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

April 11, 1997

The Hockey News April 11, 1997

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01780/6503556-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="213" height="214"></div>As it became apparent the Los Angeles Kings would miss the playoffs for the fourth straight season, coach Larry Robinson began auditioning young players for jobs for next season.He also used the remaining weeks to re-evaluate some players who had been with the team all season, but hadn&rsquo;t met expectations and will have to fight to keep their jobs.The latter category includes right winger Vitali Yachmenev. He made an impressive debut last season by scoring 19 goals and 53 points and finishing tied for second in rookie scoring, but struggled this season without Wayne Gretzky to set him up. He was also hampered by shoulder and ankle injuries.Yachmenev had 10 goals and 31 points through 75 games.&ldquo;He has to be more assertive in all areas of the game,&rdquo; Robinson said. &ldquo;He never had a problem along the boards before, but this season he has gotten a little soft.&rdquo;Goaltender Byron Dafoe may also be in the position of trying to keep his job. Dafoe, Stephane Fiset&rsquo;s backup most of the season, can become a restricted free agent this summer, but the Kings have said they want to keep him.However, with prospect Jamie Storr probably ready to play in the NHL, the Kings face a logjam in net and might make a move.Among the youngsters Robinson is looking at with an eye toward next season is 6-foot-8, 247-pound defenseman Steve McKenna. He made his NHL debut in a 2-2 tie with the Vancouver Canucks March 24 and saw some ice time in overtime.McKenna, 23, fills the Kings&rsquo; need for size on the blueline, but knows his skills need some work.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s obvious I&rsquo;m not that much of a finesse player,&rdquo; McKenna said. &ldquo;I hope to use my size to my advantage.&rdquo;Center Nathan LaFayette, meanwhile, was summoned from the Syracuse Crunch of the American League as the Kings assessed their depth and needs.NOTEBOOK: The Kings&rsquo; 2-1 loss at St. Louis March 27 was a double-whammy. It virtually killed their own fading playoff hopes and allowed the Blues to move closer to gaining a post-season berth. The Kings have the Blues&rsquo; first round pick in this year&rsquo;s entry draft and are hoping it will be a lottery pick&hellip;Right winger Dan Bylsma, who had been the only King to play in every game this season, sat out the March 24 contest against Vancouver because of a minor knee injury&hellip; The Kings were threatening to set team records on both special teams: the penalty killing was successful 86.6 per cent of the time (record-86.5 per cent in 1972-73); the power play was successful 13 per cent of the time (record low-13 percent 1968-69). &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Kings now playing for jobs

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0045-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01233/6504611-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg"></div>(OT) and (SO) denote overtime and shootoutNHL affiliations for players are listed in parentheses beside their names. &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

SCOREBOARD

(OT) denotes overtime gameTeam affiliations are listed in parentheses under names<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01378/6504549-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="506" height="584"></div> &#9632;

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01905/6503618-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="216" height="216"></div>Why doesn&rsquo;t the NHL&rsquo;s best defensive team have a strong candidate for the Selke Trophy?That&rsquo;s a question several New Jersey Devils&rsquo; forwards are asking.&ldquo;There has never been talk about one of the forwards from this team as long as I&rsquo;ve been here,&rdquo; said center Bobby Carpenter. &ldquo;I feel that award has become a catch-all award. Guys who don&rsquo;t win one of the major awards seem to get the Selke.&rdquo;Devils&rsquo; management does not believe in promoting players for post-season awards. In fact, the Devils provide team bonuses for shutouts, points in the standings and other accomplishments and have no individual bonuses in their contracts.But certainly coach Jacques Lemaire&rsquo;s system isn&rsquo;t the only reason for the team&rsquo;s defensive success, which produced its ninth shutout of the season in a 4-0 triumph over the New York Rangers March 27.&ldquo;You have to give credit to the guys who play our system,&rdquo; said right winger John MacLean, who plays on the top checking unit with Carpenter and Valeri Zelepukin. &ldquo;Guys make sacrifices playing it.&rdquo;No one more than MacLean, a 45-goal scorer five years ago.&ldquo;Yes, I can help the team when I score, but I have to make sure I keep the other parts of my game solid,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t play the same way as when I was scoring 45 goals, but we&rsquo;re winning.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Bill Guerin scored his 100th career goal and 200th career point March 25 in a 4-3 loss to Philadelphia&hellip;Defenseman Shawn Chambers, an unrestricted free agent this summer, said he held out little hope of talking contract with GM Lou Lamoriello before the end of the playoffs. &ldquo;He has never negotiated at this point with anyone else,&rdquo; Chambers said. Chambers said he would have to be bowled-over by an offer not to test the market&hellip;The March 15 clinching of a playoff spot, with 14 games left, was the earliest in franchise history&hellip;Lamoriello said veteran Peter Sidorkiewicz, who has played all season with Albany of the American League, would be the team&rsquo;s third goalie in the playoffs. &#9632;

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Devil forwards overlooked for Selke consideration

<h2>Montreal says bve-bve Mario</h2>1. Super sendoff Montreal fans give Mario Lemieux long standing ovation in final regular season game there.2. 1,000 helping hands Veteran Boston defenseman Ray Bourque becomes just fifth player to record 1,000 assists.3. Swift assistance Swift Current Broncos&rsquo; players help flood victims in southwestern Saskatchewan.4. Three&rsquo;s company Wheeling&rsquo;s Steve Gibson records hat tricks in three consecutive ECHL games.5. No minor feat Chicago&rsquo;s Steve Maltais records third straight 50-goal season in IHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0125/6502325-1-eng-US/c0002-012.jpg" title="C0002-01" width="416" height="606"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mario Lemieux</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0218/6502318-1-eng-US/c0002-022.jpg" title="C0002-02" width="415" height="587"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Maltais</figcaption></div><h2>Baker&rsquo;s dozen far too harsh</h2>1. Unlucky 13 Thirteen game suspension to San Jose&rsquo;s Andrei Nazarov for abuse of official too harsh.2. Darren McCarty Detroit vigilante touches off brawl by jumping Claude Lemieux. He also knees him.3. Paul Devorski Hey ref, how the heck do all combatants in Detroit-Colorado brawl remain in game?4. Claude Lemieux Your cheap hit from behind on Kris Draper that sparked this eyesore deserves one final jeer.5. Not so Mighty Ducks Anaheim stumbles to 1-12-2 record when Paul Kariya or Teemu Selanne injured. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

PLUS MINUS

Sorry may be the hardest word to say, but it can be no harder than the heads of those who think Dairen McCarty did the right thing when he attacked Claude Lemieux.Scotty Bowman said the embarrassing Detroit-Colorado dust-up March 27 could have been avoided had Lemieux simply said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry,&rdquo; to Kris Draper after the Avalanche right winger re-arranged the Red Wing center&rsquo;s face with a cheap shot last spring.In the absence ot an apology, however, came one of the more sorry incidents this season. So, at a time when we could be pausing to honor one of the game&rsquo;s all-time great players, we are forced to ponder a brawl and the clutter that surrounds it. Even for those who like fighting-as the majority of NHL players, executives, fans and readers of The Hockey News do-there is a difference between vigilantejustice and justifiable violence. McCarty made a mockery of the game and then rubbed all our noses in his mess with the overtime winning goal. Referee Paul Devorski must be in deep do-do over that one because he didn&rsquo;t eject McCarty.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-039/6502356-1-eng-US/c0002-032.jpg" title="C0002-03" width="441" height="558"><figcaption class="caption-body">By Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief (Photo by Canapres)</figcaption></div>Twenty-four hours after the Motown Madness, one of the most dignified players in the game&rsquo;s history reached yet another milestone. Ray Bourque earned his 1,000th assist, becoming the fifth player to do so and first to play all his games with one team. Bourque is the only player ever named a first or second all-star every season of his career; it&rsquo;s a streak-17 years long-that&rsquo;s in jeopardy this season because Bourque had missed 20 games due to injury. The all-time great had 17 goals and 47 points in 55 games. Had he played all 75 Boston games, his projected totals (23-41-64) would rank 1st, 5th and 2nd, respectively, among defensemen.His penalty minutes were 18. For years, Bourque has been the model NHL player. He plays a physical, if not rambunctious, style of game, but annually earns a modest number of penalty minutes considering his position. Yet, he has never won the Lady Byng Trophy. Voters seem totally incapable of comprehending a defenseman can be named most sportsmanlike player. It last happened in 1954 when Red Kelly earned the honor. In this, a season in which a goalie may actually win the Hart Trophy, and a true defensive forward may actually win the Selke Trophy, it would be nice if a defenseman won the Lady Byng. Bourque, Brian Ixetch and Nicklas Lidstr&ouml;m are all worthy candidates. Some people will remember Darren McCarty for the third-last week of the regular season. I will remember Ray Bourque. &#9632;

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Detroit darkness overshadows Rav of sunshine

If the Hartford Whalers had to leave town, they couldn&rsquo;t have picked a be ter time.The NHL is in the midst of its expansion process-site visits commence the first week of April-and that gives Whaler owner Peter Karmanos a built-in pool of relocation possibilities and chances for a nice, soft landing.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re now into detailed research on the markets out there,&rdquo; NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told The Hockey News. &ldquo;The process we&rsquo;re going through will be able to serve two purposes.&rdquo;That is, 1) decide how many of the six remaining applicants for expansion will be accepted; and 2) which of the others is best suited to be the new home of the Whalers.Karmanos met with Bettman in New York on March 28, two days after the chairman of Com-puware officially announced this would be the Whalers&rsquo; last season in Hartford.Karmanos and the state of Connecticut, led by Gov. John Rowland, were unable to come to an agreement to save the Whale. The state had offered to build a new arena, but the two parties couldn&rsquo;t reach agreement on economic viability.So Karmanos will pay a $20.5-million penalty to escape the final year of the agreement to remain in Hartford and seek greener pastures elsewhere.&ldquo;I feel bad,&rdquo; Karmanos told THN, &ldquo;we worked hard, but we lost. We failed and I&rsquo;m not used to that.&rdquo;Karmanos bought the Whalers in 1994 for the relatively modest fee of $22.5 million. Since then, though, the club has reported operating losses of $14.5 million two years ago, $21 mil-lion last season and projected losses of $14 million this season. Throw in the $20.5 million penalty and Karmanos&rsquo; investment in the Whalers amounts to approximately $92.5 million. getting dangerously close to or beyond what the franchise is actually worth. He figured it was time to cut his losses and get out of town.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011585/6502394-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="447" height="567"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</figcaption></div>He is no doubt hoping to make back some of that money with a sweetheart, incentive-laden deal with some other city desperately seeking an NHL franchise.The smart money is on it being one of the remaining six expansion applicants, although Raleigh-Durham. N.C., is a distinct possibility.For now, Atlanta, Houston and Nashville are not considerations to house the Whalers. Each expansion applicant there has arena rights locked up and aren&rsquo;t about to let Karmanos in, not that the NHL necessarily would want him eliminating such prime expansion markets anyway.However, the same cannot be said for Columbus, Ohio, St. Paul, Minn., Oklahoma City. Okla., and Raleigh-Durham.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have a first choice,&rdquo; Karmanos said. &ldquo;It will depend upon the business deal in each place and I want to see what the level of interest is.&rdquo;All things considered, though, it&rsquo;s believed Karmanos would like to end up in central Ohio.&ldquo;There are 7.5 million people within a 100-mile radius of Columbus,&rdquo; Karmanos said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the second most densely populated state in the union.&rdquo;The problem, however, is that there is no long-term commitment to an arena. A referendum will be held May 6 to determine the arena issue. It&rsquo;s assumed the outcome will be positive, but that still would leave the Whalers without a suitable arena for two or three seasons.Karmanos is something of an unconventional businessman. That&rsquo;s how he became as big as he is in computer software. He talks of &ldquo;finding the biggest building possible that can be fitted with seats and an ice-making plant and making it work for a year.&rdquo;The possibility is there for an NHL team to move into Ohio State University&rsquo;s new arena for 1998-99 but, again, it would only be a temporary arrangement. Karmanos also said he would look at the 10,000-seat Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio, and may even examine temporary homes in Cincinnati or Cleveland.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021278/6502387-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1581" height="2534"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sean Burke stops pucks, but couldn&rsquo;t stop the Whale from moving.</figcaption></div>St. Paul is another possibility as civic authorities there continue to pledge support to refitting the St. Paul Civic Centre to NHL standards, but it&rsquo;s doubtful the Twin Cities is high on the list. The best thing it has going for it is a No. 14 rank amongst U.S. TV markets.Oklahoma City has already committed to building a new arena-with a sweetheart lease/management agree-ment-and it has a 10,000-seat minorleague facility that could do for now.The question there is whether it&rsquo;s a legitimate big-league market.Raleigh-Durham is a solid darkhorse candidate, a rather attractive and unique market which is committed to building a new arena. An interim home could be 60 miles down the road in Greensboro, which has a new 16,000-seat facility (home to the Carolina Monarchs of the American League).Columbus has to be considered the favorite, pending the outcome of the May 6 referendum, but Raleigh-Durham shouldn&rsquo;t be discounted even though the potential expansion ownership group there withdrew its bid.A final decision on the Whalers&rsquo; destination is expected by the end of April, although it may be a week later to allow for the outcome of the May 6 referendum. &#9632;

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Whalers going to Columbus?

Do not fret over what happened March 26 at Joe Louis Arena because it was the very essence of what hockey is all about.The real story wasn&rsquo;t Darren McCarty beating up Claude Lemieux, though cementheads and peaceniks alike honed in on it. No. the real story was about the Detroit Red Wings beating the Colorado Avalanche for the first time this season.It wasn&rsquo;t so much a night of revenge as it was a night of attempted intimidation, an embodiment of the game&rsquo;s age-old premise of stand up and be counted.After three consecutive losses to Colorado this season, along with a series loss in the Western Conference final last spring, the Red Wings had to do something, anything, to show that on the eve of the Stanley Cup playoffs they would not go quietly.If the Wings had allowed Colorado to take an easy two points that night, the final game of the Avs&rsquo; three-game, four-day road trip that saw them arrive in Detroit in the wee hours, Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s team might as well have run up the white flag.It wasn&rsquo;t about McCarty-Lemieux so much as it was Rene Corbet-Kirk Maltby. Peter Forsberg-Igor Larionov, Adam Foote-Brendan Shanahan, Adam Deadmarsh-Vlad Konstantinov, Uwe Krupp-Jamie Pushor. It was imperative Detroit send a message.It would be a mistake to read too much into one Red Wing win. especially given the circumstances (a weary Avalanche team that lost Forsberg after one period), but it does provide some inspiration for the Wings.Revenge was certainly an issue, but it wasn&rsquo;t the issue. It was old-time hockey, two teams prepared to do most anything to win. and admittedly not fbr the faint of heart.Shocking? Yes, but perhaps only because too much of the hockey being played today lacks that kind of passion and commitment.Let the playoffs begin. &#9632;

Wings had to send Avs a message

A weekly compendium of significant events and developments (March 21-28).March 21: Rangers&rsquo; Mark Messier scores 574th career NHL goal to move into 10th place among all-time scorers.March 22: Philadelphia&rsquo;s Eric Lindros injured on low check by Islanders&rsquo; Rich Pilon.March 24: Rangers shut out Pittsburgh 3-0 in final regular season meeting between superstars Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.March 25: Manon Rheaume, first woman to play in NHL exhibition game, cut from Canada&rsquo;s national women&rsquo;s team.March 26: Detroit and Colorado brawl way to 148 penalty minutes, coioraao s ciauaece mieux, who injured Detroit&rsquo;s Kris Draper wit! hit from behind in last year&rsquo;s playoffs, cut for L stitches after being attacked by Darren McCarty.Hartford owner Peter Karmanos announce. he&rsquo;ll move Whalers after this season.NHL announces 1997-98 season will open it Japan with two games between Anaheim and Vancouver.March 27: Boston&rsquo;s Ray Bourque records 1,000th career assistGordie Howe&rsquo;s planned return to hockey, for one shift with Syracuse of the American League, postponed. &#9632;

Whale of a week for scorers, fighters, franchise movers

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011609/6502473-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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HOCKEY PHOTOS

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div>The Vancouver Canucks and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim will open their 1997-98 regular seasons with an eastern road trip of a different kind.NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made official March 26 what had been a poorly kept secret-that the Canucks and Ducks will play two games in Tokyo, Japan, Oct. 3-4. It will mark the first time in league history regular season action has taken place outside North America.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve said numerous times that our game is underexposed,&rdquo; Bettman told a news conference in Vancouver. &ldquo;We think it&rsquo;s a big step forward in terms of our international commitment and a great opportunity leading up the 1998 Winter Olympics.&rdquo;The teams will fly to Tokyo Sept. 29, losing a day as they cross the international date line, and have three days to practise and prepare. The games will be played at noon in Tokyo Oct. 4-5, which will be prime time the night before in both Anaheim and Vancouver.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m told travel shouldn&rsquo;t be too bad because when we come back we&rsquo;ll be arriving before we left,&rdquo; joked Anaheim GM Jack Ferreira.Ducks&rsquo; coach Ron Wilson expressed concern stars on both teams might run into fatigue problems when this trip, combined with the All-Star Game and February Olympics, are taken into account.&ldquo;But this isn&rsquo;t Canada&rsquo;s game anymore,&rdquo; Wilson said.Canuck captain Trevor Linden, a vice-president of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, endorsed the trip.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s awesome,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

NHL to rise in Japan

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011530/6502552-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hunting for MastertonDale Hunter is the Washington Capitals&rsquo; nominee for the Masterton.</figcaption></div>A 21-game suspension and 55 hours in the penalty box are hardly attributes you&rsquo;d normally see on the resume of a Masterton Trophy candidate.But Dale Hunter of the Washington Capitals is a lot more than that.The Masterton is given to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication. Each of the 26 chapters in the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association selects a team nominee. A poll among the chapters determines a winner at the end of the season.Hunter, 36, was suspended 21 games in 1993-94 for hitting Pierre Turgeon of the New York Islanders after a goal was scored. He ranks second in all-time penalty minutes.&ldquo;But he does have qualities that make up the Masterton,&rdquo; said Washington Times hockey writer Dave Fay.PHWA members selected the following nominees as of March 28. Six cities had yet to nominate a player.Sheldon Kennedy, Boston: Disclosed he had been the victim of sex abuse as a junior player.Donald Audette. Buffalo: Returned from three major knee surgeries to lead team in goals.Dave Gagner, Calgary: Overcame series of concussions and re-emerged as go-to-player.Denis Savard. Chicago: Changed game to defensive specialist in order to retain regular shift.Uwe Krupp, Colorado: Returned early from knee surgery to help Avalanche win Stanley Cup.Andy Moog, Dallas: Had outstanding season when some figured he had reached end of the line.Kevin Lowe, Edmonton: Veteran leader returned to his beginnings to direct young Oiler blueline.Kevin Dineen, Hartford: Has displayed resilience and determination in face of Crohn&rsquo;s Disease.Ray Ferraro, Los Angeles: Wasn&rsquo;t crazy about Kings at first, but has become consummate team player.Martin Rucinsky, Montreal: First rounder in 1991 resurrected career after four underachieving seasons.Dennis Vaske, Islanders: Returned to play after missing almost two seasons with concussions.Adam Graves, Rangers: Bounced back from two sub-par seasons and nagging back injury.Randy Cunneyworth, Ottawa: Seventeen-year pro veteran provides great character and leadership.John LeClair, Philadelphia: More than $100,000 raised through his charity foundation in Vermont.Joe Mullen, Pittsburgh: Withstood the test of time and injuries to score career goal No. 500 at age 40.Tony Granato, San Jose: Top candidate for the award completed inspiring return from brain surgery.Paul Ysebaert, Tampa Bay: Persevered through painful groin injuries that wiped out parts of two seasons.Kirk Muller, Toronto: Kept brave face through forgettable season in which his father battled illness.Martin Gelinas, Vancouver: Should have second 30-goal season after landing on waivers in 1993. &#9632;

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Hunter on Masterton short list

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>A 10-year-old Indiana boy awoke from a coma March 26, almost six days after being struck in the temple by a stray puck during an Ontario League playoff game in Windsor.Chad Faulkner is expected to make a complete recovery-although it could take as long as two years-as he was removed from life support at Windsor&rsquo;s Hotel-Dieu Hospital. He&rsquo;ll remain in hospital until mid-April, then return to his home in Batesville, Ind.The Faulkner family makes an annual visit to Windsor to watch the Spitfires during the school break and was sitting in the front row along the side boards when Chad was struck. He underwent surgery to remove a blood clot and slipped into the coma.Chad&rsquo;s father Greg addressed a media conference after his son spoke his first words. &ldquo;I love you, Dad. I want you, Dad. Take me home,&rdquo; a tearful Faulkner said, quoting his son.The height of the side glass is being blamed because it&rsquo;s a foot shorter than the minimum three feet recommended by the Canadian Hockey Association. Glen McCurdie of the CHA said the guidelines are not binding. The guidelines also state the recommendations are minimums and stress the glass should be higher for spectator safety.Emile Therien of the Canada Safety Council said this incident could result in mandated minimum standards across the country.The Faulkner&rsquo;s insurance plan pays 70 per cent of hospital costs and Windsor mayor Mike Hurst guaranteed they wouldn&rsquo;t have to worry about the rest. The Spitfires and Detroit Whalers played a charity game March 29. &#9632;

