The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

February 21, 1997

The Hockey News February 21, 1997

<div class="byline">By Chris Stevenson</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03475/6805903-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="573" height="891"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Yashin</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02600/6805910-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="160" height="158"></div>The Ottawa Senators&rsquo; best run in their short history vaulted them into serious contention for a playoff spot for the first time since the rebirth of the franchise.Following their 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Boston Bruins Feb. 4, the Senators moved to 6-2-3 in their past 11 games and moved to within two points of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.To put this in perspective, the Senators have been eliminated from playoff contention at this point in each of their previous seasons except in 1995, the lockout year.The Senators&rsquo; fine run was all the more impressive given they had played four games without Daniel Alfredsson, their leading scorer, who was out with a strained oblique muscle.Leading the way was big center Alexei Yashin, who was a one-man highlight reel, scoring picture goal after picture goal and firing laser-beam passes all over the place.He had seven goals and 12 points in those 11 games and was helped by a shift in linemates. He had speedy Shawn McEachern on the left side and Andreas Dackell on the right.&ldquo;I like to play with those guys because they open so much space for me,&rdquo; Yashin said.Dackell, who hadn&rsquo;t scored a goal since Dec. 7, had back-to-back game winners in victories over the Vancouver Canucks and the Bruins.&ldquo;The thing I&rsquo;m most pleased with right now is the way we&rsquo;re playing as a team,&rdquo; said coach Jacques Martin.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Daniel Al-fredsson&rsquo;s abdominal injury kept him out longer than expected because it wouldn&rsquo;t allow him to turn or push off his right side. He was expected to return against San Jose Feb. 8&hellip;After donning a visor following laser eye surgery and vowing to wear it for the rest of his career, right winger Tom Chorske shed the protection&hellip;The injury bug hit the Senators again. In addition to Alfredsson, the Senators were without center Bruce Gardiner and defenseman Christer Olsson, both injured against Toronto Feb. 1. In the next game, they lost center Dave Hannan with a shoulder injury&hellip;After losing Hannan and being roughed up against Toronto, Ottawa called up tough guy Phil Crowe from Detroit of the International League. &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Playoff run looking fine

<div class="byline">By Chris Miller</div>Brian Swanson bucked an Alaskan trend and Colorado College is the beneficiary.Like many players in hockey programs at Alaskan high schools, Swanson left the Great Frontier to play for the Omaha Lancers in the U.S. League. Many of those players eventually head back to play at Alaska-Anchorage or Alaska-Fairbanks, but Swanson stayed in the Lower 48 to skate for Colorado College.The Tigers got a gem. Swanson was rookie of the year in the Western Collegiate Hockey As-sociation last season and the sophomore center was leading the league in scoring with 12 goals and 34 points in 24 games.&ldquo;In Alaska, you&rsquo;re basically playing against the same guys from age 10 to 18, and most of the good players go down (to the USHL) to improve,&rdquo; said Swanson, who is from Eagle River. &ldquo;I left before my senior (high school) year to play in Omaha. Seven guys from my midget team went down, too, so it was a pretty easy transition.&ldquo;It would have been great to go back home and play with all my buddies, but I took my recruiting trip out here and really fell in love with it.&rdquo;The Tigers won their third straight league regular season title and advanced to the national title game last season before losing in overtime to Michigan. Swanson was fifth in the WCHA as a freshman with 47 points, an average of 1.47 per game. This season, he was averaging just below that at 1.42.Swanson, 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, is one of the league&rsquo;s quickest skaters and has great playmaking abilities. He was chosen in the fifth round of the 1994 NHL draft by the San Jose Sharks, but his right have since been dealt to the New York Rangers.FINALLY, A WIN: Michigan Tech snapped a 19-game winless streak Jan. 31 during the school&rsquo;s annual Winter Carnival when senior center John Kisil&rsquo;s overtime goal lifted the Huskies to a 2-1 win over Minnesota-Duluth. During the streak, which began Nov. 2, 1996, Tech had three ties and six one-goal losses.TIGER TAMED: Colorado College sophomore defenseman Brian Waldo will miss the rest of the season after suffering his second concussion of the season. Waldo was injured in a game against North Dakota Jan. 26 and was hospitalized with some loss of motor function on his right side. The Tigers expect a full recovery for Waldo. Teammate Jason Gudmundson was expected to miss a month of action after suffering a concussion in mid-January.UNCATCHABLE?: North Dakota took a major step toward the WCHA regular season title when it swept a series with visiting Minnesota Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Jason Blake had five goals as the Fighting Sioux won 6-4 and 6-2 to move into sole possession of first place. &#9632;

LEAGUES

Alaskan-born Swanson finds home in Colorado

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01759/6806817-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

<div class="byline">By Cynthia Lambert</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04183/6805596-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="312" height="411"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scotty Bowman</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03256/6805603-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="162" height="159"></div>Most coaches would just like the chance to work in as many games as Scotty Bowman has won. That goes the same for players.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t even picture playing in 1,000 games, let alone winning 1,000,&rdquo; said Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; rookie defenseman Jamie Pushor.Bowman, known as much for his winning as his novel approach in dealing with players, colleagues and the media, was one victory short of reaching 1,000 going into a Feb. 8 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. In his first two chances at reaching the mile-stone, Bowman saw his team tie the St.Louis Blues Feb. 4, then lose to the Vancouver Canucks Feb. 6.No other coach has come close to 1,000 wins-Al Arbour is second on the all-time list at 781&ndash;and considering the frequency with which coaches are fired, it&rsquo;s doubtful Bowman&rsquo;s mile-stone will ever be matched.Bowman said he never fathomed reaching quadruple digits for wins and there was only one mark that held his interest.&ldquo;The only win that really meant something to me (in terms of a milestone) was in the 1984-85 season,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;Dick Irvin had held the record for most wins with 690.1 got 691 that year. It was a game against Chicago. It was significant because Dick Irvin had held the win record for 30 years.&rdquo;Bowman&rsquo;s stellar career began in 1967 with St. Louis and subsequently took him to the Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh before he landed in Detroit.As the travel miles added up, he kept collecting milestones and records. Among them:&#9633; Regular season games coached: 1,706. Arbour is second at 1,606.&#9633; Six Stanley Cup wins. If he gets another one with Detroit, he will be the first coach to win Cups with three different teams.&#9633; Most wins and most points during a regular season. The most points came in 1976-77 with the Canadiens, when the club went 60-812 for 132 points. The most wins came last season with Detroit, when the team had 62, which broke the previous record held by Bowman&rsquo;s &rsquo;76-77 Canadiens&rsquo; team.&#9633; He is the only coach to record more than 1,000 victories with regular season and playoffs combined (1,161).And there is no telling when Bow-man&rsquo;s reign will end. When asked which decade he most preferred coaching in, he smiled.&ldquo;Maybe the next one,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You never know.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Steve Yzerman said he has grown to accept coach Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s ways over the years. &ldquo;With Scotty, if you come and play hard, work hard and keep quiet, things will work out,&rdquo; Yzerman said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re told to be there, be there and play the system. He lets the players do their thing and he leaves you alone. But if you don&rsquo;t do what he wants, all hell breaks out.&rdquo;&hellip;Following a 1-1 tie with St. Louis Feb. 1, goalie Mike Vernon had a 16-1-2 career record against the Blues with a 1.72 goals-against average&hellip;Center Sergei Fedorov returned to the lineup Feb. 6 after missing eight of nine games with a groin injury&hellip;Goalie Chris Osgood, out since Jan. 14 with a hamstring injury, returned Feb. 2 for a 4-3 win over Dallas. Osgood&rsquo;s ailment was traced to a weakness in his hips and he now does specific exercises to improve his hip strength&hellip;Because of the emergence of rookie left winger Tomas Holmstrom, the Wings placed Bob Errey on waivers Feb. 6. &#9632;

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Bowman reaching another mark in unparalleled coaching career

<h2>Ex-Hab Dooms former squad</h2>1. Hab killer John LeClair&rsquo;s four goals (six points) Feb. 6 gives him 14 goals in 10 games against former team.2. Bourque best Veteran defenseman Ray Bourque passes Johnny Bucyk to become Boston&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer.3. Speedy 600 Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Mario Lemieux becomes NHL&rsquo;s second fastest 600 goal scorer.4. Honesty pays Vermont&rsquo;s Eric Perrin credited with goal he didn&rsquo;t touch, gives it back, nets 100th career goal in same game.5. Raising money, hope Flyers&rsquo; wives host carnival, raise more than $1 million for cancer, AIDS research.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021237/6804624-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="321" height="454"><figcaption class="caption-body">John LeClair</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03920/6804617-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="322" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Perrin</figcaption></div><h2>Huge rumble in NHL&rsquo;s wild west</h2>1. Matt Johnson Los Angeles enforcer injures San Jose&rsquo;s Andrei Nazarov, sparks ugly brawl.2. Rob Blake Kings&rsquo; defenseman cross-checks San Jose&rsquo;s Shean Donovan in throat later in same game.3. Take that! Michigan goalie Marty Turco injures team&rsquo;s second leading scorer, Bill Muckalt, in scuffle at practice.4. Big slide Six losses in nine-game stretch puts Montreal out of playoff position.5. Harvey sits Dallas&rsquo; Todd Harvey suspended two games for elbowing Buffalo&rsquo;s Matthew Bamabv. &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<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/f0002-04691/6804655-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="342" height="428"></div>Hockey history has a way of repeating itself.If Howie Morenz was the Babe Ruth of his time, then Guy Lafleur was the Howie Morenz of his time. Not because they both played for the Montreal Canadiens, but because they both played the game the way San Jose Sharks&rsquo; super-fan Neil Young sees life: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s better to bum out than to fade away.&rdquo; One of Morenz&rsquo;s nicknames, &lsquo;The Mitchell Meteor,&rsquo; was more appropriate than anyone could imagine when first coined as Morenz accelerated at breakneck speed toward the NHL early this millennium.Long before the league became home to the &ldquo;Coolest Game on Earth,&rdquo; Morenz was an inter-planetary wonder destined to bum out. Eddie Shore probably had a more profound impact on the ice during the 1920s and 1930s, but it was Morenz who drove the gate-drawing comparison to baseball&rsquo;s Babe.Morenz was a speedy offensive player for eight seasons, winning the scoring championship twice and earning MVP honors three times. He was a shadow of his former self during his final years, before suffering a broken leg and dying of pneumonia in hospital (or was it a broken heart when told he would never play hockey again?).Fifty years later, Lafleur was the game&rsquo;s most dazzling performer over a six-year period-winning three scoring championships and two MVP awards-before fading dramatically, retiring and then coming back. He was a first-team all-star six times; never a second-teamer, as though second best would never be good enough for him.Morenz and Lafleur come together now as The Hockey News contemplates who deserves to be ranked among the 50 best players of all-time. (See pg. 8 for story.) It&rsquo;s left to our panel to decide where all the stars fit in. Some shone much longer than others and that, undoubtedly, will figure largely in voters&rsquo; thinking. Bursts of supreme play will, in some cases, be measured against sustained superlative performance.Four players generally thought to be the best ever-Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr-represent this sporting schism, albeit imperfectly. Orr and Lemieux are examples of greatness over relatively brief periods of time (nine and 12 seasons, respectively), while Howe set the standard for longevity of superior play (26 seasons) and Gretzky has maintained a confounding level of brilliance (18 seasons).As for Morenz and Lafleur, their places in the top 50 are secure. Even more so are their places as hockey heroes in our consciousness. &#9632;

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All-time greats captivated NHL with speed, skill

<div class="byline">Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011656/6804693-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="347" height="413"></div>U.S. Olympic team GM Lou Lamoriello doesn&rsquo;t intend to begin preparations for the 1998 Winter Games until this summer.A cynic would suggest the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; GM doesn&rsquo;t have to start that early. There are those who believe picking the team will be as easy as photocopying Team USA&rsquo;s roster that won the World Cup.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know about that,&rdquo; Lamoriello told The Hockey News, &ldquo;but there&rsquo;s no question it will be a similar process with a lot of the same players involved.&rdquo;Start with Lamoriello, the new Godfather of American hockey. It almost goes without saying Ron Wilson of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim will be back as head coach. At least 16 and as many as 21 of the 23 roster spots (20 skaters and three goalies) will go to players who participated in the World Cup.The U.S. is the polar opposite of Canada. Because of the advancing age of so many key players, not to mention the World Cup loss, the Canadians will be leaning toward significant change. The Americans, meanwhile, will be into fine-tuning more than overhauling.&ldquo;It should be much the same team as we had in the World Cup unless there are some dramatic and unexpected developments between now and then,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;We will have to look at some (changes). It&rsquo;s going to be different rules, a different style of play because of the (international-size) ice and a different size (smaller) roster. There are a lot of things to take into consideration. but the majority of our best players at the World Cup will still be our best players at the Olympics.&rdquo;&ldquo;Lou is the man who calls the shots,&rdquo; Wilson said, &ldquo;but I would imagine the core of the roster will be essentially the same. I mean, we&rsquo;re solid in goal, solid on defense, solid at forward. There are some young people to look at, some people like Pat LaFontaine, whose career is in doubt because of the concussion thing, but the core is there.&rdquo;The United States could return its first three lines from the World Cup intact-Doug Weight between Brett Hull and Scott Young; Mike Modano between Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin and Bryan Smolinski between John LeClair and Tony Amonte.Adam Deadmarsh is a certainty, but his World Cup linemates LaFontaine (concussions) and Joel Otto (age) won&rsquo;t necessarily be guaranteed positions.Holdovers Brian Rolston, Steve Kono-walchuk and Shawn McEachern will battle for spots with Derek Plante and a number of others, including Jeremy Roenick, Bill Lindsay, Tom Fitzgerald, Jamie Langenbrunner, Brian Holzinger, Jim Campbell and Todd Marchant. &ldquo;You can see our depth is improving,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;We still couldn&rsquo;t ice two really strong teams like Canada could, but we&rsquo;re getting to the point where we can fill more than one team. It&rsquo;s like we&rsquo;re adding an extra line every couple of years.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s much the same situation on the blueline, where Brian Leetch, Derian Hatcher, Chris Chelios, Kevin Hatcher and Mathieu Schneider will return to form a strong defensive corps. Veteran Gary Suter, who has struggled this season, will have to earn his way back with challenges expected to come from the emerging Bryan Berard as well as Scott Lachance. Keith Carney (a member of the World Cup taxi squad), Eric Weinrich and veterans such as Phil Housley (a World Cup spare part) and wildcard Wild Thing Al lafrate.In goal, the only change will be the addition of John Vanbiesbrouck, who was injured for the World Cup. Mike Richter and Guy Hebert should round out the three-man cast, although Damian Rhodes or Mike Dunham might battle Hebert for the No. 3 spot that was held down by Jim Carey.Lamoriello said he&rsquo;s not concerned about which deadline is used for submission of player rosters-the current arrangement calls for Aug. 1, but Canada is lobbying for Dec. 1-but that it should be uniform.&ldquo;As long as it&rsquo;s the same for everybody and everybody adheres,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all that matters.&rdquo;While Lamoriello is loathe to say or do anything Olympic-related, for fear of it being a distraction to the current NHL task at hand, the Devils&rsquo; GM is looking forward to the challenge at Nagano. The pressure will be on the U.S. to duplicate its World Cup effort.&ldquo;I hope so,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the kind of pressure you like to have.&rdquo;<h2>Wilson obvious pick as coach</h2>Lou Lamoriello&rsquo;s lips are sealed. but it&rsquo;s assumed Ron Wilson will be head coach of the 1998 U.S. Olympic team.&ldquo;No question, he did a first-rate job at the World Cup,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;re not doing anything until the off-season.&rdquo;Soil of like Wilson&rsquo;s NHL team, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Given that he&rsquo;s in the final year of his contract, it&rsquo;s possible Wilson could be coaching the Olympic team next season, but not the Ducks.&ldquo;My only focus right now is (the NHL) but I would love to coach in the Olympics.&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;For a coach, it would be a once-in-a-lifetime thing.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021324/6804686-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1573" height="1932"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Leetch (Photo by Bruce Benet/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

USA expected to stick with winning formula

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03867/6804724-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg"></div>Listed are top candidates for the Olympic Team. Included is position, age as of Feb. 13, 1998, NHL team, number of appearances at the World Championship or World/Canada Cup (Inf&rsquo;l), and whether player shoots/catches left or right. &#9632;

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THN’s Team USA

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011673/6804762-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="310" height="405"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Bourque</figcaption></div>A weekly compendium of significant events and developments (Jan. 31-Feb. 7).Feb. 1: Boston defenseman Ray Bourque becomes team&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer, surpassing Johnny Bucyk&rsquo;s 1,339 points.Feb. 3: Sexual assault charge against Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Petr Nedved dropped.Feb. 4: Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Mario Lemieux scores 600th career goal in 6-4 win over Vancouver.GMs vote down proposal to allow goals to stand if player has foot in crease, but not interfering with goalie.Feb. 5: Edmonton owner Peter Pocklington announces he is looking for investors to purchase shares in new sports company that includes Oilers.Season&rsquo;s ugliest brawl breaks out between Los Angeles and San Jose. Total of 157 penalty minutes are called and San Jose right winger Andrei Nazarov suffers broken cheekbone.Feb. 6: Boston&rsquo;s Rick Tocchet scores 350th career goal in 5-3 loss to Hartford.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021466/6804755-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="311" height="403"><figcaption class="caption-body">Petr Nedved</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Bourque now Bruins’ all-time points leader

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>Typical of many hockey players, Tony McKegney liked to spend the off-season playing golf.But when you play in Buffalo-which McKegney did for five of his 13 NHL seasons-and choose to live there when your career ends, well, the golf season can be a short one.So McKegney did the logical thing-he took the game indoors. Owner of Dome Consultants Inc., McKegney built an indoor golf course in 1993, the year he retired from professional hockey, and has since built three more. There are plans for another eight to be built soon.&ldquo;I used to see these indoor golf courses in places like Calgary, Edmonton and Minnesota,&rdquo; said the 38-year-old McKegney, who has been a golfer since he was nine years old. &ldquo;Buffalo has similar weather conditions to those places so I figured one would go over well. Winters can be so long in Buffalo, people are looking for something to do.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011602/6804817-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="287" height="402"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tony McKegney</figcaption></div>McKegney said the facilities also house indoor soccer, football and baseball and are becoming popular in-line hockey sites.McKegney played 13 seasons with the Sabres, Quebec Nordiques, Min-nesota North Stars, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks. In 912 games, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound left winger scored 320 goals and 319 assists for 639 points. His best year was 1987-88 when he had career highs in goals (40), assists (38) and points (78). He capped his pro career playing one year in Italy and another for the San Diego Gulls of the International League.&ldquo;I always wondered what it would be like to play in a warm-weather climate,&rdquo; McKegney said. &ldquo;It was great going to practice in warm weather and then going golfing afterward.&rdquo;When he&rsquo;s not golfing indoors, McKegney still laces up the skates and played for the Legends of Hockey at the NHL All-Star Game in San Jose in January. &#9632;

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Natural link between hockey and indoor golf

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021151/6804848-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The San Jose Sharks end Los Angeles Kings had an old-fashioned California dust-up. (See pg. 27 tor story) (Photo by Rockey Winder)</figcaption></div>Ninety-two years after they launched their memorable quest for the Stanley Cup, the Dawson City Nuggets are back on the trail.A group of 15 Dawson City old-timers are planning a re-enactment of the 4,000-mile odyssey from the Yuk-on to Ottawa. The original trip, made in 1905, took 23 days on foot, bicycle, dog sled, boat and train, and resulted in the Nuggets losing two lopsided games to the Ottawa Silver Seven.The re-enactment begins March 1 in Dawson City with the oldtimers setting out on dogsled. The journey ends with a March 22 game in Ottawa against the Senators&rsquo; Oldtimers.A purse of 50 ounces of gold and a replica of the 1905 Stanley Cup will be given to the winning team. The gold will be donated to the Canadian Special Olympics. Other proceeds go to Yukon Minor Hockey and the Canadian Heart Institute. &#9632;

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Nuggets on Stanley Cup dogsled trail

