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.

December 4, 1998

The Hockey News December 4, 1998

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0050-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01233/8538999-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<h2>Peter Stashny</h2>Born: Bratislava, Czech Republic Age: 42Background: Scored 450 goals, 1,239 points in 977 games over 15 seasons with Quebec Nordiques, New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues from 1980-81 through 1994-95&hellip;First defector to make Hall of Fame&hellip;Had second most points in 1980s with 1,024 behind Wayne Gretzky (1,864)&hellip;Won Calder Trophy. Career Highlight: During rookie season won play-er-of-the-week honors with brother Anton after scoring a combined 28 points in two games, including eight points each in Washington.Currently: Special assianment scout for St. Louis.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011260/8537614-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="505" height="699"></div><h2>Michel Goulet</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02930/8537607-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="501" height="701"></div>Born: Peribonka, Que. Age: 38Background: Scored 548 goals, 1,152 points in 1,089 games over 15 seasons with Quebec Nordiques and Chicago Blackhawks from 1979-80 through 1993-94&hellip;Had four straight 50-goal seasons&hellip; Was a three-time first-team all-star and named to the second all-star team twice.Career Highlights: &ldquo;A chance to play in the great Montreal-Quebec rivalry."&hellip;Played for Team Canada at 1984 and 1987 Canada Cups.Currently: Director of player personnel for Colorado Avalanche.<h2>Howie Meeker</h2>Born: Kitchener, Ont. Age: 74.Background: Scored 83 goals, 185 points in 346 games with Toronto Maple Leafs over eight seasons from 1946-47 through 1953-54&hellip;Won Calder Trophy and four Stanley Cups&hellip;Was Member of Canadian Parliament in early 1950s&hellip;Coached Leafs during 1956-57 and was GM briefly in 1957&hellip;Became hockey school instructor, radio sports director and commentator on Hockey Night in Canada and TSN.Career Highlights: Scored five goals in one game as a rookie.. Was TV analyst at 1972 Summit Series. Currently: Resides on Vancouver Island, retired.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03707/8537600-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="504" height="699"></div><h2>Roy Conacher</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04517/8537593-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="505" height="699"></div>Born: Toronto, Ont. Died: In 1984 at 68Background: Scored 226 goals and 426 points in 490 games over 11 seasons with Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks from 1938-39 through 1951-52&hellip;Missed four seasons during World War II after joining Royal Canadian Air Force&hellip;Was traded to Detroit when he returned and scored a career-high 30 goals&hellip;Joins brothers Charlie and Lionel in Hall of Fame.Career Highlights: Won first of two Stanley Cups as a rookie, scoring six playoff goals, including Cup winner&hellip;Won scoring title in 1948-49 with 68 points.<h2>Monsignor Athol Murray</h2>Born: Toronto, Ont. Died: In 1975 at 83Background: Founded boys club which became known as the Notre Dame Hounds. Program influenced more than 100 students drafted by the NHL, including Vincent Lecavalier, Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, Wendel Clark and Curtis Joseph&hellip;Ordained in 1918 at Toronto&rsquo;s St. Augustine&rsquo;s Seminary&hellip;Appointed St. Augustine&rsquo;s parish in Wilcox, Sask., in 1927.Career Highlights: Awarded the Order of Canada in 1968&hellip;Inducted into Canada&rsquo;s Sports Hall of Fame in 1972&hellip;Notre Dame College officially renamed Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in 1981.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05387/8537586-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="506" height="697"></div><h2>Yvon Pedneault</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06305/8537579-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="505" height="696"></div>Born: Chicoutimi, Que. Age: 52Background: Has worked for three Montreal daily newspapers and every television station that has covered the Canadiens.. Was reporter at the Montreal Matin, La Presse and Le Journal de Montreal, where he also served as sports editor.. Was GM briefly for College Francais de Longeuil of the Quebec League. Career Highlights: Covered the 1972 Summit Series between USSR and Canada&hellip;Covered the 1975 Red Army-Canadiens exhibition match New Year&rsquo;s Eve.Currently: Color commentator on RDS and columnist for La Presse. &#9632;

