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.

October 9, 1998

The Hockey News October 9, 1998

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04315/6840548-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="214" height="209"></div>With restricted free agents Ziggy Palffy and Trevor Linden unsigned and the New York Islanders extending their stay in Lake Placid, N.Y. until Oct. 1 due to a squabble with the managers of Nassau Coliseum, training camp has been unsettling. But there have been positive developments.For starters, the team is excited about the play of 19-year-old defenseman Eric Brewer. Assistant GM Gordie Clark called Brewer, &ldquo;a pleasant and positive surprise. He&rsquo;s ready to give it a legitimate shot.&rdquo;Clark also praised Rich Pilon, Bryan Berard, Kenny Jonsson, Scott Lachance, Bryan Smolinski, Robert Reichel and Mariusz Czerkawski for being ready to go from Day 1.&ldquo;With our star (Palffy) and our captain (Linden) missing,&rdquo; Clark said, &ldquo;of all the guys we count on, not one of them is in bad shape.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job openings Depth on defense. Six players-Brewer, Zdeno Chara, John Namestnikov, David Harlock, Dean Malkoc and Barry Richter-were competing for two blueline jobs.Another battle was being waged for the fourth-line right winger&rsquo;s job. Dane Jackson and Vlady Orszagh were potentials to fill that hole.Player update While key defensemen Berard and Jonsson looked good in scrimmages, young forwards Dmitri Nabokov and Mike Watt had their problems. Clark said Nabokov is &ldquo;not really quick off the mark&rdquo; as a skater and Watt &ldquo;has been great in every area except finishing.&rdquo;Potential rookies Chara, Brewer, Nabokov, Watt and goalie Roberto Luongo, the fourth overall 1997 pick were all vying for jobs. &ldquo;Luongo could give the other backups a run for the money,&rdquo; Clark said after the 19-year-old was beaten 4-2 by the Washington Capitals in a pre-season game Sept. 20. Clark said Luongo went down too early on several goals, but showed improved puck-handling skill.NOTEBOOK: The Islanders&rsquo; goaltenders were battling minor injuries as No. 1 man Tommy Salo was bothered by back spasms and backup Wade Flaherty had hamstring trouble&hellip;Assistant GM Gordie Clark said he was impressed with the play of right winger Jason Doyle, whom the Islanders chose in the ninth round of this past June&rsquo;s draft. Clark had drafted Doyle 80th overall in 1996 for the Bruins, who did not sign him. Doyle, 20, who is 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, has had to overcome a reputation as a party person. He was destined for Lowell (American League)&hellip;Journeyman center Mike Kennedy, 26, turned some heads with his spunky play in scrimmages. &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Brewer among nice surprises at Isles’ camp

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03411/6840879-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="214" height="212"></div>Pavel Bure has such a knack for being the center of attention that he can grab the spotlight when he&rsquo;s not even visible.The Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; right winger, who has a year left on his contract for roughly $8 mil-lion (U.S.), backed his off-season demand for a trade by staying away from training camp.With Bure on his way out, it means a promo-tion to the top hne for Alexander Mogilny. It also means an endless stream of speculation on what the Canucks might receive for Bure and when they might receive it.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening No. 1 goalie. The Canucks did not have a proven No. 1 man entering camp. Garth Snow, a career backup, was trying to prove management wrong while Corey Hirsch was in camp as an unsigned Group II. GM Brian Burke has been pursuing a starter since he was hired in June.Player update Obviously not interested in the sophomore jinx, defenseman Mattias Ohlund showed up at camp as the best-conditioned returning player. Ohlund then stepped on the ice and played extremely well, showing the poise and ability that made him the Canucks&rsquo; best blueliner a year ago and the Calder Trophy runner up. He will be asked to contribute more offensively with the departure of Jyrki Lumme and appears capable of exceeding the 30 points he collected a year ago.Potential rookies Center Josh Holden could play anywhere from the second to fourth line depending on his pre-season. Right winger Bill Muckalt is ticketed for second or third line.Winger Peter Schaefer could get the chance on the second or third line if Muckalt falters.NOTEBOOK: The Canucks formally suspended right winger Pavel Bure who, as promised, did not report to training camp. Though Vancouver is in no position to go without the assets from a Bure trade, GM Brian Burke has said he is prepared to wait as long as possible to get the right deal&hellip;After a testy negotiation, the Canucks and Hobey Baker finalist Bill Muckalt. a right winger, came to terms on a one-year deal for $775,000 (U.S.). The signing bonus was $325,00 and the salary $450,000&hellip;Left winger Brad May, a restricted free agent, reached agreement on a two-year contract for $2.95 million (U.S.)&hellip;Defenseman Bryan McCabe was the Canucks&rsquo; only unsigned player not in training camp. He was skating with Canada&rsquo;s national team in Calgary&hellip;Right winger Alexander Mogilny left camp for four days while his wife gave birth to their second child and first son. &#9632;

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Canucks’ camp gets under way with no Bure, no No. 1 goalie

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01909/6841158-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

NHL PRE-SEASON

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011478/6840017-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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FEATURES

NHL TEAM DEPTH CHARTS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="C0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0128/6839417-1-eng-US/c0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Two heads better than one? Dennis LaRue and Rob Shick team up in a two-referee pre-season game.</figcaption></div><h2>Cullen sparks Lightning win</h2>1. Johnny&rsquo;s back Tampa Bay&rsquo;s John Cullen returns from cancer battle with game-winner in first game back.2. Hall guys Former Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; teammates Michel Goulet, Peter Stastny make Hall of Fame.3. U.S. Hall guys Former NHLers Lou Nanne, Mark Johnson named to U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.4. Snow job Garth Snow takes serious stab at No. 1 goalie job in Vancouver by recording shutout in first game.5. Lucky Start Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; vet Luc Robitaille opens pre-season with three-goal, five-point night.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0222/6839410-1-eng-US/c0002-022.jpg" title="C0002-02" width="442" height="622"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Cullen</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0313/6839403-1-eng-US/c0002-032.jpg" title="C0002-03" width="441" height="620"><figcaption class="caption-body">Garth Snow</figcaption></div><h2>Good thing it wasn&rsquo;t pucks</h2>1. Little brains Little Rock, Ark., fans litter ice with paper planes, cause prema-ture end to NHL pre-season game.2. Petr&rsquo;s principal Petr Nedved&rsquo;s contact stance goes from bizarre to ridiculous as he signs with IHL team.3. Hatcher the hacker Dallas defense-man Derian Hatcher suspended four games for mugging Blues&rsquo; Chris Pronger.4. New season, new brawlers Rouyn-Noranda-Cape Breton players end thrilling QMJHL game with brawl.5. Lame Ducks Would it have killed Anaheim management to give cancer survivor Milos Holan one exhibition game? &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-047/6839448-1-eng-US/c0002-042.jpg" title="C0002-04" width="464" height="579"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Rocky Widner)</figcaption></div>There are those amongst us who believe Team Canada &rsquo;72 should be inducted to the Hall of Fame.Let&rsquo;s hope it never happens&hellip;unless the arch-rival Soviets-who scored one more goal than Canada and sent shock waves through the hockey universe still being felt today-and a host of other magnificent teams are also considered for induction.Is anyone else suffering from &rsquo;Summit Series&rsquo; fatigue? It was a truly memorable event in hockey, that September to remember, but let it go. Please. It has been 26 years since the Red alert that warned smug Canadians the end of world hockey dominance was nigh. Yet, immortalization of a team outscored 32-31 continues today. It&rsquo;s true there has never been a more dramatic comeback and the politics of the day contributed to a sense of urgency now almost incomprehensible.But let&rsquo;s not overrate Team Canada&rsquo;s place (or Team Soviet Union&rsquo;s for that matter) in the pantheon of great teams. Others haven&rsquo;t evoked the same level of emotion for so prolonged a period of time, but have surpassed those Cold War foes in level of play. So, when the Hockey Hall of Fame unveils a monument to great teams, as it likely will and should (after all, hockey is a team game first) in the near future, let&rsquo;s not think only of 1972. Fact is, the game has never been played better, before or since, than at the 1987 Canada Cup when the Canadians and Soviets squared off in the last great showdown between shinny superpowers. All three games ended 6-5. Canada was led by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. The Soviets had the Green Unit: Sergei Makarov, Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, Viacheslav Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov.There have been a host of other teams worthy of being honored in the Hall of Fame. A partial checklist includes the early century Ottawa Silver Seven, the early-century Vancouver Millionaires (somewhat ahead of their time in team nickname), the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings from the 1950s, the 1970s Montreal team (that ended team thuggery in the NHL), the Miracle on Ice squad, the early-1980s New York Islanders, the late-1980s Edmonton Oilers, the Winnipeg Jets (who helped change the face of hockey with a fabulously talented multinational World Hockey Association team), the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (33-game winning streak at home in 1984-85), the Cornell Big Red (29-0 in 1969-70), and, of course, the Charlestown Chiefs (the best hockey team ever&hellip;on film). &#9632;

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Let’s hope Hall doesn’t forget about Soviets

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011664/6839479-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="518" height="728"></div>The NHL doesn&rsquo;t need sweeping change so much as it needs a change aimed at minimizing the possibility of sweeps.Everyone&rsquo;s focus, as it should be, is now on the Oct. 9 start of the 1998-99 season, but perhaps there should be some attention directed at how the 1999 Stanley Cup final will unfold.Will it be another sweep? The odds would suggest as much. Call it the seven year bitch.Since the Pittsburgh Penguins swept the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1992 final, there have been five sweeps in seven years, including the current string of four washouts (New Jersey Devils over the Detroit Red Wings in 1995, the Colorado Avalanche over the Florida Pan-thers in 1996, Detroit over the Philadelphia Flyers in 1997 and Detroit over the Washington Capitals last spring).Only twice since 1992 has the final actually been contested. One was a beauty, the New York Rangers&rsquo; seven-game classic over the Vancouver Canucks and the other was a fair to middling five-into game win by the Montreal Canadiens over the Los Angeles Kings in 1993, which at least had three overtime games.It&rsquo;s as if the NHL playoff course was designed by Thomas McBroom.Last spring, in the wake of Detroit&rsquo;s walkover of Washington, The Hockey News suggested the league might want to consider abandoning the East-West conference championship format in favor of a re-seeding of the final four teams.That is, when down to the final four, the team with the most points would meet the team with the fewest points, regardless of geography or conference alignment.Well, we&rsquo;re calling for it again, in light of the news the league will eventually look into it.&ldquo;Right now, we have a lot of current issues on our plate,&rdquo; new NHL senior vice-president Colin Campbell told The Hockey News. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s the two-referee system, some new rules and I&rsquo;m still getting acclimatized to the new job, but (re-seeding) is a very interesting concept I would like to look at.&rdquo;Let&rsquo;s hope it&rsquo;s sooner rather than later. If the concept does indeed have merit-there are pros, but a few cons, too-it would behoove the league to implement it for the 1999 playoffs, if in fact that&rsquo;s still a possibility.Detroit GM Ken Holland believes reseeding could be a worthwhile initiative.&ldquo;If it increases the chances of getting the league&rsquo;s two best, most evenly-matched teams into the Stanley Cup final, then it s a positive idea,&rdquo; Holland said.Much can happen between now and the end of the season, but the early line suggests the Western Conference has better Cup contenders in Detroit, Dallas and Colorado than the Eastern Conference does with Philadelphia, New Jersey or a host of other wild cards.And that was the case last spring. No one begrudged the Capitals getting to the Cup final-they earned it under the existing format-but wouldn&rsquo;t it have meant more if there had been reseeding?If there had been, Dallas would have played the Buffalo Sabres in one semi-final and Detroit would have played Washington in the other. We shouldn&rsquo;t be trying to legislate a Detroit-Dallas final, but if those are the top two teams, so be it. And if Dallas-Detroit gives us a more competitive six-game final, so much the better.Ironically, Dallas GM Bob Gainey, whose club would be a candidate to benefit, isn&rsquo;t necessarily sold on the concept.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d listen and I like to hear all new ideas and this is one we&rsquo;ve discussed a little,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;Certainly, getting the best two teams in the final is a worthy goal, but I&rsquo;m not sure if there&rsquo;s ever a guarantee that a higher-seeded team from one conference is better than a lower-seeded team from another conference.&rdquo;Another potential headache could be travel inequities. Take 1993, for example. The Cup semi-finals of the Rangers vs. the Devils and the Canucks vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs would have been replaced, with re-seeding, by New York vs. Vancouver and New Jersey vs. Toronto.If the Rangers and Canucks had to go coast-to-coast in a seven-game semi-final, would either one of them have had anything left for the better-rested winner of New Jersey-Toronto?One other concern, nebulous as it may seem to some, is what to do with the Clarence Campbell Bowl and Prince of Wales Trophy, awarded to conference playoff champs.The league wants to be careful not to offend tradition or honor, but it managed to replace division names (Smythe, Adams, Norris and Patrick) with geographical labels (Northeast, Pacific etc.) without upsetting the cart. We just have to remember there&rsquo;s no foolproof method to prevent Cup final mismatches, but if there&rsquo;s a way to decrease the likelihood of sweeps, it requires a timely and intensive examination.<h2>STANLEY CUP FINALS SUFFER BY COMPARISON</h2>The eventual Stanley Cup champion has lost two games in the conference final and then gone undefeated in the Stanley Cup final in each of the past four seasons. Listed are series scores in the Stanley Cup and Conference Finals since 1995.1997-98 DETROIT 4 WASHINGTON 0West Final: Detroit 4 Dallas 2East Final: Washington 4 Buffalo 21996-97 DETROIT 4 PHILADELPHIA 0West Final: Detroit 4 Colorado 2East Final: Philadelphia 4 Rangers 11995-96 COLORADO 4 FLORIDA 0West Final: Colorado 4 Detroit 2East Final: Florida 4 Pittsburgh 31994-95 NEW JERSEY 4 DETROIT 0West Final: Detroit 4 Chicago 1East Final: New Jersey 4 Philadelphia 1 &#9632;

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COLUMNISTS

Will NHL change Cup final format?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03871/6839510-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="322" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rookie Vincent Lecavalier&rsquo;s Tampa Bay Lightning host All-Star Weekend Jan. 22-25. (Photo by Bruce Jesop/IHA)</figcaption></div>Monday, Oct. 5: NHL waiver draft.Friday, Oct. 9: NHL regular season opens.Monday, Nov. 16: Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Toronto.Monday, Dec. 7: Annual (two-day) NHL board of governors&rsquo; meeting in Phoenix.Saturday, Dec. 19: Trade and roster freeze in effect through midnight of Dec. 27.Sunday, Jan. 24: All-Star Game at Tampa Bay, no regular season games from Jan. 22-25 inclusive.Tuesday, March 23: Trade deadline, 3 p.m. (EST).Sunday, April 18: Regular season ends.Wednesday, April 21: Stanley Cup playoffs begin.Thursday, June 24: NHL awards in Toronto.Friday, June 25: Expansion draft to stock Atlanta.Saturday, June 26: NHL entry draft in Boston. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE5

NHL 1998-99 Calendar

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div>A dispute between the New York Islanders and the firm managing Nassau Coliseum has led to the calling off of a pre-season game.The Islanders&rsquo; Sept. 25 game against the New Jersey Devils was wiped out because of a dispute that has the New York State Supreme Court involved.The court ruled Sept. 23 an NHL inspection of the 26-year-old Coliseum be held the next day to determine if the facility was safe enough for the Islanders to host the Devils. A ruling hadn&rsquo;t been announced in time to save the game for that night.The dispute involved what the team felt was an unsafe hoist system for the scoreboard, but also seemed aimed at jump-starting talks with Nassau County officials about building a new arena, partly with public funds.The Islanders also offered the management company, Spectacor Management Group, $7 million to terminate its lease, which runs until 2015.The club had hoped to stage the Devils&rsquo; game in Lake Placid, N.Y., where it planned to hold training camp through Oct. 1. But on Sept. 17, a judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Islanders from playing any games preseason or regular seasonanywhere but at the Coliseum.The legal wrangling began Sept. 9 when the Islanders filed a $10-million federal lawsuit against SMG, saying the club should be allowed to break the lease because SMG had breached it by failing to maintain the arena in a safe condition. The next day, the Islanders&rsquo; management moved out of its Coliseum offices and into its Manhattan digs.Club officials began dropping hints the team was exploring the possibility of playing regular season home games at alternative sites. &#9632;

DEPARTMENTS

Pre-season game called off in midst of Coliseum battle

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Staff Writer</div>Willie O&rsquo;Ree&rsquo;s speed was the one asset that stood above all others. Talk of his superior skating came up often last January, during celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of O&rsquo;Ree&rsquo;s first NHL game.In 1958, no black player would have reached the NHL unless he could do at least one thing exceptionally well. Skating was O&rsquo;Ree&rsquo;s ticket into the history books. But hearing stories is not the same as seeing.Now thanks to the short film Echoes in the Rink: The Willie O&rsquo;Ree Story, fans can see first-hand what all the fuss was about.Game footage from some of O&rsquo;Ree&rsquo;s 46 games with the Boston Bruins from 1958 through 1961 show how quick he was. He had the speed that allowed him to forecheck aggressively on back-pedaling defensemen.Former teammates Doug Mohns, Don McKenney and John Bucyk alltalk about how fleet O&rsquo;Ree was. Said Hall of Famer Milt Schmidt: &ldquo;There was never a better skater than Willie.&rdquo;The 26-minute film-which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September was the brainchild of Errol Williams, a Bermudabom director who moved with his family to Fredericton, N.B., at 18 and for a while dated O&rsquo;Ree&rsquo;s niece. The film chronicles O&rsquo;Ree&rsquo;s ascension from a child rink rat in Fredericton through the Bruins to his status as a beloved fan-favorite with the old Western League&rsquo;s San Diego Gulls. He retired in 1972 after a 23-year pro career.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011610/6839589-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="491" height="741"><figcaption class="caption-body">Willie O&rsquo;Ree</figcaption></div>In some respects, Williams&rsquo; ability to capture the mood of the day is limited by O&rsquo;Ree&rsquo;s soft-spoken nature. On camera, O&rsquo;Ree admits there were some occasions in which fans and players targeted him because he was black, but, ever-the-gentleman, he never goes into detail.The worst on-ice incident O&rsquo;Ree faced was in Chicago, where he endured a barrage of slurs and finally a vicious cross-check from defenseman Eric Nesterenko before finally dropping the gloves.In the film, though, there&rsquo;s no comment from O&rsquo;Ree and, at O&rsquo;Ree&rsquo;s request, no mention of Nesterenko&rsquo;s name at all. O&rsquo;Ree and Nesterenko didn&rsquo;t speak for more than 30 years until they met at the 1991 All-Star Game in Chicago, where O&rsquo;Ree shook Nesterenko&rsquo;s hand.To his teammates, O&rsquo;Ree was known as &rsquo;King of the Near Miss.&rsquo; He used to get so many breakaways, but the finishing touch was missing. Little did the Bruins know he was virtually blinded in his right eye after taking a puck in the face as a 21-year-old.O&rsquo;Ree eventually told Mohns, but the Bruins brass never found out. Schmidt admits if they had known, O&rsquo;Ree would have been gone in a heartbeat-and never would have been brought up in the first place.His other nickname was the one by which he continues to be known today: hockey&rsquo;s Jackie Robinson. That&rsquo;s how one radio announcer introduced him in a post-game interview that first night, Jan. 18, 1958, after a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.It was an historic event in the life of the NHL, but didn&rsquo;t register beyond the hockey world. That O&rsquo;Ree&rsquo;s breakthrough paled in comparison to Robinson breaking baseball&rsquo;s color barrier 11 years earlier is not surprising, given baseball&rsquo;s status as America&rsquo;s grand old game.The strength of the film, though, is its ability through archival footage to capture O&rsquo;Ree, then as now: reserved, optimistic and forever gracious.Jackie Robinson or not, it&rsquo;s a noble legacy on its own. &#9632;

