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 1, 1995

The Hockey News December 1, 1995

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01426/7140740-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg"></div>NHL affiliations are given in parentheses beside names(OT) and (SO) denote overtime and shootout &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">By Larry Starks</div>When the season began, there was little argument the San Antonio Iguanas would be the team to beat in the Central League. And why not?The Iguanas returned nine players from last season, including league MVP Paul Jackson, leading scorer Brian Shantz and former NHL and American League winger Dale Henry.The Iguanas have shown the talk was warranted. With an 8-l-l start, they were off to the best start of any team in CHL history. Their high-powered scoring attack was averaging 5.2 goals a game. And their defense, which was supposed to be the weak link, was allowing a league-low 3.6 goals a game.&ldquo;Our team, if they play the right way, can win 6-1, 6-2&hellip; if they concentrate,&rdquo; said coach John Torchetti.The Iguanas scored six or more goals in five games. But it might be a moot point if not for the strong goaltending of Mike Williams.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the good thing about this team,&rdquo; said Henry, who doubles as assistant coach. &ldquo;We know we&rsquo;ve got the offense and now we know we&rsquo;ve got goaltending to go with it.&rdquo;DISASTER RELIEF: The CHL. through pre-season games and an auction, raised $46,000 for victims of the Oklahoma City bombing disaster&hellip; In the first player-development signing of the season, the Oklahoma City Blazers landed 6-foot-5, 230-pound defenseman Dominic Fafard, 21, who has a contract with the Edmonton Oilers&hellip; With two-time defending champion Wichita Thunder off to a slow start, coach Don Jackson reportedly has been talking to several former players about returning, including former team sparkplug Brent Saper-gia&hellip; Fort Worth Fire right winger Kyle Reeves scored a goal in each of his first seven games of the season before having the streak snapped. Then he began another three-game streak. &#9632;

LEAGUES

Iguanas laying claim as Central League’s best

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>Break up the Massachusetts-Amherst Minutemen.With a Nov. 11 win over UMass-Lowell, the second-year Hockey East team earned its third league win in four games. That equaled their win output over an entire 24-game schedule in 1994-95.&ldquo;Because we&rsquo;re a little more experienced, we&rsquo;re more comfortable with the speed and strength of the game. We&rsquo;re faster and, as a result, we&rsquo;re more composed,&rdquo; said coach Joe Mallen. &ldquo;Our players have matured. We&rsquo;re starting to catch up.&rdquo;In a trying first year, Mallen and the Minutemen suffered growing pains. One of the most worrisome situations the coach faced each game was playing three first-year defensemen-Tom O&rsquo;Connor, Mike Gaffney and Brad Norton. The trio is dramatically improved in Year II.&ldquo;(I used to) hold my breath playing three freshmen defensemen last year,&rdquo; Mallen said, &ldquo;but it has paid dividends this year.&rdquo;Also paying dividends were right winger Sal Manganaro, who led the team with 12 points, and right winger Rob Bonneau, who notched the team&rsquo;s first hat trick in the 7-4 win over U-Mass Lowell. Mallen is also high on defenseman Dale Hooper, who was doing an excellent job running an improved power play.FRIARS ON FIRE: The Providence College Friars were off to a surprisingly strong 4-1-1 thanks to the dreaded neutral-zone trap.<h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>&ldquo;We play ugly hockey, but it&rsquo;s working for us because everybody believes in it,&rdquo; said senior defenseman Scott Balboni. &ldquo;Last year, when coach (Paul Pooley) came in, we had trouble believing in the system because we had played a different way for so long.&rdquo;Junior goalie Dan Dennis said he noticed a big difference towards the end of 1994-95, when the Friars went 5-2-3 in their final 10 games.&ldquo;In those last 10 games, we had a good run and beat Maine in the playoffs,&rdquo; Dennis said. &ldquo;It was all coaching. He put a lot of confidence in us and gave us a system that works really well. That has carried over to this year.&rdquo;Pooley, meanwhile, says it isn&rsquo;t genius that has turned the program around, but togetherness. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter what system you&rsquo;re playing as long as everybody works hard,&rdquo; Pooley said.NOTEBOOK: UMass-Lowell junior Neal Donovan was selected the league&rsquo;s player of the week for the period ending Nov. 12 on the strength of his six goals in two games against UMass-Amherst&hellip; Marty Reasoner of Boston College and Jonathan Calla of Northeastern shared rookie-of-the-week honors. Reasoner had a game-winning goal and assist in a 5-4 win over Northeastern and Calla had two goals in two games against Boston College. &#9632;

Amherst no pushover in sophomore season

Bob Gainey&rsquo;s toughest challenge has nothing to do with power plays, contract or trades. It has to do with pulling his family together.In an interview with Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette, the coach-GM of the Dallas Stars told of the heartbreak and depression his family has gone through since the death of Gainey&rsquo;s wife in June.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011858/7138900-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="229" height="365"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Gainey</figcaption></div>Cathy Gainey was 39 when she died of cancer, leaving behind Bob and their four children. Colleen, 10, is battling depression while Laura, 14, fell into an abyss of hash, marijuana, acid and speed.&ldquo;Laura bottled up some of the emotions,&rdquo; Gainey told the Gazette. &ldquo;Others she acted out in the wrong way-by using drugs. She started to cover the pain by dropping out on drugs for a few hours at a time and that slowly increased until it was almost constant.&rdquo;Gainey brought Laura home drug free in late October, after a two-month stay in a Dallas clinic and 10 months at a treatment center in Topeka, Kansas.&ldquo;What she was doing was burying feelings of anger and depression,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;Anger over her mother&rsquo;s illness. Isolation. Abandonment. The kids, I think, take something like what happened to Cathy as being deserted. They know on a conscious level their mother wouldn&rsquo;t desert them.&rdquo;Gainey saw warning signs in Colleen and sought professional help. &ldquo;She wasn&rsquo;t sent to the clinic for a month because of drugs,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;She was depressed. I said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m not waiting this time.&rsquo; I made up my mind 1 was going to be too early rather than too late.&rdquo;Anna, 17, attends school in Peterborough, Ont., while Stephen, 16, plays for the Kamloops Blazers of the Western League.Gainey played 16 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens, helping them win five Stanley Cups before moving on to coaching. He told the Gazette he was willing to talk about this private matter as a preventive measure for other families.&ldquo;I talked to Laura and we both agreed that if we could make some parents aware of what&rsquo;s out there, of what the parents and the kids must do if they&rsquo;re to understand one another better, well, we both think it&rsquo;s important,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

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INSIDE HOCKEY

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chlef</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011532/7138752-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Zigmund Palffy&rsquo;s New York Islanders and other NHL teams are grappling over visor use. Pg. 9</figcaption></div><h2>66 and 99 top scoring race</h2>1. Like old times Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky battling it out for scoring championship.2. Rookie hotshot I Chicago&rsquo;s Eric Daze scores goals in four straight games raising season total to 10.3. Rookie hotshot II Ottawa&rsquo;s Daniel Alfredsson connects for five goals in four games.4. Central League Raises $46,000 for victims of Oklahoma City bombing disaster through exhibition games, auction.5. Player of week. Wayne Gretzky, scores one goal, five assists in Kings&rsquo; 9-2 win over Islanders Nov. 16.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021280/7138745-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="281" height="409"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03959/7138738-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="277" height="413"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Daze</figcaption></div><h2>Senators back in basement</h2>1. Familiar territory Six straight losses for Ottawa Senators sends them back home-to last place in Northeast Division.2. Flickering Flames Scored just eight power play goals on 92 chances for leagueworst 8.7 per-cent success rate.3. Robert Mongrain Hull coach suspended three games after his team instigates fights in Quebec League game.4. Dallas Stars Winless in seven games (0-4-3), Stars drop to last place in Central Division.5. A minor concern? Attendance in American, International and East Coast Leagues down this season.<h2>EDITOR&rsquo;S NOTEBOOK</h2><h2>NHL likely to consider later start</h2>A hat trick of news and views:&#9632; In time, there will be a push to move NHL season-opening games from early October to the middle of the month. That would be a compromise position between northem-and southern-based teams. One of those who would like a later start is Dallas Stars&rsquo; president Jim Lites. He said football-pro, college and even high school-is hockey&rsquo;s natural demographic rival and as the league continues to expand into the south that circumstance will become a larger influence on early-season attendance. &ldquo;Football is in its glory at all three levels in the month of October,&rdquo; Lites said, &ldquo;and I believe that by scheduling a couple of weeks later and going a couple of weeks longer into the summer, we might be doing ourselves a service.&rdquo; Lites said he&rsquo;ll raise the issue at the spring board of governors&rsquo; meeting. The league has to remember Canadians won&rsquo;t last long into the fall without the NHL. Anything later than a mid-October start would result in a population explosion. What else would Canadians have to do?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04726/7138731-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="283" height="373"></div>&#9632; If and when Portland, Ore., receives an expansion franchise to fill in both the U.S. northwest and brand new Rose Garden arena, former Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; GM Mike Smith will be the leading candidate for the job of GM. In the meantime, Smith may resurface shortly with the Chicago Blackhawks as a consultant. Several teams have expressed interest in Smith since the Jets fired him in January. 1993. The iconoclastic Smith has been refueling for a return to the league at his home in Martha&rsquo;s Vineyard, Mass. He spends his time attending art auctions, writing columns for a Finnish newspaper and keeping tabs on the NHL. Smith, 50, wouldn&rsquo;t comment on speculation he could be headed to Portland. He is still being paid in the final year of a four-year contract with the Jets. If Smith were to join the Blackhawks, the Jets would get a break on what remains of the deal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05504/7138724-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="271" height="415"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim Lites (Photo by Jim Leary/BBS)</figcaption></div>&#9632; Memo to NHL heavyweights: Bodychecking is legal. You don&rsquo;t have to fight every time somebody administers a clean check on a star teammate. Imagine if they did that in football. One of Emmitt Smith&rsquo;s brawny teammates would have to fight every time he got tackled. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chief</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011734/7138797-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr have followed similar paths-both lead to greatness.</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH-This story belongs in the New England Medical Journal, not The Hockey News.Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s stunning NHL return after 16 months of inactivity isn&rsquo;t improbable, it&rsquo;s impossible. Yet, six weeks into 1995-96, the numbers were undeniable.With 16 goals and 40 points in 12 games, the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; center was challenging for the best start in NHL history and on pace to win his fifth scoring title.This despite missing three games this season, not to mention all 48 in 1994-95 when Lemieux took the year off to recover from fatigue associated with chronic back troubles and the lingering effects of treatment for Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease.Before going into seclusion last winter, Lemieux must have gone into the shop for rustproofing. Lemieux, 30, has shrugged off a season without hockey like he does 220-pound defensemen draped over his shoulders-effortlessly.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s dominating games more than before,&rdquo; said Penguins&rsquo; right winger Jaromir Jagr, the 1994-95 NHL scoring champion. &ldquo;Now, it&rsquo;s an even bigger difference between him and the other players.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s a tall order, even for the 6-foot-4 Lemieux who, like Wayne Gretzky before him, has a history of lapping the field. In 1993, Lemieux came back from eight weeks of radiation treatment and recovery time to win the Art Ross Trophy in only 60 games-24 fewer than runner-up Pat LaFontaine of the Buffalo Sabres.If Lemieux is to win the scoring championship this season, he&rsquo;ll have to do it in a maximum of about 70 games. As a precaution against further back injuries, he isn&rsquo;t slated to play back-to-back games.A rejuvenated Gretzky might be Lemieux&rsquo;s most serious competition for the scoring title. Gretzky had 34 points in 19 games.The schedule appears to be the biggest obstacle for Lemieux, whose career is studded with gaudy statistical accomplishments. Only one element is missing-monster seasons comparable to Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s 92 goals in 1981-82 and 215 points in 1985-86-and that&rsquo;s partly because he hasn&rsquo;t been able to play enough games to take sustained runs at them.That&rsquo;s a fact of life for Lemieux and the reason why challenging Gretzky&rsquo;s single-season records for goals and points is a long shot.&ldquo;That would be nice,&rdquo; Lemieux said, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t think I can do it in 65 or 70 games. You have to be out there for a full season. For this year, at least, I don&rsquo;t think my back&rsquo;s going to permit me to play a full schedule.&rdquo;If Lemieux were to maintain his early-season paces in goals (1.33 goals per game) and points (3.33) over 70 games, he would finish the season with, get this, 93 goals and 233 points.That is too lofty an expectation, though.Lemieux, himself, said it&rsquo;s good to get off to a great start, but doesn&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s realistic to expect it will continue. Common sense says he is right. A majority of Lemieux&rsquo;s points (23) were the product of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s potent power play, which was operating at 40.0 per-cent efficiency. (The NHL standard for a full season is 31.9 per cent, set by the 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens.) It&rsquo;s inconceivable the man-advantage unit will maintain that percentage all season.Marginally more reachable than Gretzky&rsquo;s goal mark is his points mark; Lemieux would need to average 3.1 points per game over 70 games to score 216 points. Gretzky holds the season-long record of 2.77 points per game.Lemieux admitted he sometimes thinks about what might have been had he played 11 uninterrupted seasons, instead of only four 70-plus-game seasons, another four in the 60 range and two in the 20s.&ldquo;Oh, yeah, sometimes,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If I would have had the chance to play close to a full season and be healthy the whole year, I would have had a chance at some of those records, but it&rsquo;s just the way my career went. Just injuries after injuries. A lot of back problems and Hodgkin&rsquo;s.&rdquo;Whether Lemieux will ever again play an entire regular season-he last played one seven seasons ago-is something No. 66 has no interest contemplating publicly. He said his career is listed year-to-year and he won&rsquo;t make a decision about 1996-97 until after this year.Lemieux and Gretzky have been the subjects of endless comparison-here&rsquo;s another: Lemieux had 510 goals and 1,251 points in his first 611 career games (through Nov. 16); Gretzky, 533 and 1,479 in his first 611-but a more appropriate comparison might be to Boston Bruins&rsquo; Hall of Fame defenseman Bobby Orr.Their star-crossed careers are strangely similar.Orr played 10 seasons with the Bruins before chronic knee problems all but ended his career; Lemieux played 10 seasons with the Penguins before his sabbatical in 1994-95, when back problems threatened to end his career.During that time, Orr played 631 games; Lemieux played 599. Orr played 10 games in his 10th season; Lemieux played 22 in his 10th. Orr won two Stanley Cups; Lemieux, two. Orr was named playoff MVP twice, Lemieux, twice. On-won two scoring championships, in his fourth and ninth seasons; Lemieux won four, including his fourth and ninth seasons. Orr won three Hart Trophies; Lemieux won two and should have won a third in 1988-89 when he outscored Gretzky by 31 goals, but was outpolled in MVP voting.Gordie Howe, Mr. Hockey, said the premature loss of Orr in 1978 was the worst blow the NHL has ever suffered. It would have been the second-worst had Lemieux been forced to retire.Orr is a great admirer of Lemieux and regularly asks about him in weekly phone calls with old friend Eddie Johnston, the Penguins&rsquo; head coach. Orr was also among the first to offer his best wishes to Lemieux in those difficult days after Jan. 11, 1993, when Lemieux learned he had Hodgkin&rsquo;s.&ldquo;He called me the day after I found out.&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;He just called to talk to me and and asked me if I wanted to come down to Florida for a couple of days and play some golf. That was nice of him.&rdquo;Most hockey people agree picking the best player ever is a choice among Orr, Gretzky, Howe and Lemieux.Orr was a standout all over the ice and revolutionized the role of defensemen; sheer force of will and intelligence launched Gretzky to career scoring records that will never be surpassed; Howe was the ultimate physical presence-superstar tough and talented-during an unparalleled 32-year pro career; and Lemieux, long and lean, may be the greatest physical talent the game has ever known.Lemieux will only acknowledge he wants a place among the all-time greats. Johnston was probably closer to the truth when he said of his superstar, &ldquo;I think he wants to leave the game being known as the best player to ever play the game.&rdquo;Asked what makes him so special, Lemieux smiled and said self-consciously, &ldquo;Obviously, there&rsquo;s a lot of talent. I don&rsquo;t know, I guess it was just something I was bom with.&rdquo;<h2>Attitude separates No. 66 from others</h2>In the past, Lemieux has been accused of not getting the most out of his abundant talent-he only started working out in the off-season this past summer-but he said he hasn&rsquo;t taken his God-given gifts for granted.&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s important,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something I learned over the years. Maybe early in my career I wanted to do everything on talent, not maybe work as hard as the other players, but 1 think I realized these last eight, nine years, even though you have a lot of talent you have to work as hard as anybody to remain on top. That&rsquo;s something that I do now.&rdquo;Lemieux has superstar skills&mdash;shot, skating, strength, spirit-but his greatest asset may also be the hardest to measure-attitude. Lemieux plays with an assurance and calm that borders on arrogance. When at his best, Lemieux treats opponents with disdain, toying with their motions and emotions in a deliberate fashion that defies the natural pace of the world&rsquo;s fastest team sport.It was said Hall of Famer Doug Harvey played defense with such poise and control he could play the game from a rocking chair. If so, Lemieux could play from a lawn chair.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s so relaxed, he&rsquo;s so free on the ice,&rdquo; Jagr said. &ldquo;Sometimes you don&rsquo;t feel good on the ice and you have some problems and then you look at him-how relaxed he is-and you enjoy the game again. You don&rsquo;t have to be the strongest guy, you don&rsquo;t have to be the fastest guy, you have to have a lot of patience and you have to be very smart and he has got all that.&rdquo;Hockey&rsquo;s most famous patient may also be its most patient. If Lemieux has a panic point with the puck, it&rsquo;s imperceptible to all but him. Lemieux said the fact he doesn&rsquo;t have all his speed back yet has resulted in bad decisions-although 24 assists suggests he still knows when and how to make a play.His 24th-a sweeping one-handed pass that set up Dave Roche&rsquo;s first NHL goal-would have been the league&rsquo;s play of the night Nov. 14&mdash;if Lemieux hadn&rsquo;t already laid claim to that distinction with a highlight-film goal. Early in the third period, Lemieux found a seam between Dallas Stars&rsquo; defensemen Craig Ludwig and Kevin Hatcher, delicately accepted a Dmitri Mironov bullet on his backhand and broke in alone on goalie Darcy Wakaluk.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011671/7138790-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="486" height="739"><figcaption class="caption-body">Count Jaromir Jagr among Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s admirers.</figcaption></div>The right-shooting Lemieux charged toward Wakaluk, showed backhand, pulled to an abrupt stop at the edge of the goalcrease, switched to his forehand and sent Wakaluk sprawling before depositing what would be the game-winning goal. Lemieux looked like a jumbo jet landing at the south end of Civic Arena-swooping in, reversing engines and standing on his brakes to score a goal reminiscent of his classic against the Minnesota North Stars in Game 2 of the 1991 Stanley Cup final. That goal, scored at the opposite end of the Igloo more than four years ago, is Lemieux&rsquo;s all-time favorite.&ldquo;I just turn my skates pretty much 90 degrees,&rdquo; Lemieux said, &ldquo;and stop at the same time, so it&rsquo;s hard for a goalie, especially with my reach when I go from one side to the other.&rdquo;If patience is Lemieux&rsquo;s single defining intangible asset, reach is the most tangible. Whatever else may be debated, all agree Lemieux is the most talented big man ever to play the game. Nobody keeps the puck out of harm&rsquo;s way better than Lemieux, who wears a 37-inch sleeve, wields a 59-&frac12;-inch stick and uses every inch to his advantage by dragging and curling the puck securely behind him.The three-point game against Dallas gave Lemieux 40 points in a dozen games. That may be the second-best such total in NHL history, trailing only his 41 points in 198889. Mind you, that mark was established in consecutive games. Lemieux had 43 points in his first 15 games that season. (Gretzky&rsquo;s best season start, in 1984-85, was 33 points in 12 games and 43 in 15.)Despite the numbers, Lemieux said he isn&rsquo;t up to foil speed or playing the best hockey of his career: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel as quick as I was before and sometimes I&rsquo;m not making the right plays. So, I still feel I have a ways to go.&rdquo;No. 66 is no less elusive off the ice than on. He has never cultivated the media. Questions are met with measured responses. He hints at answers. Most players talk in paragraphs; Lemieux talks in sentences, two and three at a time, tops.&ldquo;I go about my business,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;Sure, now and then 1 have to give interviews, but that&rsquo;s not something I go out of my way to do. That&rsquo;s always the way I&rsquo;ve been and I&rsquo;m not going to change. I don&rsquo;t feel comfortable talking about myself. I&rsquo;d like to remain as private as possible. That&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;ve chosen to stay away from the media as much as I can.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021198/7138783-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="1079" height="1678"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;I got a second chance to Dlay. I savor every moment on the ice.&rdquo;</figcaption></div>Lemieux has long chosen an independent path.&ldquo;It has always been that way,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you can please the whole world and I made up my mind years ago, as long as the people close to you are happy with your work and what you&rsquo;re doing for them and your family is happy with you, that&rsquo;s the most important thing. You can&rsquo;t please everybody.&rdquo;Pittsburgh-born pop culture icon Andy Warhol said everybody would have their 15 minutes of fame. Lemieux&rsquo;s threatened to expire last season. It was like a near-death experience for Lemieux: &ldquo;I got a second chance to play,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;I savor every moment on the ice. Everytime I have a chance to step on the ice and play hockey, it&rsquo;s a bonus.&rdquo;Of course, Lemieux&rsquo;s fame will not end with his career, but it won&rsquo;t be the same. Is it possible his 15 minutes could stretch to 15 years? It&rsquo;s a tease to suggest Lemieux may play that many years, but it&rsquo;s a modest expectation for a player of his stature. Of hockey&rsquo;s all-time greats only Orr and New York Islanders&rsquo; superscorer Mike Bossy didn&rsquo;t last well past 10 years.Good fortune blessed the others. Lemieux is owed some.The Andy Warhol Museum is Pittsburgh&rsquo;s tribute to a dead pop icon. Artifacts at the Mario Lemieux Museum, a.k.a. Civic Arena, thankfully continue to pile up. &#9632;

