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.

April 19, 1996

The Hockey News April 19, 1996

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03444/6376496-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="162" height="163"></div>Every so often this season, the Calgary Flames have closed their dressing room door and had it out.These team meetings are usually no-holds-barred, get-it-off-your chest sessions that can feature a significant decibel level.In general, whenever they clear the air-about poor travel, too demanding practices, ice time-the players respond with a win.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about communication,&rdquo; said coach Pierre Page, who endorses the meetings, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ve been with teams where you couldn&rsquo;t accomplish that.&rdquo;Page has been under the microscope for much of his first season behind the Flames&rsquo; bench. The consensus is Page left the Quebec Nordiques primarily because of a falling out with his players. People kept waiting for Page to lose his famous temper this season-and he keeps disappointing them. Communication has been his watchword all season.He has also been a big proponent of accentuating the positive. To that end, he gets daily updates from the team&rsquo;s public relations staff on the league&rsquo;s aggregate standings since the Flames were a dismal 3-15-5 on Nov. 26. Usually, the Flames rank somewhere from second to fourth overall. Why do this?&ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You can hire four psychologists and that&rsquo;s all they&rsquo;re going to tell you anyway; if you want to feel good, remember the good times, the good plays&hellip;and keep the good stats. If you want to feel bad, keep the others.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Corey Millen&rsquo;s recovery from a pulled stomach muscle has been slow and it was not clear if he would be back before the end of the regular season. &ldquo;I feel as if there&rsquo;s some progress,&rdquo; said Millen, who had been out since March I, &ldquo;but obviously, it&rsquo;s not as quick as I&rsquo;d like.&rdquo; Doctors were not sure if the muscle was tom away from the bone. The only way to be absolutely sure is to undergo surgery. With only a handful of games remaining, that is not a real option this season&hellip;The Flames set a franchise record with their 17th loss on home ice, a 4-1 setback to Winnipeg March 31. The previous high of 16 was established in Atlanta in 1972-73, the year the Flames joined the league. &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Page’s open-door policy leads to positive results

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011411/6375587-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The tragic hip: A serious hip injury has put Boston Bruin star Cam Neely&rsquo;s future in doubt. Pg. 19 (Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>Michigan wins college crown</h2>1. Big win Red Berenson collects career win No. 300 as his Michigan Wolverines claim NCAA championship.2. Sweep in Spokane Chiefs beat Portland in seven, become first WHL team to win series after trailing 3-0.3. Goal king Cleveland&rsquo;s Dave Mich-ayluk scores IHL goal No. 533 March 30 to become league&rsquo;s all-time leader.4. Bye Bye Fishsticks Islanders respond to irate fans, go back to traditional logo.5. Player of week Capitals&rsquo; Peter Bondra nets six goals, four in one game, three assists in four games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021153/6375580-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="326" height="461"><figcaption class="caption-body">Red Berenson</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03842/6375573-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="326" height="460"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Bondra</figcaption></div><h2>Nice shot, Lyle, now try for net</h2>1. Brainlock Montreal defenseman Lyle Odelein suspended two games for drilling puck into Buffalo bench.2. Belated minus What was Brian Burke thinking letting Mark Messier away with high-sticking David Roberts?3. Chris Murray Canadiens&rsquo; enforcer suspended three games for cross checking Buffalo&rsquo;s Rob Ray&hellip;4.&hellip;Speaking of Ray the stripper Might NHL insist he remain dressed (or at least wear a t-shirt) during fights?5. Repeat offender Mighty Yuck Todd Ewen suspended three games for fifth game misconduct this season. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

PLUS MINUS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01345/6377703-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

CLASSIFIED

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0042-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01355/6377762-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01367/6377755-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="3083" height="3536"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01275/6377748-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="3101" height="3558"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01224/6377741-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="3087" height="3548"></div><h2>NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01222/6377734-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="3105" height="1105"></div> &#9632;

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NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01932/6378195-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"></div>PROHIBITIVE PICKSITTING PRETTYON A ROLLGUNNING FOR GLORYRed Wings head into Stanley Cup playoffs as team to beat &#9632;

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CHELIOS: WINDY CITY MVP FIRE ON ICE IN ITALIAN LEAGUE

<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/f0002-04618/6375618-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="347" height="432"></div>It&rsquo;s only fair this column come with a warning: Buyer Beware.Only twice in seven years has The Hockey News correctly predicted/endorsed/published the name of the Stanley Cup winner. (In advance of the playoffs, that is. We have been 100 percent right after it&rsquo;s over.) During all but one of those seven years, we had pre-season and pre-playoff choices to win the Stanley Cup. All but twice, we were wrong and one of those years-1993, when the New York Rangers fulfilled Mike Brophy&rsquo;s expectations-I distanced myself from the pick. Further, our 1989 choice was mildly tainted. We declared the eventual Cup-champion Calgary Flames co-favorites with the Montreal Canadiens. We take some consolation in the fact Calgary was our pre-season pick.My personal favorite was 1993 when we called the Pittsburgh Penguins &ldquo;the unbeatable foe.&rdquo; They were beaten in the second round by the New York Islanders, a team that finished 32 points behind them during the regular season. Last year, we declared, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a Done Deal,&rdquo; on the cover and assured our readers the Detroit Red Wings were guaranteed to win. They were humiliated in the final.This year, we have made the Red Wings odds-on favorites again. They&rsquo;re an obvious pick and I bow to the wishes of our No. 1 predictor, Mike Brophy, but the Red Wings aren&rsquo;t my pick. They would be had they traded for Rick Tocchet. But they didn&rsquo;t and as much as I like their &lsquo;Big Three on D&rsquo;-has there been a better combination than Vladimir Konstantinov, Nicklas Lidstrom and Paul Coffey since Montreal&rsquo;s Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard?-I&rsquo;d like Detroit that much more if they had a legitimate scorer/physical presence on the wing. Tocchet, even with a bad back, would have been worth the price (Greg Johnson or Martin Lapointe).So who&rsquo;s my choice? The Pittsburgh Penguins. Sorry, guys. Everybody knows defense wins in the playoffs, but defense is a double-edged sword and if the U.S. government could foist the Star Wars defense system on us, the Penguins can do the same.They have the ultimate in weaponry, plus some special motivation. Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s career is going to be frustratingly short, so this season represents one more chance (and, thus, one fewer in terms of his career) to guide the Penguins to glory. If Lemieux does, he would become the first and, possibly, last player to win more than two Conn Smythe Trophies. He deserves that distinction. &#9632;

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Pittsburgh, not Detroit my Cup pick

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div>It seemed like a good idea at the time.Several NHL teams were re-designing their logos in pursuit of more merchandising dollars. So, why not the New York Islanders?In September 1995, the Marinerand-Lighthouse made their debut and now, in April 1996, they have been rendered null-and-void by management.Next season the club will restore its storied original logo while retaining the modem, upbeat colors that surrounded the seafarer this year.&ldquo;There was a lot of controversy over the change,&rdquo; said Islanders&rsquo; chief operating officer Ralph Palleschi. &ldquo;It was a decision we made last year by us and the league.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011556/6375656-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="408" height="408"><figcaption class="caption-body">The old logo</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The NHL told us we were 24th out of 26 teams when it came to merchandise sales. In retrospect, we probably made a good decision in changing the colors and a bad decision in changing the logo.&rdquo;A negative reaction to the change was immediate last autumn when a bloc of fans launched protests of various kinds. The complaints were heard throughout the dismal season and reechoed on E-mail and other forms of communication.The anger reached a crescendo earlier this month when a protest rally was planned near Nassau Coliseum. A group called &ldquo;Save the Islanders Coalition&rdquo; was behind the uprising.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad they&rsquo;re going back to the old logo,&rdquo; said attorney Manny Tos-kos, a long-time Islanders&rsquo; fan from Hackensack, N.J. &ldquo;The new one had no tradition; the old one symbolizes the four Stanley Cup victories.&rdquo;Palleschi made it clear they expect NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to let the team replace the mariner with its old logo as part of next season&rsquo;s 25th anniversary celebration.&ldquo;The commissioner has been very supportive of us,&rdquo; Palleschi said.As a result the league is expected to waive its normal December deadline for notification of a logo change for the next season.One Islander official suggested the anti-logo sentiment never would have multiplied had the club enjoyed a playoff-bound season.&ldquo;Unfortunately,&rdquo; the official said, &ldquo;we had problems from the start and the logo became a focus of the fans&rsquo; frustration.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021261/6375649-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1187" height="1899"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Flatley and his teammates will go back to their familiar look.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Isles go back to former logo

<div class="byline">By Lou Friedman</div>NEW YORK-Milt Schmidt, George Gund III and Ken Morrow have had diversified careers in hockey, but they share one thing: they&rsquo;re recipients of the Lester Patrick Award.The three men were feted April 1 for their outstanding service to hockey in the U.S.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m overwhelmed,&rdquo; Morrow said. &ldquo;I went through this last September after I was elected into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame and I thought nothing would top that.&rdquo;Morrow, who served 10 seasons as a steady defenseman for the New York Islanders, was the first player in hockey history to win an Olympic gold medal (the 1980 &lsquo;Miracle On Ice&rsquo; U.S. team in Lake Placid, N.Y.) and a Stanley Cup ring in the same year.&ldquo;I was just a defensive defenseman,&rdquo; Morrow said. &ldquo;Usually, they don&rsquo;t get much recognition.&rdquo;Schmidt spent most of his NHL career in the Boston Bruins&rsquo; organization. He was one-third of the famous Kraut Line with Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer.He was coach and GM of the Bruins and also held the GM&rsquo;s role for the Washington Capitals their first two seasons.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re eight or nine, all you do is dream of playing in the NHL,&rdquo; Schmidt said. &ldquo;After that, you dream of the Stanley Cup. And now this-I&rsquo;m highly honored.&rdquo;Gund is majority owner and chairman of the San Jose Sharks. Fortunately, the Sharks are faring better than some of his previous NHL ventures.The last three NHL teams with which Gund was involved were the California Golden Seals, Cleveland Barons and Minnesota North Stars. All have relocated.&ldquo;I felt more people deserved the honor over me,&rdquo; Gund said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m elated and excited. I feel honored.&rdquo;Gund builds rinks in places such as Sun Valley, Idaho, Morrow is the director of pro scouting for the Islanders and Schmidt is synonymous with Boston hockey to this day. &#9632;

Trio takes Patrick honors

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>Tom Barrett spoke constantly of a bright hope for next season for what was the worst team in Canadian Hockey League history.Now the London Knights will have to do without Barrett. The 57-year-old coach suffered a heart attack and died April 2.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather have 20 losing seasons than have a guy like Tom pass on,&rdquo; said left winger Ryan Burgoyne.Barrett joined the team part way through the season and guided the Knights to a 3-60-3 record.Goalie Eoin McInerney said Barrett told him how much he was looking forward to next year.&ldquo;He put so much work into it. It&rsquo;s one thing to be a great coach, but it&rsquo;s a bonus to be a good person,&rdquo; McInerney said. &ldquo;There goes our cornerstone.&rdquo;Barrett was diagnosed two months earlier with cancer. Knights&rsquo; owner Doug Tarry said Barrett told him, &ldquo;but Tom said doctors were 95 percent sure he would beat it.&rdquo;EAGLES ALIVE: The University of Moncton hockey program has been given a second chance.The Blue Eagles were reinstated April 4, a day after the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association reduced suspensions of five players involved in a Feb. 24 attack on a referee.&ldquo;After taking a hard look at the matter and after having received advice from several people, we decided to reject the idea of suspending the team for one year,&rdquo; said school president Jean-Bernard Robichaud.Former NHL goalie Ken Dryden was commissioned to investigate the incident in which referee Brian Carragher was punched and speared by members of the Blue Eagles moments after a controversial overtime goal eliminated them from the playoffs.Five-year suspensions to Mathieu Bibeau and Sylvain Ducharme were reduced to three years or just one year if they each serve 400 hours of community service. Frantz Bergevin-Jean&rsquo;s five-year suspension is down to two years or one year with 200 hours community service.The AUAA overturned Philippe Lavoie&rsquo;s one-year suspension because it was ruled he was trying to break up the assault on the referee.DEADLINE EXTENDED: The deadline for the submission of names of NHL players who will play in the World Cup this fall was extended from April 4 to midnight April 14. NHL rosters will be released April 15.&ndash;With a file from Jim Cressman &#9632;

London coach dies of heart attack

A weekly compendium of significant events and developments (March 29-April 5).March 29: Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; president-GM Pat Quinn returns to coaching ranks with 4-2 win over Chicago.Former NHL star Bill Goldsworthy dies in St. Paul, Minn., of complications arising from AIDS.March 30: International Ice Hockey Federation announces formation of 20-team European league to begin play in September.Michigan beats Colorado College 3-2 in overtime to claim NCAA title.April 2: London Knights&rsquo; coach Tom Barrett dies of heart attack at age 57.Washington&rsquo;s Peter Bondra scores four goals in 5-1 win over Buffalo to hit 50-goal plateau for season.April 3: St. Louis goalie Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s NHL-record consecutive game streak stopped at 76 games when he fails to start game against Colorado because of knee injury.April 4: Wayne Gretzky of St. Louis, Mark Messier of Rangers and Bill Ranford of Boston forced to leave games with various hurts.Top NHL prospect Alexander Volchkov signs 25-game pro tryout with Cincinnati of IHL. &#9632;

Top stars falling from sky as playoffs draw near

After seeing recent St. Louis Blues&rsquo; games, I was shocked at the treatment Wayne Gretzky received during his return to California. In games against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Los Angeles Kings, he was booed by fans.I found it quite disheartening that the greatest ambassador and player hockey has ever had received the treatment he did in a hockey community for which he did so much. Anaheim and other recent expansion cities owe Gretzky a debt of gratitude that can never be paid in full.It seems too many Kings&rsquo; fans forgot too quickly the many great things No. 99 did for his team and community.Jason Koehler, Tulsa, Okla.<h2>Enough, already</h2>Enough of the apologies from Americans for robbing Canada of its game. Players&rsquo; salary demands are the primary reason teams are being forced out of Canada for larger U.S. markets.If you&rsquo;re looking for somewhere to lay the blame, look no further than the players-over 60 per cent of whom are Canadian-who are demanding high salaries.Dave Parmele, Herndon, Va.<h2>Not fans&rsquo; fault</h2>I can understand Canadians being upset about the sudden voids left by hockey teams that leave. But believe me, the hockey fans have nothing to do with your teams leaving.Corporations are the reason. So please, enough U.S. bashing. I also remind you that four of the Original Six teams were from the U.S.Dennis Simone, Staten Island, N. Y.<h2>True blue fans</h2>We often hear about teams such as the Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers and Hartford Whalers not getting good attendance, but we rarely hear about loyal fans.By the end of this season, the San Jose Sharks will have sold out 84 consecutive home games, even though the team is the second-worst in the NHL this year.Sharks&rsquo; fans should be applauded.Martin Provost, Lorraine, Que.<h2>Phoenix will rise</h2>Unlike A.J. Silvesti (THN, March 15), I think the Winnipeg Jets will thrive in my hometown of Phoenix.I take exception to the notion the NHL won&rsquo;t fly in the desert. First of all, many of our winter residents come from the midwest U.S. and Canada.Secondly, the Phoenix Roadrunners of the International League are enjoying a record year for attendance, despite the fact the team is hovering around the. 500 mark. Minnesota, touted as a great hockey state, cannot say the same.And finally, the Colangelo family, which owns the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association and baseball&rsquo;s Arizona Diamondbacks, runs a first-class organization which will market and operate the team with the same quality it has shown in its other sports enterprises.Although NHL hockey in the Grand Canyon State may seem strange to some, give us a chance.Paul Santa Cruz, Phoenix, Ariz.<h2>Touch of class</h2>We would like to write to you about a true hockey star, Steve Yzerman.Our 15-year-old son, Dallas Saunders, followed Yzerman&rsquo;s career and always admired his style of play, quiet leadership and classy way of conducting himself on and off the ice.Dallas died accidentally during a hockey game on Jan. 21, 1996. Steve Yzerman showed us the true meaning of class by sending us a donation for a scholarship fund in Dallas&rsquo; name, a warm and caring letter of condolence and an autographed picture for Dallas&rsquo; younger brother Shane.This gesture of kindness extended to a grieving family is one we will never forget.Brent, Nancy & Shane Saunders, Abbotsford, B.C.<h2>Sweet victory</h2>Congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines! They deserve special honors for showing how exciting college hockey can be. After seeing them fall in three overtimes in the past four years of NCAA playoffs, the taste of victory is ever so sweet.Jeffrey Kaufman, Ann Arbor, Mich.<h2>Dream come true</h2>I am writing to let people know there are still some NHL teams that respect their fans.I am a Canadian soldier based in Winnipeg and a huge New York Rangers&rsquo; fan since childhood. Upon recently returning from a tour of peacekeeping duty in Croatia, my wife presented me with two tickets to New York City to fulfill my lifelong dream of seeing the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.Two weeks before embarking on my trip, I wrote a letter to Ranger GM Neil Smith expressing my desire to meet him and Mark Messier. Two weeks passed and I heard nothing.I went to the Rangers&rsquo; open practice at MSG on Feb. 8, the day the Rangers hosted the New York Islanders. I returned to the home of the friend with whom I was staying and got a message from my wife saying the Rangers had called. When I phoned the office, I was told they received my letter and would try to do something for me that night at the game.Sure enough, with five minutes left, I was escorted to the Rangers&rsquo; dressing room. Brooks Thomas, the Rangers&rsquo; public relations man who arranged the whole event, introduced me to Neil Smith.Mr. Smith was one of the nicest men I&rsquo;ve ever met. He told me he and the coaching staff were very proud of me and the sacrifices we made as Canadian soldiers to the contribution to peace in Croatia.Mr. Smith then asked me to follow him to the coaches&rsquo; room and I was warmly welcomed by the coaching staff. I noticed assistant coach Dick Todd was wearing his 1994 Stanley Cup ring and when I asked him if I could see it, he handed it to me and told me to put it on.I then got to go to the dressing room to meet my hero, Mark Messier. He gave me a hearty handshake, posed with me for a photo, signed my Rangers&rsquo; sweater and treated me with enormous respect.I am not writing to boast, but to make it known that it&rsquo;s little things like this that make the NHL so great.Gabriel Tuba, Winnipeg, Man.<h2>Blues are toast</h2>I am appalled at the way the Louis Blues are approaching the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs.They tried to pull the same thing last season, bringing in high-priced talent, and the results will be exactly the same as they were last year.The Blues are not a team, they are a bunch of individual superstars looking for a easy route to the prized Cup. They don&rsquo;t have the team chemistry of the 1995 champs, the New Jersey Devils. They expect the Cup to fall into their laps because Mike Keenan has loaded the team with offensive superstars.The Devils were a give and take team, but the Blues have no give.Rory Young, Winnipeg, Man.Make your feelings known. Fax us your comments at&nbsp;(416) 340-1641. Write to&nbsp;Letters, The Hockey News, 777 Bay St, Suite 2700, Box 148, Toronto, Ont., MSG 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. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Fans booing Gretzky have bad memories

