Damphousse dazzles on ‘D’

Talk about a career change. There was a time when Vincent Damphousse had visions of one day capturing the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. That was long before Mario Tremblay became the coach of the Montreal Canadiens and transformed Damphousse into a checker. The result: Damphousse has emerged as a candidate for the Seike Trophy, awarded to the league’s best defensive forward. “I didn’t think of myself as a defensive player,” said Damphousse, who began the season as a left winger on the Canadiens’ top line with center Pierre Turgeon. Tremblay replaced the fired Jacques Demers five games into the season. One of Tremblay’s first moves was putting Damphousse at center and playing him against other teams’ top lines. Damphousse, a notoriously slow starter, had one assist as a left winger. In 52…

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Tinordi heeds warning sign and decides to take break

At the time it happened back on Jan. 28 it didn’t seem like much. Washington Capitals’ defenseman Mark Tinordi ended up with a bump on his head after his helmet came off and he was bopped with the stick belonging to John LeClair of the Philadelphia Flyers. Tinordi didn’t think much about it—”I had a headache, but it wasn’t anything I was worried about’’-until he got to Edmonton 10 days later. “I’d look down at the puck and see several of them,” he said. “Then I lost it completely behind the net one time and a guy almost scored on us.” The medical ruling was a mild concussion that didn’t catch up to him for more than a week. A CAT scan in Edmonton revealed no damage and Tinordi was cleared to play when…

Jets’ brass continues to make bad choices

Perhaps it’s a good thing for long-suffering Winnipeg Jets’ fans that our team is leaving for Phoenix. Hockey is a business and Jets’ management has proven itself to be lacking in good business sense. Case in point: they matched a multi-million-dollar offer the Chicago Blackhawks made to Keith Tkachuk despite the fact he desperately wanted to go to Chicago. Then they trade their one superstar, Teemu Selanne, for two unproven prospects, despite the fact Selanne wanted to stay with the Jets and had wanted the team to remain in Winnipeg. Selanne was, and still is, a fan favorite in Winnipeg and would have been a marquee player in Phoenix. Selanne possesses a loyalty rare in pro sports today. It’s too bad the same can’t be said for Jets’ management. Gordon R. Heck, Richmond, B.C. Not…