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.

September 11, 1998

The Hockey News September 11, 1998

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01892/7010908-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dawg Pak goalie Steve Vezina finished the playoffs second in goals-against average and save percentage.</figcaption></div>The official skate of PRO BEACH HOCKEY <a href="http://www.v-formation.com">www.v-formation.com</a> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Ramp it up!

<div class="byline">By Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03358/7010353-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="597" height="952"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kevin Constantineov</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02552/7010360-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="147" height="146"></div>Kevin Constantine is 2-for-2 in missing superstars. Last year Mario Lemieux was newly retired. This year Ron Francis is gone to the Carolina Hurricanes.&ldquo;A fundamental belief of mine is to worry only about the things I can control,&rdquo; Constantine said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always listed three: baby Matthew (his year-old son) smiling, how much money is my wife spending and am I doing everything I can to help our team win?&rdquo;Last season, his first with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Constantine chucked their run-and-gun style and led them to the Northeast Division title.Constantine knows he must fix a pair of problems. Who will be right winger Jaromir Jagr&rsquo;s center and how will the Penguins neutralize opponents&rsquo; speed?Constantine holds out hope the team will sign restricted free agent Petr Nedved or trade him. Nedved, who sat out last season in a contract dispute, is their only legitimate first-line center. (See pg. 14 for more on Nedved.)&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we have to look at or worry about the No. 1 center situation yet,&rdquo; Constantine said.As for the second case, it remains fresh in Constantine&rsquo;s mind how his defensemen were ambushed by the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; speedy forwards in the playoffs. With the NHL&rsquo;s rule changes aimed at increasing the speed of the game, the Penguins face a challenge.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think, strategically, we&rsquo;ve ever forgotten why we lost. A lot of our intentions will be geared toward correcting some of the reasons,&rdquo; Constantine said.NOTEBOOK: Commissioner Gary Bettman heard several Penguin-related grievances Aug. 24, including Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s $33-million lawsuit against the team and the power struggle between coowners Howard Baldwin and Roger Marino. Everyone had their say in Bettman&rsquo;s office, but nothing was resolved. Marino has been running the day-to-day operations while he attempts to buy out Baldwin&hellip; Pittsburgh&rsquo;s 1993 fifth round draft pick, defenseman Chris Kelleher, signed for $1.5-million over two years&hellip;Working out at the team&rsquo;s practice facility were free agent forwards Alex Hicks and Robert Lang. Hicks had not received a contract offer while Lang rejected Pittsburgh&rsquo;s initial offering. &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Constantine in control

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>The Ontario League has had enough of fight-filled pre-season games that last three hours.Feeling its image suffered last season when brawling in many pre-season games sent fans to early exits, the league has instituted a fine system policy this pre-season.A team with five fighting majors in an exhibition game will be fined $500. The fine increases in increments of $500 for each additional fight, to a cap of $2,000 per game.A team incurring repeated fines will face suspension of players and the coach.Ottawa 67&rsquo;s coach-GM Brian Kilrea, the winningest coach in Canadian Hockey League history, said the league needed to take action after coaches failed to control their players.In one situation last exhibition season, the London Knights and Sarnia Sting fought so much each team was left with five skaters and one goalie for the final seven minutes. There were no substitutes on either bench.Players are ejected for fighting in the pre-season. That practice will continue.At the time, OHL director of hockey operations Ted Baker said this was not the image the league was attempting to promote and suggested there would be a new policy in place for this exhibition season.&ldquo;I can see the concern,&rdquo; Kilrea said. &ldquo;A lot of pre-season games are family nights and a lot &rsquo; of young kids are at the games with their parents. With the excessive fighting, we lose fans instead of getting them in.&ldquo;We have to be concerned about our image. Some players get carried away. They think they have to fight to make the team.&rdquo;The OHL said a fight won&rsquo;t count toward a team&rsquo;s five fights when the player from the other team has been identified by the referee as the instigator.Wayne Daniels, director of hockey operations for the Oshawa Generals, said it got to where exhibition games &ldquo;were too long and drawn out by all the fighting.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01942/7010684-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="757" height="253"></div>&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t in favor of the stiff fines because in a lot of cases we have a boy out there who&rsquo;s trying to prove he can fight. I hope we can get the boys to abide by these rules. Too many times these players are told by their agents and families, &rsquo;Don&rsquo;t back down.&rsquo; &ldquo;Daniels said he knows of complaints received by the league office from spectators who&rsquo;ve attended fight-filled exhibition games.NEW DIGS: The new Sarnia Sports and Entertainment Centre was ready for the Sting to open training camp Sept. 2.The $15.9-million twin arena-4,500 seats including 36 private suites-was spearheaded by Dino. Robert and Larry Ciccarelli, the Sting&rsquo;s majority owners, who moved the team to Sarnia from Newmarket four years ago.The 2,000-seat Sarnia Arena wouldn&rsquo;t cut it for an OHL team and a new building was needed or the team would have to move again.But never did the Ciccarellis hold a gun to the city&rsquo;s head by issuing a threat during arena negotiations. Instead, they went to work with the city and local businesses, forming a partnership. Season-ticket sales were capped at 3,800.&ldquo;This is great. I&rsquo;m really happy for the people of Sarnia and really proud to say I&rsquo;m from Sarnia,&rdquo; Dino Ciccarelli said after driving up from his suburban Detroit home to see the arena.He plays for the Florida Panthers and recently signed a new two-year deal which will give him 20 years in the NHL.LONG TRIBUTE: Current and former NHL-ers were on hand when the London Knights honored a lifetime of achievement with a dinner for former coach Bill Long.&ldquo;They usually wait until you&rsquo;re dead to have a tribute dinner. This is a little early,&rdquo; Long said.Long, 80, coached the Knights from 1972 to 1980 after being with the Niagara Falls Flyers and Ottawa 67&rsquo;s. &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

League institutes policy to limit pre-season fighting

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06153/7010291-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="150" height="105"></div>Players sometimes look forward to long road trips as a way to build team togetherness.Coach Roger Neilson decided his Philadelphia Flyers needed a shot of this bonding process even before the season began.Coming off a disappointing season, which ended in a first round playoff exit, the Flyers were scheduled to open their training camp away from home for only the second time since the late 1970s.Neilson chose to take his team to Lindsay, Ont., a few miles from hockey hotbed Peterborough, where he holds his annual summer camps. Getting the Flyers&rsquo; fractured dressing room back in order seems like his first order of business.By their own admission, the Flyers had an uneasy mix last season. Too many veteran players were sitting (and complaining), making matters difficult for incoming young players.Flyers&rsquo; president-GM Bob Clarke predicts he will carry a much trimmerroster, possibly as few as 22 players, one under the league limit.Neilson believes he can get things turned around and motivate the players to compete for each other again.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a challenge for any coach.&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;I think in today&rsquo;s game you have to have that (chemistry) to win. That&rsquo;s certainly one of the main challenges facing our coaching staff this year-it&rsquo;s to get this team, for sure, all on the same page.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Carl Lindros, father and agent for captain Eric Lindros, gave a cautious evaluation of the Flyers&rsquo; 200-page contract proposal, which GM Bob Clarke hand-delivered to Toronto Aug. 13. The five-year offer, estimated at about $45 million (including incentive bonuses), will be on the table only until Sept. 11, the start of training camp, according to Clarke. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re still gathering data and evaluating it,&rdquo; Carl Lindros said&hellip;Center Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, who will begin the season with a consecutive game streak of 402 (second to Montreal&rsquo;s Mark Recchi), broke Rick MacLeish&rsquo;s team record of 287 two years ago. Left winger John LeClair opens the season with 252 straight games. &#9632;

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Unity in dressing room key for improved results

<div class="image-hero"><img title="C0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0134/7009109-1-eng-US/c0002-012.jpg"></div><h2>Classy Gartner hangs &rsquo;em up</h2>1. Mr. Consistency Classy right winger Mike Gartner retires after 19 seasons, 708 goals.2. Taking bite out of fight Ontario League imposes significant fines to discourage fighting in pre-season games.3. Courageous return Sheldon Kennedy returns to Swift Current on cross-country skate with head held high.4. No Mickey Mouse deal NHL nets 2.6 times as much ($600 million) than old deal from Disney for NHL TV rights.6. Looking after vets NHLPA will pay $600,000 in royalties from card set to players who retired before pension plan started.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0322/7009102-1-eng-US/c0002-032.jpg" title="C0002-03" width="337" height="486"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dominik Hasek</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0412/7009095-1-eng-US/c0002-042.jpg" title="C0002-04" width="344" height="496"><figcaption class="caption-body">Petr Nedved</figcaption></div><h2>Picks for sale in Sherbrooke</h2>1. Sherbrooke Struggling Quebec League team traded away top two draft picks for money.2. Hire a driver Buffalo goalie Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s questionable driving streak continues with yet another crash.3. No winner here Petr Nedved&rsquo;s case one situation where hard line by both sides benefits nobody.4. Keith Tkachuk How many renegotiations can one player, no matter how talented, expect to get?5. He said, he said Either Bobby Hull or Russian reporter messed up, but either way it&rsquo;s a messy situation. &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</div>It was a bad week for the hockey world and The Hockey News. A legend stood accused of making utterly bigoted remarks and the innermost fears harbored by some at THN were confirmed.Bobby Hull, the most charismatic and accommodating superstar in NHL history, reportedly told a Moscow paper that Hitler had some good ideas, but went too far and that the U.S. black population is growing too quickly in the United States. (See pg. 7 for story.) And Sheldon Kennedy, whose revelations of sexual abuse have led to a program aimed at cleansing the Canadian coaching system, said one of the places he suffered abuse was at the 1989 THN Awards Luncheon. (See pg. 7 for story.)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0231/7009140-1-eng-US/c0002-022.jpg" title="C0002-02" width="370" height="464"></div>Hull denies the statements attributed to him by the Moscow Times and speculates comments on cattle breeding were misconstrued. There have been calls for Hull&rsquo;s comments to be investigated and, if found to be true, lead to revocation of the ex-superstar&rsquo;s Order of Canada and place in the Hall of Fame.In the first days of the controversy there was no certainty of where the truth lay, but those who have heard Hull speak at after-dinner events and shared time with him informally know he is capable of saying things in bad taste. Even his lawyer, Tim Danson, acknowledged as much. &rsquo;Tve seen him do something off the wall and sit back and watch the person&rsquo;s reaction-and you&rsquo;d know he&rsquo;s kidding,&rdquo; Danson told the Globe and Mail. &ldquo;But if it&rsquo;s reported as serious, it skews the truth. It may have been in bad taste, but he&rsquo;s kidding.&rdquo; By no means does any of this establish what was said in Moscow. But the gulf between Hull&rsquo;s public and private realities can, indeed, be vast His charm, undeniable and sincere in the company of fans, is not always so endearing in private or at private events where the man who had a cannon shot is a loose cannon.Nobody wants to think the worst of Hull. Let&rsquo;s hope the truth wins out.Meanwhile, speaking from the primary scene of the crime in Swift Current, Sask., during a cross-Canada tour to raise awareness of sexual abuse, Kennedy made public for the first time a bitter irony. That is, at the very time when Graham James was being honored as Inside HOCKEY Man of the Year for his position on violence in hockey, the Swift Current Broncos&rsquo; coach was abusing the person he brought along as his guest for the occasion-a 20-year-old Sheldon Kennedy. That likelihood has troubled THN staffers aware of the connection. Now it is on the record.The week of Aug. 24,1998, was full of words that hurt the game. &#9632;

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It’s only words, but they hurt hockey big-time

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011702/7009178-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Not hooked on Phoenix: Keith Tkachuk may sit out the season due to a contract dispute. (Photo by Bruce Benet/BS)</figcaption></div>Is he Captain America or Captain Crook?Is he the NHL&rsquo;s premier power forward or hockey&rsquo;s hard-ass head case?Is he misguided or simply misunderstood?Keith Tkachuk probably will tell you he is a little bit of all of the above-within reason.But the rugged left winger for the Phoenix Coyotes also will tell you that all the fuss and flak he is taking this summer stems from his highly-publicized demand for a rich new contract and that all the criticism will end the minute the deal gets done.At least, that&rsquo;s what he&rsquo;s banking on, assuming the two-time 50-goal scorer gets to the bank at all.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what all this is about, the money. I realize that,&rdquo; Tkachuk, the Coyotes&rsquo; captain, said from his summer home in Cape Cod, Mass. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s how it is in life. The bad outweighs the good. If it weren&rsquo;t for the money, it would be all good. But I can&rsquo;t control what other people are saying about me. Especially the media.&rdquo;It hasn&rsquo;t just been the media. The fans have spoken also. Ever since word leaked a year ago during training camp that Tkachuk didn&rsquo;t intend to honor the remaining three years of his contract because he felt he was adversely underpaid, the stones continue to be cast.His public image, he admits, has taken a beating. As this contract squabble dragged on, more and more dark moments from his career were being rehashed and retold. It is an unavoidable, hand-in-hand haunting for the 26-year-old bruiser from Boston.They mention his wild days in Winnipeg, about the time he rolled his Jeep and left the scene of the accident. They bring up the old gambling allegations and the lawsuit by a shady Edmonton businessman.They recall his past contract disputes, such as the one that eventually led the Chicago Blackhawks to sign him to a five-year offer sheet worth a cool $6 million up front, a deal the Winnipeg Jets ultimately matched. There is no place to hide.&ldquo;A couple things I&rsquo;ve said have put me in the situation I&rsquo;m in now, things that I&rsquo;ve learned from,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But I still think people misunderstand what I&rsquo;m all about. The bottom line is I know I&rsquo;m a good person. I go out and work hard and give it all every night, trying to help my team become successful and trying to become a great player.&rdquo;Still, everything that is anything, from Tkachuk&rsquo;s sister getting into a fistfight at a Scottsdale restaurant more than a year ago, to his supposed involvement in the trashing of apartment rooms in Nagano during the Winter Olympics, was being regurgitated.&ldquo;He got bashed pretty good again just the other day in USA Today for that comment he made in Japan about &lsquo;this was a big waste of time&rsquo; after the U.S. got &rsquo; eliminated,&rdquo; said Tkachuk&rsquo;s agent, Bob Murray. &ldquo;He was just upset. the team didn&rsquo;t accomplish what it set out to do, like all of them were.&ldquo;Instead, he&rsquo;s made out to look like an ingrate all over again.&rdquo;The fallout figured to be even greater as training camp approached if a new deal isn&rsquo;t reached and, as expected, Tkachuk stages a lengthy holdout, refusing to play for the $2.8 million he is to be paid this season and the $3 million he is due in 1999-2000.After rejecting the team&rsquo;s three-year extension in June worth a total of $33.8 million over five seasons, Tkachuk already has been called everything from overly greedy to unfit to be captain. His leadership and principles have been questioned.After last season, teammate Rick Tocchet openly suggested there were some leadership problems that needed to be addressed. Though never naming Tkachuk, it was seen by some as a blanketing indictment of Captain Coyote.Not so, said Tocchet. It was more of a general comment aimed at everyone in the dressing room. However, Tocchet insists that Tkachuk&rsquo;s contract dispute is a potential team-derailing distraction that can ruin the upcoming season.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bad situation for Keith because he&rsquo;s getting a lot of negativity from the fans,&rdquo; Tocchet said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s too bad because if people got to know him, he&rsquo;s really a good guy and he wants to win. It&rsquo;s just a situation where things are real confused right now.&ldquo;Either way, it has to get rectified early so we can go into the season positively.&rdquo;Many have campaigned for Coyotes&rsquo; GM Bobby Smith to either trade Tkachuk or let him sit out the entire season.For the price Tkachuk is asking-a restructured deal worth $40 million over the next five years-the latter is a very viable option. Smith said as much during a recent story in The Arizona Republic:&ldquo;There are three scenarios,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We can trade him, we can give him what he wants or let him sit out the season. I&rsquo;m not willing to eliminate Option C at this point. We just might do that at the end of the day. We might decide that it&rsquo;s simply the right thing to do.&rdquo;Then, he lowered the boom.&ldquo;I think we have a good enough team to make the playoffs without him,&rdquo; Smith said.&ldquo;All we&rsquo;ve been able to do with Keith Tkachuk is make the playoffs and lose in the first round.&rdquo;That last comment was the most damning of all. Tkachuk and Murray each reacted angrily to it and questioned Smith&rsquo;s logic for making such a stinging statement at such a critical point in negotiations.&ldquo;I still don&rsquo;t know what he was trying to accomplish by saying something like that,&rdquo; Murray said.Tkachuk, who was working out on his own and skating with a group of players at Boston University, tried to downplay the remark.&ldquo;Bobby gets a little excited sometimes-just like me,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;What am I going to do, go down to Phoenix and beat up Bobby Smith? He&rsquo;s going to say what he&rsquo;s going to say and do what he&rsquo;s going to do. I don&rsquo;t expect him to talk great about me right now. But that comment was ridiculous on his part. That&rsquo;s no way to treat your best player.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03764/7009171-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="1213" height="2251"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith Tkachuk says he&rsquo;s prepared to hear boos this season.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Look, I don&rsquo;t hate the guy. But maybe it won&rsquo;t be the same when I come back. I&rsquo;ll be the same player, a guy who works hard and gives it all every single night, but&hellip; &ldquo;But the relationship definitely was on the verge of a meltdown. That much was obvious. The two sides hadn&rsquo;t spoken through much of August after a month&rsquo;s hiatus when Smith pulled his offer from the table.At the same time, Smith has made it clear that he does not want to trade Tkachuk. It has also been reported that he turned down a straight-up deal with the Philadelphia Flyers for Eric Lindros.&ldquo;If that&rsquo;s true, it&rsquo;s nice to hear,&rdquo; Tkachuk said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m still not sure Bobby Smith wants me on his team.&rdquo;The heart of the issue is what Tkachuk will earn this season and next. He wants to be paid among the NHL&rsquo;s elite now. The Coyotes are open to giving him his $8 million-a-season request, but only after he shows signs of fulfilling the final two years of his current deal, which they are willing to sweeten.But Tkachuk wants more up front. If he plays for an extra million now, he will want an extra $7 million later. That translates into an average salary of about $11 million a season for the three-year extension, numbers too high for the Coyotes to consider.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a significant amount of money just to fulfill the obligation he already has,&rdquo; Smith said.Not according to Tkachuk.&ldquo;I was promised a new contract by Bobby and as of right now, I expect him to deliver,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to get in a situation where we&rsquo;re talking bad about each other in the press. I just want to get something done.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m being painted as the bad guy because of what&rsquo;s going on right now, but until this came up, I don&rsquo;t think I was portrayed as a bad guy. When I signed that contract in Winnipeg, a lot of people didn&rsquo;t understand. They got stirred up about it. I understood that, coming from the background I did, where things were pretty modest.&ldquo;Not everybody&rsquo;s going to like it or agree with it. But unfortunately, this is the business side of professional sports. I knew from the beginning that this thing probably was going to take all summer, that it wasn&rsquo;t going to happen overnight.&ldquo;I also realize that some people probably are going to want to boo me. Obviously, that&rsquo;s not what any player ever wants to hear. But I&rsquo;ve been booed before and there&rsquo;s nothing you can do about it.&rdquo; &#9632;

