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.

July 1, 1997

The Hockey News July, 1997

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>NHL teams might want to hire Maria Cesario as a cook for their junior prospects, because whatever it is she feeds them seems to work.Cesario and her husband are billets for the Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs, providing room and board for players during the Quebec League season.The two players staying with the Cesarios are right winger Jean-Pierre Dumont and goalie Roberto Luongo, the first QMJHL players selected at the last two NHL entry drafts. Dumont has lived with the Cesarios for three seasons, Luongo two years.Luongo was taken fourth overall by the New York Islanders at this year&rsquo;s draft (the highest a goalie has ever been selected) while Dumont was the third overall pick by the Islanders in 1996.&ldquo;I told (Islanders&rsquo; GM) Mike Mil bury I need a sign for my house that says &lsquo;Home to the New York J Islanders,&rsquo;&rdquo; Cesario said with a laugh after the June 21 draft in Pittsburgh, which she attended&rsquo; along with Luongo&rsquo;s parents and 11 other family members and friends. Cesario was also in attendance when Dumont was drafted.So, what does she feed these guys?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nothing special,&rdquo; said Cesario, who has two grown children of her own. &ldquo;They eat whatever we&rsquo;re eating. They finish off their plates. They&rsquo;re not difficult.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re like my two adopted boys. We communicate a lot and they have a family environment. That&rsquo;s the most important thing.&rdquo;Luongo was the top-rated goalie heading into the draft after posting a 32-22-2 record and 3.12 goals-against average this past season.&ldquo;There were rumors I would go fourth, but I wasn&rsquo;t sure,&rdquo; Luongo said. &ldquo;When my name was called I was pleasantly surprised.&rdquo;GOALTENDING FACTORY: The QMJHL continues to produce the most goaltenders when it comes to the NHL entry draft.Luongo and Jean-Francois Damphousse of the Moncton Wildcats (24th overall by the New Jersey Devils) became the sixth and seventh QMJHL goalies to be selected in the first round in the past five years. That&rsquo;s one more than all other development sources combined. The other QMJHL first rounders were Jocelyn Thibault (1993), Eric Fichaud (1994), and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Martin Biron and Marc Denis (1995).The first non-goalie from the QMJHL to be selected was Sherbrooke Faucons&rsquo; defenseman Jean-Francois Fortin, who went to the Washington Capitals with the 35th pick.In total, there were only 19 QMJHL players drafted, compared with 63 from the Western League and 52 from the Ontario League. It was the lowest total for the QMJHL since 1990, when only 14 players were picked.HOME SWEET HOME: For the first time in eight years, Joe Canale will spend a winter at home..The onlv man to coach in all three junior leagues signed a two-year deal to coach his hometown Laval Titan.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02798/8638926-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="792" height="394"></div>Canale, 47, spent this past season with the OHL&rsquo;S Sarnia Sting. He has also coached the WHL&rsquo;s Medicine Hat Tigers as well as the Beauport Harfangs and Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the QMJHL and led Canada to a gold medal at the 1994 World Junior Championship.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to be back and coaching in the city that I live in and where I&rsquo;ve always kept my main address,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I enjoyed the cities I coached in and it was a profitable experience on and off the ice. But now it&rsquo;s nice to come back.&rdquo;CAPE BRETON BOUND: The Cape Breton Predateurs signed Dany Dube to a two-year deal as coach-GM of the team that transferred from Granby. Dube takes over for Michel Therrien, who joined the Fredericton Canadiens of the American League.Dube, 35, coached France&rsquo;s national team this past season and was an assistant with Canada&rsquo;s silver-medal team at the 1994 Olympics. He coached the QMJHL&rsquo;s Trois-Rivieres Draveurs in 1988-89 and 1989-90 and has also coached the University of Trois-Rivieres Patriotes. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Foreurs’ prize prospects profit from home cooking

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011084/8639019-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011236/8638540-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="228" height="224"></div>Tyler Rennette is not the next Wayne Gretzky, but if he&rsquo;s able to one day play in the NHL, the St. Louis Blues will be happy and duly compensated.The Blues picked Rennette 40th overall at the NHL entry draft in Pittsburgh, the pick the NHL gave them as compensation for losing Gretzky as a free agent.Although Gretzky was a Group III free agent with no compensation, the NHL owners and players recently agreed to an addendum to the collective bargaining agreement by which teams losing Group III free agents would be awarded a compensatory draft pick.Outgoing Blues&rsquo; GM Ron Caron described the pick as a bonus, considering the Blues knew nothing of it until a week before the draft. &ldquo;We had no plans for it,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s still not as good as the one we gave up.&rdquo;That would be the first round pick, the 15th pick overall former GM-coach Mike Keenan sent to L.A., along with three players and a fifth round pick, to essentially rent Gretzky. It also turned out to be the Blues&rsquo; highest pick. Before the ruling, they didn&rsquo;t have a selection before the fourth round.Rennette, a 6-foot-l, 175-pound center for North Bay in the Ontario League, had his fingers crossed when St. Louis picked 40th. He counts himself as a Blues&rsquo; fan.&ldquo;I was hoping they would take me,&rdquo; said the 18-year-old from Powassan, Ont., pop. 1,200.NOTEBOOK: In his last major event as Blues&rsquo; GM, Ron Caron swung two deals. He traded the 78th pick overall for two picks in the fourth round, Nos. 98 and 106. He also sent left winger Mike Peluso to the Rangers for future considerations, in other words as compensation for hiring Larry Pleau as GM&hellip;Although Caron described himself as &ldquo;emotionally disgusted&rdquo; after the Blues hired a new GM a year before Caron&rsquo;s contract expired, Caron, 67, said, &ldquo;I have a knack to recover very quickly. I had a great career.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Pleau, the Rangers&rsquo; vice-president and director of player personnel, completed his duties with the Rangers at the draft, a condition of the Rangers granting permission for the Blues to talk to him. &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Selection of Rennette completes Gretzky era

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>PITTSBURGH-For one of the 246 players picked in the 1997 entry draft, the proceedings were an Adam bomb.Oshawa Generals&rsquo; right winger Adam Colagiacomo slipped in the Central Scouting Bureau ratings from 13th at mid-term to 26th in the final ranking and his free fall didn&rsquo;t end until late afternoon draft day when the San Jose Sharks chose him 82nd overall. THN had ranked him 25th.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something you could never have prepared yourself for,&rdquo; said a dejected Colagiacomo, sitting in the stands ot the Pittsburgh Civic Arena just moments before his name was called. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m upset, but at the same time I feel like a first-rounder and I know I can play with all of these guys picked ahead of me. I&rsquo;m going to work hard to prove everybody wrong.&rdquo;&ldquo;You hope when you pick a kid in that situation that he has that attitude,&rdquo; said San Jose GM Dean Lombardi.The 6-foot-2, 206-pound Colagiacomo scored 28 goals and 66 points in 66 games as a 16-year-old rookie with the London Knights of the Ontario League two years ago and had 25 goals and 46 points in 49 games split between Lon don and Oshawa this past season. He separated his shoulder early in the season and was playing with the worst team in junior hockey in London before being traded to the Generals. The Generals were thought to be getting the better player, but the player for whom Colagiacomo was traded, left winger Jay Legault, was chosen 72nd overall by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.Noting Colagiacomo had slipped into the fourth round, the Sharks made a deal with the New York Rangers to move from 93rd to 82nd to get him.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious the kid has some ability,&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;He played with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau last summer (at the Pacific Cup under-18 tournament) and he looked great. It&rsquo;s tough on some kids to maintain their ranking. There&rsquo;s so much emphasis placed on the draft at 18, but the truth is it&rsquo;s supposed to be a beginning for them, not an ending.&rdquo;The Generals advanced to the Memorial Cup final, but Colagiacomo&rsquo;s role with the team diminished. He sustained a serious charley horse injury and lost his effectiveness.Still, Generals&rsquo; director of operations Wayne Daniels said Colagiacomo is a big part of his team&rsquo;s future.&ldquo;The Sharks got themselves one hell of a fourth round pick,&rdquo; Daniels said.The first round CSB prospect who fell the furthest was defenseman Didier Tremblay of the Halifax Mooseheads. He was ranked 20th by CSB, but was taken 86th by the St. Louis Blues. Defenseman Ryan Bonni of the Saskatoon Blades fell 23 spots from 11th by CSB to 34th overall. Defenseman Jean-Francois Fortin of the Sherbrooke Faucons fell from 13th to 35th.(See pg. 37 for round-by-round selections and pg. 38 for team-by-team selections.) &#9632;

Draft day big downer for Oshawa’s Colagiacomo

THN entry draft guru Bob McKenzie gave readers a remarkable inside track on what would unfold more than a month before the June 21 event.THN named the top 52 prospects-two full rounds-in the issue printed May 16. How did the THN Top 52 do? Nine of our first 10 prospects were chosen among the first 10. (Onlv Dan Cleary dropped out and landed at No. 13.)Twenty of our 26 first round prospects were chosen in the first round. All but one were picked in the first two rounds. Twelve were selected precisely where ranked or within two slots. In all. 41 of our prospects were chosen among the top 52. All were chosen by pick No. 91.Sometimes, you just can&rsquo;t help but blow your own horn.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0268/8637048-1-eng-US/c0002-022.jpg" title="C0002-02" width="147" height="199"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 147px">Bob McKenzie</figcaption></div> &#9632;</div>

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Prognosticator hits draft day home run

<h2>Dom dominates league awards</h2>1.Pure Dominance Buffalo&rsquo;s Dominik Hasek first goalie in 35 years to be named NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player.2. Top guns Bruins begin rebuilding process with No. 1 pick Joe Thornton and No. 8 selection Sergei Samsonov.3. Next stop: Hall of Fame? Chicago&rsquo;s super center Denis Savard waves goodbye after 17 seasons.4. It all starts in crease Roberto Luongo goes fourth to Islanders, highest ever goalie has been selected.5. Smooth sailing Solid organizational effort from above makes for clear sailing into 30-team NHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0359/8637086-1-eng-US/c0002-032.jpg" title="C0002-03" width="218" height="312"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ted Nolan</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0439/8637079-1-eng-US/c0002-042.jpg" title="C0002-04" width="219" height="312"><figcaption class="caption-body">V. Konstantinov</figcaption></div><h2>Sabres&rsquo; superb season marred</h2>1. A fine mess Buffalo&rsquo;s dream season ends on sour note with front-office chaos. Coach Ted Nolan rejects one-year offer.2. Huh? Detroit defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov second in Norris Trophy voting, but left off all-star team.3. NHL A, NHL B Emphasis on intraconference play in future will make it seem like there are two leagues.4. Yawn No big trades to spice up entry draft, all they did in Pittsburgh was pick prospects.5. Watered down The thought of 92 more players joining the NHL through expansion is nauseating. &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-055/8637117-1-eng-US/c0002-052.jpg" title="C0002-05" width="232" height="292"></div>From PR-conscious to PR-ickly in Olympic record time.One day, trading stories with reporters within view of ex-boss Jack Ferreira. And the next, trying to bully one of them for no particular reason-other than, presumably, the sport of it. Ron Wilson&rsquo;s quick and tart tongue was partially blamed for his departure from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and it shows no sign of slowing down. Wilson is expected to be named coach of the U.S. Olympic team-there seems no other legitimate candidate-but he had already turned from charming to chafing by the time a June 21 conversation touched on his candidacy for the prestigious post. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not even going to comment on that,&rdquo; Wilson said.American GM Lou Lamoriello loathes loudmouths on the subject, so it was no surprise Wilson shied away from the matter-other than to discuss his imposing international resume and get into a silly game of semantics over his Canadian birth roots and American hockey training. Lamoriello told THN he may name his team in September (rather than wait until the Dec. 1 deadline) and has no plans to name a coach before his team. Wilson is all but a lock. He led the U.S. to the World Cup and now proudly (and loudly) wears the championship ring. He has all the necessary qualities to lead a team into what will be the most heavily scrutinized hockey tournament in history. A former player and coach in Switzerland, where Wilson gained valuable experience on the international-size ice surface, he has represented the U.S. internationally eight times as a player and coach.He also has the endorsement of at least one prominent American hockey official who thinks Wilson is the only choice as coach. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the guy,&rdquo; said Mike Milbury. &ldquo;He has earned it. Even though he&rsquo;s a wiseass, SOB, he&rsquo;s a friend of mine and I think he deserves the job.&rdquo;Just who will get the Canadian job remained unclear as mid-July approached. That&rsquo;s when GM Bob Clarke says he will name a coach. Candidates include Scotty Bowman, Colin Campbell, Marc Crawford, Mike Keenan, Doug MacLean, and Tom Renney. Crawford was asked if a wild-eyed outburst during the Western Conference final could hurt his chances. He said: &ldquo;Why would it? That stuff happens all the time.&rdquo; Then he added with a laugh: &ldquo;Not all the time.&rdquo; Sense of humor and humility may top the list of assets an Olympic coach can take along (in addition to a overwhelming responsibility) for the trip to Nagano next February.Take note, Ron Wilson. &#9632;

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Olympic favorite Wilson remains true to his form

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-012017/8637155-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div>When the NHL formally approved on June 25 four expansion franchises-Nashville, Y Atlanta, Columbus and St. Paul-to be phased in by the year 2000. it wasn&rsquo;t just taking the league from 26 to 30 teams.It was putting the finishing touches on an unprecedented decade of erowth in the United States.Oh. say can you see&hellip;San Jose in 1991, Tampa Bay in 1992. Florida, Anaheim and Dallas in 1993, Colorado in 1995, Phoenix in 1996, Carolina in 1997, Nashville in 1998, Atlanta in 1999 and Columbus and St. Paul in 2000.It must be noted that some of that desired geographical growth-Minne-sota North Stars to Dallas. Quebec Nordiques to Colorado. Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix and Hartford Whalers to Carolina-came at the expense of existing franchises, but the bottom line is that only once (1994) in 10 years did the NHL not break into a new U.S. market.&ldquo;Our basic goal is to strengthen the league long term,&rdquo; NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told THN. &ldquo;We want to do everything possible to make sure this house we&rsquo;re building has the strongest possible foundation. We&rsquo;re delighted with the four new franchises that have been awarded. By the year 2000. we&rsquo;ll be in 21 U.S. markets, a big increase (from 12 in 1990).&rdquo;Expansion will also produce some welcome by-products, notably labor peace between the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association. Bettman and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow formally signed off on a four-year extension to the existing collective bargaining agreement. There will be no legal strikes/lockouts until the fall of 2004 at the earliest.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the right thing,&rdquo; Goodenow said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the right time and that&rsquo;s the message I had for the players in our meeting.We&rsquo;re all looking forward to bigger and better things for everyone involved in the sport.&rdquo;Expansion will also bring about realignment that will, by 2003 at the latest, put rivals Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens back in the same division.But the downside is that a talent pool already stretched thin will be further depleted. There are plenty of players available to NHL teams, but the number of stars on each team is likely to diminish. The league, including the expansion franchises, will be competitive, but a case could be made that the quality of competition will be lower.Bettman isn&rsquo;t convinced there will be a noticeable dilution of talent.&ldquo;We have a worldwide talent base,&rdquo; Bettman said, &ldquo;and we&rsquo;re reducing NHL rosters from 24 players to 23 as part of expansion, so there are 26 players for expansion who are already in the NHL. By adding four teams over four years, that&rsquo;s 92 jobs that have to be filled, minus 26. That&rsquo;s 66 new jobs and that shouldn&rsquo;t be an issue.&rdquo;Even if Bettman&rsquo;s math doesn&rsquo;t hold up, expansion was inevitable for the many business benefits that may be accrued. By expanding its footprint in tlie NHL, the league hopes, to make its U.S. television contracts more appealing and lucrative. Everyone, from sponsors to advertisers to licensees to owners and players, stand to gain. For example, the franchise fees of $320 million (U.S), $80 million per entry, will be divided up among the existing 26 teams.This expansion effort began in earnest a year ago. By last November. 11 applications representing nine markets were received, including three from Houston. By last February, the NHL pared to six finalists&mdash;the eventual four winners. Houston and Oklahoma City.&ldquo;As we said throughout the process,&rdquo; Bettman said, &ldquo;the most important considerations are going to be ownership, markets and arena. All four new franchises rate highly in all three.&rdquo;Houston failed in its bid because of an inability to commit to a new arena. Ownership was strong. so, too. was the market, with a population of four million and the 11th biggest TV market in the U.S.&ldquo;Even if Houston had buttoned down everything they could (on an arena),&rdquo; Bettman said, &ldquo;they would still be subject to a referendum next November. We as a league and myself in particular had enough of dealing with big (arena) problems.&rdquo;Houston remains a prime candidate for any further NHL expansion or could be a prime relocation possibility.Oklahoma City, meanwhile, had strong ownership and a commitment to an arena, but the market was simply considered too small.The league had hoped to phase in expansion franchises two at a time, but that plan died when Nashville insisted on entry in 1998. Atlanta couldn&rsquo;t go any earlier than 1999.Though Nashville is only the 33rd-ranked TV market in the U.S., it&rsquo;s seen as a viable operation because it&rsquo;s the country music capital of the world and there are chances for cross-promotion. The ownership group, Craig Leipold and the S.C. Johnson Co., is wellheeled. The arena has been ready to go since last December. The 1998 start date will allow the team to begin play a year earlier than the relocated National Football League franchise (from Houston).Atlanta is the centerpiece of this expansion movement. It epitomizes what the NHL was looking for-a major market (10th ranked TV) in an area lacking NHL presence. When the Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary in 1980, it left the league without representation in the U.S. south. With the addition of two teams in Florida, the league has had a huge void south of Washington and north of Tampa. Now, Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham (Carolina) and Nashville nicely fill it out.Atlanta&rsquo;s ownership (Turner Broadcasting, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Time-Wamer Inc.) is seen as outstanding in every regard. The Omni arena will be imploded July 26 and a new facility will go up in its place, ready for the NHL Thrashers, named by Ted Turner himself after the state bird of Georgia, for the fall of &rsquo;99.Meanwhile, Columbus and St. Paul effectively rose from dead to win.A May 6 referendum in Columbus killed hopes of a city/state-sponsored arena project, but national corporations headquartered there rallied quickly to put a largely-private venture together. Once that happened, Columbus was in because the NHL was greatly enamored of the ownership of Worthington Industries&rsquo; John H. McConnell and the dense population-seven million within a one hour&rsquo;s drive of Columbus-of central Ohio, where the NHL will be the only pro game in town.The only hiccup in Columbus is a potential lawsuit against McConnell Expansion into California helped from spurned owner Lamar Hunt, although Bettman is attempting to broker a settlement.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011978/8637148-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="1639" height="2533"><figcaption class="caption-body">Expansion into California helped extend the career of Bobby Baun.</figcaption></div>Like Columbus, St. Paul rallied when it committed to an arena to replace the decrepit Civic Center. A 14-man ownership group worth billions is headed by Robert Naegele Jr., who sold, am extend the career of Bobby Baun. ong other things, controlling interests of Rollerblades Inc., for $175 million.The Twin Cities&rsquo; prime attraction is its No. 14 ranking amongst U.S. TV markets. But like Atlanta, Minnesota is also a failed NHL site.&ldquo;We never left hockey,&rdquo; Naegele said. &ldquo;Hockey left us.&rdquo;Bettman said much has changed about the NHL. and Atlanta and Minnesota, since those cities lost their franchises.&ldquo;Ownership was a problem in Atlanta the first time around and that won&rsquo;t be a concern this time,&rdquo; Bettman said. &ldquo;There were a variety of problems in the Twin Cities in the past, but with a new arena and this ownership group, we don&rsquo;t anticipate any problems now.&rdquo;One major downside of the expansion experience was the total lack of interest from the U.S. Pacific northwest. Initially, it was thought computer magnate Paul Allen would want an NHL franchise for his Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Ore., but fears that it would impact negatively on his National Basketball Association operation stifled his interest. No one from Seattle stepped forward. That leaves a glaring omission for the NHL footprint nationally. No second franchise beyond Dallas is the other obvious void.The only unresolved issue is that of realignment and what the NHL has approved could yet stand. But a number of teams are unhappy with the configuration. The Dallas Stars don&rsquo;t like being put in the new Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Vancouver Canucks don&rsquo;t like being in the Northwest Division, preferring the Pacific. Toronto would like to accelerate its move to the Northeast with Montreal.&ldquo;Realignment is always our most emotional, difficult issue,&rdquo; Bettman said of the move to a new six-division, two-conference format that will see, upon their respective entries, Nashville and Minnesota join the West, Atlanta and Columbus join the East with Columbus eventually switching spots with Toronto.&ldquo;There are some teams that are still questioning whether there is a better way to do it,&rdquo; Bettman said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to convene a meeting just to discuss alignment and, if by chance, somebody can get something better than what we have already, we are not adverse to changing it.&rdquo;<h2>NASHVILLE</h2>First NHL Season: 1998-99Owner: Craig L. Leipold and S.C. Johnson familyArena: Nashville Arena (currently open) 20,840 seats, 64 luxury boxes, 1,800 club seatsPopulation: 2.1 millionT.V. Market: 33rd largest in U.S.Value to NHL: Cross-promotional opportunities in country music capitalCurrent Pro Team: Nighthawks (Central League)Potential GM: Ken Holland (Detroit asst. GM), David Poile (ex-Washington GM), Mike Smith (ex-Winnipeg GM)Potential Nickname: Leipold is thought to have one in mind. Public possibilities are Thunder, Tornadoes.<h2>ATLANTA</h2>First NHL Season: 1999-2000Owner: Turner Broadcasting System Arena: New arena scheduled to open fall, 1999, as shared facility (with National Basketball Association&rsquo;s Hawks) 20,000 seats, 100 luxury boxes, 2,000 club seatsPopulation: 4.3 millionT.V. Market: 10th largest in U.S.Value to NHL: Geographic, communications hub most significant market outside leagueCurrent Pro Team: NonePotential GM: Brian Burke (NHL vice-president), Cliff Fletcher (exToronto GM), David Poile. Harvey Schiller is now in place as presidentNickname: Thrashers<h2>MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL</h2>First NHL Season: 2000-01Owner: Robert O. Naegele, Jr.Arena: New facility scheduled to open fall, 2000. Modeled after Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim. 19,000 seats, 80 luxury boxes, 2,500 club seatsPopulation: 3.8 millionT.V. Market: 14th largest in U.S.Value to NHL: Traditional hockey market is major TV marketCurrent Pro Team: NonePotential GM: Brian Burke, Les Jackson (Dallas asst. GM), David McNab (Anaheim asst. GM), Lou Nanne (exMinnesota GM)Potential Nickname: Minnesota Lumberjacks (or Ice, Freeze, Blizzard) They will not be named the North Stars as in first NHL incarnation.<h2>COLUMBUS</h2>First NHL Season: 2000-01Owner: John H. McConnellArena: New facility scheduled to open fall, 2000. 18,500 seats, 80 luxury boxes, 2,000 club seatsPopulation: 1.95 millionT.V. Market: 34th largest in U.S.Value to NHL: Places pro franchise in one of most densely populated regions of U.S. without pro representationCurrent Pro Team: Chill (East Coast League)Potential GM: David Conte (New Jersey director of scouting), Russ Farwell (Seattle GM), Anders Hedberg (Toronto scout), Doug MacLean (Florida coach)Potential Nickname: Xplorers &#9632;