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O’Ree flick displays his speed

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>If the pre-season is any indication, the new rules implemented to increase scoring this year are working.Goals were up 10.5 per cent through the first 42 exhibition games compared to the same point last season. There were 6.3 goals per game this pre-season versus 5.7 goals per game last year.Although the real test won&rsquo;t come until the regular season begins and teams start dressing all their best players, there have been signs rules such as measuring goalie equipment, two referee games and more space behind the goal line, will lead to higher-scoring games.There were only eight games that had fewer than four goals, but there were 13 games where the two teams scored eight goals or more.Remember, though, it&rsquo;s only preseason. Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; left winger Luc Robitaille, who had eight points in two games, isn&rsquo;t going to lead the league with 328 points.And the odds of the Chicago Blackhawks scoring nine goals in a game, as they did in their victory over the St. Louis Blues Sept. 19, aren&rsquo;t too likely, considering their defensemen heading into the season scored a combined nine goals last season.MULLEN, NANNE IN: The United States Hockey Hall of Fame expanded by four with the induction of Joe Mullen, Lou Nanne, Mike Curran and Bruce Mather.The four inductees bring the number of members to 100 in the 25-year history of the Hall. They will be honored Oct. 22 in Bloomington, Minn.Mullen had an outstanding 16-year NHL career scoring 502 goals and 1,063 points, more than any American born player in NHL history.Nanne is a former NHL player, coach, GM and president with the Minnesota North Stars. He also played on several U.S. national teams.Curran is regarded as one of the best U.S. born goalies of all time. He starred at the high school, college, Olympic and pro level of play.Mather was a scoring sensation at Dartmouth College and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 1948.OCTOBER DATE: The lawyer for Jesse Boulerice says if an assault charge is not dropped against his client, the case will be tried.&ldquo;We will try it as opposed to pleading Jesse guilty to a felony,&rdquo; lawyer Jim Howarth told THN.Boulerice has been charged with assault to do great bodily harm less than murder in Wayne County, Mich., following a stick-swinging attack on Andrew Long in an Ontario League game last spring.Howarth said a motion to dismiss, which he will file, is due Oct. 2, followed by an appearance in court Oct. 9 for a final pretrial conference if the charge is not dropped.He said past court decisions of hockey violence will have no effect on this case.&ldquo;Courts are bound by their own jurisdiction and to the best of my knowledge there is no (hockey-based) precedent in our jurisdiction.&rdquo; &#9632;

Guess what? Scoring’s up in pre-season

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy Senior Writer</div>Count the NHL&rsquo;s all-time ironman among those who have a massive admiration for baseball great Cal Ripken&rsquo;s unbelievable streak of consecutive games played that came to an end Sept. 20.Doug Jarvis, who holds the NHL record having played 964 consecutive games, said what Ripken accomplished starting 2,632 straight Major League Baseball games for the Baltimore Orioles is a testament to an individual&rsquo;s commitment and dedication.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a remarkable feat,&rdquo; said Jarvis, an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a testament to how much the guy must love the game and how he shows up every day prepared to do his job.&rdquo;Jarvis began his career in 1975 as a member of the Montreal Canadiens and ended it 13 years later, following a three-year stopover in Washington, with the Hartford Whalers. In between, the dedicated checker who won the Selke Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s best defensive forward in 1993-94 (he was runner up the following season) never missed a game.Ripken played consecutive games for more than 16 years. If a hockey player did the same thing, that would translate to more than 1,300 straight games.The biggest challenge Jarvis&rsquo; record faced was from Steve Larmer of the Chicago Blackhawks, who played in 884 straight games before sitting out and demanding to be traded.&ldquo;It demands a great deal of being physically prepared, but with baseball, I&rsquo;d imagine it also take a great amount of mental preparation,&rdquo; Larmer said. &#9632;

Include Jarvis as a Ripken fan

I was reading a letter from a reader (THN, Sept. 11) whose son met Peter Forsberg and it reminded me about a meeting me and my wife Bing were able to get with Luc Robitaille. It is one that I&rsquo;ll have fond memories of for the rest of my life.We have followed the Los Angeles Kings for 22 years. My wife is from the Philippines and had never heard of hockey. We met in San Francisco and I took her to her first game, which featured the California Golden Seals. Since that day she fell in love, with me naturally, and hockey.In the 1980s, the Kings started a charity event called &rsquo;Tip a King,&rdquo; which we attended several times. During our first visit, she met Luc and was very taken by his friendly attitude.In 1992, she was stricken with cancer, but we still found time to get to a &rsquo;Tip a King&rdquo; event.On her last visit, in 1994, she walked to his table and as he saw her approach, he pointed at her and said, &ldquo;I know you from somewhere.&rdquo;She didn&rsquo;t see Luc again until 1997. She was admitted to the hospital and I was trying to think of ways to keep her mind off of what was happening. We had been told eight months earlier she may have one year to live.I wanted to do whatever I could to make her happy so I contacted the Kings and they arranged for Luc to visit her. She had just had her third surgery and would sleep for hours on end. Even when it got to the point that I didn&rsquo;t think she would make it that far or wouldn&rsquo;t recognize Luc, he still agreed to come.When the day came and Luc entered the room, the look on her face told it all. She could only repeat three words for a few minutes, &ldquo;Oh, my God.&rdquo;They talked for about three hours. Ever been with a famous person who felt uneasy in a situation? Not Luc. He made every second count for her. On his way out, he said he wanted updates when I could send them and I did.The day after Thanksgiving, 1997, Bing passed away. Knowing she had a few weeks of happiness before their meeting was more than I could have hoped for.So if you want something to talk about, talk about a hero who went to see a dying lady. Talk about all the times these guys go out of their way and nobody reports about it. Even if Luc never remembers who I am, he will always have someone who remembers how those three precious hours made someone happy.Geoff Gill,San Diego, Calif.<h2>Thanks, Mike</h2>Just a quick thank you to Mike Gartner for giving us so many years of good hockey. It has been a pleasure to watch you play and it&rsquo;s refreshing to see somebody make the right decision for his family instead of the decision that will bring in a few extra dollars.Matt Sutton,Bishop, Calif.<h2>Sheldon&rsquo;s slip</h2>After reading about Sheldon Kennedy&rsquo;s recent troubles (THN, Sept. 25) I look forward to hearing from those individuals who made it a point to praise the efforts of Kennedy to now denounce his actions, including The Hockey News.John Seliga,Seymour, Conn.<h2>End Isles&rsquo; madness</h2>An open letter to the owners of the New York Islanders, Nassau County, and Spectacor Management Group:It&rsquo;s time the madness ended.It&rsquo;s time for the Islanders&rsquo; owners to fulfill their promises and mend the damage done by previous management and now their own.It&rsquo;s time to upgrade the team, invest in the product and stop hurting the loyal fans that come back year after year. If you don&rsquo;t like the situation you are in now, why did you purchase the club only months ago? There were plenty others lined up to buy.It&rsquo;s time for Nassau County to figure out how to build a new arena. Everybody agrees we need one. If Buffalo, Nashville, Ottawa and just about any other city can build new arenas, why can&rsquo;t we? Long Island has only one team left to call its own-we can&rsquo;t afford to lose it. We will never get another team back.It&rsquo;s time for Spectacor Management to not only keep better care of the Nassau Coliseum, but to realize it should share some of the pie that comes with a new arena. All other sports teams get a piece of the parking and concession revenue. By SMG hogging all the revenue, the Islanders are put at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to spending money on players.It&rsquo;s time for Islander fans to be treated to a quality team. Any franchise that has gone through what we have for the past 10 years will have empty seats. It&rsquo;s not out of lack of passion, but for lack of hope and overwhelming frustration.It&rsquo;s time the Islander name once again stands for pride and accomplishment, not foolishness and ineptitude.It&rsquo;s time that fisherman logos, minor league quality teams, fraudulent owners and arena haggles are made a distant memory. All Islander fans want is a quality team for the first time in over a decade.It&rsquo;s time that happens.Marc Nicols,Port Jefferson, N. Y.<h2>Greedy agents</h2>It seems every team has been hit with a restricted free agent contract squabble. I do not feel it is the players&rsquo; fault. The whole blame should rest on the shoulders of the player agents. They want the best possible deal for the players they represent. But they are also looking out for themselves so they can get their cut of the deal.These agents have plenty of players they represent so what is the worry if the cut they get is smaller and not a little bigger? Some agents tell their players not to participate in training camp. I&rsquo;m sure the players just want to sign the deal and start playing hockey. Agents, give the fans what they want-the players signed and back on the ice, not sitting at home.J. Guhe,San Jose, Calif.<h2>Canadian Patrick?</h2>The Lester B. Patrick Award is given to the player who does the most for hockey in the United States. Considering the game is basically being taken over by the Americans, why not implement a trophy for the player who best helps hockey in Canada? After all, it is our game.Evan Weber,Simcoe, Ont.<h2>We want our Cup</h2>Dear Americans:Sorry about winning those World Series a few years ago. Can we have our Cup back?Andrew Olson,Stewart, B.C.<h2>Let Lindros play</h2>As a Flyers fan since 1973, I find it unbelievable that Bob Clarke cannot bring himself to accept the fact Eric Lindros wants to be a Flyer. Would he rather deal with Captain Coyote who wants to renegotiate every time his ego decides he received some bad advice from his agent? Lindros should never be mentioned in a trade. Let the man play. Get rid of the cementheads on the fourth line and bring in some talent to round out the roster and support the keystone of the Flyers.Gary Voeste,Moab, UtahFax us your comments at (416) 340-1641 or write to Letters, THN, 777 Bay SL, Suite 2700, Box 148, Toronto, Ont,, M5G 2N8 in Canada. In the U.S., write to Letters, THN, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947. E-mail us at <a href="mailto:kayj@trans-continental.ca">kayj@trans-continental.ca</a> Include home and business phone numbers. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Luc gives final wish to loving hockey fan

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011787/6839692-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy Senior Writer</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021094/6839730-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="519" height="723"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011624/6839723-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="2440" height="1747"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Stars would like Mike Modano to do for them what Joe Sakic did for the Colorado Avalanche. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>A year ago, The Hockey News proclaimed unabashedly on a cover: &rsquo;We Like Mike!&rsquo;We still do. In fact, we like Dallas Stars&rsquo; center Mike Modano so much, we anointed him the eighth best player in the NHL in our Yearbook. That&rsquo;s ahead of Mighty Ducks of Anaheim sniper Teemu Selanne, who tied for the league lead in goals last season with 52; Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; defenseman Rob Blake, who won the Norris Trophy; even ahead of New York Ranger Wayne Gretzky, the greatest player in the history of game.The fact is, Modano is the highest ranked player who has never won a major award or been named to a season ending all star team.And what&rsquo;s not to like about Mike? The 6-foot-3,200-pound speedster, who can win you over with his toothy smile and all American charm, was the best player in the league last season when he went down with a knee injury Dec. 5. He was named player of the month in October and was leading the NHL in scoring with 15 goals and 38 points in 29 games at the time he was hurt. There&rsquo;s no question if Modano hadn&rsquo;t been injured, he would have been a solid candidate for the Hart Trophy.&ldquo;In the back of my mind in December I knew I was in the hunt (for the scoring race and MVP award),&rdquo; Modano said. &ldquo;Then after I got hurt, the rest of the season was filled with a bunch of &rsquo;what ifs.&rsquo; &ldquo;Modano&rsquo;s game has progressed to the point where he is one of the league&rsquo;s premier two way players. That he has scored 50 goals in a season only once in nine years and has yet to produce a 100-point campaign is not a big issue because of his ability to take care of business in his own end.There remains, however, the nagging question: is Modano a winner? In that regard, Modano is no different than Eric Lindros of the Philadelphia Flyers, Mats Sundin of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Selanne, among others. Except none of those players can claim the quality of supporting cast Modano has in Dallas.&ldquo;Obviously, the outcome of our entire season doesn&rsquo;t hinge on Mike Modano,&rdquo; said Stars&rsquo; coach Ken Hitchcock. &ldquo;But in terms of Mike as an individual, I liken him to Steve Yzerman. Steve scores fewer points these days than he did a few years ago, but he pays closer attention to the minor details that are the difference between winning and losing. When the game is over, Steve has nothing left in the tank. That&rsquo;s the challenge for Mike Modano. He has to play at his highest level, shift after shift, leaving nothing on the ice when the game is over.&rdquo;With each new season comes new challenges and expectations. For Modano and the Stars, anything less than winning the Cup must be considered a failure. They have been on the cusp of winning it all for a few years, only to fall short. Each time they stumbled, they made bold and expensive moves in an attempt to put them over the top.Modano remains the centerpiece on what has become one of the NHL&rsquo;s deepest teams. The support he will receive can be traced back to the acquisition of center Joe Nieuwendyk in 1995 and defenseman Sergei Zubov for Kevin Hatcher a year later. The Stars then embarked on an aggressive free agent spending spree, signing Pat Verbeek and Dave Reid prior to the 1996-97 season, goalie Ed Belfour and defenseman Shawn Chambers the next year and finally, this past summer, one of the most coveted forwards available, Brett Hull.Even Modano admits the pressure for the team to win still falls on his shoulders. &ldquo;It has always been directed or deflected in my direction,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If I play well the team seems to play well. I accept that&rsquo;s the way it is and will always be.&rdquo;Scottie Pippin, Tony Kukoc and Dennis Rodman are great, but when the Chicago Bulls needed a basket to win, they always turned to Michael Jordan. And that was Bobby Orr flying through the air in overtime after scoring the winning goal, not Fred Stanfield, right?When it comes to the Stars and their chances, we still like Mike. The question is, will we ever love him? &#9632;

f0007-02

Modano: We still like Mike, but will we ever love him?

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011680/6839775-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="521" height="730"></div>Name: Robbie Ftorek.Rank: New head coach, New Jersey Devils.Relevant serial numbers: 42-31-7 and first-round playoff victory over defending champion Edmonton Oilers in 1988-89, then fired by Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; management after only full season behind NHL bench for no officially stated reason, leaving speculation that contrarian personality grated on stars, owner, GM and media. Two coach of the year awards, one Calder Cup winner, 292-195-7 record, in eight American League seasons.Do you anticipate using the neutral zone trip as much as your predecessor, Jacques Lemaire?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s part of hockey. You need different means to play against different teams. We didn&rsquo;t really use it very much last year.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021299/6839768-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="689" height="976"><figcaption class="caption-body">Robbie Ftorek</figcaption></div>How do you deal with player mistakes?&ldquo;Hockey is a game of mistakes. Nobody makes mistakes on purpose. If you make the same mistake too many times, something else is going to happen. A player has to be able to use his hockey sense. If it still tells him he made the right play, we&rsquo;ll talk. Maybe there was another option.&rdquo;Does a team that had trouble scoring goals last year have to go on the attack more?&ldquo;Do you know how many goals we scored last year? Up until the last month of the season were second (in the NHL) and wound up ninth or 10th. We scored goals. Nobody recognized it because we don&rsquo;t give up goals.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03956/6839761-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="692" height="988"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jacques Lemaire</figcaption></div>But two years in a row the Devils haven&rsquo;t been able to score in the playoffs, when it counts the most. So does the team have to become more aggressive offensively?&ldquo;There is a need to be more aggressive all the time, offensively and defensively.&rdquo;Are you concerned about the mobility of a defense that was made to look slow by the Ottawa Senators in the playoffs?&ldquo;I think we have enough mobility&rdquo; So you think the Ottawa series was more a function of what the forwards didn&rsquo;t do?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think about the Ottawa series. It&rsquo;s done.&rdquo;Do you have to coach major league players differently than minor leaguers? General question, I know&hellip;&ldquo;Very.&rdquo;But do bigger egos have to be handled more carefully?&ldquo;Everybody has an ego. It&rsquo;s not so much dealing with egos as persons. You get to know players, what makes them tick.&rdquo; When you played (1972-73 through 1984-85 with three NHL teams and two World Hockey Association teams), what were things you liked in coaches that helped form your own coaching philosophy?&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t like or dislike anything about a coach. I just respected what he said. But that&rsquo;s me. I don&rsquo;t expect the players to do that.&rdquo;Are you a different coach than you were the last time you had an NHL team?&ldquo;If I&rsquo;m not, I&rsquo;ve been blind for the last nine years.&rdquo;What have you learned?&ldquo;Little things, nothing huge.&rdquo;Can you give an example?&ldquo;I learned matching, something I didn&rsquo;t like to do. Little things more than big things.&rdquo;What gives the most satisfaction in coaching?&ldquo;Do you really have to ask that? Winning. If you don&rsquo;t win, well&hellip;&rdquo;What is your approach to challenging players? If talking doesn&rsquo;t work, do you ever yell, or threaten or bench?&ldquo;I throw the puck on the ice and let them play for the love of the game. You don&rsquo;t have to challenge them, I don&rsquo;t think. Anything else? Thank you.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-01

