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November 21, 1997

The Hockey News November 21, 1997

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03563/6823880-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="371" height="555"><figcaption class="caption-body">Charlie Lyons</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02848/6823887-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="162" height="160"></div>The Colorado Avalanche&rsquo;s first game this season against the New York Rangers brought back some bitter memories for owner Charlie Lyons.Lyons recalled the tense week last summer when Avalanche fans were worried the team would not be able to match the Rangers&rsquo; $21-million, three-year offer sheet to the Avs&rsquo; restricted free agent center Joe Sakic.&ldquo;It tends to get overblown, but I wasn&rsquo;t happy with the way (the Rangers) conducted themselves, only insofar as they came into our marketplace, to our media and suggested we didn&rsquo;t have the ability to match,&rdquo; Lyons said. &ldquo;They were under the belief that we weren&rsquo;t going to be able to pull it off.&ldquo;They miscalculated our vigilance and wherewithal.&rdquo;On Aug. 13, the day when Lyons faxed his intention to match the Rangers&rsquo; offer, Lyons sent a pointed gift to New York.The present to the Rangers was a famous picture of the late New York governor, Nelson Rockefeller. It shows the politician giving a onefingered salute to protesters at the 1968 Republican convention.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good picture of him,&rdquo; Lyons said. &ldquo;I had it framed.&rdquo;Despite the biting words and the Rockefeller picture, Lyons said he doesn&rsquo;t dwell on the day he had to write a $15-million signing bonus to keep Sakic. Sakic&rsquo;s total salary for 1997-98, including a base pay of $2 million, is $17 million. It is by far the highest single-season compensation package for any player in league history.&ldquo;I think everybody&rsquo;s past it. You just wipe the slate clean and move forward,&rdquo; Lyons said. &ldquo;I saw (Rangers&rsquo; president and GM) Neil Smith at the last board of governors meeting and we talked. You move on. No big deal.&rdquo;Sakic, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP during the team&rsquo;s Stanley Cup run in 1996, was the Avalanche&rsquo;s leading point scorer this season with 10 goals and 20 points in 16 games.Pat LaFontaine, the player the Rangers traded for to fill their hole at center when they were unable to land Sakic, had a goal and an assist in the Rangers&rsquo; 4-2 win over Colorado in Denver Nov. 5.Sakic went pointless for just the fourth game this season.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Eric Messier was named NHL rookie of the month for October. Messier had two goals and seven points in 12 October games and led all rookies at plus-6&hellip;The Avs sat veteran right winger Claude Lemieux out of a Nov. 6 game against the Rangers for disciplinary reasons. Because of engine trouble on a flight back from California on personal business, Lemieux was 20 minutes late to a Nov. 4 practice. Lemieux accepted the scratching without fuss&hellip;Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh suffered from soreness in his left knee about a month after arthroscopic surgery and still hadn&rsquo;t returned to the lineup. Ozolinsh may need to wear a brace on the knee for much of the season&hellip;Oft-injured center Mike Ricci (separated shoulder) was scheduled to make his return to the lineup Nov. 9 against St. Louis. &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

First meeting with Rangers brings Sakic saga to fore

<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/f0008-011676/6823401-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">THN projects Brendan Shanahan as a first liner on the 1998 Canadian Olympic team.</figcaption></div>Bob Clarke knows whatever debate there has been about who should be on the Canadian Olympic team, it will pale in comparison to the arguments over who is actually named to Team Canada.&ldquo;No matter what we do, someone is going to say we made mistakes,&rdquo; the Team Canada GM said 22 days before the Nov. 29 unveiling of the 20-skater, three-goaltender roster. &ldquo;In Canada, there are just so many possibilities. Some very good players are going to be left off.&rdquo;It is foolish to try to predict who Clarke and assistant Team Canada GMs Pierre Gauthier of the Ottawa Senators and Bob Gainey of the Dallas Stars will finally settle on. Foolish, because three weeks before the announcement, Clarke, who also has to concentrate on tasks as the Philadelphia Flyers GM, didn&rsquo;t know himself.Really.Oh, there are givens, such as Paul Kariya, Eric Lindros, Joe Sakic, Brendan Shanahan and Patrick Roy. But there aren&rsquo;t too many in that category. In trying to build a team that can compete with, and beat, burgeoning hockey powers in the U.S. and Sweden, Clarke is leaving no stone unturned. He believes strongly the best team isn&rsquo;t necessarily the best 20 players, but the 20 players best suited to do specific jobs. Which is why, say, Anson Carter of the Boston Bruins, an unheralded, but speedy and workmanlike winger, was being touted as one of a number of possible surprises.Clarke said personnel decisions are often balancing acts. &ldquo;You have to take into account the history of the player and what he has been able to accomplish,&rdquo; Clarke said,&rdquo;but you can&rsquo;t ignore how a player is performing right now.&rdquo;He has kept an open mind, which is why Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; forward Shayne Corson became a strong consideration after not even being in the picture in early October.&ldquo;Why do you think we pushed so hard to get the Dec. 1 deadline?&rdquo; Clarke said.If it&rsquo;s foolish to guess at Clarke&rsquo;s final choices-many of them were predicated on a final two-week scouting mission by Gauthier-there&rsquo;s no folly in choosing our own team.&ldquo;Go ahead,&rdquo; Clarke said with a laugh,&rdquo;everyone has their own list.&rdquo;We&rsquo;d like to think ours has a ghost of a chance As in, ghost roster. It&rsquo;s a concept the Canadian Hockey Association has used in winning five consecutive World Junior Championships.The idea is to build the perfect team. Position by position, identify the strengths and traits you want that position to have and then find the player best suited to meet them.For example, according to one CHA World Junior model, the third line center should be: &ldquo;Character guy, great faceoff guy, solid two-way player, great defensively, good size/strength, tenacious on defense.&rdquo; As opposed to the fourth line left winger, who should be: &ldquo;Wheels, can bang, can score, potential to jump up, intimidate with speed, two-way guy, forechecker.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s a system predicated on a couple of philosophies. Such as, the third (checking) line is every bit as important as the first (offensive) line. The 13th forward is often the most important.On THN&rsquo;s Team Canada, we want to ensure three qualities that were lacking in the World Cup loss to the U.S: Speed, scoring and speciality defense.Throughout that tournament, Canada lacked quickness and struggled to score goals. When it had to protect a one-goal lead in the third period against the U.S., it caved in.Having Kariya, who was injured and didn&rsquo;t play in the World Cup, will help to address speed and scoring. Mark Recchi of Montreal doesn&rsquo;t have blinding speed, but he&rsquo;s another scorer we were looking for on the right side. And fourth line left winger Jeff Friesen of the San Jose Sharks has the jets.Our defensive commitment rests with Mike Peca of the Buffalo Sabres between Rob Zamuner of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Trevor Linden of the Vancouver Canucks. And to give you an idea of the many choices available, it could just as easily be Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings between Corson and Mike Keane of the New York Rangers, or Rob Niedermayer of the Florida Panthers between Philadelphia&rsquo;s Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour and Detroit&rsquo;s Martin Lapointe.On the back end, we think Ray Bourque of the Boston Bruins, Adam Foote of the Colorado Avalanche and Chris Pronger of the St. Louis Blues are veritable givens, but we need some bang (Rob Blake, Los Angeles Kings), savvy (Eric Desjardins, Philadelphia) and experience (Al MacInnis, St. Louis). That leaves one spot open and given the big ice, it&rsquo;s a toss-up between Steve Duchesne (St. Louis) and Scott Niedermayer (New Jersey Devils). We took Duchesne.Whatever the choice, whether it&rsquo;s one of those two or Scott Stevens (New Jersey) or Richard Matvichuk (Dallas Stars), Canada&rsquo;s defense should be more well-rounded than it was at the World Cup.In net, Roy is a no-brainer and it&rsquo;s tough to not include Curtis Joseph of the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey&rsquo;s Martin Brodeur, though there are some worthy challengers.And last but not least, Wayne Gretzky makes THN&rsquo;s Team Canada, but as the 13th forward.Like Clarke said, no matter who&rsquo;s chosen or not chosen, theories will abound on the &ldquo;mistakes.&rdquo; The only difference is that Clarke actually has to live with his decisions.<h2>National exposure</h2>Picture this: It&rsquo;s Sat., Nov. 29 and Team Canada GM Boh Clarke goes to center ice at the Corel Centre in the nation&rsquo;s capital to announce the Olympic team roster before a wild, flagwaving crowd and a national television audience.There were still some details to iron out. hut that is how the Canadian Hockey Association envisions the formal announcement of the 23-man roster that will represent Canada at the Winter Olympics.The announcement will be carried live by Hockey Night in Canada before the Ottawa Senators-Chicago Blackhawks game, but the CHA&rsquo;s goal is to make it available to any network wanting<h2>THN&rsquo;s Team Canada</h2>Here is our projected 23-man Canadian Olympic roster, including three goalies, seven defensemen and 13 forwards. Players are grouped by suggested forward lines and defense pairings. Some players are listed out of their natural positions. Ages are as of February, 1998.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021297/6823394-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="1523" height="1002"></div>OTHER CANDIDATES (Listed in order of prominence)GOAL: 1. Grant Fuhr, St. Louis; 2. Chris Osgood, Detroit.DEFENSE: 1. Scott Niedermayer, New Jersey; 2. Scott Stevens, New Jersey; 3. Richard Matvichuk, Dallas; 4. Garry Galley, Los Angeles; 5. Bryan McCabe, Islanders; 6. Sylvain Lefebvre, Colorado.LEFT WING: 1. Shayne Corson, Montreal; 2. Ryan Smyth, Edmonton; 3. Gary Roberts, Carolina.CENTER: 1. Steve Yzerman, Detroit; 2. Rob Niedermayer, Florida; 3. Keith Primeau, Carolina; 4. Doug Gilmour, New Jersey.RIGHT WING: 1. Claude Lemieux, Colorado; 2. Anson Carter, Boston; 3. Mike Keane, Rangers; 4. Owen Nolan, San Jose; 5. Martin Lapointe, Detroit. &#9632;

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FEATURES

Clarke faces tough picks

<div class="byline">Print series by artist John Newby</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="S0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/s0007-0124/6825840-1-eng-US/s0007-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

S0007-01

IN THIS ISSUE

Memories of Childhood

<div class="byline">By John Davidson Inside the NHL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011606/6823160-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="311" height="394"></div>When Colorado Avalanche coach Marc Crawford looks around the league, he sees a common thread that unites the most successful teams.They are all smart with the third man high.While it is a work in progress, Crawford is hoping to progressively change his team&rsquo;s mindset so by the time it enters the playoffs, it will be able to execute his defensive system with machine-like efficiency.We all know how successful the Detroit Red Wings have been with the left wing lock. Scotty Bowman has been a trailblazer with defensive systems since his Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; days and Crawford is simply using a variation called the weak side lock. And like Bowman&rsquo;s Canadiens, the Avalanche is offensively explosive and will escape the scorn of being labeled a defensive team.Here&rsquo;s how it works. If, when the opposition is breaking out of its zone, one of the forwards has a better-than-average chance to create a turnover, he goes for it. This is considered the strong side of the ice.When this happens, the forward on the other side of the ice (the weak side), steps back and becomes the third man high. That way, you&rsquo;ve always got at least one forward and two defensemen back to guard against odd-man rushes.Another aspect of the system involves being active on the backcheck. Crawford wants his forwards to backcheck with the same desire and intensity they have when they chase loose pucks or drive to the net.When players pick up the right man and backcheck with a purpose, the odds of teams getting second and third chances are greatly reduced. The Avalanche has arguably the best goalie in hockey in Patrick Roy and he 11 stop the first chance about 95 per cent of the time.And if the weak side lock is employed properly, turnovers will be created. With the Avalanche&rsquo;s forwards, that can be deadly.On a good night Crawford&rsquo;s team should not give up more than 13 scoring chances and anything under 10 is spectacular. The Avalanche&rsquo;s season-low has been seven chances against. And remember, good defense leads to good offense and in one game, the Avs had 30 chances.If Crawford has his way, he&rsquo;ll have his team buying into the system come playoff time and sipping out of the Stanley Cup in June. &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

Crawford thinks lock key to Stanley Cup

<h2>LeClair lighting it up for Philly</h2>1. Johnny on the spot Philadelphia&rsquo;s John LeClair nets goals (six) in five straight games, along with four assists.2. Shooting Star Veteran Joe Nieu-wendyk fires seven goals, 10 points in seven-game streak.3. Fitz of joy Florida backup goalie Mark Fitzpatrick records first win since Dec. 23, 1996, beating Buffalo 4-2 Nov. 6.4. Hot Hawks After horrible start, Chicago Blackhawks roll off four consecutive wins.5. Scoring Hab-it Montreal&rsquo;s Shayne Corson on seven-game points streak-four goals, seven assists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021239/6822991-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="330" height="460"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug MacLean</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03922/6822984-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="331" height="461"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Fitzpatrick</figcaption></div><h2>What the #@*!% was he thinking?</h2>1. Cherry bomb Don Cherry curses four times during interview shown on scoreboard at Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; game.2. Take a break Florida coach Doug MacLean suspended two games after jumping on ice to accost referee.3. Boo Lou GM Lou Lamoriello owed Pat LaFontaine call after not including him on first wave of U.S. Olympic team.4. Where&rsquo;s the net? Rangers&rsquo; right winger Alexei Kovalev goalless in first 16 games.5. Yoke&rsquo;s on them Three North Bay players fined after throwing eggs at striking elementary teachers. &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04693/6823029-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="347" height="429"></div>The war on catastrophic hockey injuries is being won, but the ongoing battle against injuries won&rsquo;t be properly addressed until one of the game&rsquo;s most dangerous elements is recognized as a safety issue.Dr. Tom Pashby, who has spearheaded an effort to prevent head and spinal injuries, reports the incidence of those awful injuries is on the decline. Credit is due the Toronto sports safety crusader and many others who have fought the good fight against hitting from behind and stupid stickwork. It&rsquo;s time another cause was taken up&hellip;or legitimately dismissed as cause for concern. Hockey players consent to a certain amount of physical contact each time they step on the ice. They accept the possibility of injury. What they shouldn&rsquo;t be at risk of facing is gratuitous violence. Reckless body and stickwork represent the two most commonly criticized affronts. There should be a third. Fighting.This year&rsquo;s wake-up calls have been Steve Smith&rsquo;s forced retirement (essentially the victim of a career-ending fight): Nick Kypre-os&rsquo; horrifying faceplant (which alarmed even pro-fighting advocates); Troy Mallette&rsquo;s herniated disc (a potentially career-ending injury); and, most recently, Casey Brunette&rsquo;s helmetless crash-landing in an Ontario League game Nov. 2. The Barrie Colts&rsquo; player was locked in a bear hug when he fell to the ice, striking his unprotected head. Brunette went into convulsions and was removed from the ice on a stretcher. He suffered a large cut on the back of his head. No date had been set for his return to action.How can the game justify Brunette&rsquo;s life being threatened in such a manner? Those who support fighting in hockey say it&rsquo;s better than the alternative-rampant high sticking. Here&rsquo;s my challenge to them. Prove it. The Hockey News has looked for an inverse relationship between stickwork and the incidence of fighting. Nobody, including the NHL, has presented any data that proves fighting keeps a check on stickwork. There is anecdotal evidence. Lots of it.Many executives and players will tell you fighting is a necessary evil. Show me why. Show me how. Prove fighting is part of the game and not just part of the entertainment spectacle. Otherwise take the bloodsport out of the sport. Many people whose opinions I respect believe in fighting. I don&rsquo;t. I think it&rsquo;s an excuse. But you know what? They&rsquo;ve been there. I haven&rsquo;t. Maybe they know better. Or maybe Pat Verbeek was right when he told THN in 1990,&rdquo;I fight, I guess, because it&rsquo;s there.&rdquo; We wonder if others fight for the same reason that men climb mountains.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011493/6823022-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="1721" height="2363"><figcaption class="caption-body">Close call: There&rsquo;s not much separating Eric Lindros&rsquo; Team Canada and Keith Tkachuk&rsquo;s Team USA. (Photo by Jim Mclsac/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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How many have to be hurt before something’s done?

<div class="byline">Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011660/6823074-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="342" height="429"></div>Team USA was first out ot the gate to announce the bulk of its Olympic roster, which is only fitting. That&rsquo;s because the Americans are the team to beat at the Games in Nagano, the standard by which other entries will be judged.Coach Ron Wilson&rsquo;s team rates as the favorite on three counts.One, it&rsquo;s effectively the defending champion by virtue of its World Cup win in September of 1996. Two, the U.S. lineup represents the world&rsquo;s best blend of size, strength, skill and speed. Three, it has superior chemistry and cohesion. The coaching staff and 15 of the 17 players named by GM Lou Lamoriello Nov. 3 were together in the World Cup. (See pg. 9 for background on each member of the team.) With only three practices before the Olympic tourney commences, Team USA should have a decided edge in familiarity over its competition.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how much of an edge it is,&rdquo; Wilson told The Hockey News,&rdquo;but it is a very important aspect. There&rsquo;s not a lot of time to come together as a team. I know at the World Cup, we kept saying to each other that if we keep this going, the end won&rsquo;t be Sept. 14, it will be the following February at the Olympics. Now, that has happened and we have to find a way to muster up the feelings of camaraderie that we developed over a month and do it in three days of practice.&rdquo;The U.S. World Cup coaching staff is back intact with Wilson being assisted by New Jersey Devils&rsquo; minor league coach John Cunniff (who handles the defensemen) and Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; pro scout Paul Holmgren (forwards). U.S. national junior team head coach Jeff Jackson has been added (eye in the sky).Of the 17 players Lamoriello picked-the remaining goalie and five skaters will be announced no later than Dec. 1-only Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; forward Jeremy Roenick and Florida Panthers&rsquo; goalie John Vanbiesbrouck weren&rsquo;t part of the U.S. World Cup experience. Roenick chose not to play because he didn&rsquo;t have an NHL contract at the time and Vanbiesbrouck was injured. Roenick is likely to end up on a line with Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; left winger John LeClair and Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; right winger Tony Amonte.No team at the World Cup could handle LeClair, who has emerged as the NHL&rsquo;s pre-eminent power forward (15 goals in 17 games this season). Roenick isn&rsquo;t the player he once was with the Blackhawks, but has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts this season. Amonte is a bona fide sniper.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021327/6823067-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="345" height="476"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jeremy Roenick</figcaption></div>Keith Tkachuk of Phoenix and Mike Modano of the Dallas Stars are both back and it&rsquo;s expected their World Cup linemate Bill Guerin will be added. The Devils&rsquo; right winger is an unsigned free agent. Lamoriello, also New Jersey&rsquo;s GM, admitted Guerin deserves to be on the team, but with little preparation time it remains to be seen whether Guerin will be in top-calibre shape. It will be a shock if he&rsquo;s excluded.Modano has emerged as one of the game&rsquo;s most complete players while Tkachuk is right there with LeClair as a power player.St. Louis Blues&rsquo; right winger Brett Hull and Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; center Doug Weight will be able to team up again. Their World Cup linemate, Scott Young of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, is a longshot, but Adam Deadmarsh of the Colorado Avalanche, another returnee, could step in to vastly improve that unit. The ninth forward named was Philadelphia defensive specialist Joel Otto.&ldquo;One to nine up front, I can&rsquo;t imagine any team being any better,&rdquo; said Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock.As big and powerful as they are, the U.S. forwards will be as well-suited as any team to play on the larger international-sized ice surface.&ldquo;The bigger ice changes how you forecheck and you have to be more patient coming out of your own end,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;But would we make any different selections because of it? No, because our big players can really skate, too.&rdquo;Both Lamoriello and Wilson said the U.S. is likely to go with 12 forwards and eight defense-men-Canada is leaning towards 13 forwards and seven defensemen, (see pg. 8 for THN&rsquo;s projected Canadian lineup)-because they don&rsquo;t want to take chances on injuries depleting their blueline. If that&rsquo;s so, then only three more forwards have to be named to the team. If, as expected, Guerin is added, only two spots are truly up for grabs.Prominent by his absence on the initial list is center Pat LaFontaine of the New York Rangers, who was playing well (nine goals, 15 points in 16 games) after missing most of last season because of post-concussion syndrome. Lamoriello said they wanted more time to assess him, but also hinted the team may have enough of what LaFontaine brings to the table (speed and skill). LaFontaine was a member of the 1996 World Cup team. (See pg. 22 for LaFontaine&rsquo;s reaction).Other forwards from the World Cup team on the bubble are the Bryan Smolinski of the New York Islanders&rsquo;, Brian Rolston of New Jersey, Shawn McEachern of the Ottawa Senators and Steve Konowalchuk of the Washington Capitals. Further considerations include Edmonton speedster Todd Marchant, Jamie Langenbrunner of Dallas and Derek Plante of the Buffalo Sabres.Lamoriello virtually dismissed the possibility of Washington center Adam Oates, a Canadian who is in the process of getting U.S. citizenship, playing for the Americans.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03868/6823060-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1501" height="2546"><figcaption class="caption-body">Uncle Sam wants gold: Chris Chelios and the Americans will be tough to beat in Japan. (Photo by Slivia Peoota)</figcaption></div>On defense, six World Cup veterans are returning, including Brian Leetch of the Rangers, Derian Hatcher of Dallas, Kevin Hatcher of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mathieu Schneider of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago&rsquo;s Chris Chelios and Gary Suter. It&rsquo;s a big. mobile and skilled group, although it&rsquo;s not considered as strong as it was in the World Cup. Chelios and Suter have not played well since then. Leetch remains a force, although he was off his game early this season.The only notable omission on defense is Islanders&rsquo; sophomore Bryan Berard, who&rsquo;s quickly emerging as the NHL&rsquo;s most dynamic young defenseman. Wilson sees him as a cross between Leetch and Chelios, a high-skill offensive defenseman with grit and a mean streak. &ldquo;What a package,&rdquo; Wilson enthused. &ldquo;This kid has Norris Trophy written all over him.&rdquo;Lamoriello said he wants to have a longer look at Berard before making a commitment. Given that there&rsquo;s likely to be two more blueliners added, Berard is expected to be one of them. The other considerations are Washington&rsquo;s Phil Housley and Chicago&rsquo;s Keith Carney, both of whom were spare parts on the World Cup team, and Chicago&rsquo;s Eric Weinrich, Bret Hedican of the Vancouver Canucks and Shawn Chambers of Dallas. Give the edge to Housley.In net, Mike Richter of the Rangers is expected to be the No. 1 man. He was the difference in the World Cup. If he were to falter, Vanbiesbrouck would be there. Guy Hebert of Anaheim, Richter&rsquo;s backup at the World Cup, would make a fine No. 3, although Lamoriello is looking at all candidates, including the Jim Carey of the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Tom Barrasso and New Jersey&rsquo;s Mike Dunham. &#9632;