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FEATURES

PHOENIX FOLLIES

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div>Call it a television counter-balance to Don Cherry, or at least to the traditional mantra no one ever gets hurt in a hockey fight.Nick Kypreos&rsquo; mug on Canadian television this hockey season will be all the proof anyone should need to understand that&rsquo;s just not true.Kypreos officially retired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in late-August after missing all of last season with concussion-related problems. He was punched out cold in an exhibition game last fall by then-New York Rangers&rsquo; slugger Ryan Vanden Bussche.The 32-year-old Kypreos will now turn his attention to a broadcasting position with the new CTV Sportsnet cable channel where he&rsquo;ll be paired with former NHLer Greg Millen as a studio analyst on the network&rsquo;s NHL broadcasts.&ldquo;This is such a great opportunity,&rdquo; Kypreos said. &ldquo;There aren&rsquo;t too many athletes who retire and then get the chance to do national television. Some big names do it, but we little guys usually end up selling life insurance.&rdquo;Kypreos, an unrestricted free agent, had hoped to join another NHL club this fall until Chicago neurosurgeon Dr. James Kelly warned against it.&ldquo;I feel really good. For everyday life, I&rsquo;d say I&rsquo;m 100 per cent,&rdquo; Kypreos said. &ldquo;But whether I could play hockey at the highest level two or three times a week, I don&rsquo;t know. But I don&rsquo;t need to know. I didn&rsquo;t want to be one of those athletes who couldn&rsquo;t let go of the past.&rdquo;Kypreos, who has said he would like to see fighting eliminated from the NHL, played 442 NHL games and was part of the New York Rangers&rsquo; 1994 Stanley Cup-winning squad.He joins the list of NHLers forced to quit in recent years because of concussion problems, a group that includes Pat LaFontaine and Brett Lindros. &#9632;

Leafs’ Kypreos retires on advice of neurosurgeon

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011645/7009264-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="477" height="403"></div><h2>WESTERN CONFERENCE</h2>There were 30 Group II restricted free agents and two potential training camp holdouts in the Western Conference as of late August. Listed below are both for each team. Only NHL players are listed.ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKSRestricted: Steve Rucchin, C.CALGARY FLAMESRestricted: Jamie Allison, D; Todd Simpson, 0.CHICAGO BLACKHAWKSRestricted: Eric Daze, RW; Ethan Moreau, LW.COLORADO AVALANCHERestricted: Eric Messier, D; Stephane Yelle, C; Sandis Ozolinsh, D.DALLAS STARSRestricted: Jamie Langen-brunnerC; Juha Lind, C; Darryl Sydor, D.DETROIT RED WINGSRestricted: Tomas Holmstrom, LW; Mathieu Dande-nault, RW.EDMONTON OILERSRestricted: Eric Fichaud, G; Ryan Smyth, LW; Doug Weight, C.LOS ANGELES KINGSRestricted: Aki Berg, D; Rob Blake, D; Matt Johnson, LW; Steve McKenna, LW; Jamie Storr, G.NASHVILLE PREDATORSRestricted: Andrew Brunette, LW; Sergei Krivokrasov, RW; Sebastien Bordeleau, C.PHOENIX COYOTESRestricted: Keith Carney, D; Shane Doan, RW.Potential Holdout: Keith Tkachuk, LW.SAN JOSE SHARKSRestricted: Jeff Friesen, C; Bryan Marchment, 0; Stephane Matteau, LW; Owen Nolan, RW; Mike Rath-je, D; Mike Ricci, CST. LOUIS BLUESRestricted: Jamie Rivers, D.VANCOUVER CANUCKSRestricted: Garth Snow, G; Bryan McCabe, D; Brad May, LW.Potential Holdout: Pavel Bure, RW.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021183/7009257-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="479" height="402"></div><h2>EASTERN COFERENCE</h2>There were 47 Group II restricted free agents and one potential training camp holdout in the Eastern Conference as of late August. Listed below are both for each team. Only NHL players are listed.BOSTON BRUINSRestricted: Jason Allison, C; Anson Carter, RW; Ted Donato, LW; Steve Heinze, LW; Kyle McLaren, D.BUFFALO SABRESRestricted: Alexei Zhitnik, D; Mike Wilson, D; Donald Audette, RW; Miroslav Satan, RW.CAROLINA HURRICANESRestricted: None.FLORIDA PANTHERSRestricted: Radek Dvorak, LW; Steve Washburn, C; Kevin Weekes, G; Chris Wells, C.MONTREAL CANADIENSRestricted: Patrice Brisebois, D; Saku Koivu, C; Vladimir Malakhov, D; Martin Rucinsky, LW; Brian Savage, RW; Turner Stevenson, LW; Jose Theodore, G; Scott Thornton, LW.NEW JERSEY DEVILSRestricted: Scott Niedermayer, D; Denis Pederson, C; Sheldon Souray, D; Petr Sykora, C.NEW YORK ISLANDERSRestricted: Trevor Linden, C; Ziggy Palffy, RW; Kenny Jonsson, D; Ken Belanger, LW.NEW YORK RANGERSRestricted: Eric Cairns, 0; Maxim Galanov, D; Todd Harvey, C; Peter Popovic, D; Harry York, C.OTTAWA SENATORSRestricted: Andreas Dackell, RW; Stan Neckar, D; Chris Murray, RW; Vaclav Prospal, C.PHILADELPHIA FLYERSRestricted: Daniel Lacroix, LW.PITTSBURGH PENGUINSRestricted: Robert Lang, C; Petr Nedved, C.TAMPA BAY LIGHTNINGRestricted: None.TORONTO MAPLE LEAFSRestricted: Mike Johnson, RW; Martin Prochazka, RW; Mathieu Schneider, D; Steve Sullivan, C&rdquo; Potential Holdouts: Felix Potvin, G.WASHINGTON CAPITALSRestricted: Sergei Gonchar, D; Andrei Nikolishin, C. &#9632;

f0005-01

GM plays hardball

This letter concerns the alleged remarks made by Bobby Hull in Moscow recently.I have been privileged to have known Bobby for over 25 years. He is the most genuine, generous and honest superstar in the history of hockey. He has never made such remarks, nor would I ever expect him to do so.Just consider the source. Who would you trust? The answer is clear: Bobby Hull is innocent of any charges. I am honored to defend this great hockey player and, more importantly, this great man.Gregory Barna, Marietta, Ga.<h2>Learn from Wings</h2>Another free agent frenzy has passed with NHL teams signing big-ticket free agents in hopes of building a winner.What most of these teams don&rsquo;t realize is that the real formula for building a winner is strong drafting and developing young players and only when you are one step away from the Stanley Cup do you make the move for a high-priced veteran.A prime example of this is the Detroit Red Wings. Over the years, they have stockpiled top prospects such as Sergei Fedorov, Tomas Holmstrom and Martin Lapointe. When they had a solid base, they went for the final piece, Brendan Shanahan (whom they were able to get by trading Keith Primeau, another young player in their system).This is a good lesson for all those struggling teams.Lee Hamilton, Golden, B.C.<h2>Thanks, Pat</h2>Thank you, Pat LaFontaine, for your Hall of Fame career in the NHL and your classy representation of the sport off the ice.Peggy McMahon, Rockport, Mass.<h2>Put icing on ice</h2>After reading about rule changes in the NHL for so long, I feel like I have to put my two cents in. I think one area the league should look at to speed up the game and promote offense is icings.Icing slows the game down. Play is stopped, the offensive team loses its momentum, the defensive team gets a rest and fans go to the concession stands.If icing the puck were a minor penalty for delay of game, the defensive team would be forced to pass or skate the puck out of the zone. This would obviously create more offensive chances and power play opportunities. It would be great if minor hockey leagues picked up on the rule and North America could begin producing defensemen who can skate and pass the puck.And in order to prevent players from simply flipping the puck over the glass to avoid an icing call, they should get a minor penalty for that, too.David Coughlin, Scottsdale, Ariz.<h2>Play anthems</h2>I am continually disgusted and appalled by the ESPN and Fox networks&rsquo; total disrespect to Canada and the United States by refusing to televise our national anthems.Call me a traditionalist or old-fashioned patriot, but I think Star Spangled Banner and O Canada are as much a part of a hockey game as the opening faceoff.C&rsquo;mon guys, cut the bull for two minutes and televise the anthems.Donald Gentzler, Gordonville, Pa.<h2>Take a shot</h2>Here&rsquo;s a great suggestion for creating more offense in the game: more penalty shots.The league should award a penalty shot for any penalty that negates an obvious scoring chance; any violent penalty, such as highsticking, kneeing, spearing or hitting from behind; or any double minor.That would probably create an average of two or three penalty shots per game.The great thing about this amendment is it&rsquo;s not too radical, doesn&rsquo;t cost anything, doesn&rsquo;t involve any rule changes and would boost interest in the game.Dennis Friesen, Wawanesa, Man.<h2>Fab Forsberg</h2>Your cover story on Peter Forsberg in the May 15 issue prompted me to write to tell you of our experience last summer.Our family was visiting a friend who plays for MoDo, Peter&rsquo;s previous team in his hometown of Omskoldsvik, Swe. Our seven-year-old son, who is Forsberg&rsquo;s biggest fan, could hardly wait to see &ldquo;Peter&rsquo;s rink.&rdquo; We were lucky to learn that Forsberg practices with his former team in the summer.My son couldn&rsquo;t believe that he could watch Peter Forsberg practice live and in person. We were introduced to Peter and he happily posed for photos with our kids.My son spent the next two days shadowing Peter at the rink and was thrilled when Peter called him by name, signed cards, pucks and banners, took him to the dressing room and even jokingly offered to bring our son back to Canada at the end of the summer if we wanted to leave him there.It was definitely a thrill of a lifetime for our son. No one will ever convince him that there is a better player in the world than Peter Forsberg. In these days of multi-million dollar salaries, it&rsquo;s refreshing to see a superstar of Forsberg&rsquo;s status taking the time to make a little boy&rsquo;s dreams come true.Judy Bergstrom, Camrose, Alta.<h2>Give him a break</h2>In every Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; game I saw last season, Jaromir Jagr was getting attacked from the moment he stepped on the ice. He takes sticks to the head and gets run over and knocked down constantly whether he has the puck or not.Last season he had to get used to a new defensive system and still managed to win the scoring championship. So he has a few bad games and gets frustrated and says what&rsquo;s on his mind. Doesn&rsquo;t everybody do that once in a while?If 1 were him, I probably would have already shoved my stick down somebody&rsquo;s throat. His critics should just begin to appreciate him for the super talent he is and get off his back. He already gets enough of that on the ice.Barbara Holliday, Beattyville, Ky.<h2>What&rsquo;s in store?</h2>I can&rsquo;t wait to see The Hockey News&rsquo; predictions for 1998-99. Would you like me to refresh your memories on last year&rsquo;s predictions?The Detroit Red Wings would not repeat. Mats Sundin would become a superstar. The New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche would play for the Cup.Then there were your top centers in the league, a list on which Steve Yzerman finished 13th behind the likes of Wayne Gretzky. Mark Messier, Sundin, Mike Modano and Saku Koivu. That was a misprint, right guys?This year, just take away the three in 13 and keep the one. Stevie Y is the best. And while you&rsquo;re at it, come out with a new list of the top 50 NHL players of all-time and put Yzerman in the top 10 where he belongs.Mike Osborne. Hamilton, Ont.Fax us your comments at&nbsp;(416) 340-1641&nbsp;or write to&nbsp;Letters. THN, 777 Bay St., Suite 2700. Box 148, Toronto, Ont, MSG 2N8&nbsp;in Canada. In the U.S., write to&nbsp;Letters. THN, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947. E-mail us at campbellk @transcontinental.ca Include home and business phone numbers. THN&nbsp;reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

’Hull is innocent’ reader maintains

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011826/7009319-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011663/7009350-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NHL great Bobby Hull has been active in the cattle industry since 1959.</figcaption></div>Once the author of a slapshot heard around the world, Bobby Hull is now denying having made disparaging comments heard around the world.The Moscow Times ran an interview with &lsquo;The Golden Jet&rsquo; in which he was quoted as saying the Nazi plan to create a master race was not without merit. Hull was in Russia in mid-August as a guest of the organizers of the annual Spartak summer hockey tournament.Hull, who was in Northern Ontario for an appearance tour when the paper hit the streets, denied the report, which quoted him as saying: &ldquo;Hitler, for example, had some good ideas. He just went a little bit too far.&rdquo; The story also said Hull made disparaging remarks about the U.S. black population.&ldquo;Nothing that was quoted was true,&rdquo; Hull told the Sudbury Star Aug 26. &ldquo;I feel betrayed.&rdquo; Hull called the article &ldquo;false and defamatory. I will use all legal means against those responsible for these outrageous lies and distortions of the truth.&rdquo;Hull&rsquo;s lawyer, Tim Danson, said he wants an apology and retraction from the Moscow Times, otherwise &ldquo;there will be litigation. He makes his living on his reputation, so if he lost that, it would be devastating.&rdquo;&ldquo;Bobby is shocked, he&rsquo;s stunned,&rdquo; Danson said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s hurt by something egregiously meant to injure him.&rdquo;The Moscow Times is an English-language daily newspaper launched in 1992. Managing editor Matt Bivens said he stands &ldquo;TOO per cent behind the story,&rdquo; written by Gennady Fyodorov.&ldquo;He was dismayed about the information he brought back. He tried to bury comments, but we had to make an editorial decision to move them up.&rdquo;Fyodorov reportedly asked Hull if he was sure he wanted to be quoted making racist comments, to which Hull replied: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t give a damn. I&rsquo;m not running for political office.&rdquo;However, a Russian translator who was at the interview supports Hull.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he said anything bad,&rdquo; Svetlana Murashkina told Canadian Press Aug. 27. &ldquo;As far as I remember, the question was &lsquo;What do you think, is it possible that in the next century there will appear some rebel like Hitler and Stalin?&rsquo; something like this.&ldquo;He made some speculations&hellip;The word Nazis wasn&rsquo;t mentioned at all. He said that, for example, &rsquo;I raise cattle, I know something about genetics.&rsquo; He told that maybe&hellip;Hitler tried to make some perfect race, but went too far, and that was not good.&rdquo;Danson explained another Moscow newspaper was proceeding with an interview regarding Hull&rsquo;s opinion of world leaders when the Times reporter joined the scrum.&ldquo;Bobby was responding and I guess the (Times) reporter heard what he wanted to hear,&rdquo; Danson said. &ldquo;To me that story was designed to maximize impact, maximize sensationalism and maximize injury to Bobby Hull.&rdquo;Hull, 59, is one of the best players ever to play the game. He popularized the slapshot in the 1960s and scored 610 goals and 1,170 points in 1,063 NHL games. The Pointe Anne, Que., native won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP twice and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.Hull was selected No. 8 in THN&rsquo;s definitive list of the top 50 NHL players of all-time. He is also a member of the Order of Canada.Since his retirement, Hull spends his time making appearances and operating his cattle farms in Ontario and New Brunswick. Cattle breeders often breed out imperfections by altering the genetic fabric of animals.Hull told Canadian Press the conversation in Moscow switched from world leaders to a discussion on cattle breeding and genetics and that was the likely cause of confusion.&ldquo;When I was trying to explain the genetics of our cattle business, it was on the tail of the question asked about world leaders,&rdquo; Hull said. &ldquo;This could have been construed that I was talking about Hitler and the master race.&rdquo;Danson confirmed that a mall appearance in New Liskeard, Ont., Aug. 30 was cancelled, but said it was not connected to the controversy. But Mike McArthur, the manager of the Timiskiming Square Mall said it was because of the comments. &ldquo;We just don&rsquo;t think we should touch Mr. Hull at this time,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

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ON THE COVER

Hull denies remarks

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>Photographer Fred Keenan, who captured on film one of hockey&rsquo;s greatest moments, died at his home in South Yarmouth, Mass., after a long illness Aug. 24. He was 74.Keenan worked for the Quincy (Mass.) Patriot Ledger in 1970 when Bobby Orr&rsquo;s Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime was punctuated by a trip from Noel Picard of the St. Louis Blues. The dramatic image was caught on film by Keenan and Ray Lussier of the Boston Herald American, who were standing side by side.Lussier&rsquo;s shot gained more prominence, even though Keenan&rsquo;s was equally as sharp. Keenan&rsquo;s shot took top prize at the Boston Press Photographers&rsquo; Association contest in 1970.Keenan, who worked at the Patriot Ledger for 14 years, previously served as an official photographer during World War n.PLAYER CONTRIBUTION: The NHL Players&rsquo; Association will distribute $600,000 in royalties from the 1996-97 &lsquo;Be A Player&rsquo; hockey card set to former players.The money is earmarked for 30 former players who retired before the 1948-49 season and weren&rsquo;t included in an NHL pension plan.GOLD MEDAL: Canada&rsquo;s national under-18 team won the gold medal at a Four-Nation tournament in Bratislava, Slovakia Aug. 13-16.Canada and the Czech Republic finished with 2-0-1 records, but Canada had a better goal differential, thanks to an 18-0 win over Belarus.EASTON BOSS DIES: Rick Morris, president of Easton Sports Canada, died of a heart attack Aug. 25. He was 53. Morris, who lived in Montreal but was a native of Ancaster, Ont., joined Easton from CCM in 1991. He served as sales manager until 1994 before becoming president. &#9632;

