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.

February 13, 1998

The Hockey News February 13, 1998

<div class="image-hero"><img title="th027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th027-01/6961308-1-eng-US/th027-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div>International hockey and Olympic officials met Feb. 1 in Japan to figure out a plan to prevent the medal round from turning into a &ldquo;messy embarrassment&rdquo; over the International Olympic Committee&rsquo;s doping regulations.Under IOC rules, if a player tests positive, his team would forfeit the game. That would mean the losing team would be declared the winner, but by the time the drug tests become available, those players could be back home.&ldquo;What are they going to do, turn the 747 around, if a guy on the winning team tests positive?&rdquo; said Dave Fitzpatrick, a Canadian who works for the International Ice Hockey Federation.As it stands now, players on teams not qualifying for the medal round leave Japan the day after they are eliminated.Fitzpatrick said there&rsquo;s a better than average chance players on the team which would benefit from a forfeit would be half way across the Pacific Ocean by the time the drug test came back.&ldquo;The NHL players are supposed to head back the day after they lose,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As it is, NHL people will be scrambling to get them out of Japan. But once they are gone, I doubt very much they are coming back.&rdquo;Fitzpatrick added there&rsquo;s potential in the Feb. 18 quarterfinals of having the four winning teams declared losers because players tested positive for a banned substance such as an ingredient in Sudafed, a nonprescription drug commonly used by some NHL players (See pg. 5 for Bob McKenzie column.) But the teams that lost those games wouldn&rsquo;t be on hand to play the semifinals two days later.&ldquo;We told the IOC about this. There is potential for a huge mess, a huge bloody mess,&rdquo; Fitzpatrick said. &ldquo;What about television? How about the people who paid to see the games? Tough luck.&rdquo;Under IIHF rules, the player who tested positive would be barred from further competition, but the team would continue to play, a much lighter penalty than the IOC regulations.&ldquo;We asked them to use our rules, but they said the Olympics are run by IOC rules,&rdquo; Fitzpatrick said. &ldquo;They have a tougher policy and we are ready to accept that. But they have to accept the consequences.&rdquo; &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

Doping rule may haunt medal round

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th008-022/6961787-1-eng-US/th008-022.jpg" title="th008-02" width="585" height="908"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tomas Sandstrom</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th008-012/6961794-1-eng-US/th008-012.jpg" title="th008-01" width="160" height="158"></div>Mighty Ducks of Anaheim winger Tomas Sandstrom quietly became the highest scoring Swede in NHL history. The milestone went virtually unnoticed.&ldquo;One reporter called me at home,&rdquo; Sandstrom said. &ldquo;That was it. I didn&rsquo;t even know.&rdquo;Sandstrom accomplished the feat Dec. 30 against the Carolina Hurricanes when he assisted on a goal by Teemu Selanne. With his 818th point, Sandstrom passed Thomas Steen, who retired in 1995 with 817 points during 14 seasons with the Winnipeg Jets.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a big deal,&rdquo; said Sandstrom, who actually was bom in Finland, but moved to Sweden at four and became a citizen at about 12. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve played 900 games. I didn&rsquo;t even know who held the record.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m happy to be playing in the NHL for 14 years. I&rsquo;ve played with some good players (including Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky) and I&rsquo;ve been lucky. I haven&rsquo;t had any really bad knee injuries.&rdquo;Sandstrom, 34, knows his career is nearing the end and he won&rsquo;t hold the distinction long.&ldquo;(Peter) Forsberg and (Mats) Sundin will break it by a lot,&rdquo; he said.As of Jan. 28, Toronto Maple Leaf captain Sundin already had 606 points in his eighth season. Colorado Avalanche star Forsberg had 301 points in his fourth season.For Sandstrom, this season has been disappointing. The Ducks were hoping he would become the second-line scorer the team has never had and signed him as a free agent last summer for $1.4 million. He basically took the spot of Jari Kurri.But in 53 games, Sandstrom had produced only six goals and 13 points and was minus-20. His ice time had dwindled to about 12 to 15 minutes a game.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to play hard and hopefully turn things around,&rdquo; Sandstrom said. &ldquo;When things go bad, you don&rsquo;t get any lucky bounces. I&rsquo;m trying to work hard and go to the net and go for rebounds.&rdquo;Coach Pierre Page&rsquo;s take? &ldquo;I think once we stabilize our center position, he&rsquo;ll (be more productive). In the meantime, he just has to be good defensively and keep working. We just have to figure something out at center.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: As of Jan. 28, the Ducks&rsquo; power play was second-worst in the NHL at 11.2 per cent &ldquo;I get asked all the time about why our power play isn&rsquo;t working,&rdquo; said coach Pierre Page. &ldquo;How come if you&rsquo;ve got (Dmitri) Mironov, who&rsquo;s the 10th best defenseman in scoring in the league, and you have (left winger Paul) Kariya and (right winger Teemu) Selanne? Well, they&rsquo;re not gritty. When they don&rsquo;t play gritty, they&rsquo;re brutal just like everyone else. When they do, they look good.&rdquo; Only seven of Selanne&rsquo;s 37 goals had come on the power play&hellip;Kariya, a two-time Lady Byng winner who had six penalty minutes all of last season, received 17 penalty minutes in one game against Calgary, including his first-ever major for spearing right winger Ed Ward in the groin. &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Sandstrom top Swede

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th016-03/6960792-1-eng-US/th016-032.jpg" title="th016-03" width="354" height="361"></div>Sergei Varlamov scored 50 in a jiffy.The Swift Current Broncos&rsquo; sniper hit the 50-goal mark in his 50th game of the Western League season. Back-to-back two-goal games allowed the 19-year-old right winger to enjoy the 50-in-50 distinction.In the process, Varlamov increased his league-leading points total to 91. He was 12 points ahead of his closest pursuer, Shane Willis of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.&ldquo;I really didn&rsquo;t expect to be first-maybe in the top five,&rdquo; Varlamov said. &ldquo;There are some great players in this league. I&rsquo;m really happy. It&rsquo;s nice being first. Now I&rsquo;ll try to stay there.&rdquo;Varlamov, a native of Kiev, Ukraine, had 85 points-including 46 goals-in 72 games last season. Before the 1996-97 season, Varlamov signed an NHL contract with the Calgary Flames as an undrafted free agent.&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t think about the NHL right now,&rdquo; Varlamov said. &ldquo;I just try to play my game.&rdquo;To what does Varlamov attribute his success this season?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I can say it&rsquo;s because of me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s just the team playing well and I&rsquo;m the lucky one who gets all the breaks and all the goals. You never know.&rdquo;Varlamov helped the Broncos lead the East Division with a 32-13-5 record after 50 games.&ldquo;Sergei was a very productive player last year,&rdquo; said Broncos&rsquo; coach-GM Todd McLellan. &ldquo;This year, we don&rsquo;t have as much depth as we used to, so he finds himself in more situations than he once did. When he gets the chances, he makes the most of them. He has been a tremendous player for us.&rdquo;FRANTIC FRIDAY: Some notable players changed teams on Jan. 23 the trading deadline.The Saskatoon Blades unloaded 19-year-old defenseman Cory Sarich and goalie Matt Cockell, 18. Sarich-the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; second-round draft pick in 1996&mdash;is a two-time member of Canada&rsquo;s World Junior Championship team.In return for Sarich and Cockell, the Seattle Thunderbirds surrendered goalie Jeff Blair, 19, center Tyler Shybunka, 18, and a second round pick in the WHL&rsquo;s 1998 bantam draft.Seattle had acquired Shybunka and defenseman Jeff Beatch, 16, from Swift Current for center Jeremy Reich, 18, and defenseman Chris Sotiropoulos, 18. The Chicago Blackhawks selected Reich in the second round of the 1997 draft.The Portland Winter Hawks bolstered their offense by acquiring right winger Mike Hurley, 20, from the Tri-City Americans. Hurley had 40 goals in 49 games with Tri-City.Hurley accompanied center Dean Beuker, 16, and defenseman Colin Taylor, 17, en route to Portland. The Americans received winger Bobby Duncan, 18, and left winger Tim Prusko, 17. Duncan had two goals in his first game with Tri-City.In another deal of significance, Saskatoon shipped right winger Greg Phillips. 19, and a fifth round 1999 bantam pick to the Brandon Wheat Kings.Phillips, who had 24 goals in 47 games with Saskatoon, was the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; third round draft selection in 1996.Brandon gave up left wingers Bobby Leavins, 18, Bevin Guenther, 17, and Chet Camrud, 16, along with 16-year-old defenseman Nathan Kerbes and a fourth-rounder in 1999.As the deadline neared, the Medicine Hat Tigers dispatched left winger Trevor Wasyluk, 19, and defenseman Derek Holland, 18, to Lethbridge for defenseman Paul Elliott, 17.Wasyluk was the second round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 1996.NOTEBOOK: The Edmonton Ice went on a franchise-record eight-game unbeaten streak (60-2) to escape the Central Division basement. The Ice, a second-year franchise, was winless in its first 20 games (0-19-1), but went 12-12-4 in its next 28 games under the direction of new coach Ryan McGill&hellip;Brandon Wheat Kings&rsquo; center Cory Cyrenne was riding a 19-game point-scoring streak as of late January. &#9632;

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Varlamov’s surge at wire good enough for 50-in-50

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021356/6958215-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="516" height="571"></div>Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; assistant coach Dave King is recognized as one of the world&rsquo;s leading experts on international hockey. He ran the Canadian Olympic hockey program for nine years-leading Canada into three Olympic Games-and will be coaching Japan at the 1998 Winter Games.King handicapped the 1996 World Cup for THN and predicted Canada would win the event. However, he pointed out Canada&rsquo;s potential weaknesses were in two surpluses: too many older players and too many players performing out of position. Those were contributing factors to Canada&rsquo;s downfall at the hands of the reigning worldchampion USA. King picks Canada to win the 1998 Olympic gold medal and predicts the U.S. will finish second.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011693/6958222-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="235" height="341"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave King</figcaption></div>King provides Scouting Reports on all eight top teams: the six traditional powers, plus Slovakia and Germany, the two leading candidates for promotion from the preliminary round. He provides breakdowns on team Strengths, Weaknesses and Tactics. &#9632;

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DAVE KINGS REPORT CARDS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04488/6958267-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="247" height="318"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chief</figcaption></div>With apologies to Canada, defending World Champion, and Sweden, defending Olympic champion, the defending planetary champions are Ron Wilson&rsquo;s Americans.They won the 1996 World Cup on the strength of resilience and Richter. The U.S. bent, but did not break when struck with hard times in the deciding game-unlike Canada, which responded to an illegal Brett Hull goal by surrendering yet another goal, the tournament winner, to Tony Amonte 45 seconds later.Yet, THN handicapper Dave King still picks Canada to win the first-ever best-on-best Olympics. The former Canadian national team coach-GM says Canada has done more to improve itself: they have turned over more World Cup players than the U.S.; upgraded their defense; and fortified their goal crease with Patrick Roy.This much we know for sure: Canada may not have any more to gain than the other three legitimate gold medal contenders (USA, Sweden and Russia), but it has the most to lose. Coming on the heels of a World Junior Championship collapse, Canada&rsquo;s sporting psyche will suffer like never before if the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s teams don&rsquo;t meet with tremendous success. Canada won the first four Olympic gold medals awarded. The U.S. has won two (Squaw Valley in 1960 and the Miracle on Ice in 1980) since Canada last won in 1952. The Americans won&rsquo;t need a miracle to win again this year.<h2>SHOOTING FOR GLORY</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03887/6958260-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1890" height="2435"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gary Suter and his American teammates will be gunning for gold at the Dream Tournament in Nagano.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-05236/6958253-1-eng-US/f0003-052.jpg" title="f0003-05" width="1357" height="1029"></div> &#9632;

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EDITORS NOTEBOOK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011692/6958298-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="312" height="392"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky</figcaption></div>The greatest player in NHL history has a chance to enhance North America&rsquo;s greatest international hockey career.Wayne Gretzky, named the No. 1 player in league history by The Hockey News Jan. 9, was formally invested as a member of the Order of Canada Jan. 28 when Governor-General Romeo LeBlanc draped a medal around his neck.Gretzky would like nothing more than to be wearing a gold medal around his neck Feb. 22 after the Olympic championship game is played. This is the first time Gretzky is playing in the Olympics.He has dominated virtually every other major international event, winning scoring titles at the 1978 World Junior Championship, 1982 World Championship and 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1991 Canada Cups.Last year&rsquo;s World Cup represents the only international tournament he hasn&rsquo;t led in scoring. No other North American has compiled so spectacular an international resume, beginning with an astonishing debut at the 1978 WJC.Gretzky was named to the Canada Cup all-star teams three times and helped lead Canada to three straight championships. &#9632;

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Will ‘Great One’ become Golden One’ on world stage?

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011635/6958367-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">A unique trip: The 1998 Winter Olympics will feature the best players in the world in a new and different environment, but that doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean we&rsquo;re in for exciting, wide-open hockey. (Photo by Bruce Joseph/IHA)</figcaption></div>Dave King has been around the Olympics long enough to know what to expect from the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano. Or more precisely, what not to expect.&ldquo;Excitement,&rdquo; said the man who led Canada in the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics. &ldquo;I really believe these Games will be more interesting than exciting. The excitement will come from the importance of the event, not necessarily from the play itself.&rdquo;It is nothing if not a contrary opinion. The widely held belief is that bringing the best players in the world together for a mid-season spectacle played out on international-sized ice on an unprecedented world stage will thrill us like we&rsquo;ve never been thrilled before.And King, assistant coach of the Montreal Canadiens and overseer of the Japanese Olympic entry this year, concedes that&rsquo;s a possibility, but one he doubts will come to pass, at least not on a sustained basis.And he&rsquo;s quite likely right.Start with the format. The final round is an eight-team affair, two four-team divisions (Canada, Sweden, USA and one qualifier from the preliminary round in one group and Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and a second qualifier in the other) with each team playing three largely meaningless round-robin games that do nothing but determine the matchups for cross-over quarterfinal, semifinal and final games.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very forgiving format,&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;It gives a team three games to come together as a unit with no real penalty for losing. That&rsquo;s an advantage for Canada and the U.S. because North American teams generally require that time. If you&rsquo;re Canada or the U.S., does it really matter whether you play the Czechs, Finns or Russians in the first elimination game?&rdquo;In that sense, the quest for a gold medal involves no more than three sudden-death games. On the flip side, what can be more exciting than a one-game winner-take-all event? Certainly, King admits the stakes are high and, therefore, there&rsquo;ll be plenty of drama and hype.But he fervently believes the style of play won&rsquo;t match it.&ldquo;Most of the teams there are going to be playing steer-and-contain forechecking,&rdquo; King said.Steer and contain?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the same thing as the neutral-zone trap,&rdquo; King said with a laugh, &ldquo;but it sounds better because everybody else is using trap terminology.&rdquo;Call it what you will, but it&rsquo;s an effective system for slowing down play, limiting scoring chances and, yes, decreasing excitement.&ldquo;The Swedes will do it all the time,&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;The Finns have gone to it a lot more lately and even the Russians, who used to pressure the puck all over the ice, are doing it. It&rsquo;s how the Germans play. Only the Czechs and Slovaks will live and die by their offense.&rdquo;As for Canada and the U.S., it&rsquo;s expected the bigger ice surface-it&rsquo;s the same length (200 feet), but is 15 feet wider (100 feet)-will force both traditionally aggressive forechecking teams to adopt a much more cautious approach.&ldquo;Our philosophy is basic,&rdquo; said Canadian coach Marc Crawford. &ldquo;We ask our players to read the play and react accordingly. If they have a chance to compete for the puck, go for it, forecheck hard, but if not, back off and play a more passive game.&rdquo;USA coach Ron Wilson echoed those comments. But most of the other teams do not allow for so much discretion. They&rsquo;ll consistently position themselves outside the other team&rsquo;s blueline, steer the puck carrier toward the board and close the passing lanes through the neutral zone-and hope like heck the opposition panics.And what is the favored course of action to beat the steer-container, trap defense?&ldquo;There are two ways to go,&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;One, when you come up against it, you pass the puck back into your own end and quickly across the ice to the other side where they haven&rsquo;t flooded the zone. Or two, if you&rsquo;ve skated into the trap, you just chip the puck off the boards past the forechecker and compete for it.&rdquo;What you don&rsquo;t do is what stubborn offensive players do-especially those on Russian and Czech teams, King said-and make high-risk cross-ice passes through the neutral zone or try to beat your man one-on-one.It is what King calls the &ldquo;wide-ice game.&rdquo; And the team that plays it best, he said, will likely return home with the gold medal.The good news in all this is the extra 15 feet of width makes playing the steer-and-contain game that much more difficult to execute consistently. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as foolproof as it is on small ice,&rdquo; King said, &ldquo;because there are larger seams to pick apart.&rdquo;That extra width changes much in a defenseman&rsquo;s repertoire. The wide-ice game allows for more crisscrossing and exchanging of positions by attacking forwards.&ldquo;The three critical elements on defense are positioning, awareness and communication.&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;If positioning and awareness are poor, a defender is going to get caught in a foot race. There&rsquo;s more ground to cover and less chance of recovery.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s why the big ice can actually slow down a game rather than speed it up.&ldquo;That has always been my experience,&rdquo; said Canadian star Paul Kariya, who played in the 1992 Olympics and two World Championships. &ldquo;On small ice, the defenders get in your face right away and take away your time and space. On the big ice, that defender knows he&rsquo;s more exposed, so he doesn&rsquo;t confront you. He backs off, gives you time and space. It really slows the game down at times.&rdquo;The extra width also changes everyone&rsquo;s reference points. A forward at the hash marks on the boards might automatically think shoot, only to realize his angle is much poorer. When a defenseman ventures into the comer or behind the net, he&rsquo;ll suddenly realize how much deeper, and dangerous, they are. To say nothing of what it means to a goalie who sets up his angles by rote. Aggressive penalty killing becomes much more difficult to execute and power play units must not get mesmerized by the large perimeter space they&rsquo;re given.&ldquo;My experience has been that the power play team can get lulled into moving it around the perimeter and think they&rsquo;re doing something when they&rsquo;re not accomplishing anything at all,&rdquo; said USA coach Wilson. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t forget that the objective-getting the puck to the net-remains the same.&rdquo;Other factors that could take away from the entertainment spectacle of the games themselves include jet lag and unfamiliar environments. King said the standard rule of thumb is it takes one day to fully recover for every one hour of time change. NHL players leaving Eastern Conference cities Feb. 7 will be undergoing a 14hour time difference. The best-case scenario, for West Coast-based players, is 11 hours. The players arrive in Japan Feb. 9. Their first game is four days later, Feb. 13. Friday the 13th.&ldquo;The first couple of days, it&rsquo;s not too bad because you&rsquo;re running on adrenaline,&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;By the third or fourth day, your body really starts to rebel. After five or six days, you&rsquo;re almost on the clock. It&rsquo;s different with every individual.&rdquo;King said some players on his Canadian national teams got sick-a cold or flu-every time they went through any significant time change.As for environment, it will be vastly different to what NHLers are used to. For starters, they&rsquo;ll be sleeping four to a room. There&rsquo;ll be much more hustle and bustle, less peace and quiet and less room to move in every regard.&ldquo;It certainly won&rsquo;t be the same ideal performance state we create for them here,&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;That will extend to everything, team meals, team meetings, private rooms, quiet hotels, comfortable beds. There&rsquo;ll be less privacy, more tight spaces.&rdquo;That may extend to the ice, which may not be as roomy as the extra 15 feet wide would lead you to believe.<h2>Olympic Notebook</h2>Key dates in the Olympic men&rsquo;s hockey tournament in Nagano, Japan, while the NHL season shuts down for 16 days (Feb. 8-24). The full men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s schedules appear on pg. 52. A1 refers to the first-place finisher in the &lsquo;A&rsquo; group of the preliminary round.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021176/6958360-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="589" height="706"></div> &#9632;

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No fireworks In Nagano Wilier ice surface may actually slow game down

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011709/6958398-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Derian Hatcher and the U.S. could clash against Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s Canadians in the medal round. (Photo by M. Dejardins/BBS)</figcaption></div>Ron Wilson and Marc Crawford agree on one thing-anyone handicapping the 1998 Olympic hockey tournament should be careful not to put too much stock, if any, in what has transpired over the course of the 199798 NHL regular season.&ldquo;They are,&rdquo; said U.S. head coach Wilson, &ldquo;worlds apart.&rdquo;If so, that&rsquo;s a boon to USA, because at least a couple of the most integral American players-notably two New York Rangers, goaltender Mike Richter and defenseman Brian Leetch-had not displayed the superstar form that led to a World Cup tournament victory over Canada in September, 1996.Richter had been sub-par, wildly inconsistent with a goals-against average of 2.54, save percentage of. 905 and 13-17-11 record. Leetch, meanwhile, with a minus-23 rating after 50 games, was among the league leaders for worst plus-minus virtually all season.And this is not a cause for American concern?&ldquo;No, not one bit,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter at all, not a bit. What&rsquo;s the Olympics, a 10-day event? Are you telling me that Richter and Leetch haven&rsquo;t played well during any 10-day stretch this season? The NHL is a marathon. There are individual team dynamics to take into account. There&rsquo;s no doubt in my mind that players the calibre of (Richter and Leetch) will be at their best in the Olympic tournament.&rdquo;Perhaps it&rsquo;s foolish to think otherwise. In fact, the Olympic hockey tourney is not even a 10-day event. For the teams that get to the gold medal game-and the North American entries have to be considered the top two seeds-it&rsquo;s really a three-game series consisting of sudden-death quarterfinals, semifinals and final.&ldquo;The team that wins the gold medal will be the one which executes a simple game plan most effectively,&rdquo; said Canadian head coach Crawford. &ldquo;There&rsquo;ll be no wearing down of an opponent like there is in the Stanley Cup. It&rsquo;s one game, just one game and execution of your own game will be key.&rdquo;For Wilson, that means sticking with what worked in the World Cup.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got the same basic team,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t have much to figure out. We&rsquo;ll make whatever adjustments need to be made, but all things being equal. I&rsquo;m assuming this is the same team with the same attitude and we&rsquo;ll use the same approach.&rdquo;Crawford, meanwhile, has much more to think about. Canada &lsquo;98 is significantly different than Canada &lsquo;96, as much or more in philosophy if not player personnel.&ldquo;(At the World Cup) we were more a collection of individuals, albeit with outstanding character and top-end talent,&rdquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;This lineup more closely resembles a team in the truest sense of the word. We&rsquo;ll have fewer players playing out of position and those who are will be better equipped to do it.&rdquo;It would be an egregious error, especially in light of the format, to instantly assume Canada and the U.S. will battle for gold in Nagano. That said, they are the co-favorites and one suspects they&rsquo;ll cross paths at some point in the elimination portion of the tournament. With that in mind, here&rsquo;s a detailed position-by-position breakdown of each club and how they stack up against each other:GOALTENDING His travails of this season notwithstanding, Richter will get the nod over John Vanbiesbrouck and Guy Hebert in the U.S. net. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s certainly the way I&rsquo;m leaning,&rdquo; Wilson said.Crawford has an interesting choice in the Canadian net. Canada could not have received better goaltending than what Curtis Joseph provided in the World Cup, yet some suspect he could be No. 3, behind Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur, in Nagano.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not getting drawn into any of that,&rdquo; Crawford said of his goaltending choice. &ldquo;Clearly, we have three guys who are capable of getting the job done.&rdquo;Bet on Roy, based on seniority and his history of clutch playoff performances, getting the nod as the No. 1 man, though if he falters, Brodeur or Joseph could step in and Canada wouldn&rsquo;t miss a beat. Canada&rsquo;s lament is that it can&rsquo;t play all three at the same time because the edge over the Americans at this position is in depth of talent.If we are to assume Richter will be at the top of his game-and really, we must-both teams have netminders capable of winning a game, or a gold medal, all by themselves.The edge? Call it a draw.DEFENSE If Wilson stays with his World Cup pairings, it&rsquo;ll be Chris Chelios-Gary Suter, Leetch-Derian Hatcher. Mathieu Schneider-Kevin Hatcher, with inserts Keith Carney and Bryan Berard subbing for Shawn Chambers and Phil Housley, respectively.&ldquo;I might move Carney up with Chelios because they play together in Chicago, but we&rsquo;ll see,&rdquo; Wilson said.The strength of the U.S. blueline corps is its mobility and offensive skill. Derian Hatcher and Carney are the only stay-at-home types. That could also be its weakness. Schneider, Kevin Hatcher and Berard are high-risk players who can break down defensively, but that vulnerability may be minimized by the frequent use of Chelios, Derian Hatcher. Carney and Leetch.The perception is that Canada&rsquo;s defense-with the additions of Ray Bourque, Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger and the rejuvenation of Rob Blake and Scott Stevens-is vastly improved from a World Cup squad that included Scott Niedermayer, Paul Coffey, Sylvain Cote and Lyle Odelein.&ldquo;It is that much better,&rdquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;Those (additions) are significant. The experience of Bourque and MacInnis is great and you can make a strong case for Pronger as being one of the very best defensemen in the league now. Blake&rsquo;s game has really come up and Stevens is playing as well as he has in years. With guys like Blake, Stevens, Adam Foote&hellip;we expect to be really strong between the dots in our own end.&rdquo;They will have to be. USA&rsquo;s forwards represent the best blend of size, strength and skill. Handling the likes of John LeClair, Keith Tkachuk and Mike Modano will be no mean feat, but the Canadians have an improved blend of size and mobility this time around.Crawford expects to play St. Louis Blues&rsquo; teammates Pronger and MacInnis together. Left-hand shot Bourque, who has always played the right side, will be moved to the left point, probably with one of Blake or Eric Desjardins. Stevens and Foote are a possible pair, although Crawford will mix and match.&ldquo;Pronger and Blake, for example, were terrific together at the World Championship,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