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HALL OF FAME HONOR ROLL

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03711/8538062-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="213" height="211"></div>The Los Angeles Kings picked up a forward from the Vancouver Camore nucks-but it wasn&rsquo;t Pavel Bure.Although the Kings were still believed to be in the running to acquire the high-scoring Russian right winger, they had to settle for grabbing center Brandon Convery off waivers Nov. 19.&ldquo;Any time you are on waivers, you don&rsquo;t know where you are going,&rdquo; Convery said. &ldquo;I was ecstatic to find out it was L.A.&rdquo;He probably hadn&rsquo;t seen much of his new team before he arrived. Convery, who had two goals and nine points in 12 games with the Canucks, got to Los Angeles the day he was claimed. However, he wasn&rsquo;t in the lineup when the Kings extended their losing streak to six and their overall slump to 1-9-1 in a 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers.Coming into the season, the Kings believed they had amassed more depth than they had been able to collect in years. And they had. They couldn&rsquo;t have foreseen the extent of the injuries they would suffer, especially in goal.After Jamie Storr and Stephane Fiset both sustained groin injuries, Manny Legace was the Kings&rsquo; savior for a while. In time, his weaknesses became apparent and the defensive play in front of him deteriorated to a point where he began to doubt himself.His loss to the Rangers left him 2-9-2 with a 2.63 goals-against average and .910 save percentage in just under a month. He gave up only 13 goals in his first eight games, but gave up 28 goals over his next seven. &ldquo;He has had to play a lot of hockey,&rdquo; said Kings&rsquo; GM Dave Taylor.&ldquo;I think that from the first game to, oh, the last (few) games, I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve been as confident,&rdquo; Legace said. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s because I&rsquo;ve been losing a lot&hellip;It seems like the last four or five games, every mistake I make, the puck ends up behind me. It&rsquo;s just one step the wrong way, the puck is behind me. I tense up, the puck is behind me.&rdquo;The Kings were hopeful Fiset would be able to return from a strained groin muscle Nov. 19, but he felt soreness in his groin that day and the date of his return remained uncertain. Taylor reiterated that he would like to acquire a scorer, but expressed expressed confidence in hisNOTEBOOK: GM Dave Taylor, who claimed center Brandon Convery off waivers from Vancouver, described him as &ldquo;a good, versatile player who can play all three offensive positions.&rdquo; Convery was scratched in four consecutive games before being waived, leading him to suspect his days as a Canuck were numbered. &ldquo;I was doing well when I played, but I was still sitting out,&rdquo; Convery said. &ldquo;I knew something was going to happen."&hellip;The Kings can&rsquo;t shake their injury jinx. Center Jozef Stumpel sprained his right ankle for the second time and right winger Russ Courtnall suffered a fractured ankle Nov. 17 when he was struck on the foot by a shot. &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Losing takes toll on goalie Legace as hunt for savior scorer continues

