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 20, 1998

The Hockey News February 20, 1998

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>Adam Deadmarsh used to cheer for Canada. Heck, the guy used to play for Canada.The cheering part was back in 1991 when Deadmarsh was 16 and Canada was beating USA in the Canada Cup final. The playing part was the next year in Japan when he represented his native land in the under-18 Pacific Cup in Japan.That was in an earlier life. Now he&rsquo;s a member of the of the U.S. Olympic team and wants to destroy Canada.&ldquo;I feel very comfortable playing for the U.S.,&rdquo; said the 22-year-old Colorado Avalanche right winger. &ldquo;I also have some great feelings for Canada, I grew up there. I&rsquo;m not going to lie to you, I grew up rooting for Canada.&rdquo;So how is it that good old Canuck boys such as Deadmarsh and Brett Hull can be chasing Olympic gold in red, white and blue instead of the maple leaf? Even though both players spent their formative hockey years north of the 49th parallel, they are dual citizens and made a choice to play for USA as young players.And ever since then, the choice has been made for them. The fact is, neither Deadmarsh nor Hull could suit up for Canada even if they wanted to.International Ice Hockey rules stipulate once a player has played for a country in an IIHF sanctioned event-World Junior Championship, World Championship, or Olympics and not World/Canada Cup-he cannot play for another.Think of it this way. It&rsquo;s kind of like when boys are picking teams for shinny. The short fat kid with the runny nose is always an afterthought.Unless, that is, you&rsquo;re the short fat kid. In that case, the first time someone calls your name and tells you you&rsquo;re wanted, you jump at the chance.That&rsquo;s what Deadmarsh and Hull did. Each had a chance to represent USA early in their careers and they took it. Nobody was too worked up about it at the time, but now that they have both developed into top-notch players, it&rsquo;s an issue. (Especially after Hull scored the winner in the World Cup, on a controversial goal, no less.)Deadmarsh was born in Trail, B.C. and played all of his minor hockey there, but gained dual citizenship because his mother is American. He often crossed the border a half-hour away to visit grandparents and cousins in Washington state.When the U.S. asked him to play for its World Junior team in 1993, Deadmarsh checked with Canada first, but said he was told he wouldn&rsquo;t make the Canadian team. Five years, three U.S. World Juniors and one World Cup championship later, Deadmarsh is at ease with his role as a potential Canada-killer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011702/7286487-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="979" height="1839"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Deadmarsh turned to USA after Canada turned him down. (Photo by Robert Laberge/BBS)</figcaption></div>Born in Belleville, Ont., Hull was raised in Canada for 14 of the first 20 years of his life (he lived in Chicago until age six). As a sophomore at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 1986, Hull applied for and received his U.S. citizenship shortly before U.S. national team coach Dave Peterson selected him to play in the World Championship in Moscow. At the time, the U.S. was regularly selecting top collegiate players to join a majority of NHLers at the event. Canadian coach Dave King never considered Hull because Canada took only NHLers.Canadians who curse Hull and Deadmarsh as traitors probably have short memories. Petr Nedved, who spent the first 17 years of his life in Czechoslovakia, helped Canada to a silver medal in 1994. Peter Stastny, one of the greatest Czechoslovak players of all-time, represented Canada in the 1984 Canada Cup.The fact is, Hull and Deadmarsh aren&rsquo;t alone, they just happen to be high-profile. Canadian-and American-born players dot the rosters of Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Japan. Herb Brooks, who led USA to the Miracle on Ice in 1980, is coaching France for Pete&rsquo;s sake.&ldquo;I mean, open your ears and listen, it&rsquo;s not my fault,&rdquo; Hull said. &ldquo;I was a kid who wanted a chance to play and I was given one.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s the hockey explanation, but it only begs another question for Canadians whose patriotism cries out loudest in arenas. We know who you&rsquo;re playing for, Brett, but what anthem plays in your heart? What nationality do you feel?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel anything,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I feel loyalty to a program that gave me a big chance.&rdquo;Hull insists he holds no hostility toward Canada-&rdquo; Who says that I was any good at that time and who says that I was going to turn into a good player?&rdquo;-but that&rsquo;s tough to believe when he follows up with: &ldquo;Maybe Canada still doesn&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m good. Tell &rsquo;em to go boo Dave King, I mean he&rsquo;s the guy who didn&rsquo;t pick me.&rdquo;Deadmarsh was asked if he feels even a smidgen of sorrow for his home and native land after the World Cup win, or the tiniest hesitancy to lay a whipping on the team he once idolized.He laughed. &ldquo;No, there&rsquo;s no holding back.&rdquo; &#9632;

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FEATURES

Border crossings

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01999/7287890-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01940/7287883-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="3093" height="3500"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hurricanes center Nelson Emerson ranks second on Carolina with 16 goals and 133 shots. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01806/7287876-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="3055" height="3475"><figcaption class="caption-body">Red Wings Nicklas Lidstrom ranks second in defenseman scoring with 14 goals and 40 points. (Photo by Jim Leary/BBS)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01831/7287869-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="3061" height="3464"><figcaption class="caption-body">Right winger Peter Bondra leads the Capitals with 34 goals and ranks fifth in the league. (Photo by Brian Winker/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02539/7286949-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="161" height="155"></div>The all-star break and the Olympic break should have been enough.But hard-luck Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; left winger Bill Huard added the Left Hand Break and the Right Wrist Break to his season of woe.It got so bad people were scared to stand beside him at Oiler practices, what with his penchant for attracting injury.&ldquo;Why do you think I drive a one-ton with a roll cage?&rdquo; he asked rhetorically, when members of the media went looking for clues to his run of bad luck.Huard signed with the Oilers as a free agent last summer, an obvious replacement for reluctant enforcer Louie DeBrusk, who wore out his welcome in Edmonton by choosing not to fight. Huard is as game as they come, but his punching power was obliterated by a series of three serious injuries. He was limited to just 19 games and 42 penalty minutes as an Oiler and didn&rsquo;t have a point.In Vancouver Oct. 13 he suffered a sprained knee that cost him nine games. Then came the badly broken left hand. He smashed it in a dust-up with Chris Murray of the Ottawa Senators Nov. 22 and missed 24 more games.And then the piece de resistance, a broken right wrist. He was hit into the side boards by Ian Laperriere of the Los Angeles Kings Feb. 2 and jammed his hand. A day later the news was not good.He had played in just six games after returning from the left hand injury and he was due to be out until early March.The only good thing about his latest injury was it came just before the NHL takes a 17-day break to accommodate the Olympics. He had his cast removed after wearing it for only two days. Dr. David Reid inserted a metal pin in the fractured bone to speed the healing.If he&rsquo;s ready for a March 7 date against the Toronto Maple Leafs, he&rsquo;ll have missed only eight games.NOTEBOOK: There has been nothing but rumor on the ownership front. &ldquo;There is still no offer on the table and we are still hoping for local ownership,&rdquo; said NHL spokesman Arthur Pincus. The latest rumor had the Nashville expansion franchise being sold to a group in Houston, opening up room for the Oilers to be sold and moved to the country music capital. But it appeared more fiction than fact&hellip;Left winger Todd Marchant suffered a scratched right cornea when he took a few hits from San Jose goalie Mike Vernon, who smacked him with his blocker and catching glove. Vernon said he was coming to the rescue of defenseman Andrei Zyuzin, who had been roughing it up with Marchant. &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Another bad break for hard-luck Huard

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03882/7286449-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021363/7286456-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="188" height="199"></div>JANUARY WINNER: PAUL KARIYAHe has competition for the title of Mightiest Duck in Anaheim in linemate Teemu Selanne, but Paul Kariya won&rsquo;t let go of the belt without a fight.Kariya, 23, led all NHL scorers in the month of January with 18 points. Andrew Brunette of the Washington Capitals and The Great One, Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers, followed closely behind with 17 points each.For his efforts, Kariya is the Dodge Trucks NHL Player of the Month.Kariya missed Anaheim&rsquo;s first 32 games in a contract dispute. He signed with the team Dec. 11, a two-year deal worth $14 million. Anyone who thought Kariya&rsquo;s production would be hurt by his long layoff was wrong. He scored two goals and two assists in his first game back, a 6-4 win over the Washington Capitals Jan. 12, and hasn&rsquo;t looked back.Don&rsquo;t call Kariya a homer. In January he scored five goals and nine points in seven home games; five goals and nine points in six road games. He was held off the scoresheet just three times in the month.Kariya&rsquo;s most productive game was Jan. 21 when he scored three goals and added two assists in an 8-3 win over the Florida Panthers.Kariya, who will play for Canada at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, was tied for the team lead in plus-minus at the end of January with plus-12 and led all NHL snipers with a points-per-game average of 1.4Others who were considered for player of the month included Brunette, teammate Peter Bon-dra, Mats Sundin of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins&rsquo; goalie Byron Dafoe.Brunette had nine goals and 17 points in 13 games; Bondra scored 12 goals and 16 points in 13 games; Sundin tallied 10 goals and 15 points in 13 games and Dafoe managed a 6-3-2 record with 1.78 goals-against average and two shutouts.<h2>FACTS & STATS</h2><h3>SEASON TOTALS:</h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04514/7286442-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="1811" height="140"></div><h3>JANUARY TOTALS:</h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-05367/7286435-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="1805" height="138"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01980/7288303-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brett HullKengo Itoh</figcaption></div>THE NHL&rsquo;S NEW MATH: SELANNE ON PACE TO SCORE 94 GOALS!Hockey, American & Japanese styleTHE FURY OF FLEURYTheoren Fleury plays heart out for Canada &#9632;

Cover-01

NAGANO OLYMPICS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011545/7285846-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">A real pane: Bruin Kyle McLaren and Islander Bryan Smolinski have a glass-shattering experience. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>Battered Dino hits 600 mark</h2>1. He earned every one Florida&rsquo;s feisty Dino Ciccarelli took many lumps in front of net to get 600 goals.2. Slick Oiler Goalie Curtis Joseph celebrates 200th career win in style, shutting out Los Angeles 1-0.3. Enigmatic no more? Montreal defenseman Vladimir Malakhov notches hat trick against Carolina Feb. 1.4. Welcome back After much domestic trouble, Buffalo Sabres string together impressive 6-1-3 streak.5. El scorer El Paso&rsquo;s Jamie Thompson scores points in 35 straight Western Pro League games (83 points).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021295/7285839-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="326" height="457"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dino Ciccarelli</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03972/7285832-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="329" height="458"><figcaption class="caption-body">Curtis Joseph</figcaption></div><h2>Suter reaches for the stars</h2>1. Cheap shot Chicago&rsquo;s Gary Suter runs Wayne Gretzky from behind in 1991, crosschecks Paul Kariya in face this year.2. Butt out Anaheim&rsquo;s Ruslan Salei suspended two games for head butting Chicago&rsquo;s Sergei Krivokrasov.3. Rotting in Florida NHL sad sacks Tampa Bay Lightning run winless streak to 16 games.4. Hands off Cincinnati&rsquo;s Igor Nikulin suspended 10 American League games for physically abusing official.5. Shark attack San Jose goalie Mike Vernon hits Edmonton&rsquo;s Todd Marchant with blocker, scratches Marchant&rsquo;s comea. &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chief</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04738/7285877-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="346" height="427"></div>The Hockey News is the official publication of the Flat Earth Society.That&rsquo;s Brian Burke&rsquo;s unflattering name for the unofficial assemblage that represents resistance to change in hockey. Count us in. It&rsquo;s not because we don&rsquo;t believe the game can be improved. We just think, as one of the sport&rsquo;s watchdogs, any alteration to the essential makeup of the game must be considered carefully. We have faith the NHL will act judiciously and dispense its duties as the sport&rsquo;s primary caregiver sensibly.But we&rsquo;re not entirely sure that the league, in its headlong rush to the new millennium and 30 teams, has diverted the necessary resources to research and development. In recent years, THN has recommended the NHL establish a committee whose responsibility is to reflect on the past, monitor the present and prepare for the future. We want the group to include representatives from the NHL executive body, coaches, GMs, players, on-ice officials and various members emeritus. League vice-president Jim Gregory would be an ideal candidate to lead the group. The NHL currently has a standing committee of seven GMs charged with the responsibility of screening rule proposals. It&rsquo;s hard to believe any of them has time to focus enough on this important phase of the industry.Burke says the league is on top of all trends and is always thinking ahead, testing and pondering appropriate responses. There is evidence of that, but we think the league should have an R & D department. Scoring has been on the decline for five years. Various proposals for change have been on the table for years. Many have been tested. Probably more should have been.Nonetheless, by now there should be a firm position on a second set of eyes for calling penalties. There should be a firm position on the elimination of the red line. There should be a firm position on moving the nets out. There should be a firm position on how to reduce the number of ties. These are not new issues and we know the NHL has thought about them and done due diligence. But Burke and his brethren are, necessarily, so immersed in the present they have little time for the future.We already know the first issue an R & D committee should investigate, although it would be a departure from a pure on-ice mandate. We&rsquo;d ask it to research what possible rationale the Chicago Blackhawks have for justifying Gary Suter&rsquo;s attack on Paul Kariya and see if it could help the Blackhawks develop some grey matter on one of the most important issues of the day. &#9632;

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Flat Earth has place on NHL’s frozen planet

<div class="byline">Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021414/7285915-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="343" height="426"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011768/7285908-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="1522" height="3433"><figcaption class="caption-body">GOLD SHOWDOWN (Photo by Rocky Widner)</figcaption></div>A gold medal game between Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s Canadian team and the U.S. is the best-case scenario for the NHL.There is a myriad of assessments to be done before the success of NHL participation in the Olympics can be gauged, but it doesn&rsquo;t take a genius to figure out what would constitute failure.A season-ending injury to one of the league&rsquo;s superstars in Nagano would be disastrous.And that, as much as anything, could determine future NHL participation in the Olympics. Ultimately, the NHL is there for the many business benefits it may accrue, but it would be tough to convince Ed Snider, Michael Eisner or Howard Baldwin it&rsquo;s in their best interests if their franchises had to finish this season without Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya or Jaromir Jagr.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t even talk about it,&rdquo; said NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Bob Goodenow. &ldquo;We all know injuries happen, they&rsquo;re part of the game, but we&rsquo;re hoping luck is with us.&rdquo;As it is, measuring Olympic participation is no mean feat.&ldquo;There are not a lot of clear-cut tangibles we can measure in the short-term,&rdquo; NHL senior vice president Steven Solomon said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like there&rsquo;s going to be a report card with precise marks and evaluations. But, overall, there will be a gut-level instinct immediately after the Games. We&rsquo;ll know how we feel.&rdquo;Whether that&rsquo;s a positive feeling or a negative one depends on a whole host of factors. No one is prepared to admit it, but if Canada and the United States don&rsquo;t make it to the gold medal game, the tournament&rsquo;s luster in North America will be greatly reduced.Beyond these Games, the NHL and NHLPA have made no international commitments, aside from a 1998-99 season-opening junket to Japan for the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks.It remains to be seen whether there&rsquo;ll be a World Cup tournament in 2000. The arrival of the millennium may be a unique opportunity, but again, the players have expressed concerns with international hockey overload.The widely-held assumption is that Nagano is a dry run for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, where prime-time, home-ice appeal would enhance every aspect of NHL involvement.&ldquo;I know that perception (the NHL will go to Salt Lake City) is out there,&rdquo; Solomon said. &ldquo;Certainly, Olympics in our hemisphere is attractive, but the truth is we still have to determine what the right next steps are internationally.&rdquo;Both Solomon and Goodenow agree on one thing-the players ultimately hold the key to how much will be done and when it&rsquo;s done.&ldquo;If the Olympics are too tough and gruelling on our players,&rdquo; Solomon said, &ldquo;the rest doesn&rsquo;t matter. We&rsquo;ll look at wear and tear to see the impact it&rsquo;ll have on the balance of our regular season and playoffs. That&rsquo;s our first consideration.&rdquo;For the gold and silver medalists, the Olympics will be a six-game tourney. That&rsquo;s not onerous, but travel, pressure and timing of the event, along with the compressed regular season schedule, are.Certainly, media coverage of hockey in the U.S. has increased leading up to the Nagano Games. The NHL will be closely monitoring it during the Games to ensure the league shutdown doesn&rsquo;t result in an out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality. Olympic TV ratings will be watched, too, although it may be difficult to evaluate them.One factor is a lack of prime-time programming. Another is that CBS will broadcast the Games in the U.S. Industry insiders believe CBS will not go out of its way to promote hockey because it equates Olympic hockey as NHL hockey, which will be on rival Fox when the Games end.CBS was bitterly disappointed at being beaten by Fox for NHL rights, just as it was on National Football League rights. Hard feelings? You bet.So it would come as no surprise if figure skating, downhill skiing and the like get more prominence on CBS than hockey. The performance of the U.S. team would certainly go a long way toward determining that.The best-case scenario for the NHL from a business perspective would be a Canada-U.S. final with the U.S. winning gold. Whatever happens, the first tangible evidence the league will be looking for is a spike in ratings for NHL games on Fox following the Olympics.&ldquo;We would be pleased if there was (positive) movement in the ratings,&rdquo; Solomon said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s not easy to move TV ratings in the short term.&rdquo;Likewise. NHL post-Olympic attendance will be closely checked for any increases, but the league will likely be more interested to see if the shutdown causes any &ldquo;loss of momentum.&rdquo;Solomon claims the NHL is looking at the Olympics as a vehicle for &ldquo;world-wide exposure as opposed to just North America&rdquo; and while, theoretically, that&rsquo;s true, the real measure will be on the homefront, specifically the U.S. market.It will take significant time, maybe as much as a year, to fully assess the impact on retail merchandising sales. The NHL will conduct post-Olympic focus groups, both with fans and non-fans to determine the Olympic influence.Mostly, though, as Solomon said, it will be a feeling, more than facts, that determines whether the experiment is worth repeating. And make no mistake, that feel-good experience starts and ends with the players&rsquo; physical and mental well-being.<h2>OLYMPIC COVERAGE</h2>The Hockey News has you covered for the Nagano Games, beginning with a pre-Olympic story and stats package that starts on page 10. Our roster of writers includes THN associate editor Bob McKenzie, television analyst John Davidson and columnists Eric Duhatschek and Jay Greenberg. Indepth coverage continues in the Feb. 27 issue and culminates with coverage of the gold medal game in the March 6 issue. &#9632;

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Will Games help NHL?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011729/7285946-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="317" height="408"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Gilmour</figcaption></div><h2>February February Upcoming Milestones</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3>Tue., Feb. 10: The International League All-Star Game is in Orlando, Fla.Wed., Feb. 11: The American League All-Star Game is in Syracuse, N.Y.Fri., Feb. 13: Canada and the U.S. play their first round-robin games at the Nagano Olympics in the men&rsquo;s tournament.Tues., Feb. 17: The first-ever women&rsquo;s Olympic gold medal in hockey will be decided. Game time is 4 a.m. (EST).Sun., Feb. 22: The men&rsquo;s gold-medal game will be played at 1:45 p.m. Nagano time, which is Saturday night at 11:45 p.m. (EST).Wed. Feb. 25: NHL play resumes with nine games.<h3>UPCOMING</h3>Sat., March 14: Trevor Linden faces his old team for the first time as Vancouver visits Long Island. The Islanders play in Vancouver March 24.Wed. March 25: Moving companies rejoice; Mike Keenan has a chance for a final hurrah at the NHL&rsquo;s trading deadline.<h3>MILESTONES</h3>548 goals: Brett Hull of St. Louis needed one goal to tie Michel Goulet for 15th place all-time.800 assists: Jari Kurri of Colorado needed seven assists to hit 800. New Jersey&rsquo;s Doug Gilmour needed 10.1,000 points: St. Louis&rsquo; Al MacInnis needed 14 points to hit 1,000. &#9632;

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CALENDAR

<div class="byline">By John Davidson Inside the NHL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011703/7286001-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="314" height="382"></div>How convenient the Olympics roll around at the same time NHL GMs are looking at ways to improve the quality of the game. In at least one respect, you couldn&rsquo;t ask for a better test case.I have my doubts whether moving the net further from the back boards will be the scoring catalyst some believe, but we&rsquo;ll soon find out. The dimensions of a normal-sized NHL rink are 200-by-85 feet, with 58 feet in the neutral zone between the bluelines and 11 feet behind each goal. The international ice surface in Nagano is 200-by-100 with 52 feet in the neutral zone and 14 behind each goal.If Martin Brodeur plays for Canada, he&rsquo;ll be retrieve pucks in the wide, rounded comers) and take advantage of cough-ups as defensemen the gauge for how the change might play out. Brodeur is the best puckhandling goalie in the tournament and along with Ron Hextall, one of the top two in the world. If he finds the extra three feet are too far to go to stop pucks on dump-ins, it&rsquo;ll be a key that offenses have found a new weapon. Then they can throw the puck in deep (knowing goalies can&rsquo;t disrupt their plans), forecheck hard on the defensemen (who have farther to go to worry about being crunched from behind.In this case, the coach who can work this strategy into a game plan quickly should have a great advantage.Wayne Gretzky will undoubtedly have more time and space to work his magic behind the net. This, too, might be good for Canada, but NHL GMs need to ask whether it&rsquo;s good for the game to have more scoring chances generated from behind the net. Alternatively, is it necessarily right to effectively take away the puckhandling skills that goalies such as Brodeur and Hextall have worked so hard to develop?The one change the NHL really needs won&rsquo;t be found at the Olympics-unless two referees show up at the same game.What we need is more speed. Speed generates forechecking, scoring chances and excitement. Two referees-and a sustained clampdown-would catch behind-the-play/neutral-zone obstruction.And remember the Gary Suter late hit on Paul Kariya and Ruslan Salei&rsquo;s headbutt of Sergei Krivokrasov? Suter and Salei got suspensions, but no penalties. With two referees, chances are that stuff wouldn&rsquo;t slip by, either. &#9632;

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League needs two refs, not more room