’Flying Orr’ photographer dies at home

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Staff Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011719/7009412-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Raj Khosla)</figcaption></div>Sheldon Kennedy&rsquo;s 5,000-mile in-line trek across Canada might have been called the Getting to Know You Tour. Thousands of well-wishers have lined streets and highways to greet him and shake his hand, to tell him their own stories of abuse. Then there is the man himself, eating up pavement like a steamroller, finally at peace with his past and juiced about his future, able to open up to the world for the first time in years.For Kennedy, too, this journey is also about new acquaintances. In a funny sort of way, that&rsquo;s true most of all in places such as Swift Current, Sask., population 17,000, where you&rsquo;d think there wasn&rsquo;t a soul left for him to meet.The Prairies, after all, are his home. The biggest difference between blading through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta versus the early part of the trip, he says, is he knows the highways like the back of his hand. He can peer over the next hill and know just how long it is until he reaches the next town.Kennedy was a hero in Swift Current long before he became a national celebrity with his disclosure he was sexually abused for eight years by former junior coach Graham James. In three of those years, Kennedy was a wildly popular free spirit with the Western League&rsquo;s Swift Current Broncos and James was the coach who received credit for taming him.As we now know, the fans in Swift Current didn&rsquo;t really know Kennedy at all. It turns out the ignorance was mutual. For the old Sheldon Kennedy, there was too much to risk if he took the time to interact on anything more than a superficial level. He&rsquo;d have to give something back, but he had only one story to tell. He&rsquo;d die before he let it out.Kennedy&rsquo;s first public return to Swift Current came last January, a year after he made his revelation. That visit was the true catharsis. When he rolled into town Aug. 20, it was more about pride than gut-wrenching heartache. By late August he had raised $1.9 million toward the ranch he is building in the Kootenay region of British Columbia for child and teenage victims of sexual assault. &ldquo;A time to celebrate what he was doing,&rdquo; is how Eldon Moberg, director of marketing for the Broncos, put it. He came into town quietly, requesting earlier that he be allowed one night to relax with his wife, Jana, and young son, Ryan, before the festivities-golf tournament, barbeque, pancake breakfast, all of them packed. And for Kennedy, it was a time to listen and learn.At the golf outing, Kennedy was in the same group with Darren Kruger, a former teammate with the Broncos in 1986-87.&ldquo;We had a good conversation for once,&rdquo; Kennedy said. &ldquo;See, before I never ever gave myself the opportunity to have a conversation with anybody because I was always running, because I didn&rsquo;t want anybody to get to know me. It&rsquo;s nice to be able to sit down and get to know somebody.&rdquo;The main thing in the back of his mind now is a return to the NHL. As recently as January, Kennedy said reconstructing his hockey career was the furthest thing from his mind. The time on the road changed that.Swift Current mayor Paul Elder, who once billeted current Buffalo Sabre forward Geoff Sanderson and has known Kennedy for years, doesn&rsquo;t see a lot of personality changes since the days when he was the most popular kid in town. &ldquo;Shelly&rsquo;s Shelly,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He was 17 then, now he&rsquo;s 29. That will slow us all down a bit.&rdquo;He did say Kennedy seems more driven, more focussed than he had ever seen him. One thing is certain: for a player who says he &ldquo;never lifted a weight or rode a bike for eight years (in the league),&rdquo; Kennedy is certainly in the best shape of his career.It was the way he got in shape, skating an average of 60 miles a day since setting out May 31 from St. John&rsquo;s, Nfld., that brought back the desire. On lone stretches of road with time to think, he realized he didn&rsquo;t appreciate what he had when he was in the NHL. A speedy right winger whose performance was never able to match the sum of his skills, he was known as a trouble case. He used alcohol and drugs to dull the pain.<h2>ARE WE THERE YET?</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021321/7009405-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="2391" height="1342"><figcaption class="caption-body">Former NHLer Sheldon Kennedy's trek across Canada on roller blades for charity included stops in many small towns. Here are the majorstops along the way:</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Sheldon Kennedy finds catharsis in in-line marathon

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021135/7009443-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="399" height="557"></div>Before my first stride on the highway one Sunday morning in July, I made Sheldon Kennedy promise me something.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t slow down on my account,&rdquo; I implored, looking him in the eye. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m doing this at your pace, even if I bum out after a minute.&rdquo;&ldquo;Sure thing,&rdquo; he chuckled, bursting ahead of the support cruiser north of Barrie, Ont. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll go my pace, then.&rdquo;The last time Sheldon and I skated together was 11 summers earlier. He was between his first and second year with the Swift Current Broncos. I was a reporter at the Swift Current Sun.Long before in-line skates became popular, a young Swift Current businessman secured a few dozen pair and marketed them by launching a summer league in 1987. Intrigued by the new-fangled roller skate, I joined.Three teams of 10 or 12 skaters apiece were formed. Each of the teams had two or three Broncos signed up. I wound up playing left wing on Kennedy&rsquo;s line.One of the quickest skaters in the Western League at the time, Sheldon was in a class by himself on in-lines.Whenever I gained possession of the ball, I learned to find the most open piece of floor and feather a pass into its middle. Invariably, it turned into a tape-to-tape setup and I became Mr. Assist.It struck me somewhat funny those early games that we always had just one fan in the stands. Though he sat in the top row, the figure was unmistakably Graham James. Perhaps because the Swift Current Civic Centre was his office, perhaps because he was just curious, James watched like a scout and was quick to comment&ldquo;Costello, your skating needs work, but you&rsquo;re a good playmaker,&rdquo; the perpetually good-humored James said at the time. &ldquo;Kennedy, you score too many goals.&rdquo;Nobody had more fun in that summer roller league than 18-year-old Sheldon. He craved attention and the spotlight was his. He was a mouthpiece during games and loved to hold court in the dressing room afterward.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&rsquo;This is my time to think about the good I can do and feel good about myself&rsquo;</blockquote>It didn&rsquo;t occur to me at the time than Kennedy and James were in the midst of an eight-year abusive relationship. It didn&rsquo;t occur to me that James was a perpetrator and Kennedy a victim.They hung out a lot together-too much I remember telling a colleague. I justified it by making note of Kennedy&rsquo;s poor grades in school. James, a former school teacher before turning coach, was the perfect tutor. Why give it a second thought?Eleven years later, Kennedy is going across Canada on in-line skates to make people think twice, to create awareness for abuse of this nature and to raise funds for a treatment center. When he passed through Toronto, I joined him for .0625 per cent of his journey and we were linemates again.Sheldon was keen to the idea of having me join him for part of his odyssey. And he offered soothing words to someone who on occasion feels guilty about not having detected this sick secret many years ago.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t feel bad about not noticing anything back then,&rdquo; he said before we hit the highway. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t in a position to say anything and Graham is a master manipulator.&rdquo;Physically, the trek has thickened Kennedy&rsquo;s quadriceps, produced shoulder-length hair and darkened his complexion. Mentally, it has cleansed his mind.&ldquo;Nothing against the media and Toronto, but am I ever glad to be back on the road, alone, again,&rdquo; said Sheldon in full stride. &ldquo;This is my time to think about the good I can do and feel good about myself.&rdquo;Any ghosts?&ldquo;I try to block Graham out. I still see him as a guy who has potential to do this to other kids so I have to get the message across.&rdquo;I exhausted myself after 14 minutes with Sheldon. We covered 3.3 miles, a pace of 14 miles per hour. By late August, he was averaging almost 18 miles per hour and more than 60 miles a day.Skating away, he bid me a fond salute and disappeared. Then it occurred to me. In one way or another, we&rsquo;re all watching him skate across Canada. And the one fan he had back in that summer in-line league now gets the exorcise. &#9632;

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COLUMNISTS

Eleven years later I still can’t keep up

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011627/7009474-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">If he returns to the NHL, all Kennedy wants is to always know where he stands. (Photo by Raj Khosla)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I used to have to be so sharp because I was living a he,&rdquo; Kennedy said. &ldquo;I always had to try to remember the little lies that I told the guys the week before in case I&rsquo;d run into them that day&hellip;And now I can hardly remember my eight years that I played, the whole time in the NHL. I can hardly remember that. And that&rsquo;s why I think I got the feeling to go back, because I don&rsquo;t remember playing there.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not scared that I won&rsquo;t make it at all,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;I totally played on natural talent, that&rsquo;s it If a guy has got natural talent he has got natural talent&hellip;People told me on an ongoing basis, &rsquo;What is wrong with you, you&rsquo;ve got so much talent why aren&rsquo;t you doing better?&rsquo; &ldquo;And now, the details. The first abuse took place in 1984 in Winnipeg. Kennedy was a 14-year-old away from home at a midget tournament; James invited Kennedy to stay with him. The next year, Kennedy played 16 games for James with the WHL&rsquo;s Moose Jaw Warriors. James was fired following the season and moved to Winnipeg to coach in the Manitoba Junior League; Kennedy moved as well. When James got a job the next year with the Broncos, one of the first deals he made was to acquire Kennedy&rsquo;s WHL rights.The city of Swift Current still raises up some ghosts for him. On the Friday morning, Kennedy returned with a Regina-based photographer and reporter to the Swift Current Civic Centre. As soon as he stepped inside the building his demeanor darkened and turned serious. He refused to sit in the stands for a picture and couldn&rsquo;t get out of the building fast enough. He sat down to compose himself before moving on.Kennedy said he had no desire to revisit the scenes of the abuse, such as James&rsquo; former apartment.&ldquo;It happened in so many places that I just needed to get to know who I was again in my own mind,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was all over the place, like I mean everywhere. Down in the States, Calgary, out in Seattle, all over. All over North America. Down in the hockey schools in Florida, down at The Hockey News awards in Toronto, all over the place.&rdquo;(Kennedy was James&rsquo; guest at the 1989 THN Awards Luncheon when James was named Inside HOCKEY Man of the Year for his anti-violence stance.) This is forward-looking, anyway; when a 70-year-old man in a suit gets out of a fancy car, shakes his hand and can only say &ldquo;Thank you&rdquo; before the tears stream down his face, Kennedy knows why he&rsquo;s doing this. That&rsquo;s the best feeling in the world. He thinks it was in Dryden, Ont., but can&rsquo;t be sure because he has seen the picture so often by now.Of the $1.9 million raised by late August, $700,000 had come from individual donations; $700,000 in physical assets and land; and $500,000 in corporate sponsorships and donations, plus additional corporate commitments yet to flow in.&ldquo;A lot of people are going to wait until the very end to do that,&rdquo; said M.J. Perry, secretary-treasurer of the Sheldon Kennedy Foundation. &ldquo;A foundation is a long-term thing. The fundraising and other things and goals go on forever.&rdquo;Organizers are optimistic they will reach the goal of $15 million over three years. &ldquo;What they&rsquo;re suggesting is reasonable if they&rsquo;ve got the organization in place to continue the fundraising after the tour is done,&rdquo; said Gordon Floyd, director of public affairs for the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, a charities umbrella group. &ldquo;If they do have the organization in place, they deserve to be congratulated.&rdquo;Kennedy&rsquo;s agent, Jeff Jackson of Toronto, said he has been in contact with a half dozen NHL teams, some of whom initiated the contact (see page 22 for the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; offer). Kennedy knows he will have to start in the minors. He hasn&rsquo;t played an NHL game since the 1996-97 season with the Boston Bruins and in-line skating, while great for conditioning, has been known to have negative short-term effects on a player&rsquo;s ice skating stride.&ldquo;The kid is a very courageous kid and my hat goes off to him,&rdquo; said Bruins&rsquo; assistant GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell. &ldquo;Whether he can go forward and play in the NHL again, I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;Kennedy won&rsquo;t return until November at the earliest; the tour won&rsquo;t end until mid-October and then he&rsquo;s taking some time off. &ldquo;I just want to play where a spade is a spade,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m doing good tell me and if I&rsquo;m doing bad, tell me. I just always need to know where I stand and I&rsquo;ll be fine.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0009-01

Kennedy hopeful of return to NHL

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011694/7009505-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marc Crawford got an assistant coaching job with his son&rsquo;s soccer team this summer. (Photo by Bruce Benet/BS)</figcaption></div>Marc Crawford figured in his current predicament, he needed a role model. And he conveniently found one in the town he still calls home.Yes, Crawford is still living in Denver these days despite no longer being employed by the hometown Colorado Avalanche or, in a twist that still defies logic, being paid by the club that still owns his rights. His two children are enrolled in Denver schools and he&rsquo;s an assistant coach with his son&rsquo;s soccer team.It is from that vantage point Crawford can view his own situation with the help of a reference point supplied by National Football League coach Mike Shanahan of the Denver Broncos.Shanahan, a youthful genius in his sport not unlike Crawford in his, emerged from the bitterness and controversy of an aborted coaching run with Al Davis&rsquo; Los Angeles Raiders to take over the Broncos and capture last season&rsquo;s Super Bowl title. Most recently, Shanahan signed a seven-year deal that vaulted him to the top of the NFL coaching pay scale,, all of which was not lost on Crawford.It&rsquo;s partly the reason-one would suspect a gag agreement is the other-why he has of yet failed to drink from the reservoir of bitter public comment when it comes to the negotiated settlement June 19 of his dispute with the Avs.&ldquo;Obviously (the Avalanche and NHL) don&rsquo;t want to say anything, and obviously I don&rsquo;t either,&rdquo; said the 37-year-old Crawford. &ldquo;I look at Shanahan&rsquo;s situation, which was very similar to mine, and one of the reasons he&rsquo;s viewed as he is is because of how well he handled it. I want to handle myself with dignity and as a gentleman.&rdquo;Given that many still remember Crawford&rsquo;s unfortunate playoff outbursts aimed at Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; coach Scotty Bowman a few years back, this may be the case of a young man learning his lesson. But Crawford has undoubtedly looked at the cases of former NHL coaches such as Ted Nolan and Barry Melrose and understands how easily one can find oneself locked on the outside looking in.So his intent is to bide his time, either work in television or possibly in a consulting, non-coaching role with a team this season and then jump back in as the full-time bench boss next season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just where I am,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was a long-term decision I made and anytime you make a decision of the soul, usually it&rsquo;s the right one. That said, where I am right now is not where I&rsquo;d hoped to be. But I can give you 150 names off the top of my head of people who are a lot worse off than I am.&rdquo;Clearly, Crawford&rsquo;s decision to agree to a negotiated settlement with the Avs before NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was to arbitrate the matter has left him in a lousy place. He essentially forfeited his $850,000 salary for this season and the compensation package that any club must pay Colorado to get him-as little as $200,000, as much as $600,000 and a first round draft pick depending on the club&rsquo;s performance-has left him virtually unemployable for the moment.Having the young, quotable, photogenic Crawford out of the loop for this season isn&rsquo;t exactly great marketing for the league, but one also wonders how much the events of the past months have injured his coaching reputation, a reputation that has drooped since the Avs won the 1996 Stanley Cup.He was appointed head coach of Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team last winter, but that team came home without a medal. Then the Avs were upset by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care about how I&rsquo;m going to be viewed, or how others view me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;How I view myself is what I can control.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

Crawford bides time on sidelines

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy Senior Writer</div>Even the NHL&rsquo;s speediest player is surprised at how fast time flies.Remaining true to the vow he made his wife, Colleen, that he would quit playing hockey when his kids hit high school age, Mike Gartner announced his retirement Aug. 26, bringing to a close a career that was the model of consistency.&ldquo;I told my wife 10 years ago that I&rsquo;d spend some time at home with the family before the kids went off to university,&rdquo; Gartner told The Hockey News Aug. 26, the day he announced his retirement. &ldquo;To be honest, I didn&rsquo;t realize how quickly the 10 years would go by and that I&rsquo;d still be capable of playing when I said it, but I still think it&rsquo;s the right decision.&rdquo;Gartner leaves the NHL as the game&rsquo;s fifth-highest all-time goal scorer with 708 goals behind Wayne Gretzky (885), Gordie Howe (801), Marcel Dionne (731) and Phil Esposito (717). Because of his strong commitment to his family, Gartner said he has no regrets about not taking a stab at moving up the list.&ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;m leaving something on the table,&rdquo; Gartner said. &ldquo;The way I feel, I have no doubt I could play a few more years. But 20 years from now, will it matter if I scored 780 goals instead of 708? Wih it matter if I played 22 years instead of 19?Gartner is just one of an impressive list of old warriors who decided to hang &rsquo;em up after last season. Joining him in retirement are Jari Kurri, Kevin Lowe, Slava Fetisov and Pat La-Fontaine.Although Gartner kept company with the best players in the game, playing on two Canada Cup champions (1984 and 1987) and in seven NHL All-Star Games, he was never identified as a superstar. In spite of his overwhelming numbers, Gartner was not voted among the players identified as the top 50 NHL players of all-time by The Hockey News last year.He never won a Stanley Cup and both his goals per game and points per game dipped in the playoffs.Rather, Gartner was a player who could be counted on for consistent offensive output in the regular season. In fact, he holds the NHL record for most consecutive 30 or more goal seasons-15. He scored 36 as a rookie with the Washington Capitals in 1979-80 (one year after netting 27 for the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Cincinnati Stingers as a 19-year-old) and didn&rsquo;t miss the 30-goal mark until the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season when he managed 12 goals in 38 games. His scoring pace that season translated to 26 goals in an 82-game schedule.Gartner bounced back with seasons of 35 and 32 goals.The best he ever fared among the league&rsquo;s top scorers was 10th in 1984-85 when he scored career highs in goals (50) and points (102). Hardly anybody noticed, though, because Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers scored 73 goals and 208 points the same season.Gartner, who served as president of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association from 1993 to 1998, is one of the fastest skaters to ever play in the league. He won the league&rsquo;s fastest skater competition at the All-Star Game on three occasions (1990, 1993 and 1996) and he still holds the record for the quickest lap around the rink, 13.386 seconds.&ldquo;My speed was a God-given thing,&rdquo; Gartner said. &ldquo;Sure I worked on it, but for the most part, it was there from the very beginning, when I was a kid. It&rsquo;s a trademark of mine.&rdquo;Gartner played 10 years in Washington and then had stops with the Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and, finally, the Phoenix Coyotes.Last season was one that would best be erased from the memory banks. He missed 15 games due to injury last season and, for the first time in his long and distinguished career, was a healthy scratch seven times. Consequently, his numbers were affected and he managed just 12 goals. He made $1.1 million (U.S.) last year and was an unrestricted free agent this summer.Gartner, who turns 39 in October, is a shoo-in to be named to the Hockey Hall of Fame, in all likelihood on the first ballot in three years when he becomes eligible in 2001, along with Kurri, Lowe, Fetisov and LaFontaine. (Only three can be inducted per year.) He completes his career with 708 goals and 1,335 points in 1,432 games.&ldquo;When I played with him, I look at him as a great contributor,&rdquo; said Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; defenseman Larry Murphy who played with Gartner in Washington and Toronto. &ldquo;You knew if you got him the puck, he could make things happen. When you played against him, you had to respect his speed. You had to back off him or he&rsquo;d bum you.&rdquo;When he was traded to the Coyotes in 1996, Gartner kept his home in Toronto. That&rsquo;s where he and his family plan to five and he said although he has received a number of good offers for work, he&rsquo;s in no real hurry to embark on a post-hockey career.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m going to take a number of months off to plan my future,&rdquo; Gartner said, &ldquo;and try to decide exactly where I&rsquo;d like to be five years from now.&rdquo;<h2>THE GARTNER FILE</h2>Mike Gartner retires from the NHL as its most consistent 30-goal scorer of all-time and with a host of team and NHL records to his credit. Here are some of the highlights of his 19-year NHL career.<h3>NHL Records</h3>&bull; Recorded 30 or more goals 17 seasons.&bull; Recorded 30 or more goals in 15 consecutive seasons (1979-94)<h3>Career highlights</h3>&bull; 2nd in NHL all-time goal scoring by a right winger (708).&bull; 5th in NHL all-time goal scoring (708).&bull; 5th in NHL all-time games played (1,432).&bull; 18th in NHL all-time points (1,335).&bull; 6th player in NHL history to record 600 goals and 600 assists.&bull; All-time Washington Capitals&rsquo; career leader in points (789), goals (397), game winning goals (54), game tying goals (13), power play goals (98), hat tricks (13). Holds team records for consecutive point streak (17 games, twice), consecutive goal streaks (nine games), most penalty shots (three, all goals), shorthanded goals in a season (six) and game winning goals in a season (11).<h3>Also&hellip;</h3>&bull; Recorded 17 regular season hat tricks.&bull; Played in seven NHL All-Star Games.&bull; Tied record for most goals in All-Star Game (four).&bull; Fastest two goals at start of All-Star Game (3:15 and 3:37 in 1993).&bull; Member of Team Canada in 1984 and 1987 Canada Cup Tournaments. &#9632;

