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.

February 16, 1996

The Hockey News February 16, 1996

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>The Halifax Mooseheads sure know how to spoil a party.A standing-room-only crowd of 4,037 crammed into the Robert Guertin Arena Jan. 28 expecting to see the hometown Hull Olympiques enter the Canadian Hockey League record book with a 25th consecutive victory, tying the mark set by the Sorel Eperviers in 1973-74 and equalled by the Kitchener Rangers in 1983-84.But Mooseheads&rsquo; goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere had different ideas.Giguere, the first Quebec League player selected at last year&rsquo;s NHL entry draft (13th overall by the Hartford Whalers), was outstanding as he made 34 saves to lead the Mooseheads to a 6-4 victory.At the other end of the ice, Hull goalie Jose Theodore, a hero for Canada at the World Junior Championship, saw his bubble burst as he allowed six goals on only 14 shots and was replaced by Matthew Carmichael 13:51 into the second period with the score 6-2.The defeat was Hull&rsquo;s first since Nov. 19 and its first home loss since Nov. 1, a stretch of 14 games.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big record and we wanted it,&rdquo; Theodore said. &ldquo;We just have to start over again.&rdquo;Despite trailing Hull by 42 points in the standings, the Mooseheads have dominated the Olympiques. They were 3-0-0 against Hull this season and 5-1-1 since entering the league last season. Giguere had all three victories this season as the Mooseheads outscored the Olympiques 16-8, despite being outshot 109-79.Halifax might have done Hull a favor by ending the streak: neither Sorel nor Kitchener went on to win the Memorial Cup the year they won 25 straight games.CASHING IN: When it comes to making trades in the QMJHL, the rich just keep getting richer.Hull and the Granby Predateurs, the two best teams in the league and also two of the wealthiest, made a number of deals prior to the final trading deadline Jan. 19 involving large sums of cash.Hull gave the Moncton Alpines $100,000 as part of a deal for left winger David-Alexandre Beauregard and paid $50,000 to the Victoriaville Tigres to get defenseman Steven Low. Granby shelled out $100,000 to the Laval Titan for defenseman Jason Doig and center Benoit Gratton and spent another $50,000 to get right winger Georges Laraque from the St-Hyacinthe Laser.Now the league&rsquo;s poorer teams are saying they can&rsquo;t compete.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s frustrating when you&rsquo;re trying to compete and you don&rsquo;t have the financial ability to be competitive,&rdquo; said Drummondville Volti-geurs&rsquo; coach Blair Mackasey, whose team made an offer for Beauregard, but lost the bidding war with Hull. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t blame Hull and Granby for what they did.&rdquo;Hull GM Charlie Henry said he sympathizes with the poorer teams.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m totally against (selling players),&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not something we started, but until (the league) does something that&rsquo;s the way it&rsquo;s going to be. I&rsquo;ve never sold a player and I wouldn&rsquo;t either. I&rsquo;d rather buy and keep the player.&rdquo;The QMJHL has no rules preventing financial transactions.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02448/6124677-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="577" height="289"></div>HOT PROSPECTS: St-Hyacinthe defenseman Remi Royer, rated fifth overall in the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau in its mid-season rankings, was the highest-placed QMJHL player on the list of 1996 draft-eligible prospects. Royer, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder, had 14 goals, 30 points and 228 penalty minutes in 47 games.Two other Quebecers made the top 10: Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs&rsquo; left winger Jean-Pierre Dumont (seventh) and Hull defenseman Mario Laroque (ninth). League scoring leader Daniel Briere of Drummondville was ranked 16th.Victoriaville&rsquo;s Mathieu Garon, ranked second among netminders, was Quebec&rsquo;s top-rated goalie. &#9632;

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LEAGUES

Mooseheads halt streak of Olympique proportions

<div class="byline">By Michael Arace</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04458/6124039-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="569" height="970"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brendan Shanahan</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03621/6124046-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="159" height="159"></div>The Hartford Whalers are showing signs they might just be able to glue this mess of a season back together before it&rsquo;s too late.Management ceased tinkering for now, their most feared scorer (Brendan Shanahan) returned to health, the goaltender (Sean Burke) performed miracles and the Whalers went 8-4-2 in January.Perhaps the best way to measure how far the Whalers came was with the last two games of the month. At the outset of a six-game, 14-day road trip, the Whalers were faced with back-to-back games-which came on the heels of a cross-continent plane ride. On. Jan. 30, the Whalers were humbled 8-2 by the San Jose Sharks. Less than 24 hours later, they beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-4.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t want to think about it in these terms,&rdquo; said coach Paul Maurice, &ldquo;but if we had gone down 0-2 after two days on the trip, at this point in the season, given our situation&hellip;like I said, I don&rsquo;t want to think about it.&rdquo;The reasons the Whalers were back in playoff contention included:&#9633; Rejuvenated offense. After averaging 2.43 goals a game through the first three months, the Whalers-with a balanced attack-averaged 3.77 in January.&#9633; Rejuvenated Shanahan. The captain had scored 20 goals in 20 games.&#9633; Rejuvenated power play. Operating at 8.9 per cent early in November, it went I l-for-39 (28.2 per cent) to close January with Jeff Brown as the quarterback.NOTEBOOK: Goalie Sean Burke was doing his best to catch Grant Fuhr of St. Louis for consecutive games started. Burke had started 20 in a row and counting, while Fuhr had played in all of the Blues&rsquo; 50 games. Naturally, Fuhr would have to miss a start for Burke to have a chance. &ldquo;If you played for the New Jersey Devils or Washington Capitals, teams which don&rsquo;t allow a lot of shots, I could see it,&rdquo; Burke said. Whalers&rsquo; broadcaster Darryl Reaugh, who backed up Fuhr in 1987-88 with Edmonton when Fuhr played 75 of 80 games, is keeping a close eye on his old teammate. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m worried now that he&rsquo;ll play every game this year,&rdquo; Reaugh said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll lose my asterisk in history. I put him in the record book. He owes me. I wiped his golf clubs, too.&rdquo; &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Happy new year, so far

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01371/6125129-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011522/6123246-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="316" height="409"><figcaption class="caption-body">D. Hawerchuk</figcaption></div>A weekly compendium of significant events and developments (Jan. 26-Feb. 2).Jan 26: Joe Nieuwendyk scores winner for Dallas against his old team, the Flames, in first visit back to Calgary.Jan 28: Toronto trades right winger Benoit Hogue and left winger Randy Wood to Dallas for center Dave Gagner.Washington&rsquo;s rookie defenseman Brendan Witt breaks wrist against Philadelphia.Jan 29: Ottawa beats St. Louis 4-2, ending 17-game home winless streak.Eric Fichaud, 20, debuts in goal for New York Islanders, defeating Buffalo 5-4 in overtime.Jan. 30: Jason Bonsignore scores for Sudbury Wolves in first game back in junior hockey after being sent down from Edmonton.Jan. 31: Dale Hawerchuk of St. Louis records 500th NHL goal in 4-0 win over Toronto.Peterborough awarded 1996 Memorial Cup. Petes in as host team.Buffalo&rsquo;s Pat LaFontaine scores a goal and three assists in 6-1 win over Florida to reach 900 career points. &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

Hawerchuk, LaFontaine reach NHL milestones

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011359/6123077-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Heads or tails tale: Jeremy Roenick&rsquo;s season has been as unpredictable as a coin toss. Pg. 7.</figcaption></div>WHERE&rsquo;S J.R. GOING?&hellip;pg. 7THE BIG THRILL&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;pg. 8STAR BURST&hellip;&hellip;pg. 12MONARCHS KINGS&hellip;&hellip;pg. 33 &#9632;

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ON THE COVER

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04570/6123108-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="346" height="429"></div>Getting the most winning coach in NHL history to compare the most winning team in the league this season with one of the most winning teams in history is not a winning proposition.I&rsquo;d give myself a one out of five, which is just about how many points the Detroit Red Wings have surrendered on average this season.My objective was simple: Call Scotty Bowman and ask if there are similarities between the 199596 Detroit Red Wings and 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens.Why the question? The Red Wings were on pace through 48 games to record the league&rsquo;s best winning percentage (.771) since the Canadiens finished at 806 in 1977-78. Bowman coached the Canadiens to four consecutive Stanley Cups during the second half of the 1970s.That, of course, is the most significant difference. The Red Wings haven&rsquo;t won a Cup in 41 years and were humiliated in last season&rsquo;s final.&ldquo;You gotta prove yourself,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;The opposition might be a tad better now. That team went on to dominate for four years. Until you do that, I don&rsquo;t think you can compare any teams.&rdquo;The most straightforward similarity is in philosophy. Despite explosive offensive capabilities (Guy Lafleur et al), Montreal played defense first and the Red Wings are no different. Thus, virtually identical goals-against averages: Montreal had a season-long 2.29 mark while the Red Wings were a 2.21.The Canadiens had better individual talent. They had nine Hall of Famers versus Detroit&rsquo;s three sure Hall of Famers (Paul Coffey, Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov), two old Russians who belong in the Hall of Fame (Igor Larionov, Slava Fetisov) and a second-tier candidate (Dino Ciccarelli). Bowman said Montreal also had a terrific support group. The Red Wings rely on theirs even more and Bowman is more democratic in spreading around the ice time now.As for prospects of Detroit maintaining its spectacular pace. Bowman said, &ldquo;It would be tough to keep that up, but we&rsquo;ll try. We&rsquo;ve go a pretty tough schedule.&rdquo;He said success has led to even more success: &ldquo;You get on a roll and you&rsquo;re playing without pressure. That&rsquo;s basically what it&rsquo;s all about. It&rsquo;s a lot easier to play without it than with it.&rdquo;The real pressure facing Detroit has nothing to do with its regular-season record; it has everything to do with its playoff record. &#9632;

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Will Detroit be best since 1970s’ Habs?

<h2>Hawerchuk in 500-goal club</h2>1. Ticket to Hall of Fame? St. Louis Blues&rsquo; center Dale Hawerchuk scores 500th career goal Jan. 31.2. Hot Hab combo Martin Rucinsky (6-7-13), Vincent Damphousse (3-9-12) combine for 25 points in four games.3. Cujo has heart Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; goalie Curtis Joseph purchases luxury suite for sick children to attend games.4. A January to remember New York Rangers undefeated in first month of 1996, five wins, four ties in nine starts.5. Player of week Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; Pat LaFontaine scores goal, three assists against Florida Jan. 31 for 900th career point.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021100/6123146-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="331" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">V. Damphousse</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03792/6123139-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="332" height="465"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat LaFontaine</figcaption></div><h2>Trades fail to produce wins</h2>1. Troubles in Toronto Maple Leafs make numerous personnel changes, then hit seven-game winless slide.2. Home woes Dallas Stars win just one (and tie three) home games in past 10 at Dr. Pepper StarCenter. Nice name.3. Road woes Western League&rsquo;s Moose Jaw Warriors lose 15 in a row away from home.4. Nothin&rsquo; Bruin Boston below Eastern Conference playoff line, in danger of missing post-season first time in 28 years.5. Flyers grounded Philadelphia hits rough patch with just two victories in 10 outings. &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chief</div>It doesn&rsquo;t have the same cache as the Mendoza Line (yet), but the brand new Stewie Standard is hockey&rsquo;s equivalent. Mario Mendoza was a real dog of a baseball player. He was bom in Chihuahua, Mexico, and hit 215 during a nine-year Major League Baseball career. His record is a benchmark for futility. Players flirting with 200 batting averages are said to be teetering on the Mendoza Line.The Ottawa Senators were sitting square on the Mendoza Line after 50 games. They had a 200 winning percentage with 20 of a possible 100 points. The 1924-25 Boston Bruins and 1975-76 Washington Capitals are the only two teams in NHL history to finish the season at exactly the 200 mark. Both had players named Stewart. Doc Stewart was a goalie for the Bruins and Blair Stewart was a center for the Capitals. Hence the Stewie Standard. The biggest question facing the Senators this season-other than that surrounding attendance-is whether they will finish under or over the 200 mark. With only seven of their final 32 games against playoff longshots, the Senators will be in tough. Bet the under. The 1974-75 Washington Capitals had the worst winning percentage ever (.131)&hellip;Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; coach Scotty Bowman has detected, like everybody else, an increase in uncalled obstruction fouls in the defensive zone. But he&rsquo;s confident/hopeful it won&rsquo;t creep back into the 58 feet between bluelines. &ldquo;The thing that has helped us most this year is that we&rsquo;re a good skating club,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the obstruction or interference is going to be able to come back in the neutral zone. I&rsquo;ve seen some games lately that kind of alarm me because it&rsquo;s like old-fashioned hockey. Scrums after the whistle.Lots of interference.&rdquo; Bowman continued: &ldquo;As long as it doesn&rsquo;t come back on scoring chances. That&rsquo;s the secret to our team. We&rsquo;re basically in the hands of how they call it. We&rsquo;re a fast team. But if you&rsquo;re allowed to restrain fast players, then you get the edge because you&rsquo;re bigger.&rdquo;&hellip;Watch for Slava Kozlov to get more ice time. Scotty Bowman said Kozlov is only getting 14-15 minutes per game. That seems low, but if that&rsquo;s the case, he&rsquo;d be a candidate for most goals per minute this season; Kozlov had 24 in 48 games. That, by the way, is an example of the kind of stat the NHL will soon offer. It is working on a computerized stats program that should be the envy of pro sports. Among the stats it could offer is minutes played for individual players. Another revealing stat would be a graphic representation of where all shots on goal originate&hellip;Last issue, The Hockey News Decision Desk declared the Ottawa Senators unofficially eliminated from the playoffs. This issue, the Decision Desk adds the San Jose Sharks and New York Islanders to the list of unofficial non-playoff teams. The Indecision Desk is focussing on the fortunes of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings and Dallas Stars, the three teams which could force their ways into the playoffs past two bottom-feeders, the Boston Bruins and Winnipeg Jets&hellip;High-scoring defenseman Phil Housley said part of the Calgary Flames&rsquo; resurgence can be attributed to their Dec. 26 switch to the left wing lock defensive system. The Flames had been using a neutral-zone trap in which the third man stayed high and had no specific side of the ice to cover. As a result, he sometimes got caught flat-footed in the middle of the ice. Under the left wing lock, the high forward comes back along the left boards no matter what position he plays and is responsible for retrieving the puck if it goes into that comer in the Flames&rsquo; zone. The worst that should happen is a 3-on-3 breakout and Flames&rsquo; defensemen know they are initially responsible only for the front of the net and the right side of the rink&hellip;When British Ice Hockey League netminder Tony Melia scored with the opponent&rsquo;s goalie in the net (THN, Feb. 2), it was believed to be a first for organized hockey. But research by hockey historian Pastor Glen Goodhand of Beaverton, Ont., indicates otherwise. Goodhand said a goalie with the last name Brophy (there are no records of his first name) did it twice, once in 1905 and once more in 1906, while playing for Westmount of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association. Goodhand said New York Rangers&rsquo; goalie Chuck Rayner also accomplished the feat in a 1951 exhibition game against a team from the Canadian Maritimes. On all three occasions, the goalies rushed into the attacking zone to score on their counterparts; Melia&rsquo;s shot traveled the length of the ice. NHL goalies haven&rsquo;t been allowed to cross the center red line since 1963-64&hellip;New Dallas Stars&rsquo; coach Ken Hitchcock said, &ldquo;What makes the New York Rangers so good is their battle level. Their skill is good, but not a lot different than certain other teams in the league. It&rsquo;s their grittiness in areas that are the difference between winning and losing that sets them apart.&rdquo;&hellip;The Senators might want to consider Newell Brown as an assistant coach on next year&rsquo;s staff. Brown is a native of nearby Cornwall, Ont., and has long been considered a top American League coach with the Adirondack Red Wings. He would be with the Florida Panthers as an assistant this season if the parent Red Wings, to whom Brown is under contract through this season, hadn&rsquo;t taken the highly unusual and much-criticized step of blocking his path to Miami last summer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011518/6123184-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="366" height="367"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021236/6123177-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1133" height="1643"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Yashin&rsquo;s Ottawa Senators are battling to be above 200.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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.200 reasons to get better

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03822/6123215-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="346" height="416"></div>If NHL GMs were given the opportunity to pluck the player of their choice from the roster of the Colorado Avalanche, Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic would be the hot ticket items. So would goalie Patrick Roy.Not far behind would be big Chris Simon.Simon is a 24-year-old. 6-foot-3, 220-pound native of Wawa, Ont., whose stringy hair hangs well down his back, making him look more like a roadie for Iron Maiden than a professional hockey player. He is also one of the NHL&rsquo;s scariest big men with the potential to be much more than just a fighter.&ldquo;When you break into the NHL and you&rsquo;re placed on the fourth line, you are obligated to fight everyone to prove yourself.&rdquo; Simon said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I did in Quebec. Now I don&rsquo;t focus all my attention on fighting. I believe I can contribute much more.&rdquo;So do I. even if his six goals. 15 points and 174 penalty minutes in 37 games this season paint him as one-dimensional.As an enforcer, Simon ranks with the best in die game. Florida Panthers&rsquo; defenseman Paul Laus led the NHL in fights as of Jan. 30 with 17. but Simon, who had fought nine times, caused more sleepless nights for NHL heavyweights.Watch Simon closely though and you&rsquo;ll discover a player who skates well, has good hands in tight and possesses a creative mind.&ldquo;A lot of tough guys get put with the better players on the team for protection,&rdquo; said Nick Polano, pro scout for the Calgary Flames. &ldquo;But with Simon, you can put him with Sakic and trust he will be able to make a play. He combines hockey sense, the ability to make a play and toughness. He&rsquo;s the closest thing in the NHL to what Bob Probert was in his prime.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s a stretch. Probert. who scored 29 goals and 62 points with a league-leading 398 penalty minutes riding shotgun for Steve Yzerman on the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; No. I line In 1987-88. is the patron saint of fighters.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an honor to be compared to Probert.&rdquo; Simon said. &ldquo;All guys who do our jobs want to be accepted as players, too.&rdquo;Simon&rsquo;s biggest challenge is to prove he belongs on the top two lines, which will be difficult given Colorado&rsquo;s depth. If he can do that and apply himself, the comparisons to Probert will begin to sound a little more realistic. &#9632;

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COLUMNISTS

Simon can do so much more

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div>The official unveiling of the eightcountry World Cup of Hockey was put on hold pending settlement of who will coach Russia&rsquo;s entry.At the center of the controversy is Viktor Tikhonov, former coach of the Soviet Union national team. The chance Tikhonov might coach caused a flap among Russian NHLers, who are trying to block such an appointment.The fight is led by Igor Larionov and Slava Fetisov of the Detroit Red Wings, who both loathe Tikhonov from their days with the Red Army.A Feb. 2 meeting near Detroit involved Fetisov, Larionov, NHL vicepresidents Steve Solomon and Brian Burke, NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Bob Goodenow and Valentin Sytch, president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation.What was decided in the meeting was uncertain, but Fetisov didn&rsquo;t hide his disgust of Tikhonov.&ldquo;This guy is not deserving,&rdquo; Fetisov said. &ldquo;He was against (Russians) playing here. Even youngsters ran away from him, defected.&ldquo;His era is past. Let us try something new. It is not about me, I might not play. It&rsquo;s about the right thing for the future. The players don&rsquo;t belong to the Russian federation anymore.&rdquo;Tikhonov was appointed an adviser to Valeri Vasiliev, the coach of Russia&rsquo;s national team, who has been contacting Russian NHLers to confirm their interest in the World Cup.But Tikhonov yearns for a higher profile and has been lobbying for the World Cup job, according to Viktor Gusev, business manager for Tikhonov&rsquo;s Central Army team.The Russians have yet to name a coach and Vasiliev is the favorite.&ldquo;The federation is aware of resentment (towards Tikhonov),&rdquo; Gusev said.Larionov, who is revered by all Russians in the NHL, has said that no Russian NHLers will play in the World Cup with Tikhonov as coach.&ldquo;We just don&rsquo;t understand why he might be coach,&rdquo; he said.The meeting also dealt with another contentious issue-money.Larionov wants some of Russia&rsquo;s cut of World Cup monies to go into a fund for veterans back home.&ldquo;There are so many players retired 15, 20 years ago and they have no money,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The federation never took care of them. They&rsquo;re dying and there&rsquo;s no money even to put them in a cemetery.&rdquo;World Cup organizers are waiting to officially announce the tournament, which starts Aug. 26 in Stockholm. The first game in Canada is Aug. 29 in Vancouver with Canada hosting Russia. (See pg. 42 for World Cup schedule.)The eight-team tournament comprises two divisions. Canada, the U.S., Russia and Slovakia will make up the North American Division, with Sweden, Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic forming the European Division. &#9632;

Tikhonov facing backlash

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>No minor hockey coach has ever died from hitting his head on the ice in the United States and USA Hockey wants to keep it that way.Coaches and referees at all levels of amateur hockey in the U.S. are being strongly recommended to wear helmets on the ice.USA Hockey, the governing body for amateur hockey in the U.S., passed a motion at its Jan. 14 board of directors meeting stating: &ldquo;It is strongly recommended that all coaches and officials wear hockey helmets during on-ice sessions, including practices, controlled scrimmages and coaching and refereeing clinics/seminars.&rdquo;The move is seen as a first step in making helmets mandatory for all non-players on the ice. The Hockey News made that recommendation in the Nov. 17, 1995 issue after it was learned there have been three deaths in Canada and numerous injuries in the past five years to minor hockey coaches who were involved in practice accidents and weren&rsquo;t wearing headgear.&ldquo;I think everybody realizes it&rsquo;s plain, common sense,&rdquo; said John Robinson, director of insurance and risk management for USA Hockey. There have been five injuries in the past few years, but no fatalities in the U.S.Officials in both Canada and the U.S. would like to make helmets mandatory, but it would have to be enshrined in their rulebooks, which can only be amended every two years. The next opportunity for the Canadian Hockey Association and USA Hockey to do that would be 1997.CHA director of regulations and insurance, Hal Lewis, is pushing for a similar recommendation at the CHA&rsquo;s annual meeting in May. Lewis said he expects some backlash to the concept from volunteers who don&rsquo;t like to be told what to do.&ldquo;My argument to that is there are three volunteers who aren&rsquo;t coaching now because they&rsquo;re dead,&rdquo; Lewis said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011435/6123339-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="410" height="483"><figcaption class="caption-body">Len Ceglarski</figcaption></div>LEGEND AWARD: Four years after retiring from coaching, Len Ceglarski showed he can still win.College hockey&rsquo;s all-time winningest coach captured the 1996 Legend of College Hockey Award. The honor is given each spring to an individual who has made substantial contributions to college hockey.Ceglarski started at Clarkson in 1958 and led the Golden Knights to three national finals. He moved to Boston College in 1972 and led his alma mater to 10 national playoff berths.A member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, Ceglarski retired in 1992 after 34 seasons of coaching college. His career record is 673-399-38.He will be given the award April 11 in Bloomington, Minn.CUP CHALLENGE: Former Boston Bruin pals Bobby Orr and Don Cherry will be behind the bench at the Canadian Hockey League&rsquo;s Chrysler Cup Challenge Feb. 15, but it won&rsquo;t be fun and games.&ldquo;This is no joke,&rdquo; Cherry said. &ldquo;Everyone is serious. It&rsquo;s a big deal for the players.&rdquo;The match features 40 of the top prospects for the 1996 entry draft. Players were selected by the 26 NHL clubs and Central Scouting Bureau.The players will be divided into two teams and be coached by Orr and Cherry. The game is set for Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.EXCELLENT CENTER: Canadian Hockey&rsquo;s fourth Centre of Excellence was officially opened at GM Place in Vancouver in late-January.The purpose of the center is to improve the development of the game at all levels and to strengthen the resources of hockey programs. Former pro player Brad Pascall is the center&rsquo;s manager.The B.C. Centre of Excellence is operated jointly by the CHA, British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association and Vancouver Canucks.Previous centers were established in Calgary (1984), Toronto (1992) and Saint John, N.B. (1995). Centers are proposed for Quebec and Europe.NEW TITLE: Rick Dudley has a new title, but the same mandate.The senior vice-president and chief operating officer of NHL Enterprises assumed the title of president, NHL Enterprises.No relation to the Detroit Vipers&rsquo; coach-GM by the same name, Dudley will continue to lead league efforts in marketing and merchandising operations, including licensing, sponsorship programs, business development and publishing. He has been with NHL Enterprises since January, 1994.NIKE MAKES THREE: Nike has joined CCM and Starter as the NHL&rsquo;s official licensed suppliers of authentic sweaters for selected teams.Nike is also the supplier of replica sweaters for all clubs.MEET IN WATERLOO: Canada, the Czech Republic and Russia will compete for the Father David Bauer Cup in March.Named after one of hockey&rsquo;s greatest contributors, the tournament will be held in Waterloo, Ont., March 2831. It is a preparation tournament for the 1996 World Championship in Vienna, Austria.The three teams will play a round-robin with the top two teams to meet in the final. Canada finished third, the Czech Republic fourth and Russia fifth at the 1995 World Championship.Canada is expected to name its 22-player roster in April. Its first World Championship game is April 21.Former Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; assistant coach Andy Murray was added to Tom Renney&rsquo;s coaching staff Jan. 29. Murray recently led a Canadian team to victory at the Spengler Cup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021036/6123332-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="414" height="485"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Dudley</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Governing bodies pushing coaches to wear helmets

