The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

January 30, 1998

The Hockey News January 30, 1998

&ldquo;It sure doesn&rsquo;t look like the cutting edge&hellip;more like the edge of nowhere. You leave Regina, Sask., and drive south on a highway as flat as a video game. Finally after 30 minutes of wheat fields and the occasional farm house there is a highway sign&hellip; Wilcox, Notre Dame College, eight streets and a school yard. Is it possible this tiny village is the home of the Notre Dame Hounds? Is it possible that more than 104 NHL draftees have gone to school here?&rdquo;It happens every time a newcomer ventures into Canada&rsquo;s hockey hinterland. Folks do a quick paradigm shift when they drive down Athol Murray Way-it&rsquo;s so small. You&rsquo;ll see the church in the center of it all, surrounded by classroom buildings and student residences, until you turn the corner and there, on the east side of the village, is the Notre Dame Arena, a mecca for hockey hopefuls.The rink, the labs and the library are conveniently in the same building, hockey is important, but if you want to play, you have to keep your marks up so the proximity helps, and above all, these athletes want to play. The walls are lined with pictures of young men and women who have gone on to college on athletic scholarships. The Hounds are well represented in the NCAA, 142 Hounds have received American University Athletic Scholarships and 58 have played Canadian college hockey, it&rsquo;s enough to make you dream great dreams.Of course, the Notre Dame alumni have an exciting history of accomplishments. In 1997 alone, 15 Hounds played in the NHL and two of them, Philadelphia&rsquo;s Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour and Edmonton&rsquo;s Curtis Joseph were named to Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team. Brothers Jeff and Jason Ulmer and Tyler Rice played on the NCAA champion North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Dax MacLean, University of New Brunswick, is the top scorer in the entire CIAU. Daryl Andrews, Western Michigan, was named rookie and freshman of the year in the CCHA. Scott Pellerin and Chris Imes have made the first University of Maine all-decade team and Pellerin received the Hobey Baker Award.The World Junior Championships this winter saw Vincent Lecavalier and Brett McLean on Team Canada, Brad Richards played on Canada&rsquo;s under 17 team.In women&rsquo;s hockey, Carol Scheibel, training with Team Canada, represented Canada in the Three Nations Cup. Erin Schmalz, is the third of her sisters (Hounds Rebecca and Andrea) to Captain the Cornell Women&rsquo;s hockey team. Notre Dame&rsquo;s girls&rsquo; hockey program has also been very successful, winning Canada&rsquo;s Western Canadian Shield championship twice.What is this place anyway? Well, it&rsquo;s a high school, a very special residential high school attended by young men and women from across Canada, the U.S., and around the world. The College was led for decades by Hockey Hall of Famer Pare Athol Murray, a Roman Catholic priest who believed in building character in his students. Although, Pare died in 1975, the dedication of the Notre Dame staff to his principles, has ensured this tiny school of 350 students, has a place in Canada&rsquo;s collective hockey hearts.For information about Notre Dame please call Colleen Kvisle, Admissions Coordinator at 1-888-40 HOUND, ext.154. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

Hounds impact 1997 sports scene

Naturally, one of the things hockey equipment manufacturers have to deal with are the split markets of Canada and the United States.And one of the ways that difference manifests itself is the kind of equipment which is available at different kinds of outlets. There are three general levels of stores where hockey equipment is sold: National chain department type stores, national chain large sporting goods store and the hockey specialty pro shop type of store.In Canada, for the most part, all levels of equipment are available at all of the above-type outlets because hockey and playing hockey is so ingrained in Canadian culture. But in the U.S., things are different. There&rsquo;s more of a clear demarcation. Lower-to mid-level quality equipment is generally available at national chain department stores. Lower-mid to higher mid-level equipment is available at national sporting goods chains, while mid to high quality and high price level equipment is available at the specialty type shops.And because of the increasing popularity of hockey and roller hockey in the U.S., sales of all levels of equipment are growing at each of the above types of retailers.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got growth at all levels,&rdquo; said Craig Ryan of CCM. &lsquo;They&rsquo;re still going to K-Mart&rsquo;s and WalMart for their first pair of skates. To Dick&rsquo;s or Sports Authority for their next pair and to a specialty pro shops for their next pair.&rdquo;He said that boom is due to the number of new rinks being built all across the United States. The result is that hockey has moved from a county-club (available only to people with a lot of money) type sport in the U.S., to one that&rsquo;s more readily available to everyone.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/s0017-0111/6967167-1-eng-US/s0017-012.jpg" title="s0017-01" width="735" height="962"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sales are growing at all types of retailers in the United States.</figcaption></div>In Canada there&rsquo;s also an increased demand, but its because more girls and women are playing hockey.Ryan also added that because CCM is a head-to-toe hockey supplier for all levels, their sales don&rsquo;t differentiate between the various retail outlets. That&rsquo;s in contrast to a company like Nike, who only has high quality and high price point products.Kitchener&rsquo;s Sandy Watson said she has seen a slight shift in the buying habits of both Canadian and U.S. customers.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been in my position for around 18 years and have found that at the lower-price points, the sales have been declining,&rdquo; said Watson. &ldquo;People are finding that you get what you pay for. What it seems like to me is that the consumer is being more educated.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s consumer awareness. You spend a little bit more and get something that&rsquo;s going to last.&rdquo;But Watson says that&rsquo;s a very general observation.&ldquo;In mass merchandise, we still move a lot of merchandise,&rdquo; she said.The overall consensus seems to be that no matter where hockey equipment is being sold, people are buying more of it than ever before on both sides of the border. And no matter which of the companies you work for or have an interest in, that&rsquo;s a good thing. &#9632;

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Buying patterns differ in Canada and U.S.

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03750/6965060-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="570" height="887"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rene Corbet</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021048/6965067-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="154" height="154"></div>His season started by winning a $50,000 lottery in his native Quebec, which he gave to his parents to help buy a new house.Is it any wonder Rene Corbet felt lucky entering the 1997-98 season with the Colorado Avalanche?The scrappy left winger turned down a two-year contract in the offseason. betting he would have an excellent season on a one-year, $450,000 deal and make more money on his next contract.Looks like Corbet will strike it rich again.Corbet was having the best year of his young career. At the all-star break, the 24-year-old already had matched his career-high with 12 goals. Included among them were two straight gamewinners against the Florida Panthers Jan. 12 and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Jan. 14.&ldquo;Sometimes the puck just goes in for you and other times it won&rsquo;t no matter what,&rdquo; said Corbet, who said before the season started he wanted to reach the 20-goal plateau. &ldquo;It has been nice lately-&rdquo;Corbet transformed himself from a sniping, one-way player in junior into a grinding, slashing, pain-in-the-butt player with a nose for the net. He has become a favorite of coach Marc Crawford, who gives him a regular shift on the team&rsquo;s third line and often as a fill-in on the top two. &ldquo;He has been a consistent worker,&rdquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;He really has played with a lot of grit and has scored a lot of big goals for us.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Avalanche had a league-leading 16 ties at the all-star break, just eight short of the all-time record set by Philadelphia in 1969-70. The last of those ties came with San Jose Jan. 15, a 2-2 draw in which the Avs were outshot 42-16 by the visiting Sharks&hellip;The Avs were also the only team not in double digits in losses; they had nine&hellip;Goalie Patrick Roy recorded his 39th career shutout Jan. 14 in Anaheim (3-0)&hellip;Before the break, the Avalanche ranked 23rd in the league in faceoff-winning percentage (46.9)&hellip;Defenseman Adam Foote suffered a bruised right knee and missed three straight games after a hit from behind by Ottawa right winger Magnus Arvedson Jan. 10. Foote was expected to return after the all-star break. &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Corbet makes own good luck

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01933/6966111-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"></div>To advertise, call (416) 340-8000 or fax (416) 340-2786 &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

HOCKEY MARKETPLACE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011694/6964268-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Messier unleashed a verbal assault on his Vancouver teammates for a lack of commitment.</figcaption></div><h2>Making his Mark</h2><h2>Hunter claws way to 1,000</h2>1. Tip of the Cap Pesky Dale Hunter becomes one of the most unlikely 1.000 point men in NHL history.2. Seventh heaven Stars announce they will raise Neal Broten&rsquo;s No. 7 to rafters in retirement ceremony.3. More Mark marks It may be small consolation, but Mark Messier gets 1,000th assist, moves into fourth in all-time scoring.4. Natural Brunette Who says blondes have more fun? Cap Andrew Brunette goes on nine-goals-in-nine-games run.5. Young Turco Michigan&rsquo;s Marty Turco sets NCAA record for career wins by goalie with 112.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021357/6964261-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="319" height="455"><figcaption class="caption-body">Andrew Brunette</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03888/6964254-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="321" height="453"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mattias Norstrom</figcaption></div><h2>Edict makes Milbury bush</h2>1. Two much Mike Milbury turns reactionary with win-one-of-two-or-else ultimatum to coach Rick Bowness.2. Unwelcome Matt King Mattias Norstrom delivers dangerous hit from be-hind on Edmonton&rsquo;s Tony Hrkac.3. Slash and burn Richmond (ECHL) right winger Dan Fournel gets 23-game ban for slashing opponent-twice!4. Canuckle heads Vancouver-Buffalo play &lsquo;I run you. you run me&rsquo; with goalies in circus-like, fight-filled game.5. Killer instinct? New York Rangers enter all-star break as only NHL team without shorthanded goal. &#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/f0003-04489/6964299-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="340" height="426"></div>To spend a day in the company of Wayne Gretzky is to spend a day in the company of graciousness as much as greatness.When Gretzky was named the No. 1 NHL player of all-time Jan. 9, the only airs about him were those that filled the skies during a 70-minute flight from New York to Toronto.From the moment he walked into Madison Square Garden to accept the honor accorded him by The Hockey News, Gretzky carried himself with a level of dignity and sense of humility beyond the grasp of lesser players in the lesser games that make up the North American sportscape.That, in the end, will represent as much a part of Gret-zky&rsquo;s legacy as his other-worldly accomplishments. Gretzky has not only set standards for performance, he has established them for personality.As a car carried him to a private airport in New Jersey, the thought occurred-if you&rsquo;re going to be named the greatest of all-time, isn&rsquo;t it time you started acting like the gratest? Isn&rsquo;t that what super ego-charged athletes are supposed to do?Gretzky failed miserably.In the air, Gretzky moved around the small aircraft the same way he moves around a rink-with purpose. He has overcome a deep fear of flying, but he remains a wary air traveller. Gretzky began in the rear of the eight-seat jet. After a time, he set up behind the pilot and co-pilot, apparently finding comfort in the sight of the entire horizon before him-not unlike the comfort zone he finds behind the net with an icy vista before him. Gretzky returned to the seats, but rejoined the pilot for landing-for which he took credit with a wink and a grin.It speaks loudly and proudly of our game that Gretzky and runners-up, Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe, carried themselves with grace throughout the process. There was no hint of disappointment from Orr or Howe. The results were remarkably close. Orr had 18 first-place votes, the same number as Gretzky, and Howe had 11. Neither doubted the process.Orr asked Howe be ranked ahead of him when informed of the results. Howe joined THN at the Toronto news conference. Between him, Gretzky and No. 25-ranked Ken Dryden, there was a warm and fuzzy feeling that charmed an overflow crowd at the Hockey Hall of Fame.It was so hockey.Gretzky, Orr and Howe aren&rsquo;t just the great ones, as determined by panelists who split 47 first place votes among them, they are the gracious ones. &#9632;

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Gretzky carries No. 1 rank with touch of class

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011693/6964330-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="310" height="407"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat LaFontaine</figcaption></div><h2>JANUARY</h2>Wed., Jan. 21: The Western League All-Star Game is at Regina.Wed., Jan. 28: Jason Arnott makes his first return to the Edmonton Coliseum as a member of the New Jersey Devils.Wed., Jan. 28: The Quebec League All-Star Game is in Montreal at the Molson Centre.Wed., Feb. 4: The United League All-Star Game is at Port Huron, Mich.Fri., Feb. 7: The preliminary round begins at Winter Olympics in Nagano.Sun., Feb. 8: The NHL begins a 16-day winter break shutdown. Play resumes Feb. 25.Sun., Feb. 8: Canada and the U.S. each play their first games as women&rsquo;s hockey becomes an Olympic sport for the first time. The gold medal game is Feb. 17.Tue., Feb. 10: The International League AllStar Game is at Orlando and the American League All-Star Game is at Syracuse, N.Y.Fri., Feb. 13: Canada and the U.S. play their first round-robin games in men&rsquo;s tournament. The gold-medal game is Feb. 22.<h2>MILESTONES</h2>600 goals: Dino Ciccarelli of Florida needed three goals to hit the 600 mark.1,000 assists: Ron Francis of Pittsburgh needed 22 assists to become the seventh player in NHL history to record 1,000.1,000 points: Ranger Pat LaFontaine needed three points to be NHL&rsquo;s 50th 1,000-point man. &#9632;

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January February February Milestones

<div class="byline">Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011636/6964392-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="338" height="426"></div>On the day Alan Eagleson was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989, it was not unanimous.It&rsquo;s likely to be a similar story March 31, the day when the disgraced hockey czar could lose his status as an Honored Member in the builders&rsquo; category of the Hall.Back in &lsquo;89, it was. ironically enough, Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; owner Harold Ballard, as well as a few others, who steadfastly refused to vote for Eagleson. On the first ballot, according to those to the room that day, Eagleson didn&rsquo;t have enough support to get the required 75 per cent majority. But after some intense lobbying by Eagleson&rsquo;s supporters, enough votes were obtained on a later ballot, although Ballard&rsquo;s wasn&rsquo;t one of them.The next day, Eagleson was announced as a &ldquo;unanimous&rdquo; selection.Nine years later, Eagleson&rsquo;s place in the Hall is once again linked to Ballard, but for another reason. Now, Eagleson&rsquo;s supporters are using the late Ballard as an example of why Eagleson should not be expelled.Eagleson is currently serving an 18-month sentence in the Mimico (Ont.) Correctional Facility after pleading guilty to three counts of fraud in a Toronto court Jan. 7. A day earlier, he paid a $1 million fine (Cdn.) after pleading guilty to three mail fraud charges in a Boston court.Ballard, meanwhile, was convicted of 47 counts of fraud and theft totalling $205,000, most of it in income tax evasion, although he did illegally use funds from Maple Leaf Gardens for his own use. He was sentenced to three concurrent one-year teams and served one year in a penitentiary.Former NHL president Clarence Campbell, meanwhile, was convicted of conspiracy to bribe as a result of influence peddling in a non-hockey business affair.If Eagleson is to be expelled, his defenders reason, then Ballard and any other Honored Member with a criminal past must also be expunged.In principal, that&rsquo;s not necessarily a bad idea-the builders&rsquo; category is rife with men of dubious distinction whose only claim to fame is they had enough money to own an NHL franchise. But it is still not a sound reason to keep Eagleson in the Hall either.Ballard was a crook. So is Eagleson. The difference is that the Hockey Hall of Fame board knew Ballard was a crook when it inducted him. (What that says about the board at the time is anybody&rsquo;s guess.) In 1989, though, the board had no such knowledge of Eagleson&rsquo;s many misdeeds and if it had, would he be in the Hall today? No way.Besides, Eagleson&rsquo;s theft was, unlike Ballard&rsquo;s, not limited to a corporate entity such as Maple Leaf Gardens. Eagleson&rsquo;s crimes permeated every level of his being-as a player agent, executive director of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association and Hockey Canada&rsquo;s chief negotiator for international hockey. He defrauded faceless corporations, but also stole from the players. He took their money. In some instances, he took their dignity.Eagleson&rsquo;s supporters like to portray him as an intrinsically good person who did much good for the game, a loyal friend and family man. Only Eagleson&rsquo;s friends and family are qualified to judge him on those counts, but on the issue of his contributions to the game, it&rsquo;s elementary.One cannot take credit for developing international hockey if one stole from it on a regular basis over more than 15 years.One cannot take credit for founding the NHLPA if one repeatedly stole from it and its members.As Eagleson&rsquo;s nemesis, investigative reporter Russ Conway of the Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune said, &ldquo;(Eagleson) was stealing from the players and the game before he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, on the day he was inducted and in the years after he was inducted.&rdquo;Simply, Eagleson no longer deserves to be in the Hall.Hall chairman Scotty Morrison is currently more concerned with the mechanics of a possible expulsion than he is with discussing the Eagleson case itself.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no precedent, nothing in our by-laws or rules to deal with expelling an Honored Member,&rdquo; Morrison told The Hockey News.Morrison and HHOF legal counsel John Dow had a conference call Jan. 15 to explore their options. Both believe expulsion can be achieved with a simple majority vote of the board, although they weren&rsquo;t sure whether that vote would require a by-law change, a new rule or a simple resolution from the floor.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021177/6964385-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="1496" height="2069"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alan Eagleson could withdraw himself from the builders&rsquo; category in the Hall of Fame. (Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re still looking at that,&rdquo; Morrison said. &ldquo;All I know is that we&rsquo;ll settle the (Eagleson) issue once and for all at our March 31 meeting. We just have to make sure that whatever decision we make, it will stand up to any challenge, legal or otherwise.&rdquo;As Dow noted, &ldquo;The process has to be fair and it has to be perceived as being fair and rational.&rdquo;While Morrison and Dow concentrate on the practical elements, others in hockey are engaged in the emotional end of it. Hall of Fame defenseman Brad Park has challenged the Hall to expel Eagleson or he&rsquo;ll withdraw himself. That ultimatum doesn&rsquo;t sit well with another Hall of Famer, Philadelphia Flyer GM Bob Clarke, a close friend and supporter of Eagleson.&ldquo;If Park doesn&rsquo;t want to be in there,&rdquo; Clarke told THN, &ldquo;then tell him to (expletive deleted) off. It can&rsquo;t be his right to get Alan out. It can&rsquo;t be anybody&rsquo;s right.&rdquo;Clarke believes Eagleson got into the Hall on merit and his criminal activities do not undo what he accomplished. There are others who feel the same way and at least one of them is on the board that will decide Eagleson&rsquo;s fate. (See pg. 12 for more reaction from Clarke.)Former Canadian Prime Minister John Turner, who wrote a glowing letter of reference for Eag-leson, is a member of the board. It&rsquo;s expected he&rsquo;ll wage a battle to maintain Eagleson&rsquo;s status. There is speculation he&rsquo;ll challenge the validity of a simple majority vote and demand it be a &ldquo;special majority&rdquo; of 75 per cent of the board.&ldquo;What I have to say I will say at the (March 31) board meeting,&rdquo; Turner told THN.Boston Bruins&rsquo; president-GM Harry Sinden is also on the board. He used to be a friend of Eag-leson, but that appears to have changed.&ldquo;If you break the law, you get punished,&rdquo; Sinden was quoted Dec. 6, 1996 in the Eagle-Tribune after ex-NHLer Mike Gillis won a civil suit against Eagleson over disability insurance. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what Eagleson did. It&rsquo;s about time. There are so many people who put their blood, sweat and tears into the game. To see these developments unfold, it makes me sick. To take advantage of players&rsquo; insurance, he&rsquo;s a cheater and a liar.&rdquo;Sinden said he is gratified the HHOF is waiting until March 31 to make a final decision.&ldquo;We have to do our due diligence on this,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have to do it properly.&rdquo;But do it they must because no HHOF member has pleaded guilty to as many crimes against hockey as the man known as the Eagle.It has been suggested Eagleson might spare everyone, including himself, the controversy by resigning from the Hall. He should be given that option, though his acceptance of it would seem out of character for a man who wore his Order of Canada pin to both his court appearances.<h2>WHO&rsquo;S ON BOARD</h2>A board of 18 will decide Alan Eagleson&rsquo;s Hall of Fame standing at the annual directors&rsquo; meeting March 31 in Toronto.The precise composition of the board isn&rsquo;t known yet because new appointments can and will he made at the meeting in Toronto, just prior to the handling of the Eagleson issue.For example, for the first time, the International Ice Hockey Federation will have a rep (likely president Rene Fasel) on the board and a replacement must be named for NHL appointee Yves Fortier, who recently resigned.At least one Toronto politician is expected to be replaced by another. Other changes are possible.Other directors include outgoing Hall chairman Scotty Morrison, incoming Hall chairman Kill Hay, outgoing Canadian Hockey president Murray Costello. USA Hockey president Walter Bush. NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Boh Goodenow, NHL senior vice-president Steve Solomon, NHL vice-president Jim Gregory. Boston Bruins&rsquo; president-GM Harry Sinden and former Canadian Prime Minister John Turner phis other corporate, legal and political figures. &#9632;

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Hall should expel Eagle

<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/f0006-011818/6964423-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="310" height="381"></div>Back in 1988, then-Washington Capitals&rsquo; coach Terry Murray predicted Scott Stevens would be the NHL&rsquo;s best defenseman within two years and went on to say, &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a Norris Trophy in his future.&rdquo;Murray probably wasn&rsquo;t thinking this far into the future, but Stevens is making a legitimate run for the award that has eluded him all these years. Stevens is in his 16th NHL season and no player in history has won the Norris beyond his 15th. He turns 34 at season&rsquo;s end and, if he should win, would share with Harry Howell the distinction of being the oldest first-time winner of the Norris.He&rsquo;d also become the first defensive defenseman to win the award since Rod Langway won back-to-back Norris Trophies in 1983 and &lsquo;84. Stevens had just two goals compared to Nicklas Lidstrom&rsquo;s 14, but he was playing the best hockey of his career.The raging bull who was known as an emotional cauldron, a punishing open ice hitter and one of the toughest players in the NHL has refined his game. If you can believe it, Stevens was on pace for 71 penalty minutes this season, one more than last season.Having Stevens out of the penalty box and on the ice is just fine with the New Jersey Devils. With Martin Brodeur in goal and Stevens leading the defense corps, the Devils are the league&rsquo;s best defensive team and will probably win their second straight Jennings Trophy.As Stevens has matured, so has his game. He shares a wonderful kinship with Brodeur to the point that each instinctively knows what the other is going to do in every defensive situation.Stevens credits much of his late-career development to former Devils&rsquo; assistant coach Larry Robinson, a Hall of Fame defenseman who now coaches the Los Angeles Kings. Robinson ham-mered home small, important points to Stevens: when moving up the ice, go up the middle, not along the boards; tie up the stick instead of the man in front of the net; and never, ever go beyond the opposing team&rsquo;s hash marks if you don&rsquo;t have the puck or a clear pass.It&rsquo;s clear Stevens has found his comfort zone, both in his game and in New Jersey. Family concerns led him to sign with the Devils for four more years and he will likely finish his career there.All he needs is a Norris-and he may just get it. &#9632;

