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.

October 24, 1997

The Hockey News October 24, 1997

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0042-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01554/8062080-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Shawn McCosh was among early-season scoring leaders. (Photo by Paul Angers/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0042-01

DEPARTMENTS

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02689/8061456-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="198" height="194"></div>It appears the Toronto Maple Leafs did the Vancouver Canucks a wonderful favor when they signed Swedish defenseman Mattias Ohlund to an offer sheet this past summer.Canucks&rsquo; GM Pat Quinn was agog at the offer-$10 million (U.S.) over five years-but he matched it and may ultimately find himself with a bargain. Ohlund had looked that good after reporting for duty at training camp.&ldquo;The upside on Mattias is large,&rdquo; said Canucks&rsquo; coach Tom Renney. &ldquo;He will have an influence on this game for a long time. It may be immediate or it may be in two or three years, but it will certainly be lasting in the end.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the type of kid, I would think, who will offer even more in year two and beyond that to the point where maybe he&rsquo;s doing some things we don&rsquo;t yet know he&rsquo;s capable of doing.&rdquo;Ohlund, who turned 21 Sept. 9, is 6-foot-3, 215 pounds and a legitimate Calder Trophy candidate. He said he didn&rsquo;t know what to expect on the smaller North American rinks, but his adjustment was swift. His skating is fine, his shot excellent and his willingness to play the body would please even the most ardent Euro-cynics.&ldquo;The play is so much faster than back home and as a defenseman, you don&rsquo;t have as much time with the puck,&rdquo; Ohlund said. &ldquo;I was glad to get through my first couple of games.&ldquo;I was aware of all the pressure and what people were expecting. I think it was important for me to get a good start. Hopefully, I&rsquo;ll continue and I can play better and better.&rdquo;Canuck veteran center Trevor Linden has seen rookies come and go in his 10 training camps with the team and he admits he is quite taken with Ohlund.&ldquo;He has impressed me a lot,&rdquo; said Linden, who broke into the NHL as an 18-year-old. &ldquo;What I like about him is that he&rsquo;s calm and shows a lot of poise with the puck. He takes his time and doesn&rsquo;t rush himself. That seems to be part of his make-up. He&rsquo;s a sharp kid and definitely a solid, solid player.&rdquo;In his first three regular season games, Ohlund had two points, (a goal and an assist) 10 shots on goal and was plus-2.NOTEBOOK: After two injury-plagued years wearing No. 96, right winger Pavel Bure switched back to No. 10 to open the regular season. &ldquo;You (media) guys were always telling me that and so were the fans,&rdquo; Bure explained. &ldquo;I had more luck with No. 10."&hellip;Bure offered to give his&rsquo;A&rsquo; to center Trevor Linden when the latter turned his captaincy over to center Mark Messier. However, the Russian Rocket kept the&rsquo;A&rsquo; while defenseman Dana Murzyn surrendered his to Linden. Murzyn remains an alternate captain, but will only wear an&rsquo;A&rsquo; if any of the above three are out of the lineup&hellip;Restricted free agent defenseman Bret Hedican re-joined the Canucks following their Tokyo trip after signing a two-year deal for about $1.95 million (U.S.)&hellip;Center Mike Sillinger missed the team&rsquo;s opener in Tokyo after suffering a 25-stitch leg gash in practice the day before. However, he made a remarkable recovery and played in the second game. &ldquo;Must be the sushi,&rdquo; Sillinger quipped. &#9632;

f0025-02

NHL TEAMS

Ohlund match game paying off as rookie defenseman shines

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011139/8061256-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="200" height="206"></div>From the first line to the end of the line. That&rsquo;s how far Shane Doan slipped in one week with the Phoenix Coyotes.One day he was skating alongside left winger Keith Tkachuk and center Craig Janney, several days later he found himself at the airport holding a one-way ticket to Springfield, Mass., after being assigned to the American League.Doan, who appeared in 139 NHL games without playing in the minors, shattered several of his sticks after being informed of his Oct. 8 demotion by GM Bobby Smith.&ldquo;This is not a punishment,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I hope when Shane Doan scores his 40th goal in the NHL, he&rsquo;s going to say, &lsquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t have done this without having gone down to Springfield.&rsquo; &ldquo;Doan, a 21-year-old third-year pro, won a top-line job on the strength of a good pre-season (four goals, eight points in six games). But after struggling in his first two games, he was scratched. Three days later, he was sent down. Doan left town without speaking to reporters.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a front-line player who needs to play 25 minutes a game, needs to play 4-on-4 and needs to play on the power play,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t give him that right now.&rdquo;Smith wouldn&rsquo;t say how long Doan might stay in Springfield, though it figures to be extensive.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want him to go down there with his bags not unpacked and jumping every time the phone rings,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;ll be good for him.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Mike Gartner had one goal in 27 games, dating back to last season (including the playoffs). Gartner needed just four goals to reach 700 for his career&hellip;The Coyotes were still searching for their first power play goal. They were 0-for-21 through four games&hellip;Defenseman Teppo Numminen had two goals in his first two games, equalling his total from last season. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to get off to a nice start,&rdquo; he said&hellip;Center Craig Janney picked up his 500th career assist Oct. 3 in St. Louis&hellip;Center Jeremy Roenick appeared in his 600th NHL game Oct. 8 against Boston&hellip;Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin had started 53 straight games through the first week of the season (including the 1997 playoffs). &#9632;

f0024-01

Doan bitter about demotion following strong pre-season

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011870/8060532-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="501" height="726"></div>You know it&rsquo;s early because the Caps are looking good. Also, because Eric Lindros can knock Martin Brodeur halfway to Piscataway and the Devils can&rsquo;t rub enough sleep from their eyes to say more than &ldquo;he didn&rsquo;t mean to do it.&rdquo;Now, that&rsquo;s early, which presents a particular problem for Wayne Cashman. He is a first-year coach trying to tell the Philadelphia Flyers to wake up and smell the coffee after doctors advised him to switch to tea.That&rsquo;s what happens to old blood-and-guts hockey players. They wind up trying to avoid blood in their guts by drinking hot chocolate and hating every sip. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a coffee guy,&rdquo; says Cashman sadly.After they stuck a tube down into his esophagus to get to the uh, bottom of a reflux problem, Cashman wound up with a throat more sore than half the population of Philadelphia is at Bob Clarke for not having traded for a goalie.Cashman says that&rsquo;s okay because Ron Hextali and Garth Snow were probably his two best players in the early season, which may tell you all you need to know about his team&rsquo;s start. Even harder for Cashman to swallow than food was the spotty effort he was seeing from his squad.&ldquo;I want to see a commitment to team, to working hard and working together,&rdquo; he said after a miserable 41 loss at New Jersey. &ldquo;The amount of penalties tonight showed that we&rsquo;re not doing that right now. We&rsquo;re doing things in reverse, but that will get turned around very quickly if guys are going to play.&rdquo;So how do you like it up there in the honeymoon suite, Mr. Cashman? &ldquo;This is the job 1 wanted,&rdquo; he says. After 10 years as an assistant. Cashman deserved a shot, too, even if it&rsquo;s with a team so loaded he will be taken out and shot if he doesn&rsquo;t win the Cup within the next two years.That&rsquo;s what happened to the last guy, basically. Too many Flyers had problems with Terry Murray for him to be brought back, but had the Flyers beaten Detroit, they could not very well have instructed the coach&rsquo;s convertible driver to get lost from the parade route. Of course, they got swept for better reasons than coaching, which is why Clarke signed Luke Richardson, a requisite stay-at-home defenseman, and a Lindros impersonator, Chris Gratton, to boost Ed Snider&rsquo;s payroll well over $40 million.The Flyers sacrificed Mikael Ren-berg for Gratton, but if kiddies Dainius Zubrus and Vinnie Prospal play to expectations, they will be explosive to go with big and fast. And as soon as they make a goaltending move, they will be inevitable, too.Hextail is considered a much bigger problem in the fans&rsquo; and media&rsquo;s minds than in his teammates&rsquo;. And he really was playing well. But the Flyers aren&rsquo;t going into the playoffs with the same goaltending.While Cashman waits for that other shoe to drop, he already has to put one up against the Flyers&rsquo; behinds. Eric Desjardins, the glue of the defense, is badly missed. And it&rsquo;s a long time until April for elite teams that can&rsquo;t make their seasons until the playoffs.Contract talks with John LeClair are concluding and those with Lindros are ongoing, which have been further distractions. Fresh faces help, especially if they can play like Gratton and Richardson, and so will an enthusiastic approach from behind the bench, part of the reason why Clarke gassed the technically-sound Murray.The Flyers never knew whether they were supposed to protect Lindros or stay out of the penalty box. They got little feedback from a coach who continually stated motivation had to come from the players themselves. Until an ugly, coach-players screaming session before Game 4 of the final, the Flyers didn&rsquo;t get much negativity from Murray, but all along they lacked for positive feedback from a man who treated them like adults, despite the nights they played like children.Cashman says it&rsquo;s part of the coach&rsquo;s job to fire up the troops. He is going to play three lines, which horses like Lindros love, and the door to the coach&rsquo;s office will be open. Unfortunately, so is the door to the penalty box, which the Flyers visit at a too-rapid pace.Cashman must keep them half-way focused until the spring and then he only has to win it all, which sounds a little tough.Not nearly as difficult, however, as looking down Calgary&rsquo;s or Boston&rsquo;s bench, while pondering the next shift.Even amidst lower expectations, no coach survives without players and the support of his best ones. This is why, despite the pressures of coaching a team that is Cup or bust, any candidate knowing the Flyers wanted a communicator would have had no trouble communicating &ldquo;when can I start?&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-01

COLUMNISTS

Cashman’s job tough, but he has talent to win

<div class="image-hero"><img title="C0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0154/8062156-1-eng-US/c0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gordie Howe made pro hockey history when he played a 47-second shift with the International League&rsquo;s Detroit Vipers Oct. 3. It marked the sixth decade in which Howe has participated.</figcaption></div><h2>LaFontaine back with huge bang</h2>1. Pat LaFontaine Ranger center bounces back from post-concussion syndrome to score four goals in first four games.2. Oates wild Washington&rsquo;s Adam Oates hits 1,000-point plateau with three goals, two assists against Islanders.3. Big line Rimouski&rsquo;s Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Eric Normandin net 71 points in eight games.4. Sabre fans React to team&rsquo;s off-ice shenanigans in best way they can-by booing and staying away from games.5. Quebec LeagueCracks down on player-for-cash transactions to keep all clubs on even playing field.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0263/8062149-1-eng-US/c0002-022.jpg" title="C0002-02" width="436" height="625"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat LaFontaine</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0355/8062142-1-eng-US/c0002-032.jpg" title="C0002-03" width="440" height="620"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vincent Lecavalier</figcaption></div><h2>Toronto captain held pointless</h2>1. Four games, no points Psst! Hey Mats Sundin, don&rsquo;t know if you&rsquo;ve noticed, but the season has started.2. Not again Once again (boring) defensive hockey rules, goals at a premium in first few weeks of NHL season.3. Thanks a lot QMJHL&rsquo;s Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs, our pick to win Memorial Cup, gets off to blazing 1-5-1 start.4. Northrup Knox Sabres&rsquo; chairman puts blame on media for team&rsquo;s many front office woes.5. Whack of the week Dallas center Guy Carbonneau breaks St. Louis center Pierre Turgeon&rsquo;s arm with slash. &#9632;

C0002-01

IN THIS ISSUE

PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chief</div>The Hockey News and our agents have been among the harshest critics of the Gordie Howe (and why) sixth decade appearance.Now let us be equally firm in another position: Howe&rsquo;s aborted quest for a single shift with the Syracuse Crunch and eventual 47-second skate with the Detroit Vipers Oct. 3 does nothing, absolutely nothing, to tarnish the legend.When you think of Howe in the years to come- and you will-do not be distracted from the wonder of a career never to be equalled. If he&rsquo;s not the best player of all-time, and THN will offer its view on that subject in January when we announce the top 50 players in NHL history, he is certainly the most resilient.His stop and start career was stunning.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0435/8062187-1-eng-US/c0002-042.jpg" title="C0002-04" width="466" height="576"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Alen Einstein)</figcaption></div>To emerge from retirement after a fabulous NHL career, play six seasons in the World Hockey Association (averaging more than a point per game) and then score 15 goals as a 51-year-old in the NHL defies the laws of physical science. As Howe rang up a 96-point season the year he turned 50, he didn&rsquo;t belong in the uniform of the New England Whalers as much as he belonged in the pages of the New England Medical Journal.That Howe continues to profit from his name in some curious promotions may be distasteful and vaudevillian, but he is entitled to earn a living as he sees fit and nothing he does now should have any impact on how he is remembered. Fans and myth-makers alike love their heroes to be smudge-proof and just as heroic off the playing field as on it. Joe DiMaggio remains the archetypical sporting legend because he has remained as distant and imperial in private life as he was in public life.Fans of all ages and professions have no right to expect that from others.When 1 think of Gordie Howe in his postplaying days, I will think of a leader in the monumental pension fight. I will think of each second of a shift 1 opposed as likely representing one year of a playing career stretching from early childhood to the elongated one he fashioned.I will think of Wayne Gretzky earning more assists in his career than Howe did points as a dual celebration of No. 99&rsquo;s other-worldly talents and No. 9&rsquo;s prodigious point total. I will think of a man unable to accept the fact his scoring records have not been unbeatable after all, but I will not think the legend of Mr. Hockey has been sullied.He has earned that title. &#9632;

C0002-04

Howe legend remains intact for this admirer

<div class="byline">Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011899/8060047-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="667" height="1121"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith Tkachuk</figcaption></div><h2>UNITED STATES</h2>Listed are top candidates for the U.S.&rsquo;s 23-man Olympic roster (2(1 skaters, three goalies). Players listed in bold are projected by THE HOCKEY NEWS to make the team.<h3>GOALTENDERS</h3>1.Guy Hebert, Anaheim2.Mike Richter, Rangers3.John Vanbiesbrouck. Florida&rsquo;Tom Barrasso. Pittsburgh<h3>DEFENSEMEN</h3>1. Bryan Berard, Islanders2. Chris Chelios, Chicago3. Derian Hatcher, Dallas4. Kevin Hatcher, Pittsburgh5. Brian Leetch, Rangers&rsquo;Keith Carney, Chicago&rsquo;Bret Hedican, Vancouver&rsquo;Phil Housley, Washington&rsquo;Scott Lachance, Islanders&rsquo;Matt Schneider, Toronto&rsquo;Gary Suter, Chicago&rsquo;Eric Weinrich, Chicago<h3>LEFT WING</h3>1. John LeClair, Philadelphia2. Keith Tkachuk, Phoenix3. Brian Rolston, New Jersey4. &rsquo;Ted Donato, Boston&rsquo;Steve Konowaichuk, Washington&rsquo;Todd Marchant, Edmonton&rsquo;Shawn McEachern. Ottawa&rsquo;Shjon Podein, Philadelphia<h3>CENTER</h3>1. Pat LaFontaine, Rangers2. Mike Modano, Dallas3. Doug Weight, Edmonton&rsquo;Brian Holzinger, Buffalo&rsquo;Craig Janney. PhoenixJoel Otto, Philadelphia&rsquo;Derek Plante, Buffalo&rsquo;Jeremy Roenick, Phoenix&rsquo;Bryan Smolinski, Islanders<h3>RIGHT WING</h3>1. Tony Amonte, Chicago2. Adam Deadmarsh, Colorado3. Bill Guerin. New Jersey4. Brett Hull, St. Louis&rsquo;Steve Heinze. Boston&rsquo;Trent Klatt, Philadelphia&rsquo;Jamie Langenbrunner, Dallas&rsquo;Scott Young. Anaheim<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03965/8060040-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="671" height="1117"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Lindros</figcaption></div><h2>CANADA</h2><h3>GOALTENDERS</h3>1. Martin Brodeur, New Jersey2. Curtis Joseph, Edmonton3. Patrick Roy, Colorado4. Sean Burke, Carolina5. Chris Osgood, Detroit<h3>DEFENSEMEN</h3>1. Rob Blake. Los Angeles2. Ray Bourque, Boston3. Eric Desjardins, Philadelphia4. Adam Foote, Colorado5. Chris Pronger, St. LouisEd Jovanovski. FloridaAl Maclnnis, St. LouisRichard Matvichuk, Dallas&rsquo;Bryan McCabe. Islanders&rsquo;Scott Niedermayer. New Jersey&rsquo;Scott Stevens, New Jersey&rsquo;Darryl Sydor, Dallas<h3>LEFT WING</h3>1. Paul Kariya, Anaheim2. Brendan Shanahan, Detroit&rsquo;Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, Philadelphia&rsquo;Jeff Friesen, San Jose&rsquo;Martin Gelinas. Vancouver&rsquo;Chris Gratton. Edmonton&rsquo;Mark Messier. Vancouver&rsquo;Gary Roberts, Carolina&rsquo;Ryan Smyth, Edmonton&rsquo;Rob Zamuner, Tampa<h3>CENTER</h3>1. Eric Lindros. Philadelphia2. Joe Sakic, Colorado&rsquo;Wayne Gretzky, RangersRob Niedermayer, Florida&rsquo;Adam Oates, WashingtonMike Peca. Buffalo&rsquo;Keith Primeau, Carolina<h3>RIGHT WING</h3>1. Theoren Fleury, Calgary2. Mark Recchi, MontrealJason Arnott, Edmonton&rsquo;Martin Lapointe, Detroit&rsquo;Claude Lemieux. Colorado&rsquo;Trevor Linden, Vancouver&rsquo;Owen Nolan, San JoseEric Lindros<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021521/8060033-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="2786" height="3363"><figcaption class="caption-body">The uncertain contract status of players such as Bill Guerin, right, has led to a delay in the U.S. team being named. (Photo by John Tremmel/BBS)</figcaption></div>The spectre of unsigned NHL free agents has been an intrusion the U.S. and Canadian Olympic teams could do without as they assemble rosters.For the Americans, the inactive status of restricted free agents Derian Hatcher (Dallas Stars), Bill Guerin (New Jersey Devils) and, possibly, Bret Hedican (Vancouver Canucks) effectively delayed a roster announcement originally scheduled for late-August or early-September.Hatcher and Hedican signed contracts Oct. 9, leaving Guerin the only unsigned Olympic candidate.And for the Canadians, Paul Kariya&rsquo;s stalemate with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim had them thinking of a contingency plan to ensure their marquee player will be game ready for Nagano even if he doesn&rsquo;t play a game &ldquo;&rdquo; with the Ducks this season. &ldquo;If he&rsquo;s not back playing in the NHL by the end of (October), certainly we&rsquo;re going to have to look at it and come up with fallback position,&rdquo; said Canadian Hockey Association senior vice-president Bob Nicholson.Precisely what that might involve-playing with Canada&rsquo;s national team program?-would depend on Kariya, who has been skating by himself in Vancouver.&ldquo;There are no plans,&rdquo; said Kariya&rsquo;s agent, Don Baizley, &ldquo;but Paul fully intends to play in the Olympics regardless of his situation.&rdquo;Canada started the NHL season with a list of 63 Olympic candidates, which included seven goalies, 20 defensemen, 11 left wingers, 12 centers and 13 right wingers. Nicholson said that list will be whittled down by GM Bob Clarke and his staff to no more than 35 by the end of October. The final roster of 20 skaters and three goaltenders must be submitted by Dec. 1. The most likely breakdown is 13 forwards and seven defensemen.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04538/8060026-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="455" height="578"></div>There has been some confusion surrounding one Olympic candidate-Adam Oates of the Washington Capitals. He is in the early stages of applying for dual citizenship, but according to Brian Cook, Oates&rsquo; agent, under normal circumstances that process could not be completed before May, 1998. Cook said, regardless, Oates&rsquo; first priority is to be considered for the Canadian team.As for the U.S., GM Lou Lamoriello suggested it might also wait until Dee. 1.&ldquo;The reality is we&rsquo;re faced with extenuating circumstances that need to be resolved,&rdquo; Lamoriello said before Hatcher and Hedican signed with their teams. &ldquo;If a player is going to play in the Olympics he has to be playing somewhere before then.&rdquo;Potential NHL Olympians from all countries are being drug-tested as a screening process before they are subjected to the rigorous standards imposed by the International Olympic Committee. It is a joint undertaking of the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association. &#9632;

f0003-01

Who will be fastest, highest, strongest?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011845/8060078-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="417" height="542"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Vernon</figcaption></div><h2>OCTOBER</h2>Fri., Oct. 10: West Coast League opens.Wed., Oct. 15: NHL all-star fan balloting be gins. (Balloting ends Dec. 15.)Wed., Oct.15: Western Pro League opensThur., Oct. 16: United League opensThur., Oct. 16: Central League opensFri., Oct. 17: Central Collegiate opensFri., Oct. 24: Hockey East opens.Fri., Oct. 24: Western Collegiate opens.Sat., Oct. 25: U.S. and Canadian women&rsquo;s Olympic teams meet for first time this season in Salt Lake City., Utah.Wed., Oct. 29: Conn Smythe-winning goalie. Mike Vernon and San Jose meet his old team, Stanley Cup-champion Detroit, for first time.Fri., Nov. 7: Eastern Colleges opens.<h2>UPCOMING</h2>Mon., Nov. 17: Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Toronto. Honorees are Mario Lemieux, Bryan Trottier, Glen Sather, Ken Mc Kenzie and Gene Hart.<h2>MILESTONES</h2>1,851 assists: Wayne Gretzky of Rangers had 1,845 assists as of Oct. 10. He needed six topass Gordie Howe&rsquo;s No. 2 all-time point total (1,850).700 goals: Mike Gartner of Phoenix had 696 career goals, but none this season. Only four NHLers have scored 700 goals-Wayne Gretzky (862), Gordie Howe (801), Marcel Dionne (731) and Phil Esposito (717). &#9632;

f0004-01

CALENDAR

<div class="byline">By John Davidson Inside the NHL</div>Baseball diamonds aren&rsquo;t the only playing fields tailored to specific team needs.Northlands Coliseum, home to the turbocharged Edmonton Oilers, has the best ice in the NHL and one reason may be the special care staff takes not only in ice preparation, but maintenance. Oilers&rsquo; GM-president Glen Sather says the team has its Zamboni blades sharpened twice a week-some buildings, he says, only do it once a month-to ensure the ice surface has as fine and fast a finish as possible.The Oilers have always emphasized speed. Chief scout Barry Fraser was co-architect of the high-flying 1980s dynasty team and continues to put a high priority on speed today. At the 1995 entry draft in Edmonton, when fans implored their hometown team to pick Alberta native Shane Doan, the Oilers&rsquo; chose Steve Kelly, the best skater in the draft. It was a typical Oilers&rsquo; tactic.Hockey, says Oilers&rsquo; assistant coach Bob McCammon, is a game of inches and seconds and nothing impacts on those factors as much as speed and quickness, both on offense and defense. It&rsquo;s especially important for western teams who face tough travel schedules and need vast reserves of speed to draw upon as they battle fatigue and time changes. No Oiler has more in the tank than Todd Marchant. He has shirt-flapping speed and is a candidate for the U.S. Olympic team as a result. He uses speed to make up for small size. It&rsquo;s the great equalizer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011853/8060133-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="417" height="535"></div>Ever since the Rushins blurred in and out of focus during the Summit Series, North Americans have come to better understand the value of speed. I can remember Valery Kharlamov, the most dynamic Soviet of his time, bursting in on me and scoring during a Red Army-New York Rangers&rsquo; game. He did everything so quickly I had no time to react.The Oilers, Detroit, Montreal and Colorado are among the NHL&rsquo;s fastest teams. Detroit&rsquo;s speed effectively neutralized Philadelphia&rsquo;s size advantage last spring. One of the reasons the neutral zone trap has become so popular is that it slows down fast teams. The trap acts as a huge speed bump. But it not only brings down the tempo of a game, it also brings down the entertainment value. Speed sells and the trap quells speed. Maybe the NHL should go the way of basketball and outlaw zone defenses. &#9632;

f0005-01

Speed essential in name of inches, seconds

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div>Vincent Lecavalier is looking out for Mo. I this season.The Quebec League star and early undisputed contender to go No. 1 over-ill in the 1998 NHL entry draft has always had eye-popping skills, but has aided a measure of grit to his game his season. The same player who was beaten up in his first shift for the Rimouski Oceanic last season is beginning to stand up for himself.Teamed with former Notre Dame Hounds&rsquo; roommate Brad Richards and Eric Normandin, Lecavalier led the league in scoring with nine goals and 25 points in eight games. Richards, who is also eligible for the 1998 draft, was second with eight goals and 25 points and Normandin was third.Really, though, the center had played just seven games. He was kicked out of the Oceanic&rsquo;s first game four minutes in for crosschecking an opponent in the face. He has also been in a fight this season.&ldquo;I was going down on a breakaway and he crosschecked me in the back as I shot,&rdquo; Lecavalier said. &ldquo;I just got up and. without thinking, crosschecked him in the face. It was a bit of a stupid move on my part and I learned a lesson from it, but sometimes you have to stand up for yourself.&rdquo;Scouts are thrilled with the added dimension to his game, but undoubtedly he&rsquo;ll be a target this season and will have to keep his emotions in check.Foes may be challenging Lecavalier on the ice, but nobody is challenging him for No. 1 at this stage. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not even close,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;Last year there were guys like Patrick Marleau you thought might slip in, but this year Lecavalier is so far ahead it isn&rsquo;t even funny.&rdquo;Among those in the running for No.2 overall are Oshawa Generals&rsquo; defenseman Bryan Allen, Regina Pats&rsquo; defenseman Brad Richards and Sarnia Sting goalie Patrick DesRochers. &#9632;