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021213/7286032-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Will Ron Hextall and his goaltending brethren be allowed to handle the puck behind the net in the future? (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>Brian Burke emerged from the GMs&rsquo; meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., proclaiming that he and others in the room were from Missouri, the show-me state.&ldquo;At this point,&rdquo; the NHL senior vice-president said, &ldquo;we are all from Missouri. Show us changes to the game that will work and we&rsquo;ll proceed with them. But for now, there&rsquo;s no broad base of support for any radical changes.&rdquo;Fair enough. But after three days of meeting, Feb. 2-4, that focused primarily on what the NHL might do in the future to open up the game, the spotlight should be on what the league said it&rsquo;s going to do as soon as the Olympics are over.And that is yet another crackdown on obstruction.Now, who&rsquo;s from the show-me state? All of us. Haven&rsquo;t we been down this road before more than once?NHL commissioner Gary Bettman vowed in the fall of 1995 that new obstruction standards would be called to the letter of the law. And they were-for a couple of months. By season&rsquo;s end, league protestations notwithstanding, the style of play had largely reverted to what it was.Since then, there have been periodic directives to clamp down on obstruction, but the steady stream of criticism from star players, not to mention decreasing goal totals (an average of 5.3 goals a game, down from 5.8 at the end of last season), strongly suggest it hasn&rsquo;t had the desired effect.In truth, the NHL and its GMs haven&rsquo;t had the fortitude to get through the painful penalty parade that is required to condition the players to play the game the way it is meant to be played.The mere fact there&rsquo;s a need for yet another obstruction crackdown is telling. And is there any reason to believe the NHL will be able to maintain its vigilance this time? We&rsquo;ll see.In any event, when players return from their Olympic tour of duty or vacation, they will be watching an updated video on obstruction and bracing for more penalties.Burke maintains the league has done a good job of cleaning up off-the-puck interference in the neutral zone and will now focus on other areas, specifically: defensemen who set physical picks to prevent forecheckers from penetrating the zone; faceoff interference; and, backcheckers who tie up opponents without the puck.Director of officiating Bryan Lewis said officials will also be told to be more vigilant in calling fouls perpetrated on the puck-carrier, including hooking, holding and holding the stick.Lewis also said officials will attempt to speed up the game by getting players to the faceoff circles more quickly, especially at the beginning of periods.Still, that&rsquo;s not to say there won&rsquo;t be some significant changes for next season.The league has pledged to come up with some legislation and standards on goaltenders&rsquo; equipment, beyond existing rules on the size of pads and blockers.&ldquo;It won&rsquo;t be easy, but that&rsquo;s our hope,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll meet with equipment manufacturers in March and consult with some goalies and see where it goes from there.&rdquo;Another potentially key development is the desire for an &ldquo;extra set of (officiating) eyes.&rdquo; There was talk of having an off-ice presence, an &ldquo;eye in the sky,&rdquo; but the consensus is to have two referees and two linesmen, an experiment that has been conducted in at least three NHL pre-seasons.Implementing it on a full-time basis would require the approval of the NHL Officials&rsquo; Association and presents a number of financial/labor challenges. All things being equal, though, two referees is strong possibility for next season.&ldquo;It will help in our bid to call more obstruction and that extra set of eyes works as a deterrent,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;Players have told us that.&rdquo;The GMs discussed at length other measures designed to open up the game, but opted to put them into a test phase before they&rsquo;re seriously considered again. All but one of those tests will take place in minor-league games between now and the end of the season. The lone exception is playing some games without a center red line, except for icing. That experiment will be done in selected NHL pre-season games involving NHL-calibre players.&ldquo;We want to see how the game&rsquo;s best players react to it,&rdquo; Burke said.The testing to be done in the minors includes: goaltenders not being able to handle the puck behind the goal line; puck carriers not being allowed to set up behind the net in their defensive zone; moving the goal line out another two or three feet and shrinking the neutral-zone accordingly; players serving full two-minute minors even if a power-play goal is scored; and, hurry-up faceoff alignments to save time.No one is banking on any of those changes making their way into the game next season, although the door isn&rsquo;t closed.&ldquo;If you were going to rank the ones that are most intriguing (to the GMs),&rdquo; Burke said, &ldquo;it would be goalies not being able to handle the puck behind the goal line, followed by taking out the red line and moving out the goal lines. I&rsquo;m not suggesting there&rsquo;s a broad-base of support for any of them, but there is interest to see how they go. We&rsquo;ll keep working at it and if we need to implement more changes we will, but not before assessing the overall impact.&rdquo;In terms of firm recommendations, the GMs did suggest the standard five-minute major for kneeing should be accompanied by a game misconduct and icing should be waved off if the goaltender leaves his crease on the icing call.The GMs may only offer recommendations. The board of governors has the final say on implementation of rule changes. &#9632;

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NHL cracks down…again

I am writing to respond to the Alan Eagleson story in the Jan. 30 issue that contained quotes from Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke.Alan Eagleson&rsquo;s fall from grace didn&rsquo;t happen because of, as Clarke said, &ldquo;things that were done incorrectly.&rdquo; What a gross understatement. It was because Eagleson is a ruthless, arrogant crook whose crimes manifested themselves in every area of hockey in which he was involved.That he ripped off anonymous corporations was bad enough, but Eagleson compounded that sin by not only stealing money from the players he purported to represent, but stripping them of their pride and dignity.Clarke not only rationalizes and defends that inexcusable behavior, but also believes that some players-such as Mike Gillis-shouldn&rsquo;t complain about Eagleson because &ldquo;he could hardly play.&rdquo; As if that&rsquo;s the point.The next letter I write is to the Hockey Hall of Fame to join what I&rsquo;m sure is a crescendo demanding Eagleson be expelled-hopefully before his slap-on-the-wrist jail sentence runs out.Tom Murray, Los Angeles, Calif.<h2>Walk(er)ing tall</h2>A big cheers to Scott Walker of the Vancouver Canucks for fighting his own battles and getting revenge on Michel Petit of the Phoenix Coyotes instead of looking for a public apology and letting his teammates do his fighting for him the way Kris Draper of the Detroit Red Wings did.Jim Walter, Kingston, Ont.<h2>How about this?</h2>With all the talk about potential rule changes, here&rsquo;s one that would be a little less dramatic, but effective nonetheless.Why not just not allow teams that are shorthanded to ice the puck with impunity?This would likely keep the puck in the defensive zone longer and would force the shorthanded team to skate the puck out more. If they want a line change they would either have to work for it or take the faceoff in their own zone.Also, having the shorthanded team skate it out might create more neutral zone turnovers that would lead to odd-man rushes for the power play team.Jerry Justelli, Washington, D.C.<h2>Where&rsquo;s Savard?</h2>I can&rsquo;t understand why Denis Savard, the most exciting player of all-time and No. 16 on the all-time scoring list, didn&rsquo;t make The Hockey News&rsquo; Top-50 of All-Time list.Savard won a Stanley Cup and was third only to Wayne Gretzky and Peter Stastny in points in the 1980s. Despite playing on some pretty bad Chicago Blackhawk teams, he still managed to score 100 points five times.After all this, the so-called experts didn&rsquo;t even mention him. What a shame.Joe Francella,&nbsp; Toronto, Ont.<h2>Stay home, Hull</h2>I was shocked and ashamed to hear Brett Hull&rsquo;s recent comments on the state of the game. He said it &ldquo;sucks&rdquo; and he wouldn&rsquo;t pay to see it. Well how about giving back some of your salary then?Hull also went on to say he wasn&rsquo;t happy about the accommodations at the Olympics and lamented he won&rsquo;t be able to watch his big screen television. Come on, Brett, thousands of young people grow up with the dream of making it to the Olympics and you&rsquo;re worried about accommodations.If that&rsquo;s the case, why don&rsquo;t you just stay home and watch the Olympics on your big screen TV?Ray Foor, Racine, Wis.<h2>Same old story</h2>The Vancouver Canucks have a new owner, new arena, new captain, new coach and will soon have a new GM. The only problem is that all of this has produced the same old results.Maybe there should be 20 new players.J. Long, Okanagan Falls, B.C.<h2>Be very afraid</h2>There are two words for the United States to fear at the Olympics: Patrick Roy.Sure the U.S. will skate circles around the Canadians, but they still have to put the puck in the net. In order to be successful, teams need toughness, finesse and good goaltending. Canada has all three.Shawn Morrison,&nbsp; Halifax, N.S.<h2>Con on pros</h2>I am saddened by all the talk of the Dream Tournament. I had never seen Paul Kariya or Peter Forsberg before the 1994 Olympics and with NHLers now in the Games, who knows when I&rsquo;ll ever see the Sedin twins?Greg Herman, Boston, Mass.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. 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;

‘Ruthless’ Eagleson deserves jail term

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011896/7286087-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

Johnny on the spot If you ignore the fact Mario Lemieux spent most of last season at left wing, portsiders have been left out of the Art Ross celebrations for more than three decades. John LeClair could change all that. The Philadelphia Flyer was fourth overall with 62 points in 54 games, four points behind the leaders. The last pure left winger to win the scoring title was Bobby Hull in 1965-66.Sked by Brett No complaints from St. Louis winger Brett Hull over the compressed NHL schedule. He loves it. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to see twice a week back-to-back games and then a couple days off in a row.&rdquo; Another Hullian idea: Shorten the season by a couple weeks, but extend the Christmas break a week.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021281/7286118-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="371" height="572"><figcaption class="caption-body">John LeClair</figcaption></div>Movin&rsquo; on up When your biggest player is a defenseman, why not use him whenever a big player is required, even if that&rsquo;s 190 feet from his own goal? That&rsquo;s what St. Louis, Dallas and Pittsburgh are thinking when they park Chris Pronger, Derian Hatcher and Kevin Hatcher in front of the net on the power play. With his next power play point, Derian Hatcher (3-6-9) will equal his man advantage output of the past two seasons combined.Open and shut case Dallas goalie Ed Belfour suspects profits will decide future rule changes. &ldquo;If they want to open up the game it&rsquo;s easy,&rdquo; Belfour says. &ldquo;Just move the bluelines out and eliminate the center line. But they&rsquo;ll never do that because it would lead to fewer stoppages in play and the NHL has to have its TV timeouts.&rdquo;The rumor mill The Columbus Bluejackets&rsquo; search for a GM is down to two candidates, believed to be former Vancouver GM Pat Quinn and ex-Florida coach Doug MacLean. Quinn was interviewed during the all-star weekend in Vancouver and MacLean well before that. &#9632;

f0006-02

What you need to know about the 1997-98 season

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div>NAGANO-The question was put to Herb Brooks and he didn&rsquo;t even bat an eye in replying.&ldquo;Does you have another miracle in you?&rdquo; Brooks was asked in reference to the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics in which a team of U.S. college players won gold over the formidable Soviet Union.&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Brooks who is coaching France in the 1998 Winter Olympics.Much has changed since Brooks and his plucky team shocked the hockey world. NHLers have taken over the Winter Games, chasing away the supposed amateurs trying to mine gold.Given Brooks&rsquo; disdain for having the best pros compete in the Olympics, it seems appropriate he&rsquo;s working with the French, a team which would need divine intervention to leave Japan as Olympic champions. France is a longshot even to make it past the preliminary round of the tournament.Brooks likes working with players with small paychecks and big dreams.&ldquo;We have taken a lot of hopes, dreams and aspirations away from young people,&rdquo; Brooks said of the Dream Tournament. &ldquo;There will never be another (Miracle on Ice). There were times when people used to dream and be philosophical but today, it is more of a quick fix.&rdquo;Brooks expects the NHLers to be as hungry for the gold as his unheralded team was in Lake Placid.&ldquo;Even though they are paid a lot of money to win a gold medal, they will go for it. They are not here for; &lsquo;I will not touch you and you do not touch me and we will have a good time.&rsquo; &ldquo;The Nagano Olympics was the furthest thing from Brooks&rsquo; mind when friend Jim Tibbits called and asked for help. The French Ice Hockey Federation was teetering on financial ruin and with no money to hire a full-time coach, he knew Brooks wouldn&rsquo;t say no to a chance on the Olympic stage.Brooks, a Minnesota-based scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins, accepted and joined his team a week before the Olympics.Philippe Bozon, formerly of the St. Louis Blues, feels Brooks is in a tough position and the French team will suffer because a money crunch meant the coach could not be hired sooner.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s too late,&rdquo; said Bozon, who plays in Germany. &ldquo;He has a lot of things he has to teach the young guys and he does not have enough time.&rdquo; &#9632;

Does Brooks believe in French miracles? Non!

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011722/7286173-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Trevor Linden takes his gritty style east to New York where the one-time Canuck captain hopes to breathe new life into his career. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>Johnny Canuck has left the building.After weeks of speculation, the Vancouver Canucks finally shipped Trevor Linden out of town. The 27-year-old was dealt Feb. 6 to the New York Islanders for defenseman Bryan McCabe, right winger Todd Bertuzzi and a third round draft pick in 1998.Both Vancouver coach Mike Keenan and Linden believe the change of scenery will be beneficial to the former Canuck captain, who struggled this season with seven goals and 21 points in 42 games.&ldquo;Change is difficult,&rdquo; Keenan said, &ldquo;but most likely in this instance it will be important for him and his family. He&rsquo;s still a young man and he has a bright future ahead of him.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a chance for me to start again and move forward,&rdquo; Linden said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of a fresh start for me.&ldquo;Things weren&rsquo;t going real well here and the team was struggling and I was as well. I was given a lot of opportunity and things weren&rsquo;t happening for me.&rdquo;Linden had been the quintessential Canuck since he joined them as the second overall pick in 1988. The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder was active in the community, creating Captain&rsquo;s Crew, a charity to entertain disadvantaged children at Canucks&rsquo; home games.Linden had been working his way back from a knee injury, suffered Jan. 26, with an eye toward playing for Canada at the Olympics in Nagano. But he never seemed to fit into Keenan&rsquo;s plans after Keenan replaced Tom Renney as coach Nov. 13. When Keenan was given the power to make trades, it was just a matter of time before Linden received his ticket out of town.The Medicine Hat, Alta., native completes his tour of duty in Vancouver with 238 goals and 522 points in 653 games. He said his career highlight in Vancouver was beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1994 Western Conference final and earning a berth in the Stanley Cup final against Keenan&rsquo;s New York Rangers. He was one of the driving playoff forces for the Canucks&rsquo; that year, recording 24 points in 25 games.Linden was named the Canucks&rsquo; captain in 1991-92 and served in that role until last summer when he relinquished it to free agent newcomer Mark Messier. &#9632;

f0007-01

Linden looks forward to new life on Island

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div>Canadians who are concerned about the dearth of skilled players rising through the ranks of their country&rsquo;s hockey system have a new and powerful ally.The most influential man in Canadian minor hockey agrees with them and is eager to do something about it.&ldquo;What we have to do is change the attitudes and atmospheres in the hockey rink,&rdquo; said Bob Nicholson, who was introduced Feb. 2 as the Canadian Hockey Association&rsquo;s new president. &ldquo;The key is we want to de-emphasize competition at a young age. Instead of playing 120 games at the peewee (11- and 12-year-old) level, maybe we should play 40 or 50 and use the other time to practise and develop our skills.&rdquo;Nicholson, a 44-year-old native of Penticton, B.C., was the CHA&rsquo;s senior vice-president, hockey operations and was the man ultimately in charge of five gold medal teams in the World Junior Championship, three gold medallists in the World Championship and three in the World Women&rsquo;s Championship. He takes over Canada&rsquo;s top amateur hockey post from Murray Costello, who was president for the past 19 years.Described as an excellent consensus builder who has learned to delegate authority, Nicholson takes full reigns of a governing body with jurisdiction over 500,000 players.Nicholson, who was courted heavily by front offices of both the Carolina Hurricanes and Vancouver Canucks, relishes the challenge of restoring Canada&rsquo;s hockey pride and being at the forefront of programs that produce skill as much as grit and goal tending.&ldquo;That was the main reason I took this job,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to try to go after that challenge which is a big one that has got away from us a bit.&rdquo; &#9632;

Nicholson takes over CHA post

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>Former NHL prospect Jarret Reid is back in jail after being convicted for a second time of assaulting a girlfriend.The 24-year-old Reid, a former standout in the Ontario League with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, was sentenced to four months in jail Jan. 27 for assaulting his former girlfriend, Joanne Bartlett, while he was a player and student at St. Francis Xavier University last season.A sixth round draft pick of the Hartford Whalers in 1992, Reid was also slapped with an additional month in jail for breaking terms of his probation by having contact with the victim. It was the second time Reid was jailed for abusing a girlfriend.In 1995, after sordid details of physical and sexual abuse surfaced, Reid pleaded guilty to eight counts and served a three-month jail term.After being released, Reid enrolled in St. Francis Xavier where he scored 23 goals in 26 games last season. He was banned from playing for the school after pleading guilty in September to the recent assault charge.&ldquo;Where crimes of violence are involved, the court has a duty to emphasize general deterrence,&rdquo; said provincial court Judge John Embree.&ldquo;I acknowledge those mistakes,&rdquo; Reid told Judge Embree. &ldquo;I paid dearly for them. I feel I&rsquo;ve learned a lot.&rdquo;TESTING RELIEF: The chances of the Olympic hockey tournament turning into a farce have been diminished.An arrangement has been struck on drug testing that would prevent such a stir. Should a player test positive for a cold remedy such as Sudafed, he would be disqualified, but his team would not be punished, as earlier feared.HALL EJECTION: Disgraced hockey czar Alan Eagleson may find himself booted out of Canada&rsquo;s Sports Hall of Fame. The hall&rsquo;s board of directors will decide Feb. 17.Meanwhile, the NHL Players&rsquo; Association has appointed a trustee to determine the dispersal of funds collected by the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts as the result of Eagleson&rsquo;s criminal conviction.Eagleson, former NHLPA executive director, is serving 18 months in a Toronto area prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges Jan. 6.NO TRADES: The NHL announced a trade freeze from Feb. 6 through Feb. 24 because of the players involvement in the Olympic Games. The regular season resumes Feb. 25. The NHL trading deadline is March 25.-With a file from Bill Montague &#9632;

Former prospect off to jail for second time

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021361/7286297-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="457" height="658"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Forsberg</figcaption></div>Teemu Selanne is on pace to finish 1997-98 with an NHL-leading 61 goals. Had he scored that many in 1981-82, the highest-scoring season in NHL modem history, he would have ranked just third in goals. THN Statistics Analyst Murray Townsend has developed a model for comparing scoring totals from year to year. At face value. Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s league-leading 92 goals in 1981-82 represents 34 more goals than Selanne&rsquo;s projected total. However, using Townsend&rsquo;s formula, Selanne would have scored an incredible 94 goals (over 80 games, then the regular season length) in 1981-82. Here&rsquo;s how: The average goals per NHL game in 1981-82 was 8.3, fully 57 per cent higher than in 1997-98 (5.3). If you increase Selanne&rsquo;s projected total by 57 per cent and re-adjust for the shorter season, the result is a theoretical 1981-82 scoring total. Using the same formula. 1997-98 assists leader Peter Forsberg, with 46 in 54 games and a 1997-98 projection of 67, would have finished with 103 in 1981-82. This year&rsquo;s projected points leader, Jaromir Jagr with 99. would&rsquo;ve had 151 points in &rsquo;81-82.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03978/7286290-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="1012" height="257"></div>On the blueline, this year&rsquo;s points leader. Sergei Zubov of Dallas, was on pace for 63 points and his adjusted &rsquo;81-82 total of 99 would put him 10 ahead of 1981-82&rsquo;s Paul Coffey. But this year&rsquo;s defensive goal leader Al Maclnnis, on pace for 22 goals and with an adjusted mark of 35, would be four behind Doug Wilson&rsquo;s 39 in 1981-82.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04507/7286283-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="453" height="653"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jaromir Jagr</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0008-02

FUDGING WITH NUMBERS

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011789/7286252-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Teemu Selanne admits it&rsquo;s more difficult scoring goals this season than ever before. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>Teemu Selanne, with a league-leading 41 goals in 55 games, was on pace to finish with 61 goals this season.Whoop dee doo.Well, it&rsquo;s not like 61 goals represents rarefied NHL air, now, is it?If the Finnish Flash does it, it will be the 31st time in the last 28 seasons someone has fired 61 or better.Ho hum.Wayne Gretzky has done it five times. Phil Esposito, Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux four times apiece. Brett Hull three times. Jari Kurri and Steve Yzerman twice each. Then there was Reggie Leach, Lanny McDonald, Bernie Nicholls, Alexander Mogilny, Luc Robitaille and Jaromir Jagr. All did it once, presumably with feeling.Heck, it wouldn&rsquo;t even be the first time for Selanne, who led the league with 76 goals in his rookie season of 1992-93. Whoop dee doo.Whoop dee doo indeed. As it turns out, Selanne&rsquo;s scoring feats this season represent something special. Extraordinary, actually. And maybe that&rsquo;s an understatement.Keep in mind this is 1997-98, not 1981-82. It was 16 years ago when Gretzky scored an unprecedented 92 goals, a mark that is not likely to ever be matched.Unless, of course, you subscribe to The Hockey News&rsquo; New Math, which maintains, with a modicum of sincerity, Selanne&rsquo;s (potential) 61 goals this season will represent the most prolific goal-scoring season in NHL history, better even than Gretzky&rsquo;s 92.Say what? The detailed calculations, as prepared by THN Statistics Analyst Murray Townsend, are listed below, but for those who disdain spot math quizzes, here&rsquo;s the underlying premise:In the year Gretzky scored 92, the NHL was averaging an all-time high of 8.3 goals per game. Now, as we all know, that mark has fallen a full three goals to 5.3. Clearly, goals are much harder to come by. Some nights, they&rsquo;re darn near impossible to find.But not when the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim winger is playing. Adjust Selanne&rsquo;s 61 goals to reflect the overall drop in scoring since Gretzky got 92, factor in Gretzky&rsquo;s 80-game season versus Selanne&rsquo;s 82-gamer, and the number is there for all to see. In 1981-82 goal-scoring currency, Selanne is on course this season to finish with 94 goals.It&rsquo;s not as bizarre a concept as you might think.Think of the discrepancy between power play efficiency alone. In 1981-82, the NHL average was 22.8 per cent. Today, it&rsquo;s 15.0.If you&rsquo;re having a tough time getting your head around all this, just exchange a Canadian dollar for an American buck. With apologies to Suomi, Selanne&rsquo;s goals this season are like Canadian loonies, devalued as they may be.&ldquo;Ninety-four goals?&rdquo; Selanne, said, breaking into his characteristic uproarious laughter. &ldquo;I would take that. Thank you. But, seriously, it&rsquo;s so hard to compare goals from one year to another. Wayne&rsquo;s 92 is 92. If I get 61, it&rsquo;s 61, but you&rsquo;re right, it&rsquo;s never been tougher to score goals than it is now.&rdquo;Selanne takes much greater pride in his scoring feats this season, for example, than he does in his 76-goal rookie effort.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the same,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I surprised everyone that year. No one knew me. Now, I play every shift against the top checkers and defensemen. The goalies are so much better. More teams play better defensive systems. It&rsquo;s such a challenge to score now. It&rsquo;s so very hard.&rdquo;This isn&rsquo;t solely a Gretzky-Selanne equation, of course. Comparing output from one era to another is an across-the-board exercise in mind-altering perspective.The last time fewer goals per game were scored than this season was 1955-56, when 5.1 was the average. That&rsquo;s when a 20-goal scorer was something special, just like today.Trouble is, we don&rsquo;t give today&rsquo;s 20-goal man near enough credit. Twenty today was worth 31 in 198182. Fifty points today was 78 just 16 years ago.&ldquo;Today, a 10-goal man or 15-goal man can be a terrific asset so long as he&rsquo;s not a (defensive) liability,&rdquo; said Dallas Stars&rsquo; head coach Ken Hitchcock. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take those guys. They&rsquo;re an asset. Don&rsquo;t let the numbers fool you.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s a new world, not so much brave as perhaps it is one with brevity.Jaromir Jagr&rsquo;s 66 points in 52 games gives him the highest point per game ratio (1.27) amongst leading NHL scorers this season. He&rsquo;s on pace to finish with a league-leading 99 points. If he fails to crack the 100-point barrier, it will be the first time since 1967-68 no NHL player has hit the century mark.For what it&rsquo;s worth, Jagr&rsquo;s 99 points adjusted to 1981-82 standards would yield 151 points. That&rsquo;s an incredible season, though his 99 points, league-leading as they may be, might suggest something a little less extraordinary.The changing times-speciftcally, the dearth of offense-are not necessarily reflected in the game&rsquo;s official bureau of weights and standards. Which, by any other name, is the standard NHL player&rsquo;s contract, notably the bonus portion.Standard entry-level scoring bonuses for top pick forwards such as Joe Thornton and Sergei Samsonov of the Boston Bruins don&rsquo;t kick in until 20 goals or 35 assists or 60 points. They&rsquo;re big bonuses, $300,000 and $400,000 apiece, but they are not easily attained in today&rsquo;s deflated goal-assist-point market.Mike Johnson of the Toronto Maple Leafs was leading all rookie point-getters with 34 in 54 games, on pace for a final season total of 52. Close but no cigar. Only New Jersey Devils&rsquo; Patrik Elias, with 14 goals in 49 games, and Washington Capitals&rsquo; Richard Zednik, with 13 in 53, are on pace for 20 or more goals and they just barely make it.Those bonuses look good on paper, but so few rookies this season have a realistic shot at attaining them.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny you should bring that up,&rdquo; player agent Don Meehan told THN. &ldquo;We were just having a meeting talking about the bonuses on entry-level players because we&rsquo;ve got David Legwand (a projected top pick in 1998) coming up. The focus has really changed in the last few years. We&rsquo;re going to have to put a lot of thought into the process. Twenty goals is getting to be a difficult number to hit.&rdquo;For many established players, individual performance bonuses don&rsquo;t start kicking in until 30 goals and 60 points, which are now starting to fall into the category of gaudy offensive output.Most front-line NHLers, though, are getting away from specific performance bonuses. The real financial reward for, say, a 40-goal season is it (generally) entitles the player to a base salary commensurate with however many other players are in that range.That type of contract usually sidesteps the inflation/deflation issue because it&rsquo;s relative to the number of comparables.&ldquo;If there are only a handful of guys who score 40 or 50 goals, regardless of whether scoring is up or down, and your client happens to be one of them, then you&rsquo;re looking to get a contract comparable to the elite few,&rdquo; said agent Rick Curran. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not necessarily the number of goals or points he scores any more, it&rsquo;s where those numbers rank him compared to the top players in the game.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s obviously no problem for Selanne, who at $3.4 million this season (and another two years left on his contract) is one of the NHL&rsquo;s most underpaid players. Surely it&rsquo;s only a matter of time until Selanne gets that deal renegotiated. Hopefully for him, it will take into account the new math. &#9632;

f0008-01

Greatest year ever?