All in the family

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011651/7009560-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Cullen&rsquo;s cancer cost him the entire 1997-98 season. (Photo by Bruce Benet/BS)</figcaption></div>The cancer remained in remission. Contract talks began. And John Cullen was back to being a hockey player, which is all he really wanted.Cullen is so determined to return to the NHL he doesn&rsquo;t want to discuss alternatives. Those include the possibility of a job, perhaps as an assistant coach in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization, something the Lightning said it would offer Cullen should he be unable to play.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s something I don&rsquo;t really even want to think about,&rdquo; Cullen said, &ldquo;because I&rsquo;m focussed on doing whatever I can to getting back to playing again.&rdquo;Cullen learned he was in remission last April following a year-long fight with non Hodgkin&rsquo;s lymphoma. The disease-not to mention all the stress and strain of radiation treatment, chemotherapy and a procedure in which his own bone marrow was extracted, cleansed and later re-introduced into his body-cost him the entire 1997-98 season.To help him concentrate on the task at hand, Cullen paid a late-July visit to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. There, he underwent a follow-up series of exams (three months ahead of schedule) aimed at confirming his remission.&ldquo;I just decided, &rsquo;Let&rsquo;s do it (early),&rsquo; so 1 can have a clear head going into camp,&rdquo; said Cullen, who will undergo another fullscale check-up either during or after the coming season. So far, the news is good.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve come to realize that during the first two years or so every test is as important as the ones everyone went crazy over in April,&rdquo; Cullen said. &ldquo;This time the results were the same. It&rsquo;s a good thing because you never know, you know?&rdquo;The Lightning has gone to great lengths to improve its depth at center, one of its weakest positions during a season in which it finished last in the league. It obtained projected No. 1 center Craig Janney in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes, then signed free agent Benoit Hogue and named him second line center. During the June draft, Tampa Bay made center Vincent Lecavalier the No. 1 overall pick and he may make the club. Then, there are returnees: projected third line center Darcy Tucker and three first round draft picks from previous years who may wind up on the wing or in the minors, Daymond Langkow, Steve Kelly and Jason Bonsignore. Tampa Bay coach Jacques Demers hopes to count Cullen-who turned 34 Aug. 2-among those good players.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been talking all along about having a dressing room with character,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;Well, John Cullen is character. We will find a spot for him. I don&rsquo;t care if he plays left wing, right wing, center-we will find a spot for John Cullen.&rdquo;The Lightning offered Cullen a two-way deal potentially worth $1 million. The proposal calls for $500,000 in base pay, a $300,000 bonus for playing in 50 or more games and a $200,000 bonus for reaching the numbers Cullen posted when he was the Lightning&rsquo;s third-leading scorer in the 1996-97 season-55 points, including 18 goals. There is also, GM Phil Esposito said, an out for the Lightning: Cullen would earn $110,000 for either playing in the minor leagues, or working as an assistant coach or in another capacity.&ldquo;It seems very fair to me,&rdquo; said Esposito, who had help drafting the proposal from new owner Art Williams. &ldquo;If he can play and make it, he&rsquo;ll make some money. If he can&rsquo;t, we&rsquo;ll have some protection.&rdquo;Cullen left negotiations to his agent, Ron Salcer, who made a counterproposal Aug. 25. In the meantime, Cullen was preparing to do what means so much to him. &#9632;

f0012-01

Healthy Cullen anxious to get back on ice with Bolts

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011541/7009591-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="401" height="568"></div>Hockey is the most elementary of games.With a stick, a puck and a net, the object is so obvious, even Glen Cochrane occasionally figured.it out. Things may get a little more complicated when Sandy McCarthy shoots, but hockey is an activity that should not need 148 pages of rules to explain.Yet somehow, the regulations have been deemed to need even more tinkering than Jim Carey&rsquo;s head.The rules have been changed more than Pierre Gauthier&rsquo;s story. Every time the offense gets ahead of the defense or the defense gets ahead of the offense, hockey people become as whacked out as Matthew Barnaby.Whenever anybody finds an edge, the NHL comes up with more legislation than Newt Gingrich.When goalies were getting knocked down like they were caught in a stampede of Lightning creditors, the GMs decided to make the crease so big, John Muckier and Ted Nolan could stand in one comfortably.The Oilers put together a team that was faster than Marcel Aubut to forget a promise and the NHL got rid of 4-on-4.When pucks spent too much time in the neutral zone, the league allowed defensemen to bang them back in without teammates having to clear the zone. When sticks crept up higher than Penguin debt, players who made inadvertent contact while merely spinning to get out of Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock&rsquo;s way at the buffet line were getting thrown out of games.As goals go up, they limit curvature of sticks. As goals go down, they want to raise the curvature of Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s stomach. There are more rules than there are Islander assistant coaches, many of them becoming as ignored as a Chicago Blackhawk fan.This year, there are more changes. Not satisfied that the post-Olympic crackdown on obstruction was doing enough to open up the game, the NHL is moving the goal line out two feet. This has been deemed necessary because goalies were roaming as freely as a Scotty Bowman conversation, clearing the puck with considerable more alacrity than Ken Dryden clears the air. As a result, nobody was able to forecheck, not even John Spano&rsquo;s alleged finances.The answer? The skill and cunning we celebrated in the new generation of goalies-just try to lift a puck 20 feet into the air with a goalie stick-has being thrown out like a cheap chair from the Team USA compound in Nagano.The idea is the hard-around will no longer be a term referring to the treatment Mario Lemieux gets when he calls to see if the check is in the mail, but a technique to gain the zone. Pucks will resume being dumped far more softly than Doug MacLean was by the Panthers. Also, with more space behind the goal, Steve Dubinsky will turn into Wayne Gretzky, feathering passes to Dino Ciccarelli wannabes hanging a now legal two feet closer to the goal.With more NHL players than ever having two left feet, both were increasingly getting caught in the crease. They were calling off more goals than even searches for Craig Janney in big games. You needed a password, three references and a 30day waiting period before your team could celebrate. Now, you&rsquo;ll be able to get closer to the goalie than Mark Messier is to Mike Keenan. Even Jason Arnott may be able to score.The neutral zone is losing four feet, the most useless four feet since the ones that carried Norman Aubin and Ernie Godden on a two-on-one. In a limited number of games, the leagues will also try out two referees, which is great as long as they are both not Denis Morel.We fell asleep at enough games last year to know something had to be done. But our feeling is they should move out guys like Todd Hlushko by his own two feet, not the goal line two feet.Change was good when George Maguire finally got bounced, when John Pickett sold out, when Bob Probert sobered up.It is not so great when every time coaches do their jobs, the movers and shakers of the game run it through a Vegamatic.We probably agree the crease, much like Marc Crawford for not using Gretzky in the shootout, could use a shrink. Then again, so could the league by a number of teams. The persons who have to fix something they broke with so much damn mediocrity also could have solved the problem by building the new rinks a little wider, giving skill the room in needs to grow.The puck is more round than a Neil Smith attempt to get somebody in the back, the goal more square thar Ryan Walter.The simpler the game, the better. &#9632;

f0013-01

To much change can spoil good game

<div class="byline">Mike Brophy Senior Writer</div>It&rsquo;s reality check time for Petr Nedved.The 26-year-old center who has had an off-again, on-again NHL career since turning pro in 1990, was still without a team in late August after turning down an offer of about $14 million for five years to rejoin the Pittsburgh Penguins a year ago.What started out as Nedved simply inflating his worth and refusing to accept what he considered to be less than market value has now developed into a game of chicken between him and Penguins&rsquo; GM Craig Patrick, who refuses to trade him. It is now much more than a matter of not being able to agree on salary. Nedved has made it clear to Patrick he has no intention to return to the Penguins because of ongoing ownership problems. Patrick has received trade offers, but none he considered seriously.And so Nedved is without a team; the Penguins are without an asset.&ldquo;Petr is getting more and more rigid in his stance,&rdquo; said Nedved&rsquo;s Calgary-based agent, Tony Kondel, who would not reveal how much money Nedved is seeking. &ldquo;He dug his heels in last year and I haven&rsquo;t heard from him that he has changed his mind.&rdquo;Nedved was training in Finland and is not giving interviews.When talking about his client, Kondel mentions him in the same breath as the likes of Sergei Fedorov ($14 million this season), Mats Sundin ($6.35 million), Pierre Turgeon ($4.65 million), Mark Recchi ($4.5 million) and Vincent Damphousse ($3.27 million). Statistically, Kondel could make a case that Nedved deserves to be in or near the same sphere as the bottom end of this group. Nedved did, after all, score 78 goals (and 170 points) in two years with the Penguins.But this is not a paint-by-numbers picture. All of the above have proven themselves as first line players. Fedorov has a Hart Trophy; Sundin and Damphousse are captains of their respective teams and Turgeon and Recchi have been consistent high scorers for years.What&rsquo;s Nedved? A solid No. 2 center on a contending team? A No. 1 center on mediocre team? All you get from him is points. There is no leadership, no toughness, no defense and, given his history of contract squabbles, no loyalty.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011639/7009622-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="401" height="540"></div>Fedorov was a restricted free agent last year, just like Nedved, and received a monster offer from the Carolina Hurricanes structured to discourage the Detroit Red Wings from matching it. The Red Wings did anyway. Nedved has received no such offer. Doesn&rsquo;t that say something about the way he is viewed?With the Penguins, Nedved was able to strut his offensive stuff on a club that tossed defense to the wind while the opposition&rsquo;s checkers zeroed in on the likes of Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis. He did the same when he blended into the Manhattan skyline with the New York Rangers while opposition defenders checked Mark Messier.But Nedved was obviously never able to grasp that reality. He also didn&rsquo;t take the opportunity, with Lemieux retired, to take on a more significant role on a team that, with coach Kevin Constantine at the helm, plays a better all-around game.This is not the first time Nedved has found himself embroiled in a contract dispute. In 1993-94 he couldn&rsquo;t sign with the Vancouver Canucks, who drafted him second overall in 1990, and spent part of the year playing with the Canadian Olympic team before being traded to the St. Louis Blues. Part of the deal he struck with the Blues was he would be paid for the entire season upon joining them, even though he played just 19 regular season and four playoff games. In all likelihood, he was hoping for the same thing to happen last season, that he would be moved at the trade deadline and would work out a deal with his new team for full payment. It didn&rsquo;t happen.Ultimately Patrick owes it to Penguins&rsquo; fans to either sign or trade Nedved. But Patrick is no fool and he won&rsquo;t be forced into a trade he doesn&rsquo;t feel benefits his team.As for Nedved, he played five games in the Czech Republic and three International League games with the Las Vegas Thunder last year. Unless he and Patrick start seeing eye-to-eye soon, it could be back to the &lsquo;I&rsquo; this coming season. &#9632;

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Nedved’s dollar demand remains way out of line

<div class="byline">By Stu Hackel</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011510/7009660-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The NHL hopes its television ratings will turn back up ice with Disney&rsquo;s five-year, $600-million deal.</figcaption></div>Last spring, as the NHL&rsquo;s U.S. broadcast network TV ratings sagged, no one could have envisioned a new, more lucrative TV deal just around the comer.Most TV industry observers have been dumbstruck by Disney&rsquo;s decision to pay $6(X million for five years of NHL TV rights and amazed at the NHL&rsquo;s good fortune. Was it the result of deft negotiating by NHL execs? Was it luck, coinciding with a new Disney perception they needed to strengthen ESPN and, especially, ESPN2? Disney&rsquo;s ownership of an NHL team? All of the above?You&rsquo;ll excuse the league&rsquo;s leaders if they&rsquo;re too busy popping champagne corks to answer. But while this deal is preferable to a lesser one or none at all, an examination of its consequences may flatten the fizz a bit.First is the matter of the money. While the owners can run to the bank and borrow against it, it is still far short of what NHL teams require to keep pace with costs. Each team will get about $2.2 million more this season, which is one above-average player. Who knows what it will yield after five years of salary inflation-especially if the pie is resliced to accommodate three new teams.Then there is the matter of Fox. They passed on the option to extend their deal two more years at $130 million. Later, they turned down their contractual opportunity to pay 90 per cent of the ABC portion of Disney&rsquo;s deal-reportedly $250 million-which would have retained future rights. Fox has lost millions on the NHL and projects more losses this year. They would have faced mutiny by affiliate stations, who almost unanimously voted to dump hockey.Problem is, Fox still holds this season&rsquo;s rights. If Fox does telecast the games, it&rsquo;s hard to imagine they&rsquo;ll spend money on things like a studio show, fancy graphics or extra cameras and replay angles. True, there&rsquo;ll be no glowing puck, but a bare-bones telecast won&rsquo;t help build the audience ABC will inherit. Let&rsquo;s face it, Fox is quite happy with its many local NHL packages and doesn&rsquo;t really want any more of the NHL&rsquo;s national package. The feeling is probably mutual.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021056/7009653-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="397" height="543"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Bruce Benet/BS)</figcaption></div>So why doesn&rsquo;t Fox just walk away and let ABC have the rights now? Fox wants to recoup some of its losses and, for leverage, may contend its contractual rights were violated by the NHL. Fox may say the NHL represented ABC&rsquo;s bid at $250 million when, in reality, ABC will pay not one penny for NHL games, that games seen on ABC will be produced and paid for by ESPN. The joke insiders tell about Fox&rsquo;s News Corp parent company is they have three main revenue streams-media properties, sports franchises and lawsuits. Will the NHL have to spend some of that new Disney dough to make Fox happy? If they can escape by merely buying back Fox&rsquo;s last contractual year, will Disney replace that $45 million in full?Finally there&rsquo;s the matter of the NHL&rsquo;s TV future. Perhaps this deal will work for Disney. Cross-promotion between ABC and the ESPNs may lead to greater fan awareness. The Stanley Cup Final will now appear exclusively on their networks. And, according to industry publications, ESPN can employ non-union technicians for its games shown on ABC and cut some expenses (for its part, a Disney exec says that&rsquo;s &ldquo;not relevant&rdquo; making their margins greater than Foxs.But by forsaking Fox and embracing Disney&rsquo;s cable-heavy deal, the NHL diminishes its broadcast profile and national exposure, returning to a posture many thought was a relic of an earlier era.Unfortunately, as even stickboys and team mascots know by now, the real big &ldquo;ka-CHING!&rdquo; in U.S. TV revenue still comes from broadcast networks, not cable. The owners, players and fans know it, too.<h2>Deal begins &rsquo;99-2000</h2>The NHL announced its five-year U.S. television contract with Disney-owned ABC and ESPN Aug. 25. The deal is worth $600 million (U.S.) and goes into effect starting in 1999-2000, not this coming season as reported in the Sept. 4 issue of THN. Fox is in the final season of a five-year, $155-million deal.The 1999-2000 season features four to seven weekend games on ABC, one game a week on ESPN and four games a week on ESPN2. The first two games of the Stanley Cup final will be shown on ESPN and the remainder on ABC. &#9632;

f0015-01

Disney deal not all it’s cracked up to be

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011275/7009691-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="172" height="172"></div>In the Carolina Hurricanes&rsquo; 1997-98 media guide, defenseman Kevin Haller said in his profile that he would build an expansion team around Paul Kariya.&ldquo;I did say that, didn&rsquo;t I?&rdquo; Haller said with a laugh Aug. 28, just before a summer workout at DisneylCE in Anaheim. &ldquo;Go figure.&rdquo;But Haller, ever the diplomat, quickly added, &ldquo;Teemu (Selanne) as well.&rdquo;After all, Haller will now be team mates with both Kariya and Selanne. The Ducks acquired Haller and re-acquired rugged left winger Stu Grimson from Carolina Aug. 11 for defenseman David Karpa and a fourth-round pick in 2000.Haller and Fredrik Olausson, who signed with the Ducks as a free agent Aug. 29. are expected to help the Ducks stabilize a young defense corps.Ducks&rsquo; GM Pierre Gauthier said with the new rules that moves the goal farther from the back boards and the greater enforcement of obstruction, there&rsquo;s a greater need for mobile defenseman. Haller fits that bill.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough thing with the rule changes, but it promotes a better game,&rdquo; Haller said. &ldquo;It helps the better skaters, for myself as well. Skating is one of my attributes.&rdquo;Gauthier also acquired Haller to &ldquo;help with team chemistry.&rdquo; Karpa played a physical game, but at times was a disruptive force in the dressing room, some players and coaches said. Haller, who is 27 and entering his ninth NHL season with one Stanley Cup championship on his resume (1993 with the Montreal Canadiens), will be counted on to provide steady defensive play and help the young defense.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny,&rdquo; Haller said. &ldquo;I was the youngest defenseman in Raleigh, at age 27, which was surprising. Now I&rsquo;m the second oldest. Only Doug Houda (32) is older than me. It&rsquo;s a total change that way.&rdquo;Actually, Haller became the third oldest when the Ducks signed Olausson, 30, who played 56 games for the Ducks in 1994-95 and 1995-96.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Paul Kariya has been skating since mid-August and is doing well, a team spokesman said. He will be ready to go when training camp opens Sept. 12&hellip;The Ducks finally signed goalie Patrick Lalime. whom they acquired from Pittsburgh at the trading deadline in March for center Sean Pronger. Lalime, who signed a one-year deal with a one-year club option Aug. 27, is expected to replace Mikhail Shtalenkov as Guy Hebert&rsquo;s backup. Shtalenkov was taken by Nashville in the expansion draft. Lalime, 24, was 21-12-2 with a 2.94 goals-against average in 39 games for Pittsburgh two seasons ago. &#9632;

