine coach Shawn Walsh. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s explosive in the offensive zone&hellip; and he&rsquo;s stronger this year.&rdquo;Bullock&rsquo;s numbers through the early stages of the Hockey East season jump off the stats page. The league&rsquo;s 1993-94 rookie of the year had eight goals and 22 points in six games and had figured in on 81 per cent of his team&rsquo;s goals. Nobody else in the league had as many as 10 points.He is so hot that his production could slip from an average of 3.5 points per game to around two and he&rsquo;d still eclipse Craig Janney&rsquo;s league mark for points in a season. Janney had 74 for Boston College in 1986-87.What makes his totals even more astounding is that he spent some time in coach Bruce Crowder&rsquo;s doghouse. Bullock was relegated to the fourth line for a week of practice and was benched for some 5-on-5 situations during a game against Boston University.&ldquo;That was a wake-up call,&rdquo; Bullock said. &ldquo;Coach Crowder knows what he&rsquo;s doing. He thought the team and I needed that and it worked. More power to him.&rdquo;And more power to the River Hawks for acquiring Bullock, even it was something of a fluke. Assistant coach Tim Whitehead was scouting other players in the Ontario Jr. B Midwestern League when Bullock caught his eye.It was by happenstance that Bullock was even in the game for the Kitchener Dutchmen; he had just been traded to them by Cambridge.Like his uncanny knack around the net, it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time.&ldquo;Cambridge did me a favor,&rdquo; Bullock said. &ldquo;They were a last-place team and no scouts were coming to their games. They traded me to a first-place team. If I was going to go to school, I needed exposure. I&rsquo;m thankful to them for trading me.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011038/8250932-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="496" height="848"><figcaption class="caption-body">Greg Bullock is scoring at a record rate for the River Hawks.</figcaption></div>Bullock was promptly offered a scholarship by Lowell-probably the last one that year, Crowder says. Bullock said other schools showed interest, but wanted him to play another year of junior. That would have meant he would have had three years of college eligibility instead of four.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to wait a year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was ready. And I didn&rsquo;t want to lose a year of eligibility.&rdquo;Clearly, he made the right decision. Bullock helped lead his team to a National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament berth last season and won Hockey East&rsquo;s coveted rookie award.&ldquo;(That) was a big thrill,&rdquo; Bullock said. &ldquo;You look at the past winners and it was quite an eye opener. It&rsquo;s a dream come true to be listed on the same sheet as those guys.&rdquo;Previous winners include New York Rangers&rsquo; defenseman Brian Leetch (Boston College) and Anaheim Mighty Ducks&rsquo; forward Paul Kariya (Maine).While Bullock has developed into an outstanding college player, nobody is suggesting he&rsquo;s in the same class as Leetch and Kariya. In fact, the 21-year-old hasn&rsquo;t even been drafted by an NHL team.&ldquo;He would be a very good minor league pro,&rdquo; said St. Louis Blues&rsquo; scout Matt Keator. &ldquo;As for the NHL, the question I would have is can he adapt to the quicker pace in order to utilize his abilities?&rdquo;While Crowder, who played in the NHL for four seasons, believes Bullock has his work cut out, he also thinks his star player may be further along than perceived.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a deceptive skater who changes speed well,&rdquo; Crowder said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a big plus for him. He has that little side step that freezes players.&ldquo;(But) he has to be able to play the defensive side of things and he knows it. He also has to come to play every day and he might have to pick up a step.&rdquo;Bullock, a liberal arts major, is a realist as far as his hockey future is concerned.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m here for my education and to further my hockey career if at all possible,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I never set individual goals. I just want to get better.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0029-01

Raging Bull-ock

Greg Bullock&rsquo;s sensational start for the UMass River Hawks has people already talking about Hobey Baker Award candidates.While it&rsquo;s too early to handicap the finalists for U.S. college hockey&rsquo;s top individual honor, it&rsquo;s never too early to identify outstanding talent.Here are some collegians to keep in mind for the Hobey as the season progresses. Players are listed in alphabetical order.Brian Bonin, Minnesota. Junior center; strong two-way player.Greg Bullock, Lowell. Sophomore left winger; offensive wizard.Jeff Callinan, Minnesota. Senior goalie; WCHA&rsquo;s top stopper.Brian Holzinger, Bowling Green. Senior center; deft playmaker.Chris Ime.s, Maine. Senior defenseman; rock-solid for Bears.Jacques Joubert, Boston University. Senior center; intense, gritty.Mike Knuble, Michigan. Senior right winger; CCHA&rsquo;s premier power forward.Steve Martins, Harvard. Senior center; ECAC&rsquo;s top player.Jay McNeill, Colorado College. Junior center: Tigers&rsquo; go-to guy.Rem Murray. Michigan State. Senior left winger, respected leader.Brian Mueller, Clarkson. Senior defenseman; anchors blueline for talented team.Martin St-Louis, Vermont. Junior center; exceptional skater. &#9632;

Hobey Baker watch starting early

<div class="byline">By Chris Miller</div><h2>WCHA</h2>Landon Wilson can best be described as the Eric Lindros of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.Wilson, 19, is bigger, stronger and tougher than most players and when you add his speed *and skill, he&rsquo;s a scary package. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound right winger was WCHA rookie of the year in 1993-94 and led North Dakota with 18 goals and 147 penalty minutes.There were quite a few people who expected he would take the next step and turn pro.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really not ready,&rdquo; said Wilson, who had 13 points in 10 games this season. &ldquo;I never thought a lot about it. I need to improve a lot of things before I&rsquo;d feel comfortable doing that.&rdquo;Wilson, whose father Rick is an assistant coach with the NHL&rsquo;s Dallas Stars, was an outstanding athlete at El Segundo (Calif.) High School before playing with Dubuque of the U.S. League during his senior season in high school.He was a first-round draft choice of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1993 and his rights were traded to the Quebec Nordiques in June as part of Mats Sundin-for-Wendel Clark trade.A right-handed shooter who roars through checkers with abandon, Wilson may be the sleeper in that deal. And he&rsquo;s preparing for a future with the Nordiques.&ldquo;Next quarter, I&rsquo;m taking French classes,&rdquo; he said.HITTIN&rsquo; HADDEN: Northern Michigan&rsquo;s press-guide questionnaire asked players who was the Wildcats&rsquo; toughest player and hardest hitter. Answers were the same: Greg Hadden.That may be surprising, considering Hadden is one of the league&rsquo;s smaller players at 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds. But the only place he has been ignored is at the NHL draft. Rivals know he can be feisty, aggravating and effective.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the player you hate if he&rsquo;s not on your team and love if he is on your team,&rdquo; said Wildcats&rsquo; coach Rick Comley.Hadden had a breakthrough season in 199293 scoring 26 goals and posting 125 penalty minutes as a sophomore. Last year was a struggle. A bruise in his thigh muscle calcified and he limped through the schedule.Although Hadden, 23, scored eight goals in Northern&rsquo;s first 10 games, he wasn&rsquo;t listening to those who project him as a 30-goal man.&ldquo;The more I think about scoring goals, the less I score,&rdquo; Hadden joked. &ldquo;If I don&rsquo;t think about it at all, sometimes I get a few to go in.&rdquo;GOALIE VICTIMIZED: Denver goalie Sinuhe Wallinheimo. a sophomore from Finland, got a scare Nov. 18 in Anchorage. Wallinheimo was robbed at knifepoint by three men while taking a pre-game walk. The robbers got away with Wallinheimo&rsquo;s Walkman and he was shaken enough to be scratched from a start. He played the next evening in Denver&rsquo;s 5-2 win. &#9632;