Very private Ftorek reports for active duty

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Staff Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04492/6839806-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Total Hockey devotes more than 1,000 pages to NHL player stats</figcaption></div>Pity. All this work and they forgot the ice shavings. Maybe there was no room left on the hard drive.Scanning the 1,878-page hardcover tome that is Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Hockey League, the reader halfexpects spray to shoot up like when Pavel Bure screeches to a halt in front of the goal mouth. That&rsquo;s about all that is missing.If you&rsquo;re a hockey junkie, though, you might still get the pages wet&hellip;from the drool hanging from your bottom Up.Following in the footsteps of Total Football, and Total Baseball, Total Hockey is the 300-megabyte must have of must-haves for anyone who cares about what 1980 Miracle on Ice team members Steve Christoff and Brad Baker are up to today (pilot for Masaba Airlines in Minneapolis; oral surgeon in Brainerd, Minn., respectively). Everyone else, too.Think of it as would an art collector wandering through the Louvre. Around each comer, a new gem. Did you know ice hockey in Andorra did not begin until the 1990s, &ldquo;but a major step towards popularizing hockey was made in 1996-97 when the city of Canillo hosted the D Pool World Championships.&rdquo;The idea behind the book was the brainchild of Toronto editor Dan Diamond, who started gathering statistical information in 1992-93 when database systems first allowed such outlandish ventures. He didn&rsquo;t know at the time in what form the information would eventually be published. The Total Hockey concept emerged about two years ago and since then more than 200 hockey historians, statisticians and writers contributed to the project.How big is the final product? Sixteen hundred books fill a semi trailer.&ldquo;It almost sounds corny to say it, but it was a chance to give something to hockey, which has sustained us, both in business and kind of emotionally, since we were kids,&rdquo; Diamond said.The book is divided into six sections, the first five of which provide written material on hockey&rsquo;s present and past: 1. The origins of the game in Canada, the United States and Europe; 2. The NHL; 3. Other North American junior, senior and collegiate leagues and women&rsquo;s hockey; 4. The international game; 5. Hockey odds and ends touching on music, film, video games, trading cards and a hockey glossary (&rsquo;Bootheel&rsquo; was early slang for the puck. Go figure.).Then, the truly amazing feat-more than 1,000 pages of statistical records of every skater and goalie to ever play in the NHL and coach who ever coached them, from 1917-18 through 1997-98. The players&rsquo; pre and post NHL stats from more than 200 leagues are also furnished. (Ever heard of the Ontario Senior League&rsquo;s Toronto Dentals? You have now).The player bios are similar to those for current players fisted in the NHL Guide and Record Book, with significant additions including complete international records and an &rsquo;adjusted&rsquo; goals, assist and point totals designed to facilitate comparisons of players from different generations.One of the most difficult parts of the book to compile, Diamond said, was the entry draft section. It lists some 6,000 players selected since the first entry draft in 1963 (Garry Monahan was chosen first overall by the Montreal Canadiens). Piece of cake right?Then try putting career NHL stats beside every player who ever made it roughly 45 per cent of the total. Getting the proper stats with the proper draft pick was no easy feat.The great strength of the draft section is that it allows for a quick visual comparison of the strength of different draft years. For example, a glance at the 1976 draft shows 44 of the first 45 picks played in the NHL, compared to 34 of 45 in 1988.Fans with a technical bent will get a kick out of the chapter on the evolution of hockey strategy. Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; coach Roger Neilson and TV analyst Harry Neale offer the kind of detailed diagrammed insights not available outside of high level coaching clinics.Both men are conversant in the game&rsquo;s history and it makes for particularly interesting reading to note how, say, breakout strategies have changed since the 1950s in response to new defenses such as the neutral zone trap and left wing lock.The plan is to update the book every second year to include new players and developments. Items such as an already assembled hockey bibliography and a planned panel on significant pre NHL players could also be added.&ldquo;In a perfect world we would like to make a deal with a strong Quebec distributor,&rdquo; Diamond said, &ldquo;and in the year we would not do it in English, do it in French.&rdquo;The book is valuable because it gives a complete tie to the past, Diamond said. Not being aware of the game&rsquo;s history is &ldquo;cutting off your roots. It&rsquo;s depriving yourself of a crucial part of the game.&rdquo;In Total Hockey, the roots run all the way to China. &ldquo;The roots of Chinese ice hockey date back to 1915 when&hellip;&rdquo; Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Hockey League is published by Total Sports. It retails for $49.95 (U.S.) and $64.95 (Cdn.) through Dec. 31, 1998; after that, the price is $54.95 (U.S.) and $69.95 (Cdn.) &#9632;

f0008-04

Tome for the ages

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Staff Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011593/6839844-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo By Rocky Widner)</figcaption></div>When a Sutter is your coach, you have to expect the fire. The rule is defensive intensity or cease and desist. Jeff Friesen knew the heat was coming.And come it did last year, in torrents. San Jose Sharks&rsquo; first-year coach Darryl Sutter busted his star left winger&rsquo;s butt. After a half-season, the lesson was complete.Then Sutter did something Friesen hadn&rsquo;t anticipated. The torrents continued, but the winds changed direction. This time Sutter had to drill a new skill into that inner space where Friesen stored his courage and his pride: how to score.The pretty player he&rsquo;d always been had to learn to get dirty.It&rsquo;s a novel idea, that someone would be concerned more with how Friesen scored his goals than how many. Friesen, after all, is already San Jose&rsquo;s franchise leader in goals (89), assists (107) and points (109) despite his tender age of 22.But for those who still associate Friesen&rsquo;s name with the mysterious &rsquo;attitude&rsquo; questions that plagued him during his draft year in 1994, it might also come as a surprise how receptive Friesen was to the change.The truth is nobody had ever thought to teach him how to be a more threatening, more respected offensive player. Maybe that&rsquo;s where that whole bad apple thing started (although you&rsquo;d be hard-pressed now to find someone who says it had any merit at all). If a kid has enough talent to do things the easy way and succeed, maybe it becomes the only way he knows.GM Dean Lombardi went so far as to call the pre-Sutter Friesen soft, and Friesen himself doesn&rsquo;t entirely dispute it.&ldquo;No, I don&rsquo;t think anyone has ever challenged me like that,&rdquo; Friesen said of Sutter. &ldquo;Once I got my defense down, we moved to my offense. It&rsquo;s a part of my game that needs to be changed. I don&rsquo;t necessarily want to be a point-a-game guy if I&rsquo;m soft and labeled as staying away in the traffic, like I have been in the past&hellip;1 thought I made a lot of steps forward last year. When I come into my own I guess, will remain to be seen. I feel I&rsquo;m just starting to do that.&rdquo;The real breakthrough may be slightly delayed if it does in fact come this year; Friesen was an unsigned restricted free agent skating with the Canadian national team in Calgary while negotiations with the Sharks continued.When he finally returns, the new commitment means going one step further into the comer, a couple cross-checks deeper into the crease, staying a slash across the shins longer in muckerville to come out with the puck.&ldquo;I think probably people questioned him because they never saw him do things he&rsquo;s capable of doing,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s probably the most popular guy in the locker room. I don&rsquo;t know how anyone ever questioned his character.&rdquo;It will only help that everyone in San Jose-from the vets (Bernie Nicholls, Murray Craven, Mike Vernon) to the kids (pals Patrick i Marleau and Marco Sturm) to the old-school coach to the GM with whom he was locked in the contract battle for the second straight year-wants desperately to see him succeed.Sutter says it&rsquo;s tough on the team when Friesen misses camp because he&rsquo;s so close to everyone. Lombardi calls him &ldquo;the most caring athlete to come through here.&rdquo;There was zero acrimony on either side during the contract talks, which bodes well for Friesen being in the lineup on opening night or soon after. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no way that this is Jeff Friesen being greedy,&rdquo; Lombardi said. Friesen&rsquo;s agent is Mike Barnett, who also represents San Jose unsigned free agent Owen Nolan, so Friesen&rsquo;s contract will have an effect on Nolan&rsquo;s deal, even though Friesen is expected to sign for a minimum of three years while Nolan will accept a one-year pact.It wasn&rsquo;t so buddy-buddy in Friesen&rsquo;s early days. Four years ago the Sharks&rsquo; dressing room had more cliques than a high school cafeteria. Veterans-since shipped out-saw him as a threat. Friesen wasn&rsquo;t totally innocent, though; he admits he came into training camp the second year a little cocky, but has since matured. And now the old guys are pulling for him.&ldquo;That to me is probably as big an indicator as anything how far he has come,&rdquo; Lombardi said.Last year, Friesen won San Jose&rsquo;s training camp award as best-conditioned player. So what did he do this summer? Hire a personal trainer.He was the team&rsquo;s leading scoring last season with 31 goals and 63 points, but had just one point in six playoff games against the Dallas Stars. He hopes added strength and quickness will help him handle the special attention he now receives when the post-season heats up.&ldquo;He always had the wheels and hands,&rdquo; said Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; defenseman Bryan McCabe, &ldquo;and he&rsquo;s obviously taking that to the next level.&rdquo;The dedication is contagious.The co-winners of the best conditioned player award at camp this year were sophomores Marleau and Sturm, who just happen to be his best Shark buddies. Lombardi and Sutter say it&rsquo;s no coincidence.&ldquo;I know Patrick wanted to be in better shape than me in camp, that&rsquo;s what he said,&rdquo; Friesen said. &ldquo;He was pretty serious.&rdquo;When asked where he and Marleau would be living this season, Sturm earnestly told one of the team&rsquo;s public relations folk, ah, we&rsquo;ll just stay at Freez&rsquo;s for a while.The way the Sharks see it, if anything about Friesen rubs off on the up-and-comers, so much the better.<h2>FROM THE COLORADO AVALANCHE LOCKER ROOM:</h2>Joe Sakic has nothing against trainers. He would just prefer to keep it to social situations.&ldquo;You always want to get to know you trainer,&rdquo; said the Colorado Avalanche center. &ldquo;But maybe in a restaurant the night before the game. Not in the training room.&rdquo;Sakic and Avs&rsquo; athletic trainer Pat Karns have become good friends over recent seasons. In 1996-97, Karns helped rehabilitate a lacerated calf muscle that saw Sakic miss 17 games. Last season, it was a partially torn medial collateral ligament, suffered at the Olympics in Japan.Karns has dealt with plenty of lacerations to his players&rsquo; faces. But the deep gash that cut 30 percent of the way through Sakic&rsquo;s calf, courtesy of a Dale Hawerchuk skate blade, was a much more serious injury.The stitches that sewed together the numerous layers of muscle tissue were &ldquo;too numerous to count,&rdquo; Karns said. &ldquo;We treated that injury the same way you treat other injuries. Work on range of motion first, then strength, then the sport specific stuff.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021120/6839837-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="408" height="474"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paf KarnsAthletic Trainer Colorado Avalanche</figcaption></div>For Sakic, that mean a lot of time with the skipping rope. &ldquo;I got pretty good with the rope after a while,&rdquo; Sakic said.During his rehab, Sakic became closer and closer with Karns. &ldquo;You forge a bond,&rdquo; Sakic said.For an NHL trainer, there is a certain amount of pressure to rehabilitate a player of Sakic&rsquo;s status as quickly, and safely, as possible. But does Karns spend more time with Sakic than he would with a fourth-line winger? &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s the inverse of that,&rdquo; Karns said. &ldquo;Joe has such a strong work ethic. With him, you set up a program, he goes to work and sometimes you have to pull in the reins. A fourth-line guy you have to watch a little closer.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0009-01

Shark school

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021222/6839882-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="531" height="701"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03760/6839875-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="2526" height="1766"><figcaption class="caption-body">Superstar Wayne Gretzky has put teams behind the eight ball from behind the net throughout an unparalleled 19-year NHL career.</figcaption></div>ALL three were bom within a scant four weeks of each other-one in Alberta, one in Ontario and one in Quebec.All three burst onto the NHL scene at precisely the same time. All three, playing with and against each other, established themselves as pre-eminent players in the game. All three were the standard-bearers for Canadian dominance in international hockey.And now, all three are set to make history of sorts by walking lock step into their 20th NHL season. What are the odds of that? Pretty good if you&rsquo;re talking about Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Ray Bourque.It doesn&rsquo;t get much better than that, does it?Perhaps only if this hockey trinity all decided to continue playing for the same number of years, retire at the same time and walk together forever into the Hockey Hall of Fame.&ldquo;That would be neat,&rdquo; Bourque said. &ldquo;You never know.&rdquo;Considering the Hall of Fame&rsquo;s three-year waiting period was waived for Mario Lemieux, Gretzky&rsquo;s induction should take place on the ice in the moments following his final game.But if it&rsquo;s all the same to the Hall of Fame, Gretzky would just as soon wait, and if he were to be accompanied during that wait by his dear friend Messier and respected opponent Bourque, so much the better.&ldquo;Maybe we should all wait the (three) years,&rdquo; Gretzky told The Hockey News. &ldquo;If we all waited the (three) years, having reached their 20th seasons, maybe that would make the Hall of Fame honor even more special, that if these three guys waited, everyone should wait. The Hall of Fame is something very special to me and maybe that would take the Hall of Fame to another level. I don&rsquo;t know. Or maybe I&rsquo;d be so excited, I&rsquo;d want to go in the next day.&rdquo;Either way, the Hall will be that much more special when Gretzky, Messier and Bourque arrive.But until then, there&rsquo;s still some hockey to be played. Maybe a year or two or even three. None of them is exactly certain. So let us not celebrate the ends of their careers, which will come soon enough, and instead extol the virtues of their Having reached their 20th seasons.It is, after all, no small feat.Only 24 players in NHL history have played 20 or more seasons. Two are goaltenders (Terry Sawchuk and Gump Worsley) and 22 are skaters. Dit Clapper, who retired in 1947, was the first to do it Detroit&rsquo;s Gordie Howe, with 26 NHL seasons, played longer than anybody else. Only four of the 26-Doug Mohns, Eric Nesterenko, Dean Prentice and Ron Stewart haven&rsquo;t been named to the Hall of Fame.But what makes season No. 20 so special for Gretzky, Messier and Bourque is that it has happened so rarely since they entered the NHL in October, 1979-Gretzky and Messier with the fledgling Edmonton Oilers and Bourque with the only team he has played for, the Boston Bruins.Since 1979, only three players have played 20 or more seasons: Stan Mikita, who retired in 1980; Jean Ratelle, who called it quits in 1981 and Larry Robinson, who hung &rsquo;em up in 1992.There would have been five players playing No. 20 this season, but Mike Gartner and Kevin Lowe retired in the summer.It&rsquo;s the bountiful 1979 entry draft long recognized as the best draft class ever come full circle.Gretzky was exempt from the 1979 class because the Oilers were allowed to retain his rights when they joined the NHL. Otherwise he would have been part of the class that produced Bourque (8th overall selection), Messier (48th), Gartner (4th) and Lowe (21st).Once Gretzky, Messier and Bourque close out their 20th seasons, the achievement could be duplicated by Dino Ciccarelli, Paul Coffey, Dale Hunter and Larry Murphy.Each is playing in his 19th season and a strong bet to hit 20. More are on the way, what with the greying of the NHL, but no Year 20 group will rival the luster of Gretzky, Messier and Bourque.&ldquo;They are special players, but they&rsquo;re also very special people,&rdquo; said Edmonton GM Glen Sather, who ushered two of the three into the NHL. &ldquo;They are the greatest ambassadors this game could ever have and their love of the game, their passion for it, is unrivaled.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s difficult to imagine another trio coming along and matching what Gretzky, Messier and Bourque have accomplished.&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be tough,&rdquo; Gretzky conceded. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing really&hellip;to have one guy from each part of the country, all bom at basically the same time. Whether you get three guys like us to come along at the same time and do what we&rsquo;ve done, I don&rsquo;t know. You never know, but&hellip;&rdquo;But nothing.This season, No. 20, represents a special time for three special players. It&rsquo;s cause for celebration and reflection. &#9632;