<div class="byline">By David J. Neal</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02876/8538031-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="212" height="212"></div>For the Florida Panthers the past two seasons, it has been one, two and out.Over 97 games-82 last season and the first 15 this year-the Panthers had gotten only one tie out of games in which they had trailed by two at some point.It pointed to a lack of mental toughness that was galling to see in a team that once prided itself on working the full 60 minutes no matter the score.After the Panthers fell behind and fell flat during a 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Nov. 14,left winger Bill Lindsay spoke out.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no reason to get dejected after one goal, two goals,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s hockey. We have to find a way to battle back and get confidence. It&rsquo;s a confidence factor for sure. We&rsquo;ve got to come back and win a hockey game one of these times.&rdquo;Tying a game is a start. In coming from 4-0 and 5-2 down to tie the Boston Bruins 5-5 Nov. 19, led by third-periodgoals from Scott Mellanby, Mark Parrish and Robert Svehla, the Panthers hope they found the resiliency they lacked in those 97 games.The five times Florida fell behind by two in 1998-99 resulted in losses of 5-0, 7-2, 3-1, 6-2 and the aforementioned 4-0.&ldquo;In the past, we got down two or three goals and it was &rsquo;Let&rsquo;s get ready for the next game,&rsquo; said Panthers&rsquo; coach Terry Murray. &ldquo;I think we showed a sense of urgency to our game.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to come back because it proves we can do it,&rdquo; said Dave Gagner, who was moved to left wing. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure some individuals always feel that way, but you need all 20 individuals feelingthat.&rdquo;The Boston rebound tied the team record for greatest comeback. Back on Jan. 12, 1996, the Panthers tied the Dallas Stars 6-6 after entering the third period trailing 6-2.The Panthers and Boston have no history other than one playoff series-the opening round in 1996 won in five games by Florida-but they&rsquo;re developing into one of the more exciting matchups in the league.The two teams have combined for 47 goals in the last five games they&rsquo;ve played each other. The only game in which neither team reached five goals saw Florida win in overtime after pulling the goalie to tie the game inregulation.NOTEBOOK: Left winger and rookie goal leader Mark Parrish finally moved out of a hotel into his own home early in November. Road roommate Peter Worrell, right winger, thinks the world of Parrish, who spends his spare time roaming malls, but says his pal needs to find the beach. &ldquo;For a guy who has been in Florida for a while, he needs to get a tan. He&rsquo;s almost albino. I&rsquo;ve seen white, I&rsquo;ve seen ghost and, now I&rsquo;ve seen Parrish."&hellip; The coaching staff and defenseman Robert Svehla had a disagreement about his weight in late October. The coaches thought he was five pounds overweight. Svehla said the extra baggage was muscle, but he lost the weight anyway and improved his fitness level. &#9632;

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Panthers declawed when down, anxious to recover fighting spirit