Wilson on fast track to Nordiques’ lineup

<div class="byline">By Matt Carlson</div><h2>CCHA</h2>Jeff Jackson, coach of the defending national champion Lake Superior State Lakers, is antsy about his team&rsquo;s sluggish start.The Lakers were 2-3-1 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, including a dismal 03-1 on home ice.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard for me to explain,&rdquo; Jackson said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had lapses, but this is different than what I&rsquo;ve experienced before.&rdquo;Most glaring was the Lakers&rsquo; lack of scoring, especially at even strength. Thirteen of 29 goals this season were power-play tallies.&ldquo;I expected we might give up a few more goals given our youth on defense and in goal,&rdquo; Jackson said. &ldquo;But I didn&rsquo;t expect the struggle we&rsquo;ve had with scoring. We lost Clayton Beddoes, who was more of an assist guy, and Kurt Miller, but I thought our returning players would make up for it.&rdquo;LSSU&rsquo;s proven point producers-forwards Sean and Gerald Tallaire. Wayne Strachan and Rob Valicevic-have yet to get going.&ldquo;Each is struggling in a different way,&rdquo; Jackson said. &ldquo;It seems a lot of our players are trying to do too&rdquo; much offensively. Some are making turnovers. Other aren&rsquo;t finishing checks. A lot of guys are stick-checking trying to get the puck and go and score.&rdquo;As a result, the Lakers have been plagued by uncharacteristic defensive problems. In some games, they&rsquo;ve dominated opponents, but not connected. However, adversaries have been getting odd-man breaks and capitalizing.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t totally blame our goaltending when they&rsquo;re facing 2-on-ls,&rdquo; Jackson said. &ldquo;Then it seems like every goalie we run into plays us like we&rsquo;re last year&rsquo;s national champs.&rdquo;THREE NOT A CROWD: Three goalies usually constitute an unhappy crowd.However at Ferris State, Bulldogs&rsquo; coach Bob Daniels has been using the trio of senior Rich Nagy, sophomore Seth Appert and freshman Jeff Bashill with reasonable success. The Bulldogs, adjusting to the loss of their top goalie Craig Lisko got off to a 3-3-2 start.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been rotating three goalies and getting great performance from all three,&rdquo; Daniels said. &ldquo;Right now, they&rsquo;re all pretty equal.&rdquo;Nagy had seen the most ice time of the trio, but Appert and Bashill sported lower goals-against averages (2.35 and 2.40).GOALIE BATTLE: Illinois-Chicago goalie Paul Spencer was selected defensive player of the week for stopping 38 of 42 shots in the Flames&rsquo; 6-4 win at Lake Superior Nov. 19.However, the honor might have gone to Ohio State goalie Tom Askey. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 1993 draftee stopped 40 of 42 Lake Superior shots in a 2-2 tie at Sault Ste. Marie Nov. 18. At Ferris State the following night, he blocked 42 of 46 Bulldog attempts in a 4-4 deadlock. &#9632;

Lake Superior champs encounter inferior start

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggie</div><h2>ECAC</h2>Bob Gaudet finally has his Brown University Bears right where he wants them, but now he has to pretend his team&rsquo;s success is no big deal.When Gaudet took over the Brown program seven years ago, his first team posted a 1-25-0 record and was the worst Division I team in the nation.But after jumping out of the gate with a 5-0-0 record-its best start since the 1950s-the Bears were ranked eighth in the nation and were just one of two remaining undefeated Division I teams (Maine was the other).Yet, Gaudet was downplaying his team&rsquo;s success, trying to keep his players focused on the one-game-at-a-time philosophy.&ldquo;As a coach, you&rsquo;ve got to be satisfied, but (the national ranking) and a buck and a half will get you a cup of coffee,&rdquo; Gaudet said. &ldquo;But that is what we&rsquo;ve strived for: to have a team that can be ranked on a national level.&rdquo;Although Brown has made two consecutive trips to the Eastern Colleges Athletic Conference semifinals and earned a bid to the national tournament in 1993, the Bears still aren&rsquo;t one of the most-feared teams in the league.The Bears were picked sixth in the pre-season coaches&rsquo; poll, even though they lost just seven players from last year&rsquo;s team.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not something you can let upset you,&rdquo; Gaudet said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just the nature of the beast. I think, what&rsquo;s really underestimated is the level of commitment of our players, to strength training, conditioning and development.&rdquo;Brown has been able to reload, rather than rebuild, because players such as goalie Mike Parsons and forwards Brian Jardine, Ryan Mulhern, Eric Trach and Tony Martino were able to step in and fill some big holes.KENT TO CLARKSON: Claude Morin isn&rsquo;t Clark Kent, but he did go from Kent to Clarkson and he is playing like Superman.After Kent dropped its hockey program last season, Morin and the rest of the underclassmen looked for places to transfer. Morin, the leading Kent scorer, wound up at Clarkson.Morin had three goals and 11 assists in eight games and was second to Marko Tuomainen on the Golden Knights&rsquo; scoring chart.In three years at Kent, the Ste-Marie Beauce, Que., native had 63 goals and 154 points in 108 games.RAIDERS&rsquo; LOST ART: Someone pulled the plug on the Colgate power play. The Red Raiders scored just one power-play goal in 35 chances through seven games. That helps explain the 3-3-1 record.Senior Dion DelMonte came to the rescue of his Dartmouth teammates Nov. 18 against Vermont. DelMonte scored two power-play goals in the final two minutes to wipe out a 5-3 Vermont lead. He then set up the winner 31 seconds into overtime to give the Big Green a 6-5 win. &#9632;

Brown turning heads, but heads not swelling

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>Following a forfeit-filled 1993-94 season and with a pending National Collegiate Athletic Association investigation, nobody knew what to expect from the University of Maine&rsquo;s Black Bears this season.The uncertainty was buoyed by the loss of leading returning scorer Mike Latendresse, who was ruled ineligible by the NCAA.Through 11 games, the Black Bears were Hockey East&rsquo;s only undefeated team. They were 5-0-3 in league play (8-0-3 overall).Maine sat atop the league standings despite having only two players, defensemen Jeff Tory and Chris Imes, among the top 25 scorers. The Bears were only fourth in league scoring, but were the stingiest team on defense.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re the hardest working Maine team I&rsquo;ve ever played,&rdquo; said Providence right winger George Breen.The Bears were second in the league in power-play efficiency (32.6 per cent) and third best in penalty killing (81.5 per cent). Maine had received a goal from 18 different players in its 11 games and 14 of them had two or more. Thirteen players had power-play goals.&ldquo;We have a lot of role players and everybody does his job,&rdquo; said former U.S. Olympian and team captain Imes. &ldquo;Everybody is worried about winning, not individual stats.&rdquo;Seven of Maine&rsquo;s games were either decided by one goal or resulted in a tie. Another was a two-goal game with an empty-net goal.Maine coach Shawn Walsh said after all that happened to them a year ago, the players have become numb to adversity.&ldquo;This team is unselfish,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The sum of its parts is better than the individual.&rdquo;ROOKIE KUDOS: Paul Pooley has earned a lot of respect in his first season as Providence coach.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s done a very good job,&rdquo; said Friars&rsquo; goalie Dan Dennis. &ldquo;We have confidence in him and he has confidence in us. He has a lot of patience.&rdquo;&ldquo;He has done a terrific job,&rdquo; said Maine&rsquo;s Shawn Walsh. &ldquo;He has completely changed their system. They play like Lake Superior State (where Pooley was an assistant). They are disciplined and they play well away from the puck.&rdquo;GREAT GRIER: Boston University sophomore Mike Grier celebrated his player-of-the-week honors (five goals and seven points in a sweep over UMass-Amherst) with two goals in a 6-1 win over Harvard Nov. 22.Maine&rsquo;s Jeff Tory was rookie of the week with four assists, including two game-winning assists, against Providence.DOUBLE DIGITS: New Hampshire&rsquo;s 11-1 win over Boston College Nov. 19, one night after the Eagles tied the Wildcats and won the shootout 3-1, was the most goals ever scored by UNH against Boston College. &#9632;