Fighting for No. 1

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021309/8060188-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Todd Marchant is a speed merchant for the Edmonton Oilers, one of the NHL&rsquo;s fastest teams. (Photo by Claus Andersen/BBS)</figcaption></div>On the same night his former team was winning ns first game of the season, former Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; GM-president Cliff Fletcher was in Buffalo watching the Sabres hoist the 1996-97 Northeast Division championship banner.Fletcher is determined to rejoin the NHL: &ldquo;I absolutely want to be get back into it.&rdquo;This marks the first time in 26 years Fletcher has not started a season as an NHL GM. He was with the Flames&rsquo; franchise (Atlanta/Calgary) for 18 years and Maple Leafs&rsquo; for seven years. His old team, the Maple Leafs, started the season 0-2-0 before beating the Calgary Flames, his other &ldquo;old&rdquo; team.Missing from the Oct. 7 ceremony in Buffalo were 1996-97 GM John Muckier and coach Ted Nolan, who are both now unemployed.A total of 19 men who started last season as coaches or GMs-including four who have relocated in the NHL and two whose job descriptions changed-are no longer in those positions.Washington GM David Poile is now GM of the Nashville expansion franchise, slated to begin play in 1998-99; Washington coach Jim Schoenfeld is bench boss in Phoenix; Anaheim coach Ron Wilson replaced Schoenfeld in Washington; Calgary coach Pierre Page succeeded Wilson in Anaheim; New York Islanders&rsquo; coach-GM Mike Milbury has been GM only since midway through last season; and coach/director of player personnel Scotty Bowman is now just coach in Detroit.Here&rsquo;s what the other 13 are doing this season:Boston Coach Steve Kasper, 36, is living in Boston and hopes to get back into hockey.Buffalo Reigning coach of the year Ted Nolan, 39, is living across the river from Buffalo in Fort Erie, Ont., working with the Union of Ontario Indians in the fields of education and substance abuse and awaiting a coaching opportunity.GM John Muckier. 63, is &ldquo;vacationing", watching lots of games on TV and awaiting another NHL opportunity.Chicago GM Bob Pulford, 61, has retired, but remains on the scene as the Hawks&rsquo; senior vice president.Los Angeles GM Sam McMaster, 53, joined Carolina as a pro scout Oct. 8.Montreal Coach Mario Tremblay, 41, resigned and is a Canadiens&rsquo; pro scout.Philadelphia Coach Terry Murray, 47, fired after leading his team to the Stanley Cup final, remains with the Flyers as pro scout.Phoenix Coach Don Hay, 43, is an assistant coach with Anaheim.GM John Paddock, 43, is director of professional scouting with the New York Rangers.Pittsburgh Coach Eddie Johnston, 61, is the Penguins&rsquo; assistant GM.St. Louis Coach/GM Mike Keenan, 48, is living in Boston and expected to resurface in the NHL.San Jose Coach Al Sims, 44, lasted just one season and is now coach of Milwaukee in the International League.Toronto GM Cliff Fletcher. 62, is tending to business interests and following the NHL. &#9632;

f0005-02

Fletcher wants back in NHL

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div>Shannon Miller is locked in the horns of a dilemma and she isn&rsquo;t sure how she feels about it.With the Nagano Games four months away, the coach of the Canadian women&rsquo;s Olympic team doesn&rsquo;t know which of four goalies will emerge as No. 1. By the end of October. Canada will have played eight games, so Miller hopes to have a better idea where Manon Rheaume, Lesley Redden. Danielle Dube and Sami Jo Small fall in the pecking order.A bright spot is the play of Rheaume. who has rebounded well after being cut from last year&rsquo;s World Championship team. Redden is solid, but is seen as a backup. Dube is a concern, since she went to Miller before last year&rsquo;s World Championship final and told her she couldn&rsquo;t play because of the pressure. The wild card is the 5-foot-10 Small, a javelin and discus thrower at Stanford University, who joined the team in September and took a spot from Isabelle Minier.Miller hopes to have her final 20 skaters and two goalies in place by Dec. 9. &#9632;

Canada has goalie glut

It&rsquo;s always fashionable and convenient to blame the New York Rangers for the salary escalation that keeps the Edmonton Oilers of the world from competing.But let&rsquo;s look at the facts. The Rangers lost their heart and soul, Mark Messier, to an outrageously inflated contract offer from the Vancouver Canucks. Their subsequent offer to Joe Sakic, a proven elite-level player still in his prime, was not significantly higher when averaged out over the three years of the deal.And it was the Toronto Maple Leafs, not the New York Rangers, who first used the ploy of the front-loaded contract in their offer to Mattias Ohlund, a player who had not one minute of NHL experience.And in a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke criticized the Rangers&rsquo; offer to Sakic and then pulled the same stunt with Chris Gratton, a player who had one decent season.And let&rsquo;s not forget that it was Clarke, not Rangers&rsquo; GM Neil Smith, who outbid Edmonton for defenseman Luke Richardson.Dubi Silverstein, New York, N.Y.<h2>Fond memories</h2>As the 1997-98 season opens, I can&rsquo;t help but recall my fond memories of last year&rsquo;s Calder Cup final.I keep statistics for the American League champion Hershey Bears. Prior to Game 2 of the final series, I ran into some members of the Hamilton Bulldogs&rsquo; Booster Club. After talking with them, I was invited to accompany them back to Hamilton with their group, free of charge. As we made the trip north, I was treated as a member of the group.Throughout my one-week stay, the red carpet was rolled out for me. I was invited to people&rsquo;s homes and was offered trips to Toronto and Niagara Falls.As wonderful as it was to watch the Bears win the Calder Cup, the memories pale in comparison to the friendships and warm-hearted feelings I carried back with me.Hockey is truly a grand sport.Bill Reighter, Newport, Pa.<h2>So, you&rsquo;re Oates</h2>As a Canadian serviceman on exchange in the United States, I couldn&rsquo;t believe that Adam Oates joined fellow ex-Canadians Brett Hull and Adam Deadmarsh and wants to play for USA in the 1998 Winter Olympics.Like Hull and Deadmarsh before him, Oates has decided that if he&rsquo;s not good enough to play for Canada, then he&rsquo;ll use any vehicle he can to get to the Olympics.What these people forget is that they are turning their backs not only on Canadian hockey, but on their country. They turn their backs on the public health care system that ensured their well-being and the minor hockey system that nurtured their skills.B.W. Gibbons, Virginia Beach, Va.<h2>See a doctor</h2>I don&rsquo;t understand it. Martin Brodeur had a 37-14-3 record, a 1.88 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage, was second in voting for the Vezina Trophy and a legitimate contender for the Hart Trophy and you guys put Mike Richter and Patrick Roy ahead of him in your top-20 goalie list (THN, Season Preview)?I mean, those guys are good, but Brodeur is definitely better. You guys should have your heads examined.Kurtis Strikwerda, Barrie, Ont.<h2>Ghosts still lurk</h2>I loved your 50th Anniversary issue. Congratulations to the Hockey News on 50 years of awesome hockey coverage.I laughed all the way through the story on the time capsule, but I couldn&rsquo;t believe you forgot the most important thing.The most important team in hockey history has been the Montreal Canadi-ens. Since they moved to the Molson Centre, they have been missing their soul. This soul currently resides in the old Montreal Forum, so we might as well put it in a time capsule.The last item on the list should have been the Montreal Forum&rsquo;s ghosts.Francois Beauchemin, Montreal, Que.<h2>Our song rates</h2>I really enjoyed your 50th Anniversary issue and, in particular, the time capsule story. Your choices were excellent and brought back some great memories. But there was one item I believe you should have included: Brass Bonanza, the Hartford Whalers&rsquo; theme song.The song was laughed at by other teams, but it meant one thing only: Hartford Whalers&rsquo; hockey. Although it has been silenced by the selfish, egotistical actions of a certain franchise owner, it was our song.Mark Lopa, Glastonbury, Conn.Make your feelings known. Fax us your comments at(416) 340-1641&nbsp;or write to&nbsp;Letters, THN, 777 Bay St., Suite 2700, Box 148, Toronto, OnL, M5G 2N8&nbsp;in Canada. In the U.S., write toLetters, THN, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947.&nbsp;E-mail us at <a href="mailto:THN@transc.com">THN@transc.com</a>. Include home and business phone numbers.THN&nbsp;reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Rangers not cause of all hockey’s ills

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012061/8060274-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div><h2>What you need to know about the 1997-98 season</h2>Goals going down Through 50 games, NHL scoring had dropped eight per cent from a similar period last season-falling from 5.72 goals per game in 1996-97 to 5.26 in 1997-98. This, despite a 23 per-cent rise in power play chances during the same time.Capital offense It&rsquo;s a blatant rip-off from the National Football League, but Washington Capitals&rsquo; coach Ron Wilson has taken to calling his team&rsquo;s new wide open style of play &ldquo;the West Coast offense.&rdquo; Defensemen aren&rsquo;t just encouraged, they&rsquo;re expected to produce offensively. Washington defensemen have always been handsome contributors on offense, but Wilson says they will play an even more prominent role this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021375/8060267-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="487" height="774"><figcaption class="caption-body">Geoff Sanderson</figcaption></div>Go east young men The most pressing concern for the Canadian Olympic team is determining how to get players to Nagano. The options are: 1. Fly players individually from their NHL cities on commercial flights; 2. Fly players into Vancouver and depart together on a commercial flight; and 3. Fly players into Vancouver and depart together on a charter. No. 3 is the preferred option because it provides a nine-hour head start on team building. Problem is, it&rsquo;s difficult to get landing times for charters.Century pace There were five penalty shots in the first 50 games this season. If that rate were maintained over a whole season-a very unlikely probability-there would be a record 107 in 1997-98. There were 27 penalty shots last season. The record is 30 (1992-93).Trading post Teams are calling the Carolina Hurricanes about Geoff Sanderson and the &rsquo;Canes aren&rsquo;t so in love with the left winger that they wouldn&rsquo;t trade him. In return for the 30-plus goal-scorer, who should be a 40-plus goal-scorer, the &rsquo;Canes would need a better combo of goals and grit. &#9632;

f0006-01

BOB McKENZIE’S PUCK PRIMER

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>The GM of one of major junior hockey&rsquo;s most fabled franchises was effectively fired after an investigation determined improper conduct involving three teenage players at an Ottawa hotel in May.Ted Ahara was dismissed Sept. 23 by the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario League. Rangers&rsquo; president Ted Scharf said Ahara was on sick leave at his doctor&rsquo;s advice after the OHL completed its investigation that Ahara asked three boys to partially undress during pre-draft interviews.&ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t been fired. He&rsquo;s in employee limbo,&rdquo; Scharf said Oct. 8. &ldquo;But he won&rsquo;t be returning to the Kitchener Rangers. He has been informed through his lawyer.&rdquo;The players-two aged 16 and another 17-were OHL draft prospects. They&rsquo;re playing in the league, but not with the Rangers.OHL commissioner Dave Branch said the investigation found no evidence of sexual or criminal behavior and there is no police investigation. However, Branch and Scharf said Ahara&rsquo;s actions were inappropriate.Apparently, during the meetings involving Ahara, a team scout, the players and their parents, each boy was taken into a separate room by Ahara and asked to remove his shirt. Players were then touched on the chest and arms. The scout remained with the parents during this time.Scharf said the Rangers&rsquo; executive, after a Sept. 22 meeting with the OHL executive council, suspended Ahara.&ldquo;Prior to having a meeting with Ted, I had a call from a doctor who said Ted was under doctor&rsquo;s care and would not be able to meet with us,&rdquo; said Scharf, who then contacted Ahara&rsquo;s lawyer and told him Ahara would no longer be with the Rangers.Scharf said during the investigation Ahara &ldquo;did not deny any of the things that took place, but he also didn&rsquo;t think anything of it. In my opinion, it&rsquo;s the GM&rsquo;s job to think. If we&rsquo;re really putting the players first, he should have put the players first. That&rsquo;s my concern.&ldquo;I feel sorry for the kids. I would have never wanted to be in their shoes as a young player. He really showed poor judgment. It flows in the direction of whether junior hockey is a meat market or if we&rsquo;re in the business of developing good players and good citizens.&rdquo;This is the first investigation by the OHL since the release of the Players First Report, prepared by Toronto lawyer Gordon Kirke.The report was commissioned by the Canadian Hockey League after Western League coach Graham James was sent to prison for sexually assaulting Sheldon Kennedy and another player. James pleaded guilty in January and was sentenced to 3-1/2 years.Branch said the complaint against Ahara was filed by the Ottawa District Hockey Association with the Canadian Hockey Association in late July. The CHA turned it over to the OHL, which hired an Ottawa investigator. A second investigator met with Ahara in Kitchener Sept. 15.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m satisfied the Rangers have taken the appropriate steps.&rdquo; Branch said. &ldquo;They have acted most professional and in a co-operating fashion.&rdquo;None of the players involved, their parents, the Ottawa investigator or Ahara would comment.Ottawa 67&rsquo;s GM Brian Kilrea said the OHL is overreacting.&ldquo;No one was touched, other (than) to squeeze an arm to find out about muscle tone,&rdquo; Kilrea said. &ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t seem like to me where that&rsquo;s a problem.&rdquo; &#9632;

Junior GM fired for misconduct

<div class="byline">By THN Staff</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011866/8060329-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Petr Nedved turned down Pittsburgh&rsquo;s offer of S3 million per season. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>NHL players aren&rsquo;t in line for the 1998 Winter Olympics, but the officials are.The league has selected Bill McCreary, Kerry Fraser and Mark Faucette to referee games in Nagano.Kevin Collins. Gord Broseker. Ray Scapinello and Gerard Gauthier have been named to work the lines.Referee Dan Marouelli and linesman Brian Murphy have been named standby officials. They will not go to Japan unless they are needed.SPANO GUILTY: John Spano pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud in a federal courtroom Oct. 7 and admitted he lied about his wealth in order to buy the New York Islanders.Sentencing will be later this year. Spano could wind up serving five years in prison. After Spano&rsquo;s July 23 arrest, the franchise reverted to John O. Pickett. On Sept. 11, Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; co-owner Steven Gluckstern signed a letter of intent to buy the team from Pickett for $195 million.The NHL is conducting a background check of Gluckstern, who is selling his half-interest in the Phoenix franchise. Approval is expected by about mid-season.-with a file from Jim Smith &#9632;

f0007-01

Nine NHL officials chosen for Nagano

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>Perhaps not since the start of the 1972-73 season, the same year the World Hockey Association took to the ice, have so many NHL stars been on the sidelines to start the season.That was the year the likes of Bobby Hull, J. C. Tremblay, Wayne Connelly, Derek Sanderson, Andre Lacroix, Jim Dorey and Rick Ley bolted the NHL for the rival league.This year, a number of the NHL&rsquo;s brightest stars, including Group II free agents Sergei Fedorov, Paul Kariya, Alexander Mogilny, Derian Hatcher, Petr Nedved. Jeff Friesen, Daniel Alfredsson, Oleg Tverdovsky. Michael Peca and Bill Guerin were absent when the season opened. Peter Bondra skipped the Washington Capitals&rsquo; season opener in a contract dispute.And NHL commissioner Gary Bettman finds none of this particularly surprising.&ldquo;You have to look at these things over time.&rdquo; Bettman told the Globe and Mail. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had holdouts in prior years. It&rsquo;s easy to say, &lsquo;Oh my, look at this.&rsquo; But if you go back over time, holdouts have happened. In the (restricted free agent category) there have been riches for some and others haven&rsquo;t been able to get what they want. The thing I scratch my head about is when a player says, &lsquo;Well, I&rsquo;ll just hold out for the year.&rsquo; Unless a player is about to turn 30 or 31 (the age of unrestricted free agency) the situation isn&rsquo;t about to change for him.&rdquo;As for an announced crowd of 6.083 for a Carolina Hurricanes&rsquo; game in Greensboro Oct. 7 (observers said the crowd was actually much smaller), Bettman said he isn&rsquo;t surprised and urged fans to remember the league isn&rsquo;t expecting attendance woes when the new arena is built in Raleigh, N.C. &#9632;

Bettman: No shows, no panic

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011947/8060384-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jason Arnott brings a new outlook into what may be a make-or-break season for him. (Photo by Dale MacMillan/SA)</figcaption></div>If the words were spoken by someone other than Glen Sather, they would be considered blasphemous.Jason Arnott, Mark Messier? Mark Messier, Jason Arnott? In the same breath, same paragraph, same universe?&ldquo;Jason Arnott could be a leader like Mark Messier,&rdquo; said the Edmonton Oiler president and GM, who is attempting to harness the raw power and talent of the 23-year-old Arnott in much the same way as he did more than decade ago with a young Moose on the loose.&ldquo;What a lot of people don&rsquo;t realize is how Mark grew into his leadership role with us,&rdquo; Sather added. &ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t a great leader the day he landed in here, he was a talented young kid full of piss and vinegar and I see a lot of the same things in Jason. There&rsquo;s no question about it as far as I&rsquo;m concerned, Jason could go on to be one of the great leaders in this league.&rdquo;It behooves us to point out that a 23-year-old Messier already had separate seasons of 50 goals and 106 points and was about to win the Conn Smythe Trophy en route to the Oilers&rsquo; first Stanley Cup win in 1984. Let us not overwork the comparisons of today&rsquo;s Oilers to their dynastic predecessors. But if the keen eye of Sather sees something special in Arnott, some Messier-like quality, who are we to argue?Besides, Arnott&rsquo;s challenge is not so great as to live up to the legend of Messier as it is to live up the expectations he created for himself as an outstanding 18-year-old rookie. In a 1993 draft year that featured the so-called Big Six (Alexandre Daigle, Chris Pronger, Chris Gratton, Paul Kariya, Rob Niedermayer and Viktor Kozlov), it was the No. 7 overall pick who made the most immediate impact. He scored 33 goals and 68 points in 1993-94 and looked absolutely magnificent while doing it. Only netmin-der Martin Brodeur&rsquo;s heroics kept the Wasaga Beach, Ont., native from copping the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.But that was inconsequential. The baby-faced Arnott had it all. Size (6-foot-3), strength (220 pounds), speed, skill (a shot to die for) and an overall presence that screamed out: Now there&rsquo;s a player.Just one problem. In the three seasons since then, he hasn&rsquo;t scored 30 goals or 60 points. Last season, with just 19 goals in 67 games, he became the Oilers&rsquo; MCP (Most Criticized Player). The media blasted him. The fans called the open-line shows and demanded a trade. Frustrated management tried -to coax and cajole more out of him.&ldquo;It was tough,&rdquo; Arnott told The Hockey News. I &ldquo;It got so there was a lot riding on my shoulders! and I was having a tough time with that. It was: actually depressing, but it&rsquo;s something you try to: fight through.&rdquo;There is an overwhelming sense that 1997-98 is Arnott&rsquo;s make-it-or-break-it season, the crossroads where he&rsquo;ll either emerge as a legitimate star offensive power center or entrench himself as an underachieving enigma, a guy with all the tools but no tool box.It&rsquo;s early, of course, but if training camp and the Oilers&rsquo; first four games (1-2-1) are any indication, bet on the breakthrough. Playing on a line with left winger Todd Marchant and a variety of right wingers (Mats Lindgren was among those auditioning), the new-and-seemingly-improved Arnott was dominant.Fast starts have not been unusual for him in the past-maintaining them has been the trick-but Oiler coach Ron Low sees something different this time around.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best I&rsquo;ve ever seen him play,&rdquo; Low said. &ldquo;He seems to have a totally different attitude. He wasn&rsquo;t having much fun coming to the rink before, you could see that. Now, he has whole new outlook.&rdquo;You could say he has become a fan of fur which is a little ironic given his reputation for being a player who sometimes had too much fun The irony is not lost on Arnott, who said hi carefree image belies the angst he has experienced.&ldquo;In my first year I just went out and played and didn&rsquo;t think about it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just reacted. My problem in the last couple of years is that I started thinking too much, which led to me trying to do too much. I&rsquo;m trying to relax more, to have more fun and think a lot less.&rdquo;In fact, Arnott completely altered his off-season regimen. He continued to train hard for general conditioning, but didn&rsquo;t skate all summer. He didn&rsquo;t return to his Edmonton condo until the day before training camp, preferring instead to put his feet up in Wasaga Beach, seeking solace and encouragement from a family unit he has always been close to.&ldquo;I know him as a brother, I know him as a player and he has never been happier than he is now,&rdquo; said Wade Arnott, Jason&rsquo;s older brother, who works in the player rep business for Newport Sports Management in Toronto. &ldquo;We had a lot of long chats this summer and he has made it his No. 1 priority to get back to having fun again and not worrying about what the media says or the business of hockey. He just wants to keep it simple and play like he can play.&rdquo;So far, so good. As much as Arnott has garnered a reputation for being somewhat immature-he fully admits complacency set in because he got too much success too soon-there are other factors that have held him back.Injuries, for one.&ldquo;He has had a lot of them and not minor either,&rdquo; Sather said.There was the broken ankle, the concussion and facial rearrangement from a puck to the head, a hip injury, tonsillitis, appendicitis. One of his biggest challenges this season, it would seem, is simply staying healthy. Since he&rsquo;s playing a | more physical style, it remains to be seen if that&rsquo;s possible.Another factor has been fatherhood. Arnott fathered a child out of wedlock-a I boy named Draven who was born in the I fall of 1995- and while he admits to &ldquo;loving kids&rdquo; it wasn&rsquo;t something he expected I to have to deal with before his 21st birthday. That&rsquo;s tough on any young man or I woman, but Arnott&rsquo;s profile in the community made it that much more difficult.He has no relationship per se with the boy&rsquo;s mother, but is financially responsible for the child and does maintain some contact with him.&ldquo;It was something I had to deal with and it wasn&rsquo;t easy,&rdquo; Arnott said. &ldquo;It took time, but I&rsquo;m more comfortable with it.&rdquo;Both Sather and Low said they notice Arnott is more at home with himself both as a player and a person.&ldquo;We all have a tendency to rush the kids in this game, expect them to grow up overnight,&rdquo; Sather said. &ldquo;Jason&rsquo;s maturing. He&rsquo;s a very sincere young man. He&rsquo;s working hard consistently now, he cares deeply about his game and his teammates, he has a tremendous family background and he wants to win. Those are all outstanding qualities to have.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-01