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MANY HAPPY RETURNS

A weekly compendium of significant events and developments (Nov. 10-17).Nov. 10: Vancouver Canucks announce star right winger Pavel Bure likely lost for remainder of season because of injury to right knee.Nov. 12: New York Islanders send disgruntled forward Kirk Muller home to wait for trade, saying he will never play another game for them.Nov. 13: Los Angeles Kings trade defenseman Michel Petit to Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Steven Finn.Nov. 14: Kings&rsquo; defenseman Rob Blake undergoes knee surgery, likely out for season.Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; star Keith Tkachuk fractures left thumb in game against Chicago Blackhawks.Nov. 15: San Jose Sharks acquire goalie Chris Terreri from New Jersey Devils for second-round draft pick in 1996.Nov. 16: San Jose Sharks trade right winger Pat Falloon to Philadelphia Flyers. Buffalo Sabres trade Doug Bodger to Sharks. Sabres receive 1996 first-and fourth-round picks and left winger Martin Spanhel from Flyers and right winger Vaclav Varada from Sharks.Wayne Gretzky scores one goal, six points to lead Kings to 9-2 win over Islanders. &#9632;

<div class="byline">-Steve Dryden</div>PITTSBURGH-Beauty and the beast had a date with history July 28.1995.That was the day of Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s unofficial return to hockey and ice time was set aside at the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; practice facility, Iceoplex, in Canonsburg, Pa.Dave Hanson took the booking.Yes. that Dave Hanson, the man who gave his name to hockey&rsquo;s most infamous brothers in the movie, Slap Shot. Now. he manages Iceoplex.Alain Lemieux is director of hockey operations at Iceoplex, a former NHLer and Mario&rsquo;s brother. Mario, Alain and Ottawa Senators&rsquo; center Dan Quinn, one of Mario&rsquo;s closest friends, went on the ice together.Presumably, Hanson stood guard, foiling all uninvited guests&rsquo; attempts to see what unfolded.It wasn&rsquo;t pretty.Mario missed more chances in 20 minutes of shooting at an empty net than he had during his entire NHL career.&ldquo;He was stale,&rdquo; Alain says. &ldquo;He kept missing the net. The pucks were everywhere. After a while, we stopped and started laughing (and said) &lsquo;Get the soccer nets out.&rsquo;&rdquo;Other than a charity appearance last season, it was Lemieux&rsquo;s first time on the ice since April 27. 1994. Six weeks into this season, Lemieux had 16 goals and 24 assists in 12 games; the 9-3-3 Penguins were winless in three games he sat out; and, the power play was converting 45.3 per cent of its chances with him, 9.1 without.Lemieux had been the team catalyst both as playmaker and scorer.&ldquo;I think in the past I was more of a playmaker,&rdquo; Lemieux said, "but in these past four or five years. I&rsquo;ve become a better goal scorer.&rdquo;His trademark rising wrist and snap shots are devastating. Only NASA puts objects into vertical flight better than Lemieux.&ldquo;When I was real young, all I wanted to do was roof the puck,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;As far back as seven, eight years old, all I can remember is going for the top shelf all the time.&rdquo;Lemieux holds the Canadian major junior record for most goals in a season-133 in 1983-84 as a member of the Laval Voisins. &#9632;

FEATURES

Modest beginnings to magnificence

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021261/7138945-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Washington&rsquo;s Peter Bondra sits second in both the speed blast and fastestskater skills competitions.</figcaption></div>Hamilton has replaced Boston as a site for the 1996 World Cup.World Cup organizers decided on an eight-team format, but haven&rsquo;t finalized where and when the successor to the Canada Cup will be played.&ldquo;The sites, venues and dates will be decided (in early December),&rdquo; said Rene Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation.Sources say Canada will get two more games than originally planned, bringing the total to eight.Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto are potential sites, but renovations to Maple Leaf Gardens may send the games to Hamilton, which played host to the 1987 and 1991 Canada Cup finals.Organizers are considering three games for Montreal, two for Ottawa and Hamilton and one for Vancouver, which would also be the site of the training camp.In the U.S., Detroit, Pittsburgh and St. Louis are being considered, while sources say Boston will likely be dropped from the list.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03753/7138938-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="517" height="763"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vladimir Malakov, Montreal</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04459/7138931-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="523" height="781"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sergei Fedorov, Detroit</figcaption></div><h2>Sarault, Grimson big shots</h2>Yves Sarault and Stu Grimson combined for just four goals in 323 NHL games, but they sure do shoot hard.The utility forwards for the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings, respectively, were conference leaders in the NHL SuperSkills competition. Ten teams had completed their events as of mid-November.Sarault led the Eastern Conference with a blast of 96.8 miles per hour. The top four finishers in each conference qualify for the final at the All-Star Game Jan. 19 in Boston.Peter Bondra of Washington, Patrice Brisebois of Montreal and Stephane Richer of New Jersey rounded out the top four so far in the East.In the West, Grimson, Nicklas Lid-strom of Detroit, Milos Holan of Anaheim and Ray Sheppard of San Jose made up the top four.The top four qualifiers in the fastest skater competition are New Jersey&rsquo;s Scott Niedermayer, Bondra, Richer and Montreal&rsquo;s Vladimir Malakhov in the East. In the West, Sergei Fedorov, Greg Johnson and Keith Primeau were 1-2-3 followed by Valeri Kamensky of Colorado. &#9632;

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Hamilton to host World Cup

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>When Phil Esposito shot from the hip back in 1972, taking Canadian hockey fans to task for booing Team Canada at home in the Summit Series, he became an instant hero of mine.When Esposito shot from the lip, publicly humiliating his old friend and the coach of his Tampa Bay Lightning, Terry Crisp, what respect remained instantly dissolved.Esposito&rsquo;s tirade, inspired by a 10-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Nov. 1, was out of line-even if it came across as more harsh than he intended when it landed in print.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-05362/7138976-1-eng-US/f0006-052.jpg" title="f0006-05" width="221" height="357"></div>&rsquo;I wanted to go through the TV and strangle Terry Crisp,&rdquo; Esposito said. &ldquo;I wanted to punch Chris Gratton in the face. And when Petr Klima took that penalty, 1 wanted to send him back to Czechoslovakia.&rdquo;Wanted to strangle Crisp? I&rsquo;m sure Crisp wants to strangle Esposito every time he fills out his lineup card. Imagine trying to coach a team to victories with Klima and Brian Bradley as your go-to guys. Klima has been an enigma since he joined the Detroit Red Wings in 1985&mdash;talented, but inconsistent. Bradley is a second-line center living off one year&rsquo;s worth of first-line numbers.The Lightning has not yet made the playoffs. But it has improved from finishing 31 games under.500 in Year 1 to 11 games under last season. Tampa Bay is not a serious threat to make the playoffs, but will impress you with its Crisp-inspired work ethic.This is also a team that has done a fine job developing defenseman Roman Hamrlik to the point where he is now one of the game&rsquo;s emerging stars and offensive forces. Same goes for left winger Gratton, who has hit his stride in this, his third season.The budget has always been a concern for the Lightning-it&rsquo;s the reason Daymond Langkow, top scorer in the Western League last season, was sent back to junior. He was scheduled to make $800,000. But budget restraints didn&rsquo;t stop the Lightning from paying huge chunks of cash to flops such as Gerard Gallant, Norm Rochefort and Bill McDougall.Crisp has been a class act in his tenure with the Lightning. If he loses his job. it will only be because he has been made a scapegoat-not a reflection on his ability to coach. &#9632;

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COLUMNISTS

Crisp burned by Espo

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011692/7139007-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div>An open letter to Mario Lemieux:I think I can safely say on behalf of all hockey fans: &ldquo;Welcome back, Mario.&rdquo; I&rsquo;ve watched as you have reestablished yourself as the most dominant player in the world, scored your 500th career goal and tied a franchise record with a seven-point night.As a fan, I could only hope It would come back, but to see a return such as this warms my heart. You are truly the star of stars and the game is far better for your return.Len Gould. Jersey City, N.J.<h2>This makes sense</h2>Now I finally get it. If you punch someone in the face as Tie Domi did to Ulf Samuelsson, you get suspended for eight games. But if you viciously slash someone in the throat as Chris Pronger did to Pat Peake, you get four games.That really makes a lot of sense.Dave Henderson, Toronto, Ont.<h2>Keep praying</h2>I couldn&rsquo;t help but react to Jack Falla&rsquo;s well-reported column regarding the tragedy that befell Boston University&rsquo;s Travis Roy (THN, Nov. 10).What Jack didn&rsquo;t have the space to describe was the feeling that overcame the 3,800 fans as it became increasingly clear that there was something seriously wrong.As Travis lay on the ice, time seemed to stand still. Two minutes grew to five, to 10 and Travis didn&rsquo;t move. Even the young kids in the stands knew this was something serious.From where we were sitting, all we could see were his skates. &ldquo;Why weren&rsquo;t his skates moving?&rdquo; my 10-year-old son asked after Travis was wheeled off the ice on a stretcher. I didn&rsquo;t know, none of us knew.The game went on. The fans cheered BU goals. Why weren&rsquo;t his skates moving? They cheered when it was announced that Boston College lost. Why weren&rsquo;t his feet moving? The chant of, &ldquo;Sieve, Sieve, Sieve,&rdquo; directed at the North Dakota goalie, erupted another seven times just like it always does at Walter Brown Arena when the Terriers score. Why weren&rsquo;t his skates moving?How could something that happens a dozen times a game turn out to be so serious? Could this happen to my kid someday? Nobody wanted to think about that.All we wanted to see was No. 24 get up and skate back to the bench. Pray for Travis, everyone. And pray something like this never happens again.Chris Cakebread, Natick, Mass.<h2>Picture of tragedy</h2>I was upset to read about what happened to Travis Roy and I can&rsquo;t even imagine how his family feels.I, along with my family and friends, was outraged that you printed the picture of Travis immobilized on the stretcher. I appreciate that it is your job to inform your readers of newsworthy events, but was it really necessary to run such a morbid picture?Ann Cumino, Bensalem, Pa.<h2>Protect your neck</h2>I was saddened to see a recent story about the death of a young Swedish hockey player who was cut in the neck with a skate (THN, Nov. 3).Canadian amateur hockey officials have made neck protection mandatory for minor hockey players. USA Hockey, so far, has failed to do the same.I am at a loss as to why. It is time for American hockey officials to take action before a tragedy strikes.A neck protector is a relatively inexpensive, but potentially life saving piece of equipment. Few players, my 13-year-old son among them, wear one. A rule from USA Hockey would take away any excuse.I ask hockey players and parents to express support for neck protection to local, state and national organizations.Ken Tabacsko, Saginaw, Mich.<h2>Way off base</h2>I often agree with what Stan Fis-chler writes, but he was way off base when he said that fans of Eastern Conference teams don&rsquo;t want to see Western Conference teams until the Stanley Cup final (THN, Nov. 10).Being a Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; fan, I&rsquo;m sick of seeing the Washington Capitals, New York Islanders and New York Rangers six or seven times a season. I would gladly trade games with these teams if it meant seeing Wayne Gretzky, Pavel Bure, Keith Tkachuk and Theo Fleury more than just twice a year.Steve O&rsquo;Keefe, Lansdowne, Pa.<h2>No more Isles</h2>I cannot agree with Stan Fischler&rsquo;s argument to get rid of inter-conference games.If I was a season ticketholder for an Eastern Conference team, that would mean I&rsquo;d never get to see such players and Doug Gilmour, Pavel Bure and Wayne Gretzky in person.The alternative is the New York Islanders and you can&rsquo;t tell me it would be more exciting to see them eight times a season.Kevin Hannan, Cary, N.C.<h2>Why no Stevie Y?</h2>Steve Yzerman is one of the alltime great players in NHL history. This much is beyond dispute. He has often been mentioned in the same breath with Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull and Eric Lindros.Even though he is enjoying a very productive season, is a future Hall of Famer and has carried the franchise for years, he isn&rsquo;t on the All-Star Game ballot for the Western Conference.This is a major slap in the face to one of the game&rsquo;s all-time greats. I understand there are a lot of young, deserving players in the league this season, but to overlook a player who has contributed so much to the game is simply a shame.Troy Patterson, Sarnia. Ont.<h2>No optimism</h2>I am writing to respond to Frank Bennett&rsquo;s letter in the Nov. 10 issue. As an ex-patriot of Long Island, he should get home more often.The New York Islanders are in shambles and why he&rsquo;s optimistic about the future, I have no clue.People are chanting, &ldquo;We want Fishsticks,&rdquo; and the media has labeled them &ldquo;The Deserted Isles&rdquo; and &ldquo;Lost at Sea.&rdquo; The team wants us to disregard its glorious past with new horrendous uniforms. How can a sports franchise expect to survive when it sweeps its proud history aside?Apparently, news travels slowly from Wayne, Pa., to Long Island. Read a New York paper and get up to date.Keri Lannigan, Bellerose. N. Y.<h2>Keenan is Shore</h2>Eddie Shore died and came back to earth as Mike Keenan.Keenan, like Shore, plays no favorites. He treats all his players like dogs. Keenan never smiles and I never saw Shore smile.Yet, some players will tell you they learned more from these two tyrants than all their other coaches combined.Paul Campbell,Pelham. Mass.Make your feelings known. Fax us your comments at (416) 340-1641 or write to Letters, The Hockey News, 777 Bay St, Suite 2700, Box 148, Toronto, Ont., M5G 2C8 in Canada. In the U.S., write to Letters, The Hockey News, P.O. Box 904. Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947. Include home and business phone numbers. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

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ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>Doug MacLean firmly believed the Florida Panthers needed a new direction when he was named coach last summer. He also believed that direction would lead them down before up.But a phone conversation with captain Brian Skrudland about the team&rsquo;s planned youth movement altered MacLean&rsquo;s mind-set.&ldquo;(Skrudland) saw no reason for the team to take a step back,&rdquo; MacLean said. &ldquo;When I got off the phone I had goose bumps. I was so fired up, I couldn&rsquo;t wait for the season to begin.&rdquo;Apparently, that enthusiasm has filtered through the organization. The Panthers, expected to experience growing pains before making gains, owned the NHL&rsquo;s best record (14-4-1) through mid-Novem-ber. They were also one of the NHL&rsquo;s hottest teams, with an eight-game win streak.Ironically, the best times for the franchise were also the most uncertain. Owner Wayne Huiz-enga was threatening to move the team after being rebuffed in his attempts to get public funding for a new arena. There&rsquo;s a very real chance the Panthers will move next season, but this season they&rsquo;ve moved to the top of the Atlantic Division standings.How have they done it?For starters, the elements that got the Panthers to within one point of the playoffs in each of their first two seasons under former coach Roger Neilson remain strong. They&rsquo;re still getting excellent goaltending from John Vanbiesbrouck and Mark Fitzpatrick, they&rsquo;re still committed to team defense and possess a puritan work ethic.At the same time, they&rsquo;ve lowered their average age and increased their tempo without missing a beat. Defenseman Ed Jovanovski, 19, and left winger Radek Dvorak, 18, are already contributing regulars, while defenseman Rhett Warrener, 19, and right winger David Nemirovsky, 19, are close to earning regular duty.MacLean has given the team&rsquo;s defensemen opportunities to join the rush and pinch at the opposition&rsquo;s blueline more often in an effort to boost offense, while third-year center Rob Niedermayer is showing signs of becoming a scoring star.Another factor that has worked strongly in their favor has been the schedule. Six of the Panthers&rsquo; first seven games were at home-they were 5-1-0 there-and they avoided many of the league&rsquo;s top teams. There were no meetings with the Detroit Red Wings, Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins or New York Rangers. They were victorious twice, meanwhile, over the Philadelphia Flyers-Eric Lindros was injured in the first game and missed the second.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011751/7139038-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="856" height="1878"><figcaption class="caption-body">Teenage rookie Radek Dvorak is already a regular contributor.</figcaption></div>The team faces a big test in late December and January when it plays nine of 10 games on the road, including seven in a row.&ldquo;We stressed all summer we had to have a good training camp to be prepared for the start of the season,&rdquo; Skrudland said. &ldquo;We hoped to catch sflme teams off guard.&rdquo;When the Panthers decided to turn things up offensively, they did it from the backline. Departed veterans Keith Brown, Randy Moller, Joe Cir-ella and Brian Benning combined for one goal last season. This year&rsquo;s group, anchored by Robert Svehla, Jason Woolley and Gord Murphy, had 10 goals and 54 points.&ldquo;We used to be so conservative,&rdquo; said forward Jody Hull. &ldquo;With Roger, if you didn&rsquo;t see a play, you had to dump it in. With Doug, if there is no play, you try to make one.&rdquo;The change has been dramatic. The Panthers, through 17 games, had scored 20 more goals than they had in the same period in 1994-95, while allowing 11 fewer. A team that didn&rsquo;t score six goals in a game once last season managed that feat in three of its first eight games this year, while keeping the opposition to two or fewer 12 times.Of course, it&rsquo;s not just the defense that has made the difference. Strong starts from Scott Mellan-by (11 goals), Stu Barnes (eight goals) and Dvorak (six goals) have helped.The most pleasant surprise, however, has been Niedermayer. The fifth overall pick in the 1993 entry draft, Niederrnayer had already surpassed his career high of nine goals.&ldquo;People are giving me credit for Niedermayer&rsquo;s emergence and that is bull,&rdquo; MacLean said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s in his third year and he was ready to blossom. He&rsquo;s a quality person and a premier skater. I haven&rsquo;t done anything; it has been all him.&rdquo;The Panthers are on Cloud 9, but their heads aren&rsquo;t in the clouds. They know rough days are ahead, but they are enjoying the moment.&ldquo;People are waiting for the axe to fall and maybe it will,&rdquo; Skrudland said. &ldquo;But I keep telling the guys it doesn&rsquo;t have to. We control our own destiny. Our confidence is growing and we have to believe in ourselves.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Sunny days in Florida