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>Getting four assists in a game is an impressive enough feat for a skater. But a goalie?Goaltender Mark Bernard of the Bracknell Bees in England&rsquo;s Super League was credited with four assists in a 9-6 win over the Basingstoke Bisons Jan. 30. Three of Bernard&rsquo;s assists came in the final six minutes.The four assists is believed to be a pro record for a goalie. Former Calgary Flames&rsquo; goalie Jeff Reese holds the NHL record with three assists.Bernard spent last season with the Hampton Roads Admirals of the East Coast League.SETTLE FOR THIRD: Canada won a bronze medal at the World University Games in Chonju, South Korea with a 6-5 victory over Russia.Lethbridge&rsquo;s Jarret Zukiwski scored two goals 53 seconds apart in the third period to pace Canada, which was represented by the Canada West University Athletic Association AllStars. Calgary&rsquo;s Jason Krywulak also scored twice for Canada.The Czech Republic beat Finland 32 for the gold medal Feb. 1.GONE FOR YEAR: A deliberate slapshot directed at an official resulted in a season-long suspension for a West Coast League player.Anchorage Aces&rsquo; left winger Chad Richard was banned from playing the rest of the season and playoffs by WCHL commissioner Mike Meyers.Richard was upset at receiving a 10-minute misconduct in a Jan. 17 game against the Fresno Falcons. He responded with a hard slapshot that struck an official in the arm. He then received a game misconduct.In other WCHL news, Reno Renegades&rsquo; goalie Manon Rheaume made 34 saves and won her first game of the year, 6-4 over the Alaska Gold Kings.VALENTINE WEDDING: Looking for that perfectly dignified setting for your wedding? Why not take the plunge at a Baton Rouge Kingfish game with 3,000 fans playing the wedding march on kazoos?That&rsquo;s the Valentine&rsquo;s Day promotion planned by the ECHL team Feb. 14. One couple will win a trip to Can-cun, Mexico in exchange for sharing its on-ice ceremony.O&rsquo;REE WEEKEND: Twenty-four players from 12 youth hockey programs will participate in the second annual Willie O&rsquo;Ree All-Star Weekend in Chicago Feb. 15-16.The weekend is designed to show-case the diversity of hockey programs in North America and is sponsored by the NHL and USA Hockey.The 24 youths, aged 10, 11 and 12, hail from programs in Chicago, Detroit, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Anaheim, Washington, Boston, St. Paul, Albany, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and Warroad, Minn.The event is named after the first black player in the NHL. O&rsquo;Ree played 45 games for the Boston Bruins in 1956-57 and 1960-61. Now 61, O&rsquo;Ree lives in La Mesa, Calif.PROSPECT GAME: Top prospects for the talent-rich 1997 NHL entry draft face each other in the second annual Chrysler Cup Challenge Feb. 12 in Toronto.Forty of the top prospects were selected to participate Jan. 10 and former Boston Bruin superstar Bobby Orr and former Bruins&rsquo; coach Don Cherry will serve as coaches.The 40 prospects were chosen by a panel of scouts. &#9632;

Goalie sets mark with four assists

Scotty Bowman 999, rest of the Western Conference 755.That was the score in wins between the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; coach and the other 12 combined.Bowman, 63, was on the verge of coaching victory No. 1,000 and is well ahead of the rest of the class. Here&rsquo;s a look at the all-time win leaders among coaches, including Stanley Cup victories. Bowman is the only current NHL coach among the top 20 all-time leaders.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03749/6804910-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="557" height="704"></div>Here&rsquo;s a look at the active list of coaches, seasons in the NHL and victories, including Feb. 6 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04462/6804903-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="562" height="898"></div> &#9632;

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Benchmark for all-time bench boss

I truly hope Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; GM Cliff Fletcher is not seriously considering trading Doug Gilmour.Gilmour is the Leafs&rsquo; heart and soul and embodies everything the captain of the Leafs should be.Rather than using Gilmour as a token toward rebuilding, Toronto should rebuild around Gilmour. I just hope that in spite of the treatment he has received of late, Gilmour still wants to stay.R.P. Arledge, Pleasant Valley, N. Y.<h2>Bye&hellip;and thanks</h2>How can the fans and media in Toronto blame Doug Gilmour for the current state of the Leafs?True hockey fans respect the work ethic Gilmour brings to the Leafs and there&rsquo;s no doubt he&rsquo;ll go down in his-tory as one of the greatest players ever to wear the blue and white.But with the Leafs having no chance of winning the Stanley Cup this season, it&rsquo;s time to rebuild. Unfortunately for Gilmour, he is one of the few players who will yield the young prospects the Leafs so desperately need.Don&rsquo;t take it personally, Doug. You will always be remembered as the one to bring pride back to the organization. After 20 years of embarrassment, you finally made me proud to say, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a Leaf fan.&rdquo;Mike Smith, Listowel, Ont.<h2>Pony up, fans</h2>I would like to issue a challenge to all hockey fans.I have played sports all my life and have coached for eight years in minor hockey associations. I can relate to the feeling a coach gets when a child looks up to you as a god. Sheldon Kennedy did the most difficult thing a man could do. He faced his fear.Because of that, I would like to start the Sheldon Kennedy Ranch Fund Drive to help build the ranch Kennedy wants to establish for victims of child sexual abuse.I&rsquo;ve already kicked in $100 and I challenge all fans to send whatever they can afford.Brian Shadow, North Syracuse, N. Y.(Editor&rsquo;s Note: Donations can be made to The Sheldon Kennedy Foundation, c/o Laidlaw Sports Management, 1133 East Maple Road, Suite 202, Troy, Mich. 48083-2853.)<h2>Denis No. 14</h2>Denis Savard of the Chicago Blackhawks recently surpassed the great Gilbert Perreault for 14th place on the NHL&rsquo;s all-time points lists, but I didn&rsquo;t see a mention of it anywhere.This is very disappointing because Savard is a classy player and he deserves his due recognition for this feat.Joe Francella, Toronto, Ont.<h2>What went wrong?</h2>Cliff Ronning, Jeff Brown, Geoff Courtnall, Murray Craven and Igor Larionov sounds like a great power play unit. Too bad the Vancouver Canucks don&rsquo;t have it.Esa Tikkanen is dissatisfied. Russ Courtnall is just playing out the string. Alexander Mogilny is begging for a decent center. What gives?How can a team that was two goals away from a Stanley Cup two years ago go so wrong in such a short time? It looks more and more like Petr Ned-ved had it right when he left Vancouver and decided to sit out rather than play for the Canucks.Pat Quinn should be commended for all his efforts to make the Canucks a .500 team this season. And hats off to his chief negotiator, George McPhee, who has mastered the low-balling technique in expert fashion.Matt Barkoff, Vancouver, B.C.<h2>Show more Habs</h2>After watching the Toronto Maple Leafs on the national game on Hockey Night In Canada week after week, I feel compelled to complain about CBC&rsquo;s coverage of Canadian teams.Why the CBC thinks all Canadians want to be tortured by watching these boring Leafs week after week is beyond me. The Montreal Canadiens are far more exciting and they even win sometimes.I&rsquo;m not asking that the Canadiens be televised every week, but an even split of Saturdays between the two is not too much to ask.Deon Dunford, McCallum, Nfld.<h2>Lookout below!</h2>What does it take for the Buffalo Sabres to get noticed this season? Picked by many to finish near the bottom of the NHL, the Sabres have flourished without Pat LaFontaine.Last year&rsquo;s parallel was the Florida Panthers. They got a ton of press, largely because of rat droppings at the Miami Arena.Perhaps the Sabres should drop the scoreboard at the Marine Midland Ar-ena whenever they score a goal.Allan Suchinsky, Silver Spring, Md.Make your feelings known. Fax us your comments at&nbsp;(416) 340-1641&nbsp;or write to&nbsp;Letters, THN, 777 Bay St, Suite 2700, Box 148, Toronto, Ont, MSG 2N8&nbsp;in Canada. In the U.S., write to&nbsp;Letters, THN, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947. E-mail us at <a href="mailto:THN@transc.com">THN@transc.com</a>. Include home and business phone numbers.&nbsp;THN&nbsp;reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Memo to Fletcher: Don’t deal Gilmour

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011779/6804965-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021217/6804996-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="595" height="884"></div>It was January, 1972, and after a year of abstinence, the Detroit Red Wings were smokin&rsquo; again.Ned Harkness, neither a drinker nor a puffer, was Wings&rsquo; coach in 1970-71 and didn&rsquo;t think much of the Gold Label cigars sent down to the dressing room from owner Bruce Norris. According to THN&rsquo;s Jan. 21, 1972 issue, &ldquo;Harkness set the rules and the air was so pure you&rsquo;d have thought Ralph Nader and the American Cancer Society had joined forces. Visitors to the Red Wing room had to find crevices outside the dressing room to stash their stogies before they entered.&rdquo;The next year, Harkness replaced Sid Abel as GM and Doug Barkley took over as coach. Twenty-six games into the &rsquo;71-72 season, Johnny Wilson replaced Barkley. Wilson began his era by restoring the rights of stogie suckers, primarily himself, captain Alex Delvecchio and trainer Lefty Wilson.It might not have been the best idea. Despite Wilson&rsquo;s gruelling two-hour practices and a solid contribution from rookie center Marcel Dionne, the Wings coughed their way to a fifth-place finish in the seven-team East Division and finished last in the league among Original Six teams. &#9632;

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Wings up in smoke

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chief</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011672/6805027-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">All-time Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; great Gordie Howe battles for the puck with Pat Quinn of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Photo by Graphic Artists/Hockey Hall of Fame)</figcaption></div>No. 66 or 99? On or Shore? Howe about Mr. Hockey?Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Eddie Shore and Gordie Howe are just five of the players top of mind as The Hockey News takes on its toughest assignment yet.No, we&rsquo;re not trying to unravel the mystery behind Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s goaltending.THN is out to produce the first authoritative ranking of the best play-ers in NHL history-our top 50 players to mark our first 50 years. THN hits the half-century mark Oct. 1, 1997 and to mark the occasion, we will publish next fall the definitive list of the best NHL players ever.Thousands of players have appeared in the league since its humble four-team beginnings in 1917-18. Fifty will rise to the top. One will earn the most lofty status of all. Gretzky, Howe, Lemieux and Orr are top candidates for top honors.THN has asked 50 hockey experts to rank their top players of all-time from No. 1 to No. 50. Instructions are straightforward: pick the best NHL players without regard to when they played or what position they played. All players, in other words, are to be considered equal-except for those judged more equal than others.Players are to be ranked according to ability during the time they played, not by present-day standards. Joe Malone, the NHL&rsquo;s first scoring leader, wouldn&rsquo;t last 44 shifts let alone score 44 goals in 20 games if time travel permitted us to parachute him into 1996-97 exactly as he was in 1917-18.The game has evolved far from its primitive roots and few players from mere decades ago would be able to compete at today&rsquo;s speed and skill level. However, judged against their contemporaries, there were just as many elite players then as now.All of which explains how, for example, defensemen who played dec-ades apart-say, Shore, Doug Harvey and Orr-can be placed side by side and judged on relative merits.We recognize the biggest challenge facing voters is twofold: slotting goal-ies; and slotting players (skaters and goalies alike) from the league&rsquo;s early years-the NHL is, after all, 79 years old.Both defy easy ranking, but we have faith in our panel. Our voters don&rsquo;t comprise a credible group as much as an incredible group. From ex-NHL players, coaches, GMs, executives, journalists to current coaches, GMs, scouts, journalists and broadcasters, we cover all eras and areas of expertise. (See list of voters on this page.)Selections made by our panel will be tabulated and form the basis of THN&rsquo;s Top 50.Each voter was sent an information package, including detailed statistics on 86 consensus elite candidates (see pgs. 9-11), plus a list of others who might merit consideration. THN advised voters not to be overwhelmed by the numbers: &ldquo;All statistics are intended to help you make informed selections, not guide you,&rdquo; THN said. &ldquo;You have been asked to vote because we have confidence you will consider each candidate as a total player.&rdquo;Length of career is as important as voters choose to make it; fifth-year NHLer Eric Lindros, 24 on Feb. 28, and seventh-year NHLer Jaromir Jagr, 25, are the two youngest players listed among the elite candidates.Voters are free to pick any NHL player, whether named in the package or not. Only NHLers are included, not pre-NHL stars such as Cyclone Taylor or European superstars such as Vladis-lav Tretiak. Players are to be assessed on the basis of NHL regular season and playoff performance only.<h2>Not listed in stats, but not forgotten</h2>Before anybody received a ballot to choose the top 50 NHL players of all-time, The Hockey News spent long weeks assembling a long list of elite candidates.We finally settled on a group of 86 and those are the players whose statistical bios appear on the next three pages. Voters were also sent a list of players omitted from the elite category to ensure all notable players would be considered.Among the most prominent of &ldquo;others&rdquo; brought to the attention of voters were Sweeney Schriner, Johnny Bower, Marcel Pronovost, Bob Gainey, Darryl Sittier, Cam Neely, Denis Savard, Mike Gartner and Dominik Hasek.<h2>Top 50 Panel</h2>Keith AllenPhiladelphia Vice-PresidentKevin AllenUSA TodayAl ArbourIslanders&rsquo; Vice-PresidentScott BowmanNHL Coach, GMBrian BurkeNHL Vice-PresidentKen CampbellThe Hockey NewsRon CaronSt. Louis GMDon CherryHockey Night in CanadaJohn DavidsonMSG Network, FoxSteve DrydenThe Hockey NewsBob DuffHockey HistorianEric DuhatschekCalgary HeraldMilt DunnellFormerly Toronto StarMike EmrickSportsChannel, FoxJack FallaThe Hockey NewsStan FischlerThe Hockey NewsBill FitsellHockey HistorianErnie FitzsimmonsHockey HistorianEmile FrancisEx-NHL Player, Coach, GMTony GallagherVancouver ProvinceJim GregoryNHL Vice-PresidentCharlie HalpinFormerly The Hockey NewsHarry HowellEx-NHL Player, Edmonton ScoutDick IrvinHockey Night in CanadaJim KelleyBuffalo NewsClaude LarochelleLe Soleil de QuebecJim MathesonEdmonton JournalBrian McFarlaneHockey HistorianBob McKenzieThe Hockey NewsKen McKenzieThe Hockey News Co-FounderMax McNabEx-NHL Player, ExecutiveHowie MeekerEx-NHL Player, CoachScotty MorrisonHockey Hall of FameHarry NealeHockey Night in CanadaRoger NeilsonSt. Louis AsSpciate CoachBrian O&rsquo;NeillNHL ConsultantFrank OrrToronto StarCraig PatrickPittsburgh GMYvon PedneaultJournal de MontrealBud PoileEx-NHL Player, GMSam PollockEx-NHL GMBilly ReayEx-NHL Player, CoachFran RosaFormerly Boston GlobeGlen SatherEdmonton GM-PresidentMilt SchmidtEx-NHL Player, Coach, GMFrank Selke, Jr.Ex-NHL GM, PresidentHarry SindenBoston GM-PresidentNeil SmithRangers&rsquo; GM-PresidentRed StoreyEx-NHL RefereeRejean TremblayLa Presse &#9632;

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FEATURES

The ultimate NHL list

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011587/6805072-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"></div><h2>THE HOCKEY NEWS STATS PACK</h2>Voters in THN balloting to determine the best 50 players in NHL history were given statistical breakdowns on 86 elite candidates. Here&rsquo;s the condensed version. Information includes career regular season (as of Feb. 7 for active players) and playoff games (GP). goals (G). assists (A), points (Pts.), points per game (PPG) and penalty minutes (PIM). Also listed are duration and length of NHL career, teams, all-star berths, trophies and Stanley Cups. Abbreviations: Canadiens. Montreal Canadiens: L.A., Los Angeles: Maroons. Montreal Maroons: NYA. New York Americans: NYI. New York Islanders: NYR, New York Rangers.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011646/6805065-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="3084" height="3483"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011485/6805058-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="3113" height="3510"></div> &#9632;

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TOP 50 Candidates

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Bob McKenzie</div>The men holding the cards aren&rsquo;t dealing. Not yet. The NHL GMs meetings Feb. 3 to 6 in Tucson, Ariz., did not yield any significant transactions and it&rsquo;s becoming apparent that the big moves, if they&rsquo;re to happen at all, won&rsquo;t transpire until much closer to the March 18 trade deadline.Much will depend upon the mindsets of Boston Bruins&rsquo; GM Harry Sinden and Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; GM Cliff Fletcher. Those two hold some of the key cards, namely right winger Rick Tocchet and centers Adam Oates and Doug Gilmour.The Bruin and Leaf scenarios are much the same. Both are considered longshots to make the playoffs, rely on veterans who have seen better days and are shy of talent on the way up.Sinden claims he&rsquo;s not trying to trade Tocchet or Oates, but is listening to offers. The closer the deadline gets, the better the offers will become. It would be a shock if one or both aren&rsquo;t traded for young players or draft picks right at the deadline.A number of teams, including the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers, are interested in Tocchet. The Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils covet Oates. The same teams interested in him are also eyeing Gilmour.In Toronto, though, there&rsquo;s a twist. While the Bruins hold their own first round pick and the Hartford Whalers&rsquo;, Toronto gave theirs to the New York Islanders. Sinden has double the incentive to trade his vets because he&rsquo;ll not only get youth in return, the Bruins will fall further in the standings and their draft position will improve accordingly.Fletcher, meanwhile, is holding off trading Gilmour because the GM desperately wants to make the playoffs. That would minimize his embarrassment of having traded the first round pick and perhaps salvage his job, though it would do nothing for the Leafs&rsquo; long-term cause.Leaf fans should hope their team falls right out of the race because then Fletcher would have no choice but to trade Gilmour. There&rsquo;s no use crying over the lost first rounder. It&rsquo;s gone.While the meetings didn&rsquo;t result in big trades, some seeds were planted there. Other profile players who may move before the deadline and their potential destinations include: Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; defenseman Luke Richardson (Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit), Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; right winger Alexander Mogilny (Washington Capitals) and Detroit goalie Mike Vernon (Montreal Canadiens).Be patient. March will be a busy month. &#9632;

Trade winds don’t blow in Arizona

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011607/6805127-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GMs don&rsquo;t want to go back to the days when it was open season on NHL goaltenders. (Photo by Jim Leary/BBS)</figcaption></div>When NHL GMs get together for their regularly scheduled meetings in exotic locales, they can&rsquo;t very well complain about the weather.So the calibre of officiating usually ends up taking it on the chin.Not this time, though.When NHL GMs gathered in Tucson, Ariz., during the week of Feb. 3, any potential harangues about the work of the zebras was neatly cut off when Edmonton Oiler president-GM Glen Sather asked an honored guest for his opinion.&ldquo;When Sam Pollock says the officiating of today is better than it has ever been, who&rsquo;s going to stand up and take issue with that?&rdquo; said one NHL GM.And that is precisely what Pollock, the legendary former GM of the Montreal Canadiens, told the managerial lodge brothers.End of discussion.Well, more or less. The GMs did reach consensus that the referees must continue tightening up their calls on obstruction fouls, particularly in the offensive/defensive zone.That message was to be delivered from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and senior vice-president Brian Burke to the referees in one of their regularly-scheduled conference calls Feb. 10.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re telling them, &lsquo;Continue the crackdown on all types of obstruction, but especially in front of the net and right off the faceoff alignments,&rsquo;&rdquo; Burke told THN. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to eliminate players locking onto each other right off the faceoff. It&rsquo;s getting like a faceoff is becoming the line of scrimmage. We also want to eliminate players having to run the gauntlet (of interference) when they&rsquo;re trying to forecheck.&rdquo;Beyond that, the three-day session was practically void of any other recommendations for change. The only exception was the tweaking of the rules regarding the use of video replay on goal crease infringement. As it stands now, the video replay official is not permitted to initiate review on any crease calls. Only the referee may do that. The GMs, however, voted to recommend extending those powers to the men in the replay booth.If approved by the board of the governors, the policy would take effect next season.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s for the sake of consistency,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;As an example, there was a game between the Rangers and Dallas earlier this season. A goal was scored with (Ranger) Adam Graves in the crease and, after a review, it was correctly disallowed. Later in the same game, an identical goal, which turned out to be the game-winner, was scored by Dallas, but it never went to review. We want to try to eliminate those inconsistent results.&rdquo;There was some thought that perhaps the GMs wanted to eliminate goal crease infringement as one of the criteria for video review, but they actually went the other way and broadened its scope.&ldquo;Some of the managers aren&rsquo;t happy that goals are disallowed because a player who is not a factor has one foot in the crease,&rdquo; Burke said, &ldquo;but they realize it&rsquo;s the lesser of two evils. It&rsquo;s better than it was when it was open season on the goalies and the crease area. Overall, (the GMs) can live with (some disallowed goals) as long as we&rsquo;re accomplishing what we set out to accomplish.&rdquo;The infringement issue has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of video reviews. There were a total of 257 video reviews for all of last season. Through the first 691 games this season of the 1,066-game schedule (through games of Feb. 6), there were already 253 reviews. Crease infringement accounted for 115 of those. Of the 115 infringement reviews, goals were dis-allowed on 54 occasions.Meanwhile, other rule issues were either shelved for future study-a polite way of forgetting about them-or rejected out of hand.One which is likely to fall into the former category is a crackdown on low hits around the players&rsquo; knees. Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke has been leading the charge on that one, proposing that any hit below the waist result in a penalty. Clarke&rsquo;s colleagues suggest he&rsquo;s worried, and justifiably so, that a low-bridge hitter such as Darius Kasparaitis of the Pittsburgh Penguins, could end or limit the career of Eric Lindros.But if any hit below the waist were to be penalized, it would effectively eliminate the hip check from the game.&ldquo;The (GMs&rsquo; rules) committee will continue to look at that,&rdquo; Burke said.In other words, it&rsquo;s not likely to fly.The committee will also be looking into some (supplementary discipline) standards for infractions such as kneeing and hitting from behind, but there&rsquo;s no reason to believe it will stray from the subjective ruling of Burke.One rule proposal shot down by the GMs was a modification to icing. It was suggested if an errant pass went the length of the ice, it not be whistled for icing. The GMs, however, opted not to make icing a subjective call for the linesmen.In the ongoing debate on officiating, the GMs experienced first-hand how there can be so many divergent viewpoints.The GMs were shown video clips of a number of goals and then asked whether the goal should be counted or disallowed. In a good number of instances, the managers were almost evenly split in their opinions.&ldquo;How do you fix that?&rdquo; an NHL GM said. &ldquo;Everyone viewed the same play a lot of different ways. There&rsquo;s no getting around that.&rdquo;In other business, the NHL has retained Dan Craig of Edmonton as its ice conditions consultant. He&rsquo;s currently on a league tour of buildings to determine specific problems and how best to eliminate them and improve ice quality in the short term. It&rsquo;s a position that was previously held by Doug Moore, who recently passed away.In the long term, Craig, who oversees the best ice in the NHL at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, has been charged with establishing protocol for preparing and maintaining quality ice throughout the entire league. &#9632;