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ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>Winning the Hart Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player isn&rsquo;t something defensemen do. Just four of them have ever won it and, in reality, Chris Chelios probably won&rsquo;t become the fifth this season.But if Craig Hartsburg were picking, it would be a no-brainer.Of course, as coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, Hartsburg is severely prejudiced in his assessment. But he has also seen first-hand just how valuable Chelios has been to his team.&ldquo;If we&rsquo;re down in a game, he&rsquo;s the guy who jumps into the play or runs somebody over to give us a spark,&rdquo; Hartsburg said. &ldquo;And if we have the lead he&rsquo;s the most calm and cool guy there is. It&rsquo;s amazing how he controls the game when we have the lead. How many players do that?&rdquo;Mario Lemieux is on his way to a fifth scoring championship and Mark Messier will score 50 goals at the age of 35. As much as anything, that will keep Chelios from entering the history books alongside Eddie Shore, Herb Gardiner, Babe Pratt and Bobby Orr. Chelios will probably have to settle for his third Norris Trophy as the league&rsquo;s most outstanding defenseman.Chelios remains one of the game&rsquo;s most complete players and the NHL&rsquo;s best all-around defenseman.After 77 games, Chelios was third in scoring among NHL defensemen with 14 goals and 68 points and was No. 1 in terms of contribution to his team&rsquo;s success. With Jeremy Roenick out of the lineup and Chelios scoring his first goal in 14 games against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 3, Chelios took over the scoring lead on the Hawks. With 54 assists, he was also on pace to break his team record of 58 by a defenseman, set in 1992-93.&ldquo;Of all the stars I&rsquo;ve played with, Chris is by far the most dedicated athlete,&rdquo; said teammate Steve Smith. &ldquo;Most star players don&rsquo;t work as hard in practice or off the ice as Chris does because of their natural ability. Chris is a fitness freak who doesn&rsquo;t seem to recognize his own natural ability. Or at least he doesn&rsquo;t simply rely on it.&rdquo;Now in his 13th NHL season, sixth with the Blackhawks, the 34-year-old Chelios continues to log huge amounts of ice time.He has followed through on a vow he made a year ago to quit referee baiting. &ldquo;They have a tough enough job to do without having to deal with me yapping at them,&rdquo; Chelios said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011675/6375845-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="975" height="1968"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Chelios took over the scoring lead in Chicago. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>And while he claims he hasn&rsquo;t altered his style dramatically, Chelios isn&rsquo;t near as active in post-whistle scrums. What&rsquo;s more, he was on pace to finish his second straight season averaging fewer than two penalty minutes per game. Sometimes he even goes a whole game without a penalty. After averaging 2.4 minutes per game in his first 11 seasons, Chelios had 72 minutes in 48 games for an average of 1.5 minutes per game last season. With 128 minutes this season, his average was 1.7.If Chelios can&rsquo;t win the Hart Trophy, there&rsquo;s always the Lady Byng. Chelios said THN&rsquo;s suggestion last year he had evolved from a sinner to a saint was a nice play on words, but wasn&rsquo;t quite accurate.Sinner to sort-of saint, perhaps?&ldquo;That&rsquo;s closer to the truth,&rdquo; Chelios said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe my game has changed in terms of aggressiveness and chippiness. I&rsquo;m just a little more selective about when I do things and who it&rsquo;s against. It didn&rsquo;t used to bother me taking penalties as long as I took a guy off with me. Then I started looking at the guys I was taking off-it was usually not one of their better players.&rdquo;Still, it&rsquo;s hard to ignore the fact that Chelios hasn&rsquo;t been suspended for a single transgression in almost two seasons. This is the same guy who served eight games two years ago for gouging an opponent and tossing a linesman aside to come to a teammate&rsquo;s aid during a brawl. And who can forget early in his career when Chelios knocked Brian Propp unconscious with an elbow?He still plays on the edge and can be as nasty a player as there is in the league. Just ask Dale Hunter of the Washington Capitals who was the victim of a Chelios high stick Jan. 17. It was Chelios&rsquo; only game misconduct of the season. He was hit with a second as the instigator in a fight with Darby Hendrickson of the New York Islanders March 14, but the league rescinded it after reviewing the tape.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be the first to admit I went out of my way to take guys out in my first few years, but it was a different league back then,&rdquo; Chelios said. &ldquo;Everybody was like that, it was more a survival of the fittest. Now playing that way costs you games. The way they hand out suspensions, you have to think hard before you react.&rdquo; &#9632;

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FEATURES

Playing with Hart

<div class="byline">By Kevin Dupont</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011519/6375883-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="381" height="539"></div>Just about when all of America is getting to its feet for the seventh-inning stretch this summer, hockey will try to streak onto the baseball field (fully clothed and equipped, we hope) and steal some of the sports spotlight and some of that U.S. disposable income.The hockey fan in me would love to herald the upcoming World Cup as the next best thing to the Nordiques&rsquo; move to Denver, but that would be the purist in me speaking. It also would be a lie. It&rsquo;s fabulous that Denver has an NHL team. But did it have to be at the expense of one of the continent&rsquo;s most beautiful, unique cities?The World Cup is a great idea, if only its timing were not just a little better, but a lot better. No matter what spin the league or the NHL Players&rsquo; Association tries to put on Alan Eagleson&rsquo;s former Best Little Canada Cup in the Whole Hockey World, the World Cup&rsquo;s timing this time around-like all the other times-shows the game remains in the hands of hockey&rsquo;s hopeless, people who must work overtime at trying to maintain it as North America&rsquo;s best-kept secret.You want a successful World Cup, one Americans will watch? Simple. Just like the Olympics in &lsquo;98, shut down the NHL for a couple of weeks in Feb. &lsquo;97 and tell the Yanks to come marching in, along with the Canadians, Slovaks, Russians, Czechs, Finns, Germans and Swedes. For 10-14 days, staged in nearly any rink(s) through Canada, U.S., Bolivia or points beyond, the World Cup at least would have a chance of capturing the States&rsquo; attention. In fact, it would have a great chance.Okay, take this as obnoxious proYank chest-beating, if you will, but:A World Cup without American rinks full, without 30 or 40 million pairs of American eyeballs glued to the television, is a World Cup with one hand clapping.The root of the World Cup is marketing, just as it is for the Olympics, and the World Cup of &lsquo;96 will have its training camps open in midAugust and its games begin by the end of the month. A champion will be crowned Sept. 12 or 14 at the new Molson Centre in Montreal. One month, start to finish, at the end of which baseball could have up to six divisional pennant races running red hot. In the middle of it all, toss in the long Labor Day Weekend (America&rsquo;s collective mourning over the loss of summer vacation).Now there&rsquo;s marketing.In New York, do you suppose the Yankees chasing the Red Sox or the Yanks chasing the Finns will capture the sports imagination of Manhattan in early-September? In Los Angeles, will they care more about Dodger Blue than Mike Milbury trying to boot up his Red-White-and-Blue for that big one against the Germans?Let&rsquo;s not forget, either, the &lsquo;96 World Cup also will be rubbing shoulders with the &lsquo;96 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the ritualistic autumn sprucing up of the White House (if his polls are slumping, do you suppose Bill Clinton will ring up Chris Chelios and congratulate him on Team USA&rsquo;s triumphant 6-0 shellacking of the Canadians on Sept. 14?).So what, who needs the Americans, right? Exactly. That&rsquo;sjust what the Lords of the Boards were saying, oh, 20 years ago. And what has happened since? The NHL has proven over and over again without the USA there really is no NHL beyond a three- or four-team Provincial House League.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021021/6375876-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="512" height="892"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Milbury</figcaption></div>The Nordiques sought safe harbor in Denver after last season. The Jets soon will be sheltered in Phoenix. In Edmonton, no one knows if Peter Pocklington is going to keep his Oilers inside the Coliseum or auction them off to Nashville, Portland or Atlanta. Give us your poor, your weak, your hockey-hurting.No one down here below the National Health Line disputes hockey is Canada&rsquo;s game. We can say for sure, though, virtually no one down here will be watching Canada&rsquo;s game when it attempts to play the World&rsquo;s stage in August and September. Take that to the World Bank.In the meantime, keep a light on up there and save those Czech vs. Swedes scoresheets. We&rsquo;ll see you in October. &#9632;

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COLUMNISTS

World Cup poised to crash and burn in U.S.

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div>Craig Janney laughed at the lunacy of it. After several years of soul searching, he is leaning toward eschewing his offseason pursuit of a business degree.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;d like to teach high school,&rdquo; said the Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; center. &ldquo;One of my good influences in high school was a history teacher and I&rsquo; ve been interested in going back and teaching history.&rdquo;The irony is millionaire hockey players are rapidly becoming the only people who can live with the meagre pay afforded U.S. teachers.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s probably one of the most important jobs in the world, shaping our youth, and it&rsquo;s probably one of the lowest paid,&rdquo; Janney said. &ldquo;Our priorities are a little out of whack, that&rsquo;s for sure.&rdquo;Tilted priorities is a subject on which Janney might give his thesis. The 28-year-old has been frequently criticized because he isn&rsquo;t mean, let alone thuggish. So great is his desire to set up linemates, he plays as if every shot on goal will shave a year off his life. This year, even Bob Probert, Darren McCarty, Bryan March-ment and Sandy McCarthy have managed to direct more shots on goal.By turn, GMs in Boston, St. Louis and most recently San Jose decided a man of his values was a little too dangerous to keep around.&ldquo;My thinking has always been, &lsquo;Find the guy who is a better goal-scorer than me,&rsquo; but that&rsquo;s because I have always played with guys who were better goal scorers than me,&rdquo; said Janney, who had 60 assists and 78 points in 79 games. &ldquo;I definitely do overpass, but don&rsquo;t forget, sometimes it does work out.&rdquo;Cam Neely, playing to Janney&rsquo;s right with the Boston Bruins and Brendan Shanahan, who worked to his left with the St. Louis Blues, each recorded two 50-goal seasons during Janney&rsquo;s tenure. Now it is the turn of Keith Tkachuk, the NHL&rsquo;s new preeminent power forward. Tkachuk and right winger Dallas Drake have been dominating since Janney&rsquo;s acquisition from the Sharks March 18 for Darren Turcotte and a second-round draft choice.The combination rang up 40 points in its first five games together and Janney&rsquo;s arrival has given the Jets an offensive reprieve after injuries to Ed Olczyk and Alexei Zhamnov threatened to deprive the team of a No. 1 center down the stretch.&ldquo;He just has that ability to find people,&rdquo; said Jets&rsquo; coach Terry Simpson. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very difficult to find a guy in traffic in tight, but Janney has been able to do that.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011585/6375914-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="972" height="1925"><figcaption class="caption-body">Center Craig Janney is a point-a-game performer in the playoffs. (Photo Tony Biegun/BBS)</figcaption></div>He always has. The trick, Janney insists, has been to find, in the middle of the game&rsquo;s melee, exactly where and when his linemate wants the puck.&ldquo;All three of those guys, Cam, Shanny and Keith, are strong, but Keith uses his speed to create a lot of chances by beating defensemen and using his wheels. He just wants to get the puck with speed. Shanny would always come late into the zone and come into the slot late and try to get one-timers. Cam would be a bull in front of the net, banging and creating space in front of the net, but he also likes using that big shot off the wing.&rdquo;Had Janney remained in San Jose, this would have marked the first season in his nine NHL campaigns he missed the post-season. The move from California to Manitoba has suited him just fine.&ldquo;There was a lot of disarray in San Jose,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was excited to be going to a team that had some important games to play, to try and help them get into the playoffs.&rdquo;Janney has been knocked as a poor playoff performer, a curious criticism for a player who has accrued 101 post-season points in as many games. His unwillingness to initiate contact was another reason coaches such as St. Louis boss Mike Keenan have involved him in trades that involved, among others, Adam Oates and Jeff Brown. In acquiring Janney, who also worked through a divorce in San Jose. Winnipeg GM John Paddock spoke openly about what he was getting.&ldquo;I knew he had some personal problems and I knew he was a soft player,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s also going to get 75 to 80 assists a season and he&rsquo;s averaging a point a game in the playoffs. That&rsquo;s a pretty good player.&rdquo;While Janney will not seek out a hit, he will absorb one to make the play. That, insists Janney, is a much more sensible mark of toughness.&ldquo;If you ask any guys who try to set up plays,&rdquo; Janney said, &ldquo;you take a lot of hits trying to make plays.&rdquo;The trick with coaching Janney, Simpson insists, is to not attempt to change the commodity he has been given.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not going to change his style,&rdquo; Simpson said. &ldquo;And I don&rsquo;t know why you&rsquo;d want him to.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Professor of pass

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011511/6375952-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="380" height="539"></div>During the New York Islanders&rsquo; formative years in the early-1970s, GM Bill Torrey used to joke about the team&rsquo;s name.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve come to believe that our middle name is Hapless,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;Everyone describes us as, &lsquo;The Hapless Islanders.&rdquo;Mike Milbury is now Torrey on Long Island, but it&rsquo;s 1973-74 all over again. The savior-to-be then was Denis Potvin; now the Potvin-to-be is Bryan Berard, who becomes an Islander next fall. In the meantime, the Isles complete their 24th year looking very much like an expansion team, building amid the rubble of misery.One would be hard-pressed to find a more depressing catalogue of one-season misfortunes which slapped them around this year:&#9633; Brett Lindros, their top draft pick in 1994 and highest-priced player at $1,150,000 per annum, may not play NHL hockey again because of concussions.&#9633; Injuries had already forced them to dress 48 players with two weeks to go in the season.&#9633; They&rsquo;ve had almost as may players suffer concussions (eight) as they&rsquo;ve had victories this season.&#9633; Somehow the club lost virtually every fan favorite from the 1993 Stanley Cup semifinalist (Glenn Healy, Ray Ferraro, Pierre Turgeon), with precious little to show in return.&#9633; Kirk Muller, targeted as their &ldquo;character&rdquo; acquisition, damaged the franchise-and GM Don Maloney-more than any espionage agents hired by the Rangers possibly could have done.&ldquo;What happened over the past five years is that we spent a lot of money foolishly,&rdquo; said Islander&rsquo;s chief operating officer Ralph Palleschi. &ldquo;Right now we&rsquo;re looking for a long-term situation. Do we have the resources? Absolutely. It&rsquo;s just a question of when we&rsquo;re going to get there.&rdquo;Fans, who have demonstrated reasonable support through the whole ugly mess, can be excused for wondering about seeing light at the end of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel.Holding the torch and the batteries, Milbury believes optimism is just around the comer-at the 1996 draft and free agent market.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021071/6375945-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="512" height="892"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kenny Jonsson</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We already have what we think is a future No. 1 goaltender in Eric Fichaud,&rdquo; Milbury said. &ldquo;When it&rsquo;s healthy, our defense arguably will be as deep and good as there is.&rdquo;The Isles will open 1996-97 on the blueline with a youthful nucleus featuring Kenny Jonsson, Darius Kasparaitis, Scott Lachance, Bryan McCabe and Dennis Vaske. If, somehow, he can be kept out of the hospital, Rich Pilon will add to the mix. Blue chip juniors Berard, Jason Holland and Brad Lukowich actually make Milbury smile once in a while.But will the Islanders be able to buy a goal; or goal-scorers? Having dealt Wendel Clark and Matt Schneider Milbury is gambling on admittedly &ldquo;tough picking&rdquo; among free agents and trades this summer.&ldquo;Ziggy Palffy, Travis Green and Todd Bertuzzi give us three good frontline forwards and we have some other valuable ones,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But there&rsquo;s a big concern about filling the gaps up front. We knew we gave away scoring potential, but we did it for a good reason.&rdquo;Those guaranteed exit papers via trades or outright release are Brad Dalgamo and Derek King. Alex Semak and Patrick Flatley, both with a year left on their pacts, could be bought out or retained as fringe contributors along with Mick Vukota.Expect Milbury to energetically pitch for future free agents such as Bernie Nicholls, Ed Olczyk and Dave Reid, while hoping junior whiz Sean Haggerty fulfills his notices.He&rsquo;s also tickled with Long Island&rsquo;s version of the Crash Line, comprised of character kids Dan Plante, Derek Armstrong and Jarret Deuling.&ldquo;The process of building a contender will be as enjoyable as getting there,&rdquo; Milbury said. &ldquo;Obviously, the playoffs next year are not in the bag, but it&rsquo;s realistic to believe that we&rsquo;ll make them.&rdquo;Barring eight concussions, of course. &#9632;

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Isles’ future bright if they head off injuries

<div class="byline">By Steve Keating</div>BOLZANO, Italy-A player attempting to set an opponent on fire during a recent bench-clearing brawl has sparked the biggest outrage the Italian League has seen since Canadian Jimmy Boni was charged with manslaughter.While Milan&rsquo;s Canadian import Tony Job escaped without even two minutes for attempted arson, the Italian League continues to feel the heat.With spectators screaming, &ldquo;you should die,&rdquo; cameras caught Job trying to set a Bolzano player&rsquo;s sweater on fire with a lighter that was among debris thrown on the ice when Game 2 of the best-of-seven league final degenerated into a free-for-all.The sweater didn&rsquo;t ignite and the victim wasn&rsquo;t hurt.Although dangerously bizarre, Job&rsquo;s Slap Shotesque moment was far from the most serious.Earlier, Milan&rsquo;s Canadian goalie Michael Zanier, who had a brief stint with the Edmonton Oilers in 1984-85, decked the referee with his blocker and in turn was slapped with a two-year suspension.With Milan burnt out, Bolzano went on to win the game and the Italian title for the second straight year four games to one.Not since Boni was charged with manslaughter six years ago after striking an opponent with his stick, has hockey made headlines in Italy.Once again because of on-ice violence, the league has come under unwanted scrutiny. Several major European newspapers examined the melee.&ldquo;This is the most exciting thing to happen in the Italian League in years,&rdquo; said Bolzano coach Bob Manno, a former NHLer. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been here 12 years and no one has ever talked to me about the Italian playoffs and now because of this I&rsquo;m getting calls from everywhere.&ldquo;It was bad, but really it was just another incident. Let&rsquo;s face it, this isn&rsquo;t an angel&rsquo;s sport. It can be a violent game. I wouldn&rsquo;t overplay this. I admit there haven&rsquo;t been many worse things, but I think this was an isolated incident.&rdquo;Think again.Bolzano was involved in an almost equally ugly scene in Game 1 of its semifinal with Varese that produced 220 minutes in penalties and two one-year suspensions.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Cameras caught Job trying to set an opponent&rsquo;s sweater on fire</blockquote>Joe Busillo, who helped the Osh-awa Generals win the 1990 Memorial Cup, was suspended a year when he sucker-punched a Bolzano player, knocking him out cold.Busillo&rsquo;s teammate, Maurizio Bortolussi of Ottawa, was suspended nine months for another incident. Both members of Italy&rsquo;s national team, they are ineligible to play at the World Championship in Vienna. They are, however, ready to sign with German clubs next season.Varese coach Paul Theriault, a former coach in the OHL, was fired after the incident.As Manno points out, fighting is not inherent to the Italian game. All major incidents during the playoffs involved Canadian imports.&ldquo;That tells you something, it wasn&rsquo;t Italians causing the problems,&rdquo; said Manno, who played in Italy for 10 seasons. &ldquo;Theriault had a team of North American players and played a North American style game and he thought he could win by intimidation.&rdquo;The two coaches downplay the fighting, but admit the sport in Italy is facing a crisis over the recent violence. Both agree the problems stem from inexperienced, unknowledgeable people in positions of authority-&ldquo;The federation was a big letdown,&rdquo; Manno said. &ldquo;It certainly didn&rsquo;t help the situation when they fired the appeals committee and there was no one to answer to anymore.&rdquo;After the fiasco surrounding the Boni case, the Italian courts have so far resisted the temptation to get involved in on-ice indiscretions. But other courts in Europe are taking a get-tough attitude.Six players in the British Ice Hockey League were arrested recently when a fight erupted during the pre-game warm-up. Former NHL defenseman Bruce Bell was hospitalized with a broken nose and whiplash.Unlike the Italian final, however, the British championship produced an inspirational moment.Canadian goalie Wayne Cowley, playing the final game with two broken fingers in his stick hand, led the Sheffield Steelers to a shootout victory over the Nottingham Panthers. &#9632;

Italian match sparks brawl

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011532/6376007-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Dan Hamiltan)</figcaption></div>The Detroit Red Wings last won hockey&rsquo;s most cherished chalice, the Stanley Cup, in 1955 with a lineup that included Sawchuk, Kelly, Pronovost, Lindsay, Howe and Delvecchio. This season, a lineup that includes Osgood, Coffey, Konstantinov, Fedorov, Yzerman and Larionov is out to end a 41-year drought. The vast majority believe they will. &#9632;