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011656/7139083-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">New Jersey&rsquo;s Petr Sykora is one of seven rookies wearing visor</figcaption></div>Eric Weinrich felt the pressure to conform as soon as he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in the fall of 1993. None of his new teammates, nor coach Darryl Sutter, ever said it explicitly, but it was clear that by playing with a visor he was violating the team&rsquo;s code of honor.&ldquo;In the past in Chicago, I don&rsquo;t know how to say this, it was just kind of a taboo,&rdquo; said Weinrich, a seven-year NHL defenseman. &ldquo;It just kind of got around the room pretty quick that the Hawks didn&rsquo;t wear visors. I didn&rsquo;t want to cause any flak with the coach.&rdquo;Safety was of importance to Wein-rich-he wore a visor the previous season with the Hartford Whalers-but not as important as acceptance or playing time. A newspaper story pointed out he was the only full-time Hawk wearing a visor. When faced with the decision to protect his eyes or his reputation, Weinrich dumped the visor.That decision almost cost him his right eye. In a Nov. 1 game in Dallas, Stars&rsquo; winger Trent Klatt cut Wein-rich&rsquo;s right eyelid after losing his balance while fighting through a check.&ldquo;I looked at our trainer and I couldn&rsquo;t see anything out of one eye,&rdquo; Weinrich said. &ldquo;They tell me that happens sometimes. That was the scariest point in my career. That was as close a call as I&rsquo;ll ever get.&rdquo;Two weeks later he was still out of the lineup with blurred vision. He vowed that when he returns, it will be with a shield. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been in the league long enough to know what&rsquo;s good for me,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and I don&rsquo;t care what anybody thinks.&rdquo;Weinrich will be re-joining an NHL minority group.According to a survey conducted by The Hockey News the week of Nov. 6, only 84 of 582 players (14.4 per cent) are wearing visors this season. Five teams-Chicago, Dallas, the Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues-didn&rsquo;t have any players wearing a visor at the time of the survey. The Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks each had a league-high seven players wearing visors.Here&rsquo;s a longshot: by this time in the year 2000, all NHLers may be required to wear visors. It&rsquo;s a long way off and no timetable has been established. but league GMs have discussed the issue and it could be proposed all players wear visors as early as their next meeting in February. There would be no chance of it passing-yet.&ldquo;Nobody has been able to tell me why players shouldn&rsquo;t wear one,&rdquo; said Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke. &ldquo;I tell all my players they should wear them. I think it&rsquo;s stupid not to. Until they get to pro hockey, not one of these guys have ever played without it. I never saw the necessity of (wearing a helmet) and I didn&rsquo;t want to wear one, but that didn&rsquo;t mean I was right.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s mandatory Canadian junior players wear half-visors and U.S. college players wear full cages. Yet, when they turn pro, most don&rsquo;t wear facial protection; out of 38 NHL rookies this season, only seven wear visors.About a dozen NHLers have had their careers ended by eye injuries, according to Dr. Tom Pashby of Toronto, a sports safety expert and pioneer in advocating the need for eye protection in hockey.This fall, Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; defenseman Ryan McGill retired after being declared legally blind in his left eye. He was struck with a puck in a game last season.Such injuries aren&rsquo;t uncommon.Flyers&rsquo; superstar Eric Lindros missed the last two games of the 1994-95 regular season and first three games of the playoffs because of an eye injury and Oilers&rsquo; star Jason Arnott missed seven games this season. Both were struck by errant pucks. The Flyers would have lost millions in future revenue had Lindros&rsquo; career been cut short. A visor would have most likely prevented the injury. Neither Lindros nor Arnott wears a facemask now.<h2>Peer pressure a factor in shunning protection</h2>Opposition to mandatory facemasks comes from those in the game who believe it would be too radical a step and impact on the quality of play. Players complain visors are uncomfortable, fog up, restrict vision and encourage players to be reckless with their sticks.&ldquo;The players have expressed the feeling to us that the issue of equipment is their own decision,&rdquo; said league spokesman Arthur Pincus.Clarke said the NHL Players&rsquo; Association should take some responsibility for ensuring players wear appropriate equipment. But NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow said if protection were the only concern, the union would force all players to wear full facemasks.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if there was a greater momentum in the coming years&hellip; (for visors) to be considered for requirement at the pro level,&rdquo; Goodenow said. He added, &ldquo;there comes a point of individual choice. There comes a tradeoff between protection and how it affects the players&rsquo; right to ply their trade. It&rsquo;s a very complicated issue.&rdquo;Just what role peer and management pressure plays in a player&rsquo;s decision not to wear a visor is impossible to determine, but it&rsquo;s no secret some team officials believe players who fight or play aggressive styles should go without them. A few players on the bubble at the New York Islanders&rsquo; training camp this fall said they felt it would be in their best interests not to wear a visor.Islanders&rsquo; coach Mike Milbury said if facemasks become the norm, fighting should be eliminated. &ldquo;When you have one guy wearing it and one guy not, trying to punch through plastic, it gets kind of silly,&rdquo; he said.If fighting does stay in the game-which is his preference-he would like to see those who fight go without visors.&ldquo;I coached Ray Bourque,&rdquo; Milbury said. &ldquo;1 had no trouble with him wearing a visor. I think guys who are going to fight shouldn&rsquo;t wear visors. If it&rsquo;s going to be facemasks for everybody, let&rsquo;s make it mandatory and get rid of fighting. Put the shields on, get it over with. That&rsquo;s the way we&rsquo;re going.&ldquo;On a personal level I&rsquo;d like to see it going back to where a lot of guys were not wearing helmets and respected each other. But we can&rsquo;t go back.&rdquo;Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; center Derek Plante says there is a stigma attached to players who enter the league wearing visors, especially if they play a physical style.&ldquo;You get a little more respect when you don&rsquo;t wear the (visor),&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;After you&rsquo;ve paid your dues, it&rsquo;s a little different.&rdquo;Plante paid his dues this year in the form of a six-stitch cut on his face courtesy of a stick from Darren McCarty of the Red Wings. Plante has been wearing a shield since then.While skill players such as Bourque. Brian Leetch, Jaromir Jagr and Peter Bondra will never face pressure to take their visors off-11 of the top 25 scorers this season use them-it&rsquo;s another story for Islanders&rsquo; right winger Brett Lindros, whose 47 penalty minutes were the most of any visored player.Lindros doesn&rsquo;t want to wear it, but feels he doesn&rsquo;t have a choice. Two concussions due to blows to the back of his head on the right side have left him with poor peripheral vision in his left eye, so he has to wear a visor to protect his right eye.&ldquo;Sometimes you take some heat for it,&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;They say, &lsquo;Nice fishtank,&rsquo; stuff like that. My line is, &lsquo;It comes off.&rsquo;&rdquo;Lindros consults with doctors frequently, hoping to hear his left eye has recuperated enough for him to take the shield off for good.In the meantime, Lindros removes his helmet every time he fights out of a sense of obligation; he thinks it&rsquo;s only fair. &ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t like it, but I&rsquo;d rather have a good eye when I&rsquo;m done than have no vision,&rdquo; he said.<h2>Safety first for Swedes</h2>Canadians and Americans prefer to go barefaced into battle while Swedes and Finns are much less likely to turn a blind eye to safety.They represent the extremes of facial protection in the NHL.A survey conducted by The Hockey News found nearly half of all players from Sweden (11 of 23, 47.8 per cent) and Finland (seven of 15, 46.7) wear visors compared to fewer than one in 10 players from Canada (9.1) and the United States. Only 14.4 per cent of all NHLers wear visors.Chock the variance up to hockey culture. North Americans have long associated visors with discomfort, poor peripheral vision and cowardice.Among Europeans, Russian players are closest to North Americans on the issue; only 21.3 per cent wear visors. Czechs and Slovaks are at 41.4. The survey was conducted the week of Nov. 6.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011725/7139076-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="1152" height="757"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021262/7139069-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="481" height="733"><figcaption class="caption-body">Czech Radek Bonk</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

Will NHL see through visors by Year 2000?

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03787/7139121-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="295" height="493"></div>Mike Keenan has always been calculating. It&rsquo;s just hard to see him suddenly holding a calculator.First, the St. Louis Blues, the NHL&rsquo;s drunken sailors on shore leave, hire the Imelda Marcos of coach-GMs. Keenan signs every free agent on the market before being told by the team owners who reportedly lost $5 million in the lockout, to get the payroll down to between $20-$21 million. In a normal year, that doesn&rsquo;t cover Keenan&rsquo;s bill with United Van Lines for personal effects alone.Following the firing of team president Mike Shanahan last summer, Keenan had an escape loophole as big as the Gateway Arch. So one would think there would be even more steam coming out of his head than there ever was after a shift by Todd Bergen. Uh, by the way, Mike: Now that you&rsquo;ve committed to staying, Esa Tikkanen can&rsquo;t stay with you.This is a guy who used to regularly tell Neil Smith the players he should have traded for the previous day. Keenan was never given full control in Chicago because Bill Wirtz only trusted Bob Pulford with the family fortune. So now, the Blues boss suddenly has to deal with a budget tighter than Craig Patrick&rsquo;s lips? You would figure it would be a black day for Keenan when he was told he had to operate in the black. Who could have ever figured a fiscally lobotomized Keenan?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04536/7139114-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="439" height="846"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Keenan</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m dealing with it pragmatically&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;These people hired me and I understand their objectives. In two years, this financial problem will resolve itself and in time this franchise will be able to spend as much as any franchise. Maybe sooner, if we have a successful playoff.&rdquo;He says he is &ldquo;very&rdquo; happy with his bosses and they are &ldquo;very&rdquo; happy with him. If so, it will be the first time; so the search for deeper, darker plots is ongoing. Fires always burn around Keenan. There is more fat for this one than there is around Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s ever-shrinking waist.Keenan spent a lot-too much arguably-for Dale Hawerchuk, Geoff Courtnail and Brian Noonan, then refused to pay Curtis Joseph, leaving himself without a goalie. After the Blues wound up dumping Tikkanen&rsquo;s contract to New Jersey for a third-round draft choice, teams screamed they would have given Keenan more.&ldquo;I had talked to several GMs (during the summer) and I tried to get a second-round draft choice and nobody would give me one,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t call everybody in the league.&rdquo;Joseph&rsquo;s agent had all the phone lines tied up.&ldquo;Curtis was upset before I got there,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;Other players had gotten money and they wouldn&rsquo;t give it to him.&ldquo;I told him at the beginning of last year that he was in the same boat Mike Richter was when I got to New York. I told Mike, who was making $1 million then, that he should do his thing, have a great playoff and getwhat he wanted. And he did.&ldquo;Curtis was offered a substantial amount earlier and then the edict came to cut salaries and we couldn&rsquo;t give it. I have had great fortune in my career with goalies like (Pelle) Lindbergh, (Ron) Hextali. (Ed) Belfour, and Richter and in my opinion, Curtis Joseph is not quite in that category. Maybe he was before I got there, but I can only base it on what I saw.&rdquo;So Keenan took a chance on Fuhr for just under a million and all the fruits and vegetables he can eat. So far, he has been terrific. After tiring of hearing Brett Hull criticize his teammates on the bench, Keenan changed captains to Shayne Corson, and he embarrassed Hawerchuk in his return to Buffalo by sitting him out.&ldquo;My Dad said, &lsquo;Are you nuts?&rsquo; because I had another offer and he knows Mike, too,&rdquo; Hawerchuk said. &ldquo;But this is what I wanted. Everywhere he goes, he wins.&rdquo;Also everywhere he goes, the players are neither as perfectly understanding of Keenan&rsquo;s motivational techniques as he says nor as ready to mutiny as the media suggests. They do. however, work hard, which is why the Blues hired a budget director who has never failed to give his players, opponents and media their money&rsquo;s worth. &#9632;

f0010-03

GREENBERG

<div class="byline">By Stu Hackel</div>John Kordic&rsquo;s tragic death while being subdued and arrested by Quebec City police in August, 1992&mdash;his system corrupted by steroids, alcohol and cocaine-saddened, but did not surprise the hockey world. His was a troubled life as his career turned from promising to problematic.Toronto Star sportswriter Mark Zwolinski examines Kordic&rsquo;s demise in, The John Kordic Story: The Fight of His Life, and tries to pinpoint what went wrong.Unfortunately, after examining the evidence Zwolinski presents, it&rsquo;s difficult to agree with his conclusion.An acknowledged friend of the late player, Zwolinski paints Kordic as a goon pawn of the NHL establishment and blames hockey for Kordic&rsquo;s downfall.Zwolinski indicts the NHL&rsquo;s zero-tolerance drug policy under former league presidents John Ziegler and Gil Stein for Kordic&rsquo;s plunge, saying it forced substance abusers to hide from help rather than risk suspension. Perhaps, but the evidence Zwolinski presents is slim and one suspects addicts generally hide from help under any circumstances.(The zero-tolerance policy was never in writing and the league says it no longer adheres to it, citing Bob Probert&rsquo;s league-sanctioned rehabilitation as an example.)In fact, Zwolinski reports that while investigating the circumstances surrounding Kordic&rsquo;s death, Quebec Provincial Police made a startling discovery: NHL teams have independently and quietly rehabilitated players, keeping the league out of it and preserving the players&rsquo; eligibility. This was either a secret aspect of the NHL policy or a practice unknown in league offices.Sources-both former players and former team executives-have corroborated such practices took place.Zwolinski says Kordic benefited from the clandestine activity. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals and Quebec Nordiques allowed him to bypass the zero-tolerance standards and enrolled him in rehab programs. But Kordic quickly abandoned them each time, unable or unwilling to recognize his addiction.The NHL still lacks the education program which would expose the dangers of drugs to future potential John Kordics. Both league and NHL Players&rsquo; Association sources say education will be part of a forthcoming new comprehensive policy, largely completed, but delayed while questions about drug testing remain unresolved between the two sides.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011552/7139159-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="894" height="1656"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Kordic&rsquo;s tragic demise is chronicled in a new book.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021106/7139152-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="528" height="703"></div>Numerous lingering items, such as 18 months of backlogged arbitrations, are reportedly preventing thediscussions from moving forward.But there is no compelling argument that Kordic, who repeatedly walked away from help, was purely an innocent victim of an antiquated policy. One can just as easily conclude that Kordic so lacked self-control, no drug policy could have saved him.Kordic&rsquo;s emotional imbalance was evident long before taking drugs. He was a wild, disruptive force even while captain of his junior team and those tendencies only grew. He repeatedly tried to physically intimidate coaches into giving him more ice time.With the Montreal Canadiens, he punctuated his Cup-winning delirium in 1986 with obscenities on national television. He punched teammates in Toronto. He became a loner, preferring the company of mobsters, drug dealers, pimps and prostitutes.Zwolinski&rsquo;s only explanation for Kordic&rsquo;s behavior is rooted in a desperate need for his father&rsquo;s appro val-an approval Ivan Kordicdenied because his son was a fighter. That may be true, but as an explanation, it&rsquo;s a stretch. Readers will search in vain for a forceful analysis by the author of Kordic&rsquo;s own responsibility for his descent.As a hockey writer, Zwolinski needs help. He misspells names and prints numerous historical inaccuracies. It seriously undercuts the book&rsquo;s integrity.On the other hand, Zwolinski has dug hard to unearth the sordid details of Kordic&rsquo;s sorry life. In the end, Kordic died as he lived, amid unanswered questions and violence.But in tracing that long path toward death, the author leaves the uneasy feeling he may be too close to his subject to provide clear answers. &#9632;

f0011-01

Who’s to blame?

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011681/7139190-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Colorado&rsquo;s Peter Forsberg is heavy hitter and heavy shooter.</figcaption></div>Peter Forsberg was frustrated, but managed to keep his cool during a goal scoring drought to start 1995-96.A few years ago when he played for MoDo in the Swedish Elite League, he didn&rsquo;t possess the same self-control. If things weren&rsquo;t going well, the normally mild-mannered Forsberg took it out on others.Forsberg had seasons of 78, 92 and 82 penalty minutes in Sweden.&ldquo;I played more physical back home-more dirty,&rdquo; said the 22-year-old star center of the Colorado Avalanche. &ldquo;I played on a lousy team and we were always behind in games. I would get (ticked) off and run at guys. On this team we have four good lines and we&rsquo;re usually ahead by a couple of goals. I don&rsquo;t get as angry.&rdquo;If he was ever going to lose it, it would have been in the early going this season when he went 16 games-including exhibition match-es-without scoring a goal. He finally converted in Colorado&rsquo;s ninth regularseason game and hasn&rsquo;t looked back.Forsberg wondered for a time if he would ever score another goal.&ldquo;You get those thoughts,&rdquo; he said.And that wasn&rsquo;t the only thing bothering him.&ldquo;It was so frustrating when I wasn&rsquo;t scoring,&rdquo; Forsberg said. &ldquo;I had five or six breakaways-missed them all. And I hit a couple of posts. What was even worse though, I was a minus player. I was minus-7 at one point. I was going nuts.&rdquo;Forsberg had seven goals and 26 points in 17 games, good for seventh in the league. And, much to Forsberg&rsquo;s relief, he was plus-3.Not bad numbers for a second-line center. Forsberg continues to thrive even though he doesn&rsquo;t get the powerplay time Joe Sakic, the team&rsquo;s No. 1 center, gets. Sakic plays the point for the better part of each two-minute man advantage. Forsberg and Mike Ricci split the remaining time at center.Forsberg doesn&rsquo;t envision winning an NHL scoring title even though he was within striking distance of top spot.&ldquo;No, never,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That is for the great players.&rdquo;Slow starts are nothing new for Forsberg. He joined the Quebec Nord-iques last season having been dubbed the &ldquo;best player outside the NHL&rdquo; the year before, but managed just two goals in his first 10 games.Once he became acclimatiz-ed-keeping in mind the Nordiques were stacked at center with Sakic, Ricci and Bob Bassen-he went on to capture the Calder Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s rookie of the year with a freshman-class leading 15 goals and 50 points in 47 games. So when he stumbled out of the gate this year, nobody was too concerned.&ldquo;He put so much pressure on himself,&rdquo; said Avalanche coach Marc Crawford. &ldquo;He was getting assists, winning faceoffs and getting scoring chances. The puck just didn&rsquo;t go in for him. He&rsquo;s just one of those guys who puts so much pressure on himself, it becomes a distraction.&rdquo;In terms of scoring, Forsberg has been everything the former Nordiques dreamed he would be when they insisted he be part of the Eric Lindros trade with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1991. Chosen sixth overall in the 1991 draft, Forsberg doesn&rsquo;t have Lindros&rsquo; strength-he is 6-feet, 190 pounds-but that doesn&rsquo;t mean he isn&rsquo;t a force.He is consistently among the Avalanche&rsquo;s leading hitters.&ldquo;He has the whole package,&rdquo; Ricci said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s big, strong, skates well and he hits hard. He&rsquo;s way more physical than a lot of skilled players. And he plays on the inside and the outside.&rdquo;&ldquo;You see some skill players who don&rsquo;t normally get involved physically,&rdquo; added GM Pierre Lacroix. &ldquo;Not Peter. He hits so hard it is unbelievable.&rdquo;Forsberg has been a scorer with every team on which he has played. He caught the attention of NHL scouts in 1990-91 when, as a 16-year-old with MoDo&rsquo;s junior team, he scored 38 goals and 102 points in just 39 games. He also played in the Elite League that season, an incredible accomplishment for a player so young.He is considered an elite skater, but what helps his offensive game most is his puckhandling ability.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s like a magician,&rdquo; Lacroix said. &ldquo;When he gets the puck on his stick, it is impossible to get it away from him. He&rsquo;s like a ringette player.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s so strong on the puck and he comes up with it in 1-on-l battles all the time,&rdquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;Whether it&rsquo;s on offense or defense, when he goes after the puck he gets it&hellip; always. Of all the assets he has in his game, that is clearly his best.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-01

Forsberg goes from hot-head to hot shot

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div>First, a necessary disclaimer.The NHL desperately needs its Pavel Bures. After Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, Bure is the most electrifying player in the game, a human highlight film who can score a dazzling goal every week.Accordingly, Bure&rsquo;s absence-to season-ending knee surgery-is a major blow to a league already too thin on talent. However&hellip;Bure&rsquo;s absence isn&rsquo;t going to determine whether or not the Vancouver Canucks win. The fact is, even with Bure in the lineup, the Canucks were in their third consecutive year of hopelessly underachieving in the regular season.While superstars are generally irreplaceable, the Canucks are deep when it comes to offense. Since last year&rsquo;s trading deadline, they&rsquo;ve added Alexander Mogilny, Mike Ridley, Russ Courtnail and Roman Oksiuta to a team that already boasted Bure, Trevor Linden and Cliff Running.No, for the Canucks to ever reach their potential, they need to play better defense.Watch the Canucks play and you can see there&rsquo;s a daily struggle between coach Rick Ley and his collection of scoring talent. They want to go to the attack. They want to be the Pittsburgh Penguins West.The difference is, the Penguins are an absolutely unique NHL team. They beat the odds. Tlie year they won their first Stanley Cup, they were dismal defensively right up until March.That year, they played a game against the Flames in Calgary with a month to go and gave up five breakaways, including the only three-on-zero break I&rsquo;ve ever seen. A playoff spot was not even assured. That knowledge-and the Ron Francis/Ulf Samuelsson trade-finally caught their attention because slowly, in the final month, they grudgingly started paying the smallest attention to helping out goalie Tom Barrasso.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021337/7139221-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="343" height="445"></div>The next year, Scotty Bowman took over and did the smart thing. He turned the players loose for the first six moths, keeping everybody but the goalies happy. Nearer to playoff time, he reminded them of how they won the previous year. Bowman&rsquo;s philosophy is also embodied in Eddie Johnston, the current Penguins&rsquo; coach. If you keep Mario happy, good things will follow.This then may be Ley&rsquo;s salvation-reach a compromise with his players by letting them play nm-and-gun until March and then gradually coax them into a greater commitment to defense for the final six weeks as the playoffs near.Part of you is undoubtedly outraged that in the 1990s, it has come to this. The talented players run the show because they hold all the leverage. Time, unfortunately, is running out on Ley and his attempts to find a solution to the Canucks&rsquo; win-one. lose-one pattern.However they resolve it. Bure is no longer part of the problem or the solution. His operation will keep him out of action until the start of next season anyway.That&rsquo;s how long is takes to recover from major reconstructive surgery. The sad part is most players who undergo this type of procedure also need another full season before they recover psychologically from its effects. Some eventually do-see the Devils&rsquo; John MacLean. for details. Others are never the same.This then is the real tragedy. We cannot know&rsquo; when, or if, the Bure who fiew down the wing, shifted gears on the fly and stopped on a dime will ever be back. &#9632;

f0012-02

Canucks can survive without Bure

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011671/7139259-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="319" height="487"></div>Too bad Rumpelstiltskin isn&rsquo;t coaching the New York Islanders. At least he could weave gold from straw.For the first month of 1995-96, &lsquo;Microphone&rsquo; Mike Milbury&rsquo;s finest accomplishment on Long Island was weaving straw into hay.And if Milbury read the papers one day recently, he literally couldn&rsquo;t tell whether he was coming or going. Newsday accused him of being too easy with his Isles while the Post censured him for being too tough. Milbury felt like mid-rope in a tug-of-war.&ldquo;From one quarter I&rsquo;m too mild,&rdquo;. Milbury said, &ldquo;and from another I&rsquo;m too much of an ogre, so I don&rsquo;t know what the reality is except that it (the media negativism) will ail go away with winning some games.&rdquo;Winning in the NHL is predicated on a modicum of talent. Milbury opened the season with mediocre goaltending, mediocre defense and a mediocre attack. On the plus side he did have a crack training staff and a worldclass orthopedist.Minus Ray Ferraro and Steve Thomas, the Islanders required big-time production from their millionaires, Kirk Muller and Wendel Clark. The latter looked like he was skating in mud and the former spoke out of more sides of his mouth than a ventriloquist.One of the team&rsquo;s dissidents, believed to be Muller although he denied it, leaked information that Milbury removed the dressing room stereo and banned scratched players from visiting the wives&rsquo; lounge. Could this possibly be true?&ldquo;At one point early in the season I took out the stereo and TV for about three days,&rdquo; Milbury confessed. &ldquo;I said, &lsquo;If you&rsquo;re not listening to me then why should you be allowed to listen to country-western?&rsquo; The (wives&rsquo; room ban) is small potatoes; that&rsquo;s bull that goes on when the team is losing.&rdquo;The surgical removal of Muller rid the Isles of a dressing room cyst, but didn&rsquo;t necessarily leave the patient healthy. There&rsquo;s some question whether the club ever will recover from its cataclysmic start. Milbury, however, believes the Islanders are still capable of finishing.500.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021256/7139252-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="451" height="798"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Milbury</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to think so,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Sooner or later, we have to put a string of (winning) games together so that we&rsquo;re not out of the hunt too early. I&rsquo;m excited about having (injured defensemen) Rich Pilon and Darius Kasparaitis back and, hopefully soon, Scott Lachance. For the first time all year it would give us our full complement on defense.&rdquo;After studying his teammates from the press box for a month, Pilon offered an analysis that sounded very much like humorist Stephen Leacock&rsquo;s character who &ldquo;flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions.&rdquo;Pilon: &ldquo;When you&rsquo;ve got 20 guys out there and they&rsquo;re just not playing in the right direction, you&rsquo;ve got a problem.&rdquo; Actually a halfdozen problems. The goaltending gap was temporarily filled by Jamie McLennan, although prodigy Eric Fichaud could still be recalled from the American League.With Kasparaitis out, Milbury&rsquo;s project was turning laconic Lachance into a commanding figure. We&rsquo;re talking about a first-round draft pick (fourth overall) in 1991 who should be a leader, but has disappointed the coach.&ldquo;Lachance is not assertive in any way, shape or form,&rdquo; Milbury said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not his personality. He&rsquo;s very talented, but just afraid to make a mistake. Trying to get him to step up to a new level where we need him to be at to be successful is a challenge.&rdquo;Then, there&rsquo;s the matter of goalscoring. Milbury is convinced Clark has the right attitude and &ldquo;can score a big goal and make an impact.&rdquo; But he needs more significant contributions from Travis Green, Alexander Semak, Todd Bertuzzi and Derek King.Despite the black clouds hanging over him, Milbury isn&rsquo;t pouting.&ldquo;I believe in the approach we&rsquo;ve taken,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;treating them with co-operation. I&rsquo;ll stick with that and if it doesn&rsquo;t work I&rsquo;ll try something else. My attitude is simple: I&rsquo;ll give the effort and I won&rsquo;t quit.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-01