f0012-01

GMs lay off referees

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011505/6805158-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="380" height="532"></div>NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is not the man who should be serving as arbitrator in the multi-million dollar dispute between Mike Keenan and the St. Louis Blues.It should be handled by an independent arbitrator, preferably one with a sports background, but no ties to the NHL. This case is far too important for there to be any element of doubt concerning the motivation of the person deciding it.On one hand you have Keenan, who was fired in the third year of a six-year contract. Sources claim he is owed about $10 million. On the other, you have the Blues, who claim they owe Keenan nothing.The Blues are owned by the powerful Anheuser-Busch Co., which is not only one of Bettman&rsquo;s 26 employers, but also pours millions of dollars of advertising into the league. This is not about Bettman&rsquo;s integrity. There is no reason to believe the commissioner isn&rsquo;t his own man, but there is the dis-tinct possibility of a different perception-if not relality-emerging.As part of the NHL&rsquo;s constitution, Bettman retains exclusive jurisdiction to resolve disputes between teams and team&rsquo;s employees. It&rsquo;s time for a constitutional amendment.Keenan was relieved of his duties as coach-GM of the Blues Dec. 19 and has not received a penny from the organization since. Say what you will about the job he did in St. Louis, the fact is Keenan had a contract with a no-buyout clause.The Blues&rsquo; ownership is stonewalling in an effort to get out of paying Keenan all the money he claims it owes him. The owners claim Keenan breached his contract by doing a poor job as GM. If they win on that stance, then other NHL GMs had better be looking over their shoulders.If Anheuser-Busch can save even a dime through this power play, then it is a victory for the company. Getting out of paying the entire amount would be a bonanza. And if that happens, what is to stop other teams from firing their coaches or GMs for the team&rsquo;s poor performance and refusing to pay them the balance of their contracts?Keenan contends the Blues should honor the financial obligation they made when they signed him to a five-year deal worth more than $10 million in the summer of 1994 and later tacked on another year for an additional million-plus dollars.The Blues knew exactly what they were getting in Keenan. They wanted Keenan, a proven winner, so badly they signed him even though it was unclear if his services were actually available. He had declared himself a free agent, but it wasn&rsquo;t certain if he was legally free from the New York Rangers, whom he had just led to the Stanley Cup.The Blues got exactly what they bargained for-a man who demands a lot from his employees, often intimidating them to the point of distraction, and one who likes to keep people on their toes. His tactics worked with the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Black-hawks and the Rangers, but were not nearly as effective in St. Louis. That said, the Blues got to within one over-time goal of advancing to the Stanley Cup semifinal last season.Had Keenan elected to go through the courts to get his money, it might have taken him years to get it. And he might have gone broke in the mean-time with legal fees. Not to mention the fact he might fear being black-balled in his attempt to secure future employment in the NHL.What the Blues appeared to be hoping was Keenan would accept a settle-ment for much less than the balance of the contract. Instead, Keenan turned to Bettman. He wanted Bettman to intercede on his behalf with the Blues, but not necessarily serve as a binding arbitrator. Bettman will hear the case Feb. 10.Both Keenan and Bettman were contacted and neither would comment on the case.Should Keenan trust Bettman to do the right thing? You would hope so. But then again, Bryan Murray thought he had an open-and-shut case against the Detroit Red Wings after his firing in 1993.Murray&rsquo;s contract with the Wings stipulated he would be paid in full (excluding bonuses) if he were ever fired. When he was let go, the Wings didn&rsquo;t want to pay him all the money he was owed.Bettman stepped in after Murray became GM of the Florida Panthers, and sided with the Wings. Bettman&rsquo;s argument was that he didn&rsquo;t want an NHL employee being paid by two teams. As a result, Murray did not get all the money to which he was entitled.The commissioner used to have the power to resolve certain player-team disputes, but under the current collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, those powers were eliminated. His participation in matters such as the latest Keenan-gate should be also be eliminated. &#9632;

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COLUMNISTS

Bettman wrong man to decide this case

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011595/6805196-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="376" height="534"></div>Paul Revere interpreted the lantern in the Old North Church as history&rsquo;s first warning this would be the year the Boston Bruins finally missed the playoffs. He was taken for a ride and so has been anybody who looked at the Boston roster ever since.For 29 years, Harry Sinden has been tricking us with Ray Malutas and Nevin Markwarts while smoke hovered above the Garden and the Bruins stayed remarkably competitive with a bunch of guys who would look in the mirror. Now, Rob DiMaio appears to be another cheap trick.So you are never going to get me to predict that this, finally, will be the end of the longest post-season appearance string in the history of sports, not even if you threaten to tie me to the wrecking ball that will inevitably crash into the Garden, strapped down with headphones playing Sinden lectures about how everybody in hockey is overpaid after having made me watch video of the Jeff Odgers-Ted Donato-Tim Sweeney line until I screamed.Admittedly, the Bruin team of early-February lacked a few of the necessi-ties, like a goalie who had seen his 20th birthday, a first-line left winger, a first-line right winger, second and third lines and third and fourth defensemen.Otherwise, the Bruins looked their old selves, beating the Rangers 3-2, creeping within two points of eighth place in the Eastern Conference.&ldquo;Making the playoffs should be the motivation,&rdquo; said coach Steve Kasper. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t need any added motivation of the streak.&rdquo;The Bruins have made the playoffs since Lyndon Johnson was president. They made them after Bobby Orr left, after trading Phil Esposito, after Rick Middleton got old and now they won&rsquo;t quit after Cam Neely has broken down, either. The franchise hasn&rsquo;t made a good pick since Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, hasn&rsquo;t spent a dime since Kevin Stevens. But it still has Ray Bourque, hasn&rsquo;t missed yet, and therefore refuses to stop trying.Bourque has become a lonely figure, every year looking more like the knight in the classic Monty Python bit, having his arms and legs cut off one at a time while continuing to hurl insults and refusing to submit.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021206/6805189-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="507" height="759"><figcaption class="caption-body">Harry Sinden</figcaption></div>Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky knew when the jigs were up in Edmonton and Los Angeles and nobody would begrudge Bourque, 36, the wish of relocating to win a Cup before it is over for him. He stays in Boston for no good reason, unless you count simply not wanting to leave.&ldquo;I have a special relationship with a lot of people,&rdquo; Bourque said. &ldquo;Including fans. It&rsquo;s our home and will be our home. You have to take the good with the bad and there has been a lot of good.&ldquo;Obviously, the hockey isn&rsquo;t where we would like it to be, but we&rsquo;re working on that and I&rsquo;m always opti-mistic. I look at things being half-full, not half-empty. I&rsquo;ve gotten to two finals, three more semifinals.&ldquo;I know to win a Cup, I&rsquo;m going to have to get lucky and certain things will have to change a little bit, but I&rsquo;m still enjoying myself. Chris Chelios feels the same way. If I don&rsquo;t win a Cup, I&rsquo;ll still know I gave it all I had.&rdquo; Players have quietly grumbled about Chelios taking less money than he could get as a free agent to stay with a hollowed-out Chicago team. The same things have been said about Bourque&rsquo;s current contract-he&rsquo;s earning $2.5 million this season-and they&rsquo;ll probably be said again when he signs a promised extension to take him through what he says will be his last season, 1998-99. How can a hockey player make a buck when two elite defensemen won&rsquo;t establish market value?Such is the tenor of the times: Few put any value on real values. Bourque will probably be the last Hall of Famer to spend his entire career with one team. He deserves better than what is around him, but has too much grace to complain about it and too much determination to give in to it.This is why the Bruins are still alive. Also, why the speculation in Boston about missing the playoffs potentially being the best thing that could happen to wake up the Jacobs brothers fails to acknowledge that it would be the worst thing that ever happened to Ray Bourque. Nobly, he rages on against the dying of the light. &#9632;

f0014-01

Bourque deserves better than mediocrity

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>Among his myriad other talents, New York Rangers&rsquo; star Brian Leetch has the enviable ability to elude pursuers with a sudden turn of his skate blades and a burst of lateral speed unparal-leled among NHL defensemen.The simple explanation is Leetch does it because he can and because it works. But the move actually may have its roots in something as primal as fear, inspired by the development strategies of his father, Jack, well before Leetch caught the eye of hockey scouts as a high school star at Avon Old Farms in Avon, Conn.&ldquo;(My dad) always used to move me up a division in youth hockey and then let me play my age the next year,&rdquo; Leetch said. &ldquo;Maybe it was just trying to get out of the way.&rdquo;Turning to his side so he can buy time or turn up-ice, like a running back gathering steam, is something Leetch has been doing his whole career. The only difference now is the gap between him and the rest of the field seems to be widening.After a slow start, which Leetch attributes to team-wide struggles rather than any World Cup hangover, Leetch exploded into the scoring lead among NHL defensemen with 16 goals and 60 points in 55 games. In 35 games between Nov. 16 and Feb. 5, he raised his team-leading plusminus from minus-6 to plus-27, and during that time also passed Ron Greschner to become the Rangers&rsquo; all-time leading scorer among defensemen, at 632 points and counting.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the type of player our coaching staff and team hopes will get the puck in our end, skate the length of the ice and score a goal,&rdquo; said Ranger coach Colin Campbell. &ldquo;Not too many players are that good.&rdquo;His main competitors for the title of top defenseman in the world-Chicago Blackhawk Chris Chelios and Boston Bruin Ray Bourque-are each showing signs of wear. Leetch, 29, won&rsquo;t acknowledge it, but he&rsquo;s still light years ahead of the next generation&rsquo;s stars.A Norris Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup behind him, Leetch has grown from his nine years experience. He is finally getting recog-nition for his work in the defensive zone, where goalie Mike Richter says he does as much to contribute to Rang-er success as he does offensively.Leetch said he has been playing the same way in his own zone the past three or four years. Anticipation has always been a strong suit in allowing him to pick off passes and freewheel past trapped forwards, but he has also cut down on the times he has been victimized by paying closer attention to positioning, which he said allows him to compensate for a lack of strength.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned enough about the lea-gue, what I can do and where I should be in my own zone,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and then it&rsquo;s just mentally not relaxing or finding yourself cheating in your own zone or taking shortcuts that would get yourself out of position.&rdquo;For the past five-plus seasons, Leetch has been paired up with Jeff Beukeboom on the blueline, who remembers only two games over that span-through coaches Roger Neilson, Ron Smith, Mike Keenan, and Camp-bell-when they&rsquo;ve been apart.They don&rsquo;t communicate much on the ice because they&rsquo;ve learned to read off each other and because Leetch is by nature a quiet person who prefers to talk through performance.Beukeboom said his partner is un-ique on a Rangers&rsquo; team of full of hockey icons because he&rsquo;s the only one without peer. If Wayne Gretzky or Mark Messier are missing the other can pick up the slack, as can backup goalie Glenn Healy for Richter.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we can say that about Brian,&rdquo; Beukeboom said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s irre-placeable.&rdquo; &#9632;

Mighty Leetch pulls away from Norris contenders

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>The Detroit Red Wings welcomed two rookie defensemen into their lineup in 1991-92. Swede Nicklas Lidstrom, nimble and efficient, slipped in with quiet proficiency. Russian Vladimir Konstantinov barged through the door of every bam he entered, pitchfork in hand ready to poke some NHL bacon.Lidstrom doesn&rsquo;t recall the specific confrontations Konstantinov jabbed his way into that first season, only that there were a lot of them.More than today, in fact, which is understandable if you put yourself in his opponents&rsquo; position. They didn&rsquo;t take kindly to a 5-foot-11, 190-pound chopping block appearing out of nowhere, pelting them with jabs and ravaging their bodies in the trenches. It wasn&rsquo;t necessarily the intensity or duration of Konstantinov&rsquo;s pursuits that made them so mad, it was that they didn&rsquo;t know it was coming-from a rookie, no less. Konstantinov&rsquo;s 172 penalty minutes that year are easily the highest total of his career.Five years later, many forwards realize the only way to defend against a the kind of storm Konstantinov stirs up is to be ready in advance. They prepare by being very careful about venturing into situations in which he is likely to strike.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if they&rsquo;re scared,&rdquo; Lidstrom said, &ldquo;but I think he gets a lot of respect for the way he&rsquo;s playing.&rdquo;Konstantinov, according to St. Louis Blues&rsquo; left winger Geoff Courtnall, is the worst of a half dozen defensemen in the league whose hallmarks include playing possum when the puck squirts loose or is shot into their comer. They let attacking forwards churn past them in order to line them up from behind when they reach the boards.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s well known around the league that you&rsquo;ve got to be careful around these guys,&rdquo; Courtnall said. &ldquo;He is a dangerous guy to play against.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s one of the reasons Konstantinov, 29, was on track to become the first player since Wayne Gretzky in 1984-85 and &rsquo;85-86 to lead the league in plus-minus in consecutive seasons. He was plus-60 last year and led with plus-32 this year after 49 games, even though he had just two goals and 19 points.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s in your face,&rdquo; said Wings&rsquo; assistant GM Ken Holland, &ldquo;and because of that we don&rsquo;t spend too much time in our own end when he&rsquo;s on the ice.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011381/6805251-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="956" height="1945"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vlad Konstantinov has Arnold Schwarzeneger status in Detroit. (Photo by Claus Andersen/BBS)</figcaption></div>Konstantinov is extremely proud of the game-in, game-out nastiness.&ldquo;Of course every player wants to win a major award. I want to win plus-minus,&rdquo; Konstantinov said. &ldquo;When I step on the ice I try to do my job. About motivation, I cannot explain it, I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;Konstantinov has earned great popularity in the Wings&rsquo; dressing room and in Detroit for his robust style. At Joe Louis Arena they call him The Vladinator or Vlad the Impaler. During play stoppages the scoreboard alternates sequences of his top hits with clips of Arnold Schwarzeneger shooting up assorted lowlife. The package is capped off by Konstantinov wearing dark glasses, boasting with a heavy Russian accent: &ldquo;Hosta la vista, Baby.&rdquo;Konstantinov bade farewell to the mother country two years after the Wings drafted him 221st overall in 1989, out of Central Red Army, on the advice of then-Wings&rsquo; scout Christer Rockstrom. Current Detroit defenseman Slava Fetisov was the stalwart of the Red Army, the revered No. 1 star to Konstantinov&rsquo;s second-tier status. Today their roles are reversed.In late January, Wings&rsquo; coach Scott Bowman put Konstantinov and Lid-strom together with the nightly assignment of matching up against other teams&rsquo; top lines to reduce Detroit&rsquo;s goals-against.If the pair stays together and keeps its role, it may pose a challenge to Konstantinov&rsquo;s plus-minus reign. He was well aware of being stuck on plus-30 for the first few games in the new role&hellip;and he wasn&rsquo;t particularly happy about it.The only sure thing is Konstantinov will continue to antagonize anyone who comes his way. In their 5-1/2 years together, Lidstrom remembers seeing Konstantinov wobbly after a counterattack only once-this season in Philadelphia Jan. 25, when Flyers&rsquo; center Eric Lindros, frustrated at facing Konstantinov every shift for the second time in four nights, charged at him from across the ice and bounced his head off the glass. Konstantinov was effectively through for the night, but Lindros was held to one point over the two games.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s my job, to get best players off their game, just don&rsquo;t let them score goals,&rdquo; Konstantinov said while acknowledging Lindros&rsquo; hit left him groggy.&ldquo;If he didn&rsquo;t score the goals, he didn&rsquo;t get points. If he didn&rsquo;t get points, I start to feel better.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-01

Earning danger pay

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011237/6805289-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="381" height="534"></div>It isn&rsquo;t easy being Todd Bertuzzi these days, mostly because he was told to be somebody else.Management wanted him to be Clark Gillies, a courageous New York Islanders&rsquo; legend with Paul Bun-yanesque dimensions, 319 lifetime goals and the highest I.Q. (Intimidation Quotient) in club history.Todd Bertuzzi simply wanted to be Todd Bertuzzi, a 22-year-old right winger earning a $1.1 million-a-year and doing about as much intimidating as a newt. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not Clark Gillies,&rdquo; protested the 6-foot-3, 224-pound Bertuzzi, &ldquo;and I never will be.&rdquo;Still, the Isles had reason to hope. Bertuzzi had 18 goals and 39 points last season in 76 rookie games during which he his performances fluctuated between inspiring and flat.Unfortunately, there were more lifeless outings to start 1996-97 than management could stomach and the 1993 first round pick (23d overall) was exiled to Utah of the International League amid fears he was the second coming of Dave Chyzowski.Nobody is quite sure who Todd Bertuzzi will be in the months and years to come. The whisper is he&rsquo;s too short on courage and too long on laziness yet his IHL coach, Butch Goring, disputes the rap.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Bertuzzi is soft at all,&rdquo; Goring said, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s not a mean person.&rdquo;Critics claim Bertuzzi marauded through junior more because of size than courage. In his second NHL season, he hit an iron wall while management tried a variety of remedies. GM Mike Milbury went so far as to invite Gillies on ice during practice with Bertuzzi. The experiment failed.&ldquo;We thought it was worth a try,&rdquo; said new head coach Rick Bowness, &ldquo;and it seemed like a good idea.&rdquo;It was-to everyone but the victim. Bertuzzi clearly resented the comparison almost as much as he loathed his four-week deportation to Utah.&ldquo;Reality kicks in down there,&rdquo; Bertuzzi said. &ldquo;But good things happened. Butchie is an unbelievable coach and said he would make me a complete player.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02934/6805282-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="515" height="878"><figcaption class="caption-body">Todd Bertuzzi</figcaption></div>Upon his return to Long Island, Bertuzzi had a clear-the-air meeting with Milbury, who had relinquished his coaching duties while Bertuzzi was in the IHL. While Bertuzzi wouldn&rsquo;t say as much, his eyes clearly revealed relief the less intimidating Bowness is now telling him what to do.&ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s just a different atmo-sphere around here,&rdquo; Bertuzzi said. &ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m more relaxed and more positive. I&rsquo;m riding this wave right now and my feelings have totally changed.&rdquo;The same cannot be said for his arithmetic. Bertuzzi&rsquo;s numbers were less than arresting, (two goals, seven points, 35 games), but his on-ice deportment hints a breakout is possible. To that end, Bowness arranged a creative challenge for his pupil.Explained Bowness: &ldquo;Bert will get more goals if he stops in front of the net. I made a deal with him; if he goes to the net, it&rsquo;s a buck but if he stops, it&rsquo;s two bucks.&rdquo;The gimmick wore itself out in a week during which Bertuzzi betrayed signs of awakening. He scored against the Calgary Flames to ignite a rally and a goalpost almost salvaged a game in Edmonton. However, during a fight-filled match in New Jersey, Bertuzzi was conspicuously inconspicuous.&ldquo;Todd is not a fighter and never has been,&rdquo; Bowness said. &ldquo;Yet he can be physical. All we want is for him to finish his checks and use his size.&rdquo; Win-starved Islanders&rsquo; fans want more goals, more hits and anything but another Chyzowski. What they&rsquo;ll get will be determined by Bertuzzi&rsquo;s motivation. It might also help if he learned to loosen up while staying focused at the same time.&ldquo;Before, I was holding my stick like it was a time bomb,&rdquo; Bertuzzi said. &ldquo;Now I don&rsquo;t let anything bother me anymore. It&rsquo;s just a matter of time before I get going again.&rdquo;The best thing, for starters, would be to leave Gillies out of the equation.&ldquo;Todd is willing to get involved,&rdquo; Goring concludes, &ldquo;but to say he&rsquo;s another (Gillies) is way out of line.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-01