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FLING HIGH

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011440/6376038-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Colorado is counting on Peter Forsberg for offensive punch in the playoffs.</figcaption></div>Call me fickle. Call me misguided. Go ahead, you can even call me a bandwagon jumper.But don&rsquo;t call me a turncoat.I remain convinced the New Jersey Devils have what it takes to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. I&rsquo;m just not so sure they have what it takes to make the playoffs.Am I sticking with the Devils, my pre-season pick for the Cup?Not a chance.If there&rsquo;s space on the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; bandwagon for one more, make room.The Red Wings, with their five-man Russian unit, left-wing lock, goal-scoring goalie, high-powered offense, commitment to defense and the winningest coach in NHL history are a team of destiny.Prepare for a little Motown madness.While most prognosticators are chatting up the Eastern Conference&rsquo;s size advantage, stick with speed in the West.Besides, when the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers and Devils get done beating each other into submission, the survivor is not going to have much left to face the Red Wings, who won&rsquo;t hit as many speed bumps en route to the final.&ldquo;The Flyers, Penguins and Rangers are good,&rdquo; said one NHL pro scout. &ldquo;But Detroit has way too much speed for those teams. They ripped St. Louis apart (7-1 March 24) and spit them out using their speed. Speed kills.&rdquo;The Red Wings may bore you with all their all-for-one rhetoric, but their Cup focus is admirable. If the Red Wings get bored and need inspiration, they need only look back to last season, when they waltzed through the lockout-shortened season only to have their winged wheels come off in the final.&ldquo;If anything, we have more confidence in ourselves now than we did a year ago,&rdquo; said Detroit captain Steve Yzerman. &ldquo;Losing the final as we did was a humbling experience, but it helped us in that this year we all realize no matter how many games we win in the regular season, no matter how many goals we score, it all means nothing if we don&rsquo;t win the Cup.&rdquo;The Red Wings may choose not to toot their own horn, so allow us. With just two weeks remaining in the regular season they had:&#9633; The league&rsquo;s best defense. In 77 games, the Wings had allowed an average 2.22 goals per game., 14 better than the second place Devils.&#9633; The NHL&rsquo;s second-most potent offense. Detroit, which employed four lines (and a few spares) nearly every game, could have as many as 16 players with 10 or more goals.&#9633; Lost back-to-back games just once and had strung together two nine-game winning streaks.Much has been made about the Red Wings&rsquo; defense, which is old and lacks someone to clear the front of the net. But there is no denying their sterling defensive record.The Red Wings didn&rsquo;t get a blueline banger, but they do have the multi-talented Sergei Fedorov, one of the league&rsquo;s most consistent scorers in the past decade in Yzerman, the top scoring defenseman in history in Paul Coffey, a formidable power forward in Keith Primeau and, their key addition this season, speedy Russian center Igor Larionov.Remember, everyone said the Devils would never be successful without a big center to face the likes of Mark Messier, Eric Lindros and Mario Lemieux and they won the Cup after acquiring that monster Neal Broten (5-foot-9,175 pounds). Perhaps Larionov and what he adds in offense and leadership can substitute for the missing ingredient on defense.The Colorado Avalanche, with two of the league&rsquo;s premier scorers in Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic as well as a playoff-hardened goalie in Patrick Roy, would seem to be the only hurdle standing between the Wings and a chance to redeem themselves in the final. Detroit beat them 3-2 in Colorado Jan. 17 and smoked them 7-0 in the Motor City March 22. Advantage Detroit. &ldquo;The Avalanche is no match for Detroit,&rdquo; said an NHL pro scout. &ldquo;No match at all.&rdquo;The rest of the conference is just dreaming, too. The Chicago Blackhawks lack scoring depth; the Toronto Maple Leafs aren&rsquo;t going to suddenly get faster; and the St. Louis Blues are a chemistry experiment gone awry. Mike Keenan, the GM, hasn&rsquo;t given Mike Keenan, the coach, much of a chance.It will be interesting in the east, where the margin between second and ninth was just a few wins.The Penguins, still potent despite all the off-season changes they made, were first in the league on offense and-get this-have started concentrating on playing better defense.The Rangers looked like the class of the Atlantic Division until injuries took their toll. They went from establishing a team record of 25 games at home without a loss to coming within a game of the team mark for consecutive home games without a win (0-4-4). Now that goalie Mike Richter, right winger Pat Verbeek and left winger Adam Graves are healthy, the Rangers are again a factor.Not much has changed in a year for the Flyers, who rely heavily on the Legion of Doom. Right winger Mikael Renberg has been out with pulled stomach muscles, meaning Dale Hawer-chuk, acquired to boost scoring on the second line, was promoted to play with Eric Lindros and John LeClair.Philadelphia&rsquo;s defense has performed well in the second half and goalie Ron Hextali is having a career year. But he still has to prove he can do it in the playoffs.And the Devils? Because they proved they could do it playing strict defensive hockey last season, they must be taken seriously if they make the playoffs. All the elements are there: great goaltending, a big defense, size up front, leadership, depth and a nice combination of youth and experience. And they were 15-9-8 since the all-star break.&ldquo;If they get in they&rsquo;ll be fine,&rdquo; said Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; coach Larry Robinson, a former Devils&rsquo; assistant. &ldquo;Guys like (Stephane) Richer and (John) MacLean have their Stanley Cups and now their attitude is, &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s get through the regular season and we&rsquo;ll turn it up in the playoffs.&rsquo; The funny thing is, they can do it. They are that talented.&ldquo;Plus they have (goalie) Martin Brodeur. If he gets hot, they can ride him a long way.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Second Chance

<div class="byline">By Murray Townsend</div>THN odds were posted Apr. 5 when 19 teams remained in the NHL playoff picture.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021022/6376069-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="476" height="2392"></div> &#9632;

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THN ODDS

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PLAYOFF SKINNY

After a long, bleak winter in which the sun was little more than an impartial observer, it&rsquo;s about time we had a little fairweather forecasting.With that in mind, most of THN&rsquo;s expert playoff prognosticators have let the prevailing winds blow aside their early-season Stanley Cup picks to make room for sunny skies.Each of the six soothsayers who participated in both our pre-season and pre-playoff prediction pools have changed their picks to win the championship.THN editor-in-chief Steve Dryden has switched from the New Jersey Devils to Pittsburgh Penguins while Mike Brophy (THN) and Harry Neale (Hockey Night in Canada) have gone from the Devils to the Detroit Red Wings. Mark Brender (THN) and Eric Du-hatschek (Calgary Herald) have forsaken the Philadelphia Flyers for the Wings, while Jim Kelley (Buffalo News) now sees Detroit taking the Stanley Cup instead of the Colorado Avalanche.Only Neale and Brophy had the Wings making it as far as the final in the pre-season.Duhatschek says changing one&rsquo;s mind is a hockey prognosticator&rsquo;s prerogative: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why they play the regular season games,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So much changes between the fall and playoffs.&rdquo;Duhatschek points to the rejuvenation of Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov and pick-up of Igor Larionov from the San Jose Sharks as the keys to his Rings for Wings pick.&ldquo;The (Igor) Larionov trade made this team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When he went in that dressing room, he raised the intensity level of everyone-particularly the Russians.&rdquo;Duhatschek is one of seven THN experts who like the Wings&rsquo; chances this spring. Here&rsquo;s how our 11 panelists see the conference championships and Stanley Cup final unfolding.Steve Dryden, THN editor-in-chief Stanley Cup: Pittsburgh. Western: Detroit over Colorado. Eastern: Pittsburgh over Philadelphia. &ldquo;The team with the best player has the best chance to be the best team. The Penguins have two candidates for best player. That gives them one more chance than any other team.&rdquo;Mike Brophy, THN Stanley Cup: Detroit. Western: Detroit over Colorado. Eastern: Rangers over Pittsburgh. &ldquo;Only one thing would erase the embarrassment of losing the final in four games last year-and that is to win it all this year. Detroit&rsquo;s commitment to a team game will be rewarded.&rdquo;Mark Brender, THN Stanley Cup: Detroit. Western: Detroit over Chicago. Eastern: Philadelphia over Rangers. &ldquo;The Red Wings have learned to depend on each other. They honestly believe they have strength in numbers.&rdquo;Murray Townsend, THN Stanley Cup: Philadelphia. Western: Detroit over Colorado. Eastern: Philadelphia over Rangers. &ldquo;The team that emerges from the Eastern Conference has climbed Mount Everest. The Red Wings&rsquo; regular season numbers, padded from play in the west, won&rsquo;t mean a hill of beans.&rdquo;Jay Greenberg, New York Post Stanley Cup: Detroit. Western: Detroit over Colorado. Eastern: Rangers over Montreal. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t trust the Red Wings after the final last year, but the good Eastern teams are flawed, too.&rdquo;Harry Neale, Hockey Night in Canada Stanley Cup: Detroit. Western: Detroit over Chicago. Eastern: Philadelphia over Rangers. &ldquo;Last year, the Wings hadn&rsquo;t played any games against the Eastern Conference. There&rsquo;s a big difference in the style of play. I think they&rsquo;re better equipped to handle New Jersey and Philadelphia this year.&rdquo;Bob McKenzie, Toronto Star Stanley Cup: Rangers. Western: Detroit over Colorado. Eastern: Rangers over Pittsburgh. &ldquo;Money-and Mark Messier-does indeed buy happiness.&rdquo;Al Morganti, ESPN Stanley Cup: Philadelphia. Western: Detroit over Colorado. Eastern: Philadelphia over Pittsburgh. &ldquo;The Flyers are too big and too strong and this will be the first of a couple of Cups for Eric Lindros.&rdquo;Eric Duhatschek, Calgary Herald Stanley Cup: Detroit. Western: Detroit over Chicago. Eastern: Philadelphia over Pittsburgh. &ldquo;Deep down, I want to pick New Jersey, but I &#2404; don&rsquo;t even know if they&rsquo;ll make the playoffs. I think if they do, they are the type of team that could do some damage in a seven-game series.&rdquo;Jim Kelley, Buffalo News Stanley Cup: Detroit. Western: Detroit over Chicago. Eastern: Rangers over Washington. &ldquo;Usually the best team in the regular season doesn&rsquo;t win the Cup, but the best team in the league two years in a row does.&rdquo;Peter McNab, Colorado Avalanche broadcaster Stanley Cup: Detroit. Western: Detroit over Colorado. Eastern: Philadelphia over Pittsburgh. &ldquo;Detroit&rsquo;s growth came in the way they lost to the New Jersey Devils last year. It was a humbling experience in much the same way as the New York Rangers missed the playoffs after finishing first overall, before winning the Cup.&rdquo;<h2>THN&rsquo;S PLAYOFF PROGNOSTICATORS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011159/6376320-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="376" height="548"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Dryden</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02877/6376313-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="370" height="546"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Brender</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03639/6376306-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="368" height="544"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob McKenzie</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04469/6376299-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="372" height="546"><figcaption class="caption-body">Murray Townsend</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05348/6376292-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="370" height="546"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06273/6376285-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="368" height="543"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim Kelley</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

Winds blow to Detroit

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07230/6376351-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="385" height="505"></div>&ldquo;I look around our dressing room and I see a lot of good hockey players. I see talent. If we, as a group, want to come together and do the difficult things, we can cause teams some problems in the playoffs. Definitely.&rdquo;&ndash;Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; captain Trevor Linden, April 3Trivia question. Did Linden utter the aforementioned words in:(a) 1994, when the Canucks sputtered through an ineffective regular season only to advance to the Stanley Cup final?(b) 1995, when the Canucks sputtered through an ineffective regular season only to register a surprising first round playoff upset of the St. Louis Blues?(c) 1996, when the Canucks sputtered through an ineffective regular season only to&hellip;?The answer is (c) 1996, but even that is not wholly accurate. Linden has been saying pretty much the same thing the past three times the Canucks found themselves in the stretch drive-that if they can ever get their act together, they possess enough ability to throw a scare into any NHL opponent.On the eve of the 1996 playoffs, nothing had changed. If they can ever find a way to clear the front of the net, signs indicate the underachieving Canucks could catch lightning in a bottle once again.By going back behind the bench, Pat Quinn kicked out a convenient, ready-made-crutch-that Rick Ley, with his 1970s-style coaching ethic, was the wrong man to pilot the 1996 Canucks into post-season play.&ldquo;Am I the answer? I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have a magic wand.&rdquo;Maybe not, but a coaching change generally infuses any team with short-term vigor. What gives Quinn&rsquo;s reappointment a bigger impact is that he has been there before. In fact, he was there when the Canucks came up only one goal short in the 1994 final against the New York Rangers.Moreover, the nucleus of that team, save for Pavel Bure, remains pretty much in place: Linden, Kirk McLean, Cliff Ronning. All three know Quinn&rsquo;s style and the system he wants them to play.Now Linden will be the first to admit it isn&rsquo;t there yet, but the memory of 1994 and how it all came together so fast is still at the forefront of the Canucks&rsquo; collective consciousness.&ldquo;The thing about that year is we were very well-coached throughout the whole year,&rdquo; Linden said. &ldquo;At a certain time, which happened to be Game 5 against Calgary (in the first round), we seemed to get some breaks and caught fire and guys started buying into the plan.&rdquo;For the better part of four years, the Canucks&rsquo; primary Western Conference rivals have been the Flames. Of late, however, the teams have undergone a dramatic role reversal. Now the Canucks boast all the high-priced talent; the Flames represent a lunch-bucket crew.Calgary is like the horizon. From game to game and night to night, the effort and execution is pretty consistent. Vancouver is a like a stormy sea-up and down. One night, they can compete with the Detroit Red Wings at the Joe Louis Arena. The next night, they get embarrassed by the Edmonton Oilers at GM Place.To Linden, the difference is this: &ldquo;Calgary is a good team. Right now, we&rsquo;re not. We&rsquo;ve got some good players, but we&rsquo;re not a very good team.&rdquo;This is another funny year for the NHL. On the one side, you&rsquo;ve got a New Jersey Devils&rsquo; team that many believe can repeat as Stanley Cup champions, provided, of course, they qualify for the playoffs. On the other side, the Canucks possess enough raw talent to throw a scare into anyone.They need something, anything, to get the ball rolling. Once that happens, the momentum can carry you all the way to the top of the hill.&ldquo;You never know what it&rsquo;ll be-a save, a hit.&rdquo; Linden said. &ldquo;When you get a group of guys believing in one another, you can accomplish a lot of great things.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-07

Are Canucks ready to spring again?

<div class="byline">By Robyn Norwood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011112/6376382-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="159" height="163"></div>Mighty Ducks of The Anaheim knew Todd Ewen could use some help shouldering the enforcer&rsquo;s duties, so they acquired Ken Baumgartner from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trading deadline.It proved to be a necessary move^especially after Ewen was suspended for three games by the NHL after receiving his fifth game misconduct penalty of the season against the San Jose Sharks March 31. It brought his season total to six games lost to suspensions.The fracas that cost Ewen three games started with an altercation between Baumgartner and the Sharks&rsquo; Dave Brown. It spread from there, with Jeff Odgers going after Baumgartner as he headed for the penalty box and Ewen jumping Odgers.Even goaltenders Arturs Irbe of the Sharks and Guy Hebert of the Ducks skated in to get involved and Ewen and Odgers received game misconducts for joining in after a fight had begun.&ldquo;I have no regrets whatsoever,&rdquo; Ewen said. &ldquo;I had to stand up for my teammate.&rdquo;&ldquo;I would rather he just grabbed the guy,&rdquo; said Ducks&rsquo; coach Ron Wilson. &ldquo;On the other hand, I&rsquo;m not the guy who goes out and faces physical destruction. Generally, it&rsquo;s best to hit first and ask questions later. I can&rsquo;t fault Ewie for that.&rdquo;Ewen&rsquo;s suspension bears out GM Jack Ferreira&rsquo;s conviction that he needed an extra enforcer with Ewen on shaky ground. And Baumgartner understands better than anyone how Ewen could step in knowing the penalty he faced.&ldquo;You often don&rsquo;t have rational thoughts,&rdquo; Baumgartner said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s primal instincts coming to the forefront.&rdquo;Both Ewen and Baumgartner have long pugilistic histories in the NHL. Ewen, 30, was among the league leaders this season with 274 penalty minutes in 49 games. The PIM total was a singleseason high for the Saskatoon native.The 30-year-old Baumgartner, meanwhile, had 184 PIM in 66 games. Acquired from the Maple Leafs for a draft pick March 20, Baumgartner recorded a single-season PIM high in 1988-89 when he had 288 as a member of the Los Angeles Kings.NOTEBOOK: Ducks&rsquo; goaltender Guy Hebert continued his outstanding play during the team&rsquo;s 8-2-1 run down the stretch. With six games left in the season, he had started 12 in a row, allowing more than two goals only once. That came in a 5-1 loss to Detroit in which he was relieved after surrendering three goals. One of Hebert&rsquo;s brightest moments came in a 1-0 win over Edmonton April 3 to move the Ducks past the Oilers and into ninth place in the Western Conference. Hebert made 27 saves on the night to record his third shutout of the season&hellip;Defenseman Randy Ladouceur, the team captain, was a healthy scratch for 10 consecutive games and counting. Ladouceur, 35, will become an unrestricted free agent after the season. &#9632;

f0019-01

Ewen, Baumgartner provide intimidating one-two punch

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02803/6376420-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="608" height="924"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cam Neely</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04417/6376427-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="160" height="163"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03530/6376413-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="601" height="923"><figcaption class="caption-body">Todd Elik</figcaption></div>As the Boston Bruins entered the season&rsquo;s final turn with a playoff spot within their grasp, a new question came to the forefront: would they have enough important players to ice a competitive team if they did make it?The problems became acute April 4, the day of a 3-3 tie with the Montreal Canadiens. First, the Bruins learned first-line left winger Todd Elik had fractured his right wrist and would be out indefinitely. Then they watched No. 1 goalie Bill Ranford leave early in the second period with a bruised knee. The topper came after the game when the team learned injured right wing Cam Neely had done a TV interview that suggested he is about to retire.Jay Fee, Neely&rsquo;s agent, called the speculation &ldquo;premature&rdquo; and &ldquo;a misinterpretation of Cam&rsquo;s remarks.&rdquo;Neely, who hasn&rsquo;t been on skates because of severe pain in his right hip since a brief appearance in a Feb. 21 game against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, told New England Sports Network he had been informed he would eventually need a hip replacement. The retirement rumor apparently centered on a comment that, &ldquo;right now, my hip is making the decision&rdquo; about whether he&rsquo;ll play again.To date, doctors have prescribed rest as treatment.&ldquo;What Cam is really referring to is that it&rsquo;s a medical determination doctors have to make,&rdquo; Fee said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;d have to say, &lsquo;Cam, it&rsquo;s time. Your hip won&rsquo;t stand up to the rigors of the NHL.&rsquo; That determination hasn&rsquo;t been made, so we haven&rsquo;t written anything off yet.&ldquo;What we&rsquo;re trying to do is follow the medical staff&rsquo;s direction and rest it to the point where the pain will reach a threshold where he can start skating. Cam&rsquo;s hoping there&rsquo;ll be a day soon that he&rsquo;ll really feel a distinct difference and be able to skate again.&ldquo;Unfortunately, it hasn&rsquo;t come around as quickly as we&rsquo;d like, but we&rsquo;re still thinking about the playoffs if he could get in shape and he and the team felt he could contribute.&rdquo;The Bruins would love to get Neely&rsquo;s offensive talents back this season, but understandably, weren&rsquo;t counting on that.&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t look that way,&rdquo; said GM Harry Sinden. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t seem to be getting any better.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Bill Ranford&rsquo;s injury, sustained when he was hit on an already-bruised knee by a Stephane Quintal slapshot, was less serious than it originally appeared. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a day-to-day thing,&rdquo; Ranford said. &ldquo;Just a few days, and hopefully it&rsquo;ll settle back down.&rdquo;&hellip;No sooner did right winger Rick Tocchet return from a five-game absence with back spasms than left winger Todd Elik fractured his wrist bracing himself against the Molson Centre glass. Elik, whom Boston put on waivers in midFebruary. had four goals and 17 points in 14 games as center Adam Oates&rsquo; left winger&hellip;Injuries on defense forced Boston to play two games with three first-year blue-liners-Kyle McLaren, Steve Stains and Philip Von Stefenelli. &#9632;