f0017-01

Mobility, chemistry both improve with acquisition of Haller

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02968/7009722-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="172" height="170"></div>Plenty of NHL players would either sneer at or be disappointed by a $625,000 salary arbitration award. To Boston Bruins&rsquo; goalie Rob Tallas, however, the Aug. 17 decision by arbitrator Claude Foisy meant the world.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a huge raise for me and in a way, it gives me a lot of confidence,&rdquo; said Tallas, the 25-year-old backup to Byron Dafoe for most of last season. &ldquo;It really makes me look back and think of how far I&rsquo;ve been able to come in five years.&rdquo;Undrafted following his final junior season with the Western League&rsquo;s Seattle Thunderbirds in 1993-94, Tallas got a tryout invitation to Boston&rsquo;s 1994 training camp and earned an East Coast League contract with the Charlotte Checkers. He was paid just $18,000, and despite a promotion to the Providence Bruins of the American League, Tallas still had to spend two summers landscaping to supplement his income.&ldquo;In a way, it almost scares me a little to be paid this much,&rdquo; said Tallas, whose two-way deal last year called for salaries of $400,000 and $100,000. &ldquo;On the other hand, it&rsquo;s nice to not have money be an issue, at least for this year.&rdquo;The real security comes not from the salary, but from Foisy&rsquo;s ruling that Tallas would get a oneway contract for this year.&ldquo;That was really our whole point,&rdquo; said Tallas, whom the Bruins thought enough of to protect, along with Dafoe, in June&rsquo;s expansion draft. &ldquo;Jay (Fee, his agent) and I didn&rsquo;t even talk about money until about two weeks before the hearing. When he said we were going to ask for $675,000, it kind of shocked me.&rdquo;Tallas hopes the arbitration decision, plus his 1997-98 performance-a 6-3-3 record, 1.83 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in 14 games after Boston recalled him from Providence to replace the ineffective Jim Carey-will make the club see him differently in 1998-99.He actually had better pre-season stats last fall than Dafoe, but the B&rsquo;s chose to start the season with the more experienced Dafoe-Carey duo. Now that coach Pat Bums knows what he can do, Tallas isn&rsquo;t just accepting a backup role.&ldquo;Byron and I became great friends last year,&rdquo; Tallas said, &ldquo;but when we get to camp, I&rsquo;ll tell him, &rsquo;I&rsquo;m after your job this year.&rsquo; He understands that&rsquo;s how my attitude has to be. If I end up in the same role as last year, I&rsquo;ll just do it as best I can.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: A therapy program aimed mainly at helping him avoid a hip replacement procedure had retired star Cam Neely, 33, feeling better than he had in years and fueled rumors of a comeback attempt. Neely, forced to retire two summers ago because of a degenerative hip ailment, called such speculation premature, but said continued improvement, if fast enough, might prompt him to give the idea serious thought&hellip;The Bruins began to focus on contracts for center Jason Allison and defenseman Kyle McLaren, the club&rsquo;s highest-profile unsigned free agents. Allison, who made $600,000 for finishing ninth in the NHL scoring race with 83 points, represents the trickier negotiation. With arbitration an option next year, he&rsquo;s thought to be willing to take a one-year deal. One offer of a rumored $6 million over three years had been rejected. &#9632;

f0017-02

Tallas thrilled with arbitration, sets sights on battling Dafoe

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03698/7009753-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="172" height="172"></div>The Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; $8 million goalie had what initial reports claim was a $3,000 accident. Fortunately for the Sabres, Dominik Hasek was unharmed.Hasek&rsquo;s Ferrari reportedly slid off a wet road near his hometown of Pardubice in the Czech Republic recently. Hasek, the reigning Vezina and Hart Trophy winner as the NHL&rsquo;s best goaltender and most valuable player, was said to be unharmed, prompting great relief from the Sabres.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been told by his agent (Edmonton-based Rich Winter) that he just kind of skidded off through a turn,&rdquo; said Sabres&rsquo; GM Darcy Regier. &ldquo;My sense, based on what his agent said, is that (the road) was wet, but whether it was rainy I don&rsquo;t know.&ldquo;On those calls, quite honestly, there&rsquo;s primarily one major issue for me: Did he get hurt? He&rsquo;s healthy and obviously it wasn&rsquo;t too significant when you&rsquo;re talking about $3,000 damage to a Ferrari. I suspect you don&rsquo;t have to do much to do $3,000 damage to a Ferrari.&rdquo;Initial reports passed on by the club said Hasek was not charged with any violations and alcohol or excessive speed were not factors in the crash. However, the Associated Press, citing reports from a Prague newspaper, noted Hasek was fined the equivalent of $30 (U.S.) for speeding. Regier said he was unaware of any speeding violation.&ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t aware of any charges in the initial reports we received, but we would not dispute the published report,&rdquo; said Sabres&rsquo; spokesman Michael Gilbert. &ldquo;Initially we just knew there was a mishap.&rdquo;Hasek&rsquo;s health and well being are of vital importance to the Sabres. They signed the two-time Hart and Lester Pearson (MVP as voted by the players) and four time Vezina winner to a longterm deal that will be worth between $23 and $32 million. Hasek was the primary reason the Sabres advanced to the Eastern Conference final last spring.Hasek has a history of auto-related incidents. In April, 1995, he pleaded guilty to charges of speeding and driving while impaired in Amherst. N.Y. He was fined $850 and ordered to do 100 hours of community service. Hasek was also involved in a one-car accident in Amherst in 1994 when the vehicle he was driving flipped over. Hasek was not injured or charged, but the police report said there was &ldquo;alcohol involvement.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Sabres have signed free agent left winger Randy Cunneyworth and invited him to training camp. Cunneyworth, until recently the captain of the Ottawa Senators, is expected to compete for a position with the Sabres, but is likely to be assigned to the team&rsquo;s American League affiliate in Rochester. The Americans do not have an assistant coach and Cunneyworth is said to be interested in a possible playing-coach assignment there. A former Sabre, Cunneyworth maintains an off-season home in Rochester&hellip; The Sabres have bought out the remaining year of veteran left winger Randy Burridge&rsquo;s contract. Burridge finished the season in Rochester last season after first requesting a trade and later clearing waivers. Burridge, who also played for Boston, Washington and Los Angeles was about to enter the third year of a three-year deal. &#9632;

f0017-03

Sabres hold breath as Hasek involved in another car crash

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011097/7009784-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="170" height="173"></div>Unlike last season, when training camp featured a &lsquo;come-one, come-all&rsquo; approach, the Calgary Flames intend to take a different tack for the coming season.For starters, the Flames have followed the lead of a number of other NHL teams and will hold a separate four-day rookie camp, mainly for 1997 and 1998 draft picks. The plan, according to GM Al Coates, is for only a handful of candidates to graduate to the main camp four days later.Beyond that, the Flames also intend to get close to their NHL roster by the midpoint of their regular camp. Essentially, they&rsquo;ll be playing their NHL team for the final four games of the exhibition season.The reason for the change is simple. A year ago, the Flames won only six of their first 30 games, effectively eliminating themselves from playoff contention by Christmas. The hope is they can get off to a faster start than they did a year ago, something that will be doubly difficult since they open the season in Tokyo and, thus, will have a collective case of jet lag to deal with through October.&ldquo;I pretty much said, the first four days of rookie camp, you&rsquo;ve got to prove to us that you belong in the next week,&rdquo; Coates said. &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t do something fairly outstanding, you&rsquo;re not going to be there. Most of that applies to our 1997 and 1998 drafts, plus tryouts. But the same holds true in the second camp.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: With Steve Smith coming out of retirement to play again, there is an opening on coach Brian Sutter&rsquo;s staff for an assistant coach. One possibility is that the job could go to director of hockey operations Al MacNeil, who was the team&rsquo;s head coach between 1979 and 1982. MacNeil acted as a de facto assistant last season. The Flames were the only NHL team not to use an assistant coach in the press box, although MacNeil frequently did the job unofficially&hellip;When the Flames picked up their option on the final year of goalie Tyler Moss&rsquo; contract, it became a one-way deal, worth $550,000, which makes him the favorite to make the team ahead of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, their goalie of the future. &#9632;

f0020-01

Youngsters must perform or face early ticket home

<div class="byline">By Steve Politi</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03503/7009815-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="610" height="967"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stu Grimson</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02742/7009822-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="171" height="169"></div>The Carolina Hurricanes are not anticipating a grim season despite the fact they no longer have &lsquo;The Grim Reaper.&rsquo;When the Hurricanes granted left. winger Stu Grimson his wish and traded him to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Aug. 11-along with defenseman Kevin Haller for defenseman David Karpa and a fourth round pick in 2000-it left the Hurricanes without a big-time enforcer.Grimson played just a few minutes a game, but he appeared in all 82 contests and racked up 204 penalty minutes. He became a fan favorite from the very first exhibition game when he had three fights-one for each period. Grimson was by far the PIM leader for the &lsquo;Canes, with Keith Primeau&rsquo;s 110 the next highest on the team.Sure, Karpa had 217 penalty minutes and is Anaheim&rsquo;s all-time leader in PIM, but he&rsquo;s not the same type of intimidating fighter. Still, the &lsquo;Canes have no plans to replace 6-foot-6, 230-pound Grimson heading into training camp.Hurricanes&rsquo; management doesn&rsquo;t seem concerned about entering training camp without a fighter.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you need someone as much as you did in the past to play that role,&rdquo; said GM Jim Rutherford. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with seeing a good fight in a game, but sometimes those guys can be a little too aggressive and those extra penalties can cost you the game.&rdquo;Hurricanes&rsquo; coach Paul Maurice expects each player to stick up for his teammates.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t need toughness if you don&rsquo;t get intimidated,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: Two of the Hurricanes&rsquo; defense prospects-Steve Halko and Nolan Pratt-remained unsigned. The duo spent the latter part of last season with the NHL team after injuries depleted the &lsquo;Canes&rsquo; regulars&hellip;Right winger Steve Rice was a passenger in the early August boat accident that left Ottawa goalie Ron Tugnutt with broken ribs. Rice was uninjured. The Hurricanes were in the process of buying out his contract after he scored just two goals last season. He scored 21 in 1996-97 playing with center Keith Primeau&hellip; Training camp will begin Sept. 14. Hurricanes&rsquo; coach Paul Maurice will limit the number of players at camp to between 30 and 35, holding a rookie camp in Plymouth, Mich., before camp begins. &#9632;

f0020-03

No Grimson, no problem

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04319/7009853-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="170" height="170"></div>With his two biggest acquisitions-Doug Gilmour and Paul Coffey-taken care of early in the summer, Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; GM Bob Murray was busy tying up loose ends in late August.Murray first settled his goaltending situation by trading backup Chris Terreri to the New Jersey Devils Aug. 25 for a 1999 conditional draft pick.Murray&rsquo;s next move was executed the next day with the signing of veteran left winger and unrestricted free agent Ed Olczyk.Olczyk, 32, returns to where he started his career with the Hawks as an 18-year-old rookie in 1984.Olczyk, who had 11 goals and 22 points for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 56 games last season, could find himself playing on a line with Alex Zhamnov and Tony Amonte.Murray said the decision came down to whether to sign Olczyk or gritty Calgary Flames&rsquo; free agent right winger Ron Stem.&ldquo;I chose Olczyk over Stem because we&rsquo;ve already got too many of those kind of guys,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;We need goal scorers.&rdquo;Murray&rsquo;s hope of playing Olczyk with Zhamnov and Amonte would indicate that the plan now is for Gilmour to play on a line with Eric Daze.Dealing Terreri paved the way for Mark Fitzpatrick to be Jeff Hackett&rsquo;s backup. Fitzpatrick was acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning July 17 for a fourth round draft pick in 1999.Terreri played for the Devils for parts of 10 seasons from 1986 to 1996 and still has his roots and business interests in New Jersey.At 29, Fitzpatrick is four years younger than Terreri, which Murray said was a factor in his decision.&ldquo;Chris was good to us, but he&rsquo;s older and going to be a free agent (after this season)&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve always liked Mark Fitzpatrick as a goaltender. He&rsquo;s going to get 35 or 40 games.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK:GM Bob Murraydoesn&rsquo;t expect goalieAndrei Trefiiov to return. Trefiiov, a restricted free agent, turned down a contract offer from the Hawks and was looking to sign a deal with an independent minor league club&hellip;Centers Jeff Shantz and Chad Kilger, defenseman Cam Russell and goalie Mark Fitzpatrick all signed new contracts. Shantz signed for two years while Russell, Kilger and Fitzpatrick agreed to one-year deals. Kilger accepted the Hawks&rsquo; qualifying offer, which will give him a 15 per cent raise from his 1997-98 salary of $850,000&hellip;Forwards Eric Daze and Ethan Moreau were the only unsigned veterans heading into training camp and both could be no-shows. &#9632;

f0020-04

GM Murray tinkers after huge moves

<div class="byline">By Adrian Date</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-07123/7009884-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="611" height="969"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Sakic</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05175/7009891-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="172" height="171"></div>Joe Sakic&rsquo;s golf game has got better over the summer, which is something he doesn&rsquo;t really like.He had more time than he wanted to improve it. The previous two years, Sakic had precious little down-time when the weather turned warm, having instead to play hockey for the Colorado Avalanche.So Sakic is ready and eager for Avs&rsquo; training camp, set to start Sept. 13 in Colorado Springs. The 1996 Conn Smythe winner is tired of the 9-iron and ready to swap it in for a hockey stick.&ldquo;We want to have a good camp,&rdquo; said Sakic, who scored a career-high 51 goals in Colorado&rsquo;s Stanley Cupwinning season of 1995-96. &ldquo;I talked to (new Avalanche coach) Bob Hartley once and everything looks positive. It&rsquo;s going to be fun.&rdquo;Since winning the Cup, Sakic has had two mostly average seasons-for him. Part of the problem has been injuries. He missed six weeks with a lacerated calf in 1996-97 and six more last season because of a sprained medial collateral ligament, which also kept him out of Canada&rsquo;s final two games of the 1998 Winter Olympics.Sakic has scored only 49 goals the past two seasons and Colorado can ill afford another sub-30 goal year from its captain if it is to go far.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to the season.Hopefully, I can go out and have a consistent season personally, and so can the team,&rdquo; Sakic said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to getting to camp. I always do.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The agent for defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh said in late August &ldquo;there really has been no progress&rdquo; with the team toward a new contract for his client. Paul Theofanous said he considers Ozol-insh &ldquo;in a class by himself,&rdquo; and speculation has mounted that he is seeking between $4 million and $5 million a year. Ozolinsh made $1.5 million last year&hellip;Former Avalanche coach Marc Crawford was among the spectators at a Denver-area PGA golf tournament. Also in the gallery the same day was Avs&rsquo; GM Pierre Lacroix. The two reportedly did not bump into each other. Crawford has had talks with the Fox Network about possible analyst work this year, but no agreements have been reached. (See pg. 10 for more on Crawford.) &#9632;

f0020-07

Sakic seeks redemption

<div class="byline">By Mike Heike</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06138/7009922-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="170" height="169"></div>Last March, the Dallas Stars saw in Brett Severyn everything they needed to see.With Severyn&rsquo;s Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in Dallas and the Stars on their way to an easy win, Craig Ludwig lifted an elbow to the head of Tee-mu Selanne and sent him crashing to the ice and out of the game.Severyn then proceeded to lead a brawl that left the Ducks with just one player remaining on the bench. The message was clear: no matter Ludwig&rsquo;s intent, it wasn&rsquo;t acceptable to rough up a star player.The Stars signed Severyn Aug. 26 to a one-year contract for $425,000, filling their glaring need for an enforcer. It&rsquo;s clear what Severyn&rsquo;s role will be: protect highly-paid stars such as Mike Modano, Joe Nieuwendyk and Brett Hull.&ldquo;We have a good, tough team, but it&rsquo;s nice to have someone in that role,&rdquo; Modano said.Severyn brings 6-foot-2, 210-pound size to the Stars&rsquo; forward group and still brings an ability to play as a regular on the fourth fine, coach Ken Hitchcock said. That was a combination team management stressed when searching for a tough guy over the summer.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a terrific team person and a solid role player,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;Our philosophy is that if you&rsquo;re going to play for us in October, we&rsquo;d like you to be playing for us in May or June. And we see that in Brent&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Stars took care of one of their four key restricted free agents, signing goalie Roman Turek to a one-year deal for $725,000 Aug. 24. Turek, 28, was expected to be a tough negotiation as he wants dearly to become a No. 1 goalie. But agent Rich Winter said the two sides made a compromise. &ldquo;We feel that next year he&rsquo;ll be the No. 1 in Atlanta or the No. 1 in Dallas."&hellip;Defenseman Richard Matvichuk said he will wait on signing his contract extension as he&rsquo;s still recovering from knee surgery. Matvichuk said he is shooting to return by Nov. l&hellip;The Stars raised then-ticket prices 13 per cent and were still are on pace to boost season ticket sales from 10,000 to 12,000, which is being attributed to the signing of right winger Brett Hull. &#9632;

f0020-06

Stars find their protector in former Duck Severyn

<div class="byline">By Chuck Carlton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01995/7009953-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="171" height="172"></div>The second coming of Petr Klima was accomplished with far less intrigue.A simple phone call from Klima advisor Petr Svoboda to Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; GM Ken Holland orchestrated the return of a player who typified the franchise&rsquo;s 1980s rebuilding.This time, the Cold War drama was absent. There was no tension-laden defection to be arranged from Czechoslovakia, no harrowing trip with then-assistant GM Nick Polano driving and Klima&rsquo;s eventual wife, Irina, riding in the trunk.For the 33-year-old Klima, the invitation to training camp Sept. 12 in Traverse City, Mich., is a chance to resurrect his NHL career. He washed out with the Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers in 1996-97, managing just two goals in 33 games. Last season was spent with Krefeld Pinguine in Germany, where he recorded seven goals and 19 points in 38 games.&ldquo;Coming into training camp, if we&rsquo;re healthy and don&rsquo;t lose anybody in the waiver draft, his odds of making the team are slim and none,&rdquo; Holland said. &ldquo;But if we have injuries or lose a player in the waiver draft and Petr shows he has some hockey left, there&rsquo;s a chance.&rdquo;Brent Gilchrist, a left winger like Klima, will miss the start of camp with a groin injury that sidelined him for much of the playoffs. And the Red Wings could lose a forward in the waiver draft. The Adirondack Red Wings of the American League might be in Klima&rsquo;s future, for starters, Holland said.If this is Klima&rsquo;s last stand, he welcomes the familiar territory. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always wanted to return to Detroit and play for the Red Wings,&rdquo; Klima said, &ldquo;but the timing was never right. This is my big chance to come back to the city and team where I began my career.&rdquo;Klima was part of a memorable Jimmy Devellano 1983 draft class which included Steve Yzer-man, Bob Probert and Joey Kocur, who also made an improbable Detroit return in 1996 and helped Detroit win back-to-back Stanley Cups.NOTEBOOK: For now at least, associate coaches Barry Smith and Dave Lewis are heading the team on a day-to-day basis. Coach Scotty Bowman, recovering from Aug. 19 surgery in New York that replaced his arthritic left knee with a titanium one, has yet to notify GM Ken Holland about a possible remm behind the bench. There&rsquo;s no doubt when our training camp begins, our associate coaches will be running the team,&rdquo; Holland said. &ldquo;How far along before Scotty comes back, I don&rsquo;t think anybody knows.&rdquo; The best guess is Smith and Lewis run the team for several months on an interim basis while Bowman mulls his future. There has been some speculation Bowman will retire from coaching and accept another position in the organization&hellip;Little progress was made on unsigned forwards Mathieu Dandenault and Tomas Holmstrom.with the latter expected to settle for a one-year deal after tying for third (seven goals, 19 points) in NHL playoff scoring last season. &#9632;

