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January 3, 1997
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.
Panthers wanted Coffey, but not for first-rounder
Maybe it was just wishful thinking on the part of Florida Panthers’ GM Bryan Murray. After all, it was Christmastime and who doesn’t need a few stocking stuffers? Murray said he inquired about the biggest prize of this holiday season when he called the Hartford Whalers about acquiring defenseman Paul Coffey. “Everyone wants a star,” said Murray, who traded for Coffey when he was GM of the Detroit Red Wings, “and (Coffey) brings another dimension to your team.” Unfortunately for the Panthers, it was the Atlantic Division-rival Philadelphia Flyers who came up with the right package. Murray thought the Panthers could offer a better defenseman to entice the Whalers than Kevin Haller, but he balked at giving up the first round draft pick Hartford demanded. The reason, according to coach Doug MacLean, was simple. “No…
Harvey’s wall-banging makes up for drought
Todd Harvey has lived with the comparisons since he played major junior. Is he the next Bobby Clarke? Or the next Dale Hunter? Or the next Dirk Graham, for that matter? “Right now, I’d just like to be Todd Harvey,” he said. And that’s just fine with Dallas Stars’ coach Ken Hitchcock. “He has been great as far as I’m concerned,” Hitchcock said. “You have no idea what kind of impact a player like him has on a game until you coach him.” Clearly, you can’t look at Harvey’s statistics to get the story. He had no goals and three assists through 26 games and was minus-4 on a team full of pluses. “He brings energy every shift, every night,” Hitchcock said. “He really helps drag people into battle on nights when they need to…
McCauley paints picture or respect
One look at Alyn McCauley’s wrist gives him away. His digital watch is covered with tiny white dots and another streak of white runs right across the time display. While other NHL prospects spend their summers in the gym, on the golf course and in hockey schools, McCauley grabs a brush and helps out with his father’s painting business. Last summer, he rolled and stroked his way through a bunch of condominiums in Kingston, Ont. The work is tedious and torturous on the back. And the consequences of blowing a defensive assignment in overtime of a playoff game are folly compared to getting paint on somebody’s carpet. It is good, honest work and it provides McCauley with some spending money. It also provides him with motivation. “Let me tell you, it isn’t as easy…
GM Sather happy with Kovalenko
On paper it looks like the most lopsided trade of the year. On the ice, it looks even better than that, but Edmonton Oilers’ GM Glen Sather was doing everything in his power not to gloat over the theft of Andrei Kovalenko from the Montreal Canadiens. It was a heist that cost him the services of Scott Thornton as training camp dawned this fall. “(Montreal) wanted a tough, aggressive, checking forward who could fight,” Sather said. “I was looking for a guy who could play on one of our top lines and score goals. We had about three conversations. It was done basically in a day.” What the Oilers received was a gifted offensive talent who plays a robust style. Kovalenko reached the 15-goal mark with a pair against one of his two…
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