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Stevens making late run for Norris glory

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021243/6964454-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Colorado&rsquo;s Peter Forsberg hopes to be flying high during the Winter Olympics. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>A crammed schedule this season has weary NHL players screaming, &ldquo;Give us a break!&rdquo;And a break they shall receive.While the 1998 Winter Olympics are taking place in Nagano, the NHL will take a 17-day hiatus from games. This is the first time there will be full participation of NHL players in the Olympics and there will be more than 120 NHL players taking part.That leaves about 500 players to head south to vacationland.Michael Peca, Jason Dawe and Mike Wilson of the Buffalo Sabres, for example, have a Florida golf vacation planned. Teammate Randy Burridge is heading to Las Vegas. No doubt most other NHL players not involved in the Olympics will head to a sunny location for a little rest and relaxation.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be great to have time off this time of year,&rdquo; Burridge said.The final games before the break are scheduled for Feb. 7 with all 26 teams in action that night. The preliminary round of the Olympic hockey tournament opens Feb. 7 and it all concludes with the gold medal game Feb. 22.All players on NHL rosters not competing in the Olympics are on vacation between Feb. 8 and 16. Players must report back to their teams by 2 p.m. Feb. 17 to take part in a three-day mini-camp.By agreement between the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association, the first three days back are restricted days, meaning teams are limited to a maximum three hours of practice per day. Feb. 21-24 are then unrestricted days so there is no time limit for training.When it&rsquo;s time to get back to work, some teams will take their show on the road.The Dallas Stars, for instance, will reconvene in Lake Placid, N.Y., for a few days of practice. The Detroit Red Wings, meanwhile, will hold a mini-camp in Orlando, Fla., and then will host the Los Angeles Kings when action resumes.Stars&rsquo; GM Bob Gainey said there are a couple of reasons why his team will train away from home; because it opens up on the road against the New York Islanders and to get the players back into a team mentality.The league resumes Feb. 25 with nine games on the schedule.What can fans expect when the games begin again?&ldquo;I remember in 1979 when I coached the Vancouver Canucks and we got eight days off, it was going to be great,&rdquo; said Hockey Night In Canada analyst Harry Neale.&ldquo;I figured I&rsquo;d have four days of skiing and then we&rsquo;d have four days of practice to get ready to play again. Well, when the games started again, I&rsquo;d bet it took two or three weeks before I saw a good NHL game. Guys get in a rhythm during the season and when they stop playing, they lose it.&rdquo;Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; coach Mike Murphy thinks the break will be good for the players, not necessarily good for the game.&ldquo;Having 10 days off this time of year is a great way for the players to get off the ice and away from the rink,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;They can recharge themselves. I expect the guys to come back rested. It&rsquo;s an excellent time to do some cross training-some jogging, bike riding, stairmaster, whatever.&ldquo;As for the games when they get back,&rdquo; Murphy continued, &ldquo;I expect they&rsquo;ll be pretty awful.&rdquo; &#9632;

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NHL’s spring break

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>At the 1998 Viking Cup, scouts were calling Finnish forward Jani Rita this year&rsquo;s Olli Jokinen.It&rsquo;s heady praise for a 16-year-old not eligible for selection until the 1999 NHL entry draft. Jokinen was chosen third overall last year by the Los Angeles Kings and also made a splash at the Camrose, Alta., tournament two years ago as a 16-year-old.Their similarities go beyond a common nationality; both are feisty, aggressive forwards-Rita a left winger, Jokinen a center-who can score as well as handle themselves physically. One scout who watched Rita at the Viking Cup said the 6-foot, 183 pounder is at this point a likely top-five pick in the 1999 draft, in the same class with the Swedish Sedin twin brothers, Henrik and Daniel.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a powerful guy,&rdquo; the scout said. &ldquo;He gets in on goal and it&rsquo;s in the net. He&rsquo;s strong in all his movements on the ice. You couldn&rsquo;t help watching him all the time.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03750/6964485-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="260" height="413"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jani Rita</figcaption></div>Rita had four goals and six points in six games at the tournament, which pits all-stars from Saskatchewan and Alberta junior leagues and university players against European select teams made up mostly of 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds.The other player to impress scouts was lanky 6-foot-4, 170-pound Czech center Milan Kraft, who had four goals and five points in four games. Kraft, 17, is considered a probable first-rounder for the 1998 draft. &#9632;

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Jokinen look-alike impressive

After seeing your list of the Top 50 NHL Players of All-Time, I would like to know why Jaromir Jagr is on it and Steve Yzerman is not.Jagr is one of the best scorers and flashiest players ever to play the game, but Stevie Y is a far better player. Since he joined the Detroit Red Wings, they have missed the playoffs only twice. Yzerman won the Cup in 1997, has made the 1998 Canadian Olympic team and led the Wings to the final in 1995.Jagr has won two Cups, but Mario Lemieux was the reason for those. Jagr is not the leader Yzerman is.Jared Story, Grandview, Man.<h2>Say it ain&rsquo;t so</h2>How you could put Jaromir Jagr on your Top 50 list and omit Steve Yzerman is beyond comprehension. Not many players have played the game. with the passion and class that Stevie Y has shown.Prior to adapting his game and becoming a premier defensive player, he put up outstanding offensive numbers while, for many years, playing on a sub-par team. What is Jagr going to do in the post-Mario years? Want one more reason? Yzerman doesn&rsquo;t do that stupid salute.Mike Sponarski, Windsor, Ont.<h2>Where&rsquo;s Dale?</h2>As I look at the top 50 list in the morning paper, there were two names that struck me as strangely absent, Steve Yzerman and Dale Hawerchuk.What more do you want from these guys? Hawerchuk is the NHL&rsquo;s 10th highest all-time scorer and Yzerman isn&rsquo;t far behind. Both of these players spent a good portion of their careers on lousy teams. I was given another shock when when I saw Hawerchuk was not even listed as one of the 86 players listed for those &ldquo;experts&rdquo; to choose from.I see they had a chance to write names in, but come on, the 10th leading scorer of all-time doesn&rsquo;t get considered?Brad Sparling, Winnipeg, Man.<h2>Just wondering</h2>As I notice no player not included among THN&rsquo;s 86 suggestions made the list, I am a bit uncomfortable with the ranking of the last dozen or so players.Would, say, Johnny Bucyk or George Hainsworth still have made the top 50 if they were not listed in the 86? On the other hand, would Joe Primeau, Marcel Pronovost and Yvon Coumoyer have made the list if they were among the 86?Shane Peters, Etobicoke, Ont.<h2>Don&rsquo;t try to argue</h2>I think THN&rsquo;s choice of Wayne Gretzky as the No. 1 player was a good one. I am not a Gretzky fan per se, but the man has managed to produce more assists than anyone else has points in his career, along with the most goals. How can you argue with that?Fred Barilli, Queensbury, N. Y.<h2>Just enjoy list</h2>The debate over the greatest player of all-time is not settled, nor will it probably ever be. But instead of bickering over who is best, it&rsquo;s better to look at what these great players brought to the game.Gordie Howe showed an incredible amount of endurance and excellence for years. Bobby Orr, with his great talent, taught us how important defensemen could be offensively. And Wayne Gretzky amazed people with superb sense and poise. These players left us with unforgettable moments and beautiful memories. And there&rsquo;s no argument there.Jatinder Dhoot, Toronto, Ont.<h2>Taken for Granted</h2>The people who picked the top 50 players of all-time did a pretty good job, but I noticed too few goalies in there.I&rsquo;m not saying the seven who were chosen don&rsquo;t deserve to be there, but I thought there was one more goalie who deserved to be on the list. That goalie is Grant Fuhr, the greatest goalie of all-time without a doubt.Nelson Langlais, Timmins, Ont.<h2>Roy rates higher</h2>Allow me to be one of the first to inform you that your top 50 list is a load of garbage.I could take issue with a bunch of players, but for the sake of time and space I will focus on one-Patrick Roy.Let&rsquo;s be serious. No. 35? And who is ahead of Roy? Ken Dryden. I&rsquo;m a Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; fan and I know a pylon could have played for Dryden&rsquo;s teams and still won.People have it stuck in their minds that the big three goalies of all-time are Terry Sawchuk, Jacques Plante and Glenn Hall. They are all great goalies, but Roy is in that class.Billy-Joe McInnis, Halifax, N.S.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., M5G 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;

Why isn’t Stevie ‘Y’ on your Top 50 list?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011652/6964540-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

Mike Milbury, take note Three teams fired coaches this season. Here are their before-and-after winning percentages. Vancouver: Tom Renney (.263), Mike Keenan (.379). Tampa: Terry Crisp (.273), Rick Paterson/Jacques Demers (.286). Florida: Doug MacLean (.391), Bryan Murray (.440).F.Y.I. Kings&rsquo; coach Larry Robinson was bemoaning NHL justice in the Mattias Norstrom case, but it was clear he wasn&rsquo;t familiar with the NHL&rsquo;s standard procedure. If a phone hearing is called, vice-president Brian Burke has basically decided on a suspension of between one and four games. If an in-person hearing is called, five or more games is in order, though there is an allowance for mitigating circumstances and evidence at the hearing.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021111/6964571-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="363" height="577"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rob Brown</figcaption></div>Minor adjustments: Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock is amazed at the number of players who have re-emerged after spending a long time in the minors. The presence of Rob Brown in Pittsburgh, Terry Yake and Pavol Demitra in St. Louis and Tony Hrkac in Edmonton (after being picked up on waivers from Dallas), proves one thing, according to Hitchcock. &ldquo;You get a sense of how desperate teams are for offense.&rdquo;Beating up on losers The Phoenix Coyotes had better get home ice advantage in the playoffs. Through Jan. 15 they had only beaten two teams with winning records-the Philadelphia Flyers in the third game of the season and St. Louis Blues Nov. 25. They did manage ties with the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins.The trading post Trevor Linden here, Trevor Linden there, Trevor Linden everywhere. But the Islanders, with young defensemen such as Bryan McCabe, are best positioned to make a deal. &#9632;

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What you need to know about the 1997-98 season

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>VANCOUVER-Stan Mikita couldn&rsquo;t quite figure out why he was being congratulated.&ldquo;I knew it wasn&rsquo;t my birthday or my wedding anniversary,&rdquo; said the former Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; star.Mikita won four Art Ross Trophies, two Hart Trophies and two Lady Byng Trophies over a stellar 21-year career, so it was only natural he be congratulated for his selection as one of the Top 50 NHL Players of All-Time by The Hockey News. Mikita was voted in at No. 17&ldquo;I was flabbergasted,&rdquo; said Mikita, in Vancouver to participate in the Heroes of Hockey Game, part of the NHL&rsquo;s 1998 All-Star Game celebration. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m as proud as hell to be a part of it.&rdquo;.Mikita said he wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to pick the No. 1 player of all-time when asked if he would have chosen Wayne Gretzky, who was indeed voted the best of all-time, Bobby Orr, who finished second, or Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe, who was third.There were others in Vancouver who were more certain. Lloyd Gilmour, an NHL referee for 17 years when the league had just six teams, said he&rsquo;d pick Orr hands down.&ldquo;Nobody changed the game like Orr did,&rdquo; Gilmour said. &ldquo;I remember after one game, Mr. (NHL president Clarence) Campbell came up to me and asked why I hadn&rsquo;t skated deep in the zone like we re supposed to do. I told him &lsquo;Why bother? Orr had the puck.&rdquo;Dennis Hull, whose brother Bobby placed eighth on the list, was happy with the top three.&ldquo;I would have picked my brother (No. 4),&rdquo; Hull said. Ever the joker, Hull said he had some inside information on others who nearly made the Top 50. &ldquo;Wayne Gretzky called me and told me he had the confidential list and I was No. 51,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I thought that was really nice of Wayne.&rdquo;One name that raised some eyebrows, perhaps more than any other that didn&rsquo;t make the list, was that of Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; right winger Mike Gartner.&ldquo;How Mike Gartner and his 700 goals could be left off that list is beyond my comprehension,&rdquo; said former NHLer Paul Henderson. (See pg. 18 for more on Gartner.)The list is published in The Top 50 NHL Players of All-Time: The Definitive List, which is currently available on newsstands. &#9632;

THN’s Top 50 poll sparks plenty of heated debate

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011710/6964626-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">More than 700 career goals were not enough to get Mike Gartner of Phoenix in The Top 50 NHL Players of All-Time: The Definitive List.</figcaption></div>Poolies beware: Stats are growing.In each NHL arena, five black laptop computers in the press box controlled by five men in NHL jackets chum out the expanded stats package. A single sheet contains information including the traditional scoring and penalties summaries, and, since Dec. 9, new features such as ice time, giveaways and takeaways, faceoffs, blocked and missed shots.The stats package made available to the public via newspapers and on the NHL website doesn&rsquo;t yet include the frills, but it&rsquo;s only a matter of time. In the NHL offices, they&rsquo;re gazing into the electronic future and seeing money-making internet websites via real-time downloading of stats, links to television, marketing, scouting, coaching&hellip;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very pleased where we&rsquo;re at. We never intended it to be on-line in the beginning,&rdquo; said NHL vice-president, public relations Arthur Pincus. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t know what the possibilities are. They&rsquo;re endless.&rdquo;It is not an easy nor cost-free venture because incorporating the new stats for widespread distribution means the league&rsquo;s computers have to be reprogrammed almost from scratch.On each computer is a diagram of a rink with logos of the two teams on each side and a number of mouse-controlled drop-down menus. Each computer has a specific functions: two (one for each team) track playing time-an operator clicks on player numbers, organized by line and defense pairing, as they go on and off the ice; one keeps track of inputted penalties, hits and synchronizes time with the game clock; one charts giveaways, takeaways, and blocks; one keeps track of shots, including location on the ice, and faceoffs won/lost.Before the season, a league committee devised definitions operators would use. A hit, for example, is defined as &ldquo;any legal contact from one player on an opposing player that exerts enough force as to prevent the player from controlling the puck, knocks him off the puck, or significantly impedes his progress.&rdquo;There have been glitches in the system. At present, it is difficult for operators to go back in time and wipe out events already entered into a computer-if play continues, but a goal is later awarded upon video review. &#9632;

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Mega-stats package slowly reaching fans

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>University of Maine junior goalie Bryan Masotta was fined $1,000 in Bangor (Me.) District Court and suspended from school for one year by the university after pleading no contest to criminal threatening.Masotta entered his plea through his lawyer Fred Costlow after being accused of making racial slurs and death threats on a phone message to Maine football player Dwayne Wilmot Dec. 14.&ldquo;I accept full responsibility for my statements and lack of good judgment,&rdquo; Masotta said in a statement. &ldquo;I deeply regret my actions and hope Mr. Wilmot and the University of Maine will accept this sincere apology.&rdquo;Masotta admitted making the call and the threats. The Attorney General&rsquo;s office has also filed a complaint against Masotta under the Maine Civil Rights Act.Penobscot County Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts said Maine junior left winger Matt Oliver and sophomore defenseman Shawn MansofT won&rsquo;t be prosecuted.All three players were suspended indefinitely by Maine coach Shawn Walsh. Mansoff and Oliver were also suspended from the university for a year by Bill Kennedy, the school&rsquo;s director of judicial affairs.Mansoff and Oliver are appealing the suspension and their appeals will be heard by a conduct committee.Dan Pileggi. Oliver&rsquo;s lawyer, said &ldquo;It is finally coming out that the university jumped the gun in suggesting that Mansoff and Oliver were part of this.&rdquo;STIFF SUSPENSIONS: Two Ontario Jr. A players were suspended the rest of the season following an incident that left an opponent with permanent brain damage.Rob McLean and Jeremy Smith of the Cobourg Cougars were banned from playing the rest of 1997-98, while their coach, Al Stewart, was suspended 10 games.Markus Quinn, a 20-year-old forward for the Ajax Axemen, fell and struck his head on the ice during a pre-game brawl Dec. 22.FINES GALORE: Eight fines and five suspensions were handed out to members of the Fresno Falcons and San Diego Gulls after an on-ice altercation spilled over the boards in a West Coast League game Jan. 10.Fresno defenseman Jesse Austin was suspended the rest of the season, while San Diego defenseman Al Murphy got a 20-game penalty.-with a file from Larry Mahoney &#9632;

Maine player pleads no contest to threat charge

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div>Angela James plans to be somewhere really hot in mid-February, preferably a place where people don&rsquo;t care too much about the Winter Olympics.She knows she won&rsquo;t be in Nagano competing with the Canadian women&rsquo;s Olympic team. She has accepted the fact she was cut-but don&rsquo;t think she agrees with it for one second-and will not appeal it to the upper reaches of Canadian Hockey.Now that it is case closed, James wants to clear up her name, which she feels was besmirched in an ugly series of events which culminated with a rumor that one of the coaches was having an affair with a player. It is a rumor James vehemently denies starting.&ldquo;People who know me know I would never do that,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;After I was cut it was just a media frenzy. A lot of people gave their opinions, but some of them didn&rsquo;t bother to ask me and things just escalated.&rdquo;James, who was a member of four World Women&rsquo;s Championship teams with Canada, was the last cut. She had a meeting with Canadian Hockey vice-president Bob Nicholson and hinted at appealing the decision. The CHA sent James all her weekly evaluations and after seeing them, she decided to let the matter rest.James certainly doesn&rsquo;t agree with the decision to cut her, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m getting to the point where it&rsquo;s their loss and not mine.&rdquo;In the meantime, James returned to her Toronto Aeros club team in the Central Ontario Women&rsquo;s League and had an assist in her first game back.Canada&rsquo;s national women&rsquo;s team, meanwhile, faced off against its U.S. counterparts Jan. 16 during the NHL&rsquo;s all-star weekend in Vancouver. The Canadians went into the game with a 5-4 edge in games. &#9632;