FEATURES

Arnott on the soot

For whatever immaturity Arnott has exhibited, he has always been known as a caring individual. When he signed his first contract with the Oilers, he bought his junior team (Oshawa) a stereo system. He has been involved in charity work from the get-go, witness Arnie&rsquo;s Army, a-14-seat block he purchased (next to the penalty box at the Edmonton Coliseum) for underprivileged kids.There are some causes very near and dear to him. As a teen, his best friend&rsquo;s sister died of cystic fibrosis. Arnott is the western Canadian rep for CF and each summer in Wasaga stages a charity golf tournament and casino to raise money for cystic fibrosis. He returns home each summer because his best friends remain the ones he grew up with.He&rsquo;s an avid outdoorsman, with a lifelong love of fishing and hunting. Now, it&rsquo;s not unusual for him and teammate Bryan Marchment to go deer or duck hunting before or after Oiler practice.On the ice. at the insistence of Low. Arnott has changed his game to suit more of his strengths.&ldquo;The biggest thing,&rdquo; Low said, &ldquo;is that he&rsquo;s carrying the puck a lot more. He didn&rsquo;t do that much last year. He lost the confidence to do it. It opens up ice for his line. He has to use his shot and what a wonderful shot it is.&rdquo;Brodeur said during last year&rsquo;s World Cup that he&rsquo;d never faced a harder, heavier shot than Arnott&rsquo;s. Now, it&rsquo;s a matter of using it more often, but also more wisely. Many of those shots last year were low percentage.He&rsquo;s showing signs of not taking the bad penalties that were becoming his trademark. Ditto for ill-tempered outbursts that would sometimes result in misconducts.A cynic would suggest his timing is impeccable, given that he&rsquo;s scheduled (with teammates Doug Weight and Ryan Smyth) to become a restricted Group II free agent at the end of this season. But Arnott insists his efforts at becoming all that he can be is rooted more in personal pride and happiness than profit.After wearing the alternate&rsquo;s &rsquo;A&rsquo; in his first year and then having it subsequently rotated to other players, he has gotten it back on a full-time basis this season.He would dearly love to maximize his seemingly vast potential for a whole host of other reasons. One, it&rsquo;s an Olympic year and if he&rsquo;s playing at the top of his game, he&rsquo;s going to merit some consideration. Two, he would like to justify the faith shown him by both Sather and Low.&ldquo;Slats and Low tide have always been there for me,&rdquo; Arnott said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been great friends to me. but I also realize they have jobs to do.&rdquo;Arnott has heard the trade rumors. Even during training camp, there was talk that he was headed to the Chicago Blackhawks, although Sather disputes that he has ever tried to move the big forward. &ldquo;Everyone asks for him, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean I want to do anything,&rdquo; Sather said.Some even characterize the Sather-Arnott relationship as a quasi father-son setup, which has its pros and cons. When the police relieved Arnott of his radar detector, Sather picked up a replacement unit. The running joke is the GM is still awaiting payment. If it is indeed father-son in nature, then there&rsquo;s no shortage of tough love. When Arnott was struggling to start the playoffs last spring, Sather had him in for a heart-to-heart. Arnott responded with a spirited effort that has carried over to this season. Now, the challenge is for him to stay healthy and build day-in. day-out consistency and commitment into his game. The Oilers can only hope.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been patient with Jason because he has so, so much to offer,&rdquo; Low said. &ldquo;He has all the tools, all of them, and you know what? The tool box might be fixed now, too.&rdquo; &#9632;

Arnott blessed with one of best shots in game

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011918/8060439-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Japanese fans proudly display their Toronto Maple Leafs sweaters- and a hat from The Hockey News. (Photo by Ron Bull/Toronto Star)</figcaption></div>TOKYO-The NHL&rsquo;s first regular season adventure outside North America was a hit everywhere but on the ice surface.The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Vancouver Canucks played a two-game series in Tokyo Oct. 3 and 4, the culmination of a five-day visit to Japan&rsquo;s capital city.Culturally and promotionally, the event was a tremendous success. There wasn&rsquo;t an unsold ticket in 10.500-seat Yoyogi Stadium-at a top price of 25,000 yen or about $230 (U.S.). The fans were appreciative and appeared to be knowledgeable, cheering madly for the goals, hits, fights and pull-the-goalie finishes. The artistry was another matter, however.The Canucks and Ducks each managed a 3-2 victory on ice that was not close to NHL standards despite the presence of league trouble-shooter Dan Craig.&ldquo;It was awful,&rdquo; complained Canucks&rsquo; goalie Kirk McLean. &ldquo;It was a joke.&rdquo;Yoyogi Stadium was not built for hockey, but rather as the swimming and diving venue for the 1964 Summer Olympics. It is still used for aquatics at times and also for public skating, but constructing a hockey rink over top presented numerous problems. The building did not have air conditioning or dehumidifiers.&ldquo;There is warm air beneath the surface because the ice is on a mat, not a concrete pad and it&rsquo;s built over a pool,&rdquo; Craig said. &ldquo;Having warm air underneath is not something you normally have to worry about. The heat we could deal with, but the 70 per cent humidity killed us.&rdquo;At one point late in the second game, the ice broke up near one comer and red coolant began pouring down the boards like blood streaming from a facial wound. It took 10 minutes to repair the ice. This delay, coupled with intermissions extended by three minutes to help the ice set, produced a marathon three-hour, 15-minute game.Otherwise, the spin on the series was a positive one.&ldquo;It has been great here and it triggered a lot of interest in the game,&rdquo; said NHL vice-president Brian Burke. &ldquo;I was very pleased with the fan appreciation aspect of this. They were very enthusiastic. I didn&rsquo;t really expect that. I thought they&rsquo;d be much more subdued.&rdquo;Burke did admit the league and its Japanese promoters would probably require a larger venue if it returned to the Far East.&ldquo;This wasn&rsquo;t done for monetary reasons, but to grow the game,&rdquo; Burke said.It was also done to focus attention on the 1998 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Nagano in February. NHL players will suit up for their respective countries for the first time.&ldquo;Maybe this series and the Olympics will further the cause of those who love hockey in Japan,&rdquo; said Canucks&rsquo; GM-president Pat Quinn.The players and coaches clearly enjoyed the cultural experience more than the playing conditions. To a man, they made heartfelt comments on the people they met and the way they were treated.&ldquo;Listening to them speak is like listening to an elder back home on the reserve,&rdquo; said Gino Odjick, an Algonquin from Maniwaki, Que. &ldquo;They see so far ahead. It&rsquo;s beautiful. They&rsquo;re really smart people.&rdquo;Vancouver backup goalie Arturs Irbe, a thoughtful man who lived through political turmoil in his native Latvia, tried to analyze the Japanese psyche through his knowledge of their history. &ldquo;What you see you can trust,&rdquo; Irbe said. &ldquo;They had to endure earthquakes and tsunamis (tidal waves) and typhoons. There are lots of rocks and not a lot of soil for food. It has been a tough life for many and it has made the people tough and straightforward.&rdquo;The two coaches, Anaheim&rsquo;s Pierre Page and Vancouver&rsquo;s Tom Renney, both made gracious speeches at the conclusion of the series.&ldquo;On behalf of the Mighty Ducks&rsquo; organization, players and staff, we would like to thank the fans for responding the way they did,&rdquo; Page said. &ldquo;The hospitality was great and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We would be happy to come back. Thank you for your support.&rdquo;Renney, who has been to Japan before with the Canadian national team, echoed Page&rsquo;s sentiments.&ldquo;We really appreciate being a part of something this historic,&rdquo; Renney said. &ldquo;And we hope it serves as an impetus to increase the popularity of the sport in the country.&rdquo;Judging by the fans&rsquo; response, their willingness to pay the steep ticket prices and the number of Canucks&rsquo; and Ducks&rsquo; sweaters in the crowd, it appears that hockey has indeed made some inroads in the Land of the Rising Sun. &#9632;

f0010-01

NHL big in Japan

<div class="byline">By Mel Tsuji</div>A new Asian super league that would operate out of China, South Korea and Japan could be up and running within 10 years.Former NHL defenseman Jim Paek has been asked to help develop South Korean players with an eye to competing in the proposed loop.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tremendous what&rsquo;s going on there,&rdquo; Paek said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a boom in hockey. They&rsquo;re starting younger, just like in Canada. And they&rsquo;ve started a pro league, so it&rsquo;s growing.&rdquo;The league, which had two teams two seasons ago, has grown to six. There&rsquo;s talk of allowing foreign players to participate to help improve the calibre of play. The eventual aim, Paek said, is to create the Asian super league.&ldquo;The Koreans are starting the groundwork on that now and hopefully things will work out,&rdquo; he said.Paek, a native of Seoul who grew up in Canada, realizes he has his work cut out for him because hockey is in its infancy in South Korea. The country&rsquo;s national team plays at the lowest rung of the international competition&ndash;the D Pool at the World Championship- and would have trouble competing with Japan and China, both of which play in the C Pool.Japan has a competitive semi-pro, six-team league. Not much is known about Chinese hockey, but it has risen from the D Pool. Men&rsquo;s hockey is played primarily in Harbin, in Northern China, and Beijing.Adding to the allure of an Asian league is the history of the nations involved. The three countries have been political and military rivals for hundreds of years and tensions still exist between them.While there is enthusiasm and optimism about the super league, the idea has its detractors. Mel Wakabayashi, a star player and coach in Japan for 29 years, is skeptical.&ldquo;Financially, it couldn&rsquo;t work,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And the hockey is too uneven. Japan is too strong.&rdquo;But don&rsquo;t try to discourage Pong Paek, Jim&rsquo;s father. Pong has been asked by the South Korean Ice Hockey Federation to help set up contacts in North America who could help build hockey facilities in South Korea.&ldquo;So far, there are only 11 rinks in all of South Korea and just three in Seoul,&rdquo; Pong Paek said. &ldquo;This is not enough and they&rsquo;re not that good anyway. But they want to build 17 new rinks by the year 2000, for every city and province in the country. And this year alone they&rsquo;ll be setting up four to five new ones.&rdquo; &#9632;

Paek helping South Korea prepare for proposed loop

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011701/8060501-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="492" height="711"></div>It was not a pretty sight-Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; left winger Derek King crumpling to the ice after having his legs taken out by a New York Islanders&rsquo; defender.It was ugly because it looked lovike he had broken his ankle&hellip;or leg&hellip;or both. Fortunately King broke neither, but did suffer a sprain that was expected to keep him out of the lineup for up to six weeks.What you might not have noticed on the play was Islanders&rsquo; defenseman Rich Pilon spearing King in an attempt to keep him in check. This is the same Rich Pilon who Don Cherry berated on his first installment of Coach&rsquo;s Comer on Hockey Night In Canada this season, for &ldquo;hiding behind his facemask.&rdquo; Cherry called Pilon a coward.Back to the spear. It wasn&rsquo;t a wicked shish-ka-bob of a spear, more a press into the mid-section with the blade of his stick spear. And it had nothing to do with King&rsquo;s injury. But it was a spear nonetheless and no penalty not called.Which, surprisingly, didn&rsquo;t rankle King. That&rsquo;s the strange part, but it tells you all you need to know about what has become an acceptable amount of stick work in today&rsquo;s NHL.&ldquo;Sure it was a spear,&rdquo; said King, former teammate of Pilon&rsquo;s. &ldquo;But he didn&rsquo;thurt me. That&rsquo;s just the way Richie plays. I&rsquo;ve seen him do that before. I hit him a couple of times earlier in the game and he hit me back a few times.&rdquo;King said he believes players have a certain amount of respect for one another, even if they have a funny way of showing it.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think guys deliberately try to hurt each other,&rdquo; he said.Then in the next breath he adds: &ldquo;The way the game is now, if a guy feels he has to run over another player to keep his job, he&rsquo;ll run over the guy&rdquo;This season is barely underway and already there have been an alarming number of incidents of slashes that have caught the attention of Brian Burke&rsquo;s office. Burke, the NHL&rsquo;s senior vice-president, doles out punishment for such behavior.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021220/8060494-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="606" height="1244"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rich Pilon</figcaption></div>In the pre-season, Stu Barnes of the Pittsburgh Penguins slashed Boston Bruins&rsquo; rookie Joe Thornton and broke the youngster&rsquo;s arm. Then Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; tough guy Matt Johnson retaliated at Stu Grimson of the Carolina Hurricanes with a slash. Barnes and Johnson received four-game suspensions.There were others. Brian Savage of the Montreal Canadiens is out because of a slash. And Pierre Turgeon of the St. Louis Blues will miss six weeks with a fractured right forearm after being slashed by Guy Car-bonneau of the Dallas Stars.Burke said the league has tried hard to crackdown on stickwork, but it&rsquo;s not a zero tolerance rule. It rises to a certain level to constitute a minor penalty; to a higher level to constitute a match penalty; and to a higher level still to constitute a suspension.&ldquo;I think there is a lack of respect among players today,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;People are less careful with their sticks than they were 10-to-15 years ago, but I don&rsquo;t think there is an epidemic of stickwork. It manifests itself more in hits from behind and players taking long runs at each other.&rdquo;In an effort to curb high-sticking several years ago, the NHL voted to eject any player who cut an opponent with a high stick, even if it was done accidentally. The idea was to make all players who carry their sticks high accountable for their actions. But when star players started getting the gate for accidental offenses, the league altered the rule. Last season, it reverted to the discretion of the referee and there were 24 stick-related ejections from games.For some veterans, who have witnessed and experienced the decline in respect players have for each other, the situation is a sad one.&ldquo;I was talking to (GM) Bobby Clarke about that exact issue the other day,&rdquo; said Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; defenseman Paul Coffey. &ldquo;He told me when he played and a player ran an opponent from behind, even his own teammates would say, &lsquo;What the hell are you doing? You could hurt a guy doing that.&rsquo; &ldquo; &#9632;

f0011-01

NHLers remarkably tolerant of stick fouls

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011709/8060563-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal center Saku Koivu says returning from a knee injury was a trying and frustrating experience. (Photo by Dan Hamilton)</figcaption></div>Saku Koivu makes no bones about it. Acceptance from the fans, but even more importantly from his peers, means everything to him.It is his motivation.&ldquo;When I was a junior people in Finland said I would never make the national team because I was too small,&rdquo; said the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; 5-foot-9 (and 3/4, he insists), 184-pound center. &ldquo;Then when I made the national team, they said I would never make the NHL. When I made the NHL they said I would just be an average player.&ldquo;The greatest thing a professional athlete can get is respect. That&rsquo;s what I want.&rdquo;Well, that&rsquo;s not exactly true, Long before Koivu arrived in North America, The Hockey News identified him as someone very special-a giant in the hockey world. In fact, in his final season in Finland we called him the best player in the world not playing in the NHL.The spunky Koivu was well on the road to earning the respect last season he so desires when a knee injury put him on the shelf for two months. He made it back to play, but wasn&rsquo;t nearly as effective as before the injury.Koivu, 22, caught a rut in the ice while backchecking and suffered a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee Dec. 7. At the time, Koivu had designs on winning the Art Ross Trophy as top scorer in the league.In fact, the night he was injured, he had just taken over the scoring lead from Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers. He had 13 goals and 38 points in 30 games. The Habs were 12-14-4 at the time of Koivu&rsquo;s injury, but immediately went into a seven game winless streak (0-4-3). In the 26 games Koivu missed, Montreal was 7-13-6.When he returned, he was most certainly not the same player he was before the injury. He didn&rsquo;t score in his first eight games back and then, on March 10, suffered a shoulder separation that caused him to miss five games. He came back with a goal and two assists in an 8-5 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins and then sat out another game. All tolled, Koivu had just four goals in his final 20 games.&ldquo;My game is my first three or four steps,&rdquo; Koivu said. &ldquo;When I came back I didn&rsquo;t have that jump. It was very frustrating. I have never had a serious injury before.&rdquo;There was some good news, though. Down the stretch, the Habs linked Koivu with left winger Shayne Corson and right winger Mark Recchi. The trio didn&rsquo;t exactly work magic immediately, but there was enough chemistry that they were put together to start this season.Koivu led the Canadiens in preseason scoring with two goals and nine points in six games. Recchi, the trigger man on the unit, had three goals and seven points while Corson, the mucker on the line, had a goal. Their production spilled over into the regular season.In their second game, a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins, they combined for 10 points. Recchi scored three goals and Koivu set up all four of his team&rsquo;s goals.In his first three games this season, Koivu had yet to score a goal, but had six assists.&ldquo;Saku is exactly what people thought he was going to be,&rdquo; said Canadiens&rsquo; coach Alain Vigneault. &ldquo;He is a very hard-driven individual who is really committed to being the best he can be.&rdquo;Koivu doesn&rsquo;t intend on changing his kamikaze style despite the fact it often puts him at risk of injury. He will never be mistaken for Eric Lindros, but Koivu is a rock-solid hitter who never hesitates at the prospect of smashing into opponents.The Finnish Mighty Mite has caught a number of larger opponents off guard with big hits.&ldquo;When I see a player coming at me I&rsquo;ll let the puck go (in order) to hit him first,&rdquo; Koivu said. &ldquo;I attack first-take the hit away from him.&rdquo;Koivu said he is determined to make some alterations to his game this year in an attempt to score more goals. At the time of his knee injury last season he was on pace for 35 goals. He figures he is capable of scoring in the 40-goal range if he concentrates on shooting.&ldquo;I am a playmaker first,&rdquo; Koivu said. &ldquo;But I know I must shoot more. Too often I look to make a pass when I am in a good position to shoot. If I start shooting more, then I think the defenders won&rsquo;t be able to read me as easily. They won&rsquo;t know what to expect.&rdquo;As much fun as it is for Recchi to play with Koivu, he said it is equally enjoyable to watch him perform. At times, Recchi said, he sympathizes with those whose job it is to stop him.&ldquo;We see it every day,&rdquo; Recchi said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s scary. It&rsquo;s unbelievable what he can do with the puck and how strong he is. I don&rsquo;t think a lot of defensemen like going 1-on-l with him because he can make them look pretty stupid.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0013-01

Habs’ small wonder

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011852/8060601-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="495" height="710"></div>Impertinent thoughts on pertinent topics:&bull; Sorry, Paul Kariya is not the best player in the NHL today. He can&rsquo;t play defense. Brian Leetch can. Conclusion: the Rangers&rsquo; captain can do more good things better than anyone else in the league.&bull; Memo to Darcy Regier: trade Dominik Hasek while you still can get equal value.&bull; The Red Wings will not repeat as Stanley Cup champions for precisely the reasons Scotty Bowman said the Avalanche wouldn&rsquo;t repeat last year: 1. Complacency; 2. Egotism; 3. Nobody repeats anymore.&bull; Paul Henderson has as much claim to the Hockey Hall of Fame as Charlie Bourgeois or Joe Reekie. A winning goal in an eight-game exhibition like the 1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series simply doesn&rsquo;t earn entry to the shrine.&bull; Jaromir Jagr has been in the NHL seven full seasons. Isn&rsquo;t that enough time for him to have mastered English for regular media interviews?&bull; I don&rsquo;t know whether he&rsquo;ll cut it as an executive, but a 15-minute conversation with Maple Leafs&rsquo; president-GM Ken Dryden produces the most compelling insights into the game this side of Jacques Lemaire.&bull; Say what you will about Tie Domi, but he remains, pound-for-pound, the most fearless fighter in the NHL.&bull; The purists so worried about Gordie Howe&rsquo;s one-shot comeback should be ashamed of themselves. It was a sweet sight for sore- or un sore-eyes. The standing ovation said it all.&bull; The scary part of Pat LaFontaine&rsquo;s comeback is, despite the concussions past, he&rsquo;s displaying the same devil-may-care style that got him hurt in the first place. LaFontaine&rsquo;s philosophy must be, life is short-skate hard!&bull; No two players are more unfairly maligned than Flyers&rsquo; goalies Ron Hextall and Garth Snow. Or has everyone forgotten Hexy out-goaled Mike Richter to take Philly to the final last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021399/8060594-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="663" height="1182"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Recchi</figcaption></div>&bull; Butch Goring should be coaching in the NHL right now. No ifs ands or buts about it. Which raises a question: is he being blackballed by persons unknown?&bull; Memo to Sabres&rsquo; marketing department: Dump the goat head and bring back the classic buffalo and crossed swords.&bull; Memo II to Darcy Regier: Matthew Barnaby&rsquo;s mom lives in Ottawa. Trade him to the Senators for Dan Alfredsson even if you have to throw in Hasek. Steve Shields is ready.&bull; Exactly one year ago, the biggest hero on Long Island was a character named John Spano.&bull; Commissioner Gary Bettman is right. The Collective Bargaining Agreement is working. But it&rsquo;s working for the NHL Players&rsquo; Association-average salary has cleared $1 million-not ownership.&bull; Ten reasons why hockey stars are wonderful to interview: 1. Mark Recchi; 2. Martin Brodeur; 3. Theo Fleury; 4. Brendan Shanahan; 5. Mike Richter; 6. Mathieu Schneider; 7. Dino Ciccarelli; 8. Jeremy Roenick; 9. Darius Kasparaitis; 10. Uwe Krupp.&bull; Best line of the month: Bruins&rsquo; coach Pat Bums on his team&rsquo;s sporadic offense: &ldquo;Some nights it&rsquo;s going to be like hunting bear with a butter knife.&rdquo;&bull; Naming 22-year-olds like Bryan McCabe and Chris Pronger captains of the Islanders and Blues respectively is risky at the very least and dangerous, at the very worst. I would have picked Scott Lachance and Al Maclnnis.&bull; NHL&rsquo;s Four Truly Unsung Heroes: Kelly Buchberger, Steve Rucchin, Claude Lapointe and Shjon Podein.&bull; Don&rsquo;t kid yourself, Wayne Gretzky is concerned about earning a Team Canada slot for the Olympics. That&rsquo;s why: a) he&rsquo;s going to play his butt off from here to January in order to make the team; b) the Rangers should be concerned by the time he returns from Nagano he could be burnt out for the playoffs; and c) Alexei Kovalev should be groomed, full-time, as center. &#9632;

f0014-01

Leetch, not Kariya, NHL’s new best player

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div>Andre Lacroix sits in a stark office, deep in the urban blight of downtown Oakland and laughs at the lunacy of it.&ldquo;Still, I get mail, from people all over the world asking for autographs,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I get three or four letters a week.&rdquo;Twenty five-years after its birth and 18 years after its survivors were assimilated into the NHL, the World Hockey Association is hot. The WHA is the subject of a new book, Blue Pucks and Big Bucks, due for release in mid-October, and there is a website with scores of WHA games.For the past three years, Lacroix, the WHA&rsquo;s all-time leader in points (798) and games played (551), has worked as manager of hockey programs at the Oakland Ice Center. Somehow, Lacroix said, the years have only added to the luster of a league long on flash and chronically short on cash.&ldquo;You had Gordie (Howe) who did so much and played with his boys (in Houston),&rdquo; Lacroix said. &ldquo;You had Bobby (Hull) with the big shot and Derek Sanderson with the lifestyle. The league sold that. Then you had me.&rdquo;In the wild and woolly WHA, Lacroix was a regular guy and a wholly unlikely foot soldier in the rebellion against the NHL. The youngest of 14 children, he grew up in the small town of Lauzon, Que., worshipping the Montreal Canadiens.A territorial choice of the Canadiens, he starred as a junior with the Montreal Canadiens and then the Peterborough Petes-with whom he won the Red Tilson Trophy as Ontario League MVP in 1965 and 1966.Lacroix, like every player in the Original Six days, played under the enormous power wielded by management. He said he was moved to Peterborough from the Junior Canadiens because he would not sign the repressive C form that bound him to the Canadiens in perpetuity.With the growing league came liberation to the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1967 expansion draft, but after Lacroix posted three seasons of 20 or more goals in Philadelphia, the Flyers were reshaping themselves into a bruising and brawling club and Lacroix, a 5-foot-8 finesse player, didn&rsquo;t fit the mold.After one desultory season as a Chicago Blackhawk, he was invited to hear a pitch from this new outlaw league, the WHA. The Philadelphia Blazers offered to double Lacroix&rsquo;s salary and give him a five-year-deal. He was 26 and it was, he said, an easy jump. &ldquo;I just wanted somebody to believe in me,&rdquo; Lacroix said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t hesitate.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011688/8060632-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="785" height="1310"><figcaption class="caption-body">Andre Lacroix&rsquo;s New York Gold en Blades snorted white skates. (Photo by Steve Babineau/SA)</figcaption></div>Lacroix signed with the Biazers, a club that had made headlines by signing Sanderson away from the Boston Bruins. On opening night, the Zamboni tore away a chunk of the portable ice the game was to be played on, prompting cancellation and a hail of orange souvenir pucks handed out at the door to every fan.Lacroix led the league in scoring that first season with 50 goals and 124 points and won the scoring title again two years later with 147 points. In his seven WHA seasons, Lacroix eclipsed the 100-point mark six times.&ldquo;I played with Gilbert Perreault in Buffalo and he was great,&rdquo; said Danny Lawson, a 61-goal scorer in his only season on Lacroix&rsquo;s right side, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve never had the feeling I had when I played with&rsquo; Andre. It was like he had eyes in the back of his head.&rdquo;The combination only lasted one year. When the Blazers became the Vancouver Blazers in the WHA&rsquo;s sophomore season, Lacroix refused to move and his rights were transferred to the New York Golden Blades, a team that wore skates painted white after every game. He stayed with the franchise through incarnations as the New Jersey Knights and San Diego Mariners and was claimed by the Houston Aeros when the Mariners folded. Lacroix&rsquo;s playing rights were eventually acquired by the New England Whalers, where he was playing when the NHL absorbed the league&rsquo;s four remaining franchises after the 1978-79 season.Lacroix is convinced the league was about on par with the calibre of NHL play and its demise pained him. &ldquo;I felt I was a piece of the puzzle in the WHA,&rdquo; Lacroix said. &ldquo;When it died, I felt a little piece of me went away too.&rdquo;Lacroix played 29 games for the NHL&rsquo;s Hartford Whalers, then retired at 34 when the club bought him out. He worked for the Whalers in sales and then moved to the broadcast booth, where he worked as the Whalers&rsquo; color man and then moved into arena management.While the league is long gone, the closeness it engendered is something for which he still searches. For the past several years, he has been pursuing coaching jobs. He is 51 and the thought that he could be through with professional hockey is, for Lacroix, a discouraging one.&ldquo;There has to be more,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When I was 12 years old 1 dedicated my life to playing hockey and I&rsquo;ve been a student of the game ever since. I&rsquo;ve gained so much experience. I know I can help today&rsquo;s players.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0015-01