f0019-02

Neely’s status tops worries as Bruins head down stretch

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02659/6376458-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="563" height="972"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat LaFontaine</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01992/6376465-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="161" height="162"></div>Pat LaFontaine doesn&rsquo;t have to play for next year.His contract is good, pretty much carrying him to the end of his career. The coaches know what he can do, management says it wants him and ownership is building what little hope this franchise has left around him and Dominik Hasek.Maybe that&rsquo;s why when the Boston Bruins put a fork to what has been a turkey of a season, LaFontaine took it hard. The Buffalo Sabres officially were closed out of a playoff berth April 1 after a 6-5 loss to the Bruins and LaFontaine didn&rsquo;t like it.On a professional level he handled it well enough. He talked about the progress of the young players and the hopes for next season. He took pains to point out the effort is still there and the team has responded to the coaches and the coaches have responded to the team.He even mentioned how enjoyable it will be to play the role of spoiler and how the pain of a losing season can be carried over as an incentive for playing better next season.On a personal level, it was something else again.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s frustrating and disappointing,&rdquo; said LaFontaine, who had 37 goals and 83 points in 71 games. &ldquo;You never, ever come into a season ever thinking that you&rsquo;re not going to make the playoffs. Even with all the changes (this season), the goal in this room was to find a way. We expected more out of ourselves, we expected seriously to make the playoffs.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Sabres were stung for four goals by Washington&rsquo;s Peter Bondra in a 5-1 loss April 3. Bondra is just the third player to ever score four against the Sabres at the Aud&hellip;Goalie Andre Trefil-ov, hopeful of retaining his back-up status next season, gave up 12 goals in consecutive 6-5 losses to Philadelphia and Boston&hellip;GM John Muckier said this is the first season he hasn&rsquo;t been involved in playoff competition&hellip;The Sabres now have two highly regarded prospects playing in their system. Center Wayne Primeau, their No. 1 pick in 1994, and right winger Vaclav Varada, a prospect they picked up as a part of the Doug Bodger trade, were assigned to Rochester of the American League after their junior seasons ended. &#9632;

f0020-02

Playoff miss irks captain

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04277/6376527-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="161" height="161"></div>For the second straight year, the Chicago Blackhawks were looking at starting the playoffs without Jeremy Roenick.Sidelined since March 17 with a badly sprained right ankle, Roenick tried to skate on April 1-no fooling-and found he couldn&rsquo;t do it.&ldquo;I took two strides out and two strides right back. Basically, all I did was glide,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ll be hard pressed for the playoffs. It&rsquo;s so weird. This is just like last year.&rdquo;It was last spring Roenick missed the first two rounds of playoffs while recovering from a knee injury. The Blackhawks managed to overcome his loss and he returned for the Western Conference final.Roenick&rsquo;s teammates were starting to realize they may have to do the same thing and start the playoffs without him.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s starting to be talked about,&rdquo; said defenseman Chris Chelios. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big loss for us, but we can&rsquo;t dwell on it. Jeremy is our best player, but we proved last year we could win without him. We&rsquo;ve got to try and do the same thing.&rdquo;Even though the Blackhawks were 4-6-1 in games without Roenick, coach Craig Hartsburg was trying to downplay the loss of his star center.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a possibility (Roenick won&rsquo;t be able to start the playoffs), but we have to deal with it,&rdquo; Hartsburg said. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t hide the fact if he can or can&rsquo;t play. If not, then we&rsquo;ve got to find another way to get it done.&rdquo;Roenick was taking daily sessions in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber in an attempt to help speed up the healing process. He could walk without trouble, but when he skated there was little mobility.&ldquo;This is one of the hardest injuries to come back from because your ankles are so important,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;Just think of skating and how important the ankle is to cutting, stopping, turning&hellip;your ankles do everything.&rdquo;Rushing himself back in the lineup wasn&rsquo;t an option, according to Roenick.NOTEBOOK: Chris Chelios and Gary Suter were bidding to become the first defensemen in NHL history to finish 1-2 in team scoring. Chelios was trying to be the first defenseman to ever lead the Hawks in scoring&hellip;Right winger Jim Cummins returned from his eight-game suspension April 3 wondering why his punishment was so severe and Mark Messier got nothing for his hit on Edmonton&rsquo;s Dave Roberts. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t compare Mark Messier to me, but the bottom line is we did basically the same thing,&rdquo; said Cummins, who was suspended for crosschecking Florida&rsquo;s Brad Smyth in the head&hellip;Left winger Bob Probert had back-to-back three-point games March 31 over Dallas and April 3 at Toronto. &#9632;

f0020-04

J.R. on limp again with sore ankle

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01765/6376558-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="164" height="162"></div>Sandis Ozolinsh is a friendly enough person, but he&rsquo;ll probably never have the nickname &lsquo;Smiley.&rsquo; The Colorado Avalanche defenseman is the quiet type who would prefer to keep to himself.But Ozolinsh couldn&rsquo;t help but crack a sly smile when recalling his recent career-high, four-assist performance against the team that traded him this year, the San Jose Sharks.&ldquo;It felt good,&rdquo; said Ozolinsh of an 8-3 win in San Jose March 28. &ldquo;Anybody who has ever been traded knows the kinds of feelings you have. Even though it was the fifth game of the year against San Jose, it felt pretty good.&rdquo;Ozolinsh, who came to Colorado for Owen Nolan last October, was having an excellent last third of the season for the Avalanche. The 23-year-old from Riga, Latvia has rushed the puck up the ice effectively, something the franchise lacked for years from the blueline. He has also shown an ability to make clutch plays at the end of tight games.Ozolinsh, who was just two assists away from bettering his single-season best of 37, may be the wild card in Colorado&rsquo;s bid for the Stanley Cup. When Ozolinsh is on his game, the Avalanche is a tough team to beat.NOTEBOOK: A deal that would open the Avalanche&rsquo;s future home, the Pepsi Center, by 1998-99 was all but finalized with the city of Denver. The arena will sit on land across the street from McNichols Arena&hellip;After a 6-3 loss to undermanned St Louis April 3, the Avalanche had lost four of five at home&hellip;Right winger Scott Young had just three goals in 24 games&hellip;Defenseman Uwe Krupp was expected to return before the end of the regular season. &#9632;

f0021-01

Happy times for Ozolinsh

<div class="byline">By Mike Heika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02411/6376589-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="162" height="160"></div>It should have been a great season for Brent Gilchrist.The feisty Dallas Stars&rsquo; center took his level of play up a notch this season and recorded 20 goals and 40 points in 71 games-his best totals since 1991-92.In addition, he continued his stellar work as a checking forward and worked both as a winger and a center, as well as in all special teams situations.Still, the 29-year-old felt miserable April 3&mdash;his birthday-when the Stars lost 3-1 to the Winnipeg Jets and were officially eliminated from the Western Conference playoff race.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve ever felt this bad in my career,&rdquo; Gilchrist said. &ldquo;This is a low for me.&rdquo;Gilchrist could soften the blow by looking at his numbers. He&rsquo;ll most surely unwind some this summer when he gets to spend some time with his newborn son, Jack. But winning, that&rsquo;s something he dearly misses.What&rsquo;s worse for Gilchrist is he believes the team is loaded with talent. And if a talented team underachieves, there&rsquo;s really only one answer.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what happens when you give a good effort 50 per cent of the time, you win 30 per cent of your games,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;No team can play hard for 82 games, but if you play hard for 60 or 70, then you end up winning 40 or 50. We didn&rsquo;t do that.&rdquo;Don&rsquo;t blame Gilchrist. He did everything asked of him and is a candidate for the team&rsquo;s MVP award this season. And when a role player is your MVP, you&rsquo;re going to be in trouble.NOTEBOOK: The Stars sent left winger Mike Donnelly and right winger Mark Lawrence to Michigan for the International League playoffs. Donnelly, 32, made the trip to get more playing time. He missed most of the year with an intestinal disorder&hellip;Left winger Greg Adams came back from a broken bone in his right hand and scored two goals in his first two games back. Adams&rsquo; 11 power play goals led the Stars&hellip;Center Guy Carbonneau is the Stars&rsquo; nominee for the Masterton Trophy&hellip;Carbonneau and goaltender Andy Moog will miss post-season action for the first time in their NHL careers&hellip;Defenseman Kevin Hatcher played his 800th career game April 3 against Winnipeg. &#9632;

f0021-02

Little comfort for Gilchrist

<div class="byline">By Cynthia Lambert</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01889/6376620-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="161" height="161"></div>The Detroit Red Wings entered the final two weeks of the regular season needing just three wins out of eight games to set an NHL record for most wins in a season.The immediate schedule ahead included games against the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.-teams that combined to be 51 games below. 500.But after a startling 6-3 loss at San Jose, then a hard-fought 2-2 tie at the Great Western Forum, the feat of establishing a new NHL high point seemed to be getting further away from the Red Wings.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to do it at the expense of playing guys all the time,&rdquo; said coach Scotty Bowman.The fear of failure is strong in the Detroit dressing room, particularly after last season&rsquo;s experience of losing in four straight to the New Jersey Devils.The possibility of breaking the record for most wins in a season-60. set by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens, who were also coached by Bowman-started to become a distraction.&ldquo;Our goal is the Stanley Cup,&rdquo; said goalie Mike Vernon. &ldquo;If we break the record, so be it. If we don&rsquo;t, too bad.&rdquo;While focused on the Cup, the Wings do have one other objective. That is to end the season with the best goals-against average in the league. It&rsquo;s a spot they held for the better part the season. And after 76 games they led the league with a 2.22 GAA.NOTEBOOK: Detroit&rsquo;s loss in San Jose ended goalie Chris Osgood&rsquo;s 21-game (19-0-2) unbeaten streak. On San Jose&rsquo;s second goal, Osgood went behind the net and attempted a pass up the ice. Jamie Baker intercepted and shot the puck into the empty net. Two years ago in the first round, Osgood made a similar move and Baker scored the game-clinching goal. &ldquo;It was a stupid play that just seemed to happen,&rdquo; Osgood said&hellip;Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; coach Larry Robinson has no question who Detroit&rsquo;s MVP should be. &ldquo;(Vladimir) Konstantinov has been their best player night in and night out,&rdquo; Robinson said. Konstantinov led the league with a plus-59 mark. Sergei Fedorov was second at plus-46. &#9632;

f0022-01

Drive for record 60 wins stalls on west coast trip

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03434/6376651-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="564" height="972"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Weight</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02610/6376658-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="159" height="159"></div>The Edmonton Oilers went out on a limb.Well, two actually, and a bad back; specifically Jeff Norton&rsquo;s tom left knee ligament, Curtis Joseph&rsquo;s sprained right knee and Doug Weight&rsquo;s cranky back.All three injuries conspired to make their playoff run even more difficult than it had been. For a while they kept dodging bullets, winning games without Norton&rsquo;s puck-carrying ability and his poise on the power play. Then they lost Joseph in the first period of a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs March 30 and wound up losing that match and two of the next three to all but eliminate them from postseason competition.The Winnipeg Jets needed just one more point in their last five games to send the Oilers tumbling out of the playoffs for the fourth straight frustrating year.It&rsquo;s unfortunate the Oilers waited until the last half of March to get hot. They went 5-2-0 on a tough road trip, then 1-1-1 during a homestand before losing back-to-back road games to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and San Jose Sharks to crush their spring hopes.Still, there was reason to believe the team had started to come around, with the play of youngsters such as Dean McAmmond, Miro Satan and Marchant leading the way down the stretch.&ldquo;It has been said before, but I really believe it now. There are some guys here who can play the game,&rdquo; Weight said. &ldquo;I like the looks of this team.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Doug Weight reached the 100-point mark with a goal and assist against Toronto, becoming the first Oiler to reach the single-season century plateau since Mark Messier in 1989-90&hellip;Captain Kelly Buchberger was named the Oilers&rsquo; nominee for the Masterton Trophy, which recognizes perseverance and dedication. He&rsquo;s one of a handful of players in the league with 10 years of service on a single team&hellip;Center Mats Lindgren, who has missed most of the season with a damaged nerve in his left leg, has taken an active approach to his recovery. The 21-year-old Swede has taken acupuncture treatments this season and was in Vancouver in early-April to see a herbalist. He hopes to be ready for training camp. &#9632;

f0022-03

Injuries hurt playoff drive

<div class="byline">By Dave Joseph</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01790/6376689-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="162" height="162"></div>In was, in the words of Doug MacLean, &ldquo;a pathetic performance.&ldquo;(It was) the most disappointing game I&rsquo;ve been involved with since I&rsquo;ve been in the NHL,&rdquo; said the Florida Panthers&rsquo; coach.MacLean was referring to a 3-2 loss April 3 to the Ottawa Senators that continued the Panthers&rsquo; slide. Despite holding a 2-0 lead after the first period, the Panthers got just six shots on goal in the final 40 minutes and allowed three unanswered goals in the final 13 minutes.The loss dropped the Panthers to 412-2 since Feb. 24 and 1-5-0 since March 23. MacLean came down on his players in a meeting the next day.&ldquo;There wasn&rsquo;t a lot of technical talk,&rdquo; MacLean said of the gathering.The Panthers, struggling to maintain home ice advantage in the playoffs, were tentative in their own zone, not playing physically and, with the exception of recently acquired Ray Sheppard, as cold as ice around the net. In fact, the Panthers had scored just 36 goals over an 18-game stretch, and Sheppard had seven of the team&rsquo;s 13 goals over a nine-game stretch.During practices after the Senators game, MacLean and his staff stressed to the Panthers what made them successful earlier in the season: forechecking, strong defense and hard work.&ldquo;Our whole forte has been that we&rsquo;re a hard-working team,&rdquo; said veteran Dave Lowry. &ldquo;Maybe right now we&rsquo;re taking the little things that made us successful for granted.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Broward County Commission voted 5-2 April 2 to build a new $175-million arena after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman promised the county an All-Star Game and an entry draft. A site will be selected in the upcoming weeks&hellip;Center Stu Barnes had reason recently to celebrate. Just days after his wife, Julie, gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Barnes returned to the ice after missing 10 games with a sprained left knee&hellip;Let no one mistake the importance of left winger Bill Lindsay, who missed the Senators&rsquo; game due to a hip bruise. With Lindsay out of the lineup this season, the Panthers were 0-7-1&hellip;The Panthers recalled left winger Gilbert Dionne from their American League affiliate in Carolina. &#9632;

f0023-01

Panthers become kittens at critical noint in season

<div class="byline">By Michael Arace</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03346/6376720-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="567" height="975"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jeff O&rsquo;Neill</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02500/6376727-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="162" height="161"></div>Jeff O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s numbers aren&rsquo;t exactly eye-pop-pmg, but the 20-year-old center has scored big points with management and linemates.&ldquo;I honestly think Jeff O&rsquo;Neill is going to be the best forward among any of the rookies this year,&rdquo; said captain Brendan Shanahan. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s going to be the best one of them all.&rdquo;O&rsquo;Neill had just seven goals and 25 points in 77 games, but those who have counted on his development have not been disappointed. They&rsquo;re looking at the big picture.Willing to withstand the growing pains, the Whalers put O&rsquo;Neill on a line with Shanahan and Nelson Emerson. Playing on the No. 1 line, O&rsquo;Neill had to pay rapt attention to his highly skilled wingers and defend against the top centers in the world.Just a year ago, O&rsquo;Neill was playing against teenagers with the Ontario League&rsquo;s Guelph Storm.&ldquo;More than anything, Jeff has shown a lot of poise,&rdquo; Shanahan said. &ldquo;It takes a couple of years to explode. He has shown the vision to see the ice. If he continues on the path he&rsquo;s on and begins to make himself more of a threat, he will explode.&rdquo;Poised and tough is how O&rsquo;Neill is emerging from his rookie season.&ldquo;Sometimes I&rsquo;ve felt a lot of pressure,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Neill said. &ldquo;Brendan has to score and maybe a top centerman could have boosted his numbers. But that&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ve got to live with and not let bug me.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: GM Jim Rutherford hinted he may be doing some dealing this summer. &ldquo;I said at the trade deadline I liked this team and we&rsquo;ve won one game since,&rdquo; Rutherford said at the end of a recent 0-5-2 streak. &lsquo;There are going to have to be certain changes made where we have guys who can compete when the season is on the line.&rdquo;&hellip;The Save the Whale campaign, the goal of which is to double the season ticket base to 11,000, reportedly got off to a good start, but team and state officials wouldn&rsquo;t reveal numbers&hellip;Backup goalie Jason Muzzatti registered his first career shutout in a 1-0 win over New Jersey April 4. Muzzatti stopped 40 shots. In two earlier starts this season, Muzzatti allowed one goal on 72 shots. &#9632;

f0023-03

O’Neill still blue chipper

<div class="byline">By Lisa Dillman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01864/6376758-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="164" height="162"></div>Long before the first puck was dropped. before the first Wayne Gretzky rumor surfaced and well before the first Los Angeles Kings player was injured, coach Larry Robinson was asked about two conflicting streaks.One was his admirable personal accomplishment of never having missed the playoffs as a player and assistant coach for more than 20 years.The other was the Kings&rsquo; recent inability to reach the playoffs. That streak hit three consecutive seasons March 31 when the Kings were mathematically eliminated from the Western Conference race.Something had to give and it turned out to be Robinson&rsquo;s impressive record.&ldquo;It was inevitable,&rdquo; Robinson said. &ldquo;Everything comes to an end. I was hoping it wouldn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Robinson, who said he has no regrets about accepting the Kings&rsquo; job over other offers, revealed his four-year deal has a mutual escape clause, one that triggers after two years. So, presumably, he could walk after next season if he wished.For now, however, his focus is on ending the team&rsquo;s streak at three years, one short of the club record. The Kings failed to make the playoffs from 1969-70 to 1972-73.So, while it seems the team is currently at its lowest point in franchise history, that really isn&rsquo;t the case. In 1969-70, they finished with just 38 points. As of April 5, the Kings had 62 points with four games remaining.NOTEBOOK: GM Sam McMaster said he was close to signing a two- or three-year contract extension. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m real excited because it has been a difficult two years,&rdquo; McMaster said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to the challenge of finishing something we&rsquo;ve started. I&rsquo;d like to prove one day that what we&rsquo;re doing is right.&rdquo; McMaster said he has been given the go-ahead to expand his scouting staff and said he plans to hold an off-ice rookie program this summer in Thunder Bay, Ont&hellip;Goalie Jamie Storr was granted a leave of absence from Phoenix of the International League after his mother Keiko died April 3. She suffered an aneurysm March 25. Storr was 22-19-4, with a 2.99 goals-against average with the Roadrunners this season. &#9632;

f0024-01

Robinson turns attention to beqinning new streak

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03373/6376789-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="567" height="972"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lyle Odelein</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02577/6376796-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="161" height="160"></div>He wanted them tougher and he succeeded. But at what cost?&ldquo;How many points did they get on the road last year?&rdquo; asked Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; coach Mario Tremblay. &ldquo;Nine. Do you know why? Because they were too small and not tough enough.&rdquo;Both of those characteristics have been addressed since the start of the season. The result: the Canadiens were among the league leaders with an average of 23.0 penalty minutes per game.At the same time, Montreal kept losing players to suspension. Right winger Chris Murray was suspended for three games for crosschecking Rob Ray of the Buffalo Sabres in a game April 1.Murray tagged Ray behind the left ear at 19:32 of the third period and was assessed a match penalty for a deliberate attempt to injure.Defenseman Lyle Odelein, meanwhile, was suspended two games after deliberately shooting the puck in the Sabres&rsquo; bench, narrowly missing the head of backup goaltender Andrei Trefilov, at game&rsquo;s end. Odelein received a match penalty.The Canadiens already this season have lost Marc Bureau to a five-game suspension and Vincent Damphousse for two games.&ldquo;Hopefully they&rsquo;ll learn from it,&rdquo; said GM Rejean Houle. &ldquo;We can be an aggressive team and protect the players that need to be protected, but we need to be better disciplined.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Benoit Brunet returned to the lineup March 30 against Ottawa. Brunet hadn&rsquo;t played since Jan. 10 due to wrist and back injuries. He eventually had a benign tumor removed from his back. It was only his 20th game this season. &ldquo;I was afraid my career was over when when they told me the tumor was benign,&rdquo; Brunet said. &ldquo;I was scared. Why wouldn&rsquo;t I be? In the back of my mind, I was afraid they were hiding something, that they weren&rsquo;t telling me something. As it turned out, they told me everything.&rdquo;&hellip;Defenseman Francois Groleau. 23, made his NHL debut April 3 against Boston. Groleau, who has played in both the Calgary and Colorado systems, replaced the suspended Lyle Odelein. &#9632;

f0024-03

Habs develop mean streak

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01774/6376827-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="162" height="163"></div>The defending champions officially hit panic time.No longer in control of their own destiny, the New Jersey Devils endured a three-game losing streak that put them in the uncomfortable position of needing some outside help to claim an Eastern Conference playoff spot.If the Devils miss the post-season, it would be the first time that happened to a defending Stanley Cup winner since the Montreal Canadiens won in 1968-69 and then failed to reach the playoffs in 1969-70. That Montreal team had a 24-year-old center named Jacques Lemaire.&ldquo;Whenever I hear about us missing the playoffs as defending champion, it&rsquo;s what I think of,&rdquo; said Lemaire, the Devils&rsquo; coach. &ldquo;We just woke up one day and didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs. I felt awful that summer.&rdquo;The Devils hoped to avoid what Lemaire predicted would be an embarrassing off-season.&ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t get in, it will be very frustrating, embarrassing and disappointing,&rdquo; said right winger John MacLean. &ldquo;I think we have a pretty good hockey club here. It would be a shame if we weren&rsquo;t in the playoffs with a chance to go for the Cup again.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Mike Peluso, who felt he was ready to return from a knee injury March 30 in Pittsburgh after missing 14 games, was sent home on a commercial flight five hours before the team&rsquo;s charter. He played the next game and lost a decisive fight with Shane Churla of the Rangers&hellip;The Devils hoped defenseman Shawn Chambers would be able to return from a broken bone in his hand before the end of the regular season. &#9632;

f0025-01

From champs to chumps?