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FEATURES

NHL’s Brave New World Atlanta, Minny back

A compendium of significant events and developments (June 10-27).June 11: Darcy Regier hired as GM in Buffalo.June 12: Kevin Constantine hired as coach of Pittsburgh.June 13: Detroit players Vladimir Konstantinov, Slava Fetisov and masseur Sergei Mnat-sakanov injured in car crash near Detroit.Terry Murray fired as coach of Philadelphia.Hershey Bears win Calder Cup as American League champion.June 15: Detroit Vipers win Turner Cup as International League champion.June 18: Pierre Page resigns as coach of Calgary.June 19: Buffalo&rsquo;s Dominik Hasek becomes first goalie in 35 years to be named NHL&rsquo;s MVP. (See pg. SIR-10 for list of award winners.)June 21: Boston claims Joe Thornton first overall in NHL entry draft.June 25: NHL gives official approval of expansion to 30 teams by year 2000.June 26: Dallas GM Bob Gainey rejects offer to become Toronto GM.Ted Nolan rejects one-year contract extension to remain Buffalo coach.Chicago&rsquo;s Denis Savard announces retirement. &#9632;

Host of hirings, firings kick off busy summer months

<div class="byline">Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012191/8637234-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="461" height="585"></div>The last time the NHL expanded, it was organized and introduced by a chairman of the board who&rsquo;s now in prison (Bruce McNall) and a disgraced league president (Gil Stein) who was shamefully sent packing after trying to orchestrate his own induction into the Hall of Fame.There wasn&rsquo;t even any public talk of expansion on a Wednesday and by Thursday afternoon in West Palm Beach, two of America&rsquo;s wealthiest sports and entertainment moguls-Wayne Huizenga and Michael Eisner-suddenly materialized with NHL types scrambling for some news conference props, ultimately settling on Blockbuster Video tapes and a couple of plush Mickey and Minnie Mouse dolls, all of it dumped out of green garbage bags just before the expansion announcement was made official.Just 10 short months later, the Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were on the ice.This is recounted only to provide a stark contrast with how business, specifically expansion, is now handled in the buttoned-down world of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.One may take issue with the concept of expansion and whether 30 teams is just too many, but few, if any, should be able to argue with the process. Moving slowly and purposefully, Bettman never made any commitments or promises and never had to backtrack. When the NHL announced it was expanding by four to Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus and St. Paul, a detailed package (including timeline, realignment, scheduling, playoff format, expansion drafts and stocking requirements, entry drafts etc.) was unveiled all at once. That&rsquo;s buttoned-down.Now, Bettman and the NHL have to hope each of the four markets they&rsquo;ve chosen works out as well as Florida and Anaheim.As hasty and ill-conceived as the Panther-Duck expansion may have been, there&rsquo;s no denying it has worked out for the best. In playing out of the state-of-the-art Pond, have clearly usurped the Los Angeles Kings as the No. 1 team in southern California.Mind you, it wasn&rsquo;t without its travails. The Panthers&rsquo; initial lack of commitment to a new arena almost cost them the franchise.In the old NHL, expansion was take the money and run with little concern for long-term viability. It&rsquo;s amazing there weren&rsquo;t more casualties.Bettman&rsquo;s NHL resisted that urge this time around. Houston, for example, was a prime market with population and television households the NHL desperately wanted and needed. All that was missing was a long-term commitment to a new arena. Sorry, Houston, no go.So, Columbus gets the call instead and whatever shortcomings that market may have, it will have the benefit of trying to succeed in a new facility and under optimum conditions, which is more than Florida, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators can say about their many growing pains. &#9632;

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NHL got expansion right this time

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04507/8637272-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg"></div><h2>Yes, but what does it all mean?</h2>When Nashville enters in 1998, it becomes the 14th team in the West. Conferences go to three-division format. When Atlanta enters in 1999, it becomes the 14th team in the East. When Columbus and Minnesota enter in 2000, Columbus becomes the 15th team in the East and Minnesota the 15th team in the West. Columbus and Toronto will eventually trade conferences, in the fall of 2003 or when Columbus makes the playoffs, whichever happens first.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-05404/8637265-1-eng-US/f0006-052.jpg" title="f0006-05" width="1459" height="1141"></div> &#9632;

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How NHL transforms into six-division league

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021432/8637310-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Toronto Maple Leafs will join their Montreal rivals in 2003 at the latest.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03833/8637303-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="1002" height="1483"><figcaption class="caption-body">Will the Washington Capitals find southern comfort in the Southeast Division?</figcaption></div>Here are some of the pertinent details you need to know about the NHL&rsquo;s latest expansion.Where and when Nashville (1998-99); Atlanta (1999-2000); Columbus and Minnesota (2000-2001).Franchise fee $80 million (U.S.).Hiring deadline Each new franchise must hire a president, GM, coach and marketing director at least one year prior to its expansion draft.Labor situation The NHL-NHL Players&rsquo; Association collective bargaining agreement, with some minor modifications, has been extended to September, 2004, four years beyond its previous expiry date. As part of the agreement, NHL rosters will be reduced from 24 to 23 beginning in the 1999-2000 season.Realignment See accompanying chart.Regular-season schedule With a 30-team league, each club will have an 82-game schedule, including playing: four divisional rivals six times (three home, three away) each for a total of 24 games; 10 in-conference rivals four times (two home, two away) each for a total of 40 games; 15 opposing conference rivals once each, with home games to be rotated on an every other year basis for a total of 15 games. The remaining three games will be scheduled against natural rivals at the discretion of the commissioner, who will also determine who plays whom in the extra games of the 27- or 28-team NHL.Playoffs Even though the league is expanding by four, the number of teams qualifying for the playoffs remains unchanged at 16, eight from each conference. The three division winners will automatically be seeded Nos. 1,2 and 3 (based on regular season point totals) with the next five highest point totals in each conference qualifying as seeds No. 4 through No. 8. Once the seeds are determined, the playoff format will be the same as it is now.Expansion drafts There will be expansion drafts in the summer of 1998 (stocking Nashville) summer of 1999 (stocking Atlanta) and summer of 2000 (stocking Columbus and Minnesota). Each new club will select a total of 26 players, including at least three goaltenders, eight defensemen and 13 forwards. Each of the 26 clubs will be able to protect up to 14 skaters (five defensemen and nine forwards) and one goaltender or 10 skaters (three defensemen and seven forwards) and two goaltenders. The existing 26 clubs can lose only one player for each new club coming into the league. However, there are some exceptions. Each of 26 clubs may protect one extra skater in the 1998 expansion draft and any club that loses a goalie in the 1998 draft cannot lose another goalie in the 1999 draft. All first- and second-year professional players are exempt from expansion drafts, but each of the 26 clubs must expose at least two experienced forwards and one experienced defenseman. Any club protecting two goaltenders must expose one experienced goaltender.Entry draft In single expansion years, the new franchise will be designated the pre-lottery No. 2 pick. That means it could pick first overall if it wins the draft lottery, but will not draft any lower than No. 3 overall, depending on the outcome of the lottery. In the two-team expansion year, the two new franchises will be assigned pre-lottery positions of Nos. 2 and No. 3, permitting them an opportunity to win the lottery and draft first overall, but also ensuring they draft no lower than No. 3 or No. 4. Single expansion entries will have the second pick in each round after the first. Double expansion entries will alternate the second and third picks in each round after the first. &#9632;

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What you need to know about latest expansion

A fresh market in Phoenix and four new arenas contributed to a rise in NHL attendance. but it was the resurgence of small market franchises that boosted figures.The Edmonton Oilers. Ottawa Senators and Hartford Whalers all experienced double figure percentage increases that enabled the NHL to establish a single-season attendance record. According to figures compiled by THN, attendance increased 3.5 per cent over 1995-96.The Phoenix Coyotes, formerly the Winnipeg Jets, led the way with a 37.7 per cent increase. The Oilers had the purest rise, 30.1 per cent, over last season.The Montreal Canadians set an NHL record for one club, averaging 21,002 fans during their first full season in the Molson Centre. Attendance fell drastically in Los Angeles, St. Louis and Boston. Following are 1995-96 and 1996-97 figures derived from NHL summaries.<h2>NHL ATTENDANCE COMPARISON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011988/8637341-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="782" height="1648"></div> &#9632;

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Small markets key overall hike in attendance

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>There isn&rsquo;t much fame and fortune in being an NHL trainer, but the fraternity of hockey&rsquo;s anonymous men wants to change all that&hellip; at least the fame part.In 1996, the Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers&rsquo; Association (PHATS) had a Wall of Honor established adjacent to the training and equipment rooms at the Hall of Fame in Toronto. Although PHATS hasn&rsquo;t approached the Hall, it would like to have its members accorded the status the media gets in the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.Although media members aren&rsquo;t inducted into the Hall of Fame (Foster Hewitt is the lone exception), press members are honored with the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award and broadcasters receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award each year.There are those who think it&rsquo;s time trainers were recognized by the Hall. Though the average fan wouldn&rsquo;t know a single trainer by name, the stars love and depend on them.&ldquo;They are the forgotten members of the NHL society,&rdquo; said coach-tuned-broadcaster Harry Neale. &ldquo;Being a trainer in today&rsquo;s NHL is more than picking up jockstraps. Think of the financial implications of a player getting back from an injury two weeks early because of an equipment manager or trainer. It happens.&rdquo;The notion of establishing a pro hockey trainers&rsquo; association was born in 1969. A year later Ross &lsquo;Lefty&rsquo; Wilson of the Detroit Red Wings was installed as the first president of the PHATS. The association was recognized by the NHL in 1972 and trainers were given medical and dental benefits similar to those enjoyed by players. PHATS now represents athletic and massage therapists, while equipment men have their own group.PHATS is a fraternity of trainers from all levels of pro hockey as well as college and junior. The purpose of the association is to promote and share medical knowledge and arrange annual gatherings and symposiums.The group is currently headed by Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; veteran trainer Pete Demers.&rsquo;Lefty&rsquo; Wilson was the first member of PHATS to be honored with a plaque in the Wall of Honor. Also honored have been Dan&rsquo;Olie&rsquo; Olesevich, equipment manager of the Red Wings for 25 years, and Dan&rsquo;Grinder&rsquo; Canney, who served 12 years in the minors and 23 more in the NHL with the Boston Bruins.This year&rsquo;s honored member is Norm Mackie, formerly of the Kings, Atlanta Flames, St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers. In order to be selected, a trainer must have served 10 years as an NHL trainer or equipment manager and 20 years total. &#9632;

Trainers’ Wall of Honor credits ‘forgotten’ men

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>The NHL is expanding and so is the collective bargaining agreement between the players and owners.The new deal means there will be labor peace until Sept. 15, 2004.The rookie salary cap, set at $925,000 (U.S.) for players chosen in the 1997 entry draft, increases to $975,000 in 1998, $1,025 million in 1999 and $1,075 million in 2000, $1.13 million in 2001, $1,185 million in 2002, $1.24 million in 2003 and $1,295 million in 2004.The minimum salary of $125,000 in 1996-97 rises to $150,000 next season and $185,000 by 2004.The age at which players become unrestricted free agents (Group III) is 32 this summer, but drops to 31 July 1, 1998 and stays at 31 through the end of the agreement.ORR HONORED: Bobby Orr, Glen Satherand Team Canada in the 1987 Canada Cup were named winners of Canadian Hockey awards.Orr, the legendary Boston Bruins&rsquo; defenseman, won the Jean Beliveau Award for excellence as a player.Sather, who led Canada to two Canada Cups and a World Championship, was a winner in the leadership category and received the Father David Bauer Award. The 1987 Canada Cup team won in the team category.QUEST FOR NO. 6: Six members of the Canada&rsquo;s gold medal winning team at the 1997 World Junior Championship will be vying for an opportunity to win more gold.Forty-one players are invited to Canada&rsquo;s national junior team summer evaluation camp in North York, Ont., Aug. 8-14. (See pg. 40for roster.)The WJC is in Helsinki, Fin., Dec. 25 to Jan. 3.NAME CHANGE: The Colonial League has two new teams and a new name: The United League.Commissioner Richard Brosal announced the change June 25 as a way of improving the league&rsquo;s image.The changes began when the Utica Blizzard moved to Winston-Salem, N.C., and Binghamton, N.Y., joined the league as an expansion club. &#9632;

CBA agreement extended

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div>Denis Savard, the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; little man with the big heart who dazzled fans everywhere in his prime, retired June 26.Savard, 36, quit after 17 seasons and 1,338 points, which ranks him 17th on the all-time NHL scoring list.&ldquo;My mind tells me I can still play, but my legs tell me I can&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Savard, who spent 13 seasons with the Blackhawks. &ldquo;It was a big man&rsquo;s game when I started, but I was quick enough to avoid traffic and hits. I can&rsquo;t do that anymore.&rdquo;Savard played much bigger than his 5-foot-10, 175-pound frame.It&rsquo;s because of his size Savard wound up in Chicago. His hometown Montreal Canadiens bypassed Savard with the first pick in the 1980 draft in order to select Doug Wickenheiser.Wickenheiser went on to have an undistinguished NHL career, while Savard is likely Hall of Fame bound.&ldquo;I think Montreal made one of the big mistakes,&rdquo; said Hawks&rsquo; GM Bob Pulford. &ldquo;They took the bigger player. We took the hockey player.&rdquo;Savard&rsquo;s arrival in Chicago in 1980 couldn&rsquo;t have come at a better time for a franchise struggling to reconnect with Blackhawk fans.&ldquo;What Denis meant was a rebirth of the Blackhawks,&rdquo; Hawks owner Bill Wirtz said. &ldquo;The Wirtz family can never thank Denis enough.&rdquo;Savard&rsquo;s 1,096 points rank third in franchise history behind Stan Mikita (1,467) and Hull (1,153). Savard&rsquo;s No. 18 will be retired.Savard will stay with the Hawks as a developmental coach, working with prospects in the system and as a community relations ambassador. &#9632;

Super Denis was legend in Chicago

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>Where will the Eagle land? In San Jose? Philadelphia? Maybe Dallas?Free agent season opened July 1 with goaltender Ed Belfour among the most sought after players available. Other high-profile unrestricted free agents include New York Rangers&rsquo; captain Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; defenseman Luke Richardson and Calgary Flames&rsquo; center Dave Gagner as well as Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; defenseman Garry Galley, Colorado Avalanche right winger Mike Keane and Florida Panthers&rsquo; center Brian Skrudland. (See pg. 38for list of free agents.)&ldquo;My priority is to win a Stanley Cup,&rdquo; Belfour said. &ldquo;I want to play winning hockey and win a Cup. That has always been my main goal.&rdquo;The San Jose Sharks acquired Eddie the Eagle from the Chicago Blackhawks for three players and a conditional draft pick this past season knowing he would become an unrestricted free agent July 1 and they could lose him. It was a gamble.&ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t have goaltending in the NHL, you&rsquo;re toast,&rdquo; said new Sharks&rsquo; coach Darryl Sutter. &ldquo;The big thing about Eddie is the guys believe in him; they want him back. As long as he&rsquo;s healthy and sound, he&rsquo;s good.&rdquo;Belfour, who played in just 13 games (3-9-0, one shutout, 3.41 GA A, 88.4 save percentage) with the Sharks before a knee injury, will test the free agent market before making a decision. The 32-year-old earned $2.75 million this past season and is looking for about $4 million a year.&ldquo;That seems to be the going rate for elite goaltenders,&rdquo; Belfour said, &ldquo;and I consider myself among the elite.&rdquo;The average NHL salary is in the $1 million range.There were rumors the Philadelphia Flyers would make a pitch for Messier. The feeling is the Rangers&rsquo; captain would be the perfect mentor for Eric Lindros, who stumbled in the Cup final against the Detroit Red Wings.Messier has indicated his preference is to return to Manhattan and the Rangers seem to want him back, but for less than the $6 million they paid him this past season. The question is, could the Flyers afford Messier if they re-ne-gotiate Lindros&rsquo; contract and he becomes a $10 million a year player?One unrestricted free agent, Rick Tocchet, actually got the jump on the rest of the pack. He made it clear to the Washington Capitals he had no intention of returning. He was said to be close to signing with the Flyers.There are a number of big-name restricted free agents available-Paul Kariya of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Tony Amonte of Chicago, Joe Sakic of the Colorado, Mike Modano of the Dallas Stars, Alexander Mogilny of the Vancouver Canucks and Sergei Fedorov of the Detroit Red Wings among them-but few are expected to receive offers from another team because of compensation and the fact their current team can simply match any offers.If a team signs a restricted free agent, it would cost the team up to five first round draft picks depending on the value of the contract.If there is any movement, it would likely be in the form of a trade of restricted free agents. That happened last year when Jeremy Roenick and Alexei Zhamnov, both restricted free agents, were traded for one another. &#9632;

Free agents looking forward to lucrative summer

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012080/8637468-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">San Jose Sharks&rsquo; goaltender Ed Belfour is one of several high profile free agents testing the market this off-season. See pg. 38 for list.</figcaption></div>So what&rsquo;s an Edo Terglav?The Slovenian right winger is now a Baie Comeau Drakkar.The two parties became partners June 26 in the Canadian Hockey League 1997 import draft. Terglav, a 17-year-old left-shooting winger who spent the past three seasons playing bantam and midget in Quebec with the Lac St-Louis Lions, was made the first overall selection by the Quebec League expansion team.&ldquo;He is very&rsquo; fast and very skilled,&rdquo; said Drakkar executive vice-president Marius Fortier. &ldquo;He will be a solid second line player for us.&rdquo;The import draft was developed in 1993 to distribute the flow of Europeans into the three major junior leagues (QMJHL, Ontario League and Western League.) Each team is allowed two imports in the lineup. (See pg. 40 for import draft list.)Terglav wasn&rsquo;t the best player available, but he had committed to joining the Drakkar. The 6-foot, 190-pounder had 20 goals and 52 points in 44 midget games with Lac St-Louis this past season.Terglav will be the first Slovenian to play major junior hockey. He attended the famous Quebec peewee tournament in 1994 and made the move as a 14-year-old that fall. He lives in Beaconsfield with his legal guardian Viktor Sabo, a transplanted native of Slovenia.With the second pick, the WHL&rsquo;s Edmonton Ice selected a Czech Republic center who is a top candidate for the 1999 NHL entry draft.Patrick Stefan likely won&rsquo;t join the Ice until 1998-99, but if he does, the Northlands AgriCom will became a regular hangout for scouts.&ldquo;With Steve McCarthy and Stefan, we could have the 1-2 guys in the 1999 draft,&rdquo; said Ice assistant GM Bob Tory. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re hoping Stefan and his agent (Rich Winter) realize the WHL and major junior hockey is the best training ground for the NHL.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Slovenian top pick at CHL import draft

<div class="byline">-Larry Starks</div>The Ray and Monte show is over.In a move aimed at re-energizing the 10-team Central League, the founding Mirons are out and Ray Compton is in as president-CEO.Compton, the president-GM of the International League&rsquo;s Indianapolis Ice, replaced the father and son team of president Ray and commissioner Monte, who resigned lune 17 and sold their ownership stake.The Mirons brought the CHL out of dormancy in 1992. All six teams were owned and administered by the Mirons and fans in the central U.S. flocked to the lowest rung of minor pro hockey.The CHL has expanded to 10 teams, but faces competition from the Texas-based Western Pro League.Compton&rsquo;s rise to the top had been rumored since he joined the league as a marketing consultant last year. There was also speculation the Mirons were forced out by the league&rsquo;s majority owner Hom Chen, who also owns the Ice.&ldquo;It was time we got out,&rdquo; Ray Miron said. &#9632;

Mirons sell off Central

The NHL&rsquo;s announcement of its latest expansion plans was a dark day for hockey.This scheme will water down the talent pool, create more late starts for Western Conference teams based in the Eastern time zone and restrict inter-conference play.As a fan of the game, it upsets me that teams in the Eastern Conference will square off against those in the Western Conference just once a year. As a fan of the Detroit Red Wings, it upsets me that I will only see four of the other five Original Six teams once every other year.It is unfortunate to see the NHL go the route of the other professional leagues where greed wins out over tradition. Once again, it is the fan who loses out most.John Arends, Allen Park, Mich.<h2>Parting shot</h2>I couldn&rsquo;t believe Carolina Hurricanes&rsquo; owner Peter Karmanos when he said his team would be &ldquo;10-15 points better&rdquo; because of its move from Hartford (THN, June 27).Not only did Karmanos break the hearts of Hartford hockey fans by pulling his team out, then he bashed the city. Mr. Karmanos should concentrate on ticket sales and management of his team, not the past. He has already ruined that.Lawrence Norman, New York, N. Y.<h2>Congrats, Brendan</h2>So Brendan Shanahan finally got what he felt he deserved-his name on the Stanley Cup. Good for him. Bad for hockey.Shanahan epitomizes everything that is wrong with professional sports and what is now dragging down the great sport of hockey.As a fanatic Hartford Whalers&rsquo; follower, I can&rsquo;t describe how excited 1 was when the Whale picked up Shanahan. It finally had a legitimate star on the roster and looked poised to climb the ladder to respectability.But then came the trade demand. Where is is written that a player deserves a Stanley Cup? I always thought that was earned. What Shanahan did was opportunist. He simply jumped on the bandwagon of a dominant team on its way to a title.Jeff Anderson, Lancaster, Pa.<h2>Hey, we went 54</h2>Hey, Detroit Red Wing fans: Big whup!You think you suffered going 42 years between Cups? Heck, New York Ranger fans could do 42 years standing on their heads.Paul Ferris, Woodside, N. Y.<h2>No worry Wirtz</h2>Here&rsquo;s a question many Chicago Blackhawk fans have on their minds: Will Hawks&rsquo; owner Bill Wirtz feel the pressure of now having the team with the longest Stanley Cup drought?Answer: Doubtful.Brian Durham, Des Plaines, III.<h2>Habs need Dryden</h2>It&rsquo;s great to see Ken Dryden back in the NHL, but what is he doing with the Toronto Maple Leafs?Sure, the Leafs were in need of a president and Dryden&rsquo;s credentials are impeccable. What I don&rsquo;t understand is why he didn&rsquo;t go back to the Montreal Canadiens when they cleaned house nearly two years ago.Was he offered the job? If not, why? He would have handled the Patrick Roy situation better than the current Habs&rsquo; management did. As a former Habs&rsquo; goalie, Dryden understood the pressure of playing in Montreal and would never have let a coach alienate Roy the way Mario Tremblay did.Steve Dicker, Paradise, Nfld.<h2>Pray for them</h2>After reading about the recent car accident involving Slava Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov and Sergei Mnatsakanov of the Detroit Red Wings, I think I speak for hockey fans everywhere in sending my thoughts to them and their families.We hope and pray for a full recovery.Lou Quercia, Atlanta, Ga.<h2>Unnoticed gold</h2>With Canadian pride still hurting by the loss in the World Cup, the Canadian national team did its country proud by winning the gold medal at the World Championship.To win the title, it overcame the usual obstacles-the larger ice surface, a different style of hockey and inferior officiating. It also had to overcome a poor start-a 3-3 tie with Latvia and a 7-2 loss to Sweden.It was Canada&rsquo;s second gold medal in four years after going 33 years without one and what did they receive for their efforts? Page 77 of an 80 page THN.C&rsquo;mon, show some respect.Blenus Roach, Kitchener, Ont.Make your jeehngs known, raxus your comments at (416) 340-1641 or write to Utters, THN, 777 Bay St., 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;