FISCHLER

<div class="byline">By Robyn Norwood</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011536/7139290-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="127" height="133"></div>The day Alex Hicks had been waiting for finally came and when it did, it was better than he could have imagined.Hicks, an undrafted left winger from Division III Wisconsin-Eau Claire, scored on his first shot in his first NHL game and finished with two goals and an assist in a 7-3 win for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim over the Colorado Avalanche Nov. 15.&ldquo;Quite honestly I never knew if this day would ever come,&rdquo; Hicks said. &ldquo;A lot of guys at 18 or 19 know they&rsquo;re going to get a chance. I&rsquo;m 26 and I never knew for sure.&rdquo;Coach Ron Wilson-whose father, Larry played minor pro with Hicks&rsquo; father Wayne 25 years ago in Buffa-lo-gave Hicks an extra day&rsquo;s notice he would be making his debut so Hicks&rsquo; father could get to the game.&ldquo;To see a guy score in front of his dad is touching,&rdquo; Wilson said.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m going to keep one puck and give the other to my dad,&rdquo; Hicks said.A longshot to ever play in the NHL, Hicks played two seasons for the Toledo Storm in the East Coast League and another for the Las Vegas Thunder in the International League before signing with the Ducks last summer as a free agent. He started this season with the Baltimore Bandits of the American League after nearly making the Ducks out of training camp. He was leading the Bandits in scoring when he was called up.&ldquo;I owe a lot to my coach down there (in the ECHL and later in Las Vegas), Chris McSorley,&rdquo; said Hicks, who took McSorley&rsquo;s advice and played one season of roller hockey in Buffalo. &ldquo;He believed in me and told me to change my game a little, be more of an aggressive player than a finesse player. He told me I could get to the next level and he still believes in me.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Paul Kar-iya had tripled his rookie-season goal scoring pace through 19 games, collecting 15 as compared to five in 1994-95. He also tied a club record with a nine-game point streak that was intact through Nov. 16. Kariya had eight goals and 17 points in the nine games&hellip; The Ducks had the second-worst power play in the league, with just 13 goals in 112 chances for an 11.6 percent success rate&hellip; Duck players and team employees were tested as potential bone marrow donors for defenseman Milos Holan, who has a slow-progressing form of leukemia. Doctors are also searching donor registries in Holan&rsquo;s native Czech Republic, because a match is most likely to be found among those with similar genetic backgrounds. &#9632;</div>

f0015-01

NHL TEAMS

Longshot Hicks hits show with dazzling performance

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021079/7139321-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="141" height="153"></div>With the air thick with&mdash;rumors the Boston Bruins were about to do something to solidify their goaltending situation, management finally pulled the trigger.Only the move it made Nov. 16 wasn&rsquo;t a blockbuster trade. The Bruins recalled Scott Bailey from their American League affiliate, the Providence Bruins, and Bailey responded with 32 saves in a 2-2 tie with the New Jersey Devils in his NHL debut that night.&ldquo;I grew up in Canada,&rdquo; said Bailey, a Calgary native. &ldquo;You watch the game from when you&rsquo;re a kid, so to get to go out and play like that was pretty cool.&rdquo;Coach Steve Kasper turned to Bailey, whom he coached last year in Providence, because he knows the 23-year-old responds well to pressure.&ldquo;This is an adverse situation for him,&rdquo; Kasper said. &ldquo;Sure, it&rsquo;s a good opportunity for him, but he&rsquo;s tending goal for a team that hasn&rsquo;t played well and is desperate.&rdquo;Kasper learned last year Bailey has a knack for coming through when times are tough. Bailey, who spent most of his first two pro seasons in the East Coast League, had to win a job in in Providence this season. He not only did that, but beat out first-round draft pick Evgeny Ryabchikov and veteran pros Vincent Riendeau and John Blue for the No. 1 job.Bailey, called up because Blaine Lacher and Craig Billington had poor starts, wouldn&rsquo;t speculate on how long he&rsquo;d be around.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not the coach or GM,&rdquo; he shrugged. &ldquo;If they say go, I go. The only thing I worry about is my play. If you worry about other things, it detracts from your play.&rdquo;Kasper said a door is open for Bailey as long as he plays well.&ldquo;I made it clear that I didn&rsquo;t expect him to come in and be a savior,&rdquo; Kasper said. &ldquo;I wanted him to be steady and stop the shots he should.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goaltender Blaine Lacher, 2-5-2 with a 3.93 goals-against average, was the odd-man out the night Scott Bailey made his debut. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have to go back to the drawing board with him,&rdquo; Steve Kasper said&hellip; Center Adam Oates, who sprained a knee ligament in an Oct. 28 game against the Hartford Whalers, began skating Nov. 15 and set a tentative return date of Nov. 25. The Bruins were 2-5-1 in the first eight games Oates missed&hellip; Center Ted Donato remained Boston&rsquo;s most consistent forward. Through Nov. 16, he had points in 13 of 14 games and point streaks of six and seven games&hellip; The Bruins, who scored three shorthanded goals last season, had five in 16 games. &#9632;</div>

f0015-02

Call goes to AHLer Bailey to plug goaltending gap

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011454/7139352-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="121" height="151"></div>The long rumored trade of veteran Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; defenseman Doug Bodger was a move that addressed the team&rsquo;s hopes for the future and dealt with a problem of the present.Sabres&rsquo; GM John Muckier sent Bodger and his $1 million salary to the San Jose Sharks for a package of draft picks and prospects.The Sabres get two picks-a first and a fourth rounder in the 1996 entry draft-and two prospects. The Sabres also recalled defenseman Mike Wilson from the Rochester Americans of the American League.The complicated three-way deal that involved the Sabres, the Philadelphia Flyers and San Jose Sharks, also had San Jose forward Pat Falloon moving to the Flyers. Falloon was the second player taken in the 1991 entry draft.The first round pick will either be Philadelphia&rsquo;s or the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; (a pick the Flyers acquired earlier this season) and will be determined by the Flyers prior to the entry draft in St. Louis. The Sabres also get right winger Vaclav Varada, San Jose&rsquo;s fourth pick in the 1994 NHL entry draft, and left winger Martin Spanhel, Philadelphia&rsquo;s sixth pick in the 1995 entry draft.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re doing what we said we were going to do,&rdquo; Muckier said. &ldquo;These guys are both big and they have talent. Our scouts really liked Varada. This gives us two more prospects with size and we&rsquo;ve got two picks coming.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Sabres honored the French Connection line of Rick Martin. Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert in a ceremony Nov. 15, inducting them into the Sabres Hall of Fame. Martin and Robert joined Perreault as the only Sabres ever to have their numbers retired&hellip; Center Pat LaFontaine rejoined the lineup after missing two games with a sprained ankle and complications because of a bone spur. In his first game back, he scored the gamewinning goal in a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars Nov. 15&hellip; Right winger Donald Au-dette also missed two games with a broken thumb, but returned against Dallas&hellip; Center Mike Peca missed six games with a sore back, but also returned to the lineup against the Stars. &#9632;</div>

f0016-01

Bodger (and his contract) traded away for prospects

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021122/7139383-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="125" height="125"></div>It took almost two weeks, but when Doug Rise brough emerged from his self-imposed exile, he had come to terms with his dismissal as Calgary Flames&rsquo; GM.&ldquo;When I look back, there were a number of times in my career that the owners showed strong support for me,&rdquo; Risebrough said. &ldquo;In this case, they chose to go another direction, which is their right. They&rsquo;re the guys who put the money in.&rdquo;Risebrough made one major gaffe in his tenure-trading Doug Gilmour to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 10-play-er deal that helped Toronto achieve respectability. In less than three years, all five players acquired by Calgary in the deal were either playing elsewhere or out of hockey.His other transactions are defensible in light of the team&rsquo;s budgetary restrictions. The Flames wanted to stabilize their 1995-96 salary structure and the end result was two key play-ers-Robert Reichel and Joel Otto-were lost for nothing.In looking back on his 14 years in Calgary as player, coach and GM, Risebrough suggested he moved up the corporate ladder too quickly.&ldquo;In the past, whenever I&rsquo;ve been successful, I&rsquo;ve usually stepped slow,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t play major junior until my last &ldquo;year of eligibility. I started in the minors and went to the NHL. When I came here, the track was so fast-and it wasn&rsquo;t planned that way.&rdquo;Risebrough went from assistant coach to assistant GM to head coach to coach-GM in less than five years, largely because of Cliff Fletcher&rsquo;s abrupt departure from the organization in 1991.&ldquo;I had to learn all the time on the job. I remember negotiating my first contract-I didn&rsquo;t have a clue about how the CBA worked. That was all right because I got that one done, but then there was another the next day and then another.&ldquo;It was learn as you go. The good side of that was, it pushed me far beyond what I thought I could do. It has been a huge, huge growing experience for me&hellip; Now, I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s many problems I couldn&rsquo;t handle.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Theoron Fleury was less than amused when commissioner Gary Bettman called Wayne Gretzky after Gretzky sounded off on inconsistent obstruction calls. &ldquo;And does Gary cut Wayne&rsquo;s grass when he&rsquo;s in town?&rdquo; Fleury told the Calgary Sun. &ldquo;Does he babysit when Wayne and Janet (Gretzky&rsquo;s wife) want a night out? I guess I can expect a call pretty soon. Yeah, right.&rdquo;&hellip; Holdout center Joe Nieuwendvk&rsquo;s agent. Herb Pinder, met with interim GM Al Coates steadily for about a week, but in the end, the two parties couldn&rsquo;t come to an agreement. &ldquo;You can compare it to a marriage gone sour,&rdquo; Coates said. &ldquo;You may get it back and you may not. In this case, (Nieuwendyk) has chosen to go to another partner.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

f0016-02

Risebrough parts company without bitter sentiments

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03837/7139421-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="499" height="883"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Probert</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04619/7139414-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="133" height="129"></div>When the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; signed Bob Probert to a four-year. $6.6-million contract in 1994, they did so expecting he would be an impact player.Through 19 games, the Hawks were still waiting for Probert to be the physically intimidating player he was with the Detroit Red Wings.While Probert showed flashes of being his old self, he wasn&rsquo;t consistent. He had two goals and five points and six fights.&ldquo;When we brought him here, did anyone promise he&rsquo;d be a 50-goal scorer?&rdquo; asked coach Craig Hartsburg. &ldquo;We can always find things about a player we don&rsquo;t like, but we&rsquo;re happy with what he has done.&rdquo;GM Bob Pulford agreed.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re satisfied,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;He has added a dimension we needed. Bob is doing his job.&rdquo;Why Probert hasn&rsquo;t been more physical is a mystery. He looks to be in good shape and says he feels back in the groove of playing after sitting out a year suspension for his involvement with drugs and alcohol.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t that tough jumping back in,&rdquo; Probert said. &ldquo;I felt 1 played well in the first two games, then I got into a lull. I&rsquo;m Hying to get out of it. It&rsquo;s disappointing.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Bob Pulford was livid with comments by Neil Abbott. Jeremy Roenick&rsquo;s agent, that appeared in the Boston Globe. &ldquo;We know (the Blackhawks) are trying to hade (Roenick) and fine, we accept that,&rdquo; Abbott was quoted as saying. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s going to leave. I really do. I&rsquo;m prepared for it and Jeremy&rsquo;s fully prepared for it.&rdquo; Replied Pulford: &lsquo;Things had just quieted down and then he says that. It was just plain stupidity and I told him so.&rdquo; Roenick claimed Abbott was misquoted&hellip; Steve Smith felt his check on Pavel Bure, where the Vancouver Canuck injured his knee, causing him to miss the rest of the season, was innocent. &ldquo;I kind of grabbed his face to stop his progress and he fell awkward into the boards,&rdquo; Smith said. &#9632;</div>

f0016-03

Is Probert doing job?

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011303/7139459-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="511" height="901"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Sakic</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02995/7139452-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="143" height="147"></div>When the Quebec Nord-iques were sold last summer and became the Colorado Avalanche, it didn&rsquo;t take long for &lsquo;Avs&rsquo; fever to take a grip in Denver.More than 12,000 season tickets were quickly snapped up right away and what to name the team became the hot topic on just about every sports talk station.Avalanche merchandise has sold in record fashion and the team was undefeated in eight home games.That&rsquo;s why the lack of crowd noise and empty lower-bowl seats at McNi-chols Sports Arena so far this season is so hard to figure.Some believe it&rsquo;s because Denver fans don&rsquo;t know how good they&rsquo;ve got it with players such as Joe Sakic. Others believe they just don&rsquo;t know much about hockey and don&rsquo;t know what to cheer for, other than goals and fights.Exacerbating the situation are the often empty expensive seats. Though most are sold, many have gone unused. The upper-level seats have been mostly filled.One radio personality recently suggested corporate types give their seats to people who will use them, instead of letting them sit idle in their billfolds.NOTEBOOK: Colorado&rsquo;s 10-game unbeaten string came to an end with a 7-3 loss Nov. 15 to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The streak fell just one short of the franchise record&hellip; Somehow, budding superstar and 1994-95 Calder Trophy winner Peter Forsberg, who stood seventh in NHL scoring on the strength of a 20-points-in-nine-games surge, was left off this season&rsquo;s All-Star Game ballot&hellip; Right winger Scott Young broke a l-for-44 goals-to-shots slump with two goals in the loss to Anaheim&hellip; Injured defenseman Uwe Krupp is progressing well from anterior cruciate ligament surgery and may be healthy in time for the playoffs. Krupp sustained the injury Oct. 6 in the Avalanche&rsquo;s season opener. &#9632;</div>

f0017-01

Team noisy, fans aren’t

<div class="byline">By Mike Heika</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03714/7139490-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="113" height="105"></div>Mike Kennedy looks at his sophomore season not as simply important, but all important.&ldquo;I honestly believe this is the year that careers are made or broken,&rdquo; said the 23-year-old Dallas Stars&rsquo; left winger. &ldquo;If you look back, you can see this is when players really came into their own or didn&rsquo;t make it.&rdquo;Kennedy is trying desperately to make it and he did just about everything possible this summer to set himself up for a successful second season. Foremost, he hired a personal trainer who helped add 15 pounds to his 6-foot-1 frame, pushing his weight up to 200 pounds.&ldquo;I had a little trouble scoring last year, it&rsquo;s a big difference between the IHL and the NHL, you don&rsquo;t get much of an opening and you have to take advantage,&rdquo; he said.Over the summer, Kennedy also coached the Oklahoma City Coyotes of Roller Hockey International. It was an experience he said he won&rsquo;t repeat. But it was one that, in retrospect, was valuable.The most important aspect of Kennedy&rsquo;s preparation, however, may have been that he signed a one-year deal for $175,000 on a two-way contract. He told the Stars that if he wasn&rsquo;t earning his money in the NHL, he&rsquo;d take the lower salary in the minors.And that kind of attitude goes a long way with coach-GM Bob Gainey.&ldquo;He said, &lsquo;I want to put up the information before I get the pay and then once I do, we can talk,&rsquo;&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s getting to be rare.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Stars&rsquo; defensive depth took a beating in November as Paul Cavallini retired and Doug Zmolek and Derian Hatcher each suffered short-term shoulder injuries&hellip; After starting the year 5-3-2 and averaging 3.8 goals per game, the Stars went on a seven-game winless streak (0-4-3) and averaged 1.4 goals per game&hellip; Right winger Nikolai Borschev-sky&rsquo;s time at right wing on the first line appeared to be over. Borschevsky was a healthy scratch for four consecutive games&hellip; Center Corey Millen scored two goals in his first three games after returning from the minors&hellip; Center Mike Modano appears in pictorials in the December issues of Cosmopolitan and Mademoiselle magazines. &#9632;</div>

f0017-03

Kennedy out to prove worth before seeking one-way deal

<div class="byline">By Cynthia Lambert</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05371/7139521-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="493" height="908"><figcaption class="caption-body">Greg Johnson</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04525/7139528-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="137" height="129"></div>Keith Primeau&rsquo;s misfortune has been Greg John son&rsquo;s windfall.Ever since Primeau went out with rib cartilage damage (Nov. 2), Johnson&rsquo;s role and playing time have been constant, something the speedy forward had yet to be able to say in his three NHL seasons.Through nine games, Johnson had four goals and eight points, equaling his point total in 22 games last season. In 1993-94 he played in 52 games, scoring six goals and 17 points.Suddenly, Johnson is no longer considered the most likely Red Wing to be included in a trade.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never been given the chance to play like this,&rdquo; said Johnson, 24, who scored his four goals in successive games. &ldquo;I try not to judge myself on just my points, but on my overall play.&rdquo;Johnson&rsquo;s efforts have been greatly appreciated. Even coach Scotty Bowman, who is not one to praise his players, was adamant Johnson get his due after the Nov. 11 game against the San Jose Sharks, a 5-2 victory in which Johnson got the winning goal and assisted on Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s first-period goal. The official scorer penned in No. 22 (Dino Ciccarelli&rsquo;s number) instead of Johnson&rsquo;s No. 23 on the game sheet. As soon as he discovered the mistake, during post-game interviews, Bowman bolted from the room.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to change that,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;That was Johnson&rsquo;s assist. We&rsquo;ve got to make sure he gets that; it&rsquo;s his point.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Rookie right winger Mathieu Dandenault looks as though he has made the team for good. Including the 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 14, Dandenault had played in 10 games and there were no plans for him to be returned to his Quebec League junior team, the Sherbrooke Faucons, or to attend Canada&rsquo;s World Junior Championship evaluation camp. &ldquo;Yeah, I think I&rsquo;ll be staying here now,&rdquo; said Dandenault, 19. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s satisfying for me. I believed I could do it, while most people said I wouldn&rsquo;t.&rdquo; The biggest thrill so far was when Paul Coffey took him to dinner in Los Angeles. &ldquo;I got to eat with Mr. (Wayne) Gretzky.&rdquo; Dandenault said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t say much. What am I going to say? They&rsquo;ve got all the stories.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-05