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World Cup may have just been Olympic prelude

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011674/6823105-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="319" height="409"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dino Ciccarelli</figcaption></div><h2>NOVEMBER</h2>Mon., Nov. 17: Mario Lemieux, Bryan Trottier and Glen Sather will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, while THN&rsquo;s Ken McKenzie and broadcaster Gene Hart will be honored by the Hall.Wed., Nov. 19: Mario Lemieux Night in Pittsburgh features the retirement of No. 66&rsquo;s jersey in a pre-game ceremony.<h2>MILESTONES</h2>1,000 points: Phil Housley of Washington had 999 career points and needed one more to become the second American-born player to hit 1,000 points.600 goals: Jari Kurri of Colorado needed two goals to hit 600 goals. Dino Ciccarelli of Tampa Bay needed 11 to reach 600.<h2>TO BE ANNOUNCED</h2>Canadian Olympic team: Canada is scheduled to name its team Sat., Nov. 29 in Ottawa before the Senators-Chicago game. It will be broadcast live as part of the Hockey Night in Canada pregame show. The U.S. must name the remaining players of its team no later than Dec. 1.Canadian National Jr. Team: The Canadian Hockey Association is scheduled to name the 32 players invited to the national team tryout camp on Dec. 1.Women&rsquo;s Olympic Teams: The Canadian team wants to have its final roster chosen before the Three Nations Cup (Dec. 13-20, Lake Placid, N.Y.). The U.S. intends to pick its team shortly after the tournament at the latest. &#9632;

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CALENDAR

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021153/6823191-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Avs have enough firepower to remain exciting once a new defensive scheme is implemented. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>The Nashville expansion team has a name and a number.It was reported the NHL&rsquo;s newest team will be known as the Nashville Predators. The team is also slated to pick second overall for the 1998 NHL entry draft pending the outcome of the lottery.The No. 1 slot will initially go to the last place overall finisher from this season.If the right ball comes up in the lottery, which gives all 10 non-playoff teams plus Nashville a chance to move up in the draft, Nashville could get the No. 1 pick. Or it could slip one spot to No. 3.An NHL source said Nashville has about a 20 per cent chance of getting the first overall pick. The lottery winner cannot move up more than four spots and no team can move down more than one.Nashville GM David Poile said he hadn&rsquo;t seen a junior game as of early November, but he planned to dedicate the second half of the season to the amateur draft.Vincent Lecavalier. a 6-foot-4 and 180-pound center for Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec League has been tagged the favorite to be picked No. I in the draft.Among the potential No. 2 picks Nashville might be looking at are Mathieu Biron, a 6-foot-6-l/2, 215-pound defenseman with the Shawinigan Cataractes of the Quebec League; Manny Malhotra, a 6-foot-1-1/2, 210-pound center with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario League; Brad Stuart, a 6-foot-2-l/2, 215-pound defenseman with the Regina Pats of the Western League; Scott Gomez, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound center with the Tri-City Americans of the WHL; and Bryan Allen, a 6-foot-4-l/2, 208-pound defenseman with Oshawa Generals of the OHL.Poile said while he is inclined to keep the selection, he would consider offers for it.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d have to get an assessment from my scouts on who is available (to be drafted) at our pick and then weigh our projection of the player&rsquo;s NHL potential against the player or players being offered to us,&rdquo; Poile said.According to media reports, Columbus. which enters the NHL for the 20002001 season, will be nicknamed the Blue Jackets. &#9632;

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Nashville looking out for pick No. 2

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>Richard Gnida. the man who crashed the limousine that carried three members of the Detroit Red Wings in June, was sentenced to nine months in jail and 15 months on probation.Gnida, of Westland, Mich., also must serve 200 hours of community service. He was charged with a misdemeanor of driving without a license. As part of the Nov. 7 sentence, he must also attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings four times a week and get counseling.&ldquo;You shattered lives,&rdquo; Judge Kimberly Small said. &ldquo;Based on your behavior you have a serious drug and alcohol problem. And what scares me is you don&rsquo;t know it.&rdquo;Red Wings&rsquo; defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov and masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov sustained critical head injuries in the accident. Defenseman Slava Fetisov sustained less serious injuries and is playing for the Wings.CREASE TALK: A mere crease has become a large furrow in the brow of NHL GMs.They arrived in Dallas Nov. 3 to debate the pros and cons of the use of video review for crease infringement, but after a three-hour discussion, there was no consensus other than to wait and see what transpires over the next few weeks.The NHL agreed there would be a conference call with the GMs Nov. 26, at which time the GMs should decide what, if any, recommendations for changing the rule would be forwarded to the NHL governors. No changes can be made for this season, but possibly for next year.The GMs were concerned video review for crease infringement was being called too often (at least one review in 80 per cent of all games).In advance of the GMs&rsquo; meeting, the NHL told its officials Oct. 30 to be more judicious in their use of crease review. In the 44 games after the conference call, the frequency for crease review had dropped to about 31 per cent of games, a 49 per cent reduction. If those numbers hold, the GMs may choose to maintain the status quo, although some are concerned about the inconsistency of the rule&rsquo;s application.Other options include a recommendation to do away with the rule entirely or, more likely, a reconfiguration of the crease. That has been suggested by New York Rangers&rsquo; GM Neil Smith, who proposed that the old rectangular crease be painted within the existing semicircle and that goals only be disallowed in the event a player infringes within the rectangle.In other NHL news, Hockey Night In Canada commentator Don Cherry went overboard during a intermission analysis of the Buffalo Sabres. In a between periods interview of a Sabres/Horida Panthers&rsquo; game Nov. 6, Cherry was on camera on the team&rsquo;s video scoreboard and talking over the Marine Midland Arena public address system when he used inappropriate language describing the performance of Buffalo players, including terms &ldquo;ass&rdquo; and &ldquo;bitch.&rdquo;Meanwhile, former Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; great Marcel Dionne was inducted into Canada&rsquo;s Sports Hall of Fame Nov. 6.&mdash;With a file from Cynthia Lambert &#9632;

Limo driver sentenced to nine months

What is a coach to do when his former Vezina Trophy finalist can&rsquo;t stay healthy? When one of his grittiest forwards is fighting for his life rather than loose pucks? When his team is up for sale and in order to make the bottom line more attractive, ownership does not re-sign a budding superstar?Apparently, he should begin sending out his resume.A disappointing 1996-97 season and poor start to this season led to the firing of Terry Crisp, the only coach the Tampa Bay Lightning had ever known. Crisp deserved a better fate.This gregarious and emotional coach who has long been one of the best quotes in sports will land on his feet, but the city of Tampa will be poorer for it.This is a team with a new arena, a solid fan base and confusion at the top. The house cleaning should have begun upstairs, not behind the bench.Stephen and Jacquelyn Lyman,&nbsp; Birmingham, Ala.<h2>Problem at top</h2>The Tampa Bay Lightning made a huge mistake in firing Terry Crisp. He took the team from nothing to the playoffs in three years.If anybody should have been fired, it should have been the person in the front office responsible for losing Chris Gratton to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Lightning definitely got the short end of that deal.Until management quits tinkering with the lineup and lets the coach do his job with decent players, the Lightning will be just another below average team.Paul Di Gianfrancesco,&nbsp; Brunswick, Ga.<h2>Look at baseball</h2>Concerning Mike Brophy&rsquo;s column on why goals are down in the NHL (THN, Oct. 31), why do people complain that there is not more goal scoring? If you want to see what increased scoring will do, take a look at Major League Baseball.When I was a young man and began following both baseball and hockey in the 1960s, the goals-against average in the NHL and earned run average in baseball were about the same. Any GAA or ERA higher than 3.00 was suspect.Today, team ERAs routinely approaches 5.00 and there was a 13-11 game in this year&rsquo;s World Series, for heaven&rsquo;s sake. Not coincidentally, in my opinion, baseball is a declining sport and World Series television ratings were lower this year than ever before.I say hockey is better today than ever before because goaltending and defense is stressed and scoring is low.Larry VanDeSande,&nbsp; Mason, Mich.<h2>Fire Campbell</h2>Something has to give with the New York Rangers. For the past four years, Rangers&rsquo; coach Colin Campbell has stifled the career of Alexei Kovalev.The most recent example of this was an Oct. 15 loss to the Ottawa Senators where Kovalev was benched at a time when the Rangers were in desperate need of a goal. An angry Campbell pointed out that Kovalev has been unable to create offense, but what he doesn&rsquo;t point out is that Kovalev has played most of the year with third-liners, not Wayne Gretzky or Pat LaFontaine.It has become clear that one of them has to go. I just hope it&rsquo;s the guy who wears a suit to the games.Mark Sblendorio,&nbsp; Nutley, N.J.<h2>Trade Kovalev</h2>Hey Rangers, trade Alexei Kovalev!Every season starts with somebody saying this could be the year Kovalev breaks out. We&rsquo;ve heard it every year since 1994.I&rsquo;ve got news for you. It&rsquo;s not going to happen. He doesn&rsquo;t score goals, he doesn&rsquo;t set up plays and he doesn&rsquo;t play great defense. He hasn&rsquo;t even emerged playing with the likes of Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky.The only thing Kovalev excels at is crossing the blueline, putting his head down and stickhandling long enough to get the puck taken away.Hey Rangers, wise up and trade this guy while you can still get someone valuable for him.Paul Ferris,&nbsp; Woodside, N.Y.<h2>Pierre&rsquo;s No. 1</h2>I totally agree with Ottawa Senator&rsquo;s GM Pierre Gauthier in making his players wear numbers no higher than 35.At least someone is doing something to bring some tradition back to the NHL and, to quote Pat Burns, get rid of those &ldquo;race car numbers.&rdquo;Teams should follow the Toronto Maple Leafs and simply honor numbers, not retire them. That way they can reserve numbers such as 7, 9 and 10 for the new superstars.I can just see this summer at the entry draft when the Maple Leafs select No. 1 overall and hand Vincent Lecavalier No. 27.Dave Wood,Fax us your comments at&nbsp;(416) 340-1641&nbsp;or write to&nbsp;letters, THN, 777 Bay St, Suite 2700, Box 148. Toronto. Ont., MSG 2N8&nbsp;in Canada. In the U.S., write to&nbsp;Letters, THN, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 142409947.&nbsp;E-mail us at <a href="mailto:THN@transc.com">THN@transc.com</a>. Include home and business phone numbers.&nbsp;THN&nbsp;reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Tampa should not have burned Crisp

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011783/6823270-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

Dominant no more: Buffalo netminder Dominik Hasek was facing fewer shots this season and stopping fewer of them. The Dominator had 388 shots in 13 games this year compared to 406 in 13 last year. His goals-against average went from 2.53 to 3.27. His save percentage slipped from.919 to.892 and a 6-6-1 record fell to 4-7-2.A time to kill: Mike Keane has to be the most lauded penalty killer in the NHL. When he was in Colorado, coach Marc Crawford and Patrick Roy couldn&rsquo;t stop gushing. Now it&rsquo;s Ranger coach Colin Campbell&rsquo;s turn. &ldquo;Outstanding, as good as there is,&rdquo; Campbell said, adding that Keane&rsquo;s superior mind compensates for his lack of quickness.Junior judgment: Even if Boston, San Jose and Chicago don&rsquo;t return Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Daniel Cleary to junior, they are better than even money to end up playing for Canada at the World Junior Championship in Finland. They are not so indispensable that they can&rsquo;t be loaned out for a month.Fear and loathing: Once upon a time a fired coach or deposed GM would drop a few verbal bombs on the way out the door. No more. The silence is deafening from exTampa coach Terry Crisp and former Vancouver exec Pat Quinn because there are now fears-legitimate ones in the wake of Mike Keenan vs. St. Louis-that their former organizations are looking for reasons not to honor their contracts. Mum&rsquo;s the word.Trading post: Troubled Tampa is going to do something soon, if not to improve its on-ice fortunes then to cut the payroll, as mandated by ownership. It would love to get rid of Jeff Norton and his $1.45-million contract for a draft pick or cheaper future considerations.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021219/6823301-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="369" height="560"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dominik Hasek</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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What you need to know about the 1997-98 season

<div class="byline">By Trish Tervit</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011620/6823332-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sex abuse victim Martin Kruze (inset) was eulogized as a man with a &lsquo;soft heart.&rsquo; (Photo by Campress)</figcaption></div>The family of Martin Kruze claims a psychiatrist told them their brother was &ldquo;abusing the system&rdquo; the day before the main victim in the Maple Leaf Gardens sex abuse scandal jumped to his death.Gary Kruze said his family pleaded with doctors at a Toronto hospital Oct. 26 to keep him Martin admitted. Martin jumped to his death off a Toronto bridge Oct. 30.He had been taken to hospital by a police officer who stopped him from jumping off another bridge. He was kept in on a three-day involuntary certificate, which expired Oct. 27.The family told the medical staff Kruze was &ldquo;very suicidal&rdquo; and Oct. 27 was the same date one of his abusers, Gordon Stuckless, was due for sentencing in court.&ldquo;I said that could be very traumatic to Martin,&rdquo; Gary Kruze said.But his psychiatrist told the family,&rdquo;Martin was abusing the system,&rdquo; Gary said. &ldquo;He said Martin would not &lsquo;act it out.&rsquo;&rdquo;A hospital spokesperson said Kruze was deemed not to be a risk and released and outpatient treatment was arranged.Martin again attempted suicide Oct. 28 and was taken to another hospital, where he was kept overnight and released.&ldquo;We feel our brother was looking for help.&rdquo; Ron said,&rdquo;and the public-health system turned him away.&rdquo;Kruze&rsquo;s two older brothers also criticized the Gardens&rsquo; management, saying it ignored their brother&rsquo;s request for funding to help publish a handbook titled When a Child or Youth is Sexually Abused.&ldquo;On Martin&rsquo;s behalf, his family now calls out to Maple Leaf Gardens to disclose just what it has done to fulfill its promise to the victims of the awful crimes that took place within its walls,&rdquo; Ron Kruze said.Leafs&rsquo; president Ken Dryden said the team had intended to reply to the request, which arrived by letter in late August. But he said they were just taking time to make a decision on how best to help victims.&ldquo;There was not an intent not to respond,&rdquo; Dryden said. He said team management was &ldquo;wrestling&rdquo; with the idea of how best to help the victims and they are still in the process of deciding what to do. &ldquo;Basically, time ran out in this regard.&rdquo;Dryden noted the promise to victims made last February was to offer to pay for counseling. To date one victim has accepted the offer.Kruze, 35, was the first victim to come forward in the Gardens&rsquo; sex scandal. Last February, he spoke publicly about the abuse, which he said started in 1975 when he was 13 and continued until 1982.Three former Gardens&rsquo; staff members were involved, said Kruze, including former equipment handler George Hannah, who died in 1984.Stuckless was jailed for two years less a day after pleading guilty to 24 sex-related charges. His sentencing sparked outrage among his victims who said it was lenient.It was Kruze&rsquo;s openness that inspired the dozens of other victims in the Gardens&rsquo; saga to come forward to police.At Kruze&rsquo;s funeral in Toronto Nov. 3, family and friends recalled a man whose soft heart was devoted to helping other victims of child abuse. Dryden attended the service, but didn&rsquo;t speak to media. &#9632;

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Victim was ‘very suicidal’

<div class="byline">By Steve Politi</div>It was a goaltending controversy the Carolina Hurricanes never would have expected.Sean Burke, the organization&rsquo;s popular MVP the past four years, was arrested and charged with assault after a domestic dispute with his wife.Burke spent 21-1/2 hours in jail and did not attend the team&rsquo;s Nov. 4 game against the Vancouver Canucks. He was ordered to have no contact with his wife, Leslie, and is to appear in court Jan. 20.&ldquo;We would like to deal with this situation as a family,&rdquo; he said in a statement. &ldquo;My wife and I are taking the necessary steps to deal with this matter and we would hope that everyone will understand and respect our need for privacy as we go forward with our lives.&rdquo;That process may take time. A chilling 911 call, obtained by the local media, depicts an alarming scene. Leslie Burke was near hysterics, while two children could be heard in the background crying.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021091/6823363-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="300" height="509"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sean Burke</figcaption></div>On the call, Leslie Burke told the dispatcher that &ldquo;my husband beat me up.&rdquo; When the dispatcher asked if she was hurt, she replied,&rdquo;Well, I&rsquo;m missing a lot of hair.&rdquo; She also said it wasn&rsquo;t the first time her husband had hit her.The dispatcher told her,&rdquo;He&rsquo;s going to jail if there&rsquo;s marks on you.&rdquo;Leslie Burke replied,&rdquo;Good.&rdquo;The couple will seek counseling provided by the NHL. Hurricanes&rsquo; GM Jim Rutherford said.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s important that his situation is dealt with properly,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We want to provide the support Sean and Leslie need.&rdquo;Meanwhile, Burke did not dress for the team&rsquo;s next game, a 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings Nov. 6, but coach Paul Maurice held out the possibility he would return when he was ready. He will not be suspended, but the team has left him the option to take time off, if he wants to.&ldquo;Certainly, this is a difficult situation,&rdquo; Maurice said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a difficult topic, but the problem&rsquo;s not getting swept under the rug. His family is getting the care and help they need.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Burke charged, jailed after domestic dispute

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011590/6823432-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TAKES SHAPE