<h2>Keenan gets win No. 500</h2>1. Iron Mike Vancouver coach Mike Keenan ties Toe Blake for fifth on all-time coaching win list with 500th.2. Iron Mark Montreal&rsquo;s Mark Recchi extends ironman streak to 561 games playing with pneumonia.3. Hull of a point Dallas Stars&rsquo; veteran Brett Hull becomes 53rd NHLer to register 1,000 career points.4. Coyotes howl Phoenix Coyotes match post-expansion record allowing two or fewer goals in 12 straight games.5. Powerful Predators Expansion Nashville&rsquo;s winning percentage (.441) near best first year mark of .494 by Florida.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0267/8539137-1-eng-US/c0002-022.jpg" title="C0002-02" width="435" height="616"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Keenan</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0358/8539130-1-eng-US/c0002-032.jpg" title="C0002-03" width="435" height="620"><figcaption class="caption-body">Andrei Nazarov</figcaption></div><h2>Players show no respect</h2>1. Head games Andrei Nazarov, Peter Worrell, Matt Johnson and Richard Zednik commit dangerous fouls on foes&rsquo; heads.2. Say it ain&rsquo;t so, Wayne Even The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, gets stick up around ears of nemesis Kevin Haller.3. Re-Peat offender Red Deer&rsquo;s Stephen Peat given second four-game suspension for fight in penalty box.4. Dirty dozen Saskatoon Blades go five games (12 days) between scoring goals in WHL action.5. OHL villains Twelve players, one coach suspended total of 30 games for brawling. &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</div>Cam Neely couldn&rsquo;t make a comeback, but one question remains before closing the book on his career: Can he make the Hall of Fame?.Neely, a four-time all-star with hard shoulders and soft hands, played just nine full NHL seasons before chronic hip problems forced him to retire in 1996. He will be eligible for election to the Hall of Fame for the first time in September, 1999, three full seasons after retirement. That&rsquo;s when the 18-member selection committee will meet and likely contemplate Neely&rsquo;s place in history. He will face off with several others, Rod Lang-way most prominent among them.Neely, now 33, was considered the prototypical power forward for the better part of a decade (1986-87 through 1995-96) until injuries did what no player dared: stop the 6-foot-1,218-pound Boston Bruins&rsquo; right winger in his tracks. Until the arrival of Eric Lindros, Neely stood in a class by himself. &ldquo;In my opinion, &ldquo;says Boston GM Harry Sinden, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s the guy who defined the position that has become known as &rsquo;power forward.&rsquo; He was the ultimate bodychecking forward who could put up points.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0438/8539175-1-eng-US/c0002-042.jpg" title="C0002-04" width="468" height="578"></div>The Comox, B.C., native recorded three 50-goal seasons and earned berths on four second all-star teams, but more difficult to objectify was what he brought out in opponents: a blend of respect and fear. Sinden says that Neely, himself, recognized the impact his devastating checks had on opponents. &ldquo;Cam got to the point where he backed off on his hit-ting because he was hitting people and hurting them too much,&rdquo; Sinden says. (Some think Neely&rsquo;s successor as power forward personified, Lindros, did the same after crushing Andreas. Dackell with a legal check.) Neely&rsquo;s effectiveness as a body-banger was less about muscles-he possessed a natural strength, not an artificially pumped up sculpted strength-than willingness. Neely overwhelmed opponents because there was no hesitation; he always initiated contact.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-054/8539168-1-eng-US/c0002-052.jpg" title="C0002-05" width="413" height="567"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Jim Mclsac)</figcaption></div>Sinden is a member of the Hall of Fame selection committee and is reluctant to talk about Neely&rsquo;s candidacy, but all that stands in the way of the ex-Bruin and ice immortality is how voters view the length of his career. Greatness is not merely measured in longevity, but it&rsquo;s a huge factor. Others such as Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux and Ken Dryden have been enshrined with fewer games to their credit, but Neelj (726 games) doesn&rsquo;t possess their team or personal accomplishments. Neely was never on a Stanley Cup winner or honored with a major individual award.<h3>DRYDEN</h3><h2>Neely&rsquo;s playoff record rivals those of NHL legends</h2>He is, however, one of those rare players in history who didn&rsquo;t just achieve at a superstar level, he did so in a unique fashion. There are other non-Hall-of-Famers with injury-shortened careers who have better goals-per-game averages than Neely&rsquo;s 544 (Rick Martin, .561, and Tim Kerr, .565), but none equalled Neely&rsquo;s total impact. That Neely was an extraordinary goal-scorer is obvious. It took him just 44 games to score 50 goals in 1993-94. Only one other player, Wayne Gretzky, has done it in fewer games (39 and 42). And there are two other things you need to know about Neely&rsquo;s touch: one is that he ranks among the most consistent threats ever, producing goals game after game, not in bunches, and; two, Neely was a big-game scorer, delivering in the clutch. His career playoff goals-per-game average, .613, is exceeded by only four others: Lemieux, Mike Bossy, Brett Hull and Rocket Richard. Three are in the Hall of Fame. Hull will eventually join them. So should Neely. &#9632;

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EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