Superb sub makes point

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02997/7139559-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="500" height="953"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Ranford</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011338/7139566-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="133" height="127"></div>When the end of a long and winding road trip is reached, a team looks forward to the comforts of home.But not when the Montreal Canadiens are in town.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just sickening,&rdquo; said Jason Arnott, after a pro-Canadiens&rsquo; crowd booed and taunted the Edmonton Oilers in their own rink during a 4-1 Oiler loss. The Oilers were playing their sixth game in nine nights.&ldquo;We went out for warm-up and got booed,&rdquo; said goalie Bill Ranford. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like you have to take your own fans out of the game. It&rsquo;s tough enough for us as it is, let alone to play another road game in our own building. It&rsquo;s definitely frustrating from our point. But I&rsquo;ve been here eight years and it hasn&rsquo;t changed.&rdquo;But the Oilers have and that&rsquo;s where their problem lies. When Edmonton was on top of the NHL, nobody on the team cared how many Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; sweaters or Canadiens&rsquo; supporters were in the sellout crowds.But the Oilers haven&rsquo;t been a playoff team for the past three seasons. They are also the youngest team in the league.The combination often leads to a lack of confidence.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>&ldquo;We get home at two o&rsquo;clock in the morning and have to play another game and we&rsquo;re looking for something positive,&rdquo; said center Doug Weight. &ldquo;You know, if we had swept all five on the road I don&rsquo;t think it would have made a difference.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: A source said the Oilers turned down a three-way deal in which Edmonton would have obtained Pat Fal-loon from the San Jose Sharks and a defenseman from another team, believed to be the Chicago Blackhawks, while dealing free agent goalie Curtis Joseph Right winger Kirk Maltby&rsquo;s goal-scoring drought reached 18 games against Montreal Nov. 16. He said he wouldn&rsquo;t shave off his beard until he scored, prompting assistant coach Bob McCammon to ask: &ldquo;Will I recognize you?&rdquo;&hellip; Rookie left winger Ryan Smyth, who played one game in October, got back into the lineup for three straight in mid-November, in place of fellow rookie Miroslav Satan, who had just two goals in 11 games. &#9632;

f0018-02

Fans upset with Oilers

<div class="byline">By Dave Joseph</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03694/7139597-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="143" height="137"></div>Florida Panthers&rsquo; coach Doug MacLean was ask ed what he would have done if someone predicted his team would have the best record in the NHL through a quarter of the season.&lsquo;I probably would have had them examined,&rdquo; MacLean said.But as November closed, the Panthers remained the NHL&rsquo;s hottest team. Behind strong goaltending by John Vanbiesbrouck, disciplined play in their own end, strong special teams and four balanced lines, the Panthers went 5-0-1 during a six-game homestand and stretched their unbeaten streak to eight games (7-0-1).This from a team that most expected to be scraping the bottom of the Atlantic Division.&lsquo;There&rsquo;s so much pride here,&rdquo; said captain Brian Skrudland. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going too good to have this cave in.&rdquo;The Panthers killed 32 consecutive penalties, fought back from third-period deficits twice and got goals from eight of their 12 forwards during the unbeaten streak. The Panthers were the only team to have 10 players with 10 or more points.While the offense was doing its part, Vanbiesbrouck had a 10-3-1 record with a 2.09 goals-against average and 91.4 save percentage.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s different guys every night coming up big, so it&rsquo;s difficult for teams to really check us,&rdquo; said center Rob Niedermayer, who had a career-high 10 goals. &ldquo;With us it could be our first or second or third or fourth (lines).&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: After going six games without a goal, center Stu Barnes scored on consecutive nights. His goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs Nov. 14 was a highlight dandy: he split defensemen over the blueline by hopping over their sticks&hellip; Defenseman Magnus Svensson was cleared to play Nov. 16 after missing 16 games with a sprained left knee&hellip; Panthers&rsquo; president Bill Torrey said he expected NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to visit the Panthers before the board of governors&rsquo; meeting Dec. 14-16 to discuss the possible sale and relocation of the team. Torrey said while he has received inquiries about the sale of the team, owner Wayne Huizenga had not spoken directly to any potential buyers. &#9632;</div>

f0018-03

Pride powers hot Panthers to too soot overall in NHL

<div class="byline">By Mike Apace</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04440/7139628-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="129" height="121"></div>Beneath the scar which splits goalie Jason Muzzatti&rsquo;s chest like a jagged river canyon, there lies a repaired heart.It seems obvious the doctors who spread his rib cage knew what they were doing.Muzzatti proved his heart works well enough. Making his second career NHL start and his first for the Hartford Whalers, Muzzatti stopped 31 New Jersey Devils&rsquo; shots Nov. 14. Randy McKay of the Devils scored to pin a tough 1-0 loss on Muzzatti.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m disappointed,&rdquo; Muzzatti said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get some wins between Jeff Reese and 1 when Sean Burke is not playing. It could make things more better-that&rsquo;s bad English, but my tongue is cramping up.&rdquo;Muzzatti&rsquo;s blocker arm and thighs cramped in the third period. This dehydration episode was probably not so surprising. The rest of his body probably wasn&rsquo;t as prepared as his heart was for such a workout.&ldquo;When I was in college. I knew something was affecting my stamina,&rdquo; Muzzatti said. &ldquo;It was something I could have lived with, even if 1 wasn&rsquo;t an athlete. But when I was drafted (in 1988), I just thought I should give it all I could. What I had was aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the valves in the heart. The doctors said if I had surgery, my career maybe could go on a little longer.&rdquo;Muzzatti was left exposed on the waiver wire by the Calgary Flames early this season, claimed by the Whalers and dispatched to the Springfield Falcons of the American League for a two-week conditioning period.Management gave him a huge test, throwing him to the Devils upon his return to the NHL.&ldquo;This was the best opportunity, we felt, to show what he can do at his best,&rdquo; said coach Paul Maurice. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what more you could look for in a start.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: In a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators Nov. 15, the Whalers converted on two power plays. They had just nine power play goals in the previous 15 games&hellip; There have been different takes on captain Brendan Shanahan&rsquo;s injury. &ldquo;At one point, a player came in and said he heard (Shanahan) was having his arm lopped off at the shoulder,&rdquo; Paul Maurice said. Shanahan has a small tear in a small ligament in his left wrist&hellip; Shanahan was informed by Madison Square Garden network announcer Sam Rosen the New York Rangers would soon be playing against their old coach-Mike Keenan of the St. Louis Blues. &ldquo;If he keeps going the way he has been going, he&rsquo;ll be the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; old coach,&rdquo; Shanahan said with a laugh. &#9632;</div>

f0018-04

Goaltender Muzzatti shows he’s all heart

<div class="byline">By Lisa Dillman</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05290/7139659-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="137" height="141"></div>Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s 16 penalty minutes means he has to turn his attention elsewhere, as he pointed out, &ldquo;since the (Lady) Byng is gone.&rdquo;Ever since Mario Lemieux spoke about wanting to win the NHL&rsquo;s scoring title this season, Gretzky has raised his offensive game with a decided surge. With a run of four goals and 13 points in a four-game stretch, Gretzky at least temporarily broke the Pittsburgh Penguin domination in the scoring race on Nov. 16, moving past Ron Francis and Jaromir Jagr into second place behind Lemieux.Lemieux led with 40 points in 12 games, while Gretzky had 34 in 19. Gretzky, 34, has captured 10 scoring titles.&ldquo;Listen, I&rsquo;m not going to roll over and die,&rdquo; Gretzky said of the scoring race. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s 80 games. I&rsquo;m not going to say I&rsquo;ll catch him or beat Mario. But I can give him a run. I&rsquo;ll give it my best shot.&rdquo;Gretzky&rsquo;s most prolific scoring outburst came in a 9-2 blowout against the New York Islanders Nov. 16 when he scored a goal and added five assists, marking the first time in more than two years he had a six-point game.Against the Islanders, it seemed as though he never wanted to leave the ice.&ldquo;We were having to hold him on the bench because he wanted to get out there every second shift,&rdquo; said Kings&rsquo; coach Larry Robinson. &ldquo;I love to see it. It&rsquo;s great.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Rob Blake needed season-ending knee surgery Nov. 14. His damaged ligament was replaced in a 90-minute procedure with the central portion of the patellar tendon&hellip; A day earlier, the Kings swapped defensemen with the Tampa Bay Lightning, acquiring Steven Finn in exchange for Michel Petit&hellip; Goaltender Kelly Hrudey&rsquo;s rehab assignment with the Phoenix Roadrunners of the International League lasted one game. Noy.. 10. when be faced 28 shots and allowed four goals before pulling himself midway through the third period, feeling some pain and weakness in his injured left ankle. Hrudey was then placed on injured reserve, but said he felt he would be able to backup for the Kings&rsquo; game against the Florida Panthers Nov. 18. &#9632;</div>

f0018-05

Shot at 11th scoring title lights fire under Gretzky

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07197/7139690-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="493" height="810"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ronald Corey</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06230/7139697-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="140" height="117"></div>It has been hard to find fault with the Montreal Canadiens since Mario Tremblay replaced Jacques Demers as coach.And yet, despite a 10-2-0 start under Tremblay, the Canadiens sold out only two of the first six home games during his tenure. Two earlier games at the Forum, meanwhile, also attracted less than capacity crowds.While nobody&rsquo;s panicking yet, some are wondering what will happen when the Canadiens move into the new 21,221-seat Forum March 16. Empty seats at the old Forum don&rsquo;t look so bad. but crowds of 16,000 or 17,000 will be a potential eye sore at the new arena.Team president Ronald Corey said he isn&rsquo;t overly concerned.&ldquo;The demand will be very high at the new Forum,&rdquo; Corey said. &ldquo;For the first five years alone, the building will be an attraction. But you still must have the right product.&rdquo;As well as putting people into those seats, Corey must concern himself about several remaining unsold private boxes. Reportedly, six of the 135 boxes, ranging in price from $60,000 to $125,000, had yet to be sold. Ten of the Canadiens&rsquo; final 15 games will be played at the new Forum.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>Corey said the Canadiens have a waiting list of 8.000 seeking season tickets. In other words, the team could easily sell out every game. But the president has guaranteed that at least 3,000 tickets will be available to the public for each game at the new building through a monthly draw.NOTEBOOK: Hard-luck left winger Benoit Brunet, injury-plagued throughout his career, sustained a sprained left wrist. Although no fracture was discovered. Brunet is concerned ligament damage occurred. Brunet had seven goals and 13 points in 15 games&hellip; Defenseman Lyle Odelein replaced Jean-Jacques Daigneault as an alternate captain following the latter&rsquo;s recent trade to the St. Louis Blues for backup goaltender Pat Jablonski&hellip; Mario Tremblay is on a fitness kick. He&rsquo;s working out daily on a stationary bicycle, has been placed on a strict diet and is in bed no later than 10:30 p.m., on non-game nights. His explanation: &ldquo;We expect our players to be in shape. Why not the coaches?&rdquo; &#9632;

f0018-07

Wins don’t equal fans

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011241/7139728-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="151" height="157"></div>Youth movements are usually the sign of a team in trouble, but that&rsquo;s not the case with the New Jersey Devils.With center Petr Sykora and defenseman Ricard Persson already seeing regular duty for the defending champions, the way was cleared for another first-year player to make an impact. The Devils traded veteran goalie Chris Terreri to the San Jose Sharks Nov. 15 to make room for Corey Schwab.Schwab, who signed a three-year, one-way contract in the off-season that created a goaltending logjam, hadn&rsquo;t appeared in an NHL game when Terreri was dealt.&ldquo;We felt very strongly Corey Schwab is ready now to be a backup in the NHL,&rdquo; said GM Lou Lamoriello.Meanwhile, Persson, a 26-year-old Swede, claimed a spot on defense and a key place at the point on the Devils&rsquo; power play.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s pretty mature.&rdquo; said coach Jacques Lemaire. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not like a 20-or 21-year-old kid.&rdquo;Youngsters Reid Simpson (nine NHL games last season), Jason Smith (two games), Kevin Dean (17 games) and Jim Dowd (10 games) have also seen action this season.NOTEBOOK: Answering a small movement trying to get departed defenseman Bruce Driver&rsquo;s No. 23 retired, the Devils indicated John MacLean&rsquo;s No. 15 would be the first number to be retired and not until his playing days are over&hellip; Goalie Martin Brodeur&rsquo;s six-game winless streak between Oct. 19 and Nov. 8 was the longest of his NHL career. He went 24 days between victories&hellip; Left winger Mike Peluso on why he would not cut his long hair &ldquo;It would hurt attendance.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0019-01

Young blood gets chance

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02905/7139759-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="149" height="129"></div>Don Maloney knew Kirk Muller did not want to play for the rebuilding New York Islanders when he acquired him in a multi-player trade last April. The GM hoped, however, Muller would change his mind once he settled in.That never happened and following Muller&rsquo;s listless play in a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues Nov. 11, Maloney and coach Mike Milbury decided to send the unhappy center home to await a trade. Muller had four goals seven points and was minus-10 in 15 games this season.&ldquo;Kirk Muller is a lot better player than we&rsquo;ve seen,&rdquo; Maloney said. &ldquo;His mind and his heart have not been on Long Island. Any player that doesn&rsquo;t want to play for us, we&rsquo;ll get them out of here as soon as possible.&rdquo;Milbury echoed those sentiments.&ldquo;I knew Kirk wanted out,&rdquo; Milbury said. &ldquo;Kirk came and worked hard. He just couldn&rsquo;t get focused. He fought it. It&rsquo;s impossible to have a guy on your team in a leadership position that doesn&rsquo;t want to be there.&rdquo;Maloney said he got calls from eight teams the day after banishing Muller, but wasn&rsquo;t smitten by the offers. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s significant interest,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just finding the right fit for us.&rdquo;In attempt to satisfy Muller&rsquo;s contract demands, the Islanders offered him a four-year, $8.7-million (U.S.) package, but agent Mike Barnett said it &ldquo;was not enough to suffice.&rdquo; Also, Muller said he wants to play for a winning team.So, while the Islanders went west for games against the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Muller flew his family home to California and skated on his own.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Darius Kasparaitis, who underwent reconstructive right knee surgery March 3, made his season debut in a 5-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks Nov. 14. The next day in practice, Kasparaitis and right winger Mick Vukota had to be separated by teammates after Vukota took exception to a hit he took from the defenseman&hellip; Left winger Dan Plante got his first regularseason NHL goal, shorthanded, against the Sharks&hellip; Coach Mike Milbury benched defenseman Mathieu Schneider for the last two periods of a 9-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings Nov. 16&hellip; After drawing 15,222 and 16,297 to their first two home games, the Islanders drew an average of 9,902 in their next six. &#9632;</div>

f0019-02

Muller gone, but where?

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011126/7139790-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="147" height="147"></div>Sixteen months to the day after he left the New York Rangers in a storm of controversy, Mike Keenan came face to face with his old team Nov. 14.The coach who led the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup in 54 years walked out a month and a day after winning that Cup to become coach-GM of the St. Louis Blues.So after a lockout year which produced an intra-conference schedule, the Rangers were finally going to see Keenan for the first time. The game itself didn&rsquo;t live up to the hype. In fact it was a dud-a 1-1 tie at the Kiel Center.The Blues grabbed the early lead in the game when Geoff Courtnail scored at 1:44 of the first period, but a second period goal by Jeff Beukeboom tied it.And the Rangers&rsquo; players completely downplayed the meeting.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s really nothing there,&rdquo; said captain Mark Messier, the only Ranger who had spoken to Keenan since his departure. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been saying it for three days and nobody believes me.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no denying that Mike was a huge part of our success, but players change, coaches change and you move on. It was a great year, but you&rsquo;ve got to move on. It&rsquo;s just not an issue and I find it hard to believe that nobody will believe that it isn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Keenan didn&rsquo;t believe it wasn&rsquo;t an issue, but did say it wasn&rsquo;t as emotional as it would have been if the two teams had met last year.But he was feeling the emotions of coaching against the team he guided to the championship. He recalled his ultra-emotional return to Chicago with the Rangers, after the Blackhawks had fired him. Another ex-Blackhawk, Steve Larmer, scored on a penalty shot in a 5-1 victory.Keenan, who was with the Blackhawks for four years before being fired, was exhausted by the emotions that night. The meeting with the Rangers wasn&rsquo;t quite as emotional.&ldquo;This probably would have played out differently a year ago,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;Time is the greatest healer in life. I&rsquo;m not saying there were any fractured relationships. There weren&rsquo;t any with the players. But the distance and time between the spring of &lsquo;94 and now is so great, it doesn&rsquo;t have the same emotional impact.&rdquo;&ldquo;It would have been interesting to see how he was received at the Garden,&rdquo; said goalie Mike Richter &ldquo;He had such a strong personality that it was difficult for any person to not have an opinion on him.&rdquo;Keenan makes his return to Madison Square Garden Jan. 14.NOTEBOOK: Mark Messier scored seven goals and 11 points in a five-game stretch, including his 5OOth NHL goal. But he lost his streak with the 1-1 tie at St. Louis, and was held without a shot on goal and to a minus-2 in a 3-1 loss at Chicago two nights later. Messier said he was feeling the effects of a flu-like bug or food poisoning&hellip; Right winger Joey Kocur missed six straight games with a mystery back ailment. He wasn&rsquo;t sure when he was injured&hellip; Rookie left winger Darren Langdon had his most impressive NHL fight, going toe-to-toe and bloodying Bob Probert of the Chicago Blackhawks. &ldquo;(Probert) is the best, supposed to be the best, so it was nice to try the best,&rdquo; Langdon said. &ldquo;I did and I survived. I&rsquo;m still here.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

f0020-01

Keenan name not emotional

<div class="byline">By Chris Stevenson</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02769/7139821-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="145" height="133"></div>As the Ottawa Senators sputtered towards the quarter mark of their schedule, fans waited for the real team to stand up.Is it a club which at one point won three games in a row and five out of six to post a 5-3-0 record or is it a team which lost eight of its next nine (including the last six in a row) to fall to 6-11-0?It would be too easy to blame injuries, which included the loss of then-leading scorer Dan Quinn, who was felled by a broken hand Nov. 2. Teams with character find a way to overcome setbacks such as that.The absence of star center Alexei Yashin, sitting out with a contract dispute, also hurts.What was most disturbing about the Senators&rsquo; return to the bad old days was the imaginative and spirit-sapping way the club found to lose games.In the last three games of their six-game slide, the Senators blew third period leads-twice with about a minute to go in games against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Hartford Whalers.After giving up the winner against the Whalers with 66 seconds to go, the Senators held a 3-2 lead against the Philadelphia Flyers the next night and wound up losing 5-3.&ldquo;The last couple of games we&rsquo;ve played well enough to get a lead, but all of a sudden, we tighten up.&rdquo; said Senators&rsquo; captain Randy Cunneyworth.Senators&rsquo; coach Rick Bowness was perhaps more frustrated in the latest losing string than ever during his first three seasons behind the bench-a stint that was no vacation at Club Med.In the Flyers&rsquo; game, for instance, defenseman Steve Duchesne blindly threw the puck up the middle of the ice with Ottawa up 3-2. The Flyers tied the game.&ldquo;That third goal made me sick, to tell you the truth,&rdquo; said Bowness. &ldquo;We showed a spirited effort and I can&rsquo;t complain about that. I can complain about some other things, though.&rdquo;The Senators&rsquo; slide strengthened the bargaining position of holdout Yashin, the Senators&rsquo; best player in his first two years, as both sides headed towards an arbitration hearing Nov. 20.Yashin, backed by the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, was hoping to exploit some loose wording in the collective bargaining agreement to have his current contract with the Senators (he&rsquo;s in the third year of a five-year deal) voided. He was hoping to be declared a defected free agent.Yashin has said he will not play for the Senators again.NOTEBOOK: The return to good health of forwards Phil Bourque and Ted Drury made seldom-used winger Pat Ely-nuik expendable. He was placed on waivers and it appears the NHL days of the 1986 first round choice are numbered. He was assigned to the Fort Wayne Komets of the International League Nov. 16 where he&rsquo;ll join former Senator Andrew McBain&hellip; After suggestions by the media struggling Alexandre Daigle would be better off in the minors, his play improved somewhat and he collected his third point of the season in a 3-2 loss to the Hartford Whalers Nov. 16. Rookie Daniel Alfredsson continued his fine play, duelling for the rookie scoring lead and making himself a legitimate rookie of the year candidate. &#9632;</div>

f0020-02

Senators find wavs to lose

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01891/7139852-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="139" height="148"></div>The help-wanted sign that has been hanging on the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; second line for about a year might come down now that Pat Falloon has arrived.After the top line of Eric Lindros, Mikael Renberg and John LeClair, the Flyers haven&rsquo;t had a consistent backup unit.In fact, through the Flyers&rsquo; first 20 games, the Legion of Doom had 38 goals and the rest of the team&rsquo;s forwards had just 30.But Falloon, a 23-year-old right winger who has twice scored 20 or more goals in a season, is expected to help rectify that situation.With Falloon, acquired in a three-team trade with the San Jose Sharks Nov. 16, the Flyers now have the first and second picks overall in the 1991 draft. Lindros went first.Coach Terry Murray didn&rsquo;t waste time putting a formidable second line together, moving center Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour to left wing, with Joel Otto at center and Falloon on right.For GM Bob Clarke, a key element to the deal was not trading away any players off the roster. He was able to do that by shipping a first-round pick in the 1996 entry draft, plus Martin Span-hel, a sixth-round pick in the 1995 draft.The Sharks then sent that package plus prospect Vaclav Varada to the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Doug Bodger.Falloon and Sharks coach Kevin Constantine didn&rsquo;t get along. After sitting for several games, the 23-year-old native of Foxwarren, Man., asked to be moved.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t feel I was getting the opportunities I needed,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I am really excited to come to a team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;The coach and I didn&rsquo;t see eye-to-eye since Day 1,&rdquo; Falloon said. &ldquo;I figured as long as he was the coach of the team, I wasn&rsquo;t going to get the opportunity I needed to excel as a player.&rdquo;Right wingers Kevin Dineen and Patrik Juhlin have both failed in several chances to win a job on the second line. Both were scratched for a string of games through the middle of November.&ldquo;We are going to need some scoring from more people,&rdquo; said Clarke, who saw the Flyers go 2-4-1 with 3.1 goals per game during Lindros&rsquo; seven-game injury absence in the first half of November.&ldquo;After 20 games, our problem was apparent. This (trade) is certainly a step in the right direction.&rdquo;Falloon said he was looking forward to fitting in with the Flyers.&ldquo;I think I can help out in that (scoring) area,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: Center Eric Lindros returned from a two-week layoff due to a sprained left knee by scoring a pair of goals in the Flyers&rsquo; 5-3 win over the Ottawa Senators Nov. 16. Lindros scored on his first shift, then led a three-goal comeback in the third period with the winner. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s an attitude, a feeling, a little bit of electricity in the air when you walk in the locker room,&rdquo; said coach Terry Murray after the game&hellip; Left winger Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour&rsquo;s goal-scoring drought reached 12 games in the Ottawa game&hellip; Former Flyer Gilbert Dionne was picked up by the Florida Panthers in a minor league transaction Nov. 16. He&rsquo;s playing for the Carolina Monarchs of the American League&hellip; Right winger Kevin Dineen had no goals and one assist in 18 games. &#9632;</div>

f0021-01

Falloon second-line savior?