Bears make statement after forgettable year

<div class="byline">By Dave Eminian</div>The International League has made San Francisco its 18th franchise.League sources say the expansion team will be called the Spiders, although owner David Pasant won&rsquo;t go public with a nickname, logo or team colors until mid-December. Pasant, 43, is a Lansing, Mich., native who has lived in California 20 years. He is the retired president of Jackson National Life Insurance Co.The San Francisco team will play next season at the 11,000-seat Cow Palace, which was vacated by the San Jose Sharks after 1992-93.&ldquo;I have been looking at different sports ownership opportunities for some time,&rdquo; Pasant said. &ldquo;The IHL makes j economic sense and I like the fact it&rsquo;s geared toward providing affordable family entertainment. I see this as an opportunity&hellip; to fill the hockey void that has existed there since the Sharks left the Cow Palace.&rdquo;The IHL could still add one or two more teams for next season as it builds toward its stated mission of 28 clubs by the year 2000. That doesn&rsquo;t include a six-to-eight team European Division targeted for inception next season.Next up on the league&rsquo;s North American short list, according to sources, is Orlando. Membership fee for San Francisco and other new teams is $6 million, up from $200,000 just six years ago.SNAKE-BIT: No one will ever accuse the Detroit Vipers of taking a snake-in-the-grass approach to their pursuit of an IHL title.The expansion Vipers, who led the Northern Division and were pursuing league point-leader status, served notice loud and clear they don&rsquo;t intend to keep a low profile in this IHL race.Detroit traded one of its marquee players, center Ron Wilson, to the San Diego Gulls for left winger Lonnie Loach in a blockbuster deal as the IHL&rsquo;s deadline for finalizing rosters arrived. In mid-November, Detroit sent all-star defenseman Dale DeGray to Cleveland as compensation for signing ex-Lumberjacks&rsquo; Czech teenager Petr Sykora. The Vipers also took Cleveland defenseman Greg Andrusak on loan.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011076/8251083-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="409" height="448"></div>&ldquo;We asked ourselves, &lsquo;What does our team need?&rsquo;&rdquo; Detroit coach-general manager Rick Dudley said. &ldquo;We felt we needed a winger to go with (centers) Peter Ciavaglia or Petr Sykora.&ldquo;We needed someone who could finish for those guys. I didn&rsquo;t want to wait until we were in a slump or a panic situation to make a move.&rdquo;Wilson, 38, was the Vipers&rsquo; captain, and signed a one-year, $70,000 contract with Detroil after an NHL career that spanned 15 seasons and 832 games. He notched two assists in his debut with the Gulls Nov. 13.&ldquo;He can still skate and is one of the greatest defensive players this league will ever see,&rdquo; Dudley said.Loach, 26, scored 55 goals and 131 points for Fort Wayne in 1990-91 and pumped in 42 goals for San Diego last season. He had one goal and three points in four games for Detroit.Dudley fdled the leadership spot by transferring the captaincy to former Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; center Al Conroy.Loach broke into the Vipers&rsquo; lineup on a line with Ciavaglia-who played for the U.S. Olympic team last season- and veteran right winger Jay Mazur, a 40-goal scorer in the American League in 1993-94.I-OPENERS: Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s agent, Mike Barnett, said the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center&rsquo;s proposed NHL all-star touring team will play an exhibition game against the Detroit Vipers Dec. 1 at the Palace in Auburn Hills.Phoenix Roadrunners&rsquo; center Rob Brown had his 17-game point-scoring streak snapped Nov. 16 against Milwaukee. &#9632;

f0031-01

San Francisco gets OK to join league in ’95-96

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Brendan Savage</div>Utica became the first Colonial League club to sign an NHL player when center Kevin Todd joined the Blizzard for two games.Todd, who is property of the Los Angeles Kings, has strong ties to Utica. He was the American League MVP for the Utica Devils in 1990-91, his wife Dana is a Utica native and he&rsquo;s also a friend of Blizzard general manager Jeff Croop, a former trainer for the Devils.Todd began skating with the Blizzard during the NHL lockout and &ldquo;all of a sudden we were talking about insurance policies and he was in the lineup.&rsquo;&rdquo; Croop said with a laugh.Todd had one goal and three assists in helping Utica beat the Flint Generals 3-2 and 6-3. Those were the only games he played for the Blizzard as the possibility of an injury convinced Todd it wasn&rsquo;t worth the risk.&ldquo;When the NHL goes back to work, he needs to be 100 per cent,&rdquo; Croop said. &ldquo;He can&rsquo;t lose his job in the NHL because of something that happened down here.&rdquo;&ldquo;He played well, but he wasn&rsquo;t the show like we expected. That&rsquo;s good for the league. It shows that we&rsquo;ve got a good league.&rdquo; &#9632;

Todd’s stop a brief one

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>After a 14-year NHL career that put him in six uniforms and one Stanley Cup ring, Keith Acton looked forward to life behind the bench.Acton gave up his role as a pesky, ultra-competitive center to become an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers.Then along came the lockout and Acton was left with nothing to do. Until Flyers&rsquo; general manager Bob Clarke went to watch his American League affiliate in Hershey.Clarke was talking with Doug Yingst, the Bears&rsquo; director of operations, and their casual conversation about Hershey&rsquo;s lack of, experience at center became a brainstorm. The 36-year-old Acton became a player again on a temporary basis and returned to the AHL, the league where his pro career started in 1978-79 with Nova Scotia.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02715/8251138-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="428" height="435"></div>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no better job in sports than playing,&rdquo; Acton said. &ldquo;I always enjoyed playing. But this was not a case of me trying to prove something, to get back to the NHL.&rdquo;Acton, who scored just two goals and nine points in 71 games for the New York Islanders last season, became a do-everything player for the Bears. He had three goals (all on the power play) and nine points in eight games, plus 14 penalty minutes.&ldquo;I want the lockout to be over for the sake of hockey, but I don&rsquo;t want it to end for our sake,&rdquo;Bears&rsquo; coach Jay Leach said. &ldquo;He has been a tremendous influence on the players and for Mike (Stothers, the assistant coach) and I.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s like another coach, but not many coaches can go out score goals, take faceoffs and kill penalties.&rdquo;More important than goals and assists are intangible lessons Acton teaches young players.&ldquo;When the lockout began, a lot of young guys were moaning about having to come down to the minors,&rdquo; Leach said. &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s a guy who spent the last 15 years in the NHL and he wanted to come down and play.&rdquo;But what happens when the lockout ends? Has the return to the ice rekindled Acton&rsquo;s desire to play? After all, he&rsquo;ll be weeks ahead of players in game readiness.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s an option,&rdquo; Acton said. &ldquo;When the labor dispute is resolved, I go back to my duties as a coach in Philadelphia.&rdquo;SNOW STORM: The plan called for Garth Snow to play a considerable amount this season, so play is exactly what he is doing.Snow started 16 of 20 games for the Cornwall Aces and posted a 7-6-2 record and 2.92 goals-against average, sixth best in the league.He has been on the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; depth chart for seven years, beginning with his selection on the sixth round of the 1987 draft. But he spent five years at the University of Maine and played last season with the U.S. Olympic team.&ldquo;Being from college, he didn&rsquo;t play that many games night after night,&rdquo; Aces&rsquo; coach Robert Hartley said. &ldquo;We want to make sure he gets that training. He has to get into the professional mold and play a lot of games.&rdquo;Snow showed his potential last season going 3-2-0 with a 3.44 average in five NHL games. With Cornwall, he was 6-5-3 with a 3.30 average in 16 regular-season games and 8-5 with a 3.19 average in 13 playoff games.AHL TIDBITS: PEI Senators&rsquo; left winger Michel Picard tied a 51-year-old AHL record by scoring three unassisted goals in a 4-4 tie at Springfield Nov. 16. Alex Ritson of Indianapolis was the first AHLer to score three unassisted goals in a game&hellip; Hershey right winger Chris Winnes was player of the week for Nov. 14-20 after scoring four goals and six points in three games, including two game-winning goals. &#9632;

f0031-02

Wily, experienced Acton just what Bears ordered

<div class="byline">By Randy King</div>Something new happened in Columbus Nov. 20-you actually could find a seat at the Ohio State Fairgrounds Coliseum.The Columbus Chill&rsquo;s 83-game sellout streak, the longest consecutive sellout run in minorleague sports history, finally ended when the club drew 5,434 spectators-366 short of capaci-ty-for a 3-1 win over the Johnstown Chiefs.&ldquo;It has been fun to be part of minor-league history with the sellout streak,&rdquo; said David Pait-son, Chill president. &ldquo;When we first came to Columbus in the summer of 1991 we never had any idea we could put together a string of sellouts like this.&rdquo;The Nov. 20 game marked the first time Columbus played to less than a capacity crowd at home since Jan. 4, 1992. Until Columbus&rsquo; run, the longest sellout streak in minor-league hockey was 24 games, set by the American League&rsquo;s St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs in 1992.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03532/8251169-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="522" height="366"></div>RHEAUME RETURNS: Goalie Manon Rheaume has no qualms about accepting her demotion to the ECHL.In short, she just wants to play on a regular basis. The venue isn&rsquo;t important.Unhappy with her limited playing time at Las Vegas, Rheaume was assigned by the International League club to the ECHL&rsquo;s Tallahassee Tiger Sharks Nov. 16.Rheaume, 22, reported to the Tiger Sharks Nov. 18 and made her first start at home Nov. 23 against the Huntington Blizzard. She allowed four goals on 16 shots and was replaced by Mark Richards after the first period. Richards was perfect the rest of the way, but Huntington still won 4-1.&ldquo;I just need to play,&rdquo; said Rheaume, the first woman to play professional hockey. &ldquo;Las Vegas has two great goalies and it was very difficult for me to get any ice time.&rdquo;Rheaume, under a one-year contract with the Thunder, is expected to stay with the Tiger Sharks until early December, a club official said.SEE YOU LATER: Nashville Knights&rsquo; center Trevor Jobe, the ECHL&rsquo;s all-time leading goal-scorer, was recalled to the IHL&rsquo;s Atlanta Knights Nov. 17. Jobe had 12 goals in 11 games with Nashville this season.To replace Jobe, Nashville signed center Tod Hartje, released by the IHL&rsquo;s Minnesota Moose earlier this season.In another rare recall, center Karson Kaebel, one of the prime factors in the Dayton Bombers&rsquo; fast start, was recalled by the American League&rsquo;s Cornwall Aces Nov. 21.COASTERS: The Erie Panthers are well down the North Division standings, but they do have the ECHL&rsquo;s top two scorers-center Scott Burfoot (11 goals and 35 points) and winger Kevin McKinnon (14 goals and 27 points).Too bad the Roanoke Express doesn&rsquo;t get paid for working overtime. In an eight-game stretch from Nov. 1 to 20, Roanoke was involved in only one game decided in regulation. The other seven all came down to shootouts, with Roanoke winning four. &#9632;