f0008-01

Continental divide

The edge? Funny how things turn out, because Canada&rsquo;s World Cup defense was rated woeful, but one would have to give a slight edge to the Canadians.FORWARDS Wilson is prepared to go with lines almost identical to the World Cup.Mike Modano will center Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin. Doug Weight will be between Brett Hull and Adam Deadmarsh, who moves up in the pecking order to take the place of Scott Young. Jeremy Roenick replaces Bryan Smolinski at center on a line with John LeClair and Tony Amonte. Pat LaFontaine, defensive specialist Joel Otto and Shawn McEachern round out the U.S. forward contingent.Things are much less settled up front for Canada.Eric Lindros will be the first line center and will skate with one of left winger Brendan Shanahan or transformed right winger Paul Kariya, but not both. Whichever winger doesn&rsquo;t end up with Lindros will skate with Joe Sakic. If Lindros and Shanahan play together, Steve Yzer-man is a first-line right winger candidate.If Lindros and Kariya are together, the first-line left winger will be either Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour or Shayne Corson. If Sakic has Shanahan on his left side, Yzerman is the likely right winger on that line. If Sakic has Kariya on his right, Corson or Brind&rsquo;Amour will play the left side.Crawford said Wayne Gretzky will be slotted in with the winger pairs who will play with Lindros and Sakic, as well as play on the power play.Keith Primeau will be the checking line center with Rob Zamuner on the left side. If Trevor Linden, questionable because of his knee injury, can play, he&rsquo;ll be the right winger with Primeau and Zamuner. If, however. Linden can&rsquo;t play, Yzerman will likely assume that role and Mark Recchi will be added to the Canadian Olympic roster.The fourth line has Joe Nieuwendyk between Theo Fleury and one of Corson or Brind&rsquo;Amour.There is a significant difference in philosophy between the two teams. Canada is keen on having a specific line designated as the checking line.The U.S., meanwhile, has three incredibly well-balanced lines that defy the label of first, second or third.&ldquo;Our attitude at the World Cup was to play all the lines in the first two periods and by the third, we would see who was going and who wasn&rsquo;t as far as any extra time or situational play was concerned,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;The players we would use to shut down the opposition when the game was on the line changed from game to game. Really, we&rsquo;ve got three lines that can play any style of game. Any style.&rdquo;The addition of Kariya gives Canada a huge boost. He&rsquo;s the gamebreaker the Canadians lacked at the World Cup and he alone could be the difference. But GM Bob Clarke has gone out of his way to ensure Canada can grind better than it did at the World Cup.&ldquo;You can see that with guys like Corson, Primeau, Zamuner and Brind&rsquo;Amour, we&rsquo;re better suited to play like a team,&rdquo; Crawford said.The edge? Even with Canada&rsquo;s better balance this year compared to the World Cup, the Americans have an edge up front.They are generally bigger, stronger and faster than the Canadian forward contingent. Canada has upgraded its defensive unit and it will need all that to battle the powerful American forwards.Overall, though, it&rsquo;s almost too close to call. Almost. If you factor in goaltending-the addition of Roy-and the resurgent defense-Pronger, Mac-Innis, Bourque and improved play from Stevens and Blake-as well as the addition of Kariya, Canada, in fact, should have a slight edge over the U.S. and rates as THN&rsquo;s No. 1 seed on that basis. &#9632;

Much-improved Canadians get slight edge over U.S.

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011682/6958467-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">With players such as John LeClair, Team USA features an imposing group of forwards.</figcaption></div>Keith Tkachuk was proudly talking about USA&rsquo;s chances at the Olympics when someone interrupted and asked the brazen bully from Boston if he&rsquo;d seen a Canadian TV commercial that pokes fun at the U.S. team.&ldquo;What?&rdquo; asked Tkachuk. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve gotta be kidding me? They&rsquo;re dissin&rsquo; God&rsquo;s country?&rdquo;Tkachuk mopped his surly brow with a towel and shook his head. &ldquo;Hey, Canada has to do whatever it takes, I guess,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re still ticked off they lost the World Cup.&rdquo;Now Tkachuk is out to see Canada doesn&rsquo;t exact any revenge at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be World War III over there-and we&rsquo;re not expecting to come home losers,&rdquo; said Tkachuk, the gritty and gifted left winger for the Phoenix Coyotes. &ldquo;As soon as we get over there, the blood&rsquo;s going to start pumping red, white and blue.&rdquo;Gen. George Patton would have been proud. But that&rsquo;s Tkachuk, good ol&rsquo; Captain America. Damn the Canadians, the Swedes and the Finns-and everybody else, for that matter. It&rsquo;s full-speed ahead, he said, for USA.If the U.S. is to repeat its championship ways from the World Cup, Tkachuk figures to be smack dab in the middle of the firestorm, leading the assault.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to be leaning on him a lot,&rdquo; said U.S. Olympic coach Ron Wilson. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a unique individual who brings so many things to the table.&rdquo;For openers, he will bring strength and toughness. The 6-foot-2, 218-pound Tkachuk loves to bang and battle and, despite the larger ice surface of international play, he will be in his natural element. Why?&ldquo;Because I&rsquo;m going to treat this like it&rsquo;s the Stanley Cup final,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;Everything is on the line. If you have to run over somebody to get to the puck, you run over him.&rdquo;Even if it&rsquo;s Finland&rsquo;s Teemu Selanne, his former teammate with the Winnipeg Jets or Finland&rsquo;s Teppo Numminen, his current teammate in Phoenix? &ldquo;That&rsquo;s right,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;Hey, those guys would do the same thing to me in a heartbeat.&rdquo;Tkachuk&rsquo;s reckless abandon still gets him into trouble from time to time. Last season, he became the first player in NHL history to lead the league in goals (52) while amassing more than 200 penalty minutes (228). This season, Tkachuk was threatening to break the 50-200 mark again with 32 goals and 113 penalty minutes in 49 games.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m doing a better job at (controlling my emotions) this year, though,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not taking so many stupid penalties.&rdquo;Perhaps the most noticeable improvement in Tkachuk&rsquo;s game, however, is his refined scoring touch. For every three goals he scores in traffic while camped just outside the crease, Tkachuk now seems to score a highlightfilm goal.Such was the case during a recent game against the Ottawa Senators when Tkachuk stickhandled his way between two defensemen and, after drawing goalie Ron Tugnutt deep, reached back from well behind the net to twist, flip and bury the puck. A fluke? Not according to Coyotes&rsquo; coach Jim Schoenfeld.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t lucky,&rdquo; Schoen-feld said. &ldquo;That might be the best goal you&rsquo;ll see scored all year in the NHL.&rdquo;But Tkachuk could go scoreless in Nagano and still be satisfied, as long as he comes home with a gold medal around his neck. Ever the unselfish soldier, Tkachuk said he will do whatever is necessary for his country. Even if it means the two-time 50-goal-scorer is asked to lay down his offensive arsenal and play on the checking line-though don&rsquo;t count on that happening. He likely will be reunited with World Cup linemates Bill Guerin and Mike Modano. a trio that clicked against the Canadians.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to be able to adjust and accept whatever role best suits the team,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;That won&rsquo;t be a problem for any of us. The one thing we learned from the World Cup is you check your ego at the door when you walk in.&rdquo;But the World Cup experience, as good as it was for Tkachuk, who scored five goals and added an assist, pales in comparison to these Games. So does his previous Olympic invitation, when he helped the U.S. to a fourth-place finish in Albertville, France in 1992.&ldquo;The Olympic experience was great, but back then, we were just a bunch of amateurs,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;The World Cup was a lot better. But this is going to be huge. It&rsquo;s the very best in the world against the very best. It&rsquo;s not just one or two Dream Teams. There&rsquo;s going to be like seven or eight of them.&rdquo;And what if the U.S. falls short and loses in the medal round, say to, oh, Canada?&ldquo;Then it&rsquo;ll be a major disappointment,&rdquo; Tkachuk said, glaring. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t even start talking like that.&rdquo;<h2>Scouting Report</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021238/6958460-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="416" height="603"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith Tkachuk</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03771/6958453-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="513" height="668"></div> &#9632;

f0010-01

Tkachuk readies lor World War III

Coach: Ron WilsonGM: Lou Lamoriello<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04524/6958498-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="808" height="1356"></div><h2>DAVE KING&rsquo;S COMMENTS</h2>Strengths: The best group of offensive forwards in the tourney-bar none. Jeremy Roenick&rsquo;s addition to World Cup players improves an impressive group that combines size, speed and skill better than any team. Team speed-With the exception of Joel Otto, every American can fly. Power-Bill Guerin, John LeClair, Mike Modano, Keith Tkachuk, Adam Deadmarsh&hellip;wow! Offense from the defense-Blueliners love to jump up as the fourth man on the rush. Defending World Cup champions have terrific leadership in Chris Chelios and lots of Olympic experience.Weaknesses: Based on NHL play this year, goaltending. Mike Richter, John Vanbiesbrouck and Guy Hebert aren&rsquo;t playing well. Without sensational netminding, U.S. would not have won World Cup. Defense may be vulnerable without the puck. Stats don&rsquo;t necessarily indicate it, but Chelios and Gary Suter are playing much better. However, Brian Leetch and Bryan Berard are both doubledigit minus players.Tactics: Has capability to be a strong cycling team, but will do most damage off the rush and driving to the net Won&rsquo;t hesitate to use a defenseman as a fourth attacker, which will provide plenty of head-aches for opposing defenders, though U.S. has to be careful not to get burned on the counter attack. Like Canada, will employ varied forechecking systems. Eminently capable of playing high-pressure 2-1-2.OVERALL GRADE: A RANK: 2ND<h2>KEY PLAYERS MISSING</h2>Among players not named to the team were forwards Bryan Smolinski, Brian Rolston, Todd Marchant, Jamie Langenbrunner and defensemen Phil Housley and Shawn Chambers. United States&rsquo; finish at 1996 World Cup: 1st out of 4 North American teams; won final against Canada. &#9632;

f0010-04

AMERICAN OLYMPIANS

<div class="byline">By Kevin Allen</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011514/6958529-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Wilson, pictured here in front of the Iwo Jima Memorial, hopes for a flag raising of his own.</figcaption></div>When Ron Wilson was an All-America player at Providence College it seemed as if he was just as likely to be a stand-up comedian as an NHL coach.As players would line up for the national anthem, Wilson would go into his Jay Leno routine. Nobody is safe when Wilson rolls out his monologue. Show any sign of vulnerability, wear any unusual article of clothing, or say anything remotely unmanly and Wilson cooks it into the morning wise crack.&ldquo;He is one sarcastic, funny guy,&rdquo; said NHL senior vice-president Brian Burke, who played with Wilson at Providence. &ldquo;He has great delivery, great timing and has a great wit.&rdquo;Humor and glibness may be the vanguard of Wilson&rsquo;s success as the USA Olympic team&rsquo;s coach. He&rsquo;s really a traditional, tough, serious-minded NHL coach-probably as defensive minded as Pat Bums or maybe as demanding as Mike Keenan, but he wraps up all of his philosophies with so much wit and charm that players are entertained enough to buy into what he&rsquo;s selling. That was certainly true at the World Cup in 1996 when his flag waving helped players fashion a special bond that seemed to serve them well when the game was on the line.He seemed to get along with nearly everyone, even Brett Hull whose personality conflict with coach Tim Taylor in the 1991 Canada Cup had caused him to sour on international hockey.&ldquo;How can you not like a guy who lets you play the game the way it should be played?,&rdquo; Hull said.Wilson preaches strong defensive hockey, but he doesn&rsquo;t appear to be quite the slave to it as some coaches. He gives his forwards freedom offensively, which is why Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya liked playing for him in Anaheim.Wilson is liked by most, but his swagger, bluntness and honesty don&rsquo;t always sit well with those above him. When Wilson was in his hockey mode, he didn&rsquo;t want Disney guests coming through his dressing room.But players seem to respond well to his bluntness, particularly when he encases it with a little humor. &ldquo;He showed us Rocky movies during the World Cup, if that&rsquo;s any indication what kind of coach he is,&rdquo; said U.S. Olympian Chris Chelios. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great motivator. His motivation is a big part of his game.&rdquo;Most of Wilson&rsquo;s act is improvisation. His best lines are usually those that come to him at the moment. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m always at my best when I&rsquo;m unrehearsed, when I just speak from the heart,&rdquo; he says.Chelios, a true hockey warrior who doesn&rsquo;t need gimmicks to get motivated, came away impressed in 1996. &ldquo;He never over coached,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When we struggled, he seemed to have all the right answers.&rdquo;Wilson&rsquo;s resume in international competition is impressive. In addition to coaching USA to the World Cup championship in 1996, he also coached USA to a bronze medal at the 1996 World Championship. It was USA&rsquo;s first medal at the event in 34 years. Wilson was actually bom in Canada, but raised in the United States and has worn the U.S. National team jersey five times himself.&ldquo;I certainly knew what it was like to go into every tournament in (Canada&rsquo;s shadow) and not expecting to win,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;Now I think the USA will go into every international tournament with higher expectations.&rdquo;He says his Capitals&rsquo; workload has kept him too busy this season to spend much time pondering his Olympic game plan. But the international rivalry between Canada-USA, and his role in it, is a central part of his shtick. He and Chelios shared a laugh early this season when both noted that of all the American defenseman named to the team, Chelios was the only one who had a positive plus-minus.Wilson knows the Olympics will be different from the team&rsquo;s World Cup experience because America will be watching. The World Cup was a blip on the screen in America, but folks in Baton Rouge, La. and Hobbs, N.M. will care about what happens in the Olympics.&ldquo;You know how long that flight is for someone who loses (in Nagano)?,&rdquo; Wilson says. &ldquo;I said to Paul Holmgren I hope you can paddle because it&rsquo;s a long way back in a life raft.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-01

Wilson: American at heart

<div class="byline">By Kevin Allen</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011641/6958560-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">This time, Brett Hull and U.S. mates know their entire country will be watching. (Photo by Robert Laberge/BS)</figcaption></div>When we last left USA players in 1996 they were lighting expensive World Cup victory cigars in a late-night celebration at Chateau Champlain in Montreal.Seventeen months later those players are being asked to re-ignite the flame.&ldquo;We have 95 per cent of our players back and we are hoping with that familiarity we regain that same chemistry,&rdquo; said USA coach Ron Wilson. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s difficult to tell whether we will be able to, because we&rsquo;ve had some guys coming off great seasons and some have struggled. You just don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;Wilson&rsquo;s concerns notwithstanding, the USA will arrive in Nagano as a co-favorite in the Olympics. While Canada was conducting a national debate about whether future Hall of Famer Mark Messier should be on its Olympic team, the Americans&rsquo; major concerns were whether goaltender Guy Hebert&rsquo;s wife would give birth soon enough before the Olympics to allow Hebert to compete (she did) and whether the team&rsquo;s youngest player. Bryan Berard, would prove he is defensively sound enough to play a regular shift (he hasn&rsquo;t yet).Right or wrong, the Americans believe the best course for Nagano is to stay the course set in Montreal. Jeremy Roenick has replaced Bryan Smolinski as one of the centers; otherwise the lineup that starts the Olympics may be the same one that finished the World Cup.Wilson even says he plans to start out with the same line combinations.But everyone understands the Olympic stage is more than just miles away from the World Cup of Hockey. For one thing, Americans care about Olympic hockey. They care plenty.&ldquo;There is more pressure, but it&rsquo;s good pressure,&rdquo; said center Doug Weight. &ldquo;We, as hockey players in the United States, have been waiting for this for a long time.&rdquo;One reason why USA GM Lou Lamoriello didn&rsquo;t make many changes was his belief this team is versatile enough to play any style. With Keith Tkachuk, John LeClair and Bill Guerin leading the way, the Americans are big enough to play a strength game against Canada, yet they are still plenty fast enough to play a high tempo game against the Europeans, even on the big ice.Another strength of this team is this collection of players seem to be as nationalistic as any group ever to wear a U.S. jersey. Tkachuk, Roenick, Guerin and others don&rsquo;t mind waving the flag when they talk about the Olympics.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t find anyone on this team that didn&rsquo;t have (patriotism),&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;Some people express it differendy. I know a couple on this team who say little who bleed (red. white and blue) top to bottom, and you are looking at one.&rdquo;The good news for USA going into the Olympics is LeClair, Mike Modano, Tkachuk and Tony Amonte seem to be better players than they were in 1996, and Bill Guerin has played extremely well since being traded to the Edmonton Oilers.The bad news is some of the team&rsquo;s top defensemen have struggled at times this season, in particular, Brian Leetch. captain of Team USA in 1996. He is having one of his worst seasons, although he did start to play well in January. Also a concern: Mike Richter, the MVP at the World Cup, hasn&rsquo;t been at his best this season.Wilson doesn&rsquo;t believe a player&rsquo;s regular season performance will have much bearing on what occurs in Nagano.&ldquo;This is two weeks of your life,&rdquo; Wilson says. &ldquo;You put aside how your season is going.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-01

Americans favor tried, true formula

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div>The worst possible news for the U.S. Olympic team is right there in the NHL statistics sheets.Mike Richter, the New York Rangers&rsquo; goalie who carried the U.S. to the World Cup championship with a MVP performance, is deep in the pack of NHL goalies. Richter was 12-1610, with a goals-against average of 2.54, a number that isn&rsquo;t particularly good in the low-scoring NHL these days.Without top-notch goaltending in a short tournament, the U.S. can kiss its gold medal hopes goodbye. U.S. coach Ron Wilson said as much, predicting goaltending and luck would be the difference between gold and silver in Nagano.But even if Wilson wanted to switch his main man, what are the options?The U.S.&rsquo;s other goalies, Honda Panther John Vanbiesbrouck (13-17-7, 2.86) and Mighty Duck of Anaheim Guy Hebert (11-19-5, 2.82) were putting up even worse numbers. Hebert was also on the World Cup team; Vanbiesbrouck had to pull out because of a shoulder injury. Arguably the best American goalie in the NHL this season, Tom Barrasso of the Pittsburgh Penguins, wasn&rsquo;t named to the team.So it&rsquo;s not as surprising as it might first seem that Wilson has all but named Richter his No. 1 goalie for the Olympics. Richter, after all, won for Wilson in September, 1996 when it counted most, so it doesn&rsquo;t really matter Richter bombed in two starts against Wilson&rsquo;s Washington Capitals in early-January, saving just 28 of 35 shots in two games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011630/6958591-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="587" height="851"><figcaption class="caption-body">Despite a poor season, Mike Richter is still the best choice as U.S. starter. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;In fairness, what I&rsquo;ve seen in big games, Mike Richter has won a Stanley Cup and he has gotten the job done in trying circumstances,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to play goal in New York. And what he accomplished in the World Cup was great.&rdquo;It probably didn&rsquo;t hurt Richter&rsquo;s chances Vanbiesbrouck failed to make it to a team meeting in Vancouver on all-star weekend, while Richter trekked across the continent with Rangers&rsquo; teammate Pat LaFontaine to make sure he was there.There is a case to be made Richter suffered from overwork. He was given a much-needed rest when rookie Dan Cloutier started his career with three straight wins in January.When Richter came back he was much better. He was perfect in relief of Cloutier against the New Jersey Devils Jan. 14, then he stopped 45 of 46 shots in a victory over the St. Louis Blues after the all-star break and had a strong game against Philadelphia, even if he was left helpless for four Flyers goals in a 4-3 defeat.&ldquo;I feel more solid,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;My stance is better and feels more stable. I&rsquo;m concentrating well and if they&rsquo;re going to beat me, I feel the situation&rsquo;s going to have to beat me more than just the shot.&rdquo;If Richter falters, Vanbiesbrouck would be the likely candidate to replace him despite a sub-par season. Vanbiesbrouck has faced the pressure of a Stanley Cup final as recently as two years ago and was brilliant despite Florida&rsquo;s four-game loss to the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. &#9632;

f0014-01

American gold rush depends on Richter revival

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011501/6958622-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0015-01