Young fan out of coma after getting hit by puck

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN stall</div>The first woman to play in the NHL was the last cut from Canada&rsquo;s nation al women&rsquo;s team.Manon Rheaume, who player goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning in; 1992 exhibition game, was releasee from the national squad March 25 less than a week before the March 3! start of the 1997 Women&rsquo;s Work Championship in Kitchener, Ont.Rheaume, 25, played on Canada&rsquo; gold medal World Championship teams in 1992 and 1994. She left the team&rsquo;s training facility in Barrie, Ont. determined to make a return. Wornen&rsquo;s hockey debuts in the 1998 Winte Olympics and Rheaume vows to be part of the team in Nagano.&ldquo;I want to be ready for September (for the selection camp) and give them no choice but to have me on the team,&rdquo; Rheaume told the Toronto Star. &ldquo;I will make sure I am ready.&rdquo;Goalies Danielle Dube and Lesley Reddon got the nod ahead of Rheaume, who has played the past few seasons with the Reno Renegades of the West Coast League.HISTORY REPEATS: It was deja vu 92 years later.The Dawson City Nuggets completed a 20-day trek from the Yukon to Ottawa, then got thrashed 18-0 by the Ottawa Senators&rsquo; Alumni.The March 23 game at the Corel Centre was a re-creation of the 1905 Stanley Cup final in which the Ottawa Silver Seven swept a two-game series with the Nuggets 9-2 and 23-2.Mitch Babin scored five goals for the Senators&rsquo; Alumni before a crowd of 6,139. Proceeds went to charity.The Nuggets, a team of carpenters, painters, government workers and gold miners, took the same route to Ottawa as their predecessors did 92 years earlier. That included travel by dog sled, snowmobile, bicycle, snowshoes and train.&ldquo;We tried our best, but we couldn&rsquo;t change history,&rdquo; said Nuggets&rsquo; forward Harvey Downes.MORE CHARGES: The number of charges laid against former Toronto Maple Leafs Gardens equipment handler Gordon Stuckless rose by three.Stuckless, 47, now faces 57 charges of indecent assault on a male, gross indecency and buggery involving 36 alleged victims dating back to the 1960s at the Gardens.A bail hearing is set for April 3 in Toronto.EAGLESON DELAY: The Law Society of Upper Canada&rsquo;s discipline hearing into allegations of professional misconduct against lawyer and former NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Alan Eagleson was adjourned until April 25. &#9632;

Rheaume cut by Team Canada

The Hartford Whalers&rsquo; relocation to a yet-to-be-determined city will be the third NHL franchise shift in three years and 13th since the league&rsquo;s formation in 1917. (See pg. 3 for more.) Here&rsquo;s a list of the transfers, including number of vears in the original city.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021103/6502631-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="759" height="663"></div> &#9632;

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Whalers’ move NHL shift No. 13

I just saw another beautiful goal called back because of the brutal in-the-crease rule.What made this one worse was the player&rsquo;s foot went into the crease after the puck was in the back of the net. Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; center Trevor Linden was right when he said, &ldquo;1 can&rsquo;t believe we are going into the playoffs with a rule like this.&rdquo;If the players can see it and we fans can see it, why can&rsquo;t the people at the top see how bad this rule is? Please, to those in charge, change this rule before the best league in all of sports becomes a joke.Shawn Pooley,&nbsp;Merritt, B. C.<h2>Go-to Guy</h2>All everyone talks about is the dynamic duo of Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya, but Guy Hebert gets my vote for helping turn a disappointing Mighty Ducks of Anaheim team into a playoff contender.Peter Militello,&nbsp;Glendale, N. Y.<h2>Eric the warrior</h2>In the March 21 issue of THN, reader San Zawaski speculated that Eric Lindros may have not been worth giving up Peter Forsberg.When the Philadelphia Flyers went out and got Lindros, it was because of what every smart hockey person know. Players of Lindros&rsquo; calibre and talent come along only once in a decade. And when he does, you do everything in your power to obtain him.Forsberg is a great player, but if I were going into battle, I&rsquo;d have Eric on my side every time and I think most NHL players would, too.A trade doesn&rsquo;t end with the outcome of one battle. It ends with the outcome of the war. Check the stats at the end of their careers and then judge the trade.Kevin Ellis,&nbsp;St. Marys, Ont.<h2>What&rsquo;s the deal?</h2>For seven months, Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; fans heard the same mantra from the team: Don&rsquo;t judge the team or management now. Judge it after the trading deadline.Well, the trading deadline came and went and no significant moves were made. The team that set the NHL record for wins last season is no better than fifth or sixth overall. The Red Wings are no tougher and only nominally bigger.They are carrying two starting goalies and Kevin Hodson, who could also be a starter. It&rsquo;s a good bet the team will lose Mike Vernon to free agency instead of getting something for him in a trade.They&rsquo;ve got non-grinding forwards who aren&rsquo;t scoring and grinders who routinely get pushed away from the net. And Sergei Fedorov? His disappearing act in the playoffs has spilled into the regular season, but no one seems to get the message: dominant players have nights off, not large parts of seasons.Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Vladimir Konstantinov, Igor Larionov and Darren McCarty have carried this team and is too small a nucleus not to get shut down in the playoffs.Bruce Ferguson,&nbsp;Harner Woods. Mich<h2>New power stat</h2>I am in cnaigc oi a luussene pool and I have an idea for a new statistic. In fact, I&rsquo;ve spoken to the NHL offices about establishing it. I think it&rsquo;s high time the NHL began tabulating power play points.I also think it would be interesting to see goaltending stats broken down into goals allowed at even strength and while shorthanded.Marty Fialkow,&nbsp;Mississauga, Ont.<h2>You have it bad?</h2>In the March 21 issue of THN, reader Ken Aeon claims &ldquo;the refereeing in the NHL stinks.&rdquo;If he thinks NHL officiating is bad, he has never been to an International League game. They should hand out gas masks to fans in this league.M.B. De Maio,&nbsp;Orlando, Fla.<h2>Bob for Commish</h2>For about 15 years now, I have been a fan of Don Cherry and his gritty, abrasive, in-your-face approach to hockey. For the past five years, I have also been a fan of THN associate editor Bob McKenzie and his intelligent, informed, unbiased approach to the coolest game on earth.I still say &ldquo;Grapes for Prime Minister,&rdquo; but now I&rsquo;d like to add &ldquo;Mac for NHL Commish.&rdquo; Nobody gets the inside scoop on every team and is as accurate in doing so as the Big Mac.Dave Hill,&nbsp;Toronto, Ont.<h2>Stan not the man</h2>In your March 7 issue you say that with 1,394 games with the Chicago Blackhawks, Stan Mikita had the longest career with one team. But Alex Delvecchio played 1,549 with the Detroit Red Wings.Walter Uebele,&nbsp;Cambridge, Ont.Make your feelings known. Fax us your comments at (416) 340-1641 or write to Letters, THN, 777 Bay SL, Suite 2700, Box 148, Toronto, Ont, M5G 2N8 in Canada. In the U.S., write to 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. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Why can’t NHL see crease rule a ioke?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011705/6502686-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

ELSTON

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021164/6502717-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="803" height="1201"></div>Peter Pocklington&rsquo;s business acumen has been questioned in some comers over the years, but give the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; owner credit for securing his rrpst valuable assets.Back in 1979, when the Oilers were still in the World Hockey Association, his agreement with a fuzzy-cheeked superstar-in-the-making named Wayne Gretzky took the idea of long-term security to a whole new level. The Feb. 9, 1979 issue of The Hockey News reported The Great One celebrated his 18th birthday by signing a contract worth between $4 and $5 million&hellip; payable over 21 years.There was no need for Gretzky to fret he would be left behind by the game&rsquo;s changing economics. Gretzky&rsquo;s agent Gus Badali was smart enough to realize that while long-term financial security is one thing, indenturement is quite another. He and Pocklington agreed that a decade later they could meet again to discuss the deal and make appropriate changes. &ldquo;On the 10th year we will sit down and renegotiate because of all the factors such as inflation.&rdquo; Pocklington said.It was easily hockey&rsquo;s biggest contract of the day, but compared to other professional sports, it lagged behind. About the same time, baseball slugger Jim Rice signed a seven-year, $5.4 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. &#9632;

f0006-02

A deal for decades

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div>Never could quite understand it when the teacher would hand out a test only to declare, &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no wrong answer.&rdquo;Until now. Now it all makes sense.Eric Lindros or Peter Forsberg, who&rsquo;s better?Nice assignment. The boss must figure he&rsquo;s head of the Impossible Mission Force, except he left out the part about &ldquo;should you decide to accept it.&rdquo;Lindros or Forsberg, I who&rsquo;s better? Well, there are I tougher questions-such as, I Elie Macpherson or Kathy Ireland, who&rsquo;s better looking? (Substitute Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt if you like.)That said, Lindros or Forsberg is an intriguing query. With Mario Lemieux set to depart the NHL scene, the mantle of best player is up for grabs. Lindros and Forsberg, who were once traded for each other and whose careers will be linked forever, are top candidates for that honor.They are not alone, but today, class, there is just one question and one question only: Lindros or Forsberg, who&rsquo;s better?At first blush, it would appear no contest. The Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; superstar center is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound machine who&rsquo;s a threat to search and destroy or score a goal every time he&rsquo;s on the ice. Lindros, a five-year NHL veteran, has won the Hart trophy once. Forsberg, the Colorado Avalanche superstar center and three-year veteran, has never won it. Lindros has twice been an NHL all-star (first in 1995, second in 1996), Forsberg has never been an all-star. Lindros scores more goals (a career average of. 65 per game compared to Forsberg&rsquo;s. 36) and points (1.47 per game to Forsberg&rsquo;s 1.30). Lindros is four inches taller and almost 40 pounds heavier. And wasn&rsquo;t it just five years ago that Lindros was traded for Forsberg, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextail, Chris Simon, two first-round picks and $15 million?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011546/6502755-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="825" height="1885"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Lindros is an imposing force who can moose his will on a game.(Lindros by Glenn James/Sports Action; Forsberg by Rocky Widner)</figcaption></div>No contest, right? Wrong. Weller, actually, right In a random survey of 15 NHL GMs and head coaches, 11 chose Forsberg over Lindros when asked the simple question, &ldquo;Who&rsquo;s better?&rdquo;You should know that the respondents, none of whom work for Colorado or Philadelphia, were not too eager to get involved. Think about it If you were a coach or GM of a team that has to face Lindros or Forsberg, would you publicly declare your preference? For that reason, anonymity was guaranteed.You should also know that each one of them anguished over his selection (&ldquo;Not much to separate those two guys,&rdquo; was the most common refrain). And yet when all was said and done, it was, perhaps surprisingly, Forsberg 11, Lindros 4.The margin would have been closer (9-6) if not for the Lindros Injury Factor. Two who cast ballots for Forsberg said they think Lindros is a better player than Forsberg, but chose the durable Swede over the somewhat injury-prone Big E, who has been absent 22 per cent of his time in the NHL.&ldquo;I see Eric&rsquo;s health as a major issue,&rdquo; one respondent said. &ldquo;I seriously wonder if it&rsquo;s going to prevent him from becoming as dominant a player as he should be.&rdquo;Lindros missed 23 games in his rookie season, 19 in his second year, only two in the 48-game 1995 season, nine games last season and 28 of 74 this season. Most of his problems have been knee-related, although he has also had a variety of other ailments, from an eye injury to the groin pull that sidelined him this season. Forsberg, meanwhile, missed only one game in his first two NHL seasons, but was absent 17 of 74 with a thigh injury this season.Almost every respondent, even those who voted for Lindros, mentioned the injury factor. Clearly, it is perceived as a major issue.&ldquo;Sure, it bothers me,&rdquo; Lindros told THN. &ldquo;It eats you up. I can handle missing four or five games here or there. The thing I can&rsquo;t accept is 23. But what are you gomg to do I1 get mysett in good snape. 1 take care of myself. I&rsquo;ve changed the way I played. It&rsquo;s just bad luck. It&rsquo;s very frustrating.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021040/6502748-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="2016" height="3494"><figcaption class="caption-body">Colorado superstar center Peter Forsberg has superior skill on both sides of the puck.</figcaption></div>With or without the injury factor, though, Forsberg still prevailed over Lindros in the poll. The question is, why?&ldquo;Because Forsberg is more creative with the puck and he&rsquo;s better without it, too,&rdquo; one respondent said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not as physically imposing as Lindros, but he has got all the grit and character and leadership you could ask for.&rdquo;&ldquo;Forsberg is a better lateral skater and a bettei defensive player,&rdquo; another respondent said.&ldquo;Determination, size, strength, speed, skill, pick your poison because (Forsberg) has it all,&rdquo; one said. &ldquo;And you can&rsquo;t overlook the fact that he has already won an Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup.&rdquo;Ah, yes the championship issue. Forsberg, 23. won the Stanley Cup in only his second NHL season anu overwneimeu uie rionua raiiureis with the thoroughness of his effort in the final. Lindros, 24 and in his fifth season, is still looking for the Cup. But that argument goes to a whole host of extraneous factors including the difficult issue of measuring supporting casts. If Lindros and Forsberg traded places last spring, would the outcome have been any different? It&rsquo;s doubtful.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re both special players,&rdquo; said Calgary Flames&rsquo; coach Pierre Page, who engineered the Lindros-Forsberg deal when he was GM of the Quebec Nordiques. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be honest, when we traded for Forsberg we had no idea he would become as good as he has become. Guys like&rsquo;Lindros only come along once every 20 years. There&rsquo;s no doubt in my mind Lindros will win a Cup with the Flyers sometime within the next four or five years.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0007-01

FEATURES

THE GREAT DEBATE Pick Your Poison

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011611/6502786-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Forsberg&rsquo;s greatest strength is his abilitv to control the ouck. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>That would please Flyers&rsquo; GM Bo Clarke-the sooner the better-but 1 thinks the championship issue is a no point. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t compare their situtions,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;To acquire Erii we had to give up a big part of the team It was stripped pretty clean when he got here and to expect a 19-year-old to win the Cup, that&rsquo;s unrealistic. He&rsquo;s developing, the team is developing.&rdquo;For the record, it took Joe Sakic eight seasons to win the Cup. Mario Lemieu needed seven. Ditto for Denis Potvin Wayne Gretzky and Clarke did it in five Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull. Bobby Orr in four. Ray Bourque is still waiting.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just the way it is,&rdquo; Lindros sai of not being fully recognized until Cup has been won. &ldquo;I can accept (being the first one centered out if the Flyers don&rsquo;t win the Cup) because when we win it, I&rsquo;ll be the first person to lift it.&rdquo;One of the respondents who voted for Forsberg suggested the results could flip-flop in the years to come, that Forsberg&rsquo;s game is more refined than Lindros&rsquo; is now, but that Lindros is continuing to make great strides toward becoming a more complete player.&ldquo;Lindros will end up scoring more, a lot more, than Forsberg and you can&rsquo;t overlook that&rdquo; said one who voted for Lindros. &ldquo;Toss in his overpowering physical element and you have to give him the edge.&rdquo;Lindros, who had 27 goals, 72 points and 122 penalty minutes in 46 games compared to Forsberg&rsquo;s 23 goals, 77 points and 65 PIM in 58 games, acknowledges he has been changing his game. He recognized early in his career he couldn&rsquo;t go out every shift and get a big hit. It was too energy-consuming and the potential for injury too great. Now, he&rsquo;s making further adjustments.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned to slow it down a little bit&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;I realized you don&rsquo;t have to do everything at 100 miles per hour. If you go 80 or 90, you find you can handle the puck better, you can see the ice better and make the right play.&rdquo;The changes have not gone unnoticed. After the Dallas Stars played Philadelphia earlier this season, Stars&rsquo; coach Ken Hitchcock commented on the transformation.&ldquo;Eric used to break away from the puck and was obsessed with getting his speed up,&rdquo; said Hitchcock, an assistant coach with the Flyers when Lindros broke into the NHL in 1992-93. &ldquo;Now, he&rsquo;s being more patient. He skates to the puck instead of away from it.&ldquo;What surprises you about Eric is how good he is off the rush. He used to generate everything off the cycle down low, but now he&rsquo;s one of the most dangerous players off the rush. He doesn&rsquo;t get enough credit for his speed and he has an incredible shot&rdquo;Ironically, as skilled and creative as Forsberg is, his ultimate strength is cycling down low, controlling the puck in the comers, behind the net and along the wall and creating outstanding scoring opportunities.&ldquo;He takes the puck to the net better than anyone in the game today,&rdquo; said a voter who chose Forsberg.What Forsberg gives up in inches and pounds, he gets back in sheer determination and consistency of effort He&rsquo;s a warrior who can withstand any amount of abuse and doesn&rsquo;t mind dishing it out.Prior to being drafted in 1991 (sixth overall, five slots behind No. 1 pick Lindros), Forsberg was given psychological testing by one team. The test designed for use on elite level corporate executives, was to gauge determination and thirst for success. His results were like nothing they&rsquo;d ever seen, right off the scale.&ldquo;He thrives on competition,&rdquo; said Avalanche coach Marc Crawford. &ldquo;He senses a challenge and wants to go to war. The subtle change in his game this year is more leadership. He&rsquo;s more likely to step forward in a situation because he senses the timing is right to do that. &ldquo;His game is not however, without flaws. Sometimes Forsberg lets his creativity with the puck get in the way of scoring chances. Like Lindros, he&rsquo;s constantly urged to shoot the puck more often.&ldquo;He understands more now that to keep the defenders off balance he has to change it up,&rdquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;He has been told enough, not just by me either, and he&rsquo;s making the adjustment.&rdquo;As improved as Lindros&rsquo; defensive game may be, it&rsquo;s not likely to ever rival Forsberg&rsquo;s. Among the league&rsquo;s elite skill players, Forsberg is the best defensive forward.&ldquo;He has great instincts,&rdquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s taken it to another level by really working at it, too. He&rsquo;s as good as there is.&rdquo;Playing on the same team as offensive superstar Joe Sakic, but on different lines, also liberates Forsberg to play his unique two way game. He is expected to generate substantial offense, but isn&rsquo;t totally relied upon to provide it. The Avalanche is a two headed monster and it will take a special team to shut down both Sakic and Forsberg. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to play on a team that has a better center than me,&rdquo; Forsberg said. &ldquo;Joe&rsquo;s the veteran, Joe&rsquo;s the leader and it allows me to do my job.&rdquo;Lindros and Forsberg have nothing but kind words to say about each other. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s so very skilled, so smooth, so solid&hellip; and solid doesn&rsquo;t begin to say enough,&rdquo; Lindros said of Forsberg.Forsberg recently named Lindros his most difficult opponent. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very tough,&rdquo; Forsberg "aid, &ldquo;but he has great skills, too.&rdquo;Lindros and Forsberg have met omy once on me ice: ai me ito NHL awards banquet where Forsberg was honored as rookie of the year and Lindros as league MVP.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really into individual awards,&rdquo; Forsberg said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a team sport. Winning the Stanley Cup is what it&rsquo;s all about.&rdquo;Perhaps the biggest difference between the two is that Forsberg has played his game at its highest level when it matters most, while Lindros&rsquo; dominance has yet to extend deep into the playoffs or even the World Cup, where ultimate respect is earned.Maybe all that will change this 1 spring. A Philadelphia-Colorado final, a head-to-head matchup between Lindros, and Forsberg, would provide the best answer to the question of who&rsquo;s better.Until then, though, THN survey says:. Forsberg&rsquo;s better than Lindros. &#9632;

f0008-01

Forsberg gets nod over Fivers’ ‘Big E’