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div>It&rsquo;s a statistic in which the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils should take pride and one that should concern the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins.How a team performs against the top teams in the NHL is an interesting harbinger of what may lay ahead in the Stanley Cup playoffs.The Hockey News identified nine teams that had records of at least five games over 500 (after the 20-game mark and beyond) and tallied the records of all teams versus this elite group. The group consisted of the Detroit Red Wings, Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia, Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.The Rangers stood head and shoulders above their peers with a 93-3 record (.700 winning percentage) against fortune 500 teams.The defending Cup champion Devils, flirting with the 500 mark all season, could take solace in the fact they had a better winning percentage (.531) against the league&rsquo;s top teams than against the weaker ones (.485).The Flyers, Maple Leafs and Bruins, on the other hand, had great records against the also-rans, but struggled against contending teams. Philadelphia won just six of 18 games against the NHL&rsquo;s top nine clubs as of Feb. 2. Toronto had a 267 winning percentage and Boston a 176 mark against top clubs.Here are all teams&rsquo; winning percentages against the best and the rest.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03690/6123370-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="575" height="1187"></div> &#9632;

f0005-03

Rangers play best vs. best

I have been an Ottawa Senators&rsquo; follower since Day 1. While the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; acquisition of Kirk Muller is a great move for the next two years, Senators&rsquo; GM Pierre Gauthier has made a more lasting and significant impact.Alexei Yashin is on the ice. The disaffected No. 1 pick, Bryan Berard, is swapped for No. 2 Wade Redden, who will sign there. The Senators have a young, talented tandem in net. The underqualified Dave Allison is gone. All of this was done as the Senators moved into their new building, the Palladium.Not a bad 30 days.Senators&rsquo; players and fans should recognize the signals. Gauthier is overseeing the birth of a legitimate NHL franchise. Congratulations to him.Robert J. Nicol,&nbsp; Milwaukee, Wise.<h2>Who will score?</h2>How can the Ottawa Senators expect to get any better if they continue to get rid of the players who score the most?Dan Quinn and Martin Straka still had a lot to contribute. Damian Rhodes is not going to score any goals for Ottawa.Jack Carr,&nbsp; Bloomingburg, N. Y.<h2>Money matters</h2>I read with disgust Michael Ulmer&rsquo;s profile on Larry Murphy in the Jan. 19 issue.Murphy says he feels for those people impacted by downsizing, &ldquo;but I really think if we can be as efficient as possible, we&rsquo;ll be better off.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s easy for him to say. Murphy earns $2,275 million per season. During the lockout last season, he was a player rep for a group which felt the average salary of $800,000 was just too low.He&rsquo;s also on a team of millionaires which recently held a rookie dinner, where it was reported that two rookies had to pick up the tab for a $10,000 meal.Talk about conspicuous consumption!Edward Leslie,&nbsp; Edmonton, Alta.<h2>This is pitiful?</h2>First of all, I would like to congratulate Canada on its fourth straight gold medal at the World Junior Championship. But I am confused by THN&rsquo;s appraisal of the U.S. entry in the tournament.In its WJC preview (THN, Jan. 5), THN predicted the Americans would finish sixth overall. After a slow start, they ended up defeating Finland twice, a team that was picked to finish fourth. As a result, the U.S. finished fifth overall.But in your Plus-Minus section of the Jan. 19 issue, you say the U.S. put in a &ldquo;pitiful effort.&rdquo; If finishing higher than expected can be classified as pitiful, then the editors must be thoroughly disappointed in the Canadian gold medal.Jeffrey Hall,&nbsp; Jamaica Plain, Mass.<h2>Where&rsquo;s my info?</h2>I would like to respond to your comments in your Jan. 19 Plus-Minus column regarding the fan response to the World Junior Championship.In my opinion, it was not the apathy of Americans, but the apathy of tournament organizers, that led to low turnouts.I called USA Hockey in January, 1995 to ask for ticket information and was given the number of the Massachusetts Sports Authority, which was running the event. I called them and was told they didn&rsquo;t have any information available at that time. I asked to be put on a mailing list to receive the information when it was available.I still hadn&rsquo;t received any information in August, so I called again and was told there was still no information available. Again I asked to be put on a mailing list.Well, now the tournament is over and I have yet to receive any information. It is unfortunate the WJC had such a small following in the host country, but I do not believe it was the fault of the citizens of the host country, just the fault of the organizers.Ken Smiley,&nbsp; Midlothian, Va.<h2>Clancey a star</h2>What if a league held an All-Star Game and the top scorer wasn&rsquo;t invited. Well, that&rsquo;s exactly what happened in the East Coast League this season.Derek Clancey of the Columbus Chill was leading the league in scoring when the all-star teams were named, but he was not selected to play in the game.What could the league have been thinking? Clancey has been a consistent scoring threat for the Chill the past two seasons. Clancey and ECHL fans deserved better.Brian Intrieri,&nbsp; Columbus, Ohio<h2>Fuhr gets honor</h2>There is no question in my mind who should be the comeback player of the year.Sure, there were doubts Mario Lemieux could return to form and he quickly laid those to rest. But in Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s case, there were no doubts. Before the season began, virtually every hockey writer, analyst and &ldquo;expert&rdquo; was convinced Fuhr was washed up.Anyone care to revise their statements?More people expected Tie Domi to win the Lady Byng Trophy than for Fuhr to start every game this season.Jeremy May,&nbsp; Aurora, Colo.<h2>Get Wayne, Lou</h2>The New Jersey Devils&rsquo; struggles at the turnstiles and in the win column can be solved with one acquisition: Wayne Gretzky.With The Great One in the Devils&rsquo; lineup, attendance will rise, one-goal losses will turn into wins and Devils fans will finally have a marquee player at the Meadowlands.Devils&rsquo; GM Lou Lamoriello should package some young players, draft picks and Neal Broten for Gretzky.Roger Rubinetti,&nbsp; Montclair, N.J.<h2>Bad selections</h2>Kudos to the NHL for finally recognizing Dominik Hasek among the NHL elite by naming him to the AllStar Game. But where is Pat LaFontaine?LaFontaine is a perennial all-star and for him to be passed over for the likes of Cam Neely is absurd. LaFontaine is the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; heart and soul. He&rsquo;ll always be an all-star in my eyes.C. Decario,&nbsp; Burnaby, B.C.<h2>What&rsquo;s next, Harry?</h2>Harry Sinden is a very influential man in NHL circles. He has been a GM of an Original Six team for almost 25 years. He is a member of the NHL board of governors and sits on various rules committees.He was recently quoted as saying he supports four 15-minute quarters for hockey because it &ldquo;would increase ad revenue.&rdquo;What&rsquo;s next, Harry? Advertisements on the Boston Bruins&rsquo; uniforms? Music and sound effects to accompany slapshots?As a hockey supporter, I&rsquo;m no longer wild about Harry.Chris Vassbotn,&nbsp; Temagami, Ont.Make your feelings known. Fax us your comments at&nbsp;(416) 340-1641.&nbsp;Write to&nbsp;Letters, The Hockey News, 777 Bay St, Suite 2700, Box 148, Toronto, Ont, M5G 2C8&nbsp;in Canada. In the U.S., write to&nbsp;Letters, The Hockey News, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947.&nbsp;E-mail us at <a href="mailto:THN@transc.com">THN@transc.com</a>. Include home and business phone numbers.&nbsp;THN&nbsp;reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Sens finally going in right direction

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011615/6123425-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011462/6123456-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jeremy Roenick admits playing out his option year has negatively affected his play.</figcaption></div>Jeremy Roenick barrels over the Toronto Maple Leaf blueline with the puck on his stick, his eyes on the net and scoring on his mind.The Leafs&rsquo; strategy is to deny him the puck, but it&rsquo;s too late for that now, the distance is closing and there&rsquo;s only one question left: where is J.R. going?J.R. is going for a spin.Slashing in from left wing, he angles slightly toward the middle, then suddenly pivots on his left skate and whirls clockwise back to the outside boards. A right-hand shot, he is beyond the defenseman&rsquo;s reach, but has created a bad angle on his backhand. Felix Potvin turns aside the shot.The Roenickian Revolution, a kid&rsquo;s move from a master, is ultimately unsatisfying. The view from above says he should have done more.It&rsquo;s a perception more and more people have about Roenick these days. Twenty-four goals and 47 points in 52 games are good numbers, but not great from a three-time 100-point scorer. He had an eight-game points-streak, but had scored more than two points in a night only once.Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; coach Craig Hartsburg says Roenick is playing well.And on one hand, Roenick says he is &ldquo;playing very strong in all facets of the game. I think I&rsquo;m the same player as always.&rdquo;On the other hand, Roenick is a 26-year-old, eight-year veteran who admittedly has had difficulty focusing the past two seasons.His hard-line pro-player stance in the lockout didn&rsquo;t win him an ally in hardline Hawk owner Bill Wirtz, or a shortage of publicity. Over the summer, Roenick went public with criticism of coach Darryl Sutter, who eventually resigned.This year, inquiries about Roenick&rsquo;s contract status have dogged him in every city. He is scheduled to become a restricted free agent in the summer after turning down an offer of $17.5 million over five years last spring. Roenick is earning $1.4 million this year.There has been altogether too much talk about his contract, too many questions from guys with microphones hunting out a juicy sound bite (knowing they&rsquo;ll get it) and too many Roenick responses.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a phase I&rsquo;m going through,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It has been a year since this stuff has been following me. Sometimes I bring it up myself, but that&rsquo;s okay, I&rsquo;m a big boy. I am a very honest person and I tell things like I see it. Sometimes I shouldn&rsquo;t. Sometimes I can&rsquo;t help it.&rdquo;He can&rsquo;t help the trade rumors, either, but unlike most players, he doesn&rsquo;t mind them. He says it&rsquo;s flattering to know there are teams that want him-as long at they aren&rsquo;t the Winnipeg Jets. The Hawks tried to use him as trade bait for Jets&rsquo; winger Keith Tkachuk last summer, but Roenick said he wouldn&rsquo;t report if it happened. The Tampa Bay Lightning heads the current rumor mill of interested teams.Roenick has already made one move this season-to the wing. He has always been more sniper than set-up man, yet he has always been a center in the NHL. But after the all-star break, Hartsburg moved him to the left side on a line with Tony Amonte and center Bemie Nicholls in an attempt to generate more offense. The Hawks want him to shoot more often. Roenick says anything that will create scoring chances is fine by him.&ldquo;You have someone feeding him the puck all day he should get a lot of goals,&rdquo; Nicholls says. &ldquo;You try to work to a guy&rsquo;s strength. Rather than have him try to find somebody, have somebody find him.&rdquo;That shouldn&rsquo;t be too tough-just turn to the sports pages.Roenick leads a very public life by choice. Four years ago he said, &ldquo;I want to be like Wayne Gretzky. I want to have the publicity he has. I want to have the endorsements he has.&rdquo; Little has changed since then. When told he was going to be the subject of a cover story in The Hockey News, he said, &ldquo;Awesome.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s fine if he&rsquo;s only talking about the game. But Roenick acknowledges that when it&rsquo;s a contract that&rsquo;s on his mind and in the paper, his play suffers and so does the team. His teammates and bosses know it, too.&ldquo;He has got to forget his contract and go out and play,&rdquo; says assistant GM Bob Murray. &ldquo;And it probably would help his contract if he wasn&rsquo;t thinking about it.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not fair to J.R., it&rsquo;s not fair to his teammates every time (the media) brings it up,&rdquo; Nicholls says. &ldquo;I know he&rsquo;s not bringing it up and I don&rsquo;t think he should be put in a position to talk about it either.&rdquo;For the record, Roenick brought it up with THN and talks on a new deal are on hold.He refers to the contract banter like it&rsquo;s a beast out to hunt him down. Roenick says he&rsquo;s always trying to &ldquo;control it&rdquo; and &ldquo;get away from it.&rdquo; He believes it has invaded his mind.&ldquo;You think offense so much and you press a little bit too much, and you don&rsquo;t put yourself in the same situations because you are pressing to do too much to heighten your level,&rdquo; he says.&ldquo;That stuff, subconsciously, plays a major role on your productivity, the way you play, your style. You think the more points you get, the better you&rsquo;ll be.&rdquo;Roenick had three straight 100-point seasons from 1991-92 until 1993-94 and two 50-goal seasons playing on a line with Michel Goulet and Steve Larmer.Last year he fell off to 34 points in 33 games in what he calls &ldquo;pretty much a joke season&rdquo; marred by a knee injury that forced him to miss seven weeks. Roenick says with a little luck this year, he could just as easily have 70 points as 47.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t judge Jeremy Roenick on just goals and assists,&rdquo; Hartsburg says. &ldquo;When he comes to work, and he works hard for the team, he&rsquo;s our best player.&rdquo;To Roenick&rsquo;s opponents, speed, shot and physical play are so strong he&rsquo;s always a threat.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t let up or he&rsquo;ll bum you,&rdquo; says Leaf defenseman Todd Gill. &ldquo;I still consider him one of the premier players in the league, somebody that if I had a choice not to play against, he&rsquo;d be one of the guys.&rdquo;And truth be told, scoring and the contract are not all that&rsquo;s on J.R.&rsquo;s mind. On Oct. 6, 1994-a day the Hawks were supposed to be hosting the New Jersey Devils-his wife Traci gave birth to the couple&rsquo;s first child. That he was able to be at the hospital to see the first moments of daughter Brandi&rsquo;s life is in his mind the only good thing to come out of the lockout.&ldquo;She has been the highlight of my year for sure,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Every day I look forward to seeing her. I think maybe sometimes there&rsquo;s more of a sense of urgency because of her.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s also the urgency of the mountains J.R. has yet to climb: a Stanley Cup, preferably in Chicago, and a hockey reputation as second to none. At 26, he figures he only has another 10 years or so to make them come true.&ldquo;If you just come here and don&rsquo;t want to try to be the best, you don&rsquo;t have very high expectations,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I want to be one of the best.&rdquo; &#9632;

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TRYING TIMES

<div class="byline">By Adrian Qatar</div>Before a game-day skate in Anaheim, Colorado Avalanche right winger Claude Lemieux spends a few minutes discussing his former team, the New Jersey Devils.All the while, he scrapes and molds the blades of his sticks into shapes that resemble wooden daggers.But, even though it must be tempting for him to plunge a few verbal daggers into his old team, Lemieux&rsquo;s words about the Devils have about as much edge to them as a beachball.Living well, Lemieux has found, is indeed the best revenge.&ldquo;If I wasn&rsquo;t going to get (the contract) I should have got (or be) treated the way I should have been treated, then I was going to go forward and that&rsquo;s what happened,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy that I got to move here.&rdquo;Just a few months ago, Lemieux was living hockey&rsquo;s ultimate high in New Jersey. After a regular season for the Devils in which some were wondering if his best days were behind him, Lemieux excelled in the crunch.He scored 13 playoff goals-more than double his regular season output of six-and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as postseason MVP in New Jersey&rsquo;s four-game sweep of the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup final.Off the ice, things were apparently going great, too. Lemieux put a difficult divorce behind him and was to be re-married. He he seemed to be on solid financial footing with a new four-year $5.2-million contract-albeit a faxed copy of the deal-he signed after the lockout.Life was seemingly perfect for Lemieux.But Lemieux decided he wanted more and that led to a nasty contract dispute with Devils&rsquo; management. While holding out of training camp, Lemieux lost an arbitration case and was soon dealt to the Avalanche in a three-way trade in which Colorado parted with Wendel Clark, who was in the middle of a contract hassle of his own.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a business for them and it&rsquo;s a business for me too,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just a business for the owners. We make a living doing this, too. They did what they felt they had to do and so did I.&rdquo;As it happened, things didn&rsquo;t turn out so badly for the 30-year-old native of Buckingham, Que.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011539/6123487-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="961" height="1952"><figcaption class="caption-body">Claude Lemieux plans to settle in Colorado when he retires. (Photo by Jim Mclsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div>While his former team is struggling to make the playoffs, Lemieux was scoring at a pace that would challenge his career best and the Avalanche was cruising along in the Pacific Division with 63 points, 16 more than the second place Vancouver Canucks.With 25 goals in his first 49 games, Lemieux was on a pace for a 42-goal season. His single-season high came in 1991-92 when he scored 41. While his former team is doing all it can to muster enough offense to stay competitive, Lemieux is skating on the same line with Swedish star center Peter Forsberg and having the time of his life.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve had a real good season so far,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been pretty consistent. It was a little tough off the start because of missing training camp and coming to a new team, but I feel like I&rsquo;ve adjusted pretty well and I feel comfortable with the team we have.&rdquo;Lemieux&rsquo;s play has been well-received by coach Marc Crawford, who is as happy with the veteran&rsquo;s defensive excellence as much as the goals he has been contributing.&ldquo;He almost always shadows our opponents&rsquo; best offensive player, just like he did in the playoffs for New Jersey, and his influence over our team has been a positive one,&rdquo; Crawford said.Lemieux, who hasn&rsquo;t made an issue of the contract situation since arriving in Denver, professes not to hold any grudges against the Devils or their coach Jacques Lemaire, whose defensive style likely played a part in Lemieux&rsquo;s goal-scoring being way down last season.&ldquo;But that was the price you pay for team success,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;If you looked at the overall stats of the team, everyone was down in production. My role was not based on having to score goals. Mostly it was for a guy playing against the opponents&rsquo; top line. I felt I did that job.&rdquo;But the real reason Lemieux isn&rsquo;t in a vengeful mood these days is because he&rsquo;s simply having too much fun in Colorado to be bogged down by the past.He and his new wife, Deborah Lynn Henson, have a large house near the Rocky Mountains and Lemieux said he would like to play four or five more years for the Avalanche, then retire to Colorado.&ldquo;And,&rdquo; Lemieux added, &ldquo;win another Stanley Cup, hopefully, too.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-01

Rocky Mountain high

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011479/6123525-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="389" height="542"></div>Phoenix should not need block heaters to warm up to the Jets.Dave Manson is as prickly as a cactus and Terry Simpson&rsquo;s quotes are awfully dry. Naturally, it would help if the team had Scott Sandelin or Derek Sanderson or Kari Takko, who surely would have become the southwest&rsquo;s first big hockey name.Nevertheless, the transfer of the franchise is expected to be smooth. Sadly, the gig is up in Winnipeg, which can no longer afford to support Jason Doig in the manner to which he has become accustomed. In the playoffs, the Jets have so often gone south, they may as well just stay there.During Super Bowl week, it was hard to gauge Phoenix&rsquo;s ardor for our game. The Arizona Republic was giving good play to wire service stories of Winnipeg games, but on the street, the only Jett we heard mentioned was the Cowboys&rsquo; punter, John. Nevertheless, we learned the people of Phoenix are so crazy about hockey that next season the city will have two teams.Aye carumba! When the wily NHL coyotes move in, the International League&rsquo;s Roadrunners aren&rsquo;t going to hit the, well, you know. &ldquo;We have a niche in the market, our own building and good weekend dates,&rdquo; said GM Adam Keller. &ldquo;Our sponsors have indicated they are comfortable with our family-affordable ticket pricing.&rdquo;Phoenix is about to have more hockey teams than Toronto and Montreal. These people are so thirsty for the sport, they can&rsquo;t fill their canteens with enough pucks. Either that, or they are into the locoweed even before Kris King gets to town. This is a town that has never seen snow, Garth or otherwise, and it&rsquo;s going to support two hockey clubs?&ldquo;We will be presenting some of the great athletes in the world,&rdquo; said Shawn Hunter, the CEO of Phoenix NHL hockey. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;ll be aggressive with our pricing. We won&rsquo;t miss a segment of the market because of prices that are too high. In Denver, one-third of the tickets are less than $15.&rdquo;That comes to $7.50 per Shannon-Darryl and Darrin-certainly reasonable. If Hunter can pass off Mike Eastwood as Clint Eastwood for a couple of years, then eventually Phoenix won&rsquo;t need no stinking basketball.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021051/6123518-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="517" height="886"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Zhamnov</figcaption></div>Actually, owners Richard Burke and Steven Gluckstem are in cahoots with Suns&rsquo; chairman Jerry Colangelo. Therefore the NHL team, soon to be named the Scorpions, Coyotes, Freeze, Jets (running a surprising fourth right now in the contest vote), Outlaws, Renegades, Mustangs or Wranglers, already has a marketing and sales staff in place.That&rsquo;s the good news. The bad news is the team will share an America West Arena that has 1,200-1,500 obstructed view seats for hockey. &ldquo;Only slightly obstructed,&rdquo; said Hunter. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to find a way to make them attractive.&rdquo;It will help if Teemu Selanne, Keith Tkachuk and Alexei Zhamnov can all fit in the budget. Nevertheless, if it turns out Eddie Olczyk doesn&rsquo;t quite do for hockey in Phoenix what Wayne Gretzky did for hockey in California, then Phoenix&rsquo;s great population of European immigrants will rally, as soon as the city has one. Right now, there are 2.5 million persons in the Valley of the Sun, going on 4 million after the turn of the century. One gets the feeling the numbers are in the NHL&rsquo;s favor.Nine days into their season-ticket campaign, the team had collected 6,000 deposits of $100. Imagine, and these people haven&rsquo;t even seen Randy Gilhen yet.Well, actually they have. Most of the Jets were flown in during the NHL&rsquo;s all-star weekend, where they entertained 4,500 persons at a ticket push, were taken on a housing tour and discovered, much to their fascination, that places exist in the world where you can actually play golf in January.Sure, it will be tough to tear themselves away from that picture of Queen Elizabeth in the Winnipeg Arena, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the good of the game. &#9632;