It made the highlight reels back in 1995.San Jose Sharks&rsquo; behemoth rookie Andrei Nazarov was fighting, and headbutting, Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; defenseman Stephane Quintal. When the battle was over, the camera cut to a close-up of the Sharks&rsquo; bench. Another San Jose rookie, Jeff Friesen, was seen putting his index finger to his head and rotating it in a circular fashion.It was a humorous way to express a somewhat serious sentiment. That is, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Russian wasn&rsquo;t all there.Many would argue nothing much has changed in the ensuing three-plus years, except maybe this-the 24-year-old former Shark first-rounder now playing for Tampa Bay has established him-self as the most hated, least respected and scariest player in the NHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011994/8536985-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="420" height="587"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</figcaption></div>Nazarov&rsquo;s seven-game suspension for ripping open the face of Colorado defenseman Cam Russell with an unprovoked cross- check Nov. 13 was the most recent evidence.But there&rsquo;s more. So much more.1. In a pre-season game this year, Nazarov pummeled Florida&rsquo;s Rob Niedermayer, a player who had no interest in fighting and who was recovering from post-concussion syndrome. Nazarov was chastised by his Lightning coach, Jacques Demers, and held out of the lineup for a few games as a form of internal punishment.2. Last April 8, Nazarov decked Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; Daniel Lacroix with a punch that opened up a 46-stitch gash over Lacroix&rsquo;s left eye. That was the night Eric Lindros and a few other Flyers confronted Nazarov in the parking lot. Fortunately, it never escalated beyond a war of words. No league punishment was meted out because it was determined Nazarov&rsquo;s actions were part of a fight, not an unprovoked attack (though Lacroix doesn&rsquo;t see it that way).3. In April of 1997, Nazarov received a six-game suspension, which was commuted from an automatic 13 games by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, for getting physical with a linesmen who was trying to break up a fight between Nazarov and an Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; player.4. In February of 1997, Nazarov had his face shattered-plates had to be surgically inserted-after Los Angeles&rsquo; Matt Johnson (who is every bit as dangerous as Nazarov) elbow smashed him, sparking a veritable riot.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021574/8536978-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="2055" height="2722"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tampa Bay Lightning left winger Andrei Nazarov says his actions scare even himself. (Photo By Bruce Benet Studios)</figcaption></div>5. In March of 1995, Nazarov received a four-game suspension for his head-butting of Quintal.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t look at me like a dangerous player or a maniac,&rdquo; Nazarov told The Hockey News.&ldquo;Things just happen sometimes. I&rsquo;m really a quiet guy.&rdquo;Jekyll and Hyde. There is no other way to explain the phenomenon that is Andrei Nazarov.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s really a shy, quiet kid off the ice,&rdquo; said Lightning coach-GM Demers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s like a mild-mannered schoolteacher. And he&rsquo;s a great team guy. His teammates love him. But there&rsquo;s something in him, it clicks and he does really stupid things. I coached Bob Probert and Joey Kocur in Detroit and they did some things sometimes, but they always knew exactly what they were doing. They were in control.&rdquo;Demers&rsquo; assessment is in line with Friesen&rsquo;s experience with Nazarov in San Jose.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great team guy,&rdquo; Friesen said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great person. But sometimes he snaps. It&rsquo;s not an act. He&rsquo;s not pretending to be nuts. He just goes off the deep end. I&rsquo;ve seen him do things&hellip;he ran Shawn Burr from behind. It was bad.&rdquo;Nazarov himself can&rsquo;t explain why he&rsquo;s prone to uncontrolled outburst of violence, but at least acknowledges the problem.&ldquo;It kind of scares me,&rdquo; he said.It&rsquo;s not as if the big Russian can&rsquo;t play. Selected 10th overall in the largely forgettable first round of 1992, he&rsquo;s never had more than 12 goals or 27 points in a season. Demers said he&rsquo;s capable of being a 15-to-20 goal man who can, within the rules, be a physical force.The scouting report on him is that his skating needs work, but he has an excellent shot and decent puck skills and hockey sense.But when he was traded from San Jose to Tampa, the whisper was the Sharks&rsquo; believed him to be sadly lacking in respect for the game. Certainly, his actions would suggest he doesn&rsquo;t respect his opponents. The feeling is mutual.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to get smarter,&rdquo; Nazarov said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t snap this time (against Russell), it was an accident, but I know I can&rsquo;t keep doing things.&rdquo;In the meantime, it&rsquo;s not just frightening to think of what Nazarov might do to someone, but what someone might one day do to Nazarov.Lacroix, who&rsquo;s toiling for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American League, wonders himself.&ldquo;I rubbed my glove in his face and looked at him to see if we were going to go,&rdquo; Lacroix said of their clash last April. &ldquo;There was no response. Then I was looking past him to Darcy Tucker and (Nazarov) came out of nowhere at me, like a cat. Two punches and I was down.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty hard for me to forget something like that. The way I look at it, you five by the sword, you die by the sword. What I think about is, if I ever fight him again, there&rsquo;s a 50-50 chance he&rsquo;s going to do something ugly, something really vicious when his switch goes off. So do you do it to him first, crosscheck him in the head or sucker punch him? I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo; &#9632;