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011532/6502824-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="498" height="715"></div>Coaches love getting goals from their fighters as long as their fighters don&rsquo;t lose sight of the goals set for them on the team.That&rsquo;s because when tough guys experience scoring success, they sometimes become passive in their quest for goals and usually find their hot hands turns cold in a hurry.And it changes the texture of the team.All of which leaves the Buffalo Sabres in a precarious position. People shouldn&rsquo;t be asking whether the Sabres should change their fighting ways like most teams do when the playoffs begin. Buffalo, the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins were tied for the NHL lead in fighting majors with 83 each. The question should be: can they afford not to remain the league&rsquo;s most frequent fighters?The answer is simple. If the Sabres hope to enjoy playoff success, they must continue to be menacing. It&rsquo;s because they play in-your-face hockey and have demonstrated no fear of dropping the gloves that they are in the running, along with the Dallas Stars, for the NHL&rsquo;s surprise team of the year. The Sabres just have to hope referees don t start penalizing them more harshly during the playoffs than regular season.&ldquo;Some nights, we just go out and fight; other nights we stick to playing the game,&rdquo; said Sabres&rsquo; enforcer Rob Ray. &ldquo;I think the uncertainty of what we&rsquo;re going to do works to our advantage. We had one game against Philadelphia where (the Flyers) assumed we would want to fight, but we just kept turning our backs. They sat in the box all night. We don&rsquo;t have to fight to win.&rdquo;The Sabres will be the most-penalized team in the playoffs, likely as champions of the Northeast Division. They haven&rsquo;t done things by the book this season and consequently, often get the book thrown at them.And rest assured, they won&rsquo;t claim the Northeast crown by being patsies. Their aggressiveness-the willingness to pay a price for victory-ranks second only to the spectacular goaltending of Dominik Hasek as the reason for their impressive record.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021089/6502817-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="747" height="1464"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rob Ray</figcaption></div>Fighting all but disappears as the playoffs progress. Last season, there were 1.44 fighting majors per game during the regular season, but just 0.31 during the playoffs (27 fighting majors in 86 games). That represents an 81 per-cent reduction. There was just one fight in the four-game final between the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers.There are a couple of obvious reasons for the decline. First, many of the NHL&rsquo;s frequent fighters are fringe players whose ice time is reduced in the post-season. Also, teams fear being slapped with I an instigator minor I penalty and losing I the game on at power play goal.Check the I league&rsquo;s penalty leaders and you&rsquo;ll find three Sabres among the 20 most-penalized: Matthew Barnaby, who led the NHL with 335 minutes last season, Ray and defenseman Bob Boughner. Left winger Brad May would surely be there with them had he not missed half the season due to injury.If the threat of those players fighting suddenly disappears. their value is significantly diminished. Neither Ray nor Boughner is a goal-scorer of note, but they keep the opposition honest.And Barnaby, who had a career-high 18 goals in 65 games this season, isn&rsquo;t given a clear path to the net just because he tweaks the fancy of female teenyboppers and has a radio show. He creates space with his fists. Take the fight out of his game and just watch his goals dissolve.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been told by players in the league that a lot of teams don&rsquo;t like to play against us because of the style we play,&rdquo; said right winger Jason Dawe. &ldquo;As the season wears down we&rsquo;re walking away from confrontations more and more because we know things change in the playoffs. But we won&rsquo;t change our style completely.&rdquo;Maintaining the status quo gives the Sabres a fighting chance. &#9632;

f0009-01

COLUMNISTS

If Sabres change, they’ll pay big price

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021185/6502855-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"></div>Top 10 reasons why you&rsquo;ll win your hockey pool with help from The Hockey News:10. History Because this is the 50th consecutive year we&rsquo;ve run exactly the same playoff pool format and not once has anybody ever said it doesn&rsquo;t work.9. Our Simple Formula It&rsquo;s not how good a particular player is. but rather his team. Go through all the playoff matchups, pick winners and then predict the number of games in each series (the average is six) all the way to the Stanley Cup final. When you&rsquo;re finished, you have the expected number of games for each team. Then multiply the points per game of each olaver on our team lists (see opposite page) by the number of games you expect him to play. 1 here you have it: an instant player selection list.8. Our Top 10 Charts We&rsquo;ve set up a chart for each possible playoff team with their top 10 expected scorers. We&rsquo;ve eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks. Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings. Or. more accurately, they&rsquo;ve eliminated themselves.Included on the chart: each player&rsquo;s career playoff games and points per game average; 1996-97 first and second half games and points as of March 26 (to help you determine who is playing better or worse now than earlier in the season); 1996-97 total power play points and points per game average. Names are listed in order of who we think you should pick, not strictly by points per game. Lists have been adjusted for various factors, such as playoff history, second half scoring, position and recent power play time. You won&rsquo;t go wrong with a strict points-per-game list, but you should keep in mind other factors.7. Our Crystal Ball To save you a lot of time, here are the final four teams: Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference, Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference. But you&rsquo;d be better off picking secondary teams to go all the way because you will get more of their top players and if they do win you can&rsquo;t lose.6. No Mo Since we&rsquo;ve done this so many years, we&rsquo;ve come up with some information we know is useless. Late-sea-son momentum is the biggie-it means nothing. Momentum is cut of at the end of the regular season and a new round of momentum starts with the playoffs. Ask the Florida Panthers, who ended last season on a 3-7-1 run before going all the way to the final.5. Home-Ice Disadvantage In order for a team to have home-ice advantage, there actually has to be an advantage to playing at home. Is that not correct? Next to, &ldquo;Show me the money,&rdquo; home-ice advantage will be the most common phrase heard during the playoffs.Last year, home teams had a 44-42 edge in games and the year before it was 42-39. Wow, some advantage. The truth is, most teams are in the playoffs in the first place because they know how to win on the road. Oh, yes, but what about the seventh game of a series, that&rsquo;s when there&rsquo;s a big advantage. Right? Well, since 1993, in the seventh game of a series, the home team had won nine and lost eight.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011590/6502862-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="65" height="81"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 65px">By Murray Townsend</figcaption></div>The most incredible thing I&rsquo;ve heard in recent years, and will no doubt hear this year after a team has lost the first game on the road and won the second: &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve regained home-ice advantage.&rdquo;Then there&rsquo;s the regular season | series, another meaningless I prognostication tool. Over the last three playoffs, in the first (tm) round only, 12 teams had a season series edge of at least two more wins. In the playoffs, those 12 teams had a 6-6 record.4. The Dave Lowry Factor We call them sleepers, and sometimes more colorful names when they mess up our pools by piling up points when they&rsquo;ve shown no previous inclination or ability to do so. I Lowry, of course, led the Panthers in playoff | scoring last year with 17 points. This came from a player who has had five full NHL seasons of 20 points or fewer.How do you find them? You don&rsquo;t. but if you absolutely have to, look closely at a team&rsquo;s checking line. These guys UJ get more playing time in the playoffs and they&rsquo;re on the ice against the other teams&rsquo; top scoring line, which often isn&rsquo;t the best defensively.3. The Doug Gilmour Factor Certain players are able to take their games to I a new level in the playoffs. These are I players with established star credentials, 1 but who become better when there&rsquo;s more &rsquo; on the line. Doug Gilmour is the best example of a player affected by the Doug Gilmour Factor. Claude Lemieux, Mark Messier. Theoren Fleury. Mike Ricci and Dino Ciccarelli are examples of others.In future years, this category will be known as the Cameron Mann Factor, considering what the Bruins&rsquo; I prospect has done in the playoffs for the Peterborough &rsquo; Petes of the Ontario League over the past two years.2. The Best Offense is a Good Defenseman Blueliners often move up team scoring lists during the playoffs. One reason is that there is a higher percentage of goals scored on the " power play during the playoffs, most likely because checking is tighter at even strength. Due to the nature of power play goals, a defenseman on the point is likely to handle the puck and at least get. an assist. Also, power plays tend to y be less cutesy during the playoffs, V Teams are more inclined to blast it from the point and hope something happens in front of the net.1. Three Words We Never Make Mistakes.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>Playoff Preview I</h2>The NHL playoffs kick on Wednesday, April 16 with eight first round match-ups in the Eastern and Western Conferences. To prepare you for the NHL&rsquo;s annual spring fling, we offer a two-part preview. In Part I this week are four pages of individual and team statistical breakdowns: Pool Primer and Vital Statistics. Next week, we handicap the Stanley Cup contenders. &#9632;

f0010-02

Top 10 reasons why you’ll win your pool

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011441/6502893-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"></div>Statistics as of March 25 games<h2>YOUR GUIDE TO PLAYOFF POOLS</h2>Going into your playoff pool draft armed and prepared can make the difference between winning and an early round exit. Here are some guides to point you in the right direction. Player rankings on this page include career playoff games (GP) and points per game average (PPG), 1996-97 regular season first and second half games played (G) and points (P), overall power play points (PP) and overall points per game average (PPGl. Our top 10 recommendations in our order of preference for each of the. 22 teams still in realistic playoff contention as of March 28 are listed. &#9632;

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1997 NHL PLAYOFF PREVIEW I: POOL PRIMER

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011550/6502945-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021254/6502938-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="487" height="1405"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03823/6502931-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="494" height="1409"></div><h3>NHL Quarterlv Cnmnarisnn</h3><h2>EASTERN CONFERENCE</h2>The Philadelphia power play may not be getting better-in fact, it was marginally worse-but the Flyers&rsquo; penalty-killing had improved from the season&rsquo;s first quarter. The Flyers&rsquo; power play had a 14.5 per-cent conversion rate after 20 games and was at 13.9 after 74 games. Meanwhile, Philadelphia&rsquo;s penalty-killing improved from 80.8 per cent to 86.3. Listed on this page are season-to-date stats in six crucial categories al the end of each of the first three quarters (20-, 40-and 60-game totals) and through games of March 26 in the fourth quarter. Listed are the number of games each team had played in parentheses; winning percentage; average goals per game; average goals-against per game; goaltenders&rsquo; combined save percentage; power play efficiency; and penalty killing efficiency. Below are team winning percentages at the end of the first quarter and season-to-date winning percentage through March 26. Three playoff or playoff contending teams (Washington, Hartford and Florida) had worse season-to-date marks in the fourth quarter than at the end of the first<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04478/6502924-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="450" height="439"></div> &#9632;

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Playoff Preview

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03776/6502997-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="497" height="1155"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04666/6502990-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="494" height="1154"></div><h3>NHL Quarterly Comparison I</h3><h2>WESTERN CONFERENCE</h2>Anaheim&rsquo;s team save percentage improved from 88.2 to 91.3 from the end of the first quarter to the fourth quarter, the largest such jump in the NHL. Listed on this page are sea-son-to-date stats in six crucial categories at the end of each of the first three quarters (20, 40-and 60-game totals) and through games of March 26 in the fourth quarter. Listed are the number of games each team had played in parentheses; winning percentage; average goals per game; average goals-against per game; goaltenders&rsquo; combined save percentage; power play efficiency; and penalty killing efficiency. Below are team winning percentages at the end of the first quarter and season-to-date winning percentage through March 26. Only two playoff or playoff contending teams (Anaheim and Phoenix) had better season-to-date marks in the fourth quarter than at the end of the first.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021033/6502983-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="448" height="376"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011455/6502976-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="1611" height="2222"><figcaption class="caption-body">Blues&rsquo;Pierre Turgeon</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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<div class="byline">By Al Morganti</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011538/6503035-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="505" height="711"></div>On a Sunday morning in Philadelphia, after his team had finished its game day skate, Colorado Avalanche GM Pierre Lacroix went onto the ice at the CoreStates Center and started firing pucks from the blueline.At a disadvantage, slipping around in a pair of soft leather loafers, Lacroix still managed to acquit himself well. He would call crossbar and a second later you would hear the ping. The shots were right on target just like Lacroix has been with his team ever since taking it to Denver.The 1996-97 season has been a proving ground for the Avalanche; they&rsquo;ve been able to show the world their Stanley Cup victory was only the beginning of a long reign at or near the top of the NHL.And, considering the obstacles the team has had to overcome, you can understand why Lacroix questioned why he wasn&rsquo;t at least considered as part of the management team for Canada at the 1998 Olympics.While a lot of attention has been given to the Buffalo Sabres and Dallas Stars for getting the most out of their talent this season, the Avalanche has gone unheralded. It seems once a team has won a championship it often stops getting credit for its accomplishments.Colorado is headedtor the best overall record in the NHL and will enter the playoffs as the favorite to repeat. In fact, they have become so entrenched as the favorite people tend to forget they didn&rsquo;t enter last spring&rsquo;s playoffs as the team to beat. (Remember, it was the Detroit Red Wings and their NHL-record 62 wins.)With all the club&rsquo;s depth and leadership, it was only logical they would be positioned as the NHL&rsquo;s best team entering the season. But the team should also be judged on how it has reacted since winning the Cup, right from the GM on down.Start with the off-season when it was obvious there would be little playing time for Stephane Fiset Lacroix moved the goalie to the Los Angeles Kings and in return got a guy named Eric Lacroix, who just happened to be his son. Cynics suggested nepotism, but Lacroix has turned into exactly the type of gritty foot soldier the Avalanche need in their lineup. It was just another move in which Pierre Lacroix made a nice maneuver to improve the team and keep its chemistry in order.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-08201/6503028-1-eng-US/f0014-082.jpg" title="f0014-08" width="744" height="1237"></div>Early this season, the problem was Chris Simon, the Avalanche&rsquo;s tough guy who was embroiled in a contract dispute. Lacroix held his ground and eventually secured Keith Jones from the Washington Capitals. Jones has turned into one of the most important and versatile cogs in Colorado&rsquo;s offense and one of the NHL&rsquo;s top power play weapons with 14 manadvantage goals.Meanwhile, the Avalanche had to prove they could win without stars Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic and Claude Lemieux; all missed big chunks of time because of injury. Sakic and Forsberg entered the final weeks of the season with fewer than 50 goals combined. Still, coach Marc Crawford had the team cruising.&ldquo;I think what we&rsquo;ve seen is some guys just come along quicker than we expected,&rdquo; said Crawford, who identified Jones and Adam Deadmarsh as key contributors. &ldquo;It has just been a matter of expectations remaining the same, no matter who was in our out of the lineup.&rdquo;Lacroix&rsquo;s next coup was getting Forsberg, who would have been a restricted free agent this summer, signed to what amounts to a two-year extension.Sakic, eligible for Group II free agency in the off-season, is expected to be sewn up long term by the Avalanche. Surprisingly, by today&rsquo;s standards, both superstars wanted to remain in Colorado.As if the results for this year aren&rsquo;t good enough, Lacroix also orchestrated a trade in which he sent Landon Wilson to the Boston Bruins for what should be a very high first round draft pick next year.And if you happened to watch the Boston University overtime victory against Denver in the quarterfinal of the NCAA Tournament, the player who scored the overtime game winner for BU was Chris Drury-an Avalanche prospect. &#9632;

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Don’t forget to praise Avalanche GM Lacroix

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>It was in a mid-December game in Tampa Bay that Bryan Berard, defenseman of the NHL&rsquo;s New York Islanders, slipped back into the dare-devil ways of his former self, offen seman Bryan Berard of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Detroit Jr. Whalers.After blocking a shot, the 19-year-old tried to complete the oooh-aaaah play by making a pretty outlet pass up the middle. It got picked off. After the faceoff at center (which customarily follows a goal), Berard tried to make up for the error of his ways by skating through three forecheckers deep in his own zone.&ldquo;I was feeling guilty,&rdquo; Berard explained.The result? Two Tampa Bay Lightning goals in 61 seconds.Those gaffes notwithstanding, the most surprising part of Berard&rsquo;s play this season is that the defensive adjustment has come easier than expected.That&rsquo;s a big part of the reason he&rsquo;s the leader among the top five Calder Trophy candidates along with right wingers Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames) and Jim Campbell (St. Louis Blues), defenseman Janne Niinimaa (Philadelphia Flyers) and goalie Patrick Lalime (Pittsburgh Penguins).Everyone knew about Berard&rsquo;s offensive abilities-true to form, he had 8 goals and 42 points in 74 games while under strict orders to &ldquo;follow the rush, not lead it"&mdash;but even Berard was pleased with how well he has adapted in his own end.&ldquo;I think I surprised myself a little bit, I thought that was one thing I would struggle on,&rdquo; he Rick Bowness has set has worked well for me. 1 like to be run-and-gun, but that system works well for this team.&rdquo;Berard, now 20, is still a risk-taker, which leads him to try moves that may make coaches cringe. That same confidence is what has many scouts predicting superstardom in his future.His main competition for the Calder will come from Iginla, a 19-year-old, 6-foot-l, 193-pounder well beyond his years in maturity and three-zone awareness. Flames&rsquo; coach Pierre Page said he may already be the team&rsquo;s best defensive player. All this while leading rookie scorers with 21 goals and 48 points in 75 games. One problem Iginla hadn&rsquo;t scored in 10 straight games during a crucial period in March.&ldquo;I have never seen a kid like this,&rdquo; Page gushed. &ldquo;There might be more spectacular players in the league, but none that you would want to rely more on. He can score, he can hit, he lives well, he&rsquo;s a good person, he&rsquo;s humble. He&rsquo;s a good ambassador for the league.&rdquo;Other coaches have noticed in advance scouting tapes that he&rsquo;s always on the ice in the last minute of the: game.Campbell, 23, was only six points behind Iginla in the scoring race desipite missing 10 games with a jammed l right thumb. The Blues signed him last summer with the intention he&rsquo;d play for their American League farm team in Worcester, Campbell&rsquo;s hometown. Instead he led the Blues in scoring during the exhibition season and became their second line right winger and an important offensive cog.Campbell said his teammates get good mileage out of his Calder run by showering him with abuse. &ldquo;They always beat on me, they slash me with sticks, throw me in the trash cans,&rdquo; he said. But it was the Blues who fell into a 3-6-1 rut when Campbell was injured.And where would the Penguins have been without Lalime in mid-season? He only went 14-0-2 in his first 16 decisions to break Ken Dryden&rsquo;s record for longest unbeaten streak to start a career. At times he led the league in goals-against average and save percentage.Lalime has cooled significantly since early-February, but for a player who many thought wasn&rsquo;t long for the International League, he has already gone above and beyond. &ldquo;(Lalime) is still the biggest surprise to me,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;I saw him in Cleveland (in the IHL) and he could barely crack the lineup there.&rdquo;Niinimaa is a Calder darkhorse because he plays on a team with many star players, but on some nights he has been the Flyers&rsquo; best defenseman. He plays a balanced game in all zones and is an excellent passer.If his progress continues, Niinimaa, Philadelphia&rsquo;s second round pick in the 1993 entry draft, could turn out to be the Flyers&rsquo; best-ever homegrown talent on defense. He was fourth among rookies with plus-10.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06293/6503094-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="60" height="212"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021171/6503087-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="60" height="212"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03806/6503080-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="60" height="212"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04542/6503073-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="60" height="215"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05367/6503066-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="61" height="215"></div> &#9632;</div>

Attractive opposites

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischiar</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011427/6503132-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="495" height="717"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rich Pilon</figcaption></div>Should the legal bodycheck, as we know it, go the way of the bronto saurus?The answer is yes, yes, and YES-should you root for the Philadelphia Flyers.Although it isn&rsquo;t totally extinct, the magnificent hip check-which catapulted defensemen such as Leo Boivin to the Hall of Fame-could be phased out if The Brotherhood To Protect Eric Lindros has its way.Philly folks couldn&rsquo;t care less about saving the bodycheck. They have seen their hero bodychecked to the sidelines for the umpteenth time and have no interest in history or hip checks past.But they should know before the advent of slapshots, the bodycheck gave characters such as Bill Barilko delicious nicknames such as &ldquo;Snake Hips&rdquo; and &ldquo;Bashin&rsquo; Bill.&rdquo; If a hip to the hide left an opponent for dead, well, so be it.That&rsquo;s no longer the case in today&rsquo;s hypocritical game where decapitation is virtually derigueur, but a hip check to Lindros causes more hand wringing in Philadelphia than a stolen Liberty Bell.When Rich Pilon nailed Eric The Large March 22 at Nassau Coliseum, referee Mike McGeough handed the New York Islanders backliner five minutes for clipping and a game misconduct.&ldquo;If anything,&rdquo; says former NHL defenseman-tumed-radio analyst Randy Velischek, &ldquo;Pilon deserved two minutes for interference. It was not a low hit, not a dirty hip check. Hey, the hip check is part of the game.&rdquo;Neil Smith agrees. After watching his captain Mark Messier charley-horsed out of a game by Slava Fetisov&rsquo;s hip, the New York Rangers&rsquo; GM neither ranted nor raved. To him the hip check is hip.But don&rsquo;t tell that to his Philly counterpart Bob Clarke, who declared war against Pilon-like blows long before Lindros was levelled. And listening to Philly coach Terry Murray, you&rsquo;re left wondering whether the body eventually will be taken out of bodychecking.&ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s going to have to be the Players&rsquo; Association getting together with the superstars and (NHL vicepresident) Brian Burke to put in a standard as to what is a clip and what&rsquo;s legal,&rdquo; Murray says.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02994/6503125-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="660" height="1199"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rich Pilon</figcaption></div>Never mistaken for Mister Clean during his playing days, Clarke warns about players &ldquo;going low and trying to hit another player in the knees.&rdquo;Deliberate knee-on-knee hits are a justifiable concern, but that&rsquo;s not what the Pilon hit-nor the hip check-is all about. And if you don&rsquo;t believe it, just check with some of the more objective and rugged NHLers.&ldquo;A hip check isn&rsquo;t going to hurt anyone if the player is ready for it,&rdquo; says Bobby Holik of the New Jersey Devils. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s rare to see and certainly should not be eliminated.&rdquo;Burke, who played pro hockey, knows a bit about bodychecking. He is not intimidated by the Philadelphia lob hying.&ldquo;The hip check is an exciting play,&rdquo; Burke says, &ldquo;and there&rsquo;s no way it should be outlawed. The league should not tailor its rules to one player or one team.&rdquo;As it happens, the Flyers are overloaded with behemoths whose larger limbs may be more susceptible to hip checks than others. What concerns Burke is when a player crouches so low his derriere can torpedo a knee on contact.What concerns me is contemporary stickhandlers haven&rsquo;t learned how to neutralize the torpedo the way Jacques Lemaire did as a Montreal Canadien in the 1960s and &lsquo;70s.&ldquo;When a guy came at me with a hip check, I would go with the flow,&rdquo; the Devils&rsquo; coach recalls. &ldquo;Nowadays players don&rsquo;t avoid the hit; they want to go through the other guy and that&rsquo;s why they get injured.&rdquo;Face it, hockey always has been a mean-spirited game in which dangerous hits-such as boardchecks, buttends and punches in the mouth-are tolerated with less fuss and fanfare than hip checks. The antidote to a thudding hip check, a la Pilon or Darius Kasparaitis, is not in legislation, but rather vigilance.Lemaire puts it succinctly. &ldquo;The hip check is spectacular. Myself, I love it!&rdquo; &#9632;