Fans losers again in NHL expansion

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011894/8637578-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021298/8637571-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="799" height="1204"></div>Sometimes when you swing, you miss.Such as the time midway through the 1985-86 season when The Hockey News ran a headline on its cover inviting readers to him to page 14, where they could find the story of how &ldquo;Bruin Rookie Blooms Into NHL Scorer.&rdquo;Kraig Nienhuis&rsquo; bloom, needless to say, didn&rsquo;t last long.He was a 24-year-old free agent left winger signed by the Bruins out of RPI. where he averaged 10 goals a season. Brums&rsquo; GM Harry Sinden billed him at the time as the equivalent of a No. 1 draft choice. Halfway through the season he was a rookie of the year candidate with 11 goals and 14 points in 21 games.&ldquo;It just comes down to a lot more freedom on the ice in the pros, the ability to ad lib,&rdquo; Nienhuis explained of his scoring prowess. &ldquo;In college I was so restricted that it seemed like 1 was bound by chains all the time. In the pros, there have been no chains at all. It&rsquo;s just free-wheeling.&rdquo;Then, of course, Kraig Nienhuis became Kraig Nienhuis. He finished the year with 16 goals and 30 points. Two years later, unable to keep up the early torrid pace, he finished his NHL career. He played this past season with Eisbaren Berlin of the German League. &#9632;

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Rookie fades away

<div class="byline">By Chuck Carlton</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012052/8637609-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Concerned fans pay tribute to injured members of the Red Wings.</figcaption></div>One last time, the Detroit Red Wings were celebrating as a team. They would soon scatter for the summer, but the golf outing in Detroit was a final tribute to their Stanley Cup triumph.Then Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s cell phone buzzed with a message that abruptly ended the party, then and for the rest of the summer. A limousine carrying defensemen Slava Fetisov and Vladimir Konstantinov and team massage therapist Sergei Mnatsakanov had struck a tree in the suburb of Birmingham. The accident was bad, very bad.It was 9:15 p.m., a Friday the 13th the Red Wings will never be able to purge from their memories.&ldquo;We received the news about what happened and it was devastating,&rdquo; said defenseman Larry Murphy said. &ldquo;The Cup obviously is insignificant This is far more important.&rdquo;Less than a day after the accident, fans had turned the accident scene into a hockey shrine. Sweaters, pictures, homemade placards, red and white flowers, a get-well teddy bear and brooms-symbolizing the team&rsquo;s sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup final-rested against the tree which was hit by the limo. Eventually, police removed the articles after they began causing accidents.Konstantinov and Mnatsakanov remained patients at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, north of Detroit. Both suffered head injuries in the crash. Russian legend Fetisov, who received a bruised chest and lung and a deep knee gash, was released after five days in the hospital.The 30-year-old Konstantinov, the runner-up for the Norris Trophy this season, suffered what doctors call a diffuse axonal brain injury-which means an injury to several parts of the brain and millions of nerve fibers. While unconscious, he was responding to verbal commands to open his eyes and squeeze his hands and to music, including Queen&rsquo;s We Are The Champions, a song Konstantinov grew to love during the Cup celebration.He was being weaned from a ventilator, and &ldquo;pressure in the brain is no longer a concern,&rdquo; according to Beaumont neurosurgeon Dr. Karol Zakalik. Beyond those encouraging signs, Konstantinov faces a slow, incremental recovery likely to be measured in months. Attending physicians have been carefully avoided specifics.&ldquo;We would like Vladimir to return to be a father and a husband and be awake and functioning as a person,&rdquo; Zakalik said. &ldquo;I think anything about hockey playing would be just pure speculation.&rdquo;Mnatsakanov, 43, the former trainer for Moscow Dynamo, suffered a depressed skull fracture and spinal cord injuries which required the insertion of metal rods into his back. He was also responding to verbal commands from friends and family.For much of his six-year career, Konstantinov seemed invulnerable. He is the Vladinator, an open-ice hitting, sunglasses-wearing vision on the Joe Louis Arena highlight reel. To opponents, he is Bad Vlad, Vlad the Impaler or less flattering names. To teammates, he is Curious George, because of a likeness to the storybook chimp.&ldquo;We have better players and more talented players,&rdquo; senior vice-president Jimmy Devellano said during the playoffs, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s our most effective player.&rdquo;Konstantinov played like a hybrid, part Russian, part Canadian and part warrior. &ldquo;If he were from Moose Jaw, he&rsquo;d be up for the Norris every year,&rdquo; teammate Brendan Shanahan said.Mnatsakanov&rsquo;s injury is not unlike the skull fracture Bowman suffered in March, 1951 during a junior game. Bowman never played again.&ldquo;I was in a coma until noon the next day,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;It was a little more than 14 hours. I had a depressed fracture, something like Mnatsakanov. It was so long ago it&rsquo;s hard to remember.&rdquo;The Red Wings&rsquo; organization was stunned by the accident. Owner Mike Hitch was among the first at the hospital that night, talking about being with &ldquo;his boys.&rdquo; Gradually, most of them came by in twos and threes. The shock was evident the next day when captain Steve Yzerman, searching for words, spoke at the hospital.&ldquo;I know our entire organization and the entire city feels the same,&rdquo; Yzerman said while flanked by teammates, wives and organization members. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re devastated by the accident.&rdquo;Associate coach Barry Smith remembers the atmosphere at the hospital in those early days.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a hush, there&rsquo;s a lull,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like walking into a special room. You don&rsquo;t know how to respond.&rdquo;Players have talked about how family outings and barbecues and golf games seem a little empty now. &rsquo;They celebrated for six days, but they would give it all back if Vlady would open his eyes and if Sergei would wake up,&rdquo; said Shawn Burr of the San Jose Sharks, a former Red Wing who lives in the Detroit area.Part of the frustration has stemmed from the senselessness of the accident. The three were using one of five limousines at the golf course ordered from Gambino&rsquo;s Limousine Service.&ldquo;We encourage players now to use limousines at functions like that,&rdquo; Devellano said. &ldquo;They did everything they were supposed to.&rdquo;The players didn&rsquo;t count on having a driver, Richard Gnida, operating the limo with a revoked license. Since 1994, Gnida had been ticketed on four different occasions and his license had been suspended in January, 1996. He was not eligible for reinstatement until January 1998.Fetisov has told friends and hospital personnel that the driver fell asleep at the wheel, which would explain the absence of skid marks before the limousine jumped a median and hit a tree head-on. Birmingham police say Gnida will probably face charges after they complete their investigation into the accident.No one in the organization wants to talk about the hockey aspect. Still, the realization is clear: few expect Konstantinov to play again. Konstantinov and fellow defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom were the Red Wings&rsquo; irreplaceable players.What this means is that unrestricted free agent defenseman Shawn Chambers, already of interest to Detroit, becomes even more of a priority. And whichever of three soaltenders-Mike Vernon, Chris Osgood or Kevin Hodson-gets dealt before the waiver draft, will go for defensive help.Fans wishing to send cards or letters should send them in Konstantinov&rsquo;s or Mnatsakanov&rsquo;s name to: Joe Louis Arena. 600 Civic Center Dr Detroit, MI., 48226. They are not allowed to have flowers in their rooms, so in lieu of flowers, fans are encouraged to make donations to: Stanley Cup, c/o the Beaumont Foundation Closed Injury Fund, 380 N. Woodward Ave., Suite 100, Birmingham. Mi.. 48009. &#9632;

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Cup triumph loses its joy Limo driver Gnida will likely be charged

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011994/8637647-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="520" height="730"></div>The Philadelphia Flyers weren&rsquo;t smoked in the Stanley Cup final because they lacked championship goaltending or because their superstar captain had a sub-par series.The Flyers were swept by the Detroit Red Wings because their coach hurt the players&rsquo; feelings by saying they were in &ldquo;a choking situation&rdquo; and he didn&rsquo;t hold their hands on the way to practice every day. In short, Terry Murray wouldn&rsquo;t have won a popularity contest in his own dressing room, so he was canned. It&rsquo;s easier to hire a new coach than to tame a room full of spoiled players.That firing, plus the fact NHL coach of the year Ted Nolan was still looking for work at press time, are two indicators of the lunacy that has beset the NHL where coaching is concerned.Not to mention chatterbox Ron Wilson guiding the United States to gold in the first World Cup of Hockey and then taking a three-player team, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, into the playoffs for the first time ever only to be fired. At least he landed on his feet (with a healthy pay raise) in Washington.Neither Murray nor Nolan is perfect. And coaches must be accountable for their actions. Murray crossed that metaphorical line when he coughed up the choking notion (although I must say, his mentioning the supposedly unmentionable was blown way out of proportion) and Nolan must learn to trust those in a position to help his and the team&rsquo;s cause.That said, neither man should have lost his job-not based on the performances of their teams this season. It is further proof coaches remain among the most dispensable assets in the industry. Coaches&rsquo; salaries are going up, but not so high most teams would hesitate making a change behind the bench just because they would be on the hook for the fired coach&rsquo;s wage.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s getting to be you&rsquo;re more worried about length of your contract than you are how much money you&rsquo;ll make,&rdquo; said one NHL bench boss, with only a hint of sarcasm in his voice.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021562/8637640-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="688" height="1208"><figcaption class="caption-body">Terry Murray</figcaption></div>Since the 1996-97 season concluded, six coaches have been fired. Two others resigned and the Pittsburgh Penguins hired a replacement for Ed Johnston, who was canned in the middle of the year. And there is still the Red Wings, Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs, each of whom could have a new man behind the bench next season.Although Scotty Bowman is expected to return to the Wings-though not as the NHL&rsquo;s first $1 million-a-year coach, he insists-it wasn&rsquo;t a done deal as of late-June. Nolan hadn&rsquo;t re-signed with Buffalo and a new GM in Toronto might decide he wants his own man behind the bench, not Mike Murphy. So the possibility of a 46 per cent turnover among coaches (12 of 26) exists.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to coach in this league now, said one NHL coach who survived the summer purge. &ldquo;If you want to survive you had better I get along with your I star players-just ask Terry Murray. And I you had better not I get too big-bigger I than your GM-just I ask Ron Wilson.&rdquo;And it&rsquo;s tougher I still when the coach I doesn&rsquo;t get the backing of management.The Red Wings I were embarrassed in I the 1995 playoffs, losing the final in I four straight games to the New Jersey Devils. They didn&rsquo;t fire the coach. The following year they set an NHL record with 131 points, but lost in the conference championship. They didn&rsquo;t fire the coach.In each of those years there were rumblings the players didn&rsquo;t like and couldn&rsquo;t relate to Bowman. This past season the Red Wings made some significant roster changes, suffered a league-leading 37-point drop in the standings, but won the Cup with Bowman behind the bench and players singing his praises. Funny how winning makes everybody so lovey-dovey and makes little problems go away.&ldquo;Even if players don&rsquo;t like the coach, if they know he&rsquo;s in for the long haul and they can&rsquo;t get him fired, they&rsquo;ll do what he asks,&rdquo; said one coach.There is a lesson to be learned from this. Are you listening Bob Clarke and Darcy Regier? &#9632;

f0012-01

COLUMNISTS

Can’t tell coaches without a program

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chief</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011969/8637678-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wavne and Marv Thornton, left and second from right, react to son Joe&rsquo;s selection first overall in the 1997 entry draft while Alex, right, joins in the applause for his brother.</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH-If s a &ldquo;cinch&rdquo; Joe Thornton will play in the NHL next season.The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds&rsquo; center was the only player who received a perfect 10 for &ldquo;potential&rdquo; among players eligible for the 1997 NHL entry draft.Potential is defined as the likelihood of a player earning a place in the NHL and the Boston Bruins&rsquo; first overall pick was accorded &ldquo;cinch&rdquo; status in a confidential scouting report provided teams by the Central Scouting Bureau.&ldquo;Cinch&rdquo; means it&rsquo;s the unanimous opinion of CSB a player will make the NHL and, all things being equal, it will happen next season. Nobody expects differently of Thornton. The last-place Bruins say he will be in their lineup and Thornton wants the same.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been waiting for this day all my life,&rdquo; Thornton said June 21 after being selected first. &ldquo;I want to play in the NHL (in 1997-98). That&rsquo;s my first preference.&rdquo;He&rsquo;ll likely be joined by Sergei Samsonov, the Russian left winger chosen eighth overall by Boston from the Detroit Vipers of the International League.&ldquo;We expect both of them in the lineup and expect both will be rookie of the year contenders,&rdquo; said Rruins&rsquo; GM Harrv Sinden.According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no team has ever kept two 18-year-old draft picks for an entire season and played them full-time.The scouting report on Thornton is identical to that on Seattle Thunderbirds&rsquo; center Patrick Marleau, chosen second by the San Jose Sharks, except in one category. Marleau received a 9 for potential. Their grades, on a scale of 1-10, were: skating, 9; competitiveness, 9, checking, 8; puck skills, 10; physical play, 8, and hockey sense, 10.Thornton was the choice of all CSB scouts as No. 1 prospect this season.The CSB analysis confirms what The Hockey News was first to say March 22, 1996: &ldquo;The latest word among NHL scouts is this: Russian left winger Sergei Samsonov is no longer a lock to go first overall in the 1997 entry draft. And one of the players most likely to challenge him is Joe Thornton. Another is Patrick Marleau.&rdquo;Thornton is the first truly consensus first choice as best prospect since Eric Lindros in 1991 and fits comfortably into a tier of No. 1 choices just below the five most potential-packed picks ever: Gil Perreault (1970), Guy Lafleur (1971). Denis Potvin (1973), Mario Lemieux (1984) and Lindros.But if Thornton isn&rsquo;t the most talented first overall pick of all-time, he&rsquo;s well on his way to being the most co-operative. The gifted playmaker represented his new team with the grace and poise he customarily displays between the boards. Thornton, who turned 18 July 2, was the picture of professionalism in the frantic first hour after his selection and several hours later remained picture perfect in the line of duty.An NHL official had to retrieve Thornton from his hotel, where the newborn pro was catching up on much-needed rest after a sleepless final night of amateur status. The sleeping giant was awakened. Never a good idea on the ice, but a necessary one off it this day. Thornton, 6-foot-4 and 198 pounds, unfolded his body, wiped the sleep from his eyes and returned to the Civic Arena for a photo with Marleau and the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; Olli Jokinen. picks No. 2 and 3.No fuss, no muss (or mousse for his trademark curly blond locks). He just did it.Day 1 in the NHL was an overwhelming success for Thornton, who has drawn comparisons to Jean Beliveau, the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; alltime great captain who combined elegance and ability with occasional snippets of bad attitude to keep opponents from taking advantage of his good nature.Thornton comes by his-good nature, that is-honestly. (Is there any other way?)The Thorntons of St. Thomas, Ont., (pop. 32,250), are so salt of the earth Sifto could learn a thing or two from them. They are a close-knit family of five whose primary concern isn&rsquo;t how many points Joe will eam in the NHL next season, but how he will finish his high school edu cation (through a correspondence course), with whom he will live (a billet family) and whether he&rsquo;s ready for the next level (they don&rsquo;t want him disappointed in the unlikely event he needs another season in the Ontario League).Joe&rsquo;s emergence as the best young NHL prospect in the world may be the biggest thing in St. Thomas since Jumbo the elephant wandered away from a touring Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1885 and got run over by a train. But he&rsquo;s not the biggest thing in his family.Brother Alex, a 25-year-old schoolteacher in Houston, is 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds, while brother John, 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, is a 21-year-old student at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. John is the third Thornton to major in geography at WLU, following in the giant footsteps of father Wayne, a football player of some repute as a younger man, and Alex, a three-year forward with the school basketball team.John calls Joe the &ldquo;family outcast&rdquo; because the latter&rsquo;s majoring in physed (sort of), not geography. It&rsquo;s expected the family will get over it. although Mary, the boys&rsquo; mother, is counting on Joe finishing Grade 13 next year: &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll take it,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t be a drop-out.&rdquo;Joe&rsquo;s career has been a boon for THN. The family has three subscriptions to keep everybody informed of the latest in hockey talk.&ldquo;We have a regular family,&rdquo; Alex says. &ldquo;Joe just happens to be special.&rdquo;Just when did the family know Joe was special?&ldquo;When he was bom,&rdquo; says Mary, an expert on the subject. Joe was a product of persistence. Hers.&ldquo;She had to talk me into it,&rdquo; Wayne says.&ldquo;Two years it took me to talk Wayne into another child,&rdquo; Mary says.The Brains are grateful.Thornton&rsquo;s arrival comes 31 years after Bruins&rsquo; legend Bobby Orr changed the NHL landscape and, more appropriately, 18 years after Boston selected Ray Bourque in 1979-the year Joe was born and the draft year often compared to 1997.Boston&rsquo;s second first overall pick-Gord Kluzak was the other in 1982&mdash;is projected to fit snugly into a pantheon of Bruin greats.Thornton will wear No. 6 and the unspoken expectation is that number will one day join 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 (Cam Neely&rsquo;s as yet unretired number) and 9 as single-digit Bruin numbers out of circulation.Mike Barnett, Thornton&rsquo;s IMG agent, advised Thornton to wear No. 6 because, in his estimation, it makes big men look bigger. Barnett points to Beliveau&rsquo;s physical presence during the 1950s and 1960s with No. 4 stitched on his back as evidence.Thornton accumulated 123 penalty minutes, along with 41 goals and 122 points in 59 games during his sophomore OHL season. (He also played for Canada&rsquo;s gold medal-winning team at the 1997 World Junior Championship after earning Canadian Hockey League rookie of the year honors in 1995-96.)When scouts talk about Thornton, the first asset they mention is his vision. He sees the ice at a level far greater than others.And why shouldn&rsquo;t he?&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a little bit taller than everybody so I can see over guys,&rdquo; Thornton says.It is so much more complicated than that, but it&rsquo;s the kind of explanation you&rsquo;d expect from Thornton, whose easy-going nature belies a fierce competitiveness and high efficiency level.&ldquo;I take it easy out there and let things come to me,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t force things.&rdquo;In time, he may be an unstoppable force. &#9632;

f0014-01

New Bruin perfect 10 Thornton more playmaker than scorer

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011793/8637709-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Bruins are counting on strong play from Sergei Samsonov to put a smile on all their faces.</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH-There&rsquo;s no telling how good Sergei Samsonov will be, but it is safe to assume the Boston Bruins&rsquo; exorcism of Evgeny Ryabchikov is complete.Ryabchikov was the last Russian the Bruins took in the first round-21 st overall in 1994-and the netminder was, to put it kindly, an utter failure. The Bruins didn&rsquo;t have much luck with their other first round pick, Dmitri Kvartalnov in 1992. Kvartalnov scored 30 goals in his rookie year, but fell off badly and continued to be a defensive nightmare in the second year. He&rsquo;s now playing in Switzerland.But the prospects for the diminutive Samsonov, and by extension the Bruins. are much brighter.In fact, by selecting Joe Thornton No. I overall and Detroit Viper left winger Samsonov with the No. 8 pick, the Bruins came away from the 1997 entry draft as the undisputed winners.The 6-foot-4 Thornton, of course, was a no-bramer. Samsonov, a skilled I-on-1 player who can score, was available at No. 8 because he&rsquo;s 5-foot-8 and 184 pounds. He was the smallest player chosen in the entire draft.&ldquo;Yeah, but he&rsquo;s a big small,&rdquo; said Bruins&rsquo; GM Harry Sinden. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s prototypical of the Russians from the l970and 1980s. He&rsquo;s just like 15 guys from that 1972 Russian team-small, but strong on their feet and tough to knock off the puck.&rdquo;Samsonov scored 29 goals and 64 points in 73 games with the Vipers of the International League. His plus-33 was tops on the team and third in the entire league. He scored four goals in the opening game of the Turner Cup final and was instrumental in the Vipers&rsquo; successful title bid.&ldquo;I expected the skill and talent level, it was everything I&rsquo;d been led to believe,&rdquo; said Vipers&rsquo; GM Rick Dudley, the former NHL player and coach. &ldquo;This kid would have ripped apart junior hockey, ne&rsquo;s that good. What surprised me was how well he was playing defensive hockey by season&rsquo;s end and how much character he showed. The only thing management needs to know about this kid is that he&rsquo;s going to do everything possible to be the best he can be.&rdquo;&ldquo;My game is to score goals. I like to score goals,&rdquo; Samsonov said, &ldquo;but I learn to play a team game this year.&rdquo;The 18-year-old Muscovite is the product of solid stock. His father, Viktor, is a small, but seemingly earnest man who exudes strength of character. When the Bruins&rsquo; management team met Viktor, he looked them in the eye and &ldquo;vowed&rdquo; to do everything possible to have Sergei ready to play for the Bruins this fall.It is no idle promise. From the time Sergei was six years old. his father has been directly involved in the shaping of his son as a hockey player. An electrician by trade, Viktor would spend hours working on conditioning with Sergei. In his son&rsquo;s most formative years, just before Sergei joined the Central Army as a 15-year-old. Viktor quit his daytime electrician&rsquo;s job-he drove a cab at night&mdash;to spend more time preparing Sergei.When Sergei went to Detroit last year, Viktor came along with him. The two shared a condo in Auburn Hills, Viktor doing all the cooking and providing &ldquo;enthusiasm and friendship.&rdquo;There is reason to believe Thornton and Samsonov will be able to contribute something to the Bruin cause immediately. In time, they&rsquo;re expected to be the foundation, although as Sinden said: &ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t get better goaltending, we&rsquo;re (expletive deleted).&rdquo;The draft went pretty much as expected, devoid of any blockbuster trades. The big three centers-Thomton, Patrick Marleau and Olli Jokinen-went 1-2-3 to Boston, the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings, respectively. New York Islander GM Mike Milbury. holding Nos. 4 and 5, had the opportunity to turn a pick &rsquo;em draft into a trade &rsquo;em draft. Nothing-not even a reported offer of Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; center Jason Arnott and the No. 14 pick for the No. 4 and 5 picks-was enough to sway him.The Isles made Roberto Luongo the highest drafted goalie ever at No. 4 and then provided the first mini-surprise of the draft, passing on center Daniel Tkaczuk in favor of defenseman Eric Brewer.For the record, the Isles took Brewer over Tkaczuk because they believe the blueliner has greater upside. What they didn&rsquo;t say publicly was that they weren&rsquo;t sold on Tkaczuk as a player (not big and fast enough for a No. 1 center) or person. The book on Tkaczuk is that he&rsquo;s a character player with outstanding leadership qualities-the Calgary Flames were ecstatic to get him at No. 6-but sources say the Isles&rsquo; view after interviewing him was that he was self-centered and pretentious.The availability of Tkaczuk cooled some hot. and vitriolic, debate within Calgary management. Director of player personnel Nick Polano, who called the draft-day shots, had wanted to take defenseman Nick Boynton. His scouts wanted Samsonov. Tkaczuk&rsquo;s availability made it all a moot point, but it did nothing to diminish some hard feelings within that organization.From there, the draft unfolded as expected-no big news, but some interesting footnotes:The first of three American first-rounders chosen was defenseman Paul Mara to the Tampa Bay Lightning at No. 7. All three Americans played in the Canadian Hockey League.Two Slovaks-Marian Hossa to the Ottawa Senators at No. 12 and Robert Dome to the Pittsburgh Penguins at No. 17-were chosen in the first round and Michel Riesen, No. 14 to the Oilers, became the first Swiss first-rounder. Sweden and Russia produced just one first rounder each, while Finland had two and Canada, 16.Mika Noronen (No. 21 to the Buffalo Sabres) and J.F. Damphousse (No. 24 to the New Jersey Devils) joined Luongo to make it three goalies in the first round.Matt Zultek, No. 15 to Los Angeles with the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; first-rounder, becomes another player who was traded for Wavne Gretzky. &#9632;

f0015-01

Samsonov ‘big small guy’