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div>With his high-budget team sputtering like a broken down jalopy, Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; owner John McCaw decided heads had to roll and he rolled the biggest one available, firing president and GM Pat Quinn.Although the Nov. 4 sacking of Quinn raised eyebrows around the league, it really came as no surprise to anyone watching the Canucks on a regular basis.The simple fact was this: Quinn was given a big payroll, he was allowed to go after Wayne Gretzky, he did land Mark Messier, and his team still struggled.He hired a coach in Tom Renney, who didn&rsquo;t gain the respect of many of the veteran players, he allowed the depth in the organization to badly erode, the team couldn&rsquo;t win at home (1-8-2 including pre-season), the defense corps is too slow, the forwards are too small, he couldn&rsquo;t sign restricted free agent Alexander Mogilny and none of his high draft choices from 1989-1992 (Jason Herter, Petr Nedved, Shawn Antoski, Alek Stojanov, Libor Polasek) panned out.The Canucks had lost seven straight games on the day Quinn was fired and were tied for last in the Western Conference. No replacement was immediately named, leaving vice-president Steve Tambellini and assistant GM Mike Penny to run the hockey department.The final body blows for Quinn appeared to be humiliating defeats to the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins in which the team was outscored 238. They were lifeless in losing 5-1 to the Wings Oct. 26, 3-0 to the Hawks Oct. 29 and 8-1 to the Devils Oct. 31. Their effort improved against the Penguins Nov. 1, but they still managed to fumble away 5-2 and 6-3 leads in falling 7-6 in overtime.By then, McCaw and his lieutenants had seen enough. While many felt Renney had to be sacrificed, McCaw aimed higher and fired the man who had been at the helm since 1987-88.The reclusive Seattle billionaire then dispatched one of his underlings to meet Quinn in a hotel near Landover, Md., where the Canucks were playing the Washington Capitals that night. Quinn took the bullet at breakfast.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be 90 years old and I&rsquo;ll still be thinking about this,&rdquo; said the 54-year-old Quinn. &ldquo;Was it unfair? I don&rsquo;t know what unfair is. There are a lot of things in this business you don&rsquo;t like and clearly the ownership here felt the performance of the club was my responsibility. They didn&rsquo;t like the performance so they made a decision.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011650/6823463-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="972" height="1881"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Canucks were .500 or better in three of Pat Quinn&rsquo;s 10 years. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>There were other factors at play in Quinn&rsquo;s dismissal. He was a holdover from former owner Arthur Griffiths&rsquo; regime and nearly all of Griffiths&rsquo; top people preceded him out the door.He cost McCaw a bundle by not signing top prospect Mattias Ohlund a year ago for about $800,000 (U.S.) and then he had to match the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; offer of $2 million (U.S.) per season.He made little, but embarrassing mistakes by not knowing the league&rsquo;s waiver rules. He wasn&rsquo;t particularly media friendly, at times leaving Renney and his own assistants, first George McPhee then Tambellini, to explain decisions he had made.Quinn, who was in his 11th year at the helm, had just three teams play above .500- the three full seasons he coached. They won six playoff rounds during his tenure, five with him as coach. His strength, it seemed, was behind the bench, not behind a desk in the front office.Quinn coached the Canucks to their Stanley Cup final appearance in 1994, when they lost to the New York Rangers in seven games. He handed the coaching reins to Rick Ley the following year, then fired Ley in 1995-96 and stepped back behind the bench before hiring Renney last season.McCaw did not attend the news conference to announce Quinn&rsquo;s firing. Instead it was handled by Steve Bellringer, the new CEO of Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment.&ldquo;Ownership and senior management are concerned about the development of the hockey organization and we concluded a change in leadership is required,&rdquo; Bellringer said. &ldquo;We gratefully acknowledge Pat Quinn&rsquo;s more than 10 years of dedication, accomplishment and service to the Canuck organization and Vancouver.&rdquo;Many Canuck veterans were upset over Quinn&rsquo;s departure even though they had all battled him, some bitterly, over the contract table.&ldquo;I think it stinks,&rdquo; said goalie Kirk McLean, who arrived from New Jersey in Quinn&rsquo;s first significant trade in 1988. &ldquo;I felt like someone drove a stake into my heart. Pat brought me here and we&rsquo;ve been together 11 years. He was a big believer in loyalty.&rdquo;&ldquo;Pat was responsible for bringing some pride and integrity to the Vancouver hockey club,&rdquo; said center Trevor Linden. &ldquo;I came here as an 18-year-old boy and, in a sense. I kind of grew up with Pat Quinn.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Mighty Quinn falls

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011489/6823494-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="382" height="535"></div>When you spend a lot of money on a player and he struggles, you take seat.That&rsquo;s the price you pay.The Philadelphia Flyers spent $16.5 million to sign center Chris Gratton, who has been nothing short of ordinary so far.The deal includes a $9 million signing bonus, payable up front, which means he&rsquo;s earning $10 million this season. The Flyers also gave up right winger Mikael Renberg and defenseman Karl Dykhuis to avoid having to give up four first round picks to the Tampa Bay Lightning.That&rsquo;s an awfully hard contract for a second-liner to live up to. And that&rsquo;s what Gratton is for as long as Eric Lindros remains a healthy Flyer.Why did the Flyers sign Gratton? Simple: Because they could. Because they are one of the NHL&rsquo;s big money organizations. They want something, they go get it.Who cares if they got more of something they already had, size and speed up front? The Flyers are like the kid with the great shot who stays later after practice to work on his shot. Why not work on skating instead?Never mind the fact the Flyers could have spent much less to address their most pressing need, goaltending.The Montreal Canadiens got capable veteran Andy Moog-and a new lease on life-for $2.5 million this season. Say what you want about his play in last year&rsquo;s playoffs, Moog&rsquo;s goals-against average and save percentage were better than the combined totals of Flyers&rsquo; Ron Hextall and Garth Snow.&ldquo;We had good goaltending last year and we have good goaltending this year,&rdquo; said Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke.Not in the playoffs you didn&rsquo;t, Bob. But the Flyers&rsquo; suspect goaltending is old news.That the 22-year-old Gratton has been a mere shadow of the player who seemingly had his breakthrough year with Tampa Bay last season is now of greater concern. He had 30 goals, 62 points and 201 penalty minutes in 82 games for the Lightning last year.In 17 games with the Flyers, Gratton had just two goals and 10 points. He was held pointless in 10 games.That&rsquo;s not exactly what the Flyers had in mind when they won a ruling over Chicago Blackhawks to secure his services. Gratton&rsquo;s contract has been a curse to him.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s carrying the weight of having signed the big contract,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you can stop anybody from worrying about a thing like that if that&rsquo;s their personality.&rdquo;Gratton&rsquo;s Philadelphia story has been a horror show. Pro scouts report he has been unable to keep up with the play, doesn&rsquo;t handle the puck well and his shooting is awful.&ldquo;He squeezes the sawdust right out of the stick, he&rsquo;s so uptight,&rdquo; said one pro scout.The Flyers have tried everything, from putting him the first line, having him killing penalties and play on the power play. Nothing has worked.Gratton refused to return calls for this column, but did tell the Bucks County Courier Times he had met with coach Wayne Cashman twice to discuss his situation.&ldquo;I told (Cashman) there&rsquo;s nothing he can do, it&rsquo;s all up to me,&rdquo; Gratton said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been in the league long enough, I know what I have to do. I have to relax because I&rsquo;m pressing too much. When you press too much it works in reverse.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s still relatively early and there&rsquo;s still plenty of time to turn things around. After all, Jeremy Roenick of the Phoenix Coyotes scored just four goals in his first 25 games last season and wound up with a respectable 29. And Steve Rucchin of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim didn&rsquo;t score until his 16th game of the year and finished with 19.But you have to believe the Flyers are deeply concerned about how much bang they&rsquo;re getting for their bucks.&ldquo;We all know Chris is a really good player,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;We feel he&rsquo;s a dedicated worker and if he keeps working hard, things will turn around for him.&rdquo;There are two schools of thought as to why the Flyers signed Gratton.One, they truly believe they have a shot at winning the Stanley Cup this year and the addition of a 6-foot-4, 220-pounder would push them over the top.Two, the Flyers don&rsquo;t have longterm confidence in Lindros as their main man. Certainly it has nothing to do with his ability, but Lindros has missed about a quarter of his team&rsquo;s games in his five-year career because of injury. Also, they aren&rsquo;t sure Lindros won&rsquo;t bolt if they refuse to cough up $10-to-11 million a year.Now the Flyers have two big problems, an expensive forward who can&rsquo;t score and the same goaltending that flopped in the playoffs.Maybe it&rsquo;s true, money doesn&rsquo;t buy happiness. &#9632;

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COLUMNISTS

Flyers needed goalie, not Gratton

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011598/6823525-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="384" height="536"></div>I still have the scoreboard number scavenged at Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Forbes Field the day it closed.I drove out to Madison Street to see Chicago Stadium coming down. It was a small, sad triumph for me that the demolition wasn&rsquo;t half as loud as the roar became at &ldquo;And the rockets red glare&rdquo;, and was only mild snoring compared to the final kick-in at &ldquo;Oh say does&hellip;&rdquo;Like Kjell Samuelsson with his arms around Jaromir Jagr coming out of a comer, I have a hard time letting go. Not only do I not want to hear about progress, but can&rsquo;t. My ears are still ringing from covering games at the Met Center during the North Star runs of 1981 and 1991. Now the team is gone and so is the building, blown up before my disbelieving eyes one night on SportsCenter.I loved the old places, hated to see them go. But if they are selling tickets to ride the wrecking ball when it hits the USAirways Arena, I want to apply for a personal seat license.Now, having never spent time in the Black Hole of Calcutta, I am not qualified to declare the former Capital Centre as the worst place in the history of mankind. However, I have interviewed Bob Pulford and know a depressing experience when it occurs. And everytime I came through the doorways at Landover, I expected to hear them clang and lock behind me.One of the featured attractions for the Caps&rsquo; first game ever at the Capital Centre was Mike Bloom. It didn&rsquo;t get a whole lot better than that. If this place was state of the art when it opened, it doesn&rsquo;t say much for the period.The building&rsquo;s interior black walls and lighting scheme made it harder to see in there than some of Bryan Murray&rsquo;s goaltending selections. The Capital Centre had a red exterior more bland than Timo Blomqvist, a roof more curved than the three-star selections always were towards the Caps. The food tasted like Darren Veitch, the corridors were crowded, the siren obnoxious and the atmosphere tacky.This was a bad place to see a game. With no overhanging second deck, the highest seats were in Virginia. This became a well-conceived scheme only in April, when you couldn&rsquo;t bear to watch the Caps going down again.Maybe it was the fact the people had their hearts broken so regularly that one never felt a sense of passion at USAirways Arena. The patrons were watching the game on television, on the screens over the scoreboard, which always had the definition of an old Philco and seemed to exist mostly to bombard the senses with commercials. The Capital Centre was one of the first buildings with this feature, which now assaults us with paid advertisements on top of our paid admissions at every arena. Nice legacy, isn&rsquo;t it?Meanwhile, down on the ice, hardworking, punchless Cap teams slogged their way to 2-2 ties. Whatever happened in Landover that anyone really remembers?The third-longest game in hockey history was won by Petr Nedved in 1996. The sixth longest was won by Pat LaFontaine. Maybe they just seemed longer because they happened at the Capital Centre. The happiest, most dramatic, moment the place ever had was a Dale Hunter overtime goal that won a first-round series.Whoopee.In 23-plus years, there were two semifinal games played at the Capital Centre. The Caps never made it to the final. The ghosts in the rafters were Erroll Rause and Greg Theberge, not exactly of the caliber the Canadiens could call on at The Forum.In 1989, a deflected puck came down off Mike Ridley&rsquo;s head and landed at Brian Propp&rsquo;s feet for a goal that turned another series against the Caps. They went down at the Capital Centre in Game 5 in 1985 after leading the Islanders, 2-0. They went down there in 1987 after leading the Islanders, 3-1. They went down there in 1992 after leading the Penguins, 3-1.The Caps luck never turned, not even after Abe Pollin, acting under the Federal Witness Protection Program, sold out the name to an airline known for cattlecar flights and peanut dinners.Now, the Caps are going downtown, to the new MCI Center, because suite revenue at the old place was a drop in the bucket. We can vouch for that. One night the roof was leaking and we sat next to a bucket.The place was all wet like Dennis Maruk, had the character of Robert Picard. As Gertrude Stein once said about Oakland,&rdquo;there is no there, there.&rdquo; At US Airways Arena, there was just a long, backed-up road leading straight to the gates of hell where the Caps have burned for 24 seasons.This season&rsquo;s fast start can&rsquo;t be a coincidence. They are excited because their sentence is up. &#9632;

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It wasn’t hell, but you could see it from there

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div>Daniel Alfredsson is the kind of guy who would have made a good boy scout growing up. After all, he&rsquo;s a model citizen who lives by the motto: Be prepared.That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s no surprise one month into the NHL season, the Ottawa Senators&rsquo; right winger put all theories about the neces-sity of attending training camp out the window.After ending his monthlong impasse for a new contract with the Senators following a face-to-face meeting with GM Pierre Gauthier Oct. 12 in Los Angeles, Alfredsson, 24, resumed his career without missing a beat.Signed to a four-year, $10 million (U.S.) deal, Alfredsson made an immediate impact scoring seven goals and 11 points in nine games before spraining an ankle in practice Nov. 5. His injury status was day-to-day.Not bad for a player who saw nothing close to NHL action while he worked out twice daily with a junior team in Goteborg, Swe. The Senators played six games without him.&ldquo;I might ask the NHL Players&rsquo; Association to ban training camp,&rdquo; Alfredsson said with a laugh. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t sitting on the couch over there doing nothing. I had my own training camp in Sweden. I had to be prepared.&ldquo;I know I did the right thing. I had my position and I just wanted to get a deal done.&rdquo;While he wanted to get a new contract he considered fair after making a paltry-by NHL stan-dards-$650,000 (Cdn.) during his first two years in the league, sitting out didn&rsquo;t sit well with Alfredsson.In a city which doesn&rsquo;t exactly embrace its sports heroes, Alfredsson has been welcomed back enthusiastically by the fans. After winning the NHL&rsquo;s rookie of the year award in 1995-96, he didn&rsquo;t hold out for a new contract.Alfredsson played the role of model soldier and returned to the club&rsquo;s camp in September, 1996 prepared to show people what he&rsquo;d accomplished his first season was no fluke.The Senators&rsquo; fifth pick (133rd overall) in the 1995 NHL entry draft, Alfredsson was a late bloomer, but he followed up his Calder Trophy performance with 24 goals and 71 points in 76 games last year.&ldquo;I think the most important word when you&rsquo;re talking about Daniel Alfredsson is professional,&rdquo; said Ottawa assistant coach Perry Pearn. &ldquo;That word epitomizes the way his NHL career has progressed.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011476/6823556-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="970" height="1959"><figcaption class="caption-body">Daniel Alfredsson hasn&rsquo;t skipped a beat since returning. (Photo by Claus Andersen/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think money motivates him. He plays with pride to show the level he&rsquo;s capable of playing. A big part of his game is confidence.&rdquo;Success is what being a hockey player is all about to Alfredsson. He&rsquo;s not only determined to make a difference for himself, he also wants to have an impact for his teammates and the city.Getting to the playoffs for the first time in team history last season was one of the most exciting sports moments the city of Ottawa has ever enjoyed. Alfredsson came back prepared to help take a step further.He even took a gamble with his scoring bonuses by agreeing to cut them in half-from a possible $200,000 (U.S.)&ndash;if the Senators don&rsquo;t make the playoffs.&ldquo;I want to go all the way,&rdquo; Alfredsson said. &ldquo;I knew when I came in everybody&rsquo;s eyes were going to be on me. That&rsquo;s why I wanted to come back here in good shape.&ldquo;It has been easy for me. I came back here and the team was playing so well. Nobody was counting on me for offense immediately.&rdquo;Immediate impact was what Alfredsson&rsquo;s return was all about. With the security of the new contract, he can spend the next four years concentrating on playing the game.He made the trip to California-based agent Michael Barnett&rsquo;s home in Lake Arrowhead-90 minutes from Los Angeles-purposely so they could sit down and meet with Gauthier.Getting back on the ice didn&rsquo;t add extra pressure to Alfredsson, it came as a welcome relief. He&rsquo;s not worried that expectations will grow because of the big contract.&ldquo;Even though I signed for a lot more money I know to be a good hockey player I have to get better all the time,&rdquo; Alfredsson said. &ldquo;My goal is to go all the way and you have to work at it to be a better player.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I was completely happy with the way I played last year. I knew I could improve. I have to keep working. I&rsquo;ve had success. If I don&rsquo;t score anymore, nobody will be happy. You have to show progress all the time.&rdquo;Alfredsson has shown plenty of progress since he put his No. 11 uniform back on in Ottawa. A solid character, he has lived up to expectations on and off the ice. Don&rsquo;t be surprised, if you see him helping a lady cross the street in traffic. &#9632;

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Supreme Senator

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011384/6823587-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bryan Berard is attempting a rare double: a Calder, then a Norris. (Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div>It was, by all accounts, his best game of the year-a one-goal, two-assist, first star-of-the-game performance against the Montreal Canadiens at the Molson Centre. But all Bryan Berard could think about was the one that got away. Not a goal, but his man.&ldquo;I made a mistake on one of their goals,&rdquo; Berard said of the game, a 5-2 win Oct. 29. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t pick up my man in the slot and they scored. I get so angry at myself when that happens. Every time I step on the ice I want to be the best I can be. I&rsquo;m not just saying that, I mean it. I hate to lose.&rdquo;To get better, Berard concentrates on areas of his game that require improvement. They are getting fewer in number.His minus-7 was of great concern to him, but Islanders&rsquo; coach Rick Bowness wasn&rsquo;t worrying. Bowness said the negative rating was more a reflection of the team&rsquo;s play 5-on-5 and the fact the youngster is often out against the opposition&rsquo;s top lines than serious defensive shortcomings.Canadiens&rsquo; right winger Mark Recchi said the entire Montreal bench took notice of Berard on a few plays in their Oct. 29 meeting, but one in particular stood out. With the Islanders on the power play, Berard stepped into the middle, took a pass at his team&rsquo;s blueline, sidestepped an attacking defender and proceeded up ice with the puck. In the Montreal zone, Dave Manson of the Canadiens dropped to block a fake shot by Berard. The Islanders&rsquo; defenseman pulled the puck back, skated past Manson and passed to Robert Reichel, who passed to Travis Green for a one-timer past Jocelyn Thibault.&ldquo;It was a bang-bang goal that was entirely made possible by Berard&rsquo;s puck skills and good vision,&rdquo; Recchi said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of those players you have to talk about before the game because he makes great plays.&rdquo;Berard is driven by his desire to be the best and he wants it in a hurry. While most 20-year-olds are singularly focussed on either getting out of the minors or staying out of them, Berard has much loftier goals.&#9633; He has never made a secret of the fact he wants to be the go-to player; one the coach automatically puts out whether the team needs a goal or has to protect a one-goal lead.&#9633; He is driven by the thought of winning a Norris Trophy as the league&rsquo;s best defenseman, if not this year, then surely in the near future. Should he win the trophy this season, he&rsquo;ll become the first player in NHL history since Bobby Orr to win it one year after taking the Calder as rookie of the year.&#9633; He desperately wants to represent the United States at the Winter Olympics in Nagano in February. There was some surprise Berard wasn&rsquo;t among the 15 skaters named to the team Nov. 3, but he is expected to be there when the final roster is announced by Dec. 1. (See pg. 8 for more on the U.S. Olympic team.)&ldquo;I expected those six (defensemen) to be named, but I expected all eight to named,&rdquo; Berard said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m disappointed, but there are still two spots open.&rdquo;Berard was a quick study at the NHL level, scoring eight goals and 48 points in his rookie year last season. After dominating at the junior level, Berard took things slowly after a little prodding from Islanders&rsquo; GM Mike Milbury.&ldquo;People told me not to try to do too much early,&rdquo; Berard said. &ldquo;And I think that was pretty good advice. I think I did it right; I tried not to take too many chances. I wanted our coaches to have confidence in my defense before I tried to show more offense.&rdquo;The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Berard said he has taken a bit of a different approach this season. He is more inclined to hang back, let the forwards work the puck in deep and then creep in afterward.&ldquo;There were times last year when I was in ahead of the forwards,&rdquo; Berard said. &ldquo;Things open up more when you hang back. Some teams over back-check, so if somebody pulls up, you can slip into the slot for a pass.&rdquo;The result has seen Berard scoring at a prodigious pace. After 13 games, he had seven goals and 15 points, with six of those goals coming on the power play.Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; pro scout Terry Murray said Berard has mastered one aspect of the game many defensemen never do-the art of making eye contact with teammates carrying the puck. Murray said Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; defenseman Larry Murphy is one of the best ever in this regard and former New York Islander Denis Potvin was another. &#9632;

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Berard obsessed with winning

Peter Dawe and Zachary Stauffer are proof that good living, good training and good marks pay off.The two university students were the first recipients of the CCM American Hockey League Scholarship Fund. Both Dawe, from Topsail, Nfld., and Stauffer, from Hershey, Pa., were high school students last season when they were each awarded $3,500 scholarships to the post-secondary school of their choice.The CCM AHL partnership program was established last season to identify and honor some of the top senior student athletes in the game of hockey. Players must have a 3.0 grade point average or equivalent and play on a team sanctioned by USA Hockey or the Canadian Hockey Association.&ldquo;It was very well accepted,&rdquo; said Michael Humes, AHL vice-president, sales and marketing. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a far-reaching program that goes into the high schools and gives recognition to hard-working student athletes.&rdquo;Each AHL team, this season, will forward one candidate and from the 18 students, two scholarships will be awarded.Dawe maintained a 96 per cent average in high school while playing for both his high school and midget AAA hockey teams. He&rsquo;s now in chemical engineering at Queen&rsquo;s University in Kingston, Ontario.Stauffer had a 99 per cent average in high school and captained his high school team. He&rsquo;s now studying at Boston College.Each month during the NHL season an AHL graduate will be honored for his performance and $1,000 will be contributed in the graduate&rsquo;s name to the CCM AHL Scholarship Fund. &#9632;