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Don’t ever take hip out of hip check

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>There are so many ways to get sidetracked by Detroit Rai Wings&rsquo; left winger Brendan Shanahan, so many ways to miss the point.Sure, the guy can score, but talk about a personal profile. A West Coast-based cable network recently profiled him as one of three athletes on a list of the world&rsquo;s coolest bachelors, along with the hottest thing in golf, Tiger Woods, and, get this, a surfer.Mailbags of classic novels sent by fans are still being delivered to him after a magazine portrayed him as a connoisseur of fine literary fiction.Shanahan, 28, amazes teammates with an encyclopedic recall of movies. They name three actors, he has to name the film. Joey Kocur has been the only one to stump him (The Butcher&rsquo;s Wife). &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll just ridicule you, too, if you give him an easy one,&rdquo; said right winger Darren McCarty.See, it&rsquo;s happening. Try all you want to focus on his one-timer from the left circle, about what his grit means to a team that hasn&rsquo;t lived up to playoff expectations four years running, but chances are you&rsquo;ll end up talking about, uh, paintball.Shanahan, the former Hartford Whalers&rsquo; captain who requested a trade last fall, and others organized the team outing when the Wings were on a West Coast trip in mid-March. Eighteen of them crawling in trenches, trekking through forests and streams armed with face shields and guns shooting paint pellets. It was players from Europe, Western Canada, Quebec and the Maritimes versus Ontario and the United States. The Swedes were the best-the result of mandatory army training, no doubt.Shanahan was a field marshall. He&rsquo;d stand on the mountains and direct the troops. Once enemy soldiers Chris Osgood, Tomas Holmstrom and Jamie Pushor came his way with a captured flag, but Shanahan took them by surprise, sending Osgood&rsquo;s gun flying and leaving the two rookies in the crosshairs of a hidden assassin.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a sniper, man, he&rsquo;s a sniper,&rdquo; McCarty said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;d go bury himself in a bush or hide somewhere and he&rsquo;d ping guys off.&rdquo;Nice story, but the point is, what? That the Wings have the best-shooting left winger in the game? That Shanahan is a desirable bachelor because he can read and protect?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011325/6503163-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="771" height="1772"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brendan Shanahan has learned to score by studying others.</figcaption></div>Says Shanahan of his eclectic escapades: &ldquo;Sometimes it&rsquo;s a fun way to distract people from asking the questions that are really on your mind.&rdquo;Like is this finally going to be the year the Wings put up?&ldquo;Right.&rdquo;His play has much to do with the answer. He was tied for third in the league with 46 goals in 72 games and had 85 points to lead the Wings-including a goal and overtime assist in Detroit&rsquo;s bloody 6-5 victory over the Colorado Avalanche March 26.The Red Wings&rsquo; West Coast war games proved good preparation for the game as Detroit sought revenge against Colorado&rsquo;s Claude Lemieux for last year&rsquo;s dangerous hit on Kris Draper during the playoffs.Shanahan&rsquo;s goal all but assured him a third 50-goal season, one fewer than Tim Kerr, former Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; power play specialist and a player from whom Shanahan learned much.&ldquo;He was all about getting body position,&rdquo; Shanahan said. &ldquo;He would have a check on him, but he would somehow turn his body so that his stick was open even if a guy was draped on his back.&rdquo;In St. Louis, Shanahan watched Brett Hull strive in practice to get his shot off quickly. It paid off in three consecutive 70-goal seasons.&ldquo;A guy that you know every team probably commits 10 minutes of their pre-game meeting solely on him still manages to get wide open in the slot two or three times a game,&rdquo; Shanahan said. &ldquo;I found that amazing.&rdquo;But as Shanahan has incorporated a Hull-like one-timer into his arsenal, the Wings have slipped back. They&rsquo;re a tough team to read. Shanahan and Tomas Sandstrom give them more size and grit at forward, but the defense corps alternates between the extremes of old and weary and young and unproven.Shanahan said the Wings might have brought a 2-4-1 slide in late-March on themselves by looking too far ahead.He also said they were in tough playing teams fighting for their playoff lives. It sounds kind of like another story to distract from a very real concern heading into the playoffs.The good part is the guys who own the paintball place said they&rsquo;d never seen a bunch of first-timers so aggressive. The once-docile Wings used up 15,000 bullets in four hours. &#9632;

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Shanahan master of diversion

<div class="byline">By Robyn Norwood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011180/6503194-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="166" height="205"></div>The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim already knew what they were like without Paul Kariya in the lineup. How about Teemu Selanne?When Kariya was out earlier this season because of an abdominal injury and later, a concussion, they went 1-10-2.Selanne strained a muscle in his left side during a victory over the Edmonton Oilers March-23. The Ducks, losers of only one game in 14, promptly lost their next two without him.That marked the Ducks&rsquo; first back-to-back losses since Feb. 4 and 5.Selanne, challenging for the NHL scoring lead with 47 goals and 98 points in 73 games, hoped to return before the end of March.The startling thing is it&rsquo;s not the Ducks&rsquo; offense that collapses when Selanne or Kariya doesn&rsquo;t play. It&rsquo;s the defense.&ldquo;Our game shouldn&rsquo;t change,&rdquo; said coach Ron Wilson after a 5-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks March 26.When either of the Ducks&rsquo; scoring stars are out, teams can be more aggressive because there&rsquo;s less danger of a counter-attack. Plus, Selanne and Kariya set the tone of competitiveness.&ldquo;Really, his leadership in the dressing room is what I miss, too,&rdquo; Wilson said.NOTEBOOK: Anaheim&rsquo;s franchise-record 12-game unbeaten streak ended March 21 with a 4-3 loss to Colorado&hellip;Goalie Guy Hebert, who had a 1.85 goals-against average and 94.6 save percentage during the streak, battled exhaustion in a March 23 game against Edmonton. Hebert had started 21 consecutive games and 40 of 41&hellip;The Ducks set a franchise record by scoring at least one power play goal in 10 consecutive games and counting. &#9632;

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Ducks falter without stars

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03645/6503225-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="214" height="214"></div>Just when it &lsquo;looked as though things couldn&rsquo;t possibly get worse for the Boston Bruins, Randy Robitaille stepped into the lineup to cap a bad joke of a season.Robitaille, who March 25 signed a three-year free-agent contract worth $2,025 million, sustained a separated left shoulder 47 seconds into his first NHL shift when he was drilled into the end boards by New York Islanders&rsquo; left winger Ken Belanger. The hit in the March 27 game ended Robitaille&rsquo;s NHL season almost before it began.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t see (Belanger) coming,&rdquo; Robitaille said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never really had any injuries in hockey. It&rsquo;s really disappointing it has to end like this.&rdquo;Robitaille, 21, had just played his final collegiate game for Miami-Ohio five days earlier. There was speculation he would return for his junior year, but he opted to turn pro early.His new teammates were somewhat stunned by Robitaille&rsquo;s plight.&ldquo;To have the injury he got, after playing one shift, is just unbelievable,&rdquo; said captain Ray Bourque, who had missed 20 games himself this season due to injuries. &ldquo;We watched him skate with us in practice and it looked like he had some talent. It would have been nice to see him go out and try to show what he had to show.&rdquo;The signing of Robitaille, who was coming off a 27-goal, 61-point season that made him a Hobey Baker Award finalist, was another attempt by the Bruins to get a jump-start on next year&rsquo;s makeover. Prospects Cameron Mann and Shawn Bates are among two other young forwards Boston hopes will join Robitaille, Anson Carter and Jason Allison in its lineup next season.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Ray Bourque became the fifth NHL player to record 1,000 assists-and the first to record all of his career assists with one team-when he collected one against the Islanders March 27. The other members of the club are Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe. Paul Coffey and Marcel Dionne. FleetCenter fans marked the announcement with a standing ovation. That was nice.&rdquo; Bourque said. &ldquo;The fans have treated me really well."&hellip;Two other Bruins sustained probable season-ending injuries in late-March. Goalie Rob Tallas left a March 24 game with a severe left ankle sprain and defenseman Kyle McLaren sustained a chip fracture of his left thumb three nights later against the Islanders. &#9632;

f0017-03

Rookie hurt immediately

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011216/6503256-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="215" height="215"></div>Randy Burridge has fell the pain of rehabilitatior from knee surgery twice already in his career.Going though it a third time isn&rsquo;t easy, but at least he knows what to expect.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s starting to come around, actually it feels pretty good,&rdquo; the veteran left winger said in late-March after a second hard practice on his surgically re paired right knee.That was good news for a Buffak Sabres&rsquo; team short on veteran talent entering the playoffs. Burridge had been out of the lineup since mid-January after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure to repair tom cartilage in his knee.He has had tom anterior cruciate ligaments in each leg in his career and was expecting to come back relatively quickly from this, but there were complications.&ldquo;After about three weeks I thought 1 was going pretty good, but it started to swell up and it has been tough getting the swelling to go down, Bumdge said. &ldquo;It has been going better lately though. I&rsquo;m encouraged.&rdquo;Burridge had played 49 games this season, scoring nine goals and 28 points with a plus-minus rating of plus-28.The injury-riddled Sabres would be happy to have Burridge back since he would likely upgrade the power play and give them an additional scoring threat off the wing.NOTEBOOK: Goalie Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s bruised ribs were believed to be actually cracked. He missed six games and was expected to sit out a three-game road trip in late-March. Team officials insist the injury is not serious and that Hasek will be back well before the playoffs&hellip; Left winger Miroslav Satan started off well with his new teammates. He had a goal at Florida March 22 in his second game as a Sabre after being acquired from Edmonton and another one against the Islanders March 26. Unfortunately for the Sabres, they lost both games.Left winger Brad May scored a goal against the Islanders, but then was felled by a stick to the head and had to leave the game. He was expected to return two nights later against Detroit. &#9632;

f0018-01

Things not going swell; that’s fine for Burridge

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03619/6503287-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="764" height="1201"><figcaption class="caption-body">Theoren Fleury</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02897/6503294-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="214" height="210"></div>Nobody disputes the fact Theoren Fleury is a leader. Take this year for example. He has led the Calgary Flames in goals and streaks-both good and bad.Fleury didn&rsquo;t score in his first seven games and endured one 22-game stretch in which he scored just twice. In between, there were some good times-10 goals in 13 games in November and, more significantly, five goals in six games leading up to the final week of March.Fleury&rsquo;s strong resurgence came with the Flames smack in the middle of the Western Conference playoff race. The timing couldn&rsquo;t be better as far as coach Pierre Page is concerned.&ldquo;We try to have depth in our lineup,&rdquo; Page said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re still not going to say to him, &lsquo;Theo, you gotta make the difference.&rsquo; We say, &lsquo;Just keep going around, pat people on the back, help people out, make them feel good.&rsquo; Hopefully, the other guys will make a difference and when they don&rsquo;t, Theo will.&rdquo;Fleury said he made some adjustments in his style after watching past videotape of himself before a recent seven-game road trip."I watched the World Cup,&rdquo; Fleury said. &ldquo;I watched a tape of the year I scored 50 (1990-91).&rdquo;He found some differences between his style then and this season. &ldquo;(This season) I was playing too much on the outside. I wasn&rsquo;t getting to the net,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t banging or crashing like I used to. I wasn&rsquo;t trying to beat guys 1-on-l like I can or taking the puck wide.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman James Patrick, who underwent surgery Dec. 12 to reconstruct his left knee, was making a startlingly fast comeback until his knee began to swell up again in early-March. Patrick still isn&rsquo;t ruling out a return this season if the Flames advance to the second round&hellip; Defenseman Cale Hulse was in and out of the lineup with a bruised ankle for the better part of a month, but he had a real scare following a 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning March 21. The ankle was swollen and sore and afterwards doctors drained fluid out of it. &lsquo;They thought it looked infected,&rdquo; Hulse said. &ldquo;For awhile there, I thought my season might be over.&rdquo; It was not infected, but Hulse was still on the injured list on a day-to-day basis. &#9632;

f0018-03

Fleury hot at perfect time

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04386/6503325-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="213" height="208"></div>Get a good ringsider, rinkside-seat for the next game between the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings.The nasty rivalry between the teams intensified March 26 at aptly named Joe Louis Arena when they spent most of the night duking it out. When it was over, the Avs-6-5 losers-charged Detroit hit below the belt, particularly right winger Darren McCarty&rsquo;s sucker-punching of right winger Claude Lemieux.&ldquo;I think that team has no heart,&rdquo; said Avs&rsquo; right winger Mike Keane of Detroit. &ldquo;Detroit had the opportunity to do that in our building (March 16), but they didn&rsquo;t. Everyone&rsquo;s gutless on that team and I&rsquo;d love to see them in the playoffs.&rdquo;Lemieux, who suffered a 2-1/2 inch gash to the back of the head from one of McCarty&rsquo;s blows, said he never saw the first punch coming. Lemieux covered his head after the initial blows, while McCarty kept attacking.&ldquo;Obviously I got sucker-punched,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;I never would have been in that position on the ice if I hadn&rsquo;t been.&rdquo;Lemieux said he is sick of the attention that has followed his Game 6 Western Conference final hit that injured Detroit&rsquo;s Kris Draper last year.&ldquo;Anything I say is going to stir it up even more than it already has been,&rdquo; Lemieux said.Avalanche coach Marc Crawford was incensed McCarty received just a roughing double-minor instead of being thrown out of the game.Crawford said referee Paul Devor-ski, who whistled 148 penalty minutes in the game, did &ldquo;as poor a job as a referee can do.&rdquo;Meanwhile, both Crawford (with Detroit defenseman Aaron Ward) and GM Pierre Lacroix (with a Detroit newspaper columnist) were allegedly involved in off-ice altercations. Complaints were reportedly filed with the NHL against the Avalanche executives. (See pg. 19 for more).NOTEBOOK: Goalie Patrick Roy injured his left shoulder in the Detroit brawl and was expected to miss a March 29 game with Toronto. Roy was hurt when he was tackled by Detroit left winger Brendan Shanahan before fighting with Wings&rsquo; goalie Mike Vernon&hellip;Center Peter Forsberg suffered a mild concussion in the Detroit game after getting a skate in the face from Wings&rsquo; defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov&hellip;Colorado was outshot 124-66 in road games at Philadelphia. Hartford and Detroit. Roy, however, helped salvage two points by making 46 saves in a 4-0 win over the Whalers March 25. It was his 36th victory of the season, tying his career best set in 1991-92. &#9632;

f0018-04

Avs primed for rematch with Detroit

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07179/6503363-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="752" height="1209"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Chelios</figcaption></div>For Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; defenseman Chris Chelios, it nas oeen a lucky 13 years.Ever since Chelios joined the Montreal Canadiens 13 seasons ago, he has been a participant in the playoffs. And Chelios is determined not to end his personal streak, although the Hawks were in a dogfight to qualify this year.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never even been in a race with a team not close to making the playoffs,&rdquo; said Chelios, a Hawk for six seasons. &ldquo;I feel pressure. I know when you lose in the first round how bad you feel. I can&rsquo;t imagine what it would feel like to miss the playoffs.&rdquo;The Hawks haven&rsquo;t missed the playoffs since 1968-69, a run of 27 years. The Boston Bruins&rsquo; 29-year mark is the only current streak longer than the Hawks&rsquo; and Boston&rsquo;s will end this season.Coach Craig Hartsburg believes it won&rsquo;t be a question of commitment if the Hawks don&rsquo;t make the post-season.&ldquo;Our guys know what&rsquo;s at stake. They care,&rdquo; Hartsburg said. &ldquo;They want to make the playoffs. I&rsquo;d tell you if we had guys who weren&rsquo;t committed. They&rsquo;re trying.&rdquo;The Hawks won two straight games after Chelios returned from a sprained left knee March 23. The Hawks went 3-2-3 without their captain to stay alive in the wild West race.Chelios wasn&rsquo;t 100 per cent and didn&rsquo;t think he would be for the rest of the season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05258/6503356-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="213" height="212"></div>&ldquo;But Chris Chelios on one leg is still better than most players in the league,&rdquo; said right winger Tony Amonte.NOTEBOOK: The Hawks will finish below. 500 at United Center, the first time a Chicago team has done that at home since 1958-59. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not something we&rsquo;re happy about or proud of,&rdquo; said coach Craig Hartsburg. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve got to still salvage some games here at home and get in (the playoffs)."&hellip;Center Brent Sutter sprained his left knee March 26 against Washington. An MRI showed no structural damage, but Sutter was expected to miss at least several weeks&hellip;The Hawks were debating whether to recall center Dmitri Nabokov following his junior season with Regina of the Western League or assign him to Indianapolis of the International League. The highly regarded Nabokov, 20, signed a three-year contract March 21. &#9632;

f0018-07

No playoffs for Chelios?