Bertuzzi not looking to be Gillies or Chyzowski

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>Most of the callers to the weekly Matthew Barnaby Show this night are teenage girls phoning in to say how cute the host is and how much they love him.&ldquo;You remember me,&rdquo; one girl says with a giggle. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the one who waved at you as you went off the ice the other night.&rdquo;Bam Bam Barnaby, as he is referred to on the show, politely responds, &ldquo;Oh, that was you?&rdquo;Barnaby loves doing the radio show. Who cares if most of the callers are young and aren&rsquo;t calling to talk about the state of the game, salaries and ice conditions?The hour is sliding by smoothly until Mr. Negative calls in. The tone of the show takes a distinct turn.&ldquo;You guys are a one-man team and you&rsquo;re going to get pounded 7-2 in Philadelphia tomorrow,&rdquo; the caller taunts.Barnaby is stunned. Hey, this is supposed to be a fun show where real Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; fans phone in for a little fun-time chat. But now he has been cornered. How dare this guy slam his team-the NHL&rsquo;s most pleasant surprise this season.Barnaby reacts the same way he does in a game-he drops the gloves.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a one-man team, are we?&rdquo; Barnaby fires back. &ldquo;Well if all you see is Dominik Hasek, then you aren&rsquo;t looking very closely. We&rsquo;re anything but a one-man team. No team in the league has pulled together like we have. You don&rsquo;t know what the heck you&rsquo;re talking about.&rdquo;Take that, you naysayer.The Sabres have epitomized team play this season and Barnaby totally embodies that concept. That&rsquo;s one reason why he&rsquo;s so popular in this working class city and can be heard on WGR 55 every Monday night.But when the season started, Barn-aby was watching from the sidelines. Embroiled in a contract dispute, he elected not to attend training camp and missed the first seven games.It pained Barnaby to watch his teammates in action, but no more than it hurt the Sabres to play without him. Buffalo lost four of its first five games and went 3-4-0.&ldquo;I remember sitting around with the players in Edmonton and all we talked about was how much we missed Matt&rsquo;s spirit and leadership,&rdquo; said Sabres&rsquo; coach Ted Nolan. &ldquo;The guys couldn&rsquo;t wait for him to get back. He seems to rally the other players. He gets them pumped.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011270/6805320-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="894" height="2079"><figcaption class="caption-body">Matthew Barnaby should set career highs in goals and points. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>Barnaby finally signed a three-year contract worth $1.9 million and the Sabres had their inspiration back.If Nolan and the rest of the Sabres were glad to have Barnaby back in the fold, the rest of the league wasn&rsquo;tWith a medium build at 6-feet, 180-pounds, Barnaby can be a maximum pain in the neck to opponents. He led the NHL in penalty minutes last season with 335 and while he is picking his spots a little better this year, he can still cause a ruckus. He had 12 fighting majors-among the league leaders in that category-and led the Sabres with 189 PIM in 46 games.After scoring the insurance goal in a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars Jan. 31, Barnaby dropped to one knee and pumped his right arm repeatedly, as if he had just scored the Stanley Cup winning goal. It was a little much for the Stars to stomach so Dallas center Todd Harvey took the next opportunity to deliver a vicious elbow to Barnaby&rsquo;s head. Harvey received a two-game suspension.After the game, Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock trashed Barnaby, calling him a nobody.&ldquo;(Hitchcock) sure has a lot to say for somebody who has only been in the league for a year,&rdquo; Barnaby said. &ldquo;I may go a little over the top sometimes, but I&rsquo;m not going to change. I do what I do to get my team going.&rdquo;When the Sabres lost superstar center Pat LaFontaine early in the season, the team had to find a way to score. One way was for role players such as Barnaby and Rob Ray to keep their emotions in check and use their ability to do more than disturb.Both players responded favorably. While Ray will never be mistaken for a sniper, Barnaby has used his strong skating ability and penchant for holding onto the puck to put up good numbers. His 12 goals was fifth-highest on the team and he was tied for fourth in team scoring with 29 points. Even with the games he missed at the start, Barnaby was on pace for xx goals and xx points-both career highs.Playing physically, trying to throw opponents off their game, is still a big part of Barnaby&rsquo;s game. That will never change. He&rsquo;s always on the lookout to protect his teammates. But there are subtle differences. &ldquo;Fighting is no longer my No. 1 job,&rdquo; Barnaby said. &ldquo;I go out each shift thinking about scoring goals and setting up plays. That has been the biggest change. If something happens, I&rsquo;ll react to it.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0018-01

Bam Bam Barnaby

<div class="byline">By Elliott Teaford</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02845/6805351-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="310" height="412"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jari Kurri</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011172/6805358-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="160" height="159"></div>Jari Kurri says he isn&rsquo;t through just yet.The 36-year-old veteran would like to return to play one more season in the NHL before he will think about retirement.Certainly, a spot in the Hall of Fame is being readied for Kurri. But he ad-mits this season is a pivotal one for him in terms of his future.With only eight goals this season, Kurri was having the least productive season in his lengthy career. He re-mains a fine defensive player, but the Ducks needs goals from him.Kurri, who completed last season as a member of the New York Rangers, signed a one-year contract worth $1.5 million with the idea he would center a line with offensive stars Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne on the wings.But that union never materialized. Instead, Steve Rucchin has centered the Ducks&rsquo; top line and Kurri has most often been teamed with grinders Brian Bellows and Kevin Todd.The Ducks have an option to renew Kurri&rsquo;s contract for next season, but at this point it&rsquo;s doubtful they will. Low production and a comparatively high salary are the biggest factors.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to get more involved in the scoring,&rdquo; Kurri said. &ldquo;I think things are changing. It&rsquo;s a long year. There are ups and downs. There was a time when I lost my motivation. It wasn&rsquo;t there.&rdquo;He was speaking of the early part of this season when he was distracted by his father&rsquo;s open-heart surgery back home in Finland. The Ducks&rsquo; 1-9-2 October record also troubled Kurri.&ldquo;When you lose that sense of fun, it&rsquo;s time to sit back and analyze it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This year is a big test that way. Right now, I&rsquo;d like to play one more year.&rdquo;Kurri&rsquo;s scoring hasn&rsquo;t picked up, however. His last goal was Jan. 22 against the New Jersey Devils and his last assist was Dec. 30 against the Ottawa Senators. This from a player who led the NHL in goals in 1985-86 with 68, one year after he scored a career high 71. Kurri&rsquo;s last decent productive season was 1993-94 when he scored 31 in 81 games with the Los Angeles Kings.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not looking at Jari to score 70 goals,&rdquo; said Anaheim coach Ron Wilson. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s doing a good job as a leader in the dressing room and that&rsquo;s a big contribution.&rdquo;Kurri kidded Todd recently. &ldquo;Twenty games,&rdquo; Kurri said, reminding Todd of a lengthy streak without a goal that would reach 24 games by Feb. 5.Todd fired back: &ldquo;Eight goals this season. And what do you have? Eight. Same as me.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goaltender Guy Hebert&rsquo;s franchiserecord streak of 19 consecutive starts in goal ended when backup Mikhail Shtalenkov started against the Islanders Feb. 4. &ldquo;I had a nice stretch there, but it&rsquo;s important to have that day of rest,&rdquo; said Hebert, who was back in net Feb. 5 against Toronto. After another one of his patented slow starts, Hebert was 10th in the league among goalies who have played 10 or more games with a 91.5 save percentage&hellip;When the Mighty Ducks lost 4-2 to Toronto Feb. 5, it marked their first defeat when left winger Paul Kariya and right winger Teemu Selanne each recorded goals. The Ducks were 9-0-0 in games when both players scored, including 60-0 this season, since acquiring Selanne from Winnipeg last Feb. 7&hellip;With a goal against Toronto, Ducks&rsquo; captain Kariya extended his goal-scoring streak to four games. He was on a 15-goals-in-15-games tear that included two hat tricks&hellip;The Ducks reached the 20-win mark in 50 games, fastest in franchise history. &#9632;

f0019-02

Goal-starved veteran Kurri looks to play one more season in NHL

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04436/6805389-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="308" height="411"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Ranford</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03560/6805396-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="162" height="161"></div>It&rsquo;s a stretch that would make any team cringe and one the Boston Bruins have complained about since their schedule was released last summer.But after losing the first two games of a three-game homestand in the first week of February, a month on the road never looked so good.Boston fell to 10-16-5 at FleetCenter-two more home losses than all of last season (22-14-5)-after dropping key Eastern Conference contests to the Ottawa Senators and Hartford Whalers. That left the Bruins with just one more home game to endure before playing 12 of their next 14 on the road.Overall, Boston was scheduled to play 19 of its final 28 games on the road, where it was 10-11-1 before leaving town.&ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s good that we&rsquo;re going on the road for pretty much the rest of the season,&rdquo; said center Trent McCleary. &ldquo;We play well there. We can surprise teams, the way Ottawa and Hartford surprised us here.&rdquo;The Senators (Feb. 4) and Whalers (Feb. 6) both won at FleetCenter on the strength of third-period power play goals that broke tie games. Those losses left the Bruins with a 2-7-1 record against the Northeast Division at FleetCenter, where they&rsquo;d failed to beat Hartford (0-2-1), Ottawa (0-2-0) or the Buffalo Sabres (0-2-0) this season.First on Boston&rsquo;s agenda was a seven-game road trip, with five games against Western Conference foes before back-to-back games at Buffalo (Feb. 23) and the Washington Capitals (Feb. 24).&ldquo;There haven&rsquo;t been too many times since I&rsquo;ve been here when this trip has been such a huge one,&rdquo; said captain Ray Bourque, who was staring at the possibility of missing the playoffs for the first time in his 18-year career. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to come out of that trip over .500 and at least not lose any ground.&ldquo;Last year we did that, then came back and put a really good run together. This year, that&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s going to take as well.&rdquo;The last time the Bruins missed the playoffs was 1966-67, Bobby Orr&rsquo;s first year in the NHL.As much as the Bruins profess to like their chances on the road, right winger Rick Tocchet warned that even the best trip won&rsquo;t help if Boston can&rsquo;t improve over the last quarter of its home schedule.&ldquo;I think we play better on the road than at home, which is good the way our schedule works,&rdquo; Tocchet said. &ldquo;But sooner or later, we&rsquo;ve got to put together a streak at home. It&rsquo;s hard to get anywhere in this league if you don&rsquo;t win your home games.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Bruins&rsquo; president-GM Harry Sin-den&rsquo;s reacted to a story in the Feb. 14 edition of The Hockey News, in which center Adam Oates said: &ldquo;If I get traded, I want a raise before I&rsquo;ll play for another team.&rdquo; &ldquo;I wish he hadn&rsquo;t said it,&rdquo; Sinden said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not what players should be (discussing). Fortunately, I&rsquo;m not trying to trade Adam Oates.&rdquo;&hellip;The Bruins honored defenseman Ray Bourque for becoming the club&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer before their Feb. 4 game against Ottawa at FleetCenter. A golf cart was among the items Bourque received. Next on Bourque&rsquo;s agenda is 1,000 assists. He had 991 through Feb. 6&hellip;Goalie Bill Ranford, who hoped to return to action during Boston&rsquo;s seven-game road trip (Feb. 11-24), said he may need off-season surgery to remove a cyst that caused nerve damage in his left shoulder&hellip;Right winger Steve Heinze, out since a Dec. 17 check by Pittsburgh defenseman Darius Kasparaitis left him with knee, hip and groin injuries, said he&rsquo;d have season-ending surgery if he doesn&rsquo;t return by March. &#9632;

f0019-04

Suddenly long road trip doesn’t look so bad for slumping Bruins

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011057/6805427-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="161" height="157"></div>Dominik Hasek continues on a path that could win him the Vezina Trophy and maybe even convince some people he is a Hart Trophy candidate this year.No goalie has won the Hart-voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association to the player judged to be most valuable to his team-since Jacques Plante did it in 1962, but Hasek has positioned himself to at least make an argument for goalies in the 1990s.In his past five starts through Feb. 6, Hasek allowed just six goals. He let in the first shot in a 1-1 tie Feb. 6 with the Florida Panthers then made 32 straight saves. He was 1:55 away from shutting out the Philadelphia Flyers in the CoreStates Arena Feb. 4 when a shot went in off Joel Otto&rsquo;s skate while Otto was falling to the ice.He played the Washington Capitals to a 2-2 tie and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Dallas Stars by 3-1 scores. Had Hasek been able to gain the shutout in any of those one-goal games, it would have been his sixth of the season. He was selected player of the week for the period ending Feb. 2 for a three-game stretch in which he posted a 1.30 goals-against average.Most importantly, he was in net for all but one of the Sabres&rsquo; victories or ties this season.Except for five-goals allowed in a an uncharacteristic performance by Hasek and the team Jan. 25 against the Hartford Whalers, Hasek hadn&rsquo;t allowed more than three goals in his previous 11 starts.On a team minus superstar center Pat LaFontaine and containing mostly grinders, Hasek&rsquo;s nightly heroics had pushed the Sabres into fourth place in the Eastern Conference.His GAA of 2.42 ranked 13th among goaltenders who had played a minimum 660 minutes. His save percentage of 92.5 ranked third.&ldquo;We score three goals and we know we&rsquo;re going to win,&rdquo; said teammate Alexei Zhitnik. &ldquo;It gives you a lot of confidence.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Dominik Hasek is beloved by his teammates, but he further endeared himself to them when he came to the aid of tough guy Rob Ray in the game at Philadelphia. Flyers&rsquo; goalie Garth Snow left his crease and was getting a few uncontested licks in on Ray, who was tied up with Michel Petit. Hasek came from across the ice to aid Ray. &ldquo;It was great to see him do that, but I was getting a little worried,&rdquo; Ray said. &lsquo;This guy is our bread and butter and you certainly don&rsquo;t want to see him get hurt in something like that.&rdquo;&hellip;Left winger Vaclav Varada, up from Rochester of the American League to replace injured left winger Randy Burridge, broke his left hand in two places. &#9632;

f0020-01

Hot Hasek continues bid for Hart

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02705/6805458-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="161" height="159"></div>For the better part of two years, the Calgary Flames&rsquo; goaltending rotation was pretty much cast in stone. You&rsquo;d play until you lost a game and then coach Pierre Page would make a switch.As a system, it didn&rsquo;t feature much flexibility, but it was hard to argue with the results. Both Trevor Kidd and Rick Tabaracci, for much of that time, post-ed excellent numbers.Tabaracci isn&rsquo;t with the Flames any-more and after watching Kidd flounder through much of November and December, Page decided to change the system. He designated Kidd as his No. 1 goalie and stuck with him through January and the early part of February.Kidd was getting consecutive starts, even after losses. The strategy worked particularly well in a 3-0 shutout win over the Vancouver Canucks Feb. 1. Kidd noted: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s probably the second time in two years (Page) has done it. It&rsquo;s a real confidence booster for me.&rdquo;Kidd&rsquo;s improved play also coincided with the appearance of Glenn Hall, theHall of Fame netminder-and until his retirement two summers ago, the Flames&rsquo; goaltending consultant. Kidd sent Hall half-a-dozen tapes of his January games and asked him to break them down.&ldquo;We just went over a few different things,&rdquo; Kidd said. &ldquo;He made one technical adjustment-he said I was putting the paddle of my goal stick down too soon, the way (San Jose Sharks&rsquo; goalie) Eddie Belfour does.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: An ongoing problem for the Flames was their inability to score goals. As of Feb. 7, they were tied with New Jersey for last in the league with 133 goals, but the Devils had played fewer games. &lsquo;There isn&rsquo;t an individual who can carry this team and win,&rdquo; said right winger Theoren Fleury, who scored the 300th of his career against Los Angeles. Feb. 3. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a group thing&rdquo;&hellip;Center Dave Gagner is poised to become an unrestricted free agent this summer if the Flames cannot sign him to a new contract and he admits the matter &ldquo;creeps into your mind every once in a while.&rdquo; His focus is on the playoffs because &ldquo;every player in the league gets judged on whether his team gets to the playoffs-and how they do once they get there.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0020-02

Page Kidds around with new goaltending format

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04299/6805489-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="575" height="892"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pierre Lacroix</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03475/6805496-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="160" height="157"></div>In two years, Pierre Lacroix has built the Colorado Avalanche into a Stanley Cup champion and secured the future of the team with loads of high draft picks.But Lacroix was not selected as one of the three NHL GMs to run Team Canada for the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan.Lacroix isn&rsquo;t as upset at being left off the committee as he is over what he feels was a lack of respect given him by CHA president Murray Costello.Lacroix said Costello called him to find out if he was interested in one of the jobs, but never called back for either an interview or to tell him the CHA would not select him.Lacroix was passed over for Bob Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers, Bob Gainey of the Dallas Stars and Pierre Gauthier of the Ottawa Senators.&ldquo;I have no problem with any of the people who were selected; they&rsquo;re all excellent people,&rdquo; Lacroix said, &ldquo;but the process of how (the CHA) dealt with me was amateur. I&rsquo;m used to dealing with NHL people, where things are done a certain way. I guess I know now why the CHA used to be called the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.&rdquo;Costello said it was Lacroix who approached him about the Olympic team job, but he admitted he didn&rsquo;t return Lacroix&rsquo;s call until after the GMs were selected.&ldquo;Things were moving very quickly as the deadline approached and I had no chance to call him until afterward,&rdquo; Costello said, &ldquo;For that I was remiss and I apologize.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: In the Avalanche&rsquo;s 5-2 win over Anaheim Feb. 2, two players set career-highs for goals scored. Right winger Adam Deadmarsh scored his team-leading 22nd and left winger Keith Jones&rsquo; 19th beat his previous best of 18 with Washington last year. Goalie Patrick Roy&rsquo;s victory was his 336th, which moved him past Gump Worsley for seventh on the all-time list&hellip;Negotiations for the proposed Pepsi Center Arena continued in secret. Ascent Entertainment Group CEO and Avs&rsquo; Governor Charlie Lyons met with Denver mayor Wellington Webb, but still no deal has been reached to build the long-delayed arena. Coach Marc Crawford said McNichols Sports Arena, the Avalanche&rsquo;s current home, is the worst building in the NHL. &#9632;

f0020-04

GM snubbed for Games

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05164/6805527-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="161" height="156"></div>Jeff Hackett&rsquo;s life changed when the Chicago Blackhawks traded Ed Belfour to the San Jose Sharks.Welcome to the pressures of being a No. 1 goaltender.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;m going to have to grow into, both the confidence and consistency parts of my game,&rdquo; said the 28-year-old Hackett. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be an adjustment for me.&rdquo;Hackett has never considered him-self a No. 1 goaltender in the NHL, despite playing in 42 games for the San Jose Sharks one year.&ldquo;But it felt like 60,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Maybe 70.&rdquo;Hackett went 13-57-2 playing behind some miserable Sharks&rsquo; teams. He struggled for two years with the Hawks putting his game back together. Last year he went 18-11-4 with a 2.40 goals-against average and planted the seed perhaps Belfour could be traded since Hackett looked like he could carry the workload.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a lot better goalie now than when I first got here,&rdquo; Hackett said. &ldquo;I was lucky to have Eddie around to learn from. But having Vladie (goalie coach Vladislav Tretiak) around is probably the biggest reason. It&rsquo;s a tremendous support system with him and he&rsquo;s an excellent teacher.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt in coach Craig Hartsburg&rsquo;s mind Hackett is ready for prime time.&ldquo;My definition of a No. 1 goaltender is he has to be able to win games all by himself, and Hack can do that,&rdquo; Hartsburg said.&ldquo;Everybody has to be given that No. 1 opportunity at some point. I&rsquo;m sure a lot of people questioned Eddie Belfour when he was given the No. 1 job, too.&rdquo;Hackett&rsquo;s teammates are fully behind him as well.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re confident with him in net,&rdquo; said captain Chris Chelios. &ldquo;You win as a team and you lose as a team, but you feed off a goalie more than any position. Hack has proven he can play&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Ulf Dahlen had a goal in each of his first three games with the Hawks, two of them game winners&hellip;Goalie Chris Terreri made 38 saves in his Hawks&rsquo; debut, a 4-2 victory over his former Sharks&rsquo; teammates Feb. 3 in San Jose.. Left winger Tony Amonte. a restricted free agent this summer, said he wants to stay in Chicago, especially after seeing what happened to center Jeremy Roenick and goalie Ed Belfour. who were traded from the Hawks for financial reasons. Amonte, who reportedly is seeking in the neighborhood of $3 million a season, insists Roenick, his best buddy, wishes he was still a Hawk. &ldquo;Deep down, I think he misses it,&rdquo; Amonte said. &ldquo;Money does not buy happiness.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0020-05

