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February 28, 1997
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
Olympic field takes form with qualifying tournament
Germany, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Austria and Kazakhstan have qualified for the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano. Those five countries advanced from an eight-team qualification tournament Feb. 6-11 in Innsbruck, Austria. The host team beat Switzerland 2-0 in the fifth-place game. Norway and Ukraine also failed to qualify. Germany won with a 2-0-1 record. The road to the Games spanned more than a year for the five nations. They join France, Italy and host Japan in the qualification pool. That pool will be split into two groups of four teams. Each group will hold a three-game round-robin qualifying round before the tournament begins Feb. 13. The Games begin Feb. 4. The winner of each group will advance to the Olympic tournament. Canada, Sweden and USA will play in one group with one winner, while Finland,…
Sharks bring back Errey to help spark playoff run
The San Jose Sharks are reaching back in an effort to move forward. GM Dean Lombardi plucked former Sharks’ captain Bob Errey off waivers Feb. 8 in hopes of igniting a playoff run. “He comes to play every night, plays in traffic, goes to the net, gets pucks out, does all the little things,” Lombardi said. “He plays hard.” Errey, 32, captained the Sharks in 1993-94, the season they set an NHL record for biggest points turnaround and came within a win of making the Western Conference final. Though Errey left San Jose under difficult circumstances, he’s thrilled to return. “I’m elated.” said Errey, whose 1995 trade to Detroit for a fifth round draft pick was, according to Lombardi, a mistake. “I think 1 had some unfinished business when I left here.” Eirey was traded…
Puppa won’t help offense
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been waiting virtually all season for Daren Puppa to give their stalled playoff bandwagon a jump start. When Puppa’s return from back surgery became imminent, however, there was little reason to believe he would get the team into high gear. A 1-8-0 stretch that preceded Puppa’s expected comeback dropped the Lightning back into the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and goaltending wasn’t the primary cause of the slump. The team was suffering from a scoring drought in which it scored just 13 times in the nine games and went 4-for-51 on the power play. “You can’t blame the goaltenders. They’re doing their job,” said right winger Dino Ciccarelli, who had just one goal in an 11-game stretch. Injuries were a contributing factor. Ciccarelli missed three games with a…
PLUS MINUS
Gartner keeps scoring along 1. 600-600 Mike Gartner of Phoenix becomes sixth NHLer to join 600 goals-600 assists club. 2. Just grand Detroit’s Scotty Bowman becomes first coach to win 1,000 regular season games. 3. Devil of a streak New Jersey cranks it up with nine-game (5-0-4) unbeaten streak. 4. Shan the man Brendan Shanahan of Red Wings registers back-to-back hat tricks, 12 goals in 11 games. 5. Major minor feat Cleveland’s Jock Callander registers 1,200th International League point. Boston sliding out of playoffs 1. Not much Bruin Five-game (0-41) winless streak puts Boston’s 29-year playoff streak in jeopardy. 2. Early exit Nashville Nighthawks mathematically eliminated from Central League playoffs after just 50 games. 3. Nothing special Montreal’s penalty killing (79.3 per cent), Buffalo’s power play (11.9) NHL’s worst special teams. 4. Unlucky Seven Toledo goalie David Goverde suspended seven…
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