<div class="byline">By Mike Heika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06208/6503394-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="216" height="210"></div>Even bad things have a way of turning into good things for the Dallas Stars.In early-March, goalie Andy Moog said recurring back pain was getting too much for him to bear. And with a recent ankle sprain, he decided he needed an extended vacation.Moog is a likely candidate for Stars&rsquo; MVP and was one of the hottest goalies in the NHL, so the injury was significant.Combine that with the fact No. 2 goalie Arturs Irbe had not found a consistent winning touch and the concern was magnified.Two weeks later, the Stars had put together their longest unbeaten streak at the season (6-0-2) and Irbe had gained an immense boost in confidence. Now, with the playoffs looming April 16, Irbe said he is more than ready to contribute.&ldquo;This is great for me, this is what 1 needed,&rdquo; Irbe said. &ldquo;Now, I am used to the team and the team is more used to me. It feels good out there.&rdquo;Irbe earned NHL player of the week honors March 25 by going 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and a 95.2 save percentage.&ldquo;He has played great and he really seems to have a lot more confidence,&rdquo; said coach Ken Hitchcock.&ldquo;And the team is playing well in front of him.&rdquo;Irbe came to the Stars as a free agent off-season project after playing four seasons with the San Jose Sharks.NOTEBOOK: Coming off their longest unbeaten streak (6-0-2), the Stars had their longest break of the season-six days off at the end of March. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s a bad thing; it&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ve been planning for,&rdquo; said coach Ken Hitchcock.. The Stars had five injured players out of the lineup before the break-goalie Andy Moog, defensemen Richard Matvichuk and Derian Hatcher, left winger Brent Gilchrist and center Neal Broten.. The Stars had a record of 33-0-3 when leading after two periods&hellip;The Stars have had a winning record in every month this season-the first time in franchise history&hellip;Sergei Zubov set a franchise career high for goals by a defenseman in a season with his 13th in a 2-0 win over Hartford March 21. &#9632;

f0018-06

Irbe rises to occasion, solidifies Stars’ crease

<div class="byline">By Cynthia Lambert</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011132/6503425-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="28" height="28">The players refer to it merely as &lsquo;The Game.&rsquo; The Detroit TV station that aired it labeled it &lsquo;The Brawl in Hockeytown,&rsquo; and rebroadcast it twice in two days.The March 26 game between the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings, won 6-5 in overtime by the home team, was one that won&rsquo;t soon be forgotten.The highlights-or lowlights, depending on your point of view-featured right winger Darren McCarty pummeling Avalanche right winger Claude Lemieux; goalies Mike Vernon and Patrick Roy slugging it out at center ice; and Detroit left winger Brendan Shanahan displaying his leaping ability when he intercepted Roy as the goalie tried to help out Lemieux.&ldquo;This&hellip;this was a great game,&rdquo; McCarty said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s hockey. That&rsquo;s old-time hockey. People complain about ticket prices. Well, they got their money&rsquo;s worth in this one.&rdquo;McCarty&rsquo;s assault on Lemieux ended when linesmen separated the two, and Lemieux, on wobbly legs, was assisted off the ice, his head bloodied. The incident was in retaliation for Lemieux&rsquo;s hit from behind on Detroit&rsquo;s Kris Draper during Game 6 of the Western Conference final last spring. Lemieux was suspended for the first two Stanley Cup final games. Draper sustained multiple facial fractures.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t regret what I did,&rdquo; McCarty said. &ldquo;It was not pre-meaitatea in any way. 1 just got a snot at him and I took it. I think people realize how close Kris and I are. We&rsquo;re like brothers. I remember telling him when he was in the hospital that if I got the opportunity I would do something.&rdquo;The league reviewed the incident and McCarty did not receive supplementary discipline.Draper said he believed the score has been settled and he is ready to move on.&ldquo;Do you say it&rsquo;s even now? Maybe,&rdquo; Draper said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad, and I&rsquo;m sincere about this, that (Lemieux) was able to come back and play. 1 didn&rsquo;t want to see anyone go through what I did. Maybe this will give me a sense of closure.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Two alleged off-ice incidents in the Colorado game were under investigation by the NHL. Defenseman Aaron Ward, who was dressed in street clothes after being ejected from the game, said Colorado coach Marc Crawford assaulted him outside the dressing room area following the contest. &ldquo;I filed a report with NHL security and that&rsquo;s all I can say,&rdquo; Ward said. Meanwhile, Colorado GM Pierre Lacroix, apparently upset with Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski over a March 26 story, allegedly elbowed the reporter and swore at him as he walked through the press box after the first period. Wojnowski referred to right winger Claude Lemieux as &lsquo;Claudia&rsquo; in his story.. The Wings exercised their option on left winger Brendan Shanahan&rsquo;s contract, picking up another two years at salaries of $4 million each, and carrying through the 1999-2000 season. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to have it done,&rdquo; Shanahan said. &ldquo;I already bought a house here and it&rsquo;s nice to know I&rsquo;ll be able to live in it.&rdquo; &#9632;

McCarty has no regrets for avenging Lemieux’s cheap shot on ‘brother’

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02818/6503456-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="28" height="27">The quality of rookies may not be at an all-time high in the NHL this season, but the Edmonton Oilers are doing their part to ensure the quantity is right up there.The Oilers had used 10 first-year players through late-March, including seven in a road game against the San Jose Sharks March 24.That latter group included defensemen Dan McGillis and Greg deVries and forwards Mike Grier, Rem Murray, Mats Lindgren, Steve Kelly and Barrie Moore.Other rookies to have seen action for the Oilers this year are left winger Joe Hulbig and defensemen Sean Brown and Craig Millar.Injured defenseman Drew Bannister, acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning at the trading deadline, may get into the lineup before the end of the season.Contributions from the kiddie corps varied-Grier led the group with 14 goals and 30 points in 71 games, while McGillis had five goals and 19 points in 65 games from the blueline-as did their stories.One of the more intriguing belongs to Moore.Picked up at the deadline from the Buffalo Sabres along with Millar for left winger Miroslav Satan, Moore, 21, went up and down between Buffalo and the Rochester Americans of the American League a total of nine times before the deal.He has felt a bit like a yo-yo at times, but shrugs it off.&ldquo;I felt good about it,&rdquo; Moore said of the frequent travel miles he accumulated between the two western New York cities. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather go up and down 20 times a year than just stay in the minors. You&rsquo;ve got to look at it in a positive aspect.&rdquo;And that&rsquo;s the way he views being dealt with as a rookie.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a good opportunity,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s going to be easy.&rdquo;Moore had two goals and eight points in 32 games in Buffalo and Edmonton this season.NOTEBOOK: Dean McAmmond&rsquo;s season has apparently come to an end as the left winger faces either back surgery or injections of cortisone to halt the inflammation of a disc. &ldquo;The coaching staff is looking at it like he&rsquo;s out for the rest of the season,&rdquo; said trainer Ken Lowe&hellip;The Oilers received an undisclosed cash settlement from Tampa Bay after defenseman Drew Bannister, acquired at the trading deadline, showed up in Edmonton with a far more serious shoulder injury than the Oilers were led to believe. &ldquo;We were told it was a bruise,&rdquo; said GM Glen Sather. In fact, Bannister has suffered from &ldquo;burners&rdquo; in his right shoulder and was out indefinitely&hellip;Defenseman Kevin Lowe, 37, is the Oilers&rsquo; nominee for the Masterton Trophy. The 17-year veteran has been an invaluable leader. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t remember one night in all these years when he hasn&rsquo;t competed and played as well as he could play,&rdquo; said Sather, who signed Lowe as an unrestricted free agent last summer and got more than his $700,000 worth. &#9632;

Rookie watch at 10 and counting as Oilers believe Moore not less

<div class="byline">By Dave Joseph</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011009/6503487-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="214" height="213"></div>Ed Jovanovski knew his second season wasn&rsquo;t going to be easy, but there&rsquo;s no way the Florida Panthers&rsquo; defenseman could have envisioned the full impact of the sophomore jinx.A feared hitter and Calder Trophy finalist last year, Jovanovski has struggled this season. Trying to do too much in his own end, the 6-foot-2, 21 flpounder has made costly turnovers.It has all left Jovanovski frustrated.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been tough,&rdquo; Jovanovski, 20, said. &ldquo;Sometimes I&rsquo;ve been on top, sometimes I&rsquo;ve been on the bottom.&rdquo;Although playing fewer games this season due to a knee injury, Jovanovski was still on target to top his point total of last year (21) with 20 on six goals and 14 assists.But the Panthers aren&rsquo;t concerned with Jovanovski&rsquo;s offensive numbers, but rather his defense. At times he wants to hit his opponent instead of contain him, or he&rsquo;ll try to stickhandle and beat a man in his own end instead of chipping the puck off the glass.&ldquo;He so desperately wants to make a difference,&rdquo; said assistant coach Lindy Ruff. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t buy the fact sometimes the best play is off the glass. And a lot of times you have to contain rather than eliminate.&rdquo;Hall of Fame defenseman Denis Potvin, now a Panthers&rsquo; broadcaster, said: &ldquo;He has a little trouble with the patience part. But that&rsquo;s how it is the second year. In fact, I see a lot of myself when Eddie&rsquo;s out there.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Panthers clinched their second consecutive post-season berth (as well as a chance to defend their Eastern Conference championship) on March 26 when Washington lost 5-3 to Chicago. The following night, however, the Panthers played poorly and lost 3-2 to Ottawa in front of a disgruntled crowd at the Miami Arena&hellip;Left winger Johan Garpeniov, out with a knee injury since Feb. 22, was looking to return to the lineup April 2, two weeks before the playoffs. He had 32 points in 48 games&hellip;The Panthers had a record of 0-16-6 when trailing after two periods&hellip;The Panthers had allowed 15 shorthanded goals this season, second most in the NHL after Calgary. They gave up just 12 last season. &#9632;

f0020-01

Trying to do too much costlv for Jovanovski

<div class="byline">By Jerry Higgins</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03454/6503518-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="764" height="1201"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Burt</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02671/6503525-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="214" height="212"></div>While their chances of making the playoffs were dimming, the Hartford Whalers learned there is no chance the team will remain in Hartford next season.After the Whalers put 46 shots on Patrick Roy and lost 4-0 to the Colorado Avalanche at the Hartford Civic Center March 25, word spread like wildfire that team owner Peter Karmanos had rejected the state of Connecticut&rsquo;s proposal to keep the team in Hartford. The announcement was made the next day and the players had a long trip to Tampa Bay to think about what effect it would have.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more than just hockey,&rdquo; said defenseman Adam Burt, whose eightyear tenure is the longest among active Whalers. &ldquo;I have made some lifelong friends in Hartford. I have to pull my kids out of school and they have to make new friends.&rdquo;Assistant coach Tom Webster is one of two people who were in Hartford when the franchise first started in the World Hockey Association in 1972 and will be there when it ends. Equipment manager Skip Cunningham is the other, but Cunningham has been with the franchise every year.&ldquo;It&rsquo;srtoo bad,&rdquo; Webster said. &ldquo;There are a lot of good hockey fans in Hartford.&rdquo;Defenseman Jeff Brown, who has been out nearly all season after spinal fusion surgery, said the realities of NHL ownership dictated the move.&ldquo;It just wasn&rsquo;t happening in Hartford,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s just not a lot of interest in the Whale.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Hartford&rsquo;s 5-2 win over Tampa Bay March 27 ended a slew of bad Whaler streaks. Right winger Steven Rice&rsquo;s first of two goals just one minute into the game ended the Whalers&rsquo; scoreless streak at 144:13. It ended Hartford&rsquo;s six-game losing streak and 0-7-2 road skid.. Hartford really hit the scoring skids in March. In the first11 games of the month, the Whalers scored only 19 goals. They were shut out three times during the team&rsquo;s six-game losing streak&hellip; Another streak which ended against Tampa Bay was Hartford&rsquo;s inability to score on the breakaway. Center Andrew Cassels ended a 0-for-8 streak of Hartford failures on clean breakaways. Prior to Cassels&rsquo; first period goal, the Whalers had missed on three breakaways in the frame.s &#9632;

f0020-03

Players will miss Whale

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02423/6503587-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="29" height="28">If Brian Savage is indeed happy to still be in Mon-treal-as he suggested following the trading deadline-he was having difficulty showing it.The Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; left winger was experiencing the worst slump of his season. Through late-March, Savage had been held to one goal and three points over a span of 14 games. He was the only Canadiens&rsquo; forward who failed to register a point in an 8-5 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins March 26.Savage said he isn&rsquo;t concerned. He believes he&rsquo;s playing some of the best hockey of his young career.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very comfortable with the way I&rsquo;m playing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting chances. I feel good and strong out there.&rdquo;Indeed, Savage was having a respectable season. He was third on the Canadiens in points with 23 goals and 59 points in 74 games.It&rsquo;s definitely an improvement over last season, when Savage went 25-8-33 in 75 games. Seventeen of his goals last season were scored in his first 21 games.Savage, second on the Canadiens in shots with 210, knows his statistics should be better.&ldquo;Obviously I had some doubts going into this year, but I knew what happened at the start of (last) year was no fluke,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Still, there are some scenarios I want to improve. I&rsquo;m still frying to figure out why I go through 10 or six or seven games, without a goal.&rdquo;Savage, who becomes a restricted free agent this summer for the second consecutive season, was concerned he would be dealt prior to the NHL March 18 trading deadline.With speculation surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs, Savage went to see Canadiens&rsquo; GM Rejean Houle and his fears were allayed.&ldquo;The talk (with Houle) sort of relieved me,&rdquo; Savage said. &ldquo;Definitely, the security is nice to have. I felt it around the room. A couple of guys who had been rumored were definitely smiling (after the deadline had passed).&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Dave Manson was suspended two games by the league after collecting his third instigator penalty of the season. Manson, acquired from Phoenix at the trading deadline, attacked Boston center Trent McCleary with one minute remaining in a 3-1 Montreal victory March 24. Manson was also barred from practising with the Canadiens&hellip;The Canadiens&rsquo; five goals in the first period of an 8-5 victory over Pittsburgh March 26 marked their biggest one-period outburst of the 1996-97 season. The last time they scored five in a period was Dec. 12, 1995 at Winnipeg, when they netted five in the second. The franchise record for most goals in a period is seven, which has been accomplished seven times. &#9632;

Consistency eludes Savage

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02621/6503656-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="29" height="28">Right winger Todd Bertuzzi has taken some detours during his second NHL season, but as the New York Islanders fought for a playoff spot, he was playing the best hockey of his life.Bertuzzi did not get along with GM Mike Milbury, who banished him to the minors for a month at mid-season. After Milbury gave up the coaching job to Rick Bowness Jan. 24, Bertuzzi began getting more ice time, said he felt more relaxed and he has flourished.Milbury said he traded left winger Derek King, the team&rsquo;s second leading goal-scorer, to the Hartford Whalers at the March 18 deadline to open up ice time for Bertuzzi. In the first four games after the deal, Bertuzzi rewarded Milbury&rsquo;s faith, getting two goals and six points as the Islanders went 3-0-1 and moved to within three points of a playoff berth.After getting two goals in his first 45 games, Bertuzzi got six in a nine-game span. &ldquo;It was tough to see Kinger go,&rdquo; Bertuzzi said. &ldquo;But now it&rsquo;s my turn to step up and play the role he was-scor ing goals.&rdquo;Bertuzzi was picking spots to be physical and working the puck well with his linemates. &ldquo;In order for us to win,&rdquo; Bertuzzi said, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re going to have to have two lines going and the third and fourth chipping in.&rdquo;Six of the Islanders&rsquo; final eight games were against teams with whom they were vying for a playoff spot-the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens (two games), Washington Capitals and Hartford.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04297/6503649-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="101" height="161"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 101px">Todd Bertuzzi</figcaption></div>NOTEBOOK: Tampa Bay GM Phil Esposito said he offered the Islanders more for left winger Derek King than the fifth round pick they got from Hartford. But GM Mike Milbury said Esposito never even talked with him about King&hellip;Defenseman Doug Houda. whose streak of 65 straight games played ended when he was scratched for a 3-2 win at Buffalo March 26, was back in the lineup when defenseman Rich Pilon went down with a bruised foot&hellip;Rookie right winger Steve Webb had 19 fights in 33 games&hellip;Goalie Eric Fi-chaud made three appearances totalling 75 minutes in a 19-game span, backing up Tommy Salo, who made 13 straight starts&hellip;Left winger Ken Belanger got his first NHL point, an assist, in Buffalo. &#9632;</div>

f0022-04

Bertuzzi hot at right time

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpimeli</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03443/6503687-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="29" height="28">It should have been like the final game between basketball legends Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.Instead, the last meeting of hockey superheroes Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux was not only anti-climactic, it was also easily forgettable.Gretzky&rsquo;s New York Rangers defeated Lemieux&rsquo;s Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 at Madison Square Garden March 24 in the 25th and final regular season game between the two.But because it was his final game against Gretzky, who had an assist and empty-net goal, Lemieux&rsquo;s last Garden visit was nonetheless memorable for him.However, Lemieux was not an overly welcome guest at the Garden, where he has done plenty of damage to the home team.The Garden crowd not only typically booed Super Mario as he was introduced, but there was just one tiny banner in the seats-"Thank you Mario"-held up by a child in a Penguins&rsquo; sweater.By contrast there were at least four large banners honoring Joey Mullen, the New York City native and first American-born 500-goal scorer, who was also making his last Garden appearance.Still, there was a great appreciation from The Great One, who was Le&rdquo; mieux&rsquo;s Eastern Conference all-star teammate for the first time Jan. 18 in San Jose, and who played a memorable Canada Cup as Lemieux&rsquo;s teammate in 1987.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s such a special player, for everything he did.&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;Sometimes he didn&rsquo;t get enough credit. I mean, Pittsburgh was drawing about 6,000 people a game when he got there. He basically saved that franchise and won two Cups.&ldquo;In professional sports, you always think it&rsquo;s going to last forever. When a guy like that comes along you really have to enjoy it because time goes by so quickly and it&rsquo;s over and done with.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Mark Messier broke into the top 10 on the all-time goalscoring list for second time this season. He had moved past Tampa Bay right winger Dino Ciccarelli early in the season, but since then Ciccarelli had jumped from 11th to ninth. Messier subsequently passed former Islander Mike Bossy with goal No. 574&hellip;Center Wayne Gretzky was two points short of 2,700 for his career and 13 assists shy of 1,851. The latter number would top Gordie Howe&rsquo;s entire point total (1,850), meaning Gretzky would have more assists than any other player has ever had points&hellip;Goalie Mike Richter shut out Pittsburgh 3-0 March 24, the first Rangers&rsquo; shutout of the Penguins since 1973. &#9632;

Sentiment mixed for Mario finale

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01807/6503718-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="29" height="29">Randy Cunneyworth is the Ottawa Senators&rsquo; longest-serving captain, but if the club&rsquo;s wants to pass the torch to somebody else, he&rsquo;d accept it.Now in his third season as captain, the classy 35-year-old left winger would have no problem handing over the &lsquo;C&rsquo; to the likes of Daniel Alfredsson or Alexei Yashin if they&rsquo;re ready to take charge. Cunneyworth is on the verge of signing of a new one-year deal for next season, but understands the organization might be ready to pass more responsibility onto its young players.&ldquo;If it&rsquo;s the right time, I want to do it,&rdquo; Cunneyworth said. &ldquo;The &lsquo;C&rsquo; isn&rsquo;t about Randy Cunneyworth, it&rsquo;s about team.&rdquo;Cunneyworth is in his 12th NHL season and with his sixth team. He had 11 goals, 34 points and 77 penalty minutes in 68 games and was chosen the Senators&rsquo; nominee for the Masterton Trophy.He was offered a termination contract by the Chicago Blackhawks three years ago and many believed his career was on its last legs. The Senators were the only team to offer a three-year deal. He took it and it has worked out well for both parties. Cunneyworth is the Senators&rsquo; nominee for the Masterton Trophy this season.&ldquo;He has done a good job,&rdquo; said GM Pierre Gauthier. &ldquo;Some guys can do all the talking in the room they want, but if they don&rsquo;t go out and get the job done, they&rsquo;re not going to get respect. He still gets the job done.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Steve Duchesne, who was at the center of trade rumors at the deadline, would like to negotiate a new deal with Ottawa in the off-season. He has one year remaining on a contract that pays him $2 million per season&hellip;Coach Jacques Martin is a top candidate to work as an assistant with Team Canada at the World Championship in Finland if the Senators don&rsquo;t make the playoffs&hellip;Second-leading scorer Daniel Alfredsson has said he will not play in the World Championship because he is too tired. He played for Sweden in the World Cup before the season&hellip;A 5-0 loss March 21 to Tampa Bay tied a club record for the most times the team has been shutout in one season (eight). &#9632;

Cunneyworth prepared to relinquish ‘C’ next season

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02512/6503756-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="28" height="28">Hoping to win games against teams such as the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils without Eric Lindros bordered on fantasy in bygone years.But this season, the Philadelphia Flyers have learned how to win without their captain and victories over the Avalanche and Devils were proof.After going 18-28-7 minus Lindros in his first four seasons, the Flyers put together a 16-11-1 mark when he had been sidelined this year.Lindros was forced out of the lineup after a collision with New York Islanders&rsquo; defenseman Rich Pilon in New York March 22. He suffered a bruised tendon in his lower right leg, which kept him out of two big contests.But the Flyers stopped Colorado cold with a 2-0 shutout in Philadelphia March 23 and followed that with a rare 4-3 win at New Jersey two nights later.The Flyers play a more conservative style with their top player in the press box.&ldquo;I think we play smarter and I think we play better as a team (without Lindros),&rdquo; said Ron Hextall. &ldquo;In the past couple of games, we&rsquo;ve played more as a team than we had before.&rdquo;Lindros said he&rsquo;s encouraged by the improved play. It takes some of the pressure off him. &ldquo;Our depth is so much better now,&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;We have &lsquo;Vinny&rsquo; (Vaclav Prospal) in the lineup and Zubey (Dainius Zubrus) who can play. He&rsquo;s going to be a great player.&rdquo;<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04254/6503749-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="100" height="160"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 100px">Ron Hextall</figcaption></div>Lindros praised the improved play of defensemen Chris Therien and Karl Dykhuis.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Pat Falloon, in and out of coach Terry Murray&rsquo;s doghouse all season, scored the Flyers&rsquo; first goal of the game in both the win over Colorado and victory over New Jersey&hellip;Left winger John LeClair, a Vermont native who scored his league-leading 48th goal of the season at New Jersey, could become the first American-bom player to win the goal-scoring title&hellip;The Flyers&rsquo; win over the Avalanche in Philadelphia was the first home-ice win over that franchise since 1993, stopping a three-game losing streak.. Center Eric Lindros&rsquo; knee injury marked the second straight month he had been sidelined with a low hit The Flyers are again calling on the NHL to review the rule regarding low hits. &#9632;</div>

f0023-04

No Lindros, no problem

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03357/6503787-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="28" height="29">Less than a week after Jocelyn Lemieux&rsquo;s NHL career was resurrected with the Phoenix Coyotes, he received a bad break. Actually, he already had the bad break, but didn&rsquo;t know it.It was revealed in late-March the physical right winger had been playing with a hairline fracture in his right arm. It was the same one in which he suffered a compound fracture in December while toiling for the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International League.Lemieux, a free agent who was signed March 17 by the Coyotes for the rest of the season, thought he might have hurt it March 22 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was his second game and he scored what proved to be the winning goal in a 3-0 Phoenix victory.According to team doctors, the injury was already three weeks old at that point.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of funny the way I feel,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s bad it happened, but on the other hand, I missed 10 weeks earlier, so two weeks isn&rsquo;t going to bother me.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been through a lot this year, but my wife and I both agree we feel blessed we got picked up before (the second fracture was discovered). Had it come up before I got picked up, I would have been done.&rdquo;Lemieux&rsquo;s arm had been hurting at times during his comeback with the Ice Dogs, but he thought it probably was the original injury acting up.Coyotes&rsquo; GM Bobby Smith said Lemieux, 29, checked out healthy three weeks before the team signed him, but acknowledged Lemieux&rsquo;s arm wasn&rsquo;t X-rayed.&ldquo;It was a little scary to talk to the coaches and Bobby about it,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;You never know how people are going to react. Obviously, Bobby knew I wasn&rsquo;t trying to pull a fast one on him.&ldquo;All it shows is that I was playing with a lot of pain. They know that now.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: For the sake of expediency, Bobby Smith said he is shortening his title with the team simply to GM. Officially, however, Smith also will keep the title of executive vice-president in charge of hockey operations&hellip;Goalie Darcy Wakaluk practised for the first time in a month March 27, but remained out of the lineup indefinitely recovering from a second arthroscopic procedure on his right knee&hellip;Defenseman Gerald Diduck, acquired in a trade with Hartford at the trading deadline, scored a goal against Toronto in his home debut, a 1-1 tie March 26. It was only his second of the season. Diduck and Murray Baron, acquired from Montreal, are defense partners. &#9632;