f0010-02

DOUBLE DECADE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011653/6839948-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div>Two decades of Wayne Gretzky, his every move ingrained in our consciousness, has taught us never to be surprised by anything he does.But he never fails to do it. Surprise you, that is. You&rsquo;re having a chat with the game&rsquo;s greatest player and you mention The Trade and surmise it must have been the most traumatic day of his career. Well, not quite.&ldquo;I remember in my WHA season (1978-79),&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;(Edmonton coach) Glen (Sather) told me he was going to bench me. It was during a game in Cincinnati. I remember being so devastated by that. Believe it or not, that was probably a tougher day for me than the day I was traded. It was the first time (being benched).&rdquo;The story is vintage Gretzky. The trade was a business decision, something he could not control. The benching, though, was a hockey issue, something well within his grasp.&ldquo;Did he tell you after being benched in the second period he went out and scored two goals to win the game in the third?&rdquo; said longtime friend Mark Messier, who was playing opposite Gretzky that game.Twenty years later, current Oilers&rsquo; GM Sather giggled, not at all surprised Gretzky put such an emphasis on an ancient episode in a storied career.&ldquo;It was five or six games into the season, Wayne had played a very poor game in Quebec and I was looking to shake him up, to get a reaction,&rdquo; Sather said. &ldquo;I let him play part of the first period, but then sat him right through the second and part of the third. Oh, boy, was he upset, really upset.&rdquo;Sather says it was the defining moment of an amazing career: &ldquo;He could have pouted or sulked, but he had too much pride for that,&rdquo; Sather said. &ldquo;In my mind, that was the exact moment he became a superstar.&rdquo;Gretzky was 17 at the time. He&rsquo;s 37 now, but little has changed. With boyish enthusiasm last season, The Great One played in all 82 games and recorded 23 goals and 90 points, fourth best in the NHL, for a non-playoff New York Rangers&rsquo; team. From the Olympic break to the end of the regular season, Gretzky was, arguably, the NHL&rsquo;s top performer.The NHL&rsquo;s all-time point-producer is just 15 goals shy of an unprecedented 900 goals and five points from an incredible 2,800 points. If this is indeed the twilight of his career, it&rsquo;s like watching a meteor shower.He&rsquo;s proud of his longevity. &ldquo;First, you have to have a passion and a love for the sport,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;Second, you have to have a dedication to it.&rdquo;Gretzky has always had that. Bourque saw it when he first witnessed Gretzky in person at the Montreal Forum, a 16-year-old dominating 18-and 19-year-olds at the 1977 World Junior Championship. Messier saw it when he and Gretzky teamed up to win four Stanley Cups in Edmonton.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021066/6839941-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="3078" height="2491"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; captain Mark Messier would like to play at least three more seasons before assessing when he&rsquo;ll retire. (Photo by Dan Hamiltor)</figcaption></div>And both Bourque and Messier saw it when all three joined to lead Canada to a dramatic victory over the Soviet Union in the 1987 Canada Cup. &ldquo;It was unreal watching Wayne and Mario (Lemieux) push themselves harder and harder,&rdquo; Bourque said.&ldquo;The level of play kept getting higher and higher,&rdquo; Messier said, &ldquo;and Wayne kept getting better and better. I&rsquo;ve never seen anyone play at a higher level.&rdquo;Gretzky has played in 1,417 NHL regular season games, 208 playoff games and countless international matches, but he&rsquo;ll never forget Game 2 of that three-game series, a 6-5 double overtime win in Hamilton in which he earned five assists.&ldquo;I remember sitting in my dad&rsquo;s basement (in nearby Brantford) on the couch (after the game),&rdquo; Gretzky said. &rsquo;1 remember lying there, I was so dehydrated. I must have played about 40 minutes. I remember being there, talking to my dad at 2:30 in the morning&hellip;To this day, I really think it was the best game I ever played.&rdquo;The issue now is, how many games are left for &rsquo;The Great One&rsquo;? His contract has three seasons to run (including 1998-99), but Gretzky is taking it on &ldquo;a year by year basis&rdquo; and assures us he&rsquo;ll never play a farewell season because it would be too unsettling for his team. When he leaves, he&rsquo;ll go with few regrets. One is he would love to replay the 1993 Cup final when his Los Angeles Kings were beaten by the Montreal Canadiens. It was the Kings&rsquo; one shot at glory.But when Gretzky goes, he won&rsquo;t be leaving anything on the table. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mean this to sound egotistical,&rdquo; Gretzky said, &ldquo;but I tell my boys when they watch me play, don&rsquo;t watch the shooting or passing, watch how hard I work. I really take a lot of pride in working hard.&rdquo;<h2>Mark Mesier 11</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03733/6839934-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="856" height="1108"></div>The player recognized as hockey&rsquo;s greatest leader showed up for his first NHL training camp with shoulder-length hair, a headband and riding a motorcycle.Oh, did we mention that 18-year-old Mark Messier reported four days late to Edmonton&rsquo;s first NHL camp because of a contract dispute?&ldquo;The running joke at the time was I was holding out because I had scored one goal the year before (with Cincinnati in the World Hockey Association),&rdquo; Messier said, with a laugh. &ldquo;When I did show up, (Glen Sather) thought it would be a good idea to get rid of the motorcycle, so he made me sign a waiver never to ride a motorcycle again, which probably was the best thing that could happen to me.&rdquo;Actually, the best was yet to come.The long-haired biker kid grew up, on and off the ice. For all the goals (11 seasons with 30 or more) and points (13 seasons with 80 or more) he scored, the numbers on which Messier forged a name for himself are as follows:Five Stanley Cups with the Oilers, the fifth one after Wayne Gretzky was traded. One with the New York Rangers, ending a 50-year drought. Three consecutive Canada Cup triumphs in 1984, 1987 and 1991.Along the way, &rsquo;Moose&rsquo; established himself as the consummate team leader. Somewhere along the line, he ceased to become a mere mortal and became a legend.&ldquo;When I hear that legend talk, I actually feel a little guilty, a little embarrassed,&rdquo; Messier said. &ldquo;Sure, I played a part (in the Cup wins), but one player, no matter how good a leader, on and off the ice, does not win the Stanley Cup. You have to have complete co-operation. Your teammates have to have the same burning desire as you.&ldquo;In New York, the players bought into it not because I said they should, but because it was the right thing to do and they wanted to do it. To me, that&rsquo;s what makes the game of hockey so exciting, trying to get 25 guys to round into shape as one unit. That&rsquo;s the beauty of it.&rdquo;But now, as he prepares for his 20th NHL season, Messier finds himself in a much tighter spot than either of his legendary peers, Gretzky and Ray Bourque.Gretzky is coming off a 90-point season, fourth best in the NHL. Though he didn&rsquo;t earn a post-season all-star berth, Bourque elevated his game and was considered a prime reason for the Bruins&rsquo; turnaround.Messier, mean-while, suffered through a horrendous 1997-98 season. In the first year of a five-year, $30-million free-agent contract with the Vancouver Canucks, Messier played in all 82 games, but produced just 22 goals, 60 points and was a minus-10. More importantly, hockey&rsquo;s consummate leader was the target of sniping from disgruntled teammates and ex-teammates.Former Canuck captain Trevor Linden left town with nothing good to say about Messier. So did Gino Odjick. There were other suggestions Messier was too much of a controlling interest on coach Mike Keenan&rsquo;s team.&ldquo;It was disappointing,&rdquo; Messier said.&ldquo;The organization was losing, so there were going to be changes made, whether I was there or not. The guys who made the comments were just trying to survive. They had a nice little niche in Vancouver, things were going to change and they didn&rsquo;t like that and had to blame someone. I was the guy.&rdquo;It may well be that last season was not an &ldquo;off-year&rdquo; for Messier, but the first large step towards significant decline.&ldquo;Obviously, it gets tougher and tougher, but I&rsquo;d like to continue on,&rdquo; Messier said. &ldquo;I definitely plan on playing three more years, then I&rsquo;ll see how the team is doing, how I&rsquo;m doing individually&hellip;you know, after you&rsquo;ve been around for awhile, after you&rsquo;ve been at the top of the hill, people try to figure out what motives you have.&ldquo;There aren&rsquo;t any motives for me other than wanting to compete and win. It begins and ends with that.&rdquo;If Messier rebounds, it won&rsquo;t be the first time he has dodged a bullet. In the fall of 1991, when the Oilers and Rangers were negotiating the trade that signalled the end of the Edmonton dynasty, it was widely believed Messier&rsquo;s game was in decline. He was coming off a miserable 12-goal season.But then, as now, he was battling injury. He never lost faith he could rebound and Messier maintains he&rsquo;ll be an effective player this sea-son.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021293/6839927-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="2400" height="3026"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Bourque doesn&rsquo;t need a Stanley Cup championship to validate his stellar career. (Photo by Andre Pichette)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It was natural to think, at age 31, I was on the downside, especially when you look at how much hockey I&rsquo;d played since I was 17,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s natural to think now, at age 37, I&rsquo;m on the downside, but I&rsquo;m still confident. All I can do is remain focused, like I did in New York, and not let any outside things detract from my goals.&rdquo;Still, he recognizes 20 years is a long time, espe-cially playing the power and speed game that has been his trademark. He has seen great warriors such as friend and teammate Kevin Lowe-whom he calls the most intense competitor he has played with or against-hang them up. No one will ever ask Messier to justify his status as a leader, but he will this season have to prove himself something else a survivor.<h2>Ray Bourque 77</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03840/6839920-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="886" height="1087"></div>You look at Ray Bourque&rsquo;s six Norris Trophies and NHL record 17 consecutive all-star berths and the worst thing you can say about him is he&rsquo;s the best player to never have won the Stanley Cup.The 14th-best NHL player of all-time, as ranked by THN, is still hopeful of getting what the 13 ahead of him have, but even if Bourque retires without a Cup, he&rsquo;ll forever stand as a monument to high performance and class.But, as it turns out, it hasn&rsquo;t been as easy as the 37-year-old has made it look.&ldquo;I remember one day in Minnesota, I don&rsquo;t even remember now what year it was other than it was in the early &rsquo;90s,&rdquo; Bourque said. &ldquo;I was really struggling and having a hard time. It was probably the first time in my career I had no confidence and I was questioning my career, really wondering what was going on. I really kind of lost it there for awhile.&rdquo;Those who know Bourque can&rsquo;t imagine him being vulnerable or unsure of himself, especially in the early 1990s, when he won back-to-back Norris Trophies and reeled off four straight first-team all-star berths. This is a player who has never gone more than six regular season games without a point. His 375 goals and 1,411 points are second only to Paul Coffey&rsquo;s 383 and 1,473 among defensemen.From the first day Bruins&rsquo; GM Harry Sinden saw Bourque at a Quebec Ontario junior tournament, Sinden was sold: &ldquo;I thought, &rsquo;This is the new Bobby Orr.&rsquo; &ldquo;Wayne Gretzky hasn&rsquo;t forgotten his first meeting with Bourque, early in the 1979-80 season. The Bruins were using Don Marcotte to shadow Gretzky. Oilers&rsquo; coach Glen Sather was trying to get Gretzky away from Marcotte.&ldquo;I told Slats, &rsquo;It doesn&rsquo;t much matter (which forward) I play against because there&rsquo;s this guy on defense who&rsquo;s like a big brick wall,&rsquo; &ldquo; Gretzky recalled. &ldquo; &rsquo;Not only is he strong and solid, but he skates like the wind.&rsquo; &ldquo;Not much has changed in 19 years. Two post-season all-star absences (1997 and 1998) suggest he might be in decline, but don&rsquo;t be fooled. He bounced back last season under new Boston coach Pat Bums. He remains an incredible physical specimen, owning what Sinden calls a &ldquo;perfect&rsquo; &rsquo; hockey body.&ldquo;Big legs, small hips, incredible power and a low center of gravity,&rdquo; Sinden said.Along with Gretzky, Bourque was at the forefront of Canadian hockey internationally in the 1980s, playing on Canada Cup teams in 1981, 1984 and 1987. He declined to participate in 1991 and the 1996 World Cup, despite personal pleas from Mark Messier and others. Some see that as a blight on an otherwise sterling career.&ldquo;I know a lot of people look at me as being selfish or whatever,&rdquo; Bourque said, &ldquo;but there came a time when I just couldn&rsquo;t get into hockey in August. I&rsquo;ve got a family and that&rsquo;s my time. I did it when I was younger.That was my decision and I live by it&rdquo;He did play for Canada at the 1998 Olympics.This season is not likely to be Bourque&rsquo;s last-he has this year and next remaining on a new contract-but the end is approaching.&ldquo;If I can still compete and play at a high level, then we&rsquo;ll sit down and see if there&rsquo;s another year to tack on,&rdquo; Bourque said. &ldquo;But for now, it&rsquo;s this year and next year. I can&rsquo;t look past that because I can&rsquo;t see it right now.&rdquo;In the meantime, he&rsquo;ll continue to dream of a Cup win, which eluded him in 1988 and 1990 losses, both times against the Oilers. Winning it would be a career highlight, though he doesn&rsquo;t need it to validate 20 years. His most memorable moment, he said, came before he played a single NHL game.&ldquo;It was the day we broke camp and practised at the Boston Garden for the first time,&rdquo; Bourque recalled. &ldquo;I was one of the first guys on the ice, the lights weren&rsquo;t all on yet. It was quite dark, I was just skating around, looking up at the flags and banners and I was just feeling not that I&rsquo;ve made it, but I&rsquo;m on my way and this is where I&rsquo;m going to do it. That was a special day, a special feeling. But I always like to think my best day is yet to come.&rdquo;<h2>THREEMARKABLE</h2>Not only have Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Ray Bourque played at an elite level during their 19 seasons, they&rsquo;ve also played a lot Out of a possible 1,502 games. Gretzky has played in 1,417 (94 per cent), Messier 1,354 (90 per cent) and Bourque 1,372 (91 per cent). Here are their major career stats and accomplishments. (All-stars reflect post-season berths, not All-Star Game appearances.)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011613/6839913-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="859" height="1561"></div>Never Wayning Gretzky has never scored fewer than 90 points during a full NHL seasonMark of Distinction: Messier is the only player to captain two Stanley Cupwinning teamsRay of Hope: Bourque is challenging Paul Coffey for the all-time lead in scoring by defensemen &#9632;

f0010-01

Wayne Gretzky 99

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011512/6839986-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="515" height="678"></div>He emerged from the weight room 20 minutes after the game had ended and apologized for the delay. This-a mid-September exhibition game against the Calgary Flames-was the first time in almost nine months that Paul Kariya had played an NHL game and inquiring minds wanted to know: How did it go?Kariya looked sensational. Indeed, his performance was eerily reminiscent of the night he came back from his contract impasse last December. Remember? The Washington Capitals were in town, with former coach Ron Wilson behind the bench. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim rallied for a 6-5 win; Kariya contributed four points to the cause.Against Calgary, his first action since the Feb. 1 game against the Chicago Blackhawks in which he suffered the fourth concussion of his young career, Kariya produced a routine two-point night, which consisted of an empty-net goal, an assist on a five-on-three power play and nine shots on goal. For those watching, there was also this clear realization that even a rusty Kariya is still demonstrably superior to all but a handful of NHL players.In many respects, Kariya reminds you of Mario Lemieux, who had the same ability to play at a high level, no matter how much time he missed due to injury or illness. You watch Kariya, finding his timing, opening up the ice for his teammates and you hope the parallel to Lemieux doesn&rsquo;t extend to his longevity either.Ironic, isn&rsquo;t it? In a year when Wayne Gretzky, Ray Bourque, Mark Messier are all entering their 20th NHL seasons, there is the obvious counterpoint in the next generation of young stars. Can Kariya play 20 years? Can Eric Lindros or Peter Forsberg or Jaromir Jagr? The way the game is being played now, they are all targets on the ice. Kariya, at 23, has to deal with post-concussion syndrome; Lindros has his knee woes; Forsberg had that thigh contusion two years ago; Jagr&rsquo;s groin can act up at any time.The fear exists that today&rsquo;s generation of stars will not play nearly as long as their predecessors, despite all the advances made in physical conditioning over the past decade.Add the physical abuse to the staggering salaries they&rsquo;re receiving and the likelihood is more of them will get out too soon, with their fortunes made and health intact. It&rsquo;s why new vice-president Colin Campbell&rsquo;s mandate-to crack down on violence-better be for real.Too many players administer gratuitous cheap shots below the waist and above the neck as a matter of course. They have become so much a part of the game that the players who administer these blows yelp, with righteous indignation, when they are called to account. That mentality surely must change, so when Kariya and the other stylish stars play the game in traffic, the fear of a blindside shot diminishes.While some players will continue to try to separate Kariya&rsquo;s head from the rest of his body, Ducks&rsquo; coach Craig Hartsburg is considering separating Kariya and star right winger Teemu Selanne. It is an experiment both of Hartsburg&rsquo;s predecessors, Wilson and Pierre Page, tried with little success. If Hartsburg stays the course, then watch Kariya help his new center, Josef Marha, become a star in the next 82 games. That, of course, presupposes Kariya can survive an 82-game grind himself.&ldquo;Paul is a part of our game, a big part of our game,&rdquo; said Flames&rsquo; coach Brian Sutter. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to see him back out there.&rdquo;It is a sentiment a lot of us will echo.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021066/6839979-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="2046" height="2973"><figcaption class="caption-body">Today&rsquo;s young stars such as Paul Kariya are often the target of opposing headhunters. (Photo By Art Foxal/BS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

Can young stars survive 20 years?

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011276/6840048-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="216" height="214"></div>Given Paul Kariya&rsquo;s three-month bout with post-concussion syndrome and his history of four concussions, there is legitimate concern in the hockey community he is one severe concussion away from an early end to an already brilliant career.Kariya, however, denies being apprehensive. &ldquo;Not at all,&rdquo; he said during the first week of training camp. &ldquo;Why should I be? I got medical clearance to play.&rdquo;But after his first exhibition game, against the Calgary Flames, Kariya conceded: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to get it over with. I took some pretty good shots to the head. It was a good test&hellip;This just reinforces everything is fine.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening Back-up goalie. With the loss of Mikhail Shtalenkov to Nashville, former Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Patrick Lalime was the frontrunner for the job ahead of Jamie Ram.Player update Center Matt Cullen had a great finish to his rookie season and was one of the best players in camp. He appears on the verge of a breakout season.Potential rookies Center Johan Davidsson, 22, was the Ducks second-round pick in 1994, but is attending his first NHL camp. Defenseman Mike Crowley is small at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds, but extremely skilled. Finnish center Antti Aalto missed most of last season due to wrist surgery, but is healthy and making a good showing.NOTEBOOK: The Ducks released defenseman Milos Holan, who was trying come back after missing most of the past three seasons due to his battle with leukemia. GM Pierre Gauthier said Holan&rsquo;s stamina and strength just weren&rsquo;t up to NHL standards. The Ducks offered to send him to their American League team in Cincinnati, but Holan declined; had he signed a pro contract, he would have lost $800,000 in disability insurance payments. Holan&rsquo;s major regret was he didn&rsquo;t get the chance to play in a pre-season game. &ldquo;I worked so hard this summer to get back,&rdquo; Holan said. &ldquo;The most important part for me is to play one exhibition game and prove to myself and people who care about me I won the biggest fight of my life, leukemia, by being back on the ice.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0018-01