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011749/8637740-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div>Be very, very quiet, we&rsquo;re hunting hockey players. And so it was at the 1997 NHL entry draft, a largely uneventful event that lacked the sizzle of some past years. Unless, of course, you count the trading of Mike Peluso, Rick Tabaracci and Shawn Burr or San Jose flip-flopping picks with Carolina. Nevertheless, it&rsquo;s expected the 1997 draft class will yield an above-average crop of NHL talent. Here&rsquo;s a player-by-player look at the first round selections, including their rating by NHL Central Scouting, The Hockey News and their 1996-97 statistics. &#9632;

f0016-01

FIRST ROUND

<div class="byline">By Mike Mouat</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011564/8637785-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Seattle center Patrick Marleau was San Jose&rsquo;s No. 2 overall choice.</figcaption></div>Patrick Marleau was the poster boy of the 1997 entry draft.The Seattle Thunderbirds&rsquo; center, selected second overall by the San Jose Sharks, plays the position most favored by NHL clubs on the team most favored by NHL clubs.Fifty-three centers were chosen among the 246 players picked. Ninety-four defensemen were selected but they outnumber centers 2-to-l on the ice. Eight members of the Western League&rsquo;s Thunderbirds were selected-more than any other single team. The WHL&rsquo;s Kelowna Rockets had six players chosen.<h2>Players chosen by country of origin</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03892/8637778-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="1660" height="571"></div><h2>Players chosen by league or country of origin</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04661/8637771-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="1628" height="882"></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

Thunderbirds big favorites at draft

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011632/8637823-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="513" height="728"></div>Impertinent thoughts on pertinent subjects:&#9633; If Sergei Fedorov wasn&rsquo;t Russian, he would have taken the Conn Smythe Trophy with Igor Larionov a close second. Mike Vernon was average.&#9633; Some klutz in the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association actually gave Mark Messier a first-place vote for the Lady Byng Trophy.&#9633; It&rsquo;s about time Jaromir Jagr straightened out his media act. Jags&rsquo; &ldquo;I-don&rsquo;t-speak-English-well-enough&rdquo; cop-outs are as believable as NHL injury reports.&#9633;What is it about Columbus, Ohio that inspires the NHL to consider it such a wonderful expansion site?&#9633; When expansion owners start searching for GMs, they ought to keep in mind: Doug Soetaert, who has more than paid his dues with Kansas City of the International League; Ken Holland, assistant GM of the Detroit Red Wings; and, if they want someone who already has been to the NHL, Mike Smith rates another shot.&#9633; Watch the first time new Washington Capital Ron Wilson coaches against Anaheim and tell me if you ever saw Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya so physically punished.&#9633; The NHL&rsquo;s Olympic experiment will be the build-up-to-a-let-down of commissioner Gary Bettman&rsquo;s administration.&#9633; Isn&rsquo;t it foolish to overlook playoff contests in the NHL awards voting? The big post-season games should count same as the regular year.&#9633; I expect nothing but a big year from: Al lafrate, Randy McKay, Adam Oates and Tom Barrasso.&#9633; That Vladimir Konstantinov and Scott Stevens fell so far behind Norris Trophy-winner Brian Leetch underlines the need for another prize for &ldquo;best defensive defenseman.&rdquo;&#9633; Prediction: Patrick Marleau will make more of an NHL impact quicker than Joe Thornton. Impatient Boston fans and media will screw up the wunderkind&rsquo;s development.&#9633; If there was a &ldquo;Best Playoff Spectator While Playing&rdquo; award for the playoffs, it would belong to Tomas Sandstrom.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021257/8637816-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="689" height="1089"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vaclav Prospal</figcaption></div>&#9633; It&rsquo;s nice to know that at least two top coaches, Jacques Lemaire of the New Jersey Devils and Colin Campbell of the New York Rangers, are returning despite the fact they were &ldquo;fired&rdquo; by members of their local media at various points last season.&#9633; Give him two years and you&rsquo;ll see Vaclav Prospal of Philly hitting unexpected offensive heights.&#9633;What does Larry Murphy&rsquo;s stellar playoff performance tell you about the intelligence of the thousands of boo-Murph Maple Leaf Garden fans?&#9633; Goalies in need of tender, loving care to regain their lost ability: Jim Carey, Jocelyn Thibault and Trevor Kidd.&#9633; Is there a message or what about talent dilution when Joe Kocur hedge-hops from an over-30 rec league team to a pivotal role on the Stanley Cup champs?&#9633; If he&rsquo;saswise as I think he is, Bryan Berard won&rsquo;t become smitten with his Calder Trophy accolades and will start playing a more forceful defense in his sophomore NHL season.&#9633; Mike Peluso and Randy McKay were worst-enemies until they became best-friend teammates on the Devils. Now that Peluso is a Ranger, the question is who will drop the gloves first when they collide in October? And won&rsquo;t this make the Devils-Rangers rivalry that much more intriguing?&#9633; If I&rsquo;m a Maple Leafs fan, I&rsquo;m concerned that our learned president Ken Dryden diddled around for weeks without naming a GM before the crucial entry draft.&#9633; Three examples of how fighting wins games: 1. Avalanche GM Pierre Lacroix bumbled when he allowed super-tough Chris Simon to exit Denver, leaving the Avs without a KO artist; 2. Detroit&rsquo;s late-season pounding of Colorado traumatized the then champs; 3. Mike Vernon&rsquo;s TKO of Patrick Roy in that same game won him the No. 1 goaltender&rsquo;s job, which in tum led to playoff success. &#9632;

f0018-01

Fedorov deserved playoff MVP award

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011393/8637854-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="515" height="733"></div>You&rsquo;re Calgary Flames&rsquo; GM Al Coates and in the midst of what passes for an off-season in hockey, you&rsquo;re working dawn to dusk, putting out fires that threaten your organization.One day, a star player, Gary Roberts, tells you he is unretiring. The next day, your coach, Pierre Page, quits. Your top center, Dave Gagner, is about to leave town as an unrestricted free agent. Two months after the season ends, your captain and leading scorer, Theo Fleury, and your No. 1 goaltender, Trevor Kidd, still aren&rsquo;t on speaking terms. Contracts for a dozen players need to be negotiated between now and training camp.They drop the puck for real on Oct. 1 and while your peers are sneaking off to their off-season getaways, there&rsquo;s a long hot summer in front of you.You&rsquo;re Al Coates and you&rsquo;re in charge of hockey in what used to be one of the NHL&rsquo;s model franchises. That was back in the user-friendly days of Cliff Fletcher, who managed a neat trick in one of the NHL&rsquo;s smallest cities. He convinced players they were paid fairly; the club boasted a state-of-the-art facility; the team played in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains in a city that had all the amenities, but none of the problems of urban disasters elsewhere in North AmericaYou&rsquo;re Al Coates and you learned a lot from Eetcher&rsquo;s managerial style. The problem is that times changed and salaries skyrocketed and the term &ldquo;small-market&rdquo; became part of your daily vocabulary. That, in turn, forced you to leant other jargon not normally associated with the running of a hockey team, terms like &ldquo;business plan&rdquo; and &ldquo;asset protection.&rdquo;You&rsquo;re Al Coates and in your brave new world, once a player reaches 29 or 30-or gets close to unrestricted free agency-you discreetly shop him around the NHL, soliciting offers. If you can get a hard-working player five or six years younger in exchange, you make the deal. Your goal is to build a team through character, youth and speed and every transaction needs to be filtered through your team&rsquo;s business plan. Even the vagaries of the season-slumps, injuries, nervous owners-cannot seduce you into straying from the plan.You&rsquo;re Al Coates and in two years at the controls, you traded away a lot of today&rsquo;s solutions (Joe Nieuwendyk, Robert Reichel, Steve Chiasson and soon Gary Roberts) for help down the road (Jarome Iginla, Marty McInnis, Hnat Domenichelli). Intuitively, you know you can only employ this strategy effectively if your coach is onside. GMs, by their nature, think Big Picture. Coaches, out of necessity, worry about tomorrow night&rsquo;s game. So your coach, Page, watches a significant part of his team traded out from under him and utters nary a peep. However, he is experienced enough to know that rebuilding a team doesn&rsquo;t happen overnight. It will require at least a year or more, at which time his contract expires and he can become a convenient scapegoat if the team happens to miss the playoffs for a second year. He quietly asks for a two-year contract extension to see him through this down period and you, after careful consideration, say no.So you&rsquo;re Al Coates and you&rsquo;re being forced away from your primary skill as a manager, using a light touch around people. You&rsquo;ve learned about downsizing. Your organization is heeding the advice of players&rsquo; association boss Bob Goodenow and, in a radical departure for your industry, is actually applying business principles to the business of sport. It means demanding and receiving compensation from the Phoenix Coyotes for the rights to an assistant coach, Don Hay, ruffling many feathers. Potentially, it means standing in the way of Page, a friend for almost two decades, in his quest to become the Anaheim Mighty Ducks&rsquo; coach by asking for compensation. It means falling back on a perpetual rebuilding program and hoping your fans are patient enough to see the process through.You&rsquo;re Al Coates and you&rsquo;re faced with a prickly dilemma. You can always fill 20 NHL uniforms because there are players out there, lots of them, seeking NHL work. The problem is, if 10 of those uniforms are filled with &ldquo;just happy to be there&rdquo; types, you&rsquo;ll be spinning your wheels indefinitely.You&rsquo;re Al Coates and the only good news is there&rsquo;s more than three months remaining to mediate disputes and sign players and hire a coaching staff. In that time, your goal is to re-create the ambience of the Eetcher years. You cross your fingers and hope money isn&rsquo;t the be-all and end-all for every player and you&rsquo;ll attract those who value lifestyle above cash on the barrel. But it&rsquo;s a tightrope you must walk because the only way to attract top people is to create the impression that you run a first-rate organization; with a good dressing room; and there is an upside down the road.Nowadays, if you don&rsquo;t have that, you don&rsquo;t have a lot. &#9632;

f0020-01

Calgary GM Coates walking tightrope

<div class="byline">By Robyn Norwood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011134/8637885-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="221" height="218"></div>The NHL entry draft came and went and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were still adrift with no coach at the helm-and their GM out to sea.Instead of hammering out a deal with Pierre Page-including some form of compensation to the Calgary Flames-GM Jack Ferreira left the day after the draft on a Duck fan cruise to the Caribbean.&ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;ll have to make a lot of calls from the boat,&rdquo; said Ferreira who expects to name a coach the first week in July-six weeks after firing Ron Wilson.If the Ducks finalize a deal with Page and settle with Calgary by sending it cash and/or draft picks as expected, they will emerge from the fiasco of firing Wilson far better than they might have.After former Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; coach Don Hay had an unimpressive second interview, the Ducks seemed as if they might have difficulty finding a coach who would have much credibility.Then Page forced Calgary&rsquo;s hand by seeking an extension or release and the Ducks have the chance to hire Page, who has ties to Ferreira and won&rsquo;t be the maverick Wilson was depicted as by the organization.Ferreira gave Page his first NHL coaching job with the Minnesota North Stars in 1988 and when Page was without a job a few seasons ago, the Ducks invited him to camp as a guest coach, though he mostly sat in the stands.NOTEBOOK: Picking out of the top 10 at the entry draft for the first time, the Ducks selected Swedish center Mikael Holmqvist at No. 18. Holmqvist, at 6-foot-3 and 189 pounds, isn&rsquo;t expected to play in the NHL for several years. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s built like a one-iron, thin like a pencil,&rdquo; said GM Jack Ferreira. The Ducks&rsquo; second-round pick (45th overall), Russian left winger Maxim Balmochnykh. underwent surgery to correct an irregular heartbeat this spring&hellip;The Ducks are preparing a contract proposal for restricted free agent left winger Paul Kariya. who finished second in Hart Trophy voting in his third year in the NHL, but those involved with the negotiations don&rsquo;t expect a deal to be struck until August or September. &#9632;

f0021-01

Will Ducks turn new Page in search for bench boss?

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03479/8637916-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="786" height="1231"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02734/8637923-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="223" height="221"></div>Understandably lost in the fanfare surrounding their first round selections of Joe Thornton and Sergei Samsonov in the June 21 entry draft was what the Boston Bruins did with their third pick.By picking Ben Clymer No. 27 overall, the Bruins started planning for the day Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque calls it a career.Not that Clymer, the 19-year-old University of Minnesota defenseman claimed with the first pick of the second round, will ever do all Bourque has done. The Bruins, however, hope he&rsquo;ll one day fill part of the hole Bourque will inevitably leave.&ldquo;We like him because we think he&rsquo;s a power play type player-very clever,&rdquo; said president-GM Harry Sinden of Clymer, a 6-foot-l, 195-pounder who went 7-13-20 in 29 games as a Golden Gopher freshman in 1996-97. &ldquo;You know, Raymond&rsquo;s not going to play forever. We didn&rsquo;t draft him only with that in mind, though. He&rsquo;s a pretty rugged player.&rdquo;Clymer, who collected 64 penalty minutes in his first season at Minnesota, said the &ldquo;mean streak&rdquo; the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau mentioned in its report is a significant part of his game.&ldquo;I want to win and if you&rsquo;ve got to be mean to win, that&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;ve got to do,&rdquo; said the Edina, Minn., native, a two-time member of the U.S. World Junior Championship team. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I enjoy. No one&rsquo;s going to respect you if you&rsquo;re a nice guy; you&rsquo;re going to get pushed around.&rdquo;Mike SullivanNOTEBOOK: Boston agreed to terms with former Montreal assistant coach Jacques Laperriere&hellip; One day after breaking his hip in an all-terrain vehicle accident, winger Sheldon Kennedy was informed the Brains were not picking up the option on his contract. (See pg. SIR-17 for more.)&hellip; Boston filled a need with a draft day trade that sent next year&rsquo;s seventh round pick to Calgary for defensive forward Mike Sullivan, who grew up in Marshfield, Mass. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a dependable checker,&rdquo; assistant GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell said&hellip;The Brains and Colorado made a bizarre draft day trade. Boston traded the second last pick (245th overall) to the Avalanche for the last pick (246th overall). The deal was made for posterity, so the Bruins can say they had the first and last picks. &#9632;

f0021-03

Can Clymer make climb?

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011278/8637954-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="219" height="221"></div>The Buffalo Sabres have their new GM in place, but he innenteu all the problems of the old one. And then some.The latest twists in the Sabre soap opera centered around new GM Darcy Regier. his in-limbo coach Ted Nolan and goalie Dominik Hasek.Days after Hasek said he anticipated doing good things in Buffalo with Nolan next season, the star goalie told a local radio station he didn&rsquo;t respect his coach and that it would be better if Nolan didn&rsquo;t return next season. He did say if Nolan returned he would play for him. but made it clear it wouldn&rsquo;t be a good situation.Three days later, the Sabres held a news conference to announce they would offer the reigning coach of the year a one-year contract. They scheduled the conference before they made Nolan the offer, then called him in Sault Ste, Marie, Ont., and told him of the deal while the media assembled.Predictably, Nolan, whose contract expired June 30, rejected the offer. He said he would actively look for work elsewhere, but Regier, hired as GM June 11, said there was still room for negotiation.Before the apparent parting of the ways, the Buffalo News reported Sabres&rsquo; ownership was split on the Nolan issue with some members backing the stance taken by Regier and team president Larry Quinn while one, John Rigas, openly supported Nolan.Jean Knox, another minority shareholder, also backed Nolan. The widow of former owner Seymour Knox, Jean attended a rally for Nolan June 27, the day after the offer was made.&ldquo;This never would have be happening if Seymour were alive today,&rdquo; Knox told about 400 people who gathered in front of Marine Midland Arena to show support for Nolan. &ldquo;Ted Nolan would have a long-term contract.&rdquo;All this came days after the June 19 NHL awards ceremony where Nolan was named coach of the year, Hasek won the Hart and the Vezina (and earlier the Lester B. Pearson) and Michael Peca won the Selke. It was the greatest haul of hardware in the history of the franchise. (See Season in Review for more).NOTEBOOK: Center Michael Peca said he would like to continue working with Ted Nolan and he respects him as a coach, but he has his own contract to worry about. Peca is a Group II free agent, so he&rsquo;ll likely remain in Buffalo, but negotiations on a new deal stalled last March&hellip; Dominik Hasek became the first goalie in NHL history to win the Vezina. Hart and Lester B. Pearson awards in the same season. He said he was somewhat surprised to beat out New Jersey&rsquo;s Martin Brodeur for the Vezina because he knows how hard it is to maintain a goals-against average of under 2.00&hellip; Defenseman Garry Galley is an unrestricted free agent. The Sabres won&rsquo;t likely get involved in a bidding war for his services. &#9632;

f0022-01

It’s crisis as usual in Buffalo as new GM Regier takes over

<div class="byline">By Steve Politi</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02942/8637985-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="223" height="219"></div>Does being a Norris Trophy winner run in the family? The Carolina Hurricanes hope so.They drafted Nikos Tselios, the 18-year-old cousin of NHL all-star Chris Chelios, in the first round of the NHL entry draft. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s in the genes, it&rsquo;s in the blood,&rdquo; said Tselios, who&rsquo;s 6-foot-5, 200 pounds. &ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s there.&rdquo;The Hurricanes entered the draft looking for what GM Jim Rutherford called &ldquo;gritty forwards,&rdquo; and expected to take wingers back-to-back with their first round picks, 22nd and 23rd. But they were surprised to find Tselios, who had nine goals and 46 points in 64 games with the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario League, was still around.&ldquo;He just kept slipping through some teams we thought would take him, especially Chicago,&rdquo; Rutherford said of Tselios, whose name is pronounced the same as his famous cousin. &ldquo;We had him in rated in the top 10.&rdquo;Rutherford, confident the next player he wanted would be available in the second round, traded the team&rsquo;s 23rd pick to the San Jose Sharks for their second-rounder (28th overall) and a third round pick next year. The gamble paid off and he nabbed University of North Dakota left winger Brad DeFauw.The team also grabbed right winger Shane Willis of the Western League&rsquo;s Lethbridge Hurricanes 88th overall. Willis was selected 56th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1995, but reentered the draft after he was unable to come to contract terms.The newcomers have a bit to learn. When asked what they knew about North Carolina, here were the replies:&ldquo;Not a lot,&rdquo; Tselios said.&ldquo;Not much,&rdquo; said defenseman Kyle DaFoe, a sixth-round pick.&ldquo;Nothing at all,&rdquo; Willis said.NOTEBOOK: Paul Maurice, who has compiled a 61-72-19 record in two years as coach, signed a new multi-year deal. GM Jim Rutherford questioned the wisdom of teams who have fired their coaches. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a shame what&rsquo;s going on in our league now,&rdquo; Rutherford said&hellip;The Hurricanes didn&rsquo;t have sweaters ready for their new draft picks, who put on generic NHL sweaters when they arrived at the podium&hellip;The team&rsquo;s new logo, likened to a frisbee, a pizza or a toilet flushing by members of the national media, was unveiled at a news conference June 16. It&rsquo;s a flashy version of the symbol seen on radar maps when a hurricane is approaching, with a puck at the eye of the storm surrounded by red, black and silver streaks shaped like the letter&lsquo;C.&rsquo; &#9632;

f0022-02

Can Tselios top Chelios?