Lacroix still misty about WHA

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011647/8060663-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="213" height="214"></div>The Mighty Ducks of Ana heim have never had a bona fide second line scorer. The hope was free agent acquisition Tomas Sandstrom would be the first.But best-laid plans change quickly. Two games into the season, Sandstrom was needed on the top line with Teemu Selanne and Sean Pronger.The 33-year-old Sandstrom took the left wing spot that was open indefinitely with the absence of Paul Kariya due to stalled contract negotiations.&ldquo;We wanted to balance the offense out,&rdquo; said Ducks&rsquo; coach Pierre Page. &ldquo;But that combination has worked well. There&rsquo;s very good chemistry between him and Teemu.&rdquo;Another reason Sandstrom was on the top line was the Ducks&rsquo; experiment with rookie Espen Knutsen, the 25-year-old highly skilled center from Norway, didn&rsquo;t work upon first try.Knutsen had not adjusted well to the more physical play in the NHL and was dropped to the fourth line.Page had to juggle the top line even more, putting Sean Pronger at center while Rucchin was out of the lineup with a pulled groin.In Sandstrom&rsquo;s first regular season game against the Vancouver Canucks in Japan Oct. 3, he didn&rsquo;t score, but had an assist and seven shots on goal. In the second game in Japan the next day, he scored and made a perfect crossing pass to set up J.J. Daigneault&rsquo;s winning goal.Sandstrom started last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, struggling with only nine goals in 40 games. When the Detroit Red Wings dealt for Sandstrom, coach Scotty Bowman had defense in mind.In the Red Wings&rsquo; left wing lock system, the left winger often sacrifices offense to be the third man high.&ldquo;As a player, you do what the coach tells you,&rdquo; Sandstrom said. &ldquo;It all comes down to wanting to win.&rdquo;Sandstrom said the offensive sacrifice was worth it when he picked up the Stanley Cup.Ducks&rsquo; GM Jack Ferreira was not scared off by Sandstrom&rsquo;s playoff numbers of (four assists in 20 games). &ldquo;He was a safety valve, allowing (Steve) Yz-erman extra room,&rdquo; Ferreira said. &ldquo;We are not concerned that he didn&rsquo;t score.&rdquo;Time will tell whether Sandstrom can score consistently. The Ducks are betting $2.8 million for two years that he can.&ldquo;We expect a lot from him,&rdquo; Selanne added. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s like Theo Fleury. He&rsquo;s a great player to have on your team and not so nice to play against. And his grandparents still live in Finland, so he must be a good guy.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Ducks&rsquo; coach Pierre Page, like the fans, was beginning to lose patience in the contract impasse involving the team and superstar left winger Paul Kariya. &ldquo;If the Ducks have made two offers and there is no counter-offer, I don&rsquo;t think you can blame the Ducks,&rdquo; Page said. &ldquo;We want to sign him, but we can&rsquo;t get an answer.&rdquo; But Page also said in the same interview: &ldquo;There were four months to make a deal and no deal was made. So I think both sides are at fault for not making a deal."&hellip;Right winger Teemu Selanne told the large contingent of media in Japan the only thing bad about the historic two-game series was the ice at Yoyogi Stadium. Despite some repairs during the games, the ice held up. &#9632;

f0016-01

Sandstrom re-gains offensive touch on Duck’s ton line

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021281/8060694-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="214" height="213"></div>The Boston Bruins selected Joe J Thornton with the first overall pick of the 1997 entry draft for obvious reasons. He&rsquo;s 6-foot-4, 198 pounds and still growing, he can skate and make plays and he&rsquo;s pretty level-headed for an 18-year-old.The Bruins learned something else about Thornton shortly after opening an eight-game Western Conference road swing: He&rsquo;s a fast healer.Thornton, who was originally expected to miss six-to-eight weeks after a slash by Stu Barnes of the Pittsburgh Penguins fractured his left forearm Sept. 23, made his NHL debut 15 days after the incident. He didn&rsquo;t score a point, but turned in a solid performance in a 3-2 overtime victory Oct. 8 over the Phoenix Coyotes.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot quicker than I thought,&rdquo; Thornton said of his return. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m real happy about that. I was ready to get things started.&rdquo;Thornton, whose every shift had been scrutinized during six relatively uneventful pre-season games (two assists), was happy to make his debut with so little buildup.&ldquo;Nobody really knows about Joe Thornton here in Phoenix,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and I don&rsquo;t think many people expected me to play so quickly. I didn&rsquo;t expect to be back this soon when I first got hurt, either. Coming back like this makes it a little easier.&rdquo;Thornton spent most of his first NHL game at right wing instead of center, starting on a fourth line with Ken Baumgartner and Mike Sullivan, but later moved to a unit with Ted Donato and Jason Allison. He had one great scoring chance, but Coyotes&rsquo; goalie Nikolai Khabibulin cut off Thornton&rsquo;s angle and smothered his shot as he swooped in for a shot from the right circle.&ldquo;I think he still has to learn a little more about the defensive end,&rdquo; said Bruins&rsquo; coach Pat Bums, &ldquo;but he had a chance to score and that was fun. We were all pulling for him. A goal would have been good, but he still played a pretty good game.&rdquo;While Thornton didn&rsquo;t enjoy his solitary workouts while waiting for his arm to heal, he thought watching Boston&rsquo;s first three games was beneficial.&ldquo;You see how hard guys work and what the intensity level is like in a game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;By the time I got out there, there were really no surprises.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Byron Dafoe took the early lead over Jim Carey in Boston&rsquo;s goaltending derby with a good effort in a 3-2 loss to Colorado Oct. 7 that earned a start the next night at Phoenix. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want Jim to sit too long,&rdquo; said Bruins&rsquo; coach Pat Burns, &ldquo;but we&rsquo;ve got to win hockey games.&rdquo; Dafoe, acquired in the off-season from Los Angeles in exchange for center Jozef Stumpel, won two of his first three decisions this season while Carey lost his first start&hellip;The win at Phoenix Oct. 8 matched last season&rsquo;s victory total against Central Division teams (one) and ended a long losing streak on the road. Boston was 19-2 against the Central Division in 1996-97 and finished the season with eight straight road losses under coach Steve Kasper. The Bruins then dropped their first road game with Bums behind the bench&hellip;The Bruins had averaged just three goals, through their first four games, but that tied Montreal for the second-best goals-per-game average in the Eastern Conference. &#9632;

f0016-02

Thornton’s miracle recovery pleasant surprise for Bruins

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03965/8060725-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="213" height="212"></div>As is always the case with the Buffalo Sabres, they did not go quietly into the new season.On the day of the home opener against the Dallas Stars, a 4-2 Sabres loss, one of the team&rsquo;s majority owners, Northrup Knox, opted to hold a news conference. Knox, who rarely engages in such ventures, used the opportunity to lecture the media regarding his perceived disrespect for him and his family. He also refuted claims the Sabres were not committed to winning, defended the firing of popular coach Ted Nolan and refueled a smoldering controversy regarding the deal that made Pat LaFontaine a New York Ranger.The LaFontaine reference drew the most exposure. Knox implied LaFontaine and his agent Don Meehan, refused to let the matter go to medical arbitration and LaFontaine requested the trade.Meehan immediately disputed Knox&rsquo;s version of the events, stating at no time did he or LaFontaine request a trade; that it was always LaFontaine&rsquo;s wish to play for the Sabres and neither he nor LaFontaine rejected medical arbitration. Meehan added Knox&rsquo;s comments were &ldquo;unfair and untrue&rdquo; and Sabres&rsquo; GM Darcy Regier and team counsel Kevin Billet know it.That set off another wave of controversy regarding the deal that was largely characterized as a salary dump in Buffalo. LaFontaine was scheduled to make $4.8 million in each of the next two seasons. The Buffalo News reported LaFontaine was not in the budget for either season and internal documents showed he was projected to be traded as far back as 1996.Both Regier and Billet declined to further address the issues raised by Knox and Meehan with Regier saying only that he stood by his original statement at the time the deal was announced. At that time Regier said Meehan introduced the idea of a trade as a way to resolve the matter and the Sabres agreed.In addition to the LaFontaine issue, Knox said he was upset with suggestions the team has not shown a commitment to winning and noted the ownership group has provided $33 million to cover loses since 1994-including $9 million in the past year.NOTEBOOK: League MVP, goalie Dominik Hasek, was booed repeatedly during the home-opening loss to Dallas and again when the Sabres beat Washington two nights later. Hasek, an outspoken critic of last year&rsquo;s coach Ted Nolan, said the fans were entitled to their opinion and the booing didn&rsquo;t bother him. However, he gave up a goal on the first shot he faced in each game. It got worse against Dallas, but better against Washington&hellip;Center Erik Rasmussen scored for Buffalo in his first game on the road and in his home debut&hellip;Alexei Zhitnik came to terms-with the Sabres before the home opener. The defenseman signed a one-year deal for about $1.5 million. Zhitnik set up the Sabres&rsquo; first goal of the game against Washington, a tip-in by right winger Jason Dawe. Dawe scored two goals in that game&hellip; The Sabres power play went O-for-18 until it scored against Washington&hellip;The Sabres failed to sell out the home opener and announced a crowd of 15,575. but it looked smaller. &#9632;

f0016-03

Owner Knox in eye of storm after lecturing local media

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011473/8060756-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="195" height="196"></div>In a bid to win back their disenchanted fans, the Calgary Flames invested heavily in a marketing campaign that features their so-called Young Guns.Forwards Jarome Iginla and Aaron Gavey and defensemen Cale Hulse and Todd Simpson are being touted as players the team believes will eventually carry them back to NHL respectability.One of the four, however, didn&rsquo;t get off to an auspicious start.Gavey, a 23-year-old center, sat out the first two games in favor of 19-year-old Steve Begin. He eventually got into the lineup after Begin banged up his shoulder.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of those things,&rdquo; Gavey said. &ldquo;They do what&rsquo;s best for the hockey club. Unfortunately, (coach Brian Sutter decided) putting me in at that time wasn&rsquo;t the right thing to do.&rdquo;Gavey, who played between right winger Sandy McCarthy and left winger Mike Peluso on the Flames&rsquo; version of a crash line, lost his place in the starting lineup after failing to record a point in six pre-season games.For parts of last season-before a neck injury sidelined him for the final month-Gavey was No. 2 on the team&rsquo;s depth chart. He finished the season with eight goals and 19 points in 57 games, 41 of which were played for Calgary after an early-season trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t that Aaron played bad,&rdquo; Sutter said, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s just that others played better than him.Said Gavey: &ldquo;The knock I had was that I had a slow training camp to begin with. I felt like I picked it up at the end. They told me, &lsquo;Pick it up,&rsquo; and I said, &lsquo;Absolutely.&rsquo; The last thing I wanted to do was let anybody down.&ldquo;I thought I picked it up. Unfortunately, it still wasn&rsquo;t enough so-you take the good with the bad. Hockey is a strange game. You go from the penthouse to the doghouse really quick.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Todd Simpson and right winger Ron Stem were expected to be out until early-November because of cartilage tears in their knees. Simpson originally injured his knee against the Rangers in the pre-season. &ldquo;Instead of getting better, it just got worse and worse,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I tried to play through it and it wasn&rsquo;t comfortable out there."&hellip;Coach Brian Sutter was decidedly unhappy with the refereeing four games into the season. The Flames had to kill 10 penalties in a 2-1 loss to Toronto Oct. 7. Two nights later, Sutter was steamed about a goal referee Dan Marouelli disallowed that he says cost his team a victory. &ldquo;Everybody in the building saw it,&rdquo; Sutter said. &rsquo;The referee has to answer for that one.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-01

Young gun Gavey tries to find mark

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021144/8060787-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="197" height="198"></div>Eric Weinrich hopes the good news keeps coming his way.The Chicago Blackhawks made Weinrich a happy man Oct. 8 when they added three years to his existing contract that was set to expire after this season.Now if only the U.S. Olympic selection group will see fit to make Weinrich a part of the American squad for the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, life would be even sweeter for the veteran defenseman.Weinrich thinks he has a chance to make the U.S. team based on the strong season he had last year, although his competition for a spot may come from teammates Gary Suter and Keith Carney.&ldquo;I joked with someone that I&rsquo;d even be the water boy to go,&rdquo; said Weinrich, a member of the 1988 U.S. team.Even if Weinrich doesn&rsquo;t make it to Japan, he has got financial security thanks to his new contract he hopes keeps him with the Hawks through the 2000-2001 season. Weinrich&rsquo;s four-year package, counting the one-year contract he signed prior to this season, is believed to average $2 million a year.The 30-year-old passed up being an unrestricted free agent next summer.&ldquo;I know I passed up being unrestricted (free agent), but this gives me a chance to play in a place I really wanted to play,&rdquo; Weinrich said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be the happiest guy in the world if I could play four more years here.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Coach Craig Hartsburg, whose team had a goal wiped out in the Oct. 1 game against Phoenix following a video review for an in-the-crease violation, said it&rsquo;s time to give more authority to the referees. &ldquo;Let the referee make the decision,&rdquo; Hartsburg said. &ldquo;I think we do a disservice to our referees when we go to the video. To me that takes the game out of their hands. Let&rsquo;s put some trust in them."&hellip;The Hawks&rsquo; 0-3-0 start to the season was their worst since 1985-86&hellip;Defenseman Gary Suter on the possibility of playing for the U.S. Olympic team in Nagano: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll look at it like if I&rsquo;m picked it will be a huge honor to go. But if not, then I&rsquo;ll just enjoy the time off. Either way, if 11 be a pleasant thing.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-02

Weinrich looks to Nagano after getting extended deal

<div class="byline">By Steve Politi</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05421/8060818-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="758" height="1205"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nelson Emerson</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03829/8060825-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="198" height="193"></div>If there was one bright spot to the Carolina Hurricanes&rsquo; slow start in their new home, it was the play of right winger Nelson Emerson.Emerson had a difficult season in 1996-97, scoring just nine goals-a far cry from his 29-goal production a year earlier. As a result, he entered training camp fighting for a job.Consider the job his. After four games, the 30-year-old Emerson was among the NHL scoring leaders with three goals and six points.&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s a guy who came in with a lot of question marks,&rdquo; said right winger Kevin Dineen. &ldquo;He has done everything he can so far. Right now, I&rsquo;d have to say he&rsquo;s the only offensive force we have.&rdquo;Emerson, whose career highs are 33 goals and 74 points with the Winnipeg Jets in 1993-94, suffered an ankle injury in the final pre-season game last year. He said he twice tried to return too soon from the injury and it affected his play.&ldquo;Last year was just an off year for me,&rdquo; Emerson said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve played enough years in the league to realize that can happen. Hopefully, it doesn&rsquo;t happen again.&rdquo;Entering camp, with team management talking openly and often about getting bigger and grittier, it seemed like the 5-foot-l 1. 175-pound Emerson would be the odd man out. Instead, his play in the pre-season earned him a spot on the team&rsquo;s No. 1 line, along with center Keith Primeau and left winger Gary Roberts.NOTEBOOK: It was the best of crowds, and the worst of crowds. The team opened with 18,661 fans for the first ever game in the Greensboro Coliseum, Oct. 3 against Pittsburgh. It was a franchise home record. For the second game four days later against Los Angeles, the team drew an announced audience of 6,083 (though it appeared smaller). It was the seventh-worst crowd in franchise history&hellip;Left winger Gary Roberts scored his first goal in more than a year-and-a-half when he poked in the game-lying goal in a 3-3 tie with the Kings. &ldquo;1 realize that I haven&rsquo;t been very good out there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just trying to get over the hump."&hellip;Only three times in franchise history had the team started worse than this season&rsquo;s 0-3-0. &#9632;

f0017-05

Emerson off to great start

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04607/8060856-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="199" height="195"></div>For those who believe a lack of enforcer presence had nothing to do with the Colorado Avalanche&rsquo;s failure to win a second straight Stanley Cup last season, consider these words from Patrick Roy:&ldquo;I think the biggest change on our team (this season) has been the addition of Francois Leroux,&rdquo; Roy said.Roy believes the presence of the 6-foot-6, 236-pound Leroux, acquired in the off-season from the Pittsburgh Penguins, makes it possible for the slick-skating Avs to go about their business without being intimidated.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have to worry about things. There&rsquo;s no frustration about seeing things happen and you can&rsquo;t do (anything) about it,&rdquo; Roy said. &ldquo;Now, we know something&rsquo;s going to happen and I think that helps everybody to just focus on our game.&rdquo;The addition of the hulking Leroux had a beneficial effect on the Avs&rsquo; dressing room. Since Chris Simon was traded to the Washington Capitals last season, the Avs lacked a true heavyweight to go after opponents should a player such as Peter Forsberg or Joe Sakic take a nasty hit.But Leroux went after Calgary Flames&rsquo; tough guy Sandy McCarthy in the second game of the season. Unlike former Avs&rsquo; enforcer Brent Severyn, Leroux has no ambivalence about his job.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to do it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Every time it&rsquo;s going to be needed, I&rsquo;m going to do it.&rdquo;Roy said, &ldquo;It was funny to notice the difference (against Calgary). Last year, (Sandy) McCarthy was running around the ice like he was on the highway. (This time) it was totally different. He had to worry about somebody, and Leroux brings this club a lot.&rdquo;Roy believes the Avs suffered from a lack of physical presence in the playoffs. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t say that was the difference in the series between Detroit and us, but I think it was important for us to add that size. We have great superstars in Peter and Joey. Those guys need to be able to do their job.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goaltender Patrick Roy had a shutout string of 142 minutes, 43 seconds broken by San Jose right winger Shean Donovan Oct. 9. Roy still got a 3-2 victory, though. On Oct. 5, Roy made 34 saves for his 38th career shutout in a 3-0 victory at Edmonton. The shutout was a birthday present for Roy, who turned 32 that night&hellip; Roy had a .958 save percentage through the first four games, second only to Montreal&rsquo;s Andy Moog (.963)&hellip;Through the first five games, Colorado killed 29 of 30 penalties. The power play wasn&rsquo;t quite as effective, clicking on five of 31 chances&hellip;The Avs unveiled a new mascot this season, a seven-foot Abominable Snowman-looking creature named Howler. &#9632;

f0017-04

No kidding; Leroux makes big difference

<div class="byline">By Mike Heika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011527/8060887-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="215" height="222"></div>In the end, it proved too little to argue about.The Dallas Stars and captain Derian Hatcher settled their contract dispute, compromising on a two-year deal for $4.9 million with the possibility of incentives that could push it above $5 million.The signing brought an end to a dispute that carried on over the first 10 days of the season despite a difference of only $200,000 a year.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t fun and it didn&rsquo;t make a lot of sense at times,&rdquo; Hatcher said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m happy and ready to get going.&rdquo;Hatcher is scheduled to make $2.3 million this season (minus about $130,000 for the time he missed) and $2.6 million next season. That&rsquo;s a huge increase from the $1.1 million he made last season, but still under what some others in his playing range are currently making.But trying to find the right salary slot proved difficult in Hatcher&rsquo;s case. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound defenseman doesn&rsquo;t score much (40 goals and 131 points in 378 career games), but often logs the most ice time among Stars&rsquo; defensemen and is considered one of the harder hitters in the league.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be honest, it will be hard just to laugh it off at first,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s part of the business and it&rsquo;s over now.&rdquo;Hatcher, who is the Stars&rsquo; captain, expected a warm welcome in the dressing room. Alternate captain Craig Ludwig said the team will be happy to get Hatcher back on the ice.NOTEBOOK: To make room for defenseman Derian Hatcher on the 24-man roster, the Stars assigned left winger Patrick Cote to the Michigan K-Wings of the International League. Cote had not played in four games this season&hellip;Right winger Jere Lehtinen scored on a penalty shot against Buffalo&rsquo;s Dominik Hasek Oct. 7. It was only the seventh successful penalty shot in franchise history, only the fourth in the regular season&hellip;Stars&rsquo; coach Ken Hitchcock reunited the first line of left winger Greg Adams, center Mike Mod-ano and Lehtinen. Rookie Juha Lind was scratched for two of four games&hellip;Defenseman Craig Ludwig and center Guy Car-bonneau each played their 1,100th career games in the first week of the season. &#9632;

f0018-01

Captain returns to fold, Hatcher signs new deal

<div class="byline">By Cynthia Lambert</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03840/8060918-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="766" height="1236"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jamie Pushor</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021165/8060925-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="212" height="220"></div>In the last three training camps, Jamie Pushor has played in 24 games-eight each year. But one autumn, perhaps not too far in the future, Pushor will be considered a steady veteran who only needs a handful of pre-season games to get him going.But until that day comes, Pushor. 24, only hopes he&rsquo;s in the regular season lineup with as much frequency. This is the year for him to put together a strong regular season and playoffs.In his rookie season, last year, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Pushor played in 75 regular season games, but only five in the playoffs. It was a bitter pill for the defenseman to swallow, but one that has made him stronger this time around.&ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t look at the playoffs as a huge setback,&rdquo; Pushor said. &ldquo;Through the season I contributed a lot and I helped the team out. The fact I didn&rsquo;t play in the playoffs, it was tough, but look who I was playing behind.&rdquo;In part, Pushor&rsquo;s attitude toward his diminished role in the spring helped the team learn what it needed to know about him. Instead of moping around and negotiating for more ice time, Pushor supported his teammates with helpful words of encouragement.This season, with the absence of Vladimir Konstantinov on the blueline, Pushor&rsquo;s role and status has increased. Playing alongside Slava Fetisov in the team&rsquo;s first few games. Pushor will now be someone the organization counts on in the playoffs, not counts out.NOTEBOOK: Even though injured Red Wings Vladimir Konstantinov and Sergei Mnatsakanov continue to make subtle progress in recovering from their injuries from the June 13 limousine crash, medical experts have now placed a ceiling on the expected extent of each man&rsquo;s ultimate recovery. Dr. Sherry Viola of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., said Mnatsakanov, the team masseur, sustained extensive spinal cord injuries in addition to his head injury and will never again be able to walk. Konstantinov is progressing in gross motor skills but is, &ldquo;not able to stand independently or walk. There is damage to several areas of his brain.&rdquo; As a result, it is not expected that Konstantinov will be able to talk again. &#9632;