Kariya s return to action reinforces positive vibes

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03652/6840079-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="777" height="1219"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Thornton</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02942/6840086-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="215" height="210"></div>The Boston Bruins entered the next-to-last weekend of exhibition games with first-line center Jason Allison, No. 2 defenseman Kyle McLaren and second-line right winger Anson Carter unsigned and vowing they wouldn&rsquo;t show up until they received something close to market value.Combined with three-time 20-goal man Ted Donato&rsquo;s desire for a trade (he was unsigned and out of camp, too) and the loss of all-purpose forward Mike Sullivan in the expansion draft, the Bruins were looking at starting 1998-99 minus one-third of the forwards who played regularly last year.Job opening Second-line center. If you assume Allison will eventually return, that puts the heat on Joe Thornton to take over on the next rung down. Or, in the event Allison&rsquo;s absence is more long-term and Dmitri Khristich moves to fill his center spot, that creates a hole at first-line right winger.Player update Only a dramatic setback will keep Thornton from starting the season centering one of the top two lines. The Bruins, pleased that he had added some bulk to his 6-foot-4 frame over the summer, were even happier to see him take more initiative on the ice during training camp and early exhibitions.Potential rookies Right winger Cameron Mann, who spent the early portion of camp on lines with the likes of Sergei Samsonov, Khristich, Thornton and Steve Heinze, probably has the best shot, but defenseman Jonathan Girard has opened eyes.NOTEBOOK: The notion left winger Ted Donato would sign, report to camp and showcase himself during exhibitions went by the boards at a Sept. 22 meeting between Bruins&rsquo; president/GM Harry Sinden and agent Mark Witkin, during which Witkin repeated Donato&rsquo;s request for a trade&hellip;Center Jason Allison and the Bruins rejected each other&rsquo;s newest proposals Sept. 22 and little headway was made in negotiations with defenseman Kyle McLaren and right winger Anson Carter.. Forgotten 1996 Vezina-winning goaltender Jim Carey, coming off last year&rsquo;s demotion to the minors and major shoulder surgery, was 11-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in Boston&rsquo;s first three exhibition games. &#9632;

f0018-03

No-shows spur shuffle

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04407/6840117-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="214" height="211"></div>Nothing happened for the Buffalo Sabres over the summer. That in and of itself is both a key development and one of the big questions.Given the much-documented chaos of a year ago, a quiet Buffalo summer was welcomed. The downside is the Sabres made no move of consequence over the off-season and appear to be relying on their young players maturing as a means to get better this year.Whether or not that&rsquo;s a good strategy will be answered soon.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job openings No. 1 center, stayat-home defenseman. The Sabres played Michael Peca as their top center and their checking center for huge parts of last season. Come playoff time, he was spent. The Sabres need a true No. 1 to create offense both on the power play and regular shifts. The stay-at-home defenseman job opened with the departure of Bob Boughner to the Nashville Predators in the expansion draft.The Sabres tried to get Ron Francis in the summer to be their first-line pivot, but failed. The hunt continues. Boughner&rsquo;s roster spot will likely be filled by Jay McKee.Player update Center Erik Rasmussen makes things interesting. If he can make the team, the Sabres have a glut of young centers, one or more of whom could be shopped in a trade. Rasmussen isn&rsquo;t a playmaker of extraordinary ability, but he can shoot and skate and appears able to hold his own in traffic. McKee is being counted on not only to move up to Boughner&rsquo;s role, but to move beyond it, perhaps displacing friend and sometimes roommate Mike Wilson.Potential Rookies Rasmussen has the best shot of making it. A darkhorse is defenseman Cory Sarich, who has impressed in camp. It&rsquo;s likely, though that Sarich will start the year in the American League.NOTEBOOK: The Sabres named Jim Benning as director of amateur scouting, replacing the late Jack Bowman&hellip;The Sabres appointed Jim Corsi their goaltending consultant, replacing Mitch Korn who left to join the Nashville organization. They also added two scouts to the staff, Daryl Plandowski and Kevin Divine.. The Sabres dropped three straight pre-season games to Tampa, Toronto and Ottawa after returning from their Austria trip&hellip;There had been no real movement regarding Buffalo&rsquo;s unsigned restricted free agents-defensemen Alex Zhitnik and Mike Wilson and forwards Donald Audette and Miroslav Satan. Zhitnik, however, is said to have come down from his $3 million per season request. &#9632;

f0018-04

No scandals, but plenty of opportunity

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06219/6840148-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="763" height="1223"><figcaption class="caption-body">Derek Morris</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05273/6840155-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="215" height="215"></div>Training camp for the Calgary Flames began with many questions and if recent history is any indication, it will take longer than the start of the regular season before they can all be addressed.The early returns suggest: a) controversial acquisition Phil Housley may have something left to offer on the power play after all; b) Ken Wregget will see a lot of close-in chances until he gets used to his defense corps and vice versa; c) the Flames may not win much, but will make teams earn their points by playing an ultra-aggressive style.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening No. 2 Center. It appears as if coach Brian Sutter has settled on a pair of converted wingers, Jason Wiemer and Jarome Iginla, as his second-and third-line pivots.Player update In his second full season, defenseman Derek Morris will confront the ever popular sophomore jinx questions, but the reality is, he looks every bit as confident as he did a year ago when he challenged for the Calder Trophy. Right winger Valeri Bure has shown flashes of excellence, but also goes through long stretches when he doesn&rsquo;t catch your eye.Potential rookies Five-foot-7 right winger Martin St. Louis has a Theo Fleury-like competitive streak. During his Boston Bruins&rsquo; coaching days, Sutter saw him played about 30 times at Vermont, so he knows exactly what he can do. Potential backup goalie Tyler Moss had a shutout in his first exhibition game.NOTEBOOK: Jeremy Thompson, brother of Flames&rsquo; tough guy Rocky Thompson, and Kent Simpson, brother of team captain defenseman Todd Simpson, both attended rookie camp, but failed to advance to main camp. Shaun Sutter, son of coach Brian Sutter, was returned to Lethbridge after rookie camp, but acquitted himself well&hellip;Because the Flames lost 10 players with concussions last season, they spent $80,000 to install new breakaway boards in the Saddledome. Terry Kane, the team&rsquo;s physiotherapist, said: &ldquo;If you draw a parallel to miming, playing against this glass is like running in a pair of cushiony shoes as opposed to running in work boots. It&rsquo;s the difference between lying on concrete as opposed to falling into a trampoline.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0018-06

Flames play wait and see

<div class="byline">By Steve Polltl</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07189/6840186-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="214" height="210"></div>He&rsquo;s just one player-a 35-year-old center with 18 years of NHL experience-but Ron Francis has singlehandedly raised the bar for the Carolina Hurricanes.Heck, after the &rsquo;Canes signed the free agent to a four-year, $21-million contract in July, even the words &ldquo;Stanley Cup&rdquo; were uttered.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re within the range where our goal is to win the Stanley Cup,&rdquo; said coach Paul Maurice. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no reason for us to say our goal is just to have a good season.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening Stu Grimson&rsquo;s departure in an August trade with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim left the Hurricanes without an enforcer. There is a chance right winger Scott Levins could fill the role, but more likely, the &rsquo;Canes will look for an enforcer in the waiver draft.Player update Could this be Jeff O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s breakthrough season? The fifth overall pick in 1994 has steadily improved his goal total from eight to 14 to 19. Left winger Gary Roberts is likely to play on O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s left side.Potential rookies The Canes like left winger Bates Battaglia&rsquo;s hockey smarts. Center Craig MacDonald might start in the minors, but he would be a quick call-up in the event of injuries. Center Byron Ritchie has shed significant weight and has been the surprise of camp with a strong showing in exhibition games.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Kevin Dineen is deciding if he will wear the &rsquo;C&rsquo; again this season. Dineen struggled with injuries last season and likely will have a diminished role. &rsquo;Tve thought a lot about it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;For me, it&rsquo;s a matter if I can continue to contribute to the team."&hellip;The &rsquo;Canes finalized their new TV deal, which will include 50 games in Raleigh on cable and over-the-air. That&rsquo;s a big improvement over last season&rsquo;s schedule, which had just 29 games&hellip;The &rsquo;Canes signed defenseman Nolan Pratt to a multi-year contract. He was the only unsigned player in camp.. The funding to cover the $26-million cost overrun at the new Raleigh arena is in place after the county and city approved use of a $5.2 million debt reserve fund. &#9632;

f0018-07

Force of Hurricane Francis lifts local spirits sky high

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011062/6840217-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="217" height="217"></div>Missing the playoffs for the first time in 29 years is something that hasn&rsquo;t sat well with new Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; coach Dirk Graham. As a result, his training camp has been no-nonsense.&ldquo;You could tell right away this was going to be an intense camp,&rdquo; said center Doug Gilmour. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s the way it should be.&rdquo;If nothing else, the Hawks were one of the few NHL teams with contractual harmony; everyone was in camp once right winger Eric Daze signed a three-year, $6-million deal Sept. 20.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job openings Third-line center. Todd White, last season&rsquo;s International League rookie of the year (46 goals), was pushing some veterans for the No. 3 pivot&rsquo;s role. Right winger J.P. Dumont was also gunning for a spot. On defense, veterans Trent Yawney and Cam Russell were trying to hold off rookie Remi Royer.Player update Dumont would fill a big void as a scoring winger if he could make the club. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a natural scorer, that&rsquo;s for sure,&rdquo; Graham said.Potential rookies Center Mark Bell, 18, may have been the most impressive freshman in camp. Bell was returned to Ottawa of the Ontario League, but played so well in scrimmages the Hawks think he may be ready to make the big team next season. Right winger Ty Jones also performed well, but was ticketed to return to junior.NOTEBOOK: GM Bob Murray defended right winger Eric Daze&rsquo;s deal against those critics who felt the Hawks overpaid the 23-year-old. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that contract is unfair,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as if he has had just one good year. He had 30 goals, then 22 and 31. That&rsquo;s not too shabby on a team that didn&rsquo;t have a second-line center."&hellip;Center Doug Gilmour suffered a mild groin pull in the Hawks&rsquo; first pre-season game Sept. 19 and missed the next five days of practice&hellip;Center Jeff Shantz returned to full practice, six months after tearing the ACL in his left knee&hellip;Left winger Reid Simpson broke a bone in his right hand during a fight with Boston hopeful Aaron Downey. Simpson will be out until at least late October. &#9632;

f0020-01

Graham turns up intensity at first Blackhawks’ camp

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03480/6840248-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="782" height="1223"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sandis Ozolinsh</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02711/6840255-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="215" height="211"></div>There&rsquo;s a more enthusiastic feeling in the Colorado Avalanche camp this year.For the first time in three seasons, there are real opportunities for some rookies to make the team. That, in turn, has given the veterans a bit of a push. Some of them know, if they don&rsquo;t watch out, they could lose their job to a youngster, making this year&rsquo;s camp very spirited.New coach Bob Hartley has let it be known nobody&rsquo;s job is guaranteed (well, not unless your name is Forsberg, Sakic or Roy).Job openings Fourth-line center. Rookie Chris Drury may be the top candidate to fill the hole on the fourth fine. Also needed are a big defenseman to replace Uwe Krupp and a heavyweight enforcer. As long as Sandis Ozolinsh keeps holding out, the Avs will need another defenseman, preferably somebody who can put the puck in the net once in a while.Player update It was just two years ago Marc Denis was rated the No. 1 prospect in all of hockey by THN. He had a bad first half of his first year in minor pro, however, and was nearly booed out of Hershey, Pa. But Denis had a very good second half and shined in his first pre-season outing this year with the Avs, stopping 22 of 23 shots against the Los Angeles Kings.Potential rookies The center spot is there for Drury&rsquo;s taking. Right winger Scott Parker has a good chance at filling the enforcer role and defenseman Wade Belak could be ready. Right winger Milan Hejduk has a shot.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh continued to skate in his native Latvia, after turning down a three-year, $10-million offer. Avs&rsquo; management likely will come up in their bid, but it&rsquo;s doubtful they&rsquo;ll offer more than $4 million a year&hellip;Defenseman Wade Belak missed the first three exhibition games with a groin problem&hellip;Center Alex Tanguay, chosen 12th overall by Colorado in this year&rsquo;s drar:, scored two goals in the Avs&rsquo; 7-3 victory over San Jose Sept. 21. Much-maligned forward Shean Donovan contributed four assists&hellip;In his first two NHL preseason fights, right winger Scott Parker twice dumped 6-foot-8, 247-pound Kings&rsquo; forward Steve McKenna hard to the ice in decisive victories. &#9632;

f0020-03

Veteran jobs not secured

<div class="byline">By Mike Heike</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04303/6840286-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="215" height="212"></div>The second they stepped onto the ice at training camp, there was something special about the line of Mike Modano, Brett Hull and Jere Lehtinen. While they didn&rsquo;t always complete the fancy play, they sure didn&rsquo;t mind trying.Modano and Lehtinen have established a terrific chemistry over the past three seasons and already have strong timing on their passes and positioning. That has allowed Hull to sort of freelance and follow behind. In just the span of a week, Hull nestled into his spot in the high slot and started firing off missiles-an indication that he might be prepared to return to a 40-goal season.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening Third-line left winger. Jamie Wright has the lead on Jason Botterill and Dave Reid. Wright played just five of the Stars&rsquo; 17 playoff games last season, but he&rsquo;s the main reason the Stars didn&rsquo;t make a harder push to sign Juha Lind, who decided to play in Europe. He&rsquo;s also part of the reason they allowed Benoit Hogue and Greg Adams to become unrestricted free agents.Player update Botterill has looked great in camp and either he or Jon Sim will take the second-line left winger&rsquo;s spot alongside Joe Nieuwendyk and Pat Verbeek as long as Jamie Langenbrunner continues to sit at home as a restricted free agent.And with Darryl Sydor also not signed, the Stars have an opening on defense.Veteran Dan Keczmer seems a lock to stick around and get a regular shift, but Hitchcock also seems determined to find out if either Sergey Gusev or Petr Buzek is ready for the NHL.Potential rookies Wright and one of Gusev and Buzek have a good chance of sticking around, while Botterill and Sim are likely to see at least some NHL action this season once the inevitable injuries begin to take their toll.NOTEBOOK: Captain Derian Hatcher was the first player to feel the wrath of the NHL&rsquo;s crackdown on head injuries. Hatcher was suspended for four preseason games for an incident in which he punched St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger in the back of the head&hellip;Left winger Brent Severyn wasted little time proving himself in preseason action, rushing to the aid of right winger Brett Hull by battling Tampa defenseman Enrico Ciccone&hellip;Center Aaron Gavey suffered a hand fracture Sept. 20 and will be out until at least mid-October&hellip;Right winger Pat Verbeek missed the first five exhibition games with swelling in his right elbow. He was expected to be ready for the season opener Oct. 10. &#9632;

f0020-04

H-L-M line has brilliant possibilities

<div class="byline">By Chuck Carlton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06132/6840317-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="772" height="1225"><figcaption class="caption-body">Martin Lapointe</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05166/6840324-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="214" height="212"></div>So far, coach Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s absence has been noted only in passing.Whether that continuity holds into the regular season, with associate coaches Dave Lewis and Barry Smith at the controls, is an open question.&ldquo;Scotty is like a superstar player,&rdquo; said left winger Kirk Maltby. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t replace him.&rdquo;And Lewis and Smith may be running the bench for months, not weeks.Following a July 16 balloon angioplasty and Aug. 19 knee replacement surgery, Bowman said coaching was a secondary concern. He&rsquo;ll undergo a checkup on his knee Oct. 6 in New York and then receive a physical and undergo a stress test in Detroit for his heart 10 days later.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening Defenseman. Unemployment is down in the United States and Red Wings training camp is no exception. Exactly one-count it-opening is available on defense with prospect Yan Golubovsky ready to step in after a four-year apprenticeship.Player update If banging wingers Martin Lapointe and Tomas Holm-strom can perform like they did during last year&rsquo;s playoffs, management will be more than pleased. Lapointe was a force in the consecutive Stanley Cups, but less so in the regular season.Potential rookie Goalie Jason Elliot was bom in Inuvik, N.W.T., played a season in Australia and earned a scholarship to Cornell, the same school that produced Ken Dryden.NOTEBOOK: After a 19-goal drop-off last season, left winger Brendan Shanahan is vowing to regain his scoring form. &ldquo;I like challenges,&rdquo; Shanahan said. &rsquo;Tm going to have a big year. (Last season) was a difficult year. I wasn&rsquo;t satisfied with it from a personal standpoint. You do drive home at night thinking how you&rsquo;ll improve.&rdquo; Shanahan scored two goals in his exhibition debut against Pittsburgh&hellip;Enforcer Joey Kocur, a right winger, said he&rsquo;ll &ldquo;strongly consider&rdquo; retirement if claimed by another team in the waiver draft&hellip;Left winger Brent Gilchrist underwent successful hernia surgery Sept. 22 and is expected to be side-fined four to six weeks. Gilchrist had 13 goals and 27 points last season. &#9632;

f0020-06

Health first for Bowman

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-07119/6840355-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="216" height="212"></div>Free agent fiascos have dogged the Edmonton Oilers for handful of seasons and this one is no different as the absence of Doug Weight and Ryan Smyth became the focus.The team went winless in its first four exhibition games at 0-3-1 and had scored just six times. The cry went out from fans, coaches, players and media types to resign their offensive leaders.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have a go-to guy. Some teams have three of them,&rdquo; said one particularly upset veteran.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening Starting goalie. Assuming the free agents (including defenseman Janne Niinimaa) eventually resign, the biggest battle is between incumbent Bob Essensa and newly acquired Eric Fichaud.Player update Mats Lindgren was set to challenge for second-line center, but those plans were scuttled when he dislocated his left shoulder in the fourth exhibition game. He will be out perhaps six weeks. Candidates for the job were Rem Murray, Todd Marchant, Boyd Devereaux and Josef Beranek.Potential rookies Defenseman Tom Poti wowed Oiler coaches, officials and teammates alike with his poise, physical play and ability with the puck. He was a dead-solid lock to start the season in Edmonton. Slick Swedish right winger Fred Lindquist also won the attention of the coaching staff.NOTEBOOK: The Oilers finally sold the naming rights to their building and it&rsquo;s now dubbed Skyreach Centre. The five-year deal, with a five-year option, is worth about $1 million per year. Skyreach Equipment Ltd., had already bought a $1 million share of the Oilers as part of the ownership group&hellip;Left winger Andrei Kovalenko appeared ready to atone for last year&rsquo;s horrible season. He scored twice in his first three exhibition games and coach Ron Low liked his work ethic&hellip;Defenseman Janne Niini-maa was thinking over a three-year offer from GM Glen Sather. The defenseman wanted about $1.5 million (U.S.) per season but was being offered slightly less&hellip;Left winger Dan LaCouture suffered a concussion early in the exhibition season. &#9632;