James will not appeal cut from team

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011618/6964712-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jeff Hackett is near the top of the league in save percentage and goals-against average. (Photo by Ray Grabowski/Slapshot Photo)</figcaption></div>A verbal assault from Ed Belfour wasn&rsquo;t the kind of welcome Jeff Hackett had hoped for. He had been the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; backup goalie less than three months when Belfour first went snarly on him.On Dec. 29, 1993, in Belfour&rsquo;s hometown of Winnipeg, Belfour was pulled after allowing two goals on four shots five minutes into the first period. Enter Hackett, who stood on his ear and was named second star in a 3-2 loss, whereupon, back in the dressing room, Belfour gave him a mouthful. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re a backup.&rdquo; Hackett was told. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll never be a No. 1 here. If you have any such aspirations, lose &lsquo;em.&rdquo;Hackett was disappointed. The blast took the wind out of his sails, as if to say, &ldquo;So, you&rsquo;ve just been traded from one of the worst expansion teams of alltime, where your sorry San Jose Sharks couldn&rsquo;t sink their teeth into anything tougher than a two-minute power play and your goals-against average looked like a mark from the Russian judge-5.3-but can you handle this?&rdquo;Hackett said he learned a lot from Belfour, but over their four years together it was never a buddy-buddy relationship. Last December Belfour pulled a similar stunt after practice, telling Hackett to make sure his sticks, pads and game-day routine when he wasn&rsquo;t playing didn&rsquo;t tread on Bel-four&rsquo;s turf. It didn&rsquo;t help that while Belfour struggled through a winless month, Hackett could do no wrong.&ldquo;That could&rsquo;ve bothered him,&rdquo; admitted Hawks&rsquo; GM Bob Murray. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there was any animosity on (Jeffs) part. Eddie was in a funk and had convinced himself of certain things and Eddie&rsquo;s such a stubborn guy, when he convinces himself of something he believes it.&rdquo;The truth is Belfour would have had to be blind not to see Hackett as a threat.Hackett&rsquo;s save percentage was climbing fast, improving five straight years; he finished 1996-97 with a career-best.927, tied with New Jersey Devils&rsquo; goalie Martin Brodeur for second in the league behind Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres.Since he started working with Hawks&rsquo; goalie coach Vladislav Tretiak, Hackett had become more adept at play around the net, his Achilles Heel. Watching the success of goalies such as Belfour, Patrick Roy and Brodeur, Hackett made subtle adaptations to his stand-up, challenging style. Wrap-arounds that gave him trouble stayed out; rebounds stayed in. As defenses improved, the game was being played more on the periphery, so Hackett had to modify his game to protect better against scoring chances in tight.As he did, two things became clear to the Hawks. One, they weren&rsquo;t going to be able to sign Belfour, an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 1997. Two, their new No. 1 goalie didn&rsquo;t have a temper problem.Yeah, Hackett can handle this. The London, Ont., native had two losses to start the season before missing 11 games with an ankle injury, but since then had posted a 10-7-9 record with a.922 save percentage overall (tied for third in the league) and 2.08 goals-against average (fifth).Over Chicago&rsquo;s 7-1-2 run from Dec. 26 to Jan. 15, his GAA was 1.63. He did all this while receiving meagre goals support-an average of just 2.6 per game-from the NHL&rsquo;s fifth-lowest scoring team.The Hawks were in the Western Conference cellar until early November, but since then have been sparked by what coach Craig Hartsburg calls a &ldquo;stronger commitment to each other as a team&rdquo; and a return to form from three top players: defenseman Chris Chelios, center Alexei Zhamnov and left winger Tony Amonte. Amonte rediscovered his skating game, Chelios returned was back up to his Norris Trophy standards while Zhamnov scored eight goals in 10 games through mid-January.The Hawks also changed their forechecking system in mid-December, dropping the trap for a more aggressive approach that allows two wingers to attack deep. Defensively, their job is to beat the opposition defensemen back up ice in transition.But as of the all-star break, they had six players out with injuries, including forwards Ethan Moreau, Bob Probert, Brent Sutter and Sergei Krivokrasov, which led Murray to respond, when asked how good his team can be: &ldquo;1 have absolutely no idea.&rdquo;The only constant has been Hackett.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough, but it&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ve always wanted.&rdquo; Hackett said of the No. 1 status. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a very happy guy when I&rsquo;m not in the fire of things.&rdquo;<h2>Holding the fort</h2>Since Belfour was traded to the Sharks last January (he signed this summer with the Dallas Stars), the Hawks&rsquo; only goaltending concern has been that Hackett would bum out.Talks have been on-going between Hackett and Hawks&rsquo; management all season. Not over salary-Hackett is a bargain at $950,000 a year on the three-year deal signed last season-but staying power. Hartsburg wants Hackett to stop being the first guy on the ice for practice and the last guy off. He feels the routine gets a little tiresome. Hackett is only starting to realize that now.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s right,&rdquo; Hackett said. &ldquo;Maybe sometimes I&rsquo;m a little bit thick.&rdquo;The work ethic was passed down from his father Ken, an accountant. At tax time, Ken would be holed up in the basement office at home and rarely came up for fresh air.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t see him that much,&rdquo; Hackett said. So he took his dad&rsquo;s work ethic to the hockey rink, practising hard and long as far back as his junior days with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario League, through a couple years with the New York Islanders&rsquo; organization, which drafted him 34th overall in 1987, and onto San Jose in 1991-92.In two seasons with the Sharks, Hackett had a record of 13-57-2. Playing in San Jose was the anti-Broadway: If you can&rsquo;t make it there, you&rsquo;re finished. Trying to keep spirits up, the Sharks used to gather in a circle for gallows humor sessions the day after a game. It was called stretch-and-tell.&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s going to have bumps on the road and that was a pretty big bump,&rdquo; said former Sharks&rsquo; captain Doug Wilson, San Jose&rsquo;s director of operations. &ldquo;Jeff Hackett is a warrior. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the success he has today. He deserves it. He never accepted defeat and he never accepted being close.&rdquo;Wilson recalled a 2-1 loss to Vancouver Canucks in which Hackett faced 50 shots and was on the verge of collapse from dehydration &ldquo;one of the best goaltending performances I&rsquo;ve ever seen.&rdquo;Hackett and Neil Wilkinson were traded to the Hawks for a draft pick and goalie Jimmy Waite in the summer of 1993. In Chicago. Hackett promptly went to work establishing a reputation (along with Belfour) as one of the most dedicated Hawks. As soon as Belfour was traded, Tretiak said, Hackett started coming to practice a half-hour before the rest of the team and stayed a half-hour longer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011683/6964705-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="461" height="685"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jeff Hackett</figcaption></div>Last summer. Hackett went to Tretiak&rsquo;s goalie school in Toronto, just as Belfour had done in previous years. For two weeks he logged four hours of ice time a day, two hours of dryland training and an hour in the classroom. double the workload of the 10 to 18-year-olds out there with him. The only thing he didn&rsquo;t do was sign autographs. There was time for that on Friday.&ldquo;Ed Belfour, he&rsquo;s very talented,&rdquo; said 17-year-old camper Matt Passed, a freshman at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., &ldquo;but Hackett, when he was out there, it just seemed like he was working all the time.&rdquo;&ldquo;He has had more progress the last two years than ever before,&rdquo; Tretiak said.Hackett&rsquo;s mental game has also undergone much self-scrutiny. Becoming mentally tougher,&rsquo; he says, is the key to his transition to a starter. Talent will land the cup of coffee; consistency and the ability to bounce back after a bad game will keep you around long enough for dessert. It&rsquo;s something Hackett, through his experience in San Jose, has had to learn the hard way. Some of his peers don&rsquo;t know what he has been through.&ldquo;I have total respect for Martin Brodeur, I think he&rsquo;s a great goalie, he has won a Stanley Cup, he deserves everything he has got,&rdquo; Hackett said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just that not everyone has been able to play in that situation and you have to deal with what hand you&rsquo;re dealt. It&rsquo;s just a luxury I didn&rsquo;t have. I think it has made me a stronger person to go through that stuff.&rdquo;The next step is to taste success in the playoffs. He didn&rsquo;t perform up to regular season standards in last year&rsquo;s six-game opening round loss to the Colorado Avalanche, but even if he had been brilliant, the Hawks&rsquo; lack of composure would have killed them. In Year 2, expectations have grown.Like his father, it seems Hackett will forever be working long hours in his office-on the ice instead of the basement, adding up angles instead of numbers on a ledger, both in search of the formula that adds up success.&ldquo;If that&rsquo;s good enough to win a Stanley Cup. that&rsquo;s great.&rdquo; Hackett said, &ldquo;but if it&rsquo;s not, I can look in the mirror and not be ashamed of anything.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0009-01

FEATURES

This guy can Hackett Work ethic unequalled

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011515/6964743-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="380" height="535"></div>Jeremy Roenick could never sneak up on anybody. Throughout his career, the excitable Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; center has never been able to contain himself from shouting, &ldquo;Look out, here I come&rdquo; first.So it was no surprise to anyone when Roenick skated up to Eric Lindros early in the year prior to a game against the Philadelphia Flyers and announced his intentions-but not before getting the green light from Coyotes&rsquo; coach Jim Schoenfeld first.&ldquo;I went to (Schoenfeld) and said, &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t know if you&rsquo;re planning to match lines tonight, but I&rsquo;d love to go up against Eric,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;Before the ref dropped the puck I skated up to Eric and told him. &lsquo;This is. going to be a long night; I&rsquo;ll be covering you all night, Big Daddy.&rsquo; Eric looked at me and said, &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s rock and roll.&rdquo;The Big E had just one shot on goal in the game, a 2-1 win for the Coyotes. And Roenick was reborn on that night. He had found a new purpose.It&rsquo;s not as though J.R. had fallen off the face of the earth, not by a long shot. He was second on the Coyotes in points last season with 69 in 72 games. But a combination of injuries and the fact the game is played much tighter defensively these days worked in tandem to limit his effectiveness. There was a time when it seemed like Roenick would one day rule the NHL. Now when the names of the top players in the league are mentioned, his is never counted among them.That could change though.At 28, the new and improved Roenick is a leading candidate for the Selke Trophy awarded annually to the NHL&rsquo;s best defensive forward. Night after night he is pitted against the other team&rsquo;s top center and he&rsquo;s meeting favorable results. There was a day when the opposition sent out its checking center after Roenick.&ldquo;When you can&rsquo;t produce one way, you have to find another way to be effective,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;Goal scoring is down and chances are down. We found our best offense was to shut the other team down and hope they made mistakes we could jump on. If we did that, we had a chance to win. Checking is a way for me to play a key role.&rdquo;There was a day when Roenick was the key forward on his team&hellip;with the Chicago Blackhawks. Roenick played parts of eight seasons in Chicago and by his own admission, should have been a Blackhawk for life. He led the team in scoring three years in a row. But he got into an ugly contract dispute with the Hawks and ultimately was dealt to the Coyotes.&ldquo;It boiled down to people saying things they wouldn&rsquo;t-and didn&rsquo;t-live up to,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;Both on my part and their part. It shouldn&rsquo;t have ended like that; it just got out of control.&rdquo;Roenick said he likes the challenge of trying to shut down the other team&rsquo;s top line. In one 15-game stretch from Oct. 2 through Nov. 3, Roenick was on the ice for just four even strength goals against That included two games against Mike Modano and the Dallas Stars, two against Mats Sundin and the Toronto Maple Leafs, one against Mark Messier and the Vancouver Canucks, one against Brett Hull and the St. Louis Blues and another against Alexei Yashin and the, Ottawa Senators. None of those players scored at even strength when Roenick was guarding them.Roenick, who plays with right winger Rick Tocchet and a variety of left wingers, is the first to admit his offensive game has declined the past few years. His knees have taken a beating and he said there has been some hesitation on his part to play his hallmark physical game for fear of further damage. But slowly, the fear is subsiding.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting my game back,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I love to go out and play reckless and crazy-score a couple of goals, be an Energizer bunny. I think I can be a point a game guy.&rdquo;Fans might not understand why Roenick doesn&rsquo;t put up 100-point seasons, but as Roenick points out, who does these days? Only two players, Mario Lemieux and Teemu Selanne, did it last season. There were just four 50-goal scorers.To put things in perspective, in 1991-92 when Roenick scored 53 goals and 103 points, three other players hit the 50-goal mark and nine scored 100 points or better. The following year he was one of 13 50-goal scorers and one of 21 players with at least 100 points.It&rsquo;s not as though Roenick was hurting on offense this season. He had 13 goals and 34 points-along with a plus-8 rating-in 46 games, and scored his 700th career point with a goal against the Florida Panthers Jan. 14.&ldquo;You get your goals on breakdowns these days,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t see many bang-bang passing plays. There are a lot more dirty goals scored.&rdquo;But not very many when Roenick is on the ice. &#9632;

f0011-01

COLUMNISTS

Roenick reborn in Selke style for Phoenix

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>To NHL GMs who were close to Alan Eagleson as players and remain so today, their continued support of the former union head is a matter of loyalty.And in the opinion of Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke, who starred as the Flyers&rsquo; gutsy leader on two Stanley Cup winning teams in the 1970s, some former peers have gone too far in their desire to participate in Eagleson&rsquo;s fall from grace.In an interview with The Hockey News, Clarke attacked retired players who attended Eagleson&rsquo;s Jan. 6 court date in Boston for their desire to &ldquo;go down to the trial and gloat&rdquo; and compared them to &ldquo;jackals (who) want to take a piece of the carcass.&rdquo;Former NHL stars Bobby Orr, Ted Lindsay, Brad Park, Frank Mahovlich, Milt Schmidt, Johnny Bucyk, Carl Brewer and Ulf Nilsson, among others, were in the courtroom.&ldquo;To me it makes them look like jerks,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;I just think that these guys are like jackals, that they&rsquo;ve got their 15 minutes at the microphone and they&rsquo;re going to cut the hell out of Al because he&rsquo;s in trouble.&rdquo;Eagleson is serving an 18-month sentence in a Mimico, Ont., jail for defrauding ex-players and corporations out of hundreds of thousands of dollars during his 24-year reign as NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director from 1967 to 1991.Clarke, Bob Gainey of the Dallas Stars, Jim Rutherford of the Carolina Hurricanes and Bobby Smith of the Phoenix Coyotes wrote testimonial letters for Eagleson. They were read out during his Toronto court appearance Jan. 7.Asked why he wrote the letter, Clarke, who worked closely with Eagleson as a former president of the NHLPA, said: &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re not loyal to your friends when they&rsquo;re having tough times, then who the hell wants you as a friend? I&rsquo;ve been friends with Al for a long time and it&rsquo;s not changing.&rdquo;&ldquo;Things that were done incorrectly, Alan has to face those and deal with those, but it doesn&rsquo;t cover up the good things that happened,&rdquo; Gainey said.Gainey said it is not fair to judge the state of player pensions and salaries in 1975 by 1990&rsquo;s standards. &ldquo;Progress has to go in steps,&rdquo; he said.Rutherford said he wrote the letter as a friend and former client who was treated well. He said the NHLPA made significant headway under Eagleson that allowed the players to get to where they are today.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not for me to form judgment what other people think of him just as it&rsquo;s not for someone else to form judgment of what I think of him&hellip;That&rsquo;s not going to do anybody any good.&rdquo;Clarke was by far the most vociferous of the GMs when it came to defending Eagleson&rsquo;s legacy. He said the justice system has dealt with Eagleson, who in turn accepted the decision and will pay for it. &ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t that what our society is about?&rdquo;&ldquo;Obviously there&rsquo;s some players that are bitter about it and obviously there&rsquo;s lots that aren&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;So who&rsquo;s right? I mean, the only thing right now is it seems the ones that are bitter are the ones shooting their mouth off. But a lot of us aren&rsquo;t. I mean, we&rsquo;re responsible for our own lives. We played in the NHL, we got benefits from the NHL. Some of the decisions that Alan has been accused of making were made by the players at the players&rsquo; meetings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021081/6964774-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="587" height="840"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Clarke says players benefitted from Alan Eagleson&rsquo;s work.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;These players like Brad Park, (Dave) Forbes, (Mike) Gillis and these guys, particularly guys like Forbes and Gillis, are players who benefitted from what Alan Eagleson had done. There were times when Atlanta players were asked to take a cut in pay, where Cleveland had 2,000 people, where Pittsburgh had four or five (thousand), where Chicago attendance was no good, where we had all this kind of trouble and these very fringe, fringe NHL players because of Eagleson were allowed to continue and we were getting our benefits and nobody, as a player, suffered because of Eagleson.&ldquo;Gillis, he could hardly play, never did nothing, he got his disability, got his education, worked for Eagleson and then turns around and stabs him in the back,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;Obviously when you get Gainey and (Darryl) Sittler and (Bryan) Trottier, you&rsquo;re talking a lot higher level than Forbes and Gillis.&rdquo;Mike Gillis is a lawyer and player agent practising in Kingston, Ont., who successfully sued Eagleson last summer after it was found Eagleson defrauded him of $41,250 in pursuing a disability settlement. The total award including lawyer&rsquo;s fees was for $570,000, but he has yet to receive any money because Eagleson is appealing. Gillis retired in 1983 after a six-year career with the Boston Bruins and Colorado Rockies.Gillis suffered a major knee injury and underwent surgery in his first NHL training camp. He came back despite some doctors&rsquo; belief he would never play again. Any judgment of his career should take that into account he said. After his career, Gillis said he occasionally referred players to Eagleson associate Marvin Goldblatt.&ldquo;Al Eagleson worked for me. I didn&rsquo;t at any time ever work for or with Al Eagleson,&rdquo; Gillis said. &ldquo;He represented me as a hockey player and he worked for me-or was supposed to be working for me.&rdquo;&ldquo;I have not asserted any rights collectively, I asserted my rights individually against a person that defrauded me out of a substantial sum of money at the lowest point of my life and then very carefully attempted to ensure I wouldn&rsquo;t discover the fraud.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think confronting someone in a public courtroom with an independent adjudicator is what I would call stabbing someone in the back. I&rsquo;m surprised that it would be termed that way.&rdquo;Gillis said he called Clarke to discuss the comments. He said he has always got along amicably with Clarke and did not expect any remarks would affect business and he said he would not treat anyone differently because of remarks they made surrounding the Eagleson affair.Park, a seven-time NHL all-star and Hall of Famer who said he would ask to be removed from the Hall if Eagleson remained there (see pg. 5 for more), is also one of five former players bringing forth a class-action civil suit in Philadelphia alleging collusion to violate U.S. racketeering laws during Eagleson&rsquo;s tenure. Eagleson is named as one of the defendants.&ldquo;I have no beef with Bob Clarke. I admire and respect the man as a guy who was such a great player and competitor,&rdquo; Park said. But he said many, players were hurt financially by Eagleson&rsquo;s fraud and deception and have led difficult lives as a result.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of beat-up bodies out there. Some people have done very well and some have not.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-02

Clarke on offensive

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011642/6964805-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jamie Langenbrunner is behind only Mike Modano in Stars&rsquo; scoring. (Photo by Jim Levy/BBS)</figcaption></div>There is no blueprint for successfully developing an NHL player.But the Dallas Stars had an idea of how they wanted to integrate Jamie Langenbrunner into their lineup on a full-time basis and they stuck to the plan.Now, three years after turning pro, the Stars&rsquo; sophomore forward-he plays center and both wings, depending on the state of the team&rsquo;s health-could be the best player in the NHL that nobody knows.&ldquo;Our fans know who he is,&rdquo; said Stars&rsquo; GM Bob Gainey, &ldquo;and the players in our division know who he is.&rdquo;As well they should. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder has been an excellent combination of skill, grit and determination this season, piling up 17 goals and 39 points in 48 games. He has elevated his play to the point that when right winger Greg Adams went down with an injury in December, Langen-brunner was inserted on the team&rsquo;s No. 1 line with Mike Modano at center and Jere Lehtinen on right wing. Then Adams came back and Lehtinen went down. Langenbrunner successfully switched to right wing and the line didn&rsquo;t skip a beat.Midway through January, Modano, Lehtinen and Langenbrunner were working as a trio.&ldquo;It was frustrating my first year of pro being in Michigan (of the International League),&rdquo; Langenbrunner said. &ldquo;I wondered what was going on; what was I doing wrong? The Stars weren&rsquo;t doing well and all kinds of guys were getting called up ahead of me. There were guys I&rsquo;d played against in junior who I thought I was better than playing in the NHL and I was in the minors. They kept telling me it was their plan and they were sticking to it.&rdquo;The Stars had a very concrete plan where Langenbrunner was concerned. They acquired him in 1993, drafting him 35th overall out of Cloquet High School in Minnesota, and suggested he play major junior rather than go to college. He took their advice and starred with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario League for two years. By all accounts, Langenbrunner looked ready to step right into the NHL after junior, but the Stars had a different idea. It was off to the minors for a year.The Stars gave Langenbrunner a few stints in the NHL in his rookie pro season of 1995-96, 12 games in which he scored two goals and four points. But for the most part, they kept him in the IHL where he was the Michigan K-Wings&rsquo; most valuable player and rookie of the year scoring 25 goals and 65 points in 59 games.&ldquo;He was patient with the process and he trusted the process,&rdquo; said Stars&rsquo; director of scouting Craig Button. &ldquo;Everybody wants to be in the NHL yesterday. So it comes down to, do they get frustrated and put out or do they keep plugging forward? Jamie kept plugging forward.&rdquo;Last season, Langenbrunner made the Stars and had a decent rookie campaign, scoring 13 goals and 39 points in 76 games.&ldquo;Looking back, (the Stars) were right to keep me in the minors my first year,&rdquo; Langenbrunner said. &ldquo;If I was in Dallas I would have been on the fourth line and in and out of the lineup. In Michigan I got lots of ice time.&rdquo;Langenbrunner is a tenacious, hardworking plugger with good hands in tight and the ability to manoeuvre in traffic. He&rsquo;s not a great skater, but his tenacity and effort make up for it. That he was suddenly second on the Stars&rsquo; in scoring should surprise nobody. He has always been a point producer.&ldquo;He has an assortment of skills and really doesn&rsquo;t have any real gaps in his game,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;He has persistence and drive.&rdquo;He was brought in as a character, complimentary-type player,&rdquo; added coach Ken Hitchcock. &ldquo;You knew his defensive skills would carry him, but as you coach him you see his patience around the net and how he is able to make plays when other guys would freeze.&rdquo;Langenbrunner said the simple reason his game has moved up to the next level is confidence. He now thinks he can score every game, even if that is an unrealistic expectation.Playing with Modano is a treat. Watching the trio can be a hoot. If you didn&rsquo;t know who was whom, you might never be able to figure out who plays center, who plays right wing and who&rsquo;s on left wing. They often look like three rovers skating all over the place.&ldquo;My job, as well as Jere&rsquo;s, is to create turnovers and get the puck to Mo,&rdquo; Langenbrunner said. &ldquo;To do that we rarely stay in position. They&rsquo;re such great skaters and defensive players, it doesn&rsquo;t seem to matter. They&rsquo;re able to get back fast.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-01

Surging Langenbrunner unknown Star in Dallas

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021311/6964836-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="380" height="500"></div>The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer. That revered U.S. Marine Corps theme could well apply to The Hockey News&rsquo; decision to select the top 50 players of alltime. It was an impossible task that consumed almost a year, as well it should.And now that the results are in-with Wayne Gretzky atop the list&mdash;the impossibility of the chal-lenge is more evident than ever. Not that The Great One doesn&rsquo;t deserve to win what was a democratic vote; no, I have no problem with that. What troubles me is the 39th pick, a choice that defies credulity. That would be Joe Malone, who played his last NHL game in 1924. Nineteen-twenty-four. Who among the voters sat in the press box to record his pluses and minuses?Then there was the placing of Bobby Hull in eighth, 18 rungs higher than Frank Mahovlich. Egad! It was Hull, himself, who proclaimed &lsquo;The Big M&rsquo; was &ldquo;the greatest left wing I&rsquo;ve ever seen.&rdquo; In his entire career, Hull won one Stanley Cup. Mahovlich spearheaded the Toronto Maple Leafs to three straight (1962-1964) titles. An 18-place separation? Impossible!The critical element of longevity was egregiously ignored by many voters. How else can one explain Mario Lemieux (fourth), whose career was unfortunately cut short, being placed ahead of hockey&rsquo;s Babe Ruth, the incomparable Maurice Richard (fifth)? The Rocket broke in during the early 1940s and retired in 1960.But the truly big laugher that moved me to tears was Ken Dryden over Turk Broda. Listing the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; short-term goalie-he didn&rsquo;t even last a decade-is absurd to anyone who watched Turk spearhead the Leafs to five Stanley Cups. Broda played from 1936 through 1952. He was considered by many to be the ultimate clutch goalie. Somehow Dryden is placed 25th and Broda isn&rsquo;t among the top 50.Surprises? I did a double-take when I noticed Chris Chelios in 40th spot while the superior Kevin Lowe was mysteriously absent from view. Lowe merely has been the consummate defensive defenseman for nearly two decades. The triple-take was inspired by the sight of Marcel Dionne in 38th place, ahead of Bernie (Boom Boom) Geoffrion by four rungs. This is the Dionne of no Stanley Cups (Boomer won five straight) and a career-long notoriety for non-clutch play. Geoffrion revo-lutionized hockey by pioneering the slapshot in the early 1950s.Not that the vote was dishonest or tainted. Each of the 50 panel members took his chore seriously and still the positioning was cockeyed. How could George Hainsworth, whose goaltending may have been witnessed by perhaps one voter, finish 46th?Which brings me to the top three-Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Howe. A day after the results were announced, I was in Boston, questioning several hockey minds about the trio. Jacques Lemaire had no problem with Gretzky leading the list. Bruins&rsquo; goal judge Ed Sandford, who played with and against Howe, said he could see how some would pick Gordie No. 1. Gerry Cheevers, who played with Orr, liked Bobby the best. Bob Plager couldn&rsquo;t figure how Glenn Hall finished behind Jacques Plante and Terry Sawchuk.Howe was first on my list. He did more things-score, stickhandle, make plays, throw bodychecks, fight better and for much longer than anyone I&rsquo;ve ever seen.And no, I&rsquo;m not about to make a federal case out of the vote. It was challenging, fun, riveting-but, most of all, impossible. &#9632;

f0012-02

‘Big M’ 18 spots behind Hull? Yikes!