COACH WILSON’S COMMENTS

<div class="byline">By Greg Christensen</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011267/6958667-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Lindros is Captain Canada, but the team will also count on him to be Captain Crunch. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>At 23, Paul Kariya is already a millionaire several times over and arguably the best hockey player in the world.There&rsquo;s little doubt, however, the well-grounded Mighty Ducks of Anaheim left winger cherishes the opportunities the Olympics have and will provide him.&ldquo;The opening ceremonies were awesome, coming in with all of the athletes, everything about it&rdquo; Kariya said with almost a teenage enthusiasm when asked to recall some of his favorite moments from the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.&ldquo;Going to lunch in the cafeteria and seeing people like (Johan) Koss,&rdquo; continued Kariya, referring to the triple gold medal winning Norwe-gan speedskater. &ldquo;The figure skaters, the skiers&hellip;&rdquo;Kariya was a highly touted 19-year-old amateur when he helped lead the Canadian Olympic team to a silver medal in Lillehammer. Four years later, he returns to Olympic competition an accomplished professional, taking part in what figures to be the highest profile hockey tournament ever.But Kariya still sounds almost as excited about mingling with the athletes of the world as he is about the hockey competition.&ldquo;The interaction between athletes is one of the best parts of the Olympics. It&rsquo;s the only time you have that opportunity,&rdquo; he said.Unlike the National Basketball Association Dream Team members, who have stayed in luxury hotels during the Olympics, the Canadian hockey team will stay in the Olympic Village in Nagano, something Kariya thinks is a good idea.&ldquo;If you are going to do it, you&rsquo;ve got to do it right,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s going to the village and being part of the athletes. We are part of the Canadian (contingency) and want to be a part of it.&rdquo;Kariya said the village experience is indeed something special.&ldquo;Every (national) team has their own sort of house,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;So all of the athletes come there, watch television, movies, play cards-have a great time.&rdquo;Some athletes in the less-publicized Olympic sports may be in awe of the NHL stars in Nagano, but Kariya maintains they shouldn&rsquo;t be. One of the most dedicated players in the NHL, Kariya certainly knows hard-working athletes when he sees them.&ldquo;When I was in Calgary (working out with the Canadian national team during his contract stalemate earlier this season) there were a lot of speed skaters training,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;They are going to school, they train hard, they are real athletes.&ldquo;My sister (Michiko) always said we go to McDonald&rsquo;s, have steaks&hellip;(whereas) they are on a diet regimen, train four or five hours a day. &ldquo;Sometimes you have to give your head a shake when you complain about a 1-1/2-hour practice. So it&rsquo;s nice to be in that atmosphere.&rdquo;When asked if some other athletes will be eager to meet the NHL&rsquo;s best, Kariya quickly turned the tables.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure the hockey players are going to want to meet a lot of the other athletes too, it goes both ways,&rdquo; Kariya said-Much has been made of Kariya&rsquo;s heritage-his father Tetsuhiko is of Japanese des-cent-and how he could be a center of attention in Nagano. But in typical Kariya fashion, he downplays such talk.&ldquo;Everyone talks about that,&rdquo; he says with a touch of weariness. &ldquo;Just the Olympics are the biggest thing. I do have Japanese heritage and I&rsquo;m proud of it. There will be a little more attention there and that&rsquo;s fine, but the biggest part is being in the Olympics&hellip;you know I&rsquo;m Canadian.&rdquo;Kariya&rsquo;s return to Olympic Games competition is some thing he didn&rsquo;t count on after signing his first NHL contract with the Mighty Ducks in 1994.&ldquo;I thought I&rsquo;d get one opportunity and I was thankful to get that,&rdquo; Kariya said. &ldquo;To get a second shot is going to be great.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s something he didn&rsquo;t get in the 1994 gold medal game against Sweden. It ended in a tie and after Peter Forsberg put the Swedes ahead in the shootout, Kariya&rsquo;s bid was foiled by goalie Tommy Salo.Kariya says he learned from that experience. He has since been successful in two shootout situations in World Championship play and recently converted the first penalty shot of his NHL career.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve been there, you know what to expect what to do and what not to do,&rdquo; Kariya said. &ldquo;Any kind of experience like that is going to help you.&rdquo;Three years later, Kariya&rsquo;s opponents don&rsquo;t think he needs any help. While he&rsquo;s soaking up the Olympic experience, he just might douse their chances at gold, too.<h2>SCOUTING REPORT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02960/6958660-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="422" height="610"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Kariya</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03692/6958653-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="512" height="668"></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

Kariya returns tor second shot

Coach: Marc CrawfordGM: Bob Clarke<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04507/6958698-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="816" height="1340"></div><h2>KEY PLAYERS MISSING</h2>Forward Mario Lemieux retired. Among players not named to the team were forwards Claude Lemieux, Mark Messier, Michael Peca and Mark Recchi and defenseman Scott Niedermayer. Canada&rsquo;s finish at 1996 World Cup: 2nd of 4 teams in North American pool; lost in final to U.S.<h2>DAVE KING&rsquo;S COMMENTS</h2>Strengths: With Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur and Curtis Joseph, Canada has the deepest and, quite likely, the best goaltending in the tournament The additions of Ray Bourque, Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis and the improvement of Scott Stevens and Rob Blake make for a much-improved defense corps, which will be the best in the tournament at controlling the front of the net It&rsquo;s rock solid. Paul Kariya provides a dynamic offensive dimension that was missing at the World Cup.Weaknesses: The defense is mobile enough, but is the team fast enough? The Americans will have the fastest team on the biggest sheet of ice. The net result of changes up front-except Kariya-alters Canada&rsquo;s chemistry. Joe Nieuwendyk, Shayne Corson and Rob Zamuner are all good players, but Adam Graves is a competitor, Vincent Damphousse was a top player at the World Cup, Mark Messier was inspirational and Claude Lemieux provided grit Overall, Canada is not as deep up frontTactics: The larger ice surface will benefit Canada&rsquo;s cycling game down low in the offensive zone because the comers are bigger and there is more space behind the net Canada will be selective about using a traditional pressure forecheck and will revert to the 1-2-2 system when situation calls for it It will execute that switch better than any team in the tournament Don&rsquo;t expect the fourth man (from defense) to jump into the attack too often.OVERALL GRADE: A+RANK: 1ST &#9632;

f0017-04

CANADIAN OLYMPIANS

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011299/6958729-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Helene Crawford&rsquo;s husband, Marc, is sure to be on the hot seat as coach of Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team. (Photo by Marko Shark)</figcaption></div>It was the middle of another scalding hot summer day in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch, and Marc Crawford was driving his sport utility vehicle through the quiet streets when the cellular car phone rang.It was Bob Clarke on the line with some news: Congratulations, he told Crawford, you&rsquo;ve just been selected to coach Canada in the 1998 Winter Olympics.&ldquo;I pulled off the road,&rdquo; said Crawford, still wistful about the moment. &ldquo;I talked to him for a few minutes and then I was pretty excited. I called my wife on my way home to tell her and then we had to keep it quiet. We went to Hawaii and it was good because it gave me time to think about it. Nobody could get hold of me there.&rdquo;Since then, moments of peace and quiet have been rare for the Colorado Avalanche coach. One minute, he&rsquo;s answering questions about how to use Peter Forsberg to beat another NHL team. The next, he&rsquo;s answering questions about how he&rsquo;ll try to stop Forsberg when the Swedes face Canada in Nagano.Crawford managed to look relaxed in the weeks leading up to the Games, despite the mounting pressure. Anything short of gold will be considered a letdown in the Great White North. Meanwhile, folks in the Rocky Mountain region are counting on a second Stanley Cup in three years.The 36-year-old Crawford, who has been known to wear his heart on his sleeve, has maintained grace under fire. The man who went berserk on the Avalanche bench in its playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings last year has the smarts to learn from his mistakes and an inbred thirst to always improve. He soaks up every bit of knowledge he can from those he respects, particularly older coaches and GMs. He hasn&rsquo;t yet acquired the bench-boss reputation of a Scotty Bowman or Mike Keenan, but Crawford is well-thought of by the league&rsquo;s older guard, who admire his relentless drive and determination.&ldquo;We got ourselves an excellent coach,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;He has a sharp mind for the game, and is always focused on winning.&rdquo;A student of the game (he majors in current affairs and history), Crawford admits it&rsquo;s sometimes hard for him to believe this crucial Olympic torch has been passed to him. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a responsibility,&rdquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;All the great coaches who never got this opportunity and all the great Canadian hockey coaches who are in the NHL right now. Guys who I think could do a great job if they were asked, but I&rsquo;m the guy that&rsquo;s lucky enough to be the one with the responsibility right now. I&rsquo;m honored by it and I think the experience is going to be wonderful. I&rsquo;m very anxious to get started.&rdquo;Just what lines he will use and what goalie will get the lion&rsquo;s share of duty have not been forthcoming from Crawford yet. He has thrown himself into his regular job with the Avs-a team with three Team Canada members and six other Olympians.&ldquo;We had a couple of great sessions this summer with the entire Canadian hockey group where we did a lot of the planning for the team and got a lot of detail work out of the way,&rdquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;All the general managers understood that during the season you don&rsquo;t have the time to concentrate on a function such as this.&rdquo;But with Nagano approaching, Crawford admitted the Games are creeping into his daily thoughts.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be something,&rdquo; he said with a smile. &ldquo;What an event.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0018-01

Chance for coach to truly make Marc

Valu-net has given new meaning to the term Olympic rings.The Markham, Ont&hellip;based company has produced four sets of fully functional phone cards featuring the images of members of Canada&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s Olympic hockey team. (Valu-net also has the rights to manufacture phone cards for the Canadian women&rsquo;s team.)Produced in co-operation with the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, Canadian Hockey and the Canadian Olympic Association, the cards are similar to the ones you can purchase to use at payphones across Canada, the major difference being the cool look. So instead of fumbling for that quarter you know you tucked away somewhere in your pocket, you can call on Eric Lindros, Wayne Gretzky or Joe Sakic to help make your call.But what makes these cards extra special is the fact they&rsquo;re not only functional, but collectors&rsquo; items to boot.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re the only company with an entire set of (Canadian) Olympic player (cards),&rdquo; says Valu-net president and CEO David Lucatch. &ldquo;And the cards are gorgeous. Some of the players saw them at all-star weekend in Vancouver. Wayne Gretzky just loved them. Martin Brodeur was very excited.&rdquo;Lucatch is excited about the look of each of the four sets. Here&rsquo;s the make-up of the four:1. The individual set features the 23 players selected to represent Team Canada and coach Marc Crawford. The cards are $5 (Cdn.) each and are available at Shoppers Drug Mart outlets across Canada and selected dealer stores.2. The Players Set is similar to the individual cards, (the 23 players and Crawford), but features different imaging and its own binder. It sells for $199 (Cdn.) and there are 25,000 available through special order.3. The Premium Set features the 23 players, Crawford, six bonus cards and the binder. The imaging is different again from the first two series. Also included is an interactive CD Rom, written by hockey historian Brian McFarlane. The CD is ostensibly a book on International and Olympic hockey that was penned specifically for the Valu-net series. The Premium Set, available through special order, retails for $399 (Cdn.) and just 8,000 have been manufactured.4. The Signature Set is similar to the Premium Set with one major difference: the cards are hand-signed by the 23 players and Crawford. Featuring different imaging, the McFarlane CD and its own binder, this special collectors set sells for $999 (Cdn.), but you better act quickly; only 999 sets have been produced.For more information call 1-888429-1998 or visit the Valu-net website at <a href="Http://www.vnhockey.com">www.vnhockey.com</a> &#9632;

Valu-net makes great call with Olympic phone cards

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011205/6958784-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Foote and the rest of the Canadian defensemen comprise a very physical blueline brigade. (Photo by Robert Laberge/BBS)</figcaption></div>Canada is looking to the Nagano Olympics like a crash dieter looks at his scale. Both seek perfect balance.The Canadians have done some fine-tuning to their roster since losing the World Cup to an American team that received stupendous goaltending from Mike Richter. Two-thirds of the World Cup squad is back while the additions, especially at the back end, appear to have added stability.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good group and I like the way it&rsquo;s shaping up,&rdquo; said Canadian coach Marc Crawford, an assistant during the World Cup campaign. &ldquo;The Olympics are a short tournament and all the managers felt we needed players to adapt to roles more suited to what they do on their own teams.&rdquo;Gone from the World Cup blueline corps are Paul Coffey, Lyle Odelein, Scott Niedermayer and last-minute addition Sylvain Cote. In are ageless wonder Raymond Bourque, Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis. (MacInnis was on the World Cup roster, but missed the tournament because of an injury).Rob Blake, Eric Desjardins, Adam Foote and Scott Stevens are the defensemen returning while Patrick Roy replaces Bill Ranford on the goaltending depth chart and will likely move into the No. 1 spot, displacing Curtis Joseph. Cujo and Martin Brodeur, who was the World Cup backup, will vie for the No. 2 spot and the chance to take over should St. Patrick falter.Most of the controversy over team selection came in the forward group. Mark Messier, Adam Graves, Vincent Damphousse, Claude Lemieux and Pat Verbeek were dumped from the World Cup team. Rob Zamuner, Joe Nieuwendyk and Shayne Corson came out of nowhere to earn spots.Dynamic Paul Kariya, who missed the World Cup because of an injury, was an obvious selection.&ldquo;I think a lot of games will be close and we&rsquo;ll need guys who instinctively do the right things when they&rsquo;re ahead in a game and instinctively do the right things when they&rsquo;re behind,&rdquo; said Crawford, referring specifically to a role player such as Zamuner. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take my heat when the competition is over if things don&rsquo;t work out.&rdquo;Two of the World Cup incumbents, Keith Primeau and Trevor Linden, were having undistinguished seasons and their selection raised some eyebrows.Linden, in particular, was enduring an incredibly poor year fraught with groin and knee injuries and confrontations with new Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; coach Mike Keenan. In the throes of a 16-game goal drought. Linden suffered a knee injury Jan. 26.The two offensive lines are expected to have team captain Eric Lindros and Joe Sakic in the middle. Paul Kariya can play either wing although he appears more effective on the left while Wayne Gretzky may shift to right wing on a line with Lindros, as he did in the All-Star Game. Brendan Shanahan is a lock on the left wing with either Lindros or Sakic. If Gretzky and Kariya both play the right side, Theo Fleury could drop to the third line. Yzerman is also a possibility on right wing if Kariya remains on the left and Gretzky is deployed at center.&ldquo;Yes, I do go to bed at night thinking about the line combinations,&rdquo; Crawford admitted.Who wouldn&rsquo;t with that group? &#9632;

f0019-01

World Cup defeat sparks fine-tuning

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div>What is Patrick Roy&rsquo;s most memorable international hockey moment? Well, there&rsquo;s only one.&ldquo;I played the first (exhibition) game against the USA in Ottawa at the 1987 Canada Cup,&rdquo; Roy said.Roy winked and said he was the first star of the Canadians&rsquo; win over the United States, but, because of a variety of circumstances, there haven&rsquo;t been any other chances to shine internationally since then.Roy&rsquo;s time in the world spotlight finally will come, however, in February when he is expected to be the starting goaltender for Canada at the Winter Olympics in Nagano.The Colorado Avalanche star netminder was angry he was left off the 1996 World Cup Canadian team, but the Olympic selection has soothed all the old hurts. He was even a bit philosophical about being snubbed.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01857/6958815-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="597" height="1188"><figcaption class="caption-body">Patrick Roy takes a wealth of NHL experience and confidence to Nagano. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Well, goalie is a position where you can only play one at a time,&rdquo; Roy said. &ldquo;You can put 18 forwards on the ice, but only two goaltenders. And when a coach goes to (a major international event), they want to have their goaltender. That&rsquo;s what happened to me in 1987 when I was there.&ldquo;Everybody knew Grant Fuhr was going to play every game, but after that all the jobs were open. And I think Ron Hextall stayed there because Mike Keenan was head coach.&rdquo;Roy will do his best at the Olympics to prove he never should have been overlooked by Canada.To those wondering if Roy will be able to handle the immense pressure his country will place on his shoulders, the three-time Stanley Cup champ gave a sly smile.&ldquo;My answer is pretty easy,&rdquo; Roy said. &ldquo;I played 10 years in Montreal, and I don&rsquo;t see how you can get any more pressure than from playing there. I&rsquo;m going over there with the intention of winning the gold.&rdquo;If Roy is indeed the No. 1 goaltender, either Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils or Curtis Joseph of the Edmonton Oilers will be the backup.Brodeur appears to be the leading candidate to win the job, but he&rsquo;s not a shoo-in. Some feel Brodeur, who struggled at the 1994 World Championship, plays a style better-suited to the NHL than the international game.Meanwhile, Joseph has excellent international credentials. He was outstanding in the World Cup and 1996 World Championship. There are those, in fact, who would be comfortable with Joseph as Canada&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie.Roy said he doesn&rsquo;t plan to change his game any in Nagano.&ldquo;The bigger ice surface probably will mean more chances for the offense, but I&rsquo;m going to play the same way I always have,&rdquo; Roy said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going there with business in mind.&rdquo;In other words, Roy hints, put your money on the Canadians. &#9632;

f0021-01

Canada stands Pat in goal after World Cup setback

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01987/6958846-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

COACH CRAWFORD’S COMMENTS

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div>They are undoubtedly the most unlikely threesome in hockey: Gary Bettman, Bob Goodenow and Rene Fasel.But they formed the most powerful trio in the hockey world a couple of years ago when the three big powerbrokers agreed to stage what could wind up being the greatest show on ice-the Dream Tournament at the Olympics in Japan.While NHL commissioner Bettman worked on the owners, Goodenow was talking and listening to the players in his capacity as executive director of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01877/6958891-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="399" height="571"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gary Bettman</figcaption></div>As president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Fasel had to weigh the concerns of the NHL and the NHLPA, along with his member federations. The Swiss dentist is also a member of the International Olympic Committee and his close relationship with IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch helped the whole process go smoothly.&ldquo;We all had a piece of the puzzle and built it together.&rdquo; Fasel said of the Olympic effort.While no one person is taking credit for coming up with the idea of the Dream Tournament, the seeds were first planted back in 1986 when the IIHF altered its longtime stance and allowed professionals to compete under the Olympic banner.The NHL was run by president John Ziegler and he held out for hockey to be part of the Summer Games. That way, the NHL schedule wouldn&rsquo;t be interrupted. Then in the early 1990s, there were changes in leadership at the NHL, NHLPA and IIHF, with Bettman, Goodenow and Fasel assuming their respective posts.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02564/6958884-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="394" height="578"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Goodenow</figcaption></div>Bettman had just taken office when he met with owners and told them there was not enough time to prepare for NHL participation in the 1994 Games. But he met with Samaranch in 1993 to discuss participation in Nagano and had a number of follow-up meetings in the next year, with Goodenow and Fasel included. It was odd in a way to see Bettman and Goodenow as allies because just a few months prior, they had been adversaries during the lockout.Hockey&rsquo;s three amigos had to overcome some bumps along the way. Each player-Bettman, Goodenow and Fasel-had potential problems with his constituents that needed to be addressed.Fasel had incurred the wrath of some players during the 1994 lockout when he initially opposed attempts by players to seek temporary employment in European leagues. It was at an NHLPA meeting in May, 1995 that Fasel was confronted by players about his policy. He survived the session and left feeling the players supported Olympic participation.&ldquo;The big part was getting the players onside,&rdquo; said Fasel, whose only contact with NHL players to that point was fixing Joe Sakic&rsquo;s teeth at the 1994 World Championship in Italy. &ldquo;You can do all you want, but if the players aren&rsquo;t interested, why bother?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03392/6958877-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="391" height="572"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rene Fasel</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Then Gary got the owners to accept a 16-day shutdown. And once we achieved that, we had to find a format to fit it all in because the NHL players could not play the whole tournament.&rdquo;Goodenow said the players&rsquo; concerns were met.&ldquo;It was a novel idea which would have unusual implications for a number of players, specifically those going to play and those not,&rdquo; Goodenow said. &ldquo;There were travel concerns, schedule concerns.&ldquo;The scheduling we were concerned with. We wanted to make sure players could bring a guest. We wanted to make sure the players would stay in the village and participate in the entire Olympic experience.&rdquo;Bettman felt the deal-maker was the format.&ldquo;The threshold issue was changing the tournament format so that we could get in and out in 16 days because if we could not have reduced it to that period of time, this wasn&rsquo;t going to happen,&rdquo; Bettman said. &ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t change this and reduce the number of days to get in and get out, there is nothing to talk about, we&rsquo;re not taking the time off.&rdquo;Coming up with a formula is not as easy as it sounds. In accepting the NHLers, the NHLPA, the IIHF, the IOC along with the Nagano Organizing Committee agreed to expand the number of teams by two to 14. There would be eight in the first week, with two of those teams joining the big six-Canada, USA, Russia, Finland, the Czech Republic and Sweden-the second week.Finally, the agreement was signed Sept. 29, 1995 in Budapest.Said Fasel: &ldquo;For hockey it is a Dream Tournament. We will finish this century with a big highlight and that is an achievement for hockey, having the best players.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0023-01

Dream Tournament of century

<div class="byline">By Paul Hunter</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01858/6958936-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nicklas Lidstrom is the backbone of a talented and mobile Swedish defense corps. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>Some leaders are bom. Others rise, phoenix-like, out of the ashes of adversity to assert their authority.It&rsquo;s the latter scenario, reasons Sweden&rsquo;s coach Kent Forsberg, that compelled him to sew an &lsquo;A&rsquo; on the sweater of Mats Sundin while readying his squad for Nagano. The Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; center has been coronated as one of the critical ingredients in Sweden&rsquo;s medal hopes.&ldquo;Mats has really developed as a player and a person,&rdquo; said Forsberg, explaining Sundin&rsquo;s metamorphosis into the role of alternate captain.&ldquo;I think one of the things about him playing for Toronto-and I don&rsquo;t want to say it&rsquo;s a bad team, but it&rsquo;s not a good team-is he is one of its best players and he has had to take more responsibility because of that.&ldquo;He has had to show the younger players on the team how they can take points (in the standings) by working hard. It has made him a leader.&rdquo;Tommy Tomth, one of Sweden&rsquo;s assistant coaches, puts it even more succinctly.&ldquo;Mats Sundin has grown up,&rdquo; he said.Sundin, who turns 27 Feb. 13, has always had the offensive tools. An impressive package of size, speed and range, combined with an explosive shot off both forehand and backhand, was enough to get him drafted first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in 1989.Respect, though, did not immediately follow. For eight seasons, Sundin has toiled on mediocre squads in Quebec and in Toronto. Sundin&rsquo;s teams have made the NHL&rsquo;s post-season only three times. Never has he played a second round playoff match.With that failure came questions about his intensity, his determination and, ultimately, his leadership. However, Sundin used those early off-seasons to reaffirm his stardom by joining Sweden at World Championships.At the 1991 tournament, Sundin scored the gold medal winning goal in the final against the Soviet Union. In 1992, he eliminated that same Russian powerhouse with the game winner in the quarterfinal, helping Sweden to another gold. In 1994 he was the leading scorer at the World Championship.&ldquo;If I need a goal late in the game and I had my pick of any player in the world, Mats would be one of my choices,&rdquo; said countryman Anders Hedberg, the Leafs&rsquo; assistant GM. &ldquo;Since he was 19 years old, Mats has always delivered in key situations. Always.&rdquo;Sundin&rsquo;s international exploits were impressive to be sure, but-yawn-nobody on this side of the Atlantic much cared as they watched the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sundin&rsquo;s reputation remained unchanged.&ldquo;At times it&rsquo;s frustrating,&rdquo; said Sundin, who also ascended to the Leafs&rsquo; captaincy this season.&ldquo;I want to be compared to the top guys in the league. And at times (I) might play as good as the top guys on Detroit or Philadelphia or Colorado&hellip;but you need to be on a winning team to get that recognition. I understand that. Until I&rsquo;m with a winning team, that&rsquo;s the way it&rsquo;s going to be. It&rsquo;s the way it should be.&rdquo;Some of the respect Sundin lacked finally came his way during the 1996 World Cup. With the best NHL talent available and North American hockey fans glued to their televisions, he turned the tournament into a personal coming out party.Finally given a strong supporting cast, the new Mats Sundin, or perhaps the one nobody previously bothered to acknowledge, emerged. The big Swede dominated with four goals and seven points in four games while playing an intense two-way game for his homeland. He was selected as a first team all-star.Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; assistant coach Barry Smith, who will work in the same capacity for Sweden during the Olympics, said his impression of Sundin was forever changed by that tour de force performance.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t just surprised, I was amazed at how good he was. He was the best player in the tournament as far as I was concerned,&rdquo; Smith said.&ldquo;I had heard he was lazy and only went full out when he wanted to, but his practice habits were impeccable and he did everything for us in games.&rdquo;So it should be no surprise Sundin can hardly wait to shed the shackles of the Leafs&rsquo; talent-thin squad to skate again with the formidable Swedes.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very excited about getting into a fresh situation and enjoying myself for a couple of weeks,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I always enjoy playing international hockey. I think it&rsquo;s the top level of hockey you can play. My biggest goal is still to win the Stanley Cup, but since I was younger than 15 it&rsquo;s been my dream to play in the Olympics.&rdquo;<h2>SCOUTING REPORT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02546/6958929-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="419" height="604"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mats Sundin</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03354/6958922-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="514" height="663"></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