f0018-03

Ready for added duty

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04558/8060956-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="211" height="214"></div>Mats Lindgren wants to settle a debt this season.&ldquo;The expectations I had when 1 first came over here were quite high,&rsquo; Lindgren said. &ldquo;And to sit out like 1 did, that was just awful. I wasn&rsquo;t feeling that good. It&rsquo;s time to give some thing back to the guys who were behind me through those tough years I think I can do that.&rdquo;The Oilers waited forever to see the slick Swede in action and they were still waiting for him to break out offensively. He came to them from the Winnipeg Jets in a multi-player trade that sent Dave Manson to the Jets on March 15, 1994. But Lindgren played another season in Sweden then showed up in Edmonton the following spring with a cranky back that kept him off skates for months.Then, 13 games into his pro career he was hacked on the back of the left leg and his year was over. He was out with nerve damage and there was concern he&rsquo;d never play again, but he has worked hard at a comeback. He played for Edmonton all last season, but was a tentative rookie who wasted scads of offensive chances.It&rsquo;s time to make repayments for that too. As an Oiler rookie he scored 11 times in 69 games. His 25 points didn&rsquo;t set the hockey world on its ear. Heck, he didn&rsquo;t even lead first-year Oilers in scoring.&ldquo;I had never had that problem, to go 10 games without a goal,&rdquo; Lindgren said. &ldquo;It got up to my head. I had no confidence whatsoever to score. So many times the puck was there, the net was wide open and I&rsquo;d put ii on the post or crossbar.&ldquo;You should set high goals. Twenty goals, that&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;m looking for.&rdquo;If he doesn&rsquo;t do that the Oilers will wonder if he is just a good defensive forward or an offensive threat still waiting to be unleashed. In his first four games this season. Lindgren got off to a slow start. He had no points and just four shots on goal as the Oilers went 1-2-1.NOTEBOOK: A second local group put in a bid to buy the Oilers, which are being run by the Alberta Treasury Branch. It&rsquo;s believed the bid is close to the $70 million (U.S.) asking price for the team. However, owner Peter Pocklington wants an additional $20 million (U.S.) for Coliseum Management Inc., which holds the lease on Edmonton Coliseum. Meanwhile. Pocklington hosted National Basketball Association Houston Rockets&rsquo; owner Les Alexander at an Oiler game in October. Alexander has made no secret of the fact he wants an NHL team&hellip;Center Rem Murray continued to practise with the Oilers despite the fact he wasn&rsquo;t under contract. GM Glen Sather and Murray&rsquo;s agent Don Meehan were close to a deal. &#9632;

f0018-04

Lindgren sets out to prove self

<div class="byline">By Dave Joseph</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011303/8060987-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="212" height="215"></div>The Florida Panthers, never big fans of Eric Lindros, are calling the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; star center a dirty player and suggesting he attempted to hurt center Rob Niedermayer on opening night.With 1:25 remaining in the Flyers&rsquo; 3-1 victory Oct. 1, Lindros hit Niedermayer in front of the Flyer bench. Niedermayer suffered a concussion and is out indefinitely with headaches, dizzy spells and memory loss. Panthers&rsquo; coach Doug MacLean said Lindros hit Niedermayer with his stick high.&ldquo;It was a dirty check,&rdquo; MacLean said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m bitterly disappointed about losing a top guy for a month.&ldquo;All I know is that his brother&rsquo;s (Brett) career was ended because of a concussion and head injury. It frustrates me he doesn&rsquo;t have more respect for players in this league. Eric Lindros is a great hockey player. He doesn&rsquo;t have to pull that stuff.&rdquo;GM Bryan Murray said he spoke with NHL vice-president Brian Burke and team president Bill Torrey had a conversation with commissioner Gary Bettman about the Lindros hit.Panther enforcer Paul Laus, who said Lindros &ldquo;is about as dirty as it gets,&rdquo; said the Panthers will remember the hit when the two teams meet again Nov. 14 in Miami.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure (this incident) will be in the back of our minds,&rdquo; Laus said. &ldquo;I know what I would do and I probably will. We&rsquo;ll wait until we play them again and see what takes place.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Dave Gagner, an off-season free agent signee, came through in a big way Oct. 4 with a hat trick in a 5-3 victory in Pittsburgh. Among his goals was one shorthanded&hellip;Right winger Jody Hull also scored a shorthanded goal in Pittsburgh. It was the third time in franchise history the Panthers scored two shorthanded goals in one game&hellip;With Terry Carkner nursing a sprained ankle and Dallas Eakins a sprained knee, the Panthers dressed only five defensemen in their first two games and used Hull as a sixth defenseman. Hull played a few shifts each night on the blueline. MacLean called Hull &ldquo;maybe the most versatile player in the NHL."&hellip;The Panthers were O-for-11 on the power play through two games. &#9632;

f0020-01

Panthers vow revenge after Lindros hit on Niedermaver

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03667/8061018-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="757" height="1198"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Robinson</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02933/8061025-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="211" height="204"></div>The Los Angeles Kings displayed some consistency on their season-opening five-game road trip, but not the kind coach Larry Robinson had hoped for.And because their only consistent habit was to fall behind in every game, they managed to earn only three points and headed home still looking for their first victory. Along the way, they tied the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes and lost to the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues.Robinson was upset over his team&rsquo;s defensive coverage in the finale of the trip, a 3-2 loss to the Blues in which right winger Brett Hull scored all three St. Louis goals.But Robinson is not the first Kings&rsquo; coach to despair over damage Hull has inflicted against the Kings. In 38 career games against them. Hull has 31 goals and 47 points.&ldquo;I just don&rsquo;t understand.&rdquo; Robinson said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the most dangerous guy on the ice and we let him have three pointblank shots. He doesn&rsquo;t get 60 goals by fluke.&rdquo;Robinson was also upset the Kings didn&rsquo;t get a power play until just over six minutes remained in the game, while the Blues had four man-advantage situations.&ldquo;(The officials) are supposed to be calling interference now and it looked to me that there was a lot of hooking and holding,&rdquo; Robinson said. &ldquo;(The NHL) better get its act together and find out what is interference and what is not interference. I&rsquo;m still waiting.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK:CenterRay Ferraro suffered a sprained knee when hit by Rangers&rsquo; defenseman Jeff Beukeboom Oct. 5 and was expected to be back in late-October&hellip; Goaltender Frederic Chabot, pressed into service when Jamie Storr pulled a groin, made his first NHL start in four years against Carolina Oct. 7 and played well in a 3-3 tie&hellip; Rookie right winger Donald MacLean continued to surprise by scoring the first two goals of his NHL career&hellip;The Kings cleared a political hurdle in their plans to build a new downtown arena, but they must start developing the site within the next three months in order to meet their targeted opening date of October, 1999&hellip;Former GM Sam McMaster was hired as a scout for Carolina. &#9632;

f0020-03

Robinson not amused

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04454/8061056-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="199" height="197"></div>Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; center Marc Bureau has reached a crossroads in his career.The 31-year-old pivot was a healthy scratch through the first three games of the season, a stretch in which the Habs went 2-0-1.&ldquo;Marc is a competitor and I know that he wants to play,&rdquo; said Canadiens&rsquo; coach Alain Vigneault. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s also a veteran who understands his role. His time will come. There are times when we&rsquo;re going to need Marc and he&rsquo;s going to be there to help us.&rdquo;Bureau, in his ninth season, was diplomatic, noting he was among the 18 skaters the Canadiens protected in the waiver draft. That. | he figured, must mean something.&ldquo;I know the team wants me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Otherwise they wouldn&rsquo;t have protected me. I&rsquo;m willing to play the role they want me to play.&rdquo;There is, however, one stipulation. Bureau is seeking a contract extension-at his option.Bureau is earning $475,000 (U.S.) this season in the final year of his contract. He&rsquo;d like the Canadiens to offer him a new deal for next season, but he&rsquo;d like it to be at his option. That way. Bureau, scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, would be able to pursue offers should he have a productive year this season.&ldquo;I have to think about my future. I want to play a few more seasons,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If I only play 25 or 35 games, that won&rsquo;t do anything to raise my market value. I want to stay here, so 1 hope we can work something out.&rdquo;Bureau was limited to 43 games last season, during which he scored six goals and 15 points. He missed 39 games due to injuries, including a 26-game stint with a knee ailment.Still, the defensive specialist proved to be valuable. His absence was particularly felt when the Canadiens were playing shorthanded. Montreal had the league&rsquo;s worst penalty killing record last season, partly due to Bureau&rsquo;s loss.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Brett Clark took a circuitous route to the NHL. but the 20-year-old rookie was making the most of his chance. Clark, drafted 154th overall by Montreal in 1996. played in two of the Canadiens&rsquo; first three games and acquitted himself well. &ldquo;When 1 came to training camp, 1 just wanted to play my best and see what happened,&rdquo; said Clark, who made it to the NHL via tire University of Maine and Canada&rsquo;s national team. Clark realizes he&rsquo;s playing due to injuries and is destined for a minor league stint&hellip;Center Saku Koivu was still looking for his first goal, but was off to an impressive start with six assists in three games. So was his linemate. right winger Mark Recchi. who had four goals and five points. &#9632;

f0020-04

Bureau wants new deal for his patience

<div class="byline">By Rich Chore</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02660/8061087-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="203" height="205"></div>It was inevitable. Insulted by contract offers from the New Jersey Devils, unsigned free agent Bill Guerin asked to be traded and threatened to sit out the entire season.Guerin&rsquo;s request came just as fellow Group II free agent Brian Rolston compromised on his salary demands and accepted a two-year deal that will pay him $725,000 this season and $750,000 next.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy it&rsquo;s over with,&rdquo; said Rolston, who missed the first two games of the season before playing Oct. 8. &ldquo;I had no other options, so I pretty much gave up a lot. I just wanted to get back playing. I know it sounds corny, but I love the game.&rdquo;Rolston received a healthy pay increase from the $275,000 he earned last season and can go to salary arbitration next time around. Guerin, who was paid $743,671 last season, was seeking between $1.5 million and $2 million per season on a new deal. The Devils offered $1 million per season.&ldquo;They made an offer and it&rsquo;s not what we want it to be,&rdquo; Guerin said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the whole reason for asking for a trade. I feel I should get market value and they don&rsquo;t seem willing to do that.&rdquo;GM Lou Lamoriello, however, has repeated he will not trade Guerin. Back in 1991, when goalie Sean Burke demanded a trade, Lamoriello let Burke sit out an entire season before dealing him.What will Lamoriello do this time? &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll let history speak for itself,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: After being both an offensive sparkplug and a defensive liability in his Devils&rsquo; debut Oct. 3, defenseman Vlastimil Kroupa sat out the next two games. Coach Jacques Lemaire said Kroupa had to &ldquo;learn the defensive game."&hellip;During his absence from camp, center Brian Rolston skated at Clarkson University, where his brother Ron is an assistant coach&hellip;Team physician Dr. Barry Fisher decided not to operate on center Sergei Brylin&rsquo;s right knee. Brylin will undergo therapy similar to that which allowed defenseman Ken Daneyko to overcome ligament damage in 1995&hellip;Left winger Randy McKay started the season with goals in three straight games, one-third of his total of nine last season. &#9632;

f0021-02

Bitter Guerin wants trade; Devils not willing to oblige

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03412/8061118-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="757" height="1195"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bryan Berard</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011049/8061125-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="195" height="193"></div>Rushing defensemen seem to be going the way of the dinosaur, but the New York Islanders have a good one in Bryan Berard.The reigning Calder Trophy winner, who had eight goals and 48 points in 82 games last season, said he would like to average a point a game this year and was on track to do so with four points after three games.&ldquo;I definitely would like to try,&rdquo; Berard said of getting 82, &ldquo;but that&rsquo;s a tough situation. You have many teams playing the (neutral zone) trap. The game doesn&rsquo;t open up as much as it used to. You hardly ever see a defenseman up in the play because there&rsquo;s nowhere to go.&rdquo;Berard, however, seems eager to go forward. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my second year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m done feeling my way through the league.&rdquo;It is not a stretch to say that although Berard had played only 85 NHL games, he had displayed more offensive gifts than any defenseman in club history with the exception of Hall of Famer Denis Potvin.Berard said he has seen videotape of Potvin, but is more familiar with the style of the New York Rangers&rsquo; Brian Leetch, who has a knack for picking the right time to rush and the speed to recover and get back on defense.Coach Rick Bowness said Berard&rsquo;s top priority is to play well in his own zone and that he will develop a feel for timing rushes. &ldquo;Bryan has tremendous instincts and we&rsquo;ll never take that away from him,&rdquo; Bowness said. &ldquo;But he also has responsibilities to the team.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: After fourth line center Claude Lapointe got two goals against Toronto Oct. 4, he joked, &ldquo;What&rsquo;s the record, 92? I&rsquo;ll try to get five hat tricks."&hellip;Right winger Warren Luhning&rsquo;s parents, Rick and Arlene, flew in from Calgary for his NHL debut Oct. 4&hellip;GM Mike Milbury passed on claiming Sound Beach, Long Island twins Chris and Peter Ferraro for $60,000 apiece after the Rangers waived them&hellip;Milbury on physical (and often-injured) defenseman Rich Pilon, who helped keep Rangers&rsquo; center Wayne Gretzky and Toronto center Mats Sundin pointless in early-season games: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a world-class player for what he brings. You can only pray that he stays out of the medical room.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0021-03

Berard aims for 82 points

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpinlello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04305/8061156-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="197" height="196"></div>The New York Rangers might not win the Stanley Cup this season, but they were on pace to lead the league in one category: video replays.Picking up where they left off in last spring&rsquo;s playoffs-when the rival New Jersey Devils had game-tying goals disallowed in three consecutive games&ndash;the Rangers were involved in five replays in their first four games this season, all ties.The most notable sequence came during a 2-2 tie with the Los Angeles Kings Oct. 5. Rookie Marc Savard appeared to have tied the game with 41.4 seconds left, but video replay found Pat LaFontaine was in the crease. It would have been Savard&rsquo;s first NHL goal.Then, Kevin Stevens tied the game with 8.3 seconds left, but the goal immediately went under review. This time, video judge John Damante discovered Brian Leetch&rsquo;s pass had entered the crease a fraction of a second before Stevens&rsquo; foot and the goal counted.Damante told referee Mark Faucette the Stevens&rsquo; goal was the toughest one he has had to call, taking frame-by-frame evidence to come to his conclusion.The Rangers had a goal by New York Islanders&rsquo; Tom Chorske wiped out in their opener, a 2-2 tie Oct. 3, because Chorske was in the crease. Another goal by Jason Arnott of the Edmonton Oilers was erased in the Rangers&rsquo; third game, a 3-3 tie Oct. 8, because Todd Marchant was also in the crease.In Game 4 Oct. 9 against the Calgary Flames, video review helped referee Dan Marouelli decide he had blown the whistle before Zarley Zalapski&rsquo;s-apparent winner entered the net. The game ended 1-1.&ldquo;Like I said last year, I don&rsquo;t like the rule, even though we sure benefit-ted in the playoffs,&rdquo; said Rangers&rsquo; coach Colin Campbell. &ldquo;It hurts goal scorers, and goal-scoring is down in the league because of it.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Mike Richter was beaten on a penalty shot Oct. 8 for the first time in his career by former Ranger and World Cup teammate, center Doug Weight. Richter had been 7-for-7.. Rookie left winger Johan Lindbom suffered a subluxed left shoulder when he collided with defenseman Eric Cairns and ran into the goalpost during an Oct. 7 practice&hellip;The Rangers set an NHL record by opening the season with four consecutive ties&hellip;Center Wayne Gretzky, who has become an owner and executive officer in Hespeler sticks, has offered to buy a Cadillac for left winger Kevin Stevens if he switches to the Hespeler brand&hellip;Center Pat LaFontaine had four goals in the first four games. &#9632;

f0021-04

Rangers get de ja vu with video replay

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrloch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-06158/8061187-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="741" height="1212"><figcaption class="caption-body">Damian Rhodes</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05208/8061194-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="198" height="197"></div>After a season of struggle, it has been a long recovery process for Ottawa Senators&rsquo; goaltender Damian Rhodes.But it appears he is headed in the right direction.Rhodes, 28, who was forced to sit and watch while backup Ron Tugnutt stole the show during the Senators&rsquo; run to their first-ever post-season berth, found his form early in the season.Recovering from off-season ankle surgery, Rhodes worked hard to get ready for camp and it paid off when he recorded his fourth career shutout in a 1-0 win against the San Jose Sharks Oct. 7. He stopped 23 shots in the game.&ldquo;I was waiting for the announcement (that there was only one minute remaining in the game),&rdquo; said Rhodes, who refuses to look at the clock while he&rsquo;s working the net. &ldquo;I thought it was about to come about five times.&rdquo;Getting back to a point where he feels comfortable hasn&rsquo;t been easy for Rhodes. He came to camp prepared to fight for the No. 1 job with Tugnutt, but coach Jacques Martin decided not to commit to a No. 1/No. 2 system. That means there are no guarantees and Tugnutt was scheduled to be in net for the game following the San Jose shutout.But that won&rsquo;t diminish Rhodes&rsquo; resolve. He wants his name mentioned among the league&rsquo;s top goalies and the only way to get there is to have to success.&ldquo;I really just want to forget last year,&rdquo; Rhodes said. &ldquo;I want to get back to the level I was at and even better.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Restricted free agent right winger Daniel Alfredsson flew from Sweden to Los Angeles while the Senators were on their annual West Coast trip. Alfredsson&rsquo;s agent, Michael Barnett, was trying to set up a meeting with GM Pierre Gauthier in an attempt to resolve the stalemate&hellip;Right winger Alexandre Daigle was scratched from games in San Jose (Oct. 7) and Anaheim (Oct 10) because of an infected right elbow. Daigle was sent to a specialist to have the elbow checked&hellip;San Jose, Detroit, Montreal and the Islanders all have interest in defenseman Stan Neckar. With the Sens carrying eight blueliners, a trade is a possibility&hellip;The win in San Jose bumped the Senators&rsquo; all-time record in California to 2-10-0. &#9632;

f0021-06

Rhodes on road back

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-07135/8061225-1-eng-US/f0021-072.jpg" title="f0021-07" width="198" height="194"></div>If Eric Lindros was bothered by criticism from the Florida Panthers over an opening night hit on Rob Niedermayer, it certainly didn&rsquo;t show on the ice.Lindros, subject of the Panthers&rsquo; wrath after Niedermayer was diagnosed with a concussion, proceeded to level New Jersey Devils&rsquo; goalie Martin Brodeur in an Oct. 8 game and bloodied Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; defenseman Darius Kasparaitis a night later.The 24-year-old center&rsquo;s rambunctious activities became a cause celebre due, in part, to his recent statements regarding head injuries. Eric&rsquo;s brother, Brett, was forced to retire because of repeated concussions.Florida complained to the league, but when Lindros was informed of the Panthers&rsquo; actions, he said he didn&rsquo;t understand what all the fuss was about.&ldquo;This is the first I&rsquo;ve heard of it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really remember what happened.&rdquo;A week later, Lindros barreled into Brodeur, knocking the goalie to the ice and knocking off his mask. For the most part, the Devils weren&rsquo;t concerned with the hit.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel he did it on purpose,&rdquo; Brodeur said. &ldquo;If he was trying to hurt me, I wouldn&rsquo;t be talking with you.&rdquo;Coach Wayne Cashman also believes it&rsquo;s much ado about nothing. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve watched (replay of the Niedermayer hit) 15 times,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If they&rsquo;re going to take bodychecking out of the game, they&rsquo;ve got to let us know early.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Dyers and left winger John LeClair were reportedly close to a new three-year contract that will pay him in excess of $10 million. LeClair had three years remaining on his old contract that paid him $1.25 million last season&hellip;Center Dale Hawerchuk, forced to retire because of a hip injury, will do some pro scouting out of St. Louis to fulfill the final year of his contract that was scheduled to pay him $2.5 million&hellip;The CoreStates Center plans to install seamless glass along its sideboards to enhance TV coverage. The glass is expected to be in place Oct. 27&hellip;Defenseman Kjell Samuelsson and center Eric Lindros played in their 500th and 300th games as Flyers, respectively, the first week of the season. &#9632;

f0021-07

Lindros, Flyers unfazed by fuss over hit parade

<div class="byline">By Mike Dudurich</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03556/8061287-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="751" height="1220"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Barrasso</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02801/8061294-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="202" height="203"></div>After missing all but five games last season with a shoulder injury, goaltender Tom Barrasso returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins five wins short of a coveted personal accomplishment and a strong-willed determination to reach it.One of the key members of the Penguins&rsquo; back-to-back Stanley Cup teams in 1991 and 1992, Barrasso has struggled since with injuries and consistency. New coach Kevin Constantine said before training camp the competition between Barrasso and Ken Wregget was wide open, but most felt Wregget, the incumbent, had the inside track.But when the 1997-98 season opened, Barrasso was standing between the pipes at the Civic Arena as the starting goaltender. That raised a lot of eyebrows, but not Barrasso&rsquo;s.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I get paid to do,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my 15th year in the league. Anytime I&rsquo;ve been healthy, I&rsquo;ve always been the starter.&rdquo;He entered the season needing five wins to become the 14th goalie in NHL history to record 300. He picked up one of those in his first four starts, but a struggling offense prevented him from getting any closer. In his first four starts, the Penguins scored eight goals.&ldquo;This team isn&rsquo;t like ones from years past,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not really a great team and we have to be a better job of being prepared and that includes me.&rdquo;Whether it&rsquo;s Barrasso or Wregget in net, the Pens are confident in their goaltending. &ldquo;I think (we have) the best goaltending in the league,&rdquo; said captain Ron Francis.NOTEBOOK: The Penguins withdrew all four of their offers to restricted free agent center Petr Nedved, but Nedved&rsquo;s agent, Tony Kondel. made a counter-proposal. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not anywhere near what will make it a deal,&rdquo; said GM Craig Patrick. &ldquo;The outlook is not good, in my opinion.&rdquo; Kondel said he and his client were willing to wait. &ldquo;The team needs to improve. Did you see the loss to Montreal?&rdquo; said Kondel, referring to a 3-0 Canadiens&rsquo; win Oct. 8. &rsquo;They need a goal-scorer and somebody who can set up plays."&hellip;None of the Penguins&rsquo; first four home games were sellouts, even in the smaller capacity Civic Arena (16,958). The capacity is down from 17,181 because of the installation of club seating. &#9632;

f0024-03

Barrasso back as No. 1 man

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04376/8061325-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="193" height="192"></div>Pierre Turgeon, the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; No. 1 center, will be out until at least mid-November recovering from surgery to repair a compound fracture on the outside of his right arm, just above the wrist.&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll be all right, but you&rsquo;re looking at an extended period of time,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; coach Joel Quenneville.It&rsquo;s a period of time that could make or break the Blues&rsquo; season. If the Blues can stay afloat until Turgeon returns, they&rsquo;ll be fine. If not, well, they can kiss this season goodbye.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll handle it well,&rdquo; a surprisingly upbeat Quenneville said. &ldquo;Hey, what are you going to do? Over an 82-game season, you&rsquo;re going to run into these types of things. There&rsquo;s not a lot you can do about it&ldquo;You feel bad for Pierre, and obviously, this hurts the team, but it&rsquo;s not an excuse. You have to go about your business. This is when you call upon the depth of the organization.&rdquo;Still, it&rsquo;s difficult to believe that Pavol Demitra, Darren Turcotte, Harry York, Terry Yake or Pascal Rhe-aume&ndash;the Blues&rsquo; other centers-can fill the giant void left by Turgeon, who suffered the injury on a slash by Guy Carbonneau late in the first period of Blues&rsquo; 2-1 victory on Oct. 4 over the Dallas Stars. Yake replaced Turgeon on the Blues&rsquo; No. 1 line between Brett Hull and Jim Campbell.Turgeon, 28, led the Blues last season with 85 points and finished eighth in the league with 59 assists. He entered the season with 344 goals and 864 points in 750 career games. And he had four assists in the Blues&rsquo; first three games, including two against Dallas the night he was hurt.&ldquo;Pierre was off to a good start,&rdquo; Quenneville said. &ldquo;No. 1 center, a big guy on the No. 1 power play, so obviously, it&rsquo;s not easy to replace, but we&rsquo;ll find a way to persevere. There&rsquo;s no question. 1 don&rsquo;t think we should change the way we play. Defensively, we have to play the same way.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: In their first game after center Pierre Turgeon&rsquo;s injury, the Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 Oct. 9 on right winger Brett Hull&rsquo;s 28th career hat trick. Hull scored all three goals on missiles off one-timers, with the winner coming with 1:44 to play in overtime. The goals gave him five in four games. He credited the Blues&rsquo; new coaching regime for his early success. &ldquo;You get that good feeling back,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pleasure coming to the rink. For 2-1/2 years, it wasn&rsquo;t. The excitement of being in an atmosphere where it&rsquo;s fun to play makes you feel alive and gives you that jump. It&rsquo;s enthusiasm. You can&rsquo;t play this game without it."&hellip; The victory over the Kings was the Blues&rsquo; third in a row. &#9632;