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011534/6964874-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="377" height="532"></div>Six of the best days of their lives turned so quickly into their worst the Detroit Red Wings were reminded to take one at time. They may never get ahead of themselves again.&ldquo;We were all the last ones to see Vlady (Konstantinov) and Sergei (Mnatsakanov) before the accident,&rdquo; said Brendan Shanahan. &ldquo;They were both men on top of the world, smiling, waving good-bye, getting into a limo, doing the right thing, going home early. How could you or they foresee something like that happening? It reminds you of what you have and how quickly it can be taken away.&rdquo;Maybe because of that, taking the Stanley Cup from the Red Wings won&rsquo;t be so easy, even if one of their best defensemen is in a Florida rehabilitation hospital and one of their best forwards is holding himself hostage in a contract siege.Sergei Fedorov, increasingly in love with himself over the past few seasons, has now fallen for a globetrotting tennis professional, too. But the Red Wings, mad at him, sad for the shell of the old teammate who struggles to recognize them, continue to battle Dallas and Colorado for the Western Conference&rsquo;s top seed.The Red Wings go four lines with a depth of scoring that still doesn&rsquo;t match their depth of character. In a sobered, dignified way, they continue the business of winning.&ldquo;It was a huge blow, but in some ways it made us a closer,&rdquo; said Shanahan. &ldquo;That euphoric sense of invincibility that can hurt a team the year after it wins ended for us six days after we won it.&rdquo;The Red Wings achieved what they thought was the goal of a lifetime, then quickly, cruelly, found out every day is a victory lap. They thought it took falling apart twice in the first round, getting upset in one semifinal and humiliated in a final to learn perseverance. And then they learned they hadn&rsquo;t learned a thing about real setbacks, only the ones in the playpen.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had to make a separation of priorities between personal wellbeing and playing hockey,&rdquo; said Larry Murphy. &ldquo;But as big as the hole that has been left, I think it probably helped remind us how fragile it all is. Hockey-wise, I think we had a mindset we were coming into the season with less, minus Sergei and Vlady, and can&rsquo;t let up.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021081/6964867-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="506" height="752"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sergei Fedorov</figcaption></div>Because they haven&rsquo;t, Scotty Bowman has. As long as the Red Wings take responsibility for themselves, he will not pressure, only reinforce them with the praise of a proud father. Bowman, who some old Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres believed was born without a heart, did some of the best work of his three-decade volume in Pittsburgh when he stepped behind the bench for the tragically-stricken Bob Johnson.That year, Bowman won the sixth of his seven Cups, which are enough for a 64-year-old man to take to a fulfilling retirement if he could just figure out what might be fulfilling about it.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t have enjoyed not coming back,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you leave, you have to be ready with an alternative&hellip;It just wasn&rsquo;t right last year. It&rsquo;s a challenge to see if you can do it again. And then there was the accident.&ldquo;I wondered how we would play, whether we would lament the fact that those guys are not going to be here. But we found out we have a resilient team.&rdquo;What we don&rsquo;t know is whether he still has a championship one. The RedWings are in the market for a veteran defenseman, but were in no hurry to take Bryan Berard for Fedorov.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the very best players and there&rsquo;s no feeling here we have to take something tomorrow for him,&rdquo; said Bowman. &ldquo;We lost Konstantinov and have had to play through it and that&rsquo;s the way we look at the Fedorov situation.Dallas and Colorado have more top people than Detroit now, but the good people on the Red Wings keep their flame lit.&ldquo;Vlady is such a warrior that we know if it had happened to any of us, he would have fought on,&rdquo; Shanahan said.It&rsquo;s how we handle adversity that makes us heroes. So it&rsquo;s hard not to respect the Red Wings, who won a Cup last year before they had a real chance to show how they are champions. &#9632;

f0013-01

Cup tragedy brings out character in Detroit

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011631/6964905-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="160" height="158"></div>Mighty Ducks of Anaheim coach Pierre Page was asked what he thought of the play of his centers this season.&ldquo;We have Joe Sacco playing center&rdquo; Page said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all I have to say about it.&rdquo;Sacco said the last time he played center was probably in peewee. But for several games before the all-star break, he found himself often between stars Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne.Steve Rucchin was a fixture between the two speedy wingers last season, but he was hampered early by a groin injury and had struggled offensively all season with six goals and 22 points in 40 games.Center Kevin Todd, who is making $600,000, cleared waivers Jan. 12 and was demoted to the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International League and has probably played his last game as a Duck.&ldquo;I told Kevin we&rsquo;re going in a different direction,&rdquo; Page said. &ldquo;This might give him a chance to grab another job or get ready for expansion.&rdquo;At the start of the season, centers Sean Pronger and Norwegian star Espen Knutsen were ex-pected to make offensive impacts. But Pronger had only two goals and 11 points through the break and Knutsen had three goals and no assists in 19 games before being demoted to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American League.Rookie Matt Cullen also got a chance, but was sent to the minors for more experience. Mark Janssens was doing a good job, but he&rsquo;s primarily a third-line center for his checking and faceoff expertise.So Page, who had experimented with line combinations almost daily, finally put the speedy Sacco at center on the top line almost out of desperation. The move met with moderate success.&ldquo;Joe does a really good job,&rdquo; Kariya said. &ldquo;In the last five or six games, he has really been flying and doing a lot of good things.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: After the Ducks traded 32-year-old Bobby Dollas to Edmonton Jan. 9 for 23-year-old Drew Bannister, they were left with only three experienced defensemen: JJ. Daigneault. Dmitri Mironov and David Karpa. &ldquo;We&rsquo;U have to work around it,&rdquo; said coach Pierre Page. &ldquo;(The) veterans have to anchor our defense and show a lot of leadership.&rdquo;&hellip;Center Bob Wren became the seventh Ducks&rsquo; player to make his NHL debut his season when he got into the lineup against Colorado Jan. 15&hellip;Goalie Guy Hebert said Jan. 14 he had decided to accept USA Hockey&rsquo;s invitation to be the third goalie for the 1998 Olympic team. He had considered not going because his wife, Sarah, was having a difficult pregnancy and was due in midJanuary. But Madeline Hebert arrived five weeks early and is doing well. The timing pleased her father. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I can tell her one day when she grows up,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;She&rsquo;ll probably ask me to thank her with a car at 16.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-01

Center-thin Ducks turn to Sacco for help

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021229/6964936-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="159" height="157"></div>There was a certain irony to the announcement, but Ted Donato was too happy to notice it at first.Back on Dec. 1, when Donato was at the top of his game, he wasn&rsquo;t among the forwards added to the U.S. Olympic team. On Jan. 12, as the Boston Bruins&rsquo; left winger was midway through his second game on Boston&rsquo;s fourth line, he was told he&rsquo;d been added to the U.S. squad as an alternate. He was informed by a television reporter during the first period intermission of the Bruins&rsquo; 1-1 tie the New Jersey Devils.&ldquo;This is something that kind of caught me out of the blue,&rdquo; Donato said.Donato, who led the U.S. team in scoring at the 1992 Games in France, will not go to Nagano un-less a forward on the 23-player U.S. roster is unable to play. And even then, the injury would have to occur before the Olympics. All teams must freeze their rosters at midnight the day of their first game, which in Donato&rsquo;s case would be Feb. 12 at 10 a.m. EST.Donato this season seemed headed for his best NHL campaign when he scored 11 goals through the first quarter. A five-game point streak in December left Donato, who scored a career-high 25 goals in 67 games last year, with 14 goals and 26 points in 33 games, but then he hit a wall. Three scoreless outings were followed by a three-game suspension for high-sticking New York Islander de-fenseman Richard Pilon. Sluggish play in in his first six games back prompted coach Pat Bums to drop Donato to the fourth line for parts of three games.Donato finally broke out Jan. 14 when he was moved to center between Steve Heinze and Anson Carter and scored the winning goal and added an assist in a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. &bull;NOTEBOOK: Boston reached the all-star break with a season-long unbeaten streak of seven games (40-3). Included was a 3-0-2 run at home, also the season&rsquo;s best, which put the B&rsquo;s above.500 at FleetCenter (9-8-5) for the first time since an opening night victory over Los Angeles&hellip;Center Tim Taylor, a waiver draft pickup, scored his career-high 12th goal against the Pittsburgh Jan. 14. It was his fourth empty-net goal of the season&hellip;Goalie Byron Dafoe also set a personal single-season mark with 16 victories before the break, while center Jason Allison&rsquo;s 17 goals and 44 points surpassed his career totals. He had 10 goals and 41 points in 101 games entering this season&hellip;Eight Bruins played all 45 games before the break; two others missed just one game. That&rsquo;s a dramatic reversal of fortune from last season when Boston lost 395 man-games to injuries&hellip;The Bruins killed 23 straight shorthanded situations before the break, a streak that spanned more than nine games. &#9632;

f0014-02

Donato ready to step into action as alternate for U.S. Olympians

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03844/6964967-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="159" height="158"></div>Curtis Brown, a left winger seemingly lost in the shuffle of a nowhere season, started to turn some heads in Buffalo.At center.The player once touted to be the future left winger for Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny in a time that now seems a lifetime ago, moved to the middle on a line between Michal Grosek and Matthew Barnaby and was finding success there.Brown, a second round pick in 1994, has played center before, but this is his longest stint as a pivot since he was a 19-year-old with the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western League.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a different game at center, but I like it,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m having fun and I&rsquo;m getting more used to it every game.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s ironic, in training camp if there was an opening to make the team I thought it would be at wing, not center.&rdquo;Sabres&rsquo; coach Lindy Ruff, desperate for offense, was happy with the unit.&ldquo;It has been a good line for us for awhile now,&rdquo; said Ruff said. &ldquo;I like it because they control play. They get in there and they hang onto the puck. On a team that is fairly small, like ours, you look for one line to control play.&rdquo;One of the reasons the 21-year-old Brown-who had five goals and 11 points in 30 games-was playing center was because Brian Holzinger was shifted to the wing. Holzinger was moved there during a prolonged slump that saw him become a healthy scratch during a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Jan. 14.Holzinger was sat out not only because of his lack of offense, but because he was minus-13 and because Ruff thought he was playing too much on the perimeter.NOTEBOOK: The Sabres exercised their option on goalie Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s contract, extending it through 1998-99. Hasek, who will earn $4 million next season, had a clause in his deal that gave the club the option to pick up an extra year if the Sabres made the playoffs in either this season or last&hellip;Hasek was pulled for precautionary reasons late in a 6-2 win over Vancouver Jan. 15 when a goalie-running, fight-filled battle started to escalate&hellip;Right winger Rob Ray tested his surgically repaired right thumb in a fight in Toronto and came through unscathed&hellip;Left winger Jason Dawe was flourishing on a new line. Playing alongside center Derek Plante and right winger Donald Audette, Dawe scored two goals in 15 seconds in the second period of the win over Vancouver&hellip;Right winger Matthew Barnaby finally got his second goal of the season in the game against the Canucks. Fourteen seconds later, defenseman Jason Woolley scored. The Sabres record for fastest two goals is 10 seconds. &#9632;

f0014-03

Brown no longer feeling left out now that he’s playing in middle

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04571/6964998-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="160" height="160"></div>Just as the Calgary Flames&rsquo; injury list was dwindling to a manageable few, two more key players went out.First, goaltender Rick Tabaracci separated his left shoulder in a Jan. 9 game against the Florida Panthers. That same night, the versatile Jamie Allison, who&rsquo;d been moving back and forth between defense and left wing, broke his thumb and will be out until late February.Tabaracci, who hurt himself colliding with the boards behind the net, actually finished up the 3-3 tie with the Panthers, allowing only one more goal after the injury occurred.&ldquo;I knew it was separated right away,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but-I didn&rsquo;t want to come out. At that point, you&rsquo;re already involved in the game.&rdquo;Allison&rsquo;s injury also occurred in unusual fashion. &ldquo;Basically, I lost my balance when I went to hit (Florida defenseman) Paul Laus,&rdquo; Allison said.&ldquo;I hit my thumb with all the force I had. I felt a sharp pain. I thought maybe it was a sprain, but when I took off my glove and looked at my thumb, it was basically sideways. I kinda knew then it was broken.&rdquo;Making matters worse for Allison, who is passionate about country music, is he can&rsquo;t console himself by playing some hurtin&rsquo; songs on his guitar. The fact that doctors had to insert a pin in his thumb to set it will keep him from strumming anything for the foreseeable future.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t play guitar, I can&rsquo;t even knit,&rdquo; Allison quipped, &ldquo;maybe I can take up reading.&rdquo;The only good news is that with two breaks in the NHL schedule-one for the All-Star Game, the other for the Olympics-Allison will do a lot of his healing during a period of comparative inactivity for the Flames.&ldquo;Looking at our schedule, I&rsquo;m only going to miss 11 games or so, which isn&rsquo;t bad for six weeks,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m fortunate that way.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: In the third month of a day-to-day abdominal injury, center Aaron Gavey thought he might be close to playing again. An MRI detected a tear in Gavey&rsquo;s abdominal wall just before Christmas. Had doctors operated, that would have ended his season. As a result, the team opted for therapy. Gavey was targeting the first game after the all-star break for a possible return to the lineup&hellip;Left winger German Titov, one of the more effective Flames&rsquo; forwards, suffered a Charley horse in the final game before the all-star break in a collision with Edmonton defenseman Drake Berehowsky&hellip;Right winger Theo Fleury, so effective through December and early January, was immersed in a four-game pointless drought entering the break&hellip;Coach Brian Sutter welcomed the break. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the schedule had affected us until lately,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve seen it in some of older guys in the last few games. So rest now becomes as important as exercise.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-04

Flames burned again by nasty run of injuries

<div class="byline">By Steve Politi</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011502/6965029-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="161" height="163"></div>The Carolina Hurricanes, already the nomads of the NHL, will take their travels to a new level during the next two months.The &lsquo;Canes have just two home games during a 54-day span from Jan. 14 through March 12, which may not bode well for a team that was 4-13-1 on the road.&ldquo;To make the playoffs, we&rsquo;re obviously going to have to win on the road,&rdquo; said defenseman Glen Wesley.The &lsquo;Canes have the most road games (22) and fewest home games (12) after the all-star break.The challenge for the Hurricanes is twofold. They not only need to win on the road to keep their playoff hopes alive, but they need those victories to maintain fan interest.Attendance had climbed steadily during the season, including a crowd of almost 12,000 for a 3-3 tie Jan. 8 with the Philadelphia Flyers. That game was going head-to-head with two local college basketball games.&ldquo;Really, the only thing we can do is be in a good spot in the standings and create excitement by performance,&rdquo; said GM Jim Rutherford. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s going to be the key as to whether the people come back for the last 12 home games.&rdquo;Coach Paul Maurice is optimistic. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying we&rsquo;re going to turn this thing around and win 40 straight,&rdquo; Maurice said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;re playing better. Three or four weeks ago, I looked and said, &lsquo;If we go on the road playing the way we&rsquo;re playing, we&rsquo;re done.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Humcanes used six goalies from Jan. 1 through the all-star break: Sean Burke. Trevor Kidd. Pat Jablonski. Mike Fountain, Kirk McLean and Tripp Tracy&hellip;The &lsquo;Canes were 12-1-1 when leading after two periods and 1-16-2 when trailing after two&hellip;The top line of center Keith Primeau, right winger Robert Kron and left winger Sami Kapanen had 30 points in a 10-game stretch. The rest of the team had 31&hellip;Right winger Steve Leach had a streak of 21 games without a goal&hellip;Rookie center Bates Battaglia made his first NHL goal count, scoring in overtime for a 2-1 win over the Islanders Jan. 10&hellip;Defensemen Kevin Haller and Adam Burt went a combined plus-11 after being assigned to play against each opponent&rsquo;s top line. &#9632;

f0015-01

Road show will determine ‘Canes’ fate down stretch

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04550/6965098-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="157" height="157"></div>It took well into his second season with the Chicago Blackhawks, but Alexei Zhamnov finally was starting to make a difference.Zhamnov had eight goals and 11 points in a 10-game stretch that saw the Hawks go 6-2-2 and creep back near the.500 mark for the first time since starting the season 0-7-0.Not only was Zhamnov putting up the numbers, but he was finally starting to be the kind of player the Hawks desperately need him to be-one who can make the difference with the game on the line.Zhamnov had a game-winning goal late in a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs Jan. 10, then two days later set up linemate Tony Amonte&rsquo;s winner with less than three minutes to play in a 3-2 decision over the Vancouver Canucks.&ldquo;The last month or so, Alex has played outstanding.&rdquo; said coach Craig Hartsburg. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s battling like crazy. He wants the puck and he wants to do things with the puck.&rdquo;Zhamnov reached the halfway point on pace to score 16 goals and 42 points, hardly the kind of numbers the Hawks expected from their highest-paid forward at $3 million a year. With the Hawks searching for offense and playing one tight game after another, Zhamnov&rsquo;s inconsistency was a major reason for first-half struggles.&ldquo;I was surprised Alex didn&rsquo;t score more,&rdquo; Hartsburg said, &ldquo;and I think he was surprised.&rdquo;&ldquo;We need Alex to be one of our best players and outplay the other team&rsquo;s best players,&rdquo; said captain Chris Chelios. &ldquo;He has been doing that lately.&rdquo;Zhamnov doesn&rsquo;t need to be reminded how important he is to the Hawks&rsquo; success.&ldquo;Of course, I understand I have to help this team offensively,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But in the last couple weeks the whole team has played well. We&rsquo;re a hard-working team and I think we have a chance to beat anybody.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Chris Chelios was a bit surprised to be named one of the Top 50 NHL Players of AllTime by The Hockey News. &ldquo;I can think of 50 players better than me,&rdquo; Chelios said. Chelios finished 40th in voting by 50 hockey experts and was one of eight active players on the Top 50 list&hellip;Right winger Dmitri Nabokov, who scored four goals in his first four games, was scratched for two games after going goalless in five. He returned to the lineup Jan. 14 at Carolina and scored in a 4-1 win&hellip;Goalie Andrei Trefilov won his first game as a Hawk in a 4-3 victory at Toronto Jan. 10, stopping center Mats Sundin on a penalty shot with 54.3 seconds to play. &#9632;

f0015-04

Hawks finally see results from Zhamnov

<div class="byline">By Mike Heika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011415/6965129-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="159" height="157"></div>It was as shocking a development as Mike Modano has seen the hockey world-and one that he believes will have far-reaching repercussions.In the Dallas Stars&rsquo; 3-3 tie with the Detroit Red Wings Jan. 9, Modano actually heard linemate Jere Lehtinen speak on the ice.&ldquo;He called for the puck&hellip;twice,&rdquo; a shocked Modano said of his right winger. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;ve ever heard him say two words on the ice in the same game.&rdquo;Lehtinen had good reason for the vocal outburst-he was open. He converted both plays into goals, including the game-tying score.That performance came a week after he scored two goals in a big victory over the New Jersey Devils, including the winner in overtime.Once merely Modano&rsquo;s sidekick, Lehtinen is fast becoming a not so quiet secret in the NHL.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s doing it on his own,&rdquo; Modano said when asked if he taught Lehtinen the new offensive moves. &ldquo;The training wheels are off.&rdquo;While the 23-year-old Finn has a solid reputation in the NHL as a defensive forward, Lehtinen is fast becoming a talented two-way player. He had 17 goals and 30 points in 39 games at the break and was third on the team with 106 shots on goal.&ldquo;It took a while to have confidence to shoot,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But they say, &lsquo;Shoot,&rsquo; so I shoot.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Richard Matvichuk has some cartilage damage and a slight tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Matvichuk had arthroscopic surgery Jan. 15 and will rehabilitate the knee until mid-February. At that time, he will be further evaluated to see if he needs seasonending surgery or can start working to come back&hellip;Center Joe Nieuwendyk returned early from a knee injury to help the Stars win two of three on an important pre-break road trip. Nieuwendyk had the winner in a 3-1 victory over San Jose Jan. 12 and the first goal in a 2-1 overtime win over St. Louis Jan. 14&hellip;Dallas&rsquo; streak of not losing when entering the third period with a lead was snapped at 75 (65-0-10) when Anaheim overcame a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1 in overtime Jan. 11. &#9632;