Tough break for toughie Lemieux

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01861/6503818-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="23" height="24">A huge sigh of relief poured from Bernie Nicholls March 19. That was the day the veteran San Jose Sharks&rsquo; center learned he did not have cancer.A week earlier, after he discovered blood in his urine, Nicholls found out he had a tumor the size of a quarter in his bladder. Nicholls was also told by a doctor at Stanford Hospital that he was 95 per-cent certain it was cancer.&ldquo;That was a scary week,&rdquo; Nicholls said. &ldquo;From Wednesday to Wednesday, I don&rsquo;t think there was any time I didn&rsquo;t think about it.&rdquo;Finally, the result of tests on the tumor showed it was benign.&ldquo;The doctor called me in,&rdquo; Nicholls said, &ldquo;and as he walked through the door, he said, &lsquo;I guess you&rsquo;re in that five per-cent category. I knew exactly what he meant.&rdquo;Nicholls, 35, guarded news of the tumor until it proved harmless. He wanted to prevent any undue worry on the part of his mother, who has high blood pressure, as well as a history of cancer in her family. Tony Granato was the only teammate in whom Nicholls confided, though he asked GM Dean Lombardi to inform the rest of the players.A hernia Nicholls has battled for nearly a year provided a convenient ruse. His March 15 season-ending surgery was labeled a hernia operation by the Sharks, though in fact, both the hernia and tumor were taken care of. Nicholls should be ready for training camp next fall.NOTEBOOK: The NHL handed right winger Andrei Nazarov a 13-game suspension March 25-three for verbal and physical abuse of linesman Brad Lazarowich and 10 for deliberately applying force to an official. Near the end of a 5-1 loss to Edmonton March 24, Nazarov pushed and broke away from Lazarowich to continue a fight with Oilers&rsquo; defenseman Bryan Marchment. The Sharks appealed the 10-game suspension and a decision was expected in early-April&hellip;A crowd of 17,159-283 short of capacity-turned out for the Edmonton gam. It was the first non-sellout at San Jose Arena in 119 regular i season and playoff games&hellip; Left winger Viktor Kozlov&rsquo;s team record of 131 consecutive games ended March 28. Kozlov bruised his right ankle march 26 against Toronto. &#9632;

Nicholls gets great news after endurinq biq scare

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02564/6503856-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="24" height="23">On a day GM Ron Caron gave the St. Louis Blues a pep talk, coach Joel Quenneville practically guaranteed his team would make the playoffs.When asked March 26 if the Blues would be playing in the post-season, Quenneville offered a one-word answer: &ldquo;Absolutely.&rdquo;Judging by his team&rsquo;s maddening inconsistency since the all-star break, that could be considered a bold prediction.&ldquo;Absolutely sounds pretty good,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no excuse. We have a good enough team here that we can make the playoffs. It&rsquo;s there. It&rsquo;s just a matter of doing it.&rdquo;After going 7-3-0 in Quenneville&rsquo;s first 10 games, the Blues appeared to be a lock to make the playoffs. But then they floundered, going 7-11-2 and finding themselves in ninth place in the Western Conference before a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings March 27.Even if the Blues make the playoffs, they want to finish higher than eighth to avoid a first-round matchup with the Colorado Avalanche.Caron said he appealed to the players&rsquo; pride in his half-hour session with the team.&ldquo;This is war time, so let&rsquo;s go and do it,&rdquo; Caron said. &ldquo;We have to win games. I believe in this team. I could have made a couple of trades in the last three or four weeks that could have been beneficial, but it was not done. Even if I were given that same chance to do it again, I would not do it.&rdquo;<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03449/6503849-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="84" height="131"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 84px">Joe Murpny</figcaption></div>NOTEBOOK: Right winger Joe Murphy overslept and missed the pep talk by GM Ron Caron March 26, but he made up for it by scoring a big goal in the Blues&rsquo; victory over Los Angeles the next day. Murphy also suffered a skate cut on his left cheek, just below his eye, when defenseman Al Maclnnis&rsquo; left skate came up after Kings&rsquo; center Dimitri Khristich hooked him from behind midway though the second period. Murphy received 30 stitches and returned for the third period&hellip;Injured right wingers Jim Campbell and Steve Leach returned to the lineup against the Kings. Campbell had missed 10 games after undergoing thumb surgery. Leach missed 59 games after surgery on his left ankle and a subsequent stress fracture. &#9632;</div>

f0026-03

Bold words from bosses

<div class="byline">By Mike Dudurich</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04327/6503887-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="24" height="24">Mario Lemieux hadbeen playing like a guy who was very much looking forward to the end of his career.Even when the final three weeks of his regular season NHL career began with a trip to Madison Square Garden to face Wayne Gretzky and the New York Rangers, there was no fire in Lemieux&rsquo;s furnace. But everything changed when he returned home to Montreal for one last performance.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been looking at the calendar for about a year now,&rdquo; Lemieux said after collecting two goals and five points in an 8-5 loss to the Montreal Canadiens March 26. &ldquo;I wanted to make a statement and not leave the game the way I&rsquo;ve been playing lately&rdquo;When he scored his first goal at 15:59 of the third period, the sell out crowd of 21,273 erupted into a standing ovation for their native son. And when he scored again at 19:08, the Molson Centre fans let loose a prolonged cheer, getting louder by the minute.&ldquo;Yeah, that got to me,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;It was probably the first time in my life one got to me. It was so long and so loud. Good thing they dropped the puck, I was ready to get back to work. The fans here have been great through the years, they&rsquo;ve stuck with me through some tough times: my back, my Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease. They&rsquo;re the greatest fans in the world.&rdquo;The crowd exploded again when Lemieux came onto the ice as one of the three stars. Instead of doing the usual quick circle, Lemieux skated to center ice, waved and blew kisses to the crowd and continued skating to the Montreal bench.Once there, he shook hands with, then hugged Canadiens&rsquo; president Ronald Corey and shook hands with Mark Recchi and Shayne Corson, the game&rsquo;s other two stars.&ldquo;To me that&rsquo;s tear-jerking,&rdquo; said Penguins&rsquo; coach-GM Craig Patrick. &ldquo;Mario deserves it, but (the) fans were fabulous.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Rangers swept the season series with the Penguins, outscoring them 25-8 in four games. It was the first time since 1970-71 the Rangers swept a season series against Pittsburgh&hellip; The Penguins, 3-8-0 in their last 11 games under Eddie Johnston and 3-6-2 in their first 11 games under coach-GM Craig Patrick&hellip;The Penguins were winless in 10 road games (0-9-1)&hellip;The eight goals scored by Montreal matched the most the Penguins allowed this season. The Rangers did it to them twice&hellip;Center Mario Lemieux finished his career in Montreal with 11 goals and 25 points in 15 games&hellip;The five goals surrendered in the first period against Montreal marked a high for the Penguins this year. &#9632;

Emotional homecoming for Lemieux

<div class="byline">By Roy Cummings</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05250/6503925-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="24" height="25">Tampa Bay Lightning GM Phil Esposito had a lot of explaining to do after a couple of last-minute maneuvers brought in defensemen Jeff Norton and Jamie Huscroft at the trade deadline.Disgruntled fans, unhappy over the decision to give up rookie Drew Bannister in the Norton deal, wanted to know how Esposito could have given up on one of the team&rsquo;s best prospects for a 31-year-old who was having trouble getting regular ice time with the Edmonton Oilers.And disgruntled players, unhappy with the makeup of the team&rsquo;s defense corps, were wondering how Esposito could have waited so long to bring the two newcomers in.&ldquo;Where have these guys been all year?&rdquo; goalie Rick Tabaracci asked after a week of playing behind Norton and Huscroft. &ldquo;What a difference they&rsquo;re making for us.&rdquo;Indeed, Norton and Huscroft were even changing the fans&rsquo; minds.Norton&rsquo;s smooth skating style and deft puck-moving skills had the woeful Lightning power play-among the bottom third in the league all season-running a lot more efficiently. And Huscroft was exciting fans with his glass-rattling body checks and stay-at-home play.&ldquo;Norton passes tape to tape and he can beat two or three guys on one pass,&rdquo; said Chris Gratton. &ldquo;And Jamie&rsquo;s tough as nails. He&rsquo;s dirty and mean, everything we&rsquo;ve needed all year. You know if anything breaks out on the ice he&rsquo;s going to be there.&rdquo;<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07183/6503918-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="82" height="131"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 82px">Jamie Huscroft</figcaption></div>NOTEBOOK: Goalie Daren Puppa said the condition of his back worsened during the team&rsquo;s three-game swing through western Canada. Puppa was given a clean bill of health from team doctors four days after returning home, however, and it was expected he would get a start in goal in at least one of the team&rsquo;s final eight games&hellip;Center Brian Bradley, out since mid-January with a sprained right wrist, began practising again. He was not handling pucks or shooting, but was optimistic he could be back for the final four games of the season&hellip;The Lightning was assured of finishing below. 500 when it lost 5-2 to Hartford March 26. It will be Tampa Bay&rsquo;s fourth losing season in five years of existence. &#9632;</div>

f0026-07

Newcomers appreciated

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06209/6503956-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="24" height="24">Having shifted their focus to next season, it only makes sense for the Toronto Maple Leafs to start assessing those who may be part of the future.For that reason, as well as widespread injury problems to their blueline corps, the Leafs recalled 19-year-old D.J. Smith.Smith was assigned to the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs of the American League after his junior team-the Ontario League&rsquo;s Windsor Spitfires-was eliminated from the playoffs. Then defenseman Dimitri Yushkevich suffered a knee injury and Smith was promoted to Toronto.&ldquo;I will have to show them my foot speed is fast enough,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll just play hard all the time. It&rsquo;s a big opportunity and I have to do something with it.&rdquo;He accomplished that in his first NHL outing, March 26 against the San Jose Sharks. Smith, wearing Dave Ellett&rsquo;s old No. 4, earned an assist in a 2-1 win and didn&rsquo;t look out of place. The next night against the Phoenix Coyotes, Smith saw some time on the power play, but sat out the third period of a 1-1 tie.Coach Mike Murphy likes what he sees in the young defenseman.&ldquo;He is a big strong player who has lots of enthusiasm,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping he can make the adjustment quickly and play up here.&rdquo;Smith had 15 goals, 67 points and 190 penalty minutes in 63 games with Windsor this season.NOTEBOOK: For the second time in three years, Toronto&rsquo;s Masterton nominee isn&rsquo;t finishing the season with the team. Center Kirk Muller, dealt to Florida at the trading deadline, was named this year&rsquo;s candidate. The same thing happened to center Mike Eastwood two years ago&hellip;GM Cliff Fletcher confirmed in late-March that coach Mike Murphy will return next season; Fletcher&rsquo;s future is somewhat less certain&hellip;Center Jamie Baker was still suffering from headaches after being hit in the head in February by a puck&hellip;Defenseman David Cooper is gone for the season after injuring his right knee March 19 against Philadelphia&hellip;Right winger Tie Domi played his 400th career game March 26. &#9632;

Injuries on Leaf blueline make room for prospect

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02564/6503987-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="394" height="541"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jyrki Lumme</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01851/6503994-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="218" height="216"></div>The NHL has a number of surprise teams each season, but not all surprises are good.The Vancouver Canucks, in fact, have to rank as the biggest surprise on the scale of negativity as they will almost certainly miss the playoffs for the first time in seven years.After going 4-9-0 in February and 3-7-3 the first four weeks of March, the Canucks needed a miracle finish to squeak into the post-season. But based on their play of the previous two months, they did not look capable of winning many games, let alone all of them in the season&rsquo;s final two weeks.1 think this is the toughest year since have been here,&rdquo; said veteran defenseman Jyrki Lumme, who is finishing his seventh full season with the club. &ldquo;Even if we make the playoffs, we should realize what the hell happened this year and what was going on, straight from the players and all the way up to management. Other than Marty Gelinas, I don&rsquo;t think anyone here can say, T&rsquo;ve had a good season.&rsquo; This should be a big wake-up call for everybody.&rdquo;While most of the criticism has centered on GM Pat Quinn, who did not upgrade the team&rsquo;s defense or add a playmaking center, rookie head coach Tom Renney began receiving his share of blame for his handling of the players. The major complaints concerned his inability to ease up on the throttle, both in practice and at the chalk board. There were whispers he had lost the players&rsquo; respect.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t detect that,&rdquo; Renney responded.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s always eye contact when I talk to them.They acknowledge to me they&rsquo;re getting the message when I talk to them.&rdquo;The players never fully accepted Renney&rsquo;s weak-side lock system, which he eventually dumped at about the 60-game mark. They also questioned his ability to summon the right words at the right time.&ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t know anymore whether I&rsquo;m turning left or right,&rdquo; said one veteran unhappy with Renney&rsquo;s leadership.But this is the same team that didn&rsquo;t like Rick Ley last season either and caused his dismissal, which obviously points a finger at the character of the players and the GM who acquired them.In Quinn&rsquo;s 10 seasons at the Canucks helm, the team has managed to play above. 500 just three times-the three full seasons that Quinn coached. It appears the GM is the only one who can get the most out of this group of underachievers.NOTEBOOK: Gritty left winger Martin Gelinas reached a career high in points for the second consecutive season, surpassing last year&rsquo;s benchmark of 56. He collected his 57th and 58th points against Anaheim in a 5-3 victory March 26&hellip;Enforcer/left winger Donald Brashear ended a 30-game goal and point drought against Anaheim in the same game&hellip;Center Sergei Nemchinov finally played his first game as a Canuck 16 days and seven games after being acquired from the Rangers. Nemchinov arrived with a rib muscle injury that was slow to heal. He earned an assist in his debut, the win over Anaheim, playing alongside a fellow Russian, left winger Alexander Mogilny&hellip;Center Mike Ridley reached the 50-point plateau for the 10th time in his 12-year career&hellip;Canuck farmhand center Dave Scatchard, ranked by the organization as its second best prospect behind defenseman Mattias Ohlund, required a second surgical procedure to repair problems with his feet. &#9632;

f0028-02

Everyone under fire as Canucks search for late-season miracle

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04282/6504025-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="402" height="545"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Peake</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03399/6504032-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="215" height="215"></div>It has been a long time between NHI shifts for Pat Peake, the Washingtoi Capitals&rsquo; right winger, but the gap is finally starting to close.With the season winding down, Peake, 23, was getting closer to his goal of making it Z3 all the way back from an injury that threatened to end his career.Last April 26, Peake was racing down ice in Pittsburgh, trying to prevent an icing. He slid into the end boards with tremendous force, his right foot hitting and twisting as he made contact, his heel shattering into nine pieces. A plate and 12 screws were inserted during an operation May 9. He was on crutches for 3-1/2 months before rehab could start. A second operation was needed after Christmas to remove a screw that was causing extreme pain when he tried to skate.Then in January, he was helping his wife move a TV when it slipped and he broke a hand.There is not much that hasn&rsquo;t gone wrong with Peake&rsquo;s body at one time or another. Drafted 14th overall by the Capitals in 1991, Peake had appeared in just 129 of a possible 289 games since 199394, his rookie season.&ldquo;The hand thing, that was a psychological setback where he was probably saying to himself, &lsquo;What else is going to happen?&rsquo;&rdquo; said Frank Costello, the Caps&rsquo; strength and conditioning coach who worked with Peake for a year. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t help his morale, but he fought through it.&rdquo;Costello has watched athletes come back from injuries that should have benched them for good. Randy Burridge, an ex-Cap now with the Buffalo Sabres, had reconstructive surgery on both knees at the same time and was written off by many.&ldquo;I think people gave up on Randy,&rdquo; Costello said. &ldquo;He came back and proved he could still play. I was very impressed with Randy&rsquo;s courage and desire, but Peake, I have nothing but respect for the guy. He worked through pain, didn&rsquo;t give up, knew what his goals were and believed deep down he was going to play again.&rdquo;Peake had a conditioning stint with the Portland Pirates of the American League, then was recalled March 26 to get into the type of shape coach Jim Schoenfeld likes. The Caps hoped Peake could return before the playoffs.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you this,&rdquo; Costello said, &ldquo;when Pat Peake does go back in, it&rsquo;s going to be a great, great accomplishment. He went through some really rough times. That&rsquo;s the longest I ever worked with one guy.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve talked to him, he thinks he&rsquo;s ready and thinks he can contribute,&rdquo; said GM David Poile. &ldquo;More power to him.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: To the surprise of no one, Washington Sports and Entertaining, the business and marketing arm of the Caps, is raising ticket prices next season when the club moves into the MCI Center in the District of Columbia. Tickets will range from $19 to $60 under the new plan with single-game VIP seats going for $125. Tickets this season ranged from $12 to $45 with rinkside VIP seats at $60-$90. The new facility will not be finished in time for the Caps&rsquo; October start and no completion date has been forecast&hellip;Washington had held Montreal scoreless at the Molson Centre for the first 170:46 over three games this season when left winger Martin Rucinsky scored in a March 22 game&hellip;The Capitals outshot Buffalo 31-12 (a Sabre franchise low) March 21, but still lost 4-1&hellip;Defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who returned March 25 after missing 22 games with a sprained knee, had three goals in his first two games back. His first goal against St. Louis snapped an O-for-32 power play drought for the team.. &#9632;

f0028-04

Hard-luck Peake set to return from long season of frustration

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>Daniel Shank has no doubt rubbed some people the wrong way, and vice versa.When Detroit Vipers&rsquo; coach Steve Ludzik was commenting on the success of his team recently, he delivered a slam at Shank, who spent parts of the past two seasons in Detroit.&ldquo;(We) only sign high-character, no-maintenance players,&rdquo; Ludzik said. &ldquo;Guys like Shank had to go.&rdquo;Ouch.That Shank has played for six International League teams in four seasons tells you plenty. Some have called his act problematic insecurity. Others simply say the San Antonio Dragon right winger is high-maintenance.Whatever labels Shank might have, one of them is definitely talented.The Montreal native won the fastest skater competition at the IHL All-Star Game Feb. 18 and though he has bounced around, he continues to do what it takes, and score, too.Shank&rsquo;s four seasons previous to 1996-97 were split between the San Diego Gulls, Phoenix Roadrunners, Minnesota Moose, Detroit and Las Vegas Thunder. His point totals were 92, 73, 86 and 98. He also averaged more than 300 minutes in penalties and had 495 during 1992-93 when he was a first team all-star in San Diego.This year, he has paced the first place Dragons and had 29 goals and 79 points in 72 games. He led the IHL with seven shorthanded goals. Pretty effective, considering his 269 penalty minutes.So what is holding this guy back from another shot at the NHL?Shank has a reputation for wearing out his welcome wherever he plays. One scout calls it &ldquo;marching to the beat of his own drum.&rdquo;&ldquo;Did I have a problem with Dan Shank?&rdquo; says Las Vegas coach Chris McSorley. &ldquo;No. Dan&rsquo;s philosophies and my philosophies on the approach to the game just didn&rsquo;t mix.&ldquo;Dan is such a competitive individual that at times he almost blinds himself with that spirit. Through that loss of vision, Dan would occasionally encounter a bad penalty or bad decision.&rdquo;You can read between the lines of McSorley&rsquo;s remark. The undisciplined style which Shank plays has prevented him from making a return trip to the NHL, even though his statistics merit consideration.But that&rsquo;s in the past, Shank claims.The new Shank is working on the present and future and believes he&rsquo;s well on his way to a new page in his career. He professes to be a kinder, gentler sort, at least off the ice, and a more mature one on it. The Dragons even made him their captain.And although he&rsquo;s 29 and hasn&rsquo;t played in the big league since 199192, Shank wants to play again in the NHL.&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t give up,&rdquo; Shank says. &ldquo;I still think I can play up there. I take care of myself. I&rsquo;m in good shape. I&rsquo;ve got plenty of years left. I&rsquo;m not quitting. Who knows? Maybe somebody will give me another chance.&rdquo;Shank had that chance early in his career. Even though he wasn&rsquo;t drafted out of the Quebec League, he signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings and played 57 NHL games in his second pro season (scoring 11 goals and 24 points in 1989-90). A coaching change, trade to the Hartford Whalers and another coaching change later, Shank wound up in the minors for good. His NHL career totals: 13 goals, 27 points and 175 PIM in 77 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01843/6504063-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="208" height="285"><figcaption class="caption-body">Daniel Shank has been described as &ldquo;a nonr man&rsquo;s John LaGlair &ldquo;</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I do think I&rsquo;ve been passed over,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Nobody ever called (after that stint in the NHL).&rdquo;But it&rsquo;s not like Shank has faded away in the minors. Dragons&rsquo; coach-GM Jeff Brubaker thinks Shank has turned around his reputation as a problem player.&ldquo;Dan has matured as an individual,&rdquo; Brubaker says. &ldquo;He is a feisty, fiery, temperamental guy. You have to let him be himself. Those times when he flares up, I realize it&rsquo;s just a function of his competitive nature. We want guys like that. We don&rsquo;t want a bunch of choirboys here. We want a bunch of hard-nosed guys who have an edge to their game and personality.&ldquo;I also think Dan was waiting for somebody to acknowledge him as a key individual. He&rsquo;s looking to have the respect of his organization. Frankly, he has earned it.&rdquo;The Dragons did that in a substantial way this season. They showed him the money with a three-year contract extension. Shank says the matter of his contract was one reason for his many moves in past seasons.&ldquo;I wanted that three-year deal and no one was willing to give it to me,&rdquo; Shank says. &ldquo;When I got traded and signed here last summer, Jeff just said, &lsquo;You show me what you can do and you&rsquo;ll see I won&rsquo;t jerk you around.&rsquo; &ldquo;Brubaker says he can&rsquo;t believe some NHL club couldn&rsquo;t use Shank&rsquo;s scoring and feisty nature.&ldquo;With expansion coming, there will be 200 players added to NHL reserve lists if four teams join,&rdquo; Brubaker says. &ldquo;He can cut it there. He&rsquo;s one of the top three players in this league.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s almost 30, but he has the body of a 22-year-old. He keeps himself in phenomenal shape. He keeps great hours. He&rsquo;s a solid family man. The thing that amazes me about him is how he can play that hard every night. If an NHL team couldn&rsquo;t use him. I&rsquo;d be awfully surprised.&rdquo;&ldquo;Dan Shank is a poor man&rsquo;s John LeClair,&rdquo; McSorley says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a premier power forward at this level with &#9632;