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Phoenix prepares for Jet landing

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011544/6123563-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="381" height="534"></div>It doesn&rsquo;t take a deep-thinking reader of classic Russian literature to know an 8-0 lead in the NHL is safe.But there was Paul Maurice, the very-rookie coach of the Hartford Whalers who takes books by authors Feodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy to bed at night, pondering whether he could assume the two points were his with an eight-goal lead over the Los Angeles Kings.&ldquo;I thought to myself,&rdquo; Maurice says with a laugh, &ldquo;&lsquo;Hey, no team can come back from an eight-goal deficit, can they?&rsquo;&rdquo;One quickly learns in the NHL to never take anything for granted. The Whalers&rsquo; 29-year-old coach has endured some tough stretches since taking over from the fired Paul Holmgren in November, but had his team headed in the right direction and back in contention for a playoff berth entering February.Any concerns that Maurice, as the youngest coach in the league (younger even than some of his players) might have a difficult time earning respect, have evaporated. He betrays a rare intensity both behind the bench and in his office and has yet to acquire the air some coaches have of knowing everything about everything.He&rsquo;s also not afraid to occasionally raise his decibel-yelling level, which is roughly equivalent to that of Pat Bums and Mike Milbury-combined. &ldquo;We forget about his age when he starts screaming,&rdquo; says one Whaler.Others suggest Maurice practices &ldquo;strategic bellowing,&rdquo; limiting his outbursts to precise occasions.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve only done it three or four times,&rdquo; he explains, &ldquo;and once or twice it was to make me feel better. I walked out of the room, took a deep breath and my life felt better than it had been before.&rdquo;Maurice, who was a 10-year veteran of owner Peter Karmanos&rsquo; Detroit Compuware junior organization before becoming a Whalers&rsquo; assistant. also employs the do-what-got-you-here philosophy.&ldquo;Some of the basic instincts I had as a coach on a lower level are valuable in the NHL,&rdquo; Maurice says.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021159/6123556-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="512" height="881"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Maurice</figcaption></div>And because the roller coaster is huge here, you really have to trust your instincts. The things you need to win here are exactly the same as anywhere else.&rdquo;A prime factor needed among the Whalers was unity. Once Maurice figured that out, he turned to his captain, Brendan Shanahan, who responded well.&ldquo;Brendan is a charismatic leader,&rdquo; Maurice says, &ldquo;and on our team that is the flavor we needed.&rdquo;In terms of style, Maurice blends a little Scotty Bowman with a smidgen of Mike Keenan. He understands the challenge of motivating millionaires, but also realizes success is a function of peer pressure.&ldquo;When (goalie) Sean Burke is peeved because he has played very well and the guys up front haven&rsquo;t,&rdquo;Maurice says, &ldquo;everyone in the room is pretty quiet. And that&rsquo;s the way it should be. That is peer pressure at work.&rdquo;Not that far removed from his own playing days-Maurice was a junior teammate of the New York Rangers&rsquo; Adam Graves with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario League-the Whalers&rsquo; coach remembers his own tutors and tries to incorporate the good and weed out the bad. One coach who left a lasting impression on him was Tom Webster, who is now an assistant with the Philadelphia Flyers. &ldquo;Win or lose, Webster would skate us,&rdquo; Maurice says. &ldquo;He was a tyrant a lot of the time&hellip;but that was fine.&rdquo;When Maurice isn&rsquo;t thinking hockey, he often turns to a literary world whose background was underlined with tyranny. One night before a recent game in New Jersey, he was spotted carrying around Dostoevsky&rsquo;s The Devils.&ldquo;I got into it through my older brother who is an avid reader and spent some time in Russia,&rdquo; Maurice says. &ldquo;He got me interested in (Dostoevsky&rsquo;s) The Idiot and it took me three years to finish because I had four or five other books going.&rdquo;Three years to finish The Idiot? That certainly doesn&rsquo;t appear to be the storyline for Maurice&rsquo;s coaching career. &#9632;

f0010-01

More to Maurice than meets the eye

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>The Calgary Flames were a very bad team the first two months of the season. Phil Housley was a very bad player.His unique contribution to the Flames&rsquo; October death spiral was a penchant for glaring giveaways that always seemed to end up in Calgary&rsquo;s net. He was forcing the play and the team was paying for his mistakes. His plus-minus looked like Nick Price&rsquo;s scorecard at the Masters.On Oct. 20, the Flames were in Toronto and off to an 0-4-3 start. For coach Pierre Page, a one-on-one chat with Housley that day was just another in a series of desperate meetings for desperate times. He had no idea of the impact his words would have.Page told Housley about Steve DeBerg, a former National Football League quarterback. DeBerg had outstanding skill, Page said, but he ruined great performances by throwing interceptions at crucial times. The implication was Housley was doing the same.Housley listened receptively to what Page had to say, added a few comments and left. If the light bulb clicked, Page didn&rsquo;t see it.But something did click in Housley&rsquo;s head. Page managed to convince him he had to clarify his priorities and that if winning was a priority, he had to change his game.Housley discovered in Page someone to whom he could talk, which allowed him to hear what the coach had to say. It was a hockey epiphany.&ldquo;He really made it clear to me that he wanted me to be a leader on this team and that he didn&rsquo;t think the points were as important as winning,&rdquo; Housley said. &ldquo;He made a good point. I&rsquo;ve done well offensively my whole career, but I&rsquo;ve never won a Stanley Cup. The points are coming harder, but the wins more than make up for that.&rdquo;Housley entered this season with 257 goals and 882 career points. He recently passed Bobby Orr&rsquo;s career total of 915 points and about a year from now should become the fifth defenseman in history behind Paul Coffey, Ray Bourque, Denis Potvin and Larry Murphy to reach the magical 1,000-point mark. Bourque and Housley are the only ones of the group never to have won a Cup.There is no doubt James Patrick was Calgary&rsquo;s best defenseman in the early part of the season, out Housley was outstanding after learning to pick his spots on the rush. He had 15 goals and 36 points in 48 games, but more importantly for Page, his plus-minus had rebounded to minus-5 from minus-14 as the Flames went 16-13-6 after starting the season 2-10-4.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011402/6123594-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="987" height="1965"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Housley says he&rsquo;s not ruling out re-signing with Calgary.</figcaption></div>Page said he had heard the talk Housley turned moody when times got tough and cared only about scoring. Instead, he found an extremely talented player who was trying to do too much on the ice. Now he&rsquo;s doing it off-ice-Housley has been spotted in the weight room on days off.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s on a mission. He&rsquo;s having a helluva year,&rdquo; Page said. &ldquo;Our business is so oriented towards points. How many guys get big dollars for team play? I don&rsquo;t know. I think Phil&rsquo;s going through that transition. He has been a point guy all his life and he hasn&rsquo;t won. If he uses the right approach, he&rsquo;s going to win because he&rsquo;s an outstanding player.&rdquo;The multi-million dollar question is whether it will happen in Calgary. Housley turns 32 in March and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer looking for a three- or four-year deal that improves on his salary of $2.4-million (U.S.) this season.He is excited about the chance to choose his team, but not about the short-term instability it has created.One rumor had him going to the Colorado Avalanche, but it eventually found its offensive defenseman in Sandis Ozolinsh. Another had him going to the Los Angeles Kings in return for defenseman Darryl Sydor.Flames&rsquo; GM Al Coates said a trade is not his first choice, although he has had only preliminary talks with Housley and agent Larry Kelly.&ldquo;We have not pursued (a trade) at all,&rdquo; Coates said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve just climbed back into the playoff race with everybody else and he has been a big part of that.&rdquo;Housley initially balked at uprooting his family to go to Calgary when he was traded there from the St. Louis Blues in July, 1994, less than a year after being traded to the Blues from the Winnipeg Jets.He&rsquo;s still non-committal about his future in Calgary, but his chances of staying look a lot better since the team has started winning.&ldquo;We seem to have found a home here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m willing to listen to offers.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-01

Win-win situation

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011494/6123625-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Modano&rsquo;s numbers have suffered over the years because of the Stars&rsquo; defense-first system. (Photo by jim McLsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div>Some players try to work a hitch out of their game. Mike Modano is happy to have added one.The 25-year-old center for the Dallas Stars says the appointment of Ken Hitchcock as coach, replacing Bob Gainey who remains the team&rsquo;s GM, has given him the boost he needs to turn a rather ordinary season into something more special.With superstardom seemingly within his grasp-he scored 50 goals as a 23-year-old two years ago-but never quite in hand, the 6-foot-3 and 190-pound Modano is thrilled to be playing for a coach who preaches offense.&ldquo;Hitch gives you the opportunity to flourish on offense,&rdquo; Modano says. &ldquo;If you take it, good for you. If you don&rsquo;t, then shame on you. In Bob&rsquo;s system, when you were on the attack, you still had to play cautiously.&rdquo;Modano said he often felt suffocated in Gainey&rsquo;s system, but didn&rsquo;t want to complain. Besides, at the very least, Gainey made him a more well-rounded player.&ldquo;You play for a team and you do what the coach thinks is best for the team,&rdquo; Modano said. &ldquo;Having guys making waves wouldn&rsquo;t help matters.&rdquo;There are other differences playing for Hitchcock, who was summoned Jan. 10 from the Michigan K-Wings, the Stars&rsquo; International League affiliate. Hitchcock places more emphasis on winning or losing games with his best players. That means Modano now plays upwards of 25 minutes a game. Under Gainey, who preferred to use four lines, Modano played 15-to-20 minutes.In his defense, Gainey said he has never heaped other people&rsquo;s expectations on Modano. That Modano has not emerged as a consistent 50-goal scorer is understandable.&ldquo;I feel I coached a style best-suited to the team&rsquo;s personnel,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;Put him on a team like Pittsburgh with a couple of other 50-goal scorers and see what he could do.&ldquo;Also, Mike doesn&rsquo;t seem to have the (high) shooting percentage that many of the top goal-scorers have. His overall game is good and he is never a liability on defense.&rdquo;His minus-19, among the worst in the league, suggests otherwise. But Gainey said that can be chalked up more to a prominent role on a bad team than Modano&rsquo;s defensive shortcomings.Hitchcock and Modano meet daily and review each game the following day. The coach is noticing a difference in the player&rsquo;s performance.&ldquo;Too often in the past Mike worried about things that were out of his control-like who he was playing with,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;He got too wound up. There is no reason why he can&rsquo;t be a significant offensive force every shift of every game.&rdquo;The Stars have been hurt by injuries-center Bob Bassen who signed with the team as a free agent had yet to play a game because of a knee injury and hurts to goalies Andy Moog and Darcy Wakaluk prompted Dallas to bring Allan Bester back to the NHL after four years in the minors.As usual, when things went bad, the attention turned toward Modano. That joke about him being the lone star in the Lone Star State still applied, it just wasn&rsquo;t funny anymore.Modano opened the season holding a hot hand, scoring goals in six of the Stars&rsquo; first nine games. Then there was a string of five games with no goals before he missed four games with pulled stomach muscles.He returned to the lineup and produced his first of just two multiplegoal games this season, scoring twice in a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks Nov. 22. He had 16 goals and 33 points in 35 games under Gainey; four goals and 12 points in nine games under Hitchcock-overall numbers that translate to a 35-goal, 80-point season.That&rsquo;s not where you expect Modano&rsquo;s numbers to be and that, in part, has helped fuel persistent trade speculation. Gainey claims the rumors have no foundation.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re 10 games below 500. there always seems to be speculation you&rsquo;re going to dump your best players,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-01

Modano thriving under new Hitchcock regime

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011412/6123670-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="388" height="541"></div>A mere 13 years after the Kings drafted him, Kevin Stevens finally made it to Los Angeles.Unlike so many Kings&rsquo; draft picks who drift through the minors and fade away, Stevens&rsquo; stay in the organization was brief. Traded to Pittsburgh for Anders Hakansson before he ever skated at the Los Angeles Forum. Stevens developed into a rugged and productive player who twice scored 50 goals for the Penguins.The question is whether the player the Kings got for right winger Rick Tocchet is the one who averaged 44 goals a season from 1989-90 through 1993-94 or the one who had 15 goals in 27 games last season and 10 goals in 41 games for the Boston Bruins this season. He arrived not as an unproven kid, but as a $15million question mark.Benched and scratched this season by Bruin coach Steve Kasper, Stevens is no longer an automatic selection on lists of the NHL&rsquo;s premier power forwards.But he doesn&rsquo;t understand why last season-which was shortened by his fractured ankle-and the past few months are weighing so heavily against him, eclipsing the good seasons he had with the Penguins.One reason for doubt is that his best years came with a finesse team that had Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, and faltered in Boston when he was expected to carry more of the offensive load. Kasper&rsquo;s criticism of his lack of effort was another factor. What good is a passive power forward who avoided contact?Stevens attributed his woes in Boston to friction with Kasper, who got the backing of Bruins&rsquo; management.&ldquo;This is the first year I was in a pretty bad situation,&rdquo; Stevens said. &ldquo;Maybe (Los Angeles) is a good place to start over, a fresh start.&rdquo; He had come to dread playing in Boston, where he grew up.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021008/6123663-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="513" height="728"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kevin Stevens</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03764/6123656-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="519" height="732"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sam McMaster</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It was a big mess. It was coming to a boiling point, almost the point where you say enough&rsquo;s enough,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;so I&rsquo;m happy to get out of there.&ldquo;Boston was a tight team. Pittsburgh was probably the loosest team in hockey. I didn&rsquo;t play as well as I could play and one thing led to another.&rdquo;It led to a trade in which the Kings, in their blind pursuit of Stevens, probably sold themselves short.Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke wanted to discuss Tocchet, but said the Kings never called him. Another few calls might have gotten the Kings the defenseman they really need.Besides his declining production, Stevens has had recurring back problems that resurfaced almost immediately after the trade. But King GM Sam McMaster, who described Stevens as &ldquo;a guy in a bit of a slump,&rdquo; assured anyone who would listen that Stevens&rsquo; aches were minor.And coach Larry Robinson, who had differences with Tocchet about the amount of ice time he gave the feisty right winger, endorsed the Stevens deal heartily.&ldquo;This is a great trade,&rdquo; Robinson said. &ldquo;Management did a super job. Guys like that, power forwards, don&rsquo;t come along very often. &ldquo;Sometimes the toughest place to play is your hometown. (Stevens went to Boston) not only with big credentials, but with a big salary as well and there was a lot of pressure on him. Every coach has different ideas. Steve Kasper has his way he wants to play and I have my way.&ldquo;Sometimes a marriage fits and sometimes it doesn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;And maybe this marriage will last longer than Lisa Marie Presley&rsquo;s and Michael Jackson&rsquo;s. &#9632;

f0013-01

Stevens hopes for happier marriage

<div class="byline">By Robyn Norwood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021145/6123708-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="579" height="764"><figcaption class="caption-body">Guy Hebert</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011494/6123715-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="157" height="158"></div>The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim have been on a roller coaster ride.&ldquo;And I think I&rsquo;ve been in the front seat all season,&rdquo; said goaltender Guy Hebert.Hebert went from clear No. 1 to apparent No. 2 behind Mikhail Shtalenkov to dominant No. 1 and he didn&rsquo;t even always know why.It&rsquo;s all behind him after a club-record 13 consecutive starts as he recovered the form of his first two seasons. Hebert was 14-17-3 with a 3.16 goals-against average and 90.6 save percentage.On Jan. 31, he very nearly became only the second goalie to shut out the Colorado Avalanche this season, but gave up a third-period goal in a 2-1 win.&ldquo;Every goalie wants to play every night,&rdquo; Hebert said. &ldquo;When the coach shows confidence in you, it affects your play.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re juggled in and out of the lineup, you know they&rsquo;re not happy with your performance and you might try too hard.&rdquo;Anaheim coach Ron Wilson juggled Hebert earlier, with poor results. Wilson calls his job a learning experience and he has probably gotten a few lessons about handling goalies this season.It&rsquo;s the first time Wilson has faced the task alone, after having former NHLer Brian Hayward as a goaltending consultant the first two years on the job.&ldquo;Goalies are certainly a different breed and not many coaches understand exactly what goalies go through,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;I might like to think I do, but I&rsquo;m not a goalie. I can&rsquo;t understand the pressure and solitude of being a goalie.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Ducks parted ways with left winger Patrik Carnback, loaning him to Cologne in the German Elite League for the rest of his contract, which expires this season. Carnback said he was glad to be out of the organization because he believed coach Ron Wilson didn&rsquo;t like him. Wilson dropped Carnback from the first line to a regular scratch, but said it was based on performance, not personality&hellip;Rookie center Chad Kilger became a regular scratch as Wilson changed his mind about playing him through thick and thin. Kilger had played in 43 of Anaheim&rsquo;s 50 games, scoring five goals and 11 points&hellip;Defenseman Milos Hoian was still awaiting a date for the bone marrow transplant to treat his leukemia. Doctors were still making donor arrangements.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03786/6123701-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="577" height="762"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chad Kilger</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-02

Hebert climbs back on top during up-and-down season

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04527/6123746-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="157" height="157"></div>Steve Kasper never went so far as to say he backed the Rick Tocchet-for-Kevin Stevens trade to make room for right winger Sandy Moger, but the Boston Bruins&rsquo; coach wasn&rsquo;t shy about saying the deal could improve Moger&rsquo;s position.&ldquo;Sometimes, in the effort to get people going, a player like Sandy Moger has had diminished ice time,&rdquo; Kasper said. &ldquo;I just feel that at this point, Sandy Moger deserves to be playing regularly for this club. I think he can help.&rdquo;Moger was as helpful as any Bruin forward through the end of January. He had scored only eight goals, but had a team-high four game-winners.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing a lot more and I&rsquo;m a lot more confident,&rdquo; said the 26-year-old Moger, who cracked the NHL ranks last season after two-plus years in the minors. &ldquo;Ice time means a lot and luck is part of it, too.&rdquo;Moger, selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the seventh round of the 1989 entry draft out of Lake Superior State, has had several obstacles to overcome.Former Bruins&rsquo; coach Brian Sutter loved the 6-foot-3. 200-pounder&rsquo;s physical play last season, but a broken arm limited Moger to 18 games. This season, Moger&rsquo;s training camp was cut short by a broken jaw, which contributed to a slow start.&ldquo;This is just what I needed,&rdquo; Moger said of his four-goals-in-three-games streak. &ldquo;I just wasn&rsquo;t scoring before it started. Earlier in the year I was passing instead of shooting; now they&rsquo;re telling me to get it on net.&rdquo;Moger still doesn&rsquo;t shoot much-he had 46 shots through 46 games-but they were going in like never before.&ldquo;This is the biggest streak of my life,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Three straight games? Maybe back in peewee.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Al lafrate&rsquo;s grievance hearing against the Bruins opened Jan. 31, but GM-president Harry Sinden said he didn&rsquo;t expect it to pick up again until sometime in March because of scheduling conflicts. Boston hasn&rsquo;t paid lafrate&rsquo;s salary this season, claiming lafrate&rsquo;s most recent knee injury isn&rsquo;t hockey-related&hellip;Goaltender Blaine Lacher completed a two-week conditioning assignment at Providence of the American League Jan. 31, but Sinden said he&rsquo;d try to trade last year&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie rather than keep three for the rest of the season&hellip;Left winger Dave Reid was sidelined indefinitely after fracturing a finger Feb. 1&hellip;Right winger Rick Tocchet had an assist in his Bruins&rsquo; debut-a 3-1 victory Jan. 31 at Ottawa. &#9632;

f0014-04

Moger rising to prominence now that he’s playing more

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011379/6123777-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="160" height="158"></div>Step by sometimes agonizing step, Pat LaFontaine is making his way back to being an offensive force in the NHL.The veteran center scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season January 31 in a 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Islanders and then followed up with his first four-point game of the season (one goal, three assists) in a 6-1 win over the Florida Panthers Feb. 1.The points against Florida ended a three-game losing streak for the Sabres and vaulted LaFontaine into the 900-point club for his career.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a nice feeling,&rdquo; LaFontaine said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice because the points came in a victory. It&rsquo;s a good feeling when you win and reach a plateau like that, especially when you&rsquo;re coming back from an injury like I had. When you re off for a long time and you can&rsquo;t do what you love to do, it makes you realize how much you miss it.&rdquo;LaFontaine is playing his first full season since recovering from surgery to repair a tom anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He missed nearly 16 months.The 30-year-old LaFontaine led the Sabres with 21 goals and 51 points in 43 games. His 51 points left him 97 shy of 1,000 in his career.&ldquo;Patty was great,&rdquo; said teammate Brad May, who frequently patrols left wing on LaFontaine&rsquo;s line. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the game that Pat LaFontaine can bring to your hockey team. That&rsquo;s the game we all expect. It&rsquo;s high expectations, but that&rsquo;s what Patty can do for us.&rdquo;Added Sabres&rsquo; coach Ted Nolan: &ldquo;You have to give him a lot of credit. If you look at the other superstars in the league, they have superstars to play with. It&rsquo;s no discredit to the guys he&rsquo;s playing with, but he has really elevated his play and elevated the play of our team.&rdquo;LaFontaine had played with a variety of wingers this season and lost his main go-to man when right winger Donald Audette went down with a knee injury and was lost for the remainder of the season.NOTEBOOK: Buffalo&rsquo;s win against Florida Feb. 1 was their first in three meetings with the Panthers this season. It was also the first time the Sabres scored the first goal against them. The Sabres were 14-5-2 in games in which they scored the first goal&hellip;The game against Florida delivered a pair of milestones for goalie Dominik Hasek. First, he beat the Panthers for the first time this season after being pulled in his two previous outings against them in Florida. Second, he had an altercation with Florida goalie Mark Fitzpatrick. Hasek actually tried to have a flat-out fight with his counterpart, but couldn&rsquo;t get his glove and blocker off. &ldquo;I had them on too tight,&rdquo; Hasek said. Both received minors for leaving their goal creases. &#9632;