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ON THE COVER

Meet NHL’s scariest player

There were three fights during the Pittsburgh Penguins-Tampa Bay Lightning game Nov. 20, but it was the between-periods bouts that stood out for those watching on Fox Sports TV in Pittsburgh. That&rsquo;s when commercials for a pair of fight videotapes were aired. Repeatedly.One video was called Knockout Hockey. If you called the 1-800 number, an operator informed you that for $19.95 (U.S.) plus $10.95 in shipping and handling, you could get the &ldquo;40minute video crammed with the wildest and most out of control brawls.&rdquo; And then there was the free bonus tape, Incredible Hockey Fights and Brawls. More of the same, no doubt.As fight tapes went, the variety seemed impressive. NHL bouts. Even junior battles, one of them involving Oshawa&rsquo;s Eric Lindros and Sault Ste. Marie&rsquo;s Tony lob (I remember it well, though it pales in comparison to Lindros vs. Alex Stojanov at Hamilton&rsquo;s Copps Coliseum). There were also plenty of shots of players climbing into the stands and battling fans.Now, no one is naive enough to deny the existence of fight tapes-much to the NHL&rsquo;s cha grin, the illegally pirated tapes form a thriving underground market-but to see them advertised on a prominent regional cable network. And on an NHL team telecast to boot?&ldquo;I&rsquo;m shocked and angry,&rdquo; NHL broadcasting vice president Glenn Adamo told THN. &ldquo;Obviously, we don&rsquo;t know anything about it, but we&rsquo;ll fix that.&rdquo;It didn&rsquo;t take long. Within an hour, Adamo said the problem had been traced and rectified.Fox Sports Pittsburgh, Adamo said, initially rejected die commercials. But the unknown person or company selling the tapes went through a direct marketing clearing house in Los Angeles to purchase commercial time. FOX Sports Pittsburgh, we are told, aired the commercials without realizing the exact content.The cash-strapped Penguins weren&rsquo;t involved. They sold all their broadcast rights to FOX, which is one of the many reasons the Pens are in dire financial straits.Hey, maybe the league should let the fight video commercials run, so long as all proceeds are turned over to the needy club. &#9632;

NHL wins bout with fight tape commercial

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Staff Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011955/8537064-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Saku Koivu is among the players who have suffered groin injuries this season. (Photo By Andre Pichete/BBS)</figcaption></div>Players engaged in vigorous summer workouts in the hope of preventing injury during the season might be doing themselves more harm than good.That&rsquo;s something the NHL Physicians Society is hoping to determine with its investigation this year into groin/abdominal injuries.&ldquo;Our hope with this study is that we&rsquo;ll get what we need out of one year,&rsquo;&rsquo; said Dr. Willem Meeuwisse, team physician for the Calgary Flames and chair of the physicians&rsquo; injury committee.As it stands, there is no evidence players with weaker abdominal and abductor muscles are any more susceptible to injury.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t know that,&rdquo; Meeuwisse said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s not that it&rsquo;s because they&rsquo;re stronger that they&rsquo;re getting hurt.&rdquo;Ideally, the physicians would be able to analyze data next summer and have recommendations in place for 1999-I 2000, he said.:During training camp, all players were subjected to strength and flexibility tests of the groin and hip, much the same as they under-went baseline neurological testing for the league&rsquo;s concussion study a year ago. The pre-season measurements will be compared to detailed tracking of groin-abdominal injuries by team trainers to see if there is a correlation between a player&rsquo;s physical condition in the area and the likelihood of injury.As in the concussion study, precise protocols for reporting the injury information have been established. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like this has been studied before in pro hockey,&rdquo; said Meeuwisse, who did his PhD in sports injury research.There is the perception groin-abdominal injuries have been on the increase the past couple of seasons, although precise figures necessary to confirm an upward trend are not available.But it&rsquo;s no secret the cost to teams in terms of man-games lost is significant, both in their frequency, duration and even the difficulty of getting accurate diagnosis. Already this year, players such as Saku Koivu and Scott Thornton of the Montreal Canadiens and goalies Stephane Fiset and Jamie Storr of the Los Angeles Kings have missed considerable time.The physicians also have data on the hollow of each player&rsquo;s skate blades, collected by team equipment managers during training camp. The hypothesis is that players using a deeper hollow are more prone to groin injuries because their skate bites deeper into the ice, generating more torque on the muscles.&ldquo;The majority of time it&rsquo;s not one factor that causes this type of injury. It&rsquo;s a combination,&rdquo; Meeuwisse said.Ice condition is thought to be a factor as well, but the NHL physicians decided not to include it in the study because there is no way to quantify it scientifically. &#9632;