f0031-03

Fans finally Chill out, bypass Columbus game

<div class="byline">By Bill Montague</div>Dave Branch is commissioner of the Ontario League, but he used baseball logic to rule on Sudbury Wolves&rsquo; left winger Gary Coupal.Three strikes and you&rsquo;re out.Branch kicked the overage Coupal out of the OHL for good after his third stick-swinging incident in two years, saying he&rsquo;s more concerned with the health of the other 300 players.Last season, the undrafted Coupal was suspended twice for illegal use of the stick-one for five games, the other time for eight games. This suspension amounts to 46 games plus playoffs.A native of Capreol, just north of Sudbury, Coupal was devastated by Branch&rsquo;s decision and is now trying to catch on with a minor pro team. He said the most he expected was a 20-game suspension.&ldquo;It was pretty bad,&rdquo; Coupal said. &ldquo;I felt like somebody just grabbed my heart and ripped it out of my body. I broke down and was really hurting, but day-by-day it&rsquo;s getting better.&ldquo;I had trouble understanding it, talking to Branch and other people, I guess I can see his point on why he suspended me, but I still disagree with it. Maybe some good will come from it and I&rsquo;ll get on with an American League team.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011151/8251200-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="512" height="194"></div>Branch, who has a history of coming down hard on players for stick infractions, said Coupal&rsquo;s past weighed heavily on the decision.&ldquo;This is the third incident involving Gary and it&rsquo;s alarming given the potential risk of. the injury involved,&rdquo; Branch said. &ldquo;The league&rsquo;s position is that one of the most concerning elements in our game that we have to eliminate is the illegal use of the stick.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want players coming into our league fearing for injury.&rdquo;The six-foot-one, 195-pound Coupal took his stick in a baseball-like fashion and hit Guelph Storm rookie right winger Brian Wesenberg in the head, striking him across the visor Nov. 13.After being grabbed by a linesman, Coupal speared a Guelph player then pointed his stick at the Guelph bench in a taunting manner.He was given a match penalty, which calls for an automatic three-game suspension and review by Branch. Wesenberg was not seriously injured and returned to the game.Coupal had one goal, six points and 61 penalty minutes in 17 games.The suspension is one of the most severe handed down by Branch. In 1986, he suspended London Knights&rsquo; left winger Matt Smyth the entire 1986-87 season for striking an official. In 1988, he suspended Kitchener right winger Allan Lake for the 1988-89 season plus his overage year for kicking an opponent.Other lengthy suspensions include Sudbury defenseman Marc Laforge (52 games) and Kingston&rsquo;s Jason Beaton was suspended for 31 games plus his overage season for striking a player on the side of the head with his stick.SEVEN-PLAYER TRADE: The Sarnia Sting and Oshawa Generals completed a sevenplayer trade, in which disgruntled left winger Larry Courville was one of three 19-year-olds sent to Oshawa.The Sting gave up Courville, right winger Kurt Walsh and defenseman Ryan Tocher for center Billy-Jay Johnston, left winger Stephane Soulliere, right winger Damon Hardy and the rights to left winger Troy Keating, Oshawa&rsquo;s fourth-round pick in 1993.Sarnia GM Terry Doran said the new players bring a winning attitude to the last-place Sting.Earlier this month, Courville and Dennis Maxwell were sent home after violating curfew during a road trip in Sudbury. Maxwell, who was captain, had the &lsquo;C&rsquo; taken away from him.GALLANT LEAVES: Kitchener lost the services of star center Trevor Gallant, who left the team last week after being replaced as captain by Eric Manlow. Gallant had 119 points last season and was Kitchener&rsquo;s top scorer this year with 10 goals and 32 points in 20 games. &#9632;

f0032-01

Coupal devastated by his year-long suspension

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>Alexandre Daigle has started to show Quebec League fans once again why the Ottawa Senators made him the first overall pick at the 1993 NHL entry draft.After getting off to a slow start with Victori-aville upon his NHL lockout-induced return to junior, Daigle has turned his game up a notch and the Tigres are reaping the benefits.Daigle was offensive player of the week for the period ending Nov. 20 after picking up four goals and 12 points in four games. The Tigres went 3-1-0 during that span, including their first three-game winning streak of the season.The hot week increased Daigle&rsquo;s totals to 11 goals and 26 points in 12 games with the Tigres, who were 5-7-0 with No. 91 in the lineup.&ldquo;The last three or four games we&rsquo;ve seen the real Alexandre Daigle,&rsquo; Tigres&rsquo; coach Jean Hamel said. &ldquo;The first two weeks he had a hard time adjusting, both physically and mentally.&ldquo;It looks like things are starting to turn around. Physically, I thought the team was in good shape but mentally, every time we lost a couple of games in a row, they would get down on themselves.&rdquo;Daigle certainly isn&rsquo;t feeling down lately.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy with the way I&rsquo;m playing now and we&rsquo;re also winning,&rdquo; Daigle said. &ldquo;Maybe I was thinking it would be easier (at the beginning). But I found out that you can&rsquo;t take anything for granted. They don&rsquo;t give you any assists or goals&hellip; nothing is easy.&rdquo;Daigle has been getting help from red-hot linemates Jean-Martin Morin and Philippe Gelineau. During the three-game winning streak, Morin had three goals and seven points, while Gelineau had three goals and five points. The line combined for 21 points.&ldquo;My linemates are scoring from everywhere now&hellip; it&rsquo;s cool,&rdquo; Daigle said. &ldquo;They help me a lot. They get me the puck a lot.&rdquo;Hamel said Daigle&rsquo;s attitude has been good since his return, and the 19-year-old millionaire is getting used to riding the buses again.&ldquo;We had a long trip to Halifax&hellip; 14 hours on the bus,&rdquo; Daigle said with a laugh. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s part of the commitment I made. I knew I had to take the bus and I do it. It&rsquo;s no trouble.&rdquo;REF SUES MORISSETTE: Referee Luc Lachapelle has filed a civil lawsuit against former Laval Titan general manager Jean-Claude Morissette as a result of an incident at last season&rsquo;s Memorial Cup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02773/8251231-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="512" height="238"></div>Morissette, who was upset with Lachapelle&rsquo;s work in a 5-4 Titan loss to the Kamloops Blazers last May, is alleged to have confronted Lachapelle in the parking lot outside Laval&rsquo;s Colisee after the game, smashing Lachapelle&rsquo;s car window and grabbing the referee by the throat.Lachapelle said he was left in a state of shock as a result of the attack, while the left side of his face was cut.Morissette, who owns the Titan along with four of his brothers, resigned from his GM post soon afterwards and was later suspended from all QMJHL activities for one year.In his suit, Lachapelle is seeking $58,344 in damages. The QMJHL has decided Lachapelle will not work any more games involving the Titan until the case is settled.BACK IN ACTION: Eric Lecompte returned to the St-Jean Lynx lineup in a 5-0 victory over St-Hyacinthe Nov. 18. The left winger missed two games after being sent home by coach Claude Therien as a result of uninspired play. Lecompte, the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; first-round pick in 1993, had two goals and four points in his return match.The St-Hyacinthe Laser continue to struggle since leading scorer David-Alexandre Beauregard lost his left eye as a result of an accidental high stick in a game against the Granby Bisons Oct. 16. The Laser&rsquo;s 9-5 loss to Granby Nov. 20 was their 10th in a row and dropped their record to 3-10-0 since losing Beauregard&hellip; The Hull Olympiques saw an eight-game win streak come to an end with a 4-1 loss to Laval Nov. 21. &#9632;