f0024-04

Turgeon out, show must still go on

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06198/8061356-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="743" height="1212"><figcaption class="caption-body">Todd Gill</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05253/8061363-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="198" height="200"></div>Three narrow defeats in a season-opening stretch of four games left some members of the San Jose Sharks with different perspectives.&ldquo;If you take anything from a loss, clearly it was our best effort of the season,&rdquo; coach Darryl Sutter said after San Jose dropped a 3-2 decision to the Colorado Avalanche Oct. 9. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a stepping stone. We played maybe the most talented team in the league and we hung in there until the end. We have to build on that.&rdquo;The loss to the Avalanche came on the heels of a 1-0 setback against the visiting Ottawa Senators two nights earlier. The Sharks, whose only victory had been a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, also came up short in a 5-3 opening-night verdict against the Edmonton Oilers.Naturally, moral victories aren&rsquo;t enough, especially for players who&rsquo;ve experienced enough losing in San Jose.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a firm believer there is never a good loss,&rdquo; said defenseman Todd Gill. &ldquo;Until we eliminate our mistakes and go out and win a hockey game, we can&rsquo;t be happy.&rdquo;The Sharks were desperately trying to avoid digging themselves an early hole for a third consecutive season.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think any loss is something you can build on,&rdquo; said center Jeff Friesen. &ldquo;You have to beat teams like Colorado in order to make the playoffs. To say we battled them hard, that&rsquo;s over. I&rsquo;ve been through that for two years. It&rsquo;s not fun. It has to change.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Jeff Friesen, who missed the first three games because of a contract dispute, agreed to a one-year deal Oct. 7. He will earn a base salary of roughly $ 1 million, which can be enhanced if incentive bonuses are met&hellip;Rookie forwards Marco Sturm and Alex Korolyuk each scored their first NHL goals in a 3-2 win over Chicago Oct. 4&hellip;Right winger Todd Ewen was assigned to Kentucky of the American League Oct. 9&hellip;The Sharks went 127 minutes, 18 seconds, over parts of three games, without scoring before right winger Shean Donovan connected in the third period of a 3-2 loss at Colorado Oct. 9&hellip;Defenseman and team captain Todd Gill was a healthy scratch for an Oct. 7 game against Ottawa. &#9632;

f0024-06

Getting close not enough

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-07167/8061394-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="201" height="197"></div>Scored 16 seconds apart in the final three minutes of the Tampa Bay Lightning&rsquo;s second game of the season, Jason Wiemer&rsquo;s first two goals for 1997-98 were meaningless.He said so himself.&rsquo;They don&rsquo;t mean anything,&rdquo; Wiemer said after a 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils Oct. 3, the first defeat of the season for Tampa Bay. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s frustrating they came at a time when they really don&rsquo;t mean something.&rdquo;The Lightning left winger&rsquo;s two goals did come too late to help against the Devils. But if Wiemer&rsquo;s fourth NHL season is anything like he and the team hope for, Wiemer may some day look back and realize how much they helped after all.&ldquo;Jason&rsquo;s a team guy and 1 think maybe that&rsquo;s why he said they didn&rsquo;t mean much.&rdquo; said Lightning alternate captain Rob Zamuner. &ldquo;But they did mean something.&rdquo;This 21-year-old first round draft choice in 1994 has failed to hit double digits for goals during any of his first three seasons in the league.Then came this year&rsquo;s pre-season: Five games, no goals, no assists, and a fair amount of criticism.When he did finally scored his goals, Wiemer refused to give himself any credit.&ldquo;I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way I usually play and the puck came to me at the right time.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Tampa Bay took its first road trip of the season without defenseman Jeff Norton (sprained thumb)&hellip;Assistant coach Dave MacQueen accompanied the team to Chicago and Detroit, but is not back full-time because he is still recovering from a blood disorder&hellip;A crowd of 12,198 for the Lightning&rsquo;s third home game in five nights, a 1-1 tie with Buffalo Oct. 5, was the team&rsquo;s smallest ever at the Ice Palace and the smallest for a Lightning home game since 8,909 at Orlando Arena watched Washington beat Tampa Bay 3-0 March 20, 1994. &ldquo;We have to be prepared to play, whether it&rsquo;s 20,000 or 20.&rdquo; said left winger Jason Wiemer&hellip;Veteran defenseman David Shaw was a healthy scratch four straight games. &#9632;

f0024-07

Wiemer finally scores, then downplays goals

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011021/8061425-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="194" height="198"></div>Power play performance tends to go up and down as an NHL season progresses, but the Toronto Maple Leafs could never have expected a start like this.After free agent signee Igor Korolev scored the club&rsquo;s first goal of the season on the power play in the opener against the Washington Capitals Oct. 1, the Leafs went 28 chances in a row without scoring.That embarrassing total included back-to-back road performances against the Calgary Flames Oct. 7 (O-for-10) and Vancouver Canucks Oct. 10 (0-for-7).While that produced an avalanche of strategic suggestions, the plain facts are clear. It would be a surprise if a club with as little offensive talent such as Toronto had an effective power play and it would be an even larger surprise if there was power play success in the absence of a contribution from captain Mats Sundin.Sundin, after all, is the only bona fide top-line forward the Leafs have and after four games he had no points and only nine shots on goal.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just got to find my game,&rdquo; said Sundin, who started last season with eight goals in his first 11 outings. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just got to keep firing away, but this is certainly a different start from other years.&rdquo;The talented Swede started the season with wingers Sergei Berezin and Derek King, but Berezin was invisible in the first two matches against the Capitals and New York Islanders and King got suffered a sprained ankle in the second game of the season.For the third game of the campaign against the Flames, coach Mike Murphy put Mike Johnson on Sundin&rsquo;s right wing and sophomore Fredrik Modin on his left, then replaced Modin with Wen-del Clark in the third period of that contest.That line stayed together against the Canucks two nights later, but didn&rsquo;t produce any goals.Not surprisingly, Sundin&rsquo;s poor start prompted questions over whether his newly-acquired captaincy was weighing him down.&ldquo;No, not at all,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was happy to be named captain and it hasn&rsquo;t put any extra pressure on me.&rdquo;While Sundin&rsquo;s offensive drought was clearly the most obvious reason behind the Leafs&rsquo; power play problems, an absence of traffic in front of the opposition net and an inability to gain the enemy blueline and set up the extra strength scheme were also major shortcomings.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Derek King was expected to be out until at least late-October after spraining an ankle Oct. 4 on Long Island&hellip;The Leafs face a difficult problem with young left winger Fredrik Modin. They&rsquo;d like to get him to the minors for experience, but he would have to clear NHL waivers first. The Leafs figure the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder would quickly be claimed&hellip; After goalie Felix Potvin stumbled on opening night, coach Mike Murphy turned to backup Glenn Healy for the next game against the Islanders. Potvin came back with solid performances in the win over Calgary Oct. 7 and tie with Vancouver Oct. 10&hellip;After sitting in the press box for the first two games, center Steve Sullivan was activated for games in Calgary and Vancouver. &#9632;

f0025-01

Sundin’s tough start key reason behind ineffective power play

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03463/8061487-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="192" height="199"></div>Back when Adam Oates was breaking into the NHL. in the fall of 1985 with the Detroit Red Wings, there were only foggy notions of what something like a l000-point plateau represented.&ldquo;When you come into the league your first goal is just to stay,&rdquo; Oates said. &ldquo;I was no different. I wanted just to play and not get sent to the minors.&rdquo;Play he did-he also spent half a season in the minors with the Adirondack Red Wings of the American League- and 13 seasons later, he hit the 1,000-point level, the 47th NHLer to get there. But Oates didn&rsquo;t just hit the mark, he roared past it with a five-point night (the sixth of his career) against the New York Islanders Oct. 8. The Capitals won 6-3, with Oates getting a hat trick.&ldquo;He had a tremendous game,&rdquo; said coach Ron Wilson. &ldquo;He was dominant when he was on the ice, I could sense he was having one of those nights.&rdquo;Oates entered the game at 999 points. No. 1,000 came when he redirected defenseman Mark Tinordi&rsquo;s long shorthanded drive into the net.&ldquo;At the start of the year, (sitting at 996), I really wasn&rsquo;t too worried I wasn&rsquo;t going to get it, but it is nice to get it over with, get it early in the game and move on,&rdquo; Oates said.The numbers, Oates said, are not a motivating factor, &ldquo;but it is nice to get. It&rsquo;s a good milestone. It means you produced to a certain point over your career and takes some longevity.&rdquo;Oates, 35. started the season with 258 goals, 738 assists and 996 points. After the Islanders&rsquo; game, he had 261 goals, 743 assists and 1,004 points, an average of 1.21 points for each of his 831 games.Other goals?&ldquo;There are two left,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to win a Stanley Cup and if anything, numbers-wise. I&rsquo;d like to get 1,000 assists if I could squeeze it out. That might be pretty tough, though, I need about 250. I&rsquo;d have to stay pretty healthy.&rdquo;How long will the new Capitals&rsquo; star play?&ldquo;Until they say no more,&rdquo; he quipped. &ldquo;I love it, log a lot of ice time, feel great. I don&rsquo;t see myself slowing down.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Kelly Miller, the all-time club leader in games played entering the season with 802, missed the second game of the campaign Oct. 3 against Buffalo when he was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career. He missed two games as a holdout and a tew with injuries, but hadn&rsquo;t been a scratch since March 30, 1985. It seems to have been a bad omen; the next day he twisted his back in practice and ended up on the injured list&hellip;Defenseman Sergei Gonchar, a Group II free agent, agreed to terms Oct. 6 on a one-year deal with a base salary of $ 1.15 million. It could go to $1.4 million if he cashes in all the bonuses.. The club tied a team record for best start to a season, set in October, 1991, by opening 4-0-0. The streak ended in Buffalo with a 5-2 loss Oct 9&hellip;Coach Ron Wilson left the team after the Buffalo game to fly to Anaheim to surprise his daughter, Lauren, at her final high school homecoming. He returned to Washington the next day in time for the Capitals&rsquo; Oct 11 game against the Islanders. &#9632;

f0025-03

Oates reaches 1,000 points; now aiming for 1,000 assists

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div>The North Dakota Fighting Sioux shocked all prognosticators by sailing to an NCAA championship last season. We weren&rsquo;t an exception. We didn&rsquo;t even have them ranked among our top 10. We thought they were too young to make an impact last season. We won&rsquo;t be wrong again. Even though they lost five seniors, we say the Fighting Sioux will skate oft&rsquo; with a second straight national title.That&rsquo;s according to our panel made up of THN U.S. college correspondents Paul Harris of the Detroit Sunday Journal, Tom Boggie of the Schenectady (N.Y.) Gazette, Larry Mahoney of the Bangor (Me.) Daily News and Chris Miller of the Duluth (Minn.) News-Tribune.Even though we didn&rsquo;t pick North Dakota last season, we did well with our other choices. Three of the four teams in the NCAA Final Four (North Dakota, Boston University. Michigan and Colorado College) were in our top four. Here&rsquo;s this season&rsquo;s top 10.1. North Dakota Fighting Sioux (WCHA) Small, quick outfit plays agitating, attacking style.2. Boston University Terriers (HE) Hobey Baker Award favorite Chris Drury has strong supporting cast.3. Michigan State Spartans (CCHA) Ron Mason&rsquo;s defense-first system always produces a contender.4. Minnesota Gophers (WCHA) Couple of key losses will hurt, but they&rsquo;re four lines deep at forward.5. Colorado College Tigers (WCHA) Brian Swanson and goalie Judd Lambert lead by example.6. RPI Engineers (ECAC) Everyone back to form balanced attack. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean instant success.7. New Hampshire Wildcats (HE). Goaltending strong, defense even stronger.8. Michigan Wolverines (CCHA) Marty Turco&rsquo;s goaltending could take them to Final Four.9. Maine Black Bears (HE) If their inexperienced defense matures, they&rsquo;ll become a force.10. Clarkson Golden Knights (ECAC) Has solid defensive system that produces wins.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011095/8061539-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="299" height="425"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Harris</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02729/8061532-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="304" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Boggie</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03509/8061525-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="298" height="420"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Mahoney</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04350/8061518-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="293" height="424"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Miller</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

ON THE COVER

THN’s top 10 NCAA choices

<div class="byline">By Chris Miller</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05234/8061570-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The North Dakota Fighting Sioux basked in the glory of a national championship last year and could very well do it again this year. (Photo by Vince Muzik)</figcaption></div>Just when it seemed fortune couldn&rsquo;t shine any more brightly on the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, the harsh reality of life set in.North Dakota had a storybook college hockey season, dodging obstacles and claiming the NCAA championship last April in a surprising and delightful style, with an underdog team the critics said was too small and too young to be successful.But just as the celebration should have been starting, the waters of the Red River blew past flood stage and virtually destroyed downtown Grand Forks, N.D.School shut down in mid-semester. Players and students spent time sandbagging in a futile effort to keep the once-in-a-century flood from ruining lives.&ldquo;After three weeks of loading sandbags, the walls broke and everything was flooded,&rdquo; said North Dakota coach Dean Blais.Five months later, as Grand Forks rebuilds, the Sioux reload. They lost five seniors, but should have depth and a healthy competition for jobs.They&rsquo;ll also have stars. Linemates Jason Blake and David Hoogsteen, both juniors, provide the lightning up front. Hoogsteen was the team&rsquo;s leading scorer while Blake, a transfer from Ferris State, stepped right in to become one of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association&rsquo;s best players. Senior defenseman Curtis Murphy led the attack from the blueline and all three players were first-team all-stars. And they are all about 5-foot-8.Other players emerged on a hardworking team. Aaron Schweitzer was a fledgling freshman in a tenuous goalie situation. After a lot of experimenting, Blais stuck with him and Schweitzer fashioned a 17-3-0 record and 2.31 goals-against average. Matt Henderson, one of a group of roleplaying forwards, ended up the MVP of the NCAA Final Four.North Dakota was co-champion of the WCHA, won the league playoffs and then scampered through the NCAA tournament. The Sioux beat Colorado College in a Final Four semifinal, then caught a break when Boston University upset heavily favored Michigan. North Dakota then blew past BU in the final.&ldquo;Maybe they won the national title the year before they should have,&rdquo; said Colorado College coach Don Lucia. &ldquo;They were sophomore-dominated. They could be better this year.&rdquo;Blais cringes at such talk and at the pre-season national polls in which North Dakota is a unanimous No. 1. All 30 voters (including 20 Division I coaches) in the U.S. College Hockey Online Poll selected the Fighting Sioux as the No. 1 team.&ldquo;I keep telling our players, &lsquo;We&rsquo;re not that good,&rsquo; so hopefully they&rsquo;ll believe me and not the newspapers,&rdquo; Blais said. &ldquo;We have definitely got bulls-eyes on our jerseys.&rdquo;Blais built his team around quickness and skill. Although the Sioux have put together some quality freshman classes. Blais readily admits he lost some of his most prized recruits and that left his team a little smaller than he&rsquo;d anticipated. He made do very well.&ldquo;North Dakota proved you can win with speed and skill, that you don&rsquo;t have to have the big guys that the NHL is looking for,&rdquo; said Michigan Tech coach Tim Watters.The Sioux have only three seniors this season, with veteran defenseman Mitch Vig the team captain and Murphy and Henderson the alternates. With a dandy freshman class pushing the veterans, there&rsquo;s no reason to believe North Dakota won&rsquo;t be among the national elite again. &#9632;

f0027-05

UND unanimous choice to repeat

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011136/8061601-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Drury turned down an offer from the Colorado Avalanche to remain with BU. (Photo by Vince Muzik)</figcaption></div>Chris Drury has accomplished just about everything there is to accomplish in college hockey.Boston University&rsquo;s senior center and co-captain has won a national championship; played in three NCAA tournament Final Fours and been a Hobey Baker Award runner-up.After leading his team to a berth in the NCAA championship game a year ago and finishing second to Michigan&rsquo;s Brendan Morrison in the running for the Hobey Baker Award, you would assume the third round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche would put his name on an pro contract.Not so.&ldquo;(Colorado) made me a couple of offers,&rdquo; Drury said. &ldquo;I had a tough decision to make. It wasn&rsquo;t easy. I talked to my parents and coach (Jack) Parker and decided it was best to stick it out at BU.&ldquo;There were a bunch of reasons for my decision. I&rsquo;m on track to graduate; I&rsquo;ll be a year more mature and, hopefully. I&rsquo;ll be stronger and smarter,&rdquo; said Drury, who had 38 goals and 62 points in 41 games last season. &ldquo;Until I reached my decision, I didn&rsquo;t realize there were so many positive reasons for coming back to school.&rdquo;Drury, 20, expects to fine tune under the guidance of Parker and nationally-renowned strength and conditioning coach Mike Boyle.&ldquo;Hopefully, I made the right decision,&rdquo; said Drury, the reigning Hockey East player of the year. &ldquo;It has been my dream to play pro hockey for as long as I can remember.&rdquo;Parker said Drury&rsquo;s older brother, Ted, who left Harvard after three seasons to sign a pro contract, played a significant role in his brother&rsquo;s decision.&ldquo;It took Ted three pain-in-the-neck summers to finish up his degree,&rdquo; Parker said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;d rather relax in the summer.&rdquo;Parker is obviously elated to have Drury back and feels the player will have less pressure on him than a year ago.&ldquo;Last year, he wanted to have a big year to see if he could sign,&rdquo; Parker said. &ldquo;Now he knows he&rsquo;s going to sign (after the season).&rdquo;There is no question Drury gives the Terriers a legitimate shot at their second national title in four years.&ldquo;He combines terrific skill with an insatiable work ethic,&rdquo; said Maine coach Shawn Walsh.&ldquo;He is certainly one of the top players in the country,&rdquo; said Boston College coach Jerry York. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to see him stay in college. It&rsquo;s like (quarterback) Peyton Manning&rsquo;s decision to stay at Tennessee. So many turn pro early. It&rsquo;s good for college hockey to have a marquee player return.&rdquo;In addition to Drury&rsquo;s speed, work ethic and skill. Parker said Drury &ldquo;is one of the most competitive players I&rsquo;ve ever coached, if not the most competitive.&rdquo;&rsquo; Drury has no individual goals and said &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t put much emphasis on the Hobey Baker Award. There are too many team issues to worry about. We have 13 new guys so I&rsquo;m putting a lot more emphasis on that. I&rsquo;m worried about winning games rather than post-season awards. With so many new faces, that&rsquo;s going to be a challenge in itself.&rdquo;The 5-foot-10, 202-pound Drury thinks this season will be special for the Terriers. A national title and a Hobey Baker Award would make it complete.Here&rsquo;s how things measure up in Hockey East this season. Teams are listed in predicted order of finish. Last year&rsquo;s league records, finishes and playoff fortunes in parentheses. Eight teams qualify for the playoffs.1. Boston University Terriers (16-4-4, first place, won league final, lost NCAA final). Coach: Jack Parker. Kingpin: Senior center Chris Drury, 20, is a terrific all-around player tied for fifth on BU&rsquo;s all-time goal-scoring list with 85. Fresh face: Defenseman Joe Di Penta, 18, is a rangy offensive defenseman with a good shot Outlook: The Terriers have perhaps the most experienced goaltending tandem in Tommy Noble and Michel Larocque, an impressive defense corps led by Chris Kelleher and Tom Poti and a deep and improved group of forwards. They will contend for the national title.2. New Hampshire Wildcats (18-6-0, second place, lost league final, lost NCAA East Regional). Coach: Dick Umile. Kingpin: Right winger Mark Mowers, 22, is an exceptional playmaker who has the ability to beat quality defensemen 1-on-l. He has 105 points in two seasons. Fresh face: Defenseman Erie Lind, 19, is a mobile 6-foot-2 presence who should contribute offensively. Outlook: With four of their top six scorers, five of their six defensemen and standout goalie Sean Matile back, the Wildcats can contend for the national title. But they&rsquo;ll miss Eric Boguniecki and Eric Nickulas.3.Maine Black Bears (16-7-1, third place, barred from post-season play for NCAA violations). Coach: Shawn Walsh. Kingpin: Left winger Steve Kariya, 19, made a 28-point improvement a year ago and has become a dominant player with his speed, craftiness and creativity. Fresh face: Left winger Tuomo Jaaskelainen, 20, combines all-around skills and hardnosed intensity. Outlook: A strong second half from goalie Alfie Michaud; the addition of several good first-year forwards and the incentive of being able to play in the NCAA tournament will compensate for inexperience on defense.4.Boston College Eagles (9-12-3, sixth place, lost league semifinal). Coach: Jerry York. Kingpin: Heady center Marty Reasoner, 20, has racked up 89 points in two seasons and is ready to emerge as one of the nation&rsquo;s elite forwards. Fresh face: Right winger Brian Gionta, 18, is a 5-foot-7, 165-pounder described as a Cal Ingraham-David Emma type of player with more speed than both. Outlook: The Eagles are close to making a run at the top three, but they will be playing three freshmen defensemen and injuries to Mike Correia and recruit Scott Clemmensen leaves the goaltending situation in disarray.5.UMass-Lowell River Hawks (9-14-1, seventh place, lost league semifinal). Coach: Tim Whitehead. Kingpin: Defenseman Mike Nicholishen, 22, is one of the nation&rsquo;s best. The all-Hockey East selection is the total package. Fresh face: Left winger Jeffrey Boulanger, 19, is a tough, physical player with soft hands and a scoring touch. Outlook: The River Hawks have one of the league&rsquo;s best goalies in Martin Fillion and Nicholishen is top-flight. But the graduation of three of their top four scorers will hurt so the young River Hawks will have to employ a tight-checking game.6.Merrimack Warriors (11-11-2, fifth place, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Ron Anderson. Kingpin: Right winger Casey Kesselring, 23, led the Warriors in scoring a year ago with 38 points in 35 games. He has a nose for the net. Fresh face: Center Vincent Clevenger, 19, is a highly skilled player on a 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame. He has very good hands. Outlook: The Warriors could be a real threat to earn the fourth spot if the goaltending comes around. That is a huge concern to the Warriors since both Martin Legault and Eric Thibeault have departed. They have plenty of good forwards and defensemen.7.Providence Friars (12-11-1, fourth place, lost league semifinal). Coach: Paul Poo-ley. Kingpin: Center Mike Omicioli, 21, is a small, quick, darting forward who creates all kinds of problems for opposing defensemen. Fresh face: Jay Leach, 18, is a smart, versatile 6-foot-4 defenseman who handles the puck extremely well. Outlook: The Friars graduated four of their top six scorers and workhorse goalie Dan Dennis. They have a young defense, but several freshman saw duty on the blueline last year. Pooley is looking for improvement and balance up front.8.UMass-Amherst Minutemen (7-17-0, eighth place, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Joe Mallen. Kingpin: Center Tim Lovell, 23, compiled 108 points in 115 games at Maine before transferring a year ago and sitting out last season. He will be one of the league&rsquo;s best forwards. Fresh face: Goalie Marcus Helanen, 21, is 6-foot-4 and agile for his size. He is the goalie of the future. Outlook: The Minutemen graduated leading scorers Rob Bonneau and Warren Norris, but Lovell should help pick up the slack. They should be improved, but will need to play better team defense.9.Northeastern Huskies (3-19-2, ninth place, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Bruce Crowder. Kingpin: Goalie Marc Robitaille, 20, turned in a respectable 4.20 goals-against average and .884 save percentage for a last place team. He&rsquo;s quicker and stronger this year. Fresh face: Left winger Bobby Haglund, 19, is a strong cornerman with a good shot. Outlook: Northeastern&rsquo;s leading scorer produced only 22 points a year ago. The Huskies continue to rebuild with 15 freshmen and five sophomores. They&rsquo;re destined for the basement. &#9632;