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02514/7139883-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="127" height="134"></div>Nobody paid much attention to the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; penalty killing during the first five-plus weeks of this season and that oversight was easy to understand.When the conversation turned to special-teams play by the Penguins, the natural inclination was to focus on the performance of the power play.After all, it averaged two goals per game during Pittsburgh&rsquo;s first 15 games and, with 30 goals in 75 tries, led the NHL with a staggering conversion rate of 40 per cent.Still, the Penguins&rsquo; play while short-handed has been dramatically upgraded from last season, when it was the fourth-worst in the league and had a success rate of just 79.9 per cent.Through 15 games, Pittsburgh had survived 79 of 92 shorthanded situations, a kill rate of 85.9 per cent.That earned the Penguins a place in the top third of the league rankings and contributed mightily to their 9-3-3 start. Not that many folks outside Pittsburgh were likely to notice.&ldquo;Our defense, as a whole, has been overshadowed by our offense,&rdquo; said defenseman Chris Joseph. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s probably the way it will be all year. We just have to learn to accept that.&rdquo;Actually, coach Ed Johnston is convinced his team&rsquo;s power play has contributed to the improvement of the penalty killers. Because the two units face each other in practice, the penalty killers have plenty of experience against a lethal power play.&ldquo;This is a direct result of our work among ourselves,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;We play against one of the top units in the National Hockey League.&rdquo;Most of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s top forwards pull double-duty on special teams, working both the power-play and penalty-killing units. The quick-strike capability of players such as Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis and Tomas Sandstrom is a deterrent to opponents when the Penguins are shorthanded. Pittsburgh was among the league leaders with four shorthanded goals.&ldquo;Some clubs have a tendency to keep their point guys out for a minute, minute-and-a-half,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;Once they get over a minute, I try to set up a guy like Mario or (Jagr) for a chance to score shorthanded.&rdquo;Johnston has given newcomers such as Richard Park and Bryan Smolinski considerable penalty-killing work and tries to use at least three shorthanded units each game. Rotating the units allows them to operate in short shifts.&ldquo;Maybe we&rsquo;ve been a little more aggressive,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;We feel a little more comfortable, a little deeper, in our penalty killing, so we can go a little harder and keep shifts shorter.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Three games after returning from a broken finger that sidelined him for four weeks, hard-luck defenseman Sergei Zubov reinjured the digit when he was slashed Nov. 11 in a game against the Los Angeles Kings. The hand was put in a cast and Zubov was expected to be out of the lineup until at least early December&hellip; Fifteen games into the season, the Penguins were averaging 5.83 goals with Mario Lemieux in the lineup, 2.33 when he didn&rsquo;t play&hellip; Center Ron Francis picked up the 1,171st point of his career to move past Bobby Hull and into 25th place on the NHL&rsquo;s all-time scoring list&hellip; Defenseman Norm Maciver was riding a seven-game assist streak, one of the longest in the league this season. &#9632;</div>

f0021-02

Penalty killers powerful, too

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01909/7139914-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="133" height="127"></div>Injured right winger Brett Hull was so pleased to skate with the St. Louis Blues at practice Nov. 15 that he shouted, &ldquo;I feel like one of the guys again,&rdquo; as he marched off the ice.But that doesn&rsquo;t mean Hull will really be &ldquo;one of the guys&rdquo; any time soon.Hull was out with a pulled left groin that had forced him to miss five of seven games through Nov. 17. He saw only a few shifts in the games he played since suffering the injury against the Washington Capitals Oct. 29.Coach-GM Mike Keenan said he had no timetable for Hull&rsquo;s return.&ldquo;I have no idea when he&rsquo;ll be back,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want this to be a recurring thing, have him sit out 10 days, come back and play half a game and go back out.&rdquo;Despite the injury, Hull led the Blues with eight goals. Brian Noonan was next with seven.Scoring was a big problem for the Blues, who had only managed 44 goals in 18 games and ranked 22nd out of 26 NHL teams.&ldquo;Our team should get an offensive boost when Brett returns,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;Not only is he capable of scoring, he&rsquo;s going to free up someone else.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: After losing four in a row at the end of 2-7-1 skid, the Blues put together a four-game unbeaten streak through Nov. 17&hellip; The Blues&rsquo; goaltending, which was maligned when Mike Keenan traded Curtis Joseph and picked up Grant Fuhr as a free agent in the off-season, stood an impressive sixth in the league with a 2.70 goals-against average. Fuhr had picked up all eight St. Louis wins and had a 2.61 GAA and 91.1 save percentage. &#9632;</div>

f0023-01

Scoring dries without Hull

<div class="byline">By Mike Weaver</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02593/7139945-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="153" height="145"></div>A lot of words have been used to describe the San Jose Sharks this season, but complacent isn&rsquo;t one of them.With just one win through midNovember, the Sharks made their third and fourth significant trades of 1995-96.First, they acquired goalie Chris Terreri from the New Jersey Devils for a second-round pick in the 1996 NHL entry draft. Then, they acquired veteran defenseman Doug Bodger from the Buffalo Sabres in a three-team deal in which winger Pat Fal-loon, the first player drafted by the Sharks, was moved to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Sabres received Flyers&rsquo; prospect Martin Spanhel, Sharks&rsquo; prospect Vaclav Varada and first-and fourth-round picks in the 1996 draft from the Flyers.Goaltending and defense have been problem areas for the Sharks, who allowed a league-worst 86 goals in 17 games. And while Terreri lost his debut, 3-1 to the St. Louis Blues Nov. 16, he stopped 27 of 29 shots-the third goal was scored into an empty net-to give the Sharks reason for hope.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s never fun losing, that&rsquo;s for sure, but this is a young team,&rdquo; said the 31-year-old Terreri. &ldquo;There are some little things we&rsquo;ve got to work on and we&rsquo;ll be okay. When you get into a rut like they&rsquo;re in, it plays on your confidence and you almost wait for something to go wrong.&rdquo;The Sharks hope Bodger. 29, will help solve that problem by anchoring a young defensive corps.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a solid all-around player,&rdquo; said GM Dean Lombardi. &ldquo;He provides an example. Under the circumstances, I think this was a pretty good deal for us.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Arturs Irbe was asked, but declined to take a two-week conditioning stint with the Kansas City Blades of the International League. That left the Sharks carrying three goalies: Irbe, Chris Terreri and Wade Flaherty. Still, Irbe said he and Flaherty would do what they could to make Terreri feel welcome. &ldquo;No dog likes it when his bone is taken by another dog,&rdquo; Irbe said. &lsquo;They like to fight. But we are not dogs, we are humans.&rsquo;&hellip; Right winger Owen Nolan was benched for the second half of a 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders Nov. 14&hellip; The Sharks&rsquo; 1-13-4 start was worse than the record they had after 18 games of 1992-93, when they lost 71 games to set an NHL record. &#9632;

f0023-02

Cavalry call made again

<div class="byline">By Roy Cummings</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02673/7139976-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="508" height="921"><figcaption class="caption-body">Terry Crisp</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01989/7139983-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="144" height="133"></div>Tampa Bay Lightning CEO Steve Oto doesn&rsquo;t like the way his hockey club is performing. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean he&rsquo;s going to change the men who are orchestrating its every move.In the wake of Tampa Bay&rsquo;s longest winning drought ever, Oto quashed rumors of changes at the top by saying he has no plans to remove Phil Esposito as GM or Terry Crisp as coach.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re not going anywhere,&rdquo; Oto said of Esposito and Crisp, who have been in their current positions since the Lightning&rsquo;s inception. &ldquo;They are not the problem. We could change the coach or the GM, but with the players we have, the results would be the same. We have to look at the players first.&rdquo;And that is exactly what Oto, Esposito, Crisp and Lightning governor David LeFevre did. During a meeting that lasted more than four hours, they pored over player personnel records and discussed ways of improving their club through trades, promotions, demotions and outright releases.Some of the results of that meeting were realized immediately when the Lightning traded defenseman Steven Finn to the Los Angeles Kings for defenseman Michel Petit.Oto made it clear when the personnel shakeup is over, the makeup of the Lightning roster will be dramatically different than it is now, especially in terms of character, heart and desire.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>&ldquo;We have to change the chemistry here,&rdquo; Oto said, &ldquo;and the bottom line is we have to work together the rest of the season to make it work.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Alexander Selivanov matched his point total for 1994-95 in just 17 games, recording 10 goals and six assists&hellip; Center John Cullen collected his 300th career assist in a 6-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres Nov. 12&hellip; Chris Gratton scored his seventh goal of the season in a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Nov. 16. Gratton had seven goals all of last season&hellip; The 5-4 loss to Toronto marked the fifth time this season Tampa Bay had lost or tied after holding a lead in the third period&hellip; The Boston Bruins brought Phil Esposito a gift when they came to town for a Nov. 14 meeting. The gift was the banner that hung from the Boston Garden rafters bearing his name and number. &#9632;

f0024-02

Players are the problem

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03442/7140014-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="145" height="139"></div>If there was a time for Felix Potvin to get hot, this was it.With the Toronto Maple Leafs stuck one game below.500 at the end of October, Potvin played his best hockey of the year. In seven starts, Potvin went 5-1-1 despite facing 34 shots or more in each of those games.&ldquo;Things are going my way right now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re always happy when things are going your way.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s definitely the case for Potvin, as he and agent Gilles Lupien started negotiations with the team on a new contract to replace Potvin&rsquo;s current deal, which pays him $1.4 million a year. It expires at the end of the season.Potvin said he hopes this round of negotiations will avoid the acrimony of the last set, which in the fall of 1993 had him threatening to walk out on the eve of the season.&ldquo;I just want to get it done quick,&rdquo; he said.The benchmark is clearly the $1.7 million per season pact signed by New Jersey Devils&rsquo; goalie Martin Brodeur, who was drafted in the same year as Potvin and has roughly the same experience. Potvin, however, hasn&rsquo;t won a Stanley Cup and is coming off a so-so 1994-95.Potvin will be trying to recoup the $500,000 or so he almost certainly would have seen added to his salary last summer if he had gone through the arbitration process. The new collective bargaining agreement stripped him of that right.NOTEBOOK: The Leafs killed 37 consecutive penalties over six games before allowing a power-play goal in a 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers Nov. 14&hellip; The Leafs had two blueliners, Larry Murphy and Kenny Jonsson, in the top 10 scoring among defensemen&hellip; Todd Gill injured his hamstring in a 6-1 triumph over the Washington Capitals Nov. 10 and missed a three-game road trip&hellip; The Leafs will posthumously honor King Clancy and Tim Horton at a ceremony Nov. 21. Both men wore No. 7. The current holder of that number, left winger Sergio Momesso, will wear a commemorative patch on his shoulder this season. The Leafs have chosen to honor players in recent years, rather than retire their numbers. &#9632;</div>

f0024-03

Potvin pulls Leafs from funk; his timing couldn’t be better

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04285/7140045-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="133" height="127"></div>The initial diagnosis was a sprain, but it turned out to be much worse than that for Pavel Bure and the Vancouver Canucks.Tests revealed the Canucks&rsquo; star right winger had a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The solution? Major reconstructive surgery. The fallout? Gone for the season.Bure and the Canucks were in shock.&ldquo;I thought it wasn&rsquo;t that bad, that maybe I&rsquo;d be out only two or three days,&rdquo; said Bure, who underwent the surgery Nov. 16. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t believe it.&rdquo;Neither could coach Rick Ley. The Canucks were 5-4-5 entering the fateful Nov. 9 game against the Chicago Blackhawks where Bure got hurt. They lost that game and the next two before tying the Florida Panthers 2-2 for their first point without their marquee player.&ldquo;Obviously it&rsquo;s very devastating to lose a great player on the team and a great player in the league,&rdquo; Ley said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll miss Pavel, but that&rsquo;s the hand that has been dealt us.&rdquo;GM-president Pat Quinn was equally dismayed.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how to describe the way I felt when I heard the news about Pavel,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;You get that churning in your stomach that is a combination of frustration and anger.&rdquo;Among the playing ranks, Alexander Mogilny, who was just starting to click on a line with his countryman, was crushed by Bure&rsquo;s injury. The two combined for 12 points in three games before Bure went down.&ldquo;Man, it&rsquo;s unbelievable,&rdquo; Mogilny said. &ldquo;Sure it&rsquo;s disappointing for me, but it&rsquo;s disappointing for everyone on the team.&rdquo;The Canucks stressed there will be no premature return for Bure no matter how successful the surgery is and no matter how far the team goes in the playoffs.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to let Pavel come back early even if he wants to,&rdquo; said Canuck team doctor Ross Davidson, who performed the surgery.NOTEBOOK: Pat Quinn enjoyed another lucrative year as he earned $1,485,800 (Cdn.), according to figures released by the public company that owns the Canucks. Despite giving up the coaching reins, Quinn hauled down $220,200 more than he did in 1993-94 when he led Vancouver to the Stanley Cup final. The public figures also disclosed that assistant GM George McPhee made $204,400 (Cdn.) in salary and bonuses&hellip; The were Canucks were just 1-4-3 in eight games at GM Place. The only good news was five of those games were sellouts and a sixth missed selling out by 238 tickets&hellip; Center Mike Ridley was sidelined with a troublesome back, further throwing the forward lines into a state of disarray. &#9632;</div>

f0024-04

Everyone crushed by year-ending Bure surgery

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05190/7140076-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="145" height="133"></div>The Washington Capitals went from winning to losing, scoring rather easily to hardly scoring at all.The Capitals roared out to an 8-3-0 start, second best in their 22-year history, and got most of the way there without top gunners Peter Bondra and Michal Pivonka. Then they won one of their next six. There were more Elvis sightings than Washington power play goals.Part of the downfall could be attributed to injuries.Bondra, the NHL&rsquo;s goal scoring champ with 34 last season, was hurt by a routine check early in a game Nov. 14 against the Philadelphia Flyers, sustaining a first degree separation of the left shoulder.It was thought to be minor enough that, with a little luck, Bondra would be back in a hurry, missing only a pair of games against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was not put on the injured reserve list. If he had been, he would have missed a mandatory seven days.Nonetheless, the Caps fire mostly blanks without Bondra in the lineup. During a span of five games wherein the Caps scored 10 goals, Bondra scored five times, four defensemen scored once each and Ken Klee, a former defender now on the wing, had the other.How bad was it?Bondra and injured center Pat Peake, who between them missed 13 of the Caps&rsquo; first 17 games, nonetheless scored 27 per cent of Washington&rsquo;s 48 goals.NOTEBOOK: In a game against Philadelphia Nov. 14, center Jason Allison was whacked around by smaller opponents. After just three shifts, coach Jim Schoenfeld had seen enough. The next day Allison, who had just three assists in 17 games, was shipped to the Portland Pirates of the American League. &ldquo;I think it would be better for his development as a hockey player,&rdquo; Schoenfeld politely said. A former major junior player of the year, the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder has never exhibited the toughness or skating ability to make an impression on the team&hellip; Rookie defenseman Brendan Witt&rsquo;s parents came to town from Humboldt Sask., to see their son play and he rewarded them with a goal and a solid performance against Philadelphia. &#9632;</div>

f0024-05

Great start ancient history after injuries, goal drought

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-07131/7140107-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="511" height="954"><figcaption class="caption-body">Shane Doan</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06155/7140114-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="147" height="139"></div>Good things come to those who wait, but in the case of 1995 first-round pick Shane Doan, the Winnipeg Jets were getting worried about old age.The 19-year-old rookie left winger went through seven exhibition outings and the first 16 regular-season games without scoring.The Jets&rsquo; 17th game of the season, Nov. 14 against the Chicago Blackhawks, was following the same pat-tem-a breakaway missed, a post hit, another one-timer opportunity whiffed.But it all finally changed with what appeared to be a harmless wrist shot. Using Hawks&rsquo; defenseman Gary Suter as a screen, last year&rsquo;s Memorial Cup MVP scored his first NHL goal late in the third period, then notched his second, 39 seconds into overtime.With six assists, it seemed that Doan was the only one worried about the goal drought.&ldquo;Yeah, I was (questioning myself),&rdquo; Doan said. &ldquo;I was really frustrated. You never want to get too low or too high. That was a good learning experience.&rdquo;Asked if he at any time had thought of re-evaluating his confidence in last July&rsquo;s seventh pick overall, Jets&rsquo; GM John Paddock was blunt.&ldquo;It was the furthest thing from anyone&rsquo;s mind,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the only one who thought he wasn&rsquo;t measuring up in the NHL. Any talk of (a re-evaluation) is irrelevant. In his first year, he does so many of the small things better than half the guys who have been in this league a while.&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>NOTEBOOK: Left winger-center Keith Tkachuk suffered a fractured left thumb Nov. 14 against Chicago, courtesy of a Denis Savard slash. He was expected to miss two games and the Jets said they&rsquo;d likely file a complaint to league disciplinarian Brian Burke. Savard slashed Tkachuk about 12 minutes into the game, after Tkachuk had already scored a goal and an assist&hellip; Defenseman Neil Wilkinson, felled Nov. 10 by a slapshot from Peter Zezel of the St. Louis Blues, was expected to out until at least late December with a broken foot&hellip; The Jets were approached about permitting Shane Doan, 19, to attend Canada&rsquo;s selection camp for the World Junior Championship in December. Doan said he wants to play in the tournament. &#9632;

f0024-07

Long wait finally over

<div class="byline">By Bill Ballou</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01886/7140145-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The question with Eric Fichaud isn&rsquo;t if, it&rsquo;s when he&rsquo;ll be on the Island.</figcaption></div>The New York Islanders might want to consider pulling a page from the Washington Capitals&rsquo; recent past.It was at this stage of the NHL season last year the Capitals were struggling with just three wins in 17 games. They recalled goalie of the future, Jim Carey from the Portland Pirates of the American League, and went on to win 19 of the final 31 games.The Islanders? They also won just three of their first 17 games this season. That&rsquo;s enough reason for Worcester IceCats&rsquo; goalie Eric Fichaud to sit by the phone. He was sizzling hot with a 2.64 goals-against average and 92.1 save percentage in 11 games.The Capitals said all along last season they wanted to give Carey a year in the AHL. They also didn&rsquo;t want to throw him to the wolves in a bad situation in Washington. The temptation became too great and Carey went on to become a saviour.The Islanders must be asking themselves the same things. The question now isn&rsquo;t whether Fichaud is an NHL-calibre goalie, it&rsquo;s how long can the Islanders afford to keep him in the AHL.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to be in the NHL as soon as possible,&rdquo; Fichaud said, &ldquo;but there are things I can improve on. Like controlling my rebounds, playing my angle shots, stickhandling.&rdquo;Fichaud is the youngest and best goaltending prospect in the minors. He celebrated his 20th birthday Nov. 4 with his first pro shutout, a 4-0 gem over the Providence Bruins.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s as good as I&rsquo;ve seen come into the American League,&rdquo; said Worcester coach Jim Roberts.Fichaud had an excellent three-year junior career with the Chicoutimi Sag-ueneens of the Quebec League. The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted him 16th overall in 1994, then traded him to the Islanders last season for Benoit Hogue and two draft choices. Fichaud was rated Toronto&rsquo;s top prospect and 11th in the NHL in last year&rsquo;s THN Future Watch issue. He was the No. 3 goalie overall, behind Jamie Storr and Corey Hirsch and one spot ahead of Carey.<h2>Four no score and 20 years</h2>Four 20-year-old goalies have stolen the spotlight in the AHL.Worcester&rsquo;s Eric Fichaud, Scott Langkow of the Springfield Falcons, Kevin Weekes of the Carolina Monarchs and Jason Saal of die St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs have been at or near the top of the AHL goalie rankings all season.AHL goalies had five shutouts in the first month. Weekes had two. Fichaud one. Eight goalies had given up fewer than three goals a game. The four 20-year-olds made up half that list. They were a combined 23-10-3.Three of the four are Canadians. with Saal being a Michigan native. Saal was chosen as best goalie in the 1995 Memorial Cup, Fichaud the best goalie in the 1994 Memorial Cup.Not very big (5-foot-ll, 165 pounds) and hardly a classic-style goalie, Fichaud relies on his lightningquick reflexes.The son of a Montreal policeman, Fichaud is an even-tempered, easygoing kid. He started 11 of Worcester&rsquo;s 13 games, playing so well it&rsquo;s hard for Roberts to not start him. Backup Mike Buzak played just two games.The IceCats won seven of eight home games, with Fichaud playing every minute. He was almost unbeatable at the Centrum and during a five-game win streak allowed only seven goals and stopped 168 of 175 shots (96.0 save percentage).Though Fichaud was the Islanders&rsquo; best goalie in camp, New York didn&rsquo;t want to have him start the year in the NHL and get bombed behind a struggling team. They went with Tommy Soderstrom and Tommy Salo.Even when the Isles made a goaltending change in early November, they brought the more experienced Jamie McLennan up from the Utah Grizzlies of the International League.Islanders&rsquo; GM Don Maloney said the team is thrilled with Fichaud&rsquo;s progress, but is mindful he&rsquo;s just 20. Perhaps Carey didn&rsquo;t need a full year in the minors, but other stars such as Felix Potvin and Martin Brodeur certainly weren&rsquo;t hurt by serving one-sea-son apprenticeships in the AHL.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no urgency on our part to call Eric up. but I wouldn&rsquo;t rule it out.&rdquo; Maloney said. &ldquo;In the minors you can make a mistake, mishandle a puck or blow a couple of goals and the world doesn&rsquo;t come crashing down on you.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0025-01

