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February 6, 1998

February 6, 1998

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.

NHL TEAMS

No guarantee veteran defenseman Lumme will be with team next year

While trade speculation centers on Vancouver Canucks’ forward Trevor Linden, another of the team’s mainstays could be heading out of town even sooner. Defenseman Jyrki Lumme, who joined Vancouver late in the 1989-90 season, will become an unrestricted free agent July 1 and he hinted strongly he won’t be resigning with the floundering Canucks. “Vancouver is a great place, I like it here, my wife (Minna) likes it here and I have a lot of friends here,” said Lumme, 31. “But the bottom line is you want to be on a winner and if you’re winning, life is good and it doesn’t matter where you are.” Lumme is the highest goal-scoring defenseman in franchise history and is second among pointgetters behind Dennis Kearns. Following the Canucks’ 6-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes Jan. 21,…

NHL TEAMS

Sens taking Flyers on scoring duo

Ottawa Senators’ GM Pierre Gauthier decided one way to get scoring help was to get rid of a guy who couldn’t score. But if the Senators’ Jan. 17 deal to send right winger Alexandre Daigle to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for right winger Pat Falloon, injured center Vincent Prospal and a second round pick is going to be a success, then the newcomers have to score. “I don’t think you have to be a brain surgeon to know that we needed scoring,” Gauthier said. “Falloon is a sniper. He has a good shot and he can put the puck in the net. Prospal would have been my choice for rookie of the year (before he got hurt).” One of the lowest-scoring teams in the league, the Senators had been searching for a…

IN THIS ISSUE

CANADIAN LEAGUE

FEATURES

World-class shinny

VANCOUVER–The temptation would be to say grit won out over skill, but that would be lying. No matter what changes the NHL institutes to its All-Star Game format-this year, for the first time, it was North America versus the World-it remains a non-hitting game of shinny. And in the case of this year’s tilt, a fairly entertaining one at that. A goal by Mark Messier, who celebrated his 37th birthday with dramatic flair, proved to be the winner as the North American side edged the World team 8-7 Jan. 18. Messier took a slick pass through a crowd from old pal Wayne Gretzky and roofed a backhand shot over the shoulder of goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. The goat on the play was ex-Gretzky and Messier teammate Jari Kurri who messed up in his…