CCM AHL scholarship program in second year recognizing students

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011240/6823649-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="381" height="534"></div>A lot of people thought Luc Robitaille was kidding. We certainly did.Here was Mr. Optimism, himself, trying to tell us in September the Los Angeles Kings would &ldquo;surprise a lot of people.&rdquo;Yeah, sure. We were surprised. Surprised the Kings were even allowed in the NHL. Over the past few years they have defaced the legend of Marcel Dionne by blazing new trails of mediocrity.But this is 1997-98 and while Larry Robinson did his Indiana Jones behind the Kings&rsquo; bench, we decided to test Robitaille at his word. The Kings had come east for a pair of games against the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils after impudently trashing the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings in Detroit Oct. 31. Surprise? Bigtime.At Long Island Nov. 1, L.A. fell behind 3-0 in the first period. Last year&rsquo;s LaLas would have perished 6-0, but not the new version. Robitaille set up Sandy Moger to make it 3-1. Then, Robitaille himself made it 3-2 and had the tying goal on his stick before a nopenalty pull-down stopped the rally.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t quit,&rdquo; said a very credible Robitaille after the 4-2 loss. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re believing more and more in ourselves. When that happens to a team it&rsquo;s going to win a lot of games.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02937/6823642-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="512" height="879"><figcaption class="caption-body">Luc Robitaille</figcaption></div>Inside the new, non-polluted, dissension-free Kings&rsquo; room, they point nice fingers at Luc and Garry Galley. The vets have added poise, perseverance and points, not necessarily in order of importance.&ldquo;Garry has made it easier for me on defense,&rdquo; said a maturing captain Rob Blake,&rdquo;and Luc is Luc. What can I say; he&rsquo;s as popular as anybody who has ever played hockey in L.A.&rdquo;Which is why the Robitaille-for-Kevin Stevens exchange is looking more and more like a match made by an MGM flack rather than Kings&rsquo; GM Dave Taylor.You have to hang around the Kings&rsquo; room or watch an off-day scrimmage to appreciate the change. There&rsquo;s a 14-carat gold glow surrounding the skaters.Following the Island loss, Robinson herded his Kings to New Jersey. A Monday afternoon workout seemed more fun than fury. At the end, the coach stayed out with Luc and others for a half-ice game, punctuating it with humorous tackles.&ldquo;This club is happy,&rdquo; said Ian Laperriere. &ldquo;Luc brought something to the locker room that wasn&rsquo;t there last year. Joe Stumpel hasn&rsquo;t hurt either.&rdquo;The Stumpel-for-Dimitri Khristich deal is one of the most arresting examples of addition by subtraction in the history of California hockey. The Kings wanted the complaining Khristich out of Inglewood faster than you can say Stephane Fiset and got a legit sniper in return.But it is the return of Robitaille, who first skated in L.A. a decade ago, that has turned the Great Western Forum into the NHL&rsquo;s global warming center.&ldquo;(New York Rangers&rsquo; GM) Neil Smith did me a favor sending me back,&rdquo; Robitaille said,&rdquo;and I want to thank him for that. If I had to be traded anywhere, I wanted it to be L.A. because it&rsquo;s such a fun place for me to play hockey.&rdquo;Against the Devils, who had been riding a three-game winning streak, the Kings won all the important sprints for the puck. They scored thrice while Fiset stopped everything he had to face in the Nov. 4 game. Although Robitaille never scored, Lucky remained a presence throughout.Those of us who remember Robitaille, the 1986-87 rookie of the year, still slap our cheeks trying to envision Mark Messier-like leadership in Mister Smiles. Talk to teammates such as Laperriere and they insist it&rsquo;s there.&ldquo;When I was in New York, I learned just from watching Messier,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;Now I try to show the young guys what winning is all about and how to make the right decision at the right time.&ldquo;I can see this club start to believe in itself. I couldn&rsquo;t ask for anything more. Believe me, I&rsquo;m not going to let these good times pass me by.&rdquo;We believe, Luc. we believe. &#9632;

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Lucky Luc enjoying return to LaLa Land

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011273/6823680-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="163" height="162"></div>A TV reporter asked Teemu Selanne if he thought about trying to break the NHL goal-scoring streak set by &ldquo;some guy in Ottawa.&rdquo;The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim interim captain laughed, totally oblivious to the record of 16 straight games set by Harry (Punch) Broadbent of the Ottawa Senators (the old ones) during the 1921-22 season.Selanne was only halfway to that NHL record after scoring two highlight goals Nov. 5 in a 5-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lighting. Those goals extended his streak to eight games, during which he scored 12 goals. The modem day record is held by Charlie Simmer, who had a 13-game streak for the Los Angeles Kings in 1979-80.&ldquo;Of course (the streak) is nice,&rdquo; Selanne said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m not even thinking about that. I&rsquo;m thinking much more about trying to do some damage and play well.&rdquo;Selanne&rsquo;s &ldquo;damage&rdquo; of 13 goals and six assists in his first 15 games helped keep the Ducks afloat during the absence of unsigned restricted free agent Paul Kariya.But then again, Selanne&rsquo;s solid output without his superstar sidekick should not come as any big surprise.Selanne produced 76 goals (a tie for the fifth-highest single-season total) during his rookie season of 1992-93, when Kariya was a 5-foot-10, 135-pounder in high school.&ldquo;I have scored a few goals before I got here,&rdquo; Selanne said with a smile.NOTEBOOK: Coach Pierre Page returned to the Canadian Airlines Saddledome Nov. 7 for the first time since resigning from the Calgary Flames as their coach. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the same as when (Ducks&rsquo; assistant coach) Don Hay went back to Phoenix (after being fired),&rdquo; Page said. &ldquo;Things happened differently for me. I decided to leave. I still love the organization.&rdquo;&hellip;Ducks&rsquo; goalie Guy Hebert could have a shot at the No. 3 goalie spot on the U.S. Olympic team. On Nov. 5, he had the best save percentage in the league at.927. He also played for U.S. coach Ron Wilson in Anaheim and for him during the 1996 World Cup. But Hebert said he has mixed feelings about going. His wife, Sarah, is due in January with their first child. &#9632;

f0018-01

Selanne riding high on eight-game goal streak

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03649/6823711-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="578" height="894"><figcaption class="caption-body">Byron Dafoe</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02939/6823718-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="163" height="157"></div>Boston Bruins&rsquo; coach Pat Bums gave Byron Dafoe the first opportunity to break Boston&rsquo;s goaltending rotation, and it didn&rsquo;t work out. Dafoe didn&rsquo;t let the second chance pass.A solid 22-save &ldquo;scheduled&rdquo; start Oct. 30 resulted in a 3-0 loss to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Dafoe and the Boston Bruins, but convinced Bums to go back to Dafoe instead of Jim Carey two nights later against the Edmonton Oilers. Dafoe responded with 22 saves in a 3-1 victory, 26 stops in a 3-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators the next evening and capped a stretch of four straight starts by blanking the Washington Capitals 2-0 Nov. 6.&ldquo;Again, I want to make everyone aware that we have not thrown in the towel on Jim Carey,&rdquo; Burns said after Dafoe&rsquo;s 21-save performance against the Capitals. &ldquo;But right now, with Byron Dafoe, I have no choice. He&rsquo;s playing well and I have to continue with him.&rdquo;Dafoe, 7-3-1 with a 2.19 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and two shutouts in his first 11 games with Boston, said he was simply following the instructions Boston gave him when it obtained him, with forward Dmitri Khristich, from the Los Angeles Kings Aug. 29. (The Bruins gave up Jozef Stumpel, Sandy Moger and a 1998 fourth round draft pick.)&ldquo;They said, &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t expect to come here and think you&rsquo;re going to back up-we expect you to push for the No. 1 job, if not take it,&rsquo;&rdquo; Dafoe said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I came in to do.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Whether the Bruins would keep him in Boston all year seemed to depend on whom you asked, but one thing became certain Nov. 6: center Joe Thornton, 1997&rsquo;s No. 1 overall draft pick, played his 11th game that night. Though he could still be returned to Sault Ste. Marie of the Ontario League, Thornton was considered to have completed the first season of a three-year contract. The big center was still looking for his first NHL point&hellip;Goalie Byron Dafoe and left winger Dimitri Khristich. traded together from both Washington and Los Angeles, played well against both former teams. Dafoe was a perfect 3-0-0 against the Kings (2-0-0) and Caps, while Khristich scored a goal in each of the first three meetings against his former employers. &#9632;

f0018-03

Dafoe nails down No. 1

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04405/6823749-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="160" height="157"></div>He was traded for a player, Robert Reichel, who has averaged better than a point-a-game since joining his new team, the New York Islanders.And yet, if Calgary Flames&rsquo; GM Al Coates could do it all over again, he wouldn&rsquo;t change a thing. That&rsquo;s because the player acquired by Calgary, left winger Marty McInnis, was one of the Flames&rsquo; most consistent forwards in an otherwise forgettable first month of the season.McInnis found himself in uncharted territory early on, flitting in and out of the NHL&rsquo;s top 20 in scoring.&ldquo;In our view, McInnis is one of the better two-way players in the game,&rdquo; Coates said. &ldquo;Every team needs that and we certainly do, somebody&rsquo;s who&rsquo;s going to make an offensive contribution but-equally important-you feel safe and comfortable with on the ice. We really like him. We knew what we were getting. We certainly aren&rsquo;t unhappy with the result.&rdquo;McInnis had a chance to play on a team&rsquo;s top line before-with the Islanders, he spent some time with Pierre Turgeon and Steve Thorn-as-and frankly, he likes the challenge.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve done it before, so I think I&rsquo;m a little better prepared for it than I was back then,&rdquo; McInnis said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think of it as the first line, although obviously when you play with Theo (Fleury), you&rsquo;re expected to score goals and do well. There&rsquo;s more expected of you, which is good.&rdquo;The problem is after the line of McInnis, Fleury and Cory Stillman, the Flames were not getting any consistent scoring.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t win with just one line going,&rdquo; said coach Brian Sutter.It&rsquo;s clear Sutter believes he needs more from Andrew Cassels, Michael Nylander and German Titov. Through the Flames&rsquo; first 16 games, the trio had combined for just four goals. McInnis, meanwhile, was averaging a point-per-game for the Flames.NOTEBOOK: Coach Brian Sutter sent a strong message to left winger German Titov, sitting him out four consecutive games, something that had never happened to Titov previously in his NHL career. Titov said: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have comment about it. Ask coach. Why ask me?&rdquo; Said Sutter: &ldquo;We want more out of Titov and he wants more from himself. All I know is, he&rsquo;s a proud (expletive deleted). We want him to pick his game up. He&rsquo;s capable of being a reliable player defensively and offensively.&rdquo;&hellip;Titov&rsquo;s chance to get back in came after center Aaron Gavey. who had played himself back in the lineup after a lackluster start, suffered a pulled abdominal muscle and was put on the injured reserve list. &#9632;

f0018-04

McInnis holds up his end of deal

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06217/6823780-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="570" height="898"><figcaption class="caption-body">Matthew Barnaby</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05271/6823787-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="162" height="160"></div>It was a tough start to the season for Matthew (Bam Bam) Barnaby, the player most opposing players love to hate.The Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; penalty leader last season cracked his sternum in practice early in the season and in his first game back from that he caught a high stick in the face against the Phoenix Coyotes. The blow broke his nose and several teeth. True to form, Barnaby barely missed a shift in the Phoenix game and played three more games on that road trip.He finally got his teeth fixed (after spending six hours in the dentist&rsquo;s chair) when the team returned to Buffalo.Still, he refused to wear a face shield, opting instead for a mouth guard while the oral surgery healed.&ldquo;Broke the front four (teeth), had to have a tooth pulled and four new ones put in,&rdquo; Barnaby said. &ldquo;I also broke my nose and had five stitches.&rdquo;Barnaby spent his first day out of the dentist chair sleeping off the effects of the medication after surgery and was back at it 24 hours later. He got into a pair of fights with Florida Panthers&rsquo; defenseman Dallas Eakins in Buffalo&rsquo;s 3-2 loss Nov. 6 in Marine Midland Arena, but didn&rsquo;t mess up his new smile.&ldquo;The pain (from the facial injuries) has got to be up there with the broken sternum,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I tore my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) last year and that was nothing compared to the two injuries I had this year. It hasn&rsquo;t been a good start for me.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Sabres named left winger Michael Peca. reigning Selke Trophy winner, their new captain. Peca rejoined the team Oct. 28 in Colorado after a lengthy contract battle. The team played its best game of the season in losing 3-2 to the Avs, then scored overtime wins at Carolina Oct. 31 and Florida Nov. 1. Peca set up the game winner at Carolina and scored the winner in Florida&hellip;One of the positive results of ex-Sabres&rsquo; center Pat LaFontaine&rsquo;s battle with cumulative concussions is increased care on the Sabres&rsquo; part whenever a player is diagnosed with a brain bruise. Right winger Donald Audette had missed five games through Nov. 6 because of a concussion suffered Oct. 22. It was expected he&rsquo;d be out until Nov. 16. &#9632;

f0018-06

Bam Bam goes Boom

<div class="byline">By Steve Politi</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07188/6823818-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="161" height="158"></div>Sami Kapanen is 5-foot-10 and 173 pounds, but he plays like he&rsquo;s 6-foot-3, 210. He&rsquo;s a human wrecking ball-bouncing into the boards and banging with bigger players in the corners.Unfortunately, the style that makes him effective for the Carolina Hurricanes often puts him on the bench. He has struggled with injuries in his young NHL career, missing 36 games last year. The first time he stepped on the ice for an NHL training camp, he was knocked out cold.But injury free to start 1997, the diminutive Kapanen was making a big impact with the Canes. He scored seven goals in the team&rsquo;s first 15 games and was a catalyst as it went 4-1-1 to climb out of a franchise-worst start.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to shy away from anybody,&rdquo; said the 24-year-old Finn. &ldquo;If somebody needs to be hit, I&rsquo;m going to do it. As small as I am, I have to work hard out there every night.&rdquo;His offense couldn&rsquo;t come at a better time as some of the other forwards, including Keith Primeau (three goals), Geoff Sanderson (four) and Steve Rice (none), were struggling to find the net. Kapanen was already starting to win over some fans. One held up a sign that read,&rdquo;Happenen&rsquo; Kapanen.&rdquo; Still, most folks in North Carolina don&rsquo;t know much about him.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;These other guys have been in the league so many years. It takes a while to get the name.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Every one was focused on left winger Gary Roberts&rsquo; neck. No one thought to ask about his foot. He broke it on the third shift of the season, but did not miss a game despite severe pain. &ldquo;I had just about enough of the office conditioning,&rdquo; said Roberts, who is returning from a 16-month layoff because of a neck injury. &ldquo;The doctor said if I can play in pain, then give it a go.&rdquo;&hellip;With left winger Paul Ranheim in the lineup, the Hurricanes had a penalty killing success rate of 88.8 per cent (32 of 36) in seven games&hellip;The team doubled its season ticket base overnight-giving an extra season ticket to every season ticket holder&hellip;Left winger Steve Rice scored 21 goals last season, but failed to score in the team&rsquo;s first 15 games. &#9632;

f0018-07

Little Kapanen making things happen for Canes

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011176/6823849-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="163" height="160"></div>Considering where the Chicago Blackhawks were, coach Craig Hartsburg wasn&rsquo;t about to turn his back on a red-hot player.Which is why Hartsburg had no choice but to stick with back-up goalie Chris Terreri even though Jeff Hackett was ready to play after missing a month with a sprained right ankle.The veteran Terreri was largely responsible for a four-game winning streak that had the Hawks back on the road to respectability at 6-10-0 after a disastrous 0-7-0 start. Overall, Terreri was 6-8-0 with a 2.11 goals-agamst average and.910 save percentage&ldquo;Hack will get his chance and he&rsquo;ll win some hockey games,&rdquo; Hartsburg said. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t think anyone in the state of Illinois can question how well Chris Terreri is playing.&ldquo;The decision has to be made on what&rsquo;s best for the hockey team. Hack&rsquo;s still our No. 1 goalie, but at this time you&rsquo;ve got to do what you think is best. I don&rsquo;t consider it a problem. I&rsquo;ve had a lot of problems this year, but this isn&rsquo;t one of them.&rdquo;Hackett was hurt in the second game of the season, forcing Terreri into the spotlight. Even when the Hawks were losing night after night early on in the season, it wasn&rsquo;t because of goaltending.&ldquo;Thank God for Chris Terreri,&rdquo; said GM Bob Murray.The ever-modest Terreri downplayed his contributions.&ldquo;When they tell me to play, I play. That&rsquo;s it,&rdquo; Terreri said. &ldquo;The team is playing solid defense and letting me see the puck.&rdquo;&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t say much,&rdquo; Hartsburg said of Terreri. &ldquo;He just comes and does his job.&rdquo;Hackett was itching to get back in the lineup, but understood the situation.&ldquo;Sometimes you&rsquo;ve just got to suck it up,&rdquo; Hackett said. &ldquo;Chris has played great. He has helped the team and we&rsquo;re on a roll.&ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t been the easiest thing thing, but Craig has to do what&rsquo;s best for the team, and the way Chris is playing he has to be in the net. I respect the decision.&rdquo;Hackett said his ankle won&rsquo;t be 100 per cent healed until at least early December.&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s nothing that can keep me from playing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When I get back in I&rsquo;ve just got to go out there and prove myself again. It&rsquo;s a long season.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Bob Probert, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Oct. 16, was practising again and close to returning&hellip;GM Bob Murray defused rumors he is interested in Carolina goalie Sean Burke&hellip;After playing one game with a broken big toe on each foot, center Alex Zhamnov sat out a 2-1 win over St. Louis Nov. 6. Zhamnov was hurt blocking shots in separate games&hellip;A skin rash was keeping left winger Dan Cleary from playing. Murray was thinking of sending the rookie to Indianapolis of the International League on a conditioning stint. There was also talk of Cleary playing for Canada in the World Junior Championship&hellip;Center Todd White scored his first NHL goal Oct 31 against San Jose. &#9632;

f0019-01

Terreri’s outstanding play helps turn around Hawk season

<div class="byline">By Mike Heika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05344/6823918-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="375" height="557"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Nieuwendyk</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04439/6823925-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="160" height="160"></div>It had to happen sooner or later-Joe Nieuwendyk regaining his reputation as a feared goal scorer.Nieuwendyk recorded his first hat trick as a member of the Dallas Stars Nov. 5, running his point-scoring streak to seven games-and breaking a hat-trick drought that dated back to April 10, 1995.&ldquo;He has been fantastic and I think he knows it,&rdquo; said Stars&rsquo; center Mike Modano. &ldquo;You try to ride the wave when it comes to you and he&rsquo;s riding it right now.&rdquo;The Stars also were riding it, going 5-1-1 in a seven-game span in which Modano had just one empty-net goal, while Nieuwendyk scored seven.&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s key,&rdquo; Modano said. &ldquo;If someone can pick it up when we&rsquo;re not all clicking, that&rsquo;s a huge lift.&rdquo;Nieuwendyk&rsquo;s hat trick brought his season goal total to 10 in 17 games and fueled speculation he could again be a 40-goal scorer.&ldquo;Heck, he could score 50, the way he&rsquo;s going,&rdquo; said defenseman Craig Ludwig. &ldquo;But you know what, he has really been this good since he has come here.&rdquo;That may be so, but his statistics haven&rsquo;t sizzled. Nieuwendyk, 31, joined the Stars Dec. 19, 1995 in a trade with the Calgary Flames. He had been involved in a contract dispute with his former team and missed the first third of the season before the Stars agreed to send hot prospect Jar-ome Iginla and journeyman Corey Millen to Calgary for Nieuwendyk&rsquo;s rights.After signing a lucrative deal, Nieuwendyk produced just 14 goals and 32 points in 52 games. Last season, he improved to 30 goals and 51 points in 66 games as he battled injuries and the emotional loss of his mother to cancer.This season, he has been healthy and playing well since training camp, evoking memories of his best days with Calgary. His first four seasons in the league, Nieuwendyk posted goal totals of 51, 51, 45 and 45. He hasn&rsquo;t reached the 40-goal plateau since Year 4 (1990-91).But he appeared headed in that direction this season. What&rsquo;s more, right winger Pat Verbeek, who seldom clicked while playing on a line with Nieuwendyk last year, was heating it up. Verbeek had five goals and 10 points in 17 games.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not an individual thing,&rdquo; Nieuwendyk said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re working well together as a line, that&rsquo;s when it works.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Shawn Chambers broke the his left thumb Nov. 3 and will be out until late November. He broke a bone in his right hand to start the season&hellip;The Stars captured the first ever Norelco Face-off Award for October. The Stars won 56.4 per cent of their draws during the month, led by Joe Nieuwendyk (second in the NHL at 61.6 per cent) and Guy Carbonneau (third at 61.3 per cent)&hellip;Left winger Dave Reid played his 700th game Nov. 2 against Philadelphia&hellip;Defenseman Derian Hatcher and center Mike Modano were named to the U.S. Olympic team. The Stars also expect to have defenseman Sergei Zubov (Russia), goalie Roman Turek (Czech Republic), right winger Jere Lehtinen (Finland) and possibly left winger Juha Lind (Finland) at the 1998 Olympic Games&hellip;The Stars scored the first goal in 14 of their first 17 games. &#9632;