Hackett out to prove he can hack it

<div class="byline">By Mike Heike</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02454/6805558-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="313" height="413"><figcaption class="caption-body">Arturs Irbe</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01826/6805565-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="162" height="159"></div>In the end, it took a young Turek to inspire an older Irbe to greater heights.By the time Arturs Irbe celebrated his 30th birthday Feb. 2, he had cemented the backup spot for the Dallas Stars behind No. 1 man Andy Moog.But it was the spectre of 26-year-old rookie Roman Turek that Irbe claims applied enough pressure to make him begin to play better after a terrible start.&ldquo;That was probably best thing for me,&rdquo; Irbe said. &ldquo;Roman pushed me a lot and I think he pushed Andy, too. And there were things said in the newspapers that I didn&rsquo;t like at the time, but that also pushed me. That has helped me get to this point.&rdquo;The Stars were operating under a three-goaltender system prior to the all-star break and Turek was playing very well in his first NHL stint. He had compiled a 3-1-0 record with a 2.22 goals-against average and 92.6 save percentage.Meanwhile, Irbe was struggling with a 4-6-1 record and a GAA that was a goal above the Stars&rsquo; team average of 2.43.But after the all-star break, Stars&rsquo; coach Ken Hitchcock decided to return Turek to the Stars&rsquo; affiliate, the Michigan K-Wings of the International League and told the former No. 1 man Irbe he would split time with Moog the rest of the season.As a result, Hitchcock was beginning to look like something of a genius. Irbe flew out of the break with a 3-1-0 record and a 1.75 GAA in that span. He even chalked up his first shutout since April 28, 1995-a 4-0 win over the Tampa BayLightning that featured 28 saves and had him scooping up a souvenir puck for the first time in a good while.Overall, Irbe was 7-8-1 with a 3.08 GAA and 88.5 save percentage.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s say Turek had come in and not played well,&rdquo; Hitchcock said of the organization&rsquo;s move to demote Turek to the minors. &ldquo;Then we need Archie, but how do we get him back if he has been sitting?&rdquo;Irbe&rsquo;s play was breeding confidence in his coaches and teammates. A large reason for that was being able to over-come the annoying tendency to give up a soft goal early in the game-something that tended to drag down the entire team.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s doing a great job of jumping right in and we&rsquo;ve been fortunate to get the lead for him,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;Now when we&rsquo;re playing with the lead, we play a completely different game in front of him.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Stars posted their 30th win in only the 53rd game of the season-a franchise record. The old mark was 57 games in 1994-95&hellip;In eight games after the all-star break, the Stars&rsquo; once dormant power play hit on eight of 29 chances and the team averaged 3.88 goals per game&hellip;Right winger Todd Harvey was suspended two games for a &ldquo;flagrant elbow&rdquo; to the chin of Buffalo right winger Matthew Barnaby in a 3-1 loss to the Sabres Jan. 31&hellip;Right winger Jere Lehtinen was originally expected to be out for a month with a strained medial collateral ligament in his right knee, suffered in a 3-1 loss to Buffalo Jan. 31, but later was expected to miss just five games. That means he should be back for the Stars&rsquo; Feb. 12 game against Phoenix&hellip;Veteran center Neal Broten scored two goals in his first four games back with Dallas. They were just his first two goals of this season in 26 games. The first 22 games were spent with New Jersey and Los Angeles. &#9632;

f0021-02

Irbe rewards coach’s confidence with stellar play in backup role

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01849/6805634-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="162" height="159"></div>Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; owner Peter Pocklington is carving up his sports and entertainment empire in order to pay off a whopping debt to the Alberta Treasury Branch.Pocklington will go public in the spring, offering up a portion of the Oilers, Triple A Trappers baseball team, Drillers indoor soccer club, Hamilton Bulldogs of the American League and Coliseum Management Inc., the company he formed to run the Coliseum.The ATB is just as anxious to have Pocklington pay down his debt as he is to get rid of it.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a mutual situation,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like having debt hanging around my neck.&rdquo;Pocklington hopes to raise $40-$50 million with the initial offering and the stocks should come on the market at a price between $5 and $10. Pocklington will retain control of about 55 per cent of the companies.&ldquo;This will not be Peter Pocklington&rsquo;s company,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In every sense it will be the shareholders&rsquo; company.&rdquo;Pocklington gave conflicting answers when asked if the move is necessary to keep the Oilers in Edmonton.&ldquo;One of the things this will do is cement the team in place in a small market,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It will give the team, obviously, a chance to stay in Edmonton.&rdquo;Yet he said the stock offering wasn&rsquo;t necessary to keep the Oilers in the city. He added the team would rack up a profit in the range of $4 million to $5 million this season.NOTEBOOK: The Oilers&rsquo; winning streak reached a season-high five games following a 5-2 win over Calgary Feb. 5&hellip;Right winger Mariusz Czerkawski broke a 17-game goal-less drought with his 14th of the season against the Flames&hellip;Who would have known a Russian Tank could move so fast? Right winger Andrei (Tank) Kovalenko was stopped for speeding on an Edmonton freeway recently. He was allegedly doing 160 kilometres per hour in an 80 km/h zone&hellip;Goalie Curtis Joseph&rsquo;s 1-0 shutout of the Islanders Jan. 31 was his sixth this season and tied him with Colorado&rsquo;s Patrick Roy for the NHL lead. Bob Essensa also has a shutout for the Oilers, whose previous single-season record was five. &#9632;

f0023-01

Oiler shares going public to pay Pocklington debt

<div class="byline">By Dave Joseph</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03375/6805665-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="576" height="895"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Sheppard</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02540/6805672-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="161" height="158"></div>Did the punishment fit the crime? Veteran right winger Ray Sheppard and the Florida Panthers don&rsquo;t think so.Sheppard, the Panthers&rsquo; leading goal-scorer, was knocked out of action for up to six weeks Feb. 1 when he was kneed by the Washington Capitals&rsquo; Peter Bondra and suffered an anterior cruciate ligament sprain.Sheppard&rsquo;s sprain is the fourth such injury for the Panthers this season. Earlier this season they lost forwards Rob Niedermayer and Johan Garpenlov and defenseman Ed Jovanovski to similar knee injuries.GM Bryan Murray was so incensed over Bondra&rsquo;s actions that, while talking with officials in a hallway after the game, he lashed out at the Capitals&rsquo; forward as he walked by.&ldquo;You stuck your knee out,&rdquo; Murray told Bondra. &ldquo;You meant to hurt him.&rdquo;Coach Doug MacLean called it &ldquo;another cheap hit. It&rsquo;s a joke.&rdquo;Bondra said he didn&rsquo;t mean to inflict injury, but NHL vice-president Brian Burke fined Bondra $1,000 and sat him out one game.But according to Sheppard, the punishment was light.&ldquo;The only thing I can say is I saw the tape, I saw the play from different angles, and he stuck his knee out,&rdquo; Sheppard said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying Peter Bondra is that type of player. But everyone, regardless, has to be more responsible for their actions. I&rsquo;m going to miss four-to-six weeks and he&rsquo;s going to miss a game and get fined $1,000? That&rsquo;s nothing to Peter Bondra.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Mike Hough was in no mood to celebrate Feb. 6. Hough, playing in his 600th NHL game and celebrating his 34th birthday, sprained his right knee when he ran into Sabres&rsquo; right winger Donald Audette and was expected to be out until late-February&hellip;The Panthers, who did not retaliate in January when defenseman Ed Jovanovski was kneed or goalie Mark Fitzpatrick was run over, did not go after Washington right winger Peter Bondra after his kneeing of right winger Ray Sheppard. Once again, GM Bryan Murray and coach Doug MacLean were asked if the team was tough enough. &ldquo;Sticking up for teammates is an issue,&rdquo; MacLean said. &ldquo;Sticking up for teammates isn&rsquo;t an issue of toughness. To me, sticking up for teammates is team play.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0023-03

Knee knock sparks fury

<div class="byline">By Michael Arace</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01933/6805703-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="161" height="159"></div>The Hartford Whalers&rsquo; fall from grace landed them in the playoff race rather than the race for first place in their division.The Whalers were 14-7-6 in midDecember. They had eight-game (4-04) unbeaten streak on the road. It was their high mark of legitimacy.Then the wheels fell off and they proceeded to go 1-12-0 in their next 13 road games. Mentally weakened and injury-riddled, they fell from first place in the Northeast Division to ninth place in the Eastern Conference in six weeks.What happened?&ldquo;We got into a tough schedule, we had a lot of injuries and we&rsquo;ve had to ease up on (the players),&rdquo; said Whalers&rsquo; coach Paul Maurice.&ldquo;Now, we&rsquo;re back to where we were in October. We&rsquo;re going to skate every day, simple practices. Instead of the looping and curling, we&rsquo;re going to do 1-on-l, 2-on-2, 5-on-5. Basic, basic, basic.&rdquo;Maurice put his team through a three-day boot camp to mixed results. The Whalers folded in the second period of a 5-2 road loss to the New York Rangers Feb. 6. One night later, they rebounded and beat the Boston Bruins 5-3.On the plus side, the victory gave Hartford its first season series victory over Boston in 10 years. The other positive was that a number of injured players, including defensemen Kevin Haller and Glen Featherstone, had returned and left winger Sami Kapanen was nearing the end of a long knee rehabilitation.NOTEBOOK: GM Jim Rutherford, emerged from the GMs meetings in Tucson, Ariz., and reported all was quiet on the trade front. For now. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anybody with any team is doing anything right now,&rdquo; Rutherford said. &lsquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of talk, as usual, but nothing seems to be developing at the moment.&rdquo;&hellip;Whalers&rsquo; defenseman Kevin Haller has gotten into three tiffs with Rangers&rsquo; center Wayne Gretzky. The most recent jousting matches came in a 5-2 Rangers&rsquo; victory Feb. 5. Gretzky wound up with four assists. &ldquo;I just wanted to play a hardnosed, aggressive game and that is what happened.&rdquo; Haller said. &ldquo;If (Gretzky) was there, I was going to play the body on him. It&rsquo;s funny. Some guys in this league, if you hit them it&rsquo;s a big deal.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-01

Injuries, road potholes put brakes to fast start

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03408/6805734-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="573" height="892"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stephane Fiset</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02626/6805741-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="161" height="157"></div>Stephane Fiset is the first to admit his numbers weren&rsquo;t as good as he hoped they would be.The 26-year-old goalie, who was acquired by the Los Angeles Kings from the Colorado Avalanche last June for Eric Lacroix and a swap of first-round draft picks, endured several slumps this season and was often outplayed by Byron Dafoe.Fiset, with an 8-19-4 record, 3.62 goals-against average and 89.5 save percentage, has had to overcome some injuries, including an abdominal muscle strain that kept him out of two games in early-December, and a case of dehydration, which forced him to leave a game against Colorado Dec. 7. After defeating the Avalanche, he lost his next seven games, while the Kings endured a 4-15-1 slide.Fiset briefly righted himself, then lost his first two starts after the all-star break. But when Dafoe finally had to yield to a nagging injury to his right thumb and came out of the lineup after a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks Feb. 1, Fiset was assured of keeping the starting job for a while.It was an opportunity he didn&rsquo;t want to waste. &ldquo;It has been frustrating,&rdquo; Fiset said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been hurt with a stomach muscle and I didn&rsquo;t win as many games as I want to. I want to try to turn some things around.&rdquo;Dafoe, who wasn&rsquo;t expected to be out long, just wanted to keep going.&ldquo;All I can do is make it a tougher choice for Larry (Kings&rsquo; coach Robinson),&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: During a Feb. 5 game at San Jose, the Kings lost a 2-0 lead, lost the game 3-2 and lost three players to ejections following a wild second-period brawl. Left winger Matt Johnson faced supplementary discipline for a hit on Sharks&rsquo; right winger Andrei Nazarov and for dealing an extra blow while Nazarov was on the ice. It was apparently in retaliation for an earlier hit by Nazarov on Kings&rsquo; defenseman Jan Vopat. Nazarov sustained multiple fractures in his right cheekbone and was projected to be out five-to-six weeks&hellip;The Kings&rsquo; recall of center Roman Vopat from Phoenix of the International League Feb. 5 made history: Vopat and his brother, Jan, became the first brothers to be in the lineup at the same time in the Kings&rsquo; 30-year history. &#9632;

f0024-03

Fiset’s funk not any fun

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04258/6805772-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="160" height="155"></div>Jocelyn Thibault was out with the flu, but playing behind the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; defense probably made Jose Theodore&rsquo;s stomach turn, too.The 20-year-old rookie goaltender, promoted to the Canadiens following the release of backup Pat Jablonski, was pressed into service almost immediately after Thibault, Montreal&rsquo;s No. 1 netminder, became ill.Theodore got his baptism by fire, facing 41 shots in a 2-2 tie with the Florida Panthers Feb. 3. He was selected the game&rsquo;s first star.Two nights later, a combination of poor defensive zone coverage and mistakes by Theodore resulted in a 63 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Theodore faced 34 shots from a lineup that was without Mario Lemieux.Tomas Vokoun, another 20-year-old rookie promoted from the Fredericton Canadiens of the American League, got his first NHL start Feb. 6 against the Philadelphia Flyers. After allowing four first period goals, he was replaced by Theodore a 9-5 loss in Philadelphia.The Canadiens had hoped for Theodore to mature and gain experience this season with Fredericton. But those plans were scuttled following Jablonski&rsquo;s demise.&ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;m too young to play in the NHL. Maybe they&rsquo;ll say it was a good thing,&rdquo; said Theodore, selected 44th overall by Montreal in 1994. &ldquo;For sure, a 20-year-old isn&rsquo;t experienced. I can&rsquo;t say I&rsquo;m a vet.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to be here at 20. It&rsquo;s hard to say when (a goalie) is ready or not. but I know I feel good.&rdquo;Regardless of Thibault&rsquo;s status, Theodore has been thrust into a delicate position. Jablonski was very popular in the Canadiens&rsquo; dressing room.Right winger Turner Stevenson said Jablonski&rsquo;s upbeat attitude was an important part of the mix.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I agree 100 per cent with (management&rsquo;s) decision,&rdquo; Stevenson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be tough to replace that.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Pat Jablonski, advised Jan. 31 by GM Rejean Houle his services were no longer required, cleared waivers Feb. 4. Jablonski, in the final year of a $400,000 (U.S.) contract that will be honored, was free to make a deal with any team. But his agent, Gilles Lupien. didn&rsquo;t hold out much hope since it&rsquo;s so late in the season&hellip;Raymond Houle, the father of the Canadiens&rsquo; GM, died Feb. 2 of a heart attack in Rouyn-Noranda, Que. He was 70. Rejean Houle was in Tucson, Ariz., attending NHL meetings when informed of his father&rsquo;s death. He returned immediately to his hometown and was replaced at the meetings by his assistant Phil Scheuer. Raymond Houle is survived by his wife, four daughters and two sons. &#9632;

f0024-04

Theodore thrust into tough spot

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01830/6805803-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="163" height="158"></div>Reid Simpson spent the first four months of the 1996-97 season fighting back from surgery to repair a chronic groin injury, so exchanging punches with some of the league&rsquo;s heavyweights was an assignment the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; left winger relished.Unable to skate without pain before undergoing corrective surgery Nov. 22, Simpson was anxious to provide a spark which had been missing since the Devils traded Mike Peluso to the St. Louis Blues four days after Simpson had surgery.That spark was present in a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders which extended the Devils&rsquo; unbeaten streak to five games (2-0-3).&ldquo;I believe it&rsquo;s necessary for any team to play tough. Not necessarily fighting, but grinding,&rdquo; Simpson said. &ldquo;When we won the Stanley Cup (in 1995) we had a line (the Crash Line) that could dominate physically. That part of the game is important.&rdquo;With defenseman Lyle Odelein and right winger Randy McKay in the lineup, the Devils haven&rsquo;t exactly lived in fear of being pushed around. But Simpson, who skated at left wing on the team&rsquo;s fourth line with center Denis Pederson and McKay, adds a different element.&ldquo;He brings life,&rdquo; said coach Jacques Lemaire, &ldquo;&lsquo;and he&rsquo;s a player who talks quite a bit on the bench and in the dressing room. It&rsquo;s good to have him around.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Coach Jacques Lemaire renewed his team&rsquo;s goalie controversy by starting Mike Dunham in Montreal Feb. 1 instead of playing Martin Brodeur in front of his friends and family&hellip;Brian Rolston was moved back to center from left wing&hellip;With points in eight straight games (three goals, 12 points), center Bobby Holik was four games shy of tying the team record&hellip;Right winger Dave Andreychuk said he wouldn&rsquo;t mind seeing his former Toronto center, Doug Gilmour, wind up with the Devils. &ldquo;I know he&rsquo;d fit in around here. Obviously if you play well with a guy, you&rsquo;d like to see him on your team. But I&rsquo;ve also been around long enough to know this is a business and you don&rsquo;t just make a trade whenever you want.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0025-01

Simpson helps make Devils nasty team to play against

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03342/6805834-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="577" height="894"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bryan Berard</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02528/6805841-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="162" height="158"></div>With a playoff spot at stake and their power play sputtering, the New York Islanders resisted suggestions to bring in a veteran to tutor their three young point men.During a 6-15-1 span in which the Isles lost seven games by a goal and dropped to last in the Eastern Conference, their power play was 13-for-90. It was converting at 13.4 per cent for the season.When Denis Potvin ran the unit in the 1970s and &rsquo;80s, it was among the NHL&rsquo;s best. After he retired, players such as Doug Crossman, Tom Kurvers. Vladimir Malakhov and Mathieu Schneider kept it respectable. Since Schneider was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs last March, the power play has lacked a quarterback.But Islanders&rsquo; coach Rick Bowness said 19-year-old Bryan Berard is growing into that role and Kenny Jonsson, 22, and Bryan McCabe, 21, are gaining experience which will pay off in the future.&ldquo;Yes, there is short-term pain,&rdquo; Bowness said. &ldquo;But there&rsquo;s no question this is the way to go. If you bring in somebody else, (the youngsters&rsquo;) ice time will suffer. That is a short-term thing. We&rsquo;re making a long-term commitment.&rdquo;After 53 games, Berard had 14 points on the power play, Jonsson three, McCabe two.The trio had made a lot of mistakes on power plays, but Bowness has kept sending them out there.&ldquo;The best support you can give a player,&rdquo; Bowness said, &ldquo;is ice time.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: A team source said Rick Bowness&rsquo; salary was upgraded from $200,000 to $300,000 when he was promoted from associate to head coach&hellip;Prospective new owner John Spano told THN he had given GM Mike Milbury a green light to make a short term deal to improve the power play .. Left winger Niklas Andersson broke a 21-game drought with a goal Feb. 5 in a 4-3 win over Anaheim, but suffered a sprained right shoulder&hellip;Defenseman Doug Houda, who signed for the NHL minimum of $125,000 last fall after Buffalo bought him out, got $10,000 bonuses for playing his 20th, 30th and 40th games&hellip;Center Derek Armstrong was credited with the winner against Anaheim when a clearing shot banked off his shoulder and into the net. &#9632;

f0025-03

Young guns, little power

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01910/6805872-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="159" height="158"></div>Even as his goal-less streak threatened to become the longest of his pro career, Wayne Gretzky continued to do stunning things for the New York Rangers.The Great One contributed four assists to lead the Rangers to a very important 5-2 win over the Hartford Whalers Feb. 5. The win was huge for several reasons: The Rangers had been handing away points to teams below them in the standings (all nine of their losses since Nov. 23 had been to teams with records below .500); they&rsquo;d been awful at home; and 11 of their next 13 games were scheduled on the road.Gretzky&rsquo;s performance against Hartford was also notable because of altercations he had with defenseman Kevin Haller that almost erupted into a fight.Haller, a longtime foe of Rangers&rsquo; captain Mark Messier, has targeted Gretzky this season and Gretzky reacted in a way that has probably cost him any shot for his fifth Lady Byng Trophy. In one confrontation, Gretzky threw a wild punch that missed.Gretzky-who failed to score a goal for the 15 th straight game, one short of his career-worst goal slump-said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m no different than anybody else. I get stirred up. It seemed to work, so let&rsquo;s go with it.&rdquo;Ranger players saw the difference in Gretzky after he got fired up.&ldquo;Even if it didn&rsquo;t get us going,&rdquo; said goalie Mike Richter, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s a dangerous thing to do because it seems to get Wayne going.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Rangers sent little-used defenseman Jay More (three appearances in past 35 games) to Phoenix for center Mike Eastwood and defenseman Dallas Eakins Feb. 6. Eastwood was expected to step in as the fourth-line center the Rangers sorely need, while Eakins was ticketed for Binghamton of the American League&hellip;The Feb. 5 game against Hartford was the first time in 13 outings since center Mark Messier&rsquo;s run-in with referee Don Van Massenhoven the opponent did not have more power plays than the Rangers (each team had four). The referee Feb. 5 was again Van Massenhoven&hellip;Messier was on a nine-game points streak (five goals, 13 points)&hellip;Goalie Mike Richter was on an 18-3-2 run. &#9632;

f0026-01

Gretzky chips in with guts, assists during goal slump

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04341/6805941-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="160" height="158"></div>With Mikael Renberg struggling so much this season, people were beginning to wonder if the Legion of Doom would ever be its old self again.It was, for at least one night, Feb. 6 against the Montreal Canadiens.Left winger John LeClair, center Eric Lindros and Renberg combined for a team-record 16 points in a 9-5 victory.LeClair set personal records with four goals and six points. Renberg also set an individual best with a five-point (one goal, four assist) effort. Lindros also had a one-goal, four-assist night.Coach Terry Murray had bumped Renberg off the unit for several games, hoping a change of scenery might do some good. The strategy seemed to have the desired effect.&ldquo;What a night,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Every time they were on the ice, they were in the offensive zone. They did an outstanding job controlling the puck, cycling it and doing what they&rsquo;ve done so well the past couple years.&rdquo;LeClair, traded from Montreal nearly two years to the day before (Feb. 9, 1995), said he doesn&rsquo;t hold a grudge against the Canadiens, but he does hold a hot hand. LeClair had 14 goals in 10 games against his former teammates, leading the Flyers to a 9-1-0 mark against Montreal since the trade.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice when it&rsquo;s against a team that you played for,&rdquo; LeClair said. &ldquo;As far as the trade, it has been a few years. Montreal&rsquo;s not forgotten, but it&rsquo;s not the first thing on my mind.&rdquo;The Flyers took advantage of two rookie goalies (Tomas Vokoun, making his first NHL start, and Jose Theodore) to break out of a scoring slump that saw them get just 22 goals in their previous 10 games.Renberg, who scored just his 11th goal in 53 games, got things going at the 25-second mark.&ldquo;Whenever you get a goal like that, it&rsquo;s good for your confidence,&rdquo; Renberg said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to be back.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Trent Klatt scored his career-high 15th goal in the Montreal game, despite being cut for 14 stitches above his right eye and nose&hellip;The Flyers&rsquo; Wives Fight for Lives Carnival Feb. 2 raised a record total $1,024,455. Proceeds go to cancer and AIDS research. The 21-year total for the event is $9,275,463&hellip;Carl Lindros, center Eric Lindros&rsquo; father and agent, said talks on a new contract won&rsquo;t begin until after the season. Lindros&rsquo; deal runs out 1997-98&hellip;Goalie Garth Snow got into his second fight in as many years with Sabre enforcers. This time he took on forwards Brad May and Rob Ray. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s nuts,&rdquo; said goalie Ron Hextali with a grin. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to teach him to settle down.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-04