f0016-01

Lehtinen making noise on ice and scoresheet

<div class="byline">By Cynthia Lambert</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03812/6965160-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="581" height="899"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Yzerman</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021090/6965167-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="159" height="157"></div>The way Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; coach Scotty Bowman sees it, there are two segments left this season. One is a nine-gamer, the period of time between the all-star break and the Olympic break. The other is the portion after the Olympics.In the first segment, the Wings play those nine games in 19 days. In the second, they have 24 games in 53 days. Either way, it&rsquo;s a very workable situation, Bowman said. &ldquo;I like the two breaks,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;We get six days off and then another 18.&rdquo;But some believe the condensed schedule isn&rsquo;t conducive to exciting hockey. Captain Steve Yzerman feels players simply cannot maintain a high level of play throughout the close clusters of games.&ldquo;Teams are playing a lot more conservatively,&rdquo; Yzerman said. &ldquo;With the way teams are playing these days in general, with the trap and tight defense, when you add fatigue into that&hellip;it&rsquo;s pretty tough to get goals.&rdquo;The intensity of the games isn&rsquo;t the only by-product of the crammed schedule. There are limited practice days or times to do weight training. During the month of December, the Wings played back-to-back games three times and only three times did they have consecutive days without a game.&ldquo;Some nights now it&rsquo;s difficult when you play a lot,&rdquo; Yzerman said. &ldquo;Normally, you have times when there are three days off between games. You can get some rest and get in some good practices then. Now there&rsquo;s an extra game put in there.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Unsigned free agent center Sergei Fedorov said he anticipates sitting out the whole season. &ldquo;I can see myself doing that,&rdquo; Fedorov told Detroit&rsquo;s WJBK-TV. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not about money. It&rsquo;s about what I believe in.&rdquo; Fedorov declined to say exactly what his belief is&hellip;Rookie defenseman Yan Golubovsky was returned to Adirondack of the American League after a 12-game stint with Detroit. Associate coach Dave Lewis said the organization was happy with his play. &ldquo;If he didn&rsquo;t know before, he knows now that he can play in this league,&rdquo; Lewis said&hellip;A 4-0 shutout of Vancouver Jan. 14 was Detroit&rsquo;s third consecutive home shutout. Chris Osgood was in net for two and Kevin Hodson one&hellip;Owner Mike Hitch underwent heart surgery Jan. 14. &#9632;

f0016-03

Split opinion on schedule

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04598/6965198-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="158" height="157"></div>Bobby Dollas wanted to duck out of Anaheim so badly, he squawked in the media.The Montreal-born defenseman, unhappy with his reduced playing time and unable to see eye-to-eye with Mighty Ducks of Anaheim coach Pierre Page, had quietly requested a trade in late December.&ldquo;Nothing was changing,&rdquo; Dollas said of why he went public.Dollas, who turns 33 Jan. 31, was finally traded to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Drew Bannister Jan. 9. He&rsquo;d had a conversation with Page that morning, after Page had seen quotes from Dollas in the newspaper suggesting the coach was playing &ldquo;head games&rdquo; with him.Even after their chat, Dollas was going to be a healthy scratch for the third time in four games that night against the Oilers and he wasn&rsquo;t thrilled. A few hours later he got the news. He&rsquo;d been dealt and the Oilers wanted him to play that night.&ldquo;I have no ill feelings toward the Ducks,&rdquo; Dollas said. &ldquo;They took me from nowhere and basically.gave me a life. I thank them for that. But there are so many opportunities coming up in the game. If you&rsquo;re not playing, you&rsquo;re out of sight, out of mind.&rdquo;Oilers&rsquo; GM Glen Sather got wind of the Dollas situation, called Mighty Ducks&rsquo; GM Jack Ferreira to inquire and the deal was done quickly. Sather knew Dollas from the 1994 World Championship and liked him.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a safe, stay-at-home kind of defenseman,&rdquo; Sather said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s experienced and mature. We&rsquo;ve got enough young guys. We needed some experience to settle the young guys down.&rdquo;Dollas jumped right into the lineup ahead of rookie Sean Brown. In his third game with the Oilers, he recorded an assist.&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t matter where I went. I had to get a fresh start,&rdquo; Dollas said. &ldquo;Sometimes you&rsquo;re with a team for too long and you get stagnant. This team, they&rsquo;re trying to do something. I&rsquo;m very proud to be a part of it.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Oilers went 5-0-0 with right winger Bill Guerin and left winger Valeri Zelepukin in the lineup before the all-star break interrupted their hot streak&hellip;Right winger Scott Fraser, who scored two goals in four games with the Oilers, became a victim of the shakeup given the team by GM Glen Sather when he was assigned to Hamilton of the American League Jan. 14. He was due to play in the AHL All-Star Game&hellip;Center Tony Hrkac suffered a separated shoulder when Los Angeles defenseman Mattias Norstrom pushed him into the boards from behind Jan. 10. &ldquo;He was lucky he didn&rsquo;t break his neck,&rdquo; said coach Ron Low. Hrkac was expected to be back before the end of January. &#9632;

f0016-04

Dollas happy to get new opportunity

<div class="byline">By Michael Russo</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011268/6965229-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="157" height="157"></div>Kirk Muller has gotten his share of bumps and bruises. He has been clutched, grabbed, crosschecked, pushed around and hauled down, but that&rsquo;s why Muller is so proud of what he accomplished Jan. 14 against the Phoenix Coyotes.That&rsquo;s the night the 31-year-old Muller played his 1,000th NHL game.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a nice milestone,&rdquo; Muller said. &ldquo;It definitely makes me proud.&rdquo;The highlight of Muller&rsquo;s career was helping lead the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup in 1994. The Canadiens eliminated the Los Angeles Kings in Game 5 of the final, with Muller scoring the winning goal.&ldquo;The whole scenario was a dream come true,&rdquo; Muller said.It hasn&rsquo;t been so rosy for him with the Florida Panthers. Nagging injuries have limited his effectiveness, while the death of his father, Ed. before training camp devastated him.&ldquo;It has been tough for me since August,&rdquo; Muller said. &ldquo;I hate using excuses, but it was a bad couple of months. But I feel so much more focused now and at ease. All I&rsquo;m looking for is a great second half.&rdquo;Muller started to turn things around after returning from a knee injury, recording two goals and four points in four games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m having as much fun as when I started,&rdquo; Muller said. &ldquo;Sometimes it seems like it has flown by and sometimes it seems like I&rsquo;ve played 2,000 games.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Florida&rsquo;s Jan. 9 game at Calgary was delayed in the final minutes of overtime when a naked man hopped over the glass and streaked around the ice. With no police immediately responding, the man paraded around the rink for about 90 seconds before a linesman skated over to him with a towel&hellip;Speaking of streaks, right winger Scott Mellanby&rsquo;s string of 152 straight games played was snapped in Vancouver Jan. 10 when he sat out with a slightly sprained left knee&hellip;Left winger Esa Tikkanen, who returned from a broken leg on New Year&rsquo;s Day after being shelved for 26 games, played four games without a point before twisting his ankle and missing the next three games&hellip;The Panthers were 0-9-5 against the Western Conference. &#9632;

f0017-01

Muller hits 1,000 games proud and still having fun

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03693/6965260-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="574" height="888"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Ferraro</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02961/6965267-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="159" height="156"></div>There were times last season when trade rumors continually mentioned his name and Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center Ray Ferraro would not have minded if one of them had come true.But after a series of off-season moves he interpreted as management&rsquo;s determination to make the Kings competitive, Ferraro is glad he wasn&rsquo;t traded. And he repaid management for its faith in him by going on a scoring surge after he returned from a knee injury and surgery that cost him 25 games this season.&ldquo;I have no desire to go anywhere else,&rdquo; said Ferraro, whose two-goal performance Jan. 12 in a 3-2 overtime win over over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim included his 700th NHL point. &ldquo;I like it here, my family likes it here and I really feel like I have a lot of good hockey left.&rdquo;The Kings missed Ferraro&rsquo;s feistiness and leadership when he was out with torn cartilage. They also missed his productivity, and their offensive output declined rapidly. The 33-year-old had four goals and eight points in 16 games entering the break.&ldquo;He has been noted throughout his career for scoring big goals,&rdquo; said coach Larry Robinson.Ferraro said it&rsquo;s no secret what his job is with the Kings-provide offense. That need became more acute after the team&rsquo;s other top guns cooled.&ldquo;I know If I&rsquo;m going to stay in the league I&rsquo;m going to have to score,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I feel I have a lot of goals left in me. I&rsquo;m not sure how I&rsquo;m looked at, but I feel I have a lot to prove.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Former Kings&rsquo; owner Jeffrey Sudikoff pleaded innocent to fraud charges related to a communications company he co-owns. He&rsquo;s facing 19 federal charges&hellip;Left winger Luc Robitaille&rsquo;s goal in a 2-1 win over San Jose Jan. 14 was only his second in a 20-game span. Robitaille said he wasn&rsquo;t concerned about his slump. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to shoot more, but right now, it doesn&rsquo;t matter if I&rsquo;m not scoring. What matters is that the team plays well,&rdquo; he said. Said coach Larry Robinson: &ldquo;Luc has to get his work ethic back a little bit. That&rsquo;s how people get through slumps, hard work.&rdquo;&hellip;Defenseman Rob Blake&rsquo;s two-goal game against San Jose was his first two-goal performance since March 15, 1994. &#9632;

f0017-03

Ferraro back with a splash

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04508/6965298-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="163" height="160"></div>He was a first round draft choice. Now, he&rsquo;s a journeyman.Patrick Poulin, 24, is working on his fourth team following his trade to the Montreal Canadiens. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound forward was one of three players traded to the Canadiens Jan. 15 by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Also headed to Montreal are defenseman Igor Ulanov and right winger Mick Vukota.In return, the Lightning received veteran right winger Stephane Richer, center Dairy Tucker and defenseman David Wilkie.Poulin was the Hartford Whalers&rsquo; first choice (ninth overall) in 1991. The following season, he scored 52 goals and 138 points for the St-Hyacinthe Laser of the Quebec League.But Poulin has been unable to produce offensively in the NHL, be it with Hartford, the Chicago Blackhawks or Tampa Bay. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t know why he wasn&rsquo;t the player everyone expected,&rdquo; said Canadiens&rsquo; GM Rejean Houle, &ldquo;but we still believe he didn&rsquo;t reach his potential.&rdquo;Houle said the Habs will employ Poulin at center on the team&rsquo;s third line and on the penalty-killing unit.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very good feeling to come to Montreal. I&rsquo;m excited,&rdquo; said Poulin, who had only two goals and nine points in 44 games with Tampa Bay. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to a team that could go far in the playoffs. Here, the team was struggling. I know people expect goals from me. I expect that, too.&rdquo;The timing of the trade was surprising, considering the Canadiens were playing some of their best hockey this season with six wins and two ties in nine games heading into the all-star break.But the Canadiens also had been seeking size and toughness, which they&rsquo;ll get from the 6-foot-1. 225-pound Vukota and Ulanov, a 6-foot-1, 205 pounder.At the same time, Montreal made the trade without shedding its nucleus of talent.NOTEBOOK: Veteran center Marc Bureau played his 400th career regular season game Jan. 14 at Philadelphia, thereby qualifying for a payment of $250,000 (U.S.) after he retires. &ldquo;The milestone means a lot to me because I wasn&rsquo;t supposed to play in the NHL,&rdquo; he said. Bureau, 31, appeared in 41 of the team&rsquo;s 48 games&hellip;A severe ice storm that knocked out power and paralyzed Montreal forced the Canadiens to postpone a Jan. 10 game at the Molson Centre against the Rangers. The game was rescheduled for March 12&hellip;Center Vincent Damphousse was at the top of his game prior to the all-star break. He was on a tear with four goals and 14 points in six games. &#9632;

f0017-04

Poulin, 24, embarks on Team No. 4

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06283/6965329-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="565" height="888"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Gilmour</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05360/6965336-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="157" height="158"></div>For GM Lou Lamoriello, upsetting the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; salary structure may be a Killer.No one has done more to pump life into the Devils&rsquo; offense than Doug (Killer) Gilmour. But in order to keep the creative center from testing the market as an unrestricted free agent after this season, the Devils would be forced to make Gilmour the club&rsquo;s highest-paid player.&ldquo;As I&rsquo;ve said, I&rsquo;m very pleased with Doug,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to see him end his career here. But I don&rsquo;t think anything is critical.&rdquo;Gilmour, acquired at the trading deadline last season from the Toronto Maple Leafs, has enjoyed both his new-found anonymity in private life and playing for a winning team. Although he probably will not become the team&rsquo;s first player to score 100 points in a season, Gilmour was tied with Bobby Holik for the team lead with 41 points at the all-star break.He was looking to get a two-year deal for approximately $5 million per season. That figure would put Gilmour ahead of the $4.15 million Stevens will earn in each of the next four seasons and ahead of the $16,122 million extension goalie Martin Brodeur signed that takes him from $3,655 million next season to $4,405 in 2001-2002.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not trying to hold it over any one, but this is my last (contract)&hellip;so it&rsquo;s an important one,&rdquo; Gilmour said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m still trying to be positive. We do have lots of time. There is no date or deadline here.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Ireft winger Krzysztof Oliwa avoided a fine and suspension when the league reviewed the match penalty he was issued Jan. 12 for having tape on his fingers during a fight with Boston left winger Ken Baumgartner&hellip;There is an outside chance defenseman Ken Daneyko could return before the Olympics, but the team will likely hold him back until after the winter break&hellip;Coach Jacques Lemaire decided to periodically change the players wearing an &lsquo;A&rsquo; on their sweater. Right winger Randy McKay and defenseman Scott Niedermayer had been wearing them through the early part of 1998. Two games before the all-star break, Lemaire switched to centers Bobby Holik and Denis Pederson. &#9632;

f0017-06

Will Gilmour stay a Devil?

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07237/6965367-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="162" height="159"></div>The New York Islanders saved coach Rick Bowness&rsquo; job-for the time being-in emphatic fashion.The team broke an 0-10-1 winless streak by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-1 Jan. 14. The seven goals was their highest total of the season.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t trade 20 guys,&rdquo; said center Bryan Smolinski. &ldquo;One guy&rsquo;s going to take the heat and that&rsquo;s Rick. (But) he never quit on us and we never quit on him. (Losing in Tampa) would have been awful.&rdquo;More specifically, Bowness may have been fired.GM Mike Milbury told the media before a Jan. 10 game against the Carolina Hurricanes&rsquo; he had put Bowness &ldquo;on alert&rdquo; that his job was in jeopardy. Indications were if the Islanders didn&rsquo;t win one of their last two games before the break, Bowness would have been given an extended break.The Islanders managed a 1-1 tie with the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings Jan. 12 before beating the Lightning. A club official, meanwhile, said Milbury had been on the verge of opening talks with ex-Florida Panthers&rsquo; coach Doug MacLean about possibly replacing Bowness.Following the win over Tampa, the Islanders were four points out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot (1625-6) with 35 games to go.&ldquo;We believe we can (get to.500),&rdquo; said left winger Tom Chorske. &ldquo;But in the end we want to make the playoffs.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Islanders reached a settlement with former right winger Brett Lindros concerning his disability claim. Lindros was forced to retire last season because of recurring headaches as a result of repeated concussions. The amount is reported to be more than $5 million&hellip;John Spano pleaded guilty Jan. 12 in a Boston court to a fraud charge in connection with his abortive purchase of the team. He is expected to serve 33 to 63 months in prison&hellip;Goalie Wade Flaherty went 1-1-1 and stopped 68 of 72 shots in his first three starts after being recalled from Utah of the International League.&hellip;Goalie Eric Fichaud. assigned to Utah when Flaherty was called up, injured his left shoulder in his first IHL game and could face season-ending surgery. &#9632;

f0017-07

Huge win over Tampa Bay saves Bowness…for now

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02965/6965398-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="579" height="895"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Kovalev</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011300/6965405-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="164" height="163"></div>Was, right winger Alexei Kovalev back in the good graces of the New York Rangers, or was he just being showcased?Rangers&rsquo; president-GM Neil Smith, who tried without success to find something of value for Kovalev, had at least a hand in convincing coach Colin Campbell to promote Kovalev to Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s line. Smith also reportedly had a heart-to-heart talk with the underachieving Kovalev, who had eight goals and 23 points in 46 games.&ldquo;Right now we&rsquo;re in a situation where we have to have Alex,&rdquo; Campbell said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious his skills are in the top three of our team. He has tried this year. It has been frustrating.&rdquo;Kovalev saw his ice time balloon from the six-to-eight minutes he&rsquo;d been getting to more than 20 in his first game on the Rangers&rsquo; top line. The right winger chipped in with an assist in a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Jan. 12.Two nights later, he scored the Rangers&rsquo; only goal in a 4-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils. In that game, Gretzky said Kovalev was unquestionably &ldquo;our best player.&rdquo;&ldquo;I have to forget about what happened and finally I will start playing a lot and playing well,&rdquo; Kovalev said.Kovalev, a popular player with teammates, was getting plenty of moral support. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great kid,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;He wants to play well and we want him to play well because we know his importance to the team. Maybe this is the start of something really great in the second half for Alex.&rdquo; &bull;NOTEBOOK: Center Wayne Gretzky had three assists in a 3-2 win over Toronto Jan. 12, the night he was honored for being selected The Hockey News&rsquo; No. 1 NHL Player of All-Time&hellip;Rookie goalie Dan Cloutier won his first three NHL appearances before losing in New Jersey Jan. 14&hellip;GM Neil Smith claimed right winger Peter Ferraro off waivers Jan. 4. Ferraro and twin brother Chris had been snatched by Pittsburgh from the Rangers off waivers Oct. l&hellip;The Rangers entered the all-star break having gone 17 consecutive periods without double-digit shots on goal&hellip;Ronnie Sundin made his NHL debut on defense Jan. 14 due to injuries to Ulf Samuelsson and Jeff Beukeboom and because Bruce Driver was out with the flu. &#9632;

f0018-02

Kovalev going or going great?

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03671/6965436-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="162" height="158"></div>Daniel Alfredsson is hopeful he has written the final chapter of his comeback stories this season.The Ottawa Senators&rsquo; right winger missed 27 games this year because of a contract holdout and two lengthy injuries, but this time he hopes to be back for good.Alfredsson, 25, returned to the lineup Jan. 10 against the Colorado Avalanche after being sidelined for 13 games with a broken ankle.This has been a difficult season Alfredsson. He missed six games as an unsigned free agent before signing a five-year, $10-million (U.S.) deal. Then he sat out another eight with torn ligaments in his ankle. The broken ankle followed Dec. 11 in a game against the St. Louis Blues.Still, Alfredsson made it back four weeks earlier than expected-and that&rsquo;s plenty of time to participate for Sweden in the Winter Olympics in Nagano.Naturally, Alfredsson is happy to be back. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to watch when they can&rsquo;t score, but it&rsquo;s just as tough when they&rsquo;re winning,&rdquo; Alfredsson said. &ldquo;The hardest part is getting through the first week because you&rsquo;re so depressed.&ldquo;After that you&rsquo;re working out and it seems like the three weeks went by pretty fast. I was pretty fortunate. It&rsquo;s not like I had a blown knee or anything like that. At least I can come back from this injury.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s no accident with Alfredsson in the lineup the Senators were 10-7-3. Without him they were 9-14-4. He gives Ottawa another legitimate offensive threat, taking pressure off center Alexei Yashin.Speaking of Yashin, Alfredsson, who made his third straight trip to an NHL All-Star Game, was surprised his teammate wasn&rsquo;t selected to join him on the World Team in Vancouver.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m surprised I got chosen and that Yashin&rsquo;s not there,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but if you look at the centers on the (World) team who would you leave off?&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: GM Pierre Gauthier refuses to discuss trade speculation about right winger Alexandre Daigle, but just about everybody else is. Sources told the Ottawa Sun Gauthier was having a tough time finding anybody willing to pick the $4 million remaining on Daigle&rsquo;s contract. But it&rsquo;s believed Dallas and Anaheim still have interest in Daigle&hellip;Goalie Damian Rhodes&rsquo; name has also surfaced in trade talk&hellip;Left winger Magnus Arvedson suffered a shoulder injury after getting nailed by Phoenix right winger Dallas Drake Jan. 11. There was no penalty on the play, but Drake called Ottawa assistant coach Perry Pearn to apologize for the hit. Drake realized after watching the tape he left his feet to make the hit. &#9632;