Sundin’s time to rise, shine

Coach: Kent ForsbergGM: Bo Tovland<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04219/6958967-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="820" height="1336"></div><h2>KEY PLAYERS MISSING</h2>Among players not named to the team were forwards Markus Naslund, Johan Garpenlov and Niklas Andersson and detenseman Kennv Jonsson. Sweden&rsquo;s finish at 1996 World Cup: 1st out of 4 European teams; lost semifinal to Canada.<h2>DAVE KING&rsquo;S COMMENTS</h2>Strengths: No team will defend better on the big ice than the Swedes and no team is likely to come&rdquo; together as quickly. With Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Niklas Sundstrom et al, they have the best two-way talent in the tournament. The additions of Mikael Renberg and Mats Lindgren make an already impressive group of forwards even better than at the World Cup. The Nicklas Lidstromled defense is mobile and skilled.Weaknesses: Netminding-Tommy Salo looked as though he were emerging, but has taken a step back. Soft defense-As good as their defensemen are, only Ulf Samuelsson is a banger, although Mattias Ohlund&rsquo;s size and strength will help. Scoring is too isolated-For Swedes to succeed their best offensive players have to play a 200-foot complete game and that takes away from the ability to create offense.Tactics: The Swedes will be looking to play tight low-scoring games and use their traditional 1-3-1 or 1-2-2 forechecking systems to take away opponents&rsquo; speed through the neutral zone. Off the rush, they&rsquo;ll use the &ldquo;Swedish delay&rdquo; which is the puck carrier curling away from the net and looking for a late man, which means defensemen will be active in the attack. In their own end, a skilled, mobile defense means the blueliners will be especially dangerous on the quick transition from defense to offense.OVERALL GRADE: B+RANK: 3RD &#9632;

f0025-04

SWEDISH OLYMPIANS

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01942/6958998-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Forsberg&rsquo;s shootout goal in 1994 gave the Swedes their first-ever Olympic hockey gold medal. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>Tommy Salo has an Olympic gold medal.Salo has also won Turner Cups with the Denver (1995) and Utah Grizzlies (1996) of the International League. But NHL stardom continues to elude him.In parts of four seasons with the New York Islanders, he never has had a winning record. Going into the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Salo is viewed as one of Sweden&rsquo;s weaker links. It will be up to him to answer his critics, who have included Islanders&rsquo; GM Mike Milbury and coach Rick Bowness.Two months after selecting projected franchise goalie Roberto Luongo in the first round of the NHL&rsquo;s 1997 entry draft, Milbury ridiculed Salo in an Aug. 11 arbitration hearing.This season, Bowness has yanked Salo three times and after Salo lost six straight games during an 0-10-1 streak, Bowness started Wade Flaherty in four consecutive games.&ldquo;Of course you lose a little bit of confidence when you&rsquo;re back and forth in the net,&rdquo; Salo said. &ldquo;Of course I take it hard. I understand Rick wants to win the game, but I want to win, too.&rdquo;Salo, who turned 27 Feb. 1, said of achieving recognition, &ldquo;I try hard every&hellip;.year to make that. I think I&rsquo;m still young. I hope I have a chance to do that in the future.&rdquo;He is one of two active NHL goalies with Olympic gold medals: Mikhail Shtalenkov of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim is the other, having won gold with the Unified Team in the 1992 Games.Salo hopes the Olympic stage will bring out the best in him, but detractors say he allows too many soft goals from long range and too many goals early and late in games.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t started to think about (Nagano) yet because we&rsquo;ve been in a bad stretch,&rdquo; Salo said, &ldquo;but when I go over there, I&rsquo;m sure I&rsquo;m going to think about it. We have a real good team. I think we have a real chance to get the gold. I think five teams have a chance and we&rsquo;re one of them.&rdquo;He feels the others are Canada, USA, the Czech Republic and Russia.Salo allowed 13 goals in six games at Lillehammer in 1994 and in the gold medal game shootout, stopped Canada&rsquo;s Dwayne Morris, Greg Parks, Greg Johnson, Petr Nedved and Paul Kariya. Much was made about Peter Forsberg&rsquo;s winning goal, but Salo&rsquo;s contribution was equally important.&ldquo;It was a dream come true to win the Olympics and a good start for me towards playing in the NHL,&rdquo; Salo said. &ldquo;The shootout was different, but it was fun when you win. Of course I&rsquo;m proud of it. Every time you win something it&rsquo;s a big thing. It was the first time Sweden won an Olympic gold so it was a big thing for me and for the Swedish people.&rdquo;Salo will be backed up by former Islanders&rsquo; teammate Tommy Soderstrom, 28, who plays now for Djurgarden in Sweden. In 156 NHL games with the Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers, Soderstrom had a 45-69-19 record with a 3.63 goals-against average. Sweden&rsquo;s third goalie is Flyers&rsquo; 1994 draft pick Johan Hedberg, 24, who is playing for the Detroit Vipers of the IHL.Mike Smith, associate GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, feels goaltending will be key for the Swedes.&ldquo;In this tournament, European teams fall short in the net compared to Canada and the United States,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;Their guy (Salo) will have to play good because they don&rsquo;t have any depth.&rdquo;Salo hoped to get a lot of work in the last few games before the Olympics so he could go into the Games on a roll.&ldquo;I feel relaxed,&rdquo; said Salo, who was 12-16-3 with a 2.67 goals-against average while starting 32 of the Islanders&rsquo; first 49 games. &ldquo;I feel I&rsquo;m coming back again. Hopefully, I&rsquo;ll get through this (slump) and the whole team will get through it.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-01

Golden memories not enough

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div>They are everybody&rsquo;s pick for a medal at the Winter Olympics and the only question is which ore they will mine.For those who think the Olympic competition is a race between Canada and the United States, here&rsquo;s a warning. Don&rsquo;t write off defending Olympic champion Sweden.The Swedes are arguably the most talented offensive team entering the Olympics, with Peter Forsberg of the Colorado Avalanche, Mats Sundin of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings spearheading an impressive attack.The Swedish defense is big and mobile and the goaltending is unspectacular but solid.&ldquo;The Swedish team is an equal power,&rdquo; said Canada center Steve Yzerman. &ldquo;The Russian team is a bit of a question mark. But the Swedish team is as strong as the U.S.&rdquo;&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t let up against the Swedes,&rdquo; said Toronto associate GM Mike Smith. &ldquo;There are enough NHL players on the team to allow them to compete against the U.S. and Canada&ldquo;If they come to play and complete, with their skill level and knowledge of the big ice surface, they have to be a consideration (for a gold medal).&rdquo;In Olympic competition, no Swedish team has finished lower than fifth. And while the 1980s brought three successive Olympic bronze medals, the country waited until 1994 for its first-ever gold.The Lillehammer Olympics featured one of the most dramatic finishes ever as Forsberg clinched the gold medal with a shootout game winner to beat Canada. That goal not only transformed Forsberg into a hero at home, it also established Sweden as one of the hockey world&rsquo;s top three powers.Needless to say, the Nagano-bound players are pumped.&ldquo;This is one of the best teams Sweden has ever put together,&rdquo; said Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators.In assembling his team, coach Kent Forsberg (Peter&rsquo;s father) decided to tinker with his Olympic roster. There are eight players heading to Nagano, who didn&rsquo;t play in the World Cup.&ldquo;We may not have selected the best players but this is the best team,&rdquo; said coach Forsberg.Lidstrom is an early favorite to win the Norris Trophy and is as gifted defensively as he is offensively.Leading the offense is Sundin, Forsberg, Alfredsson and Mikael Renberg of the Tampa Bay Lightning.Sundin proved in the World Cup he&rsquo;s an elite player. Forsberg is one of the top players in the world while Alfredsson has blossomed into a star with the Senators. Renberg has plenty of experience and is Sweden&rsquo;s top power winger in the NHL.Kent Forsberg said one thing the Swedes have going for them is their ability to come together as a team quickly. &ldquo;We are good at putting together a team and then act like a team very quickly,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

Swedes expected to win medal, maybe even gold

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01935/6959067-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Yashin will be counted upon to provide goals for the fourth-ranked Russians. (Photo by Bruce Jessop/IHA)</figcaption></div>Alexei Yashin isn&rsquo;t sure he can carry the Russians to gold in Nagano, but he believes a strong performance could lift the spirits in his country.&ldquo;Life in Russia isn&rsquo;t very good right now,&rdquo; said the Ottawa Senators&rsquo; center. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think a gold medal would change their lives or anything like that, but I think it would lift their spirits and give them something to celebrate.&ldquo;Russian people follow hockey closely and they&rsquo;re proud of their teams. They support us well at World Championships and in any sport. It would be nice to win for the people there because they would enjoy it the most.&rdquo;Yashin, 24, is getting plenty of attention in his homeland as he readies for what could be the most difficult competition of his career. While some notable Russians-Alexander Mogilny, Sergei Zubov and Nikolai Khabibulin to name a few-refused to play for the Olympic team, Yashin welcomed the invitation to represent his country with open arms.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very proud of my homeland,&rdquo; said Yashin, who returned to play for the Moscow Dynamo three years ago while holding out for a new contract from the Senators. &ldquo;It would mean a lot to me to win a gold medal for Russia.&ldquo;The important thing is I think that we&rsquo;ve got a good team with a lot of good talent. You want to have players who want to play for the team. You don&rsquo;t want to have anybody whose heart is not in it.&ldquo;Some players made some difficult decisions not to go. That&rsquo;s their choice. I just want to do what I think is best for the team. We&rsquo;re going there because we want to be there and we want to do the best we can for Russian hockey.&rdquo;The decision on who will be team captain won&rsquo;t be made until the players vote after the first practice in Nagano, but there&rsquo;s a good chance Yashin will wear the &lsquo;C.&rsquo; Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; right winger Pavel Bure and Colorado Avalanche left winger Valeri Kamensky are other possibilities.An alternate captan with the Senators, Yashin has taken an active role in the dressing room this season. He&rsquo;s the club NHL Players&rsquo; Association representative and lends a hand to captain Randy Cunneyworth when needed.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t sit here and say it doesn&rsquo;t mean anything (if he&rsquo;s named the captain), but it doesn&rsquo;t change my role,&rdquo; Yashin said. &ldquo;Wayne Gretzky is still Wayne Gretzky with the New York Rangers even if he doesn&rsquo;t wear the &lsquo;C.&rsquo;&ldquo;You just want to help make the team successful. That&rsquo;s the same for everybody. Yes, the guys with the &lsquo;C&rsquo; and the &lsquo;A&rsquo;s are expected to be leaders on the team because that&rsquo;s what hockey is all about.&rdquo;Yashin will be the Russians&rsquo; go-to-guy in the Olympics. He has vast international experience, he&rsquo;s able to put the puck in the net and he is a respected leader because of his on-ice accomplishments.A modest individual who would rather talk about the team than himself, Yashin doesn&rsquo;t see his role with Russia being much different than it is with Ottawa: he&rsquo;s going to be counted on to put the puck in the net.&ldquo;My role is to do the best I can do,&rdquo; Yashin said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the same for everybody on the team. We have good players and we all have to contribute in different ways. Of course, I have to score goals, but I have to do my job in other areas.&ldquo;The only thing I can do over there is play like I can play. We have to have the same effort from everybody if we&rsquo;re going to be successful. We have to have everybody working hard because this will be a tough tournament.&rdquo;Yashin wants to restore pride in Russian hockey. His club hasn&rsquo;t been given much of a chance by the prognosticators. All the talk has been about Canada, the United States and Sweden.There is some sense among the other competitors in the tournament the Russians could be keeping a low profile because they&rsquo;re getting ready to ambush their opponents once the games begin.After a disappointing performance at the 1996 World Cup-they lost in the semifinal to the United States-the Russians want to make up for the defeat and get people talking about them again.&ldquo;We had a chance at the World Championships last year in Finland to get into the final, but we lost to Canada by a goal that bounced off one of our players. We were only one goal away, that was important,&rdquo; said Yashin.&ldquo;We know we&rsquo;ve got good players and everybody is going in the same direction. We all want to win. We all want to have success. Obviously, this is going to be different because it&rsquo;s all NHL players, but that&rsquo;s what makes it fun.&rdquo;Bringing home a gold for his countrymen would be the most fun of all.<h2>SCOUTING REPORT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02622/6959060-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="419" height="604"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pavel Bure</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03431/6959053-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="512" height="666"></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

Yashin’s project to restore pride

Coach: Vladimir YurzinovGM: Alexei Kasatonov<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04305/6959098-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="823" height="1333"></div><h2>KEY PLAYERS MISSING</h2>Players missing include forwards Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Slava Kozlov, Alexander Mogilny, defensemen Sergei Zubov and Vladimir Malakhov and qoalie Nikolai Khabibulin. Russia&rsquo;s finish at 1996 World Cup: 3rd of 4 teams in North American pool; lost semi-final to U.S.<h2>DAVE KING&rsquo;S COMMENTS</h2>Strengths: Attitude-Players didn&rsquo;t want to be at the World Cup. This year&rsquo;s Olympians want to be there. Absence of such top players as Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Mogilny, Igor Larionov and Slava Kozlov could be a rallying point Defense-Even with the loss of Vladimir Malakhov and Sergei Zubov, the defense is a little bigger and stronger than at the World Cup. Game-breakers-Pavel Bure, Alexei Yashin, Alexei Zhamnov and Valeri Kamensky are all capable of making big plays.Weaknesses: Bottom line? This isn&rsquo;t Russia&rsquo;s best team. Goaltending will suffer without Nikolai Khabibulin. Mikhail Shtalenkov is steady, while Andrei Trefilov is up and down. Defections leave Russians with two offensive lines, one decent checking line and some lower-case players. Overall, their offense can be too easily neutralized.Tactics: The Russians used to pressure the puck more than any team. Their opponents always felt as though the Russians had too many men on the ice. But all that has changed. Like most countries now, the Russians will use the 1-2-2 steer/contain (trap) forecheck more often than not. When they have the puck, they can be difficult to defend because they do a lot of crossing and interchanging of positions. They have a lot of high-risk type players who, when confronted with the trap, will make risky plays to try to beat it.OVERALL GRADE: BRANK: 4TH &#9632;

f0030-04

RUSSIAN OLYMPIANS

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01862/6959129-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mikhail Shtalenkov hopes to add another Olympic gold medal to his collection. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>Russian goaltender Mikhail Shtalenk-ov has the gold medal he won for the Unified Team at the 1992 Winter Olympics in his house in Southern California.&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s not on the wall,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hiding somewhere. I only see it once and a while, when people ask me to show it to them.&rdquo;Shtalenkov went 7-1-0 during the &lsquo;92 Games, with a stellar 1.63 goals-against average. In the gold medal game, he stopped 22 of 23 shots against Canada.&ldquo;It was a great feeling,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Kind of a big dream came true. Yeah, I think it was the best thing to happen to me. The other best thing to happen is to play in the NHL.&rdquo;On the 1992 Unified Team, none of the players had competed in the NHL. They made their mark, though, and NHL teams took notice&hellip;with one exception.&ldquo;It seemed like the entire team was drafted after that, except myself,&rdquo; Shtalenkov said. &ldquo;It took another year to get here.&rdquo;Shtalenkov, who also played in the 1991 Canada Cup and 1992 World Championship, signed with the Milwaukee Admirals of the International League in 1992. The next year the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim took him in the fifth round (108th overall).Shtalenkov was 26 when he won the gold medal.&ldquo;It was big tournament for us,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everybody was focused. Everybody tried to give like 150 per cent.&rdquo;But Shtalenkov, now 32, said it didn&rsquo;t seem like the Olympics. It was completely lacking the festive atmosphere one generally associates with the Olympic Games.&ldquo;It was more like the playoffs here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;All the teams stay in a village for just hockey teams. Nobody else was around. So we sleep, eat, nothing else.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t see anything, except one day we went to the slalom skiing event. That&rsquo;s all I saw in the Olympics. We played in Meribel (France). There&rsquo;s ice rinks and a few houses and nothing else around.&rdquo;Shtalenkov expects his second Olympic experience will be much different.&ldquo;I think with one village, it&rsquo;s going to be a better feeling,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We can cheer for (other Russian athletes) and they will cheer for us. All Russian players in the NHL together, it will be something different. But at the same time, we&rsquo;re not exactly Russians anymore. A lot of us have lived here five or six or seven years. We are a little different people right now. I bet some of us will even try to speak English.&rdquo;With Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; goalie Nikolai Khabibulin turning down Russia&rsquo;s invitation-the Russian Ice Hockey Federation was still trying in late January to convince him to play&mdash;it&rsquo;s expected Shtalenkov will be the No. 1 goalie and Andrei Trefilov will back him up. Trefilov, 28, is the third string goalie with the Chicago Blackhawks behind Jeff Hackett and Chris Terreri. He had played three games with the Rochester Americans of the American League this season and four with Chicago. If the Russians are forced to call on Trefilov in Nagano, at least he&rsquo;ll be well-rested.&ldquo;I think we have a pretty good, competitive team,&rdquo; Shtalenkov said. &ldquo;All players are from the NHL. So we have some problems with some guys who won&rsquo;t play there. But in hockey, it&rsquo;s not like one guy can do it all. It&rsquo;s a team effort.&ldquo;Yeah, I think if we focus and stick together and put everything into it, we have a chance. Why not? There&rsquo;s always a chance. You never know.&rdquo;Shtalenkov, Guy Hebert&rsquo;s backup in Anaheim, was 6-6-3 with a 2.97 goals-against average and. 900 save percentage.But he was concerned about being rusty for the Olympics. He had played only one full game in January. Shtal-enkov hasn&rsquo;t missed a game due to injury or illness in four seasons with the Mighty Ducks, but also hasn&rsquo;t been able to unseat the steady Hebert as the No. 1 goalie.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good the first few games don&rsquo;t count as much,&rdquo; Shtalenkov said. &ldquo;I think I will need a few games to get back into good game shape.&rdquo;But he will have no trouble finding another hiding spot, if he were to win a second gold medal.&ldquo;I have a big house,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

f0031-01

Can No. 2 make Russia No. 1?

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01837/6959160-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Russians feature one of the most explosive players in the world in right winger Pavel Bure. (Photo by Glenn James/SA)</figcaption></div>The Russians are a big, happy family largely because the kids who don&rsquo;t want to be there have left home.When the Russian team was announced in December, there was more talk about who wouldn&rsquo;t be going to Nagano than who would. Without the likes of Slava Fetisov, Sergei Zubov, Nikolai Khabibulin, Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Viktor Kozlov and Alexander Mogilny, the Russians won&rsquo;t be near as strong as they could be.But they won&rsquo;t be as dysfunctional, either.Losers to the United States in the semifinal of the 1996 World Cup, the Russians have built an Olympic roster almost by default, but one that will promote togetherness.Russian Ice Hockey Federation president Alexander Steblin and coach Vladimir Yurzinov built a roster that will get along well in the dressing room and give everything it has on the ice.There was no complaining when Yurzinov, coach of TPS in Finland, was named to take over the Russian team. A Viktor Tikhonov disciple, Yurzinov is considered a tough, defense-minded coach.Does he yell?&ldquo;Of course, every Russian coach yells,&rdquo; said Ottawa Senators&rsquo; center Alexei Yashin.There aren&rsquo;t going to be any factions in the dressing room like there were during the World Cup. The Russians even held an unofficial training camp in New Jersey in the summer to promote peace and harmony.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a good team with a good bunch of guys,&rdquo; Yashin said. &ldquo;You want to have players in your lineup who want to be there.&rdquo;Up front, Yashin will likely form the top line with Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; winger Pavel Bure and Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Kamensky. There is little doubt Alexei Zhamnov of the Chicago Blackhawks will center the second line.Beyond those four players, there isn&rsquo;t much firepower up front. New York Rangers&rsquo; underachiever Alexei Kovalev had knee surgery Jan. 28 and may not play in the tournament.Defenseman Darius Kasparaitis of the Pittsburgh Penguins will be throwing his weight around. Alexei Zhitnik of the Buffalo Sabres, along with Dimitri Mironov of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Boris Mironov of the Edmonton Oilers, are expected to bring the offense.&ldquo;There are no secrets on any of the teams,&rdquo; Yashin said. &ldquo;Nothing will be unexpected. These are (mostly) NHL players, nobody is going to surprise anybody. What will the hockey be like? We&rsquo;U have to see when we get there.&rdquo;One thing is certain, the Russians aren&rsquo;t going to roll and over and die in Nagano. If they go down, they&rsquo;ll make sure they do it with a fight. &#9632;

f0033-01

Russians hope for big, happy family

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01937/6959205-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Splash, dash and panache are trademarks of creative Finnish playmaker Saku Koivu. (Photo by Robert Laberge/BBS)</figcaption></div>Pressure? What pressure?When Finland takes the ice at the Winter Olympics, Teemu Selanne does not expect his team will be tight and tense like the Americans and Canadians, and perhaps even the Russians and Swedes.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re the underdogs.&rdquo; the happy-go-lucky Finnish Flash proclaimed. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a good situation. We have nothing to lose. Nobody expects us to win. But we know that if everything goes well and we play 100-per cent games, we have a good chance.&rdquo;This will be Selanne&rsquo;s second Olympics, and he expects his role on Finland will be the same as it has been on just about every team he has played for, be it a national or an NHL team.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to try to do the same things as I always do,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m supposed to score goals and create offense. But one thing I really also want to be is a leader there. Make sure everybody feels good. Be happy all the time. Make sure everyone believes that we can win the games.&ldquo;On the ice, I try to do things I know I can do well. I know I&rsquo;m going to get a lot of ice time. I know that some players have more pressure than other players. But that&rsquo;s part of the job.&rdquo;Led by Selanne, who was tops in the NHL in late January with 36 goals, the Finns will have a potent offense, which they demonstrated at the All-Star Game with the World Team&rsquo;s all-Finn line: Selanne, Saku Koivu and Jari Kurri.Selanne expects Ville Peltonen, who used to play for the San Jose Sharks and now plays in Sweden, will be on a line with Kurri and Koivu: &ldquo;They played five or six years together, so I think they will be a regular line.&rdquo;Selanne thinks he will start on a unit with Raimo Helminen-who played three NHL seasons for the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and New York Islanders and now plays in Europe-and Sami Kapanen, who&rsquo;s having a great season for the Carolina Hurricanes.Selanne calls Finland&rsquo;s defense and goaltending &ldquo;questionable.&rdquo;&ldquo;But I really hope the European teams can take a big advantage of the bigger ice surface.&rdquo;Selanne has played on several Finnish national teams, starting with the 1989 World Junior Championship. He also played in the 1991 Canada Cup. the 1991 World Championship, the 1992 Winter Olympics, the 1996 World Championship and the 1996 World Cup.Although Finland is a country of 5.1 million people and has only about 150 ice rinks compared to Canada&rsquo;s 3,000, it has emerged as a competitive force in international hockey.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting better,&rdquo; Selanne said.Finland won a silver medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics and a bronze at the 1994 Games. Finland won gold at the 1995 World Championship and silvers in two other championships since 1992.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be interesting because of what Sweden did last year in the World Cup against Canada-they lost in overtime,&rdquo; Selanne said. &ldquo;I think a lot of teams can really do some damage and I think there will be some surprises. That&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re looking for. We know if we&rsquo;re playing our best hockey, we can beat any team.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the attitude of how we should go there. We are not going to respect anybody. We are going to do our job as good as we can and try to win the games, whatever it takes. We can beat anybody if we have a good day. That&rsquo;s what we really have to make sure that everyone on our team believes.&rdquo;While Finland is getting better, so has Selanne. He thinks he is a better player now then when he scored 76 goals and 132 points during Calder Cup-winning rookie season for the Winnipeg Jets in 1992-93.&ldquo;Nobody knew who this Teemu guy was,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Now every night I see the best checkers and defenders. It&rsquo;s much harder to find room.&rdquo;Selanne also has become a better leader, in part due to the absence of Paul Kariya for the first 32 games of this season due to his contract dispute. Selanne was given the &lsquo;C&rsquo; and almost singlehandedly kept the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim afloat with 23 goals until Kariya&rsquo;s return.&ldquo;I think that will help me,&rdquo; Selanne said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m always really proud to play for my country. And we&rsquo;re all good friends. It&rsquo;s going to be fun, especially in the middle of season with everybody on top of their games.&rdquo;With only three days of practice before the Olympics begin, Selanne thinks the Finns will have an advantage over some teams because &ldquo;everybody knows each other. We know which style of hockey we play. It shouldn&rsquo;t be that much of a problem.&rdquo;So can Finland win the gold medal?&ldquo;Of course. I&rsquo;m not going to say we will,&rdquo; Selanne said. &ldquo;But we are the underdogs. I think that&rsquo;s a very good situation.&rdquo;<h2>SCOUTING REPORT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02650/6959198-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="421" height="606"><figcaption class="caption-body">Teemu Selanne</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03510/6959191-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="513" height="664"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