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03718/8638016-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="221" height="218"></div>It came down to a matter of principle.Calgary Flames&rsquo; coach Pierre Page saw a number of the top players traded away in his two years behind the bench without issuing a peep of protest.Once the off-season began, however, Page wanted some assurance from the team he wouldn&rsquo;t be sacrificed to expediency if his youthful team struggled next year. His request? A two-year contract extension.GM Al Coates deliberated, but in the end, was not prepared to meet Page&rsquo;s terms. As a result, Page tendered his resignation three days before what was billed as the Flames&rsquo; most important entry draft since they moved to Calgary in 1980.The Flames selected Barrie Colts&rsquo; center Daniel Tkaczuk with their top pick, sixth overall, and were thankful to get him. They desperately need to add to their depth down the middle, but were afraid all four of the top-rated centers would be gone by sixth overall.Even though he&rsquo;s just 18. Tkaczuk may only be a year away from making the team&rsquo;s lineup.&ldquo;Any youngsters my age could use another year of development,&rdquo; Tkaczuk said. &ldquo;For any 18-year-old to step into the NHL and play, it obviously takes an exceptional player to do that. I won&rsquo;t see it as a setback.&rdquo;A more pressing concern for the Flames was finding a replacement for Page, who explained his decision by saying: &ldquo;I thought the best thing was to think long term and make a commitment and provide stability.&rdquo;Coates called Page&rsquo;s request a &ldquo;large commitment. I was unable to make that recommendation (to the team&rsquo;s board of governors).&rdquo;Page was unhappy Coates was requiring written permission and compensation from any Pacific Division team interested in hiring him.NOTEBOOK: In a move that was widely anticipated, the Flames re-acquired goaltender Rick Tabaracci from Tampa Bay for a 1998 fourth-round pick. Tabaracci. Trevor Kidd and Dwayne Roloson were part of a three-goalie rotation in Calgary until the mid-October trade that brought in center Aaron Gav-ey. GM Al Coates did not rule out the possibility of another deal involving a goalie. Both Kidd and Roloson are unsigned Group II free agents. Said Coates: &ldquo;I think the initial impression is, &lsquo;Here we go again, what are we going to do with three goalies?&rsquo; But as (head pro scout and player personnel director) Nick Polano just said to me, &lsquo;Let them fight for it until somebody emerges.&rsquo; &ldquo; &#9632;

f0022-03

No new deal, so coach Page resigns

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011147/8638047-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="225" height="217"></div>Outside of landing Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau or Roberto Luongo, the Chicago Blackhawks said they couldn&rsquo;t be happier with how the entry draft fell to them.Selecting 13th and 16th in the first round, the Hawks got the two players they probably wanted most in skilled left winger Daniel Cleary of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Belleville Bulls and power forward Ty Jones of the Western League&rsquo;s Spokane Chiefs.&ldquo;1 couldn&rsquo;t have written a better scenario without making a deal,&rdquo; said Hawks&rsquo; player personnel director Bob Murray.The Hawks considered trading up to get Cleary, a potential big-time scorer whose stock took a big dip after a mediocre 1996-97 season. The big knock on Cleary is he played out of shape most of last season, when his point output dropped from 115 two years ago to 80 and goal production went from 53 to 32.Murray said the plan is to bring Cleary to Chicago as soon as possible and put him on a program to get in shape in hopes of him making the NHL next season, since the Hawks are desperate for offensive help.&ldquo;He has never had to be in great shape, but he&rsquo;s going to have to be in good shape to play for the Chicago Blackhawks,&rdquo; Murray said.&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ve been scrutinized, picked apart and put under a microscope,&rdquo; Cleary said. &ldquo;It has been a long three years. This is a relief it&rsquo;s finally over.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Ty Jones, the Hawks&rsquo; second pick, is a 6-foot-3, 210-pounder to whom the Hawks took an instant liking when they brought him and 11 other prospects to Chicago for testing several weeks before the draft. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big kid and very good defensively,&rdquo; said player personnel director Bob Murray. &ldquo;From the hash marks to the net, I have no questions about him."&hellip;Center Dmitri Nabokov, the Hawks&rsquo; 1995 first round draft pick, will arrive in Chicago in early-July to begin a program to get him in shape.. Dirk Graham is returning to the organization after taking a year off, but the Hawks hadn&rsquo;t announced what job he would fill&hellip; Left winger Ethan Moreau underwent successful surgery to repair a damaged right shoulder. &#9632;

f0023-01

They can see Cleary now in next season’s lineup

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03600/8638078-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="770" height="1201"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Sakic</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02807/8638085-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="220" height="216"></div>He loves to hit. He loves to drop the gloves. When a teammate is on the wrong end of a few too many physical liberties, he&rsquo;s quick to do something about it.Kevin Grimes is precisely the kind of player the Colorado Avalanche needs.That&rsquo;s why Grimes, a defenseman, was the Avs&rsquo; No. 1 selection (26th overall) in 1997 NHL entry draft.Considered perhaps the top tough guy among the first 26 picks, the 6-foot-2, 202-pound Grimes is the kind of brute the Avalanche could have used more of in 1996-97.&ldquo;I got into 15 fights this year and all of them were for a reason,&rdquo; said Grimes, who had two goals, 14 points and 188 penalty minutes in 57 games for the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario League this past season. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m not a guy who goes out and gets into fights for no reason, just because it makes my day or anything. I don&rsquo;t hesitate, though, at all. It&rsquo;s something I guess I&rsquo;m good at and have a knack for.&rdquo;Grimes is projected to be more than just an on-ice thug. He played a regular shift last season and scouts like his long skating stride and strong balance. Mostly, though. Grimes is known as a punisher.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not an offensive defenseman. 1 like to play physical and hit people,&rdquo; he said.Still, Grimes was surprised to hear his name called when it was.&ldquo;I never thought I&rsquo;d be standing here (in the first round),&rdquo; Grimes said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect this.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: GM Pierre Lacroix said the team&rsquo;s top priority is to sign restricted free agent center Joe Sakic. Lacroix has had talks with Sakic&rsquo;s agent, Don Baizley. but nothing substantive had resulted&hellip;The Avs likely will lose goaltending prospect Jean-Francois Labbe, who will become an unrestricted free agent July 1. Lacroix indicated the Avs will not re-sign Labbe, who was the American League&rsquo;s most valuable player and top goalie with Hershey this past season&hellip;Left winger Brad Larsen, who reentered the draft after failing to come to terms with the Avalanche, remained in the organization when Colorado took him 87th overall. Larsen was chosen 53rd by Ottawa in 1995. Top draft pick Kevin Grimes is a second cousin of chief scout Dave Draper &#9632;

f0023-03

Grimes happy to get dirty

<div class="byline">By Mike Heika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011237/8638116-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="222" height="225"></div>It took some wheeling, dealing and soul-searching, but the Dallas Stars entered July plus-2 in the Gainey department.Five days after the Stars made Stephen Gainey the 77th overall pick at the entry draft, his father, GM Bob Gainey, decided to reject an offer to become GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs.&ldquo;After a short but intense period of reflection, where I had to evaluate my professional and personal life, I feel that (Dallas) is where I can carry on my private life in the best fashion,&rdquo; Gainey said. (See pg. 31 for more on Gainey&rsquo;s decision.)Gainey&rsquo;s choice was welcome news for the Stars, who went to surprising lengths-they traded a second round pick in 1998 to the Philadelphia Flyers to move up to the 77th spot-to secure Stephen, a checking forward, in the third round. Gainey was ranked 173rd overall by the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve done that before, taken someone that Central Scouting didn&rsquo;t have rated as high,&rdquo; said Stars&rsquo; scouting director Craig Button, the man who engineered the deal. &ldquo;We believe in our ability to select players and we know Stephen has a lot of upward potential. This is a player we know a lot about.&rdquo;Bob Gainey left the selecting to Button, as he always does. But he did have to approve the trade.&ldquo;There is going to be some pressure there and we discussed that,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;But Stephen is playing in Kamloops (Western League) next year, so we&rsquo;ll all have plenty of time to adjust to this.&rdquo;The Stars also think highly of the player they selected in the first round (25th overall), left winger Brenden Morrow. The tough 5-foot-U, 196-pounder contributed 39 goals and 88 points in 71 games for the Portland Winter Hawks of the WHL this past season. But what he&rsquo;s known most for is a mean streak. He had 178 penalty minutes last season and rolled up 455 in 58 games as a 15-year-old in 1994-95.&ldquo;What we like most is that he has the level of drive and desire to play the game,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;He is a determined player.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Stars went heavy on Europeans at the NHL entry draft in Pittsburgh. After selecting Russian center Roman Lyashenko (52nd overall), they chose Swedish defenseman Marcus Kristoffersson (105th), Finnish winger Teemu Elomo (132nd), Russian winger Alexei Timkin (160th) and Russian defenseman Alexei Komarov (216th)&hellip;The Stars held a summer training camp in Dallas and played host to their most highly rated prospects, as well as a few more seasoned players. Projected future Stars such as defenseman Richard Jackman. left winger Jason Botterill and center Jon Sim were treated to workouts with Stars&rsquo; veterans Todd Harvey, a right winger, and Derian Hatcher, a defenseman&hellip;With only center Guy Carbonneau signed, the Stars were prepared to allow goaltender Andy Moog, defensemen Craig Ludwig. Grant Ledyard and Mike Lalor, left winger Brent Gilchrist and center Neal Broten to become unrestricted free agents July 1. &#9632;

f0024-01

Two Gaineys better than none as Stars keen one, pick other

<div class="byline">By Cynthia Lambert</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02878/8638147-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="223" height="224"></div>The Detroit Red Wings did what any Stanley Cup winning team would do when selecting 49th overall in the entry draft. They went for the safe pick.The Wings, who traded their top selection (22nd overall) to the former Hartford Whalers in the deal that landed them left winger Brendan Shanahan, took center Yuri Butsayev with their first pick, a player they project as a probable third-liner.Why didn&rsquo;t they aim higher?First, they figured they couldn&rsquo;t get a potential star player at No. 49, so they went for a player they believe could fill a checking role. Second, they were thinking of the three upcoming expansion drafts.&ldquo;I like the idea of getting an asset,&rdquo; said assistant GM Ken Holland. &ldquo;The league is going to be adding four teams over the course of the next few years. The players you&rsquo;re going to lose in the expansion drafts are guys like Butsayev, the third and fourth line guys. We need to get as many of those guys as we can, stockpile them, to get ready.&rdquo;In other words, if you can&rsquo;t go for broke, go so that you won&rsquo;t be broke.The Wings used that philosophy with two of their first three picks, also taking 6-foot-l, 175-pound left winger Quintin Laing in the fourth round (102nd overall).Laing, who had 13 goals and and 37 points in 63 games for the Kelowna Rockets of the Western League this past season, is considered a solid two way player.With their second pick, the Wings took what they considered a bit of a gamble, going for Czech center Petr Sykora (76th overall). Sykora, the younger brother of Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; defenseman Michal Sykora, has the potential to be a second-line player, but he could also quietly fade away.&ldquo;If Butsayev plays (in the NHL) and Sykora plays, then Sykora will be the better player,&rdquo; Holland said.NOTEBOOK: Scotty Bowman was expected to meet with owner Mike Bitch July 1 to finalize details of his deal to come back as coach next season. Bowman is expected to return, along with associate coaches Dave Lewis and Barry Smith and assistant Mike Krushelnyski. Smith also has a contract to coach Malmo of the Swedish Elite League, which he would have to get out of if he were to return&hellip;Vice-president Jimmy Devellano said the team will not offer unrestricted free agent right winger Tomas Sandstrom a new contract&hellip;The Wings have spoken with agent Don Baizley about a new contract for veteran center Igor Larionov. An unrestricted free agent as of July 1, Larionov has indicated he might not return if Bowman isn&rsquo;t rehired&hellip;The Wings believe they have made substantial progress in negotiations with restricted Group II free agent right winger Martin Lapointe. &ldquo;We hope we have a framework put in place,&rdquo; said assistant GM Ken Holland. &#9632;

f0024-02

League expansion figures into Red Wings’ entry draft strategy

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011109/8638178-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="222" height="218"></div>The Edmonton Oilers are banking on the fact Michel Riesen is a can&rsquo;t-miss Swiss from Lyss.They made the hard-shooting, quick-skating left winger their first pick in the 1997 NHL entry draft, 14th overall, after an aborted attempt to move up and grab the New York Islanders&rsquo; fourth and fifth overall picks.GM Glen Sather admitted he tried to secure the picks from Isles&rsquo; counterpart Mike Milbury and sources confirmed the Oilers offered center Jason Arnott to cement the deal, but the Isles turned him down.The Oilers instead picked Riesen, making a European their first choice for the first time in 19 drafts. Riesen is the first Swiss-born player ever selected in the first round.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a Jari Kurri type of player,&rdquo; said Kevin Prendergast, Oilers&rsquo; director of player personnel. &ldquo;He has a great shot. We&rsquo;ve got to get goals off the wing and we think he&rsquo;s one of the players who can fit that bill.&rdquo;Riesen is likely be three years away from the NHL and has a two-year deal to play in Davos in the Swiss League. He said he can get out of the deal after one season.&ldquo;1&rsquo;11 play one year more because I have school,&rdquo; he said.He was the best player and top scorer at the European Junior Championship last winter. He scored 16 goals and added 16 assists in 38 games for his second division club team Biel-Benne, before signing the deal with Davos.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Kevin Lowe has decided to return for a 19th season rather than enter the coaching ranks .. Don Hay and Butch Goring are the frontrunners for the vacant Oilers&rsquo; assistant coaching post&hellip;NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who during the Stanley Cup final said the Oilers weren&rsquo;t &ldquo;going anywhere,&rdquo; has spoken to groups in Houston and Oklahoma City, telling them, &ldquo;if the team has to move they should pursue it."&hellip;GM Glen Sather is adamant goalie Curtis Joseph, whose current contract expires after 199798, will not become an unrestricted free agent as an Oiler. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t afford to have that happen to our organization. He either cuts a new deal with us or he&rsquo;s gone by the trade deadline,&rdquo; Sather said. &#9632;

f0025-01

Plenty of reasons to like first round pick Riesen

<div class="byline">By Dave Joseph</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03528/8638209-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="767" height="1217"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bryan Murray</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02763/8638216-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="223" height="221"></div>Knowing the draft provides few quick fixes, Florida Panthers&rsquo; GM Bryan Murray continued stockpiling big and tough prospects and didn&rsquo;t necessarily try to address immediate holes, namely offense.Drafting 20th overall, the Panthers selected Mike Brown, a 6-foot-5, 183-pound forward from the Red Deer Rebels of the Western League. Murray described Brown as &ldquo;a big, strong, aggressive guy with good hands.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough commodity to get,&rdquo; Murray added. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why we were happy he was there.&rdquo;Brown had 19 goals last season and recorded 243 penalty minutes, some of which came during his 41 fights over the course of 70 games. The big forward, who was demoted from the second line to the fourth by year&rsquo;s end, will likely head back to Red Deer.In the second round, the Panthers selected 6-foot-l winger Kristian Huselius (46th overall) from the Swedish Elite League. They took 6-foot-3 Czech defenseman Vratislav Cech (56th overall) in the third.Other Panthers&rsquo; draft picks included forward Ivan Novoseltsev, a teammate of Sergei Samsonov on the Russian bronze-winning World Junior team, and Detroit Whalers&rsquo; defenseman Pat Parthenais, a 17-year-old who is 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds.After focusing on the future, Murray must now look at the present. Murray said there&rsquo;s no doubt he&rsquo;ll talk with some free agents and has been given approval to spend the money if necessary.NOTEBOOK: The Panthers acquired 18-year-old defenseman Mike Lankshear from Toronto for defenseman Per Gustafsson. a week before die draft. Lankshear played in Guelph of the Ontario League last season and is at least a year away from cracking the NHL. Gustafsson, 27, had seven goals and 29 points in his rookie season, but was Florida&rsquo;s seventh defenseman&hellip;Goalie John Vanbies-brouck is holding a celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament Aug. 29 to benefit the Vanbies-brouck Foundation, formed earlier in the year to raise awareness for Attention Deficit Disorder&hellip;Players rumored to be on the Panthers&rsquo; wish list: Calgary center Dave Gagner. Montreal right winger Mark Recchi and Edmonton defenseman Luke Richardson. &#9632;

f0025-03

Panthers go big at draft

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011245/8638247-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="221" height="224"></div>Is Southern California ready for another O.J.?This O.J., however, has probably never heard of the Heisman Trophy. He&rsquo;s Finnish center Olli Jokinen, who was ranked first among European skaters in this year&rsquo;s NHL entry draft and was chosen third overall by the Los Angeles Kings. He believes he&rsquo;s ready to step into the NHL at the tender age of 18, a huge, but not impossible transition.&ldquo;I need to work a little more on strength, but I feel I can fit right in the lineup and score a few goals for them,&rdquo; said Jokinen, who scored 14 goals and 41 points in 50 games with IFK Helsinki of the Finnish Elite League and played for Finland at the World Championship. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very aggressive and very mature,&rdquo; said Taylor of Jokinen. &ldquo;For an 18-year-old to play in the Finnish Elite League is almost unheard of. He has a lot of leadership ability and plays a physical game and goes to the net.&rdquo;Jokinen, who isn&rsquo;t afraid to assert himself, will add size and skill to a lineup that sorely lacked both qualities last season. He measures 6-foot-2 to the top of his shaved head and weighs 198 pounds. Among the Kings&rsquo; centers, only Roman Vopat (6-foot-3, 216 pounds) is bigger.Jokinen doesn&rsquo;t lack self-assurance, either. Asked which current NHL player his style resembles, he replied, &ldquo;Eric Lindros,&rdquo; although he conceded he needs to add some strength.NOTEBOOK: The Kings hired a new scout whose responsibilities will be concentrated in Scandinavia. Ari Vuori. who played in the Canadian junior ranks, was added to the scouting staff to give the club two full-time European scouts. The other European scout is Vaclav Nedomansky&hellip;The Kings&rsquo; second round pick (29th overall) was Scott Barney, a 6-foot-4 center who had 54 points and 110 penalty minutes with Peterborough of the Ontario League. Barney slipped in most scouts&rsquo; estimation from last season, but the Kings weren&rsquo;t deterred. &ldquo;He has all the tools,&rdquo; said coach Larry Robinson. &ldquo;We were actually very surprised we were able to get him when we did. He&rsquo;s a big, strong player who can handle himself in rough going.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-01

Jokinen wants into L.A., and nope, he’s not jokin’

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03717/8638278-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="790" height="1229"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rejean Houle</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02886/8638285-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="221" height="216"></div>Clement Jodoin is back in the NHL, hopeful the third time will work like a charm.Jodoin was one of two Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; assistant coaches named to Alain Vigneault&rsquo;s staff, along with former NHL goaltender Roland Melanson. The two join former Calgary Flames&rsquo; coach Dave King, whose hiring was announced in late May to coincide with Vigneault&rsquo;s signing.Jodoin was coach-GM of the Quebec League&rsquo;s Halifax Mooseheads and believed his chances of returning to the big leagues were remote. He had just re-signed with the Mooseheads and didn&rsquo;t apply to the Canadiens.&ldquo;I was very happy with my new contract and wasn&rsquo;t thinking about getting back in the NHL,&rdquo; said Jodoin, who spent the 1987-88 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant under Pierre Creamer and was with the Quebec Nordiques from 1992-94.&ldquo;All I want to do is coach; the level doesn&rsquo;t matter,&rdquo; said Jodoin, who also has extensive experience as a head coach at the university level and in the American League. &ldquo;I love and enjoy and want to be part of the game. This was a big decision&hellip;a tough decision. Halifax was my baby. I was surprised when Alain called, but I want to grow as a coach and a man.&rdquo;Jodoin and Melanson both signed two-year contracts.Melanson, 36, was an assistant and the goaltending instructor for the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL the past two seasons. He spent 11 seasons in the NHL with four teams.NOTEBOOK: The Canadiens were looking for help up front at the NHL draft and chose center-right winger Jason Ward and center Gregor Baumgartner in the first two rounds. Ward, a 6-foot-2, 184 pounder, went 11th overall from Erie of the Ontario League. He is a prototypical power forward whose offense was decent-25 goals and 64 points in 58 games-but hardly spectacular. &rsquo;The thing we liked about him,&rdquo; said GM Rejean Houle, &ldquo;is he was a very consistent player who came to play every night. He plays both ways. He can score goals, but he also plays tough defense.&rdquo; Baumgartner, a 6-foot-l, 170-pounder with Laval of the Quebec League, went 37th overall. He&rsquo;s a good skater and has some skill, but must improve his defensive game. &#9632;

f0026-03

Coach spots finally filled

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04524/8638316-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="224" height="221"></div>They have not yet changed their telephone number to 1-800-GOALIES, but the New Jersey Devils are continuing to stockpile quality netminders.The Devils spent their first round pick at the 1997 entry draft on goaltender Jean-Francois Damphousse of the Quebec League&rsquo;s Moncton Wildcats.&ldquo;We have to have foresight. Expansion is coming,&rdquo; GM Lou Lamoriello said of the decision to draft a goalie on a team which already has two good young netminders in Martin Brodeur and Mike Dunham.&ldquo;With the amount of time he has to spend between juniors and the minor leagues, we&rsquo;re not going to have to worry about the expansion draft and waiver draft. That was our thought process.&rdquo;Lamoriello said he did not pick the 6-foot, 162-pound Damphousse as insurance after Dunham filed a grievance through the NHL Players&rsquo; Association in an effort to be declared an unrestricted Group VI free agent. An arbitrator will decide whether the Devils lose him and receive nothing in return. Dunham is arguing the team did not act in good faith in getting him into 26 regular season games to avoid Group VI status (he required 25 appearances).&ldquo;I feel we were within the framework of the rules in what transpired. In my mind, there is nothing we&rsquo;ve done wrong,&rdquo; Lamoriello said of the team&rsquo;s strategy to insert Dunham into several games for a matter of seconds. &ldquo;We have every intention Mike Dunham will be a Devil next year.&rdquo;It will be some time before Damphousse gets a real shot at making the big club, but it was the prospect of someday playing with Brodeur that excited the native of St-Alexis-des-Monts, Que.&ldquo;He is one of my favorite goalies and I&rsquo;m going to get a chance to meet him when I go to training camp,&rdquo; Damphousse said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy to go with the Devils.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Without a pick in the second round, the Devils decided to trade their two third round choices (Nos. 58 and 66) to Ottawa for the Senators&rsquo; 38th pick overall. They chose Stanislav Gron, a 6-foot-l, 189-pound center from Slovakia. He did not play much last season because of a shoulder injury&hellip;Veteran minor league goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz was re-signed, perhaps in case goalie Mike Dunham is declared a free agent&hellip;GM Lou Lamoriello said Dunham&rsquo;s decision to file a grievance did not mean an automatic ticket out of town as it did for right winger Claude Lemieux two years ago. &rsquo;There is no comparison to this situation. They are trying to do something within the framework of the rules.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-04

