Search for your favorite player or team
© The Hockey News. All rights reserved. Any and all material on this website cannot be used, reproduced, or distributed without prior written permission from Roustan Media Ltd. For more information, please see our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
May 2, 1997
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
How to see playoffs and not risk marriage
Let’s be clear on this. The playoffs are a fleeting thing when compared to the intimacy and enduring joy of marriage, the love and attention of children or in those rare cases, both. A sporting event should not, I dare say, come at the expense of the relationships that sustain us. The problem is simple then. How to watch every possible minute of the playoffs without wrecking your life. I know, I know, I just moralized on the importance of family. I meant it, honest. But I also mean this. You deserve to watch the playoffs. It is your right. It has been a long, dark winter. If your family has thrived, it has largely been on your shoulders. For every consoling word after your spouse has a bad day, for every…
Flames’ fountain of youth fails to yield invitation to playoffs
The day after the season ended, Calgary Flames’ coach Pierre Page declined to make an immediate assessment of his team. “If you have all the answers right away, it looks kind of funny,” Page said. “Why didn’t you have them before? It’s the same as in football. Anybody can be a Monday morning quarterback. The trick is to coach on Sunday.” The Flames finished the 1996-97 season by registering a pair of dubious records. Their 41 losses is a franchise high and their 73 points is the fewest they’ve earned in their 17 seasons in Calgary. Underachievers Right winger Theo Fleury had a 29-point drop from a season ago, finishing with 67 points in 81 games. It was only the second time in the past seven years he has failed to score more…
DOMINANT HASEK
It’s not like Dominik Hasek doesn’t know of Jacques Plante, but the Buffalo Sabres’ star netminder has a confession. “To be honest, I never heard of him until after I came to the NHL,” Hasek said. “I know now he won many Stanley Cups with Montreal and was the first goalie to wear a mask.” He shouldn’t feel bad. To be honest, not many in pro hockey had heard of Hasek until well after he arrived on the NHL scene in 1990. That’s no longer an issue. Now, the 32-year-old Czech has established himself not only as the No. 1 goalie in the game today, but one of its pre-eminent performers. Period. The first tangible evidence of that is Hasek being named 1996-97 Player of the Year by The Hockey News. In this,…
Coach of year Gilbert stumbled on coachina
Midway through last summer, Greg Gilbert was content to get on with his life after hockey. His ailing back not responding to treatment, Gilbert was forced to retire after 15 NHL years. “I was trying to deal with my body telling me I couldn’t play anymore,” the 35-year-old Gilbert said. “I wanted to get some normalcy to my life.” But then Mike Keenan called and wondered if Gilbert wanted to coach the St. Louis Blues’ American League affiliate, the Worcester IceCats. Keenan is no longer employed as the Blues’ coach-GM, but he definitely knew coaching potential. Gilbert guided the IceCats to a franchise-record 43-win, 100-point season and the New England Division championship with a roster of undistinguished players. For that he was voted winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL coach of…
Made possible with the support of