Hot rookie Fichaud cooling down foes

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Frank Brimsek was the original Mr. Zero, earning the nickname for his 40 shutouts during his Hall of Fame goaltending career.David Harlock is the newest Mr. Zero, but with a twist. He&rsquo;s putting together a different sort of zero streak: games without a goal.Harlock had no goals through 100 American League games-including playoffs-and had gone 160 games without a goal dating back to his 1993-94 year with the Canadian Olympic team.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m as far from a prolific goal scorer as you&rsquo;ll ever get,&rdquo; Harlock said.But the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs&rsquo; blueliner is as close to a perfect defensive defenseman as there is in the AHL. As the Maple Leafs rattled off a team-record 11-game unbeaten streak (9-0-2), Harlock was leading a defense that was fourthbest in the AHL (2.96 goals-against per game).&ldquo;Some guys think offense first, he thinks defense first,&rdquo; said St. John&rsquo;s coach Tom Watt. &ldquo;He can play one-on-one in all situations.&rdquo;Harlock perfected that style early in his four-year career at the University of Michigan.&ldquo;When I was a little kid growing up, I was more offense-minded, but when I got to college I started to realize the player I was becoming,&rdquo; said Harlock, a free-agent signee by Toronto in 1993. He was drafted in the, first round by the New Jersey I Devils in 1990, but never signed with them.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02569/7140176-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="523" height="392"></div>Through 18 games, the 24-year-old had four assists and was plus-11. He had six assists in 58 games last season for St. John&rsquo;s and went pointless in 10 games in 1993-94 after winning a silver medal with Canada at the 1994 Olympics.While goals would be nice, Harlock-and his teammates-know his contributions. His partner is Jamie Heward. who ranked second among AHL defensemen in scoring (4-18-22).Harlock&rsquo;s last goal came in 1992-93 at Michigan. He had eight goals in 163 college games.&ldquo;I tell the guys I have to work on that little flip shot from center ice so it will bounce through the goalie&rsquo;s legs,&rdquo; Harlock said.PUB BRAWL: A skirmish in a Greensboro, N.C., nightclub landed four Fredericton Canad-ien players in jail for a night.Gerrv Fleming, 29, Dion Darling. 21. Rorv Fitzpatrick. 20, and Chris Murray. 21, were hit with pepper spray Nov. 12 after they refused to stop fighting, police said.Another Canadiens&rsquo; player, Pierre Sevigny. went to post bond and was arrested and charged with being intoxicated. The five were released on $300 bond and are to return to court in Greensboro Dec. 19.The players were celebrating rookie night, a hockey tradition in which rookies treat the rest of the team to a meal.GREGORY RESIGNS: Syracuse Crunch GM David Gregory has left one of the AHL&rsquo;s most successful franchises in hopes of landing a job that will involve more on-ice talent evaluation.For most AHL teams, the GM oversees business operations, especially marketing, while the coach and NHL parent handle player personnel.&ldquo;Having grown up in hockey and now being involved professionally, I realize I want to pursue an opportunity where my hockey knowledge can be better applied within a team&rsquo;s operation,&rdquo; said Gregory, whose father Jim is vice-president, hockey operations for the NHL.The Crunch has been a great success as a business. Five of six games this season were sellouts and it played to 95 per-cent capacity last year (an attendance average of 5,888). &#9632;

f0025-02

‘Mr. Zero’ Harlock still adds value

<div class="byline">By Ara Najarian</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01979/7140207-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Lilley&rsquo;s Ice Dogs were rumored to be on the verge of folding.</figcaption></div>When the Ice Dogs first came to Los Angeles, they came with a lot of noise.They had their logo on billboards and buses all over town. There were television advertisements and players campaigning on the radio.The home-opening crowd of 9,753 loved the fanfare. They loved the $5-$16 price range for tickets. But for all the barking and the team winning five of its first six games, the most vicious bite has been in the budget.The Ice Dogs, second in the Southwest Division of the International League, but second last in league attendance, figured on facing some difficulties.But the difficulties were worse than anyone could have imagined.Team owner Fred Comrie said he expected to lose about half a million dollars the first season. But he admits those projections have been adjusted to a loss of $2-$2.5 million.No wonder rumors about the team folding spread quickly. Certainly there was fear of that happening in the front office and the dressing room.&ldquo;We weathered the storm,&rdquo; said team president Greg McElroy. &ldquo;Part of it was a premature over-reaction. Hockey season really doesn&rsquo;t start here until after football. We were up against that and the World Series. We knew it would be hard early.&rdquo;It was tough enough that Hubie McDonough, the team&rsquo;s best player and last year&rsquo;s All-Star Game MVP, was traded to the Orlando Solar Bears for future considerations in late October. The loss of the best player and playing opposite bigger attractions factored into attendance plummeting to a low of 1,261 Nov. 1.The rumors of the team folding started to spread. Management met with four top players and told them to expect to be traded to improve the team&rsquo;s financial status.Players said they heard of a list of 10 players available in a fire sale to reduce what was reportedly the IHL&rsquo;s highest payroll. Comrie addressed the team before the Nov. 5 game to pledge his best efforts to keep the team afloat, intact and in Los Angeles.He admitted the IHL office wanted to put restrictions on Ice Dog transactions, but the league had no power to do so. Still, coach-GM John Van Box-meer said he doesn&rsquo;t anticipate any more top players leaving.The trade of McDonough had to be tied to the team&rsquo;s financial difficulties. He was paid $250,000, likely the top salary in the league.Then Dwayne Norris, the Ice Dogs&rsquo; top scorer after McDonough, was allowed out of his contract to sign with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Comrie always said he would not stop anyone from signing an NHL contract. But Norris wound up in the American League, not the NHL.As part of the deal allowing Norris out of his contract, Anaheim loaned the Ice Dogs right winger John Lilley. The Dogs went from paying their first line right winger $150,000 to replacing him with a former U.S. Olympian with NHL experience for free.The Ice Dogs plan to stick it out in L.A., and then reassess after the season. New investors are being sought, but Comrie and McElroy said pulling the plug was never considered.Still, it appears the Ice Dogs will move after the season unless attendance picks up. Comrie said he wants to stay in Los Angeles, but had been contacted by suburban L.A. communities that want to build a site for the Dogs.Popular opinion is his team would move northwest of downtown to the San Fernando Valley-if a rink can be built in as part of a proposed arena for Cal State Northridge.NHL orphans Winnipeg and Que-bec-which has been awarded an IHL franchise, but still does not have an owner-have been in contact, too.One reason for staying is the Ice Dogs&rsquo; contract with the Sports Arena. It was reportedly renegotiated to a near rent-free, profit-sharing deal with the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, which runs the Sports Arena.But there aren&rsquo;t many profits to share. The Ice Dogs had the second-lowest attendance in the league with an average of 3,861 through its first 10 home games. Much of that came with the 9,000-plus at the home opener.Things have picked up since Comrie&rsquo;s recent statements he was going to keep the team going. Attendance was up for three consecutive nights and Carol Alt and other Hollywood personalities have been at recent games.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t so bad we couldn&rsquo;t see the light at the end of the tunnel,&rdquo; McElroy said. &ldquo;We all have heard all sort of rumors, but how many of them have come true?&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-01

Ice Dogs pledge to remain in L.A.

<div class="byline">By Dave Eminian</div>The Atlanta Knights have an exclusivity clause for hockey at The Omni as part of their lease.Problem is, that clause may soon become meaningless because the building may, in the very near future, no longer exist.In essence, one of the International League&rsquo;s proudest franchises-and, according to sources, one of its few moneymakers-could be an orphan.The Knights, under the ownership and leadership of Richard Adler, have cultivated a following in Atlanta and succeeded where the NHL once failed. Now the powerful Ted Turner is apparently ready to give Georgia a second shot at major league hockey.Turner has for months reportedly been working on building a new facility, which he would fill with the National Basketball Association&rsquo;s Atlanta Hawks and a yet-to-be-acquired NHL team.The primary proposed site for that new building would be The Omni-which would be tom down to clear the way.The Hawks would play some NBA games at the Georgia Dome and a few at Georgia Tech Coliseum while waiting for the new structure to open in the fall of 1998.Such a plan would leave the Knights homeless, not to mention in market competition with an incoming NHL team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02658/7140238-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="409" height="448"></div>Adler may build his own structure in the suburbs and, as the IHL already is in Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles, go j head-to-head with the NHL. team in Nashville-the city offering millions to any NHL team that will move there-so it seems moving the Knights to that market isn&rsquo;t likely.FOGARTY LEAVES MOOSE: Minnesota Moose veteran defenseman Bryan Fogarty was placed on indefinite suspension by the team following a strange sequence of events.Fogarty announced to the coaching staff he was quitting the club and walked out of the building-all in the middle of a Nov. 12 game against the Houston Aeros. Strange behavior is not a first for the 26-year-old veteran of 156 NHL games with the Quebec Nordiques, Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens.Fogarty was suspended by the Penguins in January, 1993 for leaving the IHL&rsquo;s Cleveland Lumberjacks without permission. He remained under suspension by Pittsburgh until March of that season.The Moose had Fogarty on loan from the Buffalo Sabres, to whom he is under contract.I-OPENERS: The Cleveland Lumbeijacks had an eight-game win streak stopped with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Michigan K-Wings Nov. 14. It was the team&rsquo;s longest win streak since moving from Muskegon in 1992&hellip; Indianapolis Ice defenseman Jeff Serowik was IHL player of the week for the period ending Nov. 12. He scored four goals and was plus-4 in three games. He&rsquo;s the first blueliner to win the honor since 1993&hellip; The New York Islanders sent 1994-95 IHL top rookie, MVP and top goaltender Tommy Salo to the defending champion Utah Grizzlies Nov. 8&hellip; Long-time Fort Wayne Komets&rsquo; broadcaster Bob Chase has gained entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland by virtue of an original taped interview he did with Elvis Presley in 1957. The tape is being donated to the Hall&hellip; Houston winger Scott Amiel notched his 600th pro point during a 6-2 loss to Fort Wayne Nov. 8. &#9632;

f0026-02

Knights may be homeless in 1996-97

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>Whenever Trevor Jobe and Nick Fotiu get together, records fall in the East Coast League.Jobe, the player, and Fotiu, the coach, hooked up in 1992-93 with the Nashville Knights, when the center set an ECHL record for most goals (85) and points (161) in a season and the most points in a game (10).The pair joined forces again this season when Fotiu became coach of the Johnstown Chiefs and talked Jobe into becoming his player-assistant. Jobe passed Phil Berger as the league&rsquo;s all-time leading point scorer with his 533rd career point on a first-period goal Nov. 10 against the Wheeling Thunderbirds.&ldquo;It was gratifying to do it with (Fotiu) there,&rdquo; Jobe said. &ldquo;He was one of the first ones to congratulate me. He told me, &lsquo;Another record, eh?&rsquo;&rdquo;Jobe finished with a hat trick and an assist in the 7-6 shootout loss to the Thunderbirds. Following a busy weekend, the 28-year-old had 281 goals and 539 points in 286 games. Jobe also holds the league record for goals.&ldquo;I told my teammates I wanted to get (the record) in the first five minutes of the game and I did,&rdquo; Jobe said. &ldquo;It was a wraparound during a 5-on-3 (power play). That broke the ice with the players because they were really trying to feed me the puck.&rdquo;Johnstown is the fifth ECHL team for which Jobe has played, the others being Nashville, the Richmond Renegades, Raleigh IceCaps and Hampton Roads Admirals. His first season was 1989-90.&ldquo;The way I look at it, I could have broken it last year if I hadn&rsquo;t been in Atlanta (of the International League on recall from Nashville) or the year before,&rdquo; said the native of Brandon, Man. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of the accomplishment. A lot of credit goes to the great players I&rsquo;ve played with.&ldquo;And I owe a lot to Nicky. He allowed me to play the game the way I wanted to play it. I guess it was meant to be, Nicky and me.&rdquo;Jobe plans on playing another couple of seasons and hopes to get into coaching full time after that.&ldquo;Right now, I still consider myself a full-time player, but coaching is something I want to do after I finish. There are still some things 1 want to accomplish as a player.&rdquo;Chief is &ldquo;winning the Riley Cup and putting Johnstown back on the hockey map,&rdquo; said Jobe, a 1987 draft choice of the Toronto Maple Leafs.Jobe had 26 points in 12 games this season.CHILLING STREAK: The Columbus Chill&rsquo;s 27-game sellout streak dating back to Nov. 29, 1994 came to an end.A crowd of 5,515 attended a Nov. 12 game against the Dayton Bombers at the Fairgrounds Coliseum. That was 185 short of capacity.It was the second-longest streak in minor professional hockey history. The Chill holds the record of 83 straight between Jan. 5, 1992 and Nov. 13, 1994. Columbus has sold out 114 of 118 games.The Cape Breton Oilers of the American League hold the third-longest streak (24).TALLAHASSEE TORNADO: A tornado ripped Through the Tallahassee area Nov. 11, tearing off part of the roof of the Tiger Sharks&rsquo; arena, the Leon County Civic Center.Because of the damage, at least one Tallahassee game, Nov. 16 against the Nashville Knights, was postponed, and it was possible the Nov. 17 game against the Charlotte Checkers would have to be rescheduled.COAST LINES: Mike Laten-dresse of the Birmingham Bulls was player of the week for the period ending Nov. 12. In a pair of road games against the Jacksonville LizardKings, Latendresse netted five goals-including a hat trick in one game-and added one assist. &#9632;

Jobe becomes ECHL’s all-time leading scorer

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>It was one small tie in the Ontario League standings; one giant leap for the London Knights.The Knights ended the longest futility streak to begin an OHL season with a 3-3 tie Nov. 11 against the Owen Sound Platers. Rookie Todd Crane scored with just over 10 minutes left in the third period, giving London its first point of the season.The Knights lost their first 17 games, eclipsing the previous season-beginning record of 11 straight losses by the 1976-77 Oshawa Generals.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to start over. We have a whole new attitude,&rdquo; Crane said. The Knights fired coach-GM Mike Fedorko after 13 losses and elevated assistant coach Murray Nystrom.&ldquo;We have a new system, a new outlook,&rdquo; said captain Kevin Boyd. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t do anything about the 17 losses. What happened, happened.&rdquo;Nystrom said the players deserved something after losing 6-5 to the Detroit Whalers with 85 seconds remaining the night before.&ldquo;The boys were all ready to map out the parade route on the way home,&rdquo; Nystrom said. &ldquo;(Losing) brought them together. When you go that long without any reward, you need to be told from each other you&rsquo;re doing the job.&rdquo;The Knights lost 7-4 to the Kitchener Rangers the next night. That loss, the Knights&rsquo; 12th at home, put them in the record book again by equaling the longest home losing streak in OHL history, set by the 1982-83 Guelph Platers.The Knights&rsquo; winless streak was at 20. The OHL record is 28, set by the Kingston Canadians in 1987-88.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01967/7140293-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="512" height="194"></div>NEW PADS: It&rsquo;s a case of &lsquo;Have pads, will travel&rsquo; and Mike Minard is enjoying his new pad in the OHL, even it if means playing in two different arenas.Traded to the Detroit Whalers by the expansion Barrie Colts, Minard doesn&rsquo;t mind the nomadic lifestyle the Whalers are experiencing as they play 20 games at the Palace of Auburn Hills and 13 at their Oak Park practice rink.The 19-year-old rookie is happy to be playing and the Whalers are happy to have him as he was 5-0-1, with one shutout and a 2.37 goals-against average after crossing the border.&ldquo;Things couldn&rsquo;t be better,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve come to a place where they let you play and you&rsquo;re not involved in a lot of controversy.&rdquo;Minard was drafted by the Belleville Bulls, but played Jr. A in Chilliwack, B.C., last season. He was the top goalie and rookie in the B.C. Jr. League. He opted into the NHL draft and was selected in the fourth round by the Edmonton Oilers.That made him ineligible for U.S. college hockey, so he decided to play in the OHL. The Colts took him from Belleville in the expansion draft, but Minard got off to a bad start with coach-GM Bert Templeton.&ldquo;As I look back, I have regrets about missing out on the OHL experience until now,&rdquo; Minard said, &ldquo;but if I hadn&rsquo;t done what I did, I wouldn&rsquo;t be where I am today.&rdquo;JOB HUNTING: Bill LaForge, who coached the Oshawa Generals, Hamilton Steel-hawks/Niagara Falls Thunder and the Guelph Storm in the OHL, wants back into the league.&ldquo;I know there has to be a team out there that needs to be turned around,&rdquo; LaForge said from Edmonton, where he&rsquo;s involved with junior football. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of getting the right doorbell to ring and somebody answers it.&ldquo;And Bill LaForge at 41 is not the same guy who was there at 28,&rdquo; he said of his stormy past, which included a short stint as coach of the Vancouver Canucks.LaForge is president and director of football operations for the Edmonton Huskies and executive of the year two years in a row in the Prairie Junior Conference.&ldquo;We went from being $200,000 in the hole to one of the most successful junior franchises. We made the playoffs for the first time in 17 years.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0028-01

MAJOR JUNIOR REPORT

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>The St-Hyacinthe Laser won&rsquo;t be getting pushed around anymore this season thanks to the acquisition of Georges Laraque.The Laser obtained the 6-foot-3, 224-pound right winger-considered the Quebec League&rsquo;s top enforcer-from the Laval Titan Nov. 8.The official word from the league office is the Laser gave up a third-round pick in next year&rsquo;s midget draft plus $20,000 for Laraque. However, sources from both the Laser and Titan confirmed a report in the Journal de Montreal that Laval will also receive 19-year-old defenseman Hugo Bertrand, 17-year-old right winger Sacha Filion plus another player to be named during the Christmas break. The Journal also reported the Titan received $65,000.Laraque&rsquo;s toughness impressed the Edmonton Oilers enough to select him in the second round of the 1995 NHL entry draft (31st overall) and give him a three-year, $1.3-million contract plus a $300,000 signing bonus.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02644/7140324-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="512" height="238"></div>In 62 games with the St-Jean Lynx last season, he had 19 goals, 41 points and 259 penalty minutes. He was traded to Laval in the off-season for Maxime Blouin. In Laraque&rsquo;s first 12 games this season, he had eight goals, 23 points and 105 PIM.&ldquo;George is so imposing and very respected throughout the league so he brings another dimension to our team,&rdquo; said Laser coach Norman Flynn, who coached Laraque during his rookie season with St-Jean.While Laraque admits he enjoys dropping his gloves and isn&rsquo;t afraid to call himself the toughest player in the league, he says it&rsquo;s getting harder to find opponents this season.&ldquo;I try sometimes to fight, but nobody in the league will fight me now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I will not say they&rsquo;re afraid of me, but I will say that they will not fight me because they know better.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my last year of junior so I&rsquo;m trying to develop my other skills and that&rsquo;s what (the Oilers) told me to do when they sent me back.&rdquo;GETTING BETTER: The Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs were off to the best start in team history thanks in large part to the play of goal tender Francis Larivee.Entering the season, the Foreurs had an overall record of 38-103-3 and had failed to make the playoffs in each of their first two seasons. But after a 7-7 tie with the Sherbrooke Faucons Nov. 10, the Foreurs had a 13-9-3 record. Last season they didn&rsquo;t get their 29th point until Jan. 29 (their 54th game) and finished with the league&rsquo;s worst record at 21-49-2.&ldquo;Francis Larivee has been a big part of our success so far,&rdquo; said coach Richard Martel. &ldquo;He has stabilized the defensive part of our game.&rdquo;Larivee had a 12-3-2 record and 3.75 goals-against average. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder was also named the Quebec League winner in the first segment of the Valvoline Top Draft Prospect Award, based on voting by a panel of media members.&ldquo;He reminds me a bit of Ron Hextali.&rdquo; Martel said.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s always aggressive and likes the physical play.&rdquo;COACH BANNED: Hull Olympiques&rsquo; coach Robert Mongrain was suspended for three games beginning Nov. 8 as a result of a fight-filled game against Vai d&rsquo;Or Oct. 25.The game, which Vai d&rsquo;Or won 6-3, was called with 34 seconds left when a series of fights left Hull without enough players to finish the contest.League vice-president Maurice Filion said Hull instigated the majority of the fights and he had to send a message to other teams and coaches in the league. The teams were fined $1,000.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to complete our hockey games,&rdquo; Filion said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no way a game should be stopped with whatever time left on the clock.&rdquo;The Olympiques went 2-0-1 during Mongrain&rsquo;s absence as assistant coaches Claude Julien and Joel Blain filled in. Mongrain returned for a 5-2 victory over St-Hyacinthe Nov. 14. &#9632;

f0028-02

Laser becomes rock-solid with acquisition of Laraque

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Mark Deyell&rsquo;s performance has not mirrored that of his team. While the Saskatoon Blades struggled, Deyell collected multi-point games on a regular basis.The 19-year-old center, who missed the first two games of the Western League season because of back spasms, had 19 goals and 48 points in 21 games. His team, meanwhile, was just 10-13-0.&ldquo;I was hoping for a big season,&rdquo; said Deyell, who had 102 points for the 1994-95 Blades. &ldquo;I was 10th in the league (in scoring) last year. As a third-year player, they expect you to do more.&ldquo;To do better, you have to produce game in and game out, defensively and offensively.That&rsquo;s what the Blades and Toronto want me to do.&rdquo;The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Deyell in the fifth round (126th overall) of the NHL&rsquo;s 1994 entry draft.Deyell, who had at least two points in 15 of his games, has excelled on a line with left winger Jeremy Schaefer and right winger Frank Banham.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03458/7140355-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="385" height="380"></div>&ldquo;The main thing with Frank and me is that we&rsquo;re both highly talented in speed,&rdquo; said the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Deyell. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s more of a shooter, picking the comers, and I&rsquo;m a playmaker.&ldquo;The important thing is to stay focused. We know we&rsquo;re going to get attention because we&rsquo;re scoring. On some nights, you&rsquo;re going to be shadowed. On other nights, you might not play as much because they&rsquo;re matching lines.&rdquo;Deyell has aspirations of catching Kamloops Blazers&rsquo; left winger Hnat Domenichelli in the scoring derby. Domenichelli, who had xx points after 22 games, has led the scoring race since the opening weekend of play.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more or less the breaks you get,&rdquo; Deyell said. &ldquo;&rsquo;I&rsquo;m determined to go out and try to beat him. If I&rsquo;m down by 20 points, I&rsquo;ll still put my head down and do as much as I can.&ldquo;Hopefully I can prop up my stats. There&rsquo;s no time to quit in this league. You have to be the best you can be every night.&rdquo;POWER LAPLANTE: Moose Jaw Warriors&rsquo; center Darryl Laplante is suddenly a prolific power play pistol.Six of his first 10 goals this season came while the Warriors enjoyed a man advantage.Last season, all 22 of his goals were in evenstrength situations. He was used sparingly on the power play as a rookie in 1994-95.&ldquo;I wanted to get on the power play so badly,&rdquo; said Laplante, a third round draft choice of the Detroit Red Wings in 1995.&ldquo;When Al (Tuer, the Warriors&rsquo; coach-GM) said to come out to power play practice, I was pretty pumped. It&rsquo;s not quite as big as the draft, but it&rsquo;s close.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had to change my goals. I wanted 30 points. Now I&rsquo;m going for 60.&rdquo;Laplante had 20 points in 21 games.STREAK OVER: The Prince George Cougars rivaled their own standards for ineptitude, but came up with a win just in time.The Cougars&rsquo; losing streak was 15 games before a 3-1 victory over the Americans in Tri-City Nov. 16. The 15-game losing streak was the longest in the WHL since Prince George lost its final 16 games of last season.The Cougars have finished last in the West Division every season since 1989-90.CHIEF CONCERNS: There has been congestion atop the West Division standings for the first two months of this season.Kamloops, Tri-City, the Kelowna Rockets and Spokane Chiefs were all challenging for top spot. At one point, three points separated the first-place team from the fourth-place entry.&ldquo;There are no easy games,&rdquo; said Chiefs&rsquo; GM Tim Speltz.&ldquo;People talk about a cluster of four, but Seattle and Portland have good teams, too,&rdquo; Spokane coach Mike Babcock said. &ldquo;When the first-place team plays the sixth-place team in the playoffs, it could be a scary event.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0028-03