How low can the NHL go? The percentage of players with 20 or more goals could be as low as a little more than half as many as during the NHL&rsquo;s highest-scoring season. Thirty-three per cent of the 378 players in 1981-82 scored at least 20 goals. Less than 20 per cent, 19 to be precise, were on pace to equal or better the 20 mark in 1997-98. Listed below are the number of 20-and-plus, 30-and-plus, 40-and-plus and 50-and-plus goal scorers in 1981-82 and 1997-98 (projected), plus 1989-90 (the mid-point between the two seasons. Also listed is how many players there were each season and what percentage each goal-scoring group represents. The biggest drop from 1981-82 to this season is in 40-goal scorers. There were 11 nearly two decades ago and just one projected 40-goal man, the New York Islanders&rsquo; Zigmund Palffy, this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011689/7286328-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="550" height="332"></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

IN DECLINE

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011760/7286373-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">According to his coach, Kengo Itoh would be an impact player in Canadian major junior hockey. (Photo by Marko Shark)</figcaption></div>All eyes in the hockey world will be on Japan for the Winter Olympics. The country isn&rsquo;t exactly a hockey hotbed, but it does have the six-team Japan Ice Hockey League. One of the teams is coached by Canadian Don MacAdam, a veteran of university and minor pro hockey. In an interview with THN, he gives a unique perspective on a unique game.&ldquo;When you tell them to do something, you have to be very precise in your words, because when you ask for something, that&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;re going to get. &ldquo;-Don MacAdamThe numbers on the ice were uneven, but the Nippon Paper Cranes&rsquo; players sat motionless on the bench without a peep. They accepted that hockey in Japan is sometimes played with six skaters on one side against five on the other, at least until someone with the power to straighten things out-ie. a referee-straightens them out in due time.Their coach wanted things straightened out now.It wasn&rsquo;t hard for Don MacAdam to see the opposition had messed up on a line change and was attacking with six players, so why couldn&rsquo;t his team? MacAdam screamed and waved and gesticulated to get the referee&rsquo;s attention and his Russian assistant was yelling too, two gaijin maniacs clamoring for justice.It was a no-brainer, too-many-men call if only the referee would see it.Or if MacAdam knew Japanese.Or if even one of his players yelled out what should have been obvious to them: Memba obal! (A phonetic translation of &lsquo;member over&rsquo;.)Heck, in North America even the trainers would be hollering. Here, silence. No call.The next day in practice, MacAdam gathered the troops around him for a lecture on the ethics of helping referees with their jobs. Sometimes it&rsquo;s okay to speak up. The team translator put his words into Japanese because of the team&rsquo;s 25 players, only a handful might have understood the original of what he was about to say.&ldquo;If you see there are too many men on the ice, yell it out,&rdquo; he told them. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to let the referee know.&rdquo;And so a couple nights later, that&rsquo;s exactly what one young defenseman did. Someone broke his stick, an overanxious teammate hastily jumped on the ice to replace him and MacAdam&rsquo;s team was in confusion. Then from his own bench, loud as a siren: Memba obal!The referee blew his whistle and one Paper Crane skated without a peep to the penalty box.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more important to be polite and show respect than it is to be intense and run somebody.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s experiences such as the too-many-men laugher that illustrate what MacAdam is talking about when he says hockey in Japan is a reflection of the society.Start with the lineup. At every level of the game including the six-team pro Japan Ice Hockey League, players line up and bow to coaches at beginning and end of practice, repeating the same phrase of appreciation. (Just a thought: How would Gino Odjick enjoy prostrating himself before Mike Keenan right about now?)&ldquo;It means a number of things,&rdquo; MacAdam said. &ldquo;One of them is thanks for your efforts. That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ll say to the team at the end of every practice and they&rsquo;ll say it back to me. In effect, they&rsquo;re thanking the coach for running the practice.&rdquo; (Mike, that&rsquo;s one of the best no-puck practices I&rsquo;ve ever been a part of.)Respect is automatic for elders or anyone in a position of authority. Young players in the pros still continue with the duty they are taught growing up: When the whistle blows, the nearest skater picks up the puck with his glove and carries over to the waiting linesman. When was the last time an NHL first-rounder did that?Discipline, punctuality, bows of appreciation&hellip;these are the things a coach can take for granted. But as MacAdam-Don-san to his players-has found out, obedient reserve has its problems, too, when you&rsquo;re trying to win hockey games. Nobody snaps, nobody gets enraged, nobody assumes control.&ldquo;The only ones who shoot the puck after the whistle or complain or do anything at all are the import players,&rdquo; he said.All six coaches in the loop are foreigners-four Canadians, one Russian and one Czech-but there are only two imports allowed per team. Former Quebec League star Martin Bergeron, playing with Snow Brand of Sapporo, is one of the worst whiners.&ldquo;He argues every icing, every offside, every drop of the puck, every penalty, and (fans and teammates) all look at him just incredulously,&rdquo; MacAdam said. No one will talk about it in public, but when they have a couple beers in a bar they&rsquo;ll shake their heads and lament what it is that Bergeronsan finds so hard about accepting a penalty with dignity.&ldquo;When our guys are hired, they&rsquo;re hired for life. The company owns these people, absolutely owns them. &ldquo;This is MacAdam&rsquo;s second season with the Paper Cranes after spending most of the 1990s coaching in the American League. The Paper Cranes play in Kushiro, a coastal city of about 300,000 on the northern island of Hokkaido. As with all the teams, MacAdam&rsquo;s players are employees of the company that owns that owns the club. Nippon Paper Industries is the second largest paper company in Japan with 12 mills and over 9,000 employees.In the six-team Japan Ice Hockey League, all the players are company men. Teams are sponsored by local companies and employ the players. Seibu and Kokudo (a team nicknamed Bunnies and has a cute little critter as its logo) are based in Tokyo, New Oji is in Tomakomai, Snow Brand is from Sapporo and Furukawa is based in Nikko. Seibu upset first place New Oji in the final last season and was led by North Americans Ryan Fujita, Chris Bright and Tom Pederson, who finished 1-2-4 in league scoring.When MacAdam arrived in Kushiro last season, the Paper Cranes had a football-sized roster. In practice, four goalies, 15 forwards and 16 defensemen waited on his every word. &ldquo;Practices were almost useless because you couldn&rsquo;t develop any flow or intensity,&rdquo; he said.The daily non-game day routine inherited from the year before was a two-hour on-ice session from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon, followed by a two hours of conditioning and a video session in the afternoon. Sometimes they were going for six or seven hours a day. By the end of the season players were exhausted, especially the imports.The Paper Cranes finished the season with an 8-19-3 record, were last in goals against and didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs. MacAdam realized addition from subtraction was necessary.He eased up on the off-day workouts and &ldquo;retired&rdquo; 13 older, beat-up players after last season, which means they just went to work in one of the company paper mills. It was no easy step to take in a culture where rookies (kohai) invariably defer to veterans (sempai) in all matters, including ice time. But the move went over because MacAdam convinced the team that if it wanted to have better game results, changes would have to be made that would allow players to improve their skills.This year, the team&rsquo;s best defenseman some nights has been a skillful 19-year-old named Kengo Itoh who MacAdam says could prosper in Canadian major junior ranks, but he would have had to wait years for ice time if all the veterans were still around.The cut players were called into a one-on-two meeting with MacAdam and a translator.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011582/7286366-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="600" height="1026"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don MacAdam</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Almost to a man, they apologized for not making better efforts as a player. &lsquo;I&rsquo;m sorry I didn&rsquo;t give a better effort for the team, thank you for everything you&rsquo;ve done for me and I wish the team best of luck.&rsquo; Almost to a man,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And you know how it goes at home: &lsquo;You&rsquo;re ruining my life.&rsquo; It was far more pleasant than I ever imagined.&rdquo;There are advantages to being a pro hockey player in Japan-they&rsquo;re treated like kings on road trips, stay in the best hotels and eat great food courtesy the company-but a professional athlete&rsquo;s salary as we know it in North America isn&rsquo;t one of them. When a player is retired to the mill, only his location changes. On the team and the shop floor, pay is based on age rather than productivity, although this is slowly changing in some companies.One of the assistant coaches recently marked his 20th anniversary with the company. He received two plane tickets for him and his wife to fly anywhere in the world. Of course, wherever he chose, he had only two weeks to spend there. That&rsquo;s how much vacation time he is allowed. It&rsquo;s all anyone is allowed. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all he ever gets his entire life.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a couple guys who use sticks longer than Mario Lemieux. They&rsquo;re 5-foot-6. I don&rsquo;t know what it is, I&rsquo;ve tried to change it. I&rsquo;m assuming it&rsquo;s something way back when, they had a gaijin in here, an import player who said you need to use a longer stick, so that&rsquo;s what they use and their shots suffer. &ldquo;The quality of play in the Japan Ice Hockey League depends on who is playing.The first two lines on each team are AHL-calibre, but the drop is significant after that. The first line is comprised of the two imports, plus the best Japanese or one of two &ldquo;heritage&rdquo; players per team-players of Japanese descent from Canada, the United States, Sweden, Russia or other hockey-playing countries.Former NHLers Al Conroy, John Tucker, Myles O&rsquo;Connor and Alain Cote are among the top players in the league. They can earn over $100,000 (U.S.) tax free, plus an apartment and all utilities. The entire team eats lunch and dinner together at the team mess hall every day-right across the street from the player apartments and beside the 4,000-seat rink-so all they really have to pay for out of pocket is breakfast and snacks.MacAdam&rsquo;s top Japanese player is Motoaki &lsquo;Moto&rsquo; Takauchi, a 28-year-old tall, skillful center who spent a year playing at the University of British Columbia. In Japan he&rsquo;s known as &lsquo;The Prince&rsquo; because of his charm and boyish good looks.From a coaching perspective, line-matching is crucial; if an import line finds itself on the ice against a third or fourth line made up of Japanese players who average 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, they&rsquo;re almost guaranteed to score. A fourth line may play a regular shift in the first period, be spotted in the second and probably won&rsquo;t play at all in a close game in the third.The Japanese have good skating skills, but are short on game-reading ability. It&rsquo;s not surprising, considering they play only 40 games a year, usually two a week, compared to four practice days. The season runs October through March, with a season-ending tournament in April.So why don&rsquo;t they play more games to improve, as MacAdam insists the Japanese hockey community is so eager to do? It&rsquo;s not part of the culture.Even in pick-up leagues, it&rsquo;s not uncommon for 45 minutes of a one-hour ice session to be spent on drills run by the senior player or highest-ranking employee of a company. Only the last 15 minutes are spent on an &ldquo;intrasquad&rdquo; game.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a famous Japanese phrase: The nail that sticks out has to be hammered down. They don&rsquo;t want to be that nail.&rdquo;Of MacAdam&rsquo;s two assistant coaches, one doesn&rsquo;t understand why some players can&rsquo;t be better and the other doesn&rsquo;t understand why MacAdam is always working them so hard and demanding so much.As MacAdam sees it, it&rsquo;s not part of Japanese society for individuals to want to excel away/from the pack. This is how he explains the relative inconsistent goaltending in the league. A-top goalie might have a .900 save percentage, but there seems little desire to do any better because stopping nine out of 10 shots is good enough.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021130/7286359-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="1527" height="2483"><figcaption class="caption-body">Now when MacAdam gives captain Moto a day off after a hard night&rsquo;s work, teammates take notice. (Photo by Marko Shark)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a point where they don&rsquo;t want to go beyond. The guys work really hard, but it&rsquo;s okay to be at 90 per cent and why would you want to be at 94 per cent? Why would you want to be that good? Then you would be an individual&hellip;A guy who might want to get better doesn&rsquo;t dare step forward because that&rsquo;s not the way the culture works.&rdquo;Ah, but they&rsquo;re learning. The payoff to stepping out is in the reward. Ex-Philadelphia Flyer Conroy is Nippon&rsquo;s star and MacAdam treats him as such with days off. When Conroy first didn&rsquo;t show up at practice one day, the rest of the team had no clue why.&ldquo;The first few times they say &lsquo;What&rsquo;s going on?&rsquo; And I&rsquo;ll say, &lsquo;Well guess what, we won the game 3-2, AI had two goals and an assist and worked his ass off, he&rsquo;s got the day off.&rsquo; &lsquo;Good idea, good idea.&rsquo; Now they want the same thing and I say, &lsquo;You&rsquo;ve got it-as soon as you score two goals and get an assist, you&rsquo;ve got the day off.&rdquo; They&rsquo;re getting motivated for different reasons now.&rdquo;Japan will need a lot more than motivation to even come close to winning a game in the Olympics. It is in the preliminary round only because it is the host team. Japan hasn&rsquo;t legitimately qualified for the Games since 1980, when it finished 12th (it was 19th in 1968), and has bounced between the B and C Pools for the World Championship. Last year it finished fourth in the C Pool, but gained entry into the A Pool for being the best Far East team.If Japan is to improve to the point where it can not just participate in the Winter Olympics, but also compete, despite natural size disadvantages, it will take more.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to have to run on emotion, but that&rsquo;s not a big thing here,&rdquo; MacAdam said. &ldquo;Emotion is suppressed. And I think that&rsquo;s one of the things that could get them over the top.&rdquo;MacAdam will be happy if his boys suppress their instinct toward silence. Keep their eyes on the boards. And if too many off the other guys jump over the top, scream it loud enough for the whole world to hear. &#9632;

f0010-01

Hockey’s rising sun Players hold jobs for life

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011715/7286404-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="387" height="536"></div>NAGANO-I always thought when Japanese people talked, subtitles moved across their waists. Or that when they spoke, their mouths appeared to be forming different sounds than the words they were saying, sort of like Scotty Bowman, whenever you ask him about what kind of lines he&rsquo;s going to be using.But I am pleasantly surprised. Two days into my first trip to Japan, Godzilla has not attacked. Of course, the army has been put on alert for Chris Chelios, who has the potential to drop Sino-U.S. relations to their lowest level since Iwo Jima, but most of us agree wholeheartedly NHL participation in the Olympics is an idea whose time has come.So, we have come to Japan to see it. Not easily, we might add. It took even longer to get here than it is taking the Islanders to rebuild. The flight to Tokyo lasted 14 hours, double what it took Mike Keenan to size up Trevor Linden. The ticket cost more than the Lightning&rsquo;s entire payroll.After we landed at Narita airport, we got on a bus for five more hours, which passed about as breezily as Sandy McCarthy through a neutral zone. With two rest stops, and two other passenger drops, our tires were dragging like Viktor Kozlov&rsquo;s butt. By the time we got to the media village in Nagano, 25 hours after checking in at New York&rsquo;s JFK, my eyelids were droopier than Todd Bertuzzi&rsquo;s during a Rick Bowness between-periods talk.I thought that I would sleep forever, but woke up five hours later, staring at the ceiling. That&rsquo;s what happens when you come across even more zones than it takes to beat a Jacques Lemaire trap. I haven&rsquo;t had a good night&rsquo;s sleep yet, so right now, this seems like a long way to go to watch Rob Zamuner. But this is the Olympics. So I&rsquo;m pumped.Brett Hull might not be, but I assume that once he takes that Olympic Oath, he&rsquo;ll luge the chip on his shoulder. By the time of the closing ceremonies, Brett will be dancing with the Kazakhstani bobsledders, provided of course, he is not shot by Gary Bettman with a biathlon rifle first.The Blues&rsquo; star says he is used to his big-screen TV and the Four Seasons and wants no part of the Olympic Village. And that&rsquo;s not the biggest problem either, for a player who doesn&rsquo;t like to play in crowds. These Japanese people can pack a bus or a subway tighter than Glen Sather&rsquo;s wallet, heat a room hotter than Pat Bums&rsquo; breath.They are also proving to be more considerate than Serge Savard when he traded away Eric Desjardins and John LeClair. The hosts just can&rsquo;t do enough for you. The only thing they can&rsquo;t give you is room. About the most personal space available here is in the 15 extra feet of the big rink at the Big Hat where the Big Ones are going to played. Ben Smith, the coach of the U.S. women&rsquo;s team, measured it with his eyes and still thinks it&rsquo;s not a full Olympic surface, which may be good or bad for the caliber or play.Regardless, let&rsquo;s get it on. While a lot of people think NHL involvement in Olympic hockey means the end of those wonderful moments in time that Americans celebrated in 1960 and 1980, you have to understand that what happened in Lake Placid was even more of a longshot than Tony Twist scoring a goal. The tournaments in Calgary and Albertville were about as exciting as Doug Houda.Besides, the millionaires, at least most of them, really do want to be here. And the best playing against the best is really what we want to see.The best of that best will be Canada. The Mike Richter that was good in the 1996 World Cup has not consistently been at that level this year. Ray Bourque is one more solid defenseman the Canadians didn&rsquo;t have in a very close loss the last time.I give the Swedes an outside shot, even though their meatball coach, Kent Forsberg, left Kenny Jonsson home. Because of Dominik Hasek, you wouldn&rsquo;t want to face the Czechs in a one-game-and-out round. U.S. versus Canada, however, is what CBS is paying to see and what we will probably get, along with the best hockey that has been played since the World Cup.Of course, this is being done for money, like almost everything else in sports. We aren&rsquo;t certain this is going to tum into a marketing boom for the NHL, like the Dream Team has done for the NBA. It may help sales of Sominex, with all those 12:30 a.m. EST starts. But whether these Olympics make Teemu Selanne a household name in Columbus, Ohio or not, this is still an idea overdue.Besides, from what we&rsquo;ve seen, shutting down the NHL season for 17 days is a mercy killing. I happily travelled 25 hours to get a break from what all of us have been watching. When this is over, we might want the NHL to board up for 17 days more. &#9632;

f0012-01

COLUMNISTS

Room about only thing Japanese can’t provide

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011567/7286525-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="375" height="526"></div>In a perfect world, Cathy Phillips would be going to Nagano as the backbone of the Canadian Women&rsquo;s Olympic team.And if Canada won the gold medal, her teammates would hoist her on their shoulders and carry her around the rink in recognition of what Phillips did to put women&rsquo;s hockey on the map.&ldquo;If you did a Top 50 for women&rsquo;s hockey, she&rsquo;d be the No. 1 goalie on the list,&rdquo; said Fran Rider, executive director for the Ontario Women&rsquo;s Hockey Association. &ldquo;More than any other player, she is responsible for women&rsquo;s hockey being in the Olympics. Back when most people thought women&rsquo;s hockey was mediocre, Cathy was a superstar. People watched her and realized the calibre of play in women&rsquo;s hockey was better than they thought.&rdquo;Phillips, 37, will be going to Nagano, but only as a spectator cheering her country on. She hasn&rsquo;t played a serious game of hockey since she led Canada to the gold medal at the first Women&rsquo;s World Championship in 1990 in Ottawa. Following an operation in June, 1990 to remove a brain tumor, her life changed dramatically.Prior to her operation she was an electrician, but she has been unable to work since. And her vision has been hampered. too.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021099/7286518-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="461" height="907"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cathy Phillips</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Things bounce when I look at them,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The only time I notice it is when I talk about it.&rdquo;As a kid, Phillips said she dreamed about playing in the Olympics. The Burlington, Ont. native helped the Hamilton Golden Hawks win five straight Ontario titles.One of the first major occurrences for women&rsquo;s hockey happened in 1987 when the first women&rsquo;s World Invitational Tournament was held in Mississauga, Ont. Organizers of the tournament pitted Canada against the United States in the opening game in an effort to raise the profile of the event. It turned out to be the best game of the tournament.&ldquo;It was a close game and Cathy made an amazing glove save late in the game to preserve the win for Canada,&rdquo; Rider said.Mississauga was the precursor for the first International Ice Hockey Federation sanctioned Women&rsquo;s World Championship in 1990.Prior to that tournament. Phillips had been feeling ill for nearly a year. In the summer of 1989, during tryouts for Team Canada, she said she was sicker than she&rsquo;d ever been in her life. She couldn&rsquo;t try out for the team, but was put on the roster anyway.&ldquo;I was tired all the time,&rdquo; she remembered. &ldquo;And dizzy. I couldn&rsquo;t stand and I couldn&rsquo;t lay down. I went to doctor after doctor for five months and they couldn&rsquo;t find anything.&rdquo; Because of her mystery illness, which caused her to see double when she looked to her left, Phillips had to change her style in net. She would position herself so she would hardly ever have to look left. Still, she supplied Canada with stellar goaltending in the first World Championship.Following the tournament Phillips had an MRI done in May. That&rsquo;s when the tumor was discovered. She was operated on a month later and doctors were unable to remove all of the tumor. She goes for an annual MRI to make sure the tumor hasn&rsquo;t grown.&ldquo;When the doctors told me what was wrong, I heard their words, but it didn&rsquo;t faze me as to how it would change my life,&rdquo; Phillips said. &ldquo;I just thought I&rsquo;d have the operation and be back playing in a few months.&rdquo;When the realization she&rsquo;d never play competitive hockey set in, Phillips dealt with it like she deals with everything else: Get on with it. She never said, &ldquo;Why me?&rdquo;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t go there,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I could think about playing for Canada in Nagano, but what&rsquo;s the point?&rdquo;Phillips serves on two committees for the OWHA and helps coach an intermediate team in Hamilton. She said she&rsquo;s looking forward to being at the Olympics. She said she&rsquo;ll do whatever she can to help promote women&rsquo;s hockey.If Canada is successful in Nagano, at least one special fan should be invited into the dressing room to take part in the celebration. Cathy Phillips has earned it. &#9632;

f0015-01

Phillips started Olympic ball rolling

<div class="byline">By Mark Miller</div>It happened first when he was 15. The transformation took just seconds.Little Theo Fleury, a snot-nosed little pest from Russell, Man., slowly pulled the red and white sweater over his head. The maple leaf crest on front barely covered the pounding heart of the kid who never really felt he fit in.But wearing the crest proved the little man belonged. It gave purpose and hope to a kid who came from nowhere really, with nothing but hope and a heart big enough to fill any sweater.Through that first under 17-tournament, two under-18s, two World Junior Championships, two World Championships, a Canada Cup and a World Cup, it has been the maple leaf that has carried hockey&rsquo;s little man to his greatest heights.&ldquo;I remember that first time I tried the Canadian jersey on-it was pride I think any Canadian kid would feel,&rdquo; Fleury said. &ldquo;But it wasn&rsquo;t until the two World Juniors that anyone really noticed me. I owe where I am now to being able to play for Canada and prove myself so people did notice me.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all I ever wanted.&rdquo;That original sweater is now prominently displayed in the Fleury home in Calgary. So is every other Canadian sweater he has worn-a testament to the passion Fleury feels for his country and the game.&ldquo;From the time I was five years old to right now I&rsquo;ve always had a passion for the game,&rdquo; he said &ldquo;The game has given me so much, coming from where I came from and the obstacles I had to overcome. The game was an escape for me. It was my life and it still is.&rdquo;Those Canadian sweaters frame the couch where Fleury sat crying tears of joy just a couple months ago when he realized there will be one more maple leaf to wear.Canada has provided Fleury a lifetime of hockey achievement already, but nothing, he says, can compare to what he&rsquo;s feeling even now in anticipation of the Olympics.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been through the whole program of excellence from the ground level to now and each and every time you get an opportunity to play for Canada it is something special. I have some great memories of each and every one.&rdquo;The memories run the gamut of success, to failure, to that fateful night in 1987 at the World Junior in Piestany, Czechoslovakia against the Soviets. The legend now is that Fleury started the brawl that emptied both benches and ended only after the arena lights had been turned out. Fleury plays coy when asked if he started it, but anyone who has seen him play suspects it.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011489/7286556-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="964" height="1825"><figcaption class="caption-body">Theo Fleury says playing for Canada helped him get noticed. (Photo by Robert Laberge/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;That was something 1&rsquo;11 never forget,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We were two goals away from winning a gold medal and as everyone knows hockey is an emotional game and the emotions got the best of us and the Russians.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if it was me or not, but all I remember is seeing Everett Sanipass fighting. Then I got crosschecked from behind, and well, all hell broke loose.&rdquo;If Fleury didn&rsquo;t get his revenge on the Soviets in that brawl, he certainly did the next year when Canada, captained by Fleury, won the WJC.&ldquo;You look back now and say, &lsquo;Why did we do that?&rsquo; but the following year, to go back into Moscow and win the gold on their ice was at that time the thrill of a lifetime for me,&rdquo; he said.That thrill was tempered with some bitter disappointments.&ldquo;I remember sitting in the TSN booth at the World Championships watching Russia-Sweden after we had to win the previous game by four goals and we beat the U.S. 9-5,&rdquo; Fleury said of the 1991 tournament.&ldquo;If they tied we would have won gold and with five minutes left Mats Sundin undressed (Slava) Fetisov and went in and scored and Sweden won the gold medal.&rdquo;Fleury was a part of the 1991 Canada Cup winning team and a key member of Canada in last year&rsquo;s World Cup.But now. as when he was 15, Fleury looks at the Olympics as another chance to prove he belongs. There is no secret what drives Fleury.&ldquo;One day I want people to remember me as a great player, not just a great &lsquo;little&rsquo; player,&rdquo; he said.The Olympics could do that.&ldquo;The (Olympics are) the one thing missing in my career,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This means more to me than I can possibly tell you.&rdquo; Fleury knows what the key to winning in Nagano will be-the same quality that has amplified his career.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s heart,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We play the game with our heart not inside our bodies, it&rsquo;s outside,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll go the extra mile to do whatever it takes to win.&ldquo;Playing for Canada has made everything possible for me. Hopefully at the end of the Olympics I&rsquo;ll finally be looking down on a few people because I&rsquo;ll be up there on the highest podium.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-01