f0022-01

Klima aims for triumphant return in same place where it all began

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02689/7009984-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="172" height="172"></div>Glen Sather has a reputation as a hard case, but the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; GM has a soft spot in his heart for the underdog. He loves a good comeback against long odds and it was in that vein that he invited Sheldon Kennedy to try out if and when it fits into his schedule.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d love to give him the opportunity. If the guy can&rsquo;t find some place, I&rsquo;d give him a chance,&rdquo; said Sather, who has taken much bigger gambles on troubled players such as Link Gaetz and players long past their prime such as Glenn Anderson, Petr Klima and Kent Nilsson.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d hate to see guys who have had something go wrong in their lives and nobody gives them a chance to correct it,&rdquo; Sather said. &ldquo;This was nothing that was his fault This was beyond his control.&rdquo;Kennedy is in-line skating across Canada to raise money for a retreat in B.C. for victims of sexual abuse. (See page 8 for more on Kennedy.) He was victimized by former junior coach Graham James. Kennedy was surprised and encouraged to hear that Sather had extended him an invitation.&ldquo;I would love to play in Edmonton. I&rsquo;ve always liked Edmonton&rsquo;s game. It&rsquo;s fast, energetic and exciting and that&rsquo;s my ball game,&rdquo; Kennedy said.He said the skate across the country has rekindled his love of hockey and he&rsquo;s ready to make a return to the pro ranks.&ldquo;Everything that happened to me took the fun out of the game. It took the fun out of life basically,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have found the excitement again on this skate.&rdquo;However, Kennedy doesn&rsquo;t finish until Oct. 12 and will only think about playing hockey after it&rsquo;s done. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like I&rsquo;m not going to be in shape. I skate 100 kilometers every day.&rdquo;Sather said he received a call from Kennedy&rsquo;s agent, but had not spoken with him as of late August. &ldquo;If we could help him out, damn right we&rsquo;ll help him out. I&rsquo;m not going to give him a guaranteed deal or anything, but if he wants to come to camp and he makes it, it&rsquo;d be great for him. Or if he wants to go to Hamilton (the Oilers&rsquo; American League affiliate), he&rsquo;d be welcome.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Oilers signed right winger Pat Falloon to a one-year, two-way deal after Ottawa didn&rsquo;t extend him a qualifying offer. He and Oilers&rsquo; coach Ron Low are from the same hometown. Foxwarren, Man. &ldquo;I talked to (Senators&rsquo; coach) Jacques Martin about him,&rdquo; Low said, &ldquo;and he said he was one of the best conditioned athletes in Ottawa. He said the problem wit Pat Falloon is he forgot how to score."&hellip;The Oilers will probably offer right winger Roman Oksiuta a training camp tryout. The former Oiler worked with Edmonton&rsquo;s fitness consultant Daryl Duke for the past three months&hellip;Defenseman Boris Mironov&rsquo;s agent Paul Theofanous wants to talk to Sather about a contract extension, and a raise of course, but Sather had been putting him off for most of the summer&hellip;Sather didn&rsquo;t like the tone of contract talks with defenseman Janne Niinimaa&rsquo;s agent Don Baizley. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s so far out in left field with what he wants it&rsquo;s hard to tell where it&rsquo;s going.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-02

Sather offers Kennedy invitation to resume NHL career with Oilers

<div class="byline">By Dave Joseph</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01884/7010015-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="159" height="153"></div>By late August, the luxury boxes weren&rsquo;t finished and all the seats hadn&rsquo;t been installed. Walls were bare and sawdust covered part of the floor.But this didn&rsquo;t prevent coach Terry Murray from moving into the Florida Panthers&rsquo; new $165-million National Car Rental Center with one simple goal in mind: turning this team back into a contender.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of talent here,&rdquo; said Murray above the banging of hammers and the testing of alarms. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s good chemistry, youth&hellip;players just coming into their prime.&rdquo;Murray, who takes over for brother and GM Bryan behind the bench this season, believes these players must finally begin to help carry the Panthers.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s time for those guys to step up and show more than what they have in the past,&rdquo; Murray said.&ldquo;When you get to be in the league three or four years, the time is now to start doing it,&rdquo; Murray added. &ldquo;(Rob) Niedermayer, he needs to bounce back. (Ed) Jovanovski, he needs to bounce back. (Steve) Washbum, (David) Nemirovsky. (Radek) Dvorak&hellip;&rdquo;Not only should these players begin improving their statistics, Murray believes, but they should also begin taking a more active leadership role.&ldquo;They need to come up and play well, consistently, or we have to make some changes and move by these guys. L think this is a critical training camp,&rdquo; Murray said.NOTEBOOK: Team management and staff were set to take up permanent residence in the National Car Rental Center Aug. 31&hellip;The Panthers&rsquo; first game in the new arena will be a pre-season contest Sept. 27 against Bostonwhile the first regular season game is Oct. 9 against Tampa Bay. The building&rsquo;s official grand opening gala will take place Oct. 3 when a concert is given by Canadian singer Celine Dion.. Rookies are set to report to training camp Sept. 5, with veterans due to arrive Sept. 12&hellip;The Panthers have expressed interest in Detroit backup goaltender Kevin Hodson, whom the Wings would like to move before losing him for nothing in October&rsquo;s waiver draft. Florida&rsquo;s top two goalie entering camp are veteran Kirk McLean and untested Kevin Weekes. &#9632;

f0023-01

Murray eyes improvement for underachieving youth

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03396/7010046-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="599" height="960"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rob Blake</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02571/7010053-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="149" height="153"></div>Last season, Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; defenseman Rob Blake balanced every aspect of his game so well, he won the Norris Trophy.As he and the Kings got into serious contract talks in late August, Blake was trying to balance his desire for a lengthy deal against his desire not to lock himself in if the NHL&rsquo;s salary scale continues its rapid escalation.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re pretty open to anything,&rdquo; said Ron Salcer, Blake&rsquo;s agent. &ldquo;A long-term deal is nice because the security is nice, but we think Rob is going to be a solid Norris Trophy candidate every year and we don&rsquo;t want to have a deal where he isn&rsquo;t going to be getting what the market value is. Rob can be an unrestricted free agent three years from now and what would a guy like Rob command?&rdquo;At the start of last season, Blake was the sixth-highest paid defenseman in the NHL with a salary of $3.15 million, behind Scott Stevens, Chris Chelios, Al Maclnnis, Ray Bourque and Brian Leetch.Salcer hopes he and Kings&rsquo; GM Dave Taylor will come to an agreement on Blake, a restricted free agent, before training camp begins.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s too far ahead to look, but I&rsquo;m hopeful in my relationship with Dave. We have a pretty good relationship,&rdquo; said Salcer, who used to represent Taylor during Taylor&rsquo;s playing days. &ldquo;We understand each other and trust each other and I hope cooler heads will prevail. But I&rsquo;ve got to look out for Rob and protect my guy.&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>NOTEBOOK: Right winger-center Nathan LaFayette, who had five goals and eight points in 34 games last season, signed a two-year contract. LaFayette is perhaps the Kings&rsquo; best faceoff man&hellip;King officials said defenseman Mattias Norstrom has recovered from drop foot, a condition in which a nerve near the knee was damaged and left him with no feeling in his leg. Norstrom experienced the problem while playing for Sweden at the World Championship.. Right winger Dan Bylsma is expected to be ready for training camp after undergoing surgery to repair a broken foot&hellip; Left winger Luc Robitaille. broadcaster Bob Miller and public relations director Mike Altieri attended the funeral of Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray Aug. 21. &#9632;

f0023-03

Blake talks get serious

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04280/7010084-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="154" height="109"></div>Call him a King without a throne. But he&rsquo;s a contented one.After being interviewed for the vacant head-coaching job with the Florida Panthers and being rumored as a candidate for the same position with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Dave King will start the new season exactly where he ended the last one-as an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens, serving as a loyal lieutenant to Alain Vigneault.&ldquo;One of these days, the Canadiens are going to suspect that I&rsquo;m shopping myself,&rdquo; said King, who spent much of the summer at his cottage off Lake Wasesiu in northern Saskatchewan. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the last impression I&rsquo;d want to have. My name seems to be thrown into every hopper and while that seems flattering, it also tends to obscure my contentment with where 1 am.&rdquo;King, 50, is content because the Canadiens provided his return to the NHL last season following two years as a consultant to the Japanese Ice Hockey Federation and the Nagano Olympic Games. He also spent three seasons coaching the Calgary Flames following 12 years with Canada&rsquo;s national and Olympic squads.King had an option last year to return to Japan, go to Europe or accept other jobs as an NHL assistant, but chose the Canadiens for their stature and tradition. He has not regretted his decision but, at the same time, was highly interested in the Florida job, which went to Terry Murray, brother of GM Bryan Murray.The Canadiens allowed 68 fewer goals last season and much of the credit went to the defense-oriented King.&ldquo;At times, I was a little embarrassed at the attention,&rdquo; said King, who was also credited with briefing GM Rejean Houle on league matters and showing Vigneault the ropes of coaching an NHL team without upstaging him.&ldquo;There will be the right coaching job when I see it.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: If the Canadiens have questions about their goaltending tandem of Jocelyn Thibault and Jose Theodore, chances are the answer isn&rsquo;t unrestricted free agent Sean Burke. But Burke reportedly is one of the goalies the team is considering following the retirement of Andy Moog. The Habs may be blinded by his 174-2 lifetime record against Montreal&hellip; With new contracts for right winger Mark Recchi and center Vincent Damphousse. and with eight other restricted free agents still to go, the Canadiens might be forced to trade left winger Shayne Corson, who earned $1.145-million (U.S.) last year and was promised by St. Louis management prior to his 1996 trade to Montreal the contract would be renegotiated. &#9632;

f0023-04

King happy to remain in Hab castle

<div class="byline">By Jeff Legwold</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-06182/7010115-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="590" height="965"><figcaption class="caption-body">Andrew Brunette</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05222/7010122-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="161" height="97"></div>Going into late August, there were four highlighted items on GM David Poile&rsquo;s things-to-do list-four names to be exact.Andrew Brunette, Sergei Krivokrasov, Sebastien Bordeleau and Vitali Yachmenev-the Nashville Predators&rsquo; only unsigned restricted free ag-ents-were getting most of the attention. While that fist may not shake the foundation in many places, two of the players also happen to be two of the top scorers this first-year franchise has.Brunette had 11 goals and 23 points in 28 games with the Washington Capitals last season. Because of a projected upside with increased playing time, the left winger is expected to be a top offensive producer for the Predators this season.Krivokrasov had 10 goals and 23 points in 58 games with the Chicago Blackhawks last season.All four had offers on the table and all four are expected to be in Nashville when the Predators open training camp Sept. 13.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve been down this road many times,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;These things aren&rsquo;t done until they&rsquo;re done. But I will say I think it&rsquo;s in the best interests on both sides if they are all in camp. They have something to offer us and they have an opportunity with the organization that could be beneficial to them.&rdquo;Considering the team will likely scrape for most of its goals, Brunette and Krivokrasov are indeed needed. It is likely Krivokrasov&rsquo;s deal will come last; the other three deals were far closer to being completed.NOTEBOOK: The team has finished its first television deal. Nashville-area residents will see 45 games because of the deal, but those who may be interested elsewhere can find 30 of those games through the year-including Detroit Oct. 21, Philadelphia Jan. 11 and the Rangers Feb. 15-on Fox SportsSouth with the use of a satellite dish&hellip; The team acquired center Jeff Nelson from Washington for a conditional draft pick. The 25-year-old Nelson has not played in the NHL in two years. The 6-fooh 190-pounder finished this past season with 20 goals and 34 assists for Milwaukee of the International League. He may not have to go far if he can&rsquo;t make the Predators roster in camp as the team has 10 slots in Milwaukee for the upcoming season. &#9632;

f0023-06

Contracts top priority

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01968/7010153-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="148" height="154"></div>Platform-heeled shoes and 1970s fashions are fine for trendy nightclubs, but Martin Brodeur has declared the retro look has no place in hockey.The New Jersey Devils&rsquo; goaltender said he supports new restrictions on equipment as long as NHL officials do not get carried away and make the game unsafe.&ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t mind the equipment changes unless it gets ridiculous and dangerous for the goalies,&rdquo; Brodeur said in response to restrictions on sweaters, pants, chest and arm pad dimensions for the upcoming NHL season.&ldquo;I mean we&rsquo;re not dealing with guys who are 5-foot-10, 170 pounds anymore who don&rsquo;t work out in the summer. You&rsquo;re dealing with guys who are really strong and sticks are way better. You can&rsquo;t regress 10 years with the equipment, I don&rsquo;t care what the GMs are saying about it. I know (Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; GM) Ken Dryden didn&rsquo;t play with equipment or shirts that big, but that was 20 years ago.&rdquo;Brodeur said changes to increase offense don&rsquo;t scare him as much as changes that might lead to injury.&ldquo;There is nothing wrong with trying to change the game, but it&rsquo;s got to be safe. What are you going to do, take off our masks next time? First it&rsquo;s the blocker, then the pads and now it&rsquo;s the arm and chest protectors. They want to do the gloves and pants. It&rsquo;s getting ridiculous.&ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s our fault. The last four years we&rsquo;ve been playing too good.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Devils reassembled their goaltending tandem from the 1995 Stanley Cup winner when they re-acquired Chris Terreri from Chicago Aug. 25 for a third round pick in the 1999 entry draft. Terreri, 33, was traded by the Devils to San Jose Nov. 15, 1995. Terreri had one year left on his contract, but the Devils extended the deal through 2000-01&hellip;Right winger Jason Arnott suffered a broken left index finger and was expected to have the finger in a cast until Sept. 12 after requiring surgery twice following a fishing hook accident in Sudbury, Ont. Arnott, whose 1998 playoffs were ended by an accidental skate cut to his right wrist, signed a one-year contract after accepting the Devils&rsquo; qualifying offer. &#9632;</div>

f0024-01

Safety of goalie fraternity in back of Brodeur’s mind

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03426/7010184-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="613" height="964"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Brewer</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02654/7010191-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="153" height="148"></div>Heading into the first day of training camp workouts Sept. 13 in Lake Placid, N.Y., the New York Islanders&rsquo; top four defensemen are the same as last year: Kenny Jonsson, Bryan Berard, Rich Pilon and Scott Lachance. But competition will be fierce among eight players vying for three other roster spots.Coach-GM Mike Milbury and assistant GM Gordie Clark have made moves to restore depth to the defense corps after trading Bryan McCabe, Jason Holland and Jason Strudwick last year, losing J.J. Daigneault to the Nashville Predators in the expansion draft and not offering free agent Dennis Vaske a contract.Over the summer, the Isles signed their 19-year-old first round 1997 draft pick Eric Brewer, re-signed point man John Namestnikov and added three free agent defensemen with NHL experience: Dean Malkoc, Barry Richter and David Harlock. The trio will compete with three others who saw spot duty with the Isles last season: Zdeno Chara. Ray Schultz and Vladimir Chebaturkin.Clark said he&rsquo;s fine with the defense. &ldquo;Would I have liked a Steve Duchesne or a Jyrki Lumme? Of course. But what we wanted to spend and what they were after are two different things.&rdquo;Because a right shoulder injury limited Brewer to 34 games last season, Clark said Brewer would benefit from one more year with the Prince George Cougars of the Western League.Clark said he thinks Chara, 21, a 6-foot-9 Slovakian who played 25 games with the Isles, can win a regular job.NOTEBOOK: The Islanders obtained the rights to 1998 Hobey Baker finalist defenseman Ray Giroux of Yale in an Aug. 25 hade with the Philadelphia Flyers for a sixth round draft pick in 2000. Giroux, 22, had 39 points and was plus-32 in 35 games last year. The North Bay, Ont., native must be signed by June 1, 1999&hellip;Long Island newspaper Newsday reported that negotiations between Nassau County officials and the Islanders about a proposed new arena to replace Nassau Coliseum stalled because of co-owner Howard Milstein&rsquo;s efforts to obtain a National Football League expansion team in Cleveland. Milstein would have to sell his 45 per cent stake in the Isles if he gets the football franchise due to the NHL&rsquo;s cross-ownership ban. &#9632;

f0024-03

Depth D-men to fight it out

<div class="byline">By John Dellapina</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04272/7010222-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="151" height="147"></div>Adam Graves survived three Shark attacks this summer. Still, the burning question going into training camp was whether the rugged forward has the stomach to be effective in an eighth season with the New York Rangers.Graves, you see, played all of last season with an abdominal muscle tear that sapped much of his strength and nullified his trademark disruptiveness on the forecheck better than any obstruction could. That, of course, merely added to physical obstacles Graves has been battling ever since undergoing back surgery in the summer of 1994.Fearing he again would require offseason surgery that could cost him part of the upcoming season, Graves was relieved when doctors told him a program of initial rest and then strenuous exercise might be an effective alternative. Graves turned hours of weight training and stretching into a significantly bulked-up body he hopes can help him bounce back from a 23-goal, 35-point 1997-98 campaign.Now, so are the Rangers, who need Graves&rsquo; scoring on the wing and ability to shift to second-line center to help fill their two biggest holes. Rangers&rsquo; management didn&rsquo;t go into the summer thinking that way, however.First, they offered Graves to the San Jose Sharks in June in an attempt to acquire the No. 2 overall pick at the entry draft and select David Legwand. When that fell through, the Rangers considered dealing Graves to the Sharks in July to jettison his $3-million salary and clear payroll room for a high-priced center. When none could be acquired, Graves still was pursued by the Sharks once more, though the Rangers then backed away.&ldquo;1 have tremendous respect for (Rangers&rsquo; president-GM) Neil Smith and I know what a difficult job he has,&rdquo; Graves said. &ldquo;But everybody knows I want to stay a Ranger. And you can tell him that if he brings me back, he&rsquo;ll be getting a committed, highly-conditioned athlete.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: There was no progress to report on negotiations for a new contract for captain Brian Leetch. President-GM Neil Smith met once in early August with Leetch&rsquo;s agent, Jay Grossman, but little progress was made toward keeping the two-time Norris Trophy-winner from becoming an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 1999&hellip;Smith on replacing the retired Pat LaFontaine at No. 2 center: &ldquo;I would like to make more moves by the time training camp comes. I look at our roster and think it&rsquo;s certainly better than the roster we finished last year with. Still, I&rsquo;m always looking for ways to improve, but if no one is available at a price you&rsquo;re willing to pay, then you have to go with what you have.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-04