f0020-07

Top scorers on sidelines have teammates anxious

<div class="byline">By David J. Neal</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01832/6840386-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="215" height="214"></div>Present and future goaltending issues dominated talk around National Car Rental Center the first two weeks of training camp.To handle their No. 1 goaltending spot in the present, the Florida Panthers signed unrestricted free agent Sean Burke to a two-year, $4-million deal.Burke, 31, played a total of 52 games last season with the Carolina Hurricanes, Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia Flyers with a 2.95 goals-against average and .896 save percentage.Meanwhile, the Panthers held firm to their qualifying offer of one year, $440,000 to their one no-show, talented 23-year-old Kevin Weekes. Weekes, who went 0-5-1 with five of his starts coming during the team&rsquo;s 13-game losing streak, wants a guarantee he&rsquo;ll be at least the No. 2 goalie. His position wasn&rsquo;t hurt by Kirk McLean, who had a lackluster training camp, letting in four weak goals in his first pre-season appearance. Coach Terry Murray said of McLean, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an NHL goalie. He has to make those stops.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job Opening One or two left wing spots. The top contenders are: Johan Garpenlov, who went the first 23 games without a point last season; Peter Worrell, who racked up 153 penalty minutes in 19 games (the Panthers record in those games was 7-9-3); and Oleg Kvasha.Player Update Neither center Steve Washbum nor right winger Dave Nemirovsky was able to stay in the lineup as regulars last season. Both even saw time in the minors. Now, the spots that once seemed theirs to inherit are hotly contested.Both Murrays, coach Terry and his brother, GM Brian, want Nemirovsky to be more complete and Washbum to be more physical.Potential Rookies Right winger Mark Parrish&rsquo;s laser shot and good speed got him 54 goals in 54 games for Seattle of the Western League last year. Kvasha is a pillow-handed 6-foot-5 20-year-old who improved steadily last season with New Haven of the American League. Defenseman Jaroslav Spacek, taken in the fifth round of June&rsquo;s draft, was named the league&rsquo;s top defenseman during his first season in the Swedish Elite League and was a member of the gold-medal winning Czech Olympic team.NOTEBOOK: The Panthers&rsquo; poor 199798 hasn&rsquo;t affected local interest. There were 40,000 people at HockeyFest &rsquo;98 Sept. 19 and 15,000 season tickets have been sold&hellip;Coach Terry Murray promised a nononsense approach and, on the third day of scrimmages, responded to a flat, sloppy performance by stopping a scrimmage early and upbraiding the two squads harshly&hellip;A logjam at defense may lead to buyouts for veterans Terry Carkner and Jeff Norton as Murray plans to keep only 22 players&hellip;With the risk of Hurricane Georges hitting the Miami area, the Panthers allowed players with families to stay home and miss a Sept. 26 pre season game against Boston in Greenville, S.C. &#9632;

f0021-01

Net result of off-season is new goaltender for Panthers

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02459/6840417-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="215" height="214"></div>The years of waiting are over for the Los Angeles Kings.Not the wait for their first Stanley Cup-that&rsquo;s likely still a ways off. But after a few years of replenishing their barren farm system with good drafts and promoting a philosophy of developing kids carefully, the Kings&rsquo; patience is about to pay off in the form of a stream of youngsters who appear ready to step into their lineup.Based on the strong training-camp performances of several players, the Kings are confident they can fill many of their needs with youngsters. Whether that will be enough to take the next step up into the ranks of the NHL&rsquo;s elite is uncertain. The team&rsquo;s 20-point improvement last season was impressive, but the Kings still need to build some offensive depth in order to get deeper into the playoffs this season.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job Openings Depth up front. After center Jozef Stumpel, right winger Glen Murray and left winger Luc Robitaille, nearly everything up front is up for grabs. Yanic Perreault is likely to be the second-line center, but Olli Jokinen might push him. Prolific junior scorer Pavel Rosa, who missed most of last season because of a concussion, is likely to win a spot on the right side, which is the team&rsquo;s weakest area. Donald MacLean was likely to win a spot on the left side or at center.Player update Restricted free agent Aki Berg, whose hitting and overall play improved enormously last season, remained in Finland after rejecting several contract offers. Defense is the Kings&rsquo; strong point, but they would miss his body-banging style if he stays in Europe. Without him, they won&rsquo;t have enough depth on the blueline to trade a defenseman for a scoring winger, as they&rsquo;d like to do. Goalie Jamie Storr, who agreed to a three-year deal worth just over $3 million Sept. 24, is expected to compete with Stephane Fiset for the starting job.Potential rookies Jokinen will have a job, and the Kings are dreaming of great things from him. He&rsquo;s a natural center, but they&rsquo;ve used him at both wings, which makes it easier for coach Larry Robinson to give him playing time. Rosa might fit in as a second-or third-line right winger. MacLean could be a third-or fourth-line left winger or center. Josh Green could fit in as a third-or fourth-line left winger.NOTEBOOK: Center Eric Belanger, who was expected to compete for a roster spot, broke a bone in his left hand during a scrimmage Sept. 15. He was likely to miss four to six weeks. Center Jozef Stumpel sprained an ankle his first day on the ice and missed the first few exhibition games&hellip;The Kings were talking with NHL officials about playing exhibition and regular season games next season in England. The new $350-tnillion Staples Center won&rsquo;t open until October, 1999, at the earliest, forcing the Kings to play their exhibition games elsewhere. Kings&rsquo; owner Philip Anschutz owns the London hockey team in the English Super League and a half-interest in an arena there&hellip;When defenseman Rob Blake agreed to a three-year, $15.8-million contract and ended his five-day camp no-show, he also agreed to rent a luxury box at the new Staples Center for three years and allow charitable groups to use it. &#9632;

f0021-02

Kings finally in good position to let youngsters make mark

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03261/6840448-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="214" height="212"></div>The Montreal Canadiens have vowed to ice a team this season, but will it be strong enough to beat their American League affiliate?The Canadiens&rsquo; training camp has been overshadowed more by the players who didn&rsquo;t report than by those who did. Center Saku Koivu, wingers Martin Rucinsky and Brian Savage, along with defenseman Vladimir Malakhov, all restricted free agents, were told by management not to report until signing new contracts. Koivu signed a contract Sept. 23 that could be worth as much as $10.3 million (U.S.) over three years.A fifth player, left winger Shayne Corson, was holding out. He wants the final two years of his contract renegotiated, as he was promised by St. Louis Blues&rsquo; management prior to his October, 1996 trade to Montreal. Canadiens&rsquo; GM Rejean Houle is agreeable to that, but the sides are at loggerheads over Corson&rsquo;s worth.Houle wants his payroll no higher than $32 million. With 22 players signed-including Corson and slightly more than $24 million already committed, the GM will struggle to fit all of the free agents, plus Corson, into his budget.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening No. 1 goalie. With the retirement of Andy Moog, the Canadiens suddenly have room for an experienced netminder. Unless they&rsquo;re able to make a trade for Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; Felix Potvin, the inexperienced Jose Theodore will join Jocelyn Thibault in the crease.Player update The Canadiens could open the season with one of the NHL&rsquo;s youngest goaltending tandems. Although he&rsquo;s entering his sixth pro season, Thibault is only 23. He&rsquo;s coming off a good regular season in which he went 19-15-8 in 47 games, with two shutouts, a 2.47 goals-against average and .902 save percentage, but struggled yet again in the playoffs, leading to concerns over his mental resilience. Theodore, 22, appears to be tough enough, but is largely untested at the NHL level, despite being forced into playoff duty each of the last two seasons.Potential rookies Along with Theodore, Brad Brown and Miloslav Guren will get an opportunity to crack the Canadiens&rsquo; defense. Eric Houde has an opportunity to be the team&rsquo;s fourthline center. Left winger Terry Ryan appears ready for NHL duty.NOTEBOOK: Restricted free agent defenseman Patrice Brisebois signed a three-year, $6.4-million contract Sept. 14, three days into training camp. Brisebois will earn $2 million this season and $2.2 million in each of the succeeding seasons&hellip;There has been little, if any, movement on new deals for left wingers Martin Rucinsky and Shayne Corson, and right winger Brian Savage. Savage, once the second-ranked junior golfer in Canada, has gone to Florida, where he said he&rsquo;ll contemplate a career on the links. He scored 26 goals in 64 games last season&hellip;Free-agent defenseman Vladimir Malakhov and the Canadiens have decided a two-year deal is more plausible than one covering three seasons, but remain quite far apart on money according to Paul Theofanous. Malakhov&rsquo;s agent Malakhov was Montreal&rsquo;s top scoring defenseman last season with 13 goals and 44 points in 74 games. &#9632;

f0021-03

Payroll pains take center stage as GM tries to balance budget

<div class="byline">By Jett Legwold</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01963/6840479-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="217" height="213"></div>Early in training camp, the Nashville Predators wanted to see center David Legwand get stronger. Now they just want him to get healthier.Legwand, the second overall pick in the 1998 entry draft, was sent home Sept. 23 when it was discovered he had mononucleosis.Prior to the illness, the 18-year-old had shown flashes in the offensive end, but struggled with some of the physical play in front of the net and was likely headed back to junior.The ailment may also put contract negotiations on the backburner; the two sides had wanted a deal done by Oct. 10.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening First line center. Tom Fitzgerald is the most likely candidate. He spent a lot of time at wing in the preseason, but that was largely to give the team a look at some of the younger centers such as David Legwand, Sebastien Bordeleau and Petr Sykora. Darren Turcotte could also get a crack at the job.Player update Right winger Sergei Krivokrasov has impressed with his work ethic, conditioning and speed. Goalie Dominic Roussel, a former starter in Philadelphia, has also looked good and figures to be at least No. 3 on the depth chart.Potential rookies David Gosselin, a 6-foot, 180-pound right winger, and Marian Cisar, a speedy 20-year-old right winger, have played well and have a chance to stick.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Ville Pelto-nen, who injured a shoulder prior to the start of camp, started skating in full equipment in late September&hellip;Right winger Sergei Krivokrasov signed a one-year deal for $500,000. Krivokrasov&rsquo;s signing made the Predators one of the few teams with all its players in camp&hellip;Defenseman John Slaney was making a case for a roster spot. Slaney had a goal and an assist in the team&rsquo;s first two pre-season games&hellip;Former Ottawa coach Rick Bowness was expected to join the Predators&rsquo; front office as a personnel consultant&hellip;The Predators have expanded their deal with Milwaukee (International League) and will now have 20 to 24 spots on the Admirals&rsquo; roster. Under the previous agreement, they had 10 spots. &#9632;

f0022-01

Legwand’s progress stalled as prospect contracts mono

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03468/6840510-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="761" height="1194"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scott Niedermayer</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02663/6840517-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="215" height="209"></div>Robbie Ftorek had planned to inject life into the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; offense, but one of the coach&rsquo;s primary offensive weapons remained unsigned and banned from training camp.Defenseman Scott Niedermayer, the probable quarterback for Ftorek&rsquo;s new system, continued to ask for a contract that will pay him $4 million per season; the team was holding firm on an offer of $2.5 million per season.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening First-line center. Bobby Holik is ticketed to replace Doug Gilmour as the pivot on the No. 1 line. Highly regarded rookie Brendan Morrison is also expected to pick up some of the offensive slack and was playing well early in camp.Player update Known for then-standout defense corps, the Devils were looking for Sheldon Souray to be the next in line. Big and tough, Souray enjoyed a solid rookie season and signed a two-year contract in anticipation of a breakout year.Denis Pederson, viewed as a future captain, is expected to add to his 15 goals last season while perhaps taking on the role of checking center.Potential rookies Barring a terrible camp, Morrison is ticketed to fill a key role this season as a playmaking center. Defenseman Colin White&rsquo;s chances of staying with the team as an extra defenseman hinge on how long Niedermayer remained unsigned, while right winger Steve Brule, impressive early in camp, was also on the bubble.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Jason Arnott had the cast removed from his left hand and pin removed from his index finger Sept. 16. He was unable to hold a stick, but was ready to begin skating&hellip;GM Lou Lamoriello said he would consider retiring No. 23 to honor ex-Devils&rsquo; defenseman Bruce Driver, who retired during the offseason&hellip; Owner John McMullen said Jacques Lemaire would not have been fired had he not resigned May 8. &ldquo;He absolutely could have come back,&rdquo; McMullen said. &ldquo;On the other hand, I think he knew it was time to change the guard. 1 think he did it for the good of the team."&hellip;Right winger Randy McKay suffered an 11-stitch cut between his eyebrows, but no eye damage Sept. 16. &#9632;

f0022-03

Niedermayer, Devils dig in

<div class="byline">By Rick Carplniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06198/6840579-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="766" height="1222"><figcaption class="caption-body">Manny Malhotra</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05244/6840586-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="215" height="212"></div>No news is not always good news.The New York Rangers started the pre-season with the same main needs they had at the end of 1997-98. They lack a second-line center behind Wayne Gretzky; they lack a legitimate sniper on the wing; and they need more mobility on defense.So as coach John Muckier was busy implementing a puck-pressure system, GM Neil Smith continued to search for players to fill the gaps.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening Second-line center. There is no obvious choice to fill the hole left by Pat LaFontaine&rsquo;s retirement. Niklas Sundstrom is an option, but Muckier would prefer to keep him as the left winger on Gretzky&rsquo;s line. Sophomore Marc Savard has the skills to be a No. 2 center, but isn&rsquo;t big or particularly fast.Player update Goalie Dan Cloutier is expected to take another step forward as the backup goalie to Mike Richter-or he could be the centerpiece to a trade to fill one of the team&rsquo;s offensive holes. Harry York and unsigned Todd Harvey are also expected to play important roles up front.Potential rookies Big and speedy Manny Malhotra is being penciled in as the Rangers&rsquo; third-line center. Maxim Galanov has a chance to stick as a No. 5 or 6 defenseman. Savard and Christian Dube were getting an opportunity to compete for the No. 2 center job. Speedy winger Johan Wite-hall also has outside chance to stick.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Todd Harvey and defenseman Eric Cairns, both represented by agent Pat Morris, remained the Rangers&rsquo; only unsigned Group II free agents. Cairns&rsquo; future with the team appears to be over, particularly since he couldn&rsquo;t play for coach John Muckier at the end of last season&hellip;Left winger Niklas Sundstrom suffered a groin pull in the team&rsquo;s first pre-season game at Carolina&hellip;The Rangers reportedly turned down Vancouver&rsquo;s offer of right winger Pavel Bure in exchange for left winger Adam Graves, right winger Alexei Kovalev and defenseman Jeff Beukeboom&hellip; Muckier had spoken to left winger Kevin Stevens about accepting a role on the third line and said Stevens sounded amenable to the notion. &#9632;

f0022-06

Still lots of holes to fill

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-07172/6840617-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="214" height="210"></div>The Ottawa Senators entered training camp wondering where their offense was going to come from. And that was before right winger Daniel Alfredsson got hurt.With Alfredsson now out until mid-November with a tom knee ligament, the pressure on center Alexei Yashin and left winger Shawn McEachern to score will be even greater.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job openings Role players. The departures of Randy Cunneyworth, Sergei Zholtok, Denny Lambert and Pat Falloon have meant at least four jobs are available. Journeymen forwards David Oliver and Andreas Johansson were signed during the offseason and are expected to help pick up some of the offensive slack.Player update Defensemen Radim Bicanek and Patrick Traverse, both attending their sixth training camps, are being given their best shots to make the team. While they&rsquo;ve both shown they can get the job done at the minor league level, neither has played on a consistent basis in the NHL.Potential rookies Goalie Mathieu Chouinard, the club&rsquo;s No. 1 pick in the 1998 entry draft, was sent back to Shawinigan (Quebec League), but showed in training camp he has great potential. Right winger Marian Hossa, recovering from a knee injury suffered during the Memorial Cup, was expected to resume skating in late September.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Daniel Alfredsson was able to leave the Corel Centre ice on his own after catching his leg in a rut and was surprised to learn he had tom the medial collateral ligament in his left knee. &rsquo;1 think it was bad ice,&rdquo; said Alfredsson, who missed 21 games last season with ankle problems&hellip;Right winger Andreas Dackell signed a two-year, $1.45million (U.S.) deal with the Senators. Dackell will earn $700,000 this season and $750,000 in Year 2 of the deal&hellip;Restricted free agent defenseman Stan Neckar was still unsigned through late September.. The line of Andreas Johansson. Vaclav Prospal and Stephen Leach combined for six points in a 4-1 pre-season win over Edmonton Sept 20 in Ottawa. &#9632;

f0022-07

Offensive pressure mounts as Alfredsson goes down

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01854/6840648-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="217" height="217"></div>Sometimes what you do off the ice means as much as when you&rsquo;re on it.That&rsquo;s the thinking behind the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; decision to take their training camp on the road, to Peterborough, Ont., this year. In addition to practising together, the Flyers participated in a volleyball tournament, played golf and took part in several team dinners.Reviews of the experiment were universally good. Almost to a man, the Flyers said it was a success. Captain Eric Lindros did his part by coming in for camp in the best shape of his career. He won the most-fit Flyer award, which was presented at a team luncheon.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening No. 1 right winger. Mike Maneluk, last year&rsquo;s scoring sensation in the Calder Cup playoffs, began the pre-season on the Lindros line and scored in his first game. Veteran right winger Jody Hull, in camp on a tryout basis, has played for coach Roger Neilson before and could wind up as a utility player.Player update The Flyers&rsquo; young foursome of Chris Gratton, Alexandre Daigle, Cohn Forbes and Dainius Zubrus all need to lift their game.Potential rookies Maneluk. who turned 25 Oct. 1, has yet to play in an official NHL game, but in training camp displayed the kind of speed the Flyers are interested in cultivating.NOTEBOOK: Shortly after receiving a $900,000 arbitration settlement for the 199899 season, right winger Trent Klatt signed on for an additional two years with the Flyers at what both sides are calling a modest raise&hellip;Left winger Gary Coupal, billed as the &rsquo;Baddest Man in Hockey&rsquo; by THN, was cut Sept. 18. (See pg. 25 for more)&hellip;Defenseman Steve McLaren is expected to fill the tough-guy role until left winger Frank Bialowas returns from knee surgery&hellip;Left winger Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour impressed the team&rsquo;s training staff with a time of 41 minutes to win the team&rsquo;s six-mile fitness test run on a hilly course at Lakefield, Ont. (near Peterborough) Sept 11. Right winger Alexandre Daigle was among the noteworthy stragglers at 54 minutes. &#9632;

f0023-01

Road show gets high marks as players bond in Ontario

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03378/6840679-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="770" height="1219"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith Tkachuk</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02544/6840686-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="214" height="208"></div>As far as Keith Tkachuk is concerned, it&rsquo;s &ldquo;no dough, no show.&rdquo; That&rsquo;s just fine with the Phoenix Coyotes, though, who are prepared to go through the 1998-99 season without him.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing else to talk about,&rdquo; said GM Bobby Smith. &ldquo;We expect him to honor his contract. That&rsquo;s it.&rdquo;Tkachuk has two years left on his contract, worth $2.8 million this season and $3 million the next, but he wants a new deal that will pay him $41 million over the next five years.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening Left wing. With Tkachuk out, the battle for the No. 1 job will be between free agent acquisition Greg Adams and rapidly improving prospect Brad Isbister, who has beefed up. There&rsquo;s a few other positions up for grabs, including the No. 3 center role and the fourth line is wide open.Player update All eyes are on 25-year-old Russian goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who suffered through some mysterious lapses last season and looked incredibly rusty in his first preseason game this year. The &rsquo;Bulin Wall&rsquo; has won 30 games each of the past two seasons, but he has been prone to slumps.Potential rookies Daniel Briere will battle for the No. 3 center position, and more, before the season is out. He is a definite Calder Trophy candidate if given the ice time. Sean Gagnon has outside chance to stay as the No. 6 defenseman because of his toughness.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Keith Tkachuk already had forfeited $122,172 of his $2.8 million salary through Sept. 22 due to his suspension for missing the first 12 days of training camp. If Tkachuk doesn&rsquo;t report for the start of the season, team officials expect he will announce he plans to sit out the entire season. Neither Tkachuk or his agent, Bob Murray, have been prepared to make such a claim to date&hellip;Defenseman Michel Petit suffered a concussion and will be sidelined indefinitely after taking a hard hit from left winger Louie DeBrusk during a scrimmage Sept. 17&hellip;Goalie Jimmy Waite suffered a pulled groin just seven minutes after replacing Nikolai Khabibulin in the third period of the Coyotes&rsquo; second pre-season game. &#9632;