f0032-02

Daigle shifts to high gear after early-season blahs

<div class="byline">By Bob Vanstone</div>Mike Babcock is enjoying life as the Spokane Chiefs&rsquo; coach.Nonetheless, he has lingering resentment over being dismissed by the Western League&rsquo;s Moose Jaw Warriors in the spring of 1993.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t get me wrong-I&rsquo;ll be bitter forever,&rdquo; Babcock said. &ldquo;I felt I did what was asked of me. I felt the board, whether it was poor communication or poor listening skills on my part or whatever it may be, wasn&rsquo;t truthful with me.&rdquo;Babcock spent two years in Moose Jaw before the Warriors&rsquo; brass opted not to renew his contract as coach-general manager.The University of Lethbridge hired Babcock to coach the 1993-94 Pronghorns. Babcock seized the opportunity, leading Leth-bridge-a perennial also-ran-to the Canadian university title.&ldquo;In hindsight, not being (in Moose Jaw) is the best thing that happened to me,&rdquo; Babcock said. &ldquo;If anybody wants to see my ring, they can see it. I&rsquo;ll have it the rest of my life.&rdquo;Babcock, 31, resigned from the Pronghorns to accept Spokane&rsquo;s coaching position April 25. He signed a three-year contract with the Chiefs.The 1994-95 Warriors, under second-year coach-GM Al Tuer, enjoyed a 16-9-0 start-the best in team history. Does Babcock regret not being with Moose Jaw for the emergence?&ldquo;You always want to be part of things,&rdquo; said Babcock, whose Chiefs had an 8-13-0 start. &ldquo;When I see Ryan Smyth play, I knew he was going to be awesome. I knew Curtis Brown was going to be awesome. Obviously, I wasn&rsquo;t going to be the one to coach them. There was no sense worrying about that.&rdquo;Especially since there are pleasant aspects to Babcock&rsquo;s association with the Warriors.&ldquo;We have a little girl (Allie) who. is 18 months old and happened to be bom in Moose Jaw,&rdquo; Babcock said. &ldquo;Moose Jaw will be on her birth certificate for the rest of her life- and we&rsquo;re happy about that.&rdquo;WINNING IN WINNIPEG: The WHL returned to Winnipeg Nov. 18-with encouraging results. The Brandon Wheat Kings defeated the Lethbridge Hurricanes 8-5 before 7,555 fans at Winnipeg Arena.Brandon moved its home game to Winnipeg to test an alternate market in case of a playoff scheduling conflict.Brandon&rsquo;s Keystone Centre is booked for the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair and the World Curling Championships March 25-April 19.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very pleased,&rdquo; Wheat Kings&rsquo; governor Bob Cornell told the Brandon Sun. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ll probably evaluate what happens to the NHL when the Jets get playing.&rdquo;A WHL game had not been played in Winnipeg since the Warriors moved to Moose Jaw in 1984.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03561/8251262-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="385" height="380"></div>NEW FORMAT: The WHL has announced a revised divisional structure for 1995-96.The debut of an expansion team in Calgary will give the Alberta-Saskatchewan-Manitoba region 10 teams. They will be split into two five-team divisions-East and Central.The existing nine-team circuit is known as the East Division.The new East Division will include the Regina Pats, Saskatoon Blades, Prince Albert Raiders, Brandon and Moose Jaw. Calgary, Lethbridge, the Swift Current Broncos, Red Deer Rebels and Medicine Hat Tigers will be in the Central.&ldquo;We hope it&rsquo;s going to create less travel and (more) rivalries,&rdquo; WHL president Ed Chynoweth said.The top four teams in each new division will advance to post-season play. An East-Central champion will meet the West Division kingpin for the WHL title.PISTOL PETE: Red Deer scored only one goal in a 5-1 loss to visiting Medicine Hat Nov. 16. But Pete Vandermeer&rsquo;s tally, at 6:28 of the second period, was a Rebels&rsquo; landmark.Vandermeer scored the first penalty-shot goal in team history. It was also the Rebels&rsquo; first attempt since the franchise began in 1992. &#9632;

f0032-03

Babcock remains bitter, but happy to be a Chief

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011174/8251293-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011066/8251355-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Detroit&rsquo;s Sean Haggerty finds his scoring touch under Knight wraps. (Photo by Claus Anderson/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

ONTARIO

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011034/8251417-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michael McKay, HullDrummondville&rsquo;s Stephane Routhier is the Voltigeurs&rsquo; No. 1 man in goal. (Photo by Robert Laberge/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