Trade talks cloud Graves situation

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrloch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-07129/7010253-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="602" height="959"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Yashin</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05188/7010260-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="148" height="121"></div>This will be a season of change for Ottawa Senators&rsquo; center Alexei Yashin.Destined to replace departed captain Randy Cunneyworth, Yashin, 24, has the added role of leading a team which is supposed to take the next step after advancing to the second round last year.As far as the main man in the middle is concerned, however, he&rsquo;s not going to change one bit.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re all big to me,&rdquo; said Yashin during a break from training last week. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see this one as being any different than any other. We all want to do well and we all want to have success. That makes everybody feel good about themselves.&ldquo;Everybody talks about taking their play to the next level. What&rsquo;s the next level? I had 72 points last year. Does that mean I have to get 80 points next year? I don&rsquo;t know. I just try to do the best I can do.&rdquo;While some hockey players spend their summers lounging around the golf course between workouts, Yashin had little time for rest and relaxation after the Washington Capitals ended Ottawa&rsquo;s season May 15.After taking a three week break immediately following the season with friends in the Bahamas, Yashin was been on the run after, attending NHL Players&rsquo; Association meetings in Atlanta, visiting family in Russia, working out in Finland, playing a charity game in Prague and managing to work in karate and tennis lessons in spare moments.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>NOTEBOOK:The Senators have given Pittsburgh free agent center Andreas Johansson a tryout in training camp. If he proves he can make the team, likely on the left side, he&rsquo;ll sign a one-year contract worth $450,000 (U.S.) Johansson, 25, scored five goals and 15 points in 50 games with Pittsburgh last season&hellip;Talks continued to get Ottawa coach Jacques Martin a new contract before training camp opens. Martin was looking for a three-year deal at $2.1 million (U.S.). Martin has been the NHL&rsquo;s lowest paid coach &plusmn;e past two seasons despite first getting the Senators into the playoffs and then, a year later, leading them to an upset win over the New Jersey Devils in the opening round. He made $236,000 (U.S.) last season. &#9632;

f0024-07

Crucial year up for Yashin

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01865/7010322-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="137" height="146"></div>First they said they were prepared to turn over the job to rapidly-improving goaltending prospect Scott Langkow. Then they said they were ready to reach back into the past and offer it to Bob Essensa.But the Phoenix Coyotes decided to re-sign unrestricted free agent Jimmy Waite for a second season as backup goalie to Nikolai Khabibulin.&ldquo;We feel having Jimmy Waite back for another season will really help our club. It will be good for Nik, too,&rdquo; said Coyotes&rsquo; GM Bobby Smith.The backup role was in limbo the past two seasons because of recurring knee problems to Darcy Wakaluk, who retired last year.Waite was 5-6-1 in 17 appearances with a team-best 2.12 goals-against average. He wasn&rsquo;t expected to be part of their future after Smith said Langkow would be given every chance to win the job in training camp.&ldquo;We think Scott&rsquo;s ready,&rdquo; Smith said at the time. &ldquo;He can&rsquo;t stay in the American league forever.&rdquo;Especially after going 30-13-5 with a 2.68 GAA last season for the Springfield Falcons and being named the AHL&rsquo;s goaltender of the year.But now the Coyotes aren&rsquo;t as sure Langkow, 21, is ready. They spent a few weeks this summer talking with Essensa and offered a contract, but he re-signed with the Edmonton Oilers.Waite was drawing little interest from other teams and the Coyotes ultimately felt he was their best solution.NOTEBOOK: The Coyotes were close to signing Dallas free agent left winger Greg Adams. 35, who played college hockey for two years at Northern Arizona University&hellip; Right winger Rick Tocchet went all out for his wedding Aug. 23 to fiancee Lynn Wilke. In addition to a golf outing set up by teammate Jeremy Roenick. Tocchet had a bachelor party in Toronto that was attended by 120 friends&hellip;The Coyotes announced they were retaining their affiliations with farm clubs in Springfield (AHL), Mississippi (East Coast League) and Las Vegas (International League)&hellip;There was little progress in contract talks between the Coyotes and restricted free agent defenseman Keith Carney, who was looking to double his $700,000 salary from last year. &#9632;</div>

f0025-01

NHLTEAMSov

Langkow has to Waite, Coyotes re-sign backup

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecklng</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04221/7010391-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="152" height="130"></div>The St. Louis Blues lost a good chunk of their offense when they decided not to resign their career goal-scoring leader Brett Hull or offensive defenseman Steve Duchesne, but coach Joel Quenneville, a major player in both decisions, still likes the team&rsquo;s base-defense and goaltending.&ldquo;Our strong point is our defense with Chris Pronger and Al Maclnnis and we&rsquo;re solid in net,&rdquo; he said, referring to leading man Grant Fuhr and understudy Jamie McLennan.The Blues have high hopes for McLennan, who won the Masterton Trophy last season and established career marks with a record of 16-8-2, a 2.17 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. He could push Fuhr for playing time, which is why the Blues paid a premium to convince the Nashville Predators to overlook McLennan in the expansion draft.Nashville picked Blair Atcheynum from the Blues&rsquo; unprotected list and got Darren Turcotte in exchange for not touching McLennan.&ldquo;It was nice not to lose Jamie,&rdquo; Quenneville said. &ldquo;Jamie gives Grant nice support and he has some upside. Hopefully, he&rsquo;ll improve next season and develop greater responsibility. If he can handle it, I&rsquo;d like to play them equally.&rdquo;Although Duchesne played a key role for St. Louis last year, the Blues feel they are still strong on the blueline with veterans Todd Gill, Marc Bergevin and Rudy Poeschek and blossoming youngsters Chris McAlpine and Jamie Rivers. They&rsquo;ll play behind Maclnnis and plus-minus king Pronger.Hull&rsquo;s departure, as well losing Turcotte and Atcheynum, leaves a big hole up front, but the situation is not bleak. The Blues signed unrestricted free agent Scott Young and re-signed Geoff Courtnail, last season&rsquo;s leading goal-scorer with 31 goals.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not great up front, but we&rsquo;re quick and we find a way to get the job done,&rdquo; Quenneville said.NOTEBOOK: After the season, the Blues and defenseman Al Maclnnis agreed he wouldn&rsquo;t need another operation to prevent the recurrent dislocations of his left shoulder. He spent the summer strengthening it in hopes of fixing the problem. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve really been working hard. Everything went pretty well."&hellip;Goaltender and golfing fanatic Grant Fuhr acknowledged that he loves golf as much as hockey. &ldquo;Is golf my first love? It&rsquo;s tied with hockey and moving ahead quickly,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a lot easier on my body."&hellip;Center Marty Reasoner, the Blues&rsquo; No. 1 pick in 1996, will be one of 21 players at their rookie camp Sept. 8-11 in Traverse City. Mich., before joining the veterans Sept. 14 in St. Louis. &#9632;

f0025-04

Lost offense forces Blues to rely on ‘D’

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01952/7010422-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="147" height="144"></div>The San Jose Sharks prepared to enter training camp on the heels of a successful summer, having accomplished most of their off-season goals.San Jose landed veteran defensemen Gary Suter and Bob Rouse via unrestricted free agency, acquired promising backup goaltender Steve Shields and made its latest move Aug. 25, signing unrestricted free agent right winger Ron Stem.Still, the Sharks had hoped to add a big-name forward, one capable of providing much-needed scoring on the first or second line. That critical piece of the puzzle will apparently have to wait.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure we&rsquo;re going to be able to get our type of guy right now,&rdquo; said GM Dean Lombardi said after giving Stem a one-year contract with a club option for a second season. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why we focused on an area we can improve. There is a concern going into Calgary, Vancouver and Los Angeles. We have to make sure we have some people who will stand up.&rdquo;With San Jose having chosen not to re-sign unrestricted free agent defenseman Marty McSorley, the club lacks an enforcer. Stem, 31, is by no means a heavyweight, but the 6-foot, 195-pounder should help in a limited role.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not afraid to stick his nose in there and stick up for his teammates,&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;He can also do some other things. He has some ability to make a play here and there and chip in some goals.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Marcus Ragnarsson received a two-year, $1,675million contract Aug. 18 after going through arbitration. Ragnarsson, who earned $410,000 last season, will receive $750,000 this year and $925,000 next season&hellip;GM Dean Lombardi was hopeful Ragnarsson s deal would pave the way in negotiations with restricted free agent defenseman Mike Rathje&hellip;Significant distance remained in contract talks with restricted free agent left winger Jeff Friesen, right winger Owen Nolan and center Mike Ricci. The club was uncertain whether it would welcome unsigned players in training camp, Lombardi said. Friesen, in the same situation last year, missed the first three regular season games after participating in camp while unsigned. &#9632;</div>

f0026-01

On mission for muscle, GM bets on Stern look

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03506/7010453-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="594" height="960"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vincent Lecavalier</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02634/7010460-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="139" height="138"></div>Vincent Lecavalier&rsquo;s agent likes what he has seen the Tampa Bay Lightning do during the days since it made his client the No. 1 overall selection in the June draft.From Bob Sauve&rsquo;s perspective, however, there is at least one more piece of the puzzle that must be put in place.That, of course, is the signing of Lecavalier, the gifted center from the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec League who will be given every opportunity to prove he deserves to play in Tampa Bay.&ldquo;The timing is good,&rdquo; Sauve said Aug. 20, one day after the Lightning opened contract talks with its top pick. &ldquo;(Tampa Bay) seems to be on the move now and it would be a nice thing to (sign Lecavalier). They&rsquo;ve made some good moves this summer and 1 imagine it would be nice for them to be able to announce Vincent is under contract.&rdquo;Lightning GM Phil Esposito seems to agree and took Step 1 toward addressing the matter with an offer for a standard three-year deal that includes base pay matching the NHL rookie salary cap of $975,000 for the 1998-99 season, a reported signing bonus of almost $500,000 and a variety of incentive clauses.&ldquo;He has trained very, very seriously this summer.&rdquo; Sauve said of Lecavalier, who has even taken boxing lessons for fitness purposes. &ldquo;He has worked with a personal trainer every day and has his weight up to 192 (pounds), which is good for him. He&rsquo;s looking forward to camp.&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>NOTEBOOK: The Lightning formally cut ties with several prospects in its system last season, including forward Allan Egeland, who played 13 NHL games over three seasons for Tampa Bay. Egeland left to sign a more lucrative minor league contract with Orlando of the International League&hellip;The Lightning also rescinded claim to several draft picks, including U.S. college products Daniel Juden and Brian White, Russians Dmitri Klevakin and Nikolai Ignatov and Ukrainian Konsta Golokhvastov&hellip; East Coast League winger Mike Nemirovsky, older brother of Florida right winger David Nemirovsky, and Mike Oliveria. an undrafted forward from Kingston of the Ontario League, have accepted invitations to training camp. &#9632;

f0026-03

Lecavalier pumped up

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04358/7010491-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="144" height="154"></div>It&rsquo;s reasonable to assume Felix Potvin is feeling rather unwanted these days, at least by the team for which he&rsquo;s blocked pucks the past six seasons.It comes as no surprise, therefore, that Potvin was hinting at a possible training camp holdout in late August, three weeks before the Toronto Maple Leafs were scheduled to open fall training sessions at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.Potvin still has a year left on his contract at $2.7 million (U.S.), but a holdout may be his method of registering his unhappiness over the club&rsquo;s inability to move him to another NHL team after signing free agent netrninder Curtis Joseph to a four-year, $24million (U.S.) contract in July.The intention of the Leafs was to sign Joseph and then trade Potvin, but associate GM Mike Smith was giving no assurances that any transaction would be consummated before the Leafs open their 1998-99 season Oct. 10 at home against the Detroit Red Wings.Clearly, Potvin does not relish the possibility of fighting with Joseph and veteran backup Glenn Healy for training camp time or exhibition game exposure, but wouldn&rsquo;t come right out and say whether he would be at camp or stay at home in Montreal.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be interesting to see how they handle all the stories and the media attention and how they divide up the games,&rdquo; Potvin said.Potvin has been praised by a succession of Leaf coaches for being a low maintenance athlete and Smith figures that won&rsquo;t change now with a holdout.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t imagine him not being here,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;We won&rsquo;t do something premature just because there is extra attention focused on our goaltending situation.&rdquo;Smith has said he&rsquo;s not looking to acquire players who are within one year of unrestricted free agency and is thought to be interested in getting one forward and one defenseman in return.NOTEBOOK: The clubs most interested in goalie Felix Potvin were apparently Florida. Montreal and Vancouver, while the Islanders may also be interested in making a pitch&hellip;The club has still not announced an expected new local television agreement with The Sports Network that will see 31 Leaf games on the allsports channel this season ..The Leafs announced Aug. 26 that Alpo Suhonen has been named an assistant coach. Suhonen, 50, coached HPK Hameenlinna of the Finnish Elite League last season. He coached Moncton of the American League in 1989 and was an assistant with the Winnipeg Jets in 1989-90 and in the 1992-93 season. He also coached Chicago of the International League in 1996-97. &#9632;</div>

f0026-04

Camp status unclear for Cat in limbo

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07190/7010522-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="586" height="951"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dana Murzvn</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05265/7010529-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="151" height="149"></div>When the Vancouver Canucks open training camp Sept. 12, Dana Murzyn will walk into the dressing room as one of the team&rsquo;s biggest strangers, even though he is the longest serving player on the club.The burly defenseman, a Canuck since March 5, 1991, underwent season-ending knee surgery last December and then watched almost every friend he had on the team leave the organization. Most were traded, while others departed as free agents, most notably Murzyn&rsquo;s pal and long-time blueline partner Jyrki Lumme.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a new experience for me to come into camp not knowing a lot of people,&rdquo; said Murzyn, who moved to his off-season home in Calgary following his surgery and rehabilitated there. &ldquo;I did come back a few times last year and I&rsquo;ve already met some of the new guys so it won&rsquo;t be like everybody&rsquo;s a stranger.&rdquo;Murzyn will have to fight for ice time in Mike Keenan&rsquo;s lineup. Barring further trades, he will likely start fifth on the depth chart behind Mattias Oh-lund, Bryan McCabe, Bret Hedican and Murray Baron. Further complicating Murzyn&rsquo;s situation is that Baron plays the same style of game and is a known Keenan favorite.Murzyn has a lot riding on this season. If he can re-establish himself as a reliable, clear-the-net defender, he will enhance his market value heading into unrestricted free agency. Murzyn is entering the final year of his contract and will make $1.2 mil Hon (U.S.).NOTEBOOK: Canucks&rsquo; GM Brian Burke, whose team did not have an NHL-calibre goalie under contract by late August, received permission from Montreal to approach recently retired Andy Moog. Moog, 38, was not interested&hellip;Unrestricted free agent Arturs Irbe, who was Vancouver&rsquo;s top goalie last season, is considered Plan B or C by the Canucks&hellip; Coach Mike Keenan said he was &ldquo;a little disappointed&rdquo; that right winger Pavel Bure is refusing to again play for the Canucks despite having one year remaining on his contract. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an awesome talent, but on the other hand we&rsquo;re freeing up $7 million-plus in salary,&rdquo; Keenan said. &rsquo;If we do the trade right we should be able to dramatically enhance our team.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-07

Vet Murzyn old stranger

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06217/7010560-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="152" height="142"></div>Throughout the short summer, Washington Capitals&rsquo; GM George McPhee was trying to keep together the nucleus of the team that advanced to the Stanley Cup final. But as training camp neared, two key players in the final drive had yet to put pen to paper.McPhee was in touch with agents for defenseman Sergei Gonchar and center Andrei Nikolishin, the team&rsquo;s top restricted free agents. Gonchar went through a contract dispute last season and didn&rsquo;t come to terms until the day after the season started. Missing all of training camp put him at a disadvantage, especially in trying to deal with a new system put in by coach Ron Wilson.Nikolishin needed major reconstructive surgery on his knee in May, 1997 and didn&rsquo;t play until Jan. 1. His return was slow and painful but, with wingers Peter Bondra and Richard Zednik, he caught fire during the playoffs. His 13 post-season assists set a team record.&ldquo;His performance in the playoffs was excellent,&rdquo; McPhee said of Nikolishin. &ldquo;What we especially fike is his excellent defensive play and his leadership and we think with a full season or two with some top wingers that he could also be productive as well as good defensively.&rdquo;Gonchar had seven goals in the first 11 playoff games, but none in the final 10. That&rsquo;s exactly the area the Capitals believe needs improvement-consistency.NOTEBOOK: The Capitals traded the rights to center Jeff Nelson to Nashville Aug. 19 as Predator (and former longtime Capital) GM David Poile continues to re-as-semble some of the players he drafted while in Washington. Nelson, 25. starred in Portland of the American League, but had trouble making an offensive contribution when the Caps called him up. &hellip;The Caps lost a depth player on defense in mid-August when David Harlock signed with the Islanders. Harlock was up for six games last year&hellip;Washington also lost minor league goalie Stephane Beauregard to Europe&hellip; Washington and Chicago will both supply American League Portland with players this season, the first time the Caps have shared a farm team in about a dozen years. &#9632;

f0026-06

Gonchar, Nikolishin still looking for deals

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Major league marketing has come to the minor leagues.Beginning this fall, five members of the American League&rsquo;s Hartford Wolf Pack will be featured in magazine and television advertisements for Norelco razors.Center Derek Armstrong will appear in the magazine ad and will be joined by forwards Chris Winnes and P.J. Stock and defensemen Adam Smith and Brent Thompson in the television commercial.This will be no small-time ad campaign, either. Norelco&rsquo;s advertising agency plans to buy time on Monday Night Football and space in Sports Illustrated and GQ.&ldquo;My first question was, &rsquo;Why are you not going to the New York Rangers or the Montreal Canadiens?&rsquo;&rdquo; said Tom Mitchell, executive vice-president of operations | for the Wolf Pack. &ldquo;They said the cost of working with major-league teams had gotten too high.&rdquo;So, for three days in August, Armstrong, Stock, Winnes, Smith and Thompson became actors. They found making a TV commercial is a whole lot more tedious than practice in February.&ldquo;The one television spot is 30 seconds and the other is 45 seconds,&rdquo; Mitchell said. &ldquo;They shot for 14 hours the first day.&rdquo;The advertising agency first approached the Wolf Pack in the spring and asked management to hand out Norelco&rsquo;s new razor, but not tell the players the brand. The players were asked to use the razor for three weeks, then respond to a survey. They were paid $75 for the trial period.From the responses, the players were selected. They earned upwards of $10,000 for their time in the commercial.KLIMA TO ADIRONDACK? Left winger Petr Klima has been invited to training camp by the Detroit Red Wings, but there is a very good chance he&rsquo;ll end up with the Adirondack Red Wings if he earns a contract with the twotime defending Stanley Cup champions.Klima spent last season in Germany, scoring seven goals and 19 points in 38 games. Given those numbers and Detroit&rsquo;s depth, there is little chance Klima would earn an NHL job.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01903/7010591-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="456" height="459"></div>But the Red Wings still may want the speedy winger as depth and have discussed the Adirondack option with him.Klima, 33, hasn&rsquo;t played in the NHL since the 1996-97 season, when he bounced from the Los Angeles Kings to the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International League and then to the Edmonton Oilers.In 773 NHL games, Klima scored 312 goals and 572 points for Detroit, the Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins.REBUILDING THE DEFENSE: The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, who allowed an AHL-worst 303 goals, are out to correct the problem!&mdash; and may have found part of the solution by signing several free agents-goalie and defensemen Scott Ferguson and Terran Sandwith.Ram, 27, spent most of the past two seasons as the top goalie for the Kentucky Thorough blades. He J7 was 17-18-5 with a 2.91 goals-against average in Kentucky last season before finishing the year with the Utah Grizzlies of the International League.Sandwith, 26, and Ferguson, 25, anchored the defense for the Hamilton Bulldogs last season. Sandwith, the Bulldogs&rsquo; captain, scored four goals and 12 points and had 131 penalty minutes. He also played eight NHL games in Edmonton.&ldquo;(Sandwith) is a proven leader and winner who can also play in the NHL,&rdquo; said Cincinnati GM David McNab.Ferguson scored seven goals and 24 points and had 150 PIM with Hamilton. He played his first NHL game last season, his fourth as a pro.NO TEAM, FEW TICKETS: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins don&rsquo;t begin play until the 1999-2000 season, but fans in northwest Pennsylvania are already hockey crazy.The club has already accepted deposits for 4,000 season tickets. The deposit was $50.&ldquo;And we haven&rsquo;t made a sales call,&rdquo; said team president Jeff Barrett. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d love to take credit, but we can&rsquo;t. It&rsquo;s a tribute to the community.&rdquo;The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area has one million people within 50 miles. A new 8,500-seat arena is under construction and 28 of the 33 luxury suites have already been sold. &#9632;