Theo’s patriot Games

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>Darryl Sydor circled the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; net, controlled the puck and patiently waited for just the right moment to release his shot. Don&rsquo;t rush it. Don&rsquo;t miss.Zing! The puck was in the net.While his teammates celebrated with him, Sydor looked upward and said, &lsquo;That one&rsquo;s for you. Mom.&rdquo;His mother, Ann Sydor, died suddenly of a heart attack last October. Feb. 2, the night Sydor scored his 11th goal of the season in Toronto, was his mom&rsquo;s birthday.&ldquo;This wasn&rsquo;t an easy day,&rdquo; said Sydor, unable to hide the sadness in his eyes because of what the day represented. &ldquo;I think about her every day, but this one was particularly difficult. She turned 56 today. That&rsquo;s so young.&rdquo;Sydor knows now life marches on. Little things that used to bother him don&rsquo;t matter as much. Back when he was a teen-ager trying to crack the lineup of the Western League&rsquo;s Kamloops Blazers, his coach wanted to shift him from forward to defense. The idea didn&rsquo;t sit well with Sydor, but his coach, one Ken Hitchcock who just happens to be coach of the Stars, was persistent.&ldquo;He resisted at first,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;But I convinced him he&rsquo;d get more playing time on defense.&rdquo;Fast forward to 1997-98 and the Stars have run into injury problems with key forwards Mike Modano, Joe Nieuwendyk and Benoit Hogue out. Call up some help from the Kalamazoo K-Wings of the International League? No.Sydor was moved up front on occasion to play all three forward positions. Nobody keeps track how many points he accumulated playing forward because quite often in the same game, he would take shifts on defense too. But he gives a good account of himself.Sydor was not at all surprised when Hitchcock asked him to move up.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Hitch thought I was fast enough to play forward,&rdquo; Sydor said of his original shift in position 10 years ago. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why he moved me to defense in the first place.&rdquo;There was even some fun to be had moving up. Sydor scored a hat trick against the Carolina Hurricanes Jan. 3, but he is quick to point out two of his goals came on blasts from the point.Kamloops actually put Sydor on its protected list when he was just 12 years old. When he finally joined the Blazers at 16 and after the switch from forward to defense, Sydor lived up to the high expectations. He had 12 goals his first year, a whopping 29 in 67 games as a sophomore and 27 in 66 the following year. Sydor possessed one of the best shots in the WHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011337/7286587-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="954" height="1813"><figcaption class="caption-body">Darryl Sydor can play either defense or forward for Dallas. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>He split a fourth year between Kamloops and the Los Angeles Kings, who drafted him seventh overall in 1990.In his first full season with the Kings, the six-foot, 195-pound Sydor scored an impressive six goals and 29 points. More importantly, in a year when the Kings went all the way to the Stanley Cup final, losing in five games to the Montreal Canadiens, it appeared Sydor, Rob Blake and Alexei Zhitnik would anchor a Kings&rsquo; blueline for years to come. Sydor was 20, Zhitnik, 19 and Blake, 22. It didn&rsquo;t happen. Zhitnik was traded to the Buffalo Sabres, Sydor to the Stars and Blake has spent the past few seasons battling injuries before rebounding this season.By the time the Stars got Sydor, he was a shadow of his former self. His production had fallen off and he didn&rsquo;t have the same zeal for the game that had been his trademark.&ldquo;When things went wrong in L.A. he became a nervous player,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a guy who has a real passion for the game, but that passion was gone.&rdquo;The plan was to play Sydor mostly in evenstrength situations. He didn&rsquo;t see any power duty in Dallas upon his arrival late in the 1995-96 season through the midway point of the following season. Gradually he regained his confidence and Hitchcock decided he could take his game to the next level.Now he&rsquo;s a regular on the Stars&rsquo; first power play unit.He no longer overpowers goalies with his shot from the point, but he can thread a needle with his passes and has become a quality set-up man. He rarely joins the rush, but after the Stars set up in the other end, he&rsquo;ll often slide down low looking for a pass.After 53 games, Sydor ranked sixth among NHL defensemen in scoring with 11 goals and 35 points.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very safe defenseman,&rdquo; said Stars&rsquo; goalie Ed Belfour. &ldquo;He handles the puck very well and gets it out of our zone quickly.&rdquo;Offense got Sydor to the NHL; defense keeps him there. That, compared to many other lessons in life, was easy. Sydor said wherever he goes, his mom is with him. He even had a special crest with the word &ldquo;Mom&rdquo; sewn inside his sweater.&ldquo;I have an awful feeling of loss, but at the same time I believe she&rsquo;s looking down on me,&rdquo; Sydor said. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s looking after me.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-01

‘She’s looking after me’

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011372/7286625-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="382" height="533"></div>What&rsquo;s it like to seat the three New York-New Jersey NHL GMs around a table and let them talk pucks for 90 minutes?This unprecedented event-later turned into a one-hour Madison Square Garden Network show-produced fascinating character studies and arresting responses. A Hollywood critic would say Lou Lamoriello of the New Jersey Devils, Neil Smith of the Rangers and Mike Milbury of the Islanders perfectly played their roles.The Devils ambassador oozed diplomacy salted with down-home humor. The Islanders boss alternated between Jay Leno, Albert Einstein and Bart Simpson. His Rangers counterpart was Mister-In-Between, perceptive, subdued and witty.Right off the opening face-off, Milbury irreverently ripped off the cloak of formality when the subject of rules changes was introduced. He pungently prodded Lamoriello because neither Milbury nor Smith enjoy power broker status among their elders.&ldquo;The same guys, are on the (rules) committee every time there&rsquo;s an issue,&rdquo; snapped Mike. &ldquo;Lou, Harry (Sinden), Glen (Sather) and a few others. The same guys go back to the well, and that isn&rsquo;t right.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021023/7286618-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="511" height="880"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Milbury</figcaption></div>Smith and Milbury are less than chummy. Given a choice between breathing or twitting the Rangers, chances are Mike would opt for the latter. But on this day, after Neil&rsquo;s Blueshirts had been beaten by New Jersey, Mike allowed that he felt compassion for his adversary.&ldquo;I picked up one paper and read three different guys clobber you for three different reasons, Neil,&rdquo; Mike chuckled.Lamoriello would not be suckered into firing any salvo he might later regret. When I suggested the Olympics could prove a disaster, he countered, the positives outweigh the negatives-with an asterisk, of course.&ldquo;My concern is the schedule after we return from Nagano,&rdquo; said Lamoriello, &ldquo;and the amount of games we&rsquo;ll be playing when we&rsquo;ll all be fighting for playoff spots. Fatigue may set in.&rdquo;The perception among New York-New Jersey fans is neither Smith, Milbury nor Lamoriello will ever deal with each other out of a public relations fear of blundering. But each denied the accusation.&ldquo;Neil and I have talked (trade) over the years&rdquo; Lou allowed, &ldquo;but there just doesn&rsquo;t seem to be the right fit Stevie Thomas is playing in New Jersey right now and his last team was the Islanders.&rdquo;At times the two younger GMs reverentially regarded the senior Lamoriello as a student would admire his favorite professor. This was especially true when the subject of free agents emerged.&ldquo;Nobody handles them better than Lou,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;He set a precedent early and has stuck to it. No pressure will stop him or veer him from the course of action he&rsquo;s going to take in negotiating.&rdquo;Milbury was less deferential to Lamoriello when the neutral zone trap issue came up.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tribute to you (New Jersey) guys that you have a system that&rsquo;s so tight and other coaches have adopted it,&rdquo; Milbury asserted. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s not the game. We don&rsquo;t want to take the passion out of it. We don&rsquo;t want to make it chess.&rdquo;Playing his conservative hand, Lamoriello opposed rule changes that would curb goaltenders, particularly their puck handling.&ldquo;Yeah,&rdquo; Milbury derisively chirped at Lamoriello, &ldquo;not when you have Marty Brodeur. Try another guy and you might change your mind!&rdquo; If there was one area of mutual revulsion among the trio it was the rumor-mongering media, its &ldquo;sources&rdquo; and purported trades that make print, but never actually happen.&ldquo;Some of the trades that appear in the papers haven&rsquo;t ever been a gleam in a GM&rsquo;s mind,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. Added Milbury: &ldquo;These so-called &lsquo;Islanders sources&rsquo; have been bugging me for a while. How do you guys determine what is a source? Do you go to the plumber downstairs?&rdquo;For one fleeting moment New York agreed with Long Island and New Jersey. &#9632;

f0018-01

New York area GMs call peace for a day

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011267/7286656-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="161" height="159"></div>Just days before Mighty Ducks of Anaheim left winger Paul Kariya was to join the Canadian Olympic team, the lingering symptoms of a concussion left his Winter Olympics participation in jeopardy.Five days after being crosschecked in the jaw by Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; defenseman Gary Suter and suffering a mild concussion Feb. 1, the 23-year-old Kariya was still suffering from headaches, dizziness and some nausea.&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t feel any better today, not at all,&rdquo; said Ducks&rsquo; coach Pierre Page Feb. 5. &ldquo;When he drives his car and hits a bump, he gets a headache.&rdquo;Ducks&rsquo; team doctor Craig Milhouse said, &ldquo;I told Paul we&rsquo;re not going to risk anything at all. He can&rsquo;t have any symptoms. If he does, he can&rsquo;t play here or (in Japan), it&rsquo;s that simple.&rdquo;Kariya spoke to reporters Feb. 4, when it was determined he would not be given medical clearance to play against the New York Rangers.&ldquo;I want to play every game,&rdquo; Kariya said. &ldquo;But the more (concussions) you have, the more rest you need to make a full recovery. Multiply it by four or something like that.&rdquo;Kariya has had four concussions: one as a junior, one during 1994 (before he played for the Canadian Olympic team), one last year (from which he missed two games) and the latest one. Suter, received a four-game suspension.The Blackhawks were seething about the suspension and sarcastic about a five-page medical report the Ducks sent the NHL detailing the serious nature of Kariya&rsquo;s concussion. Chicago GM Bob Murray told reporters from Chicago, &ldquo;If he does play, (Feb. 4 against the Rangers), there&rsquo;s going to be war.&rdquo;Page responded: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a shame for the Chicago people to think this is not serious. They wouldn&rsquo;t want this to happen to one of the Chicago players, that&rsquo;s for sure. They should just keep their mouths shut, basically, until they know what they&rsquo;re talking about. It was a vicious hit.&rdquo;Kariya declined to comment about Suter&rsquo;s hit or suspension.NOTEBOOK: There was some good to come out of the two-game suspension to Ducks&rsquo; defenseman Ruslan Salei for head-butting Chicago left winger Sergei Krivokrasov during a fight Feb. 1. Due to the suspension, the Ducks gave Salei permission to leave the team three days early for Japan to compete for Belarus in the Winter Olympics. Salei would have missed Belarus&rsquo; first two games in the preliminary round. But the early departure enabled him to arrive in time for Belarus&rsquo; first game, Feb. 7 against France&hellip;Right winger Teemu Selanne had eight goals and 17 points in seven games after the all-star break. &#9632;

f0019-01

Suter’s cheap shot leaves Kariya’s Olympics in jeopardy

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02926/7286687-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="159" height="159"></div>Boston Bruins&rsquo; coach Pat Burns made sure his players had something to think about during the Olympic break.Burns didn&rsquo;t name names, but questioned some players&rsquo; priorities after a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues Feb. 5, which left Boston with a 2-5-2 record since the all-star break. Among his insinuations: some Bruins, particularly veterans, were more concerned with contract issues than the team&rsquo;s attempt to reach the playoffs after missing last year for the first time since 1967.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve certainly addressed that,&rdquo; Bums said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had some one-on-ones and I know some guys are disgruntled about contracts, but I have no control over that. That&rsquo;s between the player and the general manager; it has nothing to do with you and your teammates.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just this club, it&rsquo;s every team in the NHL and it&rsquo;s a problem every coach has. It has become a situation where points are more important than wins.&rdquo;Several key Bruins, including roughly half the team&rsquo;s regular forwards, are in the final year of contracts. Among those unsigned past this season are Jason Allison, Dmitri Khristich and Ted Donato, Boston&rsquo;s top three scorers, and third-year defenseman Kyle McLaren. All four had been mostly praised, but occasionally criticized by their coach, who thinks their levels of NHL experience put them among the players most responsible for the young team&rsquo;s fortunes.&ldquo;When it comes down to the final crunch, I think our experienced guys are going to have to show up a little more,&rdquo; Bums said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in a battle, a fight to the finish. If we put exhibitions like this (St. Louis loss) on four or five times after the break, we&rsquo;re not going to be able to make it (to the playoffs). We have to show up.&rdquo;Burns suggested that players more interested in improving statistics and bargaining positions were hurting less-selfish teammates, as well as endangering their status in Boston.&ldquo;Some players have trouble playing in systems sometimes,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They want to play outside that because it&rsquo;s more profitable for them. But for a team, it&rsquo;s not. Until everybody understands that, I don&rsquo;t care if you put Our Lord Jesus Christ behind the bench. It&rsquo;s not going to make a difference.&ldquo;We have to go out there and play as a team, win as a team.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Ray Bourque, the only Bruin named to an Olympic team, scored his ninth goal of the season Jan. 31 against the Rangers to end a goalless streak of 19 games&hellip;Left winger Ken Baumgartner, still searching for his first point of the season, played his 600th game Feb. 5 against St. Louis&hellip;Back-to-back ties with the Islanders (Feb. 1) and Buffalo (Feb. 4) sent Boston into the Olympic break with an 0-3-2 slump on the road, its longest road winless streak this season&hellip;After killing 28 straight penalties over 11-plus games from Dec. 22 through Jan. 24, Boston gave up seven goals in 19 shorthanded situations in a seven-game stretch&hellip;With backup Rob Talias (pulled hamstring) unavailable. No. 1 goalie Byron Dafoe appeared in 15 straight games. Talias&rsquo; last complete game came New Year&rsquo;s Eve, when he played in a 2-2 tie at Toronto. &#9632;

f0019-02

Burns tells Bruins’ veterans: play for team, not contracts

<div class="byline">By Budd Bailey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03618/7286718-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="159" height="158"></div>Geoff Sanderson will need some time to get used to the idea of wearing a Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; uniform.&ldquo;It is strange,&rdquo; said the 26-year-old left winger, who was acquired in a Feb. 4 trade with the Vancouver Canucks. &ldquo;There was always a great rivalry (with the Sabres) when I was in Hartford and Carolina. This is a team that we hated. It&rsquo;s different sitting in this locker room with them-no doubt about it. I&rsquo;ve always admired the way they play, the way they skate and move the puck.&rdquo;The Sabres gave up left winger Brad May and a third round draft choice in 1999 for Sanderson, who the team hopes will provide a scoring threat on left wing.&ldquo;We had some good goal-scorers on the right side, but we didn&rsquo;t have a bona fide goal scorer on the left side,&rdquo; said GM Darcy Regier. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a proven goal-scorer and when you combine that with playing the left side, it&rsquo;s a nice fit.&rdquo;Sanderson has been above the 30-goal mark four times in his career and had 46 goals in 199293. However, he has struggled this season, scoring only seven goals with 20 points in 49 games for Carolina and Vancouver.&ldquo;Ever since the year started in Carolina, it has been somewhat of a vicious snowball for me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I lost my center in (Andrew) Cassels (who was traded to the Calgary Flames). People kept asking if it bothered me and I would say that it didn&rsquo;t because that was what I was supposed to say, but it really did affect me. You play with a guy for six years and you develop a bond together. When I lost that, I went right into the tank.&ldquo;I developed a negative attitude, something I&rsquo;m not really known for. I got into a little trouble with the coach. So I was moved out of there, which was fine.&rdquo;In Vancouver, Sanderson did not score in three weeks of play and then suffered a right shoulder injury. He was still not ready to play shortly after the trade, missing Buffalo&rsquo;s last two games before the Olympic break. He should be ready when the Sabres return to action Feb. 25.The Sabres may have lost May during the summer anyway. The left winger&rsquo;s contract expires this summer. The team would have had to offer May a base salary of $1.25 million for the 199899 season in order to keep its rights to him. Considering his production and injury history, that would have been a difficult decision.NOTEBOOK: The trading of popular left winger Brad May was a difficult decision for Sabres&rsquo; management. &ldquo;Brad is a first-class individual,&rdquo; said assistant GM Larry Carriere. &ldquo;In his six years here, he has given us hard work and dedication. It&rsquo;s difficult to trade a player of that caliber.&rdquo;&hellip;The Sabres through Feb. 4 had put together their longest unbeaten streak of the season, seven games (4-0-3)&hellip;During that run, the team had its biggest offensive output of the season in a 7-3 win at Tampa Bay Feb. 2&hellip;Center Brian Holzinger had the team&rsquo;s first four-point night this season with a goal and three assists against Tampa&hellip;The trade to get left winger Geoff Sanderson was just the second transaction for Sabres&rsquo; GM Darcy Regier. Earlier, Regier shipped a draft choice to Pittsburgh for defenseman Jason Woolley. &#9632;

f0019-03

Sanderson goes from rival to expected left-side gunner

<div class="byline">By Mike Board</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011160/7286749-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="161" height="161"></div>Just days after they rid themselves of one disgruntled player, another surfaced.Such is life with the struggling Calgary Flames.GM Al Coates had no sooner dealt unhappy defenseman Zarley Zalapski to the Montreal Canadiens along with underachieving left winger Jonas Hoglund for right winger Valeri Bure when his resident tough guy, Sandy McCarthy, went public with his request for a trade.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t see the future, but the future is not here,&rdquo; McCarthy said Feb. 3.Citing broken promises of a bigger role with the team other than chief pugilist, McCarthy and his Calgary-based agent, Ait Breeze, filled the airwaves and the newspapers in Calgary with comments such as a lack of respect and a stripping of dignity.The request for a trade came as a big surprise to Flames&rsquo; management. &ldquo;This is like a lightning bolt. We have never said anything bad to, or about, this player,&rdquo; said one executive, requesting anonymity.Unlike Zalapski, who was made persona non grata with the Flames, McCarthy remained in the lineup for a Feb. 5 game against the San Jose Sharks. He scored 1:24 into the game.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t out there to prove a point,&rdquo; McCarthy insisted.McCarthy, who is making $800,000 (Cdn.), this season, said the problem isn&rsquo;t money. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not about dollars and cents. It&rsquo;s about me being the best I can be,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my career.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: GM Al Coates said he wouldn&rsquo;t be rushed into completing a trade to satisfy right winger Sandy McCarthy&rsquo;s demand. &ldquo;Nobody is bigger than the organization,&rdquo; Coates said&hellip;Right winger Valeri Bure, acquired in a Feb. 1 trade with Montreal, dismissed the idea he can&rsquo;t play with an edge.&rdquo; If it takes hack and whack, I will do it,&rdquo; Bure said&hellip;Bure chose No. 8. as his preferred No. 20 is already being worn by left winger Todd Hlushko&hellip;Center Aaron Gavey, who played one game after missing 37 with an abdomen strain, was assigned to Saint John of the American League Jan. 31 for conditioning purposes. He scored two goals in his first appearance with the Baby Flames&hellip;Rookie center Hnat Domenichelli had four goals in a three-game span. &#9632;

f0020-01

McCarthy demands trade to improve career outlook

<div class="byline">By Steve Politi</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03551/7286780-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="575" height="890"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kirk McLean</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02798/7286787-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="161" height="156"></div>Carolina Hurricanes&rsquo; GM Jim Rutherford had planned to take a vacation during the Olympic break. He canceled that trip so he could spend more time evaluating his team, which was inching closer to a sixth-straight playoff no-show.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m disappointed,&rdquo; Rutherford said of the Hurricanes&rsquo; 20-29-7 record. &ldquo;Our team wins one or two games in the right part of the schedule and then we turn around and lose the games we should win to take that next step.&rdquo;The &lsquo;Canes figured the nine games between the all-star break and Olympic break could be the key to the season. But after a 3-4-1 start in the first eight, they were six points out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.&ldquo;The playoffs are still possible,&rdquo; Rutherford said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re that close, you have a chance to make a run at it. Even if we were to make changes, we won&rsquo;t throw in the towel.&rdquo;Rutherford likely will try to make his team younger. The GM wouldn&rsquo;t mention names, but a few of the team&rsquo;s high-priced veterans-such as left winger Gary Roberts, goalie Kirk McLean and right winger Steve Leach-could be moved before the March trading deadline.Rutherford has already made significant changes to the team, trading goalie Sean Burke, left winger Geoff Sanderson and defensemen Jeff Brown and Enrico Ciccone. &ldquo;The Olympic break gives us time to evaluate things,&rdquo; Rutherford said. &ldquo;If there&rsquo;s anything we need to adjust, we should do it in that time.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The &lsquo;Canes gave away their 20th- and final-new car to a fan Feb. 4. During the promotion, which cost the team $230,000 and circulated thousands of free tickets in the market, attendance increased by 1,300 a game&hellip;Left winger Sami Kapanen could merit Lady Byng consideration. Kapanen led the Hurricanes with 45 points in 56 games and had just four penalty minutes&hellip;Further construction delays could jeopardize Raleigh&rsquo;s new arena opening date (September, 1999). Heavy rains and a design change are to blame&hellip;The &lsquo;Canes were the third-most penalized team in the NHL. &ldquo;That would be fine if we were a team of hooligans,&rdquo; said coach Paul Maurice. &ldquo;We have a lot of church-going men in that locker room. We play a pretty clean game.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0020-03