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Physicians study causes of groin injuries

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>Hockey legend Bobby Hull has filed a $27-million lawsuit against the Toronto Sun and Moscow Times, alleging his reputation was damaged by stories in the two newspapers that falsely attributed racist statements to him.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s suing them for libel for the articles that were published by both newspapers that were defamatory,&rdquo; said Hull&rsquo;s Toronto lawyer, Tim Danson.Hull, 59, is seeking $15 million to compensate him for loss of income and damage to reputation; $10 million in punitive damages; and $2 million in aggravated damages.The suit was filed Nov. 20 in Belleville, Ont., where Hull began his hockey career and owns a nearby farm.The Times printed the first story in late August based on an interview conducted while Hull was visiting Moscow. The Times quoted Hull as saying Hitler &ldquo;had some good ideas&rdquo; and also contained derogatory references toward blacks. The allegations were reprinted in the Sun.Danson said it would likely take at least a year and a half before the case would be heard.BOULERICE BACK: Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; prospect Jesse Boulerice is back on the ice.The 20-year-old former Plymouth Whalers&rsquo; defenseman, facing an assault charge in Michigan for a stick attack on Guelph Storm winger Andrew Long last spring, played his first game for the American League&rsquo;s Philadelphia Phantoms Nov. 15 after serving a 15-game league-imposed suspension.Boulerice&rsquo;s lawyer, Jim Howarth, has filed a motion to dismiss scheduled to be heard Dec. 4. If denied, the case would go to trial in early 1999.Long, a Florida Panthers&rsquo; draft pick, is playing with the Miami Matadors ol the East Coast League.DOMINATORS: Goaltender Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres has made Sport magazine&rsquo;s list of 1998 dominators.The two-time NHL MVP, known as &rsquo;The Dominator is sixth on the top-10 list of sports figures who went above and beyond average achievements. The list is topped by St. Louis Cardinals&rsquo; slugger Mark McGwire, with Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs No. 2 and basketball star Michael Jordan No. 3.The magazine included the U.S. Olympic hockey team on its list of abominators, for &ldquo;their poor showing in Nagano, trashing a hotel room in the Olympic village, and refusing to fess up to the damage.&rdquo;CORRECTION: The No. 7 sweater of Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; Hall of Famer Howie Morenz hangs in the rafters at Molson Centre along with other Canadiens&rsquo; players whose numbers have been retired. Incorrect information appeared in THN&rsquo;s Nov. 6 issue.<h2>Hockey fans fork out most in Chicago</h2>Fans of struggling NHL teams take heart: you may be paying a lot to see dogs, but you&rsquo;re not paying that much to eat them-at least not in relative terms.Concession prices at NHL arenas are generally lower than at venues of the other three major professional sports, according to an analysis in the Nov. 9-15 issue of Street and Smith&rsquo;s Sports Business Journal.In a study of the 94 pro venues, NHL rinks occupy six of the final 10 spots in terms of concession expense. Part of the reason for hockey&rsquo;s cheap eats is the weak Canadian dollar. Calgary (94), Edmonton (93) and Montreal (92) hold down the final three spots.The United Center in Chicago ranks as the most expensive NHL arena (third). The Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim is fifth. Boston&rsquo;s Fenway Park is No. 1 overall.Here are other findings (prices in U.S. dollars):&#9633; Most expensive NHL beer Tie between Phoenix and New Jersey ($4.50 for 14 ounces). The least expensive beer is in Toronto ($1.63 for 14 ounces).&#9633; Most expensive NHL soda St. Louis&rsquo; Kiel Center ($2.25 for 12 ounces). The least expensive soda is in Calgary ($1.63 for 24 ounces).&#9633; Most expensive NHL hot dog San Jose ($3.75).The least expensive hot dog is in Calgary ($1.63). &#9632;