f0015-01

LaFontaine making way back to elite

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02965/6123808-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="157" height="158"></div>Rick Tabaracci doesn&rsquo;t like the label-nor does it apply to him this season.A backup goalie? No, he has been anything but that. In fact, one of the reasons the Calgary Flames turned the comer this season was the excellent play of Tabaracci after early December.The proof is an 8-3-3 record in his previous 14 decisions through Feb. 1. It meant Tabaracci had only one victory fewer than his goaltending partner, Trevor Kidd.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m satisfied with the number of games I&rsquo;ve played so far,&rdquo; Tabaracci said. &ldquo;Obviously, you&rsquo;d like to play every night, but Trevor&rsquo;s a qualified goaltender also. We&rsquo;ve got a pretty good tandem going. Especially, the last two months, things have really picked up for us.&rdquo;For Tabaracci, the key to this season was staying healthy. The 27-year-old joined the Flames last March after some frustrating, injury-filled years with the Washington Capitals.His age is one of the misconceptions about Tabaracci. Because he made his NHL debut at 19, he has been around a long time. The reality is he&rsquo;s less than four months older than Damian Rhodes who, on the day the Ottawa Senators traded for him, was described as an up-and-comer.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I was laughing about when I came here last year,&rdquo; said Tabaracci. &ldquo;All the papers described me as a veteran goaltender, picked up for the playoff run. I guess in one sense, it&rsquo;s good, and in another, it&rsquo;s not.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Theo Fleury became the first Flames&rsquo; player since goaltender Mike Vernon in 1989 to be named the NHL&rsquo;s player of the month (for January). He deflected much of the praise to linemate Gary Roberts, who scored 16 points in his first eight games after returning from neck surgery. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve kind of been riding on his coat tails lately,&rdquo; he said. Fleury, who had 12 goals and 20 points in 11 games, also credited a change in the medication to control his Crohn&rsquo;s Disease&hellip;Center Claude Lapointe is out for the third time this season with a nagging groin injury that keeps flaring up. Lapointe, acquired early in the season from Colorado, had three goals and seven points in 32 games. &#9632;

f0015-02

Tabaracci backup goalie? He’s not playing like one

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04510/6123839-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="568" height="966"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith Carney</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03697/6123846-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="159" height="157"></div>Any search for unsung heroes among the Chicago Blackhawks stops at defenseman Keith Carney.Because of Steve Smith&rsquo;s nagging back problems, Carney was thrust into a prominent role early in the season and showed he could handle it almost immediately.Carney was the Blackhawks&rsquo; plusminus leader much of the year and was rewarded for his solid play by becoming Chris Chelios&rsquo; regular partner on defense.&ldquo;He has earned the ice time he has gotten,&rdquo; said coach Craig Hartsburg. &ldquo;He just keep playing with more and more confidence.&rdquo;Carney claims his confidence stems from the fact the coaching staff has shown faith in him.&ldquo;They just kept throwing me out there,&rdquo; Carney said. &ldquo;They played me killing penalties, on the power play and in critical situations against the best players in the league.&rdquo;Carney has simplified his game dramatically, going away from being considered an offensive defenseman.&ldquo;I think that might have been one of his problems before he got here,&rdquo; Chelios said. &ldquo;In Buffalo, he was more offensive and tried to be fancy, but here he has been real steady and makes the right decisions. All he needed was an opportunity to play and he has taken advantage of it.&rdquo;&ldquo;This is the most confidence I&rsquo;ve ever had,&rdquo; Carney said. &ldquo;In the past, I&rsquo;d have one good game and I couldn&rsquo;t follow it up with another good game.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Steve Smith returned Jan. 27 against Detroit after missing three weeks with the nagging disc problem in his back. His return lasted one game as his back acted up prior to a Jan. 31 game in Edmonton. Smith was preparing to see noted specialist Dr. Robert Watkins in Los Angeles for a third time. The Hawks were 9-3-3 with him in the lineup, 17-12-8 without him&hellip;There were reports the Hawks were interested in Los Angeles defenseman Marty McSorley and left winger Tony Granato and were offering right winger Joe Murphy, defenseman Eric Weinrich and left winger Patrick Poulin., Goalie Ed Belfour went 41-4 in nine starts. He recorded his 29th career shutout and first of the season Jan. 31 against the Oilers. &#9632;

f0015-04

Carney rises to occasion

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02996/6123877-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="568" height="968"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stephane Fiset</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011271/6123884-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="158" height="159"></div>The talk before the season was of faith in Colorado Avalanche goalie Stephane Fiset.This was the year, Fiset believers said, the 25-year-old netminder would prove to the skeptical hockey world he is a championship goalie.But thoughts of a dream season were scuttled by the Dec. 6 trade that brought Patrick Roy to the Avalanche in a five-player deal with the Montreal Canadiens. Fiset, at the time, was among the NHL leaders in victories with 13. His play, for the most part, had been outstanding. But the arrival of Roy meant Fiset would have to go back to the role he had most of his first four years in the league: a backup.There hasn&rsquo;t been one word of sulk and no nasty glares from Fiset since the trade-one which saw his best friend, Jocelyn Thibault, disappear along with his starting job. Fiset has been the proverbial good soldier.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll do whatever it takes for this team to help us win,&rdquo; Fiset said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just another step that will hopefully make us go further.&rdquo;He continued to play well since the trade, going 4-1-4. Still, no matter what the numbers, Fiset knows he&rsquo;ll be on the bench come playoff time.Fiset said he is trying to liken his role to that of Andy Moog&rsquo;s, when Moog spent several years as Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s backup with the Edmonton Oilers.&ldquo;He went on to a long career and they both learned from each other and became great goalies,&rdquo; Fiset said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what we can do here.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Plans to begin construction for the proposed Pepsi Center received a boost recently. Ascent Entertainment Group-the owners of the Avalanche and the National Basketball Association&rsquo;s Denver Nuggets-may soon be signing a partnership with Trillium Corp., a Washington state developer. The two hope to break ground soon on a $200-million arena in downtown Denver&hellip;Center Mike Ricci was making progress from back spasms and was hoping to get back into the lineup in early-February&hellip;It looked like right winger Adam Deadmarsh might be suspended a few games for slashing Vancouver&rsquo;s Dean Malkoc Jan. 25. But, in a surprise move, NHL disciplinarian Brian Burke let Deadmarsh off with no penalty. &#9632;

f0016-02

Fiset plays good soldier

<div class="byline">By Mike Heika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03741/6123915-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="158" height="158"></div>Ken Hitchcock couldn&rsquo;t stress it enough: Benoit Hogue and Randy Wood bring speed to the Dallas Stars-different kinds of speed, but usable speed.Hitchcock has started molding the Stars into a physical and aggressive puck-pursuit team. Left wingers Hogue and Wood, acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a trade for Dave Gagner Jan. 28, bring both qualities.Hogue, 29, was inserted at left wing on a line with center Joe Nieuwendyk and Hitchcock said he would like to keep the two together while trying to find a good fit at right wing. Daniel Marois, the former Leaf who is getting a comeback chance with the Stars, was on the right wing.&ldquo;Benny has had his best years as a left winger and that&rsquo;s where we see him,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll have a slightly different role here than in Toronto. We want him to go out and be aggressive and be responsible for scoring some goals. He will be expected to score.&rdquo;Wood, 32, will be counted on for defense and feistiness. In their smaller version of a crash line, Wood was put on a line with center Mike Kennedy and right winger Todd Harvey.&ldquo;Randy brings a lot of jump and a good battle level and that fits right in with the younger kids,&rdquo; Hitchcock said.Hogue stepped right into the first power play unit, while Wood is expected to be worked in as a penalty killer, possibly in a forward pairing with Nieuwendyk.NOTEBOOK: With Dave Gagner&rsquo;s departure, only right winger Shane Churla and center Mike Modano remain from when GM Bob Gainey took over the team six years ago&hellip;Churla was a healthy scratch in three of six games and twice drew criticism from coach Ken Hitchcock for taking &ldquo;dumb penalties.&rdquo;&hellip;Center Joe Nieuwendyk was given the alternate captain&rsquo;s &lsquo;A&rsquo; that Gagner wore on a rotating basis&hellip;Goalie Darcy Wakaluk returned from a hamstring injury, but as a reserve. Hitchcock said he would stick with Allan Bester, the rent-a-goalie the Stars obtained from the International League&rsquo;s Orlando Solar Bears, who was 3-1-1 with a 2.37 goals-against average in his first five games. &#9632;

f0016-03

Hogue, Wood fit new image of fast, puck-pursuit team

<div class="byline">By Cynthia Lambert</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04541/6123946-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="157" height="158"></div>Igor Larionov has played on one of hockey&rsquo;s greatest lines and been praised for his strong two-way play. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean his Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; experience hasn&rsquo;t struck a chord in him.&ldquo;This is the best three months of my career,&rdquo; said Larionov, who was acquired in late-October by the Wings from the San Jose Sharks for Ray Sheppard. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best three months beside the time I spent with the five-man unit in the Soviet Union.&rdquo;To help him feel at home, Wings&rsquo; coach Scotty Bowman provided Larionov with a new five-man unit Slava Fetisov is constant from that legendary unit which also had on it Vladimir Krutov, Sergei Makarov and Alexei Kasatonov. The Red Wings&rsquo; version contains Vyacheslav Kozlov, Sergei Fedorov and Vladimir Konstantinov.The two forwards-Kozlov and Fedorov-have most benefited from Larionov&rsquo;s presence. Once the club acquired the multi-faceted center from the Sharks, Fedorov&rsquo;s game stabilized. He&rsquo;s the player most recognize as being affected by Larionov&rsquo;s presence.Kozlov, who led the team with 24 goals after 48 games, has benefited equally. Before Larionov arrived, Kozlov had one goal. Larionov helped set up many of Kozlov&rsquo;s next 23 in 39 games.&ldquo;Igor is a very nice passer,&rdquo; Kozlov said. &ldquo;When I score or when Sergei scores, he is very happy. He doesn&rsquo;t need to be the one to score. He played that way in the Soviet Union.&ldquo;He helps me a lot. He is like a leader to me. Sometimes he tells me, &lsquo;Kozie, don&rsquo;t do this,&rsquo; or, &lsquo;Do this; try this.&rsquo; He has helped me very much.&rdquo;Larionov is pleased players such as Kozlov listen to his advice, though he knows much of it has to do with his reputation.&ldquo;Kozie, he&rsquo;s from my hometown,&rdquo; Larionov said, referring to Voskresensk. &ldquo;When he was five or six years old, I was a 17-year-old playing professional hockey. I&rsquo;m not trying to be someone big to them. I just want to be the same as them. I don&rsquo;t want any distance between us.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Mike Vernon was cleared to play Jan. 30 after being out since Dec. 29 with a groin injury. Rookie netminder Kevin Hodson was returned to Adirondack of the American League&hellip;Left winger Greg Johnson, in the final year of a contract which pays him $300,000 this season, has begun contract negotiations with the club&hellip;Defenseman Mike Ramsey, who had been out since Jan. 12 with a stress fracture in his left foot, was cleared to play Feb. 3&hellip; Defenseman Slava Fetisov said he is hoping to be invited to play for Russia in the World Cup. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never played for the Russian team,&rdquo; said Fetisov, 37, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always played for the Soviet Union. It would be nice to be a part of it.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-04

Larionov having time of his life

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011123/6123977-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="157" height="158"></div>Curtis Joseph is making a great impression in Edmonton-and not just for his play.Joseph, who joined the Edmonton Oilers Jan. 11 following a long contract dispute, has purchased a sky suite at the Edmonton Coliseum. Nicknamed Cujo&rsquo;s Cloud Nine, the suite will host sick children and their caregivers for every home game. The goalie will also try to visit the suite after games.The kids will be treated to pop, chips, hot dogs, autographed pictures of their favorite goalie and one of the best seats in the house.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to be able to forget some of the stresses of hospital and for once go out and thoroughly enjoy an opportunity,&rdquo; said Arlie Lewis, a child life worker at the University of Alberta Hospital.Joseph, 28, has been on many hospital visits in his six-year NHL career. This project came out of his desire to do more than shake some hands and sign some autographs at a bedside.&ldquo;You go (to the hospital) and have such a wonderful feeling and not being able to get back there really makes you feel guilty and tough,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This is a way that kids will be able to come to games and really enjoy it.&ldquo;It was just something that me and (wife) Nancy really wanted to do. We have kids (daughter Madison, son Taylor) of our own and they&rsquo;re healthy and we thank our stars for that. It&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;re going to get a lot of pleasure out of.&rdquo;As if Oiler fans didn&rsquo;t like this guy already-they gave him a standing ovation in his first game-this will certainly endear him to most of the population. No other Oiler has done it, but two other Don Meehan clients, Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; captain Trevor Linden and Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; captain Pat LaFontaine, have set up similar programs.&ldquo;The guy gives and obviously cares,&rdquo; said coach Ron Low. &lsquo;The biggest thing is he wants to fit into the community in the worst way.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Glenn Anderson scored a goal in his first game back with the Oilers, a 3-2 overtime loss to Calgary Jan. 30&hellip;GM Glen Sather said he didn&rsquo;t want to send center Jason Bonsignore back to Sudbury of the Ontario league, but changed his mind when Todd Lalonde took over as coach-GM for Glenn Merkosky in Sudbury. Sather didn&rsquo;t like the way Merkosky handled Bonsignore&hellip;Right winger Kirk Maltby, who had two goals in 49 games, was scratched for the first time this season Jan. 31 against Chicago. The next day he was sidelined indefinitely with an eye injury after a teammate&rsquo;s stick struck him during practice&hellip;Defenseman Jiri Slegr skated Feb. 1 for the first time since spraining his knee in a game Dec. 27. &#9632;

f0017-01

Joseph wins friends with nice gesture

<div class="byline">By Dave Joseph</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02852/6124008-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="159" height="159"></div>Finally, there is hope the Florida Panthers will remain in South Florida.By a vote of 5-1, Broward County commissioners agreed Jan. 30 to build a new sports arena at a cost of $212 million. Immediately after the vote, commission chairman John Rodstrom said he would begin trying to negotiate leases with the Panthers and the National Basketball Association&rsquo;s Miami Heat.Because Panthers&rsquo; owner H. Wayne Huizenga said the team remains for sale, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will represent the Panthers during the negotiations.Still, while the step was a move forward, it doesn&rsquo;t guarantee the Panthers will stay. Huizenga has received at least three offers from buyers who want to move the Panthers out of South Florida. But Huizenga said he will give first preference to any prospective owners who wish to keep the team in South Florida.Huizenga, whose asking price is reported to be approximately $90 million, purchased the expansion franchise in December, 1992 for $50 million. There has been speculation that Huizenga could still keep the team if construction begins by spring.News that an arena would be built was greeted warmly by the Panthers.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s exciting,&rdquo; said coach Doug MacLean. &ldquo;It could be one of the great franchises in the league.&rdquo;Left winger Mike Hough said the vote was, &ldquo;a positive sign for us. We&rsquo;re just hoping we can stay.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: You&rsquo;ve heard of taking one for the team? Well, rookie Ed Jovanovski took about five blows to the head from Pittsburgh defenseman Neil Wilkinson Jan. 29 during the Panthers&rsquo; 2-1 victory. Despite getting drilled several times during a scrum in front of the Penguins&rsquo; net, Jovanovski kept his cool and never retaliated. The verdict: seven minutes in penalties to Wilkinson. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to hurt my team,&rdquo; Jovanovski said&hellip;The Panthers ended January 6-3-4. Nine of their games were on the road&hellip;Right winger Jody Hull scored his career-high 17th goal Feb. 1 in the Panthers&rsquo; 2-2 tie at Boston&hellip; After being scratched from 18 of 21 games, defenseman Geoff Smith played in four consecutive games through Feb. 1. &#9632;

f0017-02

New arena deal giant step towards team staying put

<div class="byline">By Lisa Dillman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02864/6124077-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="564" height="968"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tony Granato</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011166/6124084-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="158" height="159"></div>Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; right winger Tony Granato, suffering from severe headaches and swelling and bleeding of the brain, checked into a local hospital in the early morning hours Jan. 29, but found no clear-cut answers about his medical situation.He underwent several tests and a CATscan showed Granato had an intracerebral hematoma-in layman&rsquo;s terms, a collection of blood in his brain, according to team doctor Ron Kvitne. Granato will be out indefinitely as team doctors planned to seek another opinion on his condition.Granato had seen two neurologists during his stay at Centinela Hospital Medical Center and said his situation is improving. At one point, Granato said he thought there was a chance he would need surgery, but Kings&rsquo; doctors said that was not the case.The precise nature of his injury-apparently triggered by a hard hit in a collision with Hartford Whalers&rsquo; defenseman Jeff Brown Jan. 25-remained unclear.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m doing better than I was; I&rsquo;m going to have to take it easy for a while,&rdquo; Granato told The Los Angers Times. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s weird. I just thought I had a headache. I didn&rsquo;t think it was anything else.&rdquo;The 31-year-old Granato, who is married and has four young children, has suffered at least one concussion in his NHL career-in 1988-89, his rookie season with the New York Rangers, after a hard hit from Luke Richardson of the Toronto Maple Leafs.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Kevin Stevens was sidelined with back spasms again after turning in a solid performance in his Kings&rsquo; debut Jan. 28. He was pointless, but had four shots on goal against Anaheim. Stevens underwent a series of tests, including an MRI. Team doctor Ron Kvitne said tests showed a slightly bulging disk in the back&hellip;GM Sam McMaster continued to face a barrage of criticism in Los Angeles. One suburban newspaper gave him a grade of &lsquo;F&rsquo; for his job performance in the first half of the season. And former Kings&rsquo; right winger Rick Tocchet, who was traded to Boston, told XTRA radio host Jim Rome: &ldquo;If (Wayne Gretzky) was the GM all along, they&rsquo;d have been a better organization.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0018-02

No answers for Granato

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03601/6124115-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="158" height="159"></div>Martin Rucinsky was a minor player in the Patrick Roy deal.At least that&rsquo;s what everyone associated with the Montreal Canadiens believed at the time.But less than two months after his arrival in the five-player Dec. 6 trade with the Colorado Avalanche, Rucinsky is proving everyone wrong.The Czech left winger has blossomed, collecting 13 goals and 27 points in 27 games. In 22 games with Colorado prior to the trade, he had four goals and 15 points.&ldquo;He has certainly been a surprise,&rdquo; said coach Mario Tremblay. &ldquo;When we traded for him, we knew he had skills. What we didn&rsquo;t know was that he&rsquo;s a winner. There are guys out there with skills, but they don&rsquo;t have that hunger. Martin has it.&rdquo;Rucinsky was torrid over a four-game span to close January, scoring six goals and 13 points, including his first career three-goal game, Jan. 25 against the Florida Panthers.&ldquo;Everything is going right,&rdquo; Rucinsky said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the happiest person in the world. I love my job.&rdquo;Rucinsky, 24, had 31 goals and 91 points in 163 games entering this season. A first-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 1991, Rucinsky said getting more ice time has been the key. &ldquo;Here, I have a chance to play,&rdquo; he said.Vincent Damphousse, the center on Rucinsky&rsquo;s line, has benefitted from the deal. Over the four-game span in which Rucinsky was hot, Damphousse had three goals and 12 points.NOTEBOOK: GM Rejean Houle&rsquo;s deals through Feb. 1 could save the Canadiens up to $8 million over the next two seasons, but Houle has denied dumping salaries. &ldquo;Since I took this job, no decision I&rsquo;ve taken was made for financial reasons,&rdquo; he said. Houle ha\.traded away six players, while acquiring five, since being hired Oct. 21. The moves could save the Canadiens $4,127 million this season and almost as much next season. The figures don&rsquo;t account for the money being paid Serge Savard and Jacques Deniers, fired as GM and coach, respectively, Oct. 17&hellip;Goalie Jocelyn Thibault, who left a game against Boston Jan. 28 after one period with a shoulder injury, returned for a 5-3 win over Washington Jan. 31. &#9632;

f0018-03

Hot Rucinsky proving to be much more than spare part

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04373/6124146-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="159" height="160"></div>If February didn&rsquo;t start as a countdown to a trade for a goal-scoring forward, it certainly felt that way to New Jersey Devils&rsquo; defenseman Scott Niedermayer.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve talked to my agent (Don Meehan) and he has talked to general managers around the league,&rdquo; Niedermayer said. &ldquo;I kind of know what&rsquo;s going on and I feel comfortable with it. The only thing really disturbing me is I have no control over it. If it&rsquo;s going to happen, I wish they&rsquo;d do it.&rdquo;Among his possible destinations was: the Dallas Stars in a deal involving center Mike Modano; Buffalo Sabres for center Pat LaFontaine; and Winnipeg Jets in a transaction that would include either center Alexei Zhamnov or right winger Teemu Selanne.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really wanting a trade. I can&rsquo;t think like that,&rdquo; Niedermayer said. &ldquo;I have to be 100 per-cent committed here. On the other hand, if a trade happened, I&rsquo;d go there and I&rsquo;m sure I&rsquo;d fit in fine. I haven&rsquo;t asked for a trade. I&rsquo;ll take it as it comes.&rdquo;Niedermayer led Devils&rsquo; defensemen in scoring with 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in 47 games.Coach Jacques Lemaire has always kept the 22-year-old skater on a restrictive leash, but that style has led to team success.&ldquo;He has to decide when to go deep,&rdquo; Lemaire said. &ldquo;Maybe because of the defensive style we play, he doesn&rsquo;t always find that opening. Maybe he&rsquo;s afraid to get caught and he knows I don&rsquo;t like defensemen to get caught.&rdquo;That brought a smile to Niedermayer&rsquo;s face.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m allowed to do anything I want,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;d better not lose the puck.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt it has been tough for me at times to fit in and feel comfortable with what (Lemaire) wants me to do. At the beginning of the year we talked and again about a month ago. We play a conservative style of hockey and it&rsquo;s not going to change for one guy.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Steve Thomas had an 11-game scoring streak (8-9-17) snapped Feb. 1 in Calgary. It fell one game short of tying the team record. Thomas also required 10 stitches when his head hit the ice during a fight with Flames&rsquo; enforcer Sandy McCarthy&hellip;Goaltender Martin Brodeur broke Glenn (Chico) Resch&rsquo;s record for consecutive games-played by a Devils&rsquo; netminder. Resch appeared in 17 straight from Dec. 26, 1982 to Feb. 3, 1983. Brodeur played in his 20th successive game Feb. 1 in Calgary&hellip;Right winger John MacLean played in his 800th NHL game Jan. 27 in Hartford., Right winger Stephane Richer is another Devil who may be moved before the trading deadline. &#9632;

f0018-04

Niedermayer prepared for possible deal

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02788/6124177-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="593" height="949"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Fichaud</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011089/6124184-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="158" height="160"></div>The New York Islanders had every confidence Eric Fichaud could make his mark in the NHL this season.However, they had hoped to play him the entire season in the minors instead of throwing him to the wolves on a rebuilding team. But they couldn&rsquo;t wait any longer.Fichaud, 20, became the youngest goalie to appear for the Islanders and their fifth to win his first start when he made 22 saves to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 in overtime Jan. 30.&ldquo;Tonight&rsquo;s the most beautiful day of my life,&rdquo; said Fichaud after the win.&ldquo;I thought it was a good start for him,&rdquo; said Islanders&rsquo; coach-GM Mike Milbury. &ldquo;He seemed very poised.&rdquo;Fichaud was overwhelmed by the warm reception he received from the hometown crowd of 8,454.&ldquo;My heart was really beating fast,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was the most wonderful gift you can receive.&rdquo;The Islanders obtained Fichaud, a first-round pick in the 1994 entry draft, last April in a deal which sent Benoit Hogue to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Fichaud was 13-15-6 this season with a 2.93 goals-against average and a 91.3 save percentage with the Worcester IceCats of the American League.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s ready,&rdquo; said Islanders&rsquo; goalie coach Bob Froese. &ldquo;He has played well at every level. His strongest point would be between the ears&hellip;his confidence in himself.&rdquo;Fichaud was called up because Tommy Salo (1-7-1), Tommy Soderstrom (8-11-6) and Jamie McLennan (3-9-1) were inconsistent. Salo was demoted to the Utah Grizzlies of the International League after allowing several bad goals during a road trip which stretched the Islanders&rsquo; losing streak to five games.Fichaud said playing 34 games in the minors was a good experience. And his new teammates have confidence in him.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to be an awesome talent,&rdquo; said defenseman Mathieu Schneider. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a weirdo like a lot of goalies, stressing out.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Dennis Vaske, suffering from the after-effects of a Nov. 22 concussion, experienced blurred vision after taking the morning skate Jan. 30. &ldquo;The longer I exert myself, the worse everything seems to get,&rdquo; Vaske said. &ldquo;You almost feel like you&rsquo;ve blacked out, like you&rsquo;re in another world.&rdquo;&hellip;Right winger Brett Lindros, also out after suffering a series of concussions, was getting a second medical opinion from doctors in Toronto. Reports on the seriousness of his condition ranged from season-ending to career-ending&hellip;Left winger Wendel Clark, the team&rsquo;s leading goal-scorer with 21, missed his first game of the season Jan. 30, flying to Toronto for therapy on his sore back. &#9632;