’Canes may unload vets

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04354/7286818-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="161" height="157"></div>Gary Suter&rsquo;s four-game suspension for crosschecking Mighty Ducks of Anaheim left winger Paul Kariya in the jaw didn&rsquo;t sit well with the Chicago Blackhawks.The Hawks thought the suspension was excessive and NHL vice-president Brian Burke only came down as hard as he did because the foul was against Kariya, who suffered a concussion when his head hit the ice.&ldquo;Any other guy and I don&rsquo;t think it would even get reviewed,&rdquo; said Tony Amonte. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t agree with it at all.&rdquo;Suter hit Kariya in the second period of a game Feb. 1 in Anaheim just as the Ducks&rsquo; star was letting fly a shot that found the net.&ldquo;It was a wild scramble and I turned around and saw a Duck and crosschecked him,&rdquo; Suter said. &ldquo;He must have crouched down because I didn&rsquo;t hit him that high.&rdquo;&ldquo;The guy is in front of our net and he should pay a price,&rdquo; said Hawks&rsquo; coach Craig Hartsburg. &ldquo;Chris Chelios takes more hits than anyone and we don&rsquo;t complain.&rdquo;Suter and Hawks&rsquo; GM Bob Murray tried to use Suter&rsquo;s history of clean play as a defense, but Burke dismissed it. Suter has only been suspended once before in his career, for a high stick against a Soviet in the 1987 Canada Cup. He was also vilified in Canada for a hit from behind that took Wayne Gretzky out of the 1991 Canada Cup.In their defense of Suter, some Hawks questioned Kariya&rsquo;s toughness. &ldquo;I think Paul&rsquo;s kind of a fragile player,&rdquo; Amonte said. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t play with as much pain as a lot of other guys do.&rdquo;Hartsburg also pointed a finger at Anaheim management.&ldquo;Every time I read the paper. I&rsquo;m reading about Anaheim whining about Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya,&rdquo; Hartsburg said. &ldquo;If they took as many hits as Chris Chelios does over the course of a game they&rsquo;d know what hitting is all about.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Blackhawks got some justice from the Feb. 1 game at Anaheim when Mighty Ducks&rsquo; defenseman Ruslan Salei was suspended two games for head-butting left winger Sergei Krivokrasov in a fight. &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s the cheapest thing you can do,&rdquo; Krivokrasov said&hellip;The Hawks were angry Anaheim right winger Ted Drury wasn&rsquo;t also disciplined for checking left winger Jean-Yves Leroux into the boards from behind in the Feb. I game. Leroux missed the next two games with a bruised back. &lsquo;To me, that&rsquo;s the worst play in hockey,&rdquo; said Hawks&rsquo; coach Craig Hartsburg The official numbers for left winger Bob Probert&rsquo;s new contract are three years at $5 million. &#9632;

f0020-04

Hawks cry ‘unfair’ over Suter ban

<div class="byline">By Adrian Bater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06154/7286849-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="570" height="895"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Lacroix</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05196/7286856-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="160" height="158"></div>He has taken all the predictable taunts in stride. You know, the &ldquo;Hey, Daddy&rsquo;s boy&rdquo; and &ldquo;Is Daddy going to take away your allowance this week?&rdquo; kind of put-downs.Through it all, Eric Lacroix has managed to forge his own identity. The Colorado Avalanche left winger, son of Avs&rsquo; GM Pierre Lacroix, has shown he belongs.Lacroix was one of the Avalanche&rsquo;s better performers entering the Olympic break. He had 12 goals as of Feb. 5 and had finally won over teammates who might have been a bit hesitant to embrace him at first because of his bloodline.&ldquo;I was a little worried at first about being accepted,&rdquo; said Lacroix, who was acquired by the Avs in a 1998 trade with the Los Angeles Kings. &ldquo;But I think things have gone OK.&rdquo;Lacroix has impressed teammates with his work ethic. He never whines and has shown an ability to sacrifice his body in laying out a big check or taking one himself. The 26-year-old Montreal native will never win a skills competition, but 15-20 goal-scorers on a third line are hard to come by.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been a streaky scorer,&rdquo; Lacroix said. &ldquo;It has always been that way. All I want is to be able to pull my weight on this team and help us win.&rdquo;Lacroix had a recent streak of four goals in five games and was perhaps the Avs&rsquo; best player in that span. &ldquo;He has worked hard and has given us a lift when some of our bigger scorers have been down,&rdquo; said coach Marc Crawford.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Uwe Krupp missed two games with back spasms, but said the pain wasn&rsquo;t related to back surgery he had last season and was OK to participate in the Olympics&hellip;Right winger Keith Jones, (tom knee ligament) set a date of Feb. 25 at Phoenix to make his return to the lineup&hellip;Backup goaltender Craig Billington stopped 19 of 20 Vancouver shots in a 2-1 victory Feb. 2, giving him a save percentage of .931. That was the highest mark among goalies who had appeared in 10 or more games&hellip;The Avalanche extended its unbeaten streak over the Canucks to 14 games with the 2-1 win&hellip;The Avs were one of the few teams to enter the break with two 20-goal scorers-centers Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg. &#9632;

f0020-06

Son forges own identity

<div class="byline">By Mike Heika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-07135/7286887-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="161" height="156"></div>Retiring Neal Broten&rsquo;s No. 7 at Reunion Arena in Dallas is not something anyone would have predicted 10 years ago.&ldquo;In a perfect world, it would be hanging in the Met Center,&rdquo; said Stars&rsquo; defenseman Shawn Chambers, referring to the old Bloomington, Minn., arena in which Broten played 12 seasons. &ldquo;But we all know that&rsquo;s not possible.&rdquo;So it is that Broten, the king of Minnesota hockey, stood before a sold out crowd in downtown Dallas Feb. 7 and watched his sweater rise to the rafters.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little weird, but it&rsquo;s a good feeling,&rdquo; Broten said. &ldquo;When I see what it means to my (family), it does make me feel pretty proud.&rdquo;As it happens, Broten&rsquo;s aura transcends the geography as he truly has been one of the Dallas Stars&rsquo; fan favorites. Though he played just 116 regular season games in Dallas, he scored the first goal in the first game at Reunion Arena.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I realized what he means to hockey fans here until he came back last season,&rdquo; said coach Ken Hitchcock. &ldquo;They appreciate what Neal Broten means to hockey.&rdquo;Broten, who retired after last season, is the franchise leader in games played (992), points (867) and assists (593). He has been present during the greatest moments in franchise history (trips to the 1981 and 1991 Stanley Cup finals) and won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympics and a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995.NOTEBOOK: Neal Broten. who currently is tending to his horses on his Wisconsin farm, could have a hand with the Minnesota Wild expansion franchise&hellip;Defenseman Richard Matvichuk was skating with a detached ligament in his left knee and was hoping to be ready to play after the Olympic break&hellip;Goalie Roman Turek recorded his first career shutout, 1-0 over Philadelphia Feb. 5&hellip;Since beginning the season 4-3-2 at Reunion Arena, the Stars were on a 12-2-3 run at home&hellip;The Stars scored first in 42 out of 56 games and were 30-5-7 when scoring first&hellip;The Stars had outscored opponents 63-36 in first periods&hellip;With 41 points in 55 games, left winger Jamie Langenbrunner surpassed the career-high 39 he had last season. &#9632;

f0020-07

Minnesota hero Broten gets big sendoff in Texas

<div class="byline">By Cynthia Lambert</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01922/7286918-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="163" height="159"></div>Sergei Fedorov did not mince words, instead stating point-blank he wants to be traded.&ldquo;That has been the case for a long time now,&rdquo; said Fedorov in an interview with The Detroit News Feb. 3. &ldquo;I told (Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; GM) Ken Holland he should get on with a trade. One thing is for certain-I&rsquo;m not playing for the Red Wings (now).&ldquo;I told him Aug. 9, maybe. I told him I would like to move on because of the circumstances. I told him again a week and a half ago, he should trade me. I think it would be better for everyone.&rdquo;Holland has said he will not trade Fedorov unless he gets what he considers full value in return and he feels no pressure to trade Fedorov this season.Exactly why Fedorov wants out of Detroit is still unclear.&ldquo;First of all, it&rsquo;s not going to make any sense to talk now about my reasons,&rdquo; Fedorov said. &ldquo;There are too many issues why it will not work for me or the Red Wings. But make sure it&rsquo;s clear the second reason is the money and it&rsquo;s not the first.&rdquo;Fedorov was asked if he would sign with Detroit if the club offered him $10 million a season.&ldquo;No,&rdquo; Fedorov said. &ldquo;I have said this is not just about the money. I have told Ken Holland that and he knows that. The question to me is whether he does understand that. I think he does.&rdquo;Fedorov is seeking a contract worth about $7 million a season.NOTEBOOK: The Red Wings followed up their visit to the White House on Jan. 30 with a subsequent visit with injured defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov Feb. 2 when they were in Miami preparing for a game with Florida. Konstantinov attended the Feb. 3 game at Miami Arena, sitting in a private box. After the game he visited both dressing rooms, which included congratulating former Red Wings&rsquo; right winger Dino Ciccarelli on getting his 600th NHL goal. &ldquo;I think by the end of the night, he was worn out,&rdquo; said left winger Brendan Shanahan. &ldquo;But he knew where he was, he knew he was watching the Red Wings play the Panthers.&rdquo; Konstantinov has been living at a rehabilitation center in Florida, still recovering from a June 13 limousine crash. &#9632;

f0021-01

Fedorov makes it official, he demands to be traded

<div class="byline">By Dave Joseph</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04230/7286980-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="572" height="922"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Vanbiesbrouck</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03318/7286987-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="160" height="157"></div>It wasn&rsquo;t a threat Bryan Murray issued to his veteran players, but rather a warning.On the afternoon before a critical homestand leading up to the Olympic break, the Florida Panthers&rsquo; coach-GM said it was time his veterans led this club out from the Eastern Conference cellar.&ldquo;If they don&rsquo;t score on some sort of consistent basis,&rdquo; said Murray of his veterans, &ldquo;this team will have a tough time winning on a consistent basis. We need some of the experienced guys to do it.&rdquo;And do it they did. After going winless in their previous 10 games, the Panthers ended a five-game homestand Feb. 3 with a 3-1-1 record. Just as important as the winning ways was the contributions Murray got from his veterans.Eight of the team&rsquo;s 11 goals during the homestand came from veterans, including the recently snakebit Dave Gagner, Scott Mellanby and Kirk Muller. Meanwhile, goalie John Vanbiesbrouck geared up to represent USA in the Olympics by posting shutouts Jan. 27 against the Carolina Hurricanes and Jan. 31 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.After sinking 10 games under .500 for the first time in the franchise&rsquo;s five-year history, the Panthers entered the Olympic break within five points of the eighth and final playoff spot and feeling optimistic about the final quarter of the season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re believing,&rdquo; said forward Tom Fitzgerald.NOTEBOOK: Veteran right winger Dino Ciccarelli scored his 600th career goal in the Panthers&rsquo; 1-1 tie with Detroit Feb. 3. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always nice to do something against your old team,&rdquo; said Ciccarelli. who was traded by Detroit to Tampa Bay last year. &ldquo;It feels good to get it over with.&rdquo; Ciccarelli is the ninth player to score 600 goals&hellip;With Bryan Murray at the GM&rsquo;s meetings, assistant coach Duane Sutter ran the bench against Detroit. Sutter is 2-1-0 as a head coach. He was 1-1-0 during a two-game suspension to former coach Doug MacLean earlier in the year&hellip;Defenseman Paul Laus eclipsed 1,000 penalty minutes in style, receiving 17 minutes for an altercation with Detroit right winger Darren McCarty Feb. 3. &#9632;

f0021-04

Vets come to rescue

<div class="byline">By Lonnie White</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02737/7287018-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="313" height="411"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jozef Stumpel</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011050/7287025-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="162" height="160"></div>The surprisingly strong Los Angeles Kings know what they have in center Jozef Stumpel. The question is, does the rest of the league know how good this guy really is?&ldquo;Man, Stumpy&rsquo;s (in the race for) the scoring lead and nobody even considers him for the All-Star Game,&rdquo; said Kings&rsquo; captain Rob Blake about Stumpel, who has led the team in scoring since the opening day of the season. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t had a guy here who passes the way Stumpy does since (Wayne Gretzky).&rdquo;Stumpel, 25, may well be one of the most underrated players in the NHL. Not only does he have an outside chance to become the first King to score 100 points since Gretzky did it during the 1993-94 season, but he also has fit comfortably into his role as an on-ice leader.The native of Slovakia recorded his second career hat trick in a four-point game he had against the Calgary Flames Feb. 3, a 6-3 Kings&rsquo; victory. In his six-season NHL career, Stumpel has been extremely tough on the Flames. He has five goals and 15 points in 10 games against Calgary, including 10 points in four games this season.The big night against the Flames helped put Stumpel ninth overall in NHL scoring with 17 goals and 57 points in 54 games and he was within striking distance of the leaders (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim right winger Teemu Selanne, Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; right winger Jaromir Jagr and Colorado Avalanche center Peter Forsberg were tied with 66 points).At his current pace, Stumpel would finish with 26 goals and 87 points, which would surpass his career bests of 21 goals and 76 points in 78 games last season with the Boston Bruins.Because Stumpel is still relatively young-he will not turn 26 until June-the Kings consider him one of the team&rsquo;s main cogs as they plan for the future. With the opening of the new Staples Center scheduled for the fall of 1999, the Kings hope Stumpel is an all-star by then.Stumpel, who will play for Slovakia in the Olympics, is progressively becoming a complete player. Although coach Larry Robinson would like to see him shoot the puck more, Stumpel&rsquo;s ever-improving defense earned him a regular shift on the Kings&rsquo; penalty killing unit.&ldquo;I enjoy L.A., the weather&rsquo;s great,&rdquo; said Stumpel, who was acquired in a four-player off-season trade with Boston. &ldquo;I can go out and barbeque with the guys now. In Boston, I&rsquo;d go home, close the door and turn up the heat.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: If you take away the games he has played against Phoenix this season, rookie goaltender Jamie Storr would be 5-0-0 with only six goals surrendered in 13 periods. The Coyotes have scored eight goals in two wins over Storr&hellip;Right winger Glen Murray has already established career highs for assists and points in a season with 21 and 37 in just 52 games. &ldquo;Glen Murray has been playing terrific hockey,&rdquo; said coach Larry Robinson &ldquo;He has been using his speed and strength. He has been getting good position and has been playing well in his zone.&rdquo;&hellip;Defenseman Philippe Boucher was placed on injured reserve Jan. 29 because of thyroiditis. Boucher became ill with the flu in late December, but was slow to regain his weight and strength back&hellip;Right winger Russ Courtnall was starting to heat things up with four goals in four games&hellip;The Kings were riding an eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1) with one game left before the Olympic break. &#9632;

f0022-02

Underrated Stumpel becomes leader with offense and improved defense

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04358/7287056-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="312" height="409"><figcaption class="caption-body">Zarley Zalapski</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03527/7287063-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="162" height="160"></div>The Montreal Canadiens are a bigger team in 1998 than they were in 1997. But are they better?That won&rsquo;t be known until the playoffs.GM Rejean Houle made his second trade in fewer than three weeks Feb. 1, sending right winger Valeri Bure and a conditional draft pick to the Calgary Flames for defenseman Zarley Zalapski and right winger Jonas Hoglund.Much like the six-player deal Houle pulled off in mid-January. acquiring forwards Patrick Poulin and Mick Vukota and defenseman Igor Ulanov from the Tampa Bay Lightning, this latest trade was made with the playoffs in mind.Zalapski is 6-foot-l and 215 pounds while Hoglund is a hulking 6-foot-3 and 213 pounds, although the Swedish winger isn&rsquo;t considered particularly physical.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve improved our depth on defense and have two bigger players to help us win games against teams in our conference and in the playoffs,&rdquo; Houle said. &ldquo;We feel we&rsquo;ve got a pretty good team and have improved our team. We&rsquo;re more well-balanced.&rdquo;Zalapski, 29, replaces Ulanov, who tore knee ligaments in his first game for Montreal and is out for the season.Zalapski suffered a similar injury last season and played only two games. He was a healthy scratch in six of the Flames&rsquo; first 36 games this season and appeared to fall into disfavor with Calgary coach Brian Sutter. Zalapski cleaned out his dressing room stall and was practising with Canada&rsquo;s national team at the time of the trade.In Montreal, Zalapski will be reunited with assistant coach Dave King. King coached Zalapski while both were with the Canadian national team more than a decade ago and again for two seasons in the NHL with Calgary.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very familiar with Dave and have a lot of respect for him,&rdquo; said Zalapski, who scored two goals and nine points in 35 games for the Flames, but was minus-12. &ldquo;He can help me get my game back on track.&rdquo;Hoglund, in only his second NHL season, said he was stunned to be dealt. &ldquo;I have mixed feelings and am kind of in shock,&rdquo; he said.He had a respectable rookie season, scoring 19 goals and 35 points in 68 games, but was suffering from the sophomore jinx. The 25-year-old native of Hammaro, Swe., had six goals and 14 points through 51 games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had a lot of good chances and shots,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The puck hasn&rsquo;t gone in. There&rsquo;s no other explanation.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: In his first game with Montreal, Feb. 4 against the Islanders, newly acquired defenseman Zarley Zalapski was paired with Craig Rivet. That made Swedish rearguard Peter Popovic a healthy scratch. Jonas Hoglund was used at right wing on a line with Patrick Poulin at left wing and Benoit Brunet at center&hellip;Assistant coach Dave King left the Canadiens Feb. 2, with two games remaining before the Olympic break, to travel to Nagano. King was working as a consultant with the Japanese Ice Hockey Federation last May when he was hired by the Canadiens and promised to honor his commitment to Japan through the completion of the Games&hellip;Left winger Shayne Corson and center Saku Koivu both returned to the Canadiens&rsquo; lineup against the Islanders. Corson missed six games with a hip flexor while Koivu missed five with strained rib cartilage&hellip;The Canadiens&rsquo; unbeaten streak on the road was snapped at 10 with a 4-2 setback to the Islanders Feb. 4. &#9632;

f0022-04

Zalapski, Hoglund in from Calgary to provide more beef for playoffs

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02617/7287094-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="577" height="881"><figcaption class="caption-body">Daniel Alfredsson</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01942/7287101-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="162" height="155"></div>By the time Daniel Alfredsson gets back from Nagano, he hopes to be in mid-season form.The Ottawa Senators&rsquo; right winger wasn&rsquo;t having the kind of season he expected. Not only was he troubled by missing all of training camp and the start of the regular season as an unsigned free agent, Alfredsson also struggled with injuries. Alfredsson had played in just 30 of the Senators&rsquo; 57 games, recording 11 goals and 24 points this season.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t been happy with the way I&rsquo;m playing at all,&rdquo; Alfredsson said. &ldquo;I know I can do a lot more.&rdquo;After missing six games waiting for a new contract, Alfredsson was later out for six with tom ligaments in his ankle. He returned before the all-star break to play one game after being out 13 with a broken ankle.The inactivity hurt. Alfredsson. 25, believes getting the extra hockey in Japan will help him to prepare for the tough challenge down the stretch.&ldquo;I hope I&rsquo;ll be back to 100 per cent by then,&rdquo; Alfredsson said.Part of the problem was timing. He missed so much hockey this season. Alfredsson was having a hard time finding any level of consistency, but he&rsquo;s hoping that will return as the club advances towards the playoffs.&ldquo;You can ride the bike all you want, but it&rsquo;s not the same as playing and practising,&rdquo; Alfredsson said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve missed a lot of hockey this year and I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve really gotten into game shape yet.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Shawn McEachern left the second period of a 3-2 win over Toronto Feb. 5 with back spasms. It was unclear whether he&rsquo;d be healthy enough to play for USA at the Olympics&hellip;The Senators were shut out for a club record ninth time this season by New Jersey Feb. 4 in a 2-0 loss. It was the second of back-to-back blankings by Devils&rsquo; goalie Martin Brodeur&hellip;Center Radek Bonk, who had seven goals in 55 games, was a healthy scratch Feb. 4 in New Jersey. GM Pierre Gauthier has tried to trade Bonk, but hadn&rsquo;t found any takers&hellip;Goalie Ron Tugnutt missed two games with a hip flexor he suffered Jan. 31 in a 4-3 win over Montreal. Frederic Cassivi was recalled from Worcester of the American League to take Tugnutt&rsquo;s place. &#9632;

f0023-02

Rebound time for Alfredsson

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03434/7287132-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="162" height="155"></div>For the first time in the regime of New York Ranger president-GM Neil Smith, there is a new way of going about business.There will be no fix-it-now trade. There will be no young player dealt for an older star. There will be no additional salary taken on.The Rangers, Smith said, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t deserve&rdquo; it.Quite simply, the underachieving millionaires on the current roster were awful all season long and the team was in jeopardy of missing the playoffs. So now it is just a matter of when Smith begins the rebuilding, or at least the moves to make his team younger and to give it a bit of hope for next year and beyond.The Rangers pretty much cemented that fate by starting a critical six-game road trip with a 1-3-1 record. The Rangers opened that trip with a 2-2 tie against the Ottawa Senators Jan. 29, a game in which goalie Mike Richter stole the point.&ldquo;We were outplayed and outworked,&rdquo; said coach Colin Campbell. &ldquo;Maybe we can&rsquo;t do it. Maybe we won&rsquo;t do it, or don&rsquo;t want to do it. If we can&rsquo;t do it soon, maybe I should tell Neil (Smith) to dispense some of these guys and get some draft choices for next year.&rdquo;That may well mean Smith will start shopping players such as Mike Keane, Brian Skrudland, Jeff Beukeboom and others to get young players, prospects and draft picks.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev, who had been bothered by a sore wrist since Jan. 8, had to pull out of the Olympics. He was replaced on Russia by Washington defenseman Sergei Gonchar. Karpovtsev had an MRI Jan. 21 to see if the wrist was broken, but the exam came up negative. He was to see a specialist as the Olympic break arrived. With right winger Alexei Kovalev (knee surgery) and Karpovtsev leaving the Russian team, the Rangers&rsquo; Olympic participation fell from eight players to six&hellip;Defenseman Brian Leetch returned after missing two games with a compressed nerve in his right leg&hellip;As the break approached, the Rangers were still the only team in the NHL without a shorthanded goal and still had not had a shutout this season. &#9632;

f0023-03

Rangers’ miserable season won’t get quick-fix remedy

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04306/7287163-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="161" height="156"></div>Defenseman Bryan McCabe and right winger Todd Bertuzzi, who thought they were part of the New York Islanders&rsquo; future, became part of their past when they were traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Trevor Linden just before the Olympic break.The deal came Feb. 6 and caught Bertuzzi and McCabe by surprise. McCabe, 22, was named the club&rsquo;s sixth captain Sept. 9. He had only one goal and four points in his first 48 games, but in the eight games before he was dealt, had two goals and eight points. His plus-9 mark was the best on the team.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going on,&rdquo; McCabe said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m shocked. I don&rsquo;t know what to do with myself. I&rsquo;m sad to leave the boys. I&rsquo;ve been with these guys my whole career.&rdquo;McCabe had played in 220 consecutive games, getting 18 goals and 45 assists over three seasons.Bertuzzi, 23, the Islanders&rsquo; first-round 1993 draft choice, had not lived up to expectations. His finesse play belied his 6-foot-3, 224-pound frame. Bertuzzi had six goals and 16 points in the first half, but had only one goal and one assist in his past 13 games and was a healthy scratch in two others. He had 35 goals and 80 points in 193 games over three seasons.&ldquo;I was shocked,&rdquo; Bertuzzi said of the trade. &ldquo;Things weren&rsquo;t panning out here. I&rsquo;m excited about it. It&rsquo;s a new challenge.&rdquo;Asked how he feels about playing for Canuck coach Mike Keenan, McCabe said, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a hard-nosed guy. I&rsquo;m a hard-nosed player. I think he respects a guy that works hard.&rdquo;McCabe had just flown in three friends for the weekend when GM Mike Milbury called him with the news.&ldquo;He said they liked everything I did, but they feel it&rsquo;s a trade that&rsquo;s going to help them down the road,&rdquo; McCabe said. &ldquo;This is not the fun part of the business.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: GM Mike Milbury tendered a Group II free agent offer sheet to Detroit forward Sergei Fedorov at a Long Island hotel Jan. 31, but Fedorov rejected it. The offer reportedly guaranteed Fedorov in excess of $30 million. A source close to Fedorov said the deal included $5 million payments in 2003-04, 2013-14 and 2023-24, when Fedorov will be 54. The source said Fedorov would accept a package if the deferred payments were made by 2009-2010&hellip;Club officials hoped the team&rsquo;s transfer of ownership from John O. Pickett to Steven Gluckstern would close during the first week of the NHL break&hellip;Sergei Nemchinov, an excellent penalty killer and defensive forward, was mired in a 16-game goal-scoring drought. &#9632;

f0023-04

Canuck deal stuns McCabe and Bertuzzi

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-06188/7287194-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="570" height="883"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Thomas</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05234/7287201-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="160" height="155"></div>Steve Thomas may not fit into the plans of the New Jersey Devils beyond this season because of their need to come up with some big money to re-sign players such as Doug Gilmour, Bobby Holik, Scott Niedermayer and Jason Arnott.But Thomas, who will become an unrestricted free agent after this season, said he feels there was still a place for him on coach Jacques Lemaire&rsquo;s club and he strengthened his case by scoring the winning goal Feb. 4 as the Devils completed a home-and-home sweep of the Ottawa Senators.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not thinking about my contract because I don&rsquo;t want any other distractions,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just going to go out and see what happens. This is a great organization. I&rsquo;m very committed to this team and I get the feeling that they are committed to me.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had conversations with Jacques and he has told me I&rsquo;m a big part of the team. Look around and there are an awful lot of good young players here, but I feel young. I feel energized. I feel like if the team needs a spark, I can be that guy. I think the leadership I can bring is my intensity on the ice. Maybe it rubs off.&rdquo;Thomas, 34, was earning $ 1.64 million in the final year of his contract. The Devils might not want to spend $2 million per season to keep him, especially since he has been jinxed by injuries the past two seasons.After missing 20 games with a strained groin early this season, Thomas sat out three games in January with bruised ribs.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why I&rsquo;ve been hurt this year more than any other,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It has just been weird things, weird muscle pulls. I&rsquo;m in good shape right now. The injuries are gone.&rdquo;The question is will Thomas be gone after this season?Lemaire views him as a solid two-way player who has something to offer the team&rsquo;s younger players.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always had something to say to the young kids. I&rsquo;d like to know that they know I&rsquo;ve been in the league a long time,&rdquo; said Thomas, who broke in to the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1984-85. &ldquo;There are a lot of ups and downs. If (young players) want to come to me and talk to me I&rsquo;m willing to do it. I did that with Petr Sykora and Bill Guerin.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Ken Daneyko, who explained his alcohol problem was binge-drinking, entered what the team called Phase III of his rehab program and began practising with the team&hellip;Center Bobby Carpenter&rsquo;s broken left foot was worse than the team originally believed and he was not able to begin playing until after the Olympic break&hellip;Coach Jacques Lemaire said as long as NHL teams used fighters to intimidate his skill players he would continue to use the line of Krzyszt of Oliwa, Denis Pederson and Scott Daniels&hellip;Defenseman Scott Niedermayer said he felt less bitter about being passed over by the Canadian Olympic team: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m still disappointed, but I think (I&rsquo;m) over it,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

f0023-06

Is Thomas in Devils’ future?