Underdog role suits Selanne

Coach: Hannu AravirtaGM: Hexi Riihiranta<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04396/6959236-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="828" height="1336"></div><h2>KEY PLAYERS MISSING</h2>None, really. Kings&rsquo; first-rounder Olli Jokinen, 19, has played on the national team before but didn&rsquo;t make it this time. Finland&rsquo;s finish at 1996 World Cup: 2nd out of 4 teams in European pool; lost quarterfinal to Russia.<h2>DAVE KING&rsquo;S COMMENTS</h2>Strengths: The Finns have a speedy and skilled nucleus up front, led by Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Sami Kapanen and Jere Lehtinen. They also have heart and desire-two necessary qualities given the lack of size. The addition of Aki Berg and Tuomas Gronman on the blueline enhances the NHL experience factor, which could be of enormous significance.Weaknesses: Goaltending-Finnish netminders do fine in most international events, but these Olympics are not standard international fare and they will be overmatched by NHL shooters. Defenselt may be bigger and marginally better than at the World Cup, but it&rsquo;s not strong enough to handle cycling from giant-sized North American teams. Lack of depth/size up front-Juha Lind and Esa Tikkanen have been added, but their input is likely to be marginal. The have too many small, nifty players.Tactics: The Finns go to the net as well as any European team, but size limitations will hold them back this time. They used to play a North American-style forecheck, but have drifted more towards the Swedish steer/contain forecheck. The net result is they&rsquo;ve been able to keep games closer and be more competitive. They can, however, beat you with offensive-zone cycling that emphasizes screens/picks and quick reversals of puck movement.OVERALL GRADE: C+RANK: 6TH &#9632;

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FINNISH OLYMPIANS

<div class="byline">By Hannu Kauhala</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01887/6959267-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jarmo Myllys has been a solid international performer after a short NHL career. (Photo by Robert Laberge/BBS)</figcaption></div>What would you like to have from your goaltending in the Olympics?Experience and shutouts, perhaps?That is exactly what Finland got when it selected its goaltending tandem for the Winter Olympics in Nagano.They&rsquo;ll have Jarmo Myllys, who plays with Lulea in Sweden, Jukka Tammi who plays with Frankfort in Germany and Ari Sulander from the defending Finnish champion Jokerit. They represent the absolute best in goaltending in Finland from the past 10 years.Finnish success on the international scene is not plentiful, but these goalies have been responsible for any celebrating the country has done.Finland won its first Olympic hockey medal at the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary. The goaltenders there? First Myllys and then Tammi in the final game against Russia. Tammi got the win guaranteeing his country a silver medal.Tammi made his next international mark in 1991 when he helped Finland place third in the Canada Cup. Three years later, at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer Tammi and Myllys both played as Finland took bronze. The same year that duo led their country to a silver medal at the World Championship.Sulander entered the picture the following May in Stockholm and the trio helped the Finns win their first gold medal at the World Championship.Only once, at the World Championship in Prague in 1992, has Finland been in the medals without one of these three goalies at the helm. So it&rsquo;s no wonder they were selected to compete in the biggest Olympic hockey tournament ever.Myllys is expected to be the No. 1 goalie and, of the three, is probably best equipped to handle the pressure that comes with the job.&ldquo;Myllys is a guy who seems to rise to the occasion in international competition, but he&rsquo;s not an NHL goalie,&rdquo; said one NHL team&rsquo;s director of player personnel. &ldquo;He takes his game to a higher level in international play.&rdquo;A scrappy individual who has been known to drop his gloves in the name of protecting his crease, Myllys played parts of four seasons in the NHL, three with the Minnesota North Stars and one with the San Jose Sharks.His numbers weren&rsquo;t much to write home about. His combined record with the North Stars was 1-9-0 and his goals-against averages in three seasons were 5.55, 6.15 and 6.15. In 1991-92 with the Sharks, the year before he headed back to Europe, he was 3-18-1 with a 5.02 GAA.Tammi was something of a surprise selection to the team by coach Hannu Aravirta. Many thought he was over the hill when he left Finland last season after more than 10 years at or near the top of the league to play in Germany.In 40 games with the Frankfort Lions last season, Tammi had two shutouts and a 2.85 GAA. The wheels fell off in the playoffs though when, in five games, his average ballooned to 4.26. He is expected to be the backup to Myllys.It will be Myllys&rsquo; third Olympic Games and the fourth for Tammi.Sulander is expected to be the reserve goalie. The mainstay for Jokerit last season where he was 30-11-2 with a sparkling 2.17 GAA and four shutouts, Sulander&rsquo;s star shone brightest in the playoffs when he was a perfect 9-0 with a 1.75 GAA.When it comes to shutouts, Myllys, Tammi and Sulander are the kings. Playing in Sweden, Myllys has 19 in four seasons. The best Swede has 17 in 15 seasons. In Finland Sulander is third with 17 shutouts and Tammi fifth with 11. &#9632;

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Myllys leaner of shutout kings

<div class="byline">By Hannu Kauhala</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01844/6959298-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jere Lehtinen of Dallas will provide a solid two-way presence for Finland. (Photo by Jukka Rautio/BBS)</figcaption></div>The last time Teemu Selanne was in the Olympics, he burned the opposition for seven goals in eight games in 1992. But before salivating about Finland&rsquo;s medal prospects with him in the lineup this year, remember Finland finished seventh.Even with Selanne and silver and bronze medals in the past three Olympics, the Finns realize the task will be very difficult.&ldquo;It is going to be a tough tournament. We want to be successful, but to reach the medal games we must have almost a perfect tournament,&rdquo; said coach Hannu Aravirta, who is in his first year as head coach after four years as an assistant to Swede Curt Lindstrom.Finland&rsquo;s team isn&rsquo;t entirely comprised of NHLers, which makes it an underdog to USA, Canada, Sweden and Russia. But by no means can it be counted out.Finland will probably play defensively, using its own version of the neutral zone trap. It will play a containing forechecking system with the two wingers high and the center on the left side on the same line with the defenseman. The Finns want to establish a quick transition game with lots of counter attacks.It&rsquo;s a simple and more active way to play the trap than the Swedish version and it has been highly successful in Europe.With NHL players such as Selanne, Finland might be a bit more offensive, but it knows it doesn&rsquo;t have the depth of other teams.On defense, the team is stocked with NHL defenseman. Teppo Numminen, one of the league&rsquo;s best kept secrets, joins Jyrki Lumme, Janne Laukkanen and Janne Niinimaa as prominent NHL defensemen on Finland&rsquo;s blueline. Aki Berg and Tuo-mas Gronman will play relief roles and provide size. Only one Finnish defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, a Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; prospect, is not playing in North America.The forwards, however, are not as deep. The first unit could pose problems for opponents, but after that there is a drop off in talent.Selanne, arguably the best goal scorer in the world, could be deadly on the international size ice. The natural playmaker for Selanne would be Saku Koivu and Jere Lehtinen could bring a defensive conscience to the line.Unfortunately, Finland cannot put together three such lines. Jari Kurri appeared in the 1980 Olympics, but his great scoring skills have diminished. He and Esa Tikkanen will have big defensive and leadership responsibilities.Raimo Helminen, playing in his fourth Olympics, will be the center on the second unit. There are capable wingers from which to choose, notably Sami Kapanen, Mika Nieminen, Ville Peltonen and Kimmo Rintanen. For Finland to be successful, scoring is needed from them.Goaltending used to be a strong part of Finland&rsquo;s play, but now it is a concern.The Finns have proven international goaltending, but compared to the NHL goaltending other countries will feature, it pales in comparison. Jarmo Myllys is fast, mentally tough and skillful, but is getting old, as is Jukka Tammi. The third goaltender, Ari Sulander, is dependable, but inexperienced at this level.What the Finns lack in skill they might very well make up with high morale, spirit and team work. The national team has often shown those traits in the past, witness the gold medal performance of the junior team at the World Junior Championship in Helsinki in January. The Finns know they are the underdogs, but they know what they must do.Like all the other European countries, the larger ice surface is also in their favor because all of its players grew up playing on the large rinks.All that ice for Selanne to make his rushes may cause many opposition defensemen some sleepless nights in Nagano. &#9632;

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Lack of depth expected to be key shortcoming

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01758/6959343-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The best way to stop the Czech nationals is to stop superstar shooter Jaromir Jagr. (Photo by Bruce Jessop/IHA)</figcaption></div>When he&rsquo;s at home in his native Czech Republic, Dominik Hasek is rarely asked by friends about his exploits in the NHL.They talk mostly about the Olympics.&ldquo;I know the Stanley Cup is very important and certainly I would like to win one, but at home and all over Europe, the most important thing is the Olympics,&rdquo; said Hasek, the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; star goaltender and one of the primary hopes for the Czech national team.&ldquo;When I grew up it was always the Olympics. We knew nothing of the NHL; my heroes were always from my country and when they went to the Olympics it was a very big thing.&rdquo;It will be no less a &ldquo;thing&rdquo; when Hasek, a three-time Vezina Trophy winner and the reigning NHL most valuable player, sets foot on the ice in Nagano, Japan. It won&rsquo;t be his first Olympics-he played for what was then Czechoslovakia in the 1988 Games-but it&rsquo;s bound to be his most memorable.&ldquo;Back (in 1988) it was different, I guess we didn&rsquo;t have much of a chance, but so much has changed in the world now,&rdquo; Hasek said. &ldquo;Certainly Canada and the United States are favorites, but I think we have a chance. To win a medal, that is my dream. Any kind of medal would be great.&rdquo;The Czech team is not expected to be a powerhouse, especially after a poor and largely disorganized showing at the World Cup, but international competition tends to bring out the best in players. With a lineup that includes Hasek, the incomparable Jaromir Jagr, as well as Robert Reichel, Roman Hamrlik, Frank Kucera, Petr Svoboda, Richard Smehlik and a host of NHL up-and-comers, the Czechs have the potential to surprise.That&rsquo;s especially true if Hasek slams the door.The Sabres&rsquo; netminder is coming off his best season in the NHL, one in which he became the first goalie in 35 years to win the Hart Trophy. After a sluggish start this season due largely to off-ice and front-office distractions, Hasek appears to be peaking at just the right time. He set an NHL modem day record with six shutouts in the month of December. Hasek turned in an all-world performance in the Skills Competition at the All-Star Game in January.Having made his name in the NHL, Hasek has just two goals left&mdash;a Stanley Cup and an Olympic medal.&ldquo;(The Olympics) is an interesting experience because anything can happen,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tournament format, a lot of games in a short period of time. Anything can happen, injuries, a favorite is upset, one team gets hot, you never know.&rdquo;A hot goaltender can make a difference. The USA saw that in the World Cup when Mike Richter was on fire at the right time and sparked his countrymen to a celebrated triumph over Canada.Hasek shies away from questions regarding a similar circumstance for his team, but if the Czechs do make an impact at the Olympics it will come largely from Hasek&rsquo;s contributions.He is experienced on the international stage, having been named Czechoslovakian goaltender of the year in 1986,1987, 1988 and 1990.He was Czechoslovakian player of the year in 1987, 1989 and 1990 and was the goalie for the Czech team in the World Championships in 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1995.In addition, Hasek was netminder for Team Czechoslovakia in the 1991 Canada Cup Tournament.Hasek was originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1983, 199th overall, but, with Ed Belfour in front of him, never really got the opportunity to establish himself in the Windy City. He was traded to the Sabres in 1992 for goalie Stephane Beauregard and a fourth round draft pick that turned out to be left winger Eric Daze.While Hasek has been the class of the goaltending field the past few regular seasons, he has never really put together a killer playoff run. While his 6-11 record may not tell the whole story, he is yet to carry a team past Round 2.But he&rsquo;ll worry about the playoffs if and when they roll around this year. For now, the Olympics are uppermost in his mind.&ldquo;This is something I never thought would happen,&rdquo; said Hasek of the league shutting down and using professionals in the Olympics. &ldquo;For me it is like a dream come true, a chance to play for my country against the best from all the other countries. When you are little you dream of what it would be like and now it&rsquo;s happening. I would like very much to win a medal of any kind.&ldquo;For a kid growing up in my country it&rsquo;s one of the best things that could ever happen.&rdquo;For a &ldquo;kid&rdquo; who is all grown up and playing at the top of his game, it just might happen.<h2>SCOUTING REPORT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02525/6959336-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="417" height="606"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dominik Hasek</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03406/6959329-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="505" height="662"></div> &#9632;

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Hopes rest with The nominator

Coach: Ivan Hlinka GM: Ivan Hlinka<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04334/6959374-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="812" height="1344"></div><h2>KEY PLAYERS MISSING</h2>Among players not named to the team were forwards Bobby Holik, Petr Nedved, Petr Sykora, Radek Bonk and defensemen Stan Neckar and Michal Sykora. Czech Republic&rsquo;s finish at 1996 World Cup: 4th of 4 teams in European pool.<h2>DAVE KING&rsquo;S COMMENTS</h2>Strengths: Dominik Hasek, with the eyes of the world upon him in a one-game, winner-take-all situation, could be scary. The tournament format is geared to a team like the Czechs. Team chemistry and attitude can&rsquo;t be worse than it was at the World Cup. The defense is marginally improved from that event with the addition of Petr Svoboda and Richard Smehlik, but it&rsquo;s still not good enough.Weaknesses: Defense is the weak link because the Czechs&rsquo; non-NHL blueliners just aren&rsquo;t good enough and the forwards aren&rsquo;t much help defensively. Offense has Jaromir Jagr at the top end, but not nearly enough depth. There&rsquo;s no Bobby Holik, Petr Nedved, Radek Bonk, Petr Sykora, all of whom played in World Cup, and the only NHL addition is Vladimir Vujtek. The attitude/chemistry had better be better because the talent level isn&rsquo;tTactics: For all their shortcomings, the Czechs must be feared because they have the ability to find a seam in your defense with their first pass to create a clear scoring chance off breakouts or regroups. They are an excellent transition team, but one that has a difficult time with defensive zone coverage because the forwards simply aren&rsquo;t committed. The exception is when they are inclined to play the left-wing lock (two forecheckers and three defenders), a system they pioneered and, at times, have perfected.OVERALL GRADE: B-RANK: 5TH &#9632;

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CZECH OLYMPIANS

<div class="byline">By Mike Dudurich</div>Jaromir Jagr has been on a pair of Stanley Cup championship teams with the Pittsburgh Penguins and has been a first team all-star twice.He is regarded as one of the best one-on-one players in the world today. He has a Hart Trophy to his credit and was the youngest player to be named to The Hockey News&rsquo; Top 50 NHL Players of All-Time. He was No. 37 on the list.Jagr has achieved almost everything possible as an NHLer and has received all the requisite accolades to boot-big money with a four-year contract extension that will pay him $48 million over the next six years, NHL stardom, his own brand of peanut butter.But there is one accomplishment glaringly absent from his hockey resume. Jagr has had a spotty record on the world stage with the Czech Republic.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never had a good (international) experience,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Every time I play for a national team, I always lost. I&rsquo;ve never won a game yet. I think the best thing for the team is don&rsquo;t pick me, leave me home. Every time I play for the (Czech) national team, we lose. Six or seven times, I think.&rdquo;As an 18-year-old in 1990, Jagr had a very good World Junior Championship in Helsinki. He finished second in scoring to teammate Robert Reichel with five goals and 18 points and was selected to the all-tournament team. Led by Reichel, Jagr and Bobby Holik, Czechoslovakia finished with a bronze medal. Jagr picked up another bronze when his country finished third in the World Championship.Thing were looking up.But ever since then, Jagr has barely made a dent in the international landscape. In the 1991 Canada Cup, Czech-oslovakia finished in last place and Jagr had just one goal in five games. In the 1994 World Championship, the Czechs finished seventh.The 1996 World Cup was worse. Jagr scored one goal in three games and the Czech Republic lost all three, including an embarrassing 7-1 loss to Germany in the preliminary round.Unlike Jagr, though, the Czechs have experienced some recent success on the global stage, winning the World Championship in 1996.So what does he expect for his team and himself in Nagano?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m the leader of that team,&rdquo; Jagr said, &ldquo;There are a lot of good players, good players who have played in the Olympics before. They should be the leaders. I should be the guy who scores goals, but they should be the leaders.&rdquo;Jagr, who turns 26 Feb. 15, two days after the Olympic tournament begins, has created a well-deserved reputation as a goal-scorer, but this season, Jagr started showing some of his other skills as well.During the course of eight games in late-December and early-January, Jagr recorded 11 assists and only three goals. Included in that run were a pair of three-assist games. Through 46 games, Jagr had 38 assists, putting him on a pace to eclipse his previous high of 87 assists in a season. Overall, Jagr led the NHL point parade with 22 goals and 60 points.&ldquo;Not a goal-scorer any more, I&rsquo;m a playmaker now,&rdquo; he smiled.His attitude is that of a young man who very much wants to make an impression in Nagano-and not the kind of negative impression that was left after the World Cup.&ldquo;I was very upset with the World Cup and the coaches we had and the Czech hockey organization,&rdquo; Jagr said. &ldquo;I feel like they didn&rsquo;t do a very good job. I feel like they&rsquo;ve changed and that&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;m going to play for them.&rdquo;How important are the Olympics for Jagr? Very important, judging by the preparation he is putting into them.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;m riding the bike,&rdquo; Jagr said after coming off the ice at Vancouver&rsquo;s GM Place, the site of this year&rsquo;s NHL All-Star Game. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to go there and play bad. If I go, I want to play my best. It&rsquo;s big pressure. You don&rsquo;t have many chances to play for the Czechs. Every game you play is very important.&rdquo; &#9632;

Jagr seeking redemption for himself, his country

<div class="byline">By Pavel Barta</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01785/6959429-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brilliant goalie Dominik Hasek gives the undermanned Czechs instant respect. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>Many hockey watchers say if Jaromir Jagr scores one goal a game, Dominik Hasek will handle the rest.It sounds so simple, but it&rsquo;s tough to figure out if the Czechs will surprise in Nagano or face another disaster as they did during the World Cup.There were high expectations in the summer of 1996 when all the best Czech NHLers played in the World Cup. Only the Czech Dream Team didn&rsquo;t find the road to heaven, but the highway to hell, finishing with a 03-0 record, with four goals for and 17 against.While Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres turned down the invitation to the World Cup, -he should be the biggest Czech star at the Olympics. The Czechs have only 11 NHLers, the lowest number of any of the six teams granted an automatic berth in the final round.&ldquo;The Olympics will be the best tournament ever in hockey. I played at a couple of Canada Cups, but this really means much more, only if you consider the history,&rdquo; said Hasek, who touted Canada, the United States and Russia as the favorites.&ldquo;But (the Czechs&rsquo; underdog status) doesn&rsquo;t mean that I&rsquo;ll go to play there just for fun. Anytime I step on the ice, I&rsquo;m looking for a win. I want to go there and compete. Everything is possible with this playoff format. You win one game and you&rsquo;re in the semifinal. I believe we&rsquo;ll have a good team.&rdquo;Co-coaches Slavomir Lener and Ivan Hlinka, a former Vancouver Canuck, led the Czechs to a bronze medal at the World Championship in Finland last May after taking over from Ludek Bukac, who resigned under pressure from players and the media last March.&ldquo;The most important thing is how well we click as a team, both on and off the ice,&rdquo; Hlinka said.The Czechs have a good mixture of experience and youth. Only 32-year-old Petr Svoboda of the Philadelphia Flyers is making his debut with the national team.Vaclav Prospal of the Ottawa Senators was also slated to make his national team debut, but a broken leg meant his spot was replaced by Milan Hejduk, a flashy winger from Pardubice.Veteran Vladimir Ruzicka, who spent five seasons in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators, returns to the national team and could be used as Jagr&rsquo;s center.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not important if you play in the NHL or not,&rdquo; Jagr said. &ldquo;Some guys have problems with their teams over here and the large ice rink in Nagano could be an advantage for European players. We practised on it during the summer, but it could surprise the other NHLers.&rdquo;Vladimir Vujtek of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Martin Prochazka of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pavel Patera created a potent trio at the 1997 World Championship by accounting for 17 of the team&rsquo;s 30 goals. Although Vujtek and Prochazka haven&rsquo;t seen much playing time this season, their scoring touch, on-ice smarts and finesse will be needed.Defense is the weakest area of the team. Svoboda and Sabre Richard Smehlik, who missed the World Cup because of injury, are the most dependable blueliners. Jaroslav Spacek is one of the best defensemen in the Swedish League and has played well at tournaments this season, but beyond that the lineup is thin.&ldquo;I hope we&rsquo;ll do much better than at the World Cup,&rdquo; Jagr said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why we all go (to the Olympics).&ldquo;But the most important thing is Dominik will be there, too.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Can Jagr, nominator carry team to glory?