f0019-05

Nieuwendyk picks up slack by going on scoring binge

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011059/6823956-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="162" height="159"></div>The Edmonton Oilers are still for sale, but nowhere close to being sold.Les Alexander, owner of the National Basketball Association&rsquo;s Houston Rockets, made a trip to Edmonton in early November to put the finishing touches on a purchase agreement, but left Alberta without finalizing plans. It had been believed Alexander was to purchase the team for $85 million (U.S.).&ldquo;Based on the reception he received, how the officials rebuffed him by not even considering any changes to the location agreement, he decided to return to Houston to consider his options,&rdquo; said Oilers&rsquo; owner Peter Pocklington.Alexander painted a different picture in interviews with members of the Houston media. He said Pocklington misled him about the willingness of the City of Edmonton, Northlands and Economic Development Edmonton to amend the location agreement which effectively keeps the team in the city until 2004.A day after he left Edmonton, a story surfaced in Houston suggesting Alexander would deal directly with the Alberta Treasury Branch-which is owed in excess of $100 million by Pocklington-in order to obtain the team in either a bankruptcy or receivership situation.Pocklington, meanwhile, said &ldquo;without question&rdquo; he fairly represented the facts of the situation to Alexander before he arrived in Edmonton.NOTEBOOK: Center Ray Whitney, a native of Edmonton who said it was a dream come true to hook on with the Oilers this season, was placed on waivers and claimed by Florida Nov. 6. He left with more than a trace of disappointment. &ldquo;The dream was to play for the Edmonton Oilers, not to watch them,&rdquo; said Whitney, a former Oiler stickboy. Whitney played sparingly in nine games, reduced to a role as largely a power play specialist, but still managed a goal and three assists&hellip;Right winger Dennis Bonvie cleared waivers, but the Oilers had no immediate plans to send him anywhere. Bonvie had said he wouldn&rsquo;t report to their American League affiliate in Hamilton, but he may have to re-think that idea. &#9632;

f0020-01

Oilers’ future cloudy as ever as sale to Alexander on hold

<div class="byline">By Dave Joseph</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03477/6823987-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="577" height="897"><figcaption class="caption-body">Esa Tikkanen</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02708/6823994-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="161" height="158"></div>For the Florida Panthers, the frustrations were growing&hellip;and so were the injuries.With the club struggling near the cellar of the Eastern Conference, the Panthers hit bottom the first week of November when coach Doug MacLean was suspended two games and fined $5,000 by the league and all-purpose forward Esa Tikkanen was lost for up to two months with a broken leg.MacLean was fined after he attempted to confront referee Dennis LaRue after the Panthers&rsquo; 4-3 overtime loss Nov. 1 to the Buffalo Sabres. MacLean, who had to be restrained by three of his players, was upset LaRue called a roughing penalty on Robert Svehla after the defenseman threw a punch at Sabres&rsquo; right winger Matthew Barnaby. The penalty led to the tying goal. It didn&rsquo;t help MacLean&rsquo;s emotions the game-winning goal was put into the Panthers&rsquo; net by one of their own defenseman, Rhett Warrener.MacLean&rsquo;s sentence was initially 10 games, but league officials subsequently decided to reduce the term and amount of the fine.Tikkanen, who was centering the Panthers&rsquo; checking line and playing the power play, fractured the fibula on his left leg Nov. 5 against the New Jersey Devils when he crashed into the comer boards. He had a goal and six assists through 14 games.&ldquo;I got stuck in a rut on the ice and I knew right away when I fell it was broken,&rdquo; Tikkanen said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing, but you have to hope you can come back sooner.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Mark Fitzpatrick snapped an 18-game winless streak (010-8) that dated to Dec. 23 when the Panthers won 4-2 in Buffalo Nov. 6. After center Chris Wells iced the game with an empty-net goal, Fitzpatrick skated out of his crease to the blueline, pumping his arms in the air&hellip;Rookie goalie Kevin Weekes underwent surgery Nov. 2 to repair nerve damage to the small finger on his right hand. The injury occurred Nov. 1 when he was cut by center Kirk Muller&rsquo;s skate during a scrum in front of the Panthers&rsquo; net against the Sabres&hellip;Center Ray Whitney, claimed off waivers from Edmonton the morning of Nov. 6, assisted on right winger David Nemirovsky&rsquo;s game-winning goal in Buffalo that night. &#9632;

f0020-03

Frustrations still mounting

<div class="byline">By Cynthia Lambert</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04301/6824025-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="162" height="159"></div>The visit was one of hope laced with sadness.Vladimir Konstantinov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov returned to Joe Louis Arena Nov. 1 to watch the Detroit Red Wings practise, their first trip to the Joe since the team won the Stanley Cup there in June.Six days after that joyous occasion, both were critically hurt in a limousine crash.Mnatsakanov is paralyzed from the waist down and has only partial speech. Konstantinov needs assistance to walk and may never be able to speak again.&ldquo;It had to be tough for (Konstantinov) because the last time he was here it wasn&rsquo;t in a wheelchair,&rdquo; said trainer John Wharton. &ldquo;But he sat in his (dressing room) stall and then he sat on the bench for practice. All of the guys would come by and joke with him and had him laughing.&rdquo;Said center Doug Brown: &ldquo;It was a wonderful reminder of what a wonderful person Vlady is and a sobering reminder that what you have can be taken away from you at any moment.&rdquo;Konstantinov will continue his rehabilitation in Florida, where he and his family will move for the winter. By moving to a warm climate, he will be able to continue going outside and swimming, which is one of his more enjoyable forms of therapy.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be hard not to have him here,&rdquo; said teammate Igor Larionov. &ldquo;(But) it&rsquo;s good for him to go outside and have some privacy. This way he can do that. Unfortunately, he will be in a place where there won&rsquo;t be many people he knows around him.&rdquo;But Wharton believes the positives of moving to Florida outweigh the negatives.&ldquo;He does so good outdoors,&rdquo; Wharton said. &ldquo;And it&rsquo;s hard for him to get the privacy he needs here. (But) I can&rsquo;t tell you how difficult it&rsquo;s going to be not to see him every day.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Unsigned free agent center Sergei Fedorov returned to Russia to practise with his old team. Central Army. That irked left winger Vyacheslav Kozlov and center Igor Larionov, who wanted Fedorov to accompany them when they visited their homeland with the Stanley Cup this past summer. &ldquo;He went to Moscow, but he wouldn&rsquo;t go with us,&rdquo; Kozlov said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so upset about that.&rdquo; Larionov said he thinks it&rsquo;s time for Fedorov to sign a new contract. &ldquo;The game of hockey is a team sport,&rdquo; Larionov said. &ldquo;You have to realize that you would be nobody without your teammates. That goes for Sergei, too.&rdquo;&hellip;The Wings&rsquo; road winning streak from the start of the season was snapped at six when they lost 3-1 at Carolina Nov. 5. &#9632;

f0020-04

Konstantinov Florida-bound for winter

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01828/6824056-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="161" height="159"></div>Yanic Perreault has seen this before.The 26-year-old center has seen the Los Angeles Kings get off to a decent start, only to fall apart somewhere around mid-season and fall out of playoff contention.But this time, he said, the outcome will be different.&ldquo;The last few years, we started to have trouble when we had some big road trips to the East and we couldn&rsquo;t win any games,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This year, already we&rsquo;ve made two trips and done well. I think it&rsquo;s going to keep going.&rdquo;How far the Kings go this season could very well depend on whether Perreault can sustain his good start. Through the first 15 games of the season, he was the Kings&rsquo; leading goalscorer, with eight.In addition to showing up so often on the scoresheet, Perreault was contributing defensively and on faceoffs. He ranked 10th in faceoff percentage in the early going.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s something I take pride in, absolutely,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just want to contribute whatever I can.&rdquo;Perreault gives some of the credit for his good numbers to his new linemates, left winger Vladimir Tsyplakov and right winger Glen Murray.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re players with three different styles and we all work really hard,&rdquo; Perreault said. &ldquo;Tsyplakov is fast and is a great passer. Murray is a big winger and can do a little bit of everything. Right now, we have good chemistry.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Los Angeles signed unrestricted free agent right winger Russ Courtnall Nov. 7 to a one-year contract worth a reported $850,000 plus incentives. Courtnall, 32, had turned down a more lucrative offer from the Rangers (three years at $1.45 million per season) earlier this year, believing he could get a better deal. &ldquo;Russ brings an element of leadership and respect to the Kings,&rdquo; said GM Dave Taylor. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve added another quality veteran.&rdquo; Courtnall, a 13-year NHL vet, split last season with Vancouver and the Rangers scoring 11 goals and 35 points in 61 games&hellip;Rookie center Olli Jokinen was returned to IFK Helsinki of the Finnish Elite League to get more playing time. Jokinen had no points in eight games with L.A. &#9632;

f0021-01

Super sniper Perreault feels this year different

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03258/6824087-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="578" height="897"><figcaption class="caption-body">Shayne Corson</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02456/6824094-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="163" height="159"></div>Why lead one team when you can lead a nation?That seems to be Shayne Corson&rsquo;s goal.The left winger, surprisingly, was the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; leading scorer through 15 games with six goals and 19 points. And that prompts him to sometimes dream of representing Canada at the 1998 Olympics.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be lying to you if I said it wasn&rsquo;t in the back of my mind when I was working out in the summer,&rdquo; said Corson, who believes he&rsquo;s in the best shape of his 12-year career after working with a personal trainer during the off-season.Corson was a member of the 1991 Canada Cup team. He called it &ldquo;one of the greatest experiences of my life, playing with Wayne Gretzky and Steve Larmer.&rdquo;Corson, a power forward, believes he got the opportunity then because Canada&rsquo;s management was seeking a variety of playing styles. Mike Keenan was the coach of that squad and in a recent interview said he would include Corson were he picking the team that will represent Canada.Keenan isn&rsquo;t, but Bob Gainey is part of the group that is, and Corson displayed impeccable timing with two goals and an assist against Gainey&rsquo;s Dallas Stars in a Nov. 3 game.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been to two World Championships and two World Junior Championships,&rdquo; Corson said. &ldquo;I enjoy representing Canada and I&rsquo;m comfortable on the larger ice surface. I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;ll get the chance, but I&rsquo;m interested.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Coach Alain Vigneault caused a bit of a furor among fans and some media members when he chose not to dress veteran right winger Stephane Richer for a Nov. 5 game against Phoenix. It marked the first time in his 13-year career that Richer, 31, has been a healthy scratch. Richer, with four goals and one assist through eight games, wasn&rsquo;t enthused. &lsquo;This was going to be my 835th game. I guess I&rsquo;ll stay home and put my feet up,&rdquo; Richer said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really disappointed, but that&rsquo;s part of the game and I have to accept it.&rdquo; Richer missed six games earlier this season with a calf injury. &ldquo;My game shape is a bit behind,&rdquo; he admitted,&rdquo;but I didn&rsquo;t skate for nine or 10 days because of my injury. Still, this isn&rsquo;t easy to take.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0021-03

Corson eyes ’98 Games

<div class="byline">By Rich Chore</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04184/6824125-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="161" height="157"></div>Ken Daneyko&rsquo;s teammates knew he had been wrestling with personal problems, so they responded to the announcement from New Jersey Devils&rsquo; GM Lou Lamoriello that the tough defenseman had entered a substance abuse and behavioral health program with compassion rather than shock.Daneyko, a 33-year-old defenseman, voluntarily entered an unspecified in-patient treatment facility Nov. 1 as part of a program sponsored by the NHL and the NHL Players&rsquo; Association.&ldquo;I believe he&rsquo;s a strong enough person that he can overcome this,&rdquo; said captain Scott Stevens. &ldquo;I think everyone on the team looks at it as nothing about hockey, but about someone getting his priorities straight. I hope he can overcome this.&rdquo;Although Lamoriello would not say whether Daneyko had sought treatment specifically for alcohol or drugs, he stated he had &ldquo;no knowledge&rdquo; any illegal substances were involved and that no arrest or incident triggered Daneyko&rsquo;s decision to seek help.&ldquo;Ken has been struggling with a couple of issues for some period of time,&rdquo; Lamoriello said,&rdquo;and it was his decision that he wanted to get this past, wanted to get a clean slate and correct whatever problems he might have with himself or whatever.&rdquo;Daneyko, a married father of one daughter, continued to receive full pay and benefits as long as he complied with the prescribed treatment from Drs. Dave Lewis of the NHL and Brian Shaw of the NHLPA and after-care program. It was not revealed when he would be able to re-join the Devils.New Jersey&rsquo;s second pick (18th overall) in the 1982 entry draft, Daneyko has played in more games for the Devils (884) than anyone except longtime teammate John MacLean (922). He had no goals and one assist with 24 penalty minutes in 11 games this season.NOTEBOOK: Right winger John MacLean&rsquo;s empty net goal Nov. 5 in Florida was his 700th career point&hellip;Unsigned free agent right winger Bill Guerin rejected a three-year deal from the Devils that would have paid him $5.1 million. Guerin skated with the U.S. national team in Ann Arbor, Mich., for one week and said he was disappointed to be left off Team USA&rsquo;s initial Olympic roster. &ldquo;I feel I should be on that list now given what I&rsquo;ve done for USA Hockey in the past,&rdquo; Guerin said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m disappointed. But I haven&rsquo;t lost hope.&rdquo;&hellip;The Devils&rsquo; power play, first in the league through the month of October, slipped to No. 3 behind Montreal and the Islanders after an 0-for-10 slump in early November. &#9632;

f0021-04

Decision to seek help Daneyko’s

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-06116/6824156-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="575" height="902"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Fichaud</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05143/6824163-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="161" height="159"></div>Eric Fichaud made a serious bid to claim the New York Islanders&rsquo; No. 1 goaltending job, but coach Rick Bowness said he is sticking with Tommy Salo.Fichaud, 22, went 2-1-2 with a 2.12 goals-against average while starting four games and relieving once in a 10-game span. Salo, 26, started 10 of the first 14 games, allowed more than three goals only once, had a 4-4-1 record and a 2.65 GAA.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re both playing extremely well,&rdquo; Bowness said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s exactly what we wanted. We said from Day 1 &#2404; we want a healthy competition. One is pushing the other.&ldquo;Tommy was the No. 1 guy going into the year. That hasn&rsquo;t changed. They&rsquo;re both starters. They&rsquo;re both going to play.&rdquo;Salo is a stand-up goalie who plays angles well and uses his size to cover the top half of the net. Fichaud is a butterfly goalie who scrambles and relies on reflexes. Salo won the starting job when he appeared in 26 of the last 28 games last season. Fichaud said it was hard to stay positive playing only 94 minutes from Feb. 11 to April 11.&ldquo;Especially when you&rsquo;ve played every game most of your life,&rdquo; he said,&rdquo;and all of a sudden, poof, you&rsquo;re on the bench. You ask yourself, &lsquo;What&rsquo;s going on?&rsquo; It&rsquo;s not physical. It&rsquo;s mental. You lose the feeling you have when you&rsquo;re playing games, the feel of the crowd.&rdquo;Fichaud has worked hard in practice and looked sharp in his appearances. He beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 in his hometown of Montreal Oct. 29 and the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 at Nassau Coliseum three nights later. Bowness started Salo in the next game against the Edmonton Oilers. With the Islanders behind 3-1 after a period, Bowness yanked Salo. Fichaud stopped 16 of 17 shots. The Islanders rallied for a 4-4 tie.&ldquo;All I want is a fair chance to show what I can do,&rdquo; Fichaud said. &ldquo;Right now, (Bowness is) starting to give it to me.&rdquo;Said Salo: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re both playing very well. There&rsquo;s competition between me and Fich. It&rsquo;s good for the team, good for us.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Bryan Berard, not among the top six defenseman named for Team USA, said he hopes to be added by Dec. 1. &ldquo;Of course you&rsquo;re disappointed,&rdquo; he said.&rdquo;&hellip;If Berard averages a point a game this season, he will collect $735,000 in bonuses. He had 15 points through 13 games&hellip;Defenseman Kenny Jonsson, who had three goals and 21 points in 81 games last season, had three goals and 13 points after 14 games this year&hellip;David M. Seldin will be president/CEO of the Islanders if the NHL approves the sale of the team. Seldin formerly was president of the National Football League&rsquo;s Jacksonville Jaguars. Seldin, not expected to have input in hockey matters, has experience overseeing stadium construction. &#9632;

f0021-06

Salo still No. 1 in Isles’ nets

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02661/6824194-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="583" height="895"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat LaFontaine</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01961/6824201-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="159" height="156"></div>If he isn&rsquo;t the best American-born NHL player ever, New York Rangers&rsquo; center Pat LaFontaine is surely among the top two or three.Yet when Team USA GM Lou Lamoriello, who is also GM of the New Jersey Devils, announced the first 17 players chosen for the 23-man U.S. Olympic roster, LaFontaine was not among them.LaFontaine, a 1984 Olympian and a member of the 1996 World Cup championship team, missed virtually all of last season with post-concussion syndrome, and that was obviously what kept him off the original 17 headed for Nagano. His health could be the only reasonable explanation.The roster included, to no surprise, two other Rangers: World Cup MVP goalie Mike Richter, and World Cup Team USA captain Brian Leetch. But no LaFontaine.&ldquo;My whole focus this year was to come back, first of all, and play and contribute to the Rangers and get back to the level where I&rsquo;ve always played in the past,&rdquo; LaFontaine said. &ldquo;Sure, in the back of my mind is to play on the Olympic team, and as a former Olympian, it would be a great honor. I would love to be on the team. But it hasn&rsquo;t changed my focus&rdquo;LaFontaine said he has no idea why he wasn&rsquo;t picked because he hasn&rsquo;t had any communication from Lamoriello or any other Team USA member. Of course, he could still be named to the team. There are still likely three forward spots open.NOTEBOOK: Center Brian Skrudland returned earlier than expected from a broken finger and was the key player in a 4-2 victory at Colorado Nov. 5, which ended the Rangers&rsquo; four-game winless streak&hellip;Left winger Adam Graves said his sprained right knee ligament was coming along all right and he hopes to return on the late November side of the original late November to early December prognosis&hellip;The Rangers&rsquo; interest in obtaining right winger Ulf Dahlen, who had been bought out by Chicago, ended when Dahlen signed a two-year, $800,000 contract to play for HV-71 in Sweden&hellip;Right winger Alexei Kovalev didn&rsquo;t score a goal in the first 16 games of the season, although he was getting closer with a disallowed goal and a couple of posts hit. &#9632;

f0022-02

LaFontaine left waiting

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03467/6824232-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="162" height="157"></div>While one Ottawa Senators&rsquo; young gun was reloading, another was firing blanks.Right winger Alexandre Daigle surprised many by quickly coming to terms Nov. 7 on a one-year contract for the 1998-99 season.Daigle, in the last year of the controversial rookie contract that paid him $12.5 million over five years ($2.6 million, Cdn. this season), negotiated his own $1.9 million (U.S.) pact for next season. Factor in incentives and the U.S./Cdn. conversion rate, and Daigle has the potential to earn more next year than this year.The 22-year-old Daigle, who fired agent Bob Sauve in late October, reportedly worked out the deal with GM Pierre Gauthier in about two hours. The affable forward, who had heard rumors of a potential trade to the Chicago Blackhawks, is happy to be staying in Ottawa.&ldquo;I like it in Ottawa,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been good to me here. I didn&rsquo;t want to leave.&rdquo;Daigle would have been a restricted free agent had he not come to terms by July, 1998.Gauthier said re-signing Daigle-the first overall pick in 1993-was a priority because he wants to keep his young core intact. He&rsquo;d be even happier if another member of that youthful group could get untracked.Center Radek Bonk, who started the season on a roll by leading the team in scoring with three goals through eight games, hit a wall and was goalless in his next 11. The slump left Bonk, 21, searching for answers.&ldquo;I just have to shoot more,&rdquo; said Bonk, the third overall pick in 1994. &ldquo;I did at the beginning (of the season) and it worked.&rdquo;Coach Jacques Martin met with Bonk to discuss the issue and is willing to be patient. &ldquo;He probably has to get to the net more,&rdquo; Martin said,&rdquo;and he does have to shoot more, not look for the perfect play. (But) he&rsquo;s still a kid. People have to remember that.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Russian hockey officials were in Ottawa Nov. 6 to watch the Senators take on Phoenix. They wanted to get a look at center Alexei Yashin, who is being touted as the captain for the Russian Olympic team. They also attempted to meet with Phoenix goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. who has said he won&rsquo;t play in the Games, but he refused to speak to them and snuck out of the Corel Centre with assistance from teammate Craig Janney&hellip;Chris Phillips returned to defense after playing seven games as an injury fdl-in at forward. &ldquo;It was fun,&rdquo; said Phillips, who scored his first NHL goal as a winger Oct. 30 against Florida&hellip;A 3-1 loss to Boston Nov. 2 was goalie Ron Tugnutf&rsquo;s first defeat of the season. &#9632;

f0022-03

Daigle cashes in; Bonk not so fortunate

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05243/6824263-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="573" height="896"><figcaption class="caption-body">Luke Richardson</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04314/6824270-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="161" height="160"></div>Luke Richardson gets paid about $2.5 million per goal and the Philadelphia Flyers are beginning to think he&rsquo;s worth every penny of it.The 28-year-old defenseman, who signed a five-year, $12.6-million free-agent contract this past summer, looked like the steadying influence the Flyers were hoping to get as they went unbeaten in four games (2-0-2).Richardson raised a few eyebrows when he commanded such high numbers with such low statistics. He scored only one goal with the Edmonton Oilers last season and, true to form, had none through his first 17 games with the Flyers. But defense, not scoring, is Richardson&rsquo;s strong point. That&rsquo;s what made him such a valuable commodity to the Flyers, who needed some strength in front of their own net.It took the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Ottawa native a few weeks to get comfortable with his surroundings. Now he looks right at home on penalty kills, late-game situations and standing up to some of the NHL&rsquo;s tough guys.&ldquo;The last two weeks or so, I&rsquo;ve seen a vast improvement,&rdquo; said coach Wayne Cashman. &ldquo;Obviously, we put high expectations on him.&rdquo;Richardson caused a stir in Edmonton when he left a town he enjoyed for six years and took the big money. One Edmonton columnist came up with the $2.5-million-per-goal line. &ldquo;You can make light of it, that&rsquo;s true,&rdquo; Richardson said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s like maybe a great lineman who&rsquo;s overshadowed by a great quarterback or running back.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Cari Lindros, father and agent for center Eric Lindros, said the Flyers were waiting for left winger Paul Kariya to sign with Anaheim before making a serious move on a new contract&hellip;Lindros suffered a rib injury in a 5-1 win at St. Louis Nov. 3 that forced him to miss a 6-2 win over Edmonton Nov. 6&hellip;Left winger John LeClair had his second five-point game of the season (two goals, three assists) in the win over Edmonton&hellip;In a game against Dallas Nov. 2, goalie Ron Hextall struck his head against defenseman Paul Coffey&rsquo;s knee and lay motionless for several minutes. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t feel my hands or feet for a few seconds,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;It was kind of tingly. It was scary.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-05