QUEBEC LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01968/8251462-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pelle Eklund</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01668/8251455-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="2516" height="1944"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02408/8251448-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="1858" height="1744"></div>SCHEDULES<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>Friday, Dec. 2: Albany at Adirondack, 7:30 PM; Hershey at Binghamton, 7:35 PM; Rochester at C. Breton, 7:30 PM: Cornwall at Providence, 7:05 PM; P.E.I. at Saint John, 7:30 PM; Portland at Springfield, 7:35 PM.Saturday, Dec. 3: Worcester at Adirondack, 7:30 PM; Providence at Albany. 7:30 PM; Portland at Binghamton, 7:35 PM; P.E.I. at Fredericton, 6:00 PM; Syracuse at Hershey, 2:05 PM: Syracuse at Hershey, 7:00 PM; St. John&rsquo;s at Saint John, 7:00 PM; Cornwall at Springfield, 7:35 PM.Sunday, Dec. 4: Rochester at C. Breton, 7:00 PM; Binghamton at Hershey, 6:00 PM; Fredericton at P.E.I., 6:00 PM; Cornwall at Providence. 2:05 PM.Monday, Dec. 5: Portland at Worcester, 7:05 PM.Tuesday, Dec. 6: Fredericton at C. Breton, 7:30 PM: Rochester at St. John&rsquo;s, 7:30 PM.Wednesday, Dec. 7: Binghamton at Adirondack, 7:30 PM: Cornwall at Albany, 7:00 PM; Springfield at St. John&rsquo;s, 7:30 PM; Syracuse at Worcester, 7:05 PM.Thursday, Dec. 8: C. Breton at Fredericton, 7:05 PM.Friday, Dec. 9: C. Breton at P.E.I., 7:30 PM; St. John&rsquo;s at Portland, 7:35 PM; Binghamton at Providence, 7:05 PM: Springfield at Saint John, 7:30 PM; Albany at Syracuse, 7:05 PM.Saturday, Dec. 10: Cornwall at Adirondack, 7:30 PM; Worcester at Albany, 7:00 PM; Springfield at Fredericton, 6:00 PM; Providence at Hershey, 7:30 PM; St. John&rsquo;s at Portland, 7:35 PM; P.E.I. at Saint John, 7:00 PM.Sunday, Dec. 11: Springfield at C. Breton, 7:00 PM; Cornwall at Rochester, 6:05 PM; Providence at Syracuse, 3:00 PM. Monday, Dec. 12: St. John&rsquo;s at Worcester, 7:05 PM. Tuesday, Dec. 13: Springfield at C. Breton, 7:30 PM.Wednesday, Dec. 14: Saint John at C. Breton, 7:30 PM; St. John&rsquo;s at Syracuse, 7:05 PM; Adirondack at Worcester, 7:05 PM.Thursday, Dec. 15: Springfield at P.E.I., 7:30 PM.Friday, Dec. 16: Hershey at Binghamton. 7:35 PM; Saint John at C. Breton. 7:30 PM; Springfield at P.E.I., 7:30 PM; Albany at Portland, 7:35 PM: Worcester at Providence, 7:05 PM; St. John&rsquo;s at Rochester, 7:35 PM; Cornwall at Syracuse, 7:05 PM.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>Friday, Dec. 9: San Diego at Cleveland, 7:00 PM; Las Vegas at Cincinnati, 7:30 PM; Fort Wayne at Peoria, 7:30 PM; Chicago at Kalamazoo, 7:30 PM; Detroit at Indianapolis, 7:30 PM; Kansas City at Milwaukee, 7:30 PM; Minnesota at Houston, 7:00 PM; Atlanta at Denver, 7:00 PM.Saturday, Dec. 10: San Diego at Fort Wayne, 8:00 PM; Cleveland at Cincinnati, 7:30 PM; Indianapolis at Peoria. 7:30 PM; Las Vegas at Kalamazoo, 7:30 PM; Kansas City at Milwaukee, 1:30 PM; Houston at Phoenix, 7:00 PM.Sunday, Dec. 11: Atlanta at Denver, 6:00 PM.Wednesday, Dec. 14: Kalamazoo at Kansas City, 7:00 PM; Soviet Wings at Minnesota, 7:00 PM; San Diego at Houston, 7:00 PM.Thursday, Dec. 15: Denver at Indianapolis, 7:30 PM; Cincinnati at Chicago, 7:30 PM; Minnesota at Atlanta, 7:30 PM. Friday, Dec. 16: Cincinnati at Fort Wayne. 8:00 PM; Denver at Peoria, 7:30 PM; Phoenix at Cleveland, 7:00 PM; Chicago at Detroit, 8:00 PM; Indianapolis at Milwaukee, 7:30 PM; Minnesota at Kansas City, 7:30 PM; Kalamazoo at Houston, 7:00 PM; Soviet Wings at Las Vegas, 7:00 PM.<h2>ECHL</h2>Friday, Dec. 2: Dayton at Erie, 7:30 PM; Wheeling at Toledo, 7:30 PM; Tallahassee at Nashville, 7:35 PM; Knoxville at Birm&rsquo;ham, 7:30 PM; Huntington at S. Carolina, 7:35 PM; Raleigh at Roanoke, 7:30 PM; Richmond at Charlotte, 7:35 PM; Saturday, Dec. 3: Wheeling at Erie. 2:30 PM; Dayton at Johnstown. 7:30 PM; Columbus at Toledo. 7:30 PM; Knoxville at Nashville, 7:35 PM: Tallahassee at Birm&rsquo;ham, 7:30 PM: Huntington at S. Carolina, 7:35 PM; Richmond at Roanoke, 7:30 PM; H. Roads at Charlotte, 7:35 PM.Sunday, Dec. 4: Erie at Johnstown, 6:00 PM; Columbus at Wheeling, 6:00 PM; Raleigh at Richmond, 3:05 PM.Tuesday, Dec. 6: Wheeling at Huntington, 7:30 PM; Dayton at Nashville, 7:05 PM; Charlotte at Birm&rsquo;ham, 7:30 PM; Richmond at Greensboro, 7:00 PM; H. Roads at Raleigh, 7:30 PM. Wednesday. Dec. 7: Toledo at Columbus, 7:30 PM; Erie at Dayton, 7:00 PM; S. Carolina at H. Roads, 7:30 PM.Thursday, Dec. 8: Nashville at Tallahassee, 7:00 PM.Friday, Dec. 9: Columbus at Erie, 7:30 PM; Johnstown at Wheeling, 7:30 PM; Knoxville at Toledo, 7:30 PM; Birm&rsquo;ham at Dayton, 7:30 PM: Nashville at Tallahassee. 7:00 PM; Richmond at H. Roads, 7:30 PM; Roanoke at Charlotte, 7:35 PM; S. Carolina at Raleigh, 7:30 PM.Saturday, Dec. 10: Johnstown at Erie, 2:30 PM: Knoxville at Columbus, 7:30 PM; Birm&rsquo;ham at Toledo, 7:30 PM; Wheeling at Dayton. 7:30 PM; Huntington at Nashville, 7:35 PM: Greensboro at Richmond, 7:35 PM; S. Carolina at Charlotte, 7:35 PM; Roanoke at Raleigh, 7:30 PM;Sunday, Dec. 11: Erie at Johnstown, 6:00 PM; Knoxville at Wheeling, 6:00 PM; Birm&rsquo;ham at Columbus, 4:00 PM; H. Roads at Richmond. 3:05 PM; S. Carolina at Greensboro, 6:00 PM;Tuesday, Dec. 13: Huntington at Birm&rsquo;ham, 7:30 PM; Tallahassee at Greensboro, 7:00 PM;Wednesday, Dec. 14: Huntington at S. Carolina, 7:35 PM. Thursday, Dec. 15: Knoxville at Nashville. 7:05 PM.Friday, Oec. 16: Dayton at Erie, 7:30 PM; Johnstown at Wheeling. 7:30 PM; Toledo at Columbus, 7:30 PM; Knoxville at Huntington. 7:30 PM; Nashville at Birm&rsquo;ham, 7:30 PM; Tallahassee at S. Carolina, 7:35 PM; Raleigh at H. Roads, 7:30 PM; Richmond at Roanoke, 7:30 PM; Charlotte at Greensboro, 7:00 PM.<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>Friday, Dec. 2: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 PM; Pr. Albert at Lethbridge. 7:00 PM; Regina at Pr. George, 7:30 PM; Med. Hat at Red Deer, 7:30 PM; Kamloops at Seattle, 7;05 PM: Portland at Tacoma, 7:05 PM; M. Jaw at Tri-City, 7:00 PM.Saturday, Dec. 3: Pr. Albert at Med. Hat, 7:30 PM: Seattle at Portland, 7:30 PM; Sw. Current at Pr. George. 7:30 PM; M. Jaw at Spokane. 7:00 PM; Tacoma at Tri-City, 7:00 PM.Sunday, Dec. 4: Sw. Current at Kamloops, 6:00 PM; Pr. Albert at Red Deer, 6:00 PM; Tri-City at Seattle, 6:05 PM; Spokane at Tacoma, 6:05 PM.Tuesday, Dec. 6: Regina at Brandon, 7:30 PM: Saskatoon at Pr. Albert, 7:30 PM; Kamloops at Pr. George, 7:30 PM; Sw Current at Seattle. 7:05 PM; Spokane at Tri-City, 7:00 PM.Wednesday, Dec. 7: Pr. George at Kamloops, 7:30 PM; Brandon at Lethbridge. 7:00 PM; Spokane at Portland. 7:00 PM; Med. Hat at Red Deer. 7:30 PM; Pr. Albert at Regina, 7:30 PM.Friday, Dec. 9: Brandon at Lethbridge, 7:00 PM; Med. Hat at Pr. George, 7:30 PM; M. Jaw at Saskatoon. 7:30 PM; Portland at Spokane, 7:00 PM; Sw. Current at Tacoma, 7:05 PM.Saturday, Dec. 10: Med. Hat at Kamloops, 7:30 PM; Saskatoon at M. Jaw. 7:30 PM; Sw. Current at Portland. 7:30 PM; Pr. Albert at Red Deer, 7:30 PM; Tri-City at Spokane, 7:00 PM; Seattle at Tacoma, 7:05 PM.<h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>Friday, Dec. 2: Owen Sound at Guelph, 7:30 PM; Belleville at Kingston. 7:30 PM; Peterborough at London. 7:30 PM; Oshawa at Ottawa, 7:30 PM; Windsor at Sarnia, 7:30 PM: Detroit at S. S. Marie, 7:30 PM; Kitchener at Sudbury, 7:30 PM.Saturday, Dec. 3: Kingston at Belleville. 7:30 PM; London at Niag. Falls, 7:00 PM; Guelph at Owen Sound, 7:30 PM.Sunday, Dec. 4: Sarnia at Detroit, 1:00 PM; London at Guelph, 6:30 PM; Ottawa at North Bay, 7:00 PM; Owen Sound at Oshawa, 7:00 PM; Kitchener at S. S. Marie, 7:00 PM.Monday, Dec. 5: Kitchener at Windsor, 7:30 PM. Tuesday, Dec. 6: Peterborough at Oshawa, 7:30 PM. Wednesday, Dec. 7: Sudbury at Belleville, 7:30 PM.Thursday, Dec. 8: Sarnia at Detroit, 7:00 PM; Owen Sound at Niag. Falls, 7:00 PM; North Bay at Peterborough, 7:30 PM; Kingston at Windsor, 7:30 PM.Friday, Dec. 9: Niag. Falls at Guelph, 7:30 PM; Sarnia at Kitchener, 7:30 PM; Kingston at London, 7:30 PM; North Bay at Oshawa, 7:30 PM; Belleville at Ottawa, 7:30 PM; S. S. Marie at Sudbury, 7:30 PM.Saturday, Dec. 10: Ottawa at Belleville, 7:30 PM; Kingston at Detroit, 7:00 PM; Guelph at Niag. Falls, 7:00 PM; Sudbury at Owen Sound, 7:30 PM; Oshawa at Peterboro, 7:30 PM.<h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>Friday, Dec. 2: Sherbrooke at Beauport, 7:30 PM; Laval at Hull, 7:30 PM; Shawin. at Chicoutimi, 8:00 PM: Halifax at Drum&rsquo;ville. 8:00 PM; Vict&rsquo;ville at Granby, 8:00 PM; St-Jean at St-Hyacinthe, 8:00 PM.Sunday, Dec. 4: St-Hyacinthe at Hull, 2:00 PM: Halifax at Sherbrooke, 4:00 PM; Beauport at Chicoutimi, 6:00 PM; Drum&rsquo;ville at Shawin., 7:00 PM; Vai d&rsquo;Or at Laval, 7:30 PM; Vict&rsquo;ville at St-Jean. 7:30 PM.Monday, Dec. 5: Chicoutimi at Beauport, 7:00 PM; Halifax at Laval, 7:30 PM; Vai d&rsquo;Or at St-Hyacinthe, 7:30 PM.Tuesday, Dec. 6: Shawin. at Drum&rsquo;ville, 7:30 PM; Hull at Vict&rsquo;ville. 7:30 PM.Wednesday, Dec. 7: St-Jean at Granby, 7:30 PM.Friday, Dec. 9: Drum&rsquo;ville at Halifax, 7:30 PM; Shawin. at Hull. 7:30 PM; St-Hyacinthe at Laval. 7:30 PM: Granby at Chicoutimi, 8:00 PM; Vict&rsquo;ville at Sherbrooke, 8:00 PM; Beauport at Vai d&rsquo;Or, 8:00 PM.Saturday, Dec. 10: Drum&rsquo;ville at Halifax, 7:00 PM; Shawin. at Vai d&rsquo;Or, 7:00 PM. &#9632;