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01406/6959474-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Slovakia will be looking for Jozef Stumpel and his fellow NHLers to provide scoring. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div>The hardest part for Peter Bondra, who is usually a little hyper to begin with, is the waiting.Slovakia has to get through the qualifying round to earn the right to enter the battle for a medal in the Olympic Games and Bondra won&rsquo;t be there to help his homeland.Not that the Washington Capitals&rsquo; right winger, who has played in four NHL AllStar Games, thinks his countrymen can&rsquo;t do it without him, it&rsquo;s just he&rsquo;d like to be there when they do advance, even if to do nothing more than cheer them on.He believes there is a chance he can be in Japan for the final qualifying game, but that prospect is still up in the air. It would require him being allowed to leave the Capitals before the Olympic break.&ldquo;This means a lot to us,&rdquo; Bondra said of his country&rsquo;s opportunity to participate in the Nagano Games. &ldquo;Some people don&rsquo;t even know what Slovakia is (a part of the country formerly known as Czechoslovakia). It&rsquo;s a really small country, we only have about six or seven million people.&ldquo;Our people are proud to have athletes represent the country, for our hockey team to compete against the USA, Canada, Russia, the rest. It&rsquo;s great and our people are going to watch. Every player, especially myself, you will try your very best because you don&rsquo;t want to disappoint your countrymen.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great honor, being picked to represent your country in anything,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This is only once every four years, but in your whole hockey life, maybe it&rsquo;s just once you go. It&rsquo;s a great honor to wear a jersey with the colors of your country, to suit up and play a game for them.&ldquo;I grew up in Europe and that&rsquo;s always a dream, playing in the Olympics one day. It&rsquo;s your goal, the same way over here kids grow up wanting to play in the the NHL and win a Stanley Cup.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to compare those two, they are both special things and you want to win them. But growing up in Europe, your dream is the Olympics and now I have a chance to compete. I am proud, I am excited, it is a great honor.&rdquo;If preparation is the key to success, then Bondra is perpetually working himself into a mental state approaching exhaustion. No detail is too small to overlook, especially when it comes to his sticks.He has been known to spend hours preparing five sticks for each game. He then numbers them one through five, depending on the individual characteristics he has been able to pick out of each one.Bondra will, in all likelihood, be Slovakia&rsquo;s captain, as he was two years ago during the World Cup. He will celebrate his 30th birthday Feb. 7 and will be counted on heavily by his country to lead the team. In three World Cup games, all losses, Bondra scored three of his team&rsquo;s nine goals.&ldquo;That will probably be my biggest contribution, experience and leadership, that&rsquo;s what our team needs,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Peter Stastny has retired so there are no more veteran players like that who can put a team together and lead it in big games and show the younger players how to win those games. Veteran leadership, that&rsquo;s what the team expects from me.&rdquo;A few goals would probably help, also. He has averaged 49 during his last two full NHL seasons including a career-best 52 in 1995-96. And his 34 goals in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season led the league.So Bondra, along with Zig-mund Palffy of the New York Islanders, Jozef Stumpel of the Los Angeles Kings. Miroslav Satan of the Buffalo Sabres and Richard Zednik of Washington, should provide Slovakia with some firepower.Preventing goals, however, will be the problem.Ron Wilson, Bondra&rsquo;s coach in Washington and coach of USA in Nagano, doesn&rsquo;t believe there is much more development to be expected from Bondra offensively, but there still may be room for defensive improvement.&ldquo;He is what he is. a goal scorer, but the way I coach I expect people to participate at both ends of the rink in terms of defensive responsibility,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;But I think Peter has shown a lot of improvement and that&rsquo;s why I have him out there killing penalties (and scoring 15 times shorthanded in his career).&rdquo;Bondra is always optimistic, even in desperate times. He knows Slovakia&rsquo;s chances of winning a medal in this competition are slim, but he&rsquo;s not fazed by the challenge.&ldquo;My biggest achievements are yet to come.&rdquo; he said, not ruling out Nagano, at least in his mind. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been to the second round of the playoffs, being in the All-Star Game, you&rsquo;re proud to be selected and play with the best players in the world. The World Cup was a very big thing in my life. But I really feel the biggest thing is yet to come.&rdquo;<h2>SCOUTING REPORT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02248/6959467-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="421" height="603"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Bondra</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03185/6959460-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="517" height="661"></div> &#9632;

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Slovakia must wait for Bondra

Coach: Frantisek HossaGM: Dusan Pasek<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04156/6959505-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="820" height="1340"></div><h2>KEY PLAYERS MISSING</h2>Slovakia&rsquo;s NHL players-defenseman Robert Svehla and six forwards-won&rsquo;t be available until two or three games into the qualifying round. Slovakia&rsquo;s finish at 1996 World Cup: 4th of 4 teams in North American pool.<h2>DAVE KING&rsquo;S COMMENTS</h2>Strengths: Slovakia has a dynamic offense and the excitement factor is high with the likes of Peter Bondra, Zigmund Palffy, Miroslav Satan, Jozef Stumpel, Pavol Demitra and Richard Zednik The presence of pure goal-scoring ability is as high as any team&rsquo;s, but they are limited beyond thatWeaknesses: Goaltending-lt&rsquo;s just not good enough. Defense-With only one NHL defenseman, Robert Svehla, it&rsquo;s poorly equipped to handle the size, strength and skill of the top contenders. The blueline crew is skilled, but soft. Format-The Slovaks must qualify for the final round of eight and will have to do it without their talented NHL forwards. If they qualify, the entire top end of their lineup has to be turned over to accommodate the NHLers and that won&rsquo;t help cohesion.Tactics: Like the Czechs, the Slovaks are extremely adept at finding and exploiting their opponents&rsquo; defensive seams, springing their players with one pass. They have an excellent transition game. But they also have enormous difficulty against any 1-2-2 trapping team that plays a patient game because they&rsquo;re not patient. That creates turnovers. They play tremendously entertaining hockey-drop passes, crisscrossing, etc.-but entertaining hockey isn&rsquo;t necessarily winning hockey. The Slovakian Elite League is one of the most compelling in the world because of its artistry.OVERALL GRADE: CRANK: 7TH &#9632;

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SLOVAKIAN OLYMPIANS

<div class="byline">By Pavel Barta</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0042-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01413/6959536-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Devilishly clever Miroslav Satan wheels around the Canadian net with Trevor Linden in hot pursuit. (Photo by Bruce Jessop/IHA)</figcaption></div>Before the Nagano Olympics began, Slovakia&rsquo;s coaches faced a decision that could have a huge impact on whether the team makes it past the preliminary round.Slovakia, which begins play Feb. 7, the final day of play in the NHL before the Olympic break, will try to airlift NHLers to Japan in time for its third and final game of the opening round.Slovakia has seven NHLers, the most of any of the eight preliminary round teams, but that created an enormous problem since it must announce its final 23-man roster for the preliminary round 24 hours before it begins.Should coaches Jan Sterbak and Frantisek Hossa go with 15 skaters and three goalies for the first two games, leaving spots open for the NHLers, but risk playing with a shortened bench?Or should they go with a full roster of non-NHLers, hope they&rsquo;re good enough to win their group, and just add the NHLers to the roster for the final round?Although the first choice appeared more likely because the risk is too high Slovakia could fail to qualify for the final round without its NHL talent, the second option requiring an upheaval of the roster between rounds hadn&rsquo;t been discarded.&ldquo;This is a disadvantage for us,&rdquo; said Slovak Ice Hockey Association president Dusan Pasek, considering the second option. &ldquo;We must clear seven spots in the lineup for the NHLers, which is a little unfair to guys who will work hard on the ice before (the NHLers arrive). We have to take it as a fact that we could use Slovakian stars for more than one game of the preliminary round. We believe we will go further.&rdquo;Peter Bondra, Ziggy Palffy and Miroslav Satan have all proven they can score. Robert Svehla is a classy defenseman and Jozef Stumpel is a great playmaker.Other forwards such as Jozef Dano, Lubomir Kolnik, former Edmonton Oiler Zdeno Ciger and Robert Petrovicky of the American League&rsquo;s Worcester IceCats can create scoring chances.However, there are many problems. The forwards are backchecking liabilities and the goaltending is inexperienced. Igor Murin, the 24-year-old netminder from Trencin was an easy No. 1 selection for Nagano, but he hasn&rsquo;t played in an international competition since the 1993 World Junior Championship.The defense will be active in the attack, but it is lacking mobility and riddled with problems. At 37, Robert Pukalovic is probably too old, along with 33-year-old Jergus Baca. Lubomir Visnovsky is too small at 5-foot 8. Miroslav and Jan Varholik are inconsistent. Ivan Droppa, who left the Florida Panthers&rsquo; farm system to return to his hometown of Kosice, and tough Stansilav Jasecko should be the cornerstones with Svehla.&ldquo;It will be a celebration of hockey. I&rsquo;m looking forward to the Olympics and I certainly believe we&rsquo;ll show our best,&rdquo; Bondra said. But if Bondra is to show his best in the final round, the Slovaks will have to shine without him and the rest of the NHL contingent for at least two games. &#9632;

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Slovaks face uphill struggle

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0044-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01330/6959581-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">St. Louis Blues&rsquo; prospect Jochen Hecht is the second-youngest player for Germany. (Photo by Bruce Jesop)</figcaption></div>Even if Germany makes it out of the preliminary round to face the big boys, Germany doesn&rsquo;t seem to have much of a chance of winning a medal.Then again, there was a time when Uwe Krupp didn&rsquo;t think he had much of a chance to play in the NHL.In 1986, Krupp was just a gangly, mostly unknown defenseman for the German national team, with no real conception of what life in the NHL might be like.But there was one person in attendance at the World Championships in Moscow that year who looked at the green 20-year-old and saw him as a solid stay-at-homer in an NHL uniform.The man was Scotty Bowman, who drafted Krupp three years earlier as GM of the Buffalo Sabres.Before that tournament Krupp wasn&rsquo;t sure he would actually make it to North America to play in the highest league in the world. But at the 1986 championship he made a believer of not only Bowman, but also himself.Krupp was ready to leave his homeland for the big time.&ldquo;I basically got my chance out of that to come to the NHL,&rdquo; said Krupp, now a mainstay of the Colorado Avalanche defense.&ldquo;That was a very big event for me. We only played three games, and I got injured. But two of those three games were against North America-the U.S. and Canada. I played pretty well, and Scotty was there, along with other North American scouts. It was such an important tournament for me.&rdquo;Krupp has stuck in the NHL ever since. Once selected to play in the All-Star Game with Buffalo in 1991, many thought the 32-year-old Krupp should have had the same honor with the Avs this season.As of Jan. 26, he was among the league leaders with a plus-22 rating, and was the Avalanche&rsquo;s first-half MVP on defense.Slated to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, Krupp figures to court considerable interest from teams around the league. The Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings are thought to be among those most interested.But, while Krupp is now an established NHL veteran, with a Stanley Cup winning overtime goal to his credit in the 1996 playoffs, he will again wear the German national sweater for the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.As one of the few German NHLers-goalie Olaf Kolzig and forward Marco Sturm are the others-Krupp knows his role on the Olympic team will be large.Krupp once described his boyhood idol, Udo Kiessling, as &ldquo;kind of the German Bobby Orr.&rdquo; Well, the Germans might be expecting Krupp to be their Bobby Orr if they are to have any hope of winning a game at the Olympics&rsquo; main draw.Krupp knows he is no Orr, of course. His offensive skills are good, but he&rsquo;s not about to go end-to-end on his own. Rather, the 6-foot-6, 235-pounder thinks he can provide the leadership necessary to keep Germany competitive.&ldquo;To me, I think I will have to supply some leadership, basically play good defense and jump in the play just like do with Colorado,&rdquo; Krupp said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a European ice surface, so I think you&rsquo;ll see a lot more offense from the defensemen coming in, just because there&rsquo;s more room. That&rsquo;s going to be something I&rsquo;ll think about doing.&rdquo; Krupp doesn&rsquo;t have to think about doing that as much with the Avalanche, not with risky two-way defense man Sandis Ozolinsh on the team.But Krupp enjoys the offensive part of the game. He had 44 points in 74 games with the Sabres in 1990-91, and has scored some big goals for the Avalanche-the biggest, of course, being that screened slapshot from the point that eluded goalie John Vanbiesbrouck and won the 1996 Stanley Cup in Florida against the Panthers.Still, Krupp knows he will probably have to concentrate more on the defensive part of his game if he is going to help out where the Germans need it most.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have to work through the preliminaries. then we&rsquo;ll see what happens in the big tournament,&rdquo; Krupp said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have to try and play smart defensively if we&rsquo;re going to do well. I know I&rsquo;ll be a big part of the defense, so I&rsquo;ll be trying to lead by example and give the younger guys some leadership.&rdquo;Krupp will miss Germany&rsquo;s Feb. 7 preliminary round game against Japan. The Avalanche plays the Philadelphia Flyers that same day in Denver. But he will fly to Nagano after the game and should be ready for Germany&rsquo;s next game Feb. 9 against Belarus.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be fun,&rdquo; Krupp said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to the experience.&rdquo;After that, who knows? Maybe next year Krupp will be reunited with Bowman in Detroit.<h2>SCOUTING REPORT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02186/6959574-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="429" height="610"><figcaption class="caption-body">Uwe Krupp</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03133/6959567-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="518" height="666"></div> &#9632;

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Krupp to focus on loadership

Coach: George KingstonGM: George Kingston<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0499/6959612-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="832" height="1336"></div><h2>KEY PLAYERS MISSING</h2>Germany&rsquo;s NHL players-left winger Marco Stem, defenseman Uwe Krupp and goaltendder Olaf Kolzig-won&rsquo;t be available until at least two or three games into the preliminary round.<h2>DAVE KING&rsquo;S COMMENTS</h2>Strengths: Goaltending-Olaf Kolzig has emerged as a true No. 1 NHL netminder and is capable of winning a game by himself. Coaching-Former NHLer George Kingston knows what his team is up against and how best to defend it He&rsquo;ll sell them on what it takes to keep it close and play for the upset Work ethic-German teams seldom get outworked and they play a hard, team-oriented game.Weaknesses: Lack of speed-lt&rsquo;s particularly noticeable amongst the forwards. Lack of skill-As hard-working as they are, the Germans simply do not have the ability to finish or generate sustained offense. The addition of defenseman Uwe Krupp will help, as will the presence of NHL rookie Marco Sturm, but it&rsquo;s not nearly enough. Lack of confidence-Because of the easing of import restrictions in German hockey, the best young German players are being forced into support roles on their club teams. It will be interesting to see whether this will stunt their development and erode confidence.Tactics: The Germans will religiously play the 1-22 steer/contain forecheck and do it with a tremendous amount of patience because they know the key to any success will be frustrating the opposition and creating panic. Offensively, they&rsquo;ll take very few chances, performing comfortably as a strict low-risk, low-reward team. But they will play tenacious defense and block as many shots as any team in the tournament.OVERALL GRADE: C-RANK: 8TH &#9632;

f0044-04

GERMAN OLYMPIANS

<div class="byline">By Gunter Klein</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0045-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01264/6959643-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Washington goalie Olaf Kolzig provides the Germans with steady goaltending. (Photo by Scott Levy/BBS)</figcaption></div>Germany&rsquo;s hockey team isn&rsquo;t taking any chances.It is prepared for anything that could happen at the Winter Olympics. That&rsquo;s why it has booked three separate flights back home from Japan: after the preliminary round, after the quarterfinal, and following the bronze medal game.Its philosophy: Nothing is impossible.The Germans have proved this within a year&rsquo;s span. It passed through glory days, beating Canada 5-1 at the World Championship in Austria in 1996 and defeating a talent-laden Czech Republic team 7-1 at the World Cup a few months later.Yet, Germany collapsed at the 1997 World Championship, finishing 11th after a devastating 8-0 loss to Latvia.&ldquo;It was the first time in my life that I felt as if I was made mincemeat,&rdquo; said Franz Reindl. the sports director of the German Hockey Federation.The goal now is to qualify for the final round. Is that a realistic expectation or just a dream? A lot depends on the flight schedules from North America to Tokyo.Germany opens Feb. 7 against Japan, but the Feb. 9 game against Belarus is regarded as the key match. There is uncertainty whether Colorado Avalanche defenseman Uwe Krupp, San Jose Sharks&rsquo; center Marco Sturm and Washington Capitals&rsquo; goalie Olaf Kolzig will be available earlier than the final game (Feb. 10 vs. France) of the preliminary round. All three play Feb. 7 and face a journey to Japan that may keep them out of the key Feb. 9 game.Coach George Kingston prefers a strict defensive system, which magnifies the importance of Krupp and Kolzig.The Germans have just three defensemen with international experience-Mirco Ludemann and Canadian-born Mike Heidt and Brad Bergen. Heidt, selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the 1982 draft, hasn&rsquo;t played since the end of October because of shoulder surgery, but Kingston has reserved a roster spot for him.German defensemen playing in North America are Erich Goldmann of the American League&rsquo;s Worcester IceCats and Lars Bruggemann of the East Coast League&rsquo;s Jacksonville Lizard Kings. Goldmann doesn&rsquo;t have a good reputation in Germany and Bruggemann might be better as a forward.Defense wasn&rsquo;t the main problem at last year&rsquo;s World Championship. It&rsquo;s the pop-gun attack.&ldquo;We often play very well as a team,&rdquo; Kingston said. &ldquo;We create a lot of scoring chances, but we just don&rsquo;t score.&rdquo;Assistant coach Erich Kuhnhackl, expected to be Germany&rsquo;s head coach at the 2002 Olympics, is trying to deliver a new message to the German troops.&ldquo;In international hockey, you have to shoot first quickly, then with accuracy,&rdquo; Kuhnhackl said. &ldquo;But our forwards, they just try to shoot as hard as possible. That&rsquo;s the wrong way.&rdquo;Nevertheless, Germany can ice three solid offensive lines with the likes of Sturm, Jan Benda of the American League&rsquo;s Portland Pirates, former Washington Capital Stefan Ustorf and St. Louis Blues&rsquo; 1995 draft pick Jochen Hecht.Dieter Hegen, 35, is not expected to play after suffering a tom knee ligament before the Olympic tournament. If Hegen can play, Nagano would be his fifth Olympic Games.Goal tending is the strongest aspect of the team, but don&rsquo;t expect it to be Kolzig alone. He has proven himself against NHL competition, but Germany traditionally rotates three goaltenders. Simply put, that&rsquo;s the German way. Joseph Heiss and Klaus Merk are the last national heroes in a German League which is dominated by foreign players. &#9632;

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Kingston’s NHL trio ho Ids key

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01294/6959674-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Daniel Jessop/IHA)</figcaption></div>The Dream Team Tournament could be a nightmare for Slovakia and Germany. They are favored to advance from the preliminary round to second round action. The Olympic tournament includes 14 teams. Eight are playing for two berths in the heavy medal round with hockey&rsquo;s six super-powers. Slovakia and Germany are expected to be the best of a group that also features Austria, Belarus, France, Italy, Japan and Kazakhstan. Slovakia and Germany are profiled on pgs. 41 and 44. Stories on each of the other preliminary round teams follow. THN contributor Denis Gibbons wrote five of the analysis pieces. THN senior writer Mike Brophy wrote about Japan. A backgrounder on the Olympic seeding process is on pg. 51.<h2>NET RESULT</h2>A Kazakhstanian goal against Belarus is captured in spectacular photographic fashion. &#9632;

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Olympian challenge

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0048-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01200/6959726-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-02127/6959719-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg" title="f0048-02" width="395" height="217"></div>Hockey History Austria has never won an Olympic medal in hockey. In recent years it has been in and out of the A Pool in World Championship play, but last year fell to fourth in the World B Pool Tournament. It was the last of the 14 Olympic entrants to qualify for Nagano, sneaking past Switzerland in a sudden-death game in February, 1997.Strengths There is a nucleus of Canadian-trained talent and good experience in goal with Claus Dalpiaz and Michael Puschacher.Weaknesses The top defenseman is 34-year-old Dundas, Ont., native Tom Searle, who was only average when he played in the International League for the Milwaukee Admirals and Kalamazoo K-Wings in the mid-1980s. There may also be a natural letdown after several key players won the European Hockey League title with the Feldkirch club, upsetting Moscow Dynamo in late-January.Best Player Transplanted Canadian Simon Wheeldon. a former star with the Denver Rangers of the IHL in 1988-89, is one of the best points producers in Europe.THN Handicapping There is the ability to stage an upset, but it&rsquo;s highly unlikely Austria will be able to pull off more than one. Also, it&rsquo;s in tough against both Slovakia and Kazakhstan. A victory against Italy isn&rsquo;t out of the question, but anything after that would be a surprise. Predicted Finish: Third in Group A.<h2>ROSTER</h2><h3>GOALTENDERS</h3>Claus DalpiazReinhard DivisMichael Puschacher<h3>DEFENSEMEN</h3>Michael GuntnerHerbert HohenbergerDominic LavoieEngelbert LinderTom SearleWolfgang StraussMartin UlrichGerhard Unteriuggauer<h3>FORWARDS</h3>Christophe BrandnerHerbert DiamantMartin HohenbergerDieter KaltNormand KrumpschmidRick NasheimGerhard PuschnikAndreas PusnikGerald RessmannMario SchadenBernd SchmidleSimon Wheeldon<h3>HEAD COACH</h3>Ron Kennedy<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0386/6959712-1-eng-US/f0048-032.jpg" title="f0048-03" width="1485" height="929"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0467/6959705-1-eng-US/f0048-042.jpg" title="f0048-04" width="394" height="212"></div>Hockey History The Yunost Hockey School in Minsk was one of the best in the Soviet Union, having attracted even Russian-born players such as Sergei Fedorov. Nevertheless, Belarus has never had a great depth of talent. Its best club team. Dynamo Minsk, was always touch and go to avoid relegation from the old Soviet Elite League.Strengths Belarus might have NHLers Vladimir Tsyplakov and Ruslan Salei for the final preliminary-round game as well as three players from the International League and one from the American League. There are three NHL draftees who have played in either the IHL or AHL.Weaknesses The roster also includes players who earn their living with various clubs in 10 different countries; chemistry and cohesiveness could be a problem because they haven&rsquo;t trained together. Belarus may not respond well to the physical game.Best Player Los Angeles Kings left winger Tsyplakov is having his best NHL season.THN Handicapping This team will surprise a lot of people with its talent. If Germany is without Uwe Krupp. Olaf Kolzig and Marco Sturm for the preliminary round as expected, Belarus could do some damage and threaten to emerge into the main draw. Players are extremely proud to be representing their own country instead of the Soviet Union. Predicted Finish: Second in Group B.<h2>ROSTER</h2><h3>GOALTENDERS</h3>Leonid GrishukevichAndrei MezinAlexandr Shumidub<h3>DEFENSEMEN</h3>Alexandr AlekseevSergei ErkovichOleg KhmylIgor MatushkinRuslan SaleiOleg RomanovSergei Stas<h3>FORWARDS</h3>Alexandr AndrievskyOleg AntonenkoVadim BekbulatovSergei ChernyavskyAlexandr GalchenyukAlexei KalyuzhnyViktor KarachunAndrei KovalevAlexei LozhkinVasily PankovEvgeny RoshinAndrei SkabelkaVladimir Tsyplakov<h3>HEAD COACH</h3>Anatoli Varivontchik &#9632;