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02682/7287232-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="317" height="411"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Sillinger</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011011/7287239-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="166" height="160"></div>Ten might not seem like a lot of goals for a player you just picked up in a trade to help cure your scoring woes in early February.But they are when the fifth leading scorer on your team has only nine.So the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; decision to acquire veteran center/right winger Mike Sillinger from the Vancouver Canucks Feb. 5 created a bit more of a stir than one might expect.Flyers&rsquo; president and GM Bob Clarke, who gave up a conditional sixth round draft pick to obtain the 26-year-old, said he wasn&rsquo;t satisfied with production from his third and fourth lines.Aside from John LeClair, Eric Lindros, Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour and Chris Gratton, most of the Flyers were having sub-par offensive years. Trent Klatt, who scored 24 goals a year ago, had only nine. Dainius Zubrus had only six and Alexandre Daigle hadn&rsquo;t scored in eight games as a Flyer.So Sillinger, with a career-high 17 goals last year with Vancouver, is considered a wake-up call.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a gap between our top guys and our bottom guys that doesn&rsquo;t seem to be filling in too well,&rdquo; said Clarke. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get more goals in our lineup and we think Mike can do that for us. He&rsquo;s a very competitive player.&rdquo;Clarke made the deal after watching his team score just eight goals in its previous six games, five of them losses. Included in that stretch was a four-game losing streak, the Flyers&rsquo; first such skid since March, 1994.Sillinger, taken by the Detroit Red Wings 11 th overall in the 1989 draft, is another in a growing list of first round busts the Flyers hope to resurrect. Recently, the Flyers traded away Pat Falloon (No. 2 overall in 1991) as part of a package to get Daigle (No. 1 overall in 1993) from the Ottawa Senators.At 5-foot-ll and 190 pounds, Sillinger is another skill player the Flyers can add to what is still the biggest roster in the NHL.&ldquo;Everybody wants players who are 6-foot-4, 225 pounds,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;But the reality is we need players with skills as well as everything else.&rdquo;The Flyers appeared to get the message. The night of the trade, before Sillinger arrived, the Flyers defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 6-2.Sillinger can play all three forward spots, which made him all the more inviting.&ldquo;One thing I bring is I&rsquo;m versatile,&rdquo; he said.The Flyers don&rsquo;t care where he plays, as long as he gets a few pucks in the net.NOTEBOOK: Coach Wayne Cashman started center Eric Lindros and left winger John LeClair on the same line in a 6-2 win at Phoenix Feb. 5, the first time they had played together for a full game since Dec. 3. LeClair celebrated with two goals and Lindros added a goal and two assists&hellip;Alexandre Daigle played right wing and notched three assists, his first multiple-point game as a Flyer&hellip;The 22nd annual Flyers&rsquo; Wives Fight for Lives Carnival Feb. 1 raised a one-year record $1.15 million for the Barry Ashbee Leukemia Research Fund, bringing the 22-year total to more than $10.4 million. Ashbee, a former Flyer defenseman, died of leukemia in 1977. A sellout crowd of 9.000 attended the event at the CoreStates Center&hellip;A 1-0 loss at Dallas Feb. 4 was the fifth time this season the Flyers have been shut out and marked the second time in two weeks they had lost by a 1-0 count. The other came in Detroit Jan. 24. The defeat by the Stars dropped the Flyers&rsquo; record against winning teams to 4-12-4. &#9632;

f0026-02

Versatile Sillinger new arrival in latest first-round experiment

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04383/7287270-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="319" height="413"><figcaption class="caption-body">Darcy Wakaluk</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03541/7287277-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="165" height="160"></div>An entire year came and went, and finally, Darcy Wakaluk is back where he belongs-at practice, facing shots between the pipes for the Phoenix Coyotes.&ldquo;It feels good to get hit with the puck again,&rdquo; Wakaluk said after resuming workouts for the first time in 12 months following four straight knee operations to repair ligament and cartilage damage.Wakaluk, a nine-year NHL veteran, was 8-3-1 with a 2.99 goals-against average last season as a solid backup to No. 1 goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.But on Jan. 3, 1997, during a game against the Washington Capitals, a team that was coached by Phoenix coach Jim Schoenfeld, Wakaluk heard a pop in his right knee. One surgery became two. Two became three.And then just before the start of this season, he underwent a fourth.Wakaluk had missed 105 straight games as the NHL season took a break to accommodate the Winter Olympics.&ldquo;It has been real frustrating watching (the team) come and go and not being able to do what you love doing,&rdquo; Wakaluk said. &ldquo;Watching them play every night from the stands, I find myself taking home a lot of their frustrations. If you&rsquo;re playing, I think you can leave that stuff at the rink a little more.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been a real bear to live with, but my wife (Dawn) has been super.&rdquo;After about a week&rsquo;s worth of practice, Wakaluk was close to pronouncing his knee fit for action.But with Khabibulin and new backup Jimmy Waite (3-2-1, 2.49 GAA) providing capable relief. Wakaluk&rsquo;s future this season remained unknown.Wakaluk started his professional career in 1986-87 with the Rochester Americans of the American League after playing three seasons of junior in the Western League. He saw spot duty that season, but took over the No. 1 job a year later when he appeared in 55 games.He got into 22 games with the Buffalo Sabres, who drafted him 144th overall, over two years before he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars in 1991. Wakaluk established himself as a full-time NHLer in 1992-93 with the Stars&rsquo; organization, which relocated to Dallas, and signed as a free agent with the Coyotes in 1996.Wakaluk knows he has to work hard to get his job back.&ldquo;Nobody owes anybody anything,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Last year is over. In order for them to play me. I&rsquo;ve got to be able to contribute.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Mike Gartner surpassed Norm Ullman and Harry Howell in back-to-back games to become fifth on the NHL&rsquo;s all-time games played list. He had appeared in 1.412, the most of any NHLer never to have won a Stanley Cup&hellip;Despite the Coyotes&rsquo; continuing struggle to catch St. Louis for home ice advantage in the playoffs, GM Bobby Smith said he had no plans to make any type of trades until some of his injured players, primarily defenseman Murray Baron, return to the lineup&hellip;Center Chad Kilger, who created a firestorm for his recent refusal to accept a demotion to Springfield of the American League. was recalled for the final four games before the Olympic break. He was expected to return to Springfield Feb. 8&hellip;Defenseman Norm Maciver briefly left the team to be with his seriously ill father in Thunder Bay, Ont&hellip;Center Mike Stapleton suffered an abrasion to his left eye after getting highsticked Jan. 30 by Buffalo defenseman Alexei Zhitnik. &#9632;

f0026-04

Wakaluk finally ready to return after four procedures on knee

<div class="byline">By Mike Dudurich</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01957/7287308-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="163" height="158"></div>When people talk of the Pittsburgh Penguins this season, the conversation is generally focused on comeback goalie Tom Barrasso, scoring whiz Jaromir Jagr or coach Kevin Constantine and his new defensive system.Not much, however, is said about the play of the defense corps, a group that has traditionally been one of the most criticized in hockey. But it was playing a big part in the Penguins&rsquo; surprisingly strong season.There aren&rsquo;t that many new players. Jiri Slegr and Brad Werenka are the only blueline additions from a year ago. The entire group has simply been able to raise its level under Constantine.Case in point: Fredrik Olausson. The 31-year-old isn&rsquo;t flashy, but he had been very effective teamed with Kevin Hatcher. The two are often used as part of a five-man unit with forwards Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis and Stu Barnes.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s so fundamentally sound,&rdquo; Hatcher said. &ldquo;He does all the little things right, the kind of things that don&rsquo;t always get noticed.&rdquo;He certainly was noticed in a big way in the Penguins&rsquo; 4-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings Jan. 31. Olausson scored a pair of power play goals, his first two-goal game since April 11, 1993.&ldquo;I was just in the right place at the right time tonight,&rdquo; Olausson said.On the season, Olausson had five goals and 22 points in 51 games.NOTEBOOK: The Penguins had a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) snapped by a 4-2 loss to the Islanders Feb. 2&hellip;Goalie Tom Barrasso was named NHL player of the week for the period ending Feb. 1 after going 3-0-1 with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage. During the week, Barrasso set a team record for most saves in a home game (51) in the 4-2 win over Detroit Jan. 31&hellip;Barrasso recorded his 45th career assist against Detroit. Among goaltenders, that&rsquo;s second all-time to St. Louis&rsquo; Grant Fuhr, who has 46&hellip;How&rsquo;s this for consistency? Through the first 54 games of the season, the Penguins had allowed 40 goals in the first period, 40 in the second, 41 in the third and one in overtime. &#9632;

f0027-01

Olausson key component of unsung defense corps

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03407/7287339-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="582" height="883"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jamie McLennan</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02611/7287346-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="164" height="156"></div>St. Louis Blues&rsquo; backup goalie Jamie McLennan has lost three shutouts in the last 10 minutes of a game this season.McLennan, 26, has played 71 games over five seasons without a shutout.&ldquo;One of these days,&rdquo; he said after backstopping the Blues&rsquo; 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins Feb. 5. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little disappointing, but I&rsquo;m not really concerned about it. We won and that&rsquo;s the most important thing.&rdquo;This time, McLennan fell seven minutes, 51 seconds short of his first shutout. Rookie Joe Thornton spoiled it by scoring after a Blues&rsquo; turnover, the only shot among 26 McLennan missed.McLennan improved his record to 74-2 with a 2.38 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage, which is a vast improvement over the record of his predecessor as Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s backup. Last season, veteran Jon Casey, since retired, was 3-8-0 with a 3.39 GAA and an .866 SP.McLennan was especially tough in the second-half of back-to-back games, which account for eight of his starts. He was 6-0-2 in those games.This season has been a blessing for McLennan, who has never played a full season in the NHL. His season was remarkable considering he nearly died two summers ago from bacterial meningitis which struck him after his last season with the New York Islanders.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really weird,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think about how sick I was, and I appreciate what&rsquo;s around me. I&rsquo;m very lucky. One out of two people die with the symptoms I had-fever, rash.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Rudy Poeschek underwent surgery Feb. 5 to repair a herniated disc in his back. He&rsquo;ll be out until at least early April&hellip;The Blues scored two power play goals against Boston Feb. 5, giving them a record of 7-0-1 in games in which they score at least two. The Blues were 17-63 when they score at least a power play goal and 12-15-5 when they didn&rsquo;t&hellip;Right winger Brett Hull tied a career best with four assists in the Blues&rsquo; 6-3 victory over Dallas Jan. 31. Selke Trophy candidate Craig Conroy, a right winger, on the Blues&rsquo; top line with Hull and Pierre Turgeon, had two goals and two assists&hellip;The Blues were 3-1-0 in Hull&rsquo;s first four games back in the lineup after he returned from 12 games out with a broken left hand. &#9632;

f0027-03

Close, but no shutout

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01994/7287377-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="164" height="161"></div>Asked why the Tampa Bay Lightning made Darcy Tucker part of its recent six-player trade with the Montreal Canadiens, GM Phil Esposito posed his answer in the form of a question.&ldquo;Would you take a 22-year-old Dale Hunter?&rdquo; Esposito asked. &ldquo;Case closed.&rdquo;The Lightning believes Tucker can carve out a career along the same lines as the pesky Washington Capitals&rsquo; center. &ldquo;He is a Dale Hunter-type of player,&rdquo; said coach Jacques Demers, &ldquo;though obviously he&rsquo;s not as good as Hunter.&rdquo;At least not yet. But he is trying to get there.&ldquo;Everybody says that,&rdquo; Tucker said of the comparison, &ldquo;but Dale Hunter (is) a great player. I think I can be that type of player if I work hard.&rdquo;Selected by Montreal in the sixth round of the 1993 draft, Tucker did not have size (5-foot-8 and 145 pounds at draft time) on his side. And even though Tucker helped lead the Kamloops Blazers of the Western League to three Memorial Cups in four years, he never made it off the fourth line in Montreal. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never been happier,&rdquo; Tucker said upon arriving in Tampa, &ldquo;except the day I got engaged. I&rsquo;ve got to put in that last part, or my fiancee will kill me.&rdquo;Tucker plans to marry Shannon Corson. the sister of Canadiens&rsquo; left winger Shayne Corson. First, though, he wants to help the Lightning reverse its losing ways.He had a goal and four assists in his first eight games with Tampa.NOTEBOOK: A 3-3 tie with Carolina Feb. 4 ended Tampa Bay&rsquo;s losing streak at 13, but the Lightning matched its franchise record winless streak of 16 games with a 54 loss to Detroit Feb. 5&hellip;Ordered to rest due to his on-going battle with pericarditis, a viral infection of the sac that surrounds the heart, center Vladimir Vujtek of the Czech Republic pulled out of the Olympic Games and is not expected to return this season&hellip;Goalie Daren Puppa. out since Dec. 27 due to back spasms, had a bone scan Feb. 2. It came up negative, ruling out a vertebrae stress fracture. Results of the scan and two recent MRIs were sent for evaluation to Dr. Robert Watkins, who last season performed surgery to repair a herniated disc in Puppa&rsquo;s lower back. &#9632;

f0028-01

Lightning looking for Tucker to be Hunter-like sparkplug

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02666/7287408-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="164" height="157"></div>The Vancouver Canucks are getting bigger and tougher under coach Mike Keenan, but early indications were they weren&rsquo;t getting much better.Keenan added size and muscle to his roster in a series of trades entering the Olympic break, dealing away Trevor Linden, Geoff Sanderson and Mike Sillinger and acquiring Brad May, Bryan McCabe, Todd Bertuzzi and Peter Zezel. (See pgs. 7 and 23 for more on Linden trade).Keenan was especially excited about getting McCabe, the 22-year-old defenseman who was named captain of the New York Islanders before the start of the season. He arrived Feb. 6 in a package with right winger Bertuzzi and a third round draft pick in exchange for Linden.&ldquo;We are delighted to acquire Bryan McCabe,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;At the age of 22, he certainly will become a cornerstone piece for this franchise. He has the ability to play in all situations, both offensively and defensively.&rdquo;Keenan was willing to ship the underachieving Sanderson to the Buffalo Sabres for May, a gritty winger he hopes will complement Mark Messier and Pavel Bure on the top line.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve watched Brad very closely recently and he&rsquo;s playing good hockey and contributing offensively as well as defensively,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;Maybe he doesn&rsquo;t have quite the same skill level as Shayne Corson, but he has got the same type of attributes as Corson and Adam Graves.&rdquo;Keenan also moved Sillinger to the Philadelphia Flyers for a conditional 1998 sixth rounder. He obtained Zezel from the New Jersey Devils for a 1998 fifth rounder.These deals, plus the one that brought Enrico Ciccone and Sean Burke from the Carolina Hurricanes, made Vancouver one of the toughest teams in the league. Keenan admitted he isn&rsquo;t likely to dress Gino Odjick, Donald Brashear, Ciccone, May and 6-foot-7 rookie Chris McAllister on the same night. Odjick is considered prime trade bait.NOTEBOOK: Unrest in the Vancouver dressing room with coach Mike Keenan might have hit a new high. It was reported left wingers Gino Odjick and Donald Brashear each challenged Keenan to fight-Bras-hear on the bench and Odjick in a one-on-one meeting in Keenan&rsquo;s office. All parties have denied anything happened&hellip;There wasn&rsquo;t much support among the Canucks for the proposed rule changes. &ldquo;My initial reaction is a number of them are pretty silly,&rdquo; said goalie Sean Burke, citing the proposals that would prevent goalies from handling the puck and defending players from stopping up behind their own net&hellip;The Canucks finished their season series against Colorado at 0-4-2, bringing their regular-season winless streak against the Avalanche to 14 games (0-11-3). &#9632;

f0028-02

Keenan adds size, youth in wild frenzy of trades

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03476/7287439-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="165" height="157"></div>For nearly six weeks, defenseman Ken Sutton sat idled, drawing paychecks from the San Jose Sharks, but never being asked to perform.Finally, coach Darryl Sutter inserted Sutton into the lineup for a key Feb. 4 game against the Edmonton Oilers and Sutton responded with a strong effort in a 3-0 Sharks&rsquo; victory over the Oilers.It was Sutton&rsquo;s first game since Dec. 26 and only his second appearance since San Jose acquired him, along with right winger John MacLean, in a Dec. 7 trade that sent defenseman Doug Bodger and forward Dody Wood to the New Jersey Devils.&ldquo;It felt unbelievable to be out there,&rdquo; Sutton said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t even explain it. I felt like a kid again. That&rsquo;s the way I approached it. I just wanted to have fun.&rdquo;Sutton, 28, did exactly that, providing a solid defensive presence and dishing out several big hits. Among them was a crusher that laid out Oilers&rsquo; forward Andrei Kovalenko against the glass behind the Sharks&rsquo; net.&ldquo;Obviously, he wanted to play,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;He stayed ready. He was outstanding.&rdquo;Sutton was back in the lineup the next night, turning in another good performance in a 4-2 loss against the Calgary Flames.&ldquo;How are you going to take Kenny Sutton out?&rdquo; Sutter asked.Sutter called Sutton into his office a few days before the Edmonton game to provide something of a pep talk.&ldquo;Darryl promised I would play,&rdquo; Sutton said. &ldquo;He told me to stay patient and stay ready. He&rsquo;s honest. That&rsquo;s all you can ask. It has been pretty difficult, sitting out, but the team had a seven-game unbeaten streak and a five-game unbeaten streak.&rdquo;Sutton, an Edmonton native who began his NHL career with the Buffalo Sabres in 1990-91, also played with the Oilers and St. Louis Blues before going to the Devils in a 1996 trade.NOTEBOOK: Goalie Mike Vernon established a single-season career-high with his fourth shutout in a 3-0 win at Edmonton Feb. 4. The shutout was San Jose&rsquo;s fifth this season, matching a club record established during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season&hellip;The Sharks became the first team this season to drive Colorado goalie Patrick Roy to cover by scoring five times in the first two periods of a 5-2 triumph Jan. 31 in San Jose&hellip;The Sharks unveiled their new third jerseys in the win over the Avalanche. The sweaters feature a darker shade of teal, as well as a new striping pattern, but the same logo&hellip;San Jose completed a second consecutive winning month by going 6-5-2 in January. &#9632;

f0028-03

Sutton sits, then shows he can play

<div class="byline">By Paul Hunter</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05251/7287470-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="582" height="894"><figcaption class="caption-body">Fredrik Modin</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04326/7287477-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="164" height="158"></div>Ken Dryden, the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; president, GM and conscience, acknowledged the obvious recently when he said his struggling squad &ldquo;must get better.&rdquo;But it was clear any resurrection of the Leafs under his command remains a long-term project.&ldquo;This is a team that needed something of a quiet, more stable year. There were a lot of players moved around last year,&rdquo; said Dryden, whose patient approach is a direct contrast to his predecessor Cliff Fletcher.Dryden and associate GM Mike Smith have made only one trade this season, the acquisition of defenseman Jeff Brown. The team&rsquo;s most glaring requirement, a solid second line center, has remained unfilled since camp.Part of Dryden&rsquo;s problem is Fletcher&rsquo;s penchant for moving prospects and draft picks for immediate help left Toronto with little organizational depth.&ldquo;(Acquiring another center) is what we&rsquo;re working on and what we want to have happen, but whether (we) can deliver it, that&rsquo;s another question,&rdquo; Dryden said.Liberalized free agency will make some needed players available to the Leafs this summer, but Dryden indicated Toronto may not wade into that talent pool as deeply as assumed.&ldquo;Even though this year there will be more free agents available, it&rsquo;s probably a more limited tool (to improve) than it seems. In part because it&rsquo;s players who are 31 years old and you can only have so many 31-year-olds on a team&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: The Leafs fired a season-low 12 shots at Ottawa goalie Damian Rhodes Feb. 5. left winger Fredrik Modin had four of them and both Toronto goals in a 3-2 Ottawa win&hellip;Defenseman Jeff Brown returned to the lineup Feb. 4 after missing 10 games with a serious ankle infection. He then missed the game at Ottawa because of mild inflammation in the same ankle&hellip;Against St. Louis Feb. 4, left winger Kris King found himself in an uncomfortable position: killing a penalty without a stick, at the point facing defenseman Al MacInnis. King took a MacInnis slapshot in the ankle and left the ice grimacing in pain. &ldquo;You hope it hits you somewhere where it&rsquo;s not really going to hurt.&rdquo; King said, &ldquo;so if it hits me in the head or leg I&rsquo;ll be all right.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0028-05