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02495/6376858-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="160" height="162"></div>Nobody expected much from the New York Islanders after Mathieu Schneider and Wendel Clark were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs March 13.True to form, the Islanders lost 10 straight games after the deal and were outscored 43-14 in that span.With six games to play, the Islanders (20-48-8) were two defeats shy of their club record for consecutive losses and had their most defeats in a season since the 1972-73 expansion year. After an error-filled 6-2 Nassau Coliseum loss to the Philadelphia Flyers April 2, associate coach Rick Bow-ness blew his cork. The Islanders allowed two shorthanded goals on the same power play and a club record three in the game.Bowness, coaching while coach-GM Mike Milbury scouted in Sweden, cancelled a planned day off and had the players back on the ice at 9 a.m. April 3, then ran a second practice at 1 p.m.&ldquo;The performance was unacceptable,&rdquo; Bowness said. &ldquo;Unacceptable standards as far as pride and performance and unacceptable standards of grit. The standards have got to change and we&rsquo;re in the process of doing that.&rdquo;The Islanders used eight rookies against the Flyers and six of their forwards had no more than six career goals. The salaries of the 20 players they dressed totaled $8.5 million-just slightly more than Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s asking price for next season.Ziggy Palffy became the 10th player in club history to reach the 40-goal mark with a goal against the Flyers. Also, Captain Patrick Flatley broke a 16-game goal-scoring drought against the Flyers, then suffered a sprained knee in the third period.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Brad Dalgarno&rsquo;s career with the Islanders is over. Coach-GM Mike Milbury told him not to practise for the rest of the season March 29 and added he will not be resigned. Dalgamo, 28, is in the final year of a contract at $425,000. He underwent wrist surgery in the fall, played 18 games, but then sat out again due to pain in his wrist. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m injured and still doing therapy,&rdquo; Dalgamo said. &ldquo;Mike told me they had no interest in re-signing me. I&rsquo;ve played my last game as an Islander.&rdquo; Dalgamo had 49 goals and 71 assists in 321 games&hellip;Rookie defenseman Jason Strudwick, recalled from Worcester of the American League, was the 48th player to appear for the Islanders this season. &#9632;

f0025-02

Losses mount after big deal

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01841/6376889-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="160" height="160"></div>The New York Rangers have become the NHL&rsquo;s version of the Untouchables, They just can&rsquo;t seem to get suspended, no matter how hard they try.The latest example came when the NHL rescinded Shane Churla&rsquo;s instigator penalty and game misconduct he received after a fight with Todd Bertuzzi of the New York Islanders. The automatic two-game suspension, for incurring a fourth game misconduct, was lifted.Churla and the Rangers argued to the league Bertuzzi actually started the fight by punching Ulf Samuelsson. Supervisor of officials Bryan Lewis apparently agreed. In addition, Bertuzzi was suspended three games for tossing linesman Jean Morin while trying to get at Samuelsson and Churla was forgiven for inadvertently punching Morin while fighting Bertuzzi.Churla said he apologized to Morin.The Rangers just don&rsquo;t get suspended. Consider:&#9633; After center Ian Laperriere picked up his third game misconduct of the season, the league said Laperriere&rsquo;s two instigator game misconducts were in a different category than his checking-from-behind game misconduct and lifted his automatic suspension.&#9633; Ulf Samuelsson was reviewed by the league twice, once for kneeing then-Anaheim Mighty Duck Todd Krygier and once for cutting Bertuzzi around the eye with his stick. He was not suspended either time.&#9633; Mark Messier was reviewed after breaking the cheekbone of Edmonton Oiler Dave Roberts with his stick. He was not suspended. The Pittsburgh Penguins asked the league to review a Messier spear of Petr Nedved and the Islanders had hoped the NHL would call Messier for his elbow which caused a concussion to Kenny Jonsson. Neither incident was even reviewed by the league.&#9633; Alexei Kovalev was to miss a game in Washington after incurring his second stick-related game misconduct, an automatic one-game suspension. The Rangers appealed and Kovalev&rsquo;s first game misconduct was rescinded.NOTEBOOK: Center Mark Messier moved past Stan Mikita into fifth place on the NHL&rsquo;s all-time scoring list with his 1,468th career point. Messier was one point away from his seventh 100-point season and three goals away from his second 50-goal season-his first in 14 years. No other player in history has ever gone more than five years between 50-goal seasons&hellip;Goalie Mike Richter was 4-1-0 after returning from a groin muscle injury. He allowed a total of two goals in wins over Florida, Islanders and New Jersey&hellip;The Rangers won a fourth straight game at Nassau Coliseum, after going 1-14-3 in their previous 18 regularseason visits&hellip;Right winger Alexei Kovalev scored the game-winner in three of four victories and had a team-high seven winners. &#9632;

f0026-01

New York suspension-free zone

<div class="byline">By Chris Stevenson</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02550/6376920-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="160" height="160"></div>Ottawa Senators&rsquo; right winger Daniel Alfredsson faces plenty of tough opponents in his bid to win the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. But the likes of Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; Eric Daze and Florida Panthers&rsquo; Ed Jovanovski might not be as intimidating as one he can do nothing about: history.No rookie from a last-place team has won the Calder since Danny Grant did it in 1968-1969 for the Minnesota North Stars.It was thought Alexei Yashin might end that drought in 1993-94, but despite leading all rookie scorers for most of the year, Yashin wasn&rsquo;t even one of the three finalists-New Jersey Devils&rsquo; goalie Martin Brodeur won the award.Alfredsson, the 133rd overall choice in the 1994 entry draft, has been a surprise for the Senators. The 23-year-old said his only goal upon arriving from Sweden was to make the club. He has led the rookie scoring parade for most of the season (he had 53 points in 77 games) and proved to be a hard-working, two-way player who&rsquo;s not afraid to go into traffic and gives as well as he gets. He furnishes a solid effort every night and his speed and savvy have made him the club&rsquo;s best penalty killer.After going without a goal for nine games in late-March, leading to some speculation the rigorous NHL schedule was catching up with him, he was just about the Senators&rsquo; best player in late-season games against the Boston Bruins and Florida. He scored in each game (his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season) and got his rookie-of-the-year campaign back on track.&ldquo;(The rookie of the year race) is a good motivation, but I would like to finish strong anyway so I could feel good about myself going into the summer,&rdquo; Alfredsson said.Alfredsson is bidding to become the second Swedish player in a row to win the Calder, hoping to match his friend, Peter Forsberg of the Colorado Avalanche.&ldquo;That was a really big thing in Sweden because he was the first (Swedish) winner.&rdquo; Alfredsson said. &ldquo;Everybody expected (Forsberg) to have a good shot at it. I think if I win rookie of the year, it&rsquo;ll be a little more of a surprise.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: One of the interesting negotiations GM Pierre Gauthier will have on his hands this summer is with goalie Damian Rhodes, who has been outstanding since being acquired from Toronto in January. He is finishing up a contract that pays him $575,000 this season and will be a restricted free agent. Preliminary talks have been held between Gauthier and Rhodes&rsquo; agent, Jeff Solomon&hellip;The Senators&rsquo; 3-2 victory over Florida April 3 was their first ever against the Panthers, reducing to two the number of teams the Senators have never beaten: Boston and Toronto&hellip;The Senators&rsquo; win over the Panthers gave them 37 points, tying the franchise record for points in a season, which was set in 1993-94. &#9632;

f0026-02

Is Calder calling Alfredsson?

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01793/6376951-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="162" height="161"></div>There were several reasons why the Philadelphia Flyers surged into the Atlantic Division lead in early-April.The arrival of Dale Hawerchuk, the play of goaltender Ron Hextall and much tighter defensive play were big contributing factors to a 10-1-1 run.But the No. 1 stimulus probably was the play of left winger John LeClair. who made this March the best month of his career with 15 goals and 23 points.During one two-week stretch, LeClair notched two hat tricks and ran his season goal total to 48, only two shy of becoming just the seventh member of the Flyers&rsquo; 50-goal club.With Mikael Renberg sidelined by an abdominal injury, Hawerchuk stepped in and filled a playmaking role on the Flyers&rsquo; Legion of Doom line.That allowed LeClair to return to his familiar spot in front of the net, where he has enjoyed so much success.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s where I score most of my goals,&rdquo; LeClair said. &ldquo;So I&rsquo;ve got to get there if I&rsquo;m going to contribute.&rdquo;LeClair&rsquo;s streak resulted in a flurry of assists for Legion of Doom linemate Eric Lindros, who reached the 100-point plateau for the first time in his four-year career.LeClair also had the first natural hat trick of his career in a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins March 31.&ldquo;Most of my goals have been rebounds where I&rsquo;ve had lots of net to shoot at courtesy of Dale and Eric,&rdquo; LeClair said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just one of those things where you get the bounces.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Mikael Renberg took two weeks off with limited rehab work to rest his abdominal injury. He resumed light skating April 4 with hopes of returning to the lineup before the playoffs&hellip;Center Eric Lindros hit a career high with his 45th and 46th goals in a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers April 4. Lindros&rsquo; previous high was 44 in 1993-94&hellip;The Rangers had been the only Eastern Conference team the Flyers had not defeated this season&hellip;The Flyers scored three shorthanded goals in a 6-2 win over the Islanders April 2, tying a team record. Two of the goals-by center Joel Otto and left winger Shjon Podein-came 1:09 apart on the same power play for the Islanders. &#9632;

f0027-01

Flyers scale great heights thanks to sizzling LeClair

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03309/6376982-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="566" height="970"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Francis</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02487/6376989-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="162" height="162"></div>The Pittsburgh Penguins are not playing this style by choice. It isn&rsquo;t much fun, doesn&rsquo;t do a lot for the ego and doesn&rsquo;t exactly help the bonus money to pile up, either.But it works and it wins championships. Which is why Pittsburgh, the NHL&rsquo;s highest-scoring team, is embracing coach Ed Johnston&rsquo;s crash course in team defense.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the style of game we&rsquo;re going to have to learn to play if we&rsquo;re going to be successful in the playoffs,&rdquo; said center Ron Francis. &ldquo;There are going to be tight games, one-goal games, even games. You have to find ways to win.&rdquo;The Penguins&rsquo; diligence was rewarded in late-March games against the New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers when they were able to defeat accomplished defensive teams (32 and 2-1).That kind of positive reinforcement has made it easy for Johnston to sell his players on the idea of working hard in their own end.&ldquo;The guys have been trying to eliminate mistakes, play a good, solid game,&rdquo; said goalie Ken Wregget. &ldquo;Get the puck out, get the puck in and not have any breakdowns.&rdquo;The Penguins have some of the most gifted players in the game, but talent isn&rsquo;t necessarily part of the equation for sound defense.&ldquo;Anybody can play defense,&rdquo; said newly acquired left winger Kevin Miller. &ldquo;It just takes concentration and hard work.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Mario Lemieux, who had been viewed in some quarters as the frontrunner for the Masterton Trophy, had his name removed from nomination because of a rule that prohibits players from winning it more than once. Lemieux received the Masterton in 1993&hellip;Right winger Jaromir Jagr won the Dapper Dan Award as the top Pittsburgh sports figure of 1995. Previous winners have included such notables as Lemieux (twice), Franco Harris, Terry Bradshaw and Roberto Clemente&hellip;Defenseman Neil Wilkinson, who as a member of the Minnesota North Stars developed a close friendship with Bill Goldsworthy, missed two games after Goldsworthy died of AIDS-related complications recently. &#9632;

f0027-03

Troops dig in on defense

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01827/6377041-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="972" height="1183"></div><h2>FACTS & STATS</h2>Player: Jim CareyTeam: Washington Capitals Position: Goalie Age: 21<h3>SEASON TOTALS:</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02550/6377034-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="982" height="204"></div><h3>MARCH TOTALS:</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03389/6377027-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="984" height="210"></div>The Net Detective strikes again.Goaltender Jim Carey of the Washington Capitals recorded seven victories in 13 outings-five of those shutouts-to earn Dodge Trucks NHL player-of-the-month honors for March. It is the second consecutive March Carey was named the NHLs player for the month.The 21-year-old Carey appeared in all but one of Washington&rsquo;s games in March, allowing a remarkable one goal or fewer in nine of the games. He posted back-to-back shutouts twice and his overall numbers were equally amazing-a 1.13 goals-against average and 95.3 save percentage. Carey was runner-up for both the Calder (top rookie) and Vezina (best goalie) Trophies last year as a rookie. He was, however, named The Hockey News&rsquo; top rookie and was named to the NHL all-rookie team.In a dream season last year, Carey played enough games in the American League during the NHL lockout-and performed well enough-to be named that league&rsquo;s top rookie and top goalie. He was 30-14-11 with the Portland Pirates with a league-high six shutouts.There were a number of other worthy candidates for player-of-the-month honors.Right winger Keith Tkachuk of the Winnipeg Jets led all scorers with 26 points (11 goals) in 14 games. Left winger John LeClair of the Philadelphia Flyers had the most goals (14), including three game winners. Center Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins continued his splendid comeback with 11 goals and 23 points in 11 games while teammate Petr Nedved had 12 goals and 24 points in 14 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01721/6377020-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="708" height="1036"></div> &#9632;

f0028-01

PLAYR OF THE MONTH

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02550/6377072-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="571" height="979"><figcaption class="caption-body">Grant Fuhr</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01821/6377079-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="162" height="161"></div>With the playoffs around the comer, the St. Louis Blues more closely resembled a hospital ward than a contender.&ldquo;It has been awful,&rdquo; said coach-GM Mike Keenan. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never had a year like this, not all year long.&rdquo;Through April 5, the Blues had lost 259 man-games to injury. Included in the total were some key casualties:&#9633; Wayne Gretzky went down with a bruised back in against the Toronto Maple Leafs April 4.&#9633; Grant Fuhr suffered a dislocated right knee cap early March 31 against the Detroit Red Wings.&#9633; Brett Hull tore a hamstring against the New Jersey Devils March 28.&#9633; Left winger Shayne Corson suffered a broken jaw against the Pittsburgh Penguins March 26.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen this many injuries to your core guys,&rdquo; said center Craig MacTavish. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little disheartening.&rdquo;In addition, enforcer Tony Twist, left winger Mike Hudson and right winger Rob Pearson were out with injuries. The Blues were so thin, that gimpy forwards Yuri Khmylev, Greg Gilbert and Basil McRae were pressed into duty. Peter Zezel and Steve Leach were paroled from the press box and were two of the Blues&rsquo; better players in recent games.Despite the injuries, Keenan tried to look on bright side.&ldquo;We do see a light at the end of the tunnel in that people will be ready to play in a week to 10 days,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The positive thing is that our premier players are going to be rested.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Grant Fuhr was injured in his 76th start of the season, a record for consecutive starts and appearances in a season. He was still 131 minutes short of his single-season record for minutes played of 4,303&hellip;Despite their injury woes, the Blues snapped a winless streak of six games (0-4-2) by whipping Colorado Avalanche 6-3 April 3. In that game, right winger Steve Leach scored twice, his first goals in a Blues&rsquo; uniform; center Peter Zezel had his first multiple-point game of the season with a goal and two assists; and right winger Glenn Anderson finally got a point (a goal) in his second-go-round with the Blues&hellip;Goalie Jon Casey started his first game in a year April 3 and stopped 29 shots in the victory over Colorado. &#9632;

f0030-02

Injuries strike core players

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03376/6377110-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="164" height="162"></div>For one brief but glorious night, everything was tight again in the world of the ban Jose Sharks.An improbable 6-3 win over the visiting Detroit Red Wings April 2 not only snapped the Wings&rsquo; NHL season-high 13-game unbeaten streak, but provided flashbacks to the Sharks&rsquo; captivating Stanley Cup playoff runs the past two years.The customary sellout crowd of 17,190 was rocking the San Jose Arena, goaltender Arturs Irbe was brilliant and the Sharks responded with perhaps their best effort of the season. The combination conjured memories of San Jose&rsquo;s 1994 opening round playoff upset of Detroit and last year&rsquo;s first-round stunner over the Calgary Flames.En route to a season-best stretch of four wins in six games, the Sharks received strong performances from virtually everyone in the lineup, but no one was more important than Irbe.Making just his third start and gaining his second victory since being away more than tour months because of poor play and a knee injury, Irbe registered a season-high 38 saves. All three Detroit goals came on breakaways.&ldquo;That was a great feeling to be back here in the Shark Tank and have a good game,&rdquo; Irbe said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had a tough time in the past year, but the (San Jose) fans have kept me going.&rdquo;Irbe posted another victory April 4, a 27-save effort in a 5-3 win over the visiting Edmonton Oilers.NOTEBOOK: Center Jamie Baker also had a flashback to the Sharks&rsquo; 1994 upset of Detroit in the 6-3 win over the Wings April 2. The first of Baker&rsquo;s two goals came into an open net vacated by goalie Chris Osgood, just as was the case when Baker scored the decisive goal in Game 7 against Detroit two years ago&hellip;Defenseman Doug Bodger signed a new three-year contract April 4&hellip;Ray Whitney, who missed 17 games because of a bruised hand, scored a goal in his first game back, a 4-2 loss to Anaheim March 31. A left winger throughout most of his career, Whitney was being given an audition at center&hellip;Captain Jeff Odgers missed the Detroit win after his wife, Donna, gave birth to the couple&rsquo;s fourth child, a son, earlier in the day. &#9632;

f0030-03

Irbe brings back memories of good old days in San Jose

<div class="byline">By Roy Cummings</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04265/6377141-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="163" height="162"></div>It took a run for the playoffs to expose all the characteristics, but it turns out there&rsquo;s a lot of Lenny Dykstra in Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Bradley.Small but tough, gritty, feisty, a smear of dirt under his nose. That&rsquo;s Dykstra, or &lsquo;Nails&rsquo; as his Philadelphia Phillies&rsquo; teammates call him.That&rsquo;s Bradley, too, or &lsquo;Brads&rsquo; as his teammates call him. The 5-foot-10, 177-pounder&rsquo;s play was instrumental in the Lightning&rsquo;s drive for a playoff spot.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt Brads is playing tougher right now, playing harder,&rdquo; said linemate Rob Zamuner. &ldquo;Harder than I&rsquo;ve ever seen him. And it&rsquo;s the little things. Like going behind the net, digging a puck out for you and fighting off a couple guys to do it that really impress you.&rdquo;Bradley said his high-intensity level is a matter of pride.&ldquo;Hey, I put my neck on the line way back at the beginning of the season when I said we can make the playoffs this year and I want to be proved right,&rdquo; Bradley said. &ldquo;I really thought back then that we were going to be able to make it and now that we&rsquo;re in the fight I&rsquo;m going to make sure we get there.&ldquo;To me that means you play a little tougher, a little harder. The games get tougher so you have to also. That&rsquo;s the way I was taught when I was a kid. Now it&rsquo;s time for me to show some of our young guys and that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m doing.&rdquo;It appears the message is getting through. Since the 31-year-old Bradley has stepped his game up. so too have youngsters such as Chris Gratton, Jason Wiemer and Aaron Gavey.With 76 points in 71 games, Bradley was poised to lead the Lightning in scoring for the fourth straight season. The franchise has never had another leading scorer.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s so good with the puck and so patient,&rdquo; Zamuner said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll draw defenders to him by holding it and then he&rsquo;ll feed you. He&rsquo;s just incredible that way sometimes.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Daren Puppa continued his stellar play down the stretch. Puppa allowed two goals in 10 of 15 starts and in three of the others allowed just three goals&hellip;Center Brian Bradley was awarded the fourth penalty shot in team history when he was pulled down while on a breakaway by Hartford right winger Nelson Emerson April 3 (a 4-2 Tampa Bay win). The penalty shot was the first for a Lightning player since Steve Maltais was awarded one against the Blackhawks in Chicago Feb. 25, 1993. Like Maltais, Bradley missed. The only successful penalty shot taken by a Lightning player was executed by right winger Mikael Andersson on Dec. 15, 1992 against Los Angeles in a 3-2 victory. &#9632;