f0019-02

Fichaud responds to first challenge

<div class="byline">By John Dellapina</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02641/6124222-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="577" height="908"><figcaption class="caption-body">Luc Robitaille</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01964/6124229-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="157" height="158"></div>That Luc Robitaille made news by scoring two big goals for the New York Rangers in four games after the all-star break tells you how close he has come this season to meeting expectations. Not very.Robitaille&rsquo;s winner against the Los Angeles Kings Jan. 22 and his tying goal late against the Dallas Stars Jan. 31 gave him a total of 15 for the season. That put him on pace to score 26, which would mark the first time in his 10-year NHL career that he failed to score at least 44 goals in a full season.&ldquo;Am I disappointed with Luc&rsquo;s production? I guess you&rsquo;d have to say yes,&rsquo;&rsquo; said Rangers&rsquo; coach Colin Campbell. &ldquo;But I wonder how much of it is Luc&rsquo;s fault and how much of it is mine. We haven&rsquo;t really accommodated him very much.&rdquo;The Rangers accommodated the left winger quite nicely with a six-year, $19.2-million contract upon acquiring him from the Pittsburgh Penguins Aug. 31, but Campbell was referring more to his on-ice deployment.Robitaille rarely has skated on the top line with center Mark Messier and hasn&rsquo;t received the power play assignments to which he has become accustomed. What&rsquo;s more, while his usual center, Ray Ferraro, certainly looks for him, their usual right winger, Alexei Kovalev, has struggled, too.Campbell and Robitaille had a celebrated screaming match following a Nov. 27 game against the New Jersey Devils. In that game, a struggling Robitaille was benched for the third period and replaced by enforcer Darren Langdon.Any hard feelings apparently were short-lived. And Robitaille has made an effort to drive to the net more. But the pucks still aren&rsquo;t going in with the regularity to which he is accustomed.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re paying me a lot of money to score goals,&rdquo; Robitaille said. &ldquo;But the team is winning and it would be selfish of me to worry about myself. I learned a long time ago I&rsquo;d rather score 25 goals and win the Stanley Cup than score 60 and not make the playoffs.&rdquo;On the other hand, Robitaille was supposed to be a major component of the Rangers&rsquo; 1996 Cup drive.&ldquo;If I just keep working, things will turn around for me,&rdquo; Robitaille said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t ever remember a time in my career when they didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Nick Kypreos missed a team trip to Vail, Colo., to attend an arbitration hearing on a dispute about 1994 bonus payments. Kypreos and the NHL Players&rsquo; Association contend he is due a $120,000 bonus for winning the Cup-a bonus agreed to in a contract Kypreos signed with the Hartford Whalers. The Rangers and the NHL contend team bonuses can&rsquo;t &ldquo;travel&rdquo; when a player is traded. Craig MacTavish, Esa Tikkanen. Glenn Anderson and Petr Nedved also are plaintiffs in the case&hellip;The Rangers completed January undefeated (5-04). It&rsquo;s the first time a Ranger team has gone a full calendar month without a loss since 1939-40&hellip;Only one of the Rangers last 30 games is against a Western Conference opponent (Edmonton, March 19).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03430/6124215-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="580" height="908"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nick Kypreos</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-02

Robitaille looking to rebound from disappointing first half

<div class="byline">By Chris Stevenson</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04268/6124260-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="158" height="160"></div>The Ottawa Senators wanted veteran defenseman Frank Musil for his experience, leadership and his ability to set an example.The 31-year-old defined professionalism in a difficult week.On the day he was to return to the lineup after missing six games because of a dangerous gash across his throat, Musil found out his father, Frantisek Sr., had passed away in Prague, Czech Republic. The senior Musil, who had a heart transplant three years ago, had been ill for some time.Musil went out and played that night against the Washington Capitals and scored his first goal in almost two years. But, as badly as he wanted two points to take back to Prague for his dad&rsquo;s funeral, it was not to be. The Senators lost to the Capitals 4-2.&ldquo;I knew as soon as I heard the phone ring, I heard that click and I knew it was overseas and I knew it was bad news,&rdquo; said Musil, who returned to Prague early in January to visit his ailing dad. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very special to me that he knows I came and saw him (in January).&rdquo;Musil said it was up to him whether to play the night of the Caps&rsquo; game or not. He opted to play because the pregame routine and being around his teammates helped him cope.The goal was his first goal since Valentine&rsquo;s Day, 1994. He sprinted in from the point and poked home a loose puck to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead. But the Senators. playing their eighth game in 16 nights, couldn&rsquo;t hold off the Capitals.&ldquo;I was fine until I scored that goal and then all kinds of weird thoughts start going through your mind,&rdquo; said Musil, who became emotional after the goal and could be seen staring off into space on the bench afterwards. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m disappointed we didn&rsquo;t get the two points. I kept the puck and I&rsquo;m going to bring it home with me, but I would rather have the points.&ldquo;I wanted to play tonight because I didn&rsquo;t want to be at home. I didn&rsquo;t want to be alone. I feel better helping the hockey club. I just wish we could have won.&rdquo;Coach Jacques Martin said Musil&rsquo;s effort was admirable.&ldquo;Frank Musil didn&rsquo;t have to play tonight, but he wanted to,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;That just shows what type an individual he is.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Ted Drury could be lost for the season after dislocating and fracturing a bone in his left wrist against St. Louis Jan. 29. Center Dave Archibald was recalled from Utah of the International League to take Drury&rsquo;s place&hellip;Center Alexei Yashin had his first three-point game (one goal, two assists) of the season in a 4-2 win over the Blues&hellip;Through the first seven games of their opening nine-game homestand (in 13 days) at the Palladium, the Senators played to 87.9 per cent capacity&hellip;A 3-1 loss to Boston Jan. 31 left the Senators&rsquo; all-time record against the Bruins at 0-17-1&hellip;The Senators said left winger Pavol Demitra needs to improve his defense and play along the boards before they recall the American League&rsquo;s leading scorer from P.E.I. &#9632;

f0020-04

Veteran Musil earns respect for dignity during hard times

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01725/6124291-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="160" height="161"></div>Once the Philadelphia Flyers realized fallen teammate Petr Svoboda was out of danger, they pulled together and registered their first meaningful win in six weeks.Sometimes adversity has a way of galvanizing teams. The Flyers, who were just 1-3-5 in their previous nine games, finally were shaken from their long stupor.Svoboda was knocked unconscious for nearly 10 minutes midway through a Feb. 1 game when Marc Bureau of the Montreal Canadiens caught him with an elbow to the jaw in a collision near center ice.Svoboda lay motionless on the CoreStates Spectrum ice, bleeding from cuts on the back of his head and his mouth.Eventually, Svoboda regained consciousness as he was being placed in an ambulance. Doctors said he suffered a concussion and kept him overnight in hospital for observation.The Flyers, who led 2-1 at the time of the incident, gave up a tying goal moments later, but rallied to get a goal from Eric Desjardins with 29.8 seconds left in overtime for a 3-2 win, their first victory against a team with a winning record since Dec. 17.The Flyers were relieved Svoboda was going to be all right, but upset referee Dan Van Massenhoven only assessed only a five-minute elbowing penalty and not a match penalty for intent to injure.&ldquo;When you see a teammate like that on the ice, you&rsquo;re scared, but at the same time you&rsquo;re angry because they don&rsquo;t do much about it,&rdquo; Desjardins said. &ldquo;It was scary.&rdquo;GM Bob Clarke said he would send a videotape of the incident to the NHL.&ldquo;(Svoboda) was unconscious when he hit the ice,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;If he didn&rsquo;t have a helmet on, he might have been dead. (Bureau) went full speed five or six feet and deliberately drilled him in the side of the head. If you put a guy in the hospital, it should be a match penalty.&rdquo;Bureau said he didn&rsquo;t attempt to injure Svoboda, although Craig MacTavish saw the play differently and exchanged punches with the Montreal player later in the period.&ldquo;I felt it was a clean hit and that is how the ref felt,&rdquo; Bureau said. &ldquo;That is why I was not ejected. I think it was because Petr didn&rsquo;t see me coming and that is why the hit was so bad.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour played in his 500th NHL game Feb. 1 against Montreal. It was also his 206th consecutive game, 81 short of the team iron-man mark held by Rick MacLeish&hellip;The Flyers are 6-0-0 against Montreal since the Feb. 9, 1995 deal in which Philadelphia received left winger John LeClair, defenseman Eric Desjardins and the since departed Gilbert Dionne from the Canadiens for right winger Mark Recchi and a draft pick&hellip;The Flyers&rsquo; 3-2 overtime loss at Washington Jan. 28 ended a nine-game (5-0-4) unbeaten streak at USAir Arena. It was also the Capitals&rsquo; first win over coach Terry Murray (Washington&rsquo;s former coach), who had a 4-0-2 record against them. &#9632;

f0021-01

Anger, fear over Svoboda hit

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02391/6124322-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="160" height="157"></div>Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; coach Ed Johnston has two of the NHL&rsquo;s top lines at his disposal, along with a third that would be no worse than No. 2 on most teams.He also has a fourth line, generally made up of young players, that seems to make it off the bench once every other leap year or so.But if Pittsburgh&rsquo;s plan holds, young players such as Chris Wells, Joe Dzied-zic, Richard Park and Dave Roche will be moving into more prominent roles as the stretch drive and playoffs approach.&ldquo;These guys are going to have to get more ice time,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t want to just give it to them. They&rsquo;re going to have to earn it.&rdquo;The Penguins are hoping their young players can contribute at this level for two reasons: it will prove they can step in if injuries hit the team and it will prevent veterans such as Ron Francis and Mario Lemieux from having their energy reserves drained before the playoffs.&ldquo;We need to have four lines going down the stretch and in the playoffs,&rdquo; Dziedzic said.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to get into the playoffs and have some of our big guys be burned out,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;Points now are no good if they don&rsquo;t have any legs left (for the playoffs).&rdquo;Through the end of January, Roche appeared in the most games of any of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s first-year forwards, 44. He also had the most points, seven.That&rsquo;s a pretty modest total, but Johnston was not very generous with playing time for his kids in the early part of the season. With the post-season on the horizon, however, the Penguins know it is imperative that their rookies be tested.&ldquo;You want them to learn and get the experience and the only way they&rsquo;re going to do that is through playing,&rdquo; Francis said.That probably is the only way management really can learn about those players, too. And how it assesses their progress in coming weeks could influence personnel moves made before the March 20 trading deadline.&ldquo;You want to play guys at this point of the season to see where we are as a hockey team,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;If we have any injuries in the stretch run or the playoffs, somebody is going to have to step in and play.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Mario Lemieux said if he doesn&rsquo;t retire after this season, he wants to join Team Canada for the World Cup. &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m still around. I&rsquo;d like to play,&rdquo; he said&hellip;Ed Johnston became the 32nd coach in NHL history to coach 500 games when he reached that plateau in a 7-4 victory against Philadelphia Jan. 27. That win put his career record at 217-210-73&hellip;The victory against the Flyers ran Pittsburgh&rsquo;s streak against Philadelphia to 10-0-4 since Nov. 21, 1990. But it will be a long time before the Flyers&rsquo; drought matches the 0-39-3 slump the Penguins endured at the Spectrum during a 15year span in the 1970s and 1980s&hellip;The Penguins unveiled their &ldquo;special occasion&rdquo; uniforms Jan. 27 and plan to wear them at home five more times this season. &#9632;

f0021-02

Young guns will get their chance

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01857/6124353-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="156" height="159"></div>The San Jose Sharks can only hope the disaster that is 1995-96 won&rsquo;t have a lingering effect on the pool of talented young players that is being counted on to transform the team into a Stanley Cup contender.One such player, defenseman Mike Rathje, was shipped to the Kansas City Blades of the International League Jan. 29 in an attempt to restore some of the confidence Rathje had lost while San Jose won just 10 of its first 49 games.&ldquo;I thought Rat&rsquo;s game was becoming more physical and starting to move in the right direction,&rdquo; said interim coach Jim Wiley, &ldquo;but not at the level the organization expects.&rdquo;Rathje, the third player selected in the 1992 NHL entry draft, had endured a difficult season in which groin and shoulder injuries cost him 14 games and a confidential personal matter caused him to miss a five-game road swing Jan. 10-to-17.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough playing around here, the way we are,&rdquo; Rathje said. &ldquo;It will be good for me to just go have some fun.&rdquo;Rathje, whose five power-play goals in last spring&rsquo;s playoffs was tied for second in the NHL, had no goals, seven assists and was minus-16 in 27 games this season.NOTEBOOK: Goaltender Wade Flaherty strained a groin in a 6-6 tie with Los Angeles Feb. 1 and was out indefinitely. The Sharks summoned Larry Dyck from Kansas City on emergency recall to back up No. 1 goalie Chris Terreri&hellip;After missing three games because of a strained knee ligament, defenseman Doug Bodger returned to the lineup in style in an 8-2 win over Hartford Jan. 30 in San Jose, tying a team record by finishing the game plus-5. &#9632;

f0022-01

Rathje positive about demotion

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02594/6124384-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="154" height="156"></div>When Mike Keenan scratched Dale Hawerchuk for the center&rsquo;s homecoming game in Buffalo in October, Hawerchuk&rsquo;s 78-year-old grandmother, Georgina Mitchell, was one of the disappointed family members at Memorial Auditorium.So she made it a point to travel the 110 miles from her nursing home in Fort Erie, Ont.,-broken leg, wheelchair and all-to be in Toronto for the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; game against the Toronto Maple Leafs Jan. 31.She had one of the best seats in the house, a wheelchair area behind the Leafs&rsquo; net, when Hawerchuk ripped a slapshot over Felix Potvin&rsquo;s glove hand to score the 500th goal of his career.The goal was a big one, giving the Blues their second goal in a 4-0 victory. He accomplished the feat in Toronto. near his Oshawa hometown.&ldquo;You couldn&rsquo;t have written a better script.&rdquo; said Hawerchuk, who greeted his grandmother with a hug and kiss outside the Blues&rsquo; dressing room.After the goal, the Blues&rsquo; bench emptied as the players skated over to congratulate Hawerchuk. Coach-GM Mike Keenan, who gave Hawerchuk a three-year, $7.6-million deal in the off-season, stood on the bench and clapped along with the sellout crowd of 15,746 that gave Hawerchuk a standing ovation.Hawerchuk has had his ups and downs this season with Keenan, who was his first coach in Jr. B with Oshawa Legionnaires.&ldquo;This means a lot to me,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;We started our careers together in Jr. B. I&rsquo;ve given him a hard time, but he has stuck with it and believes in what we&rsquo;re doing. He has worked hard. I&rsquo;m happy for him.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Blues acquired right winger Rob Pearson from Washington for winger Denis Chasse, a move coach-GM Mike Keenan called an &ldquo;incremental improvement.&rdquo;&hellip;The shutout against Toronto was Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s first as a Blue&hellip;The Blues suffered an embarrassing 4-2 loss in Ottawa Jan. 29. St. Louis&rsquo; first loss in five meetings against the Senators, who won at home for the first time in three months&hellip;Enforcer Tony Twist scored goals on back-to-back shifts, the only goals in the Blues&rsquo; 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay Jan. 27. Including his goal against Winnipeg Jan. 24, he had three goals on three shots. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not kidding anybody,&rdquo; Twist said. &ldquo;I was in the right place at the right time.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-02

Hawerchuk hits 500 with flare

<div class="byline">By Roy Cummings</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01762/6124415-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="158" height="160"></div>For those who may have forgotten how Chris LiPuma plays hockey, he wants you to know that nothing has changed. He still plays rough.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a dangler looking to score a bunch of points,&rdquo; said LiPuma who was called up from the Atlanta Knights of the International League Jan. 29. &ldquo;I play hard and I bang people. And if I have to, I&rsquo;ll fight. None of that has changed since you last saw me here.&rdquo;Good thing. Because the Lightning had been playing G-rated hockey when they recalled LiPuma from the minors to add a little toughness to the lineup.And it&rsquo;s why LiPuma stayed around even after rugged Enrico Ciccone returned from a one-game absence due to a knee injury.Ciccone injured his right knee in practice Jan. 29 and while he was expected to miss only one game, the Lightning decided to keep LiPuma on hand.&ldquo;I know what my job is,&rdquo; said LiPuma, who made his return in a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins Jan. 31. &ldquo;I mean, the reason I&rsquo;m here is because I was hacking and whacking at guys down in Atlanta. I&rsquo;ve always been able to do that.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Brian Bellows played in his 1,000th NHL game Jan. 31. The team honored him during a pre-game ceremony at the ThunderDome&hellip;Former Penguin John Cullen scored two goals to lead the Lightning to a 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh Jan. 31. The last time Cullen scored two goals in a game was Feb. 4, 1993-against Tampa Bay&hellip;After recording three points in his previous 16 games, center Chris Gratton had two goals and an assist in two games. &#9632;

f0023-01

LiPuma adds lots of punch

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02485/6124446-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="158" height="158"></div>Add one valuable working part, subtract another. Such was the lot for the Toronto Maple Leafs during a difficult month of January. Two days after acquiring center Dave Gagner from the Dallas Stars, they lost defenseman Kenny Jonsson for an extended period with a shoulder injury.Jonsson, arguably the most effective Leaf blueliner this season, separated his left shoulder Jan. 30 against the Detroit Red Wings when he was taken heavily into the boards by Sergei Fedorov.The 21-year-old Jonsson had four goals and 23 points at the time of his injury.That news-and the fact the Leafs went winless in Kirk Muller&rsquo;s first four appearances-put a bit of a damper on the deal with Dallas Jan. 28 that brought the 31-year-old Gagner to Toronto in exchange for wingers Benoit Hogue and Randy Wood.Gagner, who had asked to be moved from Dallas after the acquisition of Joe Nieuwendyk cut his ice time, was pleased with the move.&ldquo;It really couldn&rsquo;t have worked out better,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I expected to be traded, but to get traded to Toronto is one of the best situations you could imagine. It&rsquo;s a contending team in a city where hockey&rsquo;s a big tradition.I&rsquo;ve never really been a part of that. I&rsquo;ve played in the U.S. for almost 11&frac12; years, so it&rsquo;s nice to get back to where hockey is No. 1.&rdquo;GM Cliff Fletcher made the deal for the Chatham, Ont., native because Gagner gives the Leafs a little more grit and is better-suited to playing center than Hogue. That the deal cuts $400,000 from the payroll this season is an added bonus.NOTEBOOK: With the trading of Benoit Hogue, backup goalie Don Beaupre managed to lay his hands on his favorite No. 33 sweater. Beaupre wore No. 31 for his first two games as a Leaf and made 33 saves against Detroit in his first appearance, a 4-2 loss in Detroit&hellip;Defenseman Jamie Heward was recalled from St. John&rsquo;s of the American League to fill Kenny Jonsson&rsquo;s roster spot. At the time of his promotion, Heward had not played an NHL game since being selected in the first round of the 1989 entry draft as a right winger by the Pittsburgh Penguins&hellip; A 4-0 loss to St. Louis Jan. 31 stretched the Leafs&rsquo; winless streak to seven, their longest period without a victory since the middle of 1993-94. &#9632;

f0023-02

Tough times in January

<h2>JANUARY WINNER: GARY ROBERTS</h2>There were players who scored more goals and others who registered more points in January than Gary Roberts of the Calgary Flames.But was any player more important to the success of his team? No.Roberts returned from nearly two years off with neck problems and scored eight goals and 16 points in eight games and is the Dodge Trucks NHL player of the month for January. The Flames were 13-22-7 without Roberts, and in serious jeopardy of missing the playoffs. With Roberts in the lineup, they quickly reeled off five wins and two ties in eight games and suddenly were in the playoff race.The 29-year-old left winger made an immediate impact upon his return, scoring just five minutes into his first game back, a 3-2 win over the Hartford Whalers Jan. 10.Roberts recorded a hat trick in his next game as the Flames beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1.He was productive even in defeat, scoring once in Calgary&rsquo;s 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars Jan. 26. He ended the month with four power play goals and had a game-winner.Roberts&rsquo; teammate Theoren Fleury also enjoyed a prosperous month, scoring 12 goals and 20 points in 11 games. Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings led all NHL scorers with 25 points in 13 games while Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins was second with 11 goals and 24 points in 11 games. Keith Tkachuk of the Winnipeg Jets scored 12 goals and one assist in 11 games.The most productive rookie was Eric Daze of the Chicago Blackhawks, who had eight goals and 12 points in 13 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01831/6124484-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="967" height="1179"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01737/6124477-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="721" height="1037"></div> &#9632;

f0024-01

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01750/6124515-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="160" height="160"></div>Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; goaltender Corey Hirsch may have the Bates&rsquo; Manor from Psycho painted on his mask, but he isn&rsquo;t crazy enough to make an appointment with Dennis Rodman&rsquo;s hairdresser.Hirsch, a redhead, was amused by all the red in the Canucks&rsquo; third uniform, which was unveiled Jan. 27 in a 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders.&ldquo;I try to stay away from red and orange,&rdquo; said the fashion-conscious Hirsch. &ldquo;The new colors don&rsquo;t do much for my hair and I&rsquo;m not Dennis Rodman, I&rsquo;m not going to change my hair to go with the jersey.&rdquo;The sweaters are red on the upper torso and arms and black on the bottom. There is a diagonal stripe cutting through the crest and numbers that fades from gold to orange and then into the red. The numbers are gold. No matching socks were provided so the Canucks wore their all-black practice hose.The reviews were mixed.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what hockey will look like in the year 2000,&rdquo; said center Cliff Ronning. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something similar to what you&rsquo;d see in Europe. I liked them. They&rsquo;re pretty bright and maybe they woke us up.&rdquo;Ronning had a sensational first game in the new uniforms, scoring once and assisting on three others. Hirsch figures the superstitious little center will want to wear the red shirts every night.&ldquo;Cliff might be out there in red while the rest of us are in white,&rdquo; Hirsch said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be kind of like they do in Europe where the leading scoring gets to wear a (gold) helmet.&rdquo;Kirk McLean. Esa Tikkanen, Trevor Linden and Pavel Bure were among those not impressed. Jyrki Lumme loved them while head coach Rick Ley had a more practical approach.&ldquo;If we can win at home all the time, I like them,&rdquo; Ley said.The Canucks, one of five teams to sport a third jersey this season, plan to wear them five or six times. (See pg. 35 for more on third uniforms.)NOTEBOOK: Despite having gamebreakers such as right wingers Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny the past two seasons, the Canucks were winless in 30 consecutive regular-season overtimes (0-5-25)&hellip;Defenseman Dave Babych relumed to the lineup after missing 23 games with a broken foot&hellip;It appears goaltender Kirk McLean will be out until at least mid-February, longer than earlier projected when he had his left knee scoped Jan. 16&hellip;When defenseman Bret Hedican missed the Canucks&rsquo; 50th game of the season with a charleyhorse, that left just one player who had appeared in each of the team&rsquo;s games: captain Trevor Linden, the NHL&rsquo;s current iron man (426 straight through Feb. 1.) &#9632;