f0048-01

AUSTRIA BELARUS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0049-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01172/6959778-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-02118/6959771-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg" title="f0049-02" width="395" height="219"></div>Hockey History Hockey is not a major sport in France even though the country has hosted three Winter Games. Large strides were made in the early 1990s under Swedish coach Kjell Larsson. International highlights include defeating Canada at the 1995 World Championship and tying the United States 4-4 at the 1994 Olympics.Strengths There&rsquo;s only positives behind the bench with former U.S. Miracle on Ice coach Herb Brooks. Rugged rearguard Denis Perez, a three-time Olympian, can mix it up with the best of them.Weaknesses France has an exceptional number of Olympic debutantes-15 out of 23 on the roster have never competed at this level before. Most of its players come out of the French League, not nearly as strong as other European leagues, so the jump in play will be significant.Best Player Former St. Louis Blue Philippe Bozon plays in Germany with the Mannheim Eagles. He was a below-average NHL player, but rises to the occasion for France internationallyTHN ping France has had some fine showings in the past two Olympics, but it does not have the same overall talent it had in those Games this time around. The French government is not likely to provide the level of financial support it did in 1992 when it hosted the Games. Japan should be a conquerable foe, but few others. Predicted Finish: Third in Group B.<h2>ROSTER</h2><h3>GOALTENDERS</h3>Francois GravelCristobal HuetFabrice&rsquo;L Henry<h3>DEFENSEMEN</h3>Karl DewoffSerge DjelloulGregory DuboisJean-Christophe FiiippinJean-Philippe LemoineDenis PerezSerge Poudrier<h3>FORWARDS</h3>Richard AimonettoPierre AllardStephane BarinPhilippe BozonArnaud BriandRoger DubeLaurent GrasAnthony MortasBob OuelletChristian PougetFrancois RozenthalMaurice RozenthalJonathan Zwickel<h3>HEAD COACH</h3>Herb Brooks<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0376/6959764-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="1481" height="921"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0465/6959757-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="396" height="216"></div>Hockey History Hockey is only played seriously in the northern part of the country and has always been well behind soccer in popularity. Guided by former Quebec Nordiques coach Dave Chambers, Italy pulled off a huge moral victory at the 1992 World Championship with a 3-3 tie with Canada, whose roster included Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, Darryl Sittier, Bob Gainey and Mike Gartner.Strengths Former Nordique Mario Brunetta can provide clutch goaltending and is ably backed up by U.S.-transplant Dave Delfino. Former Toronto and Winnipeg coach Tom Watt provided summer instruction.Weaknesses Defense is a huge question mark, with veteran Italians like Martin Pavlu and Robert Oberrauch being mixed in with North American-transplants Bob Nardella and Leo Insam. who was the second youngest player in Lillehammer.Best Player Former Buffalo Sabre Gates Orlando led the team in scoring at the 1994 Olympics and even at the age of 35 can still put the puck in the net and set up plays on a regular basis.THN Handicapping Players may still be down in he dumps following the unexpected death of coach Bryan Lefley in an auto accident in October. This may mean problems for new coach Adolf Insam. Like Austria, Italy can surprise on a given night, but not more than once. Predicted Finish: Fourth in Group A.<h2>ROSTER</h2><h3>GOALTENDERS</h3>Mario BrunettaDavid DelfinoMike Rosati<h3>DEFENSEMEN</h3>Chad BiaforeChris BartoloneMike de AngelisLeo InsamBob NardellaRobert OberrauchMartin PavluLarry Rucchin<h3>FORWARDS</h3>Patrick BrugnoliMarkus BrunnerJoe BusilloMario ChitaroniDino FelicettiStefan FigluzziMaurizio MansiStefano MargoniGates OrlandoRoland RamoserLucio TopatighBruno Zarillo<h3>HEAD COACH</h3>Adolf Insam &#9632;

f0049-01

FRANCE ITALY

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0050-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01170/6959830-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02111/6959823-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="400" height="220"></div>Hockey History Hockey has been played in Japan for nearly 100 years, mostly in the northern part of the country. Most homegrown players are developed in Hokkaido. There are more than 10,000 registered players in Japan and a six-team pro league. Japan last competed in hockey in the Olympics in 1980.Strengths What the Japanese team lacks in size and experience, it hopes to partially make up for with its fine-tuned conditioning and heart. The team includes six players who were bom and trained in Canada.Weaknesses With few exceptions, the Japanese are a very small team. The team also lacks depth along the blueline as well as international experience. Most of the players have only competed in the B and C pools.Best Player Defenseman Takayuki Kobori is the team&rsquo;s captain and most skilled player. At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. Kobori makes his presence felt on the ice, especially in his own end. A close second is center Shin Kahata who was bom and trained in Sweden.THN Handicapping The Japanese are in the tournament for one reason only-because they are the host country. Their main goals are to gain experience and avoid embarrassment. They will be overmatched in every outing and will not win a game. In fact, if they stay within five or six goals in a game it will be considered a moral victory. Predicted Finish: Fourth in Group B.<h2>ROSTER</h2><h3>GOALTENDERS</h3>Dusty Imoo Shin IwasakiJirah Nihei<h3>DEFENSEMEN</h3>Tatsuki KatayamaYutaka KawaguchiTakayuki KoboriAtsuo KudohHiroyuki MiuraTakayuki MiuraTakeshi Yamanaka<h3>FORWARDS</h3>Ryan Fujita, RWYugi Iga, LWMatt Kabayam, CShin Kahata, CMakoto Kawahita, RWRyan Kuwahara, RWTsutsumi Otomo, LWHiroshi Matsuura, LWToshiuki Sakai, CKunihiko Sakurai, CAkihho Sugisawa, RWSteve Tsujiurao, CChris Yule, LW<h3>HEAD COACH</h3>Dave King<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0360/6959816-1-eng-US/f0050-032.jpg" title="f0050-03" width="1489" height="924"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0449/6959809-1-eng-US/f0050-042.jpg" title="f0050-04" width="402" height="221"></div>Hockey History Until recently, many North American fans hadn&rsquo;t even heard of Kazakhstan and those who did thought it was a Russian province. But many of its players were training on roller skates in the summer long before in-line hockey became popular in the West. A huge Russian influence in coaching has produced highly skilled players. Junior team upset Canada 6-3 at 1998 World Junior Championship.Strengths Seven experienced players played in the Soviet Elite League in the 1980s when it was at its peak. Defenseman Alexei Troschinsky, who is a regular with Moscow Dynamo and played on the 1992 CIS World Junior Championship squad, is a top-notch defender.Weaknesses There&rsquo;s a lack of experience against top-flight teams. New York Rangers&rsquo; draft choice Vitaly Yeremeyev is a decent goalie, but if he gets hurt, there&rsquo;s little behind him.Best Player St. Louis Blues prospect Konstantin Shafranov is a former International League rookie of the year who is leading the IHL Fort Wayne Komets in scoring this year.THN Handicapping Teamwork should be first rate, since most of the players on the roster have known each other and played together since they were kids. For this reason alone they will give Slovakia a real run for its money for first place in their group. Predicted Finish: Second in Group A<h2>ROSTER</h2><h3>GOALTENDERS</h3>Vitaly VeremeyevAlexander Shimin<h3>DEFENSEMEN</h3>Vladimir AntipinVadim GlovatskyIgor NikitinAndrei SavenkovAndrei SokolovVitaly TregubovAlexei TroschinskyIgor Zemlyanoi<h3>FORWARDS</h3>Mikhail BorodulinPetr DevyatkinIgor DorokhinDmitry DudarevPavel KamencevAlexandr KoreshkovEvgeny KoreshkovOleg KryazhevAndrei PchelyakovErian SagymbaevKonstantin ShafranovAndrei ZalipyatskikhVladimir Zavyalov<h3>HEAD COACH</h3>Boris Alexandrov &#9632;

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JAPAN KAZAKHSTAN

<div class="byline">By Denis Gibbons</div>It&rsquo;s not by the luck of the draw the three medal favorites-Canada, the United States and Sweden-are in the same group at the Nagano Olympics.The seedings for the first Olympics featuring NHLers were based on the play of minor-pro, college and European club players at the 1995 World Championship in Sweden.By agreement between the International Ice Hockey Federation and the NHL, the six major powers-Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the United States-were guaranteed byes into the second round (Groups C and D).Their Olympic seedings were determined by the final standings at the World Championship. The NHL schedule was extended in 1995 because of the lockout and NHL players were not available for the 1995 tournament.As a result, Group C at the Olympics is comprised of the second-, third-and sixth-place finishers from the 1995 World Championship-Canada, Sweden, and the U.S. respectively-and the winner of preliminary round Group A.Group D has the first-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers-Finland, Czech Republic and Russia-and the winner of preliminary round Group B.Olympic seedings are usually based on results of the World Championship of two years earlier. But for marketing and ticket sales purposes the seedings were fixed a year earlier for Nagano.The three medal favorites playing in Group C won&rsquo;t have to play each other in the quarterfinal because of the crossover format in the medal round.By the time the big six arrive in Nagano, two teams will have emerged out of Groups A and B to make it an eight-team tournament.Italy is seeded seventh because it finished seventh at the 1995 World Championship and as a result is the top seed in Group A.France finished eighth in 1995, making it the top seed in Group B. Japan, as host country, was guaranteed a berth and is seeded 12th.Here are the other countries in Groups A and B that emerged from an eight-team, two-group qualifying tournament in February, 1997, held in Austria and Germany. Five teams from that tournament join Italy, France and Japan in the opening round. Seedings are determined by World Championship results in 1995:9. Germany finished first in Group A of the qualifying tournament and ninth at the 1995 World Championship.10. Austria finished third in Group B and defeated Switzerland, the Group A third-place finisher 2-0 in a playoff game. Austria was 10th at the 1995 World Championship.11. Slovakia finished second in Group A and first at the 1995 B pool World Championship.12. Japan qualified as the host country for the Olympics. Japan is seeded 12th because it finished sixth at the 1995 B pool World Championship.13. Belarus finished second in Group B qualifying and first at the 1995 C pool World Championship.14. Kazakhstan finished first in Group B qualifying. It is seeded 14th because it finished second at the 1995 C pool World Championship.The seventh, 10th, 11th and 14th seeds are in Olympic Group A. The eighth, ninth, 12th and 13th seeds are in Olympic Group B.Other nations trying to qualify for the Olympics were Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Great Britain, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Rumania, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Yugoslavia.<h2>Seedings for preliminary round:</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01160/6959861-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="512" height="436"></div> &#9632;

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Top medal contenders break water in same pool

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0052-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01157/6959899-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg"></div>Hockey Night in North America will be Hockey Morning in North America during the Nagano Olympic Games. With a 14-hour difference between local and Eastern Standard Time, virtually all games will be late-night or early-morning events in the United States and Canada. THN offers this advice: Start thinking now of fresh and creative excuses for being sleepy-eyed or late for work. We recommend co-workers get together and coordinate excuses. Otherwise, there could be some embarrassing overlap among colleagues. One piece of advice: If you&rsquo;re going to blame a late arrival on children (i.e. &ldquo;My kid was up all night with an eye, ear and nose infection&rdquo;), first make sure you have at least one. Those things can be checked in the personnel files. Good luck.<h2>Men&rsquo;s Tournament Schedule</h2>AW: Aqua Wing (Cap. 6,078) BH: Big Hat (10,104)<h2>Women&rsquo;s Tournament Schedule</h2>AW: Aqua Wing (Cap. 6,078) BH: Big Hat (10,104)<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0287/6959892-1-eng-US/f0052-022.jpg" title="f0052-02" width="1489" height="803"></div> &#9632;

f0052-01

Late Night from Nagano

<div class="byline">By Denis Gibbons</div>The Olympic motto: higher, faster, stronger&hellip;different? The international game features a number of rules that differ from what NHL viewers are used to. Here&rsquo;s what to look for:OVERTIME/SHOOTOUT There is no overtime in first- and second-round games which end in ties. In the quarterfinal, semifinal and bronze medal game, there is a 10-minute, sudden-death overtime period. In the gold medal game, there is a 20-minute overtime.If the score is still tied at the end of the overtime, the game is decided by a shootout. Before the shootout begins, each team is required to submit a list of five shooters and two goalies to the referee. The winner of a coin toss chooses whether to shoot first or second.The shootout is comprised of five rounds with each of the five shooters getting one opportunity. Players on opposing teams take shots alternately and goalies may be changed after each shot. At the end of the shootout the team with more goals wins. If a shot or a save results in one team having an insurmountable lead, the shootout immediately ends.If the score is still tied at the end of the shootout, then additional rounds are held with the teams providing a new list of five shooters (anyone is eligible, including players who took the first five shots) and the teams shooting in reverse order. The game is over once a team scores and the opposing team fails in the same round.CREASE VIOLATIONS Unlike in the NHL, goals count if an offensive player is marginally in the goal crease. For example, if a player has only one skate in the crease and is not blocking the goalie&rsquo;s view, the goal stands. However, if a player has two feet in the crease or is clearly blocking the view of the goalie, a goal will be disallowed. If an offensive player deliberately stands in the crease, play will be stopped and a faceoff held in the neutral zone.ICING On icing calls, play is stopped automatically when the puck crosses the goal line.POWER PLAYS If both teams have players in the penalty box, but one team is shorthanded (ie. 4 vs. 3), a power play goal ends the penalty for the player with the least amount of time remaining on his minor penalty-not necessarily the player whose penalty resulted in the power play. In the NHL, the player whose penalty led to the power play would leave the penalty box.RINK DIMENSIONS International ice surfaces (200-by-100 feet) are 15 feet wider than standard NHL surfaces (200-by-85 feet). There is also an additional two feet behind the goal line (13 feet vs. 11 feet), a change the NHL is considering implementing for next season.STANDINGS Ties in the round-robin standings are settled by the following criteria, in order:&#9633; The winner of the game between the two teams that are tied.&#9633; If that game ended in a tie, then it is settled by the higher goals-for and-against differential.&#9633; If three teams are tied, the teams are ranked by who has the highest number of points in games involving only those three teams.&#9633; If each of the three teams has the same number of points in those games, the determining factor is the best goals-for and-against differential in games involving those three teams.&#9633; If the teams are still tied, it is settled according to which team has the greater goal quotient-goals scored divided by goals against.<h2>OLYMPIC OFFICIALS</h2>Here are the NHL officials selected to work the 1998 Winter Olympics.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01154/6959930-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="529" height="481"></div> &#9632;

f0053-01

Prepare for shootout, more lenient crease rule

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0054-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01157/6959961-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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Player stats from latest major event

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0055-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01149/6959992-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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Olympic hockey medalists

<div class="image-hero"><img title="th002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th002-012/6961016-1-eng-US/th002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Canadian Governor General Romeo LeBlanc presents Wayne Gretzky with the Order of Canada, the country&rsquo;s highest civilian honor, in Ottawa Jan. 28. Pg. 6. (Photo by Canapress)</figcaption></div><h2>Unsung Francis piles up points</h2>1. Ron can roll Pittsburgh&rsquo;s veteran center Ron Francis hits 1,400-point plateau.2. Bulls eye Jamey Hicks of ECHL&rsquo;s Birmingham Bulls registers natural hat trick of shorthanded goals.3. Grand milestone Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; Luc Robitaille becomes sixth NHL left winger to get 1,000 points.4. 50/50 winner Swift Current&rsquo;s Sergei Varlamov scores 50th goal in 50th Western League game this season.5. Savage scorer Montreal&rsquo;s Brian Savage goes on tear with seven goals, 12 points in seven games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th002-022/6961009-1-eng-US/th002-022.jpg" title="th002-02" width="740" height="1013"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Ron Francis</figcaption></div><h2>What has got into this guy?</h2>1. Wounded knees Rick Tocchet of Phoenix out seven games for injuring Ryan Smyth, Steve Yzerman with cheap shots.2. Full moon? Choir boys Paul Kariya of Anaheim and Ray Bourque of Boston get major penalties in same week.3. A head of his time New Jersey&rsquo;s Scott Daniels suspended two games for head butting Rangers&rsquo; P.J. Stock.4. Shark bite San Jose&rsquo;s Tony Granato suspended two games for highsticking Edmonton&rsquo;s Dan McGillis.5. Ultimate suspension Jason McIntyre banned from West Coast League for slashing opponent in face. &#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/th002-03/6961047-1-eng-US/th002-032.jpg" title="th002-03" width="338" height="413"></div>It won&rsquo;t just be history at the 1998 Winter Games, it will be herstory.One of them is Lesley Reddon&rsquo;s.The Canadian goalie has gone from the hot plate to the hot comer to, potentially, the hottest place on ice Feb. 17 when the U.S. and Canada meet in the first Olympic gold medal women&rsquo;s hockey final.It&rsquo;s possible Finland could derail plans of North American hockey fans to rise at 4 a.m. (EST) that day, put on the coffee, reach for the bagels and watch Canada and the U.S. play for the 15th time this season. It&rsquo;s conceivable the season-long series will be tied by then. Canada entered the Olympics with a 7-6 advantage. They are meeting once more in the round-robin, Feb. 14, before the most important game in women&rsquo;s hockey history.But first, back to her story.Reddon, 27, was an accomplished softball player, starring as a pitcher, before switching to third base and catcher. (Always in the heat of the action, naturally. A goalie would have it no other way.) Eventually, Reddon quit softball because it interfered with off-season training for hockey. Reddon&rsquo;s first four years of hockey were spent as a skater at her father&rsquo;s insistence. Doug Reddon told his daughter she had to learn how to crawl before he would let her walk. &ldquo;I always wanted to be a goalie,&rdquo; Reddon says, &ldquo;but Dad said I had to work on my skating first. I became a goalie at age 10 and then there was no turning back.&rdquo;Apart from the thousands of shots she has since turned back.Reddon, goaltending partner Manon Rheaume&rsquo;s alter-ego, has been terrific for the Canadian team. She went a stretch of more than three years without losing a game she played from start to finish; she backstopped Canada to its fourth World Championship last spring; she made history by playing for the University of New Brunswick in Canadian university hockey (one goal against in a combined 52 minutes); and she was sensational when Canada beat the U.S. 2-1 Jan. 16 in Vancouver before what was then the largest crowd to see a women&rsquo;s game. Canadian coach Shannon Miller says one of the team objectives this season was to help transform two good goalies-Reddon and Rheaume-into two great goalies. Miller says the mission has been accomplished.Which of them will be in the spotlight at Nagano is hard to predict because Miller has stuck with a strict rotation this season. Only once has one of them started two games in a row and it was Rheaume who got the consecutive starts. Still, there is a sense the job is Reddon&rsquo;s to lose at the Olympics.Reddon, a product of the strong Mississauga, Ont., girls&rsquo; hockey program, first thought about the five overlapping rings after reading a magazine article as a 12-year-old. &ldquo;The story said that they hoped to have women&rsquo;s hockey in the Olympics by 2000,&rdquo; she recalls, &ldquo;and my 12-year-old wisdom told me I&rsquo;d be 30 by then and if NHLers could play until they were 30, so could I.&rdquo; Reddon&rsquo;s dad, aunt and grandmother will all be in Nagano. Her mother, Carolyn, career counselor and heart-to-heart confidante for so many years, won&rsquo;t be. She died of cancer in July, 1992. &ldquo;Wherever she is right now,&rdquo; Reddon says, &ldquo;I know she&rsquo;d be very happy and proud.&rdquo; So, too. is the rest of the hockey world as a new era in the sport truly begins. &#9632;

th002-03

Reddon readies to chase gold in Winter Games

<div class="byline">By Mike Dudurich</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="th003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th003-012/6961450-1-eng-US/th003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jaromir Jagr, who wants to finish his career in Pittsburgh, opted for the security of a long-term deal.</figcaption></div>Throughout his career, Jaromir Jagr has been a happy-go-lucky guy.But on Jan. 27, Jagr became a happy-and-wealthy guy.In a process that seemed to last longer than some marriages, Jagr and the Pittsburgh Penguins came to an agreement on a contract extension that was not only historic, but huge.The two sides agreed to a four-year extension worth $38 million that (this is the historic part) will pay him $10.4 million during the 2002-03 season. Jagr becomes the first player to reach the double-figure, million-dollar plateau for base salary in a season.Jagr will be paid $5.1 million this season and $4.75 million next-the final two years of his deal before the extension-then his salary jumps to $9.1 million in 1999-2000, $9.7 in 2001-02.Chances are, however, that by the time 2002 gets here, another player-Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya, Joe Sakic-might well have already hit the $10-million mark.&ldquo;You never know where the dollars are going to go,&rdquo; Jagr said. &ldquo;But I want to play here and I want to stay here. I want to finish my career here.&rdquo;The deal also enters the Penguins and Jagr into a marketing rights agreement that would share any revenue Jagr would realize while using the Penguins&rsquo; logo.While the extension potentially keeps one of the NHL&rsquo;s crown jewels in black and gold until he is at least 30, it also does a couple other things. It&rsquo;s a statement by Penguins&rsquo; ownership-Howard Baldwin and Roger Marino-that the franchise is in good shape and there is a commitment to excellence in the future.&ldquo;This is a sign of how stable this franchise is,&rdquo; Baldwin said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t do a contract like this unless you have stability at the highest level and since Mr. Marino has come in, he has given us that stability. You all know we&rsquo;ve had a couple of tough years, but we&rsquo;ve pulled it together. I can tell you without any hesitation, this is a very stable franchise and we are able to keep the No. 1 player in the NHL for at least another five to six years.&rdquo;The other thing it does is-because he&rsquo;s sticking to the terms of his final two years-make this monster contract a little less taxing on the Penguins&rsquo; bankroll than it might have been.The thinking in Pittsburgh is because of that, the Penguins might be able to re-sign veteran center Ron Francis, who becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. And it might even mean there could be a little extra cash with which to finally get Petr Nedved back in Pittsburgh.&ldquo;Jaromir&rsquo;s contract won&rsquo;t have any effect on negotiations with any of our other players,&rdquo; said GM Craig Patrick. &ldquo;Not the way this contract is set up.&rdquo;Francis, who hit the 1,400-point plateau this season, is in the last year of a $1.9 million per year deal, far below what a player of his stature earns these days in the NHL.&ldquo;I want to get Ronnie signed because I think he&rsquo;s a stabilizing factor,&rdquo; Marino said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s a class act. There&rsquo;s a lot of things that have to come together on that. Hopefully we can do it.&rdquo;Getting Nedved back into the fold wouldn&rsquo;t hurt the Penguins, either. They&rsquo;ve been one of the surprise teams in the league this year, but a lack of scoring depth could prevent them from taking the next step. Nedved could provide that.&ldquo;It gives us great pleasure to be able to have a player like Jaromir start his career and hopefully finish it here.&rdquo; Baldwin said. &ldquo;We did that with Mario Lemieux and now it looks like we&rsquo;re close to doing it with Jaromir Jagr.&rdquo;The irony of the situation was the day Jagr signed, the Penguins announced they were reducing ticket prices for season ticket holders next season. The Penguins have played before only three sellouts this season and ownership said it has heard the fans loud and clear.&ldquo;Maybe if I would sign for more, the prices would go down even more,&rdquo; Jagr laughed. &ldquo;Maybe tickets are priced too high, but people thought when Mario left Pittsburgh wouldn&rsquo;t play as good. Every day we&rsquo;re trying to win and prove them wrong.&rdquo;<h2>How the bucks stack up</h2>Here is the NHL&rsquo;s top-10 in compensation (salary plus all bonuses, in millions) for this season and the balance of contracts to 2000-01. RFA and UFA are restricted and unrestricted free agent, respectively. Asterisk indicates club or player option.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th003-082/6961443-1-eng-US/th003-082.jpg" title="th003-08" width="944" height="394"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th003-022/6961436-1-eng-US/th003-022.jpg" title="th003-02" width="324" height="535"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Lindros</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th003-032/6961429-1-eng-US/th003-032.jpg" title="th003-03" width="326" height="535"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Messier</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th003-042/6961422-1-eng-US/th003-042.jpg" title="th003-04" width="328" height="540"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Yzerman</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th003-052/6961415-1-eng-US/th003-052.jpg" title="th003-05" width="328" height="539"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th003-062/6961408-1-eng-US/th003-062.jpg" title="th003-06" width="322" height="535"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Gratton</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th003-072/6961401-1-eng-US/th003-072.jpg" title="th003-07" width="329" height="539"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Kariya</figcaption></div> &#9632;

th003-01

FEATURE

$38-Million Smile

<h2>February February February Milestones</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3>Wed., Feb. 4: The United League AllStar Game is at Port Huron, Mich.Fri., Feb. 7: The preliminary round begins at Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.Sun., Feb. 8: The NHL begins a 16-day winter break shutdown. Play resumes Feb. 25.Sun., Feb. 8: Canada and the U.S. play their first games as women&rsquo;s hockey makes its Olympic debut. The gold-medal game is Feb. 17.Tue., Feb. 10: The International League All-Star Game is at Orlando and the American League All-Star Game at Syracuse, N.Y.Fri., Feb. 13: Canada and the U.S. play their first round-robin games in the men&rsquo;s tournament. The gold-medal game is Feb. 22.Tues., Feb. 17: NHL players not participating in the Olympics must report back to their teams for a three-day mini camp.<h3>MILESTONES</h3>600 goals: Dino Ciccarelli of Florida needed one goal to hit 600.800 assists: Jari Kurri of Colorado needed seven assists to hit 800. New Jersey&rsquo;s Doug Gilmour needed 11.1,000 points: Al Maclnnis of St. Louis needed 18 points to hit 1,000. &#9632;