f0030-04

Bradley leads charge with gritty example

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01762/6377172-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="162" height="163"></div>For the first time since Harold Ballard&rsquo;s death five years ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs are under the undisputed ownership of one man. a development that could mean the beginning of the end for stately old Maple Leaf Gardens.Millionaire grocer Steve Stavro is officially king of the Gardens after settling a nettlesome court case April 4 that will cost him millions of dollars, but also finally cements his control of the arena and NHL franchise after 20 months of legal wrangling.Stavro will have to cough up an extra $23.5 million plus interest to the charities that were supposed to have benefited from Ballard&rsquo;s estate, plus millions more to two minor shareholders-Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; executive Jimmy Devellano and former St. Louis Blues&rsquo; owner Harry Omest.By settling out of court with two government agencies, the Gardens chairman avoided a costly and lengthy court case that was to have begun in the second week of April.&ldquo;In the end there would have been no money left for the charities (named in Ballard&rsquo;s estate),&rdquo; the reclusive Stavro said in a statement. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy we reached a settlement.&rdquo;With the ownership issued settled&mdash;the official owner is MLG Ventures, a company controlled by Stavro-the Leafs will now almost certainly turn their attention to the construction of a new arena to replace the Gardens, now the oldest facility in the league.The National Basketball Association&rsquo;s Toronto Raptors have indicated an interest in being partners in a new arena, but the Leafs have thus far rejected any overtures.Stavro bought 60.3 per cent of the Gardens from the Ballard estate for $34 a share, or about $75 million, in a private deal in April, 1994. Government officials accused the Gardens board of failing to maximize the benefits for the charities named in Ballard&rsquo;s will by not putting the company&rsquo;s shares up for public auction.In the end, Stavro paid an extra $15.50 per share, raising the overall value of Gardens to about $140 million. He now intends to take the company private after years of being a publically traded enterprise.&ldquo;It means the charities can benefit today, it removes any remaining uncertainty about the ownership of the Toronto Maple Leaf hockey club and ensures the organization&rsquo;s long-term future under a strong and respected local owner,&rdquo; said Stavro&rsquo;s lawyer, Brian Bellmore.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Dave Gagner missed two games with a concussion after being hammered by Edmonton defenseman Boris Mironov March 30. The Leafs felt the open-ice hit was a cheap shot because Gagner had not touched the puck, but replays indicated he missed a Mike Gartner pass before Mironov laid him out&hellip;Of their first 32 wins, only 10 Leaf victories were against clubs with winning records&hellip;Defenseman Matt Martin, out since breaking his ankle against Colorado Jan. 6, was cleared to play&hellip;The Leafs are one of several NHL clubs with major playoff scheduling headaches. The first weekend of the post-season, when the Leafs are likely to be home, Maple Leaf Gardens has already booked an ice show. &#9632;

f0031-01

Stavro cements ownership deal

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03358/6377203-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="580" height="750"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kirk McLean</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02495/6377210-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="161" height="161"></div>Among the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; miseries this season, the injury to Pavel Bure being the most significant, no one expected veteran goaltender Kirk McLean&rsquo;s game to unravel like a $1.50 T-shirt.The 29-year-old was finishing up his worst season since 1990-91 and seems a far cry from the netminder who nearly carried the Canucks to a Stanley Cup just two springs ago.With three games remaining in the season, McLean&rsquo;s goals-against average stood at a bloated 3.62 while his save percentage was 87.6. He was seven games below. 500 at 14-21-9. Rookie Corey Hirsch, playing behind the same porous defense, had a GAA of 2.97, a save percentage of 90.2 and a win-loss record of 16-13-6.Surprisingly, the confident McLean won&rsquo;t admit he has lost his form.&ldquo;When you don&rsquo;t post the wins or you&rsquo;re in high-scoring games, people think you&rsquo;re struggling,&rdquo; McLean said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve felt pretty good most of the season, even when things haven&rsquo;t been going well. Tomorrow there&rsquo;s another game and that&rsquo;s the beauty of the sport.&rdquo;McLean said his surgically repaired knee is not at the root of his troubles. He missed six weeks in the January-February portion of the schedule. After coming back, he went 4-8-1 and at one point, lost seven of eight starts.&ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t been a problem and I haven&rsquo;t been over-compensating,&rdquo; McLean said. &ldquo;But when the team isn&rsquo;t playing well as a whole, sometimes that works against you because you start to over-anticipate in other areas.&rdquo;Canucks&rsquo; coach-GM Pat Quinn, who replaced Rick Ley behind the bench 76 games into the season, didn&rsquo;t even start McLean in his first two opportunities.&ldquo;Kirk is a goalie who is as good as they come when his team is in order in front of him,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;Right now we are trying to get that team in order.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Canucks&rsquo; first season at GM Place has been a box-office smash, but an on-ice disaster. The Canucks sold out 27 of their first 40 games despite stumbling to a 14-19-7 home record, one of the worst in franchise history&hellip;With three games remaining, captain Trevor Linden had a career-high 76 points&hellip;Enforcer Gino Odjick moved past Stan Smyl into second place on Vancouver&rsquo;s all-time penalty minutes list. Odjick was 97 minutes short of Garth Butcher&rsquo;s career mark of 1,668&hellip;Former Pittsburgh Penguin Markus Naslund had no points in his first seven games as a Canuck&hellip;Right winger Alexander Mogilny snapped out of a one-goal-in-13-game drought with two against Calgary April 3. &#9632;

f0031-03

Shaky McLean still confident

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01814/6377241-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="163" height="162"></div>The Washington Capitals assured themselves of their 13th winning season in the past 14 years and were moving toward their 14th consecutive playoff appearance.The key question is: How were they doing it?&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a very tough team to beat when we play our system,&rdquo; said coach Jim Schoenfeld. &ldquo;Our players have made the commitment to play within the system and that system creates offense through our defense. We have to play that way with the people we have.&rdquo;And that&rsquo;s the point-many of the Capitals&rsquo; best players were on the shelf with an assortment of injuries and the list was growing longer by the day.The club could finish the season without a single player appearing in every game.Right winger Pat Peake was the latest to join the parade. He bruised a kneecap March 31 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and started against the Buffalo Sabres three days later.Peake never made it out of the first period after aggravating the injury. He was expected to be out about 10 days and brought to six the number of regulars who were on the sidelines with various injuries.Defensemen Joe Reekie (bruised left foot) and Calle Johansson (broken right wrist), who left an April 4 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third period, were two of only three players who had appeared in every game. (The other was captain Dale Hunter.) Johansson was expected to be out of the lineup until late-April while Reekie was day-to-day.It is a situation that has been with the club since opening day when Craig Berube was out with a broken jaw and Peter Bondra and Michal Pivonka were holding out.There have been so many call-ups that nearly a third of the Caps on the roster in the final two weeks had played with the Portland Pirates of the American League at various points this season.&ldquo;We have to play with the people we have,&rdquo; Schoenfeld said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not trying to trivialize the absence of the injured guys, but I don&rsquo;t want to overstate it to the point where it becomes a crutch.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Peter Bondra hit the 50-goal plateau April 3 in Buffalo with his second four-goal game&hellip;The Capitals were incensed when Montreal&rsquo;s Vincent Damphousse got off with a two-game suspension for crosschecking Sergei Gonchar in the mouth. Gonchar lost two teeth, needed stitches inside and out to close the wounds, underwent four hours of oral surgery and requires more&hellip;Fans are furious the club is dropping discounts for season-ticket buyers and jacking up the price of rinkside seats by as much as 100 per cent. The Caps are trying to increase corporate sales and say the moves are an effort to halt the hemorrhage of red ink. Being charged $12 (apparently including $1.25 in postage) for playoff tickets worth $10.75 didn&rsquo;t help matters. &#9632;

f0032-01

Caps limp toward playoffs

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02558/6377272-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="163" height="162"></div>Fun has become the buzzword for Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just stopped thinking about the pressure, the scores and the standings,&rdquo; said Khabibulin after reeling off four victories in a five-game stretch to improve the Jets&rsquo; post-season chances. &ldquo;I just enjoy every game. I&rsquo;ve really enjoyed the last five and I&rsquo;m really looking forward to the games we have left.&rdquo;The 23-year-old Russian-born goalie is an improbable success story. He got valuable experience in 26 appearances for the Jets in the lockout-shortened season a year ago and took over the No. 1 job with the team this season.How much he meant to the Jets was clearly illustrated when he injured his knee Nov. 30. Winnipeg was three games above. 500 at that time, but slipped below and never bounced all the way back.Khabibulin, however, held a record of 24-18-2 on April 5 as he continued his steady performance after the six-week absence. It&rsquo;s the most wins ever by a Russian-born goalie.&ldquo;Nik might shatter all those theories about Russian goalies,&rdquo; said Jets&rsquo; coach Terry Simpson. &ldquo;If he finishes out this year playing like that, and comes back next year the same way, I think all those theories will be put to bed.&ldquo;He just seems to have a pretty good temperament to play the game.&rdquo;Almost an afterthought as a eighthround pick in 1992, Khabibulin has seen his value steadily increase in the Jets&rsquo; puzzle. When he came back from the knee injury with a 1-1 draw Jan. 16 against the Capitals in Washington, it was his first of 22 straight starts.After a stretch of 25 starts in 26 games, however, Simpson and Jets&rsquo; goalie coach Pete Peeters sensed a break might be in order and they sent backup Dominic Roussel in for two starts in mid-March.&ldquo;Nik is definitely mentally tough as far as I can see,&rdquo; Peeters said. &ldquo;The thing is, your goalie sometimes has to get a break or get a rest, to collect himself before getting back at it again.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a gruelling schedule and sometimes you need time off to relax and get out there to have some fun without having any of that game pressure on you.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Craig Janney was a busy playmaker after the March 18 trade from San Jose. Janney&rsquo;s points streak was up to seven games (five goals, 16 points). Janney&rsquo;s linemates, Keith Tkachuk and Dallas Drake, were also lighting it up. Tkachuk had 18 points in a similar sevengame period and was named NHL player of the week for the period ending March 31, while Drake had 11, including seven goals. The line had 45 points for seven games&hellip;Attendance for the regular season increased steadily through the second half and with sellouts in the final two home games, the season&rsquo;s average would end at about 11,300&hellip;Right winger Igor Korolev scored against Dallas April 3, giving him eight goals in five games against the Stars. &#9632;

f0032-02

Khabibulin all smiles in stretch

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div>The Hockey News COLLECTORS WORLDCollectors will be getting a little something extra in hockey cards this year, but in most cases, they&rsquo;ll have to part with a sizeable chunk of money to get it.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01731/6377317-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="574" height="814"><figcaption class="caption-body">Donruss Elite emphasizes Eric Lindros and Mario Lemieux.</figcaption></div>Responding to the poor card sales created by last year&rsquo;s lockout, the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association allowed companies to increase their number of products to five.All but one company used the extra brand opportunity to produce high-priced premium products.Here&rsquo;s what each of the five companies licensed by the NHL and NHLPA companies has to offer:<h2>DONRUSS</h2>Donruss Elite, which is due for a May 13 release, will offer 108 regular cards, but has a stunning array of inserts. Each is individually numbered and there are no more than 5,000 of any insert card.It does have some interesting innovations. Cutting Edge is a 15-card set which is printed and embossed on a laminated polycarbonate material that simulates brushed steel.The World Junior Championship set includes 22 players from each of the Canadian and American teams and is printed on a canvas stock with a flag in the background.Gem of set: Donruss made 500 cards with Eric Lindros and Mario Lemieux, which are hand autographed by both players.<h2>SKYBOX</h2>Skybox Emotion was released in November and is based on the popular basketball release Skybox did last year.Printed on a 24-point stock, each card has two action photos on the back and one on the front. The text and photographs on the cards are designed to depict the emotions that are associated with hockey. The basic set is 200 cards.Insert cards include GeneratioNext (top rookies), Ntense Power and Xcited.Gem of set: Xcel, a 10-card set featuring the top performers in the game. The ratio is one card in every 60 packs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02498/6377310-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="570" height="804"><figcaption class="caption-body">Skybox Emotion is printed on thick 24-point stock.</figcaption></div><h2>PINNACLE</h2>Pinnacle Zenith is a 150-card set printed on double thick stock. The set was released in early-February.Pinnacle also came out with its more basic Summit set, a 200-card issue that sells for $2 per pack.One of the insert sets in Zenith is Rookie Roll Call, an 18-card set with dufex coating on both sides.Gem of set: The Z Team, an 18-card set with dufex coating on one side and foil on the other. The computerized background on the surface of the cards gives them a three-dimensional effect.<h2>TOPPS</h2>Topps resurrected its Bowman brand and was the only company not to use its extra brand on a premium product. Bowman, which is a 200-card set, sells for $2 per pack. Topps also did a set to commemorate the Skills Competition at the All-Star Game.Insert cards include Bowman&rsquo;s Best, Refractors and a redemption card.Gem of set: Topps has produced a 40-card set featuring in the top Canadian Hockey League prospects for the 1996 entry draft. All 40 players who played in the CHL&rsquo;s showcase game for draft prospects are included.<h2>UPPER DECK</h2>Upper Deck will release its Super Premium set April 24 and it will feature 188 cards.Chase cards include Upper Deck Stars, a 30-card set that comes in gold and silver, and Holoview F/X, a 20-card set that has a holographic rotating image of the player. Also included is Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s Record Collection, which is also available in Collectors&rsquo; Choice and Upper Deck.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03365/6377303-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="574" height="814"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pinnacle Zenith, a 150-card set, came out in early February.</figcaption></div>Gem of set: Great Connection, a two-card set featuring Gretzky and young Russian Sergei Samsonov, a top prospect for the 1997 entry draft. The ratio is one card in every 381 packs. &#9632;

f0033-01

Collectors will pay for their extras

<div class="byline">By Kevin Allen</div>Fantasy hockey will have a real impact for collectors next season when major league card companies explore the world of goal pools and rotisserie leagues for the purpose of creating a unique 450-card set.The NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association are asking Leaf-Donruss, Fleer-Skybox, Pinnacle, Topps and Upper Deck to play fantasy hockey through a draft of players at The National Sports-card Convention in Anaheim in June.Each company drafts 90 players to appear in a stand-alone set, a wrapper redemption set, or an insert set. No player can be drafted twice, meaning 450 different players are available to a collector who combines all of the offerings into one set.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01821/6377355-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="592" height="804"><figcaption class="caption-body">Upper Deck will certainly use its first pick on Wayne Gretzky.</figcaption></div>In addition, companies must pick 20 of those players to represent the company in a fantasy contest and the company with the most points will be allowed to produce a bonus 90-card set.Scoring will be compiled on the basis of one point for a goal, one for an assist, three for a goalie win and five for a shutout.&ldquo;A goalie who stands on his head,&rdquo; said Michael Merhab, director of media and collectibles projects for the NHLPA, &ldquo;should be worth a top scorer.&rdquo;Even though companies&rsquo; hockey knowledge will be on display for the world to critique, no one seems to be flinching-at least publicly.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02580/6377348-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="594" height="814"><figcaption class="caption-body">Topps will have Mark Messier on its fantasy team next year.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Our hockey knowledge is on display in everything we do,&rdquo; said Upper Deck hockey brand manager Wade Jones. &ldquo;Each time we put out a product we try to put all of our knowledge into it.&rdquo;Companies with players signed as spokesmen, such as Donruss with Mario Lemieux and Eric Lindros, Upper Deck with Wayne Gretzky and Topps with Mark Messier will be awarded those players in lieu of their first pick or picks. Lemieux&rsquo;s deal with Leaf-Donruss reportedly expires after this season.&ldquo;I think we will be signing about 325 players as spokesman before the draft,&rdquo; joked Fleer-Skybox spokesman Rich Bradley.Bradley said he doesn&rsquo;t view the absence of prominent players from the pool as having the cards stacked against Topps, Fleer/Skybox and Pinnacle.&ldquo;On paper maybe,&rdquo; Bradley said, &ldquo;but any fantasy player can tell you there is a lot of luck involved in winning.&rdquo;Fans will have the opportunity to compete against the companies with their own fantasy teams. Entry forms will be available in an unspecified publication, or fans can enter through the World Wide Web. Fans can choose one player from each of the first 20 rounds for their team.&ldquo;I think this is going to be a lot of fun,&rdquo; said Leaf-Donruss spokesman Mike McIntyre. &ldquo;The objective is to spark more interest in collecting and hopefully that would spread.&rdquo;Every two weeks, autographed sweaters will be given away as prizes and the grand prize will be a trip for two to the Stanley Cup final.Merhab said companies will take part in a supplemental draft, perhaps in Anaheim, for the purpose of adding rookies to their rosters.&ldquo;Like last season, you wouldn&rsquo;t have had (Saku) Koivu and (Eric) Daze in your set, but you would want them on your fantasy team,&rdquo; Merhab said. &ldquo;We want to get the rookies on the teams.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0034-01

Fantasy draft results in set

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div>Luckily for Richard Scott, he knows a lot more about rookie cards than his uncle did.When Scott was five years old, a very generous uncle passed his hockey card collection, which included a large bundle of 1979-80 Q-Pee-Chee, on to the youngster. The way Scott sees it, the gift from his uncle inspired an instant love for collecting that he continues to this day. The Wayne Gretzky rookie cards were a bonus.&ldquo;I was a very lucky little kid,&rdquo; Scott said. &ldquo;That Wayne Gretzky card is still my favorite.&rdquo;That speaks well for the Gretzky rookie card, considering there are few others in the industry who know as much about rookie cards as the 21-year-old Scott. This year, Scott compiled his fourth edition of Rookie Card, a complete hockey rookie card checklist. The book features a complete alphabetical for rookie hockey cards from 1951 to present<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01783/6377386-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="578" height="809"><figcaption class="caption-body">Richard Scott is an authority on NHL rookie cards.</figcaption></div>For the first time in this year&rsquo;s edition, Scott lists the player&rsquo;s first card in a licensed set, along with his first card in an NHL uniform. The industry generally recognizes a player&rsquo;s first card in a licensed set (most of which are in World Junior Championship subsets) as the player&rsquo;s true rookie card.&ldquo;In talking to people, this was something I found people really wanted to know,&rdquo; Scott said. &ldquo;People would say to me, &lsquo;I know this is his rookie card, but where is his first card with Ottawa?&rdquo;That Scott is so well-versed and well-published on the subject of hockey cards is not terribly unusual. What is unusual is the fact that he hasn&rsquo;t even finished his formal schooling yet. The third-year English student at Carleton University in Ottawa also writes a column for a monthly sportscard publication and until recently, published his own monthly hockey card magazine called Up North. He&rsquo;ll also find time next year to serve as sports editor of the university student newspaper.Scott also compiles complete checklists of every card a player has and is working on publishing a book that would provide the ultimate hockey checklist: an alphabetical listing of every card for every player who has played in the NHL. The list would include junior, minor league and European cards.A collector with an estimated 3,000 cards himself, Scott doesn&rsquo;t go after rookies exclusively. He also enjoys collecting autographs and anything else that strikes his fancy.Any cards that I like, I buy and that&rsquo;s the way I think collecting should be,&rdquo; Scott said. &ldquo;I like to get the oddball stuff like error cards and cameo shots and I try to get my hands on anything that has Geoff and Russ Courtnall. I&rsquo;ve also become a big fan of Paul Kariya, so I&rsquo;m buying a lot of his cards these days.&rdquo;Collectors wanting to obtain a copy of the rookie checklist or a player checklist can write to Scott at: I Sulkara Court, North York, Ont., M4A 2G8. &#9632;

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University student has the book on rookie cards

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div>The hockey card fraternity may be losing one of its member companies soon.There are strong rumors in the card industry that Leaf-Donruss is for sale and Pinnacle Brands is the most likely purchaser.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re for sale, that much is absolutely certain,&rdquo; said one reliable industry source. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve basically said, &lsquo;Here we are, come look at us and buy us.&rdquo;The Finland-based company that owns Leaf-Donruss is a billion-dollar entity in the candy industry that produces such confections and Jolly Ranchers, Whoppers and Twizzlers licorice.The company reportedly wants to unload its sports card division soon. The division turns a profit, but doesn&rsquo;t seem to be worth the trouble to the company.Apparently the company soured on sports cards last year when the NHL lockout and baseball strike severely hampered card sales. Leaf-Donruss has licenses only with those two sports.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re no more or less for sale than any other company in the industry,&rdquo; said Leaf-Donruss spokesman Chris Malone. &ldquo;Upper Deck has been bought and sold so many times that I wouldn&rsquo;t put any credence until a deal is announced.&rdquo;Although the Cherry Hill, N.J., based Scoreboard company is also in the running, most are expecting Leaf-Donruss to be bought by Pinnacle. A purchase of Leaf-Donruss would give Pinnacle a 45 percent share of the baseball market, the market that drives the industry.It would also, in the opinion of many in the industry, make Pinnacle a shoo-in for a National Basketball Association license, something it has been pursuing. Pinnacle currently has licenses with the NHL, National Football League and Major League Baseball, three of the four major professional sports.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01739/6377417-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="580" height="842"><figcaption class="caption-body">There is strong speculation Leaf-Donruss is up for sale.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I would think that if Pinnacle bought Leaf,&rdquo; said an industry source, &ldquo;they would have a basketball license within a year.&rdquo;OUR MISTAKE: In the last edition of Collectors World (THN, March 29) as part of our grading of Series I sets, we said a Topps card of Claude Lemieux was the misrepresentation of the year for calling Lemieux &ldquo;The Great One.&rdquo;That card was actually in Fleer Ultra.We apologize for the error.BE A PLAYER: Upper Deck&rsquo;s popular Be A Player set, which is produced in conjunction with the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, is due for release May 28.As was the case last year, each pack will contain a hand-signed card. The set will contain 160 regular cards and 75 chase cards.Chase cards include Global Training, In the Crease, World Class, Rookie Quotebook and Ice Wars.All of this for a mere suggested retail price of $7.39 per pack. &#9632;

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Will Pinnacle be proud new owners of Leaf?