f0027-01

New fashion fantastic if it brings wins

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02466/6124546-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="159" height="160"></div>Jim Johnson is back home on the Washington Capitals&rsquo; defense due to an unusual set of circumstances he is more than willing to accept.Johnson, a defenseman for his 10 previous NHL seasons, was pressed into service as a winger by the Caps this season because they came up with a serious shortage of NHL-caliber forwards. Defenseman Ken Klee was moved up for the same reason.But when rookie defenseman Brendan Witt broke his wrist Jan. 28, Johnson, who had been practising as both a forward and defenseman all season, was asked to move back to his more familiar position.The timing was perfect in other ways. Center Mike Eagles was ready to return after sitting out a month with a broken finger and the Capitals were in the process of dealing unproductive right winger Rob Pearson-who had been with the Portland Pirates of the American League-to the St. Louis Blues for right winger Denis Chasse.&ldquo;Playing 11 years in the league at defense and playing most of this season at forward, I don&rsquo;t know if I was unhappy, but more disappointed,&rdquo; Johnson said of being moved up. &ldquo;You learn to accept it and you learn from playing the position. I think it helped my game.&rdquo;The added depth at forward helped the team immediately. Eagles went right back in the lineup and Chasse was playing before he knew most of his teammates, allowing the Caps to rest players with nagging injuries.NOTEBOOK: After dropping their final game in the Montreal Forum (5-3 Jan. 31), the Caps weren&rsquo;t real sorry to see the last of the famed rink. They were 7-30-6 there in 22 seasons, losing 21 games in a row at one stretch, going 23 straight without a win&hellip;Center Michal Pivonka moved into second place on the Caps&rsquo; all-time assist list, getting his 360th on a Joe Juneau goal against the Canadiens. Mike Gartner (392), now with Toronto, is still ahead of him&hellip;The Caps continued to have trouble getting going early in games. They were down 4-0 in the first period to Montreal before losing 5-3 and 2-0 in Ottawa before beating the Senators 4-2. Washington was 9-19-4 when opponents scored first and 15-2-1 when it scored first. &#9632;

f0027-02

Johnson resumes old spot after stint on front lines

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04200/6124577-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="572" height="976"><figcaption class="caption-body">Teemu Selanne</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03293/6124584-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="159" height="160"></div>Teemu Selanne knows the reality of hockey. The only thing the Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; right winger wants is to be wanted or traded.Persistent rumors have the Finnish Flash anxious about his future.&ldquo;I was watching TV and I heard them say I would be traded by the trading deadline,&rdquo; he said.,&rdquo;When I signed (a five-year) contract, it was my understanding this team wants to keep me and they want to have me when they go to Phoenix. Every time I hear these rumors, it makes me think they were just telling stories and they didn&rsquo;t mean those things.&ldquo;If this team doesn&rsquo;t need me, they shouldn&rsquo;t keep me, they should get rid of me,&rdquo; he said.The gossip wasn&rsquo;t hurting Selanne&rsquo;s game at all. He passed the 300point level for his career Jan. 24, in just 227 games. He was also riding a 15-game points streak as of Feb. 2 and led the Jets with 72 points in 50 games.He said, however, there was a time he didn&rsquo;t think that kind of production would be possible for the Jets. After helping last year with the Save the Jets campaign, Selanne heard his name mentioned in trade talk again.&ldquo;When the rumors started up again all I could think was, &lsquo;Thanks a lot.&rsquo; I was very angry and hurt about that, because nobody (from the Jets) ever talked to me about them and told me not to worry,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;It makes you feel like they don&rsquo;t care about you.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Teemu Selanne&rsquo;s points streak reached 15 games Feb. 1 in Colorado, when he posted three assists in a 6-4 loss to the Avalanche. Selanne was two off his personal best run of 17 games, (established in his rookie season) and three off the Winnipeg franchise record of 18 games set by Dale Hawerchuk in 1985&hellip;Left winger Keith Tkachuk&rsquo;s goal-scoring run of 12 in 10 games had him in the team lead with 30 goals&hellip;Left winger Kris King&rsquo;s goal Jan. 29 in Dallas, the shorthanded winner, was his first goal since Dec. 6&hellip;Goalie Tim Cheveldae stopped Colorado&rsquo;s Peter Forsberg on a third-period penalty shot Feb. 1, leaving him with two stops on three penalty shots as a Jet. &#9632;

f0027-04

Selanne hurt by swan talk

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01783/6124615-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0028-01

CLASSIFIED

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>The Peterborough Petes, who two years ago experienced their worst season in a storied 40-year history, are going to the Cup. Actually, the Memorial Cup is coming to the Petes.Peterborough was named host city for the tournament, May 11-19, guaranteeing the Petes a berth in major junior hockey&rsquo;s final four with the Ontario, Western and Quebec League champions. Should the Petes win the league title, the other finalist would also receive a berth.The Petes beat out bids from the Ottawa 67s, Barrie Colts, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Guelph Storm. The top two teams in each division after 40 games were eligible to bid.&ldquo;Peterborough hit on every point in the criteria and in some instances embellished the ideas,&rdquo; said OHL commissioner Dave Branch.The selection committee was comprised of Toronto Blue Jays&rsquo; president Paul Beeston, NHL Central Scouting Bureau director Frank Bonello and NHL consultant Brian O&rsquo;Neill.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t underestimate the value of the Peterborough Petes to the Canadian Hockey League,&rdquo; Branch said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost a mystique, this factory that produces players and coaches for the NHL.&rdquo;The Petes pre-sold 2,700 ticket packages for the 3,866-seat arena. Standing room puts capacity at 5,000.&ldquo;When people ask the reason for the Petes&rsquo; success over the years, I say it&rsquo;s because they&rsquo;ve stuck with people and I, for one, appreciate that,&rdquo; said third-year coach Dave MacQueen, who took over from Dick Todd after the Petes went to the 1993 Cup final.They were 46-15-5 in Todd&rsquo;s final season and won their seventh OHL title. They were 15-4110 the first year with MacQueen as rookie coach and Jeff Twohey the rookie GM.&ldquo;Jeff and I did an awful lot of soul searching that first year,&rdquo; MacQueen said.Peterborough, the East Division leaders at 2715-6, last won the Memorial Cup in 1979. This is their seventh Cup appearance, but their first time hosting the event.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01682/6124646-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="690" height="239"></div>SAVARD SIDELINED: Marc Savard&rsquo;s bid to become just the second player to win consecutive scoring titles ended with a broken right ankle.The break occurred during the first minute of a Jan. 26 game between Savard&rsquo;s Oshawa Generals and Guelph. Savard, who won the scoring crown last season with 43 goals and 139 points, won&rsquo;t be back until mid-March.With 26 goals and 86 points in 47 games, Savard was in a three-way tie for the scoring lead with Sean Haggerty of the Detroit Whalers and Aaron Brand of the Sarnia Sting.Marcel Dionne is the only player to win back-to-back OHL scoring titles, with the St. Catharines Blackhawks in 1970 and 1971.Savard, 18, was a fourth-round pick of the New York Rangers in the 1995 NHL entry draft.&ldquo;The doctors said it was a clean break and I should have no trouble coming back,&rdquo; Savard said. &ldquo;I just made a pass and was pushed and I caught my skate in a rut. I looked down and my ankle was hanging over to the right.&rdquo;HE&rsquo;S BACK: Jason Bonsignore scored in his first game with the Sudbury Wolves, a 4-3 loss to Barrie Jan. 30, after being returned by the Edmonton Oilers.Bonsignore, 19, was the Oilers&rsquo; first pick, fourth overall in 1994. He had 27 goals and 62 points in 49 games last season with the Niagara Falls Thunder and Sudbury. He had spent time in the NHL and American League this season.BERARD SIDELINED: Detroit Whalers&rsquo; all-star defenseman Bryan Berard got a scare when he injured his right knee and ankle Jan. 26 in a game against the London Knights.Initially diagnosed as sprains, they were updated to bruises. Berard wasn&rsquo;t expected to miss more than two games. &#9632;

f0029-01

Petes earner early entry as Memorial Cup host

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Frank Banham waited until the final game of the 1994-95 Western League season to score his 50th goal. Milestones have come much more quickly this winter.The Saskatoon Blades&rsquo; right winger hit the 50- and 60-goal plateaus during January. He was on pace to pass 80.&ldquo;I had 50 goals last year, but that wasn&rsquo;t enough,&rdquo; said Banham, 20, who returned to the Blades this season after a free-agent tryout with the International League&rsquo;s Chicago Wolves. &ldquo;I thought about it over the summer. If I want to do something after this season, I have to put up some big numbers.&rdquo;That strategy appears to be working. The NHL&rsquo;s Mighty Ducks of Anaheim signed Banham to a three-year contract.The Calahoo, Alta., product had 64 goals after Saskatoon&rsquo;s first 55 games this season. He enjoyed a 17-goal lead over his closest pursuer-linemate Mark Deyell.Clarke Wilm, who plays left wing ongside Deyell and Banham, boasted 38 goals through 55 games.&ldquo;A lot of it has to do with my linemates,&rdquo; Banham said. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t do it without them.&rdquo;Banham was only three shy of last season&rsquo;s league-leading total, posted by Tri-City Americans&rsquo; center Daymond Langkow.STAYING PUT: Brad Larsen was dealt on the WHL&rsquo;s trading deadline, but don&rsquo;t look for the Swift Current Broncos&rsquo; left winger to change uniforms anytime soon.The NHL&rsquo;s Ottawa Senators shipped the rights to Larsen to the Colorado Avalanche Sept. 25 for defenseman Janne Laukkanen.&ldquo;We had a meeting,&rdquo; Larsen said. &ldquo;The coach (Todd McLellan) told us that in the NHL, you never know what might happen.&ldquo;That was at noon hour. At four o&rsquo;clock, I was gone. I called my parents and told them I had been traded. They said, &lsquo;What?&rsquo; They thought I had been traded by Swift Current.&rdquo;Ottawa picked Larsen tn the third round (53rd overall) of the NHL&rsquo;s 1995 entry draft. He has yet to sign a contract.&ldquo;I just went to one training camp with the Senators,&rdquo; said Larsen, who turned 19 Jan. 27. &ldquo;I just got a bag and a few hats. They didn&rsquo;t spoil me or anything, but they treated me well. I hope the same thing happens with Colorado.&rdquo;Larsen hopes to become a teammate of Avalanche star Joe Sakic, a Broncos&rsquo; graduate.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of weird,&rdquo; Larsen said. &ldquo;Joe Sakic stayed at the same house I stay at. Joe calls my billets (Frank and Colleen MacBean) three or four times a year and sends cards.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a lucky house. Joe Sakic stayed there. So did Sheidon Kennedy and Geoff Sanderson. If you&rsquo;re billeted there, I guess it looks good for you in the future.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03284/6124708-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="359" height="358"></div>LENGTHY DLEY: Dev Dley&rsquo;s first meeting as the WHL&rsquo;s commissioner lasted seven hours.&ldquo;That was tough to get used to,&rdquo; said Dley, who left a Kamloops, B.C., law practice to run the WHL. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m used to judges taking breaks every half hour.&rdquo;Dley is to work full-time with outgoing WHL president Ed Chynoweth at the league&rsquo;s Calgary office until Feb. 15. After that. Chynoweth will be available on a part-time basis as required. Chynoweth is leaving the league office to run the expansion Edmonton Ice. The Ice begins play next season.NOTEBOOK: Kamloops Blazers&rsquo; left-winger Hnat Domenichelii had multiple points in 31 of his first 39 games&hellip;The Prince George Cougars-perennial West Division cellar-dwellers-came crashing back to earth after an 8-6-0 uprising. Prince George proceeded to lose seven straight games&hellip;The Medicine Hat Tigers went 7-3-1 in their first 11 games under coach Joe Canale, who replaced Brad McEwen Jan. 6&hellip;The Moose Jaw Warriors can hardly be termed the road warriors. They had lost 15 straight away games going into February. The Warriors had not won a road game since defeating the Spokane Chiefs 4-3 Nov. 22. &#9632;

f0029-03

Milestones falling quickly for Blades’ sniper Banham

<div class="byline">By Chris Miller</div>Teeder Wynne&rsquo;s nickname is the same as NHL Hall of Famer Teeder Kennedy. But Fred Wynne got the moniker long before he started playing hockey.When he was a toddler, Wynne wobbled uncertainly from side to side. His father, Fred Sr., a hockey fan, tagged his namesake with a nickname that stuck.Now a senior center at North Dakota, Wynne is inviting comparisons to past Sioux greats Tony Hrkac and Greg Johnson. Wynne was the second-leading scorer in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.&ldquo;He anticipates and moves the puck real well,&rdquo; said North Dakota coach Dean Blais. &ldquo;He intercepts passes you think might be completed because of his anticipation.&rdquo;Wynne, 22, didn&rsquo;t have much of an impact during his first two seasons, but as a freshman he had a stall next to Johnson, who was headed for his third straight season as an all-America.&ldquo;I knew it would be a learning experience when I got here,&rdquo; said Wynne, who is from Calgary. &ldquo;Greg was a senior and he really helped a lot. He was such a humble guy. I try to pattern myself after him a little. He was an incredible passer and made everyone around him so much better.&rdquo;<h2>WCHA</h2>At 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, the undrafted Wynne gets bounced around a bit, and has been bothered by injuries, but keeps scoring steadily. He credits his success this season to linemates Darcy Mitani and Ian Kallay. The trio had combined for nearly 60 goals entering February. Wynne had 19 goals and 53 points in 30 games.And he also got a new nickname-once his teammates found out his real name.&ldquo;Now they all call me Fred,&rdquo; Wynne said.CRUNCH TIME: Michigan Tech junior winger Kyle Peterson will miss the rest of the season after a suffering a serious injury Jan. 26 in a game against Wisconsin.Peterson, 21, was checked awkwardly into the players&rsquo; bench. He broke two ribs, suffered a bruised lung and heart and tore his spleen, but is expected to recover fully and return to the team next year. The Thunder Bay, Ont., native spent a couple days in intensive care in Hancock, Mich. Peterson was drafted 154th by the Dallas Stars in 1992.DEEP AT D: Minnesota led the nation in goals against (2.32 goals allowed per game) at the end of January with a defense corps that&rsquo;s the envy of other coaches. Coach Doug Woog has 10 capable defensemen with two, Jay Moser and Andy Brink, playing at forward.During a 7-0 win over Northern Michigan Jan. 27, Woog used all 10 defensemen-six in their regular spots, four as forwards. The Gophers posted their third straight shutout in that game, and team record sixth of the season. Goalies Jeff Moen and Steve DeBus have three each. &#9632;

Wynne leads Sioux in nicknames and points

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggle</div>Scott Baker is again whipping up some recipes for success for the Dartmouth College Big Green.The junior goalie from Chepachet, R.L, has received an extra dose of confidence after the Christmas break, and as a result, had the Big Green back in the playoff hunt.He put on a seven-course show when the Big Green hosted explosive Vermont Jan. 27. With 4,527 fans packed into the Thompson Arena, the largest crowd for a regular-season Eastern College Athletic Conference game this season, Baker stopped 29 shots to allow Dartmouth to gain a 3-3 tie with the nationally-ranked Cats.After an 0-9-1 start, Dartmouth rebounded with a 4-4-2 record in its next 10 games and Baker was the big factor. He was named MVP of the USAir/Sheraton Classic after stopping 53 shots and allowing four goals in two games.Statistically, Baker was having a mediocre season. He sported a 4.29 goals-against average and a 86.4 save percentage. But those figures are inflated by some lopsided early-season losses.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve finally learned how to play team defense and Scott has been real solid,&rdquo; said Dartmouth coach Roger Demment. &ldquo;The win over Boston College (in the first round of the tournament) made believers out of the kids.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s no coincidence Dartmouth was winning by playing tough defense. Demment has been stressing that theme since pre-season.&ldquo;We really went to a very defense-oriented system,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Last year, we were more wide open because we had seniors who could do things with the puck. Most kids want to be free-wheeling and early in the year, they didn&rsquo;t like what we were doing.&rdquo;<h2>ECAC</h2>But teams that think Dartmouth can&rsquo;t score are going to get burned. Junior David Whitworth, who had eight goals and 20 points in 27 games last year, was having another solid season, with nine goals and 17 points through 19 games.HARD TO BEAT: One of the most underrated players in the ECAC is St. Lawrence sophomore goalie Clint Owen.While teammates Burke Murphy, with 25 goals in 22 games, and Paul DiFrancesco steal the spotlight, Owen was spectacular, compiling a 2.65 GAA and 92.0 SP. That&rsquo;s a drastic improvement from Owen&rsquo;s 4.39, 86.5 numbers of a year ago.HAT TRICK HERO: Union College freshman Brent Ozarowski had the best game of his career Jan. 27 against Air Force.Ozarowski scored three goals and assisted on two others to lead the Dutchmen to a 10-0 win. Another freshman, goalie Leeor Shtrom, made just 17 saves to earn the shutout.Brown was ready to make a late-season run at home ice for the playoffs. After beating Northeastern 4-3, the Bears had just one loss in 10 league games, sporting a bizarre-looking 4-1-5 record. &#9632;

Fabulous Baker boy shines for Big Green

<div class="byline">By Matt Carlson</div>Some thought for the Michigan State Spartans to be successful this season, they&rsquo;d have to win in spite of their young defenseman. Instead, they were doing well because of them.The play of freshmen rearguards Chris Bogas and Jeff Kozakowski was a big part of the reason the Spartans were first in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.Bogas, a 6-foot-l, 191-pound native of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, led Spartan blueliners with 15 points (all assists) and a plus-21 mark in 20 CCHA games. Kozakowski, a husky 6-foot, 206-pounder from Garden City, Mich., wasn&rsquo;t contributing as much offense (two goals and four points), but was playing a clever, steady and poised game.Bogas, 19, played last season with the Omaha Lancers of the United States League while Kozakowski, 21, skated with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL.Coach Ron Mason, who said the players&rsquo; age and experience has helped them adjust more readily to college play, hasn&rsquo;t been afraid to use either in key situations and on special teams.&ldquo;(Mason) wants us to move up on the play when we can,&rdquo; Bogas said, &ldquo;but he doesn&rsquo;t want us to take risks and get caught. Besides, with forwards like Anson Carter and Mike Watt, you just give them the puck and get assists.&rdquo;Although Bogas had the better stats, Mason is especially high on Kozakowski because of his strength and consistently smart decisions with the puck.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the best freshman defensemen I&rsquo;ve ever had and I&rsquo;ve had defensemen go on to the NHL,&rdquo; Mason said.<h2>CCHA</h2>FRESH IRISH: The silver lining to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish&rsquo;s tough season has been the play of freshmen Brian Urick, Aniket Dhadphale and Benoit Cotnoir.Urick, a 19-year-old right winger from Minnetonka, Minn., was second in team scoring with eight goals and 16 points in 19 CCHA games. Called a &ldquo;banger who likes physical play&rdquo; by coach Dave Poulin, Urick is eligible for the 1996 NHL entry draft.Dhadphale, a left winger who grew up in Marquette, Mich., is a &ldquo;big kid who&rsquo;s more of a finisher.&rdquo; Dhadphale was selected by the San Jose Sharks in the 10th round of the 1994 entry draft.Poulin said Cotnoir, a defenseman from Rouyn-Noranda, Que., had been the team&rsquo;s best rearguard on many nights. &ldquo;He has had great poise and he&rsquo;s strong,&rdquo; Poulin said.NOTEBOOK: Michigan State sophomore Jon Gaskins is coming along for the Spartans. Gaskins missed the end of 1994-95 due to a knee injury and then sat out the first 21 games this season because of blood clots in his lungs. &ldquo;He has hardly played in the last 10 months,&rdquo; Ron Mason said. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s big and strong. It&rsquo;s just a matter of time until he&rsquo;s back all the way.&rdquo; &#9632;

First-year blueliners help Spartans thrive

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>Just when it appeared Boston University was going to run away from the rest of Hockey East, leaving only a battle for second place, the UMass-Lowell River Hawks emerged.The result is a four-team chase for the Hockey East regular season championship.UMass-Lowell&rsquo;s 8-6 and 5-4 sweep of Boston University Jan. 26-27 left the Terriers with only a two point lead over UMass-Lowell, a five-point lead over Maine and an 11-point advantage over Providence.&ldquo;It was fantastic,&rdquo; said River Hawks&rsquo; coach Bruce Crowder of his team&rsquo;s sweep. &ldquo;We played really well both nights. We have been playing better and better and the nice thing is everybody has been contributing on different nights. It hasn&rsquo;t been just one guy getting it done for us.&rdquo;Left winger Ryan Sandholm, who had two goals all season, had a pair in the 5-4 win and fourth line center Bill Riga also scored in the series. It was his second goal of the year.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s great because it takes a lot of pressure off our line,&rdquo; said senior Jeff Daw, who centers the top scoring unit playing between left wing Neil Donovan and right wing Brendan Concannon.<h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>The River Hawks were 0-17-0 at BU&rsquo;s Walter Brown Arena until the 8-6 triumph. BU had gone 16-0-2 in its previous 18 home games and was on a 17-game unbeaten streak.The River Hawks were picked to finish sixth in the coaches&rsquo; pre-season poll after losing Hockey East scoring leader Greg Bullock to the International League&rsquo;s San Francisco Spiders.MAINE BACK: Maine interim head coach Greg Cronin, who figured his team&rsquo;s chance to win the Hockey East regular season title fell by the wayside with a loss and tie at BU the previous weekend, was elated to be back in the thick of things.&ldquo;This is unbelievable,&rdquo; Cronin said. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s ironic is we were getting hunted all last year and now BU&rsquo;s getting hunted. If we can get a bounce here and there and play good solid hockey, we could be in the same situation they were in last year, going right down to the last game of the year.&rdquo;Maine led most of the race last year, but BU tied the Black Bears the last week of the season.WAIT A MINUTE, MAN: UMass-Amherst&rsquo;s back-to-back 6-3 losses at Maine on Jan. 26-27 left the Minutemen winless in nine games &bull;(0-8-1). But Coach Joe Mallen said progress is being made.&ldquo;You have to understand that we&rsquo;re still like an expansion team,&rdquo; said Mallen, whose Minutemen are in their second year in the league.&ldquo;This was the highest tempo we&rsquo;ve played at all year and if can continue playing with the same work ethic and improve in a couple of areas, (we&rsquo;U be okay).&rdquo; &#9632;