Luke a force on blueline

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06197/6824301-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="161" height="157"></div>He has waited this long already. What&rsquo;s another four-to-six weeks for Mike Gartner?Gartner&rsquo;s pursuit of 700 goals was put on hold Nov. 2 when the Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; right winger suffered tom knee ligaments after getting rammed by Calgary Flame Theo Fleury.Gartner, 38, will be out until at least early December with a second-degree tear of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee.&ldquo;The frustrating thing is I really felt like I was just starting to play well,&rdquo; said Gartner, who hadn&rsquo;t decided if he would undergo arthroscopic surgery, which might possibly further delay his return. &ldquo;I was getting a lot of chances and I was starting to score. This is definitely a setback, but that&rsquo;s all it is. It&rsquo;s early in the season, I&rsquo;m going to be coming back and I&rsquo;ll be in great shape when I do.&rdquo;Although many of his teammates termed the knee-on-knee hit from Fleury as a bit of a cheap shot, Gartner couldn&rsquo;t say if it was deliberate. Fleury said it was totally unintentional and Gartner would like to believe him.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d just like to move on,&rdquo; he said.And he was-before the hit. After opening the season with one goal in his first nine games, Gartner collected two during a three-game span to give him 698 career goals, just two away from becoming the fifth player in history to reach the milestone.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d just like to get it out of the way, to be honest with you,&rdquo; Gartner said.NOTEBOOK: With three Coyotes knocked out of games this season on questionable hits by Calgary players, left winger Keith Tkachuk hinted there could be fireworks the next time the teams meet (Dec. 23). &ldquo;When we play Calgary again, we&rsquo;ll see what happens,&rdquo; he said&hellip;Negotiations between the club and Don Meehan, the agent for unsigned defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky, became prickly. GM Bobby Smith told the Arizona Republic Meehan was distorting the facts and manipulating the media. Meehan contended Smith dislikes Tverdovsky as a player and also suggested the Coyotes may be in financial disarray. &ldquo;If that were the case, we only would have offered him $660,000, not $1.1 million,&rdquo; Smith said. &#9632;

f0022-06

Gartner’s pursuit of 700 on hold because of injury

<div class="byline">By Mike Dudurich</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01913/6824332-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="162" height="159"></div>Kevin Hatcher got a sample of international competition during the summer of 1996 when he was one of the top defensemen for the gold medal-winning United States team in the World Cup.Now he&rsquo;s going to get the ultimate experience of that type of hockey as a member of the United States team that will compete in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The kind of stuff dreams are made of, Kevin?&ldquo;We got a little taste at the World Cup and when we won, it was just unbelievable,&rdquo; said Hatcher, who&rsquo;ll be joined on that team by younger brother, Derian, who plays for the Dallas Stars. &ldquo;Now we&rsquo;re going to Japan for the Olympics and that&rsquo;s going to make it extra special for my family.&rdquo;Hatcher&rsquo;s performance on the World Cup team went a long way toward earning him a spot on the Olympic team, as did a strong first half to last season. There was, however, the second half of the 1996-97 season, when he struggled.&ldquo;I think my season kind of went with the team&rsquo;s,&rdquo; Hatcher said. &ldquo;When we were struggling, I was struggling personally, as well. I came out and said that last year. For the first half, the season went well. Then for a month, I felt really terrible. I don&rsquo;t know if the World Cup had something to do with it, but I was just mentally and physically drained and frustrated. Then toward the end of the season, I felt pretty good again.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Penguins granted scout Herb Brooks permission to talk with the French Olympic team about an assistant coaching position. &ldquo;I know they&rsquo;ve been talking,&rdquo; said GM Craig Patrick. &ldquo;The way I look at it, we get a scout in the Olympics all expenses paid.&rdquo;&hellip;Right winger Robert Dome, the Penguins&rsquo; first round draft pick this year, injured a shoulder while playing with Syracuse in the American League and is expected to miss a few weeks&hellip;Goalie Ken Wregget had to leave the game against Dallas Oct. 5 because of back pain and with Tom Barrasso out of the lineup with a groin problem. Peter Skudra had to be put in. Skudra stopped seven of eight shots in a 5-2 loss to the Stars. &#9632;

f0026-01

Hatcher’s strong World Cup helps earn Olympic berth

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03476/6824363-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="580" height="893"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Duchesne</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02602/6824370-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="162" height="158"></div>One of the main reasons behind Steve Duchesne&rsquo;s great start in St. Louis is the comfort he feels off the ice being within driving distance of his 16-month-old son&rsquo;s doctors.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s so nice that his doctors are here,&rdquo; said Duchesne, who led NHL defenseman in scoring with 18 points through Nov. 6. &ldquo;Anything off the ice that is positive and makes you feel good helps you do better on the ice.&rdquo;Duchesne&rsquo;s son. Lake, was bom with nystagmus ocular albinism, a genetic condition that adversely affects vision by causing rapid eye movement, difficulty in focusing and. in its worst form, blindness.Last year, Steve and his wife, Tracee, feared Lake might be blind. Duchesne will never forget the phone call from his wife last November, when he was on the road with the Ottawa Senators. They had noticed Lake didn&rsquo;t blink when someone turned on the light in his room, and one night, Tracee tested her son.&ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t reacting to things, so my wife had held a candle in front of his face and he didn&rsquo;t react,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was around midnight when she called and she was in tears. She said, &rsquo;1 think Lake is blind.&rsquo; We panicked a little bit.&rdquo;Although Duchesne played in Ottawa, he and his wife sought treatment in St. Louis. The Duchesnes had lived in St. Louis for nearly 18 months when Steve played for the Blues from January of 1994 to the summer of 1995.NOTEBOOK: Philadelphia ended the Blues&rsquo; five-game unbeaten streak with a 51 victory Nov. 3. Chicago then beat the Blues 2-1 Nov. 6, giving the Blues&rsquo; their first back-to-back losses of the season. After getting out of the gate with a franchise-best 7-1-0, the Blues were 4-3-2 in their next nine&hellip;Goalie Grant Fuhr suffered a sprained right wrist and bruised forearm when defenseman Chris Pronger slid into him after he had dived to clear a rebound against Chicago. Fuhr was expected to miss at least one game. Fuhr was tied with Detroit&rsquo;s Chris Osgood for the league lead with nine victories. He also was fifth with a 2.04 GAA&hellip;Right winger Joe Murphy also suffered badly sprained wrist in the Chicago game. &#9632;

f0026-03

Duchesnes are at home

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04342/6824401-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="162" height="157"></div>The struggling San Jose Sharks suffered another serious blow Nov. 1 when right winger Tony Granato sustained a fractured jaw, broken teeth and facial lacerations during a 2-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues.Granato, 33, was parked in his customary position, in front of the Blues&rsquo; net, late in the third period when a shot from teammate Doug Bodger deflected off the stick of a defender. The puck caught Granato flush in the face. Despite a pool of blood that formed immediately, Granato skated to the bench.&ldquo;That shows you how tough he is,&rdquo; said defenseman Marty McSorley. &ldquo;Most guys would have collapsed right there.&rdquo;Granato. winner of last year&rsquo;s Bill Masterton Trophy after coming back from February. 1996 brain surgery, underwent surgery two days later in Menlo Park, Calif. He will be sidelined indefinitely.&ldquo;Anybody who puts a timetable on a broken jaw is dead wrong,&rdquo; said Sharks&rsquo; coach Darryl Sutter. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen guys be out eight weeks and I&rsquo;ve seen guys come back the next day.&rdquo;The 5-foot-10 Granato figures to have a difficult time maintaining anything near his listed playing weight of 185 pounds because doctors wired his jaw closed. Granato&rsquo;s absence will be sorely felt. With four goals, he was tied for the Sharks&rsquo; team lead.&ldquo;I hate to lose him,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t replace Tony Granato.&rdquo;The injury is particularly painful to San Jose because off-season acquisitions Shawn Burr and Murray Craven have their own woes.Burr is likely out for the season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery, while Craven is battling a badly bruised hand that kept him out of six games during a seven-game stretch.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not talking about stars on the team or stars in the league, but we&rsquo;re talking about important players in the locker room,&rdquo; Sutter said.NOTEBOOK: The Sharks skated to the first scoreless tie in the franchise&rsquo;s seven-year history Nov. 4, against visiting Toronto. Combined with a 2-0 loss at St. Louis Nov. 1. San Jose had 128 minutes, 29 seconds without scoring, within reach of the team record 145:25 in 1991. Goaltender Mike Vernon recorded the shutout for the Sharks, the 14th of his career&hellip;Defenseman Al lafrate, out since undergoing back surgery in March, began skating with development coach Vasily Tikhonov Nov. 3. The Sharks are hopeful Iafrate can be in the lineup relatively soon&hellip;Center Bernie Nicholls relumed to the lineup Nov. 4 after having been a healthy scratch four times during a five-game road trip. &#9632;

f0026-04

Team feels pain when Granato hurt

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01872/6824432-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="163" height="157"></div>Dino Ciccarelli needs to straighten some things out. He&rsquo;ll start with his arm.Ciccarelli left the team during a West Coast road trip and flew to Detroit, where on Nov. 7 he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow. Ciccarelli was expected to miss seven games and return in late November.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t play like this anymore,&rdquo; said Ciccarelli, who was still unable to fully straighten his badly swollen right arm. &ldquo;It has been like this for three weeks now. Enough is enough.&rdquo;The Tampa Bay Lightning right winger had been bothered by the stiff joint since mid-October. An MRI exam revealed one floating bone chip inside the elbow and two chips outside, but rather than undergo surgery then, Ciccarelli was encouraged to try treating the injury with a cortisone shot first.&ldquo;I just thought, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s going to go away,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Ciccarelli, who had three goals in his first 13 games. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s not.&rdquo;So arrangements were made for Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; team physician Dr. David Collon to perform the surgery that Ciccarelli wishes now he had opted for sooner. Since he did not do that right away, the ideal time would have been during a six-day break between games for the Lightning that ended when Tampa Bay opened a four-game trip out West with 5-2 loss against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Nov. 5. The loss marked Tampa Bay&rsquo;s 10th straight game without a win, a franchise futility record.&ldquo;I should have done it then,&rdquo; Ciccarelli said. &ldquo;But with the way things have been going for the team, I didn&rsquo;t want to miss any games.&rdquo;Ciccarelli, the Lightning&rsquo;s top goal-scorer last season, said he finally decided on surgery while playing against the Ducks.&ldquo;It was hard to even hold the stick,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t play physical, I can&rsquo;t shoot or get in front of the net. I just can&rsquo;t play like this.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Troy Mallette is likely gone for the season, and possibly his career, because of herniated neck discs. Dr. Robert Watkins suggested Mallette start an intensive rehabilitation program and recommended spinal fusion surgery. Recent tests revealed Mallette has a narrower-than-normal spinal column, a congenital condition that puts a person at higher-than-usual risk for paralysis. Mallette suffered the injury in an Oct. 23 fight with Boston left winger Ken Baumgartner&hellip;Negotiations with Terry Murray to become Tampa Bay&rsquo;s next coach broke off Nov. 7. Others still in the running are ESPN analyst Barry Melrose, former Montreal coach Jacques Demers and interim coach Rick Paterson. &#9632;

f0027-01

Ciccarelli gets elbowed from lineup

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02545/6824463-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="162" height="160"></div>It was time for the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; defense to be shuffled.Unfortunately for veteran Craig Wolanin, his injury ended up initiating the sequence that saw youngster Yannick Tremblay called up from the minors and enigmatic David Cooper demoted again for further schooling.Given all this occurred in a week in which Mathieu Schneider was one of 17 players named to the U.S. Olympic team and Jamie Macoun was set to play his 1,000th NHL game, it was clearly a good news/bad news week for the Leaf blueline corps.Wolanin suffered a tom anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against Montreal Nov. 1, an injury that could end his season. He will have the knee stabilized until mid-December. at which point a decision will be made on whether surgery will be necessary.In that same game, Cooper had a dreadful outing and three days later was sent down. Cooper did not receive the news well and could be heard screaming at coach Mike Murphy behind closed doors.He did, however, agree to report to the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs of the American League.For Schneider, being named to the U.S. team was a recognition his efforts on a struggling Toronto team have been noticed.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so excited,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This is something I really wanted, it really is a thrill.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Yannick Tremblay, who was impressive in camp, but started the season in the minors after breaking a finger, made his NHL debut Nov. 4 in San Jose.&hellip;The Leafs&rsquo; 0-0 tie with San Jose Nov. 4 was the team&rsquo;s first since a 1987 scoreless draw with Minnesota. Glenn Healy and Marcel Cousineau shared the shutout after Healy cut his hand with just more than four minutes to play. No. 1 goalie Felix Potvin had been sent ahead to Calgary to rest up for a game the next night&hellip;Left winger Wendel Clark scored his 250th goal as a Maple Leaf Nov. 5 in Calgary, the winner in a 4-3 triumph. Clark scored the goal despite suffering a badly bruised right ankle in the first period&hellip;Jamie Macoun was scheduled to play his 1,000th career game Nov. 8. &#9632;

f0027-02

Case of good, bad, ugly for Leafs’ defense corps

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04245/6824494-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="577" height="893"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Renney</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03355/6824501-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="160" height="157"></div>Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; coach Tom Renney may have received a reprieve with the Nov. 4 firing of his boss Pat Quinn, but he didn&rsquo;t sound convinced it would be for long.Renney appealed almost resigned to the fact he would soon be following expresident and GM Quinn off the Orca Bay gangplank.&ldquo;Obviously I feel responsibility for Pat&rsquo;s status as of now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think others should, too, and that I shouldn&rsquo;t be alone in that regard. I&rsquo;m really disappointed for Pat. He&rsquo;s not working right now and I am. How much longer I am remains to be seen.&rdquo;With his own fate resting in the hands of the new GM, and it may be some weeks before the new man is in place, Renney said it will be business as usual as he attempts to win a few games.&ldquo;I realize if the GM comes in and wants to work with his own staff, that&rsquo;s fair,&rdquo; Renney said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that reflects on whether I can do the job. I have no reason to believe my job is in jeopardy at this point in time. I feel very comfortable that I&rsquo;ll be given every opportunity to get the team back on the rails.&rdquo;Renney said living with an axe over his head could not be any more difficult than during Quinn&rsquo;s final days when many thought Renney should be the fall guy.&ldquo;It will be no more unsettling than the last week has been,&rdquo; Renney said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to coach this hockey club and prepare this team as best I can.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: After a slow start, center Mark Messier finally began to pick it up, collecting seven points in a four-game stretch. But with the team not winning, he wasn&rsquo;t impressed. &ldquo;I judge myself on wins and losses,&rdquo; Messier said&hellip;The Canucks lost all five games on a five-game road trip in late October and early November and were outscored 25-11. They surrendered more than 30 shots in all five games and surrendered more than 40 three times. The best they could do was 26 shots&hellip;Vancouver played its final game in Washington&rsquo;s USAirways Arena and lost 2-1, extending a winless streak in that building to eight games (0-6-2)&hellip;As part of their eight-game slide, the Canucks twice lost to Pittsburgh in overtime when Vancouver led by one goal heading into the third period. &#9632;

f0027-04

Renney still in command

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05171/6824532-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="162" height="159"></div>Prior to last season, one thing that was never missing from Phil Housley&rsquo;s game was confidence.But in 1996-97, Housley had his worst full season as an NHLer, scoring just 11 goals and 40 points. Not bad numbers for a defenseman, but not Phil Housley-type numbers either.With nine points in 13 games, Housley was again on pace to score about 60 points. But more importantly, the 33-year-old was playing with much more confidence this season than last and that confidence was producing more of the eye-opening plays that occasionally backfire, but are beautiful to watch if they succeed.He was also on the verge of becoming just the second American and fifth defenseman to score 1,000 points. He had 999 going into a Nov. 8 game.&ldquo;This year is different,&rdquo; Housley said. &lsquo;I&rsquo; ve made mistakes, but I also got put right back out there. That helps mentally, knowing you&rsquo;re not going to be ridiculed for punished.&rdquo;The club was showing more confidence in Housley&rsquo;s all-around abilities this season, forcing him to become a better player by putting him in defensive situations where he has to produce.&ldquo;It puts a little pressure on him,&rdquo; said coach Ron Wilson. &ldquo;Phil takes a lot of pride in what he has done offensively, but you can&rsquo;t be one dimensional and be successful in this league. We want to make sure he&rsquo;s involved.&ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t let us down. He has to play a lot to be successful and we want him out there. We&rsquo;re not doing this just to keep him happy; if he wasn&rsquo;t getting the job done he wouldn&rsquo;t be out there. We&rsquo;re doing it to make him a better hockey player.&rdquo;Wilson accepts the probability some of Housley&rsquo;s eye-catching opportunities are going to come back to haunt him.&ldquo;Great athletes aren&rsquo;t afraid to take chances,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;To make the passes Phil makes, you&rsquo;re going to fail once in a while, but you can&rsquo;t be afraid to fail and that&rsquo;s what makes those kind of players special.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Ex-Capital Byron Dafoe. now with Boston, shut out his former team 2-0 Nov. 6. It marked the 12th game in a row the Capitals failed to score more than three goals&hellip;Defenseman Calle Johansson&rsquo;s goal in a 2-1 win over Vancouver Nov. 4 was his sixth of the season. That matched his production for all of last season&hellip;Left winger Dwayne Hay appeared in his first NHL game Oct. 31 against Philadelphia and right winger Ryan Mulhern made his debut six days earlier in St. Louis&hellip;Defenseman Joe Reekie recorded his 100th career assist in the Philadelphia game, a 2-2 tie&hellip;The Flyer game was also the 500th in the NHL for left winger Todd Krygier. who was two goals shy of 100 for his career. &#9632;