Doomsday offense flies high again

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01868/6805972-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="162" height="160"></div>Sometimes it&rsquo;s the little moves that get a team going. And the Phoenix Coyotes made some little moves after a stretch in which they lost three of four to drop to eighth in the Western Conference.The first maneuver came Feb. 6 when they dealt center Mike Eastwood and defenseman Dallas Eakins to the New York Rangers for defenseman Jay More. More had played in just 14 games for the Rangers this season, but the Coyotes feel the 28-year-old can be a useful addition.&ldquo;We needed to do something,&rdquo; said Coyotes&rsquo; coach Don Hay. &ldquo;We feel that this is a critical time for us.&rdquo;The next moves came in the ensuing game against the Chicago Blackhawks Feb. 6, when Hay juggled his lines. In the final eight minutes, Jeremy Roenick played right wing on a line with left winger Keith Tkachuk and center Craig Janney and the trio combined for two goals in a 3-2 victory.Hay had wanted to keep Roenick and Tkachuk on separate lines, but may opt to keep them together with Janney as games dictate.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see how long that lasts,&rdquo; Janney said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a revolving door here.&rdquo;Expect the door to keep turning. Hay said he&rsquo;ll look to the minors for help if need be, while GM Bobby Smith may not be finished dealing.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m always trying to improve the team,&rdquo; Smith said, &ldquo;and if I can do that before the trading deadline, that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ll do.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Dallas Drake strained ligaments in his left knee Jan. 29 when he caught his skates in a rut. He was expected to be out until late-February&hellip;The Coyotes scored two or fewer goals in 19 of goalie Nikolai Khabibulin&rsquo;s 23 losses. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even think about that,&rdquo; said Khabibulin, who had started 13 straight games. &ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t score many goals, we should still be able to win.&rdquo;&hellip;The team secured public approval to build a permanent practice facility in north Scottsdale. Ariz. Groundbreaking could begin in the spring&hellip;Defenseman Teppo Numminen appeared in his 6OOth NHL game Feb. 6.. Right winger Mike Gartner was two assists away from becoming the sixth player in NHL history to record 600 goals and 600 assists. &#9632;

f0027-01

Coyotes trade for More; more trades on horizon?

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03353/6806003-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="574" height="892"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al Maclnnis</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02543/6806010-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="161" height="158"></div>St. Louis Blues&rsquo; defenseman Al Maclnnis landed the big punch in a rare fight, but he suffered the big blow.Maclnnis dislocated his left shoulder in a punch-up with Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; left winger Tim Taylor Feb. 4. Maclnnis rocked Taylor with an uppercut, but Taylor wrestled him to the ice and Maclnnis&rsquo; left shoulder popped out. He&rsquo;ll be out until at least early-March.&ldquo;I got into a bad situation,&rdquo; said Maclnnis who had played 135 of 136 games after having surgery on the shoulder two years ago. &ldquo;My shoulder got into a vulnerable position. It was all stretched out and he kind of yanked it down.&rdquo;Losing Maclnnis leaves a big void on the Blues&rsquo; blueline and in the dressing room. Maclnnis is an alternate captain and the Blues&rsquo; leader on defense. He logs between 25 and 30 minutes per game, kills penalties and plays the right point on the power play. He led Blues&rsquo; defensemen with 12 goals, 33 points and a plus-10 mark.Coach Joel Quenneville said the injury was &ldquo;a great loss,&rdquo; but called on his players to meet the challenge.&ldquo;Al has played great since I&rsquo;ve been here,&rdquo; Quenneville said. (But) injuries are a part of the game. Good teams deal with it. It&rsquo;s not an excuse. We&rsquo;ll find a way to battle through it.&rdquo;With Maclnnis out, much of the focus will be on 21-year-old Chris Pronger, who replaced him as alternate captain.&ldquo;This will mean greater responsibility for each guy,&rdquo; Quenneville said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be a challenge.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Peter Zezel, out since Jan. 21 with a back injury, said he might consider retirement if his back keeps bothering him&hellip;The Blues&rsquo; 1-1 tie Feb. 4 in Detroit extended their road unbeaten streak to six games (5-0-1), one short of the team record&hellip;The Blues snapped a two-game losing streak at home by beating Dallas 6-4 Feb. 6. The No. 1 line of right winger Brett Hull, center Pierre Turgeon and left winger Geoff Courtnall accounted for five goals, three by Hull and one each from Turgeon and Courtnail. The hat trick was the 28th of Hull&rsquo;s career&hellip;Left winger Scott Pellerin, a frequent traveler between Worcester of the American League and St. Louis under former coach Mike Keenan, led the Blues at plus-13. &#9632;

f0027-03

Big void left by Maclnnis

<div class="byline">By Mike Dudurich</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04244/6806041-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="163" height="160"></div>It was only fitting on the night Mario Lemieux reached a career milestone, he did so with a bad back.Lemieux became the seventh player in NHL history to record 600 goals when he scored an empty-netter Feb. 4 in a 6-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks at the Civic Arena. His happiness with reaching the plateau, however, was tempered slightly by the state of his back.&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t look too good the whole game. I didn&rsquo;t feel good all night,&rdquo; said Lemieux, who sat out the team&rsquo;s next game, Feb. 5 against the Montreal Canadiens. &ldquo;I have to try to get my back in decent shape.&rdquo;Still, the moment was special for the 31-year-old megastar.&ldquo;I was glad to get it tonight in this building in front of these fans,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ll remember for a long time.&rdquo;The standing room only crowd of 17,355 chanted &ldquo;Mario, Mario, Mario&rdquo; as the game wound down and exploded when Lemieux fired the shot into the empty net. Not knowing exactly how to celebrate the occasion, the crowd eventually threw hats onto the ice, as they would when a player scores a hat trick.Lemieux appreciated the attention from the crowd and said he was honored to be part of the 600 club, one that includes: Wayne Gretzky (853 goals through Feb. 6); Gordie Howe (801); Marcel Dionne (731); Phil Esposito (717); Mike Gartner (685); and Bobby Hull (610).&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pretty special list,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You look at the names: Esposito. Dionne, Gretzky, guys like that who have scored 600 goals. To be included on that list is something I&rsquo;ll be able to cherish the rest of my life.&rdquo;Lemieux came within a game of matching Gretzky for the fastest 600 in league history. He entered a Feb. 1 game against the Phoenix Coyotes at 597 career goals, got two in the first period, but was shut out the rest of the way in a 4-1 win.NOTEBOOK: Local government officials agreed to give the Penguins nearly $13 million to help pay for improvements to Civic Arena&hellip;The Penguins had killed 18 straight power plays through Feb. 6. Earlier in the season, they put together a 3l-for-31 kill streak&hellip;The Penguins extended their dominance at home over Vancouver to eight games without a loss (7-0-1) with the 6-4 win Feb. 4. That left the Penguins&rsquo; record at 51-29-10 alltime against the Canucks&hellip;Right winger Glen Murray ended a 22-game goal-less streak with a pair of third-period goals in a 6-3 win over Montreal Feb. 5. It was the Penguins&rsquo; second straight win in Montreal after going 13 games (0-11-2) without one. &#9632;

f0027-04

Joy, pain for Lemieux at 600 goals

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-06132/6806072-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="567" height="894"><figcaption class="caption-body">Andrei Nazarov</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05170/6806079-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="161" height="159"></div>Bernie Nicholls and Larry Robinson may have been on opposite sides of enemy lines, but they both agreed on one point: it was a power keg waiting to explode.Referee Richard Trottier put his whistle away for more than half the San Jose Sharks-Los Angeles Kings game Feb. 5, calling just two minor penalties to that point in a typically chippy game between the rivals.Then at 10:49 of the second period. Kings&rsquo; enforcer Matt Johnson elbowed Sharks&rsquo; right winger Andrei Nazarov and continued to jab at the Russian with his stick while Nazarov was down. Sharks&rsquo; defenseman Al lafrate retaliated in the ensuing scrum by chopping over the pile with his stick, trying to get at Johnson. Johnson also threw linesman Andy McElman to the ice while trying to get back into the melee.Eight of the 10 players on the ice were ejected-including Nazarov, who was expected to miss five weeks with multiple fractures to his right cheek-bones-and 157 minutes in penalties was assessed. NHL vice-president Brian Burke was reviewing the incident for supplementary discipline.&ldquo;The reason brawls happen in hockey is because nothing gets called,&rdquo; Nicholls said. &ldquo;Cheap shots build up and players get frustrated.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to see (Burke) sit down and watch this hockey game and if he can honestly say (Trottier) did a good job then our league is in trouble.&rdquo;Robinson wasn&rsquo;t as specific, but the sentiment was the same. &ldquo;Just call the damn game,&rdquo; Robinson said.NOTEBOOK: With a 20-27-5 record after 52 games, the Sharks&rsquo; 45 points matched their total after 52 games (17-24-11) in 1993-94, when San Jose wound up with a franchise-best 33-35-16 mark&hellip;The sprained knee ligament sustained by goaltender Ed Belfour Feb. 1 resulted in the recall of goaltender Wade Flaherty from Kentucky of the American League. Flaherty, a standout in the Sharks&rsquo; first-round playoff upset of Calgary in 1995, had been with the Thoroughblades all season after suffering a broken collarbone during San Jose&rsquo;s training camp&hellip;Left winger Alexei Yegorov, who registered one assist in two games after being recalled from Kentucky Jan. 28, was returned to the Thorough-blades Feb.1. &#9632;

f0027-06

Fright night 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/f0027-07111/6806110-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="160" height="158"></div>Even when it is at its best, the Tampa Bay Lightning doesn&rsquo;t scare anyone offensively.Take away forwards Dino Ciccarelli. Brian Bradley and Alexander Selivanov and the Lightning has the firepower of a pop gun.Unfortunately, that was the case in early-February. A sprained wrist claimed Bradley, a concussion had taken Ciccarelli away for three games and an inflamed knee cost the team the services of Selivanov-just when he was finding his touch again.Selivanov had two or more points in six of 11 games when his left knee swelled and forced him to the sidelines for a Feb. 5 game against the Dallas Stars.Suddenly, it wasn&rsquo;t just defensive help the Lightning was seeking. With the team scoring just 15 goals in its nine games, it was also looking for scoring help.&ldquo;Yeah, we&rsquo;re looking,&rdquo; said GM Phil Esposito, who was reportedly inquiring about Russ Courtnail and Alexander Mogilny of the Vancouver Canucks and Robert Reichel of the Calgary Flames. &ldquo;But so is everyone else.&rdquo;Injuries to offensive players weren&rsquo;t the only ones plaguing the Lightning.It was still without No. 1 goalie Daren Puppa, although it appeared his return would come before the end of February. The team also lost defenseman Jay Wells to a sprained knee in the game against Dallas.NOTEBOOK: The Lightning was 3-151 in games without center Brian Bradley&hellip;The Lightning was talking with Edmonton about defenseman Luke Richardson. Tampa Bay reportedly offered defenseman Cory Cross and tough right winger Brantt Myhres&hellip;Right winger Dino Ciccarelli was planning to wear a half shield upon his return from a concussion. It won&rsquo;t be the first time Ciccarelli has worn a shield. &lsquo;&lsquo;I&rsquo;ve worn hall shields, full shields; I wore a jaw bar once and I&rsquo;ve worn a football mask,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You play 17 years in this league you eventually do it all. I even played against Gordie Howe.&rdquo;&hellip;The sale of the Lightning to businessman Gavin Maloff began to look remote because the sides couldn&rsquo;t agree on a price. &#9632;

f0027-07

Injuries to key performers strike team like Lightning

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01909/6806141-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="159" height="160"></div>Coach Mike Murphy has yelled at his Toronto Maple Leafs. He has whipped them, encouraged them and even had nice dressing quarters built for them.In early-February, with his club dead last, Murphy tried a new tactic: he rested them. Well, some of them.Specifically, Murphy gave forwards Mats Sundin and Doug Gilmour two days off before an important home game against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Feb. 5. Gilmour responded with three assists, while Sundin scored the winning goal and added an insurance marker as the Leafs won 4-2 to snap a five-game winless streak.The day after the game, Murphy gave Gilmour, Mathieu Schneider and Larry Murphy the day off from practice, hoping for similar results.&ldquo;We play so many games, practise a lot and have a lot of travel in this conference,&rdquo; said Gilmour. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d never use being tired as an excuse, but things do build up on you.&rdquo;For Sundin, the break came at a perfect time. He was locked in his worst slump of the season-six games without a goal.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more that I was tired mentally than physically,&rdquo; Sundin said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough part of the year.&rdquo;For the Leafs, it was the most important part of the year. They began a stretch of seven straight games against key Western Conference opponents, teams they may have to catch in order to make the playoffs.NOTEBOOK: The Leafs&rsquo; season hit rock bottom Feb. 1 when they were outshot at home 38-20 by Ottawa and lost to fall deeper into last place overall&hellip;Defenseman Mathieu Schneider made an early return from a groin injury after missing 26 games&hellip;Two days after a loss to St. Louis, coach Mike Murphy had assistant coach Terry Simpson skate center Jamie Baker, right winger Mike Craig and defenseman David Cooper into exhaustion the morning of a Jan. 31 game in New Jersey. The three were not in the lineup for the Devils&rsquo; game&hellip;The Leafs have apparently failed to cut a deal with the National Basketball Association&rsquo;s Toronto Raptors for a facility, meaning each franchise will go ahead and build its own new arena. &#9632;

f0028-01

Rest proves fine medicine for several worn-out Leafs

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03430/6806172-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="570" height="891"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Bondra</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02604/6806179-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="160" height="158"></div>For those lucky teams where the scoring is fairly evenly split among four or five players, losing the No. 1 performer for a short period of time wouldn&rsquo;t send shudders through the organization.But that&rsquo;s what happened to the Washington Capitals and the Florida Panthers.In a game against the Panthers Feb. 1, Capitals&rsquo; star right winger Peter Bondra collided knee-to-knee with Horida sniper Ray Sheppard. Sheppard suffered sprained knee ligaments on the play (and expected to be out until at least mid-March) while Bondra got a five-minute kneeing major.Panthers&rsquo; GM Bryan Murray, bemoaning the fact his team had lost four players under similar circumstances this season, said he would ask the league to take action against Bondra. (See pg. 23 for more on Panthers&rsquo; reaction.)At the time, Bondra (32 goals) had scored one-quarter of Washington&rsquo;s goals. Coupled with Joe Juneau (14), the only other Cap with goals in double figures, they represented 35 per cent of Washington&rsquo;s offense.Sheppard was tied for the Panther goal-scoring lead (20) and led the team with nine power play goals. The Cats, scratching and clawing for goals, could not afford to lose him, either.Brian Burke, NHL vice-president and director of hockey operations, suspended Bondra for the Feb. 2 Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; game (a 2-2 tie) pending a hearing. Burke did not lengthen the suspension after the hearing, imposing a $1,000 fine.NOTEBOOK: Versatile Ken Klee, who has played both defense and right wing for the Capitals, signed a new three-year deal&hellip;Left winger Chris Simon and center Andrei Nikolishin were sidelined with back problems that were present before either became a Cap. Simon was acquired from Colorado this season, Nikolishin was picked up from Hartford&hellip;The Caps&rsquo; Wives Club raised more than $40,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation at a charity event&hellip;Center Anson Carter got his first NHL goal Feb. 1 in Miami in a 3-1 win over the Panthers&hellip;Right winger Peter Bondra scored his 219th goal as a Cap against Florida, moving him into sole possession of second place on the all-time team scoring list. Mike Gartner is first with 397. &#9632;

f0028-03

Bondra pays for knee hit

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04304/6806210-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="159" height="156"></div>While the heat is on Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; GM Pat Quinn, at least one of his low-profile moves was paying off.All-purpose forward Dave Roberts was the Canucks&rsquo; lone free agent signing over the summer and after a slow start, Roberts began to display his worth.In a 17-game stretch from Dec. 31 to Feb. 6, Roberts collected 13 points and was an impressive plus-12 on a team with a porous defense. He moved from the fourth line to the second, playing both center and left wing. Most recently, he was skating on the portside with center Mike Ridley and right winger Alexander Mogilny.&ldquo;It has been an uphill battle,&rdquo; said the 26-year-old University of Michigan product. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t come here expecting to play on the fourth line. I expected to be on one of the top three lines and it has taken me 40 games to get there. I think I needed to earn (coach) Tom Renney&rsquo;s respect.&rdquo;Roberts, who entered this season with nine goals and 24 points in 54 NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues, signed a three-year deal as an unrestricted free agent. He is making $575,000 (U.S.) this season.But before he played regularly, he found himself in the press box by the third game of the season. He had two goals at the 20-game mark and only four after 40.&ldquo;The only thing I knew about Dave Roberts is he was a very responsible player,&rdquo; Renney said. &ldquo;The injuries we&rsquo;ve had have provided an opportunity for him to show me what he can do. And I still don&rsquo;t know his top end.&rdquo;Roberts, a big point producer at Michigan, is confident he can begin to score consistently at the NHL level.&ldquo;Offensively, I think I can do as well as anybody else,&rdquo; Roberts said. &ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m with guys who are more gifted and will allow me to take advantage of my offensive abilities.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Coach Tom Renney scratched disgruntled left winger Esa Tikkanen for two games after the Finn had gone six games without registering a point&hellip;Center Trevor Linden managed just a single assist in his first four games after missing 10 weeks with a sprained knee and then assisted four times in his fifth game, a 7-4 win in Detroit Feb. 7&hellip;Goaltender Corey Hirsch&rsquo;s prolonged slump continued into February. Hirsch, who lost his two January starts and his last two starts in December, was shelled for five goals in 25 minutes by Ottawa Feb. 3. He surrendered 28 goals in the 05-0 stint. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t had a real tough time in four years of pro until now,&rdquo; Hirsch said. &#9632;