Goalies just keep coming into town

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011192/8638347-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="223" height="223"></div>New York Islanders&rsquo; GM Mike Milbury knew he would take criticism from fans when he used his fourth- and fifth-overall draft picks for Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs&rsquo; goalie Roberto Luongo and Prince George Cougars&rsquo; defenseman Eric Brewer.The Islanders already have three capable young goalies-Tommy Salo, Eric Fichaud and Mark McArthur-and one of the NHL&rsquo;s best young defense corps. What they lack is scoring forwards and Milbury passed on highly touted center Daniel Tkaczuk.When he did, boos thundered from more than 3,000 fans at the team&rsquo;s Nassau Coliseum draft party. Two days later, Milbury said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very understandable. When you look on the surface, they see a need (at forward) and so do I. But these guys certainly are not going to be impact players for a number of years, so we&rsquo;re going to have to do some shuffling of our assets. Now we&rsquo;re going to have some fun and do some trading.&rdquo;A club source said Milbury tried and failed to obtain the Sharks&rsquo; No. 2 overall choice so he could take Seattle center Patrick Marleau. Milbury rejected an Oilers&rsquo; offer of Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; center Jason Arnott for both of his first-round picks.The source said Milbury tried to swap a pick with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but Lightning GM Phil Esposito would not part with left winger Jason Wiemer. A swap of Milbury&rsquo;s fifth pick with the No. 6 Flames (for the rights to unsigned Gary Roberts) fell through.Milbury pacified fans by taking Windsor Spitfires&rsquo; left winger Jeff Zehr with the 31st overall choice. THN rated Zehr 19th and the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau had him 16th.&ldquo;I love Zehr,&rdquo; Milbury said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s kind of cocky and plays with a Dino Ciccarelli-type attitude, but the kid we really hope we&rsquo;re right on is (Prince George center) Jarrett Smith (a third-rounder). He has got good size, is an excellent skater.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: GM Mike Milbury signed defenseman Zdeno Chara, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound Slovakian, to a three-year contract on June 17. The deal pays Chara an $875,000 base salary in each season and, a source said, includes a signing bonus of more than $1 million. Since Chara was drafted at age 19 last year, he would have been eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after this coming season. &ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t know if he&rsquo;ll play for our team next year,&rdquo; said Milbury, who compared Chara to Philadelphia defenseman Kjell Samuelsson. &rsquo;There&rsquo;s no immediate need to rush him."&hellip;Coach Rick Bowness hired former Canadian national team coach Wayne Fleming as one of his assistant coaches. &#9632;

f0027-01

No offense, but Milbury backs picks

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011232/8638378-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="225" height="224"></div>Mike Peluso had been traded before, but never for a GM.But that&rsquo;s ostensibly what happened when the 31-year-old left winger was acquired from the St. Louis Blues on draft day as compensation for the Blues&rsquo; signing of Larry Pleau as GM. Pleau had been the Rangers&rsquo; vice-president and director of player personnel.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s kind of a first,&rdquo; said the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Peluso.The long-haired Peluso, who proudly sports tattoos of the Stanley Cup he won with the New Jersey Devils and the Turner Cup he won with the Indianapolis Ice of the International League, still needs to sign a contract. He is a restricted Group II free agent as of July 1.&ldquo;I want to do a Ranger deal,&rdquo; Peluso said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of like America&rsquo;s Team, with the kind of support they get. I know the area and this is a great opportunity for me to pick my game up and play with some emotion.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t tum a Rangers&rsquo; fan into a Devils&rsquo; fan and you can&rsquo;t tum a Devils&rsquo; fan into a Rangers&rsquo; fan. But with this move I know for a fact there will be some fans switching over.&rdquo;The deal to get the rugged Peluso marks the second time in four summers the Rangers had a compensation deal with the Blues over a front office member. In July, 1994, the Rangers received Petr Nedved for Esa Tikkanen and Doug Lidster to complete the compensation for St. Louis signing Mike Keenan as coach-GM.NOTEBOOK: The Rangers made Brandon 6-foot-l/2, 195-pound right winger Stefan Chemeski their first pick in the entry draft, 19th overall&hellip;Right winger Shane Churla, 32, underwent major reconstructive knee surgery in early-June and is expected to be sidelined until February&hellip;Left winger Esa Tikkanen&rsquo;s agent, Rich Winter, said of the unrestricted free agent, &ldquo;He wants to be paid fairly. But he has indicated to me if there&rsquo;s a big gap, I&rsquo;m to fill it with playoff bonuses. He says, &lsquo;If they offer X and we want 2X, just put it in playoff bonuses and I&rsquo;ll earn them.&rsquo;&rdquo; Winter believes Tikkanen is the third most valuable Ranger, behind defenseman Brian Leetch and center Wayne Gretzky, and ahead of center Mark Messier. &#9632;

f0028-01

Former Ranger foe Peluso happy to land in New York

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03631/8638409-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="787" height="1233"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Clarke</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02854/8638416-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="226" height="222"></div>Bob Clarke saw no way out.Calling it the toughest thing he has had to do in his 13 years as a GM, the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; executive fired coach Terry Murray June 13.Murray, a close friend of Clarke&rsquo;s prior to the dismissal, compiled a .627 winning percentage in three seasons with the Flyers.But Clarke is a realist and felt there was too much of a gap between Murray and his players.&ldquo;The problems that existed between the coach and the players were problems that I did not feel could be fixed,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s unfortunate that we had to take such a drastic step, but I felt it was necessary in order for the team to move forward.&rdquo;Clarke revealed Murray was offered a scouting position in the organization to honor an undisclosed one-year contract extension he received during the season.Murray said he would accept that post only if he didn&rsquo;t land elsewhere as a head coach.The problems between Murray and his players came to a head during the Stanley Cup final when, after the third of four straight losses to the Detroit Red Wings, Murray said the team was in &ldquo;a choking situation.&rdquo;Said goalie Ron Hextall, who wasn&rsquo;t thrilled with platooning with Garth Snow through the playoffs, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it (choking comment) helped the situation. But there were situations before that which brought this on. There were a number of problems.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: San Jose assistant coach Wayne Cashman and Flyers&rsquo; assistant coach Keith Acton emerged as leading candidates to fill the head coaching vacancy&hellip;One-time Flyers&rsquo; coach Mike Keenan confirmed he&rsquo;s interested in returning&hellip; Cornell goalie Jean-Marc Pelletier was the Flyers&rsquo; first selection (30th overall) at the entry draft&hellip; The Flyers selected defenseman Kris Mallette in the third round. Mallette is the second cousin of veteran Boston right winger Troy Mallette&hellip; The Flyers signed free-agent center Jim Montgomery June 12. Montgomery, who played in Germany last season after toiling in the Flyers&rsquo; organization the previous two years, is credited for coining the &ldquo;Legion of Doom&rdquo; nickname for the team&rsquo;s top line. &#9632;

f0028-03

Clarke fires close friend

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04441/8638447-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="224" height="224"></div>While the Ottawa Senators were celebrating the selection of one first round pick, a war with another was festering.Five days before they made Slovakian center Marian Hossa the 12th overall pick in the 1997 entry draft, the Senators learned last year&rsquo;s No. 1 overall pick, defenseman Chris Phillips, was threatening to return to junior next season with the intention of re-entering the draft in 1998.At issue are bonus clauses that could earn the 19-year-old Phillips as much as $1.8 million next season.&ldquo;There is a significant gap between ourselves and the Senators in the area of performance bonuses,&rdquo; said Phillips&rsquo; agent, Stacey McAlpine.Senators&rsquo; GM Pierre Gauthier indicated he expects Phillips to be in camp and maintained he was surprised by the announcement. Gauthier insists he won&rsquo;t trade Phillips.&ldquo;Players have been putting a gun to this franchise&rsquo;s head too often,&rdquo; Gauthier said. &ldquo;I guarantee you it&rsquo;s not going to happen anymore. We really like Chris. We want to sign him. We want him to play for us for a long time.&ldquo;This decreases his chances (of being traded) by 100 per cent. I told you there were no untouchables on this team. Right now there&rsquo;s one. Chris Phillips is untouchable.&rdquo;While the club must settle the fight with Phillips, the Senators will also begin discussions with Hossa, a scoring winger, who had 25 goals and 44 points in 46 games with Trencin of the Slovakian League this past season.The Senators have been looking for a player who can help the likes of center Alexei Yashin and right winger Daniel Alfredsson. It&rsquo;s expected once Hossa does make the team, he&rsquo;ll play on one of the top two lines.&ldquo;He has the talent,&rdquo; said Senators&rsquo; chief scout Andre Savard. &ldquo;He has hockey sense and he&rsquo;s an exciting hockey player with good size. We drafted him to be an offensive player.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Edmonton GM Glen Sather made a pitch for detenseman Chris Phillips, but was quickly rebuffed by GM Pierre Gauthier&hellip;Discussions with restricted restricted free agent right winger Daniel Alfredsson were sputtering&hellip;Goalie Damian Rhodes, who missed 28 games because of a nagging ankle injury, had surgery in June to remove scar tissue and should be ready for camp. Five days after the procedure, he threw away his crutches in Toronto to marry actress Lara Wickes.. The Senators used five of their eight selections in the draft to select Europeans. Finnish goalie Jani Humie (58th overall) and Swedish winger Magnus Arvedsson (119th) both have a chance to make the team next season. &#9632;

f0028-04

Hossa joins talent pool; Phillips out?

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011093/8638478-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="223" height="222"></div>After receiving several trade proposals leading up to the NHL entry draft, Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; GM Bobby Smith finally relented and made a deal.&ldquo;Yeah, I wound up trading a Coyotes&rsquo; jersey for a Rangers&rsquo; jersey with (New York GM) Neil Smith,&rdquo; he said, laughing. &ldquo;I think he got the better of the deal, though.&rdquo;The Coyotes came close to pulling off a major trade, however, moments before the June 21 draft in Pittsburgh. An Eastern Conference team reportedly was interested in a four-player swap that included giving Phoenix a first-round pick it lost last August in the trade for Jeremy Roenick.&ldquo;It just didn&rsquo;t make sense for us,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;A player involved on the other side was a very high-level young player, but we decided to walk away from it.&rdquo;Instead, the Coyotes kept the six draft picks they had-the fewest among the 26 teams-and used most of them to grab the biggest, strongest defensemen they could find. Phoenix stockpiled four in all. spending each of their first three picks on defense.Their first choice was 6-foot-2, 194-pound Juha Gustafsson of Finland, whom they took in the second round with the 43rd overall pick. It seemed somewhat of a surprising move, considering Gustafsson was rated as the 25th-best European and there were five undrafted players still available who were ranked as potential first-rounders. But the Coyotes think they might have landed another Teppo Numminen in Gustafsson, who was voted outstanding defenseman in the Four Nations Cup in Sweden last February.&ldquo;I hope I can be as good as Teppo someday,&rdquo; he said.The Coyotes then drafted two hulking defensemen from the Western League in 6-foot-3, 220-pound Scott McCallum of the Tri-City Americans and 6-foot-4, 220-pound Curtis Suter of the Spokane Chiefs. A fourth defenseman, 6-foot-4, 220-pound Alexei Andreyev, was claimed in the eighth round.NOTEBOOK: Former Buffalo assistant coach John Tortorella is the first of two assistants to join coach Jim Schoenfeld&rsquo;s staff. Tortorella spent the past two seasons as coach of Buffalo&rsquo;s American League affiliate in Rochester, guiding them to the Calder Cup in 1995-96 and to a division title this past season before getting eliminated in the conference semifinal. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited about it,&rdquo; said Tortorella, who spent the previous six seasons as a Sabres&rsquo; assistant. &ldquo;I wanted to get back to the NHL. I wanted a head coaching job, but I found out it&rsquo;s difficult when you&rsquo;re not a high-profile guy. But the bottom line is I feel very fortunate, especially to go with this club."&hellip;The Coyotes broke ground on their much-awaited, but controversial training facility June 17. The building, which will include two rinks and eventually house the team&rsquo;s management offices, drew criticism from some angry residents in an adjoining north Scottsdale neighborhood. &#9632;

f0029-01

Coyotes have fewest draft picks, continue to stocknile defensemen

<div class="byline">By Mike Dudurich</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02734/8638509-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="226" height="228"></div>Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; GM Craig Patrick wanted to make sure the identity of his team&rsquo;s new coach was kept a secret.But it was no secret the Penguins needed a coach with structure, a firm insistence on defense and a healthy enthusiasm for teaching as the team embarks on a journey into a post-Mario Lemieux era of hockey in Pittsburgh.So while Patrick hid Kevin Constantine on his houseboat the night before making things official June 12, the move did not shock many people.&ldquo;He was easily the most ambitious guy of everyone I talked to,&rdquo; Patrick said.Since the Penguins last won a Stanley Cup, Patrick has maintained his goal is to surround himself with ambitious people, those who share his intense desire to win.Constantine definitely fits that mold. He was the coach of the San Jose Sharks for 2-1/2 years, guiding that franchise to its first-ever Stanley Cup playoff appearance in 1994. He gained a reputation of being a very difficult coach to deal with from a player&rsquo;s standpoint.&ldquo;I think you go into it the second time with a little more relaxed approach,&rdquo; he said at the news conference. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not so afraid about being fired. You&rsquo;ve already been fired, so you learn to trust yourself as a coach. I think they will find I&rsquo;m a tough coach, but an honest coach and a fair coach.&rdquo;Constantine insists he&rsquo;s not an ogre, but a coach who knows how to get whatever there is to get out of a team. And since the Penguins will be trying to find an identity without Lemieux, they&rsquo;ll need to squeeze absolutely the most out of each player.&ldquo;We certainly want to be a team that gets the most out of ourselves,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Whatever that will be.&rdquo;It was a big week on a lot of fronts for Constantine who, along with his wife, Peggy, adopted a three-week old son, Matthew, less than a week before being named coach of the Penguins.&ldquo;It has been a great week in my life,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: Coach Kevin Constantine said center Ron Francis is the logical candidate to replace Mario Lemieux as captain of the Penguins, although he added he normally leaves that issue up to a vote of the players&hellip; Goalie Ken Wregget was one of the Penguins who showed up at the NHL&rsquo;s entry draft at the Civic Arena and said he had started working out in an attempt to ward off any of the hamstring problems that plagued him last season&hellip;The Penguins made 18-year-old Robert Dome, a native of Slovakia who played the last two years in the International League, their choice in the first round of the draft. He believes he&rsquo;ll play with the Penguins this fall and. while the Penguins believe he&rsquo;s close to being ready, they&rsquo;ve not penciled him in for a guaranteed spot on the roster&hellip; Constantine was taking his time in filling out his staff, interviewing some 10 possible candidates, including holdovers Rick Kehoe and Bryan Trottier. He said he hopes to have his assistants in place by mid-summer. &#9632;

f0029-02

Coach Constantine up to challenge of guiding Lemieux-less Penguins

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03595/8638571-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="783" height="1228"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tony Granato</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02825/8638578-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="224" height="222"></div>The San Jose Sharks believe they might have gained an extremely elusive commodity a true franchise center-when they made Patrick Marleau the No. 2 overall selection in the June 21 NHL entry draft in Pittsburgh.&ldquo;Maybe seven bona fide No. 1 centers have come out of the past 10 drafts,&rdquo; said Sharks&rsquo; GM Dean Lombardi. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what Marleau&rsquo;s upside is.&rdquo;It was for the possibility of what Marleau might become that San Jose rebuffed several trade overtures, including one from the Calgary Flames for star right winger Theoren Fleury.&ldquo;Dean said he wasn&rsquo;t trading his pick, no matter what,&rdquo; said Tampa Bay Lightning GM Phil Esposito.The Sharks are aware Marleau, a standout with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western League the past two seasons, has a long way to go before being ready for the NHL, let alone stardom.Born Sept. 15, 1979, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Marleau was the youngest player eligible for this year&rsquo;s draft.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a concern and he knows that,&rdquo; Lombardi said.San Jose isn&rsquo;t ruling out the possibility Marleau might earn a roster spot during training camp, but the expectation is that he will return to the Thunderbirds for another season.&ldquo;1 have no doubt he&rsquo;ll play in the NHL when he&rsquo;s 19, but I stress the need to be patient with him,&rdquo; said Seattle GM Russ Farwell, formerly the GM of the Philadelphia Flyers.NOTEBOOK: By capturing this year&rsquo;s Masterton Trophy, left winger Tony Granato became the first post-season award winner in Sharks&rsquo; history&hellip;For the second straight year, the Sharks pulled off a draft-day trade to acquire a second first round pick. They chose defenseman Scott Hannan of the Western League&rsquo;s Kelowna Rockets with the 23rd overall selection, which they obtained from Carolina. The Hurricanes received San Jose&rsquo;s second-round pick (28th overall) and a third round choice in 1998&hellip;The Sharks also traded up, 11 spots, in the fourth round to take right winger Adam Colagiacomo of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Oshawa Generals&hellip;For the first time ever, the Sharks did not draft a European player. &#9632;

f0030-03

Team holds on to No. 2

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04428/8638609-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="226" height="224"></div>Trader Phil Esposito was a busy boy in Pittsburgh.First, the Tampa Bay Lightning GM sent veteran left winger Shawn Burr to the San Jose Sharks.Next, he returned backup goalie Rick Tabaracci to the Calgary Flames.With that, Esposito picked up two middle-round picks, a fifth-rounder in 1997 for Burr and a fourth-rounder next year for Tabaracci and cut almost $1.5-million in salary.Later he toyed with the TV cameras and those at the arena while supposedly talking trade with New York Islanders&rsquo; GM Mike Milbury. And finally Esposito drafted a kid represented by old buddy Bobby Orr, Sudbury Wolves&rsquo; defenseman Paul Mara.The choice of Mara with the No. 7 pick in the opening round was just the beginning of a rather striking commentary on the state of the Lightning's defense. Tampa Bay took defensemen with five of its first seven picks, topped by New England prep school-product Mara, the first American-born player to go in 1997.&ldquo;He got to Sudbury as the supposed savior right out of high school, and it was like, &lsquo;Whoa,&rsquo;&rdquo; Esposito said &ldquo;But he endured the booing and had a good season. That&rsquo;s mental toughness.&ldquo;Esposito added Mara&rsquo;s choice of agent Orr should make things interesting.&ldquo;I plan to take full advantage of (Orr),&rdquo; Esposito said. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t know about it yet and I&rsquo;m not talking about money either. I&rsquo;m talking about him coming to give tips to our defensemen.&rdquo;They apparently need the help.With 1995 second-rounder Mike McBain, 1996 first-rounder Mario Larocque. and now Mara and 1997 second-rounder Kyle Kos, Tampa Bay is banking on kid defensemen in seasons to come. Then there is 1997 sixth round selection Andrei Skopint-sev, a 25-year-old Russian nationalteam member playing in Finland.NOTEBOOK: The Lightning hired Peter Mahovlich away from Edmonton to be its pro scout, a new position in the organization&hellip;Lightning GM Phil Esposito turned down this trade proposal from Islanders&rsquo; GM Mike Milbury: left winger Jason Wiemer for a swap of first round picks that would have allowed Tampa Bay to move two spots up from No. 7 and take defenseman Eric Brewer&hellip;The Maloof family of New Mexico, which is negotiating to buy the team, was represented at Tampa Bay&rsquo;s draft table by Tony Guanci. The consultant said he was there as an observer only&hellip;Defenseman Jamie Huscroft. acquired from Calgary in March, re-signed for two years at $400,000 a year. &#9632;

f0030-04

Trader Phil active at entry draft

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011139/8638640-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="229" height="232"></div>Ken Dryden was willing to pay the price.But in the end, Bob Gainey wasn&rsquo;t willing to pay his personal price, uprooting his family, so he turned his old teammate down.Dryden, the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; president, made it clear that Gainey was his No. 1 choice to be the new GM and had agreed to pay the Dallas Stars compensation in the form of defenseman Mathieu Schneider and an $800,000 (U.S.) deferred portion of Schneider&rsquo;s contract if he could convince Gainey to come to Toronto.&ldquo;It was a personal thing,&rdquo; Dryden said. &ldquo;Bob has had a number of disruptions in the last few years and this would be one more. He could see the job. he could imagine the job, it was the kind of job that appealed to him in many ways.&rdquo; (See pg. 24 for more on Gainey&rsquo;s decision.)Gainey&rsquo;s decision left the Leafs still without a hockey boss, and with a hockey department enveloped in uncertainty.The contracts of interim GM Bill Watters, director of personnel Nick Beverley and senior scout Floyd Smith all expired June 30. European scout Anders Hedberg was deciding whether to exercise a clause in his deal that would allow him to leave the organization with two years left on his contract and head coach Mike Murphy was also not certain whether he&rsquo;d be back.Watters agreed&rsquo;to stay on past the expiration of his contract in order to help Dryden through the free agent season.NOTEBOOK: The Leafs selected Boston College center Jeff Farkas with their first pick, 57th overall. Farkas is 6-foot-l, but only 179 pounds after adding 19 pounds of beef during his freshman season. &rsquo;Three years from now, when I hopefully get up to 190, teams will regret that they passed me up,&rdquo; said the Buffalo native, who played for Team USA at the 1997 World Junior Championship&hellip;Rather than simply let defenseman Matt Martin go to unrestricted free agency, the Leafs may try to give him a qualifying offer and then trade him&hellip; The club is still examining whether to tender right winger Mike Craig a contract&hellip; Czech right winger Martin Prochazka signed a one-year deal June 16 after starring for the Czechs in consecutive World Championships. &#9632;

f0031-01

Leafs still blowing in wind as Gainev refuses GM post

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03561/8638671-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="775" height="1223"><figcaption class="caption-body">George McPhee</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02750/8638678-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="226" height="222"></div>When George McPhee was introduced as the Washington Capitals&rsquo; new GM, he said he wanted to mold the team into one of the total packages that won recent Stanley Cups, clubs such as the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings.&ldquo;We said all along we wanted a team with good balance-speed, skill, be able to grind it out, have some depth,&rdquo; McPhee said.McPhee started building toward that direction at the 1997 entry draft in Pittsburgh by picking two offense-minded defensemen in the first two rounds and then stockpiling a few goalies as insurance with expansion drafts on the horizon.His top two picks were Nick Boynton, a 6-foot-2, 210-pounder of the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s in the Ontario League and Jean-Francois Fortin, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder who has spent two seasons with the Sherbrooke Faucons in the Quebec League.In past seasons Brad Ference, the bruising Spokane Chiefs&rsquo; defender, would have been right down the Capitals&rsquo; alley. He had 324 penalty minutes for the Chiefs last season and a figure like that always seemed to get the adrenaline moving for the Washington scouts.But the direction the club is going to take under the new regime appears to be changing. The smoother-skating Boynton, with better hockey skills, but only 143 P1M. went to the Capitals at No. 9. Ference went to Vancouver at No. 10, the enforcer the Canucks were looking seeking.NOTEBOOK: Four former Cap coaches attended the draft: Gary Green, Bryan and Terry Murray and Jim Schoenfeld, who was named coach in Phoenix after he was fired by Washington. Coach Ron Wilson and Schoenfeld spent some time comparing notes, Wilson swearing it was just Schoenfeld filling him in on the better golf courses around the team practice facility near Annapolis, Md&hellip; The 1997 draft marked the first time since 1990 that Washington hadn&rsquo;t had two first round draft picks&hellip;Washington drafted seven players. Only once previously did they select fewer, picking just five in 1979, including Phoenix right winger Mike Gartner&hellip;Ex-Cap Dave Poulin attended the draft and said he is perfectly happy in his job as coach of Notre Dame. &#9632;