River Hawks sweep BU, race is on for HE crown

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Manny Legace had the American League&rsquo;s best goals-against average, as many shutouts as Jim Carey had last season and was a key component on a team threatening to become the best defensive team in AHL history.But Legace is adamant when he says that despite four shutouts, including three in a 14day span, he has things to work on, that he&rsquo;s not ready to boot Sean Burke out as the Hartford Whalers&rsquo; top goalie.&ldquo;Any goalie can have a good average on a first-place team,&rdquo; said the second-year Springfield Falcons&rsquo; goalie, who was 14-7-2 with a 2.11 goals-against average and 92.6 save percentage.&ldquo;I want to get my save percentage up, that&rsquo;s the big thing, and I&rsquo;m still learning to focus, to not let my mind wander if I&rsquo;m not getting a lot of shots.&rdquo;That actually can be a big problem. The Falcons&rsquo; allowed an average of 29 shots a game. They gave up just 135 goals in 50 games (2.7 per-game average) and were on pace to break the Albany River Rats&rsquo; single-season mark for fewest goals-against in a season (219, set last year).Springfield had seven shutouts, just two fewer than the 43-year-old AHL record of nine (by the Cleveland Barons in 1941-42 and Buffalo Bisons in 1942-43).&ldquo;To win at any level, you have to be able to play defense,&rdquo; said coach Kevin McCarthy. &ldquo;Offense comes and goes, but defense can remain constant because all it is is hard work.&rdquo;When there have been breakdowns, Legace and rookie goalie Scott Langkow have usually made the save. Especially the 23-year-old Legace.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not letting in bad goals and a lot of that has to do with concentration,&rdquo; McCarthy said. &ldquo;Everybody talks that he&rsquo;s too small (5-foot-9, 162 pounds). But I don&rsquo;t think (John) Vanbiesbrouck is much bigger (5-foot-8, 176). Manny has turned himself into a good prospect.But Hartford&rsquo;s eighth-round pick in the 1993 entry draft is not begging for his first NHL start yet.&ldquo;I know my situation; Sean Burke is a great goaltender, no ifs ands or buts about it,&rdquo; Legace said. &ldquo;I can learn from him by watching. His concentration level is so high and his focus is so great. That&rsquo;s what I want&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01717/6124835-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="532" height="360"></div>SHUTTLE BUS: The Worcester IceCats had endured a mind-boggling 67 player transactions as of Jan. 30, and the continual shuffling of personnel may explain their league-worst goals-per-game average of 3.00.While the St. Louis Blues and New York Islanders both send players to Worcester, Blues&rsquo; coach-GM Mike Keenan was responsible for 62 of the moves.Is it difficult for IceCats&rsquo; coach Jimmy Roberts? &ldquo;I think common sense would answer that question,&rdquo; Roberts said diplomatically. &ldquo;You just deal with it the best you can.&rdquo;The frequent flyer club includes tough winger Kevin Sawyer and left winger Dave Roberts, each with four trips back and forth; and defenseman Christer Olsson, who went back and forth twice in five days.FUTURE WATCH: Sources say the Cornwall Aces&rsquo; parent team, the Colorado Avalanche, will hook up with the Hershey Bears, which loses its affiliation with the Philadelphia Flyers after the season&hellip;Providence Bruins&rsquo; owner Ed Anderson also owns a dormant franchise and will put that club in West Palm Beach, Fla., to begin play in perhaps 1997-98 or 1998-99. Anderson will be required to restructure his partnership in Providence because AHL by-laws prohibit dual ownership&hellip;The league will review its overtime policy after the season. A rule change for this season guarantees each team one point if the game is tied after regulation, with the overtime winner getting an additional point. Forty-nine per cent of tied games were decided in OT compared with 28 per cent last season. &#9632;

f0031-01

Falcons’ goalie hoping to create living Legace

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>The Orlando Solar Bears are an independent International League operation, so it was much to their surprise when they formed an NHL affiliation of sorts in mid-January.The Solar Bears have been playing like the powerhouse they were expected to be, in no small part thanks to goalie Allan Bester, who had a 3.59 goals-against average, 89.3 save percentage and a league-high 18 wins.But the struggling Dallas Stars requested Bester on loan from the expansion Solar Bears. Stars&rsquo; coach Ken Hitchcock was Michigan K- Wings&rsquo; coach for the first half of the season and was impressed with the play of Bester.Dallas&rsquo; two goalies, Andy Moog and Darcy Wakaluk, were injured and 21-year-old prospect Manny Fernandez is better, served playing for the K-Wings in the IHL.&ldquo;Their two guys were hurt and their two kids from Michigan weren&rsquo;t working out, so they came to us,&rdquo; said Orlando GM Don Waddell. &ldquo;We loaned Bester for a two-week trial period. He does not have an out-clause with us, but we probably wouldn&rsquo;t stand in his way if someone wanted to keep him up there.&rdquo;Waddell said Dallas has agreed to provide significant compensation to Orlando-presum-ably another goalie-if the Stars decide to keep Bester, who has a three-year IHL deal.The 29-year-old former Toronto Maple Leafs/Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; goalie hadn&rsquo;t seen serious big-league minutes since playing 42 games for Toronto in 1989-90. His last NHL action was a 31-minute stint in 1991-92.Dallas was paying Bester $1,300 for every day he was on the roster and $2,500 for every point the team earned with him in the lineup. Through Feb. 1, he had already earned $33,100.Bester says he doesn&rsquo;t see this NHL stint as a tryout for a second big-league career. He considers himself just a fill-in.The Solar Bears were filling in their needs with Mike Forchia-a former Dallas prospect who was on loan from the Portland Pirates&rsquo; of the American League-and he was 3-0-0 in Orlando.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re an older independent team,&rdquo; Waddell said. &ldquo;But this whole thing has suddenly given our guys some life. They see a chance to go to the NHL can come for anyone on any team.&rdquo;And that could be worth as much as Allan Bester in the long run.GRIFFINS&rsquo; GUIDE: Former Rochester Americans&rsquo; and Milwaukee Admirals&rsquo; goalie Bob McNamara has been hired as director of hockey operations for the Grand Rapids Griffins, an IHL expansion team next season.McNamara, 34, was assistant GM with the Cleveland Lumberjacks. His father, Gerry, was GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1982-87. Bob McNamara&rsquo;s uncle, Hal, played defense for the Grand Rapids Rockets, an IHL team from 1950-56.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m coming to Grand Rapids with anticipation and enthusiasm,&rdquo; said McNamara, whose duties will include hiring a coaching staff and acquiring players. &ldquo;The area has embraced the Griffins and we intend to develop a team that will enhance the community&rsquo;s affection.&rdquo;Grand Rapids has received deposits on 5,800 season tickets orders so far.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02474/6124866-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="389" height="432"></div>I-OPENERS: The Chicago Wolves signed veteran NHL defenseman Bob McGill, who played 13 seasons for six NHL teams. McGill, 33, hadn&rsquo;t played since 1993-94. He has been working as a television analyst for Wolves&rsquo; games on Chicago radio station WCIU&hellip;The Kansas City Blades received 6-foot-5, 225-pound defenseman Mike Rathje-the San Jose Sharks&rsquo; No. 1 pick (third overall) in the 1992 draft&hellip;Orlando left winger and IHL scoring leader Craig Fisher was player of the week for the period ending Jan. 29 after scoring five goals in three games. Jimmy Waite of the Indianapolis Ice was goalie of the week with a 3.00 GAA and 91.3 save percentage while compiling a 2-0-1 record. &#9632;

f0031-02

Solar Bears still soaring despite losing top goalie

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>Alain Morissette thought he was through with hockey. Instead of stopping pucks, he spent the past three years in a police lab trying to stop crime.Now he&rsquo;s back in goal for the East Coast League&rsquo;s Louisville RiverFrogs and looking better than ever.&ldquo;I love hockey too much to stay away from it,&rdquo; Morissette said.The 26-year-old was keeping the RiverFrogs near the top of the North Division. He carried a 21-10-2 record into February and had the league&rsquo;s second-best goals-against average (2.76) and third-best save percentage (91.1).After winning 16 games for the Muskegon Lumberjacks, the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; International League affiliate, in 1991-92, Morissette quit.&ldquo;I was told Pittsburgh didn&rsquo;t want me,&rdquo; Morissette said. &ldquo;They weren&rsquo;t offering a contract. I knew I played well all season. It would have been difficult for me to play any better.&ldquo;If that season was not good enough to get me a contract, I thought it was time to try something else.&rdquo;Morissette then enrolled in a police academy in his hometown of Rimouski, Que., and worked in a lab. He played roller hockey two years ago for Pittsburgh and was playing in an amateur league when a Penguins&rsquo; scout saw him last year. He&rsquo;s now playing on a minor-league contract in the Penguins&rsquo; system.Morissette, who accounted for 80 per cent of Louisville&rsquo;s wins, was chosen starting goalie for the North in the All-Star Game Jan. 23 in Tallahassee, Fla., and was credited with the win. He gave up four goals and had 12 saves in 30 minutes action.NO DEAL: There is still no agreement between ECHL owners and the Professional Hockey Players&rsquo; Association. Both sides say negotiations are going well, but don&rsquo;t know when a deal will be struck.Negotiations have deadlocked over three main issues: health insurance, licensing fees and salary cap.The PHPA wants the league to buy into its health-insurance program, through which the PHPA provides insurance for players in the IHL and American League. The ECHL has agreed to the concept of universal coverage, but wants to write its own policy.The PHPA wants a percentage of sales of novelties that include the likenesses of players. The ECHL does not want to share those revenues.The two sides are reportedly close to an agreement on a salary cap-which is currently $7,500 per week per team.NUMBER SIX: One night after celebrating his 30th birthday with a shootout victory over the league-leading Richmond Renegades, goalie Daniel Berthiaume of the Roanoke Express blanked the Hampton Roads Admirals 1-0 in Roanoke Jan. 27.Berthiaume. a third-round draft choice of the Winnipeg Jets in 1985, stopped 26 shots to post only the sixth 1-0 victory in ECHL history.COAST LINES: The South Carolina Stingrays&rsquo; bid to break the league record for road wins was halted by Hampton Roads Jan. 19. South Carolina had won eight straight before the Admirals rallied for a 5-4 triumph in a shootout in Norfolk&hellip;The Johnstown Chiefs had lost 14 straight on the road-the third-longest such streak in league history-heading into the month of February&hellip; Three teams-Richmond, Roanoke and Louisiana-will bid for the 1998 All-Star Game. The format may change to having the host club face all-stars from the rest of the league, rather than North vs. South. A vote on the proposal and the site will come at the annual meeting in May. The 1997 game will be played in Charlotte, N.C&hellip;Charlotte Checkers&rsquo; goalie Nick Vitucci was player of the week for the period ending Jan. 28. Vitucci went 5-0-0 with a 2.69 GAA and 90.9 save percentage. &#9632;

Crime pays for ‘Frogs’ thief goalie Morissette

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div>It was the job from H-E-double-hockey-sticks.When the Carolina Monarchs moved from the East Coast League to the American League last summer, it fell to Howard Cornfield, vice-president. marketing and merchandising, to alter every element of the team&rsquo;s look.The change was about dollars and sense. &ldquo;The logo,&rdquo; Cornfield said, &ldquo;was an embarrassment.&rdquo; The Monarchs&rsquo; motif was lifted from the Imperial Margarine tub. Since the difference between an attractive and an atrocious logo can be measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars, there was plenty riding on the change.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01684/6124935-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="336" height="377"></div>The Monarchs, with input from their parent Florida Panthers, began design co-ordinator David Bean perused the logos, but they had plenty of help. On hand as consultants were: Steve Gauder, a Toronto graphic designer with extensive experience in sports logos; Mary Bullock, a buyer for the Toronto-based Sporting Life sporting goods chain; and two hockeyloving high school students, Jesse Wright, 16, and Katie Kenny, 15, of the arduous process of re-inventing their look with the Sean Michael Edwards agency in New York, a firm with experience in sports logo design, but no minor league hockey clients.&ldquo;We spent so much time, the eyes weren&rsquo;t just right or the colors weren&rsquo;t perfect or the teeth were too large,&rdquo; Cornfield said. &ldquo;Thank goodness we only had a few months, we probably would have changed it again.&rdquo;Fortunately, in our opinion, they didn&rsquo;t have extra time. The Monarchs&rsquo; logo, a roaring, crowned lion-with the word &lsquo;Monarchs&rsquo; above it on home sweaters and &lsquo;Carolina&rsquo; on road sweaters-was judged best among 51 candidates from the AHL, ECHL and, International League in THN&rsquo;s third annual minor league logo contest. The Monarchs finished 35th of 44 last year.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02468/6124928-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="1223" height="1908"><figcaption class="caption-body">Carolina&rsquo;s Brad Smyth looks great whether he&rsquo;s playing well or not.</figcaption></div>The Minnesota Moose (IHL), who took first place in 1994-95, finished second this time around, followed by the Chicago Wolves (IHL). Our inaugural winner, Rowdy, the Albany (AHL) River Rats&rsquo; feisty rodent, finished fourth.Editor-in-Chief Steve Dryden and editorial In the end. it came down to the fact after two years of pumped-up humanaping animals, we loved the comparatively laid-back look of the Carolina logo. In designing their logo, the Monarchs went against type.&ldquo;We decided we didn&rsquo;t want a cartoonish type of logo,&rdquo; Cornfield said. &ldquo;We thought it was a fad.&rdquo;The Monarchs found a welcome niche between caricature and cartoon, a logo that looks formidable to adults and teens, but as tests and market research revealed, non-threatening to children.The Monarchs sell their sweaters for $180 each and haven&rsquo;t been able to keep them in stock. That dearth of stock has limited the Monarchs to middle of the pack in AHL merchandising.We chose the classy Wolves&rsquo; logo third for many of the same reasons, but we haven&rsquo;t given up on our past winners, the Moose and River Rats. They may be caricatures, but they&rsquo;re darned good ones.For fifth place, we liked the detail of the Houston Aeros&rsquo; (IHL) flying fighter and while the idea of a growling plane streaking out of a puck didn&rsquo;t grab us, the logo was saved by superb lettering.Two AHL staples, the Hershey Bears and Rochester Americans, came in at six and seven as our homage to the best traditional looks in the minors. The Detroit Vipers (IHL) logo is catchy, but once again, Freudian considerations kept it out of the top five and dropped it to eighth.The AHL&rsquo;s Orlando Solar Bears and the ECHL&rsquo;s Jacksonville Lizard Jarvis Collegiate in Toronto. Bullock told us what she would stock, Gauder what he would have liked to have designed and Wright and Kenny what they would consider wearing.We wanted to strike a balance between artistic and commercial sensibilities in the ranking. French impressionism might not play well on an ECHL sweater, but being horribly out of fashion won&rsquo;t wash anywhere. We also excluded several logos, such as the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs or Adirondack Red Wings, which are reworks of the parent clubs&rsquo; logos.The Carolina logo had all the prerequisites to make our top 10. The script was appropriate and legible. The color scheme, borrowed from the Panthers, was a royal and perfect fit.Kings, rounded out the top 10. We thought the Bears&rsquo; logo was a good caricature, but a little faddy. We didn&rsquo;t know what to think of the Lizard Kings, but the kids liked it.&ldquo;This,&rdquo; Kenny said, &ldquo;is something a skateboarder would wear.&rdquo; We supposed that was good.This year&rsquo;s selection of offerings was better than last year&rsquo;s crop and the move away from cartoonish logos nudged some previous contenders down the line. The IHL&rsquo;s Milwaukee Admirals plummeted from fourth last year to 13th and the Syracuse Crunch (AHL), a 10th place finisher last year, finished 21st this time. We moved the ECHL&rsquo;s Birmingham Bulls from 11 to 34 because for the life of us, nobody could remember why we had this eye-sore so high last time.And speaking of eye-sores, check out the bottom five teams on the list:The AHL&rsquo;s Cape Breton Oilers (No. 47) sport an ink-blot look that would probably be better used in a psychiatrist&rsquo;s office.The IHL&rsquo;s Los Angeles Ice Dogs&rsquo; (No. 48) logo of a pumped-up, redeyed, spike-collared, blank-faced wild dog standing with half-eaten skates hanging from his mouth struck us as, well, a little busy. The ECHL&rsquo;s Mobile Mysticks (No. 49) are, as far as their logo is concerned, the Mobile Mistakes.The ECHL&rsquo;s Louisville RiverFrogs&rsquo; (No. 50) look represents everything bad about the animals on steroids phase of logo fashion. And the ECHL&rsquo;s Toledo Storm finished 51st because that&rsquo;s as low as we could place them. (See accompanying story for more on Toledo).HOCKEY&rsquo;S BEST DRESSED LIST MONARCHS-1995<h2>HOCKEY NEWS 3RD ANNUAL LOGO RANKING</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03342/6124921-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="611" height="1650"></div>Holy Toledo! That was the reaction of THN&rsquo;s panel to the Toledo Storm&rsquo;s logo, which finished 51st, and dead last, in our annual minor pro ranking.What didn&rsquo;t they like about it? Virtually everything, but particularly annoying is the fact it&rsquo;s so difficult to read. That the tape on the blade of the stick looks like an electrocardiogram and the word Hockey looks more like Hookey also detracts from its appeal.Still, the team is standing by its logo, saying it&rsquo;s popular with local fans.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve played with worse, certainly in minor hockey,&rdquo; said Storm GM Pat Pylypuik. &ldquo;In youth hockey, we wore uniforms that had a combine on the front.&rdquo;The Storm&rsquo;s last-place finish, meanwhile, gave the ECHL five of the bottom seven spots. Over the next two pages we give you the complete list. &#9632;

f0033-01

FEATURES

FIT FOR A KING

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01773/6124987-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="627" height="3222"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04326/6124980-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="627" height="3223"></div>Weather patterns are changing in Ohio.The Cincinnati Cyclones, once owners of the worst logo in minor pro hockey, have seen their dark clouds move cross state to the Toledo Storm.This summer, the &lsquo;Clones replaced their old logo, a hideous configuration that featured a short-armed contortionist goalie playing with equipment from Mars.The genesis of the new logo came when THN reader Keith Flynn, a Toronto reader, saw last year&rsquo;s story and submitted a proposal for a new crest. The Cyclones&rsquo; twirling tornado was steadily refined, particularly when team vice-president RickNeumann blacked out his teeth on a lark. The change stuck.Cyclones&rsquo; marketing director Craig Jenkins, who had been ecstatic when he learned last year that his team&rsquo;s logo was the worst, was disappointed with the &lsquo;Clones&rsquo; upswing in the standings from the basement last year to number 17 this time around.&ldquo;Seventeenth, eh,&rdquo; Jenkins said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s depressing. We had hoped to be first, but if we couldn&rsquo;t be, it would have been nice to be last again.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02554/6124973-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="1834" height="1969"></div>The Cyclones decided to change the logo because there was a growing consensus among management the club&rsquo;s most visible symbol shouldn&rsquo;t look like it was done on an Etch-A-Sketch.The logo was a rush job from the start. An artist friend of owner Doug Kirchhofer submitted the logo and. strapped for time, the club accepted it. The Cyclones wear a variation of the old logo on their shoulders.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03431/6124966-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="433" height="251"></div>&ldquo;After five years with the logo, we decided we had to move forward,&rdquo; said Cyclones&rsquo; media information director Joe Kelley. &ldquo;Still, it was a difficult decision. We had a number of people who were very resistant to the change.&rdquo;In changing their logo, the Cyclones surrendered a unique marketing scheme.The club made great use of the logo&rsquo;s, ahem, distinctiveness and its ad campaign, built along a &lsquo;Be The First To Wear The Worst&rsquo; theme, was bright, funny and innovative.The logo was featured on an ESPN2 intermission segment and was big news in Cincinnati as well as across the minors.There was only one slight problem with the logo. The Cyclones were in the bottom third of the International League in merchandising sales last season. No figures for this year were made available. &#9632;

f0034-01

Cyclone downgraded to severely bad Storm

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01733/6125046-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="443" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body">Anaheim sweater</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02548/6125039-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="441" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body">Boston sweater</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03443/6125032-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="443" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pittsburgh sweater</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04355/6125025-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="441" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vancouver sweater</figcaption></div>The NHL insists it&rsquo;s not a money grab, simply another creative venture that has interesting merchandising possibilities.The third sweater concept introduced by the NHL Jan. 27 definitely opened some eyes. The Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim debuted splashy new sweaters in games telecast on Fox and Hockey Night in Canada.Not a replacement of traditional sweaters, the third sweaters will be worn up to seven times per team during the second half of the season.The new looks are available to consumers in team stores with the youth fan being the natural target audience.&ldquo;Money grab is too strong of a description,&rdquo; said David Haney, director of creative services for the NHL. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an opportunity to be more flexible, to be fashionable.&rdquo;Reaction, according to the NHL, has been tremendous. The Mighty Ducks started selling their Wild Wing sweaters the day they debuted on Fox.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all positive,&rdquo; said Mighty Ducks&rsquo; director of public relations Bill Robertson. &ldquo;We had 100 calls (for orders) on one day. It&rsquo;s obviously very popular with the young crowd.&rdquo;The only complaint in L.A. was the wave-like color change made it hard to read the second digit on the back.Heidi Holland said no negative comments had crossed Boston&rsquo;s public relations desk.&ldquo;Usually you don&rsquo;t hear the positive comments, just the negative ones, but not a whole lot has been said about the jersey,&rdquo; Holland said.Some media outlets have criticized the uniforms as too outlandish. The Sports Network called the Kings&rsquo; uniform a good facsimile of the Burger King logo and said Winnie the Pooh graces the front of the Bruins&rsquo; garb.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pukie yellow color,&rdquo; said former Bruin Murray Oliver. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s ugly.&rdquo;&ldquo;The people who are criticizing them are taking it too seriously,&rdquo; said Bernadette Mansur, the NHL&rsquo;s vicepresident, corporate communications. &ldquo;The intention is to create excitement.&rdquo;Twelve other teams have contacted the NHL about getting involved in the third sweater project. It&rsquo;s likely the league will include at least half of those for next season.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05296/6125018-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="1213" height="1623"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kevin Stevens&rsquo; first game in L.A. gave him a decidedly different look.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0035-01