f0039-01

SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>For the second straight year, a pro goaltender could record a goals-against average of less than 2.00.Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; Dominik Hasek did it last season, becoming the first NHLer in 20 years to accomplish the feat.And now 25-year-old Finn Ari Sulander, never drafted by an NHL club, is threatening a repeat performance.The 6-foot-2, stand-up goalie for Jokerit in the Finnish Elite League has been standing the competition on its ear.He allowed 42 goals while playing every minute of Jokerit&rsquo;s first 22 games for a 1.99 GAA. Over the course of a full 50-game season, it would be a Finnish League first for a starting goalie.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t even remember when we&rsquo;ve seen that the last time, if ever, and I&rsquo;ve been in the business 25 years,&rdquo; said Frank Moberg, general manager of rival Helsinki IFK.Jouini Rokama of TPS posted a 1.72 average in 1989-90, but played in only 18 games as backup to Markus Ketterer.Sulander also languished in Ketterer&rsquo;s shadow for two seasons after the Buffalo Sabre draft pick moved to Jokerit in 1991. But when Ketterer left for the Sabres&rsquo; farm team in Rochester, the door opened-just as it was opening for Hasek in Buffalo an ocean away.There was considerable pressure on Sulander taking over the top job and it showed until the break for the Olympics last February. That&rsquo;s when he took stock of his game with the help of goaltender coach Jarri Kaarala, who had a five-game stint with the Colorado Rockies in 1980-81.&ldquo;It was a tough place for Sulander because Ketterer was so good and he didn&rsquo;t have much ice time,&rdquo; said Finnish hockey writer Hannu Kuhala.But for five weeks, while teammates rested and vacationed, Sulander and Kaarala hit the ice. &ldquo;Mostly I think it was the mental side getting stronger,&rdquo; said Jokerit coach Hannu Aravirta. &ldquo;He knows now how it is to be the No. 1 goalie.&rdquo;Following the break, Sulander played every game except one and led Jokerit to the league championship. Jokerit has picked up this season where it left off last, opening with a 17-3-1 run to stand alone in first place among the league&rsquo;s 12 teams.At 6-foot-2, Sulander plays deep in his crease and handles the puck well. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t find him swimming along the surface of the ice too often,&rdquo; Moberg said.<h2>AVERAGE THEY&rsquo;RE NOT</h2>George Hainsworth&rsquo;s 22 shutouts and 0.92 goals-against average in die NHL&rsquo;s pre-modem era (pre-1943-44) prove some history is worth emulating. Here are the top single-season averages in the NHL, International, American, East Coast. Ontario. Western and Quebec Leagues.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01576/8251493-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="529" height="805"></div> &#9632;

f0042-01

Sulander Finland’s version of NHL’s Dominator

<div class="byline">By Stu Hackel</div>Placing the lives of legendary figures on the pages of a book is always a risky endeavor. There is always the danger of disappointment, that books cannot possibly capture the essence of larger-than-life figures.Here is a look at three new hockey books which strive to meet that standard, with varying degrees of success.Gordie: A Hockey Legend. By Roy MacSkimming. Greystone, 220 pages. $26.95The eerie, symbolic cover photo-shadows shrouding the famous red No. 9 stitched into the white sweater-hints at the author&rsquo;s purpose.No new hockey book has aroused more curiosity than this unauthorized biography. Gordie and wife Colleen claim MacSkimming&rsquo;s book is filled with errors and have reportedly retained a law firm to represent their interests.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02379/8251545-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="439" height="619"></div>Early in this book, MacSkimming lays out the Howe legend, the collective idea that &ldquo;English Canadians entertain about themselves&hellip; It is the myth of the quintessential hockey player. Supremely skilled on the ice, rugged physically, resourceful mentally, tough, even mean when need be, a man who can handle himself so well his opponents keep their distance out of respect, he is at the same time unassuming off the ice-modest, decent, self-deprecating, and always, always, a credit to his sport, his family and himself. That model has been replicated thousands of times over the years, in small Canadian towns and large Canadian cities. And no one fulfills it better than Gordie Howe.&rdquo;Clean-cut and virtuous, Howe has never publicly disgraced himself, the author continues, unlike other stars. But then MacSkimming sets out to separate man from myth. As history, this is a lively book. But as expose, it is not entirely successful.Little of what MacSkimming writes is new or shocking. In numerous well-written chapters, Howe&rsquo;s youth and early career are fleshed out in great detail, but none of the material is terribly incriminating, other than repetition of old tales of a socially vulnerable Howe who is a less-than-independent thinker.The hidden core of MacSkimming&rsquo;s work is a psychoanalytic subtext in which Gordie is placed on a Freudian-esque couch in absentia. His biographer/analyst strongly implies Howe&rsquo;s personality and actions, from childhood through today, are the product of a harsh father and a nurturing mother and Gordie&rsquo;s desire to win their approval. As Howe&rsquo;s life progresses, a series of substitutes replace mom and dad, notably Detroit manager Jack Adams and, of course, Colleen.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01575/8251538-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="433" height="637"></div>The book crests with the mid-1950s origins of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, centering on its cofounder and Howe&rsquo;s closest teammate, Ted Lindsay. MacSkimming echoes previous historians who maintain that, after Adams traded Lindsay in 1957 as part of management&rsquo;s attempt to break the union, Howe and teammate Red Kelly lost their enthusiasm, the Detroit players pulled out and the NHLPA quickly crumbled. Fresh interviews with Kelly and a still-bitter Lindsay confirms this account.Defending himself and Howe, Kelly says they were lost without Lindsay&rsquo;s leadership, just wanted to play hockey and bent to Adams&rsquo; will. Citing a TV interview from 1992, MacSkimming has Howe recalling the players, as a whole, lacking guts and leadership. It will be interesting to read Gordie&rsquo;s views in his in-the-works autobiography, and perhaps his insight into why, in the crazy NHL world of 1994, Lindsay opposed the NHLPA while Howe joined the players in Hamilton during the NHLPA&rsquo;s 4-on-4 tournament.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03316/8251531-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="487" height="589"></div>The balance of Gordie&rsquo;s elongated career-the most recent 35 years, which are really the most fascinating-is treated too briefly. It is a disappointment and unfair to the subject. The author is a skilled writer and researcher, but by focusing on the younger Howe, he misses the enduring Howe, and that endurance, more than anything, has fueled the legend MacSkimming so earnestly wants to examine.Hockey, Heroes and Me. By Red Fisher. McClelland & Stewart, 274 pages. $26.99 (Cdn.); $22.95 (U.S.)What Gordie Howe is to hockey, Red Fisher is to journalism. No sports writer has been on one beat longer than the Montreal Gazette&rsquo;s senior hockey writer.Covering the Canadiens since 1955, Fisher has been an influential force, not only in print but, as his memoir illustrates, behind the scenes as well.This book&rsquo;s pulse-and one suspects the author&rsquo;s as well-is the rhythm of rolling newspaper presses, and whether intentional or not, Fisher&rsquo;s fundamental success is his depiction of a life in the newspaper business. His good fortune to cover hockey and to strive for fairness in his work have afforded him countless contacts and friendships, which have more than once led to big scoops, and also served to make him an intermediary.The book is filled with some eye-brow-raising anecdotes about how the Bruins&rsquo; Tom Johnson, an old pal from Montreal, sought Red&rsquo;s help during the negotiations for Chicago&rsquo;s trade of Phil Esposito to Boston. And about how Fisher obtained Clarence Campbell&rsquo;s confidential 1970 NHL owners&rsquo; financial report which described record profits while players&rsquo; salaries were at an all-time low (which led to a National Newspaper Award for Sportswriting).<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-04230/8251524-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="1103" height="1736"><figcaption class="caption-body">An unauthorized Gordie Howe biography falls short as an expose. (Photo from THN Archives)</figcaption></div>One of Fisher&rsquo;s most fascinating revelations comes from 1959, the night Jacques Plante donned a mask for the first time after being injured during a game in New York. It has always been reported Plante did so over the objections of coach Toe Blake, but in a recent telephone interview, Fisher confirmed he witnessed the conversation he has written in his book: Although he opposed Plante using the mask full-time, Blake actually suggested the goalie put it on and return to the game.Blake and Plante are just two of the many personalities Fisher profiles with warmth, humor and candor. The Blake portrait, which opens the book, won Fisher the 1991 National Newspaper Award for Sportswriting, but much of what is here has never been in print before.As with everything Red Fisher writes, it is well worth reading.Wayne Gretzky: The Authorized Pictorial Biography. Text by Jim Taylor. Whitecap Books, 177 pages. $39.95.There have been many Gretzky books, but for fans this one may be the best of all.It is certainly the most fun because of the outstanding selection of pictures, artifacts and memorabilia generously and tastefully displayed. These-and accompanying text by the co-author of Walter Gretzky&rsquo;s book on his eldest son-start at infancy and come full-circle to Wayne&rsquo;s own children.Gretzky sets the tone in the introduction, saying, &ldquo;When all is said and done, everything starts and ends with family&rdquo; and the book reflects just how significant his family has been in his many triumphs.The memorable goals and games are here, but the images that linger are captured by the private, candid photos: a bell-bottomed, teenaged Gretzky playing ball hockey; the Oilers packed into a truck returning from a practice; Wayne and Walter smiling and chatting by the boards; Wayne and his son Ty heading down a hallway after a skate.These photos could be of you, your&rsquo; pals, your father, your son. For all of Gretzky&rsquo;s deserved celebrity and unflinching desire for success, he also thirsts for normalcy and never strays far from his roots.Taylor&rsquo;s essay hits the right themes, such as Walter&rsquo;s immeasurable role and Wayne&rsquo;s uncanny ability-time and again-to prove his detractors wrong.One could quibble with the omission of a few big events or Taylor&rsquo;s momentary shrillness on the NHL-WHA settlement, but the overriding sense the book delivers is one of great character and commitment. &#9632;