f0027-01

Wolf Packon cutting edge of big marketing campaign

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div>The Detroit Vipers took a major step toward remaining among the International League&rsquo;s elite clubs when they re-signed center Peter Ciavaglia to a two-year deal.Ciavaglia has been with the Vipers since their inception in 1994 and has been one of the reasons the club has the league&rsquo;s best record in that span. In addition, Ciavaglia helped the Vipers win the 1997 Turner Cup and advance to the seventh game of last season&rsquo;s Turner Cup final before losing to the Chicago Wolves.Ciavaglia, a former U.S. Olympian, was hampered by injuries during the regular season last year and played in just 35 games, when he recorded 11 goals and 30 assists for 41 points.However, he had a strong playoff, netting 19 points in 23 games.&ldquo;Signing Pete was a major priority for this team during the off-season,&rdquo; said Vipers&rsquo; GM J John Torchetti, who had to coach against Ciavaglia last year when he was head coach of the rival Fort Wayne Komets. &ldquo;He has been here since the beginning, has been a team leader and is a core member of this club. We are reloading for another strong season and obviously having Pete on board means a lot.&rdquo;He is Detroit&rsquo;s all-time leader in games (255), goals (76), assists (196), points (272) and plus-minus (plus-62). He also is the Vipers&rsquo; alltime leading playoff scorer with 71 points in 61 post-season games.Detroit also re-signed center Dan Kesa, who had a big year and was one of the league&rsquo;s top players, but he signed a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins and will go to training camp with a shot to make the team. If Kesa fails to make Pittsburgh&rsquo;s roster, he will return to Detroit.ICE DOGS INK MUZZATTI: The Long Beach Ice Dogs hope they will have one of the IHL&rsquo;s top goaltending tandems after signing free agent Jason Muzzatti to a one-year deal.Muzzatti, 28, was a first round pick of the Calgary Flames in the 1988 NHL entry draft. He has appeared in 62 NHL games over his career with Calgary, the Hartford Whalers, San Jose Sharks and the New York Rangers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02569/7010622-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="750" height="300"></div>His best year in the NHL was in 1995-96 with Hartford, when he went 4-8-3 with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.Last year, Muzzatti spent most of the season in the American League, splitting time between the Hartford Wolf Pack and Kentucky Thorough blades.Muzzatti is expected to split time with Manny Legace, who is expected to be assigned to the Ice Dogs from the Los Angeles Kings.&ldquo;Jason is a very good, talented goaltender,&rdquo; said Long Beach GM-coach John Van Boxmeer. &ldquo;With the signing of Jason and the possibility of having Manny Legace on our roster, we might have the strongest goaltending tandem in the league.&rdquo;Long Beach also re-signed physical defense-man Mike Matteucci, a 225-pounder who excelled in his own end and racked up 258 penalty minutes.LEGEND BEHIND THE &rsquo; BENCH: Gary Emmons, the only player in Kansas City Blades&rsquo; history to have his number retired, was named an assistant coach to Paul MacLean.Emmons, 34, retired after the 1996-97 season as the Blades&rsquo; all-time leading scorer with 401 points. He spent last season as the club&rsquo;s director of player personnel.However, he was needed as a coach after the Blades lost Lucien DeBlois, who became a scout with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.TOUGH GUY ROUNDUP: Two of the IHL&rsquo;s toughest players found new homes. Left winger Dody Wood signed with Kansas City and ex-Blade Dean Ewen signed with the Las Vegas Thunder.Wood, who in 1994 was voted the league&rsquo;s top fighter by GMs, has played for the Blades in five of the past six seasons, but spent most of last year with the Albany River Rats of the AHL.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been trying hard to re-acquire Dody because he adds such a physical presence to our team,&rdquo; said Blades&rsquo; GM Doug Soetaert.Wood&rsquo;s signing made Ewen expendable and Las Vegas jumped at the chance to nab the 220-pound left winger. The Thunder has the smallest rink in the league and coach Bob Bourne said Ewen&rsquo;s style will suit the rink perfectly. &#9632;

f0027-02

Vipers’ mainstay Ciavaglia inks for two more seasons

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>The East Coast League&rsquo;s Kelly Cup playoffs will be a wild affair starting this season.At pre-season meetings in Washington in mid-August, owners approved a new playoff format that will see 19 of the league&rsquo;s 27 teams qualify for the post-season.The playoff format in the Northern Conference remains the same, with eight teams qualifying for the playoffs. The two division winners are seeded Nos. 1 and 2.But things have changed in the 16-team Southern Conference, where 11 teams qualify. The top five teams in the conference automatically qualify for the first round, while the next six play a wild card round. No. 6 and 11, No. 7 and 10 and No. 8 and 9 will play best-of-three series to determine which three teams will join the top five teams for the first round. Those teams will then be seeded Nos. 6 through 8 for the conference playoffs.The conference quarterfinals and semi-finals remain best-of-five series and the conference final and Kelly Cup final remain best-of-seven.GROWING AGAIN: The doctors are in and they promise to have a cure for what ails the hockey fans of Columbia, S.C.The league&rsquo;s board of governors 1 approved Columbia as the league&rsquo;s 30th franchise. The team is owned by Sports Docs Inc., a group of doctors from Florence, S.C.There is no specific timetable for Columbia to join the league because it doesn&rsquo;t have a rink. There is currently an arena being constructed for the University of South Carolina and the hockey owners are looking at adding an ice-making facility. The team will likely join the league for the 2000-01 season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03372/7010653-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="409" height="429"></div>The ECHL will add Little Rock, Ark., and Trenton, N.J., next season and only formalities are holding up plans to the addition of Reading, Pa.HEAD BOMBER: The Dayton Bombers named Greg Ireland coach Aug. 25. Ireland succeeds Mark Kum-. pel, who left in August to become coach of the American League&rsquo;s Portland Pirates.Ireland, 32, spent the past four years as coach-GM of the Caledon Canadians Jr. A team in the Metro Toronto Hockey Association, guiding the club to a 158-25-19 record.&ldquo;We heard so many good things from different hockey people in the U.S. and Canada about Greg that we knew he had to be our man,&rdquo; said Bombers&rsquo; owner John Gagnon. &ldquo;I knew he was the right fit for our organization.&rdquo;COAST LINES: The ECHL board of governors approved the purchase of the Jacksonville Lizard Kings by the Jacksonville Professional Hockey Club LLC Aug. 22. The group is headed by David Berkman, who is based in Atlanta but has a home in Amelia Island, Fla., along with minority partners Charles Felix and Bruce Burge&hellip;The Birmingham Bulls signed center and league MVPJamey Hicks to a two-year contract. Hicks will also serve as the club&rsquo;s director of community affairs beginning Sept. 1. Hicks led the league in scoring with 119 points and had a 32-game point streak, second-highest in ECHL history. &#9632;

f0027-03

Hey 19: New playoff format features wild card series

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>Joe Canale, the only man to coach in all three leagues that make up the Canadian League, will start the 1998-99 season with the Sherbrooke Castors, his sixth team.Canale was fired by the Laval Titan last February, despite posting a 34-214 record. He has also coached the Beauport Harfangs and Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the Quebec League, the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario League and the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western League.&ldquo;I received offers from some other leagues, but I just wasn&rsquo;t ready to take that option yet,&rdquo; said Canale, who refused to say what the other leagues were.&ldquo;Junior still interested me and Sherbrooke is close to my residence and where we have our personal (tree maintenance) business.&rdquo;Canale lives in Laval, which means that last season was the first time in his coaching career he spent the winter in his own home. But he said the moving around doesn&rsquo; t bother him.&ldquo;The way we look at it is it&rsquo;s a way of meeting new people and getting to enjoy new experiences,&rdquo; Canale said. &ldquo;Some moves you may enjoy and some you may not, but we&rsquo;ve enjoyed them all.&rdquo;Canale faces a daunting challenge this season, inheriting a team that finished 2740-3 last season and missed the playoffs. To make matters worse, the team had traded away both its first and second round draft picks at this year&rsquo;s midget draft in exchange for cash.&ldquo;Missing those first two draft picks is going to hurt somewhere down the line,&rdquo; Canale said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got about 18 returning players, but that&rsquo;s from a team that didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs. Confidence is going to be very fragile because of that and confidence is the key to success.&ldquo;Our first goal is to be competitive and that means playing over .500. That&rsquo;s the only goal that we&rsquo;re going to set from Day 1. We have to achieve that before we can start setting other goals.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02625/7010715-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="563" height="520"></div>OFFENSIVE PUNCH: Robert Mongrain&rsquo;s Sherbrooke Faucons had the third worst offense in the QMJHL last season, averaging just 3.14 goals per game.But Mongrain should have a lot more firepower this season as the new coach-GM of the Halifax Mooseheads.&ldquo;Guys like (Alex) Tanguay, (Ladislav) Nagy, (Alexandre) Mathieu and (Brandon) Reid-those people are going to do some damage offensively,&rdquo; Mongrain said.Tanguay and Mathieu combined for 82 goals and 161 points last season, while Reid had 13 goals and 34 points as a rookie. Nagy is the new face in the crowd. After being selected in the 1997 import draft, the Slovakian center decided to stay in his homeland last season with &rsquo; the Kosice Juniors, where he had 27 points in 25 games. He was selected 177th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 1997 entry draft.&ldquo;Everybody I talked to said he&rsquo;s a great player,&rdquo; Mongrain said.Another new player in Halifax this season will be Russian goaltender Alexei Volkov, who was selected at this year&rsquo;s import draft. Volkov, who is considered one of the top goaltending prospects in Europe, was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of this year&rsquo;s NHL entry draft.FUTURE EXPANSION?: QMJHL president Gilles Courteau has previously expressed his desire to have a team based in Montreal. But with the Laval Titan moving to Bathurst, N.B., during the off-season, he is now trying to speed up the process.&ldquo;Yes, I&rsquo;d like to do it as soon as possible,&rdquo; said Courteau, whose league won&rsquo;t have any teams in the Montreal area this season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to have an expansion franchise if possible.&rdquo;Meanwhile, Courteau is still feeling the effects of a serious car crash last December.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m about 80 to 85 per cent,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting better. I still have pain in my left shoulder and my back is really sore. But other than that it&rsquo;s pretty good.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0028-02

Nomad Canale takes over draft-challenged Castors

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>The Moose Jaw Warriors severed ties with coach-GM Al Tuer three days before rookie camp.Tuer&rsquo;s tenure with the Western League franchise ended after five years after what team president Larry Booth termed a mutual agreement.&ldquo;The severance package was mutual,&rdquo; said Tuer, 35, who had one season remaining on a three-year contract.&ldquo;The understanding was it probably wasn&rsquo;t going to work out and, all things being equal, we should probably do something.&rdquo;That something was announced Aug. 18.Tuer was immediately succeeded as coach by his assistant, Len Nielsen. One week later, Ralph Schmidt-the team&rsquo;s (head scout and director of player personnel for the previous 6-1/2 years-was named the new GM.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very excited for the opportunity and very grateful for the opportunities Al has created for me,&rdquo; Nielsen said.Tuer had a 137-193-26 regular season slate with Moose Jaw.In 1994-95, he coached Moose Jaw to 39 victories-the franchise&rsquo;s best total since it transferred from Winnipeg in 1984.His departure was announced almost five months after the Warriors were swept out of the playoffs by the arch-rival Regina Pats following a 23-39-10 regular season.&ldquo;It was implied a change might be a good thing,&rdquo; Tuer said. &ldquo;It was agreed. They treated me fairly. It&rsquo;s not like somebody came to me and said, &rsquo;You&rsquo;re fired. We don&rsquo;t want you.&rsquo; &ldquo;The change came four days after Tuer appeared in a Regina uniform during a Pats&rsquo; alumni game. Tuer was asked, jokingly, if that prompted the Warriors&rsquo; board of directors to make a move.&ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t think that had much to do with it,&rdquo; said Tuer, a former NHL, WHL and minor league enforcer, &ldquo;but, I&rsquo;ll tell you, I can still swoop. I had the backcheck. I had the forecheck. I had the pokecheck. The only thing I won&rsquo;t be doing for a while is the paycheck.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03446/7010746-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="411" height="419"></div>Not quite. Tuer was hired Aug. 28 as head coach of the Austin Ice Bats of the Western Pro League.KRAFTY MOVE: Center Milan Kraft-the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; first round selection (23rd overall) in the 1998 NHL draft-is slated to play for the Prince Albert Raiders this season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really tickled to have him on board,&rdquo; said Raiders&rsquo; GM Rick Valette of the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Kraft.&ldquo;Last year, one of the issues we had to deal with was we couldn&rsquo;t score enough goals to win. Milan is a very gifted offensive player and he&rsquo;ll add a spark to our team.&rdquo;Prince Albert selected the 18-year-old Kraft with the 43rd pick of the 1997 CHL import draft. He spent last season with the Plzen juniors in his native Czech Republic.NOTEBOOK: Doug Hobson resigned as the Raiders&rsquo; assistant coach f to join the Prince Albert police-&mdash; department. He had been hired July 14 as an assistant to first-year Raiders&rsquo; coach Kevin McClelland. As of late August, the Raiders had not appointed a new assistant&hellip; The Tri-City Americans will hold a pre-season tournament Sept. 18-20. The Americans, Portland Winter Hawks, Seattle Thunderbirds and Spokane Chiefs will compete&hellip; The Red Deer Rebels will also stage a tournament Sept. 18-20. The Rebels, Brandon Wheat Kings, Saskatoon Blades and Prince George Cougars will take part.Ron Dube is Prince George&rsquo;s new director of player personnel and head scout. Dube succeeds Russ Smart, who resigned to accept a position with Red Deer&rsquo;s minor hockey system. Smart remains with the Cougars&rsquo; organization as a scout&hellip;Drew Schoneck has been hired as the assistant to Kelowna Rockets&rsquo; coach Garth Malarchuk&hellip;Darryl Plandowski resigned as Seattle&rsquo;s director of player personnel after four seasons with the team to join the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; scouting staff. &#9632;

f0028-03

Tuer, Moose Jaw part ways after five seasons together

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01943/7010777-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nicklas Lidstrom and the Red Wings begin defense of the Stanley Cup Saturday, Oct. 10 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

1998-99 NHL SCHEDULE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01931/7010808-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

NHL TRAINING CAMP ROSTERS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01842/7010839-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

NHL TRAINING CAMP ROSTERS AND TRANSACTIONS

<div class="byline">By Janet Del Tulo</div>From 1993 to 1997 Steve Bogoyevac made his mark on the sport of in-line hockey and became well known for many things, including his five-year tenure with the Los Angeles Blades.He was the only member of the squad to have played all five seasons with this charter member team, though Bogoyevac-also known as Bogie to his friends-had more than stability on his side. He displayed tremendous offensive skill, while possessing an abundance of heart; a combo that was present whenever the Blades matched up against its nemesis, the Anaheim Bullfrogs.So this summer, the first summer in six years that he would have be a man without a team, Bogoyevac, a natural competitor, took this spirit with him to the beach, where he has once again been able to display his leadership skills as captain of Pro Beach Hockey&rsquo;s team Xpress.&ldquo;Our team, the Xpress, has been very motivated from the beginning. We may not have the greatest talent out of all the teams, but we play every game with heart, and the desire to win.&rdquo;In Bogoyevac&rsquo;s role with the Blades, he was utilized as a flashy and finesse player, who never backed down from a hit. He scored lots of points, but at the beach, this skating beach boy was put to the test and perfected some new and different skills.&ldquo;Unlike my normal position, I took on a more defensive role in PBH,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was still able to get scoring opportunities, but play defense at the same time. I was able to get a better look at the floor and help get the puck to our prolific scorers like: Eric Rice, Mike Callahan, and Marc Stitt.&rdquo;Not only has Steve&rsquo;s role been altered for beach play, but the game has instilled not just the visible changes like ramps and dome zones, but subtle differences that only players can recognize.&ldquo;In traditional in-line hockey, you have to be careful about mistakes but in PBH, it is that much more obvious and costly when you make a mistake,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The positional game is more important than any other form of in-line that I have ever played in the past.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01945/7010877-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="618" height="838"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Bogoyevac</figcaption></div>Due to Steve&rsquo;s job as manager of fan development for the Los Angeles Kings, he has a certain awareness of what will catch on with today&rsquo;s youths, maybe an awareness that is sharper than most at PBH. In his opinion, the prognosis looks good for those who already play on pavement.&ldquo;Because of the rules, this game will catch on in the streets. Kids may not have ramps to use but because of the penalty rules; no face offs; no off sides; or illegal clearing, it is easily played on the play ground. I love the game, because roller hockey was definitely created to be played out doors in the sunshine.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02656/7010870-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="237" height="220"></div><h2>Player Profile: Steve Bogoyevac</h2>Occupation: Manager of fan development for the Los Angeles KingsAge: 30Marital Status: SingleFavorite Moment in In-line Hockey: The first time the Los Angeles Blades beat the Anaheim Bullfrogs.Greatest Accomplishment in Life: There have been many accomplishments that Steve is proud of, but not one in particular that he considers the greatest.Favorite Movie: CaddyshacksFavorite Food: Chicken parmesanHometown: Hollywood, Calif.Future Goal: To enjoy each and every day. He believes in the rule of having &ldquo;no bad days.&rdquo;Hobby Besides Hockey: Surfing. &#9632;

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September 11, 1998

Ramp it up!

Constantine in control

League institutes policy to limit pre-season fighting

Unity in dressing room key for improved results