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01662/6377448-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Falcon Manny Legace had the best save percentage in professional hockey.</figcaption></div>This has been a season to remember for Manny Legace.The second-year goalie led the American League in goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts, and he was a big reason the Springfield Falcons clinched the Northern Division title with three weeks left in the regular season.But when Legace leaves the Springfield Civic Center after practice, he&rsquo;s thinking just one thing: getting home to see what his seven-month-old daughter Sabrina is up to today.&ldquo;She&rsquo;s the best thing that ever happened to me,&rdquo; Legace says. &ldquo;She&rsquo;ll wake up and be doing a new thing. It&rsquo;s so fun to watch. I really think that&rsquo;s why the year has gone so well.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s because hockey no longer dominates his thoughts every hour. Instead of thinking the game, the 23-year-old Toronto native is just playing it, and playing it better every day.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even think about hockey when at home,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I may talk about the game with (wife) Karen for a little bit, then that&rsquo;s it.&ldquo;I used to let it bother me. I&rsquo;d carry it into the next game. If we lost in the third period, I&rsquo;d be nervous the next game, thinking, &lsquo;I blew the last game, I don&rsquo;t want to blow this one.&rdquo;In some ways, Legace is just like his daughter. In his second season in the Hartford Whalers&rsquo; system, he&rsquo;s still learning, still growing.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s making the steps we wanted him to make,&rdquo; says Steve Weeks, the Whalers&rsquo; goaltender coach. &ldquo;Last year he had some good nights and some not-so-good nights. This year he has been consistent with the good nights.&rdquo;Legace is the first to admit it&rsquo;s easy to have good nights behind the AHL&rsquo;s best defense. The Falcons were on pace to break the league record for fewest goals allowed in a season (219), set last season by the Albany River Rats. Springfield broke a 50-year-oid record for shutouts with 10.&ldquo;Some nights I might see 30 shots,&rdquo; Legace says. &ldquo;Some nights I might see 12. And they&rsquo;re keeping most shots to the outside.&rdquo;Legace had five shutouts and shared another with Sandy Allan.&ldquo;Shutouts are a team thing,&rdquo; Legace said. &ldquo;Some I didn&rsquo;t have to do anything, they didn&rsquo;t even need a goalie.&rdquo;The number that really matters to Legace is save percentage. His 92.3 was well ahead of recalled Worcester IceCats&rsquo; goalie Eric Fichaud (91.3).Legace has worked with Weeks to improve his save percentage, which was a so-so 88.7 last season. A month before camp began, Legace was on the ice with Weeks.&ldquo;All of August he stressed standing up more,&rdquo; Legace says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a little guy (5-foot-9, 162 pounds) and I play a butterfly style. But sometimes I go down too early.&ldquo;Steve had me working to stay up longer. On the bad angle shots from the faceoff dot to the comer, he just wants me to stand there. If I stand up that extra half-second, the puck will hit me in the shoulder instead of going over me. If you&rsquo;re going down, guys (in the NHL) will pick you apart.&rdquo;As long as Legace stays on his feet longer, his lack of size isn&rsquo;t a worry to the Whalers, whose mainstay in goal, 6-foot-4, 210-pound Sean Burke, is the NHL prototype.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a big guy, but he doesn&rsquo;t play deep in his net, so I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s a problem,&rdquo; Weeks says. &ldquo;He has the quickness.&rdquo;Legace knows he&rsquo;s in a tough spot Burke is only 29, so he&rsquo;ll be me No. 1 in Hartford for a while. Jason Muzzatti has been a good backup. Waiting in the wings is 1995 first-round draft pick Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has another year of junior remaining in the Quebec League.Legace would be happy with the full-time backup role next season.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t mind backing (Burke) up and learning from him and the league,&rdquo; says Legace, whose contract expires after this season. &ldquo;By watching you can learn how people shoot, where they like to go, what their tendencies are. Like Adam Oates, he likes to pass, he doesn&rsquo;t take too many risky shots and he always looks for that backdoor guy.&rdquo;An eighth-round pick in 1993, Legace has been trapped in this backup/reserve role before. Upon completion of junior hockey with the Niagara Falls Thunder in 199293, Legace played one year with the Canadian national team.But after going 8-6-0 with a 2.51 GAA during the pre-Olympic tour, he watched Corey Hirsch play every game in Albertville when Team Canada won a silver medal.Next season he&rsquo;d like to continue his travels. But instead of places such as France and Russia, he&rsquo;d like to go to Montreal, Tampa and Los Angeles. &#9632;

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Not a living Legace, but a gamer

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>The first time the Washington Capitals decided Andrew Brunette might have potential was during the 1994 playoffs. And it wasn&rsquo;t anything he did on the ice with the Portland Pirates.By the time the American League&rsquo;s championship series rolled around, Brunette had become an extra on the highly talented Pirates. To stay sharp, Brunette and the other Portland &ldquo;Spare Parts,&rdquo; as they called themselves, had their own little post-practice tournament.Brunette, then a rookie, was the captain for one Spare Parts team. With draft picks No. 1 and 2, he chose both available goalies. That left the other team with no goalie.&ldquo;Then he traded one for the guy he really wanted,&rdquo; said Pirates&rsquo; coach Barry Trotz.If nothing else, a position in management may await Brunette. But first, he&rsquo;d like to play a regular shift in the NHL.The third-year left winger has established himself as a prospect by averaging better than 1.3 points per game in the AHL. He was fifth in the scoring race with 28 goals and 94 points and his 66 assists led the league.Pretty impressive stuff considering the Capitals picked him in the seventh round of the 1993 entry draft figuring he&rsquo;d be a decent minor leaguer.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think they counted on me to do too much,&rdquo; Brunette said. &ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t have confidence I could play in the AHL, let alone the NHL.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02467/6377479-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="523" height="355"></div>That was despite his monstrous final junior season, when he scored an Ontario League-best 62 goals and 162 points for the Owen Sound Platers. He scored his first NHL goal in March during a six-game recall.&ldquo;He has tremendous hands, great battle skills and he can feather passes,&rdquo; Trotz said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a combination of Ray Sheppard, Adam Oates and Tim Kerr at the AHL level.&rdquo;REAL IRONMAN: While Grant Fuhr was putting together an impressive streak of consecutive starts in the NHL, Mike O&rsquo;Neill wasn&rsquo;t being outdone in the AHL.The Baltimore Bandits&rsquo; goalie was two appearances short of breaking the 36-year-old record for games played in one season by a goalie, which is 72. Baltimore had six games left.And O&rsquo;Neill is doing it after riding six hours on a bus, playing three games in three nights, and behind a sometimes undermanned lineup, all things that never happen in the NHL.&ldquo;He has faced more pepper than Grant Fuhr,&rdquo; said Rochester Americans&rsquo; winger Scott Metcalfe.O&rsquo;Neill was expected to break the mark by the second weekend in April. It was first set by Roy Edwards (Buffalo Bisons in 1959-60 and &lsquo;6061), then matched by Gerry Cheevers (Rochester, 1964-65).That Baltimore has been in an intense drive to make the playoffs has forced coach Walt Kyle to play O&rsquo;Neill, who led the league in wins (30), losses (29) and had a 3.54 goals-against average.O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s longest streak of consecutive games this season is 20. The league does not keep records on consecutive-game streaks by goalies.&ldquo;That diversion (the playoff hunt) has kept me from thinking how tired I should be,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Neill said after making 56 saves in a 1-0 shutout of Rochester March 31.AHL ON LINE: The AHL now has a web site on the internet, available at <a href="http://www.can-oe.ca/AHL">http://www.can-oe.ca/AHL</a>.Each team has a page with stats, schedules and news, as well as a meet-the-players section. &#9632;

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LEAGUES

Brunette excels in scoring, savvy

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01734/6377510-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Orlando&rsquo;s Craig Fisher was on pace to shatter the IHL goals record.</figcaption></div>Don Waddell, the GM of the Orlando Solar Bears, is often asked to call one of his NHL counterparts on behalf of a player looking for a job in the big time.Waddell doesn&rsquo;t always make the call. He doesn&rsquo;t want to acquire a reputation as a man who recommends unqualified players.In Craig Fisher&rsquo;s case, though, Waddell will not only pick up the phone, he&rsquo;d be willing to mount an advertising campaign to get his star left winger back into the NHL.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve told people (in the NHL) he&rsquo;s a guy they better consider because he&rsquo;s going to be effective for somebody,&rdquo; Waddell says.The 25-year-old Fisher, who is only a few credits short of finishing a double major in English Literature and History at the University of Miami-Ohio, is authoring one of the most remarkable seasons in IHL history.Fisher led the league with 71 goals in 75 games and was on pace to break the league mark of 75 set by Daniel Lecours of the Milwaukee Admirals in 1982-83. If Fisher maintained his pace, he would finish with 78 goals.In addition, he had 127 points and was on pace for 139, which would be tied for the fourth-best in league history. John Cullen of the Flint Spirits had 157 points in 1987-88, Rob Brown of the Kalamazoo K-Wings had 155 points in 1993-94 and Gary Ford of the Muskegon Mohawks had 141 in 1972-73.It used to be that a player who hadn&rsquo;t made his mark in the NHL by 25 was considered over the hill and wouldn&rsquo;t get a shot to return.Even though the odds are against him, Fisher isn&rsquo;t giving up hope he&rsquo;ll be able to get back to the NHL. He has just eight scoreless games with the Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets in a pro career that began in 1989.Fisher has become a minor pro star-he has more goals in the last two seasons than any pro player in North America-but he has ambitions beyond being a big fish in a small pond.&ldquo;At one time, you&rsquo;d say 25 was old in the NHL,&rdquo; Fisher says. &ldquo;But all I&rsquo;ll say to anyone who believes that is to look at guys like Mark Messier and Pat Verbeek, who are 36 and are having the best years of their careers.&rdquo;The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Fisher is joining them in having career years. Most thought he maxed out last season when he scored 53 goals in Indianapolis. He surpassed that in February.Fisher&rsquo;s NHL rights belong to the Chicago Blackhawks after they signed him as a free agent in June of 1994. But Fisher himself said he doesn&rsquo;t figure in Chicago&rsquo;s plans and expects to be a free agent next season.He hopes to use this monster season as a springboard to another NHL shot.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been consistent and I&rsquo;ve been productive and I feel like I could play there if I get a shot,&rdquo; Fisher says.The knock on Fisher is his skating and he has a reputation for being a soft player. Waddell recalls watching Cullen score 157 points one IHL season without an explosive stride or-breakaway speed. On the other hand, if Fisher&rsquo;s skating is only adequate at the minor pro level, it&rsquo;s probably poor in the NHL.The reality is, the odds are against Fisher making a return to the NHL. Even while he was scoring at a dizzying pace, the Blackhawks didn&rsquo;t even consider calling him up, going instead with minor league veteran James Black.&ldquo;The fact is, Craig Fisher has found his level of play,&rdquo; says an NHL scout. &ldquo;You&rsquo;d think that a guy that dominates that much at that level would be able to make the step up, but that&rsquo;s just not the case all the time. Look at guys like Jock Callander, Dave Michayluk, Jody Gage, it was the same for them. The NHL is hard and sometimes we forget that.&rdquo;But Fisher has clearly gained the respect of Orlando coach and former NHLerCurt Fraser. Waddell said there are many myths regarding Fisher that have been dispelled this season.&ldquo;Some people say Craig Fisher is a soft player, but that&rsquo;s totally inaccurate,&rdquo; Waddell says. &ldquo;If he has a chance to score a goal, he&rsquo;ll pay any price he needs to pay to score. He&rsquo;ll go in front of the net and he certainly doesn&rsquo;t back away from guys coming out of the comer.&ldquo;Soft players dish the puck and try to go around guys. He always tries to beat guys. Inside the blueline, he&rsquo;s as good as anyone I&rsquo;ve seen.&rdquo;Fraser says Fisher is like a shark smelling blood when he senses an opportunity to score. His shot isn&rsquo;t great, but his release is exceptional. One GM said Fisher reminds him of Phil Esposito in that he has a knack of arriving at a scoring scene the same time the puck does. &#9632;

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Fisher destined to go down in history

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div>The top prospect for the 1996 NHL entry draft isn&rsquo;t about to rest on his laurels.Russian left winger Alexander Volchkov of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Barrie Colts signed a 25-game tryout with the International League&rsquo;s Cincinnati Cyclones April 4.Volchkov, 18, was placed on Cincinnati&rsquo;s 22-skater playoff roster March 20. He will play the final six games of the season for the Eastern Conference leading Cyclones and the playoffs.&ldquo;It won&rsquo;t be easy, it&rsquo;s a huge step,&rdquo; said Cyclones&rsquo; coach and director of operations Ron Smith. &ldquo;But it will be good experience for him.&rdquo;Volchkov was rated the top prospect for the entry draft by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau in its mid-season ranking. The Colts were eliminated from the OHL playoffs March 27.Signing with Cincinnati was done to ensure he stays the No. 1 prospect and to give him a sneak preview of the pro game, according to his agent Jay Grossman.&ldquo;Alex wanted to go to Cincinnati to upgrade his level of play and to get him ready to make whatever NHL team drafts him in June,&rdquo; Grossman said.Grossman approached Smith in early March about the possibility of Volchkov joining Cincinnati following the OHL playoffs. Smith, also a client of Grossman&rsquo;s, liked the idea.&ldquo;If he has the game sense that I&rsquo;m told he has, he&rsquo;ll fit in well with the organized pattern of the IHL,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think (his performance) will change matters. Most teams have already made up their mind about him by now.&rdquo;Volchkov, scored 37 goals and 64 points in 47 games for Barrie this season. He missed six weeks with a broken ankle. He was unavailable for comment.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02542/6377541-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="386" height="434"></div>GOAL GURU: Dave Michayluk was a humble man after becoming the IHL&rsquo;s all-time regular season goal-scoring king.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really not that big of a thing right now,&rdquo; Michayluk told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. &ldquo;Maybe when I look back on it in the future, I&rsquo;ll appreciate it a little more. But right now, the big thing for us is that we need wins.&rdquo;Talk about modesty.The Cleveland Lumberjacks&rsquo; left winger broke former Muskegon Lumberjack teammate Scott Gruhl&rsquo;s record of 532 regular-season goals March 30 in Atlanta. Michayluk added two more goals in the weekend series against the Knights to stand at 535.After a slow start to the season, Michayluk turned on the jets. He had eight goals and 16 points in an eight-game stretch to boost his season totals to 20 goals and 37 points in 47 games.The Wakaw, Sask., native is still considered the No. 2 goal-scorer of all-time because the IHL includes both regular season and playoff goals on its master list.Gruhl finished his IHL career with 596 total goals, while Michayluk stood at 581 total goals April 5.Michayluk shared his accomplishment with long-time teammate Jock Callander, who is seventh on the all-time goal-scoring list with 446 career IHL goals. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s my best friend,&rdquo; Michayluk-said. &ldquo;I owe a lot to him.&rdquo;I-OPENERS: The Las Vegas Thunder had 33 shorthanded goals, busting Salt Lake City&rsquo;s league-record of 30 set in 1988-89&hellip;Peoria Rivermen right winger Keith Osborne scored a single-game career-high four games in a 5-4 shootout win over the Utah Grizzlies March 31&hellip;The L.A. Ice Dogs and Orlando Solar Bears were mentioned in the April 2 airing of Coach, an ABC sitcom created by Barry Kemp, the &#9632;

f0038-02

Prospect Volchkov signs with Cinci

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>Still smarting from the Greensboro Monarch experience last year, the East Coast League has made it more difficult to leave the fold.In an effort to keep the AmericanLeague from taking any more of its teams, ECHL owners voted 15-6 to impose heavy fines on teams that join another league within two years of leaving the ECHL.The agreement is expected to be signed and take effect at the league&rsquo;s annual meeting in May.The Greensboro Monarchs were lured away by the AHL last season. Six other members of the East Division-Richmond Renegades, Hampton Roads Admirals, Roanoke Express, Charlotte Checkers, Raleigh IceCaps and South Carolina Stingrays-considered leaving, but stayed.Now known as the Carolina Monarchs, the team averaged 4,660 spectators per game this season, compared to 6,400 last season in the ECHL.One of the owners against making a long-term commitment is Hampton Roads&rsquo; Blake Cullen, who has owned the Admirals for seven years.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to limit my options,&rdquo; Cullen said. &ldquo;I want the freedom. The league has every right to bind me for one season. I&rsquo;ve never had a problem with that. But I&rsquo;m uncomfortable locking myself in for more than that.&rdquo;Any owner who leaves will have to pay a fine pegged to a formula that is based on the value of the franchise.&ldquo;If you leave, there should be a cost,&rdquo; said Richmond Renegades&rsquo; owner Harry Feuerstein. &ldquo;This is important for the stability of the league.&rdquo;TOP PLAYER: David Goverde quieted the critics and came away with the player-of-the-year award.The 26-year-old Toledo Storm goalie was acquired from the Louisville RiverFrogs Dec. 28 in a trade unpopular with Storm fans. Toledo gave up leading scorer and fan favorite Angelo Ricci and goalie Dennis Sproxton.But Goverde responded with a 190-4 run that lasted until March 2. He finished the season with a 23-3-4 record, 2.61 goals-against average and 90.5 save percentage.Goverde helped guide the Storm to an ECHL record 48 wins and a three-game sweep of the Dayton Bombers in the first round of the playoffs.Also receiving consideration as player of the year was Nashville Knights&rsquo; forward Hugo Belanger, who led the league with 54 goals and 144 points in 67 games.MARCH MADNESS: Raleigh goalie Brad Mullahy was player of the month for March after helping his club claim the final playoff spot. He had a 2.58 goals-against average and 91.8 save percentage in 13 games.Mullahy finished as the second-leading goalie in the league with a 2.88 GAA in 41 games.BROTHER ACT: The first-round playoff meeting between Louisville and South Carolina matched brothers.Derek Gauthier plays right wing for the RiverFrogs while older brother. Sean, is the Stingrays&rsquo; goalie.Derek managed to score once against his brother, but the Stingrays swept the RiverFrogs 3-0 to advance to the quarterfinals. Sean allowed six goals in the three games. Derek had previously scored his first goal in the Ontario League against Sean.PLAYOFF UPDATE: In addition to Louisville, three other teams swept their first-round senes in three games.Defending Riley Cup champion Richmond made short work of Hampton Roads, which was without its coach, John Brophy, and three players, all of whom were suspended.Toledo needed an overtime goal from Mark Stitt in Game 3 to finish a sweep over Dayton. The Wheeling Thunderbirds disposed of the Columbus Chill, with goalie Tomas Vokoun holding the Chill to five goals in the series. &#9632;