Dryden takes patient tack

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06217/7287508-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="165" height="156"></div>The Washington Capitals are clearly in favor of the NHL&rsquo;s decision to have officials enforce existing rules on obstruction. Their only hope is it will last.&ldquo;The way we play, it might work to our advantage,&rdquo; said coach Ron Wilson. &ldquo;I want to play a wide-open, free-flowing game as much as possible, use the skills that we have up front, get our defensemen active in the game. I&rsquo;m hoping the rules that will be enforced will help our team.&rdquo;With one game left before the Olympic break, Washington had lost only three games this calendar year, but scored more than three goals in a game only five times. Because of injuries and the defensive nature of games in the NHL this season, Washington was unable to fully utilize the skills of some of its more offense-oriented defensemen and that contributed to the scoring drought that gripped the league.&ldquo;If anything, I think it will help us,&rdquo; said defensive forward Kelly Miller. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a lot of real speedy forwards and there&rsquo;s good depth. I think we can play a high-tempo game with a lot of skating.&rdquo;Most players, however, said they didn&rsquo;t think the crackdown on restraining infractions would last.&ldquo;What usually happens is in the beginning (the officials) really enforce the rules and there will be more power plays, but as the weeks go by, it&rsquo;s going to be the same,&rdquo; said defenseman Calle Johansson.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Capitals finally took delivery of their oft-delayed team plane, dubbed AirAbe after team owner Abe Pollin. The initial flight was from Baltimore to Pittsburgh. The Boeing 737200, reconfigured from 112 seats to 46 first class Lazy-Boy type seats, also has a galley and compartment where team trainers can administer aid to ailing players. The National Basketball Association Washington Bullets will also use the craft&hellip;Cenlers Dale Hunter and Adam Oates and defenseman Phil Housley were honored in a pre-game ceremony Feb. 1 for reaching the 1,000-point plateau this season. Players had been vocal about what they considered shoddy treatment in previous attempts by management to note the achievements. &#9632;

f0028-06

Caps hope rule crackdown plays right into their hands

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01883/7287539-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="374" height="387"></div>If defense wins titles, the Roanoke Express was on track for its first East Coast League crown.The Express was the best defensive team in the league this season and there were two main reasons why: Daniel Berthiaume and Dave Gagnon.The goaltending tandem, which was holding foes to a league-best average of 2.88 goals per game, had the Express on top of the Northeast.Berthiaume, 31, who has 215 games of NHL experience, was leading the league in GAA (2.44) and had a 11-5-2 record. Gagnon, 30, was fifth in GAA (2.75) and his record was 13-9-3. Their save percentages were .908.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re definitely pushing each other,&rdquo; Gagnon told the Roanoke Times. &ldquo;I have to admit we&rsquo;re getting along better than I thought we would. Whether or not we&rsquo;re winning games is all that matters.&rdquo;Roanoke coach Frank Anzalone knows he&rsquo;s walking a fine line when stroking their egos.&ldquo;Sometimes they get ornery,&rdquo; Anzalone said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not an attitude. It&rsquo;s an orneriness in general and it comes when one thinks I&rsquo;m going to start him and I start the other. Then, it goes away in about an hour. I&rsquo;d say 85 per cent of it has been great, and 15 per cent has been ornery.&rdquo;LEAVE OFFICIALS ALONE: Andy Van Hellemond, the league&rsquo;s senior vice-president, operations, handed Birmingham Bulls&rsquo; goalie Marc Delorme a 12-game suspension for pushing referee Justin St Pierre after a shootout against the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks Jan. 23.Delorme was upset with St. Pierre&rsquo;s ruling that the puck had crossed the goal line during an attempt by Tallahassee&rsquo;s Cal Ingraham in the shootout. Ingraham&rsquo;s goal clinched a 6-5 victory.According to Van Hellemond, Delorme struck St. Pierre with a &ldquo;forceful shove&rdquo; to the upper body and then applied &ldquo;physical force&rdquo; to &bull; the linesmen who intervened. Delorme&rsquo;s teammates finally had to pull him away from the officials.NAGANO BOUND: The ECHL is well-represented in the Nagano Olympics.Jacksonville Lizard Kings&rsquo; defenseman Lars Bruggemann left Jan. 29 to join the German national team. The 21-year-old appeared in 34 games for the Lizard Kings this season, scoring a goal and adding four assists.Joining Bruggemann were two former ECHL players, goalie Olaf Kolzig (Hampton Roads Admirals) and right winger Jan Benda (Richmond Renegades). Belarus has two ECHL alumni in Alexei Lojkin (Tallahassee) and Sergei Stas (Erie Panthers/Greensboro Monarchs). Former Richmond goalie Milan Hnilicka is on the Czech Republic&rsquo;s roster. Goalie Johan Hedberg, who played two games for the Baton Rouge Kingfish Jan. 30-31, is representing Sweden.On the women&rsquo;s side, ex-ECHL goalie Manon Rheaume (formerly of the Knoxville Cherokees, Nashville Knights, Tallahassee) is a member of the Canadian team. &#9632;

f0029-01

LEAGUES

Ornery goaltending tandem leading Roanoke to the top

<div class="byline">By Phil Janack</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02570/7287570-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="424" height="418"></div>Geordie Kinnear wasn&rsquo;t taking his most recent All-Star Game appointment lying down.The Albany River Rats&rsquo; captain missed out on what would have been his second All-Star Game appearance last year after dislocating his thumb three days before the game.Instead, Kinnear watched the game from his hospital bed with his father, George, after having surgery which sidelined him six weeks.This year, Kinnear, 24, will be on the ice playing for Team Canada in the AHL All-Star Game, Feb. 11 in Syracuse, N.Y. He and Hamilton Bulldogs&rsquo; goalie Jean-Francois Labbe are the only players to be named in each of the past three games.&ldquo;If you said my first year I&rsquo;d be named to three All-Star Games, I&rsquo;d have said you were crazy,&rdquo; said Kinnear, the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; eighth pick in the 1992 entry draft. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t even playing here (in Albany) my first year.&rdquo;Being chosen to a third straight All-Star Game is no small achievement for a defensive defenseman such as Kinnear, who has 65 points and 811 penalty minutes in 308 games, all with Albany. He had a goal, 11 assists and 133 PIM in 49 games this season.&ldquo;For my type of player, it&rsquo;s nice to get recognized,&rdquo; Kinnear said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t put a lot of points on the board and my stats aren&rsquo;t the greatest, but it&rsquo;s nice that someone notices what I do out there and how it helps my team.&rdquo;The 6-foot-l, 195-pound Kinnear has been chosen each year by a committee of coaches, although this year he was also among the league leaders for defensemen in fan balloting.Albany coach John Cunniff said Kinnear&rsquo;s value isn&rsquo;t measured by goals and assists.&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t put up the offensive numbers, but coaches understand what he does,&rdquo; Cunniff said. &ldquo;The fans see him competing all the time and they recognize that. He has always been an intense player and he&rsquo;s a kid who has worked at his game all the way up.&rdquo;Teammate Bryan Helmer, a fellow five-year veteran not chosen despite his 39 points in 50 games, supported Kinnear&rsquo;s selection.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a competitor and he goes out every night and does his best and gives his best,&rdquo; said Helmer, second among league defensemen in scoring. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s real intense and he&rsquo;s a good team man. It&rsquo;s very well-deserved.&rdquo;ROUGH TIME: It was a tough spell for the Rochester Americans. Within a span of three days, they lost two leaders Scott Nichol and Dane Jackson for the season.Nichol, the team captain, opted to have reconstructive surgery on a nagging shoulder injury rather than wait until after the playoffs.Jackson, a former captain, broke his ankle in a 5-3 loss to the Syracuse Crunch Jan. 30, in his first game since being returned by the New York Islanders.In addition, the first major trade by GM Jody Gage hit a snag when right winger Brent Fedyk, acquired from the Detroit Vipers of the International League, refused to report.STREAK ENDS: Kentucky Thoroughblades&rsquo; center Steve Guolla was shut out in a 3-1 loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack Jan. 30, snapping his league-high 19-game scoring streak.Guolla had 14 goals and 37 points during the streak. The league&rsquo;s top scorer was on pace for 134 points, threatening the all-time mark of 138 set by Binghamton Ranger Don Biggs in 1992-93.AHL TIDBITS: Adirondack Red Wings&rsquo; goalie Norm Maracle&rsquo;s 62 saves in a 3-2 overtime win over Albany Jan. 31 was two shy of the all-time league mark, set by Travis Scott of the Worcester IceCats last season&hellip;The league added ESPNdos to its broadcast lineup for the Feb. 11 All-Star Game, joining ESPN2, TSN and RDS to expose the contest to the entire North American continent. ESPNdos reaches one million households in Mexico and the Caribbean&hellip;Seven AHL players, along with Albany coach John Cunniff and linesman Tim Koytra, are participating in the Olympics: Alexei Lojkin (Belarus) and Martin Hohenberger (Austria) of the Fredericton Canadiens, Worcester&rsquo;s Robert Petrovicky (Slovakia) and Erich Goldmann (Germany), Hamilton&rsquo;s Alexander Zhurik (Belarus), Jan Benda (Germany) of the Portland Pirates&rsquo; and Tuomas Gronmann (Finland) of Syracuse. Cunniff is an assistant to coach Ron Wilson for USA. &#9632;

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Defensive basher Kinnear regular at All-Star classic

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03374/7287601-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="381" height="425"></div>One sign things might be different with Daniel Shank is the no news is good news theory.The San Antonio Dragons&rsquo; star has earned a reputation-wrongly, he insists-as a difficult-to-handle malcontent more concerned with personal gains than team glory.That has eaten at Shank for years, the last seven of which have been spent in the International League.&ldquo;I get asked (about his reputation) and I want to say, &lsquo;What makes you say that?&rsquo;&rdquo; Shank said. &ldquo;And they can&rsquo;t answer. Because I don&rsquo;t do anything to get that. Maybe it&rsquo;s because I play hard and I want to win very badly and people who don&rsquo;t know me maybe misunderstand.&rdquo;Shank had a perfect opportunity for an eruption earlier this season when Dragons&rsquo; coach-GM Jeff Brubaker stripped him of the captaincy and gave it to defenseman Rene Chapdelaine.The theory at the time was Shank&rsquo;s reputation with referees was so poor that he could never help the team when he approached a referee as captain to discuss a call.But there was no eruption. Shank admitted he disagreed with the move, but took it in stride. He disputed accounts that said he wanted to be traded to either the Las Vegas Thunder or Detroit Vipers.&ldquo;I never asked for a trade,&rdquo; said Shank, the IHL&rsquo;s player of the week Feb. 1, after scoring seven goals and 11 points in four games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve kept quiet all season. When I lost the captain&rsquo;s job, a lot of people started looking for (things) to happen, but I wasn&rsquo;t going to do that.&ldquo;I respect Brubaker and it was his decision. I might not like it or agree with it, but he&rsquo;s the boss and I accepted it. My job is to play hard. If they want to trade me, that&rsquo;s their decision.&rdquo;Shank had a two-goal, two-assist night and scored the tying goal with 1:22 left in a recent 5-4 shootout win over Las Vegas, one of his many former teams.It boosted his goal total to 23 and prompted Las Vegas coach Chris McSorley to say, &ldquo;When he&rsquo;s on, there&rsquo;s none better in this league.&rdquo;And Shank, 30, hopes his better deportment and strong play will give him another shot at the NHL. He hasn&rsquo;t played in the NHL since 199192, when he was with the Hartford Whalers. Others suggest that at 30, he is too old.The Nashville Predators had scouts to watch him play earlier this season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never quit thinking of the NHL,&rdquo; Shank said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m probably in better shape now at 30 than I was five, six or seven years ago.&ldquo;I take good care of myself and if you watch, you see I can keep up with the 22-year-old kids. I invite all those scouts who don&rsquo;t believe in me to come watch me practise and see how hard I work and they would understand then.&rdquo;MCLAREN GETS 10: Steve McLaren of the Indianapolis Ice was suspended 10 games for leaving the bench to join an altercation Jan. 31 against the Manitoba Moose.McLaren left the Ice bench to engage Manitoba enforcer Craig Martin in a fight. Martin was coming off the ice during a line change and had been replaced when a fight started and he turned and got involved. That brought McLaren off the bench to even the numbers and it cost him 10 games.Martin was given a game misconduct and, because it was his third, received an automatic one-game suspension. Ron Cocquyt, the league disciplinarian, was reviewing the incident to determine whether Martin should receive any additional games.IHL OLYMPIANS: Nine players who have or are still competing in the IHL this year will take part in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.Defenseman Sergei Yerkovich of Las Vegas, goalie Andrei Mezin and center Alexander Galtcheniouk of the Michigan K-Wings will represent Belarus, which is competing in the preliminary round.Goalie Johan Hedberg of Detroit will represent Sweden, Bob Nardella of the Chicago Wolves will play for Italy and Fort Wayne Komets&rsquo; star Konstantin Shafranov will skate for Kazakhstan.Others who have played in the IHL this season who are playing in the Olympics are defenseman Tuomas Gronman (Finland), and goalie Andrei Trefilov (Russia), who played for Indianapolis and winger Juha Lind (Finland), who played for Michigan. &#9632;

f0029-03

Shank tones down his act in hopes of return to NHL

<div class="byline">By Brendan Savage</div>After struggling for six years to earn credibility in the hockey world, the United League may have attained it in one day at its first All-Star Game.The UHL all-stars gave the Canadian national team all it wanted Feb. 4 in Port Huron before Craig MacDonald&rsquo;s second goal with 5:39 remaining gave Canada a 4-3 win.Six NHL scouts and representatives from 15 minor league teams were at the game mainly to watch the Canadians, but many left impressed with the caliber of play from the UHL, which some tag as a goon refuge.&ldquo;Many people have a perception of certain leagues,&rdquo; said former Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; coach Ted Nolan, who was behind the Canadian bench. &ldquo;Tonight, they made a statement about the caliber of players in the league. I was somewhat surprised.&rdquo;Don Waddell, assistant GM of the Detroit Red Wings, has been a frequent visitor to UHL games since the league&rsquo;s inception in 1991-92.&ldquo;Every year the caliber keeps getting better,&rdquo; Waddell said. &ldquo;If they keep doing that, eventually people will start to come to the NHL.&rdquo;The UHL won the skills competition 12-11. Canada&rsquo;s Randy Perry was the top skater with a lap of 13.781 seconds and Canada&rsquo;s Mickey Elick had the hardest shot with a blast of 97.9 miles per hour. Brian Winter of the Madison Monsters won the accuracy test, hitting four targets in six shots.NOTEBOOK: The UHL announced Utica, N.Y., would rejoin the league as an expansion team after a one-year absence. Rockford, III., is expected to be the next expansion team announced&hellip;Mark Green of the Saginaw Lumber Kings, who set a league record with 80 goals last season, was waived Feb. 5 in a cost-cutting move&hellip;Doug Crossman was fired Feb. 5 as Port Huron Border Cats&rsquo; coach. He was replaced by John Blum, who was fired as Saginaw&rsquo;s coach Dec. 8. &#9632;

UHL gains measure of respect against Canadian nats

<div class="byline">By Dave Henry</div>The owners of the Austin Ice Bats have grabbed a piece of the rock-Little Rock, that is.Former NHL players Blaine Stoughton and Paul Lawless, along with Edward Novess and Dr. Daniel Hart, announced Feb. 2 their second Western Professional League franchise would be known as the Arkansas Glacier Cats and will begin play next season in Little Rock.The group&rsquo;s other team, the Ice Bats, is a WPHL success story. Austin, which had attracted a league-leading 6,184 fans a game through 26 dates, has led the WPHL in attendance since the league&rsquo;s inception last season.Arkansas brings to 14 the number of WPHL teams.Unlike regulations in some leagues, individuals or groups are permitted to own more than one franchise in the WPHL.NOTEBOOK: El Paso Buzzards&rsquo; left winger Jamie Thompson had a 35-game point streak stopped in a 5-2 win over the Fort Worth Brahmas Jan. 23. Thompson, who had 83 points in the 35 games, was on a pace for an 81-goal season&hellip;With 29 victories, Shreveport Mudbugs&rsquo; goalie Kevin St Pierre needed only five wins to break the league single-season record. New Mexico Scorpion Tony Martino had 33 last season&hellip;League scoring leader, Carl Boudreau of the San Angelo Outlaws (98 points) is one of five players likely to crack the 100-point mark this season. Chris Brooks of the Amarillo Rattlers (110 points) was the league&rsquo;s only 100-point man last year. &#9632;

Arkansas in as 14th WPHL team

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01914/7287680-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="707" height="240"></div>Jeff Heerema is pure Canadiana.He grew up in Murillo Township near Thunder Bay and learned to skate at four on the frozen pond behind his grandfather&rsquo;s bam.He wore hand-me-down skates from his brother. He was 13 when his parents bought him his first brand new pair.He was rated in the fifth round for the 1997 Ontario League draft and he was selected in the second round by the Samia Sting.He didn&rsquo;t attend the draft at Maple Leaf Gardens. He felt it was more important to be at the farm milking cows.The right winger became an instant success story after his coach, Mark Hunter, wondered during training camp if he&rsquo;d score 10 goals.Heerema had 19 goals and 50 points in 49 games.The NHL had not crossed his mind, not until the Central Scouting Bureau&rsquo;s mid-term ranking was released and he was in the first round, rated 18th overall. &ldquo;It was a big surprise,&rdquo; said the soft-spoken 18-year-old.He saves his talking for the ice.Heerema went on a 17-game point-scoring streak from Dec. 5 to Jan. 31, the league&rsquo;s longest this season, with 11 goals and 32 points during the run.&ldquo;He has got a gleam in his eye about being successful,&rdquo; Hunter said. &ldquo;I was worried about him scoring 10 goals because it&rsquo;s a big adjustment for a midget. But he adjusted nicely.&rdquo;TALL ORDER: Cory Brekelmans isn&rsquo;t exactly a behemoth by NHL standards, but he certainly towers over his boss.Brekelmans, a 16-year-old defenseman with the Jr. B Strathroy (Ont.) Rockets, is rated in the first round for the Ontario League draft. At 6-feet and 190 pounds, he doesn&rsquo;t have NHL size yet, but he doesn&rsquo;t have to look far for inspiration. Pat Stapleton, the director of operations for Brekelmans&rsquo; team, was just 5-foot-7 and played 10 sea-sons in the NHL.There&rsquo;s no question Brekelmans will be able to handle the junior game.&ldquo;You can watch TV on his back,&rdquo; said Plymouth Whalers&rsquo; assistant coach Steve Spott. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a test for him, but he&rsquo;s the type of kid who&rsquo;s not going to let it be an obstacle. He&rsquo;s always prepared to play.&rdquo;The draft is June 6 in Barrie. The expansion Brampton Battalion will pick first and Mississauga Ice Dogs second.The Central Scouting Bureau recently came out with its rankings. Listed below are the first round prospects listed in alphabetical order.1. Daryl Bootland. RW, Orangeville Jr. B. 2. Cory Brekelmans, D, Strathroy Jr. B. 3. Miguel Delisle, C, Caledon Jr. A. 4. Derek Fox, D, Quinte Jr. A. 5. Jay Harrison, D, Oshawa Jr. A. 6. Andy Hilbert, C/LW, U.S. under-18. 7. Doug Maclver, D, Quinte Jr. A. 8. Mark McRae, D, Brampton Jr. A. 9. Lorne Misita, C, Niagara Falls Jr. B. 10. Kris Newbury, C, Brampton Jr. A. 11. Jared Newman, D, Detroit Compuware Jr. A. 12. Mark Popovic, D, Mississauga Jr. A. 13. Matt Rock, D, Elmira Jr. B. 14. Carter Trevisani, D, Kitchener Jr. B. 15. Bobby Turner, D, Quinte Jr. A. 16. Jeremy Van Hoof, D, Lindsay Jr. A. 17. Kris Vernarsky, LW, U.S. under-18. 18. Mike Wehrstedt, RW, Thunder Bay bantams. 19. Krzysztof Wieckowski, C, Ottawa Jr. A. 20. Andrew Yardy, D, Elmira Jr. B. &#9632;

f0031-01

Unassuming Sting winger rising up draft charts

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02590/7287711-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="575" height="283"></div>Claude Julien&rsquo;s patience was finally starting to pay off for the Hull Olympiques.After leading Hull to the Memorial Cup last season, Julien knew his job would be difficult this season with only a few returning players.&ldquo;We talked about being patient,&rdquo; Julien said, &ldquo;but I think doing it was the toughest thing. Saying it was easy, but doing it was hard.&rdquo;But Julien did remain patient as his young team struggled to a 13-22-0 first-half record. But after the Christmas break, the Olympiques came out flying, posting an 11-5-0 record in 16 games, including a seven-game winning streak between Jan. 16 and 31. So, what happened?&ldquo;We paid our dues at the beginning of the year,&rdquo; Julien said. &ldquo;We played all our young kids&hellip;everybody played mistake after mistake and they kept going back on. We gave them the experience and did a lot of teaching and now it&rsquo;s starting to pay dividends.&ldquo;The one thing we have going for us is we have a great work ethic. Talent-wise, I don&rsquo;t think we compare with the top teams in our league, but because of our work ethic we&rsquo;ve been able to win some games.&rdquo;Some hot goaltending didn&rsquo;t hurt, either.In his first eight starts after Christmas, rookie Frederic Mallette was 7-2-0 with three shutouts and a 2.08 goals-against average.&ldquo;Before Christmas his average was around 7.60,&rdquo; Julien said of the 16-year-old goalie who was Hull&rsquo;s second round 1997 midget pick. &ldquo;Coming out of bantam straight to major junior was a big adjustment, but we tried to put him in the best situations we could to give him some experience. Now he has confidence and is playing the way we anticipated he would.&rdquo;STARS COME OUT: As is almost always the case at All-Star Games, the Quebec League game turned into a shootout, with the Lebel Division beating the Dilio Division 10-8 Jan. 28 in front of 9,766 Molson Centre fans in Montreal.Dominic Perna of the Laval Titan was the Lebel MVP after scoring two goals and two assists, while Eric Chouinard of the Quebec Remparts was the Dilio MVP after picking up three assists.HUSKIES RUN WILD: The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies were the hottest team in the league in January, posting a 10-1-0 record while outscoring the opposition 77-31.The dynamic duo of rookie Mike Ribeiro and Pierre Dagenais combined for 50 points during the month. The Huskies were 6-0-0 under coach Jean Pronovost, who took over after Gaston Therrien&rsquo;s sudden resignation Jan. 9.TITAN ON MOVE? It came as no surprise when Laval owner Leo-Guy Morrissette asked for and was given permission to look for a new home for his team at the league&rsquo;s board of governors meeting Jan. 28.Morrissette had threatened to move the team at the end of last season after averaging only 1,114 fans at the 2,998-seat Colisee, but later decided to give Laval fans one more chance.Despite having the third-best record (32-17-3), the Titan was averaging only 1,185 fans. Morrissette said prior to the season he needed an average of 1,760 just to balance the budget.IT&rsquo;S FINALLY OVER! Jean-Nicolas Bordeleau&rsquo;s goal at 3:03 of overtime put an end to the longest road losing streak in league history, as the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles beat the Quebec Remparts 5-4 Jan. 30.The Eagles had lost 25 straight road games and hadn&rsquo;t won away from home since Sept. 28. They were outscored 129-58 during the slump. &#9632;

f0031-02

Patience pays off as Hull returns to winning ways

<div class="byline">By Bob Vanstone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03427/7287742-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="355" height="357"></div>The Calgary Hitmen are suddenly a hit.Calgary surged to the top of the Central Division in its third Western League season.The Hitmen sported a 27-22-2 record-on the strength of a 19-5-0 surge-in early February. Calgary had records of 15-53-4 and 18-51-3 in its previous two seasons.&ldquo;Everyone does their part,&rdquo; said Calgary coach Dean Clark. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a team philosophy every night. We don&rsquo;t have one guy who&rsquo;s selfish. They all get along together. We&rsquo;ve got some goals we want to achieve and we&rsquo;re working hard to do that.&rdquo;The Hitmen were led by 18-year-old center Brad Moran, who has been with the team since its inception. The undrafted Moran had 40 goals and 74 points in 51 games.&ldquo;This is great,&rdquo; Moran said. &ldquo;We were bound to improve some time. I figured we would get there. It was just a matter of when. As long as everyone is playing hard every night, we have a chance to be successful.&rdquo;Moran attributes the team&rsquo;s improvement to a dedicated off-season training regimen.&ldquo;After last year, we were down and disappointed,&rdquo; Moran said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t want to take it anymore and we came back with a new attitude.&ldquo;The guys knew what Dean wanted and we knew what his style is. This made it so much easier at the beginning of the year.&rdquo;SAINT PATRICK: The Seattle Thunderbirds would welcome the return of 18-year-old center Patrick Marleau from the NHL&rsquo;s San Jose Sharks.But Seattle GM Russ Farwell isn&rsquo;t overly optimistic about Marleau resurfacing.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be very surprised if that came into play,&rdquo; Farwell said. &ldquo;If it ever did, we&rsquo;d be happy to have him, but we&rsquo;re not holding our breath.&rdquo;Marleau had 10 goals and 18 points after 49 games with San Jose, which selected him second overall in the NHL&rsquo;s 1997 entry draft.Two factors prompted an inquiry as to whether Marleau would return to Seattle: (1) Marleau was a healthy scratch for two recent Sharks&rsquo; games; and (2) Seattle acquired star defenseman Cory Sarich from the Saskatoon Blades on the WHL&rsquo;s Jan. 23 trading deadline, prompting observers to believe the T-Birds were loading up for a long playoff run with Marleau in the lineup.&ldquo;We would have been silly to have made the trade for that reason,&rdquo; Farwell said. &ldquo;We just thought we had to change the team.&rdquo;Marleau could change the team. He had 51 goals and 125 points last season. The Sharks would have to return Marleau to Seattle by March 25 for him to be eligible.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t spend much time dwelling on (Marleau&rsquo;s absence),&rdquo; Farwell said. &ldquo;Pat would be the best player in the league. In our minds, that&rsquo;s very clear. But we didn&rsquo;t count on having Mark Parrish-and look at the kind of season he&rsquo;s having.&rdquo;Parrish left St. Cloud State University after leading the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with 27 goals in 35 games last season.The 20-year-old left winger has yet to reach a contract agreement with the Colorado Avalanche, which drafted him in 1996. Parrish had 37 goals and 65 points in 35 games.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good player,&rdquo; Farwell said. &ldquo;It would be nice to see him and Marleau together.&rdquo;Marleau returned to San Jose&rsquo;s lineup Feb. 4 and opened the Sharks&rsquo; scoring in a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. &#9632;