f0027-05

Confidence in Housley paying off

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01912/6824563-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kimbi Daniels has appeared in 12 uniforms the past five seasons. (Photo by Jim Vasaldua)</figcaption></div>Nine years ago, you couldn&rsquo;t miss Kimbi Daniels. His talent for hockey and gift of gab wouldn&rsquo;t let you.These days, Daniels is a curiosity. As in, what ever happened to that guy?A quick perusal of the minor pro stats tells you Daniels started the season with a bang playing for the San Antonio Dragons of the International League. He was second in the league in assists after a dozen games.In a figurative sense, though, Daniels is a million miles away from the Philadelphia Flyers, for whom he played 25 games when he was 19. Since then, it has been a whirlwind tour of hockey outposts, the latest of which is the Quebec Rafales.Despite his hot start in San Antonio, the Dragons dealt him to the Rafales Nov. 7 along with rugged left winger Dennis Maxwell and rookie defenseman Eric Rud in exchange for veteran defenseman Donald Dufresne.In five seasons, Daniels has played for 12 teams in five leagues and three countries. He has played in Charlotte, Wheeling and Jacksonville in the East Coast League; Rochester, Hamilton and Baltimore in the American League; Ljubljana in Slovenia; Detroit and Salt Lake in the IHL; and Detroit in the Colonial League.The 25-year-old Daniels thought he had found a home in San Antonio this season. He was the team&rsquo;s second-leading scorer with two goals and 14 points in 13 games before the trade.Things haven&rsquo;t gone too smoothly for Daniels since 1992, when he thought his career was over. A mysterious bone disease forced him into major knee surgery and almost halted his career barely after it had begun. Suddenly, the young man who was cocky enough to tell the world he&rsquo;d go No. 1 overall in the 1990 entry draft was afraid of a future without the game.&ldquo;Deep down, I knew I would be able to come back, but I didn&rsquo;t know for sure,&rdquo; Daniels said. &ldquo;I hadn&rsquo;t finished high school and I started to wonder what I would do if hockey was over.&rdquo;Prior to his trade, Daniels volunteered spare time speaking to elementary school children. He did so as a high school graduate who went back to class and got his diploma.&ldquo;An education is something that can&rsquo;t be taken away,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I explain to the kids. I didn&rsquo;t have one and I didn&rsquo;t know what I was going to do for the rest of my life. A lot of things go through your mind.&rdquo;One of the things that went through his mind was to get to the gym to rehabilitate his knee. But that was another thing Daniels lacked at that stage of his life: a passion for working out.During his junior career in the Western League, Daniels assiduously avoided the weight room.He preferred to rely on his vast natural ability and let those unfortunate ones without such gifts spend time lifting weights and running on a treadmill. The result was predictable. Daniels was a tremendously gifted player who did some wonderful things in junior hockey, but quickly realized that talent alone wouldn&rsquo;t carry him.NHL scouts realized it a lot sooner. Even though Daniels scored 30 goals as a 16-year-old and earned 94 points in his draft year, scouts looking for character found little. He had first round talent, fifth round grit and went to the Flyers in the third round.He was signed this season to be the Dragons&rsquo; checking center, but an injury to Mike Craig forced Daniels into a more prominent role. With Craig due to return, the acquisition of center Jason Bonsignore from the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL and a floundering defense prompted Dragons&rsquo; GM Jeff Brubaker to peddle Daniels.Daniels, a Native Canadian whose father is a full-blooded Dakota, knows there are worse alternatives than playing hockey for a living.&ldquo;I say to myself, &lsquo;What would you want to do if you could do anything?&rsquo; And my answer is always the same,&rdquo; Daniels said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be playing hockey. I&rsquo;m grateful that I&rsquo;m making a good living doing something I love.&rdquo;But there are still moments of heartache. One of his close friends from his junior days was former Swift Current Broncos&rsquo; coach Graham James.It hurt Daniels when he learned that James had sexually abused some players, including his former teammate Sheldon Kennedy. Although he clearly doesn&rsquo;t feel comfortable talking about it, Daniels and James have remained friends and still talk on the telephone.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get involved in what happened,&rdquo; Daniels said. &ldquo;I try not to think about what he did or dwell on it. I wish it didn&rsquo;t happen, but me wishing that won&rsquo;t change the facts.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0028-01

LEAGUES

Daniels finds range, still seeking home

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div>In Detroit, they were known at the beginning of the season as &ldquo;The Ottawa Seven.&rdquo; But now, Clayton Beddoes makes up &ldquo;The Ottawa One&rdquo; for the Detroit Vipers.The Ottawa Senators and Detroit developed a strong working agreement last season and expanded it at the start of this season by sending the Vipers seven players: Goaltender Jani Hurme. defensemen Frantisek Musil and Radim Bicanek and forwards Phil Crowe, Jason Zent, Derek Armstrong and Beddoes.But the Senators called up Crowe early and then moved five of the other six in an effort to get them more playing time. There were reports of acrimony between Detroit and Ottawa officials, but Viper GM Rick Dudley denied it.&ldquo;Why do people always have to think there is something sneaky going on?&rdquo; Dudley asked. &ldquo;That really bothers me about this league. They don&rsquo;t want to give someone credit for doing a good job and working hard. They must always be cheating or there must always be some dirt someone is trying to hide.&ldquo;The truth is, (Senators&rsquo; GM) Pierre Gauthier is a good friend of mine; (assistant GM) Ray Shero is a friend of mine; (team president) Roy Mlakar is a friend of mine; (assistant coach) Craig Ramsay is a friend of mine. My budget was way out of whack and I had to do something. I had to get rid of some players.&rdquo;Hurme was reportedly a point of contention. The Senators believe the Finnish goaltender is a top-flight prospect and want him to play as much as possible this season. But he struggled early for the Vipers and Dudley said he told Gauthier he couldn&rsquo;t guarantee Hurme significant playing time. The Vipers signed veteran Jeff Reese, who helped them win the Turner Cup last season while recording a 1.88 goals-against average and figure to use him the majority of the time.The Senators assigned Hurme and Musil to the Indianapolis Ice, Bicanek to the Manitoba Moose, Armstrong to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American League and Zent to the AHL&rsquo;s WorcesterIceCats.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02606/6824594-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="380" height="429"></div>MCSORLEY, BRUBAKER CONSIDERED: The NHL&rsquo;s Tampa Bay Lightning asked for and received permission to talk to San Antonio Dragons&rsquo; coach Jeff Brubaker and Las Vegas Thunder coach Chris McSorley about its coaching vacancy.Though both were mentioned as possible head coaching candidates, it is believed they were more seriously considered as assistant coaches.Brubaker said he wouldn&rsquo;t leave his position in San Antonio for an assistant&rsquo;s job, but McSorley was clearly intrigued by the idea.The 35-year-old McSorley, who is in his third season as Thunder coach, said he was given permission by owner Ken Stickney to talk to the Lightning.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s extremely flattering even to be considered for a National Hockey League coaching vacancy,&rdquo; McSorley said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve worked a long time to try to get myself into a position to get to that level.&rdquo;IHL TIDBITS: Center Jesse Belanger had a four-goal game for Las Vegas in an 8-4 win over Detroit Oct. 30 and had a natural hat trick in the third period, getting goals at even strength, on the power play goal and a shorthanded in a 5:05 span&hellip;Detroit captain Stan Drulia returned to the Vipers&rsquo; lineup Oct. 26 after missing the season&rsquo;s first eight games with an eye injury and had an immediate impact. Playing with a visor for the first time as a pro, Drulia had three goals and five points in his first four games in the lineup. &#9632;

f0028-02

Vipers-Sens affiliation down to one

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Those unexplained streaks of light and spinning objects above Roswell, N.M., remain a mystery, but another weird occurrence has been solved.That loud shriek echoing out of Lethbridge, Alta., June 9 was just Stacy Roest finally learning he was getting an NHL contract.Undrafted despite three solid junior seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western League, Roest played two American League seasons with the Adirondack Red Wings on a minor-league contract.But early this summer, the parent Detroit Red Wings rewarded the 23-year-old center with a two-way deal, ending several weeks of apprehension for Roest.&ldquo;I was at home working for my father, he has a stucco business, so I was always busy during the day and didn&rsquo;t have time to think about it,&rdquo;. said the 5-foot-9, 200-pound Roest. &ldquo;But every night before I went to bed, I&rsquo;d wonder what was going to happen.&ldquo;I was hoping I would get an NHL contract, but then you kind of think to yourself, &lsquo;Why would they?&rsquo; I was very thankful and very grateful when Detroit did offer one.&rdquo;Now the question is, why was there ever a doubt? Through the first month of the season, Roest was second in AHL scoring with nine goals and 20 points and had earned player-of-the-week honors once.&ldquo;It says a lot about the person to keep grinding it out when they&rsquo;re not given chance after chance like the draft picks are,&rdquo; said Adirondack coach Glenn Merkosky. &ldquo;But to say we&rsquo;re surprised with the start he has had wouldn&rsquo;t be right because we think highly of his talents.&rdquo;Small, but speedy, Roest averaged 114 points per season with Medicine Hat, but it wasn&rsquo;t enough to overcome his size in the minds of NHL scouts.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a never-ending battle for the small guys to prove they can play in a big man&rsquo;s game,&rdquo; Merkosky said. But Macy nas great quickness and he&rsquo;s very, very strong.&rdquo;Roest showed flashes of offensive talent last season, when he scored 25 goals and 66 points in 78 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01805/6824625-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="426" height="423"></div>ALL-AMERICAN RAT: Albany River Rats&rsquo; coach John Cunniff, a fixture behind the U.S. bench in recent international competitions, will miss 16 days of the AHL season because he&rsquo;ll be one of Ron Wilson&rsquo;s assistant coaches for Team USA in the Nagano Olympics.Cunniff, 53, will miss eight River Rats&rsquo; games. His assistant, Red Gendron, will coach the team.&ldquo;Any time you get a chance to work with the elite athlete like that, you take it,&rdquo; said Cunniff, one of Wilson&rsquo;s assistants when Team USA won the 1996 World Cup.Cunniff was an associate coach with the 1994 U.S. Olympic team and an assistant with the national team in 1991, 1992 and 1993. He also played for the 1968 U.S. Olympic team.MOVING ON: His career stuck in neutral for more than a year, Jason Bonsignore requested a change of scenery and he got it when the Hamilton Bulldogs loaned him to the San Antonio Dragons of the International League.Bonsignore, the fourth overall pick in the 1994 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers, had no goals and two assists in eight games and sat out three games. Last spring, despite being healthy, he played in only seven of Hamilton&rsquo;s 22 playoff games.&ldquo;I need to go somewhere where I&rsquo;11 get a chance to play,&rdquo; said Bonsignore, who hasn&rsquo;t played in the NHL since December, 1995.AHL TIDBITS: Feisty rookie winger P.J. Stock is becoming a fan favorite with the Hartford Wolf Pack. He led the AHL in fighting majors with 12 in only 10 games&hellip;Philadelphia Phantoms&rsquo; rookie Brian Boucher stopped 78 of 83 shots on back-to-back nights against the Kentucky Thoroughblades, winning 3-2 Nov. 1 and tying 3-3 the next night. &#9632;

f0029-01

Smallish Roest enough to fill hungry Red Wings

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>For the Peoria Rivermen, it was far from smooth sailing through their first year in the East Coast League.After moving down from the International League following the 1995-96 season, the Rivermen ran into some rough seas and wound up losing $1 million.Attendance at Carver Arena was announced as an average of 4,660, but the real numbers were well below that.Some fans were turned off by the shift to the ECHL and refused to attend games. Most of the media were critical of the change.On the ice, the team was more successful, finishing second in the North Division and reaching the semifinal of the playoffs.With the second campaign well under way, are there any regrets about leaving the IHL?&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Tim Saurs, president of the Rivermen. &ldquo;I think the East Coast League is a tremendous league. I wish we could have stayed in the IHL for the fans and for Peoria, but the expenses were such that there was just no way.&rdquo;The salary cap in the IHL is close to $2 million per team, while the ECHL&rsquo;s is about onetenth that. Travel expenses, mostly by air. in the IHL are also considerably higher than the ECHL, which is largely a bus league.Early this season, Peoria was seeing improvements both on and off the ice. According to Mike Saurs, Tim&rsquo;s brother and the team&rsquo;s comptroller, all of the board advertising has been sold for the first time and season-ticket sales were up by a couple hundred. Group sales increased fivefold.A change in management may have helped the Rivermen, as well, as Greg Griffith, president and GM last year, was replaced by Tim Saurs.After six home games, the Rivermen were averaging just under 4,000 per game and the club was tied for first in the Northwest Division with a record of 6-2-1. Right winger Jean-Guy Trudel (24 points) and defenseman Dan Hodge (16 points) were leading the way.The Rivermen would like to see more cities in their area join the ECHL. The closest ECHL team to Peoria is Dayton, five hours away. It&rsquo;s been rumored IHL clubs Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, as well as United League member Quad Cities, are interested, but nothing has materialized.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02519/6824656-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="374" height="384"></div>MAD COWS REPLACE CHILL: As a Halloween promotion, the Columbus Chill renamed its team the Mad Cows for the home opener Oct. 31. The team also wore distinctive black-and-white Mad Cows uniforms in its 2-0 victory over the Johnstown Chiefs.The Chill had put out a news release early in the week, leading to speculation Colum bus&rsquo; NHL expansion club, scheduled to begin play in 2000-2001, is going to take the name Chill when it starts playing.The Ohio Expo Coliseum was renamed the Meadow of Doom for the occasion.LONG ROAD TRIP: The Louisville RiverFrogs embarked on a nearly monthlong trip away from Broadbent Arena, when they played at Columbus Nov. 1. Because of the North American International Livestock Exposition, Louisville&rsquo;s rink is not available again until Nov. 29.The RiverFrogs&rsquo; 13-game road trip got off to a 1-0-1 start, as they lost to Columbus 6-5 in a shootout and edged Johnstown 3-2 the next night. The RiverFrogs were 6-3-1 and tied with Peoria for first in the Northwest Division.COAST LINES: Jean-Guy Trudel may have become the first skater to achieve player-of-the-week honors without scoring a goal. The 22-year-old had 10 assists in leading Peoria to three victories.The expansion Chesapeake Icebreakers, who were 0-6-2 in their first eight games, drew a crowd of 3,234 in their first home game Oct. 31 at the 5,800-seat Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. &#9632;

f0029-02

Rivermen fans adjusting to new league in Year II

<div class="byline">By Brendan Savage</div>The United League is turning into a proving ground for ex-NHL players looking to build a coaching career.Of the UHL&rsquo;s 10 coaches this season, seven have played in the NHL-John Blum of the Saginaw Lumber Kings, Doug Crossman of the Port Huron Border Cats, Kevin Devine of the Thunder Bay Thunder Cats, Robert Dirk of the Winston-Salem IceHawks, Paul Gillis of the Quad City Mallards, Al Hill of the B.C. Icemen and Larry Trader of the Brantford Smoke.Never in the UHL&rsquo;s seven-year history has there been such an NHL presence behind the league benches.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re proud of 10 teams having 128 callups last season,&rdquo; said second-year commissioner Richard Brosal. &ldquo;But when we talk of being a legitimate developmental league, it goes further than just on the ice.&rdquo;Coaches who have graduated from the former Colonial League include Steve Ludzik of the International League&rsquo;s Detroit Vipers (Muskegon Fury), Bill Stewart of the American League&rsquo;s St. John Flames (Muskegon) and John Anderson of the IHL&rsquo;s Chicago Wolves (Quad City).&ldquo;The parity of the league has risen for a lot of reasons, but the No. 1 reason is our coaches,&rdquo; Brosal said.Brosal thinks that was a major factor in luring 34 former East Coast League players into the UHL this year.NOTEBOOK: UHL officials were excited about the Utica Blizzard&rsquo;s move to Winston-Salem, but the Icehawks drew 856 for a 5-3 loss to Saginaw Oct. 31&hellip;Cartoonist Johnny Hart, creator of the B.C. comic strip, designed the B.C. Icemen&rsquo;s logo&hellip;Flint Generals&rsquo; defenseman Brett MacDonald passed Madison Monsters&rsquo; coach Kent Hawley as the all-time leader in games played when he appeared in No. 364 Nov. 1 against Quad City. &#9632;

Rival coaches standing United behind bench

<div class="byline">By Dave Henry</div>Ryan Pawluk and Tim Findlay are together again and hockey fans in Austin, Tex., couldn&rsquo;t be happier.The forwards played together for two seasons with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario League before joining the Western Professional League&rsquo;s Austin Ice Bats this season.They led the Ice Bats in points through nine games. Findlay had a team-high 12 goals, Pawluk a team-high 17 points and 10 assists.Ice Bats&rsquo; coach Jim Burton quickly signed both players, who are linemates and roommates, after Pawluk was cut from the Canadian national team and Findlay released by the International League&rsquo;s Detroit Vipers.&ldquo;Coach Burton sold us on Austin,&rdquo; Findlay said. &ldquo;And the chance to play together was a real factor.&rdquo;STAMPEDE ALERT: Lee Norwood took over for former Central Texas Stampede coach Bob Bourne shortly before the season began and had the Stampede off and running.Bourne accepted a position with the IHL&rsquo;s Utah Grizzlies. Norwood guided the Stampede to a 6-2-2 record, first in the Eastern Division.NOTEBOOK: The Lake Charles Ice Pirates are off a 4-3-0 start in the Eastern Division behind the performance of Graeme Townshend, who had eight goals and 19 points in seven games&hellip;Each team in the WPHL will play 69 games, 35 at home and 34 on the road. The extra home game will be against a Russian Elite League team from Chelyabinsk. Each game counts in the standings. &#9632;

Ice Bats’ tandem red hot

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>The Windsor Spitfires, crashed and burning at the bottom of the Ontario League standings, cleared out the cockpit all in three days.Coach Vern Stenlund and assistant Kevin McIntosh were fired and replaced by Dave Prpich Nov. 3 with the Spitfires 3-14-0.Then, two days later, GM/govemor/minority owner Mike Awender abruptly left the team. Awender, in his fifth season and dean of faculty the University of Windsor, will sell his share to majority owner Steve Riolo.Prpich, a high school teacher who took over on an interim basis, became the Spits&rsquo; sixth coach during Awender&rsquo;s tenure. It&rsquo;s Prpich&rsquo;s second stint as interim coach.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not blaming (Awender) 100 per cent for the coaching situation, (but) I would like to see the next coach that comes in here be here for a while, unless it&rsquo;s a step-up promotion,&rdquo; Riolo said.&ldquo;I realized we had different ideas that didn&rsquo;t converge as well as I had hoped,&rdquo; Awender said of his relationship with Riolo.Chief scout Tom Couvillion also resigned.Riolo and Prpich are interim co-GMs and Prpich&rsquo;s first task was to bring back winger Jeff Zehr, suspended Oct. 3 for curfew violation.&ldquo;I had Jeff play for me for two years and I never had a problem with him,&rdquo; Prpich said.Riolo said he decided to fire Stenlund, a professor at the University of Windsor and in his first year in the OHL. Stenlund replaced Paul Gillis, who resigned after last season in a public feud with Awender.&ldquo;We talked before this season about how this was a Memorial Cup contender and I felt some sort of shakeup was needed,&rdquo; Riolo said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01838/6824735-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="688" height="236"></div>LOVELL LEVELLED: Owen Sound fired coach John Lovell the same day Stenlund was axed and Platers&rsquo; assistant Brian O&rsquo;Leary stepped up to interim coach.The Platers were second-last in their division at 6-10-1. Lovell joined the team in 1995-96, replacing Ric Seiling.&ldquo;Coaches unfortunately have to be measured by their win-loss record,&rdquo; said GM Ray McKelvie. &ldquo;If we really had a (bad) team then we would have lived with this. But we&rsquo;ve got really high expectations.&rdquo;The Platers went on a 10-game winning streak last November-December, but then finished off 7-28-1. Combined with this season&rsquo;s performance since that winning streak, the Platers were 13-38-2.NO YOLK: The North Bay Centennials were left with egg on their face when three players fired eggs from a moving car at two striking school teachers.The incident occurred Oct. 27, the first day of a province-wide strike by 126,000 teachers. One teacher was hit on the back, said GM Bob Ertel.Ertel said the players would be disciplined after a police investigation identified the trio. No charges were laid. Ertel wouldn&rsquo;t identify them.He said they&rsquo;ll apologize to the teachers, each will pay a $100 fine-the money to be used to buy groceries for the food bank-and each will perform community service work. Ertel said the teachers asked that the players not be suspended or sent home.&ldquo;We asked the three why and the why was they really don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; Ertel said. &ldquo;They said they were bored and they thought it would be funny. They thought it was a prank, until the police came around.&rdquo;COLT OKAY: Barrie Colts&rsquo; defenseman Casey Burnette was released from hospital after being carried on a stretcher following a gameending fight Nov. 2 that left him lying on the ice in convulsions and bleeding from the head.Burnette was fighting Owen Sound&rsquo;s Dave Stephenson at the final buzzer when the two fell. Burnette, who had lost his helmet, cracked the back of his head on the ice. It wasn&rsquo;t known when he&rsquo;d play. &#9632;