f0028-04

Roberts not squandering opportunity

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01802/6806241-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stephane Morin has revived his career and Long Beach&rsquo;s fortunes. (Photo by Art Foxell/BBS)</figcaption></div>If Jean Perron had Stephane Morin in his lineup, perhaps he wouldn&rsquo;t have lost his job recently as coach-GM of the International League&rsquo;s Manitoba Moose.Of course, had Morin been playing at the beginning of the season the way he was later in the year, he&rsquo;d still be with Manitoba in the first place.When Perron was fired Feb. 3 as coach-GM of the Moose, it was no cause for celebration in the Morin household in Long Beach, Calif., even though Perron was the one who traded Morin to the Long Beach Ice Dogs Nov. 6 for center Wayne Strachan.The Moose began the season with a 4-9-2 record and Perron watched his star player score three goals and nine points in 12 games and go minus-4. Perron even sat Morin out for a weekend series just before the trade.But since the trade, Morin has been, by most accounts, the best player in the league, while Strachan was a complete bust in Winnipeg and is now in the East Coast League.&ldquo;There is nothing personal between me and Jean,&rdquo; said Morin, who has become an MVP candidate while leading Long Beach to a 34-12-7 mark in his first 39 games with the team. &ldquo;Jean made a move he felt would help his hockey club and it&rsquo;s that simple.&rdquo;The 27-year-old Morin won the IHL scoring title in 1994-95 while playing for the Moose in their first year in Minnesota. He scored 114 points in 81 games and became the first IHL player in 10 years to lead the league in scoring while playing for an expansion team.After the season, the Moose signed Morin to a three-year $445,000 contract and figured they had the player around whom they could build the franchise.Frank Serratore was Minnesota&rsquo;s coach-GM then and is now Manitoba&rsquo;s director of hockey operations. He said any success the Moose had the first year was attributable to Morin&rsquo;s individual brilliance.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have a very good team and Steph led us to the playoffs just about singlehandedly,&rdquo; Serratore said.But there was no playoff berth for the Moose last year. Early in the season, owner Kevin MacLean announced he was moving the team from Minnesota to Winnipeg. Fan interest waned, the team lost and Morin suffered.As the losses mounted and Morin&rsquo;s negative plus-minus rating soared, he heaped pressure upon himself.&ldquo;The sooner I completely forget about last year the better I&rsquo;ll be,&rdquo; Morin said. &ldquo;After coming off such a good year the year before, I was really excited about what was going to happen in Minnesota. I was settled there and I had a new contract and I thought everything was going to be great.&ldquo;Then the rumors came out about us moving and fans didn&rsquo;t come and then we heard for sure we were going to Winnipeg. It was very distracting and we weren&rsquo;t able to put our focus on the game.&rdquo;As a result, Morin became just another player. He scored just 78 points in 80 games-the first time since his rookie year he averaged less than a point a game in minor pro hockey-and was a staggering minus-48.This season, Perron saw a player who had a big salary that was dragging down his salary cap and who wasn&rsquo;t putting up the numbers a player with that type of paycheck should.So he dispatched Morin to Long Beach, a franchise that didn&rsquo;t exactly have stability. The Ice Dogs had two owners and three cities in three years and had lost millions of dollars.When Morin got to the Ice Dogs, Long Beach was just 4-7-3 and in last place in the Southwest Division.&ldquo;You didn&rsquo;t have to be the sharpest guy in hockey to know we lacked a No. 1 center,&rdquo; said Long Beach coach-GM John Van Boxmeer.That&rsquo;s where Morin entered the picture. Van Boxmeer had coached against Morin in the American League for five years and he was willing to gamble Morin&rsquo;s lost 1995-96 campaign was a bad fluke.Van Boxmeer has been repaid by getting a center obsessed with winning a championship, a man with a good chance to win league MVP honors and who was third in league scoring with 22 goals and 68 points.Morin is asked a lot these days about Winnipeg, but with the temperature in the 70s and the skies sunny every day in Long Beach, Winnipeg and the problems with Perron are the farthest thing from his mind.&ldquo;Hockey is fun again,&rdquo; Morin said. &ldquo;Nobody has to push me out of bed to go to the rink. I love it here.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0029-01

Morin goes to Dogs, trade revives career

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div>Jean Perron became the third coaching casualty in the International League this season when he was fired as coach-GM of the Manitoba Moose.Perron was replaced Feb. 3 in both jobs by former Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; captain Randy Carlyle, who was the assistant GM-assistant coach.Moose ownership was concerned about the team&rsquo;s 16-26-8 record and Perron&rsquo;s negativity toward the players.&ldquo;It is our responsibility to do the things we believe are in the best interest of this team,&rdquo; said president Mark Chipman. &ldquo;We were not happy with the direction in which the team continues to be heading.&rdquo;&ldquo;My biggest task will be to get everyone on the same page,&rdquo; said Carlyle, the 1981 Norris Trophy winner. &ldquo;Obviously, when things don&rsquo;t go well, there are a lot of factors.&rdquo;Perron was unavailable for comment.BRUCE, BLADES ROLLING: Pardon David Bruce if he thought he had gone through a time warp and it was 1990 all over again.In the 1990-91 season, Bruce scored 64 goals in 60 games for the Peoria Rivermen, leading the IHL in goals and carrying the Rivermen to the Turner Cup. Seven years later, Bruce was on a similar rampage. Bruce had 21 goals in his past 23 games for the Kansas City Blades and 15 in his past 13, helping the Blades become the IHL&rsquo;s hottest team. Kansas City was on a 8-2-4 run to jump out of last place in the Midwest Division.Overall, Bruce had 30 goals and 44 points in 54 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02517/6806272-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="373" height="450"></div>ALL-STAR TEAM ANNOUNCED: The Orlando Solar Bears and the Long Beach Ice Dogs, who led the overall standings, each had four players chosen to play in the All-Star Game, to be played Feb. 18 in Grand Rapids. Starters were chosen by fan balloting.Long Beach defenseman Dan Lambert led all players with 13,401 votes.The Eastern Conference starters are: goalie Pokey Reddick of the Grand Rapids Griffins (11,283 votes), defensemen Brad Shaw of the Detroit Vipers (10,546) and Brad Werenka of the Indianapolis Ice (9,392) and forwards Peter Ciavaglia of Detroit (10,701), Michel Picard of Grand Rapids (12,494) and Jeff Christian of the Cleveland Lumberjacks (11,462).Western starters are: goalie Frederic Chabot of the Houston Aeros (9,170), defensemen Gordie Dineen of the Utah Grizzlies (8,863) and Dan Lambert of Long Beach and forwards Stephane Morin of Long Beach (12,481). Lonnie Loach of the San Antonio Dragons (9,112) and Rob Brown of the Chicago Wolves (10,734).Added to the East were: forwards Mark Beaufait and Zac Boyer and defensemen Pat Neaton and Jeff Buchanan of Orlando; forward Stan Drulia of Detroit; center Jeff Nelson of Grand Rapids; forward Dave Chyzowski and defenseman Chris Snell of Indianapolis; goaltender Geoff Sarjeant and forward Scott Thomas of the Cincinnati Cyclones; forwards Steve Larouche and Jason Ruff of the Quebec Rafales; forward Lee Davidson of the Fort Wayne Komets and defenseman Shane Peacock of the Michigan K-Wings.West additions were: goalie Tom Draper and defenseman Viktor Ignatjev of Long Beach; forwards Steve Maltais and Troy Murray of Chicago; defenseman Kevin Dahl and forwards Patrice Lefebvre and Ken Quinney of the Las Vegas Thunder; forwards Len Barrie and Daniel Shank of San Antonio; forward Chris Taylor of Utah; forward John Purves of Kansas City; defenseman Dale DeGray of Manitoba; defenseman Chris Luongo of the Milwaukee Admirals and forward Ken McRae of the Phoenix Roadrunners. &#9632;

f0029-02

Moose cut coach-GM Perron loose

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>A Blizzard was sweeping through the East Coast League and it had nothing to do with the white stuff that falls from the sky.After struggling early in the season, the Huntington Blizzard took the league-and the North Division in particular-by storm. With a 15-3-1 run over a 19-game span, which included a season-high eight-game win streak, the Blizzard (26-21-3) moved into a second place tie with the Peoria Rivermen, two points behind the Columbus Chill.That&rsquo;s a far cry from a year ago when Huntington finished last in the North with a record of 21-39-10 and out of the playoffs.&ldquo;Inevitably, everyone in this town and even in our organization starts to compare this - season to last season, but it&rsquo;s an unfair comparison,&rdquo; said Blizzard coach Grant Sonier, who was hired three weeks before the 1995-96 season.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like night and day.&ldquo;Last year&rsquo;s situation was very difficult. This year, we started off, on an even playing field. We were able to attract much better players.&rdquo;Even with all summer to recruit, Sonier&rsquo;s club got off to an 11-18-2 start and didn&rsquo;t start turning it around until after Christmas. The addition of goalie Chad Lang and the return of Tracy Egeland, a veteran right winger, coincided with the hot streak.&ldquo;Lang was sitting at home not playing when we got him,&rdquo; Sonier said. &ldquo;The goaltending early on here struggled, but ever since Chad has come here, he has played well and he has made Rob Laurie a better goaltender.&rdquo;Laurie was ECHL player of the month after going 10-2-0 with a 2.13 goals-against average in January. His overall record is 22-15-2 with a 3.69 GAA.Egeland, along with left winger Andrei Bashkirov, MVP of the ECHL All-Star Game, sparked the offense. Egeland had 53 points in 35 games, including four hat tricks in a span of 10 games in January. Bashkirov led the club with 29 goals and 70 points in 47 games.&ldquo;(Egeland) didn&rsquo;t really catch on until December,&rdquo; Sonier said. &ldquo;He had a severely pulled groin and broken ribs. He&rsquo;s playing with a cracked bone in his wrist. He&rsquo;s a great leader and has gotten plenty of help from Bashkirov, Jim Bermingham and Van Burgess.&rdquo;The Blizzard won&rsquo;t have Bashkirov anymore, however, since he signed a two-year contract with the Las Vegas Thunder of the International League Feb. 3. In Huntington&rsquo;s first game without Bashkirov, the Blizzard was mauled by the Mobile Mysticks 12-5 Feb. 4.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01904/6806303-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="373" height="387"></div>MORE SUSPENSIONS: ECHL senior vice-president, operations Andy Van Helle-mond suspended three players in the wake of a series of incidents in two games in January between the Mississippi Sea Wolves and Louisiana IceGators.Stan Melanson (three games) and Dan O&rsquo;Rourke (four) of Louisiana were penalized, along with Quinn Fair (three) of Mississippi.Melanson and O&rsquo;Rourke cross-checked Mississippi players across the back of the helmet, while Fair checked a Louisiana player into the boards with excessive force, causing an injury.COAST LINES: Toledo Storm goalie David Goverde was suspended seven games and fined an undisclosed amount for swinging his stick in a forceful manner towards an official Feb. 1. Goverde is eligible to return Feb. 16&hellip;Left winger Mike Pomichter of the Jacksonville Lizard Kings was selected player of the week for the period ending Feb. 1. It was his second consecutive week with the honor. The second round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1991 netted seven goals in three wins by the Lizard Kings&hellip;Two Hampton Roads Admirals&rsquo; players-Rod Taylor and Victor Gervais-were caught with illegal sticks against the Raleigh IceCaps Feb. 2, but the Admirals killed the ensuing power plays en route to a 4-2 victory over the IceCaps. &#9632;

f0030-01

Blizzard gets back in Hunt with shrewd acquisitions

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzlja</div>Hockey fans in Lowell, Mass., phoning to inquire about their new American League team no longer are greeted by &ldquo;Lowell Sports Group.&rdquo;The Lowell expansion team, which begins play next season, now has a name, and an unusual one at that: the Lock Monsters.The name associates the team to the city&rsquo;s roots along the Merrimack River, according to Tom Rowe, executive vice-president and GM.&ldquo;The arena is right on the locks of Lowell and we wanted to tie in a bit of the city because the river was important during the textile days of the late 1800s and early 1900s,&rdquo; Rowe said.The logo features a high-finned, lizard-like creature toting a hockey stick. There&rsquo;s no truth to the idea the Lock Monsters will try to talk former Boston Bruin Blaine (Lach Net Monster) Lacher out of retirement.The club is talking to the Los Angeles Kings about being the parent team. The Lock Monsters&rsquo; first coach will be the appointed by the parent team. The team will play in the New England Division with the Portland Pirates, Providence Bruins and its two Massachusetts neighbors, Worcester IceCats and Springfield Falcons.Rowe plans to sign a few free agents on his own, following a blueprint used by privately owned AHL teams. It&rsquo;s a blueprint meant to ensure fan identity and player familiarity from year to year in a development league where turnover is high.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got competitive teams, they&rsquo;re filing the buildings and their fans are entertained,&rdquo; Rowe said of the teams following that plan.NEAR MAYHEM: St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs&rsquo; players were ready to climb off the bench to confront Adirondack Red Wings&rsquo; fans after an on-ice melee sparked an ugly beer-dousing episode in the Glens Falls Civic Center.St. John&rsquo;s assistant coach Rich Brown was hit in the head by a mini whiskey bottle.&ldquo;I had a hard time keeping the guys from going up in the stands,&rdquo; said St. John&rsquo;s coach Mark Hunter.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02603/6806341-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="423" height="423"></div>Tempers flared on the ice with two seconds remaining in what had been a chippy game. St. John&rsquo;s winger Dennis Maxwell slashed Sylvain Cloutier, Adirondack&rsquo;s agitating center.With his team ahead 5-3, Hunter made a late player switch for a face-off with about 10 seconds left, inserting Maxwell and taking Brandon Convery off the ice.There was no hidden purpose for Maxwell&rsquo;s appearance. He shadowed Cloutier when the puck was dropped, then slashed him. Cloutier&rsquo;s two-handed retaliatory slash sparked a melee.As players were separated, fans dumped beer on the Maple Leafs&rsquo; bench. Order was eventually restored, but referee Lyle Seitz canceled the final two seconds of the game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03416/6806334-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="431" height="375"></div>Adirondack coach Glenn Merkosky said Seitz&rsquo;s officiating caused the ill-will. &ldquo;He screwed the game up right from the start,&rdquo; Merkosky said. &ldquo;I thought the refereeing was an embarrassment.&rdquo;, The only suspension was one game to Maple Leafs&rsquo; tough-guy winger John Craighead, who threw a water bottle into the crowd.AHL TIDBITS: Hershey Bears&rsquo; center Josef Marha earned player-of-the-week honors for the period ending Feb. 2 after scoring four goals and 11 points in four games. That included a two-goal, six-point game in a 7-4 win over the Carolina Monarchs Jan. 29&hellip;The Philadelphia Phantoms&rsquo; AHL-record 19-game home winning streak ended Jan. 31 with a 5-5 tie against Hershey. Hershey scored with 44 seconds remaining&hellip;Do a lot of shots mean anything? Not to Springfield. The Falcons were 1-7-2 when they took 40 shots or more. &#9632;

f0030-02

Expansion Lowell franchise gets name: Lock Monsters

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzlja</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04298/6806379-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="383" height="500"></div>Nothing is more humiliating for a goalie than being pulled during a game. But when Steve Passmore was yanked recently by Hamilton Bulldogs&rsquo; coach Lome Molleken, Passmore felt little anger. In fact, he was almost happy.For once, he was being taken out because he was playing awful, not because of the awful pain he felt.From January, 1995 to January, 1997, Passmore was the world&rsquo;s most talented goalie who couldn&rsquo;t play. Oh, he could make it through a period, sometimes two. But then his muscles would revolt and he&rsquo;d cramp up tighter than an ultrawound golfball. His arms, legs, almost every muscle in his body was one locked-up mass of human being.Last season, he appeared in just two games. &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t look at my games played, my statistics say I was on fire,&rdquo; said the 24-year-old Passmore of his 1.33 goals-against average.He was on fire, all right-with the burning pain of muscle cramps. After months of tests by just about every medical expert the parent Edmonton Oilers could find, Passmore&rsquo;s season ended Feb. 13. Doctors believed a chemical imbalance was causing cramping whenever there was physical exertion, but couldn&rsquo;t prevent it.While the stress and pressure of being a goalie never bothered Passmore on the ice, the cramping problem was stressing him out.&ldquo;I put my (parents) through a lot,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I got mad at them plenty of times. But they loved me enough andjust sat there and let me yell. My father spent a lot of long nights with me.&rdquo;This season, he didn&rsquo;t have his sounding board. His father Ron died from a heart attack last April at age 50.&ldquo;If it wasn&rsquo;t for bad luck, I&rsquo;d have no luck,&rdquo; Passmore said. &ldquo;At some point, things have to turn around. At some point, you deserve something.&rdquo;That something came in late-January and early-February, when the first seven games of his American League comeback were cramp free.&ldquo;The part that really hurts now is that my father wasn&rsquo;t able to see me play again,&rdquo; Passmore said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve dedicated this comeback to him. I hope he&rsquo;s somewhere watching.&rdquo;The comeback trail looked pretty bleak in September. After he flunked his physical at Edmonton&rsquo;s training camp, he was basically on his own. Since his ailment wasn&rsquo;t hockey related, the Oilers suspended him without pay because he was unable to perform.&ldquo;But when they suspend you without pay, they don&rsquo;t suspend the mortgage payments,&rdquo; said the two-time Western League allstar.He moved to Calgary to seek treatment, working as a bartender and bouncer to try to pay the bills. That left him only about $10,000 short, which his family covered.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05218/6806372-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="381" height="503"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Passmore</figcaption></div>Calgary doctors finally traced his chemical imbalance to his childhood and believe they&rsquo;ve found a cure.&ldquo;They think it&rsquo;s from environmental poisoning from water I drank when I was a kid on our ranch,&rdquo; said the Thunder Bay, Ont. native. &ldquo;In all honesty, I don&rsquo;t care how I got it as long as they can fix it.&rdquo;The fix comes in the form of time-released sodium and potassium pills he takes before each game and a once-a-month intravenous solution the team doctor can give him.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m back now, no doubt in my mind,&rdquo; said Passmore, who was 15-0, with a 4.23 goals-against average and 85.6 save percentage in six games this season.The Oilers say they haven&rsquo;t lost faith, either.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a goaltender with a lot of ability,&rdquo; said Hamilton GM Scott Howson. &ldquo;We think he has a chance to be an NHL goaltender.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0030-04

Passmore making inspiring comeback

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>Brad Selwood, who coached the London Knights to the worst record in the Canadian Hockey League this season, was fired.Knights&rsquo; GM Paul McIntosh made the decision Feb. 4 and named himself interim coach the rest of this season.The Knights were 9-40-1 and are destined to have the worst record in the CHL a second straight year. They were 3-60-3 last season.It was Selwood&rsquo;s first Ontario League job.&ldquo;It comes down to the record,&rdquo; McIntosh said. &ldquo;The team is better than nine wins. I personally felt a lot of players should have progressed to a higher level, that we should have played more consistently and won more games.&rdquo;Selwood received a cash settlement for the remainder of his two-year contract.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not looking to throw stones,&rdquo; Selwood told the Windsor Star, &ldquo;but when you look at the talent we had when I got there, there were 10 or 12 players who shouldn&rsquo;t have been in the league. But I take full responsibility for our record.&rdquo;McIntosh, who became GM April 12, coached the Knights for three years beginning in 1980-81. He was 87-115-4. Since then, he has scouted for the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think our expectations were out of line,&rdquo; said McIntosh, who became the Knights&rsquo; sixth coach since the Tarry family of nearby St. Thomas bought the - team in May 1994.The Knights are 30-. 144-8 under the current ownership.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01835/6806410-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="697" height="238"></div>WOLVES CHANGE: Sudbury Wolves&rsquo; coach-GM Todd Lalonde stepped down as coach Feb. 3 and promoted assistant coach Murray Nystrom.The Wolves were 15-27-4 under Lalonde, a former player in Sudbury, and three points out of a playoff spot. They won their first game under Nystrom, 7-6 over the Guelph Storm.STING HOTLINE: The Sarnia Sting is the first Ontario League team to start a 24-hour counselling service.Other teams are considering action following Graham James&rsquo; sexual abuse conviction.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a players-first policy and if they have any problems, they have somewhere to turn,&rdquo; said Sting principal owner Robert Ciccarelli.The team hired Warren Shepell Consulting Corp., a Toronto-based firm that provides employee counselling, to run the hotline on a trial basis. The OHL is looking at establishing a league-wide service, but urged teams to make their own arrangements in the meantime.The hotline isn&rsquo;t exclusively for sexual abuse, said Warren Shepell vice-president Bram Lowsky.&ldquo;It could be anything from that to day-to-day problems like home issues, how to deal with draft pressures, career anxieties, anything,&rdquo; Lowsky said.Meanwhile, the Owen Sound Platers began a mentor system for their players, with Owen Sound Police Services community officer Al Hay acting as a surrogate uncle. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be an advisor, not an investigator.&rdquo; Hay said.WELCOME BACK: Goalie Ty Garner returned to the Oshawa Generals after missing the first 4-1/2 months with a knee injury.The injury happened two weeks after the New York Islanders selected him in the fourth round of the 1996 NHL entry draft.David Arsenault, who played in the Quebec League last season, and rookie Mark Cairns filled in admirably in Gamer&rsquo;s absence. Together they combined for the second-best goals-against average in the OHL.NEW LOOK?: Commissioner Dave Branch is again saddled with re-alignment.Toronto St. Michael&rsquo;s College Majors join the OHL next season and Brampton and Mississauga come on board in 1998-99.There&rsquo;s speculation the OHL might adopt the NHL&rsquo;s two-conference, four-division format. &#9632;