f0023-03

Tkachuk spot up for grabs

<div class="byline">By Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04268/6840717-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="214" height="211"></div>The biggest news at Pittsburgh Penguins training camp was also the worst news: hard hitting defenseman Darius Kasparaitis sustained a knee injury in a pre-season game that figures to sideline him most of the season.Kasparaitis got tangled up with the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; forward Darryl Laplante behind the Penguins&rsquo; net in a Sept. 20 game. The defenseman&rsquo;s right leg stretched along the ice and Laplante accidentally fell on it. It&rsquo;s the same knee Kasparaitis had reconstructed in 1995.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe something like that happened,&rdquo; said Kasparaitis, who is expected to be out four-to-six months.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening No. 1 center. The candidates to replace Ron Francis include German Titov, Stu Barnes, Martin Straka, Robert Lang, Brian Bonin and Petr Nedved. Just a few problems: Titov and Barnes are better suited for left wing; Straka and Bonin are small; Lang missed the first 11 days of training camp in a contract dispute; and Nedved, signed with Las Vegas of the International League.Player update If the Penguins are going to score enough to win on a regular basis, a pair of second-year wingers must come through. Aleksey Morozov, 21, and Robert Dome, 19, have been labeled with star potential. Last season Morozov had 26 points in 76 games; Dome had seven points in 30 games.Potential rookies Besides Bonin, the Penguins have a few rookies who may be called upon. One player coach Kevin Constantine likes is forward Jan Hrdina, 22, who was the Penguins&rsquo; fifth-round draft choice in 1995. Hrdina had a goal in the second pre-season game against Detroit. Another player having a good camp was forward Martin Sonnenberg, who had two goals in the first three preseason games. Sonnenberg had 92 points in 72 Western League games last season with Saskatoon.NOTEBOOK: Goaltender Peter Skudra will not need surgery on his dislocated right shoulder, as was feared. Skudra, who sustained the injury early in training camp, visited Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., and was told he could start a rehabilitation program and perhaps be back in goal by the start of the regular season&hellip;Feuding co owners Howard Baldwin and Roger Marino met for the third time with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman Sept. 17. Nothing was resolved, but the NHL appears to have a new sense of urgency to settle the matter&hellip;Right winger Aleksey Morozov has asked that people no longer spell his first name &rsquo;Alexei.&rsquo; The &rsquo;new&rsquo; spelling is the one that appears on his official documents. &#9632;

f0023-04

Kasparaitis gone for bulk of campaign

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecklng</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-06179/6840748-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="764" height="1227"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michal Handzus</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05214/6840755-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="214" height="213"></div>Long time St. Louis Blues&rsquo; scout and resident comic Bob Plager posed the key question of training camp.&ldquo;What does a No. 1 draft choice look like?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;It has been so long since I&rsquo;ve seen one that I forgot.&rdquo;Plager was referring to center Marty Reasoner, the first Blues&rsquo; No. 1 pick to attend camp since Jason Marshall in 1993. Now it&rsquo;s up to the Blues&rsquo; staff to decide whether to keep the 21-year-old Reasoner, who was having an excellent camp, or send him to Worcester of the American League. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve liked what I&rsquo;ve seen of him,&rdquo; said coach Joel Quenneville. &ldquo;He has a feel for the game and he has worked away from the puck.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening Second line center. Reasoner, Michal Handzus and Daniel Corso are candidates for the job, though it appears Reasoner has the edge. If the Blues move Pavol Demitra back to center from right wing, the job opening closes. Likewise, if the Blues decided to move Craig Conroy up from the checking line.Player update Pascal Rheaume got off to a blazing start in training camp and could challenge for the second line left winger&rsquo;s role. Veteran minor leaguer Michel Picard is also an option there. Meanwhile, Jamie Rivers could move up to help fill the left point spot on the power play.Potential rookies The Blues will probably keep just one rookie and Reasoner is the most likely candidate.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Jamal Mayers could be out until early November after undergoing surgery Sept. 16 to repair a broken bone in his left wrist. The break was discovered on X-rays during his training camp physical&hellip;Defenseman Kerin Dahl was out day-to-day with a sore knee&hellip;Goalies Jamie McLennan and Brent Johnson had a rough night in the Blues&rsquo; 9-4 loss at Chicago in the pre-season opener. McLennan allowed four goals on 18 shots, while Johnson gave up five on 11&hellip;McLennan rebounded in his next two appearances, blanking Dallas on 12 shots in the final period of a 4-2 victory Sept. 21 and allowing only one goal on 13 shots in two periods of the Blues&rsquo; 2-1 loss at Colorado Sept. 24. &#9632;

f0023-06

Reasoner in at center?

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-07160/6840786-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="214" height="210"></div>The absence of six players during camp tempered an otherwise optimistic San Jose Sharks&rsquo; mood as the season approached.Defenseman Gary Suter (elbow surgery) and backup goalie Steve Shields (broken little finger on left hand) were in camp, but sidelined because of injuries. Restricted free agents Jeff Friesen, Owen Nolan, Mike Ricci and Mike Rathje remained unsigned and out of camp.The team was holding out hope, however, all six players would be in the lineup for the season-opener in Tokyo.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening No. 1 center. Second-year men Patrick Marleau and Marco Sturm are the leading candidates, although it is probably unrealistic to expect so much so early in their careers. Marleau returned from a summer training regimen with more muscle. He appeared much more confident in the pre-season and will receive every opportunity to step up.Player update Like Marleau, Sturm looked very good during camp and early exhibition games. While he probably lacks the offensive upside to be a true No. 1, Sturm could turn into a very good second-line center.Potential rookies Four first-year defensemen-Brad Stuart, Scott Hannan, Andy Sutton and Shawn Heins-are vying for perhaps one or two jobs. Right winger Alex Korolyuk, meanwhile, is also getting a long look.NOTEBOOK: San Jose signed center Bernie Nicholls, who had been an unrestricted free ag, &rsquo; to a one-year, $850,000 contract Sept. 23. The deal includes a potential second year, depending on a combination of individual and team performances&hellip;Left winger Dave Lowry, an unrestricted free agent, and former Sharks&rsquo; center Jamie Baker were in camp on a tryout basis&hellip;Former Pittsburgh and Anaheim left winger Alex Hicks signed with San Jose Sept. 12&hellip;Three Sharks will wear different uniform numbers this season: left winger Murray Craven (goes from 22 to 32); left winger Shawn Burr (28 to 7) and defenseman Andrei Zyuzin (20 to 4)&hellip;San Jose hired former NHL winger Ilkka Sinisalo as a European scout. &#9632;

f0023-07

Sharks hope integral six all ready to go for Tokyo

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01939/6840817-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="215" height="214"></div>The Tampa Bay Lightning isn&rsquo;t necessarily expecting to go from worst to first, but the atmosphere is upbeat around last season&rsquo;s last-place team.An off-season makeover that saw the additions of players such as Craig Janney, Wendel Clark, Benoit Hogue, Bill Ranford and No. 1 overall draft choice Vincent Lecavalier has the Lightning feeling good about itself.Those sentiments were reinforced as the Lightning opened its pre-season 2-0-0 during a 10-day visit to Austria. &ldquo;The thing I was really glad to see was how close these guys became,&rdquo; said coach Jacques Demers. &ldquo;Now we just have to keep that attitude going.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job opening Back-up goalie. Daren Puppa seems healthy, happy and ready to push No. 1 man Ranford. But dependable Corey Schwab, who signed a one-way contract during the summer was having a fantastic camp, too, and the Lightning doesn&rsquo;t want to lose him for nothing in the waiver draft.Player update Left winger Brent Peterson, who scored three goals in the Lightning&rsquo;s last seven games of 1997-98, picked up where he left off with two goals in as many exhibition games.&ldquo;The guy&rsquo;s like a yo-yo-the puck seems to come back to him,&rdquo; said Demers, who was trying to whittle down the Lightning roster. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the guys complicating things.&rdquo;Potential rookies Lecavalier, who still hadn&rsquo;t signed a contract two weeks into camp, was impressing with his playmaking ability and spirited play. He is a virtual lock to make the opening-night lineup-possibly as the team&rsquo;s No. 2 center.NOTEBOOK: Center John Cullen, bidding to come back from non-Hodgkin&rsquo;s lymphoma, had a goal in Tampa Bay&rsquo;s 3-1 pre-season win over Buffalo in Austria Sept. 18 and was named MVP of the NHL International Challenge, a four-team series featuring the Lightning, the Sabres and two Austrian teams&hellip;Center Adam Creighton, who attended camp on a tryout after playing last season in Germany, was was cut by the Lightning&hellip;Center Vadim Epanchintsev of Russia did not report to camp due to passport problems, leaving his future with the organization sketchy and a release from his contract likely&hellip;Defenseman Enrico Ciccone did not travel to Austria because his wife went into pre term labor&hellip;Injury report: left winger Stephane Richer was slowed by a rehab setback to his surgically repaired left ankle and right winger Mikael Andersson sustained a cervical suain in Austria. &#9632;

f0024-01

Positive signs for last year’s NHL doormat

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02630/6840848-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="215" height="213"></div>The Toronto Maple Leafs entered training camp with too many goalies and not enough defensemen.So if GM Mike Smith doesn&rsquo;t make the long-awaited deal involving goalie Felix Potvin, the Leafs might want to see how he looks on the blue-line.With Potvin, Curtis Joseph and Glenn Healy, the Leafs have a crowded crease. And with Mathieu Schneider embroiled in a contract dispute, that leaves Dimitri Yushkevich, Jason Smith and Sylvain Cote as the only bona fide NHL rearguards.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job openings Second-line center and depth defensemen. Steve Sullivan is coming off a terrible year and is in a dogfight with Alyn McCauley. The Leafs are even experimenting with right winger Igor Korolev in the middle.On defense, the Leafs will likely go with Daniil Markov, Yannick Tremblay and a couple of journeymen in Dallas Eakins and Glen Featherstone. That way they can give youngsters Tomas Kaberle, Marek Posmyk, D.J. Smith and Jeff Ware time to develop.Player update McCauley and right winger Mike Johnson had varying degrees of success as rookies, but more will be counted on them this season. The goal-hungry Leafs will need a lot more offense from both. Left winger Fredrik Modin is due for a breakthrough season.Potential rookies Markov played 25 games last season, so technically he&rsquo;s not a rookie. But the Vladimir Konstantinov-like defenseman has impressed with his toughness and poise. Centers Mark Deyell, Kevyn Adams and defenseman Danil Markov might fill in as depth players.NOTEBOOK: The Leafs and defenseman Mathieu Schneider were still far apart in contract talks and there was every indication the impasse will spill into the regular season. Schneider, 29, is believed to be seeking a one-year deal worth $3.25 million (U.S.) and the Leafs are reportedly offering no raise on his $2.5 million salary from last season&hellip;Any trade involving goalie Felix Potvin will also likely wait until the season starts. GM Mike Smith responded to a published report which rumored there was a deal in the works with the Islanders involving center Trevor Linden by saying: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not interested in taking other people&rsquo;s problems. If a player isn&rsquo;t happy where he is, what guarantees that he&rsquo;s going to be happy with us?"&hellip;The Leafs invited veteran left winger Garry Valk to camp on a tryout basis. Valk scored two goals in 39 games for Pittsburgh last season. &#9632;

f0024-02

Leafs still trying to deal Potvin, but what’s the deal on defense?

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04261/6840910-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="215" height="212"></div>When a team reaches the Stanley Cup final, chances are pretty good there won&rsquo;t be many job openings when training camp comes around. And that is precisely the case with the Washington Capitals.That said, there seemed to be little complacency when camp opened. The players generally reported in great shape and the atmosphere seemed more relaxed than in recent years.Here&rsquo;s a brief look at other camp developments:Job openings Depth at center/defense. A series of injuries and a free-agent no-show (Andrei Nikolishin) have left some vacant spots up the middle. Adam Oates, Jan Bulis and Dale Hunter have jobs thus far with the fourth up for grabs. Likewise, the absence of unsigned defenseman Sergei Gonchar has created competition to fill that slot. Nolan Baumgartner and Stewart Malgunas are the leaders there.Player update Bulis, 20, played 48 NHL games last season before inexperience began to show. He appears more determined this time not to be pushed aside. He is a quick and willing learner with excellent strength and balance.Richard Zednik. 22, was Bulis&rsquo; right winger through the early stages of camp and, along with left winger Chris Simon, the trio clicked immediately. Zednik is fast with a tough, hard shot and the instinct to be scrappy.Potential rookies Center Matt Herr, 22, was the surprise of camp; he is far more polished than first thought. Baumgartner, 22, appears fully recovered from surgery to both shoulders two years ago. Right winger Alexandre Volchkov, 21, occasionally puts some of his exceptional talent on display. He is very strong and a good skater who needs to be more involved away from the puck.NOTEBOOK: Goaltender Olie Kolzig returned to Portland, Me., Sept. 20. for a pre-season game against the Islanders and received a hero&rsquo;s welcome. Kolzig, who helped the American&rsquo;s League&rsquo;s Pirates win the Calder Cup in 1994, got a lengthy standing ovation after he was given a key to the city. The Caps and Pirates recently signed a new four-year working deal&hellip;Getting to training camp was no cakewalk with Northwest Airlines and Air Canada on strike at the same time. For instance, director of amateur scouting Ross Mahoney flew from Regina to Calgary to Dallas to Baltimore to make it, a 12-hour trip&hellip;Left winger Jeff Toms came to contract terms Sept. 17, signing a one-year, two-way deal. He had turned down a qualifying offer in July, but reported in the best shape of his career&hellip;The Capitals were not allowing unsigned players to take part in camp, claiming it creates a distraction. &#9632;

f0024-04

Few roster openings for Cup finalists

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Gary Coupal, whose resume reads like a script out of Slap Shot, can at least say he was never kicked out of the American League for any violent act. That&rsquo;s because the AHL wasn&rsquo;t going to even give him the chance.Coupal, dubbed &rsquo;The baddest man in hockey&rsquo; by The Hockey News, attended the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; camp this year. But when he was cut, no attempt was made to send the 23-year-old to the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms.Flyers&rsquo; management knew AHL president Dave Andrews wasn&rsquo;t going to approve a contract for the man who twice in the past clubbed an opponent in the head with his stick.&ldquo;I had told Philadelphia that before they attempt to register him with the league, they should check with the league to see if he&rsquo;d be allowed to play,&rdquo; Andrews said. &ldquo;I think they took the hint. Philadelphia did not attempt to register him so there was no point for us to rule on him.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01835/6840941-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="570" height="577"></div>&ldquo;I think they decided he wasn&rsquo;t capable of playing in the AHL.&rdquo;In 1994, Coupal was banned from the Ontario League for slashing Brian Wesenberg in the face. Amazingly, the Flyers brought Coupal to camp despite the fact Wesenberg, one of Philadelphia&rsquo;s top prospects, was there.In 1996, while playing for the East Coast League&rsquo;s Columbus Chill, Coupal slammed his stick over the head of Aaron Downey, who was playing for the Hampton Roads Admirals. Downey was knocked unconscious and Coupal was suspended for 49 games.While playing with the United League&rsquo;s Muskegon Fury last season, the winger threw a stick into the stands. The UHL suspended him for life. He finished the season with the Central Texas Stampede of the Western Pro League.CALLING IT QUITS: Dan Frawley was a fixture in the Rochester Americans&rsquo; lineup for most of the 1990s, but the former Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; captain decided late this summer that it was time to retire.Frawley played 456 games for the Americans over six seasons. He ranks ninth all-time in games played and third in penalty minutes (1,060) for the 43-year-old franchise.&ldquo;I always left it open about playing again because there&rsquo;s nothing worse than retiring one day and unretiring the next,&rdquo; said Frawley, 36. &ldquo;But as the summer went along, I just had a feeling it was time to move on.&rdquo;He came out of a two-year retirement in 1995-96, in part became Amerks&rsquo; management believed his leadership was critical to winning. They won the Calder Cup that season and a division title the next.John Tortorella knew little of Frawley when he took over as coach in 1995-96, but soon learned how important the grinding right winger was to success.&ldquo;The first time I took him out of the lineup, I could see our bench sag,&rdquo; Tortorella said.&ldquo;Guys feed off him.Frawley scored 12 goals and 32 points last season and had 175 penalty minutes. He played in 77 of the 80 regular season games. In five NHL seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh, Frawley played 273 games and scored 37 goals, 77 points and had 674 penalty minutes.HELPING OUT: New Portland Pirates&rsquo; coach Mark Kumpel hired former Fredericton Express teammate Neil Belland as his assistant.Belland, a second-team AHL all-star in 1985, played 109 NHL games. A member of the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; team that reached the 1981-82 Stanley Cup final, Belland was an assistant coach last season for Laurentian University.Jon Christiano will serve as Brian McCutcheon&rsquo;s assistant in Rochester, returning to the bench after serving as the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; administrative assistant coach last season.Last season Christiano was responsible for video analysis of the Sabres and their opponent, a role he also filled with the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers. His last stint behind the bench was in 1996-97 as Rich Kromm&rsquo;s assistant with the AHL&rsquo;s Carolina Monarchs.AHL TIDBITS: Right winger Troy Crowder, 30, signed with the Hershey Bears after playing in Germany last season&hellip;When the Washington Capitals played an exhibition game in Portland Sept. 19, the city declared it &rsquo;Olaf Kolzig Day&rsquo; and the former Pirates&rsquo; goalie was given a key to the city. &#9632;

