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June 27, 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.
Baie Comeau pins hopes on top draft pick Gautier
The Baie Comeau Drakkar hopes it has found another superstar who wears No. 66. The expansion team selected 15-year-old center Jonathan Gautier with the first overall pick at the Quebec League’s midget draft June 7 in Sherbrooke. The 6-foot, 178-pounder, who wears the same number Mario Lemieux made famous, had 22 goals and 53 points in 43 games with the Laval Regents this season. He was the top-rated prospect heading into the draft. Drakkar GM Marcel Labelle said there was no doubt Gautier was the best player available. “He has character and he is a leader,” the GM said. “He’s an impact player.” Gautier possesses strong leadership skills, which should come in handy with an expansion team. He’s considered a future captain. ‘ “I’m very proud, very, very proud,” Gautier said. “Especially among all the…
Larionov, Fetisov worthy of Stanley
I m sure many people were moved by seeing Steve Yzerman finally carry the Stanley Cup for the victory lap around Joe Louis Arena, but what was just as heartwarming was the players who took the second shift-Igor Larionov and Slava Fetisov. Few North Americans can truly comprehend what these players mean to hockey. The hoisting of the Cup for them brought justice to an often unjust hockey world. Renato Johnsson, Geneva, Switz. Slava a shoo-in Hockey has more players in its Hall of Fame than any other sport. Many people would argue it has too many. Perhaps fewer players should be honored in the future, but the next Russian to be inducted should be Slava Fetisov. He was simply the best defenseman in the world in the 1980s. The higher the intensity of the game, the…
Firing line working overtime this year
It began when the Los Angeles Kings quietly replaced GM Sam McMaster with long-time employee Dave Taylor. It continued when the St. Louis Blues launched a search for a new GM to replace the itinerant professor, Ron Caron. It turned into a massive blood-letting when the Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim all decided to dump their coaches in a two-week span and then the Toronto Maple Leafs, seizing the moment, dismissed their GM, Cliff Fletcher. You remember Fletcher? He’s the man who brought the Leafs short-term success soon after taking over the moribund franchise, which is more than it ever had in the decade before his appointment. But the carnage wasn’t limited to the NHL’s Wild West. The rising tide swept away GMs in Washington and Buffalo…
McSwede delivers big-time
DETROIT-The secret behind the Stanley Cup-winning goal was shared behind the Detroit Red Wings’ bench and in the stands of Joe Louis Arena. Moments after Darren McCarty sealed the Philadelphia Flyers’ 1997 fate with a spectacular goal, he turned to Red Wings’ assistant coach Barry Smith and laughed, “It pays to send me to Sweden.” Meanwhile, Red Wings’ European scout Hakan Andersson and Swedish hockey consultant Tomas Storm, separated by nine rows of seats, searched for one anothei among a sea of faces in the stands. “We looked at each other and laughed,” Anderssoi said. Then Storm made a stick handling gesture with his hands. The two exchanges neatly capture the real story behind McCarty’s brilliant inside-out deception of Flyers’ defenseman Janne Niinimaa and nifty maneuvering past goalie Ron Hex-tall to give Detroit…
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