New looks debut

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01694/6125098-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jets&rsquo; Nikolai Khabibulin</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01614/6125091-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="3131" height="3677"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; Chris Chelios was the only defenseman leading his team in scoring.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01697/6125084-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="3116" height="3682"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rejuvenated Ranger right winger Pat Verbeek is on pace for a 50-plus goal season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01662/6125077-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="3121" height="3662"></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<h2>NOTE</h2>Unofficial game summaries provided by National Hockey League; (shots on goal/plus-minus); SA-shots against; GA-goals against; ENG-empty net goals; Decdecision, charges to goaltenders of record when winning goal is scored.<h2>FRIDAY, JAN. 26</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02244/6125335-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="522" height="1906"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03175/6125328-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="517" height="1679"></div><h2>SATURDAY, JAN. 27</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04141/6125321-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="494" height="512"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05118/6125314-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="523" height="2271"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-06103/6125307-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="521" height="2272"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0794/6125300-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="519" height="2266"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0885/6125293-1-eng-US/f0040-082.jpg" title="f0040-08" width="516" height="2272"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01310/6125286-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="531" height="3504"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02199/6125279-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="493" height="402"></div><h2>SUNDAY, JAN. 28</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03147/6125272-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="529" height="2550"></div><h2>MONDAY, JAN. 29</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04122/6125265-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="495" height="379"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-05109/6125258-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="533" height="3189"></div><h2>TUESDAY, JAN. 30</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06100/6125251-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="491" height="225"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0788/6125244-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="536" height="3505"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0871/6125237-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="513" height="2112"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, JAN. 31</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0954/6125230-1-eng-US/f0041-092.jpg" title="f0041-09" width="509" height="1307"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1048/6125223-1-eng-US/f0041-102.jpg" title="f0041-10" width="522" height="3504"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02229/6125216-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="524" height="3471"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03175/6125209-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="515" height="1454"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04135/6125202-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="502" height="874"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01322/6125195-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="1544" height="1987"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Kariya&rsquo;s 27th goal of the season proved to be the winner against Colorado Jan. 31.</figcaption></div><h2>THURSDAY, FEB. 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-05118/6125188-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="498" height="508"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-06106/6125181-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="508" height="1450"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0797/6125174-1-eng-US/f0042-072.jpg" title="f0042-07" width="524" height="3466"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0887/6125167-1-eng-US/f0042-082.jpg" title="f0042-08" width="501" height="2680"></div><h2>WORLD CUP</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0980/6125160-1-eng-US/f0042-092.jpg" title="f0042-09" width="499" height="714"></div> &#9632;

f0040-02

NHL SUMMARIES

<h2>ANAHEIM</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 30: Patrik Carnback, LW, loaned to Cologne of the German Elite League.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-David Sacco, Steve Rucchin, Bob Corkum, Shaun Van Allen. Chad Kilger. LW-Alex Hicks, Todd Krygier, Garry Valk, Mike Sillinger. RW-Paul Kariya, Valeri Karpov, Todd Ewen, Joe Sacco. LD-Bobby Dollas, Randy Ladouceur, Fredrik Olaus-son. RD-Jason York, Oleg Tverdovsky, David Karpa, Oleg Mikulchik. G-Guy Hebert, Mikhail Shtalenkov.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Peter Douris. RW, groin strain, day-to-day. Milos Holan, D, awaiting bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia, indefinite. Don McSween. D, lacerated right forearm, indefinite.<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 1: Blaine Lacher, G. recalled from Providence (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Adam Oates, Jozef Stumpel, Ted Donato, Clayton Beddoes, LW-Todd Elik, Shawn McEachern, Steve Heinze, Tim Sweeney. RW-Cam Neely, Sandy Moger, Rick Tocchet, Steve Leach. LD-Ray Bourque, Don Sweeney, Kyle McLaren. RD-Jon Rohloff, Rick Zombo, Dean Chynoweth. G&mdash;Bill Ranford, Craig Billington, Blaine Lacher.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Al lafrate. D, tom right knee cartilage, indefinite. Joe Mullen, RW, neck surgery. mid-February. Dave Reid. LW, fractured left index finger, indefinite.<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 1: Bob Boughner, D, acquired from Florida for fourth-round pick in 1996 entry draft.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Pat LaFontaine, Derek Plante, Dave Hannan, Brian Holzinger. LW-Randy Burridge, Jason Dawe, Yuri Khmylev, Brad May. RW-Donald Audette, Brent Hughes, Matthew Barnaby, Rob Ray. LD-Charlie Huddy, Mike Wilson, Bob Boughner. RD-Alexei Zhitnik, Craig Muni, Doug Houda. G-Dominik Hasek, John Blue.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mark Astley, D, inner ear infection, day-to-day. Donald Audette, RW, tom anterior curciate ligament, out for season. Garry Galley, D, sprained knee, day-to-day. Mike Peca, C, hip flexor, day-to-day. Richard Smehlik, D, tom anterior cruciate ligament, out for season.<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Gary Roberts, Corey Millen, Dean Evason, Michael Nylander. LW-German Titov, Paul Kruse, Mike Sullivan, Cory Stillman, Yves Sarault. RW-Theo Fleury, Sheldon Kennedy, Sandy McCarthy, Ed Ward. LD-Steve Chiasson, Zarley Zalapski, Trent Yawney. RD-Phil Housley, James Patrick, Jamie Huscroft, Kevin Dahl. G-Trevor Kidd, Rick Tabaracci.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Claude Lapointe, C, strained groin, day-to-day. Ron Stem, RW, bruised shoulder, day-to-day.<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS:</h3>Jan. 29: Mike Pomichter, C, traded to Toronto for future considerations.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Bemie Nicholls, Denis Savard, Brent Sutter, Jeff Shantz. LW-Jeremy Roenick, Murray Craven, Sergei Krivokrasov, Steve Dubinsky. RW-Tony Amonte, Eric Daze, Joe Murphy, Jim Cummins. LD-Keith Carney, Gary Suter, Cam Russell. RD-Chris Chelios, Eric Weinrich, Igor Ulanov. G-Ed Belfour, Jeff Hackett.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Patrick Poulin, LW, sprained right ankle, day-to-day. Bob Probert, LW, sprained left knee, indefinite. Steve Smith, D, sore lower back, day-to-day.<h2>COLORADO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, Troy Murray, Stephane Yelle. LW-Valeri Kamensky, Chris Simon, Rene Corbet, Warren Rychel, Paul Brousseau. RW-Claude Lemieux, Scott Young, Adam Deadmarsh, Mike Keane. LD-Craig Wolanin, Sylvain Lefebvre, Adam Foote, Jon Klemm. RD-Sandis Ozolinsh, Curtis Leschyshyn, Alexei Gusarov, Aaron Miller. G-Patrick Roy, Stephane Fiset.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Uwe Krupp. D, tom left knee ligaments, out for season. Mike Ricci, C, back spasms, day-to-day.<h2>DALLAS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 28: Dave Gagner, C, and conditional sixth-round draft pick traded to Toronto for Benoit Hogue, LW, and Randy Wood, LW. Jan. 29: Jere Lehtinen, RW, assigned to Michigan (IHL). Jan. 30: Jordan Willis, G, assigned to Michigan. Feb. 1: Daniel Marois, RW, assigned to Michigan.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Joe Nieuwendyk, Mike Modano, Guy Carbonneau, Mike Kennedy, Robert Petrovicky. LW-Benoit Hogue, Greg Adams, Brent Gilchrist, Randy Wood, Bill Huard. RW-Brent Fedyk, Shane Churla, Todd Harvey, Grant Marshall. LD-Craig Ludwig, Derian Hatcher, Richard Matvichuk. RD-Kevin Hatcher, Grant Ledyard, Mike Lalor, Doug Zmolek, G-Allan Bester, Darcy Wakaluk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bob Bassen, C, right knee surgery, indefinite. Andy Moog, G, bruised right knee, mid-February.<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 30: Kevin Hodson, G, assigned to Adirondack (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-lgor Larionov, Steve Yzerman, Keith Primeau, Kris Draper. LW-Vyacheslav Kozlov, Greg Johnson, Tim Taylor, Stu Grimson. RW-Sergei Fedorov, Dino Cic-carelli, Darren McCarty, Doug Brown, Martin Lapointe, Mathieu Dandenault. LD-Slava Fetisov, Paul Coffey, Nicklas Lidstrom, Mike Ramsey. RD-Vladimir Konstantinov, Marc Bergevin, Bob Rouse. G-Chris Osgood, Mike Vernon.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bob Errey. LW, bruised sternum, day-to-day<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 27: Jason Bonsignore, C, recalled from Cape Breton (AHL) and returned to Sudbury (OHL). Jan. 29: Tyler Wright, C, assigned to Cape Breton. Feb. 2: Greg De Vries, D, assigned to Cape Breton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Doug Weight, Jason Arnott, Todd Marchant, Kent Manderville, Miroslav Satan. LW-Zdeno Ciger, Dean McAmmond, Ryan Smyth, Scott Thornton, Louie DeBrusk. RW-Mariusz Czerkawski, Glenn Anderson, Kelly Buchberger, David Oliver. LD-Jeff Norton, Luke Richardson, Donald Dufresne. RD-Bryan Marchment, Brett Hauer, Boris Mironov. G-Curtis Joseph, Fred Brathwaite.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kirk Maltby, RW, left eye trauma, indefinite. Jiri Slegr. D, sprained left knee ligament, indefinite. Scott Thornton, LW, cytomegalo virus, indefinite.<h2>FLORIDA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 1: Bob Boughner, D, traded to Buffalo for fourth-round pick in 1996 entry draft.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Rob Niedermayer, Brian Skrudland, Stu Barnes, Jesse Belanger, Brett Harkins. LW-Johan Garpenlov, Mike Hough, Bill Lindsay, Dave Lowry. RW-Scott Mellanby, Jody Hull, Radek Dvorak, Tom Fitzgerald. LD-Ed Jovanovski, Terry Carkner, Jason Woolley. Geoff Smith. RD-Paul Laus, Robert Svhela, Magnus Svensson. G-John Vanbiesbrouck, Mark Fitzpatrick.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Gord Murphy. D, sprained right ankle, day-to-day.<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 27: Marek Malik, D, and Jason McBain, D, recalled from Springfield (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Jeff O&rsquo;Neill, Andrew Cassels, Andrei Nikolishin, Mark Janssens. LW-Brendan Shanahan, Geoff Sanderson, Paul Ranheim, Scott Daniels. RW-Nelson Emerson, Kevin Dineen, Robert Kron, Kelly Chase, Steven Rice. LD-Jeff Brown, Glen Wesley, Adam Burt, Glen Featherstone, Jason McBain. RD-Brian Glynn, Gerald Diduck, Brad McCrimmon, Marek Malik. G-Sean Burke, Jason Muzzatti.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Glen Wesley. D, pulled groin, day-to-day.<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Wayne Gretzky, Yanic Perreault, Robert Lang, Kevin Todd. LW-Dimitri Khristich, Eric Lacroix, Barry Potomski, Pat Conacher. RW-Vitali Yachmenev, John Druce, Gary Shuchuk, Jari Kuril. LD-Steven Finn, Rob Cowie, Marty McSorley. RD-Darryl Sydor, Philippe Boucher, John Slaney. G-Kelly Hrudey, Byron Dafoe.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Aki Berg, D, fractured toe on left foot, day-to-day. Rob Blake, D, tom left knee ligament, out for season. Tony Granato, RW, intracerebral hematoma, indefinite. Sean O&rsquo;Donnell, D, sprained ligament in left wrist, indefinite. Kevin Stevens, LW, back spasms, day-to-day. Vladimir Tsyplakov, LW, strained right shoulder, indefinite.<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 27: Craig Rivet, D, recalled from Fredericton (AHL). Jan. 28: Patrick Labrecque, G, recalled from Fredericton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Pierre Turgeon, Vincent Damp-housse, Saku Koivu, Marc Bureau. LW-Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Rucinsky, Brian Savage, Donald Brashear. RW-Mark Recchi, Valeri Bure, Turner Stevenson, Chris Murray. LD-Vladimir Malakhov, Peter Popovic, Stephane Quintal. RD-Lyle Odelein, Patrice Brisebois, Rory Fitzpatrick, Craig Rivet. G-Jocelyn Thibault, Pat Jablonski, Patrick Labrecque.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Benoit Brunet, LW, strained back, day-to-day. Robert Dirk, D, fractured left scapula. indefinite.<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Petr Sykora, Neal Broten, Bobby Holik, Bobby Carpenter, Sergei Brylin. LW-Steve Thomas, Mike Peluso, Valeri Zelepukin, Jocelyn Lemieux, Brian Rolston, Reid Simpson. RW-John MacLean, Bill Guerin, Stephane Richer, Randy McKay. LD-Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Kevin Dean, Tommy Albelin. RD-Shawn Chambers, Jason Smith, Ken Daneyko. G-Martin Brodeur, Corey Schwab.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None.<h2>N.Y. ISLANDERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 29: Eric Fichaud, G, recalled from Worcester (AHL). Tommy Salo, G, Andrey Vasilyev, LW, Danton Cole, RW, and Milan Tichy, D, assigned to Utah (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Travis Green, Martin Straka, Alexander Semak, Bob Sweeney. LW-Niklas Andersson, Derek King, Marty McInnis, Ken Belanger. RW-Zigmund Palffy, Todd Bertuzzi, Brad Dalgamo, Dan Plante. LD-Scott Lachance, Darius Kasparaitis, Bryan McCabe. RD-Mathieu Schneider, Rich Pilon, Brent Severyn, Chris Luongo. G-Eric Fichaud, Tommy Soderstrom.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Wendel Clark, LW, sore back, day-to-day. Patrick Flatley, RW, pulled groin, day-to-day. Yan Kaminsky. LW, shoulder surgery, day-to-day. Brett Lindros, RW, concussion, indefinite. Chris Marinucci, C, reconstructive left knee surgery, out for season. Dennis Vaske, D, concussion indefinite. Mick Vukota, RW, thumb surgery, Feb. 22.<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Mark Messier, Ray Ferraro, Sergei Nemchinov, Ian Laperriere, Daniel Lacroix. LW-Adam Graves, Luc Robitaille, Niklas Sundstrom, Darren Langdon, Nick Kypreos. RW-Pat Verbeek, Alexei Kovalev, Wayne Presley, Joey Kocur. LD-Brian Leetch, Ulf Samuelsson, Kevin Lowe, Mattias Norstrom. RD-Jeff Beukeboom, Bruce Driver, Alexander Karpovtsev. G-Glenn Healy, Jamie Ram.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Doug Lidster, D, multiple face fractures, mid-February. Mike Richter, G, groin strain, early-February.<h2>OTTAWA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 26: Chris Dahlquist, D, recalled from Cincinnati (IHL). Jan. 30: Dave Archibald, C, recalled from Utah (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Alexei Yashin, Radek Bonk, Dave Archibald. LW-Randy Cunneyworth, Tom Chorske, Troy Mallette, Dennis Vial. RW-Daniel Alfredsson, Alexandre Daigle, Trent McCleary, Rob Gaudreau, Antti Tormanen. LD-Stan Neckar, Frank Musil, Lance Pitlick, Chris Dahlquist. RD-Sean Hill, Jaroslav Modry, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman. G-Damian Rhodes, Mike Bales.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ted Drury, C, sprained left wrist, indefinite. Janne Laukkanen, D, hip flexor, day-to-day.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 30: Russ Romaniuk, LW, assigned to Hershey (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Eric Lindros, Dan Quinn, Joel Otto, Craig MacTavish. LW-John LeClair, Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, Shjon Podein, Shawn Antoski. RW-Rob DiMaio, Pat Falloon, Trent Klatt, Anatoli Semenov. LD-Kevin Haller, Chris Therien. RD-Eric Desjardins, Kjell Samuelsson, Karl Dykhuis. G-Ron Hextall, Garth Snow.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Yanick Dupre, LW, back spasms, day-to-day. Mikael Renberg, RW, strained abdominal muscle, indefinite. Petr Svoboda, D, concussion, indefinite.<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 26: Peter Allen, D, and Rusty Fitzgerald, LW, assigned to Cleveland (IHL). Jan. 30: Len Barrie, C, recalled from Cleveland (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Bryan Smolinski, Richard Park, Len Barrie. LW-Markus Naslund, Petr Nedved, Dave Roche, Chris Wells. RW-Tomas Sandstrom, Jaromir Jagr, Glen Murray, Joe Dziedzic. LD-Neil Wilkinson, Francois Leroux, Chris Tamer. RD-Sergei Zubov, Dmitri Mironov, Chris Joseph, Ian Moran. G-Tom Barrasso, Ken Wregget.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ed Patterson, RW, back spasms, day-to-day.<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 26: Patrice Tardif, RW, assigned to Worcester (AHL). Jan. 27: Fred Knipscheer, C, recalled from Worcester. Jan. 28: Knipscheer assigned to Worcester. Tardif, RW, recalled from Worcester. Jan. 29: Christer Olsson, D, assigned to Worcester. Denis Chasse, RW, traded to Washington for Rob Pearson, RW. Jan. 30: Terry Virtue, D, signed free-agent contract, recalled from Worcester.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Shayne Corson, Dale Hawerchuk, Mike Hudson, Dave Roberts. LW-Geoff Courtnail, Craig Johnson, Stephane Matteau, Tony Twist. RW-Brett Hull, Rob Pearson, Brian Noonan, Patrice Tardif. LD-Murray Baron, Chris Pronger, Jay Wells, Terry Virtue. RD-AI Maclnnis, Igor Kravchuk, J.J. Daigneault. G-Grant Fuhr, Bruce Racine.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Adam Creighton. C, broken jaw, indefinite. Dallas Eakins, D, broken left wrist, day-to-day. Greg Gilbert, LW, back spasms, indefinite. Basil McRae, LW, separated left shoulder, indefinite. Peter Zezel, C, sprained left wrist, day-to-day.<h2>SAN JOSE</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 29: Mike Rathje, D, assigned to Kansas City (IHL). Feb. 1: Larry Dyck, G, recalled from Kansas City.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Craig Janney, Jeff Friesen, Jamie Baker, Viktor Kozlov. LW-Kevin Miller, Ray Whitney, Chris Tancill, Dody Wood. RW-Ray Sheppard, Owen Nolan, Jeff Odgers, Shean Donovan, Dave Brown. LD-Doug Bodger, Marcus Ragnarsson, Jim Kyte, Vlastimil Kroupa. RD-Yves Racine, Jay More, Michal Sykora. G-Chris Terreri, Larry Dyck.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ulf Dahlen, RW, fractured right foot, indefinite. Wade Flaherty, G, strained groin, day-to-day. Arturs Irbe, G, strained knee ligament, indefinite. Tom Pederson, strained groin, day-to-day.<h2>TAMPA BAY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 29: Chris LiPuma, D, recalled from Atlanta (IHL). Allan Egeland, C, assigned to Atlanta.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Brian Bradley, Aaron Gavey, John Cullen, Chris Gratton. LW-Rob Zamuner, Petr Klima, Shawn Burr, Jason Wiemer. RW-Mikael Andersson, Alexander Selivanov, Brian Bellows, John Tucker. LD-Roman Hamrlik, Cory Cross, Chris LiPuma. RD-David Shaw, Bill Houlder, Michel Petit, Rudy Poeschek. G-Daren Puppa, Jeff Reese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Enrico Ciccone, D, bruised knee, day-to-day. Paul Ysebaert, RW, tom groin muscle, indefinite.<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 28: Benoit Hogue, C, and Randy Wood, RW, traded to Dallas for Dave Gagner, C. Jan. 29: Mike Pomichter, C, acquired from Chicago for future considerations. Pomichter assigned to St. John&rsquo;s (AHL). Jan. 31: Jamie Heward, D, recalled from St. John&rsquo;s.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Doug Gilmour, Dave Gagner, Darby Hendrickson, Paul DiPietro. LW-Kirk Muller, Todd Warriner, Sergio Momesso, Bill Berg, Ken Baumgartner. RW-Mike Gartner, Mats Sundin, Mike Craig, Tie Domi. LD-Jamie Macoun, Todd Gill, Rob Zettler, Jamie Heward. RD-Larry Murphy, Dave Ellett, Dmitri Yushkevich. G-Felix Potvin, Don Beaupre.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kenny Jonsson. D, separated left shoulder, indefinite. Matt Martin, D, broken right ankle, indefinite. &bull;<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Trevor Linden, Cliff Ronning, Josef Beranek, Scott Walker, Jim Dowd. LW-Martin Gelinas, Alek Stojanov, Esa Tikkanen, Roman Oksiuta, Gino Odjick. RW-Alexander Mogilny, Russ Courtnail, Tim Hunter, Jim Sandlak. LD-Bret Hedican, Dana Murzyn, Dave Babych, Dean Malkoc, Jassen Cullimore. RD-Jyrki Lumme, Leif Rohlin, Adrian Aucoin. G-Corey Hirsch, Mike Fountain.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Pavel Bure, RW, right knee surgery, out for season. Frantisek Kucera, D, separted left shoulder, indefinite. Kirk McLean, G, left knee surgery, mid-February. Mike Ridley, C, back surgery, indefinite.<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 27: Andrew Brunette, LW, assigned to Portland (AHL). Jan. 29: Rob Pearson, RW, traded to St. Louis for Denis Chasse, RW.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Dale Hunter, Michal Pivonka, Stefan Ustorf, Pat Peake. Mike Eagles. LW-Joe Juneau, Steve Konowalchuk, Kevin Kaminski, Craig Berube. RW-Keith Jones, Peter Bondra, Ken Klee, Kelly Miller, Denis Chasse. LD-Mark Tinordi, Joe Reekie, Jim Johnson. RD-Calle Johansson, Sylvain Cote, Sergei Gonchar. G-Jim Carey, Olie Kolzig.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Brendan Witt, D, broken left wrist, indefinite.<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Alexei Zhamnov, Ed Olczyk, Darren Turcotte, Mike Eastwood, Mike Stapleton, Randy Gilhen. LW-Keith Tkachuk, Darrin Shannon, Kris King, Jim McKenzie. RW-Teemu Selanne, Igor Korolev, Dallas Drake, Shane Doan. LD-Teppo Numminen, Dave Manson, Stewart Malgunas. RD-Deron Quint, Norm Maciver, Jeff Finley, Darryl Shannon. G-Nikolai Khabibulin, Tim Cheveldae.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

NHL ROSTERS AND TRANSACTIONS

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

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INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

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SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">By Larry Starks</div>Mike Chighisola, a forward with the Central League&rsquo;s Wichita Thunder, was arrested after Thunder teammates complained they had been robbed following a home game against the Oklahoma City Blazers.Chighisola, Wichita&rsquo;s top scorer, was not dressed for the Jan. 24 game. The 28-year-old was arrested on suspicion of forgery, theft, possession of cocaine and unlawful use of a credit card. He posted a $1,000 bond and will answer to the charges Feb. 8.Thunder coach Don Jackson immediately suspended and released Chighisola, who had 148 points.&ldquo;Frankly, we&rsquo;re fed up with him,&rdquo; said Thunder GM Bill Shuck.Chighisola, who was wed Jan. 16 during intermission of a Thunder game, has skipped practices, argued with Jackson, broken team rules and alienated some teammates, said team management. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m done trying to defend him,&rdquo; Jackson said.Chighisola, who has played for seven teams during four East Coast League seasons, has a history of drug troubles, the Wichita Eagle reported. He didn&rsquo;t play last season and Jackson said he was assured the player was off drugs. Chighisola passed a random drug test earlier this season.&ldquo;We thought he turned his life around,&rdquo; Shuck said. &ldquo;Don gave him seven or eight second chances.&rdquo;NICE GIFT: Fort Worth Fire players presented coach Bill McDonald, a long-time Dallas Cowboys&rsquo; fan, with a Super Bowl package that included tickets to the game, a post-game party pass and round-trip airline tickets&hellip;The San Antonio Iguanas, trying to regain first place, were dealt a severe blow. Paul Jackson, Brian Shantz and Dale Henry, who had combined for 238 points, were recalled by the Utah Grizzlies of the International League. Jackson and Shantz were 1-2 in league scoring at the time. &#9632;

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February 16, 1996

Mooseheads halt streak of Olympique proportions

Happy new year, so far

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

Hawerchuk, LaFontaine reach NHL milestones