f0028-01

Drurv does the distance

<div class="byline">By Chris Miller</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011007/8061632-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Swanson is a great fit for coach Don Lucia&rsquo;s freestyle play at Colorado College.</figcaption></div>The opening day of college hockey practice often makes coaches wince. They watch a summer of rust and fast food swirling around the rink, wondering how they&rsquo;ll get the group to resemble a team in two short weeks.Colorado College coach Don Lucia was looking for bright spots on the first day his Tigers hit the ice and he didn&rsquo;t have to look long.&ldquo;The nicest thing I saw was a smile on Brian Swanson&rsquo;s face,&rdquo; Lucia said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s when he&rsquo;s at his best. He&rsquo;s a tremendous talent. He just needs to relax and do what he does best.&rdquo;Anything Swanson does has gained notice during his two seasons at Colorado College. He was the Western Collegiate Hockey Association rookie of the year in 1995-96, then tied for the league scoring title last season and was the leading votegetter on the all-WCHA team.More importantly, the junior center has played a key role in the startling success of a program that was moribund until Lucia took over in 1993. The Tigers won an unprecedented three straight WCHA titles to send fan interest in Colorado Springs skyrocketing.Yet, the notoriety isn&rsquo;t why Swanson came to Colorado College. He had been highly touted since his youth hockey days in Eagle River, Alaska, moving to Omaha, Neb., to play in the U.S. Junior League.A prize recruit in 1995-Minnesota coach Doug Woog considered breaking his all-Minnesota players policy to pursue Swanson-he juggled the possibility of returning home to play for Alaska-Anchorage or heading to the Springs, where Lucia had already led the Tigers to consecutive WCHA crowns.&ldquo;He wanted to go where he could blend in,&rdquo; Lucia said. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t want to have to go into a bank in Alaska and have people ask him about the team. He&rsquo;s the most unassuming, humble guy you&rsquo;d ever see in his kind of position. He&rsquo;d much rather be off just fly fishing than being the center of attention.&rdquo;Swanson joined an experienced team that rolled to the league title, then made it to the NCAA title game before a heart-breaking, overtime loss to Michigan in 1996. Last year, the Tigers gradually rebuilt and advanced to the NCAA Final Four again, losing to eventual champion North Dakota in the semifinal.&ldquo;My freshman year, I wasn&rsquo;t called on to do the scoring-whatever I did was a bonus,&rdquo; Swanson said. &ldquo;But when those seniors were gone last year, the rest of us had to pick it up. 1 felt like 1 had to be as productive as possible.&ldquo;Getting to the Final Four is so great-after getting there, I realized my only goal was to do whatever I could to get there again. Whatever I can do to help us win will be my goal.&rdquo;Beating the top-ranked and defending NCAA champion North Dakota Fighting Sioux is what it will take. Swanson will have to prove he can score against the best college team in the nation.The 5-foot-10, 180 pounder has 45 goals and 110 points in two seasons. His NHL rights are held by the New York Rangers, who obtained them in a 1996 trade for Marty McSorley after Swanson was drafted 115th overall by the San Jose Sharks in 1994.Swanson has no plans to turn pro early as he pursues a major in psychology under Colorado College&rsquo;s innovative block plan, where students take only one class in 3-1/2 week blocks. Playing under Lucia&rsquo;s style has enabled Swanson and other creative offensive players to thrive.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s good at getting you excellent information so you&rsquo;re always well prepared,&rdquo; Swanson said. &ldquo;And he lets you play your style, as long as you take care of things on defense. The attitude he passes along is always, &lsquo;We can do this.&rsquo; &ldquo;And Lucia has been able to keep bringing in strong freshman classes as the Tigers, once continually rebuilding, now consistently reload.&ldquo;In Brian&rsquo;s case, he had the benefit as a freshman of not having to be the go-to guy-but by the end of the year, he was,&rdquo; Lucia said. &ldquo;Last year, with half the forwards freshman, all of a sudden he was The Guy. He was ready to lead and other players followed that lead.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s how the WCHA shapes up this season. Teams are listed in predicted order of finish. Last year&rsquo;s league records, finishes and playoff fortunes are in parentheses. All nine teams qualify for the playoffs and independent Mankato State will be seeded 10th to fill out the bracket.1.North Dakota Fighting Sioux(21-10-1, first place tie, won league title, won NCAA title). Coach: Dean Blais. Kingpin: Junior center Jason Blake, 24, was the impact player for the Sioux last season after transferring from Ferris State. Fresh face: Right winger Lee Goren, 19, sat out last season because of two games major-junior experience, but will make a strong impact. Outlook: The Sioux have almost all other key players back. A quality freshman crew could make this team even better.2.Minnesota Gophers(21-10-1, first place tie, lost league final, lost NCAA West Regionals). Coach: Doug Woog: Kingpin: Senior Steve DeBus, 24, was the league&rsquo;s top goaltender last season. Fresh face: Center Erik Westrum, 18, heads another strong recruiting class. Outlook: The pro defection of league MVP Mike Crowley hurts, but the Gophers&rsquo; veteran group includes proven scorers Ryan Kraft, Casey Hankinson. Reggie Berg and Dave Spehar. A 14th straight NCAA bid is a given.3.Colorado College Tigers (17-11-4, fourth place tie, third in WCHA playoffs, lost NCAA semifinal). Coach: Don Lucia. Kingpin: Junior center Brian Swanson, 21, is well on his way to becoming CC&rsquo;s best player ever. Fresh face: Defenseman Paul Manning, 18, adds size (he&rsquo;s 6-foot-4) to a fairly veteran group. Outlook: After making the NCAA Final Four in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, the Tigers should be powerful with 20 letter-winners back. Goaltending is a question mark, however.4.Wisconsin Badgers (15-15-2, seventh place, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Jeff Sauer. Kingpin: Senior winger Brad Englehart, 22, is quick and flashy, but prone to penalties. Fresh face: Defenseman Alex Brooks, 21, missed his freshman year after back surgery before last season. Outlook: After two straight lower-division finishes, Wisconsin&rsquo;s hopes ride on experienced forwards, including captain Erik Raygor, who red-shirted last season after knee surgery.5.Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (15-13-4, sixth place, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Mike Sertich. Kingpin: Senior center Mike Peluso, 23, has been the team&rsquo;s scoring leader the past two seasons. Fresh face: Defenseman Jesse Fibiger, 19, will be counted on after all-league blueliner Rick Mrozik signed a contract with the Washington Capitals. Outlook: Depth is a problem for the Bulldogs, but goalie Brant Nicklin and defenseman Curtis Doell had great freshman seasons and may blossom into college stardom.6.Denver Pioneers (17-11-4, fourth place tie, lost league play-in game, lost NCAA East Regionals). Coach: George Gwozdecky. Kingpin: Junior winger Paul Comrie, 20, led a strong group of forwards in scoring. Fresh face: Center Mark Rycroft, 19, is one of six freshmen who could hop into the lineup right away. Outlook: Graduation stripped Denver of nine regulars, so retooling is necessary. Sophomore goalie Stephen Wagner should step up for a team that is homeless while a new rink is constructed.7.St. Cloud State Huskies (18-10-4, third place, lost league semifinal, lost NCAA West Regional). Coach: Craig Dahl. Kingpin: Senior center Sacha Molin, 24, faces pressure after Matt Cullen and Mark Parrish both signed pro contracts with two years eligibility left. Fresh face: Defenseman Brian Gaffaney, 20, is a 6-foot-5, 210-pounder drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Outlook: Goalie Brian Leitza, defenseman Josh DeWolf and Molin are the nucleus of a team that may struggle.8.Michigan Tech Huskies (5-23-4, 10th place, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Tim Watters. Kingpin: Senior center Andre Savage, 22, should lead the team in scoring a third consecutive season. Fresh face: Todd Weninger, 19, could split goaltending duties with his brother, junior David Weninger. Outlook: Ex-NHL defenseman Watters had a rough first season in Houghton and the loss of 10 players certainly can&rsquo;t help. An improved offense would, however.9.Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves (7-21-4, ninth place, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Dean Talafous. Kingpin: Junior goalie Doug Teskey, 22, benefits from the Seawolves&rsquo; emphasis on defensive hockey. Fresh face: Defenseman Duvie Westcott. 20. could add punch to an anemic offense that averaged barely two goals petgame. Outlook: The Seawolves established themselves as super-disciplined (averaging fewer than three penalties per game) but must find a way to score more goals. &#9632;

f0029-01

Swanson’s Tiaer tale

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggie</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011136/8061663-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Healey and the Rensselaer Engineers peaked well ahead of schedule last season. (Photo by Bob Ewell)</figcaption></div>The Ice Capades definitely aren&rsquo;t in Eric Healey&rsquo;s future.What he does on the ice for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute isn&rsquo;t pretty&hellip;it&rsquo;s just effective.The Engineers&rsquo; senior left winger was one of the most productive goal-scorers in college hockey last season, recording a career-high 30 goals in 36 games to finish fourth in the nation in goals per game.But his style of play is more reminiscent of an oxen than figure skater Oksana Baiul.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m 6-foot, 200 pounds. You can&rsquo;t miss me out there,&rdquo; said Healey, a 22-year-old native of Hull. Mass. &ldquo;I know how to use my body. I&rsquo;ll give it up to get goals.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s something he has been doing since he arrived at the Troy, N.Y., campus four seasons ago. He was the Engineers&rsquo; leading rookie scorer, with 13 goals and 24 points as a freshman, and has improved his numbers each season.Last year, when an RPI team that was thought to be a year away from being a contender advanced to the Eastern College Athletic Conference semifinal, Healey had his best season, finishing with 30 goals and 56 points.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d rank Eric as one of the best players in the country, no question,&rdquo; said Engineers&rsquo; coach Dan Fridgen. &ldquo;He does things on the ice that I haven&rsquo;t seen players do for a long time. He has the knack of buying time and creating time, until he gets the puck. When he wants to go to the net no one can stop him.&rdquo;Healey, who scored five goals in a game against Air Force as a sophomore, was named the New England Junior Hockey Player of the Year following his final season with the New England Classics and had no trouble making the transition from junior to college.&ldquo;I started out on the fourth line, but after three or four games, I was playing with two seniors (Craig Hamelin and Wayne Clark),&rdquo; Healey said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been fortunate that I&rsquo;ve had great linemates for three years.&rdquo;Healey, a second-team Titan all-America last season, hasn&rsquo;t let success go to his head. He&rsquo;s working just as hard this season as he did as a freshman.&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter if you&rsquo;re playing on the fourth line or the first line, you have to go out with the same attitude every day,&rdquo; Healey said. &ldquo;I could come in this year and score 40 goals, or I could score 20. I&rsquo;m not going to put any pressure on myself. I&rsquo;m going to take the same approach I&rsquo;ve had for three years. That has worked for me.&rdquo;Healey will again be teamed up with junior right winger Matt Garver and junior center Alain St. Hilaire on what should be one of the most explosive lines in college hockey.&ldquo;We all bring different aspects to the game,&rdquo; Healey said. &ldquo;Matt is a fast skater and gets the puck into the zone and Alain is a great playmaker. I just go to the net and they get me the puck.&rdquo;Fridgen has all 23 letter-winners back from last year&rsquo;s team that just missed qualifying for the NCAA Final Four. This season, the goal is to reach the NCAA championships, which will be held in the FleetCenter in Boston.&ldquo;I grew up near Boston and never played in the Garden or in the FleetCenter,&rdquo; Healey said. &ldquo;The Boston guys want a chance to play at home.&rdquo;Heres now things look io stack up in me ECAC this season. Teams are listed in predicted order of finish. Last year&rsquo;s league records, finishes and playoff fortunes are in parentheses. The top 10 teams qualify for the playoffs.1. RPI Engineers (12-7-3, fourth place, lost league semifinal). Coach: Dan Fridgen. Kingpin: Undrafted senior left winger Eric Healey, 22, scored 22 per cent of his team&rsquo;s goals last season. Fresh face: Right winger Brad Tapper, 19, had an amazing 112 points in 50 games for the Ontario Jr. A Wexford Raiders. Outlook: With virtually everyone back from last year&rsquo;s team, the Engineers will have one of the most balanced attacks in the league.2. Clarkson Golden Knights (17-5-0, first place, lost league final, lost NCAA East Regional). Coach: Mark Morris. Kingpin: Senior goalie Dan Murphy, 23, had a lofty .917 save percentage in 37 games. Fresh face: Defenseman Willie Mitchell, 20, an eighth round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils in 1996, has outstanding size (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) and a mean streak. Outlook: The Knights will contend for the title on the strength of their defense.3. Cornell Big Red (14-6-2, second place, won league title, lost NCAA West Regional). Coach: Mike Schafer. Kingpin: Senior goalie Jason Elliott, 22, was sixth in the nation in goals-against average (2.73). Fresh face: Right winger Daniel Svoboda, 19, has speed, excellent size (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) and a tremendous wrist shot. Outlook: With no proven&rsquo; backup goaltender-Jean-Marc Pelletier left for the Quebec League-Elliott needs to stay healthy.4.Harvard Crimson (9-11-2, eighth place, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Ronn Tomassoni. Kingpin: Senior defenseman Jeremiah McCarthy, 22, is a key part of Harvard&rsquo;s transition game. He will surpass his 13 point total. Fresh face: Defenseman Tim Stay, 18, is a graduate of USA Hockey&rsquo;s 16- and 17-year-old select teams. Outlook: Harvard has to increase its scoring. They scored the third fewest goals.5.Princeton Tigers (11-8-3, fifth place tie, lost league semifinal). Coach: Don Cahoon. Kingpin: Senior goalie Erasmo Salterelli, 23, had a 2.90 goals-against average, the second-best mark in Princeton history. Fresh face: Right winger Chris Corrinet, 19, has tremendous size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and is out to prove he has one of the hardest shots around. Outlook: The Tigers again are a middle-of-the-pack team battling for home ice during the playoffs.6.St. Lawrence Saints (5-12-5, ninth place, lost league preliminary round). Coach: Joe Marsh. Kingpin: Senior center Paul DiFrancesco, 22, needs 48 points to become the leading scorer in Saints&rsquo; history. He had 49 last season. Fresh face: Center Erik Anderson, 19. had 145 points in 48 games for Stratford in Ontario Junior B action. Outlook: The Saints have one of the best recruiting classes in the league and could be a solid contender.7.Vermont Catamounts (13-6-3, third place, lost league quarterfinal, lost NCAA West Regional). Coach: Mike Gilligan. Kingpin: Junior left winger Stephane Piche, 22, clicked well last season with the graduated Eric Perrin and Martin St. Louis. Fresh face: Right winger Philippe Choiniere, 17, plays a physical game reminiscent of former Catamount John LeClair. Outlook: Goaltending and inexperience should keep the Cats in the second tier this season.8.Colgate Red Raiders (10-9-3, seventh place, lost league preliminary round). Coach: Don Vaughn. Kingpin: Senior right winger Rob Mara, 22, more than doubled his career total with 18 goals. The Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; 1994 draft pick averaged more than a point per game. Fresh face: Defenseman Cory Murphy, 20, moves the puck well and is a future power play quarterback. Outlook: The Red Raiders have to improve on special teams to be a threat.9.Union Skating Dutchmen (11-8-3, fifth place tie, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Stan Moore: Kingpin: Senior goalie Trevor Koenig, 22, led the nation in both save percentage (.931) and goals-against average (2.03). The undrafted stopper is out to repeat that feat. Fresh face: Left winger Bryan Yackel, 21, is an outstanding penalty killer joining a team that prides itself in allowing few goals. Outlook: Union is rebuilding after being hurt by graduation.10.Yale Bulldogs (6-14-2, 10th place, lost in league quarterfinal). Coach: Tim Taylor. Kingpin: Senior defenseman Ray Giroux. 21, has developed into one of the best blueliners in the league. He&rsquo;s a Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; 1994 draft selection. Fresh face: Left winger Lee Jelenic, 18, has the moves to give ECAC goalies fits. He should be among the league&rsquo;s top freshmen. Outlook: Good balance will keep the Bulldogs in the playoff hunt all year.11.Brown Bears (4-16-2, 12th place, missed playoffs). Coach: Roger Grillo. Kingpin: Senior left winger Damien Prescott, 22, became the first Brown player to score 20 goals in a season since 1977. He averaged a point a game in 29 games. Fresh face: Center Matt Kohansky, 18, has a reputation as a proven scorer. But he&rsquo;ll need some time to develop. Outlook: Brown will be better, but will still be chasing the pack. They&rsquo;re likely to finish out of the running.12.Dartmouth Big Green (5-15-2, 11th place, missed playoffs). Coach: Bob Gaudet. Kingpin: Senior winger David Whitworth, 22, is the team&rsquo;s most skilled offensive player. He&rsquo;s coming off a 16-goal, 38-point season. Fresh face: Defenseman Dory Tisdale, 19, will surprise foes with his natural scoring ability. Outlook: Inexperienced goaltending will be the Big Green&rsquo;s weak link in what should be a long season. &#9632;

f0030-01

Engineering a winner

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011047/8061694-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Western Michigan&rsquo;s rugged Joe Corvo, right, is an MVP candidate from the blueline. (Photo by Scott Levy/BBS)</figcaption></div>Western Michigan defenseman Joe Corvo was depressed last Christmas.After being projected to be a member of the jam which would represent the United States in tie 1997 World Junior Championship, the soph-more was told an inconsistent first half of the 996-97 season had cost him a spot on the quad.Merry Christmas, Joe.&ldquo;My coaches could tell I was down when 1 leaded home for the holidays,&rdquo; Corvo said. &ldquo;I thought my defense (the Achilles heel of his game at the time) had been good. I thought I had been good defensively.&rdquo;But USA coach Jeff Jackson disagreed. And looked like Corvo would be spending the Christmas holidays with his family in Oak Park, 11. But just before the team was scheduled to eave for the WJC in Geneva, Switz., it was discovered St. Cloud State defenseman Josh De-Wolf was out with an injury. And the call went Corvo to replace him.&ldquo;I talked to Joe and told him he could look at his two ways,&rdquo; Jackson said. &ldquo;You could stay disappointed and say, &lsquo;Screw it.&rsquo; Or you could try to make a statement. He did the latter.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s an understatement as Corvo was named the tournament&rsquo;s most outstanding defenseman and helped lead Team USA to a silver medal. And after returning to the Broncos, he was arguably the Central Collegiate Hockey Association&rsquo;s best all-round defenseman during the second half of last season. He had 12 goals and 33 points in 32 games and was minus-3 for a team which struggled to a 10-12-5 record.&ldquo;Joe came back with a great deal of confidence,&rdquo; said Broncos&rsquo; coach Bill Wilkinson. &ldquo;He played well and stepped up his game.&rdquo;Wilkinson said Corvo also came to the coaches and shared some of the things done by Team USA, which he thought might help the Broncos.While those things were valuable, the biggest thing the Broncos have going for them this season is Corvo, 20, who has grown two-and-a-half inches to 6-foot-l and added 19 pounds since he was a freshman. He now weighs 213 pounds and can bench press 285.The Broncos are also lucky to have Corvo. He seriously considered moving to the Spokane Chiefs of the Western League after being selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of the NHL entry draft last summer.&ldquo;He has tremendous skills and has improved his strength the past two years,&rdquo; Wilkinson said. &ldquo;His style is kind of like (Vladimir) Konstantinov with the (Detroit) Red Wings. He can play hard and knock people down in the comers in his own end and come down the boards and make some great plays. Joe wants to win. He&rsquo;s a great competitor. He&rsquo;ll do anything to win.&rdquo;While the Konstantinov comparison is flattering, Corvo grew up in the Chicago area. That means his point of reference is Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; defenseman Chris Chelios.&ldquo;(Chelios) is not the biggest guy, but he competes and he&rsquo;s tough.&rdquo; Corvo said. &ldquo;He has some offensive skills and he&rsquo;s a tough defender. Not too many guys want to go into the comers with him.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s a look at how things shape up in the CCHA this season. Teams are listed in predicted order of finish. Last year&rsquo;s league records, division finishes and playoff fortunes are in parentheses. Eight of the 11 teams qualify for the playoffs.1. Michigan State Spartans (16-7-4. third place, lost league final, lost NCAA West Regional). Coach: Ron Mason. Kingpin: Physical, stay-at-home defenseman and captain Tyler Harlton, 20, anchors a steady and experienced blueline corps. Fresh face: Freshman right winger Rustyn Dolyny, 20, dominated the Ontario Jr. A League with Newmarket 87&rsquo;s, registering 93 points in 42 games. Outlook: Led by a stingy defense, Mason has put together the conference&rsquo;s top team, but only by a slight margin.2. Michigan Wolverines (21-3-3, first place, won league title, lost NCAA Final Four semifinal). Coach: Red Berenson. Kingpin: Senior right winger Bill Muckalt, 23, has averaged 24 goals per season in his three seasons. Fresh face: Freshman winger Josh Langfeld, 20, is 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. He scored 35 goals in 38 games with the Lincoln Stars of the United States League. Outlook: The graduation of the senior class, including Hobey Baker Award winner Brendan Morrison, makes Michigan beatable.3. Miami-Ohio Redhawks (19-7-1, second place as Redskins, lost league semifinal, lost NCAA West Regional). Coach: Mark Maz-zoleni. Kingpin: Senior defenseman Dan Boyle, 21, isn&rsquo;t big. but his offensive abilities are a staple. Fresh face: Freshman right winger Jason Deskins, 18, was the North American League&rsquo;s MVP with the Compuware Ambassadors. Outlook: Even with Randy Robitaille leaving early to the Boston Bruins. Miami is still on the road to challenge for conference superiority.4. Lake Superior State Lakers (15-8-4, fourth place, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Scott Borek. Kingpin: Junior right winger Jason Sessa. 20, had an impressive 22 goals and 44 points in 34 games as a sophomore. Fresh face: Red-shirt freshman defenseman Klemen Kelgar, 20, is a native of Slovenia. Outlook: There&rsquo;s more youth (19 underclassmen) than the people of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., are accustomed to. There&rsquo;s talent, but is it experienced enough to be effective? The Lakers are a year away.5. Western Michigan Broncos (10-12-5, fifth place tie, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Bill Wilkinson. Kingpin: Junior defenseman Joe Corvo, 20, was one of the few 20-year-old draft selections in 1997, going in the third round to the Los Angeles Kings. Fresh face: Freshman center Dave Gove, 19, had 63 goals and 119 points for Jr. A independent Boston Bulldogs last season. Outlook: The Broncos have perhaps the best defense corps in the league, but they&rsquo;ll struggle to score goals.6.Bowling Green Falcons (10-12-5, fifth place tie, lost league semifinal). Coach: Buddy Powers. Kingpin: Junior right winger Dan Price. 23, was fifth in team scoring with 17 goals and 32 points in 34 games, yet he&rsquo;s the top returning scorer. Fresh face: Freshman defenseman Doug Schueller, 20, was an eighth round draft selection of the Florida Panthers in the 1997 NHL entry draft. He&rsquo;s a Minnesota high school product. Outlook: Youth, youth and more youth. The Falcons were hit hard by graduation.7.Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-20-1, 10th place, missed playoffs). Coach: Dave Poulin. Kingpin: Senior goalie Matt Eisler, 22, was the team&rsquo;s MVP last season, posting career bests in goals-against average (3.56) and save percentage (.885). Fresh face: Freshman left winger Dan Carlson, 19, is an explosive and dynamic scorer. He was a finalist for Mr. Hockey award in Minnesota at Edina High School. Outlook: The Irish will win more than six games this season.8.Ohio State Buckeyes (9-16-2, seventh place, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: John Markell. Kingpin: Sophomore center Hugo Boisvert, 21. averaged a point per game and made the CCHA all-rookie team last season. Fresh face: Freshman defenseman Andre Sig-noretti. 18. was an early recruit and is expected to bolster last season&rsquo;s most porous defense. Outlook: The Buckeyes are slightly improved from last season, but they may still slip a spot in the standings.9.Ferris State Bulldogs (7-18-2, ninth place, missed playoffs). Coach: Bob Daniels. Kingpin: Junior left winger Kenzie Homer, 21, is a physical presence at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds and he&rsquo;s expected to fill a leadership role. He led the team with 18 goals in 37 games. Fresh face: Freshman center Kevin Swider. 19, is an outstanding playmaker. Outlook: Last season was the first time in their history the Bulldogs missed the playoffs. They will be hard pressed to make it this season as well.10.Northern Michigan Wildcats (9-21-2 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association, eighth place, lost WCHA quarterfinal). Coach: Rick Comley. Kingpin: Senior Curtis Sheptak, 22, makes the permanent move from left wing to defense. The 6-foot-3. 196-pounder provides a physical presence and a hard shot from the blueline. Fresh face: Freshman defenseman Doug Schmidt, 19, is an eighth round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche. Outlook: The Wildcats will struggle in their return to the CCHA.11.Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks (8-18-1, eighth place, lost league quarterfinal). Coach: Dave Laurion. Kingpin: Junior center Jeff Trembecky, 21, was team&rsquo;s leading scorer as a sophomore last season. He had 24 goals and 41 points in 36 games. Fresh face: Freshman left winger Russ Kelley, 20, is a sturdy (6-foot-2, 210). rugged cornerman. Outlook: As is traditionally the case, the Nanooks will struggle for goals and wins. &#9632;

f0031-01

As Corvo goes so do Broncos

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011119/8061725-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad Englehart and the Badgers open Halloween night in Alaska.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