f0031-03

New regime makes mark

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04427/8638709-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="226" height="223"></div>Seeking blueline toughness and a nastier disposition, the Vancouver Canucks left little doubt in which direction they are headed after the smoke cleared at the NHL entry draft.The Canucks selected tough defensemen Brad Ference and Ryan Bonni with their first two picks and then grabbed huge left winger Kyle Freadrich in the third round. The Western League trio combined for 707 penalty minutes, not including misconducts.&ldquo;We filled a need we knew we had for a while,&rdquo; said Canuck GM Pat Quinn, specifically referring to his blueline corps, which is among the softest in the NHL. &ldquo;Ference is the guy our scouts wanted from the start. His style is in-your-face, kind of junkyard dog stuff.&rdquo;At 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, Ference has some filling out to do. He was in 39 fights during his WHL rookie season with the Spokane Chiefs, but claims to be more agitator than pure pugilist.&ldquo;The way I play creates a lot of havoc for some reason,&rdquo; Ference said innocently. &ldquo;Sometimes I irritate guys and they come after me. You always try to model yourself after someone in the NHL and many people compare my style to Vladimir Konstantinov or Chris Chelios, who are chippy kind of guys. Sure I can handle myself, but I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s why they drafted me.Portland Winter Hawk coach Brent Peterson, who faced Ference&rsquo;s Chiefs often during the WHL season, said the Canucks appear to have an outstanding prospect.&ldquo;Ference is tough, very tough,&rdquo; said Peterson, a one-time Canuck player! &ldquo;He is a tough, agitating, hard-nosed, tough guy with pretty good agility and skills. His puckhandling is average, but I don&rsquo;t think Vancouver drafted him to be their power-play quarterback. I see a very positive upside for him if he learns to control his temper.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Swedish defenseman Mattias Ohlund, the Canucks&rsquo; first-rounder in 1994 and the organization&rsquo;s top prospect, attended the entry draft and had a positive meeting with the Canuck brass. Although a defected free agent, Ohlund said he did not talk to other teams in Pittsburgh and still wants to play for Vancouver. &ldquo;1 really hope the contract happens quickly so I can move to Vancouver and get focused for the next season.&rdquo; Ohlund said&hellip;Steve Tamhellini. a member of the Canucks&rsquo; front office for seven years, remained the leading candidate to replace George McPhee as Pat Quinn&rsquo;s assistant GM&hellip;Top draft pick Brad Ference has a pet cocker spaniel named Hrudey, which he named after the San Jose goalie. &#9632;

f0031-04

Canucks get nasty boys in team fold

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011213/8638740-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Captain Mike McHugh was the MVP of Hershey&rsquo;s Calder Cup effort.</figcaption></div>His coach&rsquo;s office is only 500 yards or so from the Hersheypark rollercoaster, but with Bob Hartley, there are no free rides.Practice is intense, players on the fringe must always do extra work and the team&rsquo;s off-ice fitness program would do any army boot camp proud.Above all, there can be only one focus: team success.&ldquo;He gets the most out of his players,&rdquo; Hershey Bears&rsquo; captain and playoff MVP Mike McHugh said of his coach. &ldquo;Every game, guys were cut and bleeding and loving it.&rdquo;Blood, sweat and Bears was the combination that led Hartley and Hershey to the Calder Cup. The Bears won the eighth American League championship in their 59-year history when they defeated the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-1 June 13 to take the best-of-seven series in five games.The win over the overachieving Bulldogs was relatively easy, but the Bears took the high road to get to the final. Fighting off elimination five times, including battling back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Springfield Falcons in the Southern Conference final, the Bears showed they could respond to adversity.The loyalty Hartley&rsquo;s players showed him throughout the season was paid back tenfold during the Bears&rsquo; playoff run. The Montreal Canadiens were looking in late-May for a coach to replace Mario Tremblay and the parent Colorado Avalanche said they could talk to Hartley after the AHL playoffs. Not only did Hartley not make an issue of it, he totally agreed with his employers. By the time the Bears were drinking from the Calder Cup, the Canadiens had already hired Alain Vigneault.&ldquo;I asked myself about 25 times, &lsquo;If Montreal calls and my team is still playing, what would I do?&rsquo;&rdquo; said the 36-year-old Hartley. &ldquo;All 25 times, my answer was the same.&ldquo;If I went to talk to them, it would be very dishonest to Colorado, to the Hershey Bears and to my players. Even today, I&rsquo;m positive I did the right thing. I missed an opportunity for an interview, but I won the Calder Cup.&rdquo;The title came in the Bears&rsquo; first season as Colorado&rsquo;s affiliate. The previous two years, Hartley coached the Avalanche prospects with the Cornwall Aces. Only the defunct Cleveland Barons have won more Calder Cups (nine) than Hershey.Hartley&rsquo;s team won with the complete effort, a team that thrived on Jean-Francois Labbe&rsquo;s goaltending and the hounding defense played by Pascal Trepanier and Eric Messier, but survived because of grit and heart.&ldquo;A lot of teams had more talent, but we had the three C&rsquo;s: character, chemistry and commitment,&rdquo; said Hershey GM Doug Yingst.Players such as McHugh, Eric Veilleux and Cory Banika will probably never see the NHL (with expansion looming, who knows?), but they played vital roles for the Bears. With Hartley, no player is above the team.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way I try to coach. I&rsquo;m not a believer that one guy is going to carry you,&rdquo; Hartley said. &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t buy into the team goal, you&rsquo;re not going to be in our dressing room very long.&rdquo;He had believers in his theory, too, which is why the Bears actually won because of four Cs, with coaching the fourth leg of the superfecta. Hartley&rsquo;s three-year AHL record is 115-99-26.&ldquo;The young guys don&rsquo;t know how fortunate they were to be playing for Bob,&rdquo; McHugh said. &ldquo;I learned how to win this year. If I&rsquo;m a GM, that&rsquo;s who I want coaching my team. He&rsquo;s an NHL coach just waiting for the opportunity.&rdquo;The final was anti-climactic as the Bears outscored the Bulldogs 19-13 and won all three games at Hamilton&rsquo;s Copps Coliseum.&ldquo;Not taking anything away from Hamilton, because I think they were a great team, but that was the easiest series we had,&rdquo; said Bears&rsquo; defenseman Paul Jerrard.Labbe was one player who felt Hartley&rsquo;s impact. Three years ago, he was playing in the Colonial League and preferred partying over practice. Now he&rsquo;s a two-time all-star and won the Baz Bastien Award as the AHL&rsquo;s top goalie.&ldquo;Words can&rsquo;t express how proud I am of that man,&rdquo; Hartley said. &ldquo;I picked up a man with no direction and he did it all. He didn&rsquo;t just turn his game around, he turned his life around.&rdquo;Hartley&rsquo;s pride extends to his entire team.&ldquo;No one knows how much this took,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;All year I kept driving on this and kept pushing these guys to the limit. There&rsquo;s not an amusement park in the world that can supply a ride like this.&rdquo;Not even the one 500 yards from his office. &#9632;

f0032-01

Hershey’s Hartley deserving champ

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>The dream is coming true for Michel Therrien.The Montreal native was recently hired by the Montreal Canadiens to coach their American League affiliate, the Fredericton Canadiens. It is his first pro job after four great years in the Quebec League.&ldquo;When I was a kid I always watched the Canadiens with Guy Lafleur, they&rsquo;ve always been my favorite team,&rdquo; said Therrien, 33. &ldquo;To get a chance to work in this organization, a first-class organization, I&rsquo;m very happy.&rdquo;Therrien replaces Paulin Bordeleau, who was not rehired after seven seasons. Bordeleau, the only coach in the Fredericton Canadiens&rsquo; history, had four straight losing seasons.Therrien&rsquo;s QMJHL teams never won fewer than 40 games in his four seasons. He was with the Laval Titan in 1993-94 and 1994-95, posting back-to-back 41-win seasons. The next two seasons were spent with the Granby Predateurs, where he guided them to the Memorial Cup in 1995-96. Therrien&rsquo;s junior coaching record is 173-67-10.&ldquo;From my first year in Laval. I always wanted to make a career of coaching,&rdquo; said Therrien, a defenseman for the 1984-85 Calder Cup-&mdash; champion Sherbrooke Canadiens.Montreal will share its team in Fredericton next season, with the Los Angeles Kings providing seven of its top prospects.Fredericton finished in the Canadian Division basement with the AHL&rsquo;s worst record (26-46-8). At one point, a player shortage caused by injuries forced Bordeleau to play.BREAKING NEW GROUND: The AHL&rsquo;s new franchise in New Haven has become a pioneer in terms of gender equity, hiring Amy Hannah as assistant GM and director of operations.&ldquo;She is the best person for the job,&rdquo; said David Gregory, New Haven&rsquo;s president-GM. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s as knowledgeable a hockey person as you&rsquo;ll find.&rdquo;Hannah is a graduate of Cornell University and earned a masters degree from Temple University in sports administration. An internship with the Syracuse Crunch in ". 1994 turned into a permanent position when Gregory was GM.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02805/8638771-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="580" height="582"></div>&ldquo;This is a great opportunity for myself and if it happens to open some doors for other people, that would be great,&rdquo; said Hannah, whose husband, Shaun, played for the Knoxville Cherokees in the East Coast League this past season and is now coach at Division II Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.New Haven is back in the AHL for the first time since the New Haven Senators folded after the 1992-93 season. The franchise expects to announce a nickname in July.REALIGNMENT: Franchise shifts forced the AHL to realign and rename its four divisions, and also rename the conferences from a North/South format to a Eastern/Westem.The Eastern Conference includes the Atlantic Division (Fredericton, Portland Pirates, Saint John Flames and St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs) and New England Division (Hartford, New Haven, Providence Bruins, Springfield Falcons and Worcester IceCats). The Western Conference has the Empire Division (Adirondack Red Wings, Albany River Rats, Hamilton Bulldogs, Rochester Americans and Syracuse) and Mid-Atlantic Division (Cincinnati, Hershey Bears, Kentucky Thoroughblades and Philadelphia Phantoms).McKENZIE WINNER: Glenn Stanford, director of operations for St. John&rsquo;s, and Carole Appleton, director of promotions for Springfield, won the Ken McKenzie Award. Named after the co-founder of The Hockey News, the award is given for excellence in team promotion. &#9632;

f0032-02

Therrien makes move to pro ranks

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011095/8638802-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Grinning Vipers Jimmy Carson (left) and Jeff Reese put a squeeze on the Turner Cup.</figcaption></div>Games in the International League often resemble indoor soccer judging by the rate goals are scored.In their first two seasons in the league, the Detroit Vipers more than contributed to that perception. They scored 310 and 311 goals, respectively, while getting more than 100 points each year.But they allowed 273 goals one year and 274 the next. And coach Steve Ludzik wasn&rsquo;t about to stand for another season of fast-break hockey. When he officially took over for Rick Dudley prior to 1996-97-he ran the bench as associate coach in the second half of 1995-96-he knew there was one thing he would change.&ldquo;The T is known as a wide-open league,&rdquo; Ludzik said, &ldquo;but that wasn&rsquo;t going to be our blueprint.&rdquo;He wanted to convert the Vipers into defensive demons, which was easier said than done considering the Vipers were loaded with some of the IHL&rsquo;s best offensive players. Forwards such as Todd Simon, Peter Ciavaglia and Stan Drulia made a living turning on the red light.Ludzik, though, managed to turn this cast into the second-best defensive team in the 52-year history of the league and it ended with a Turner Cup as league champion. The Vipers defeated the Long Beach Ice Dogs 4-2 in the best-of-seven final, giving Detroit its second hockey title in a week.The season ended, appropriately enough, on a shutout, as Rich Parent stopped 15 shots as Detroit won 2-0 June 15 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.Dudley, who gave up his coaching chores after 1995-96 to concentrate on GM duties, said the win signified the start of an era: The Steve Ludzik Era.The 35-year-old ex-Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; forward hasn&rsquo;t received a lot of publicity as an NHL coaching prospect and Dudley has a hard time understanding why.&ldquo;Steve is one of the best coaches in the game, period,&rdquo; Dudley said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing to me, in an era in which some NHL teams have a budget of $30 million for players, they don&rsquo;t take the time to scout coaches and try to find who the best person is to guide the ship. There aren&rsquo;t many better than him. He has very good communication skills, he is extremely intense and he&rsquo;s a great technician. He&rsquo;s a learner and he&rsquo;s constantly coming up with new ways to teach and coach.&rdquo;The Vipers&rsquo; transformation, Ludzik said, began the previous summer when he and Dudley huddled in a strategy session. They decided to, ii necessary, sacrifice talent for character.In short order, the Vipers dealt Daniel Shank, Lonnie Loach, Bill Armstrong and others, shedding payroll while at the same time molding the type of team Ludzik wanted to see.In that system, guys who dealt out punishing hits were as valuable as players who made highlights for acrobatic plays.In short, Ludzik got the Vipers to believe there was more than one way to turn a game around. They did it with breathtaking moves on occasion, to be sure, but they turned games around with the thunder of an Yvon Corriveau hit, the timeliness of a Rich Parent save or the willingness of a Bobby Jay to get in front of a shot.&ldquo;Yvon Corriveau&rsquo;s job was as important as Peter Ciavaglia&rsquo;s, whose was as important as Brad Shaw&rsquo;s, whose was as important as Dan Kesa&rsquo;s,&rdquo; Ludzik said. &ldquo;The thing I tried to get across is everybody had to play a part. There were all jobs to be done and none meant more than another.&rdquo;The Vipers, who ripped through the season rolling up 122 points, were no less dominant in the playoffs. Detroit was 15-6 in the post-season and allowed an average of 2.2 goals per game.During the season, the Vipers allowed just 188 goals, an average of 2.29 per game. It was the fewest goals allowed in an 82-game IHL season.&ldquo;We sacrificed to play defense at all times and when you have great talent like we do, you have a chance for glory,&rdquo; said Ciavaglia, who led post-season scorers with 33 points and was named playoff MVP.That turned out to be the difference in a bitterly fought final. The teams split the opening two games in Detroit, but the Vipers put a stranglehold on the series while in California.Detroit won two of three on the road, holding the high flying Ice Dogs to four goals in three games on home ice. When the series returned to Detroit for Game 6, the Vipers played their best defensive game of the series and held the Dogs without a shot on net for more than 20 minutes.&ldquo;Everybody committed to the same goal,&rdquo; Ludzik said. &ldquo;The guys realized it was in their best interests to put the personal stuff on the shelf and commit to the team. And we had guys sacrifice personal things for the team and when guys do that, you have a chance to be pretty &#9632;

f0033-01

Vipers find Turner touch

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div>The Cleveland Lumberjacks turned to one of their all-time great players to fill their vacant coaching position.Cleveland president-GM Larry Gordon named Perry Ganchar as the club&rsquo;s coach to replace Rick Paterson. Paterson, an employee of the Pittsburgh Penguins, was let go when the Penguins severed their ties to Cleveland.Ganchar is eighth on the Lumberjacks&rsquo; all-time list in points (459), goals (228) and games (547). He has been an assistant for two years.&ldquo;When I became an assistant two years ago, I never thought I&rsquo;d be a head coach in two years,&rdquo; said Ganchar, 34. &ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ll have support.&rdquo;Gordon said the thirst for knowledge Ganchar has shown since he retired in 1994-95 is what convinced him Ganchar would be a good coach.&ldquo;When he was making the transition, I suggested he attend as many coaching clinics as possible and that I would pay his expenses,&rdquo; Gordon said. &ldquo;I thought he might go to one and he went to three. And he went to three again last year and he has already gone to one this year.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve known Perry for 10 years and I know&rsquo; he&rsquo;s the kind of guy who loves the game and wants to learn as much as he can about it.&rdquo;After a 10-year relationship with the Penguins, the Lumberjacks will operate as an independent for the first time since the franchise moved to Cleveland. The Penguins will still supply the Lumberjacks with four or five players, but the bulk will be on Cleveland contracts Ganchar said he will stress character when attempting to sign players.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02738/8638833-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="523" height="631"></div>&ldquo;I want guys who are dedicated and not afraid to lay it on the line every night,&rdquo; Ganchar said.Mark Osborne retired to become Ganchar&rsquo;s assistant. A veteran of 16 pro seasons, Osborne scored 212 goals in 919 NHL games.NEW CEO: Larry Gordon, who is the chairman of the IHL board of governors, dismissed rumors that a movement was afoot to oust commissioner Bob UferHowever, Gordon said Orlando Solar Bears&rsquo; owner Rich DeVosw was put in charge of a search to hire&rsquo; a chief executive officer to take some of the workload off of Ufer. Ufer currently holds the titles of president, commissioner and chief executive officer.&ldquo;We want to let this person handle business matters and allow Bob to concentrate on expansion and hockey matters,&rdquo; Gordon said.WEIRD DEAL: Winger Stan Drulia. who was captain of the Detroit Vipers, is a Quebec Rafale again after a bizarre trade was completed.Drulia became a Viper last off-season when he was traded first from Quebec to the Las Vegas Thunder and then from Las Vegas to Detroit.It turns out Drulia was dealt on loan and the Rafales had the right to recall him, which they did shortly after the Vipers won the Turner Cup.BARR HANGS IT UP: Orlando right winger Dave Barr retired after 16 pro seasons, including the last two as player/assistant coach for the Solar Bears.He had his best professional season in 199596 with Orlando, netting 38 goals and 100 points while also being named MVP of the All-Star Game. Barr played 614 NHL games with seven teams.SIGNINGS APLENTY: There were a number of signings around the league. Cleveland signed left winger Brad Lauer and goaltender Mike Tamburro. The Long Beach Ice Dogs inked right winger Patrik Augusta to a two-year deal. Las Vegas signed right winger Trevor Roenick to a one-year deal and the Cincinnati Cyclones signed goalie Geoff Sarjeant and defenseman Pat MacLeod to two-year contracts. &#9632;

f0033-02

LEAGUES

Lumberjacks turn back to Ganchar

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>The East Coast League, all of a sudden, has become a spawning ground for NHL franchises.For the second time in a month, an NHL team announced it is moving into a city occupied by an ECI franchise. First, it was the Hai ford Whalers shifting K Raleigh, N.C., and becoming the Carolina Hurricanes. Now it&rsquo;s Columbus.The NHL announced June 17 that Columbus was one of S&rsquo; four cities to be granted an u expansion franchise. The o Ohio city still needs to construct an arena, but private financing is in place and the first puck is expected to drop for the 2000-01 season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011231/8638864-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="387" height="403"></div>&rsquo;This is what we as an organization have been shooting for all along,&rdquo; David Paitson, president of the Columbus Chill, told the Columbus Dispatch. &ldquo;We wanted to take hockey to the highest possible level.&rdquo;By the time the unnamed team plays its first game, the Chill will no longer exist in Columbus, said Paitson, the ECHL executive of the year.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d recommend we go two more years,&rdquo; he said, adding that the final decision is up to owner Horn Chen.Paitson, 37, said he has no idea where the Chill would move, but there was a possibility it would be a farm team for the NHL Columbus club.Under Paitson&rsquo;s direction, the Chill has enjoyed six successful seasons at the gate. More than 90 per cent of its games in the 5,700-seat Fairgrounds Coliseum have been sellouts, including a minor-league hockey record 83 straight from 1992-94.The Raleigh IceCaps are expected to relocate to another city after 199798 in anticipation of the Hurricanes moving into a new arena in Raleigh. Carolina will play the next two years in the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum.Nashville was also granted an NHL expansion franchise for 1998-99. The ECHL Knights played in Nashville from 1989-90 to 1991-92.NEW MAN IN MOBILE: Thirty-one-year-old Matt Shaw will become the second coach in Mobile Mysticks&rsquo; history. Shaw replaces Eddie Johnstone, who was fired in mid-May after two seasons at the helm.A native of Renton, Wash., Shaw most recently served as an assistant coach for the Quad City Mallards, who won the Colonial League championship this past season. Shaw has also served as an assistant with Colorado College, his alma mater.&ldquo;We feel like Matt is the coach to take us to the next level,&rdquo; said Mobile GM Steve Chapman. &ldquo;Our goal is to win the championship of the ECHL and we feel we&rsquo;re moving in that direction. We were looking for someone who could motivate the players.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t necessarily say we were looking for youth, but we were looking for enthusiasm.&rdquo;The Mysticks are owned by the same group-United Sports Ventures-that owns Quad City.BRASS TUNES UP: The New Orleans Brass hired Larry Kish, who has more than 30 years experience in pro hockey, as GM. One of Kish&rsquo;s first duties will be to hire a coach.&ldquo;We feel very fortunate to have someone of Larry&rsquo;s caliber,&rdquo; said New Orleans co-owner John Georges.Among his many jobs over the years, Kish briefly coached the Hartford Whalers in 1982-83. Kish was also instrumental in developing the Wheeling Thunderbirds into one of the ECHL&rsquo;s winningest franchises.Kish, who is also vice-president of the Brass, most recently served as vice-president and GM for the Raleigh IceCaps.Taking over Kish&rsquo;s GM position with the IceCaps is Frank Milne, who also needs to find a new coach. Milne is a former GM for the South Carolina Stingrays. &#9632;

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East Coast League Report

Who says ECHL isn’t a developmental league?