f0043-02

Legends’ tales fact & friction

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/s0002-0232/8252160-1-eng-US/s0002-022.jpg" title="S0002-02" width="319" height="433"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ken Campbell Future Watch Editor</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/s0002-0162/8252167-1-eng-US/s0002-012.jpg" title="S0002-01" width="151" height="153"></div>If the Washington Capitals had their way, Scott Stevens would still be patrolling their blueline, still be giving opponents the death stare and still be dominating at both ends of the ice for them.But on July 13. 1990-Friday the 13th-Capitals&rsquo; general manager David Poile choked back tears in announcing Stevens was no longer a Capital.He got over it.When the St. Louis Blues signed Stevens to the four-year, $5.2-million contract that helped ignite hockey&rsquo;s salary explosion, they also surrendered five first-round picks to the Capitals.Poile and Capitals&rsquo; director of player personnel Jack Button have used those choices to assemble the best list of prospects in franchise history.Their top 10 list also leads the NHL.The Capitals have either used or traded the St. Louis first-rounders to obtain five of their top 10 pros-pects-Jim Carey, Brendan Witt, Stefan Ustorf, Sergei Gonchar and Nolan Baumgartner.&ldquo;We feel pretty good about the future,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a good situation with our young players and if we need to fill a need, we can promote from within instead of having to make a trade.&rdquo;In addition, the Capitals have Canada&rsquo;s 1993-94 major junior player of the year in Jason Allison and are still owed one more draft choice from St. Louis.So, does that mean the Capitals have a future dynasty on their hands? No, because there&rsquo;s a huge difference between showing promise and fulfilling it. Unless the prospects become players, their standing isn&rsquo;t worth a third assist.The Capitals actually share top billing with the Stanley Cupchampion New York Rangers. Both have marks of B-plus; the Capitals scored slightly better in a poll of 11 chief scouts and directors of player personnel.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/s0002-0313/8252153-1-eng-US/s0002-032.jpg" title="S0002-03" width="2165" height="2088"><figcaption class="caption-body">Finnish sensation Saku Koivu is the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; top prospect and ranked third-best NHL-affiliated prospect in the world.</figcaption></div>The NHL executives were asked to evaluate each team&rsquo;s top 10 prospects and assign a collective grade based on the quality of the list. Overall grades were determined by averaging the marks. Each grade was given a numerical value, from 12 for an A-plus to one for a D-minus. Executives did not grade their own teams.Teams are listed above by grade. Clubs with the same marks are listed in order of voting. The Philadelphia Flyers are one of four teams at C-(the St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins are the others). but scored the lowest of them and officially finished 26th in our poll.Scouts were also asked to rank their top 50 prospects; the results of that balloting appear on pages 24 and 25. Excluded from all team prospect lists were players slated to start the season in the NHL-if not for the lockout. Each player&rsquo;s status was considered on a case-by-case basis.For example, Jamie Storr is listed as a prospect for the Los Angeles Kings-based on the fact Los Angeles has two goalies on one-way contracts-but left winger Matt Johnson is not. Coach Barry Melrose loves Johnson&rsquo;s rugged style and he likely would have stayed in L.A. (For a full list of such players, see the story on page 3.)The Rangers won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years and if their Future Watch showing means anything, they won&rsquo;t have to wait that long to win another. The Rangers shared the top spot in the league with the Quebec Nordiques last season and their prospects remain among the envy of the league.While the U.S. capital&rsquo;s hockey team is brimming with optimism, there&rsquo;s also reason for hope in Canada&rsquo;s capital. The Ottawa Senators made the biggest jump from last season, going from C-minus to a strong B. Ottawa&rsquo;s top three prospects-Radek Bonk, Stanislav Neckar and Radim Bicanek-are stronger than any other team&rsquo;s in the league.Hard times have hit the Edmonton Oilers of late, but there&rsquo;s a gusher of talent waiting in the wings. It is now being acknowledged the Winnipeg Jets gave up an outstanding young player when they traded Mats Lindgren, the No. 6 overall prospect, to die Oilers for Dave Manson. To make matters worse, the Jets also gave up a first-round pick. Edmonton chose Jason Bonsignore with the choice; Bonsignore is No. 25 on our list. &#9632;

S0002-02

HAPPY DAYS HERE AGAIN

Future Watch editors face the same dilemma each year with unproven NHLers: Prospect or player?Should those who have played a minimal number of games be considered members of their NHL teams or organizations?The situation is complicated this season because of the lockout. Many young players expected to start the season in the NHL have either not played a single regularseason game or appeared only briefly in the past.Still, they are considered players for our purposes and not included on their team prospect lists. It&rsquo;s premature to call them full-fledged NHLers, but they are more players than prospects.The following players fit that desciption: Paul Kariya, Oleg Tverdovsky (Anaheim); Blaine Lacher (Boston); Denis Tsygurov, Jason Dawe (Buffalo); Andrei Tre-filov, Jason Muzzatti (Calgary); Todd Harvey (Dallas); Todd Marchant, Nick Stajduhar (Edmonton); Matt Johnson (Los Angeles); Donald Brashear, Gerry Fleming, Brian Savage, Turner Stevenson (Montreal); Brett Lindros (Islanders); Darren Langdon (Rangers); Patrik Juhlin, Chris Therien (Philadelphia); Len Barrie (Pittsburgh); Adam Deadmarsh, Peter Forsberg (Quebec); Denny Felsner, Craig Johnson (St. Louis); Jeff Friesen, Viktor Kozlov (San Jose); Alexander Selivanov, Jason Wiemer (Tampa Bay); Kenny Jonsson (Toronto); Nathan LaFay-ette, Mike Peca (Vancouver); Jamie Allison (Washington). &#9632;

NHL players before their time? Maybe

Here&rsquo;s a list of abbreviations, short forms and statistical designations appearing over the next 24 pages in NHL team stories and reserve lists.<h2>TEAM STORIES</h2>Individual stats listed for skaters in On the Horizon are age (as of Dec. 1, 1994), height, weight, 1994-95 games, goals, assists, points and penalty minutes. Stats listed for goalies are age, height, weight, 1994-95 win-loss-tie record and goals-against average.<h2>RESERVE LIST STATISTICS</h2>POS-position, D-defenseman, F-forward, G-goalie; GP-games played, G-goals, A-assists, P-points; PIM-penalty minutes, MIN-minutes played, GA-goals against, GAA-goals-against average.<h2>LEAGUES AND COUNTRIES</h2>Alberta Jr. Hockey League (AJHL); American Hockey League (AHL); Atlantic Universities Athletic Association (AUAA); Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA); Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA); Central Hockey League (CeHL); Colonial Hockey League (CoHL); East Coast Hockey League (ECHL); Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC); Hockey East (HE); International Hockey League (IHL); Midwestern Ontario Jr. Hockey League (MOJHL); Ontario Hockey League (OHL); Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL); United States Hockey League (USHL); United States High School (USHS); Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA); Western Hockey League &#9632;

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December 9, 1994

Seeking refund, damages for lost Senators’ games

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

Driver looking for chance to prove ’93-94 no fluke

WESTERN LEAGUE