1997-98 NCAA LEAGUE SCHEDULES

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>Andy van Hellemond was satisfied with the level of officiating last season, but the former NHL referee wants to raise the bar even higher.&ldquo;I was very, very happy with the quality of linesmen last year,&rdquo; said van Hellemond, who joined the East Coast League as senior vice president, hockey operations a year ago after spending 25 years as a referee in the NHL. &ldquo;Our referees did a good job, too.&ldquo;But we want to do a better job this year and keep improving every year. These guys want to move up to the next level, too.&rdquo;Van Hellemond is bringing in three new referees this season, all of them Canadians. They are David Hansen. J.P. Zubec and Justin St. Pierre. Two of the current referees, Kevin Pollock and Harry Dumas, are NHL trainees this year.The ECHL had three NHL trainees last season in Chris Rooney, Jeff Smith and Ian Walsh.Van Hellemond conducted an official&rsquo;u camp in Wheeling, W.Va., Oct.3-5 and emphasized two points:&ldquo;When a player gets a penalty, we want to cut $ out the conversation by other players about why the penalty was called. That way, we&rsquo;ll have less down time.&ldquo;We also want to make sure everyone knows the use of a stick will be dealt with severely, as will checking from behind.&rdquo;PERFECT 10: The ECHL&rsquo;s 10th anniversary team is the same as the all-time team announced 1HN&rsquo;s 50th Anniversary issue, it includes Trevor Jobe, the league&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer, Phil Berger, No. 2 on the career list, and Darren Schwartz as the first line with David Craievich and Rob Dumas on defense. Nick Vitucci, who has&rsquo; played in the ECHL every year since its inception in 1988, guards the nets for the first team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011015/8061756-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="404" height="426"></div>Making up the second team are goaltender Rob Laurie, defensemen Perry Florio and Bob Woods, and fords Darryl Noren. Sheldon Gorski and Rod Taylor. John Brophy, who guided the Hampton Roads Admirals to back-to-back league titles in 1990-91 and 1991-92, is the coach and Larry Kish the GM.COAST LINES: In a move approved by the board of governors at its tall meeting Charleston, S.C., each team will be allowed to dress 18 players, as opposed to 17 in previous seasons. That allows clubs the luxury of having an extra player available in case someone gets hurt during a game&hellip;Vitucci, who helped the Toledo Storm win the 1993-94 championship, has returned to the Ohio city for the 1997-98 campaign. Vitucci owns four ECHL championship rings, more than anyone in league history and has won more games (194) than any goalie&hellip;Right winger Ed Courtenay, who was suspended 24 games after hitting forward Dave Jesiolowski in the face with his stick late last season, was on the training camp roster of the South Carolina Stingrays. He&rsquo;ll have to sit out the first 24 games of the regular season if he remains with South Carolina. &#9632;

f0033-01

LEAGUES

Van Hellemond strives to upgrade ECHL officiating

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Peter Zezel believes the first outright assignment to the minor leagues of his career will be a short one, that a trade will soon put him back in the NHL.That&rsquo;s good because the 32-year-old center may need the rest.The three-games-in-three-night weekends that fill the American League schedule are something new, as are six-hour bus rides. Plus, Albany River Rats&rsquo; coach John Cunniff is taking full advantage of Zezel&rsquo;s experience.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing him as much as I possible,&rdquo; Cunniff said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s way above what we&rsquo;ve got here with the young kids. Our job is to have him prepared in case he does go back with&rsquo; (New Jersey) Devils or in case another NHL has interest. As long as I&rsquo;ve got him, I&rsquo;m going to enjoy it.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s basically the same attitude Zezel took when the Devils said they couldn&rsquo;t use him and sent him to Albany after training camp.&ldquo;I was in a situation where wasn&rsquo;t going to play, so when they wanted to send me down, I said,&rsquo; mat great,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Zezel, who has 208 goals and 574 points in 802 NHL games in his 13-year career.&ldquo;1 have no hard feelings. They got me last year for insurance after Bobby Carpenter got hurt. But when Carpenter was OK, they really didn&rsquo;t need me.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02693/8061787-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="580" height="586"></div>Zezel&rsquo;s only minor league stop came in 199495, a two-game conditioning stint with the Kalamazoo K-Wings of the International League when he was Dallas Stars&rsquo; property. The Devils left him unprotected in this year&rsquo;s waiver draft, but he was passed over, largely because he is earning $800,000 a year on a one-way contract that runs through the 1998-99 season.SWEET REVENGE: Goalie J.F. Labbe was al 1-e very thing for the Hershey Bears last season, earning the AHL MVP award as well as first-team all-star and top-goalie honors as the Bears won the Calder Cup.But with top prospect Marc Denis breaking into pro hockey this season, the parent Colorado Avalanche didn&rsquo;t have plans- or room in goal-for Labbe and let him go as a free agent.Now with the Hamilton Bulldogs as Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; property, Labbe enjoyed his first reunion with the Bears. Labbe helped the Bulldogs spoil the Bears&rsquo; banner-raising ceremony by posting a 22-save, 2-0 shutout at Hershey-park Arena Oct. 4.&ldquo;I feel I was playing in front of my fans,&rdquo; Labbe said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t feel I was playing on the road.&rdquo;Doug Friedman, Labbe&rsquo;s teammate last season who also jumped to the Edmonton organization as a free agent, scored the opening goal of the game.UNDELIVERED LETTER: Right winger Dane Jackson was the Rochester Americans&rsquo; captain the past two seasons, but the parent Buffalo Sabres aren&rsquo;t allowing him to wear a let-this season because he is now property of the New York Islanders.Jackson signed with the Islanders over the summer, but requested he | be assigned back to Rochester if he didn&rsquo;t earn an NHL job in training camp. The Sabres are the Americans&rsquo; parent team, but Steve Donner&rsquo;s local ownership group is responsible for supplying about half the roster. Donner wanted Jackson back.But when Jackson re-joined the Amerks in late-September, the Sabres said they wanted their young prospects, not a player from another organization, to have the leadership roles.New coach Brian McCutcheon named Scott Nichol captain. Jackson endorsed Nichol and said he understands Buffalo&rsquo;s stance.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always an honor to be a captain of a team,&rdquo; Jackson said. &ldquo;But you don&rsquo;t need a&rsquo;C&rsquo; to lead. I&rsquo;ve always said that. It&rsquo;s what you do and stand for that&rsquo;s more important.&rdquo;AHL TIDBITS: Syracuse Crunch rookie center Brian Bonin made his pro debut by scoring a pair of shorthanded goals as the Crunch beat the Philadelphia Phantoms 8-6 Oct. 3. Bonin was the 1996 Hobey Baker Award winner at Minnesota&hellip;So who gets the puck? Rookie Ian MacNeil&rsquo;s first pro goal Oct. 4 was also the first goal in franchise history for the Beast of New Haven&hellip;The Kentucky Thoroughbreds broke their own AHL record for the largest opening-night crowd when they drew 17,812 to Rupp Arena for a 5-0 win over the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks Oct. 3. &#9632;

f0033-02

Zezel enthusiastic about playinq with bunch of Rats

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div>For Greg Hawgood, all practice and little play meant a one-way ticket out of Europe.The former International League and American League defenseman of the year bolted his team in Cologne, Germany, after being dissatisfied with the conditions and signed a one-year deal with the Houston Aeros.Hawgood, the top AHL defenseman in 1992 and top IHL defenseman in 1996, said the situation in Europe wasn&rsquo;t as he expected it to be and was not a good one for his family.&ldquo;We had so much practice time and I was at the rink so much during the week, I wasn&rsquo;t looking forward to the games,&rdquo; Hawgood said. &ldquo;And I thought coming from the and having done what I&rsquo;d done, I do to be on the ice more than every third shift.&ldquo;My No. 1 priority is my family when I looked at the situation there saw my wife and kids being stuck the apartment all the time and when was home, I&rsquo;d be so tired I couldn&rsquo;t do anything with them.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03535/8061818-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="506" height="587"></div>Upon his return, Hawgood said six teams showed interest in signing him. But he had a friendship with Houston coach Dave Tippett when the two played with the Philadelphia Flyers and said he knew he&rsquo;d be going into a good situation.And Tippett was happy to get Hawgood&rsquo;s name on a contract. The Aeros were in need of a quarterback for the power play and there is none better at the IHL level than Hawgood.&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t just run your power play; he makes the good play for you,&rdquo; Tippett said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s very important.&rdquo;In 217 games at the minor pro level. Hawgood has scored 55 goals and added 162 assists for 217 points. Hawgood has 377 NHL games to his credit and last season had six goals and 18 points in 63 games with the San Jose Sharks.SMITH SIGNS EXTENSION: Ron Smith signed a contract extension that will keep him as coach-GM of the Cincinnati Cyclones through the 1999-2000 season. Smith, who has held both jobs since 1995, has compiled a 9451-19 mark in his two seasons with the team.Smith said he wanted to make a commitment to the organization and said he was pleased ownership felt good enough about his work to make a long-term commitment to him.&ldquo;Everybody likes to be told he&rsquo;s doing a good job and what this tells me is there is a sense of appreciation for what we&rsquo;ve been able to do here,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;We have some time now to work on some things long-term. That&rsquo;s important to the people of Cincinnati, who don&rsquo;t like to see you start over from scratch each year. I hope to be able to build a nucleus that this team can be successful with over a period of time.&rdquo;BAD WORDS: Long Beach Ice Dogs&rsquo; defenseman Mike Matteucci had a number of altercations with the Las Vegas Thunder as a rookie last season and on opening night, learned things wouldn&rsquo;t be different this year.Matteucci was involved in several incidents with Las Vegas in the Ice Jogs&rsquo; 6-2 victory that night and was ejected when he took a major cross-checking penalty on Thunder forward Rhett Trombley. After the game, Matti trashed the Thunder.I don&rsquo;t think they like me too much,&rdquo; Matteucci said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think their coaching Staff me too much. They&rsquo;re known for having a couple of guys who do stupid things. You have to watch your back every time you&rsquo;re on the ice (because) you&rsquo;ll get hit in the head and hit from behind. You can only take so much of that stuff. You&rsquo;ve got to expect that. Trombley likes to put on a show. I guess that&rsquo;s how he earns his paycheck.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why they play like that. They don&rsquo;t seem to have much discipline. You can&rsquo;t play like that against a team like ours. We&rsquo;ll kill them every time. They don&rsquo;t learn.&rdquo;I-OPENERS: The Kansas City Blades and Cincinnati played to a 0-0 deadlock through regulation as Blades&rsquo; goalie Jon Casey and Cyclones&rsquo; netminder Geoff Sarjeant were outstanding. The Blades got the 1-0 shootout win&hellip;Quebec Rafales&rsquo; center Steve Larouche was the league&rsquo;s first player of the week (for the period ending Oct. 5) and Wendell Young of the Chicago Wolves was its first goaltender of the week. Larouche had three goals and six points in two games, while Young went 3-0-0 on the road and stopped 81 of the 84 shots he faced. &#9632;

f0033-03

European vacation sours, Hawgood lands in Houston

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>Former NHL coach of the year Tom Watt was hired by the Sudbury Wolves after Murray Nystrom became the first coaching casualty of the Ontario League season Oct. 7.Wolves&rsquo; GM Todd Lalonde might be the next to go if the Wolves don&rsquo;t start winning under Watt, who coached the Winnipeg Jets, where he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL&rsquo;s top coach in 1981-82, Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.Wolves&rsquo; owner Mark Burgess said the team&rsquo;s 2-5-0 performance &ldquo;is unacceptable and we&rsquo;re going to continue to look at this organization and continue to evaluate.&rsquo;&rsquo; When asked if that meant Lalonde&rsquo;s job could be in jeopardy, Burgess said: &ldquo;I guess you can read into it that way. The mandate has come down.&rdquo;Watt, 62, who left the Ixafs in September after serving as director of pro scouting, has coached for 38 years at the high school, university, international, minor pro and NHL levels.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a career coach and I miss the day-to-day competition,&rdquo; Watt said. &ldquo;I have the juices.&rdquo;Lalonde said Watt signed a one-year deal &ldquo;to give him the opportunity to test the waters of junior hockey and to see exactly what he&rsquo;s after.&rdquo;Lalonde fired Nystrom, 31, after hiring him as an assistant coach last season. Nystrom was promoted to head coach in January when Lalonde left the bench to devote his time his GM duties.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011144/8061849-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="907" height="325"></div>The Wolves were 1-4-0 at home and pressure was mounting from the fans and ownership, Lalonde said.&ldquo;The team is in a situation where we have to be tremendously successful,&rdquo; Lalonde said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve stumbled the last couple of years (not making the playoffs) and we stumbled out of the gate again. I don&rsquo;t think this team should stumble into the playoffs.&rdquo;Nystrom joined the Wolves after being an assistant coach with the London Knights. He&rsquo;s a former OHL player and captain of the Knights. Burgess will pay Nystrom through the term of his contract, which ends after the 1998-99 season, as well as paying all family medical expenses.Meanwhile the Wolves are also in general turmoil off the ice. Burgess said he will sell the team if a stalemate continues over a new arena deal.&ldquo;We have 1,900 season ticket holders and we have the worst (arena) deal in the league,&rdquo; he said.Five days before Nystrom was fired, Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; prospect Brandon Sugden walked out on the team.Sugden, with 492 penalty minutes his first two seasons, said he was upset he was up for trade after Lalonde told him he wouldn&rsquo;t be dealt. Sugden returned to the Wolves 48 hours later.&ldquo;I put a number of players up for trade and obviously in our league some confidentiality was broken,&rdquo; Lalonde said.Sugden, 19, was traded to the Wolves last season by London. He was the Leafs&rsquo; fifth round pick in 1996.SPITS SPUTTER: The Windsor Spitfires suspended forwards Jeff Zehr and Matt Elich indefinitely for a curfew violation. Eight players were suspended for an Oct. 5 game against the Plymouth Whalers, won 7-3 by the Whalers, but six were to return after a week.Zehr, a New York Islanders&rsquo; 1997 second round pick, and Elich, a third round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning, were sent home after showing little remorse, said GM Mike Awender.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to elaborate, but there were several factors, including a history of this throughout their careers,&rdquo; Awender said.HOT GOALIE: Barrie Colts&rsquo; second round pick Brian Finley posted back-to-back 4-0 shutouts, lowering his league-leading goals-against average to 1.67 and raising his save percentage to .942. Finley, 16, beat his hometown Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the Soo Oct. 3, then won in Sudbury two nights later. &#9632;

f0034-01

Wolves hone one Watt enough of a newer boost

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>The Quebec League is going to make it difficult for owners with deep pockets to buy themselves a championship in the future.Last season, the Hull Olympiques paid the Sherbrooke Faucons $50,000 as part of a deal to acquire the rights to center Christian Dube, who went on to play a key role in Hull&rsquo;s Memorial Cup championship. The previous season, the Granby Predateurs spent $50,000 to acquire Georges Laraque en route to their Memorial Cup title. These cash-for-player transactions had become common practice in the QMJHL, especially at the trading deadline.With the poorer teams complaining they could no longer compete with their rich counterparts, the league has decided to do something about the cash-for-player transactions.For the 1997-98 season, any I that pays money to acquire a pl a; from another team will also have to pay a 25 per cent tax to the league, with the money going. into its education fund. And&rsquo; after June 6, 1998, teams involved in cash-for-player transactions will both pay a $100,000 fine and will both lose their first round midget draft pick for the next two seasons.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02780/8061880-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="779" height="387"></div>&ldquo;We have to make sure when the puck drops on the first day of the regular season all the teams are going to have the same chance to win the league and be the league rep at the Memorial Cup tournament,&rdquo; said league president Gilles Courteau. &ldquo;I think in major junior you need to build your team with the same strategy, with players and draft choices.&ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s fair if you don&rsquo;t have the money, or if you decide not to spend the money, well that&rsquo;s too bad and you won&rsquo;t have a chance to be the best team in the league. We want to have a league where everyone has the same chance and the same ability to build their team with players and draft choices.&rdquo;WHERE ARE THE FANS? Laval Titan owner Leo-Guy Morrissette is beginning to wonder what he has to do to attract fans to his team&rsquo;s games. Last season, the Titan had the second worst attendance in the league, averaging only 1,H4 fans at the 2,998-seat Laval Colisee.During the off-season, Morrissette threatened to move his team to the Maritimes before deciding to give Laval fans one last chance to support his team this season.Early in the season, the support wasn&rsquo;t there. Despite having an exciting young team that got off to a respectable 4-4-0 start, the Titan averaged only 1,192 fans for its first five home games.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t understand any more,&rdquo; Morrissette told the Journal de Montreal after only 845 fans watched the Titan lose 3-1 to the visiting Drum-mondville Voltigeurs Sept. 30. &ldquo;It makes no sense. We&rsquo;ve done everything to solicit businesses, the professionals and (the community). The result is negative.&rdquo;The league scheduled an executive committ. 14 to look into the Laval scenario. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very concerned about the situation, there&rsquo;s no doubt about that,&rdquo; Gilles Courteau said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll&rsquo; look at the situation and see if we can do something to give them a hand.&rdquo;While rumors have already started the Titan could leave Laval before the end of the season, Courteau said, &ldquo;they&rsquo;ll be there until the end of the season for sure.&ldquo;The franchise in Laval is a franchise we want to keep there,&rdquo; Courteau added.FOREURS STRUGGLING: This isn&rsquo;t the way the season was supposed to start for the Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs. The Foreurs, THN&rsquo;s pre-season pick to win the Memorial Cup, got off to an 0-61 start before beating the Laval Titan 5-4 in overtime Oct. 5 and the Hull Olympiques 3-0 Oct. 8. In their first eight games, the Foreurs scored a grand total of 16 goals.The Foreurs were obviously missing captain Steve Begin, who started the season with the Calgary Flames, and Dominic Chiasson, who signed a 25-game contract with the International League&rsquo;s Quebec Rafales.&ldquo;We need some other people to pick things up,&rdquo; said Foreurs&rsquo; coach Richard Martel. &#9632;

f0034-02

Bucks stop here: QMJHL discourages cash deals

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>The Seattle Thunderbirds&rsquo; biggest loss early in the Western League season was not incurred on the ice.Seattle was forced to play without star center Patrick Marleau, who opened the campaign with the San Jose Shanks often signing a three-year contract. Marleau had 125 points, including 51 goals, for Seattle last season-after which San Jose selected him second overall in the 1997 draft.He turned 18 Sept. 15 and is the NHL&rsquo;s youngest player.&ldquo;It hurts any team, obviously, to lose a player like that,&rdquo; said Seattle head coach Don Nachbaur, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t think we dwell on that. Pat&rsquo;s gone. We have what we have.&rdquo;Without Marleau, Seattle stalled the 1997-98 campaign with a 2-2-1 record. Are the Thunderbirds optimistic Marleau will return to them at some point?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03616/8061911-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="481" height="502"></div>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not even thinking about that,&rdquo; Nachbaur said. &ldquo;Why should we? He&rsquo;s not here. He has signed (tm). NHL contract. If he comes back, it&rsquo;s a bonus.&rdquo;JUST JOSHING: Two notable players, Josh Holden and Josh Green, did return to the WHL-with a vengeance.Both forwards recorded hat tricks in their 1997-98 WHL debuts. Holden, in fact, had three goals in each of his first two games after returning from the NHL&rsquo;s Vancouver Canucks. He joined the Regina Pats after signing a three-year contract with Vancouver.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t even remember the last time I had back-to-back hat tricks,&rdquo; Holden said. &ldquo;Maybe it was in novice, when I scored 109 goals.&rdquo;Green had a natural hat trick against Regina Oct. 7, scoring the game&rsquo;s first three goals in an 8-3 victory. Holden was held to one assist.Green, 19, returned to the Swift Current Broncos after he was unable to reach a contract agreement with the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings picked Green in the second round of the 1996 draft.We know he s here to play and he means business when he puts the skates on,&rdquo; said Swift Current head coach and GM Todd McLellan. &ldquo;He did that (against Regina).&rdquo;Green helped Swift Current remain the WHL&rsquo;s lone undefeated team. The victory over Regina gave Swift Current a 6-0-0 record.SAME NICKNAME, BUT&hellip;: Shane Willis wanted to spend this season with the Hurri-canes-but not the Lethbridge version.The 20-year-old right winger-a 56-goal man last season-re-joined the Lethbridge Hurricanes after being unable to reach a contract agreement with the NHL&rsquo;s Carolina Hurricanes.Carolina picked Willis in the fifth round of the 1997 draft. Willis had elected to re-enter the draft after talks reached an impasse with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which made him its third round pick in 1995.Willis had a goal and two assists in his first game back with Leth-bridge-a 6-4 win over Regina Oct. 8.TIGER TALES: The Medicine Hat Tigers have added one forward and unloaded another. The Tigers. traded center Tyler Perry, 20, to the Kamloops Blazers for future considerations. Perry had 29 goals and 61 points in 67 games last season. He was third on the Tigers in scoring.Medicine Hat also acquired 19-year-old Slovakian center Jaromir Smatrala from the Prince Albert Raiders for futures. Prince Albert took the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Smatrala 59th overall in the Canadian Hockey League&rsquo;s 1997 import draft. He is eligible for the 1998 NHL draft. Smatrala played junior hockey in Slovakia last season, recording 65 goals and 92 points in 47 games.NOTES: The Calgary Hitmen informed the WHL by an Oct. 1 deadline its nickname will be changed for next season. The team had received criticism from those who felt the nickname and menacing-looking logo connoted violence. Hitmen GM indicated the team will solicit name suggestions from the public&hellip;Saskatoon Blades&rsquo; center Greg Phillips had 14 points-including 11 goals-after seven games to lead the WHL in both categories. &#9632;

f0034-03

Loss of Marleau hurts, life goes on for T-birds

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011039/8061942-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal&acute;s Andy Moog</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01928/8061980-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Superstar goaltender Patrick Roy got off to a great start for the Colorado Avalanche.</figcaption></div><h2>KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS</h2>Statistics provided by National Hockey League: PLAYER-listed by uniform number, position (F-forward; D-defenseman; G-goalie), name; GP-games played; G-goals; A-assists; P-points; +/--plus/minus; PIM-penal-ties; PP-power-play goals; SH-short-handed goals; GW-game-winning goals; GT-game-tying goals; S-shots; PCT-shooting percentage. Players indicated by an asterisk (*) are eligible for the Calder Trophy.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011006/8061973-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="4545" height="5257"></div> &#9632;

f0037-01

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01947/8062018-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01648/8062011-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="4541" height="5263"></div> &#9632;

f0039-01

NHL GAME SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01545/8062049-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Flyers&acute; Dainius Zubrus is day-to-day with a bruised right hand.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0041-01

NHL ROSTERS AND TRANSACTIONS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01559/8062111-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

October 24, 1997

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Ohlund match game paying off as rookie defenseman shines

Doan bitter about demotion following strong pre-season

Cashman’s job tough, but he has talent to win