f0031-03

Hitmen hit win column after two dismal years

<div class="byline">By Chris Miller</div>Calvin Elfring has been an ironman for Colorado College during one of the most successful runs in Western Collegiate Hockey Association history.And now the senior defenseman finally has a home. Elfring and the Tigers moved into the 7,600-seat World Arena in Colorado Springs in mid-January after 3-1/2 seasons of waiting.&ldquo;They thought it might be done when I was a sophomore, or a junior, but now it&rsquo;s finally ready,&rdquo; Elfring said. &ldquo;And it was worth the wait.&rdquo;The Broadmoor World Arena was tom down in 1994, just after Colorado College won the first of three straight WCHA titles. Elfring arrived that fall, when CC began playing home games at the Air Force Academy north of town. The Tigers claimed two WCHA titles and have been in the past two NCAA final fours.Elfring, 21, had played in 156 straight games through Feb. 1 and, if he finishes this season injury-free, he&rsquo;ll surpass the CC career mark set by Eric Rud, who played in 168. The WCHA record is 171, by Wisconsin&rsquo;s Jim Johannson (1980-84). The Tigers would have to make the NCAA playoffs for Elfring to exceed that mark.An all-league selection last season, Elfring is captain of a team that dropped from contention for the league title with a 10-9-1 record for fourth place.&ldquo;Everybody on our team has gone through the good times,&rdquo; said Elfring, who was chosen by the former Quebec Nordiques in the seventh round of the 1994 NHL draft. &ldquo;This year is a little different. We have to learn to cope with the downs.&ldquo;Last year we finished fourth and still ended up going to the (NCAA) final four. So we know there are still some good possibilities.&rdquo;TECH TO STAY: Michigan Tech explored the possibility of jumping to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, but has decided to stay in the WCHA.The Huskies&rsquo; top rival, Northern Michigan, jumped to the CCHA after last season. With attendance sagging, Tech was considering a jump that might give it more home games against not only Northern, but other in-state rivals such as Lake Superior State. But athletic director Rick Yeo and hockey coach Tim Watters decided against the move.NOTEBOOK: A 13-game unbeaten streak propelled Wisconsin into first place in the WCHA the first week of February. Senior center Joe Bianchi was one of the catalysts, putting together a 12-game point-scoring streak. The Badger special teams were also productive during that stretch, averaging 35 per cent on power plays and 92 per cent on penalty kills&hellip;The WCHA regular season title is expected to go to the final weekend of the season, when Wisconsin is at defending national champion North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux, who shared the league title with Minnesota in 1997, were only two points behind Wisconsin entering February. &#9632;

Colorado leader Elfring closes on ironman mark

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div>You couldn&rsquo;t have written a hokier script: A walk-on practice player for two seasons scores a goal on his first varsity shift.That&rsquo;s what happened to Michigan red-shirt freshman Kriker Arman in the Wolverines&rsquo; 72 victory over Notre Dame Jan. 30. But Arman wasn&rsquo;t finished there because he scored again on his fourth shift.Both goals were important. The first tied the game 1-1 at 13:46 of the first period. And less than four minutes later, Arman made it 3-1. That goal proved to be the winner.&ldquo;That was awesome. It was a great way to have a first game,&rdquo; said Arman, who had his parents, brother and grandparents in attendance at the game in South Bend, Ind. &ldquo;(The nervousness) was less than I expected. I was more nervous during the warm-ups than the game.&rdquo;Both of his goals against Notre Dame came on rebounds.The native of the Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield, Mich., came out for walk-on tryouts in the fall of 1996 and impressed enough to stick as a practice player. He made the team again as a practice player this year.Going into the game against Notre Dame, the Wolverines had lost two in a row and coach Red Berenson was looking for a spark. The 6-foot, 195-pound left winger was told he would be playing the Wednesday before the game.&ldquo;He improved to the point where we wanted to see him in a game,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s close to some of our other players. He has worked hard and improved. It&rsquo;s a great story and a great start for him.&rdquo;Arman&rsquo;s debut got his Michigan teammates excited.Said senior goalie Marty Turco: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t usually raise my hands in the air after a score. I did, though, after the first goal because it was so awesome: First goal, first period, first game.&rdquo;DUBIOUS RECORD: With 4-2 and 2-0 losses to Ohio State Jan. 30-31, Western Michigan broke the Central Collegiate Hockey Association record for consecutive losses with 18. The old record was 16 by Miami in 1990-91.&ldquo;What can I say that I haven&rsquo;t been saying for three months?&rdquo; said Buckeyes&rsquo; coach Bill Wilkinson.Next up is the record for consecutive winless games. That record is held by the 1992-93 Ohio State squad, which went 20 games (0-19-1) without a win.NOTEBOOK: With a goal and four assists in a split at Ferris State, Northern Michigan junior center Buddy Smith was the offensive player of the week Jan. 31&hellip;The defensive player of the week was Ohio State senior defenseman Ryan Root. Root was on the ice for five of the Buckeyes&rsquo; six goals against Western Michigan and wasn&rsquo;t on the ice for either of Western Michigan&rsquo;s goals. &#9632;

Walk-on practice player lights it up for Michigan

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggie</div>Since the Eastern College Athletic Conference began selecting a rookie of the year in 1981, no defenseman has ever won the award.But in the same year a defensive player, Michigan&rsquo;s Charles Woodson, won college football&rsquo;s Heisman Trophy, ending a stranglehold by offensive players, Colgate defenseman Cory Murphy may do the same in the ECAC.&ldquo;We knew we were getting a good player when we got Cory, but no one expects a first-year player to come in and have the kind of impact he has had,&rdquo; said coach Don Vaughan.Murphy, a native of Kanata, Ont., who led Central (Ont.) Jr. League defensemen in scoring last season with 25 goals and 65 points in 60 games, has been one of the most dominant defensemen in the ECAC all year. Through 22 games, he had six goals and 21 points and was the leading freshman scorer in the league, which has some highly regarded rookie forwards.Heading into February, he had already been named ECAC rookie of the week four times. His latest honor came after he assisted on all three goals in a 3-3 tie with Clarkson Jan. 31, a point that kept the Red Raiders in second place with an 8-3-1 record.&ldquo;His biggest assets are his composure and his head for the game,&rdquo; Vaughan said. &ldquo;Those are things you can&rsquo;t teach kids. You always have concerns with first-year players, but Cory was able to make the adjustments. We showed confidence by putting him on the power play right away and he just took the ball and ran with it.&rdquo;The 21-year-old Murphy&rsquo;s ability to read a situation help make up for a lack of size-he&rsquo;s 5-foot-10, 175 pounds.&ldquo;Cory doesn&rsquo;t try to move people away from the front of the net,&rdquo; Vaughan said. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t have to overpower people. The way he plays the game you don&rsquo;t see him exhausted.&rdquo;STORM AID: The Clarkson Golden Knights took home something a little extra after a 2-1 loss to Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y. Jan. 30.Fans at Lynah Rink donated more than $400 and gave it to the Golden Knights to take back to the North Country to help families who had been victims of a devastating ice storm that hit the area in the first week of January.The collection was initiated by Cornell coach Mike Schafer and the Big Red players.NOTEBOOK: UMass-Lowell won&rsquo;t be rolling out the welcome mat for Dartmouth again. Big Green sophomore Jon Sturgis scored the winning goal at 1:04 in overtime to give Dartmouth a 2-1 win over Lowell and spoil the opening of the River Hawks&rsquo; new Tsongas Arena Jan. 27&hellip;St. Lawrence goalie Eric Heffler made 29 saves, including one on a penalty shot to carry the Saints to a 4-3 victory over Cornell Jan. 31. Heffler stopped Ryan Moynihan of Cornell on the penalty shot when the Saints were holding a 3-2 lead early in the third period. &#9632;

Colgate defender Murphy takes run at rookie honor

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>Mark Mowers is fifth on New Hampshire&rsquo;s alltime scoring list, but Wildcats&rsquo; coach Dick Umile says there is a lot more to his captain than just numbers.&ldquo;He is our best defensive forward,&rdquo; said Umile, who believes Mowers is a legitimate Hobey Baker Award candidate. &ldquo;He is tenacious. He&rsquo;s like an insect; he hounds you and the next thing you know, the puck&rsquo;s on his stick and he&rsquo;s gone.&rdquo;Mowers, who had 176 points in 130 career games, has been voted New Hampshire&rsquo;s best defensive forward the past two years. The senior right winger/center says he has made a concerted effort to take care of business in his own end since his freshman season.&ldquo;After my freshman year, I realized a lot of offense is created if you play good defense,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;So I focused on defense more.&rdquo;The focus now for the 6-foot, 185-pound Mowers is post-season success. Over the past 71/2 seasons, New Hampshire has compiled a 167-97-23 record.But the Wildcats were 1-4-0 in the NCAA tournament over that span and 9-9-1 in the Hockey East tournament with no titles to show for it.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s an important issue with us,&rdquo; said Mowers, a native of Whitesboro, N.Y.Mowers, an undrafted free agent, hopes to pursue a pro career after he graduates.JACK IS BACK: Six days after undergoing a surgical procedure to help correct a blocked coronary artery, Boston University coach Jack Parker was behind the bench for his team&rsquo;s 4-1 win over Northeastern in the Beanpot Tournament semifinal Feb 2.&ldquo;I feel good,&rdquo; said Parker, who called the procedure performed at Beth Israel Hospital &ldquo;amazing.&rdquo;The ailment was discovered in late January after Parker experienced breathing difficulty while jogging. Tests revealed a 90 per cent blockage in the coronary artery.There is a history of heart disease in Parker&rsquo;s family. His father, Gerard, died of a heart attack at age 52. Parker is also 52.POWER OUTAGE: Providence College was one of the surprise teams over the first half of the season, but a lack of offense triggered a letdown. During a 1-8-1 stretch, Providence scored just 16 goals.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been getting plenty of good scoring chances, but we haven&rsquo;t been scoring,&rdquo; said Friars&rsquo; coach Paul Pooley. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been consistent in any aspect of our game.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Boston University defenseman Tom Poti, who had a goal and three assists in a 6-3 win over Merrimack Jan. 30, and UMass-Amherst center Tim Lovell, who had three goals and three assists in two wins, were chosen players of the week Feb. 1. &#9632;

Captain Mowers excels in both zones for ‘Cats

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01539/7287921-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0040-01

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

<h2>NOTE</h2>Unofficial game summaries provided by National Hockey League; (shots on goal/plus-minus): SA-shots against; GA-goals against; ENG-empty net goals: Dec-decision. charges to goaltenders of record when winning goal is scored.<h2>FRIDAY, JAN. 30</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02341/7288113-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="498" height="1583"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03245/7288106-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="500" height="1520"></div><h2>SATURDAY, JAN. 31</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04193/7288099-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="501" height="366"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05166/7288092-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="494" height="1950"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-06147/7288085-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="492" height="1956"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-07133/7288078-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="496" height="1959"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-08121/7288071-1-eng-US/f0040-082.jpg" title="f0040-08" width="490" height="1958"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01446/7288064-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="482" height="3414"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02269/7288057-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="485" height="1418"></div><h2>SUNDAY, FEB. 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03203/7288050-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="487" height="1926"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04170/7288043-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="489" height="3410"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-05153/7288036-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="485" height="804"></div><h2>MONDAY, FEB. 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06143/7288029-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="488" height="2537"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-07129/7288022-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="496" height="3409"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-08108/7288015-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="486" height="1737"></div><h2>TUESDAY, FEB. 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0982/7288008-1-eng-US/f0041-092.jpg" title="f0041-09" width="487" height="1611"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01459/7288001-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="491" height="2067"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02283/7287994-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="487" height="1308"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03221/7287987-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="493" height="3442"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04172/7287980-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="488" height="3440"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-05153/7287973-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="485" height="2061"></div><h2>THURSDAY, FEB. 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-06139/7287966-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="493" height="1313"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-07123/7287959-1-eng-US/f0042-072.jpg" title="f0042-07" width="494" height="3440"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-08108/7287952-1-eng-US/f0042-082.jpg" title="f0042-08" width="488" height="3440"></div> &#9632;

f0040-02

NHL SUMMARIES

NHL ROSTERS AND TRANSACTIONS

<h2>AUSTRIA</h2>Goaltenders: Claus Dalpiaz: Reinhard Divis; Michael Puschacher.Defensemen: Michael Guntner; Herbert Hohenberger; Dominic Lavoie: Engelbert Linder; Tom Searle; Wolfgang Strauss; Martin Ulrich; Gerhard Unterluggauer.Forwards: Christophe Brandner; Herbert Diamant; Martin Hohenberger; Dieter Kalt; Normand Krumpschmid; Rick Nasheim; Gerhard Puschnik; Andreas Pusnuk; Gerald Ressmann; Mario Schaden; Bernd Schmidle; Simon Wheeldon.<h2>BELARUS</h2>Goaltenders: Leonid Grishukevich; Andrei Mezin; Alexandr Shumidub.Defensemen: Alexandr Aleseev; Sergei Erkovich; Oleg Khmyl; Igor Matushkin; Ruslan Salei, Anaheim; Oleg Romanov; Sergei Stas.Forwards: Alexandr Andrievsky; Oleg Antonenko; Vadim Bekbutalov; Sergei Chernyavsky; Alexandr Glachenyuk; Alexei Kalyuzhny; Viktor Karachun; Andrei Kovalev; Alexei Lozhkin; Vasily Pankov; Evgeny Roshin; Andrei Skabelka; Vladimir Tsyplakov, Los Angeles.<h2>CANADA</h2>Goaltenders: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey; Curtis Joseph, Edmonton; Patrick Roy, Colorado.Defensemen: Rob Blake, Los Angeles; Ray Bourque, Boston; Eric Desjardins, Philadelphia; Adam Foote, Colorado; Al Maclnnis, St. Louis; Chris Pronger, St. Louis; Scott Stevens, New Jersey.Forwards: Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, Philadelphia; Shayne Corson, Montreal; Theoren Fleury, Calgary; Wayne Gretzky, NY Rangers; Paul Kariya, Anaheim; Trevor Linden, NY Islanders; Eric Lindros, Philadelphia; Joe Nieuwendyk, Dallas; Keith Primeau, Carolina; Joe Sakic, Colorado; Brendan Shanahan, Detroit; Steve Yzerman, Detroit; Rob Zamuner, Tampa Bay.<h2>CZECH REPUBLIC</h2>Goaltenders: Roman Cechmanek; Dominik Hasek, Buffalo; Milan Hnilicka.Defensemen: Roman Hamrlik, Edmonton; Frank Kucera; Libor Prochazka; Jiri Slegr, Pittsburgh; Richard Smehlik, Buffalo; Jaroslav Spacek; Petr Svoboda, Philadelphia.Forwards: Josef Beranek; Jan Caloun; Jiri Dopita; Milan Hejduk; Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh; David Moravec; Pavel Patera; Martin Prochazka, Toronto; Robert Reichel, NY Islanders; Vladimir Ruzicka; Martin Rucinsky, Montreal; Martin Straka, Pittsburgh.<h2>FINLAND</h2>Goaltenders: Jarmo Myllys; Ari Sulander; Jukka Tammi.Defensemen: Tuomas Gronman, Los Angeles; Janne Laukkanen, Ottawa; Jyrki Lumme, Vancouver; Janne Niinimaa, Philadelphia; Teppo Numminen, Phoenix; Kimmo Timonen.Forwards: Raimo Helminen; Sami Kapanen, Carolina; Saku Koivu, Montreal; Jari Kurri, Colorado; Jere Lehtinen. Dallas; Juha Lind. Dallas; Mike Nieminen: Ville Peltonen; Kimmo Rintanen; Teemu Selanne, Anaheim: Esa Tikkanen, Florida; Antti Tormanen; Juha Ylonen, Phoenix.<h2>FRANCE</h2>Goaltenders: Francois Gravel; Cristobal Huet; Fabrice L&rsquo;Henry.Defensemen: Karl Dewolf; Serge Djelloui; Gregory Dubois; Jean-Christophe Filippin; Jean-Philippe Lemoine; Denis Perez; Serge Poudrier.Forwards: Richard Aimonetto; Pierre Allard; Stephane Barin; Arnaud Briand: Roger Dube; Laurant Gras; Anthony Mortas; Bob Ouellet; Christian Pouget; Francois Rozenthal; Maurice Rozenthal; Jonathan Zwickel.<h2>GERMANY</h2>Goaltenders: Merk Klaus; Joseph Heiss; Olaf Kolzig, Washington.Defensemen: Brad Bergen; Lars Bruggemann; Erich Goldmann; Mike Heidt; Uwe Krupp, Colorado; Daniel Kunce: Mirco Ludemann; Markus Wieland.Forwards: Jan Benda; Thomas Brandl; Benoit Doucet; Peter Draisaitl; Jochen Hecht; Andreas Lupzig; Mark MacKay; Reemt Pyka; Jurgen Rumrich; Leo Stefan; Marco Sturm, San Jose; Stefan Ustorf.<h2>ITALY</h2>Goaltenders: Mario Brunetta; David Delfino; Mike Rosati.Defensemen: Chad Biafore; Chris Bartolone; Mike de Angelis; Leo Insam; Bob Nardella; Robert Oberrauch; Martin Pavlu: Larry Rucchin.Forwards: Patrick Brugnoli; Markus Brunner Joe Busillo: Mario Chitaroni; Dino Felicetti; Stefan Figluzzi; Maurizio Mansi; Stefano Margoni; Gates Orlando; Roland Ramosec Lucio Topatigh; Bruno Zarillo.<h2>JAPAN</h2>Goaltenders: Dusty Imoo; Shin Iwasaki; Jirah Nihei. Defensemen: Tatsuki Katayama; Yutaka Kawaguchi; Takayuki Kobori; Atsuo Kudoh; Hiroyuki Miura; Takayuki Miura; Takeshi Yamanaka.Forwards: Ryan Fujita; Yugi Iga; Matt Kabayam; Shin Kahata; Makoto Kawahita; Ryan Kuwabara; Tsutsumi Otomo: Hiroshi Matsuura; Toshiuki Sakai; Kunihiko Sakurai; Akihito Sugisawa; Steve Tsujiurao; Chris Yule.<h2>KAZAKHSTAN</h2>Goaltenders: Vitaly Yeremeyev; Alexandr Shimin. Defensemen: Vladimir Antipin; Vadim Glovatsky; Igor Nikitin; Andrei Savenkov; Andrei Sokolov; Vitaly Tregubov; Alexei Trochinsky; Igor Zemlyanoi.Forwards: Mikhail Borodulin; Petr Devyatkin; Igor Dorokhin; Dmitry Dudarev; Pavel Kamencev; Alexandr Koreshkov; Evgeny Koreshkov; Oleg Kryazhev; Andrei Pchelyakov: Erian Sagymbaev; Konstantin Shafranov; Andrei Zalipyatskikh; Vladimir Zavyalov.<h2>RUSSIA</h2>Goaltenders: Mikhail Shtalenkov, Anaheim; Andrei Trefilov, Chicago; Oleg Shevtsov.Defensemen: Sergei Gonchar, Washington; Alexei Gusarov, Colorado; Darius Kasparaitis, Pittsburgh; Igor Kravchuk, Ottawa; Boris Mironov. Edmonton; Dmitri Yushkevich, Toronto; Alexei Zhitnik. Buffalo.Forwards: Pavel Bure, Vancouver; Valeri Bure, Calgary; Sergei Fedorov, Detroit; Valeri Kamensky, Colorado; Andrei Kovalenko, Edmonton; Sergei Krivokrasov, Chicago; Alexei Morozov, Pittsburgh; Sergei Nemchinov, NY Islanders; German Titov, Calgary; Alexei Yashin, Ottawa; Valeri Zelepukin, Edmonton; Alexei Zhamnov, Chicago.<h2>SLOVAKIA</h2>Goaltenders: Igor Murin; Pavol Rybar; Miroslav Simonovic.Defensemen: Jergus Baca; Ivan Droppa; Jan Varholik; Stanislav Jasecko; Miroslav Mosnar, Robert Pukalovic; Lubomir Sekeras; Robert Svehla, Florida.Forwards: Peter Bondra, Washington; Zdeno Ciger; Jozef Dano; Pavol Demitra, St. Louis; Oto Hascak; Zigmund Palffy, NY Islanders; Robert Petrovicky; Vlastimil Plavucha; Peter Pucher; Miroslav Satan, Buffalo; Jozef Stumpel, Los Angeles; Richard Zednik, Washington.<h2>SWEDEN</h2>Goaltenders: Johan Hedberg: Tommy Salo, NY Islanders; Tommy Soderstrom.Defensemen: Tommy Albelin, Calgary; Calle Johansson, Washington; Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit; Mattias Norstrom, Los Angeles; Mattias Ohlund, Vancouver; Marcus Ragnarsson, San Jose; Ulf Samuelsson, NY Rangers.Forwards: Daniel Alfredsson. Ottawa; Mikael Andersson, Tampa Bay; Ulf Dahlen; Andreas Johansson, Pittsburgh; Jorgen Jonsson; Patric Kjellberg; Mats Lindgren, Edmonton; Michael Nylander, Calgary; Mikael Renberg. Tampa Bay; Tomas Sandstrom. Anaheim; Mats Sundin, Toronto; Niklas Sundstrom. NY Rangers.<h2>UNITED STATES</h2>Goaltenders: Guy Hebert. Anaheim; Mike Richter, NY Rangers; John Vanbiesbrouck, Florida.Defensemen: Bryan Berard. NY islanders; Keith Carney, Chicago; Chris Chelios, Chicago; Derian Hatcher. Dallas; Kevin Hatcher, Pittsburgh; Brian Leetch. NY Rangers; Mathieu Schneider, Toronto; Gary Suter, Chicago.Forwards: Tony Amonte, Chicago; Adam Deadmarsh, Colorado; Bill Guerin, Edmonton; Brett Hull, St. Louis; Pat LaFontaine, NY Rangers; John LeClair, Philadelphia; Shawn McEachern, Ottawa; Mike Modano, Dallas; Joel Otto, Philadelphia; Jeremy Roenick, Phoenix; Keith Tkachuk, Phoenix; Doug Weight, Edmonton.Listed below is a ranking of Canadian and American Olympians based on NHL statistics through Thursday, Feb. 5, and team-by-team statistics of all Olympians who have played at least one game in the NHL this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01368/7288203-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="483" height="2144"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02199/7288196-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="490" height="2787"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03144/7288189-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="486" height="2793"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-04110/7288182-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="490" height="2805"></div><h2>MEN&rsquo;S SCHEDULE</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0592/7288175-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="1518" height="1062"></div><h2>WOMEN&rsquo;S SCHEDULE</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0683/7288168-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg" title="f0044-06" width="1496" height="563"></div> &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

February 20, 1998

Border crossings

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

Another bad break for hard-luck Huard

PLAYER OF THE MONTH