f0030-01

LEAGUES

The Dan Shank Redemption

<div class="byline">By Kevin Iole</div>Utah Grizzlies&rsquo; coach-GM Butch Goring has gone through 56 players this season and will add a 57th, veteran goalie Don Beaupre, shortly before the International League playoffs begin.But despite the instability, Goring is convinced his team has a shot to win its third consecutive championship after a series of deadline moves.The biggest was acquiring Beaupre on loan from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Beaupre has been playing for the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs of the American League, where he was 22-14-4 with a 2.85 goals-against average and 90.3 save percentage. Beaupre will play for St. John&rsquo;s until the end of the NHL season April 13, then join Utah.Utah also acquired defensemen Jaroslav Mo-dry and Jeff Sirkka and forwards Ravil Yakubov and Andy Brickley.The Grizzlies&rsquo; acquisition of Modry from the Phoenix Roadrunners didn&rsquo;t sit well with Phoenix GM Adam Keller. Modry is on an NHL contract with the Los Angeles Kings and several sources said Goring paid the Kings to have Modry assigned to Utah. As compensation, Utah sent rookie left winger Sean O&rsquo;Brien to Phoenix.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t happy with it, but I guess it&rsquo;s his prerogative to do that,&rdquo; Keller said.Goring took a flyer on Brickley. The vet-i eran was one of the keys to the Grizzlies&rsquo; A back-to-back titles, but was plagued by injuries and had been a Boston Bruins&rsquo; radio analyst this season.OTHER MOVES: There were other significant moves at the March 20. trading and roster freeze deadline.The Long Beach Ice Dogs, looking to solidify themselves down the middle, acquired center Nicholas Vachon from Utah for Jeff Sirkka. The Dogs also signed left winger Mike Donnelly as a free agent and acquired defenseman Brian Chapman from Phoenix.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02562/6504094-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="67" height="75"></div>The Kansas City Blades will receive goalie Eric Fichaud on loan from the New York Islanders. Even though Fichaud spent the season in the NHL, he will join Kansas City at the conclusion of the Islanders&rsquo; season.The Las Vegas Thunder acquired center Alexander Semak from the Syracuse Crunch of the American V League. The Indianapolis Ice picked up defenseman Marc Hussey, who was assigned there by the Chicago Black-hawks after being acquired in a trade with the Calgary Flames.MALTAIS MILESTONE: ChicagoWolves&rsquo; left winger Steve Maltais became just the fifth player in IHL history to record three consecutive 50-goal seasons when he reached the plateau March 15 at Kansas City.Maltais, who led the IHL with 52 goals, had 57 and 56 the previous two seasons.The only other IHL players to do it were Barry Scully of the Fort Wayne Komets (197980 through 1982-83), Dave Michayluk of the Muskegon Lumberjacks (1987-88 through 198990), Mery Dubchak of Fort Wayne (1964-65 through 1966-67) and Don Westbrooke of the Dayton Gems (1967-68 through 1969-70).STAYING PUT?: A number of sources around the league insist the Roadrunners will leave Phoenix after the season, but GM-president Adam Keller said that&rsquo;s news to him.The Roadrunners will lose their NHL affiliation with the Los Angeles Kings, who plan to put their prospects with an AHL expansion franchise in Lowell, Mass., next year, but Keller said the Roadrunners will stay put.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard the rumors just like everyone else, but as far as I know, we&rsquo;re going to be in Phoenix next year,&rdquo; Keller said.&ldquo;Nobody has told me any differently and I would assume if we were moving, I would have heard something at this point.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

Goring loads up for run at title No. 3

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Gordie Howe&rsquo;s quest to play in a sixth decade was put on hold when the American League&rsquo;s Syracuse Crunch called off his comeback.Crunch president Howard Dolgon said the club was battling to make the playoffs and couldn&rsquo;t afford to have Howe take up a roster spot for one shift. Howe was scheduled to appear against the Kentucky Thoroughblades April 1.Howe, 69, announced March 14 his desire to play one AHL game in order to say he played pro hockey in six decades. Also contributing to Howe&rsquo;s postponement was the health of his wife, Colleen, who may require surgery to correct an eye problem.&ldquo;Obviously, I&rsquo;m deeply disappointed,&rsquo;&rsquo; Howe said. &ldquo;I am still hoping to fulfill my dream of playing in a sixth decade at some future date.&rdquo;Howe&rsquo;s wish to play at the age. of 69 raised eyebrows throughout, the hockey community. Hall of (Famer Maurice Richard thought it (was a silly decision and AHL president Dave Andrews was against the idea from the start.Howe last played in the NHL as a 52-year-old with the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80.CLOSE CALL: Jamie Heward experienced a hockey player&rsquo;s ultimate fear-the fear of paralysis.While racing to beat an icing call, the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs&rsquo; defenseman collided with Hamilton Bulldogs&rsquo; defenseman Alexander Zhurik March 16. Heward crashed into the end board chest-first and lost feeling in his legs.&ldquo;When you can&rsquo;t feel your legs, right away you ask, &lsquo;Am I paralyzed, is there permanent damage?&rsquo;&rdquo; Heward said. &ldquo;I was pretty scared the first couple of days.&rdquo;Heward was fortunate. While still bothered by a numbing sensation in his lower legs and feet a week after the collision, doctors had ruled out any permanent damage. He may be able to return for the Calder Cup playoffs.&ldquo;They think it was more of a bruising and that blood around the spinal cord made me lose feeling in my legs,&rdquo; Heward said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s more or less like when you bang your funny bone and you can&rsquo;t feel your arm for a little bit. I can walk, but it feels like I&rsquo;m on pins and needles.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01781/6504125-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="78" height="75"></div>&ldquo;But they don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s serious enough to keep me from playing again.&rdquo;Heward didn&rsquo;t cry foul on Zhurik: &ldquo;It was two guys battling for the puck.&rdquo;RYAN&rsquo;S HOPE: When the season began, left winger Ryan Mulhern was just looking for a place to play. Now he&rsquo;s looking for a place to display his hardware.Injuries and recalls created a player shortage with the Portland Pirates and Mulhern has done more than fill in since coming up from the East Coast League&rsquo;s Hampton Roads Admirals. He was named rookie of the month for February. Mulhern had 14 goals and 25 points in 30 games.The 6-foot-l, 198-pound left winger was a 1992 eighth-round K pick (174th overall) of the Calgary Flames, but never signed.After finishing his business management degree at Brown University last spring, Mulhern, 24, went to camp with the Philadelphia Flyers, was released, then attended Portland&rsquo;s camp and signed a one-year contract with the Pirates. In March, he was rewarded with an AHL contract for next season.AHL TIDBITS: Rochester Americans&rsquo; left winger Scott Metcalfe became the franchise&rsquo;s all-time penalty minute leader, overtaking Jim Hofford with 1,213 minutes. Metcalfe had 186 minutes in 69 games and was the club&rsquo;s second-leading scorer with a career-high 28 goals and 63 points&hellip;The AHL board of governors gave tentative approval of the sale and move of the Baltimore Bandits&rsquo; franchise to a group that owns and operates the Cincinnati Gardens. Cincinnati already has a team in the International League&hellip;Hamilton goalie Steve Passmore&rsquo;s 30 shutout over the Saint John Flames March 23 was the AHL&rsquo;s 50th whitewash of the season, surpassing last year&rsquo;s record of 49. &#9632;</div>

Mr. Hockey’s return to ice placed on hold by Crunch

<div class="byline">By John Packet!</div>What does a college coach for 14 years do when he feels like he&rsquo;s ready for a job in the pro ranks?If you&rsquo;re Brian McCutcheon, you take an assistant&rsquo;s position for one year with the Los Angeles Ice Dogs of the International League to prepare yourself for the grind of a long season.&ldquo;I had never been an assistant coach prior to last year when I went to Los Angeles,&rdquo; McCutcheon said. &ldquo;One of the reasons I thought it would be a good opportunity there was getting involved in pro hockey again. I had been there as a player, but not as a coach.&ldquo;Working with (head coach-GM) John Van Boxmeer and an excellent organization got me back in the loop with the pro game.&rdquo;McCutcheon learned quickly. Given the chance to take over the helm of c the Columbus Chill this season, Me-a Cutcheon did such a good job he " was recognized by his peers as w coach of the year in the East Coast League.The Chill has been in first place in cast the North Division most of the season and had a three point lead over the Peoria Rivermen entering the final week of the campaign.&ldquo;The biggest difference between the two is knowing how to prepare your team,&rdquo; said McCutcheon. The 47-year-old spent eight years as a left winger in the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; organization during the 1970s before coaching six years at Elmira College and eight seasons at Cornell, his alma mater.At Columbus, McCutcheon has mixed some talented newcomers with a number of holdovers to produce a winning combination.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very loyal to his players and the players want to perform for him,&rdquo; said Chill captain Matt Oates.McCutcheon gave a lot of credit to player/assistant coach Mark Turner, as well as the Chicago Blackhawks for sending several prospects.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02510/6504156-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="67" height="70"></div>HONOR ROLL: South Carolina Stingrays&rsquo; center Mike Ross collected two ECHL honors: most valuable player and most sportsmanlike player.The 26-year-old, who had 50 goals and 107 points in 68 games, led the Stingrays with 10 game-winning goals.The rookie of the year was Birmingham Bulls&rsquo; center Dany Bousquet. 23. Bousquet, who had 49 goals and 101 points in 66 games, put together a season-high 30-game point-scoring streak.Chris Valicivec of the Louisiana IceGators picked up his second consecutive top defenseman award, while teammate Marc Delormewas named top goaltender.HAT TRICK OF HAT TRICKS: Left winger Steve Gibson of the Wheeling Nailers became the fifth player in k pro hockey to record a hat trick in % three straight games. The EdmonI j ton Oilers&rsquo; draft choice, (157th o erall in 1992), had three goalsr 4/against the Johnstown Chiefs March 16 and three more against Peoria March 18.Gibson, 24, saved his best for last, netting four goals against Columbus March 21. Since joining the Nailers after opening the season in Germany, Gibson had 18 goals and 27 points in 13 games.Gibson, who was named ECHL player of the week for the period ending March 23, joins three other league players and one from the Central League who have scored the hat trick of hat tricks.COAST LINES: The Baton Rouge Kingfish clinched the Atchafalaya Cup, symbolic of hockey supremacy in Louisiana, with a 1-0 victory over the IceGators March 21. Baton Rouge wound up with a 7-3-0 advantage in the series and received $20,000, which was donated to the Baton Rouge Children&rsquo;s Initiative&hellip;Veteran center Jeff Rohlichek of the Mississippi SeaWolves got his 700th professional point when he assisted on a goal by Stephane Charbonneau against the Pensacola Ice Pilots March 14. &#9632;</div>

McCutcheon earns honor as league’s coach of year

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03396/6504187-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg"></div>Shane Kenny won his first battle of the bulge when he returned to the Sarnia Sting. But he will likely wage this war the rest of his hockey career.Kenny, one of the toughest and most skilled defensemen in the Ontario League, was back for Game 5 of the Sting&rsquo;s first round series with the Windsor Spitfires March 23. The 20-year-old didn&rsquo;t score, but his physical presence was evident. It always is.The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; draft choice has a weight problem that, according to agent Anton Thun, is hereditary.Anxiety brought on by weight concerns caused Kenny to leave the Sting in early-February. He was tired of hearing and thinking about being over-weight. Kenny had six goals, 17 points and 73 penalty minutes in 26 regular season games before leaving.The Sting got him a job at a sporting goods store to help keep occupied. Eventually, he went home to New Brunswick.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01839/6504194-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="100" height="119"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 100px">Brad Larsen and the Broncos helped flood victims.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough, especially when it&rsquo;s something you battle all the time,&rdquo; Thun said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not unlike any other junior player. No matter what happens you think you&rsquo;re going to be able to bounce back from it. It has been a very frustrating experience for him.&rdquo;Kenny declined to discuss his return, except to say, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to be back. I plan to be here the rest of the year.&rdquo;Teammates initiated Kenny&rsquo;s return three weeks earlier when, after a players&rsquo; meeting, captain Trevor Letowski went to coach Joe Canale.Canale told Letowski, &ldquo;If you guys want him back, you bring him back.&rdquo;Letowski phoned Kenny. Nothing happened until the morning after Game 4, when the Spitfires beat the Sting 6-3 in Windsor. Assistant coach Bill Abercrombie phoned Kenny and the defenseman was in Sarnia the next day.BULLISH SUPPORT: A sellout crowd of 3,249 at the Quinte Sports Centre gave the Belleville Bulls a standing ovation after being eliminated by a 6-3 loss to the No. 1-ranked Ottawa 67&rsquo;s in Game 6 of their first round series.The ovation continued with the players in the dressing room and they returned for a lap around the ice. The 67&rsquo;s declined the first round bye after finishing first in the East, 53 points better than the Bulls.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never been prouder or have seen a group of kids play with more heart,&rdquo; said Larry Mavety, who has coached the Bulls 17 years.NET MINDERS: Two Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound fans working in Beijing, China, followed the Sarnia-Windsor series on the Internet. CHOK radio in Sarnia is the only OHL station available on the net at www.chok.com.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2>HIGHLIGHTS (MARCH 21-27): Peterborough lost leading scorer Dave Duerden indefinitely when he slid into the boards and dislocated his wrist against Kingston&hellip;Sarnia&rsquo;s Trevor Letowski, Wes Mason and Casey Wolak combined for 15 goals and 40 points in the five games against Windsor&hellip;Daniel Tkaczuk had three goals in the final game as Barrie swept Owen Sound. Tkaczuk had six goals and eight points in the series. &#9632;

f0032-03

Sting’s Kenny still battling weighty issue

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04271/6504225-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg"></div>A last-place finish did not deter the Tri-City Americans from re hiring coach Bob Loucks.The 46-year-old Loucks agreed March 25 to a contract extension. Terms were not disclosed.Loucks just finished guiding the youthful Americans through Year 1 of a rebuilding program. Tri-City finished in the West Division basement with a 2243-7 record. Last season, Loucks led the Americans to the best record in Tri-City&rsquo;s history (45-25-2).&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking to make the playoffs next year,&rdquo; Loucks said. &ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t a very good feeling. I don&rsquo;t want to do it again.&rdquo;Loucks has previous WHL coaching experience with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Medicine Hat Tigers. He has a 294-228-35 regular season record and 32-39-0 slate in the playoffs. His 103 regular-season victories with the Americans is a Tri-City record.&ldquo;I was optimistic something would get done,&rdquo; Loucks said of the contract. &ldquo;I try to be a positive thinker. I wasn&rsquo;t concerned. But, in this business, anything can happen.&rdquo;GOOD SAMARITANS: The Swift Current Broncos did their part to battle severe flooding problems in southwestern Saskatchewan.On March 23, the Broncos, led by captain Brad Larsen, spent two hours sandbagging.&ldquo;We spent a couple of hours as a team doing it,&rdquo; Broncos&rsquo; coach-GM Todd McLellan said. &ldquo;After that, a couple of guys went back and volunteered.&rdquo;The next day, the Broncos won 4-2 in Medicine Hat to sweep the Tigers in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.PATS POST-MORTEM: Regina Pats&rsquo; owner Russ Parker was upbeat in light of his team&rsquo;s first round ouster from the playoffs.&ldquo;One could say (the season) is a disappointment, but it&rsquo;s not for me,&rdquo; Parker said. &ldquo;For me, it has been a wonderful season. Who could ask for more?&ldquo;The team was so exciting. At one point, we were undefeated in 27 straight home games. Fans started coming to the arena, something we ultimately envisioned.&rdquo;The Pats set a team single-season attendance record of 150,778-obliterating the previous mark of 117,514, established in 1980-81.Thp Pat also won 42 regular season games<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02575/6504232-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="100" height="120"></div>Chicoutimi&rsquo;s Frederic Bouchard racked up 101 points this year.They cracked the 40-win barrier for the first time since 1985-86 (45 victories).The Red Deer Rebels, who finished two points ahead of the Pats during the season, posted a 4-1 series victory over Regina in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2>HIGHLIGHTS (MARCH 21-27): Prince George, making its first postseason appearance since 1989, was on the verge of a huge upset. The Cougars, who finished 36 points behind Portland, enjoyed a 3-1 advantage. Prince George goalie Chris Mason allowed five goals over the three victories and recorded one shutout. Led by 11 points from Chris Szysky, Swift Current swept Medicine Hat&hellip;Montreal Canadians&rsquo; draftee Terry Ryan had five goals in five games as Red Deer eliminated Regina&hellip;Moose Jaw was one win away from upsetting Brandon. &#9632;

f0032-04

Loucks returns to Americans after poor year

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05200/6504263-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg"></div>You wouldn&rsquo;t know it by the way he has played this season, but Chicoutimi Sagueneens&rsquo; defenseman Frederic Bouchard has given up trying to impress NHL scouts.With 34 goals and 101 points in 56 games, Bouchard led the Sagueneens in scoring and became only the 10th defenseman in Quebec League history to hit the 100-point mark. The 6-foot-l, 184-pound has been passed over in three NHL entry drafts.&ldquo;The scouts say they don&rsquo;t like the way he plays on the defensive side, even though he finishes with pluses all the time,&rdquo; said Chicoutimi coach Real Paiement.Bouchard, 20, says he has done everything the scouts have asked, from fighting (550 penalty minutes in four seasons) to improving his defensive play, while still putting up points. Bouchard&rsquo;s biggest attribute is his ability to anticipate the play.Pierre Lacroix of the Trois-Rivi&egrave;res Draveurs holds the QM-JHL record for points by a defenseman. Lacroix had 137 points in 1978-79. Bouchard&rsquo;s 34 goals is the fifth highest total. Dave Ezard of the Cornwall Royals had 40 in 1979-80.&ldquo;Often he&rsquo;s not in the proper position defensively, but because of his anticipation he gets back or he cuts off passes,&rdquo; Paiement said. &ldquo;That gives him the opportunity to initiate the offense.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s exactly what Bouchard did in the first round of the playoffs as Chicoutimi eliminated the Oceanic Rimouski 3-1 in their best-of-five series. Bouchard had seven goals and 13 points to lead the playoff scoring race after the first round.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not playing to please the scouts,&rdquo; Paiement said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing to please himself.&rdquo;HOT PROSPECT: Corey Pecker, a left winger with the Lac St-Louis Lions, was the top-rated player when the QMJHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau released its rankings for this year&rsquo;s midget draft.The 6-foot, 180-pounder turned 16 March 20 and had 30 goals and 70 points in 41 games this season. The expansion Baie Comeau Drakkar has the No. 1 pick at the midget draft, to be held June 7 in Sherbrooke.NEW ALIGNMENT: The QMJHL will change from two to three divisions next season with the arrival of Baie Comeau. The regular season will be reduced from 70 games to 68.The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs, Hull Olympiques, Laval Titan and Shawinigan Cataractes will make up the West Division; Granby Predateurs, Sherbrooke Faucons, Victoriavnte tigres, urummonovme voiugeurs and Beauport Harfangs the Central Division; and Chicoutimi, Rimouski, Baie Comeau. Moncton Wild cats and Halifax Mooseheads the East Division.Teams will meet division rivals seven times each and play four games against teams outside their division. The top four teams in each division will qualify for the playoffs.<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2>HIGHLIGHTS (MARCH 21-27): A 10-day layoff after a first-round bye didn&rsquo;t hurt Hull, which outscored Drummondville 18-5 to take a 2-0 lead.. Victoriaville goalie Mathieu Garon made 57 saves in a 5-3 victory over Chicoutimi to even their series 1-1. Victoriaville played without league MVP Daniel Corso, who had mononucleosis&hellip;Halifax scored three third-period goals to beat Shawinigan 3-1 to even their series 1-1. &#9632;