Double-edged Blade for Saskatoon star Deveil

<div class="byline">By Chris Miller</div>Kirk Daubenspeck went from an unknown to a hero last season. This year, he&rsquo;ll have to do even better for the struggling Wisconsin Badgers.Thrust into the starting goalie&rsquo;s position at Wisconsin a year ago when Jim Carey signed with the Washington Capitals, Daubenspeck exceeded all expectations.He led the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in games and saves, was third in save percentage and fifth in goals-against average. The Badgers finished second in the regular season and Daubenspeck was the MVP when they won the league playoff championship.&ldquo;People really underestimated his talent,&rdquo; said Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer. &ldquo;Because he&rsquo;d backed up Jim Carey and hadn&rsquo;t played, people didn&rsquo;t think he was any good. And that wasn&rsquo;t fair to Kirk because he hadn&rsquo;t had a chance to play. But after the year he had&hellip; he proved himself.&rdquo;Now Daubenspeck, a junior, faces a different kind of pressure. The Badgers lost four defensemen with a combined 600 games of college experience and Daubenspeck faced an average of 38 shots per game as Wisconsin started 2-6-.0.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t get too comfortable,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Last year I could probably get away with letting in a weak goal. This year I can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Wisconsin&rsquo;s start was its worst in 20 seasons. &ldquo;We just have to be patient,&rdquo; Sauer said.<h2>WCHA</h2>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve replaced the talent on defense, but we can&rsquo;t replace the experience. And our forwards are off to a slow start. I&rsquo;m waiting for them to bust loose.&rdquo;CARRYING ON: Brent Cary&rsquo;s WCHA career has been plagued by injuries. The Denver right winger has torn anterior cruciate ligaments in both knees, separated a shoulder and broken a bone in his neck during the past three seasons.So far, his senior year has been successful. He had six goals and 10 points as the Pioneers jumped to a 6-2-0 start.Despite his medical history and smallish stature (5-foot-7), Cary isn&rsquo;t about to shy away from physical play.&ldquo;If you want to play in the poker game, you&rsquo;ve got to sit at the table,&rdquo; Cary said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing as hard as I can and having the most fun I&rsquo;ve ever had.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Minnesota senior defenseman Charlie Wasley and junior winger Nick Chec-co were suspended one game by coach Doug Woog after they had lunch with a scout for the Colorado Avalanche, who picked up the tab. Woog said the players, both of whom are Avalanche draftees, offered to pay for their share of the pizza, but the scout insisted. The players were cleared of any National Collegiate Athletic Association violations when they reimbursed the scout, but Woog suspended them for one game, saying players are aware of the rules. &#9632;

Badgers’ star goalie faces new challenge

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggie</div>When opportunity knocked, Vermont junior J.C. Ruid answered-quickly.Given the chance to play left wing on a line with right winger Martin St Louis and center Eric Perrin, two of the most dynamic forwards in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, Ruid has developed into one of the league&rsquo;s most consistent scorers.Ruid. a 6-foot-4, 209-pounder who towers over his 5-foot-9 linemates, first got the opportunity to play with St. Louis and Perrin last January and responded with two goals in his first game on the new unit.Ruid had been lost in the shuffle in his first year-and-a-half with the Cats. He scored three goals in 19 games as a freshman and had one goal in the first 20 games last year.&ldquo;Moving up to that line gave me a lot of confidence, because I knew the coaches had confidence in my ability,&rdquo; Ruid said.He finished 1994-95 with 11 goals and led the team with six goals in five games this season. Like everyone else in the ECAC, Ruid is often fascinated by the incredible talent of his linemates.&ldquo;A lot of time, on penalty-killing situations or 4-on-4, I&rsquo;ll just sit back on the bench and watch them,&rdquo; he said.Although Ruid&rsquo;s size was one of the major reasons he was put with St. Louis and Perrin, he also has the skills to complement Vermont&rsquo;s Dynamic Duo. His recent success has helped him shake off the disappointment of not being drafted. The NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau had listed Ruid as a potential fourth-rounder for the 1994 entry draft and he and his parents went to Montreal for the selection. But his name was never called.<h2>ECAC</h2>&ldquo;That was pretty tough,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;Especially after I had been ranked to go in the fourth round. But the way I look at it, I&rsquo;ve had greater tragedies in my life. I&rsquo;m not worried about being drafted anymore. Now that I&rsquo;m playing with Martin and Eric, I can pad my stats and that&rsquo;s probably going to help me out.&rdquo;MARSH MILESTONE: St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh notched his 200th career victory Nov. 11 when the Saints defeated Princeton 6-4. The win raised Marsh&rsquo;s career record to 200-131-10.Junior Burke Murphy was instrumental in the big win, getting a hat trick. The three-goal performance moved Murphy into eighth place on the Saints&rsquo; all-time goal-scoring list with 71.NOTEBOOK: Colgate was fit to be tied in its first weekend of ECAC play, recording ties with Harvard and Brown. Junior Mike Harder&rsquo;s goal with 1:07 left pulled the Red Raiders into a 2-2 tie with Harvard, but Colgate got a taste of its own medicine the next night, when Brown senior Brian Jardine scored at 19:59 of regulation to pull the Bears into a 4-4 tie. &#9632;

Cats’ Ruid stands tall on line with super duo

<div class="byline">By Matt Carlson</div>The Western Michigan Broncos&rsquo; offense was galloping again and helping coach Bill Wilkinson&rsquo;s team ride high in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings.Scoring 55 goals in their first 10 games, the Broncos were 8-2-0 overall, tied for first place in the CCHA at 5-1-0 and off to their best start since 1975-76. WMU finished 1994-95 with a disappointing 17-18-5 record.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re pleasantly surprised, but I don&rsquo;t think you can say this was out of the realm of possibility,&rdquo; Wilkinson said. &ldquo;I thought we had a good team last year and it never materialized. A lot of guys who should have been scoring last year are scoring this year.&rdquo;Bronco players held four of the top five spots on the CCHA&rsquo;s overall scoring list. Leading the pack was a one-two punch of senior center Jeremy Brown (eight goals, 20 points in 10 games) and junior right winger Justin Cardwell (10-7-17). In the fourth and fifth spots were sophomore defenseman Steve Duke (1-13-14) and senior left winger Kyle Millar (10-3-13).Trying to maintain balanced scoring, Wilkinson was spreading the offensive talent over three lines that changed week to week.While the Broncos and freshman goaltender Marc Magliarditi held the fort defensively with 26 goals against, the team&rsquo;s special teams, woeful last season, were improved.The Broncos&rsquo; power play was 20 for 74 (27 per cent) and they had killed off 58 of 68 penalties (85 per cent).<h2>CCHA</h2>&ldquo;This team might be one of the better or the best-balanced teams we&rsquo;ve had here top to bottom,&rdquo; Wilkinson said.PETRIE-FIED: Bowling Green junior goaltender Bob Petrie stretched his personal unbeaten streak to 12 games (11-0-1) in a 3-2 Falcons&rsquo; win at Lake Superior State Nov. 11.During that span, dating to Dec. 10, 1994, the Canton, Mich., native had a 2.48 goals-against average and 90.0 save percentage.But Petrie, now the Falcons&rsquo; main man in nets, wasn&rsquo;t so sure of himself at the start of 1994-95. After a solid freshman season, his play slipped and he lost his No. 1 netminding spot to Will Clarke, now graduated.&ldquo;One of the the biggest things I did was get back to working hard and busting my butt in practice,&rdquo; said Petrie, named CCHA defensive player of the week for the period ending Nov. 12. &ldquo;It helped restore my confidence.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Lake Superior State sophomore goalie John Grahame suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his knee in the second period of the 3-2 home loss to Bowling Green Nov. 11. He was expected to be out until mid-December&hellip; Junior center Brendan Morrison of Michigan, the CCHA&rsquo;s leading scorer last season, returned to action and had three assists in the Wolverines&rsquo; 5-4 win at Miami Nov 10. &#9632;

Well-balanced attack has Broncos bucking

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01889/7140643-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02577/7140636-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="376" height="285"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03419/7140629-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="360" height="283"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04310/7140622-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="957" height="517"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05248/7140615-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="448" height="885"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06207/7140608-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="350" height="369"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-07181/7140601-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="381" height="497"><figcaption class="caption-body">Anaheim&rsquo;s Paul Kariya</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-08153/7140594-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="469" height="1416"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-09133/7140587-1-eng-US/f0031-092.jpg" title="f0031-09" width="1230" height="2319"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-10114/7140580-1-eng-US/f0031-102.jpg" title="f0031-10" width="3065" height="595"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01953/7140573-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="727" height="3502"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02650/7140566-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="1469" height="2250"><figcaption class="caption-body">Shaun Van Allen is providing offense (14 points) and defense (plus-12)for Anaheim.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03457/7140559-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="744" height="765"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04313/7140552-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="768" height="1123"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05235/7140545-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="763" height="3516"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01863/7140538-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="781" height="3516"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02585/7140531-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="1463" height="2046"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky proved he&rsquo;s still one of the best by climbing to second in league scoring.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03438/7140524-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="1517" height="1339"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04340/7140517-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="781" height="3432"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01968/7140510-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="775" height="3510"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02666/7140503-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="1457" height="1662"><figcaption class="caption-body">With Pavel Bure sidelined, the Canucks are counting on Trevor Linden more than ever.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03524/7140496-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="1499" height="1657"></div><h2>NHL SCHEDULE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04407/7140489-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="772" height="3526"></div><h2>NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01914/7140482-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="3059" height="872"></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

f0036-01

NHL SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">By Brendan Savage</div>The Colonial League assumed control of the Saginaw Wheels after owner Tom Kirkconnell failed to meet his payroll for the second straight week.Kirkconnell was removed from the day-to-day operations of the club, which was scheduled to be sold pending a review of the Wheels&rsquo; financial records.&ldquo;Because of violations of our bylaws, the governors voted to terminate the franchise and redeem their shares in the Colonial League,&rdquo; said commissioner Mike Forbes. &ldquo;It basically means (Kirkconnell) no longer has a franchise and is no longer a shareholder in the Colonial League.&rdquo;Forbes said several groups immediately expressed interest in buying the club and there was reportedly one offer of $500,000, the price for an expansion franchise.Forbes&rsquo; first order of business was to pay $54,000 in back taxes and penalties to the Internal Revenue Service. Kirkconnell admitted not having paid taxes for the club in more than a year. The IRS could have shut down the team if the matter wasn&rsquo;t settled by Nov. 20.Forbes said the ColHL is committed to keeping a team in Saginaw.WAIT OVER: Rookie Andrei Mezin blanked Saginaw 3-0 Nov. 11 for the first shutout by a Flint Generals&rsquo; goalie in 321 games&hellip; The two-time defending champion Thunder Bay Senators went 0-4-1 in early November, the Senators&rsquo; worst stretch in more than three years. &#9632;

Saginaw franchise in turmoil

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell </div><div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div>Youngsters in Canada can play as hard as they want, but they&rsquo;ll never be able to put their necks on the line for the sake of a hockey game.Neck protectors have been mandatory for all minor hockey players in Canada for the past three years and no amateur player, regardless of age, can step on the ice in Quebec without one.But if you wear a neck protector and have been lulled into a sense of security, think again. Not only do neck protectors not fully guard against serious injuries, some in the hockey community believe they do more harm than good.That&rsquo;s one reason why USA Hockey refuses to mandate them for all amateur players. Another is the fact that despite several cases in Canada of players dying from neck lacerations, there hasn&rsquo;t been a single case south of the border.Already this season, a Swedish player died in an exhibition game after his carotid artery (where the pulse is detected) was accidentally slashed by a teammate&rsquo;s skate.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t found the incidence to be that frequent, nor have I found the neck laceration protectors to be that useful,&rdquo; said Dr. Alan Ashare, chairman of USA Hockey&rsquo;s safety and protective equipment committee. &ldquo;I get concerned about us putting this equipment on players and saying, &lsquo;OK, now we&rsquo;re all right.&rsquo; People are wearing a piece of equipment that is not protective.&rdquo;Even the manufacturers agree with Ashare&rsquo;s observation that neck protectors don&rsquo;t completely cover the two most vital arteries in the neck-the carotid and jugular arteries. They also don&rsquo;t protect against voice box breakage from pucks and sticks and certainly don&rsquo;t prevent spinal and neck injuries from contact.In fact, Ashare said that skates hitting the protector at less than a 90-degree angle can skim off the protector and hit more vital areas. Ashare also said lacerations to the vital veins need not be serious if trainers and coaches know what to do.Since death occurs from blood loss, not the laceration, it is imperative to stop the blood flow until professional help arrives. The best way to do that is to put on a latex glove and apply the fingers directly to the wound. Don&rsquo;t wrap a towel around the player&rsquo;s neck since the blood will simply flow into the towel.&ldquo;1 would rather see us teach everyone how to treat injuries rather than mandate the neck laceration protectors,&rdquo; Ashare said. &ldquo;There is no reason why anyone has to lose their life.&rdquo;The Canadian Hockey Association made neck protectors mandatory three years ago and hasn&rsquo;t reported a fatality since then. They run in price from $10-$40.Itech is one of 12 companies making approved neck protectors and president Robin Bums points out there are no guarantees. The only problem is, there is no way of proving the number of lives it saves.&ldquo;(Ashare) is not wrong,&rdquo; Bums said. &ldquo;Is it a necessary piece of equipment? Maybe not, but if it even saves one kid&rsquo;s life then it&rsquo;s worth it.&rdquo;<h2>Portraying a legend</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01455/7140826-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="337" height="457"></div>Versatility is vital to any actor. And as Kevin Conway found out, it can help in pick-up hockey, too.While preparing for his portrayal of Gordie Howe in the television movie Net Worth, Conway lived the life of Mr. Hockey vicariously. He would watch his shadow as he rollerbladed through Vancouver to emulate Howe&rsquo;s long, loping strides and attached weights to his wrists to get those sloping shoulders just right.A natural right shot, he even taught himself to shoot both ways, just like Howe.&ldquo;That took a lot of practice, but now I can ring it off the crossbar left handed,&rdquo; said Conway, who plays once a week. &ldquo;Some of the guys I play with were pretty impressed.&rdquo;Just as impressive is Conway&rsquo;s portrayal of Howe in the movie, which airs Nov. 26 on CBC in Canada. The film, based on a chapter in the blockbuster book of the same name, focuses on Ted Lindsay&rsquo;s ill-fated attempt at forming the NHL Players&rsquo; Association in the late 1950s.The 30-year-old Conway, who is 6 feet and 190 pounds-&ldquo;exactly Gordie&rsquo;s size according to his hockey card in 1956&rdquo;&mdash;did a remarkable job of playing a man who was torn between his love for the game and loyalty to Lindsay.Conway&rsquo;s father, Kevin Sr., played defense for the World Champion Penticton Vees in 1955, but the furthest he got in hockey was junior varsity at the University of British Columbia.Playing Howe was not an easy task, considering the role is a less-than-flattering portrayal of the hockey legend. In the movie, Howe is portrayed as a country bumpkin too weak-kneed to stand up to Wings&rsquo; GM Jack Adams.&ldquo;I took the role to heart and I hope Mr. Howe isn&rsquo;t offended by my portrayal,&rdquo; Conway said. &ldquo;In my mind, he was more than a figure in history, he was a man. But he was a young and naive man, as opposed to not being brilliant.&rdquo;The film itself is an outstanding piece of drama, but it does take extreme liberties with a story that was strong enough on the basis of truth. One wonders how the families of Busher Jackson and Doug Harvey feel about the film. Although both experienced hard times, Jackson didn&rsquo;t live in the streets and sell broken hockey sticks, nor did Harvey die penniless or live in an abandoned boxcar.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02306/7140819-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="1438" height="1950"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hakan Loob promised the Calgary Flames he would never play for another NHL team.</figcaption></div><h2>Loob&rsquo;s first job is family man</h2>Hakan Loob is the greatest scorer Sweden has ever known. He hasn&rsquo;t scored that badly as a family man, either.NHL fans haven&rsquo;t seen Loob since 1989 when, coming off a Stanley Cup and one year removed from a 50-goal season, the 29-year-old Loob left North America for home.With 248 goals and 458 points in 373 career games for Faijestad, Loob recently overtook Lars-Gunnar Petterson to became the all-time leading scorer in the Swedish Hockey League.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question Hakan could play in the NHL right now,&rdquo; said Wayne Fleming, coach of the rival Leksand team. &ldquo;Even now, he really competes. It&rsquo;s like he gets that fire in his eyes and he puts his team on his back.&rdquo;Loob appreciates the compliment, but he&rsquo;d just as soon stay in Karlstad. Loob didn&rsquo;t spend any of his six off-seasons in Calgary and went home for good when his oldest son started school. Loob knows he just missed out on the NHL salary explosion. He also knows that as a free agent, he could have come back to play for one season and set himself up for life. But when he left the Flames, he promised them he would never play for another NHL team.&ldquo;Perhaps this sounds stupid,&rdquo; Loob said, &ldquo;but I feel good about myself if I have $100,000 or $1 million in the bank. There&rsquo;s nothing you can do about it anyway, tears won&rsquo;t turn into gold.&rdquo;Loob has struck gold in Sweden as a member of World Championship teams in 1987 and 1991 and the 1994 Olympic team. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really proud of what I&rsquo;ve done,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but you have to remember that many of the best players are not here now.&rdquo;Thanks to Loob, one of the best is still there.Here are 10 of the best Swedes ever, with an emphasis on performance in national and international competition:1. Borje Salming. D: National icon and alltime great NHL defenseman. 2. Ulf Sterner. LW: First Swede to play in NHL. 3. Hakan Loob, RW: Only Swede to score 50 goals in NHL. 4. Sven Tumba, C: Won world titles in 1957 and 1962. 5. Mats Naslund, LW: Had big career in Sweden and won Stanley Cup. 6. Peter Forsberg, C: Olympic hero holds career scoring record in World Junior Championship. 7. Mats Sundin, C: Key player for Sweden&rsquo;s 1991 World Championship-winning team. 8. Tomas Rundqvist, D: Holds Swedish record for most international games (276). 9. Tomas Jonsson, D: Four-time Cup winner with Islanders still best defenseman in Sweden at 35. 10. Lennert Svedberg. D: Country&rsquo;s first rushing rearguard killed in car accident. &#9632;

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December 1, 1995

SCOREBOARD

Iguanas laying claim as Central League’s best

Amherst no pushover in sophomore season

INSIDE HOCKEY