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>Brian Kilrea, the winningest coach in Canadian Hockey League history, did not attend Ontario League GM&rsquo;s meetings June 5 in Toronto.He said it was to protest a decision by league owners to enter into exhibition games with a U.S. under-18 team based in Ann Arbor, Mich.Kilrea, coach-GM of the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s, said what really bothered him is the NCAA, the body that governs U.S. college athletics, has told USA Hockey the players on this team will remain eligible for scholarships, while players in any of the three major junior leagues continue to forfeit their NCAA eligibility.Kilrea, with 758 wins in 20 seasons with the 67&rsquo;s, said the NCAA is &ldquo;hypocritical&rdquo; after &ldquo;blackmailing&rdquo; prospective juniors for years.&ldquo;They say, &lsquo;Play with (CHL teams) and you&rsquo;re ineligible.&rsquo; Now, they say, &lsquo;Play against them and it&rsquo;s OK,&rsquo;&rdquo; Kilrea told the London Free Press. &ldquo;If it&rsquo;s beneficial to the NCAA, they overlook it. We&rsquo;ve never discriminated. I&rsquo;m tired of fighting for what I thought was right for this league. I&rsquo;ve taken myself off all management meetings. I will no longer be a voice.&rdquo;Kilrea notified each owner in writing &ldquo;that if the OHL plays against this team, I will not coach against them and I will not be responsible for my players.&rdquo;OHL commissioner Dave Branch said the schedule and financial arrangement with the U.S. team, coached by-Jeff Jackson, have yet to be worked out.&ldquo;Some of our people are upset, but they have to remember, USA Hockey and the NCAA are two separate bodies,&rdquo; Branch said. &ldquo;USA Hockey does not make the NCAA (eligibility) rules.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011149/8638895-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="938" height="316"></div>Branch said it will benefit the OHL to play these games and to work with USA Hockey.&ldquo;It will permit us to expand our talent pool and bring on more U.S. marketplaces,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question certain players will choose that program, but this will give all our teams the added advantage of recruiting American players.&rdquo;U.S. GEM: The courting process began in earnest for the London Knights as they tried to lure Brooks Orpik to the OHL.Orpik, a 16-year-old who attends Thayer Academy in Braintree, Mass., was on hand for a Knights&rsquo; mini-camp June 14-15. He was the Knights&rsquo; seventh-round pick in the OHL midget draft.Many considered the 6-foot-3, 185-pound defenseman the second-best American in the draft, but teams shied away after he indicated a strong desire to pursue a scholarship.Because the Knights were the only team to visit the family&rsquo;s Buffalo-area home prior to the draft, Orpik decided to attend the mini camp.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in the hockey business (a sales rep for Bauer) and I see a million games, but we don&rsquo;t know the OHL,&rdquo; said his father, Rick. &ldquo;We came here to see if Brooks can compete.&rdquo;Knights&rsquo; coach-GM Gary Agnew said it would be a coup to land Orpik.&ldquo;I talked to Brooks about (U.S.-born Sudbury Wolves&rsquo; defenseman) Paul Mara and how he had the same decision to make last year,&rdquo; Agnew said. &ldquo;Mara rolled the dice and coming to the OHL has worked out well for him. He&rsquo;s a top-10 pick in the NHL draft (seventh overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning) and he&rsquo;ll be a millionaire.&rdquo;STORM TROOPER: George Burnett has returned to the OHL to coach the Guelph Storm, replacing EJ. Maguire, who left to pursue an assistant&rsquo;s position in the NHL.Burnett coached the Niagara Falls Thunder from 1990-92 and won back-to-back OHL top coach honors. He was fired as coach of the Edmonton Oilers in 1995 after a public spat with captain Shayne Corson.Burnett coached the American League&rsquo;s Binghamton Rangers this past season, but his contract was not renewed by the parent New York Rangers. &#9632;

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Kilrea makes stand against ‘hypocritical’ NCAA

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>The Western League is emphasizing conformity with the NHL.The WHL has voted to implement the NHL&rsquo;s offside rule, which calls for an automatic whistle in the event of such an infraction.The NHL reverted back to this rule in 199697. The WHL, meanwhile, stayed with a format which allowed play to continue while attacking players cleared the offensive zone.&ldquo;Our teams felt that, for the skill development of defensemen, the (NHL) rule would enhance that area,&rdquo; said WHL vice-president and referee-in-chief Richard Doerksen. &ldquo;A defenseman, rather than dumping the puck blindly, will have to make a play while waiting for his teammates to clear the zone.&rdquo;The WHL has also reduced overtime from 10 minutes to five.&ldquo;A key area is the amount of time teams spend on the road,&rdquo; Doerksen said. &ldquo;It gives the visiting team, especially when playing three games in three nights, a better opportunity to combat fatigue and travel.&ldquo;As well, the five-minute overtime seems to work very well in the NHL.&rdquo;The WHL also discussed implementing notouch icing, which would call for an automatic stoppage in play when a puck is iced.Teams opted to stick with the present procedure. A player whose team did not ice the puck must touch the disc for icing to take effect.&ldquo;We discussed no-touch icing, but decided to remain the same as we have, on the basis that this is what the NHL is doing,&rdquo; Doerksen said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re developing players for the NHL. If they see fit to change, we&rsquo;ll re-address it.&rdquo;PATS HIRE SHOCKEY: The Regina Pats named Parry Shockey coach. He replaces Rich Preston, who resigned May 8 to pursue a coaching job in the pro ranks.Shockey guided the Lethbridge Hurricanes to the WHL title and a berth in the Memorial Cup in 1996-97. He was a co-coach with Lethbridge.Bryan Maxwell is to serve as the Hurri canes&rsquo; coach-GM in 1997-98. Maxwell was suspended from coaching by the WHL for virtually all of 1996-97 following a March 23, 1996 incident with referee Brent Reiber.The 43-year-old Shockey, who resigned from the Hurricanes following the season, signed a two-year contract with Regina.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m thrilled to death,&rdquo; Shockey said. &ldquo;I was quite flattered when the Pats contacted me. AU the fingers pointed to Regina-except the weatherman and he had gloves on at the time.&rdquo;KAMLOOPS LANDS HABSCHEID: Marc Habscheid has signed a two-year contract as the Kamloops Blazers&rsquo; coach.Habscheid, 34, replaces Ed Dempsey, who was fired May 22.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03655/8638957-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="486" height="495"></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m honored to be here,&rdquo; said Habscheid, who spent last season as the coach-GM of the Saskatchewan Junior League&rsquo;s Melfort Mustangs. &ldquo;When you get an opportunity to be a part of something like this, you can&rsquo;t wait for it to start.&ldquo;Everything happened so fast I&rsquo;m r just kind of trying to gather as much information and get comfortable.&rdquo;BRONCOS&rsquo; BRASS BACK: The Swift Current Broncos&rsquo; front office will return.Coach-GM Todd McLellan is under contract through 1998-99 after the Broncos&rsquo; executive elected to exercise its option for that campaign.The Broncos have a 111-88-17 record in three seasons under McLellan.Jamie Reeve, an assistant coach, will also serve as assistant GM. The assistant GM&rsquo;s title had belonged to Jim Henderson of Edmonton, who remains the director of player personnel.CARRIERE RE-HIRED: The Red Deer Rebels signed coach Rick Carriere to a new one-year contract. Carriere has a 71-65-8 record over two seasons in Red Deer.&ldquo;The Rebels are a first-class organization,&rdquo; Carriere said. &ldquo;This is a team that is dedicated to winning and I am proud to be a part of that.&rdquo; &#9632;

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League alters rulebook to resemble laws of NHL

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-011000/8638988-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"></div>HOCKEY IS AN OFFICIAL SUPPLIER TO &#9632;

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LOUISVILLE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-011011/8639050-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01702/8639081-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"></div>Team affiliation are listed in parentheses under names &#9632;

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INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

<h2>NHL PRE-SEASON</h2>The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced their 1997 pre-season schedule. The schedule is as follows:Tuesday, Sept. 16: Tampa Bay vs. Dallas, Lakeland Civic Center, 7:30 pm. Wednesday. Sept. 17: Tampa Bay vs. Washington, Lakeland Civic Center, 7:30 pm. Saturday, Sept. 20: Tampa Bay vs. Washington. USAir Arena, 7:30 pm. Tuesday, Sept. 23: Tampa Bay vs. Florida, Miami Arena. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Sept. 24: Tampa Bay vs. Dallas, Reunion Arena, 7:00 pm. Thursday, Sept. 25: Tampa Bay vs Florida, Ice Palace. 7:30 pm. Sunday. Sept. 28: Tampa Bay vs Detroit, Joe Louis Arena, 7:00 pm.<h2>NHL BREAKOUT 97</h2>The NHL Breakout 1997 Tour dates are as follows: July 12-13: Chicago, Soldier Field, (Burnham Harbor lot). July 12-13: Colorado, Coors Field (parking lot). July 26-27: Philadelphia, CoreStates Center (parking lot). August 2-3: Calgary, site TBA. August 9-10: Vancouver, Lansdowne Mall. August 16-17: Edmonton, West Edmonton Mall. August 23-24: Toronto, CNE National Trade Center. September 6-7: Detroit, Joe Louis Arena. September 13-14: New York, Rye Playland. September 20-21: Washington D.C., Third Street on the Mall September 27-28: Buffalo. Marine Midland Arena (parking lot). October 4-5: Dallas, Valley View Mall. October 18-19: Los Angeles, Santa Monica Beach. November 1-2: South Florida, site TBA.All dates are subject to change. Team registration is conducted in each city through local NHL offices. For more information on how to register a team or general tour information call the NHL Breakout 1997 hotline at (972) 392-5740.<h2>NATIONAL JR. ROSTER</h2>The Canadian Hockey League and Canadian Hockey announced the roster of invitees to the National Junior Team evaluation camp to be held in North York, Ont. August 8 through August 14. The camp is the first step in determining the final roster for the world Junior Championship team. The 1998 World Junior Championship will be held December 25, 1997 to January 3,1998 in Helsinki, Finland.The list which boasts, 10 first round picks from the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, including Joe Thornton, the first pick overall, and eight first round picks from the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. The roster is made up of 17 players from the OHL, 15 from the WHL, eight from the QMHJL and one from U.S. College.The roster also features six returning members of the 1997 World Junior Championship gold medal winning team. They are defensemen Chris Phillips, Cory Sarich, Jesse Wallin, and Richard Jackman, and forwards Thornton, and Boyd Deveraux.<h3>Roster</h3>Goaltender (4)-Patrick DesRochers, Sarnia (OHL); Mathieu Garon, Victoriaville (QMJHL); Roberto Luongo, Vai d&rsquo;Or (QMJHL): Aaron Schweitzer. University of North Dakota (WCHA).Defense (13)-Sean Blanchard. Ottawa (OHL); Nick Boynton, Ottawa (OHL): Eric Brewer, Prince George (WHL); Peter Hogan, Oshawa (OHL); Richard Jackman, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL); Zenith Komarniski, TriCity (WHL); Mario Larocque, Hull (QMJHL); Derek Morris, Regina (WHL): Chris Phillips, Lethbridge (WHL); Cory Sarich, Saskatoon (WHL); Brad Stuart. Regina (WHL); Didier Tremblay, Halifax (QMJHL); Jesse Wallin, Red Deer (WHL).Forward (24)-Aaron Asham, Red Deer (WHL); Scott Barney, Peterborough (OHL); Steve Begin, Vai d&rsquo;Or (QMJHL); Matt Bradley. Kingston (OHL); Nick Bootland, Guelph (OHL); Stefan Chemeski. Brandon (WHL); Dan Cleary. Belleville (OHL): Daniel Corso, Victoriaville (QMJHL); Boyd Deveraux, Kitchener (OHL); Harold Druken, Detroit (OHL); Jean-Pierre Dumont. Vai d&rsquo;Or (QMJHL); Josh Holden. Regina (WHL); Patrick Marleau. Seattle (WHL); Francois Methot. Shawinigan (QMJHL); Brenden Morrow, Portland (WHL); Colin Pepperell, Erie (OHL); Geoff Peters, Erie (OHL); Greg Phillips. Saskatoon (WHL); Todd Robinson, Portland (WHL): Joe Thornton, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL): Daniel Tkaczuk, Barrie (OHL); Darren Van Oene. Brandon (WHL); Jason Ward, Erie (OHL); Jeff Zehr, Windsor (OHL).Coaches-Head coach-Real Paiement (QMJHL). Assistant coaches-Peter Deboer (OHL), Rick Carriere (WHL).<h2>UNDER-18 ROSTER</h2>The Canadian Hockey League and Canadian Hockey named 20 players to the Under-18 Men s Hockey team that will compete at the Czech Republic Tournament from August 10 to 17.The team will assemble in Toronto for a pre-competi-tion camp from August 4 to 8.There are 17 players from Canadian Hockey League on the roster, seven from the OHL. Six from the WHL, and four from the QMJHL. The roster also includes one player from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and two Midget AAA players<h3>Roster</h3>Goaltender-Mathieu Chouinard, Shawinigan (QMJHL); Jake McCracken, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL).Defense-Bryan Allen. Oshawa (OHL); Christian Chartier. Saskatoon (WHL); Jonathan Girard, Laval (QMJHL); Abe Herbst, Sarnia (OHL); Stephen Peat, Red Deer (WHL); Robyn Regehr. Kamloops (WHL).Forward-Blair Betts, Prince George (WHL); Eric Chouinard, Ste. Foy (Midget AAA); Brett DeCecco, Seattle (WHL); Rico Fata, London (OHL); Simon Gagne. Beauport (QMJHL); Vincent Lecavalier, Rimouski (QMJHL); Manny Malhotra. Guelph (OHL); Norm Milley, Sudbury (OHL): Justin Papineau, Belleville (OHL): Garrett Prosofsky, Saskatoon (WHL); Mike Ribeiro. Bourassa (Midget AAA); Brad Richards, Notre Dame (SJHL).<h2>CHL IMPORT DRAFT</h2>The Canadian Hockey League held it&rsquo;s annual impor draft Thursday. June 26 and Friday, June 27. A total of 64 players were selected. Information provider includes team drafted by, player&rsquo;s name, position previous team and league. Where applicable NHL affiliations are listed in brackets after the player&rsquo;s name.League abbreviations are as follows: Czech Republic (CZECH); Russia (RUS); Slovakia (SLOV) Poland (POL); Germany (GER); Finland (FIN); England (ENG); Prince Edward Island Tier II Jr. A (PEI Jr. A): Pennsylvania Jr. B (Penn Jr. B); Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL); International Hockey League (IHL); Latvia (LAT); Switzerland (SWI): Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).<h3>FIRST ROUND</h3>1. Baie Comeau, Edo Terglav, RW. Lac St. Louis (Quebec Midget); 2. Edmonton, Patrik Stefan, C, Sparta Praha (CZECH); 3. Toronto, Jan Sulc (TB), C, Litinov Jr. (CZECH); 4. Moncton, Alexei Tezikov (Buf), D, Lada Togliatti (RUS); 5. Portland, Marian Hossa (Ott), RW, Dukla Trencin (SLOV); 6. Sarnia. Ivan Novoseltsev (Fla), RW, Krylja Sovetov (RUS); 7. Rouyn-Noranda, Martin Bartek, C, Nova Scotia Ice School; 8. Spokane, Petr Sykora (Det), C, HC Pardubice (CZECH); 9. North Bay, Jan Fadrny, C. Olomouc Jr. (CZECH); 10. Sherbrooke, Maxim Patapov, RW, Kharkov (RUS); 11. Tri-City. Josef Melichar (Pit). D, Budejovice Jr. (CZECH); 12. Plymouth, Yuri Babenko (Col). C. Soviet Wings (RUS); 13. Hull, Jiri Fischer, D, Ceske Budejovice (CZECH); 14. Prince George, Petr Kubos (Mtl), HC Vsetin (CZECH); 15. North Bay, Michal Krupa, LW, Trencin Jr. (SLOV); 16. Rimouski, Adam Borzecki, D. Polish Nat&rsquo;l Team (POL); 17. Red Deer. Frantisek Mrazek (Tor), C, Ceske Budejovice (CZECH); 18. Sarnia, Marek Posmyk (Tor), D, Dukla Jihlava (CZECH); 19. Quebec, Petr Klouda, C, Proprad Jr. (SLOV); 20. Seattle, Petr Vala, C, Kryija (CZECH): 21. Kingston, Marco Sturm (SJ), C, Dingolfing Lanchute (GER); 22. Drummondville, Zoltan Batovsky, C, Bystrica (SLOV); 23. Kelowna, Jan Dusanek, D. Pardubice Jr. (CZECH); 24. Sault Ste. Marie, Peter Bohunicky, RW. Trencin (SLOV); 25. Chicoutimi. Robin Bacul (Ott). LW, Slavia Praha Jr. (CZECH); 26. Saskatoon. Petja Pietilianen, LW, Jupht (FIN); 27. Plymouth, Steve Lyle. G, Cardif Devils (ENG); 28. Halifax, Ladislav Nagy (StL), C, Kosice Jr. (SLOV); 29. Moose Jaw, Sergei Stakhovich, LW, Charlottetown (PEI Jr. A); 30. Windsor. Sergei Zimakov (Wsh), D. Soviet Wings (RUS): 31. Vai d&rsquo;Or, Alexandre Byskovskih, C, Lada Togliatti (RUS); 32. Tri-City, Roman Sykora, RW, Zvolen (SLOV); 33. Barrie. Martin Skoula, D, Litinov (RUS); 34. Shawinigan, Juraj Slovak, D, N/A; 35. Seattle, Stanislav Gron (NJ), C, Slovan Bratislava (SLOV): 36.Guelph, Bohuslav Subr, LW. Central Pennsylvania (Penn Jr. B); 37. Victoriaville. Boris Majesky, D, Bratislava (SLOV); 38. Regina, Alexandre Fomitchev (Edm), G, St. Albert (AJHL); 39. Sault Ste. Marie. Martin Galik, LW. Bratislava (SLOV); 40. Sydney, Anton Mikhailov, D, Moscow Spartak Midgets (RUS); 41. Red Deer. Robert Schnabel (NYI), D, Slavia Praha (CZECH): 42. Hull, Miroslav Zalesak, RW, Nitra (SLOV); 43. Prince Albert. Milan Kraft, RW, Pizen (CZECH); 44. Brandon, Petr Havelka (Pit), Sparta Praha Jr. (CZECH); 45. Owen Sound, Sergei Samsonov (Bos), LW, Detroit (IHL); 46. Calgary, Andrei Korhov, C, Rega Jr. (LAT); 47. Oshawa, Boris Ivanov, LW, CSKA Moscow (RUS); 48. Regina, Pavel Beranek, RW, HC Pardubice Jr. (CZECH); 49. Ottawa, Petr Mika (NYI). C, Slavia Praha (CZECH).<h3>SECOND ROUND</h3>50. Baie-Comeau, Tommy Hafner, C, Jesenice Acroni (Slovenia); 51. Toronto. An Katavisto, RW, Kiekko Espoo (FIN); 52. Victoriaville, Pavel Sasik, RW, Banska Bystrica (SLOV); 53. Kingston, Tomas Dolak, C, Freiburg (GER); 54. Chicoutimi, Rene Stussi (Ana), C, Thurgau (SWI); 55. Rimouski, Maxim Bal-mochnykh (Ana), LW, Lada Togliatti (RUS); 56. Prince George. Alex Andreyev (Pho), D, Weyburn (SJHL); 57. Belleville, Branislav Mezei, 0, Nitra (CZECH): 58. Laval. Alex Ryazantsev, D, Spartak (RUS); 59. Prince Albert, Jaromir Smatrala, C, Zilin Jr. (SLOV); 60. Ottawa, Markus Pottinger, D, SB Rosenheim (GER); 61. Halifax, Yuri Bicek (NJ), HC Kosice (SLOV); 62. Vai d&rsquo;Or, Vladimir Konopka, D, N/A; 63. Sydney. Arten Rybin, LW. Moscow Spartak Midgets (RUS); 64. Oshawa, llja Demidov (Cgy), D. Dynamo Jr. (RUS). &#9632;

<div class="byline">By Sandi Trudo</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0042-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01613/8639136-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gerry St. Cyr&rsquo;s River Rats didn&rsquo;t get off to a flying start at home.</figcaption></div>It just wouldn&rsquo;t feel right without a good controversy to kick off the Roller Hockey International season.In the league&rsquo;s inaugural campaign of 1993, Anaheim Bullfrogs&rsquo; head coach Chris McSorley had the foresight to put a handful of top minor league ice hockey players on in-line skates and his team easily skated off with the first Murphy Cup. But his quirky strategy had the rest of what was then a 12-team league crying foul.Things haven&rsquo;t changed much for RHI since. The Bullfrogs are still setting the standard of play in the league, ice hockey&rsquo;s minor leaguers continue to shine and there&rsquo;s still plenty of controversy brewing.In the spotlight this year is the Sacramento River Rats&rsquo; new outdoor rink at the Cal Expo fairgrounds. First, the Rats&rsquo; home opener against the San Jose Rhinos had to be rescheduled because the rink wasn&rsquo;t ready. More recently, Anaheim chose to forfeit a game because they judged the facility unsafe.RHI officials had inspected the site, decided the surface was safe enough to play on and called for the start of the game. After a brief warmup, the Anaheim players disagreed and refused to play.What didn&rsquo;t they like?&ldquo;The floor wasn&rsquo;t covered and it got so hot during the day that the tiles bubbled, our players were sliding all over,&rdquo; explained Bullfrogs&rsquo; GM Bob Destocki. &ldquo;Their boards had about a one inch gap about every eight feet, big enough for equipment to get caught in. They put caulking in the holes, but it got so hot during the day that the caulking melted. And they had cloth signs made and had them affixed to the boards with screws. This left gaps where the signs billowed out and a player could get caught.&ldquo;We also found out that the rink is laid out east to west so the visiting goaltender has the sun shining directly in his eyes.&rdquo;Anaheim was still hoping the league would reschedule the game as was the case with the Rhinos&rsquo; first to Sacramento.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re discussing (rescheduling) with the league,&rdquo; Destocki said. &ldquo;We went there with every intention of playing, we spent the money to get there and everything. But under those conditions, we didn&rsquo;t want to risk our guys.&rdquo;The River Rats, however, believe the forfeit should stand and the league indicated it wasn&rsquo;t planning to make up the game.&ldquo;Rescheduling is for when you can&rsquo;t play the game for some reason,&rdquo; said Rats&rsquo; team president Bob Welton. &ldquo;For example, if the game couldn&rsquo;t be played because of a rain out and the event could not go on.&ldquo;In this case, it was deemed ready to play. RHI said it was, our players said it was and Anaheim chose not to come out. So, they chose to accept the forfeit. That&rsquo;s a forfeit and it stays a forfeit.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unfortunate there has been miscommunication in regard to replaying that game. Anaheim made an unfortunate choice and they&rsquo;ll have to stand by it.&rdquo;That said, Sacramento team officials &ldquo;recognized&rdquo; the Bullfrogs&rsquo; complaints and have since made improvements to the facility. San Jose recently returned to Cal Expo, played in the new rink and won.&ldquo;The difference was like night and day from the first time we were there,&rdquo; said Rhinos&rsquo; GM Jon Gustafson. &ldquo;They had no business holding a game there the way it was, they started building it too late and the weather became a factor&hellip;it&rsquo;s one of those things that happens.&rdquo;Gustafson said, like it or not, teams will have to get used to playing outdoors.&ldquo;This is something new, it&rsquo;s not the San Jose Arena and it&rsquo;s not the Pond. But once you get over all the other differences, it&rsquo;s still a roller hockey game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When we went there and played outdoors at night it was cool and felt refreshing.&ldquo;Playing there is something we have to deal with this year. I never liked the idea of playing outdoors and I voiced that opinion long ago. Now, we have to get past it.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Great outdoors? Not for Anaheim

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01606/8639167-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

July 1, 1997

Foreurs’ prize prospects profit from home cooking

STATISTICAL REPORT

Selection of Rennette completes Gretzky era

Draft day big downer for Oshawa’s Colagiacomo