CALENDAR

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th005-012/6961560-1-eng-US/th005-012.jpg" title="th005-01" width="341" height="474"></div>Amid the recent fuss over NHL players using Sudafed as a pre-game stimulant-a story The Hockey News published last October-we would do well to remember one thing.It&rsquo;s only the tip of the iceberg.If NHL players are using over-the-counter cold remedies for a pseudoephedrine rush to their central nervous system-and some are, though no one can put a precise number on how many-then it&rsquo;s logical to believe that the same thing is happening in lower levels of hockey.And it is, from the minors to junior and, yes, even to minor hockey involving teenagers and adolescents. It&rsquo;s happening.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say I&rsquo;ve actually seen a player take (Sudafed), but I&rsquo;ve seen it in their bags and while you would like to think it&rsquo;s because the kids have a cold, well, you kind of figure something might be going on,&rdquo; said a minor hockey coach from Western Canada whose experience was at the bantam (14- and 15-year-olds) level last season.He told his story on the condition of anonymity.&ldquo;The kids know of the practice,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not something they talk about it. They&rsquo;ll play dumb if you ask. While I haven&rsquo;t seen it, I&rsquo;ve been told it happens in Jr. B and all the way up.&rdquo;His comments should not come as a surprise. Whatever NHL players do, younger players will emulate. That goes from style of play to training and preparation, which filters down through the system, from pro to junior to minor hockey.Those outside the hockey community would be surprised to realize how competitive it can be. The quest to make it to the next level is an intense exercise that often borders on warfare. Players are constantly looking for an edge.This can often result in positive developments. Young players today spend more time, effort and money than ever before in improving their conditioning and honing their ability. New-fangled skating instruction is available and plyometrics is fashionable. That&rsquo;s the good news.The bad news is that if a young player thinks the buzz from popping some readily available-and legal, to boot-cold medicine is going to give him an edge over his competitors, he may not hesitate to do it.And we would be naive, maybe even irresponsible, to think it&rsquo;s not happening at other levels.Certainly, the practice occurs in major junior. A veteran trainer with more than 15 years experience in the Canadian Hockey League confirmed junior players do take Sudafed and not always just for easing cold congestion.&ldquo;(Sudafed) is one of the best decongestants available, the one doctors most highly recommend,&rdquo; said the trainer, who requested anonymity.&ldquo;And hockey players get lots of colds. It&rsquo;s tough for them to breathe and Sudafed eases that for them, so it&rsquo;s a very useful medication.&ldquo;But some guys do use it for more than that. Unless they&rsquo;ve got a cold, we don&rsquo;t give it to them, but it&rsquo;s available. It&rsquo;s not hard to get. How many they take, I don&rsquo;t know.The trainer said the players&rsquo; familiarity with the practice has heightened in the past few years.&ldquo;It was uncommon before then,&rdquo; said the trainer, who added he would be surprised if minor hockey players engaged in the practice. &ldquo;The rookies don&rsquo;t seem to have any idea about it, but they learn from watching the veterans.&rdquo;The problem is that policing any abuse of Sudafed is difficult, if not impossible. It&rsquo;s not illegal. Who&rsquo;s to say who has a cold and who doesn&rsquo;t? A young player could take the tablets at home and no one would be any wiser.Sudafed only became a public issue this season because it&rsquo;s an Olympic year and pseudoephedrine is on the International Olympic Committee&rsquo;s list of banned substances. That, plus THN and, more recently, Sports Illustrated wrote about it. Also, Hockey Night in Canada&rsquo;s John Davidson talked about it in October, at the same time of the THN story. The SI story suggested as many as 20 per cent of the players in the league use Sudafed as a stimulant. The league disputed that number and issued a release directly in response to the SI story.&ldquo;The results of that (joint NHL-NHLPA preOlympic) testing show there has been no abuse of the over-the-counter medication Sudafed,&rdquo; the release said. &ldquo;To the extent there was any use of this medication by NHL players, the results were consistent with the recommended dosage for the relief of symptoms of cold and flu&hellip;Anecdotal comments that suggest otherwise are inappropriate and could unfairly taint this sport.&rdquo; &#9632;

th005-01

COLUMNISTS

Cold remedy issue far reaching

<div class="byline">By Brendan Savage</div>The United League will be well-represented at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, thanks to Flint Generals&rsquo; goalie Andrei Mezin.The third-year pro from Chelyabinsk, Russia is expected to be the No. 1 goalie for Belarus when it begins play in Pool B Feb. 7 against France.Belarus or Germany will advance to the second round from Pool B, which also includes host Japan.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my dream to play in the Olympics and now I&rsquo;ve got the chance,&rdquo; said Mezin, 23. &ldquo;To see all the athletes coming from around the world, it will be a great time.&rdquo;Although he was bom in Russia, Mezin served in the Belarus army at 18 and was a member of that country&rsquo;s national junior team.He left the Generals last February to play for Belarus in a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament and posted a 40-1 record in five games.Mezin, who is under contract to the International League&rsquo;s Detroit Vipers, appeared in 16 games with Flint this season. He had a 12-4-0 record., 887 save percentage and a 3.38 goals-against average.Mezin&rsquo;s goal is to help Belarus advance to the second round. &ldquo;I would like to play against (Wayne) Gretzky,&rdquo; Mezin said with a grin. &#9632;

Flint goalie Mezin off to help Belarus

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>Toronto&rsquo;s Maple Leaf Gardens offered an apology and a series of self-help initiatives to victims who suffered 20 years of sex abuse by three employees of the hockey shrine.But about 15 of the estimated 90 victims say they want more.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re asking how they replace 20 years of suffering,&rdquo; said lawyer Harvin Pitch. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re asking the public to help gather information concerning who knew what about the sexual abuse back then.&rdquo;Pitch and a group of victims held a news conference Jan. 30 to outline demands for financial compensation for their years of abuse. Most victims are seeking about $4 million each.The new demands come in response to an emotional apology led by Gardens&rsquo; chairman and CEO Steve Stavro at a conference Jan. 23 that was attended by several victims and Sheldon Kennedy, a former NHLer who went public a year ago with his accounts of sexual abuse.Along with the apology, the Gardens announced programs, including a counselling hotline (1-888-5455585), money to cover the cost of counselling and a Gardens-hosted educational forum on sex abuse.&ldquo;All of us at Maple Leaf Gardens are saddened that children were abused in this building,&rdquo; Stavro said. &ldquo;I want to say&hellip;to the victims and their families, I&rsquo;m sorry, and I want to see that such things never happen again.&rdquo;The programs were announced after months of consultations between Maple Leafs&rsquo; president Ken Dryden, the family of the late Martin Kruze, and several experts in the field.&ldquo;None of this would have been possible without Dryden,&rdquo; Kruze&rsquo;s partner, Jayne Dunsmore, said of Dryden, who launched the drive.Kruze was a victim who committed suicide three days after Gardens&rsquo; employee Gordon Stuckless was sentenced to two years less a day for sexual abuse and three years probation.&ldquo;The regret we feel cannot be understood as an admission of legal liability&hellip;that is for the courts to decide,&rdquo; Dryden said. &ldquo;But we want to assist those sexually abused here in their healing and recovery.&rdquo; &#9632;

Gardens aids victims

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th006-012/6961639-1-eng-US/th006-012.jpg" title="th006-01" width="395" height="504"></div>That Mike Keenan. He&rsquo;s something, isn&rsquo;t he?Less than a year after they took away his key to the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; executive washroom, here is Keenan, back in charge of another NHL team. Incredible. You examine the appointment and you can come to only one conclusion.Keenan must be the most persuasive man in the NHL today. How else do you explain the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; decision to effectively turn over the reigns of power to him, so soon after the Blues ran him out of town?Keenan didn&rsquo;t get a title, just the good stuff a GM can do-like run players out of town on a rail if they don&rsquo;t answer, &ldquo;how high?&rdquo; when he says jump. Keenan gets to make trades, but doesn&rsquo;t have to sign players to contracts and-this is important-every transaction must be vetted through ownership.Maybe if the Blues had been as prudent and put a limit on his MasterCard, they wouldn&rsquo;t be facing the financial crisis they&rsquo;re mired in now, owing millions of dollars to players who no longer work there.Keenan&rsquo;s spending spree with the Blues would give Elton John a run for his money-$10 million for Joe Murphy, $7.5 million for Dale Hawer-chuk, etc. etc.On the day he got kicked upstairs, Keenan was rhyming off the moves he made in his previous NHL life. Naturally, there was no mention of Murphy or Hawerchuk or all the Yuri Khymylevs he acquired and then rapidly discarded. Instead, he highlighted the deals that worked out One deal-Chris Chelios for Denis Savard-stands out. One signing-Grant Fuhr-when nobody else wanted him-was excellent.But to stand there and lay claim to building the structure of the current Blues was patently absurd. All the support players responsible for the Blues&rsquo; fine defensive record either came after he left or were underemployed during Iron Mike&rsquo;s reign.Al Maclnnis and Brett Hull were already in place before Keenan arrived. Keenan ran Steve Duchesne out of town; it was the new Larry Pleau regime that brought him back. And although the Chris Pronger-for-Brendan Shanahan deal is looking less one-sided now, the reality is Shanahan won a Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings.Say this much for Keenan, he is an exceedingly clever spin doctor. He characterizes himself as an intellectual, frequently misunderstood by people who are not as savvy or brilliant as he is. He seduces people by suggesting they&rsquo;re on the same higher plane as he is and others are incapable of grasping the master plan.Keenan wormed his way to this position of authority-all the time presiding over a team that registered three victories in 25 games through the end of January. Unbelievably, he won because he lost.Effectively, Keenan&rsquo;s promotion establishes a clear-cut chain of command, something that has been lacking ever since Pat Quinn was fired as GM and his duties were split between Keenan and senior vice-president, hockey operations Steve Tambellini.&ldquo;It would be naive for me to say that there aren&rsquo;t going to be any changes,&rdquo; acknowledged Keenan. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in last place.&rdquo;So Keenan will wheel and deal, and coax and cajole and try to intimidate players and reporters, the same as always.Eventually, Keenan will wear out his welcome in Vancouver too and of course it will be someone else&rsquo;s fault. Either they altered the parameters of his mandate or they were fiscally imprudent or (my all-time favorite) because players refused to &ldquo;embrace change.&rdquo;And so it will be with Keenan-the same old approach, dressed up in a newer, slicker, reinvented Iron Mike. This will be interesting to watch, in the same way Titanic was fascinating-even though you knew the ship would eventually end up on the bottom of the ocean. &#9632;

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Giving Keenan more power puts ship on course to sink

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>The Order of Canada welcomed The Great One.Fourteen years after being welcomed to the prestigious Order of Canada by the late Governor General Jeanne Sauve, New York Rangers&rsquo; superstar Wayne Gretzky finally had time to pick up his award Jan. 28.With parents Walter and Phyllis Gretzky at his side, the 37-year-old Brantford, Ont. native was presented the highest honor given to any civilian in Canada by Governor General Romeo Leblanc in Ottawa.&ldquo;I felt really proud to be Canadian,&rdquo; said Gretzky, after receiving the award during a five-minute ceremony. &ldquo;To be standing here today in Ottawa receiving this award is something I&rsquo;ll never forget.&rdquo;Gretzky, who was named an officer of the Order June 25, 1984 during his glory days with the Edmonton Oilers, was honored for his outstanding contribution to hockey and commitment to charity.Walter Gretzky, who had an aneurism in 1991 which erased most of his memories of Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s outstanding career, was touched by the ceremony and was just happy to be able to see it.&ldquo;It really was a special ceremony and Wayne is such a special person,&rdquo; Walter Gretzky said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice he could get that honor and be recognized by Canadians. I wish he had picked it up sooner, but he has a busy schedule.&rdquo;Gretzky becomes only the fifth hockey player to be invested into the Order. Others are Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Jean Beliveau and Gordie Howe. The most infamous member is disgraced former NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Alan Eagleson.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th006-022/6961670-1-eng-US/th006-022.jpg" title="th006-02" width="388" height="501"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Quinn</figcaption></div>Eagleson, serving time in a Toronto jail for defrauding NHL players, could have his membership revoked. It&rsquo;s under review, but it&rsquo;s believed officials have simply asked him to resign.&ldquo;Today&rsquo;s a day for me to celebrate,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;(Eagleson in the Order) is not a decision that&rsquo;s in my hand.&rdquo;JOB FOR QUINN: Pat Quinn, former GM of the Vancouver Canucks, was named GM of Canada&rsquo;s national team that will compete in the 1998 World Championship.The defending champion Canadian team will be made up of players not in the NHL playoffs or eliminated in the first round.PROSPECT WATCH: Forty NHL prospects have been selected to compete in the Canadian Hockey League Prospects Game, Feb. 10 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Headlining the list is Vincent Lecavalier of the Quebec League&rsquo;s Rimouski Oceanic, the top rated player for the 1998 entry draft (See pg. 31 for roster.)WOMEN SPLIT: Canada beat the United States 4-2 in the final matchup of women&rsquo;s superpowers prior to the start of the Olympics.The 4-2 win Jan. 27 gave Canada a 7-6 edge over the U.S. in head-to-head games this season. The Americans won 3-1 Jan. 25.PLAYER BANNED: Defenseman Jason MacIntyre of the Phoenix Mustangs was suspended for the season and banned from ever again playing in the West Coast League.MacIntyre struck Tacoma Sabercats&rsquo; defenseman Thom Cullen in the face with his stick after a Jan. 23 game.Because of agreements in three other leagues, MacIntyre can resurface only in the Western Pro League.Elsewhere, Bart Hull, brother of Brett and son of Bobby, played one game under emergency conditions for the Idaho Steelheads Jan. 9. Bart played at the youth level with Joe Sakic and also played in the Canadian Football League. He&rsquo;s normally Idaho&rsquo;s color commentator.SUIT TO PROCEED: A U.S. District Court judge removed a stay on a class-action lawsuit filed against Alan Eagleson, 21 NHL teams and two former league executives.Now that the former NHLPA boss answered to charges against him and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, five former players can proceed with their $370-million lawsuit on behalf of more than 1,200 NHLPA members.&ndash;With a file from Bruce Garrioch &#9632;

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Gretzky given high Order

An open letter to the board of directors of the Hockey Hall of Fame:Listen to Brad Park and Ted Lindsay. They&rsquo;re right. Alan Eagleson must be removed from the builders&rsquo; category of the Hall of Fame.Eagleson should have been embarrassed and ashamed to accept such an honor in the first place, knowing he was stealing from NHL players.By no means was the Hall of Fame selection committee at fault by selecting Eagleson at the time, but it can now certainly correct this mistake.I don&rsquo;t blame Park and Lindsay for not wanting to be on the same wall as Eagleson. His picture shouldn&rsquo;t be hanging in the Hall of Fame, it should be hanging in the post office.Patrick Major, Westfield, Mass.<h2>Not so fast</h2>Those who want Alan Eagleson removed from the Hall of Fame have a valid argument, but the situation has to be analyzed in its total context.First, despite Eagleson&rsquo;s transgressions, he has also done a lot of good. He built the NHL Players&rsquo; Association into a strong organization and made gains for the players such as free agency and lucrative pensions.Secondly, if Eagleson were removed, it would trivialize induction into this institution and subject it to whims of the day. Induction into the Hall of Fame would be tantamount to being cast into quicksand instead of concrete.Opponents of Eagleson should just grin and bear it. Though Eagleson may be in a state of disgrace, you can&rsquo;t deny his past accomplishments.Kenneth Zimmerman, Huntington Beach, Calif.<h2>Forgot somebody</h2>If Wayne Gretzky is the No. 1 player of all-time, does that mean Dave Semenko is No. 1A and Marty McSorley is No. IB?John Qualls, Grand Rapids, Mich.<h2>Scary lineups</h2>For those on THN&rsquo;s panel who chose Wayne Gretzky over Bobby Or for No. 1, I have one question. Five Gretzkys on the ice against five Orrs. Who would win?My money would be on No. 4 every time.J. Gover, Norwood, Mass.<h2>Great move, THN</h2>I&rsquo;m tired of reading about people putting Jaromir Jagr down. There is no doubt he deserves to be among the Top 50 NHL Players of All-Time.Jagr has become the best player in the game. He is the best 1-on-1 player in the world and always keeps opposing goalies guessing.And what&rsquo;s the big deal about his salute? I think it&rsquo;s great and it adds color to the game.THN&rsquo;s panel of hockey experts made a great choice.Theodore Gooch, Timmins, Ont.<h2>Numbers game</h2>Here&rsquo;s how bad things have become in the NHL. At this year&rsquo;s allstar break, Teemu Selanne was being given serious consideration for the Hart Trophy, based on his 49 points. At the 1992-93 all-star break, Alex Mogilny had 50 goals.Another statistic. As of Jan. 26, Jaromir Jagr led the NHL with 60 points, which put him on pace for 103 points. Just two years ago, Mario Lemieux led the league with 161.Josh Miller, Fogo, Nfld.<h2>Glowballize sport</h2>I have a great idea. Let&rsquo;s take baseball and change it from nine innings to three periods, use a glowing ball and rename the SkyDome the K-Mart Dome.Pascal Ryffel, Millet, Alta.<h2>Build a winner</h2>The night the New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994 was the happiest moment of my life.I would like to see it again some day and I want to tell GM Neil Smith that it is fine by me and most Ranger fans to rebuild. There is no joy in watching a team that will make the playoffs every year, but not win the Cup.Let&rsquo;s build a dynasty so your loyal fans don&rsquo;t have to wait 54 more years to see a Cup.Antonio Scultore, Middlevillage, N. Y.<h2>Make it better</h2>I think the format of the All-Star Game should change. It should be a week-long event with a game between North American all-stars vs. the World; a Canada-USA women&rsquo;s game; the Heroes of Hockey game; a game involving top rookies and second year players, along with top prospects who have already been drafted; and a game featuring the top prospects for the draft.The skills competition should also include non-All-Star Game players.Paul Capstick, Cape Breton Island, 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;

Park, Lindsay right, Eagle must go now

<div class="image-hero"><img title="th007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th007-012/6961725-1-eng-US/th007-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

Flag bearer Wayne Gretzky likely would have carried Canada&rsquo;s flag at the opening ceremonies in Nagano if NHL players were there from the outset. There was even talk of requesting Gretzky&rsquo;s early release, but considering some players aren&rsquo;t being allowed to leave early to play in the preliminary round, that was deemed inappropriate. If Canada wins gold in hockey, Gretzky is a good bet to carry the flag in the closing ceremonies.Terms of reference The International League is &lsquo;The &lsquo;I.&rsquo; The Quebec League is &lsquo;The Q.&rsquo; What&rsquo;s the accepted handle for the Western League? It&rsquo;s not &lsquo;The W.&rsquo; It&rsquo;s &lsquo;The Dub&rsquo; and there&rsquo;s hardly an aspiring kid in Western Canada who doesn&rsquo;t call it that.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th007-022/6961756-1-eng-US/th007-022.jpg" title="th007-02" width="372" height="576"><figcaption class="caption-body">Serqei Gonchar</figcaption></div>Movin&rsquo; on up A year ago, Shawn Heins was a nobody playing in the East Coast League. Some NHL teams had mild interest in the hard-shooting 6-foot-4, 215-pound defenseman who had 50 points and 405 penalty minutes in 118 games over two seasons with Mobile. A team could have signed him to a two-way ($250,000/$35,000) deal. On Jan. 5, Heins signed with the San Jose Sharks for $465,500 with a $465,500 signing bonus. He&rsquo;ll make $62,500 in the minors.Millionaires club Just over five years ago in our Oct. 16, 1992 issue, THN ran a list of the NHL&rsquo;s millionaires club. There were 36 members. At last count membership had climbed to more than 200 players.The trading post It&rsquo;s clear Vancouver is going to trade one or both of Trevor Linden and Alexander Mogilny. Mike Keenan is honing in on defensemen, including Islanders&rsquo; Bryan McCabe and Zdeno Chara, Washington&rsquo;s Sergei Gonchar and Brendan Witt, Toronto&rsquo;s Mathieu Schneider and Florida&rsquo;s Ed Jovanovski. &#9632;

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What you need to know about the 1997-98 season

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/th008-032/6961825-1-eng-US/th008-032.jpg" title="th008-03" width="164" height="159"></div>People waited for months, and not always patiently, for Joe Thornton to move into the spotlight. It didn&rsquo;t happen until after the all-star break, when the first pick in the 1997 draft finally understood he had to move his feet.The 18-year-old center, who battled injuries and the culture shock of moving from the Ontario League to the NHL, had one goal with just 16 shots and was minus-11 in 29 games before the All-Star Game. A different, more active Thornton came back from the break, and the results were noticeable: Thornton&rsquo;s first NHL assist helped Boston to a 1-0 lead in an eventual 4-1 loss Jan. 25 against the Washington Capitals, and two nights later his first goal at FleetCenter was the winner in a 6-1 triumph over the Ottawa Senators.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been keeping my legs moving, and we&rsquo;re getting some chances out of that,&rdquo; said Thornton, who averaged about 14 minutes of ice time against the Capitals and Senators after often playing about one-third that amount for most of the season. &ldquo;This game&rsquo;s all about speed. If they can&rsquo;t catch you, you&rsquo;re a better player.&rdquo;His use of speed let Thornton make better use of his 6-foot-4, 200-pounds-plus frame and puckhandling ability. Thornton was becoming a presence along the boards and near the crease and was often able to use his reach to hold pucks while a changing cast of linemates tried to get open for his passes.&ldquo;Joe has second effort now,&rdquo; said coach Pat Bums, who rewarded Thornton with a spot on the second power play unit. &ldquo;He understands there&rsquo;s a game with the puck and a game without the puck. When he gets the puck now, he skates with it. Before, he didn&rsquo;t and you can&rsquo;t get away with that here.&rdquo;Thornton hoped his post-break spurt was a sign of better things to come. &ldquo;Finally everything&rsquo;s kind of clicking,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Hopefully there&rsquo;ll be more.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: He didn&rsquo;t believe it was justified, but defenseman Ray Bourque received the first game misconduct of his 1,341-game career Jan. 29 for hitting Pittsburgh right winger Jaromir Jagr from behind. Bourque accused Jagr of embellishing the hit&rsquo;s effect and said he deserved a minor penalty for crosschecking, not the major/game misconduct assessed by referee Terry Gregson. &ldquo;I was shocked,&rdquo; Bourque said. &ldquo;It was really a joke of a call.&rdquo;&hellip;Goalie Jim Carey, exiled to Providence of the American League Dec. 3, had his miserable season ended by Jan. 28 shoulder surgery. With Rob Tallas nursing a hamstring strain, the Bruins had to summon first-year pro John Grahame to back up Byron Dafoe. &#9632;

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February 13, 1998

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Doping rule may haunt medal round

Sandstrom top Swede

Varlamov’s surge at wire good enough for 50-in-50