Teams form pact to protect against AHL raids

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>Ottawa 67&rsquo;s coach Brian Kilrea doesn&rsquo;t always agree with what the media says, but there was no questioning this decision.Alyn McCauley was the choice for the Red Tilson trophy as the Ontario League&rsquo;s most outstanding player.&ldquo;This is just great for Alyn,&rdquo; Kilrea said. McCauley received 59 points, including 10 first-place votes on the 27 ballots cast by the voting media members.Each team nominated its candidate.Sean Haggerty of the Detroit Whalers was second with 52 points, OHL scoring champion Aaron Brand of the Sarnia Sting third with 50 and Daniel Cleary of the Belleville Bulls fourth with 23.McCauley, 19, the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; fourth-round draft pick in 1995, was 19th in OHL scoring with 82 points. Brand won with 119.McCauley is the OHL&rsquo;s nominee for Canadian Hockey League player of the year, to be announced May 13. Other nominees are Christian Dube of the Quebec League&rsquo;s Sherbrooke Faucons and Jarome Iginla of the Western League&rsquo;s Kamloops Blazers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01405/6377603-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="584" height="679"><figcaption class="caption-body">Darren Sinclair&rsquo;s goal capped Spokane&rsquo;s fabulous comeback.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Alyn means everything to us. He&rsquo;s the best defensive forward in the league,&rdquo; Kilrea said as the 67&rsquo;s went from worst to first in the East Division this season. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the best offensive players, but I can&rsquo;t say the best because others outscored him. But he took a bunch of guys and made them better.&rdquo;McCauley, who saw only limited playing time because of an ankle injury as the 67&rsquo;s were swept by the Belleville Bulls in the second round, figured the voting would be based on points.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m surprised. I wasn&rsquo;t expecting it at all,&rdquo; McCauley said. &ldquo;I had a good year, but I didn&rsquo;t think it was that good of a year. My teammates worked around me and kept the same work ethic.&rdquo;BUTLER FIRED: The Oshawa Generals, the pre-season favorite of many to win the OHL title this season, fired coach Stan Butler after losing to the Belleville Bulls in the first playoff round.&ldquo;I believe the program regressed this past season and considering the bulk of our players will be returning next year, I felt a move had to be made for the benefit of the team,&rdquo; said Generals&rsquo; owner John Humphreys.COLLEGE BOUND: Mike Kelly, fired earlier by the Windsor Spitfires, signed a four-year contract to coach the University of New Brunswick Red Devils. Kelly captained the Red Devils to the 1984 Canadian university championship.MORE AWARDS: Aaron Brand received the Leo Lalonde Trophy as the top overage player and Jeff Williams of the Guelph Storm received the William Hanley Trophy as the most gentlemanly player. Williams had 42 penalty minutes after finishing third on the team with 15 goals and 64 points. The awards were voted by coaches and GMs.<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03190/6377596-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="917" height="331"></div>HIGHLIGHTS (MARCH 29 to APRIL 4): Richard Park led Belleville to a sweep over Ottawa as he topped playoff scoring with 16 goals and 27 points in nine games. Ottawa goalie Craig Hillier was sick and center Alyn McCauley was injured during the series&hellip;Cameron Mann scored five goals in Peterborough&rsquo;s two wins over Sarnia&hellip;It took Guelph double overtime to beat Niagara Falls in Game 1. &#9632;

f0040-01

Two-way skills net McCauley MVP award

<div class="byline">By Bob Vanstone</div>Bryan Maxwell has been charged by the Lethbridge Police Service for his part in a March 23 post-game incident.The Lethbridge Hurricanes&rsquo; coach and director of operations was charged with two counts of common assault. Police alleged there was an assault upon Western League referee Brent Reiber and linesman Jeff Klick. Police also charged Maxwell with one count of uttering a threat to cause death or bodily harm against Reiber.Tempers flared underneath the stands after the Regina Pats defeated Lethbridge 6-5 in a playoff game at the Sportsplex. Maxwell&rsquo;s assistant, Reid Williams, was charged with one count of uttering a threat to Reiber.Maxwell and Williams are scheduled to appear May 9 at the Lethbridge Court House.Maxwell has denied touching Reiber.Following the incident, the WHL issued indefinite suspensions to Maxwell, Williams and Hurricanes&rsquo; left winger Mike Josephson.SPOKANE CAN: The Spokane Chiefs capped the most successful playoff comeback in league history.Spokane posted a 4-3 victory over the visiting Portland Winter Hawks April 3 to capture Game 7 of a West Division quarterfinal.Portland won the first three games of the series. Spokane won the final four, becoming the first WHL team to rally from a 3-0 series deficit. Spokane-the CHL&rsquo;s top-ranked team-finished first in the West with a 50-18-4 regular-season record. Portland (3039-3) was sixth.&ldquo;We were going to make history regardless, because a sixth-place team had never beaten a first-place team,&rdquo; said Spokane GM Tim Speltz. &ldquo;Portland was awesome. They played great.&rdquo;Darren Sinclair&rsquo;s goal ended the deciding game 58 seconds into overtime.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re down 3-0, the pressure is almost off,&rdquo; Speltz said. &ldquo;You just play to play again. We had won 50 games and we were wondering if we would win a game in the playoffs.&ldquo;(Coach) Mike Babcock and (assistant) Parry Shockey did a great job when we were down 3-0. They didn&rsquo;t make it seem monumental. They just emphasized winning one game and taking it from there.&rdquo;POLONICH RESIGNS: Dennis Polonich stepped down as Medicine Hat Tigers&rsquo; GM.Polonich held the position for four seasons.&ldquo;It was a major, major, major decision,&rdquo; Polonich said of his April 2 move. &ldquo;I had one other feeling like this, when I retired from actively playing.&rdquo;Polonich had signed a one-year contract extension with Medicine Hat following 1994-95. The Tigers were 30-37-5 eliminated in the first round by the Prince Albert Raiders.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02265/6377641-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="586" height="682"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dennis Polonich stepped down after four years in Medicine Hat.</figcaption></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04154/6377634-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="919" height="374"></div>HIGHLIGHTS (MARCH 29 to APRIL 4): Kamloops and Tri-City will meet in the West Division semifinal, with the winner to play Spokane for the division title&hellip;Regina began the East-Central playoffs with a 7-1 record, despite trailing in all eight of those games&hellip;Brandon won its first three semifinal games against Red Deer. &#9632;

f0040-02

Coach Maxwell to answer to assault charges

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>With home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, the Granby Predateurs are going to be tough to beat.Granby breezed through the Quebec League&rsquo;s first round with a 5-1 record, including three wins at home by a combined score of 19-5, extending their home winning streak to 16 games.The Predateurs posted a 31-2-2 record at home this season, outscoring the opposition 203-80. Their only two home losses came against the Hull Olympiques (6-2 Dec. 3 and 5-2 Jan. 5).&ldquo;We use our ice surface well,&rdquo; said Predateurs&rsquo; coach Michel Therrien. &ldquo;We have a big surface (200-by-85 feet) and we have a lot of speed. We also have good crowds. We have confidence at home. Confidence is important, especially in juniors.&rdquo;While Therrien is pleased with his team&rsquo;s record at home, he&rsquo;s even more happy with how his players have performed on the road, posting a 25-10-0 mark during the regular season.&ldquo;You want your team to play good at home, but I never liked homers,&rdquo; Therrien said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve brought that spirit on the road too and that&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;ve had success this season.&rdquo;ONE-MAN GANG: Drummondville Voltigeurs&rsquo; center Daniel Briere led all scorers in the first playoff round with five goals and 18 points, but the Voltigeurs were eliminated with a 1-5 record.Briere, who won the regular-season scoring title with 67 goals and 163 points, was the only scoring threat for the Volts this season and it ended up costing them.&ldquo;It hides some very obvious problems,&rdquo; said Volts&rsquo; coach Blair Mackasey. &ldquo;You take Daniel Briere off the team and you take (defenseman) Denis Gauthier off the team and there&rsquo;s nothing there. What happens is you come to rely on those two players and if you don&rsquo;t win they take the heat.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s be honest, you lose 10-9 to Hull in double overtime (March 28) and of your nine goals Briere gets eight points (two goals, six assists) I think that sort of says it all.&rdquo;Mackasey hasn&rsquo;t decided if he&rsquo;ll return to Drummondville next season.IT&rsquo;S OVER: The first round of the playoffs also saw the elimination of the coach of the year and the league MVP.Coach Jean Pronovost&rsquo;s Shawinigan Cataractes were bounced with a 2-4 record, while center Christian Dube and the Sherbrooke Faucons lost a sudden-death tiebreaker game 4-3 to the St-Hyacinthe Laser April 1 after both teams posted 2-4 records.Pronovost is one coach who doesn&rsquo;t like the round-robin format used in the first round of the playoffs. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t like it last year when we used it in the second round and I don&rsquo;t like it this year,&rdquo; he said.LASER ON MOVE?: Dave Morin and Sylvain Danis, coowners of the St-Hyacinthe Laser, have asked the league&rsquo;s board of governors for permission to move their franchise to Rouyn-Noranda next season. An answer is expected by the end of April.<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05131/6377672-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="918" height="336"></div>HIGHLIGHTS (MARCH 29 to APRIL 4): St-Hyacinthe beat Granby 4-2 to even the quarterfinal series 1-1. Granby had only lost two games in the playoffs-both in St-Hyacinthe&hellip;Beauport took a 2-0 lead in its series with Rimouski with a 4-1 win and was gaining confidence. &ldquo;Granby and Hull are the best two teams on paper.&rdquo; Harfangs&rsquo; coach Alain Vigneault said. &ldquo;But anything can happen.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0040-05

Predateurs use home cooking to advantage

<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; Dec-decision, charges to goaltenders of record when winning goal is scored.<h2>FRIDAY, MARCH 29</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02151/6377968-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="497" height="1914"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-03103/6377961-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="501" height="2285"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0484/6377954-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg" title="f0046-04" width="498" height="1799"></div><h2>SATURDAY, MARCH 30</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0563/6377947-1-eng-US/f0046-052.jpg" title="f0046-05" width="499" height="392"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0655/6377940-1-eng-US/f0046-062.jpg" title="f0046-06" width="500" height="2285"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0748/6377933-1-eng-US/f0046-072.jpg" title="f0046-07" width="498" height="2286"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0834/6377926-1-eng-US/f0046-082.jpg" title="f0046-08" width="500" height="794"></div><h2>SUNDAY, MARCH 31</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0932/6377919-1-eng-US/f0046-092.jpg" title="f0046-09" width="497" height="1405"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01252/6377912-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="498" height="3528"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02176/6377905-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="498" height="3524"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-03140/6377898-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="504" height="1201"></div><h2>MONDAY, APRIL 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0495/6377891-1-eng-US/f0047-042.jpg" title="f0047-04" width="500" height="2235"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0569/6377884-1-eng-US/f0047-052.jpg" title="f0047-05" width="500" height="2695"></div><h2>TUESDAY, APRIL 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0654/6377877-1-eng-US/f0047-062.jpg" title="f0047-06" width="497" height="741"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0747/6377870-1-eng-US/f0047-072.jpg" title="f0047-07" width="497" height="2809"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0833/6377863-1-eng-US/f0047-082.jpg" title="f0047-08" width="494" height="625"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0927/6377856-1-eng-US/f0047-092.jpg" title="f0047-09" width="499" height="3523"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01171/6377849-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="500" height="3506"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-02111/6377842-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg" title="f0048-02" width="1513" height="1819"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Kariya scored the only goal of the game in Anaheim&rsquo;s 1-0 win over Edmonton.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0373/6377835-1-eng-US/f0048-032.jpg" title="f0048-03" width="500" height="1663"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0456/6377828-1-eng-US/f0048-042.jpg" title="f0048-04" width="500" height="1665"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0540/6377821-1-eng-US/f0048-052.jpg" title="f0048-05" width="504" height="358"></div><h2>THURSDAY, APRIL 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0629/6377814-1-eng-US/f0048-062.jpg" title="f0048-06" width="502" height="1217"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0722/6377807-1-eng-US/f0048-072.jpg" title="f0048-07" width="508" height="3532"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0812/6377800-1-eng-US/f0048-082.jpg" title="f0048-08" width="502" height="2285"></div><h2>PLAYOFF SCHEDULE</h2>Below is the complete Stanley Cup playoff schedule released by the NHL March 25. All series are best-of-seven. The playoffs begin Tuesday, April 16. Dates are subject to change.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0910/6377793-1-eng-US/f0048-092.jpg" title="f0048-09" width="490" height="1014"></div> &#9632;

f0046-02

NHL SUMMARIES

NHL ROSTERS AND TRANSACTIONS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0050-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01149/6378023-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg"></div>(OT) denotes overtime game Players must have played two games to be listedTeam affiliations are listed in parentheses under names &#9632;

f0050-01

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0051-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01142/6378054-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg"></div>Team affiliations are listed in parentheses under names(OT) and (SO) denote overtime and shootout &#9632;

f0051-01

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0052-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01137/6378085-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg"></div>NHL affiliations are given in parentheses beside names(OT) and (SO) denote overtime and shootout &#9632;

f0052-01

SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">By Larry Starks</div>The way Central League president and founder Ray Miron sees things, there is never a good reason to quit a job you like.&ldquo;As long as I enjoy doing what I&rsquo;m doing, I&rsquo;m going to keep doing it,&rdquo; said Miron, 72. &ldquo;George Bums lived to be 100 doing what he likes.&rdquo;Miron said his passion for the role of running the CHL has not cooled. He revived the league in 1992 with six teams and a central ownership group that includes his son, Monte, and headed by Horn Chen.Miron has been involved with pro hockey since 1959, working as a GM for Tulsa in the old CHL and as GM for the Colorado Rockies of the NHL. He also worked as a scout for the Vancouver Canucks and as commissioner of the defunct Atlantic Coast League.But as CHL president, his job is more demanding. Since the league owns all the teams, Miron is, in effect, president of all six teams.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big job,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;People don&rsquo;t realize how (massive) it is.&rdquo;Miron went into semi-retirement this season and passed some duties to Monte, who is the league&rsquo;s commissioner. Miron&rsquo;s main duties are dealing with expansion, negotiating leases and special assignments.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not on any kind of a schedule,&rdquo; Miron said. &ldquo;I keep my own hours. The only bad thing about it is I don&rsquo;t get a chance to play as much golfas I&rsquo;d like.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Upset by not making the playoffs, Fort Worth Fire coach Bill McDonald is on a recruiting trip to get players for next season. McDonald will spend April attending junior tournaments in Canada and going to the Colonial League playoffs&hellip;Officials of the Tupelo (Miss.) Coliseum met with CHL officials and made a formal proposal to put a team in the 7,800-seat facility. &#9632;

President Miron keeps retirement on back burner

<div class="byline">By Neil Koepke</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0055-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01131/6378140-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Legg&rsquo;s game-tying goal in the third period set the stage for Brendan Morrison&rsquo;s overtime winner.</figcaption></div>CINCINNATI, Ohio-On Red Berenson&rsquo;s desk in Ann Arbor, Mich., there is a paperweight with four simple words on it: Our day will come.The greatest player in Michigan Wolverines&rsquo; history became Michigan&rsquo;s coach, but he couldn&rsquo;t win the big one. In four straight years of sending outstanding teams to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, Berenson and the Wolverines kept coming home empty handed.Michigan&rsquo;s day came on March 30&hellip;finally.Junior center Brendan Morrison ended the misery for Michigan when he scored at 3:35 of overtime to give the Wolverines a 3-2 win over Colorado College and their first national championship since 1964.&ldquo;I looked at that (paperweight) a lot and felt that if we did the right things, that our day would come.&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;I feel so good for our team, our school, the kids and all the kids who have played here in the past and went home disappointed and for our coaching staff, which works so tirelessly.&rdquo;Nothing ever comes easy for Michigan and its title game against Colorado College at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati was no exception.The Wolverines were held to seven shots on goal in the first two periods. They entered the third period trailing 2-1 and thousands of Michigan fans were wondering about coming up short again.But Michigan kept its poise, as it had done throughout its playoff run, and tied the game on Mike Legg&rsquo;s power-play goal with 13 minutes remaining.Morrison ended it in overtime when he grabbed a rebound and fired the puck into the top comer of a wide open net.It&rsquo;s an incredible, unbelievable feeling,&rdquo; said Morrison, a top prospect for the New Jersey Devils. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been here so many times in the past, but couldn&rsquo;t get to the final game.&ldquo;This is for all the (Michigan) guys who got to the Final Four with great teams. We did it for them, too.&rdquo;Standout players such as Denny Felsner, David Oliver, David Roberts, Brian Wiseman, David Harlock, Patrick Neaton, Steve Shields and Mike Knuble were part of outstanding Wolverine teams that fell short of making it into the title game.&ldquo;Coach Berenson has taken so much criticism about how he can&rsquo;t win the big game, but he&rsquo;s the reason we&rsquo;ve been here four of the last five years,&rdquo; Momson said. &ldquo;He has worked so hard for this moment and we all feel so happy for him.&rdquo;Michigan reached the final with an impressive 4-0 dismantling of defending NCAA champion Boston University. Colorado College, playing in its first Final Four since 1957, advanced on a controversial goal by Chad Re-mackel in the second overtime to beat Vermont 4-3. Replays showed that the winning goal was set up by a hand pass, but replays aren&rsquo;t used in the NCAA tournament.Berenson took over as coach of his alma mater in 1984. It took seven years to build Michigan into an elite team. Michigan earned its first NCAA tournament berth under Berenson in 1991 and it hasn&rsquo;t missed since.Three years ago, Michigan lost to eventual champion Maine 4-3 in overtime in the semifinals. In 1994, the Wolverines were upended by eventual champion Lake Superior State 5-4 in overtime in the NCAA regional finals.And last season, the heartbreak was even worse. Michigan and Maine hooked up in a three overtime semifinal classic which the Black Bears won 4-3 at the 101-minute mark.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to take losing,&rdquo; said Colorado College coach Don Lucia. &ldquo;But the way we lost to a great team makes it easier. We&rsquo;ve had a great season and I&rsquo;m proud of this team.&rdquo;The win in the NCAA final was the 300th of Berenson&rsquo;s coaching career. None of them have been as sweet.&ldquo;Our program needed this for everyone to know how good it is,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had some great teams over the last five or six years, but they don&rsquo;t get credit because we&rsquo;ve lost the last game.&rdquo;Berenson played 16 seasons in the NHL and was a member of the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; 1964-65 Stanley Cup winning team. He played in three Stanley Cup finals with St. Louis and later coached the Blues to the Smythe Division title.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no comparison. This is the best feeling of all,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been on a Stanley Cup champion, I&rsquo;ve been on teams that won big series, but there&rsquo;s nothing close to this.&rdquo; &#9632;

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April 19, 1996

Page’s open-door policy leads to positive results

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NHL STATISTICAL REPORT