f0032-05

Lot of points, little attention for Bouchard

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div>MILWAUKEE, Wisc.-Brendan Morrison had to be one of the saddest looking Hobey Baker Award winners of all time.Morrison received the trophy which goes to the top player in U.S. college hockey March 28, but he didn&rsquo;t look too thrilled. That&rsquo;s because the night before, his college career ended a game before it was supposed to when Boston University upset No. 1-ranked Michigan and Morrison 3-2 in a NCAA semifinal.It&rsquo;s common knowledge the native of Pitt Meadows, B.C., returned to Michigan for his senior season to pursue a second-consecutive NCAA title-and to get his degree. But the storybook ending was foiled by BU.When asked whether he&rsquo;d trade the Hobey Baker for a Michigan berth in the final, he said, &ldquo;Definitely. I&rsquo;ve said all along it&rsquo;s the team that counts. I&rsquo;d trade any individual award for a team goal.&rdquo;BU&rsquo;s 3-2 victory over Michigan March 27 was a shock. The Wolverines had been the No. 1 ranked team all season. The Terriers were scheduled to play North Dakota in the NCAA final March 29. The Fighting Sioux beat Colorado College 62 in the other semifinal.Morrison&rsquo;s next challenge is to crack the lineup of the New Jersey Devils, who drafted him in the second round in 1993. He was rated the No. 2 prospect on New Jersey&rsquo;s THN Future Watch list.Morrison said he will not join the Devils&rsquo; American League affiliate-Albany River Rats-because it would conflict with his graduation. But if the Devils themselves came calling, Morrison would take the plunge.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01758/6504294-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="464" height="661"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brendan Morrison</figcaption></div>New Jersey GM Lou Lamoriello didn&rsquo;t want to comment on specifics because Morrison hasn&rsquo;t yet signed a contract. But he did rave about the skilled 21-year-old.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a skilled center who makes people around him better,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;He has great perception of the ice and hockey sense. He&rsquo;s also a physically strong hockey player.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s ironic considering when Michigan recruited Morrison as a 17-year-old, coach Red Berenson questioned whether Morrison&rsquo;s physique would be able to stand up to the rigors of college hockey.But as a freshman Morrison collected 20 goals and 48 points in 38 games to win tne central Collegiate Hockey Association&rsquo;s rookie of the year award. And now after he has filled out to 5-foot-ll and 182 pounds, Morrison leaves Michigan as its all-time leader in points (284) and assists (182). This season he was the nation&rsquo;s leading scorer with 31 goals and 88 points in 43 games.Morrison was battered physically for the first time in his collegiate career in the loss to BU. In one first-period shift he was checked three times and wasn&rsquo;t the same afterwards, although he scored the Wolverines&rsquo; second goal with the goalie out and 57 seconds remaining.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m extremely sad,&rdquo; Morrison said after losing. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a good chance I&rsquo;ll never be on a team with (any of these players) again. I&rsquo;ll never wear that uniform again and it&rsquo;s going to be pretty tough to take it off.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0033-01

Michigan’s Morrison takes Hobey Award

Sometimes, good coaching is overlooked, but that&rsquo;s not the case with Stan Moore of Union College and Don Cahoon of Princeton.Moore and Cahoon are two of eight finalists for the 1997 Spencer Penrose Award, given annually by the American Hockey Coaches&rsquo; Association to the Division I coach of the year.Moore, who was named the coach of the year in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, led the Skating Dutchmen to a school-record 18 victories and fifth-place finish.Cahoon had the Tigers battling for the ECAC lead until a late-season skid dropped Princeton to sixth place. Overall, the Titters were 16-9-4.<h2>ECAC</h2>In his sixth year at Princeton, Cahoon had the luxury of knowing his players. Moore, who wasn&rsquo;t hired at Union until June, 1996, had very little knowledge of the team he was inheriting.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s an envelope on my desk from (assistant coach) Kevin Sneddon,&rdquo; Moore said. &ldquo;It says, &lsquo;Union College hockey pre-season evaluation.&rsquo; It&rsquo;s still sealed. I never opened it.&rdquo;Instead, Moore judged the Dutchmen by what he saw on the ice. Taking those elements, and instituting a tight checking scheme, Moore turned Union into the best defensive team in the league, allowing just 2.32 goals per game.HOME SEND-OFF: Three Vermont seniors will be able to finish their college careers on home ice.Catamounts&rsquo; goalie Tim Thomas and forwards Martin St Louis and Eric Perrin will be taking part in the second annual Eastern College Hockey All-Star Game, to be played at Vermont&rsquo;s Gutterson Field House April 6.Thomas ended his career with the ECAC record for career saves (3,950). St. Louis ended his career with 267 points, just four shy of the ECAC record of 271, held by Cornell&rsquo;s Lance Nethery, who played in the late 1970s.The competing teams will be made up of seniors from the ECAC against a team of players from Hockey East. The rosters will also include senior all-stars from Division II and III programs in New York, Pennsylvania and New England.-Tom Boggle<h2>CCHA</h2>They say lightning doesn&rsquo;t strike the same place twice, but how about three times?That&rsquo;s virtually what happened in Michigan&rsquo;s 7-4 win over Minnesota in the West Regionals March 23 at Grand Rapids, Mich.After Brendan Morrison scored 33 seconds into the game, the Wolverines got two goals in 16 seconds at the end of the first period to make it 3-0. They came out smoking again in the second period, scoring another pair in the first minute to go up 5-0.TO BE CONTINUED: Miami didn&rsquo;t lose its fighting spirit after losing in the West Regionals.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be back,&rdquo; said Redskins&rsquo; coach Mark Mazzoleni after his team lost 4-2 to Cornell in Grand Rapids March 22. &ldquo;I look at us a lot like (defending national champion) Michigan was a few years ago. I&rsquo;m not saying we&rsquo;ll rise to the level of Michigan, but we&rsquo;ll be back.&rdquo;Part of the reason for the optimism is the fact the strongest part of Miami&rsquo;s lineup will be back next season. Eleven Redskins were freshmen or sophomores this season.A key loss is sophomore center Randy Robitaille, who signed a free agent contract with the Boston Bruins March 25. Robitaille was a Hobey Baker finalist and finished third in Central Collegiate Hockey Association scoring with 22 goals and 43 points in 27 games. Just 47 seconds into his first shift with Boston, Robitaille was checked into the boards and separated his shoulder, ending his season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re building something here, but Rome wasn&rsquo;t built in a day,&rdquo; said Mazzoleni, whose team went 27-12-1 after going 10-22-4 in 1995-96. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going out a loser.&rdquo;RED HOT LINE: Michigan&rsquo;s top line of senior center Brendan Morrison, senior left winger Jason Botterill and junior right winger Bill Muckalt combined for 19 goals and 24 assists in the Wolverines&rsquo; five playoff games.Botterill had nine goals and 16 points, Muckalt five goals and 14 points and Morrison five goals and 13 points. Morrison reached the 100-goal plateau for his career March 23.-Paul Harris &#9632;

Coaches Moore, Cahoon uo for orestiqious award

Merrimack College athletic director Bob DeGregorio is looking forward to warm weather for another reason.The former Hockey East commissioner knows the change in season means wealthy Merrimack College alumni will be returning from southern climes. He&rsquo;s counting on their support in the fund drive for a new $ 12-$ 13 million arena.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have the budget to send me down there,&rdquo; DeGregorio said.<h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>Merrimack&rsquo;s Volpe Complex Arena, which seats 3,617, is outdated and the college has a campaign to build several new facilities including a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena. It is part of the school&rsquo;s 50th anniversary celebration.&ldquo;We need to raise $5-$6 million to get the ball rolling,&rdquo; said DeGregorio who estimates it would take up to 18 months to build the new facility once the funds are in place.MAGIC MARK: When Boston University center Chris Drury scored in overtime to beat Denver 4-3 in the East Regionals, the Terriers became the first school to qualify for the NCAA finals 20 times in the 50-year history of Division I hockey.Michigan, Boston&rsquo;s semifinal opponent March 27, is second with 19 visits and Minnesota is third with 16 trips.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think we would go this far,&rdquo; said coach Jack Parker, who has guided the Terriers to the Final Four 15 times in his 24 seasons.SOLID SEASON: Tim Whitehead was pleased with his maiden voyage as coach of Massachusetts-Lowell.The River Hawks, picked to finish last in the coaches&rsquo; pre-season poll, wound up seventh and upset Providence in the quarterfinal before losing to eventual league champ Boston University 3-2 in the semifinal. They ended up 15-21-2 overall. &ldquo;We had a great group of seniors and that made my job easier,&rdquo; said Whitehead.The future looks bright as the River Hawks lose only four players to graduation and will play in the brand new Tsongas Arena next fall They will share the building with the expansion Lowell Lock Monsters of the American League.-Larry Mahoney<h2>WCHA</h2>North Dakota&rsquo;s reward for a fantastic season was a fairly easy road to the Final Four. Colorado College earned a meeting with the Fighting Sioux by surviving a much rockier path.North Dakota, co-champions of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season and WCHA playoff champs, got a first-round NCAA bye and then breezed past Cornell 6-2 in the West Regional at Grand Rapids, Mich.The Fighting Sioux outshot the Big Red 3822 and freshman Brad DeFauw had a goal and an assist.Colorado College, which tied for fourth in the WCHA, made a surprise return trip to the Final Four-it was runner-up in 1996-with East Regional wins over New Hampshire and Clarkson. The Tigers got the winner from Cam Kryway with five minutes remaining against New Hampshire, then took a 5-1 lead against Clarkson and held on.UPSET GOPHERS: Minnesota&rsquo;s strong post-season run ended on a bitter note. The Gophers felt they got a lousy draw and they may have a point.Minnesota was fourth in the final power rankings-a formula which takes into account more than win-loss-tie records to rank teams-yet got seeded fourth in the West Regional. The Gophers ended up beating Michigan State before losing to tournament favorite Michigan in the second round.The NCAA tournament committee didn&rsquo;t want two teams from the same conference playing in the first round, so it seeded Miami-Ohio-a team Minnesota beat during the season-higher so it would not face Michigan State, another CCHA team.Minnesota coach Doug Woog felt two other WCHA teams-Denver and Colorado College-got better draws in the tournament by being sent to the East Regional.&ldquo;We shouldn&rsquo;t have been seeded behind Miami and we would have been willing to go out east,&rdquo; Woog said. &ldquo;You play all season and get a good power rating and it turns out it&rsquo;s not worth much.&rdquo;-Chris Miller &#9632;

Arena drive expected to high gear in spring

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01805/6504394-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="506" height="584"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01762/6504387-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="8768" height="5184"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01684/6504380-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="8800" height="5256"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01750/6504373-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="3462" height="4061"></div> &#9632;

f0035-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01716/6504425-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0039-01

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02485/6504456-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0039-02

NHL SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01421/6504487-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0040-01

NHL GAME SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0042-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01366/6504518-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0042-01

NHL ROSTERS AND TRANSACTIONS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0044-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01286/6504580-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg"></div>Team affiliations are listed in parentheses under names(SO) denotes game decided by shootout &#9632;

f0044-01

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By Larry Starks</div>Entering the playoffs, there was a 62-point difference between the Oklahoma City Blazers and Wichita Thunder.You&rsquo;d think that might be enough to temper the enthusiasm of Thunder coach Bryan Wells. But Wells insisted the Thunder had the tools to take on the Blazers. He was right.Led by former Memphis River-Kings&rsquo; goalie Hugo Hamelin, acquired March 1 on waivers, and veteran Jim McGeough. who was retired and living in Oklahoma City, the Thunder pulled off the biggest playoff upset in CHL history, stunning the heavily favored and defending champion Blazers 3-1 in the best-of-five series.The Thunder, which edged the San Antonio Iguanas for the final playofi spot, lost the first game in Oklahoma City and then stormed back with three straight wins, including a 6-5 sudden death overtime win in Game 4.&ldquo;I can tell you one thing I feel great about,&rdquo; Wells said. &ldquo;There won&rsquo;t be any back-to-back championship in Oklahoma City. Now that&rsquo;s great. These guys don&rsquo;t compare to those great teams we had.&rdquo;Wells was part of the Thunder team that dominated the CHL for two seasons, winning back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995.NOTEBOOK: In a series that was rife with brawls and charges of skate tampering and racism, Macon Whoopee coach John Paris brought a bodyguard for the two games in Memphis. Two RiverKings&rsquo; players charged their skates were sabotaged before the series opener in Macon. The RiverKing players were doused with beer and other debris when they left the ice following a 3-2 victory in Game 2. The best-of-five series was tied 2-2&hellip;Tulsa Oilers&rsquo; left winger Doug Lawrence was suspended for two games of the Oilers&rsquo; first-round series against the Fort Worth Fire after going into the stands in Tulsa to confront a fan. &#9632;

Thunder pulls off stunning win over Oklahoma City

<div class="byline">By Brendan Savage</div>The Colonial League went outside the hockey world and hired St. Louis-based businessman Richard Brosal as its new commissioner.Brosal, 37, has no pro sports experience. but the league&rsquo;s board of governors likes his marketing background. Most recently he has been serving as vice-president of President Casinos Inc. One of the casinos is in Moline, Ill., home of the league&rsquo;s strongest franchise, the Quad City Mallards.Brosal will focus on marketing the league before setting his sights on expansion of the 10-team circuit.&ldquo;The quality and integrity of the league is my first priority,&rdquo; he said.Muskegon Fury owner Tony Lisman had been serving as interim commissioner after the board of governors did not pick up the option year on Mike Forbes&rsquo; contract last year. To accommodate Brosal, the league office will move from Fraser, Mich., to the St. Louis area.STAR MEN: Brantford Smoke center Paul Polillo earned his fourth straight berth on the first all-star team. Defenseman Barry McKinlay of the Thunder Bay Senators and left winger Kevin Kerr and defenseman Brett MacDonald of the Flint Generals were selected for the third time each. Right winger Glenn Stewart and goalie Sergei Zvyagin of Quad City round out the first team. Saginaw Lumber Kings&rsquo; Mark Green wasn&rsquo;t named to the first or second team despite his league-record 76 goals entering the final week. A minus-56 ranking probably contributed to his not being selected. &#9632;

Marketing guru gets No. 1 job

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02181/6504690-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="314" height="437"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vicki Sunchara is back with the Canadian national team after missing two World Championship events.</figcaption></div>During December in a crowded dressing room in St-Jean, Que., Shannon Miller stood among her players and said, &ldquo;Look around you, you&rsquo;re looking at the 1997 Canadian national women&rsquo;s team.&rdquo;Vicki Sunchara was there. On either side of her were childhood friends from Scarborough, Ont.. Laura Schuler and Karen Nystrom. When the moment sunk in, Sunchara began to shake and tears welled up in her eyes.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t believe it,&rdquo; Sunchara said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m back. I&rsquo;m back. I&rsquo;m playing in the World Championships.&rdquo;Of the 20 players representing Canada in the Women&rsquo;s World Championship in Kitchener, few will relish the experience as much as Sunchara. Seven years ago, she had it all. Then she watched it slip away and only when she finally let go of the dream of playing hockey for Canada did it come back to her.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01259/6504697-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="106" height="73"></div>In 1990, when Sunchara played in the first World Women&rsquo;s Championship in Ottawa she remembers thinking she&rsquo;d probably play in about 10 more of them. After all, she was 19 years old and she was The Next One, the one who would usher in a star era for women&rsquo;s hockey and be the brightest and best of the bunch.The Hockey News put her on the cover in 1989 and labeled her the best player in U.S. college women&rsquo;s hockey. Those involved in the game expected her to take the torch from the legendary Angela James, the most dominant player in the history of the game.None of that materialized and now the 26-year-old Sunchara is a hardworking third-liner on a dominant Canadian team out to win its fourth straight world title. Those who follow women&rsquo;s hockey see a better player now than seven years ago, but being that good in today&rsquo;s game simply makes Sunchara a really good player-not a great one.&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re asking me if she&rsquo;s going to be phenomenal, one of our best offensive players, I&rsquo;d have to say no,&rdquo; said Miller, head coach of Canada&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s team. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d have to say she&rsquo;s middle of the pack. She&rsquo;s average.&rdquo;Average is just fine for Sunchara these days.It sure beats the time in her life when injuries and a reckless lifestyle conspired to dove her perilously close to hockey oblivion. And it&rsquo;s a lot better than in 1992, when she wasn&rsquo;t good enough to make the team for the World Championship in Finland and in 1994 when she didn&rsquo;t even have the confidence to try out and joked that she was a member of Team Canadian, as in Molson Canadian.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>In her only year (1988-89) at Northeastern University in Boston, Sunchara was both brilliant and miserable &ldquo;I didn t tail, but 1 wasn t as iocussed on school as I should have been,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;All I was doing was playing hockey and partying.&rdquo;Although Sunchara dominated the league, the relationship between coach Don MacLeod and his star player was poor. Plus, she remembers regularly having to walk by prostitutes in her apartment lobby and decided she wasn&rsquo;t coming back after her flat was broken into and championship ring stolen. She left alter one year ana enrouea at me University of Toronto, where she played for one season before tearing the medial collateral ligament in her right knee at the end of the 1990-91 season. It was then that things began to unravel.&ldquo;I hated everything,&rdquo; Sunchara said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to go to school. I didn&rsquo;t want to play hockey. I guess I was just depressed.&rdquo;Sunchara went to the national team try outs in 1992 thinking she was good enough to make the team, but Team Canada officials were shocked at how little impact she had.&ldquo;It was clear that the commitment to the game wasn&rsquo;t there,&rdquo; said Rick Pol-utnik, who led Canada to gold in Finland. &ldquo;We wanted players who would be first to the puck, had great skating skills and could move the puck and be unselfish. Vicki wasn&rsquo;t any of those things.&rdquo;After the 1992 cut, Sunchara lost her confidence, put on about 30 pounds and went through some dark days. She refuses to go into details, but admits her life was out of control.&ldquo;A few months of my life were basically a waste,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I got down pretty deep because I wasn&rsquo;t playing hockey, I wasn&rsquo;t going to school and I was hanging out all night. I wasn&rsquo;t doing anything productive.&ldquo;I did things I knew weren&rsquo;t right. I did things people tell you not to do and I learned for myself what&rsquo;s right and what&rsquo;s wrong. It was a growing experience. Not a very good one.&rdquo;In 1995-96, she abandoned any hope of making the national team, but joined the Newtonbrook Panthers in suburban Toronto.She was named MVP of the Central Ontario Women&rsquo;s League and picked up by the Toronto Aeros for the national championship tournament. It was during that season Miller spotted Sunchara while scouting another player and chose her for the Three Nations Cup in September.Sunchara finished third in scoring this season with 42 goals and 70 points in 29 games, was picked up by the Aeros again for the national championships and has worked her way back into the national program. She receives $435 a month as a national carded athlete.Now she&rsquo;s a lab technician at a soft drink company, working 40 hours a week and pursuing an Olympic dream. She talks of getting into coaching and is a part-time instructor at, get this, The Harvard of Hockey Schools. A solid showing at the World Championship will go a long way toward a spot on the Canadian team at the 1998 Winter Olympics.From Nowheresville to Nagano.Although she doesn&rsquo;t speak Japanese, Sunchara&rsquo;s grandparents on her father&rsquo;s side were bom in Japan and emigrated to Canada. She has relatives about 50 miles from Nagano and would love to have the chance to see them. But Sunchara, more than anyone else, has learned to enjoy the present, knowing that nobody&rsquo;s spot on the national team is guaranteed.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m as happy as I can be,&rdquo; Sunchara said. &ldquo;Nothing could be better.&rdquo; &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

April 11, 1997

Kings now playing for jobs

SCOREBOARD

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Devil forwards overlooked for Selke consideration