f0018-03

Alfredsson hopes bad breaks over

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05281/6965467-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="569" height="901"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Gratton</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04422/6965474-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="164" height="164"></div>There&rsquo;s nothing like a seven-game road trip to get a $10-million monkey off your back.Chris Gratton, who was handed hockey&rsquo;s second-highest salary by the Philadelphia Flyers in the off-season, couldn&rsquo;t handle the pressure in the first two months of the season. He scored on opening night, then went 15 games without a goal. Gratton seemed particularly out of sorts in front of his hometown fans at the CoreStates Center.But a three-week-long road trip, Dec. 24 through Jan. 11, was just what the 22-year-old center seemed to need.He settled down and put up four goals and 12 points in seven games. His defensive play took a tum for the better. In short, he started to show why the Flyers were willing to trade away Mikael Renberg and Karl Dykhuis to the Tampa Bay Lightning and pay out $16.5 million over five years, including a $9-million signing bonus.&ldquo;He has gotten comfortable and we felt all along he would come along this way,&rdquo; said coach Wayne Cashman. &ldquo;He has found his niche on the team and we&rsquo;re seeing the Chris Gratton we all thought he would be.&rdquo;Gratton admits the trip was helpful.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always nice to get on the road and get some wins,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice for the team to gel together. At the beginning of the year I was trying to do too much and work too hard. When you do that, it works in reverse. It helps to get away because we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to play well at home.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Chris Therien&rsquo;s 120-foot empty-net goal in the final seconds of a 5-2 win at Tampa Bay was his first goal in 112 games, dating back to October, 1996. Therien was so excited, he skated over and practically jumped into the Flyers&rsquo; bench, Green Bay Packers&rsquo; style. Therien said it was the first empty-net goal in all his years of playing hockey&hellip;GM Bob Clarke on defenseman Paul Coffey&rsquo;s selection to The Hockey News list of Top 50 NHL Players of All-Time: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the best ever. Players like that can&rsquo;t be duplicated.&rdquo; Coffey, 28th on the list, said: &ldquo;Just to be on it, even if I was 50th, it&rsquo;s a great honor.&rdquo;&hellip;Flyers&rsquo; chairman Ed Snider is part of a group seeking to buy the National Football League&rsquo;s Minnesota Vikings. &#9632;

f0018-05

Gratton now road warrior

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06223/6965505-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="165" height="160"></div>Mike Gartner has never won a Stanley Cup or led the league in scoring or won any major awards. But his teammates said it&rsquo;s an injustice Gartner wasn&rsquo;t selected one of the Top 50 NHL Players of All-Time in a vote conducted by The Hockey News.Gartner, the NHL&rsquo;s fifth all-time leading goal-scorer, took the news in stride. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t have any reaction to it,&rdquo; he said, shrugging his shoulders. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not much to say. I&rsquo;m not really too concerned about it one way or the other.&rdquo;Many of Gartner&rsquo;s accomplishments seemingly have gone under-recognized during the 38-year-old&rsquo;s 19-year NHL career. He reached the 700-goal milestone earlier this season and is one of just six players in NHL history to record 600 goals and 600 assists.While some may take him for granted, his teammates certainly don&rsquo;t.&ldquo;Mike is a great player, he has always been a great player and he has accomplished something in this league that many people will never do,&rdquo; said Coyotes&rsquo; captain Keith Tkachuk, who was named as one of six future potential Top 50 players by THN. &ldquo;I just feel fortunate I&rsquo;m part of the same hockey team he is.&rdquo;Right winger Rick Tocchet said Gartner probably would have been among the Top 50 if he owned a Stanley Cup ring. &ldquo;Unfortunately, that&rsquo;s how it is in sports,&rdquo; Tocchet said. &ldquo;Everything changes once you&rsquo;ve won a Stanley Cup.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Jeremy Roenick registered his 700th career point Jan. 14 during a 3-2 win over Florida. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty awesome,&rdquo; Roenick said of the feat. &ldquo;But when somebody says, &lsquo;Wow, 700 points,&rsquo; I&rsquo;m like, &ldquo;Shh, don&rsquo;t say that. Garts (right winger Mike Gartner) has 700 goals.&rsquo; &ldquo;&hellip;Entering the break, goalie Nikolai Kliabibulin was one shutout away from tying Bob Essensa&rsquo;s career franchise record of 14&hellip;Defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky went eight games without a point after agreeing to a new two-year contract before getting an assist and the game-winning goal during a 4-2 win Jan. 9 at Chicago&hellip;In Phoenix&rsquo;s 4-4 tie with Ottawa Jan. 11, the Senators went the entire 65 minutes without getting a penalty. &#9632;

f0018-06

Coyotes surprised Gartner didn’t make THN Top 50 list

<div class="byline">By Mike Dudurich</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011206/6965536-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="159" height="160"></div>The Pittsburgh Penguins got a couple of big Czech marks on the same day in mid-January.Not only did an arbitrator rule center Petr Nedved would not have to clear waivers to return to the NHL, but right winger Jaromir Jagr said he was very close to signing a contract extension.Because Nedved had played four games with Novy Jicin, a third-division team in the Czech Republic, it was initially ruled he&rsquo;d have to go through the waiver process. But arbitrator John Sands determined Nedved, an unsigned free agent, did not violate the spirit of a rule that forbids players from participating in a league outside North America during the regular season.&ldquo;I guess the arbitrator looked at it in terms of fairness instead of what was in black and white,&rdquo; said Penguins&rsquo; GM Craig Patrick. &ldquo;Nedved didn&rsquo;t receive any pay. He was just staying in shape. At best, it&rsquo;s a semi-pro league.&rdquo;With that hurdle out of the way, the only problem left was getting the two sides to agree to a contract. Patrick would like to get Nedved&rsquo;s offense into the lineup and Nedved would like to be playing, but the sides will have to come to some agreement on the nearly $900,000 difference there is in annual salary.Nedved was fourth in scoring on the Penguins last season, collecting 33 goals and 71 points in 74 games.Jagr, meanwhile, said he expected to sign the team&rsquo;s latest offer, a six-year, $48-million bonanza. He made the comments just before heading to Vancouver for the All-Star Game.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s just some very little things that have to be changed, but I feel like I&rsquo;m going to sign it,&rdquo; Jagr said.Penguins&rsquo; officials, who thought they were close to signing Jagr several times previously, were cautiously optimistic.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been riding this thing like a bronco,&rdquo; said co-owner Roger Marino. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been up. I&rsquo;ve been down and now I&rsquo;m up again. I&rsquo;m very optimistic. I&rsquo;m hoping we can come to a resolution in the next couple of days.&ldquo;In the unlikely event we can&rsquo;t come to a conclusion, then what we ought to do is cool our jets for the next six months and take another run at it after everybody&rsquo;s cooled off and we&rsquo;ve won the Cup.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Alexei Morozov recorded an assist in a 5-2 loss to Boston Jan. 14, his first point since getting two assists Dec. 6&hellip;Center Martin Straka. initially expected to miss four-to-six weeks after breaking his foot Dec. 29, was making a remarkable recovery. He had the cast removed Jan. 8 and began skating lightly soon afterward&hellip;Left winger Stu Barnes had a natural hat trick Jan. 10, when he put three pucks past New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur in the second period of a 4-1 win&hellip;Defenseman Jiri Slegr, one of the Penguins&rsquo; best blueliners this season, was a healthy scratch for two games. Coach Kevin Constantine said he wasn&rsquo;t disappointed in Slegr&rsquo;s play, but was looking for more consistency from him. &#9632;

f0019-01

Great news for Jagr, Nedved

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02874/6965567-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="158" height="159"></div>Left winger Geoff Courtnall was having his best season with the St. Louis Blues. And he&rsquo;s in the final year of his contract.But don&rsquo;t bother putting two and two together to suggest his contract status is the driving force behind his success, at least not around Courtnall.&ldquo;Some people are saying that and that makes me so mad,&rdquo; Courtnall said after scoring two goals in the Blues&rsquo; 51 victory over the Calgary Flames Jan. 10. &ldquo;My contract has absolutely nothing to do with it.&rdquo;In fact, he said, his approach this season has been no different than it has been since signing a three-year, $6.6million contract with the Blues in July of 1995.The only difference, he says, relates to the opportunities of the present-his ice time and his linemates. It&rsquo;s not the opportunity of the future, which is becoming an unrestricted free agent.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing with Pierre Turgeon now and I played with Pavol Demitra and Joe Murphy at the start of the season,&rdquo; said the 35-year-old Courtnall. &ldquo;It makes a big difference when you play with those guys. (Coach Joel Quenneville has) been giving me lots of opportunities and lots of confidence. That has been the biggest key.&rdquo;Quenneville also was using Courtnall on the the power play.&ldquo;When Mike (Keenan) was here, I never played (regularly) on the power play,&rdquo; Courtnall said of the Blues&rsquo; former coach-GM. &ldquo;Now, I am. When you&rsquo;re on the power play, you&rsquo;re into the game more. The more ice time you get, the more you&rsquo;re into the game.&rdquo;One of Courtnall&rsquo;s goals against Calgary came on a power play. It was his 17th goal of the season. He later scored his 18th, giving him one more goal in 45 games this season than he scored in 82 last season. He also led the Blues with 37 points in 47 games.At this pace, he&rsquo;d finish with 31 goals and 63 points, which would represent his highest goal total in five years and his highest points total in four years. But he has no delusions of grandeur. He didn&rsquo;t hesitate when asked whether he or injured Brett Hull would end up leading the Blues in scoring.&ldquo;He will,&rdquo; Courtnall said.NOTEBOOK: Two days after being left off the North American team for the All-Star Game, defenseman Al MacInnis was added as a commissioner&rsquo;s choice Jan. 8. Then, four days later, the NHL selected MacInnis as its player of the week for the period ending Jan. 11. Was it coincidence or was the league trying to make up for the initial snub? &ldquo;Well, it is my first (time) as player of the week in 15 years,&rdquo; said MacInnis, who had two goals and four points in three Blues&rsquo; wins&hellip;Wingers Brett Hull (broken hand). Joe Murphy (left wrist surgery) and Tony Twist (sprained right knee) resumed skating before the allstar break, but Murphy probably won&rsquo;t return until after the Olympics&hellip;After winning four consecutive games, the Blues lost their last two games before the break. &#9632;

f0019-02

Bucks not why Courtnail on roll

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011089/6965598-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="159" height="159"></div>San Jose Sharks&rsquo; center Mike Ricci returned to Denver with one objective. He left again feeling better than he might have, but not as good as he wanted.The Sharks skated to a 2-2 tie with the Colorado Avalanche Jan. 15 in Ricci&rsquo;s first visit to McNichols Arena since San Jose acquired him from Colorado Nov. 20. The Sharks failed to come up winners despite outshooting the more talented Avalanche by a whopping 42-16 count.&ldquo;We needed the two points,&rdquo; Ricci said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what my goal was when I came here.&rdquo;Despite generating just one shot himself, Ricci played a strong game. He drew three penalties, all of which set up San Jose power play opportunities.Ricci, who became a Colorado fan favorite in two-plus seasons after the Avalanche relocated from Quebec, received a loud ovation from the sellout crowd of 16,061 when he was introduced as a starter.&ldquo;I had different emotions.&rdquo; said Ricci, a key contributor in Colorado&rsquo;s drive to the 1996 Stanley Cup championship. &ldquo;There are a lot of good feelings here. I just tried to shut it out. It happened so fast. It was probably for the better. We just flew in, practised and now we&rsquo;ll just kind of get out of here.&rdquo;The Sharks, who dropped a 4-2 decision to the Los Angeles Kings one night earlier in San Jose, were in Denver for less than 24 hours.NOTEBOOK: Twice in four games, San Jose established a franchise record for the largest shot advantage. The Sharks outshot Colorado 42-16 in a 2-2 tie Jan. 15, five nights after posting a 42-18 edge in a 5-2 win over visiting Buffalo&hellip;Left winger Jeff Friesen surpassed Pat Falloon as San Jose&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer by bagging both goals in a 4-2 loss to visiting Los Angeles Jan. 14. Friesen added an assist the next night, giving him 164 points, two more than Falloon. Friesen had 76 career goals, tied with Falloon for the modest club record&hellip;Goals from defensemen Marcus Ragnarsson and Marty McSorley in a 2-2 tie at Colorado Jan. 15 gave the Sharks 23 from defensemen this season, one fewer than San Jose received from its blueline corps last season. &#9632;

f0020-01

One point from Colorado not good enough for Ricci

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02735/6965629-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="162" height="159"></div>Going into the all-star break, the Tampa Bay Lightning had played seven times in the New Year, but had not won a game. GM Phil Esposito promised wholesale changes.He wasn&rsquo;t kidding.On Jan. 15, the Lightning made a six-player trade with the Montreal Canadiens in which it acquired former 50-goal scorer Stephane Richer, defenseman David Wilkie and center Darcy Tucker for defenseman Igor Ulanov, left winger Patrick Poulin and tough guy left winger Mick Vukota.One day later, Tampa Bay announced a four-player trade with the Florida Panthers in which it acquired goalie Mark Fitzpatrick and right winger Jody Hull for veteran right winger Dino Ciccarelli and defenseman Jeff Norton. The Lightning also said it would send two players to the minors that day and announced that No. 3 goalie Derek Wilkinson would be one of them.With the changes, Tampa Bay gets someone it hopes can put the puck in the net (Richer), someone who can step in as its top right-side defenseman (Wilkie) and a goalie who is proven as a backup and may press Daren Puppa for the No. 1 job (Fitzpatrick).&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious the big guy in the whole thing is Richer,&rdquo; said Lightning coach Jacques Demers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big right wing, but he doesn&rsquo;t have to come in with all the pressure because (fellow right wingers Mikael) Renberg and Alex (Selivanov) are still there.&rdquo;Said GM Phil Esposito: &ldquo;We hope that this turns it around.&rdquo;It is a big hope.Tampa Bay, the league&rsquo;s lowest-scoring team, was averaging fewer than two goals per game this season. Things were so bad, in fact, the Lightning had scored no more than two goals in 14 straight games before a 6-3 loss to Montreal Jan. 12. And after a 7-1 loss Jan. 14 to the New York Islanders-a team winless in 11 previous games-Tampa&rsquo;s defense was gone too.Demers, hired in November to replace the fired Terry Crisp and interim coach Rick Paterson (still a Lightning assistant), blasted individual players that he refused to identify.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious to me now that certain players on this team can no longer continue playing for us,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;I am not the general manager, but those players will definitely not be here next season.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: GM Phil Esposito was livid after the loss to the Canadiens Jan. 12. &ldquo;They should be embarrassed. But they&rsquo;re not too embarrassed to pick up their paycheck,&rdquo; he said&hellip;On the same day it dealt right winger Dino Ciccarelli and defenseman Jeff Norton to Florida, Tampa Bay fired trainer Denis Brogna&hellip;Team officials denied a Jan. 14 television report saying the team had been sold. Atlanta businessman David Berkman continued to pursue the for-sale franchise&hellip;One night after sitting as a healthy scratch against Philadelphia, right winger Alex Selivanov was on the ice for four goals against in his first shifts against Montreal&hellip;Defenseman Bryan Marchment was minus-5 in a 7-1 loss to the Islanders Jan. 14. &#9632;

f0020-02

Horrid stretch in New Year brings in five new bodies

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03496/6965660-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="159" height="160"></div>Jeff Brown knew coming to Toronto would be difficult, considering the condition of the struggling hockey club. He didn&rsquo;t know, however, that it would become a life-threatening situation.Such was very nearly the case, however, when Brown found himself hospitalized Jan. 9 with a serious blood infection that might have killed him. Now the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to do without the power play specialist at least until after the Winter Olympics and perhaps longer.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a while,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to get this completely out of my body. We&rsquo;re talking about something that nearly killed me.&rdquo;Two weeks before the Jan. 2 trade that brought him to Toronto, Brown suffered a deep slice in his shin just above the ankle when he was cut by an errant Washington Capital skate blade. The wound was treated and stitched up and Brown simply played through the discomfort when he skated in his first three games as a Leaf.After a road game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, however, Brown returned home to practise and later found himself suffering from severe chills and was nearly delusional. He wanted to go home and lay down, but Leaf trainers Chris Broadhurst and Brent Smith noticed the inflammation from the old cut seemed to be tracking up his leg, and sent him to see a team doctor.Falling into shock, he was immediately sent to hospital amid fears he might have contracted the so-called flesh-eating disease.&ldquo;I was terrified,&rdquo; said Brown. &ldquo;For the first time in my life, I thought I was going to die. I probably owe those two guys my life.&rdquo;Doctors performed surgery on the old wound Jan. 9, and ultimately the virus was found to be related to the flesh-eating disease, but of a slightly different strain. Days after the operation, Brown&rsquo;s foot and ankle were still swollen to twice their normal size.NOTEBOOK: After 44 games, the Leafs had lost 157 man-games to injury, up from 134 man-games at the same time last season&hellip;Russian rookie defenseman Daniil Markov was recalled from the minors for a game against Buffalo Jan. 14 when Rob Zettler was bothered with back spasms. Zettler ended up feeling well enough to play, Markov skated in the warmup and was then shipped back to St. John&rsquo;s of the American League&hellip;The Leafs went into the all-star break with the NHL&rsquo;s second-best penalty unit. Conversely, right winger Tie Domi led the league with 203 penalty minutes&hellip;A road loss to the Rangers Jan. 12 left the Leafs without a point in their last seven visits to Madison Square Garden. &#9632;

f0020-03

Leaf trainers likely saved Brown’s life

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02482/6965691-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="310" height="412"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Messier</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01858/6965698-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="159" height="159"></div>When Mark Messier signed with the Vancouver Canucks in July, he knew he wasn&rsquo;t coming to a perfect situation, but he didn&rsquo;t bargain on coming to a last-place team either.The Canucks have exceeded all expectations in their ineptitude, hitting the all-star break last in the Pacific Division, last in the Western Conference, last in goals against, last in penalty killing and second-last in home-ice victories.By mid-January, Messier had some answers.&ldquo;I think a lot of the players here have been used to doing their own thing for so long without any regard for the team concept or what you&rsquo;re trying to do for the team or how you&rsquo;re trying to win,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;Ninety per cent of the players don&rsquo;t want to (make sacrifices) because it&rsquo;s so hard and maybe they don&rsquo;t see themselves in the role that they&rsquo;re playing, or maybe they don&rsquo;t see themselves being played in the right situations, or they don&rsquo;t see themselves being successful individually.&rdquo;Messier also expressed his unhappiness with teammates who went to the media anonymously and leaked information he felt was not for public consumption.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s completely unacceptable, it&rsquo;s completely gutless,&rdquo; Messier said. &ldquo;Everybody in the dressing room should have been pissed off about it because that destroys anything we&rsquo;ve been trying to build and tears it down. Then we&rsquo;re starting from ground zero.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not in a soap opera here,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in an organization that&rsquo;s trying to get it-self back on its feet and trying to do the things you need to win. I was so disgusted that I had to sit down for two days and finally let go. It was a complete betrayal of your teammates.&rdquo;Messier conceded the Canucks might not make the playoffs this season and admitted the team needs &ldquo;complete&rdquo; restructuring.&ldquo;Our long term goal is to win the Stanley Cup and that&rsquo;s not out of our realm of thinking right now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Our short term goal is to continue to improve and focus on the game, not constantly be putting out brush fires, not to be fighting the enemy inside our own dressing room.&rdquo;Messier&rsquo;s disenchantment came around the same time he was reaching two career milestones. He recorded his 1,000th assist in a 2-2 tie with the Florida Panthers Jan. 10, then moved past Phil Esposito into fourth place on the NHL&rsquo;s all-time scoring list (1,591 points) with an assist in a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks Jan. 12.NOTEBOOK: Center Trevor Linden, who has been a target of coach Mike Keenan, said he is prepared for a trade although he denied a report he has requested one. Meanwhile, Linden had gone 12 games without a goal&hellip;Left winger Gino Odjick ignited a brawl during a 6-2 loss to Buffalo Jan. 15 when he ran into Sabres&rsquo; goalie Dominik Hasek. The war continued when Buffalo left winger Matthew Barnaby intentionally bumped, then fought Canucks&rsquo; goalie Sean Burke. Burke also went to-to-toe with Sabres&rsquo; backup Steve Shields, who replaced had Hasek when the Sabres saw the goalie-running was getting out of control&hellip;Burke went 1-5-2 in his first eight Vancouver stalls, while left winger Geoff Sanderson failed to register a goal in eight games despite numerous quality opportunities. The third player in the Jan. 3 trade with Carolina, defenseman Enrico Ciccone, fractured his right tibia and is expected to be out of the lineup until early February. &#9632;

f0021-02

Messier ticked off with attitude, commitment of some teammates

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04200/6965729-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="306" height="412"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dale Hunter</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03277/6965736-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="158" height="158"></div>When Dale Hunter headed toward an NHL career, he knew he wasn&rsquo;t going to make it on the basis of speed (he arrives with the force of a freight train, albeit one going uphill) or size (he&rsquo;s 5-foot-10, 200 pounds) or an ability to score like an established star.Determination and desire to compete were going to have to do.On Jan. 9 against the Philadelphia Flyers, playing in his 1,308th league game 18 years after his first one, the Washington Capitals&rsquo; gritty center recorded his 1,000th career point to go along with his total of 3,408 penalty minutes.Considering that Hunter missed nearly half of one season with an injury and was banished for a quarter of another campaign, the statistics are quite remarkable. He is the only player in league history to have 300 goals and more than 3,000 penalty minutes; the only player in NHL history to have more than 300 goals while never getting 30 in a season (28 was his high in 1991-92).Even more remarkable is the fact Hunter is the only Capital not to have missed a game due to in-jury or any other excuse over the past two-and-a-half seasons, a stretch that had hit 245 consecutive games as of mid-January. And he will be 38 at the end of July.&ldquo;I knew this would come if I stuck around long enough,&rdquo; he laughed after the Capitals beat the Flyers 4-1.The same night ex-Flyer Craig Berube, the left winger on Hunter&rsquo;s checking unit, recorded his first ever three-point night.Hunter&rsquo;s father, Dick, and his older brother, Ron, were in Washington when the center got his historic point, an assist on a Berube goal late in the second period.Consistency has been the hallmark of Hunter&rsquo;s career. He broke into the league with the Quebec Nordiques in 1980-81 and finished his rookie season with 63 points. Over the next 12 campaigns, he finished with fewer than 50 points just twice and has had 100 or more PIM every year of his career.What Hunter is missing is what brothers Dave and Mark already have, Stanley Cup rings. Dave won three Stanley Cups as a member of the Edmonton Oilers during the 1980s while Mark won once with the Calgary Flames in 1989.The sons of a Petrolia, Ont., soybean and cattle farmer, the brothers never played together as a line in the NHL, but had they done so the totals would read (through Jan. 14): 2,684 games, 1,079 goals, 1,043 assists and 5,752 penalty minutes.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Peter Bondra was close to signing a re-negotiated four-year deal believed to be worth $3.15 million per season. He&rsquo;s earning $2.2 million this season&hellip;Club officials said surgery on left winger Chris Simon&rsquo;s right shoulder Jan. 12 was successful. It was performed by Dr. James Tibone at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles. No timetable had been set for his return&hellip;Goalie Olie Kolzig allowed one goal in a 2-0 loss in Detroit Jan. 11, stopping 37 shots in what may have been the best game of his career. He got his fourth career shutout two nights later against Ottawa in a 4-0 win&hellip;That game broke a six-game losing streak against the Senators. Goalie Ron Tugnutt, a one-time Capital farmhand, had allowed just four goals in the six Ottawa wins before giving up three in 23 minutes Jan. 13&hellip;Left winger Andrew Brunette moved to the right side after being recalled Dec. 28 and had eight goals in his first eight games back. &#9632;