f0031-01

Spitfires clean house, start over from scratch

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>Val d&rsquo;Or&rsquo;s 2,036-seat Palais des Sports must look really small these days to Val d&rsquo;Or Foreurs&rsquo; captain Steve Begin.&ldquo;Yeah, it&rsquo;s small,&rdquo; said Begin, who started the season as a member of the Calgary Flames, playing in the 18,882-seat Saddledome before being returned to Val d&rsquo;Or Oct. 28. &ldquo;But we have good crowds here. We have great fans.&rdquo;And those fans are thrilled to see Begin, a center, back in a Foreurs&rsquo; uniform.The Foreurs, THN&rsquo;s pre-season pick to win the Memorial Cup, struggled without Begin and 49-goal scorer Dominic Chiasson, who is still on a 25-game contract with the International League&rsquo;s Quebec Rafales. As a result, the Foreurs were a disappointing 6-13-2.&ldquo;I want to try and get this team back on the map because it wasn&rsquo;t a good start for the Foreurs,&rdquo; said Begin, the Flames&rsquo; second round pick in 1996. &ldquo;For sure I was disappointed when Calgary sent me back, but I&rsquo;m only 19. I&rsquo;m young. I expected a little bit to be sent back, but each game and each practice I tried my best to stay there.&ldquo;The coach (Brian Sutter) said he liked my style of play and the organization was happy with how I played. He said to go back and be a leader in junior and try to improve my stickhandling.&rdquo;Begin played his first game with the Foreurs Nov. 1, a 4-2 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads, and scored his first goal at 16:43 of the first period. However, less than two minutes later, he got in a fight with Jeffrey Sullivan and sustained an eye injury that forced him to miss the next game. He was listed as day-to-day.&ldquo;The guy hit me right in the eye and I fell to the ice,&rdquo; Begin said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m having a little bit of trouble seeing, but it&rsquo;s not too bad.&rdquo;METHOT&rsquo;S LUCK CHANGES: What started out as a dream season for Shawinigan Cataractes&rsquo; right winger Francois Methot quickly turned into a nightmare.Methot, the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; third round pick at the 1996 entry draft, had 13 goals and 22 points in nine games before being struck with food poisoning Oct. 12 and spending six nights in hospital.Methot missed four games before returning to the lineup Oct. 24, picking up two assists. But in his second game back, Oct. 28, Methot collided with left winger Michel Massie of the Victoriaville Tigres in front of the Cataractes&rsquo; bench, tearing two ligaments in his right knee. The injury won&rsquo;t require surgery, but Methot was expected to be out until at least early December.The injury likely eliminates any hope Methot had of playing for Canada at the World Junior Championship after he was one of only eight Quebec League players invited to the team&rsquo;s summer evaluation camp.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the big disappointment.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;My first goal this season was to play for Team Canada. I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;ll be recovered in time for the training camp or if they&rsquo;ll invite me. That&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;d like to come back and play as soon as possible.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02548/6824766-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="577" height="287"></div>GARON A PERFECT 10: Victoriaville goaltender Mathieu Garon made 20 saves in a 9-0 victory over the Drummondville Voltigeurs Oct. 31 for his 10th career shutout, tying the league record set by Felix Potvin of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens from 1988-89 to 1990-91.Garon, a second round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 1996, had a 10-5-1 record, three shutouts and a league-leading 2.04 goals-against average and.929 save percentage.FIGHT NIGHT: Val d&rsquo;Or defenseman Francis Lessard was automatically suspended for five games for being the first player off the bench in a wild brawl with the Moncton Wildcats Oct. 31. Foreurs&rsquo; coach Richard Martel also received an automatic two-game suspension&hellip;Victoriaville was the hottest team in the league for October, posting a 10-3-1 record, while outscoring the opposition 57-27&hellip;Meanwhile, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles were happy to see the month come to an end after posting a league-worst 1-10-1 mark while being outscored 56-29. &#9632;

f0031-02

Foreurs hope Steve can Begin to help with wins

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Rick Carriere became the Western League&rsquo;s third coaching casualty within a 17-day span when the Red Deer Rebels sacked him Nov. 1.Red Deer dismissed Carriere the morning after a 6-3 loss to the Calgary Hitmen left the Rebels with a 6-9-0 record.The Tri-City Americans were the first team to fire a coach when Bob Loucks was canned Oct. 15. The Edmonton Ice dismissed Dave Siciliano eight days later.No coaches were fired last season.Carriere was replaced on an interim basis by his assistant, former Prince George Cougars&rsquo; bench boss Doug Hobson. Red Deer won its first two games under Hobson.&ldquo;We were bad in Calgary-probably as bad as a team can be,&rdquo; said Red Deer GM Wayne Simpson. &ldquo;Where do you go? What&rsquo;s your next move? The team was not playing up to expectations.&rdquo;Carriere, 38, had a 77-74-8 record over two-plus seasons with the Rebels. Last season, Red Deer went 43-26-3 and advanced to the conference final, where it was eliminated by the eventual league champion Lethbridge Hurricanes.Red Deer was expected to sustain its success. The Rebels were the consensus pre-season favorite to win the Central Division.&ldquo;We had a pretty good run in the playoffs last year,&rdquo; Simpson said. &ldquo;There are always a lot of expectations. Quite often you&rsquo;ll see a team have a letdown. We were all frustrated with the lethargic manner in which the team played.&rdquo;CATCHING UP WITH KACHUR: Red Deer sought to bolster its offense Nov. 3 by acquiring John Kachur from another struggling Alberta franchise, the Edmonton Ice.Kachur, a 20-year-old center, led the Ice with 40 goals last season. Red Deer surrendered left winger Scott Burt, 20, a player to be named later and an undisclosed bantam draft pick.&ldquo;Kachur gives us options,&rdquo; Simpson said. &ldquo;Scott Burt is an outstanding kid, but Kachur is a goal scorer who will find ways to score. You have to look at him as a potential 50-goal scorer. With Kachur in the lineup, we think we can make two solid lines and possibly three.&rdquo;Kachur, a fifth-year WHLer, joined his fifth team. He has also played for the Hitmen, Swift Current Broncos and Medicine Hat Tigers.Red Deer also obtained defenseman Joel Boschman, 20, from the Spokane Chiefs for future considerations.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03397/6824797-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="353" height="359"></div>BYE BYE, CAPTAIN: John Kachur wasn&rsquo;t the only captain traded Nov. 3. The Tri-City Americans dealt their captain, defenseman Zenith Komarniski, to the Spokane Chiefs.&ldquo;He had asked for a trade,&rdquo; Tri-City GM Bob Brown said of Komarniski, 19, whom the Vancouver Canucks picked in the third round of the 1996 entry draft.Komarniski and right winger Kris Waltze, 19, were dealt to Spokane for two 17-year-olds-defense-man Regan Darby and center Blake EvansSPEAKING OF TRADES: The, Regina Pats acquired overage goaltender Ryan Hoople from Lethbridge.Hoople led the league in victories with 37 last season, when he posted a 3.32 goals-against average. He had a 6-6-2 record and a 3.33 GAA this season before being dispatched to Regina.Lethbridge received a third round bantam draft pick and 20-year-old center Joe Bouvier.NOTEBOOK: Brandon Wheat Kings&rsquo; center Kelly Smart saw his point-scoring streak snapped at 16 games during a 4-1 loss in Lethbridge Nov. 2. He had 28 points, including 10 goals, during the streak&hellip;The Moose Jaw Warriors shipped goalie Jason McLean. 18, and future considerations to Lethbridge for left winger Marek Ivan, 19, and future considerations&hellip;The Kelowna Rockets suspended winger Todd Fedoruk and defenseman Scott Hannan indefinitely. Kelowna GM Bruce Hamilton issued the suspensions because the players repeatedly disobeyed team rules&hellip;Prince George&rsquo;s Blair Betts had four goals in a 7-5 win over the Saskatoon Blades Nov. 4. &#9632;

f0031-03

Red Deer coach Carriere joins ranks of unwanted

<div class="byline">By Chris Miller</div>The moment seemed agonizing and Brian Leitza was the first to admit it.But instead of it being a bitter memory, Leitza remembers it as one of the high points of his college hockey career.The game was in the semifinal of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five last March, with the St. Cloud State Huskies desperately trying to upend Minnesota before 14,000 fans at the St. Paul Civic Center. Leitza was in goal for St. Cloud State, facing withering pressure in a game the Huskies had to win to qualify for the NCAA tournament. They didn&rsquo;t.Minnesota had a 52-28 advantage in shots, finally winning 5-4 on a goal 10 minutes into overtime. Afterward, Leitza bravely faced the media, but was virtually unable to speak, so emotional was the loss.&ldquo;It was such an excellent game to play in and it was such a thrill to play Minnesota in the Final Five, that it really is something I&rsquo;ll always remember,&rdquo; Leitza said seven months later. &ldquo;I remember going home and people said, &lsquo;I thought you guys were going to win it,&rsquo; and I said, &lsquo;You have to be kidding.&rsquo; We were outshot so badly. But it was fun game to be in.&rdquo;The Huskies missed an NCAA bid despite finishing third in the WCHA. This season, the team is rebuilding around Leitza, a senior who holds school career records for wins and saves by a goalie. St. Cloud State lost scoring stars Matt Cullen (to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American League), Mark Parrish (to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western League) and Dave Paradise (to graduation).&ldquo;We are definitely a more defensive team,&rdquo; Leitza said. &ldquo;Losing the players we did hurts, but other guys are getting more ice time.&rdquo;Leitza, 23, was a 10th round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1994 entry draft. He was on the WCHA all-rookie team in 1994-95 and is in his fourth season as the Huskies&rsquo; No. 1 goalie.ROOKIE REVIEW: Minnesota got five goals from freshmen in a 6-5 win over North Dakota on Halloween.Left wingers Aaron Miskovich and Erik Westrum had two goals apiece for the Gophers, who split the series with the Fighting Sioux. The teams were WCHA co-champions last season. North Dakota&rsquo;s 3-2 win Nov. 1 was its first in the new Mariucci Arena and first since 1992 in Minneapolis.Westrum&rsquo;s father. Pat. was a defenseman at Minnesota and was a teammate of current North Dakota coach Dean Blais in 1969-70, when the Gophers won the league title.MOVING UP: Wisconsin&rsquo;s Jeff Sauer will be the winningest coach in WCHA history fairly quickly. Sauer&rsquo;s career record at the start of his 27th season was 545-456-43. The late John MacInnes had a 555-295-39 in 26 seasons at Michigan Tech from 1956-82. &#9632;

St. Cloud rebuilding around goalie Leitza

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div>Northern Michigan hasn&rsquo;t returned quietly to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.The Wildcats, who left the conference after 1984-85 for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, were unbeaten in four games (3-01) and had a 4-1-2 overall record. And while coach Rick Comley doesn&rsquo;t want to get too excited, he&rsquo;s certainly pleased.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t read much into it,&rdquo; Comley said,&rdquo;even though we&rsquo;ve played two teams picked in the top five (Lake Superior State and Western Michigan) and haven&rsquo;t lost a game.&rdquo;Northern Michigan won two games in Western Michigan 3-0 Oct. 31 and 4-2 Nov. 1.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re a quick-skating team,&rdquo; said Western Michigan coach Bill Wilkinson. &ldquo;They got good goaltending and quick forwards.&rdquo;Comley says the line of junior center Buddy Smith, sophomore left winger Roger Trudeau and sophomore right winger J.P. Vigier can match up against any line in the country.Another key was the play of defenseman Curtis Sheptak, who was moved from left wing on a permanent basis this year. And don&rsquo;t forget goaltending. Sophomore Duane Hoey had a 1.71 goals-against average and.935 save percentage in the four conference games.&ldquo;You have to have goaltending,&rdquo; Comley said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what Michigan State has with Chad Alban and Western with Matt Barnes. Those elements have allowed us to be good.&rdquo;PUNCHLESS BRONCOS: Western Michigan coach Bill Wilkinson knew his team wouldn&rsquo;t set any scoring records this season, but things were ridiculous as the Broncos only had 10 goals in six games (1-4-1).&ldquo;I thought it would be sparse,&rdquo; Wilkinson said. &ldquo;But not a drought. Our leading goal scorer has only two goals (senior center Joel Irving and junior center Mike Melas).&rdquo;Wilkinson said his team wasn&rsquo;t shooting enough and not getting enough scoring chances.The lack of production put more pressure on the defensive corps, which is possibly the best in the CCHA. But because of the lack of scoring, the defensemen had to take more chances late in games and had been burned.&ldquo;Our defensemen are trying to make things happen offensively and it&rsquo;s creating more problems,&rdquo; Wilkinson said.NOTEBOOK: Though Miami-Ohio coach Mark Mazzoleni credited a balanced attack for his team&rsquo;s 6-0-0 overall start, he knows the heart of his team is senior defenseman Dan Boyle, who was averaging three points per game. Boyle led the CCHA in overall scoring with six goals and 18 points. &ldquo;He might be the best player in college hockey,&rdquo; Mazzoleni said&hellip;Michigan freshman center Mark Kosick was offensive player of the week for the period ending Nov. 1. He had three goals and five points in two victories at Alaska-Fairbanks. &#9632;

Wildcats go Comley about new business

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggle</div>Dru Burgess must feel like a free man.After playing a defensive role for three years, the senior center at Colgate is getting an opportunity to display his offensive skills in the Eastern College Athletic Conference this season.Burgess, a native of Hamilton, Ont., continued his early-season hot streak Oct. 30 when he scored his fifth goal of the season in the Red Raiders&rsquo; 6-3 victory over Northeastern.There are few people, including Colgate coach Don Vaughan, who would have projected the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Burgess to score five goals in his first four games. He was coming off a disappointing junior year, in which he had a career-low three goals in 29 games.&ldquo;Dru went home and worked out very hard during the summer and came back in the best condition he has ever been in,&rdquo; Vaughan said. &ldquo;He came in with a different attitude.&rdquo;Burgess came to Colgate four years ago with excellent credentials, after setting a single-season scoring record of 117 points (56 goals, 61 assists) in 56 games for the Cornwall Colts of the Central (Ont.) Jr. A League.But he also played a solid defensive game, which set the tone for his future at Colgate.&ldquo;The first two years he was here, I had him on a checking line,&rdquo; Vaughan said. &ldquo;He worked hard to make himself a complete player.&rdquo;But with the graduation of all-ECAC forward Mike Harder last spring, Colgate needed someone to step up and ignite the scoring and Burgess was doing just that.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s on a line with two offense-minded players, Jed Whitchurch and Andy McDonald,&rdquo; Vaughan said. &ldquo;A lot of things are going right for him.&rdquo;AUGER&rsquo;S WELL: Maybe this will be the year Vinnie Auger stays healthy.The senior center has had an injury-plagued career at Cornell, but when he&rsquo;s healthy, he&rsquo;s as good as anyone in the league.Auger kicked off 1997-98 by scoring two goals and assisting on a third as the Big Red beat Northeastern 4-2 Oct. 31. He had the winner with 3:26 to play. Last year, the Colorado Avalanche draft pick had 11 goals in 26 games and led the Big Red with six power play goals.NOTEBOOK: Bob Gaudet&rsquo;s debut at his alma mater was a successful one as Dartmouth beat Army 7-1 in a non-conference game. Gaudet returned to Dartmouth after nine years at Brown&hellip;Vermont freshman goalie Andrew Allen turned away 37 shots in his collegiate debut to help Vermont defeat Lake Superior 3-2. The 21-year-old Allen played for the Hawksbury (Ont.) Hawks, the team that produced former Catamounts&rsquo; stars Dominique Ducharme. Nick Perreault. Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin&hellip;After four games, the leading goalscorer at Clarkson was freshman center Don Smith, a walk-on player. He had three goals. &#9632;

Burgess breaking out with offensive bursts

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>He has been called names such as Shrimp, Twinkie and Midget.When you are a 5-foot-5 Division I hockey player, you get used to the taunts.But feisty and talented Providence College junior center Mike Omicioli says being 5-foot-5 has its advantages.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to hit a smaller guy,&rdquo; Omicioli said. &ldquo;We have a low center of gravity. I use my speed. (Maine&rsquo;s 5-foot-7) Steve Kariya doesn&rsquo;t get hit much. We don&rsquo;t get knocked down much. We just keep our feet moving.&rdquo;Omicioli, a native or West Warwick. R.I., is the smallest player in Hockey East, but being the smallest is nothing new to him.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been the smallest guy,&rdquo; said Omicioli, who was the Friars&rsquo; top scoring freshman two years ago with 19 points in 30 games and the team&rsquo;s third leading scorer last season with 32 points in 31 games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m used to it. It gets me pumped up when people say I&rsquo;m too small.&rdquo;Even though he is between 155-160 pounds, he is fearless, elusive and strong for his size.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s definitely one of their best players,&rdquo; Kariya said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very crafty and real smart with the puck.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a terrific player,&rdquo; said Maine coach Shawn Walsh. &ldquo;We talked about recruiting him, but we didn&rsquo;t have a spot for him. Now I regret it. There&rsquo;s a lot to be said for that kind of guy in our game. He&rsquo;s exciting and a fan favorite.&rdquo;Omicioli said older brother Kris can be credited with developing his strength,&rdquo;because he got me into weight lifting at a young age and I&rsquo;ve stayed with it.&rdquo;&ldquo;He worked hard over the summer and it&rsquo;s paying off,&rdquo; said Providence coach Paul Pooley. &ldquo;He has become more structured defensively and that has helped his game.&rdquo;Omicioli had three points in Providence&rsquo;s first three games.HARD TIMES: Boston College won six of the first seven Hockey East regular season titles. But the Eagles fell on hard times with six consecutive losing seasons entering this year.Fourth-year coach Jerry York said there is light at the end of the tunnel.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve turned the comer,&rdquo; said York, whose Eagles got off to a 4-1-0 start. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve done a better job recruiting.&rdquo;He said the play of sophomore goalie Andy McLaughlin, who didn&rsquo;t play a minute last season, and freshman Scott Clemensen was a pleasant surprise.QUICK START: Merrimack got off to a 41-0 start thanks to senior center Casey Kesselring, senior left winger Martin Laroche and sophomore left winger Sandy Cohen, who combined for 35 points in five games. Laroche was player of the week with three goals and 10 points in a three-game sweep of Boston College, Union and Air Force. &#9632;

Friars seek big things from 5-foot-5 Omicioli

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01908/6824945-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01818/6824938-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="3099" height="3507"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01732/6824931-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="3102" height="3524"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Brian Winkler/BBS)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01800/6824924-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="3110" height="3532"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Jim Mclsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01762/6824976-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0039-01

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

<h2>NOTE</h2>Unofficial game summaries provided by National Hockey League; (shots on goal/plus-minus); SA-shots against; GA-goals against; ENG-empty net goals; Decdecision, charges to goaltenders of record when winning goal is scored.<h2>FRIDAY, OCT. 31</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02512/6825175-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="500" height="2097"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03387/6825168-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="2041" height="1676"><figcaption class="caption-body">Boston&rsquo;s goaltender Byron Dafoe made 22 saves as the Bruins defeated the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 November 1. (Photo by Andre Pichetts/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04315/6825161-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="497" height="762"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05263/6825154-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="504" height="763"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06224/6825147-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="501" height="761"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07202/6825140-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="496" height="249"></div><h2>SATURDAY, NOV. 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-08179/6825133-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="495" height="442"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-09155/6825126-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="499" height="2482"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01466/6825119-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="490" height="3490"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02301/6825112-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="1529" height="2229"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith Tkachuk led the the Coyotes to a 3-1 win over Calgary with a goal and two assists, Nov. 2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03218/6825105-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="502" height="1211"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04173/6825098-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="495" height="1213"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05150/6825091-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="493" height="282"></div><h2>SUNDAY, NOV. 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-06132/6825084-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="493" height="863"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-07118/6825077-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="497" height="3488"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-08106/6825070-1-eng-US/f0040-082.jpg" title="f0040-08" width="493" height="1111"></div><h2>MONDAY, NOV. 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0986/6825063-1-eng-US/f0040-092.jpg" title="f0040-09" width="499" height="2305"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01389/6825056-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="503" height="2202"></div><h2>TUESDAY, NOV. 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02236/6825049-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="503" height="1229"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03173/6825042-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="500" height="1747"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, NOV. 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04147/6825035-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="504" height="1684"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-05132/6825028-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="502" height="3495"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06122/6825021-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="498" height="3496"></div><h2>THURSDAY, NOV. 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-07108/6825014-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="499" height="3419"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0887/6825007-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="500" height="3496"></div> &#9632;

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NHL SUMMARIES

f0042-01

NHL ROSTERS AND TRANSACTIONS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01410/6825237-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vancouver rookie Mattias Ohlund will earn $2 million this season. (Photo by Michael Desjardins/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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NHL SALARY REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0044-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01313/6825275-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg"></div>Player affiliations are in parenteses where applicable<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01251/6825268-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="3101" height="3531"></div> &#9632;

f0044-01

CANADIAN LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0046-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01245/6825306-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

November 21, 1997

First meeting with Rangers brings Sakic saga to fore

Clarke faces tough picks

Memories of Childhood

Crawford thinks lock key to Stanley Cup