f0031-01

Nine not enough as Seiwood fired by hapless Knights

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>Christian Dube is going to have to make a dramatic change in lifestyle.Last season&rsquo;s Quebec League MVP had been living the good life in 1996-97, earning an $800,000 (U.S.) salary with the New York Rangers while hanging out with the likes of Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky. But after getting one goal and one assist in 27 games of limited ice time, Dube was assigned by the Rangers to the Hull Olympiques Jan. 29.While the move puts a huge dent in Dube&rsquo;s wallet, he isn&rsquo;t complaining.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t play hockey just for money,&rdquo; Dube said. &ldquo;I play because I love the game. I&rsquo;m a little disappointed, but this will help my career. I was only playing two or three shifts a game with the Rangers and it&rsquo;s tough to stay sharp like that. Now I&rsquo;ll get lots of ice time and I have a chance to win the Memorial Cup.&rdquo;The Olympiques, who have an automatic berth in this year&rsquo;s Memorial Cup as the host team, acquired Dube&rsquo;s rights from the Sherbrooke Faucons Jan. 15 in exchange for $50,000, plus a third round midget pick at this year&rsquo;s draft and a first- and third-rounder in 1998. Dube, a center, had 52 goals and 145 points in 62 games last season.While Dube came with a high price tag, Olympiques&rsquo; coach Claude Julien says he&rsquo;s well worth it.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great hockey player and he&rsquo;s a great leader,&rdquo; Julien said.In his first game with the Olympiques, Dube scored two goals and one assist in a 4-2 victory over the Shawinigan Cataractes Jan. 31.CENTURY MAN: Drummondville Voltigeurs&rsquo; center Daniel Briere reached the 100-point plateau for the third straight year when he scored in a 6-1 loss to the Chicoutimi Sague-neens Jan. 31.Briere has the chance to become only the third player in QMJHL history to win back-to-back scoring titles. With 14 games remaining in the season, he trailed Hull ngnt winger ravel Rosa by six points, but the race wasn&rsquo;t consuming Briere&rsquo;s thoughts.&ldquo;A lot of people are asking me about it, but I think I proved myself already,&rdquo; Briere said. &ldquo;When I was 17 I finished third and last year I finished first. I think I&rsquo;ve proved I can score.&rdquo;ON THE RISE: Val d&rsquo;Or Foreurs&rsquo; standout goaltender Roberto Luongo continues to improve his stock entering the 1997 NHL entry draft.The Foreurs had the best record in the league in the month of January (10-2-0) thanks in large part to Luongo, who posted a 9-1-0 record with a 2.30 goals-against average and 91.8 save percentage.Luongo, a 6-foot-3, 181-pounder, was the top-rated goalie in the Central Scouting Bureau&rsquo;s mid-season rankings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02545/6806441-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="580" height="289"></div>SIX-PACK NIGHT: Chicoutimi left winger Denis Hamel scored six goals as the Sagueneens pounded Sherbrooke 12-2 Feb. 2.The league record for most goals in a game is eight, shared by Normand Aubin (Verdun Eperviers, 1979) and Stephan Lebeau (Shawinigan, 1986).HAPPY NEW YEAR: The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies finally got their first win of 1997 Jan. 29 when they beat Val d&rsquo;Or 2-1. They started the year 0-6-3.Huskies&rsquo; goaltender Martin Villeneuve had to perform brilliantly for the victory as the team was outshot by a 45-18 margin. Villeneuve, who had a 13-20-5 record and a 3.48 goals-against average in 42 games, was facing an average of 40 shots per game. His save percentage was 91.3.PROUD PAPA: Eric Chouinard, playing in his first game in the QMJHL after being called up from the Ste-Foy Gouvemeurs midget team, scored a goal in the Laval Titan&rsquo;s 5-0 victory over the Beauport Harfangs Jan. 27. Chouinard&rsquo;s father Guy, a one-time 50-goal scorer in the NHL with the Atlanta Flames, is the Titan&rsquo;s coach. &#9632;

f0031-02

Dube back from Big Apple to join Hull for playoff run

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Donnie Kinney&rsquo;s play has been a highlight of a rare mediocre season for the Kamloops Blazers.The third-year right winger had 35 goals and 76 points (both top-10 figures) in 55 games. But Kamloops, a perennial Western League power, had a 21-29-5 record.&ldquo;Donnie has exceeded what we expected,&rdquo; said Blazers&rsquo; coach Ed Dempsey. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very skilled player. He&rsquo;s an opportunist around the net. He has done all we&rsquo;ve asked of him.&rdquo;Kinney plays on the Blazers&rsquo; No. 1 line alongside center Ajay Baines and left winger Shawn McNeil. They are the top three scorers on a rebuilding team.&ldquo;Those three guys are only 18 and on a nightly basis, they&rsquo;re asked to play against other teams&rsquo; marquee players-19- and 20-year-old guys,&rdquo; Dempsey said. &ldquo;To take that leadership role at such a young age is a tough thing, but they&rsquo;ve handled it.&rdquo;The 6-foot, 185-pound Kinney is in his third WHL season. He scored 16 goals in 47 games as a rookie, helping Kamloops win the 1995 Memorial Cup. But the following season, Kinney had a draft-year letdown, scoring just 22 goals in 70 games. He wasn&rsquo;t selected in the 1996 draft.&ldquo;Last year was a tough season,&rdquo; Kinney said. &ldquo;I had expectations and I didn&rsquo;t really live up to them. There were question marks hanging over my head. (But) I feel comfortable with the way I&rsquo;m playing this year.&rdquo;What were the questions?&ldquo;I had a good season as a 16-year-old,&rdquo; Kinney said. &ldquo;Was I lucky at 16? Did I want to work hard enough to do something in this league or was I just satisfied to make the team?&rdquo;Kinney has excelled after attending the Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; training camp last fall on a free-agent tryout. He attributes much of his success to his linemates.&ldquo;McNeil and Baines can make it so easy,&rdquo; Kinney said. &ldquo;They can do all sorts of work and all I have to do is tap it into the net.&rdquo;SNOW WARNING: The Blazers were delayed 12 hours on a trip to Saskatchewan due to avalanche warnings near Revelstoke, B.C.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the longest bus ride in the history of the team-29 hours,&rdquo; Kamloops coach Ed Dempsey marvelled after arriving in Moose Jaw in time for a Feb. 1 game.The Blazers found a variety of ways to pass the time near Revelstoke.&ldquo;We did a lot of sleeping,&rdquo; Dempsey said. &ldquo;We ate. We watched videos. We listened to CDs. We talked about life in general. We threw Spike (trainer Greg Wallace) into a snowbank.&ldquo;We met a lot of new people-a lot of truckers. There was a line of 200 trucks. We were the only bus.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03394/6806472-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="357" height="357"></div>OFFENSEMEN: The Regina Pats began February by boasting the WHL&rsquo;s two highest-scoring defensemen.Perry Johnson had 58 points-two more than defense partner Derek Morris-after 53 games.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t look at the list,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s news to me. It feels pretty good.&rdquo;Johnson, 19, has not been drafted. He attended the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; camp as a free agent in September. Morris, 18, was the Calgary Flames&rsquo; first round selection (13th overall) in the 1996 NHL entry draft.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to play with Derek,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a tremendous player with tremendous offensive skills. We feed off each other, especially on the point on the power play. We&rsquo;ve got some skilled guys up front to finish for us.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Prince George Cougars&rsquo; defenseman Zdeno Chara, a 6-foot-9, 235-pounder, was expected to miss all of February with a fractured arm&hellip;Lethbridge Hurricanes&rsquo; defenseman Paul Elliott is likely to miss the rest of the season after sustaining back and pelvic injuries in a Jan. 24 car accident&hellip;Moose Jaw Warriors&rsquo; rookie goalie Donovan Nunweiler recorded his fifth shutout of the season Feb. 1, blanking the visiting Blazers 3-0. The five shutouts are Warriors&rsquo; single-season and career records. &#9632;

f0031-03

Kinney hits scoring stride as Blazers struggle along

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div>The phrase &ldquo;those are the breaks&rdquo; took on added poignancy for Michigan in a matter of days. Consider:&#9633; Bad break: Junior right winger Bill Muckalt, one of the team&rsquo;s top forwards, suffered a dislocated left shoulder in practice Jan. 27 when he got into a scuffle with junior goalie Marty Turco. Turco took exception to high shots Muckalt was firing his way and charged at Muckalt, who fell and was injured. Muckalt, the team&rsquo;s second-leading scorer with 18 goals and 43 points in 26 games, was expected to be out until late-February.&#9633; Break in: During a 6-1 victory over Ohio State Jan. 30 at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum, about $1,000 worth of items was stolen from the Michigan dressing room.Missing items included personal things such as clothing, glasses and watches as well as credit cards and cash.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing when you&rsquo;ve got supposedly good security right outside the locker room,&rdquo; said Wolverines&rsquo; coach Red Berenson.Coliseum officials wouldn&rsquo;t give the Wolverines a key to their dressing room, insisting someone would secure the door.&ldquo;Something about that bothered me from the start,&rdquo; said Michigan equipment manager Ian Hume. &ldquo;I said to one of the student managers, &lsquo;Is this guy trustworthy?&rsquo;&rdquo;The Wolverines will return to the Expo Center for a March 2 game against the Buckeyes.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll expect much better supervision or we&rsquo;ll just have to take our own guy and put him in front of the door,&rdquo; Berenson said.&#9633; Record-breaker: The Wolverines set a team record Feb. 1 when they beat Bowling Green 6-1 and stretched their undefeated streak to 22 games. The old mark of 21 was established in the 1947-48 and 1948-49 seasons.GOALIES SIT: Thanks to an end of the game bench-clearing brawl at Western Michigan Jan. 31, Michigan State went into a Feb. 7 rematch with the Broncos without its top two goalies.Junior starter Chad Alban and sophomore backup Mike Brusseau were among six Spartans who got game misconducts Jan. 31, which means a suspension for the next game. The scuffle started after WMU senior left winger Matt Cressman was credited with the winning goal with one second left in OT for a 3-2 WMU victory. While the officials were discussing the call, a shoving match started the melee.NOTEBOOK: Western Michigan freshman defenseman Daryl Andrews was the Central Collegiate Hockey Association&rsquo;s defensive player of the week for the period ending Feb. 1. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound native of Campbel] River, B.C., was plus-4 in victories over Michigan State and Ferris State Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. He also had a goal and three assists. &#9632;

Michigan wins, but loses valuables, valuable man

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggle</div>There aren&rsquo;t many college players who get the opportunity to score their 100th career goal, but Vermont senior center Eric Perrin did it twice in one night.Perrin became the first player in Vermont history to hit the century mark when he beat Clarkson goalie Dan Murphy in the second period of Vermont&rsquo;s 2-1 victory Jan. 30.Perrin had been credited with his 100th career goal in the first period, but the scoresheet was changed after Perrin approached referee Mike Noeth at the intermission. The goal was subsequently given to senior defenseman Jan Kloboucek.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to get my 100th goal like that,&rdquo; Perrin said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t touch the puck. It was a mistake.&rdquo;Perrin, 21, made no mistake when he scored the game-winning goal at 17:19 of the second period. That goal not only won the game, but broke the school&rsquo;s all-time record of 99 goals, set by Tim O&rsquo;Connell in 1976.The durable Perrin, who has not been drafted, has been remarkably consistent during his college career. He scored 24 goals as a freshman, 28 as a sophomore, 29 last season and had 20 in Vermont&rsquo;s first 24 games this season.The 5-foot-9, 170-pound all-America center has not missed a college game, playing in 129 consecutive contests and recording 238 career points. He trailed only linemate Martin St Louis (83 goals, 252 points) on Vermont&rsquo;s career points list.GREAT SCOTT: RPI freshman goalie Scott Prekaski deserved a long hot shower after the Engineers&rsquo; 5-2 victory over Harvard Jan. 30, a game in which he stopped an incredible 64 shots.Harvard scored on its first two shots on goal before Prekaski closed the door with 64 consecutive saves.Prekaski wasn&rsquo;t the only goalie who was hot in the first weekend of February. Cornell sophomore Jean-Marc Pelletier recorded his first career shutout with a 28-save performance in a 5-0 victory over Yale. In eight games, Pelletier had a 2.04 goals-against average with a 93.2 save percentage.NOTEBOOK: A positive sign for defending Eastern College Athletic Conference playoff champion Cornell is the emergence of its young forwards. Sophomore right winger Keith Peach scored his first career goal Jan. 30 against Princeton and freshman left winger Mike Rutter accounted for three goals and an assist as the Big Red swept Princeton and Yale&hellip;Clarkson senior center Todd White bolstered his Hobey Baker Award credentials by scoring his 24th and 25th goals in the Knights&rsquo; 6-4 win over Dartmouth Feb. 1. Since the beginning of his junior year, White had scored 54 goals in 62 games. &#9632;

Perrin hits century mark in style for Catamounts

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>Marty Reasoner is giving people reason to believe he should be considered for the Hobey Baker Award as the outstanding player in college hockey.A season after being the unanimous choice as Hockey East rookie of the year, Reasoner hasn&rsquo;t skipped a beat for Boston College. Through 24 games, the 19-year-old center had 16 goals and 33 points.&ldquo;He has shown significant improvement in all areas, offensively, defensively and in his intensity level,&rdquo; said BC coach Jerry York.The St. Louis Blues, who drafted Reasoner 14th overall in 1996, like what they see in their prospect.&ldquo;Marty plays very well with the puck, now he needs to work on his play without the puck,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; scout Matt Keator. &ldquo;One of the things we like about him is he is intelligent enough to recognize his weaknesses and work on them. He&rsquo;s very focused and he has shown that he has very good leadership skills.&rdquo;Reasoner put those leadership skills to work at this year&rsquo;s World Junior Championship. While he didn&rsquo;t light up the scoreboard-one goal, four points-he did captain the U.S. team to a best-ever silver medal performance.&ldquo;My numbers weren&rsquo;t what I had hoped for, but the important thing was winning the silver medal,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I was pretty happy with the way things went.&rdquo;How things will go for the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Reasoner after this season is yet to be determined. The Rochester, N.Y. native isn&rsquo;t sure whether he will return to BC next season or begin his pro career.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll assess that after the season,&rdquo; he said.ON THE WARRIOR PATH: Merrimack has been the picture of inconsistency this season.Its average losing margin in Hockey East was 3.8 goals per game. However, it also put together a three-game winning streak that included wins over UMass-Lowell and Maine.Merrimack was the only team to beat Maine in 1997, doing so twice after failing to do so since 1980. Its 5-4 overtime win Feb. 2 was its first victory in Orono since 1979.&ldquo;I wish there was a magic equation,&rdquo; said Merrimack coach Ron Anderson. &ldquo;The kids have worked hard all season. But we hadn&rsquo;t been putting the puck in the net. We averaged 2.8 goals per game until the winning streak and we&rsquo;ve averaged five goals per game during the streak.&rdquo;Anderson hoped the streak was a sign of things to come. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a one-run team and this is the time you want to be on a run.&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: New Hampshire senior right winger Eric Boguniecki was named Hockey East player of the week for the period ending Feb. 2. Boguniecki had five goals and nine points in a 3-0-0 week for the Wildcats. &#9632;

Reasoner getting better after fab freshman year

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01905/6806599-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01860/6806637-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Kovalev&rsquo;s season-ending knee injury was a painful blow to the Rangers&rsquo; attack. (Graphics by Mathew Blacket and Trevor deBoer)</figcaption></div>Face the facts: The Montreal Canadiens are a hurtin&rsquo; team. No, this is not about Hab-bashing-they&rsquo;ve dealt with more than their fair share of bruises already. As of Feb. 3, the Canadiens had lost 275 man-games due to injuries, most in the NHL. At one point they had 11 regulars out of action. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen, over my 16 years of experience with the Habs, a team like this,&rdquo; said trainer Gaetan Lefebvre. There may be consolation for the Habs next year, however; the New York Islanders were ravaged last season by concussion injuries, but this season had just 74 man-games lost, second-fewest to the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; 57. Note: Figures include all players injured while with the NHL club, not just those on the regular 24-man roster.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02621/6806630-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="1893" height="833"></div><h2>21</h2>Stan Mikita wore No. 21 with distinction as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, but the number represents something equally important in team history-the number of seconds Bill Mosienko needed to score the fastest three goals by an individual in NHL history. Mosienko scored at 6:09, 6:20 and 6:30 of the third period in a 7-6 victory over the New York Rangers. The hurried hat trick was recorded against goalie Lome Anderson. &#9632;

f0035-01

Big hurt touches down on Habs

When Peter Bondra accounted for one of every four goals scored by the Washington Capitals (in games he played) in 1994-95, it was thought to be an extraordinary achievement. Turns out it was ordinary. Well past the midway mark of 1996-97, Bondra was again scoring 25 per cent of Caps&rsquo; goals. Okay, 24.8 per cent to be precise. Bondra was responsible for 32 of 129 goals in 48 games; he had missed four games. For those who believe the Hart Trophy should go to the player most valuable player to his team, as trophy terms stipulate, and not necessarily to the NHL&rsquo;s best player, Bondra has to be a candidate. Second to Bondra was Keith Tkachuk (33 of 143 goals, 23.1 per cent) of the Phoenix Coyotes. Leagueleading goal-scorer Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins (44 goals) and Tony Amonte of the Chicago Blackhawks (31 goals) were tied for third at 22.3 per cent. Listed are team leaders in percentage of goals contributed in games they played.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03503/6806696-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="739" height="1759"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04404/6806689-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="298" height="382"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Bondra</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05341/6806682-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="298" height="382"><figcaption class="caption-body">Owen Nolan</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06311/6806675-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="297" height="382"><figcaption class="caption-body">Theoren Fleury</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07287/6806668-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="298" height="380"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pavel Bure</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0035-03

Peter Principle: One in four goals

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08256/6806741-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="503" height="773"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gordie Howe</figcaption></div>Every goal New York Rangers&rsquo; center Wayne Gretzky scores is a new NHL record for most career goals. Regular season goals, that is. The Great One surpassed Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe, for most career goals in 1994. Howe retired with 801 goals during his splendid 26-year NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings and Hartford Whalers. But is Gretzky the greatest major league goal scorer of all-time? Well, not if you add up all the goals scored by NHL and World Hockey Association players in the regular season and in the playoffs. Gretzky, who was mired in the second longest scoring drought of his professional career, having gone 15 straight games without a goal, was at 1,021-50 behind Howe. Gretzky was on pace for 24 goals this season, not counting playoffs. That&rsquo;s still 35 off Howe&rsquo;s mark of 1,071. Asterisks (*) indicate active players.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09236/6806734-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="797" height="319"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10207/6806727-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="803" height="317"></div> &#9632;

f0035-08

Howe top pro scorer

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01815/6806786-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Anaheim right winger Teemu Selanne was fourth in league scoring with 30 goals and 70 assists. (Photo by Robert Rooks)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01730/6806779-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="3101" height="3521"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Petr Nedved fired two goals in a 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens Feb. 5. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01798/6806772-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="3099" height="3511"></div> &#9632;

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<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, JAN. 31</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02510/6807016-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="498" height="2009"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03385/6807009-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="498" height="2125"></div><h2>SATURDAY, FEB. 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04313/6807002-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="493" height="185"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05261/6806995-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="498" height="2380"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06222/6806988-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="492" height="2380"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07200/6806981-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="489" height="2380"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-08177/6806974-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="499" height="2379"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01462/6806967-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="493" height="561"></div><h2>SUNDAY, FEB. 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02297/6806960-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="494" height="2844"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03215/6806953-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="497" height="1707"></div><h2>MONDAY, FEB. 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04171/6806946-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="494" height="1699"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-06130/6806939-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="485" height="1347"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-07117/6806932-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="502" height="1344"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05148/6806925-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="998" height="2084"><figcaption class="caption-body">Philadelphia&rsquo;s Janne Niinimaa had 16 power play points. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>TUESDAY, FEB. 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-08105/6806918-1-eng-US/f0040-082.jpg" title="f0040-08" width="494" height="3392"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0985/6806911-1-eng-US/f0040-092.jpg" title="f0040-09" width="494" height="2946"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, FEB. 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1081/6806904-1-eng-US/f0040-102.jpg" title="f0040-10" width="491" height="464"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01385/6806897-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="494" height="3477"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02234/6806890-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="500" height="3475"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04145/6806883-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="497" height="442"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03171/6806876-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="1542" height="2046"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal left winger Martin Rucinsky had six goals for the Habs in a five-game stretch. (Photo by Jim Leary/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>THURSDAY, FEB. 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-05130/6806869-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="497" height="878"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06120/6806862-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="504" height="1392"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-07107/6806855-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="499" height="1395"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0886/6806848-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="516" height="3480"></div> &#9632;

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February 21, 1997

Playoff run looking fine

Alaskan-born Swanson finds home in Colorado

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

Bowman reaching another mark in unparalleled coaching career