f0021-04

Consummate grit player Hunter hits cherished 1,000-point mark

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01988/6965767-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Current Rat, future Devil: Brendan Morrison continues to progress. (Photo by Rob Skeoch/BBS)</figcaption></div>Brendan Morrison came out of the University of Michigan with great fanfare, having led the NCAA in scoring three consecutive seasons because of his wizardry with the puck.When Morrison played his first NHL game for the New Jersey Devils Dec. 4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, he came as advertised, scoring a second period goal against Tom Barrasso in a 4-0 win.Two nights later, the player expected to be a key component of the Devils&rsquo; offense at the turn of the century made his home debut, and New Jersey fans finally had a close-up view.And what does Morrison do? Falls flat on his butt in the warm-up.&ldquo;I was skating around, gazing, having a good time in warm-ups and I stepped right on a puck,&rdquo; Morrison said. &ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s looking at me-teammates, fans-saying, &lsquo;This is the new guy?&rdquo;Soon they&rsquo;ll be saying, this new guy is good.While Morrison has spent nearly all of the season with the American League&rsquo;s Albany River Rats, the 22-year-old center is on schedule on the Devils&rsquo; timeline.&ldquo;We believe strongly in the development process and taking it step by step,&rdquo; said Devils&rsquo; GM Lou Lamoriello. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re high on him, but he&rsquo;s not there yet and it&rsquo;s going to take time. A lot of people can play in (the NHL), but not everyone can win.&rdquo;Morrison is playing in Albany under John Cunniff to learn the Devils&rsquo; trap system, to learn the pro game and to learn to win. So far, he&rsquo;s catching on quickly.A second round draft pick (39th overall) in 1993, Morrison ranked second in team scoring, second in AHL rookie scoring and 13th overall in the league with 18 goals and 43 points in 37 games.Cunniff had seen Morrison only once or twice before this season. That was early in Morrison&rsquo;s collegiate career, long before his overtime goal gave the Wolverines the NCAA title in 1995-96 and before Morrison&rsquo;s career highs of 31 goals and 88 points last season, which earned him the Hobey Baker Trophy as the best player in U.S. college hockey.&ldquo;What you see right away when you watch him is his hockey sense,&rdquo; Cunniff said. &ldquo;There are not a lot of kids coming up like that anymore. We&rsquo;ve lost some of that, maybe by over-coaching the young kids, by trying to make them robots.&ldquo;Brendan has hockey sense and he&rsquo;s a competitive kid. That&rsquo;s something I used to admire about (Wayne) Gretzky. He&rsquo;d find a way to do the job.&rdquo;At 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, Morrison isn&rsquo;t the biggest guy in the game, a game that continually seeks the behemoths. But he doesn&rsquo;t shy away from contact and often is initiating.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t go out there saying, &lsquo;Who am I going to hit?&rsquo; But I don&rsquo;t want to be known as a guy who backs down, either,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you keep running me, you&rsquo;re going to pay a price.&rdquo;Along the boards and probably on the scoreboard. Case in point: In a recent game against the Rochester Americans, 6-foot-2, 205-pound Amerk defenseman Rumun Ndur took a shot at Morrison. About 15 seconds later, Morrison eluded Ndur and, while falling to the ice, set up Sergei Brylin for the game-breaking goal.As Brylin celebrated. Morrison gave Ndur a light whack with the stick and yapped away.&ldquo;I thought he took my legs out earlier on the shift so on the goal I just said, &lsquo;Hey, nice play,&rdquo; Morrison said.&ldquo;People don&rsquo;t always realize that the scorers, the guys who go to the net, they have courage,&rdquo; Cunniff said.Morrison also brings intelligence. His economics degree-completed during his four-year playing career-is proof of smarts. His adaptation to the New Jersey system shows his puck smarts.&ldquo;The coaching staff in Albany helps the guys get on the same page as New Jersey,&rdquo; said Morrison, who grew up in Pitt Meadow, B.C. &ldquo;When I was in college, we played man-to-man defense. This system is more passive and you&rsquo;re keeping guys to the outside.&rdquo;When the AHL season began, Morrison was prepared to play in Albany, knowing that&rsquo;s the Devils&rsquo; way. They rush no one. But Morrison was still worried about adapting and adjusting.&ldquo;The first two games I didn&rsquo;t have a point and for me, that&rsquo;s a long time,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You start to wonder, &lsquo;Am I going to be able to score at this level?&rsquo;&ldquo;There was an adjustment period. You have to figure out what you can do and what you can&rsquo;t do. In college you could carry the puck end to end. Here, guys are on you right away. I don&rsquo;t think the pace is that much quicker than college, but the defense is always rubbing forwards out and any little mistake is magnified.&rdquo;Like stepping on a puck and falling on your rear end in front of 15,000 people. Of course, that&rsquo;s probably not what Devils&rsquo; fans are going to remember Morrison for in the future. &#9632;

f0022-01

Morrison making pact with Devils

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>The American League may play guinea pig for the NHL, with the stretch drive becoming a proving ground for proposed rules changes that would add offense to the game.AHL president Dave Andrews and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman have had initial discussions on the matter, depending on what recommendations are proposed by the NHL rules committee in early February.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have a formal agreement but I&rsquo;ve had discussions with Mr. Bettman,&rdquo; Andrews said. &ldquo;Obviously we would like to help improve the game as long as it isn&rsquo;t detrimental to the development of our players. But at this point we don&rsquo;t know what the NHL would like to do.&rdquo;A number of suggestions have been made as a way to increase scoring, or at least scoring chances. Among the ideas: eliminating the red line, moving the goal line out farther from the end boards and not allowing the goalie to go behind the net to play the puck.The NHL may adopt some rules changes for experimental use in the minor pro leagues for the remainder of the season.Some ideas wouldn&rsquo;t be practical in mid-season, such as moving the goal line out, Andrews said. He and some coaches also are concerned about how rule changes in mid-stream would affect competition.Kentucky Thoroughblades&rsquo; coach Jim Wiley isn&rsquo;t a fan of implementing changes.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like having a car tuned up for the Indy 500, then something happens and you have to get a new car,&rdquo; Wiley said.&ldquo;Maybe they should experiment in the NHL where all the experience is. You&rsquo;d think the best players in the world could adapt to it and be able to handle significant change better.&rdquo;Others believe the AHL should do whatever is necessary.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re here for, to help the game,&rdquo; said Albany River Rats&rsquo; coach John Cunniff. &ldquo;This is entertainment and we have to find a way to be entertaining.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02683/6965798-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="431" height="431"></div>NEW PARENT?: The marriage between the Portland Pirates and Washington Capitals is in jeopardy of ending, perhaps before their contract expires after next season.Portland ownership is seeking to renegotiate the player development contract, in which Washington is paid an AHL-high $54,000 per player assigned to Portland. Most privately owned AHL teams pay up to $35,000 per player.The Pirates believe the price is too steep to be practical, though the partnership has been good on the ice. The Pirates won the 1994 Calder Cup and went to the final in 1996.TOUGH PUNCH: When Tony Tuzzolino of Kentucky punched Allan Egeland of the Adirondack Red Wings in the face in early January, both players were knocked out of commission until mid-February.Egeland sustained a broken orbital bone while Tuzzolino severed a tendon in his right hand.AHL TIDBITS: Worcester IceCats&rsquo; rookie center Michal Handzus had the AHL&rsquo;s first four-goal game, which included the overtime goal in a 6-5 win over the Providence Bruins Jan. 9&hellip;The Hartford Wolf Pack was 10-3-2 with center Derek Armstrong in the lineup, 10-11-5 when he was with parent Ottawa Senators or injured&hellip;Albany River Rats&rsquo; goalie Rich Shuhnistra finally lost an AHL game. He was 9-0-1 until he was outshone by Adirondack&rsquo;s Norm Maracle (49 saves) in a 21 Red Wings&rsquo; win Jan. 9&hellip;Cincinnati Cyclones&rsquo; center Matt Cullen earned player of the week honors for the period ending Jan. 11 by scoring seven goals and 10 points in four games. &#9632;

f0022-02

LEAGUES

NHL rule changes may start in AHL

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>San Antonio Dragons&rsquo; coach-GM Jeff Brubaker continues to trade players like he&rsquo;s an over-zealous member of a hockey pool, but when the Utah Grizzlies attempted to join the party, contract problems doused the deal.The Dragons announced Jan. 8 they had dealt former all-star center Len Barrie to the Grizzlies in exchange for left winger Sean O&rsquo;Brien. The Grizzlies announced the deal the following day, but Barrie did not make it to Las Vegas in time to play for the Grizzlies.Barrie refused to report to Utah until he received a payment he said he was due as a result of a clause in his contract. Barrie said his contract stipulated he would receive a cash payout in the event of a trade. Dragons&rsquo; ownership insisted it had not agreed upon such a deal when signing Barrie, putting the deal on hold.San Antonio designated Barrie for assignment, barring him from playing until the teams can come to an agreement.Utah coach Butch Goring didn&rsquo;t hesitate to deal for Barrie despite a reputation as a divisive force in the dressing room and the fact Barrie had played poorly for San Antonio. In 23 games after returning to San Antonio from Europe, Barrie had just 10 points and was minus-12.&ldquo;First, I don&rsquo;t pay any attention to that kind of stuff,&rdquo; Goring said of Barrie&rsquo;s reputation. &ldquo;I go by how a player reacts when I have him. And he&rsquo;s a very good player. We have pretty good peer pressure on this team and if there is a problem, the guys on this team will generally handle that themselves.&rdquo;Despite the aborted deal, Brubaker managed to pull off two other moves. He dealt left winger Dave Chyzowski, whom he had acquired in a blockbuster trade from the Orlando Solar Bears earlier in the season, to the Kansas City Blades for right winger Brett Cullaton.Then, Brubaker loaned goalie Pokey Reddick, whom he acquired from the Grand Rapids Griffins earlier this year, to the Blades, who were in desperate need after Jon Casey unexpectedly retired. The loan is for the rest of the season.ADMIRALS, BEARS DEAL: Orlando picked up some needed size when it dealt center Kelly Fairchild and defenseman Dave MacIntyre to the Milwaukee Admirals for winger Dave Mackey and defenseman Sean McCann.The 31-year-old Mackey, a 6-foot-3, 205-pounder, gives Orlando the banger up front it was looking tor. Mackey had 134 penalty minutes in 36 games and had more than 200 minutes in each of the last three seasons for the Admirals.PRONOVOST STEPS DOWN: Quebec Rafales&rsquo; coach Jean Pronovost. who gained a reputation among his peers as one of the top coaches in the league, announced his resignation Jan. 14, citing personal reasons.Pronovost was the first coach in Rafales&rsquo; history and led the team to a 41-30-11 mark, which was good for eighth overall in the 1996-97 season. However, the Rafales were struggling at the time of his resignation and were just 15-233 in the Northeast Division.Quebec had the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the seconcf-worst in the league, ahead of only San Antonio.&ldquo;When it comes to personal reasons, it&rsquo;s something you have to respect and support,&rdquo; said Rafales&rsquo; GM Joe Bucchino.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01859/6965829-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="381" height="420"></div>Assistant coaches Scott Gordon and Gaetan Duchesne will serve as the interim coaches. Gordon was interim coach previously when the franchise was in Atlanta prior to moving to Quebec. Gordon, a former goalie with the Quebec Nordiques, coached the Atlanta Knights to a 15-19-6 mark after taking over for John Paris during 1995-96. Duchesne, a 14-year NHL veteran, retired from pro hockey last season.PICARD IN LIMBO: Grand Rapids&rsquo; title hopes suffered a serious blow when left winger Michel Picard, a league MVP candidate, signed an NHL offer sheet with the St. Louis Blues Jan. 3.Griffins&rsquo; GM Bob McNamara said the club would retain IHL rights to Picard, who had no goals and two assists in five games with St. Louis.&ldquo;Michel has been a special player and he had drawn some interest from NHL teams,&rdquo; McNamara said. &ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t totally shocked when this happened, but it still hurts to lose your best player. Obviously, it will create a big hole.&rdquo;I-OPENERS: Cincinnati Cyclones&rsquo; defenseman Jeff Sirkka scored with 0.2 seconds remaining Jan. 9 to give his team a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Lumberjacks&hellip;The player and goalie of the week for the period ending Jan. 11 both came from the Manitoba Moose. Right winger Greg Pankewicz scored two hat tricks while also adding an assist and finishing plus-7 in three games. Rich Parent was goalie of the week, going 3-0-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average. &#9632;

f0025-01

Dragons’ trader Brubaker gets rebuffed in this deal

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>Andy van Hellemond wanted to make sure his message got through: Mess up once and you&rsquo;ll be punished severely. Do it again and you&rsquo;ll really pay the price.Richmond Renegades&rsquo; right winger Dan Fournel was suspended 23 games after slashing Johnstown Chiefs&rsquo; defenseman Eric Hallman twice-once in the legs and again in the neck. The incident happened during an altercation that turned into a bench-clearing brawl with 13 seconds left in a Jan. 2 game, won by Richmond 74.&ldquo;Mr. Foumel first deliberately struck Eric Hallman in his knee/leg area with a forceful, two-handed baseball swing of his stick,&rdquo; said van Hellemond, the league&rsquo;s senior vice-president. &ldquo;Mr. Foumel then immediately proceeded to swing his stick a second time and with a powerful overhead downward swing, making contact in the shoulder/neck area.&rdquo;Van Hellemond had suspended Fournel seven games for crosschecking a Charlotte Checkers&rsquo; player in the head last season during a pre-season game.Foumel said he didn&rsquo;t intend to injure Hallman and acted only after Hallman had punched him in the head and slashed him. The last 13 seconds of the game were not played, as referee Chris Cozzan sent both teams to the dressing room.Van Hellemond also suspended Richmond winger Dave Jesiolowski five games for hitting Johnstown&rsquo;s Dan Harrison in the face from behind. Jesiolowski was fined $250 and the Renegades were fined $250 for Foumel&rsquo;s actions.&ldquo;The East Coast League will not condone or tolerate any player who uses his stick in a reckless and dangerous manner, showing a total lack of concern for the safety of their opponent,&rdquo; van Hellemond said. &ldquo;Incidents of this nature will receive the strongest possible disciplinary action.&rdquo;PERFECT NO MORE: The Birmingham Bulls handed the South Carolina Stingrays their first home loss of the season, beating them 7-2 Jan. 6 at the North Charleston Coliseum.Center Mike Barrie led the Bulls with two goals and an assist. The Stingrays had won their first 12 on home ice.Dating back to last season and including the playoffs, the Stingrays hadn&rsquo;t lost in regulation, going 27-1-2 at home. The only loss during that stretch was a 6-5 playoff loss in double overtime to the Pensacola Ice Pilots in the semifinal last April.South Carolina was attempting to tie the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks&rsquo; league record of 13 home wins to open the season.QUITE A COMEBACK: The Hampton Roads Admirals were trailing Johnstown 3-0 at home with less than two minutes to go Jan. 9, when coach John Brophy pulled goaltender Sebastien Charpentier for an extra attacker.The Admirals scored three times in a span of 1:18 with their net empty-and had another goal disallowed because of a quick whistle. The tying goal by Alexander Kharlamov came with 18 seconds left. The Chiefs, however, prevailed in the shootout to win 4-3.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been in this game for a long time (47 years),&rdquo; Brophy said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ve never seen anything quite like that.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02547/6965860-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="382" height="398"></div>BIG TURNAROUND: After new coach Scott Allen took over for Nick Fotiu Dec. 26, Johnstown went 6-2-1. Included in that run was a four-game winning streak, the longest for the Chiefs since 1992-93.Under Allen, Johnstown achieved the same number of road wins (two) that the team had accomplished in its first 18 trips away from home.COAST LINES: Birmingham center Jamey Hicks was chosen the player of the month for December after posting 11 goals and 24 points in 12 games to help the Bulls go 8-3-1. Hicks had an eightgame goal-scoring streak during that stretch&hellip;The league&rsquo;s goaltender of the month was Doug Bonner of the Louisiana IceGators, a 1995 Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; draft choice who was 6-1-1 with a 2.88 goals-against average and.914 save percentage&hellip;Hampton Roads center Rob Bonneau was named rookie of the month after netting nine goals and 18 points in seven games before being recalled by the Portland Pirates of the American League.The ECHL announced Jan. 12 Dave Berryman, who helped found and turn the Louisiana franchise into one of minor-league hockey&rsquo;s most successful ones, has been hired as a consultant to the league office. Berryman left the IceGators in December&hellip;Roanoke Express GM Pierre Paiement announced he&rsquo;ll be stepping down at the end of the 1997-98 season to pursue other opportunities. Paiement has been with the Express since the club was established in 1993 and Roanoke has had a winning record each year&hellip;The Dayton Bombers announced Jan. 13 GM Stephan Boutin has resigned. Arnold Johnson, the man whom Boutin succeeded, took over the reins again. &#9632;

f0025-02

Renegade stick swinger gets 23-game sentence

<div class="byline">By Brendan Savage</div>Khaled M. Shukairy became the United League&rsquo;s third dual owner Jan. 8 when he purchased the financially strapped Saginaw Lumber Kings from good friend Muhanad Jondy.Shukairy, who also owns the Flint Generals, bought the Lumber Kings after Jondy threatened to fold the club if he couldn&rsquo;t find a buyer. Jondy claims he has lost more than $1 million since he bought the club in November, 1995.&ldquo;The continued operation of the Saginaw team is essential to the league,&rdquo; said Shukairy. &ldquo;The commitment is to keep the team here for this year and the next several seasons.&rdquo;The Lumber Kings, who missed the playoffs last season and fired John Blum as coach Dec. 8, were 14-25-1 and in fourth place in the East Division at the time of the sale.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03355/6965891-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="595" height="306"></div>The club&rsquo;s biggest problem was in the stands, where the average of attendance of 1,854 after 22 home games ranked seventh among the 10 UHL teams.The club will almost certainly adopt some of the same business practices that have made Flint one of the league&rsquo;s most valuable franchises.Flint, which set a league record for victories the past two seasons, won the Colonial Cup in 1996 and led the East with a 24-112 record.The UHL&rsquo;s other dual owners are brothers Dan and Andy Wilhelm, who own the Madison Monsters and Brantford Smoke, and Eric Margenau, who owns the Quad City Mallards and the expansion team that will begin play in St. Charles, Mo., in 19992000.NOTEBOOK: League-leading Quad City didn&rsquo;t suffer when a knee injury sidelined Sergei Zvyagin, last season&rsquo;s league all-star goalie and playoff MVP. Backup Ryan Gelinas went 3-0-0 with a 3.67 goals-against average and.888 save percentage to earn UHL goaltender of the week honors for the period ending Jan. 11&hellip;Center Jason Firth of the Thunder Bay Thunder Cats earned his 100th point in 39 games, putting him on pace for a league-record 189. &#9632;

f0025-03

Generals’ owner conies to rescue of Lumber Kings

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01943/6965922-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="689" height="236"></div>Sarnia Sting owner Robert Ciccarelli said if the system is to blame for the Ontario League&rsquo;s top goal-scorer not being in the All-Star Game, the system should be changed.&ldquo;Max Spiridonov had to be here,&rdquo; Ciccarelli said at the Bell All-Star Cup, won 7-4 by Team East Jan. 13 in North Bay. &ldquo;They were still able to get four players from Ottawa and four from Guelph. The system didn&rsquo;t hurt them.&rdquo;Spiridonov had 41 goals in 42 games for the London Knights.Team West co-GM Dave Mayville of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds said they couldn&rsquo;t add any forwards because eight of the nine spots filled by the fans through three-star voting went to forwards and the remaining four positions were taken by World Junior Championship participants.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying it&rsquo;s the best system, but it&rsquo;s the best we have,&rdquo; Mayville said. &ldquo;Our seven selections were six defensemen and a goalie.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d love to make 20 decisions, but that&rsquo;s the system we have. In some cases it&rsquo;s not a question of who&rsquo;s better, it&rsquo;s who attracted the fans&rsquo; interest (in three-star voting). Our bottom line is to make the fans happy.&rdquo;The Russian-born Spiridonov, who had a rookie-leading 31 goals last season, took the snub in stride. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sad,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everyone on my team knew I should be there. I&rsquo;m going to focus on my game and not look for excuses.&rdquo;Spiridonov was reunited the week earlier with former Central Army minor teammate Evgeny Korolev, acquired from the Peterborough Petes. Both were spirited out of Russia in 1995 and neither has been home to Moscow since, fearing a mandatory two-year army stint.IN THIS CORNER: The OHL realigned into Eastern and Western Conferences with two divisions in each for next season, making room for Brampton and the Mississauga Ice Dogs. The league will have 20 teams next season.Teams will play an unbalanced 68-game schedule. The top eight in each conference make the playoffs, following the NHL format.The Eastern Conference will have in the East Division: Belleville Bulls, Kingston Frontenacs, Oshawa Generals, Ottawa 67&rsquo;s and Peterborough; and in the Central Division: Barrie Colts, Missis-sauga, North Bay Centennials, Sudbury Wolves and Toronto St. Michael&rsquo;s Majors.The Western Conference will have in the West Division: London, Plymouth Whalers, Sarnia, Sault Ste. Marie and Windsor Spitfires; and in the Midwest Division: Brampton, Erie Otters, Guelph Storm, Kitchener Rangers and Owen Sound Platers.HE SCORES: Ron Vogel of Windsor became the first OHL goalie to score since Fred Brathwaite of the Detroit Jr. Wings scored against London in the 1993 playoffs. Vogel scored into an empty Sarnia net Jan. 9 in Sarnia.The Sting, down a goal, pulled Greg Hewitt for a sixth attacker, but the play was stopped by linesman Steve Baker for premature substitution. After the faceoff, the Sting tried again and again play was stopped by Baker.The third time, Hewitt reached the bench, but coach Mark Hunter held back the sixth skater while berating the official and asking in a patronizing manner whether it was all right to make the change. While Hunter jawed, Vogel shot the puck into the net. He&rsquo;s the fifth OHL goalie to score and ninth in Canadian Hockey League history.NOTEBOOK: Belleville left winger Daniel Cleary did not show up for his scheduled court appearance for drunk driving Jan. 15 and will be given a future court date. Cleary, 19, was charged with the offense Jan. 11, just hours after leading Belleville to a 3-1 win over Plymouth. &ldquo;I just want people to not look at me as some kind of imbecile or criminal,&rdquo; said Cleary, who was drafted 13th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1997 entry draft. &ldquo;I know I made a mistake and everyone can learn from this. Especially me.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-01