f0025-01

Andrews advises Flyers not to send down Coupal

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div>Petr Nedved is a member of the Las Vegas Thunder once again.The wayward NHLer signed with the Thunder after failing to convince the Pittsburgh Penguins to deal his rights to an NHL team that would meet his contract demands.Nedved, beginning his second season as a holdout from the Penguins, is reportedly looking for a multi-year deal worth at least $4.5 million a season. The cash-strapped Penguins are reportedly offering $18 million over five years (a $3.6 milhon-per-season average) and insist they haven&rsquo;t gotten a trade offer that represents fair value for Nedved.As a result, Nedved opted to return to the Thunder, for whom he played three games last season before being declared ineligible by the IHL.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not thinking of Pittsburgh any more,&rdquo; said Nedved, who had 45 goals and 99 points for the Penguins in 1995-j 96. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a Thunder.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02531/6840972-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="924" height="379"></div>IHL president Doug Moss tried to discourage the Thunder from signing Nedved, but said he could do nothing to prevent it. Moss is attempting to improve relations between the IHL and the NHL.Thunder GM Bob Strumm said he could have had Nedved at the start of 1997-98 and that if he had, Nedved would have been with the Thunder all year.Because of the league&rsquo;s $1.2 million cap for each team, the Thunder worked a back-end loaded deal with Nedved. It will provide him with housing, per diem and insurance and a small compensation. The longer he is with the team, the more he will make.MUZZATTI SIDELINED: The Long Beach Ice Dogs lost goalie Jason Muzzatti for the season because of a heart defect.Muzzatti, 28, had signed with Long Beach as a free agent Aug. 24. A physical examination in early September revealed the defect and his doctor felt it best to operate immediately.&ldquo;The defect to a valve in his heart is a defect he was bom with and has had surgery on to repair in the past,&rdquo; said Long Beach coach-GM John Van Boxmeer. &ldquo;Jason thought he would be able to play this year and have the surgery at the end of the season.&ldquo;At the recommendation of his physician, he will have the surgery now and will not play. Our first concern is for Jason&rsquo;s overall health, a successful operation and a speedy recovery.&rdquo;McCAMMON HIRED: Bob McCammon, who was a coach, GM and scout for three different NHL organizations, was hired by the International League as its vice president/director of hockey operations.McCammon will oversee officiating, discipline, rules changes and operating procedures.He was coach-GM of the Philadelphia Flyers, coach of the Vancouver Canucks and an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re very happy to bring aboard a person of Bob&rsquo;s stature,&rdquo; Moss said. &ldquo;Hiring a strong hockey man like Bob with years of experience in the NHL and minor leagues shows that we are serious about our on-ice product.&rdquo;WOLVES INK PAIR: The Chicago Wolves resigned defenseman Tom Tilley, who was a key factor in their drive to the Turner Cup last year, and signed free agent winger Dan Plante.Tilley, 33, had 58 points in 73 games for the Wolves, but really heated up in the playoffs. He had 19 points in 22 playoff games.Plante, a 202-pound right winger, spent most of last season with the Utah Grizzlies, where he had 22 goals in 73 games. In 159 NHL games, Plante has nine goals and 23 points.HAWGOOD RETURNS: The Houston Aeros resigned defenseman Greg Hawgood, a first-team all-star last season, as well as center Mark Freer, the club&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer.Hawgood, the league&rsquo;s top defenseman while with Las Vegas in 1995-96, had 19 goals and 71 points for the Aeros last year. Freer has been with the Aeros since they joined the league in 1994. He had 14 goals and 52 points last year.I-OPENERS: The Manitoba Moose resigned center Ralph Intranuovo and agreed to a deal with winger Curtis Bo wen&hellip; Goalie Pokey Reddick agreed to a deal with the Fort Wayne Komets and the Orlando Solar Bears signed goalie Scott Bailey. &#9632;

f0025-02

Nedved happy to bide time in Las Vegas with Thunder

<div class="byline">By John Packet!</div>Losing your coach two months before the season opener can be hazardous to a GM&rsquo;s health.But Mobile Mysticks&rsquo; GM Steve Chapman wasn&rsquo;t too concerned when Matt Shaw accepted an assistant&rsquo;s job with the International League&rsquo;s Chicago Wolves in mid-August. He knew he had a capable assistant coach in Tom Neziol, and he was confident there was still time to find a suitable replacement.Mission accomplished. The Mysticks named Jeff Pyle, 40, as the third coach in the club&rsquo;s four-year history Sept. 15-exactly one month before the first game.&ldquo;The timing of it (Shaw&rsquo;s departure) was not great,&rdquo; Chapman told the Mobile Register. &ldquo;Being late in the summer and in the middle of recruiting, but it certainly wasn&rsquo;t something we were caught totally unexpected about.&rdquo;With Neziol handling recruiting and day-to-day operations, Chapman and the team&rsquo;s man-considered the right man for the job.&ldquo;We did not have to rush the interview process,&rdquo; said Chapman, who said more than 50 coaches applied.In Pyle, a native of Bloomington, Minn., the Mysticks found someone with 10 years of pro coaching experience. He also played for Northern Michigan and had a 10-year pro career in the Atlantic Coast League, IHL and Germany.&ldquo;I was sold right from the get go,&rdquo; Pyle said of the south Alabama city. &ldquo;We wanted to come to a place where the opportunity for success was there. When I saw (the players) we already had, and I checked up on who we had contacted, I knew it was a good situation. I would not have accepted this job if I didn&rsquo;t feel we have a legitiagement took their time finding who they KEy mate chance to win the Kelly Cup.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03344/6841003-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="505" height="533"></div>Pyle coached Duisberg, Germany, last season before joining the Grand Rapids Griffins (IHL) as an assistant. He has also been a coach at Adendorf and Timmedorf, Germany.STEPPING DOWN: Jacksonville Lizard Kings&rsquo; president Matt Strelo resigned to pursue a career with The First Tee organization.Strelo will become director of facility services for the group which strives to create facilities and programs that make golf more affordable and accessible to people of all races and economic backgrounds. The Lizard Kings, who changed ownership in late August, are looking for a replacement.COAST LINES: Because of confusion with the Arkansas Razorbacks football team, the ECHL expansion team in Little Rock, Ark., has decided not to use the nickname RazorBlades. The club, which begins play in 1999-2000, is having another contest to pick a name&hellip;One change in effect this season allows each team to have two player-assistant coaches. Only half of the second player-assistant&rsquo;s contract will be applied toward the weekly salary cap, which goes up to $8,250 under terms of the collective bargaining agreement&hellip; All Pee Dee Pride road games will be simulcast on the club&rsquo;s web site, <a href="http://www.peedeepride.com">www.peedeepride.com</a>. The road games will be broadcast locally in Florence, S.C., by WDAR-FM. &#9632;

f0025-03

New Mobile coach hopes to Pyle up the victories

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>Eight years ago, politicians drew a line through the heart of Czechoslovakia. They decreed that one would become two-the Czech Republic and Slovakia.They could not, however, legislate two peoples.Adam Saffer, 18, and Tomas Gron, 17, have become the best of friends since meeting at the London Knights&rsquo; training camp. There is no division in their eyes.The Knights ignored the political split when they selected Saffer, from Prague, Czech Republic, and Gron, from Bratislava, Slovakia, in the Canadian Hockey League import draft.&ldquo;The reason for the two countries is strictly political,&rdquo; said Saffer, a left winger. &ldquo;I was only 10 and what I know is just what I read in the newspapers. But the people are still together like it is one country. It is just a line separating us.&rdquo;Saffer learned conversational English in school from a teacher bom in New York City.Gron, a right winger, understands some English and speaks a little. The Czech and Slovak languages are quite similar. Saffer serves as Gron&rsquo;s interpreter when needed.The two had never met before arriving at camp. Knights&rsquo; vice-president Paul McIntosh said it was interesting the first time they were together in his van.&ldquo;Neither one spoke for five minutes, then they got going. I had no idea what they were saying until Tomas said the first word I understood it was &rsquo;Erskine,&rsquo; &ldquo; McIntosh said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01916/6841034-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="938" height="317"></div>Gron played in a summer league in Kingston with Knights&rsquo; defenseman John Erskine. Erskine, a Dallas Stars&rsquo; draft pick, wasted no time last season making a physical impression on the OHL and obviously did the same on Gron.Saffer and Gron each wanted to play major junior. Gron&rsquo;s brother Stanislav plays for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western League and was a 1997 NHL entry draft pick of the New Jersey Devils.&ldquo;The European draft is a challenge,&rdquo; McIntosh said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;re happy with what we&rsquo;ve seen. We wanted two skilled Europeans and that&rsquo;s what we got.&rdquo;MOVIN&rsquo; ON: Center Tim Verbeek joined the Barrie Colts Sept. 21 after being traded by the Mississauga IceDogs for a fifth-round draft pick.Verbeek, the 19-year-old brother of Dallas Stars&rsquo; right winger Pat Verbeek, is with his fourth team in three years.He was drafted by the Kitchener Rangers in 1996 and traded to the Sarnia Sting last season. The IceDogs claimed him in the expansion draft.Verbeek has 23 goals, 48 points and 198 penalty minutes in 126 OHL games, scoring three goals for Sarnia in six games against Barrie last season.Colts&rsquo; coach-GM Bert Templeton dealt for Verbeek in case Daniel Tkaczuk isn&rsquo;t returned by the Calgary Flames.&ldquo;I liked Tim when I saw him prior to him coming into our league,&rdquo; Templeton said. &ldquo;He personifies that Verbeek nature-hard-working, in your face-but he probably has more offensive skill than he has ever gotten credit.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Barrie Colts set a franchise mark for a pre-season crowd and the record grew with each game. The Colts drew 3,482, 3,531, then 3,626. Crowds are so good in Barrie, the booster club presented the local St. John Ambulance with a new vehicle that was bought with $30,000 of the proceeds from the 50/50 draw&hellip;Ottawa 67&rsquo;s coach Brian Kilrea, the winningest coach in CHL history, began his 22nd season needing two wins for 800&hellip;Defenseman Sean Murphy. 20, son of former Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; coach Mike Murphy, landed with the Mississauga IceDogs in the Sept. 22 overage expansion draft. He was with Toronto St. Michael&rsquo;s Majors last season. &#9632;

f0026-01

Czechand Slovakian imports bridge gap with Knights

<div class="byline">By Gordie Sutherland</div>Rouyn-Noranda Huskies&rsquo; center Mike Ribeiro is known more for scoring than fighting, but he was front and center in a Sept. 20 melee with the visiting Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.As the 10-minute overtime in the 2-2 tie was about to finish, Ribeiro and Cape Breton&rsquo;s Josh Dill started to rough it up in the comer. The rest of the Huskies defended their star player and all 10 players on the ice became involved.Dill and Ribeiro, the Quebec League&rsquo;s rookie of the year last season, were both assessed fighting penalties and referee Erie Furlatt also gave Dill a match penalty for high-sticking.&ldquo;Dill went after Ribeiro,&rdquo; said Ro Noranda coach Jean Pronovost. &rsquo; high-sticked him.&rdquo;Cape Breton coach Bruce Camp-bell had a different story.&ldquo;Ribeiro is a terrific player probably one of the top two or three in the league,&rdquo; he said &ldquo;And he figures he can take liberties on a guy. He speared Josh Dill in the stomach at the end of the game because Josh stayed with him on the final faceoff. When he did that, Josh dropped the gloves and started to fight him and Ribeiro wouldn&rsquo;t fight back.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02604/6841065-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="701" height="648"></div>Pronovost was so bothered, he walked across the ice to confront Campbell at the Cape Breton bench. A heated exchange ensued.&ldquo;(Campbell) was taunting the players and making a mockery of what was happening,&rdquo; Pronovost said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t deny that two wrongs never make a right. I was wrong for doing what I was doing, but he has part of the responsibility. The one (gesture) that broke the camel&rsquo;s back was the jacket over the head, claiming that we were ducking or we&rsquo;re chicken. I lost it.&rdquo;Campbell said he was responding to Pronovost.&ldquo;Pronovost was hollering at me, so I just put my coat up over my head like (Ribeiro) was turtling,&rdquo; he said.Rouyn-Noranda&rsquo;s Jason Lehoux was suspended six games for leaving the bench. Pronovost was suspended four games, Dill one game and the Huskies&rsquo; team $1,000.ROGER RETURNS: The Moncton Wild cats finally got some good news.The Wildcats were braced to lose high-scoring winger Sebastien Roger when he signed a 25-game tryout contract with the Las Vegas Thunder of the International League.But Las Vegas released Roger Sept. 21, less than a week into training camp and just before the team signed NHL holdout Petr Nedved.&ldquo;The surprises were going the other way, on the negative side,&rdquo; said Moncton coach-GM Real Paiement, referring to the unexpected departure of defensemen Weston Fader and Jan Horacek. &ldquo;Now we&rsquo;re lucky to get one coming our way. We&rsquo;ll take it.&rdquo;Figuring Roger was gone until Dec. 12, Paiement acquired center Eric Demers from the Chicoutimi Sagueneens for two draft picks and defenseman Vincent Blanchette. Roger, 20, led Moncton last year with 114 points.WAYWARD GOALIE: It doesn&rsquo;t appear goalie Patrick Couture will be back as an overage with Rouyn-Noranda.Couture, 20, didn&rsquo;t report to Rouyn-Noranda when he was cut from the St. Louis Blues, who invited him to training camp. He&rsquo;s now trying out with the Chicago Wolves of the IHL.&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t communicate well,&rdquo; Pronovost said. &ldquo;Either he doesn&rsquo;t want to play here or he wants to be moved. I have no idea.&rdquo;Couture became Rouyn-Noranda&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie after the Huskies acquired him last season from the Quebec Remparts. He led the league with a 2.09 goals-against average.Rouyn-Noranda is dressing Philippe Page, 18, and 17-year-old rookie Sebastien Centomo.BIG PROMOTION: Alain Charbonneau has gone from the extra forward to a first-line winger with the Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs. Charbonneau, 19, set a team record Sept. 19, scoring five goals in a game as the Foreurs beat Cape Breton 9-4. He missed most of last season with a shoulder injury. &#9632;

f0026-02

Rouyn-Noranda star Ribeiro at center of overtime scrap

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>The Moose Jaw Warriors&rsquo; Nielsen ratings are soaring following a successful Western League pre-season.Moose Jaw compiled a 5-1-0 exhibition record under first-year coach Len Nielsen, who replaced Al Tuer Aug. 18.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really excited about the year,&rdquo; said Warriors&rsquo; right winger Dustin Paul. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a fresh new start with a new coaching staff, new ideas, new perspectives and a new outlook. I&rsquo;m excited to be a part of it.&rdquo;The Warriors went 23-39-10 last season under Tuer, who spent five years as the team&rsquo;s coach-GM. Nielsen was promoted from assistant coach when Tuer and the Warriors&rsquo; board agreed to a mutual separation.Nielsen had been Tuer&rsquo;s assistant for the previous five years. Ralph Schmidt, who was head scout, replaced Tuer as GM.&ldquo;The transition hasn&rsquo;t been too tough at all,&rdquo; Nielsen said. &ldquo;Being in the organization in previous years certainly helped. I&rsquo;m familiar with the kids, especially the veteran guys. Having Ralph as the GM was a huge help because he took a huge burden off my shoulders.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03478/6841096-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="507" height="521"></div>Whereas Tuer was fiery, Nielsen is relaxed and easy-going.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to change,&rdquo; Nielsen stated. &ldquo;As an assistant in the past, I didn&rsquo;t have to lay the law down when it needed to be done. I&rsquo;ve got my style. Other coaches have theirs.&rdquo;Nielsen favors an offensive style as is to be expected, being that he was a high-scoring center with the Regina Pats in the mid-1980s.&ldquo;I want to take advantage of some of the offensive skills a lot of the older players have,&rdquo; Nielsen said. &ldquo;In the past, the focus was on defense. We&rsquo;re not abandoning defense by any stretch, but we have players who are able to make plays. We&rsquo;ll allow them to make plays and hopefully have success doing it.&rdquo;Paul, who led the Warriors with 36 goals last season, salivates at the notion.&ldquo;Before, it was a little more restrictive,&rdquo; said Paul. 19. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to allow us to employ a little more of an offensive style, which I&rsquo;m excited about.&rdquo;RAIDERS RENEWAL: The Prince Albert Raiders are looking to make amends for a disappointing 1997-98 season.Prince Albert went 20-47-5 and finished last in the six-team East Division. The Raiders were 24-34-9 (fifth) the season before.&ldquo;That can make you a little bit fragile in how you look at the game,&rdquo; said Raiders&rsquo; GM Rick Valette. &ldquo;At the same time, I think we&rsquo;ll bounce back pretty quickly.&ldquo;Look at Brandon seven years ago. They were struggling, but they&rsquo;ve come back with six straight 40-win seasons. That&rsquo;s the nature of junior hockey. Hopefully we&rsquo;ll experience the rewards of the moves we made in the off-season.&rsquo;Two additions are especially noteworthy.Prince Albert hired ex-NHLer Kevin McClelland as its coach July 3. Shortly thereafter, the Raiders landed center Milan Kraft, whom the Pittsburgh Penguins picked 23rd overall in the 1998 NHL draft.&ldquo;Milan is really a pure goal-scorer,&rdquo; Valette said. &ldquo;He plays defense and understands the game really well, but his biggest attribute is an ability to put the red light on.&ldquo;With Kevin, he&rsquo;s exciting and fun to be around every day. He has so much to give in terms of experience and relating to the kids. He commands instant respect.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Regina acquired goalie Matt Cockell, 19, from the Seattle Thunderbirds Sept. 22. The Pats surrendered a future bantam draft pick&hellip;The Calgary Hitmen have named Gord Fercho assistant GM&hellip;The Kootenay Ice, which had a 17-49-6 record in Edmonton last season, enjoyed a 6-2-1 pre-season in its new home of Cranbrook, B.C. Center Jarret Stoll, 16, led the way with seven goals and 12 points in six games. Stoll was the first player picked in the 1997 bantam draft. &#9632;

f0026-03

Warriors hope ratings soar with Nielsen behind bench

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01916/6841127-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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October 9, 1998

Brewer among nice surprises at Isles’ camp

Canucks’ camp gets under way with no Bure, no No. 1 goalie

NHL PRE-SEASON

NHL TEAM DEPTH CHARTS