Quenneville era begins

In hiring Joel Quenneville as Mike Keenan’s replacement behind the bench, St. Louis Blues’ chairman Jerry Ritter said the Blues are “on the verge of a promising new era.” Quenneville received rave reviews as the Blues conducted their coach search. He jumped ahead of Jacques Demers and Paul MacLean, both of whom had St. Louis ties and were impressive in their interviews. “I got a good feel for him,” said president Mark Sauer, hired to replace Jack Quinn Dec. 19–the day Keenan was fired as GM and head coach. “We checked him out thoroughly. People raved about him.” Whenever Blues’ officials asked opinions on who was the best head coaching candidate not currently a head coach, the answer kept coming back “Quenneville.” So, they signed him to a three-year deal-two after this season-worth…

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Companies wary of goalie pad size

Many NHL goaltenders are worried about the new policing of rules that forbid leg pads to be more than 12 inches in width. “A lot of them are completely paranoid and rightfully so,” says Todd Brown, assistant product manager for Bauer, which supplies pads to a number of goaltenders. ‘They know they will be checked.” But Brown said it’s not just the guardians of the net who have to be on their toes. ‘The onus is also on the equipment managers, not just the goaltenders,” Brown says. A goalie will be suspended one game and receive a fine amounting to a 1.22 per cent cut in pay if his pads are found to be oversized. The same penalties apply to violating the legal length on blockers and catching gloves. The rules went into effect Dec.…

CENTRAL SCOUTING

The NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau released it’s mid-season composite ranking Jan. 10 on three separate lists: North American skaters, North American goalies and European skaters. What follows is the entire ranking. The first two rounds of North American skaters, European skaters and top five North American goalies include name, position, height, weight, team, and league. In parentheses after each players’ team is league (if playing major junior, U.S. college or minor league) or province/state/country (if playing Jr. B, Tier II, U.S. independent junior, high school, prep school, midget, or in Europe). League abbreviations: Major junior: OHL, Ontario League: QMJHL, Quebec League; WHL, Western League. U.S. College: CCHA, Central Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC, Eastern College Athletic Conference; HE, Hockey East; WCHA, Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Other leagues: USHL, United States Hockey…