Spiridonov’s goals not good enough for All-Star Game

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>Fans of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies got a shock Jan. 9 when Gaston Therrien announced he was resigning as coach-GM of the team.Therrien&rsquo;s decision came a day after the Huskies fired team consultant Georges Marien for what co-owners Dave Morin and Sylvain Danis said were budget reasons. Marien helped Therrien in a number of ways, including scouting and administrative work.&ldquo;When I was hired, he was the one person I wanted to come with me,&rdquo; said Therrien, who took over a Huskies team that finished with a dismal 16-49-5 record last season and quickly turned them into winners, posting a 26-14-3 record before his resignation. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve known him for 15 years&hellip;he&rsquo;s an honest man with a good reputation in hockey. I couldn&rsquo;t accept their decision to fire him.&ldquo;I wanted to finish the year. We had a good team that was motivated and worked hard. But like I said, after that I couldn&rsquo;t continue with the team.&rdquo;Therrien said it was an emotional scene in the dressing room when he informed the players of his decision.&ldquo;They came to see me and said: &lsquo;We don&rsquo;t want you to leave. We want to play for you.&rsquo; But they said they respect my decision 100 per cent.&rdquo;Therrien, 37, was fired by the Rimouski Oceanic at the end of last season because of a conflict with GM Maurice Tanguay. Despite two short stints, Therrien is confident he&rsquo;ll find another coaching job.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m certain that Gaston Therrien will bounce back,&rdquo; he said.Rumors have started that Jean Pronovost, who recently resigned as coach of the International League&rsquo;s Quebec Rafales, will be hired by the Huskies. In the meantime, assistant coach Pierre Vachon was running the team.GAMBLE PAYS OFF: Rimouski rolled the dice Dec. 17 when it acquired the rights to 20-year-old right winger Alexandre Jacques from the Shawmigan Cataractes tor a fifth round selection at this year&rsquo;s midget draft.Jacques, a sixth round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 1996 (162nd overall), was splitting the season between the Adirondack Red Wings of the American League and the Toledo Storm of the East Coast League. But on Jan. 7, the Red Wings decided to return Jacques, who had 41 goals and 101 points in 70 games last season with Shawinigan, to the junior ranks, meaning that the Oceanic got their man.As part of the deal, the Oceanic had to upgrade the draft pick from a fifth-rounder to a second-rounder when Jacques was returned, but Rimouski GM Maurice Tanguay wasn&rsquo;t complaining.&ldquo;Giving up a second round pick to obtain the services of Alexandre Jacques isn&rsquo;t expensive,&rdquo; Tanguay told the Journal de Montreal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02627/6965953-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="570" height="283"></div>ALL-STAR COACHES: Guy Chouinard of the Quebec Remparts and Denis Francoeur of the Shawinigan Cataractes were voted by their peers to be the coaches for the Quebec League All-Star Game, to be played Jan. 28 at the Molson Centre in Montreal.Chouinard, who had a 449-289-40 career record during 12 seasons in the QMJHL, will coach the Dilio Division team, while Francoeur, who had a 66-38-11 record during three seasons, will lead the Lebel Division.The all-star players were to be named Jan. 20.50-GOAL MAN: Mathieu Benoit of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens scored two goals in a 95 loss to the Val d&rsquo;Or Foreurs Jan. 11 to become the first QMJHL player to reach the 50-goal plateau, taking 46 games to accomplish the feat.Benoit, the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; seventh round pick at last year&rsquo;s NHL entry draft, also led the league in scoring with 95 points and had 14 more goals than the league&rsquo;s second-best sniper, Rouyn-Noranda rookie Mike Ribeiro. Only nine of Benoit&rsquo;s goals came on the power play and he was a plus-25.Prior to this season, Benoit had scored only 51 goals in 126 games in the QMJHL. &#9632;

f0026-02

Therrien quits Huskies after sidekick gets boot

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Mike Hurley was enjoying an outstanding season, individually speaking. From a team perspective, things couldn&rsquo;t be much worse.Hurley was excelling for the Tri-City Americans, who started the Western League season with a 13-30-3 record.Over those 45 games, Hurley had 40 goals. Only Sergei Varlamov of the Swift Current Broncos, with 44 goals, had more.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I can find enough words to describe how well Mike Hurley has played,&rdquo; said Americans&rsquo; coach Rick Lanz. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a 20-year-old playing for a struggling team, but he puts himself on the line every night for the club.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know where we&rsquo;d be without him. This kid deserves to play in the pros.&rdquo;The right winger has yet to sign with the NHL&rsquo;s Dallas Stars, who picked him 90th overall in the NHL&rsquo;s 1996 entry draft.&ldquo;Mike got off to a good start and it&rsquo;s a wave he has been riding,&rdquo; Lanz said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it has anything to do with anything other than sheer determination to be the best he can be and help the club.&ldquo;He puts the team before himself and he&rsquo;s a quality guy. We have a young team and the kind of leadership he provides is something you don&rsquo;t find very often.&rdquo;Goal-scoring is nothing new to the Sherwood Park, Alta., native. He had 32 and 36 goals the previous two seasons. This season, he has ascended to a new plateau.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a combination of things,&rdquo; Hurley explained. &ldquo;I play a lot and I&rsquo;m out there on the power play. I play with good players-Dylan Gyori and Scott Gomez-and that helps.&rdquo;WELCOME BACK: Shane Willis had hoped to spend this season with the Hurricanes-but in Carolina, not Lethbridge.But when the 20-year-old right winger was unable to reach a contract agreement with the NHL&rsquo;s Carolina Hurricanes, he returned to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.The WHL&rsquo;s Hurricanes are delighted to have him.Willis-a 56-goal man last season-had 69 points, including 33 goals, in 42 games.&ldquo;You never want to think that you&rsquo;re not going to come back,&rdquo; Willis said. &ldquo;I thought I&rsquo;d get a contract, play in the minors and maybe play a couple of games in the NHL.&rdquo;Carolina picked Willis 88th overall in the 1997 draft. He re-entered the draft after being unable to reach an agreement with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which picked him 56th in 1995.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t regret going back into the draft,&rdquo; Willis said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing I can do about that now. I want to look to the future.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03500/6965984-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="361" height="361"></div>WEATHER WOES: The Portland Winter Hawks had to reschedule a Jan. 11 game against the Kamloops Blazers-twice.The game was originally postponed until Jan. 12 because of freezing rain in Portland, which prevented the officiating crew from arriving.The treacherous conditions did not abate, forcing the game to again be rescheduled due to concerns about the safety of motorists. The contest will now be played Jan. 25.INJURY REPLACEMENTS: Injuries forced two players to miss the Jan. 21 WHL AllStar Game in Regina.Red Deer Rebels&rsquo; defenseman Jesse Wallin had to skip the contest due to a broken foot, sustained at the World Junior Championship. Wallin, who is expected to return by mid-February, was replaced by Calgary Hitmen defenseman Ryan Shannon.Seattle Thunderbirds&rsquo; right winger Mark Parrish missed the All-Star Game with a broken thumb which was expected to sideline him for the rest of January. Parrish was replaced by another Seattle right winger, Brett DeCecco.NOTEBOOK: The Prince Albert Raiders suffered their 16th consecutive home-ice defeat Jan. 13 when the Spokane Chiefs won 5-3&hellip;As of mid-January, Calgary boasted 10 consecutive road victories. The WHL record of 12 was set by Portland in 1980-81. &#9632;

f0026-03

Hurley trying his hardest to get Tri-City on course

<div class="byline">By Chris Miller</div>There was a handful of strong contenders for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association scoring title when the season began. Craig Anderson was not among them.Yet at the halfway point of the WCHA season, the Wisconsin junior was threatening to become just the third defenseman in history to lead the league in scoring. He had four goals and 20 points in 14 games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really surprised I have that many points,&rdquo; Anderson said. &ldquo;That may seem a little cocky, but last year I was really disappointed that, for as much as I played, I didn&rsquo;t do too much.&rdquo;Anderson had only 11 points in 34 games as a sophomore. The 22-year-old native of Brooklyn Park, Minn., was red-shirted his first season at Wisconsin and played in just 15 games in 1995-96.&ldquo;Being red-shirted was the best thing for me,&rdquo; Anderson said. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to play at this level in my first year. But my confidence level has gradually gotten higher and higher.&rdquo;Anderson, who was selected 208th overall by the New York Rangers in 1994, is one of the major reasons the Badgers were challenging for the WCHA title.The only other defensemen who have won the WCHA scoring title were from Minnesota: Lou Nanne in 1963 and Mike Crowley, who tied Colorado College&rsquo;s Brian Swanson last season.OUNCE OF PREVENTION?: St. Cloud State defenseman Aaron Dwyer had a flu shot before the season began and it has kept him from getting the flu.It will also keep him from playing in his freshman year. Shortly after getting the shot, Dwyer complained of a nagging pain in a shoulder. Doctors eventually determined the flu shot had tem-porarily damaged a nerve, leaving Dwyer unable to compete. It&rsquo;s hoped he&rsquo;ll be at full strength by next season. The Huskies also lost freshman defenseman Chris Zaleski for the season after he suffered his second serious concussion.SCARY MOMENT: A crowd of more than 8,000 at Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wise., went deathly silent Jan. 9 when Badger winger T.R. Moreau went face-first into the glass during a routine collision and lay motionless on the ice for several minutes during a 2-2 tie with Minnesota-Duluth.Medical personnel worked to strap the sophomore, who was lying face-down, to a board and immobilize him on a stretcher. The incident drew eerie parallels to the case of Boston University&rsquo;s Travis Roy, who was paralyzed in a similar incident in October, 1995-especially when Moreau&rsquo;s parents were called to the ice.Fortunately Moreau, who had scored the game&rsquo;s first goal, regained consciousness and returned to the rink before the game ended, suffering from a concussion. &#9632;

Badger rearguard looks to reach ratified heights

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div>While most of the attention at Michigan has been focused on the undefeated football team and Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson, Wolverines&rsquo; goalie Marty Turco has demanded a few beams for himself.That&rsquo;s because Jan. 9, Turco set the NCAA record for most career wins by a goalie with his 112th when Michigan defeated Bowling Green 4-2. A 1994 draft selection of the Dallas Stars, Turco was tied at 111 with Steve Shields, who preceded him in the Wolverine crease (19901994). Shields is with the Buffalo Sabres.&ldquo;Having the most wins is self gratifying when I consider where I&rsquo;ve come from and what it has made me today,&rdquo; said Turco, a senior from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s more thrilling for the program. A lot of good players have been in front of me.&rdquo;One of those players is Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; rookie Mike Knuble, who played at Michigan for Shields&rsquo; last three seasons and Turco&rsquo;s first.&ldquo;Marty has cat-like reflexes. He&rsquo;s quick,&rdquo; Knuble said. &ldquo;Every summer, I skate with him and it seems he&rsquo;s getting better all of the time.&rdquo;Turco&rsquo;s teammate and fellow senior Bill Muckalt, who scored three goals in the record win, gave Turco a salute.&ldquo;One thing I like about playing in front of Marty is you know he&rsquo;s going to find a way to win,&rdquo; Muckalt said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve played in front of some goalies where you cross your fingers.&rdquo;The top 10 NCAA goalie win list now reads like this: 1. Turco 113; 2. Shields 111; 3. Gary Kruzich, Bowling Green (1983-87) 88; 4. Jason Muzzatti, Michigan State (1987-91) 83; 5. Ron Grahame, Denver (1969-73) 82; 6. Bill Pye, Northern Michigan (1987-91) and Tim Thomas, Vermont (1993-97) 81; 8. Duane Derksen, Wisconsin (1988-1992) 80; 9. Ken Dryden, Cornell (1966-69) and Norm Foster, Michigan State (1983-87) 76.IT&rsquo;S ALL RELATIVE: Michigan has four sons of former NHL players or coaches.Junior left winger Greg Crozier is the son of former Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; coach Joe Crozier and the nephew of former NHL goalie Roger Crozier. Sophomore defenseman Kevin Magnuson is the son of former Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; defenseman Keith Magnuson.Sophomore center Andrew Merrick is the son of former NHL winger Wayne Merrick. Defenseman Bob Gassoff is the son of the exSt. Louis Blues&rsquo; defenseman of the same name.HUGE HUGO: Ohio State sophomore center Hugo Boisvert was offensive player of the week Jan. 10. The native of St-Eustache, Que., had five goals and an assist in wins over Lake Superior State and Ferris State&hellip;The defensive player of the week was Michigan State senior goalie Chad Alban. The native of Kalamazoo, Mich., stopped 49 of 51 shots in a 1-1 tie and 61 win against Northern Michigan. &#9632;

Turco surpasses Shields, plus rest of NCAA class

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggle</div>In his three years at Colgate, Jed Whitchurch has traveled to a lot of places he had never been before. The sights he has seen for the first time now include the inside of a penalty box.Whitchurch, a junior center from St. Thomas, Ont., had one of the most incredible streaks in the Eastern College Athletic Conference broken when he picked up his first penalty of the year Dec. 22 against Princeton.Until that game, Whitchurch had played a streak of 118 straight games without a penalty. The streak included his final year of junior hockey, as he didn&rsquo;t pick up a penalty during 1994-95, when he played for the Alymer Aces of the Western Ontario Jr. B League.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny because the penalty he got was an odd one,&rdquo; said Colgate coach Don Vaughn. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he did anything. There was a skirmish after the play and they took two guys for hitting after the whistle. He was one of them.&rdquo;It must be a good year for bizarre statistics, because Whitchurch&rsquo;s scoring line is almost as weird as his streak without a penalty.He has been among the ECAC overall scoring leaders all year long, but in mid-January, he had yet to score a goal in a league game. His point total consisted of 17 assists.There was never any doubt that Whitchurch could score. During his final year in junior, he had 64 goals and 138 points in 50 games and was player of the year in his league.&ldquo;I wish he&rsquo;d shoot a little more,&rdquo; Vaughn said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very good at creating space for himself and he sees the ice very well, so he has a habit of finding the open man.&rdquo;The man most benefiting from Whitchurch&rsquo;s unselfishness was senior Dru Burgess. Through 18 games, he had 16 goals.MONO MAN: Harvard got bad news when sophomore goalie J.R. Prestifilippo came down with mononucleosis after Christmas.Prestifilippo had played every minute of Harvard&rsquo;s 13 games and started 31 of 32 last year.Freshman Oliver Jonas was elevated to the No. 1 spot, with sophomore Mike Ginal the backup. Ginal has an artificial leg.NOTEBOOK: Two more players have left the ECAC. Simon Trembley, a junior defensemen, left Vermont to play in the Quebec League. Trembley had a goal and two assists in 12 games. Clarkson junior winger Guillaume Bes- se was suspended for academic reasons and did not return after the Christmas break&hellip;Dartmouth pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year when the 12th-place Big Green upset league leader Yale 4-3 Jan 10. Dartmouth captain Jeremiah Buckley scored the winning goal with 1:29 left to play&hellip;Colgate senior goalie Dan Brenzavich became the winningest goalie in school history when he picked up his 52nd win in a 10-7 non-conference victory over Merrimack Jan. 10. &#9632;

Red Raiders’ gentleman finally gets trip to sin bin

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>Maine coach Shawn Walsh calls him the &ldquo;best offensive defenseman in this league since Brian Leetch (at Boston College in 1986-87).&rdquo;New York Islanders&rsquo; scout Jim Madigan said he is &ldquo;a very highly skilled player.&rdquo;Walsh and Madigan were referring to Boston University sophomore Tom Poti, who had four goals and a team-high 17 assists overall through his nationally ranked team&rsquo;s first 18 games. Poti had 21 points in 38 games a year ago en route to a berth on the Hockey East all-Rookie team.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy with the way things have gone so far,&rdquo; Poti said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been playing with a lot more confidence. Coach (Jack) Parker has given me more opportunities to rush the puck.&rdquo;Poti worked out religiously over the summer and the result is an additional 20-25 pounds which has paid dividends. He worked out four days a week with highly-regarded BU strength and conditioning coach Mike Boyle, who is also a consultant with the Boston Bruins.&ldquo;It made me faster because my legs have gotten so much stronger,&rdquo; said Poti, a third round draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 1996, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 207 pounds.Just because Poti was getting more involved in the offense didn&rsquo;t mean he was neglecting the defensive aspect of the game. Far from it.He led the 13-3-2 Terriers in plus-minus at plus-13 to go along with four goals and 21 points.Poti had the opportunity to play in the national championship game a year ago, a 6-4 loss to North Dakota, and called it a &ldquo;great experience.&ldquo;But losing has given us added incentive this year,&rdquo; Poti said.POWERFUL ATTACK: Merrimack has turned its power play around dramatically this season, operating at a 28.9 per cent clip, which was among the best in the nation.Last season, the Merrimack power play operated at a woeful 16.1 per cent.&ldquo;Coach (Ron Anderson) went back to putting the top five scorers on one unit and if you do that, things are going to happen,&rdquo; said center Rejean Stringer. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve never really had a good power play at Merrimack. This has been a big bonus for us.&rdquo;Center Martin Laroche said, &ldquo;The three forwards (Stringer, Laroche and Kris Porter) have been getting open; (Darrel) Scoville has a bomb from the point and (Casey) Kesselring is pretty smart and handles the puck well.&rdquo;EVEN KEEL: Talk about parity. Hockey East was defining the word this season.Through Jan. 15, the league&rsquo;s top seven teams were separated by just two points, including a four-way tie for first place.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s wild,&rdquo; said New Hampshire coach Dick Umile. &ldquo;We all felt it was going to be an interesting year. The lower bracket teams have improved and the top bracket teams have stayed (the same).&rdquo; &#9632;

Poti’s training pays off for Boston University

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01827/6966163-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01936/6966156-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="3123" height="3535"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by H. Dirocco/BBS)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01863/6966149-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="3143" height="3539"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01927/6966142-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="3082" height="3658"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Claus Andersen/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01838/6966194-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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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>THURSDAY, JAN. 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02569/6966379-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="496" height="2100"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03425/6966372-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="497" height="2493"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04330/6966365-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="501" height="2491"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05276/6966358-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="485" height="382"></div><h2>FRIDAY, JAN. 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06240/6966351-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="491" height="2034"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-07218/6966344-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="492" height="2486"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-08180/6966337-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="494" height="2487"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01938/6966330-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="481" height="132"></div><h2>SATURDAY, JAN. 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02651/6966323-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="503" height="3278"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03511/6966316-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="496" height="3477"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04397/6966309-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="490" height="2279"></div><h2>SUNDAY, JAN. 11</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05322/6966302-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="485" height="1132"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06286/6966295-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="498" height="3473"></div><h2>MONDAY, JAN. 12</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07262/6966288-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="497" height="3402"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08240/6966281-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="490" height="3477"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01888/6966274-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="514" height="3506"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02635/6966267-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="499" height="506"></div><h2>TUESDAY, JAN. 13</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03517/6966260-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="499" height="971"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, JAN. 14</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04413/6966253-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="508" height="1889"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05347/6966246-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="520" height="3501"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06315/6966239-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="520" height="3496"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07291/6966232-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="517" height="3502"></div><h2>THURSDAY, JAN. 15</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08260/6966225-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="519" height="3425"></div> &#9632;

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NHL SUMMARIES

NHL ROSTERS AND TRANSACTIONS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01845/6966434-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="998" height="3447"></div> &#9632;

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UNDER-17 TOURNAMENT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01759/6966465-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"></div>(OT) denotes overtime gameTeam affiliations are listed in parentheses under names &#9632;

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01823/6966496-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"></div>Team affiliations are listed in parentheses under names(OT) denotes overtime game &#9632;

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