‘Golden Jet’ files suit against newspapers

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012168/8537119-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div>The tragic incident that occurred Nov. 7 at St. John&rsquo;s Memorial Stadium where Jeff Libby lost an eye by an opponent&rsquo;s skate blade could have been prevented had he been wearing a face shield.Wearing protective equipment, such as a face shield does not make a player less of a man. All the youth hockey programs around the world and the U.S. colleges that make a shield mandatory can&rsquo;t be wrong.Unfortunately, Don Cherry seems to have an influence over young men who play hockey in Canada that says you&rsquo;re a wimp if you wear a shield.Look no further than Ray Bourque, one of the top players to ever lace up in the NHL. Bourque has worn a shield for many years and it certainly has not affected his play. Take a look at the trophy case in the Bourque household if you think it has.It&rsquo;s unfortunate changes always seem to come out of tragic incidents. Hopefully, this motivates all professional hockey leagues to step up and take a stand and protect their players. Face shields in some manner should be mandatory for all players.How many more injuries is it going to take before the &ldquo;Don Cherry mentality&rdquo; leaves the game?Alex Pufhal,Raymond, Me.(Ed. note: See pg. 10 for more on face shields).<h2>Make players pay</h2>I have been watching hockey for more than 30 years and have grown more and more disgusted with the use of sticks and elbows to deliberately injure opponents.I read an item in the newspaper regarding a suspension in the Ontario Hockey Association (THN, Nov. 27) where the perpetrator of the foul had to sit out as long as the player he injured, plus an extra six games.If the NHL wants to stop the deliberate crosschecking from behind and attempts to decapitate players with elbows, this is the perfect method. If players knew they would miss a lot of games, the number of concussions and broken bones would drop dramatically.If NHL vice-president Colin Campbell and the NHL Players&rsquo; Association were serious about stopping violence they should give this a try and see what happens.L. Wiebe,&nbsp;Winnipeg, Man.<h2>Stars to shine?</h2>I am tired of hearing how the Detroit Red Wings are going to win their third straight Stanley Cup. I believe that a new team will be crowned champions this season-the Dallas Stars. They have one of the deepest teams in the league. Detroit does as well, but Dallas will be more determined, especially with the edition of Brett Hull.I can remember how Detroit had to face adversity before they were champions, just like the Stars have the past two seasons when they were considered top contenders. Dallas is just waiting to get revenge on the Wings. If Ed Belfour can stay on top of his game, Hull can return to form, Joe Nieuwendyk can remain healthy and Mike Modano remains the star that he is, look out!Don&rsquo;t be surprised, hockey fans, if next June you see captain Derian Hatcher skate to center ice to accept the Stanley Cup.Travis Crandall,Dawson Creek, B.C.<h2>Leave Worrell be</h2>I am sick and tired of all of these reporters following Florida Panther Peter Worrell around waiting for the opportunity to write they &ldquo;heard&rdquo; or &ldquo;read lips&rdquo; of an opponent making a racial remark to him.Worrell played in New Haven of the American League for much of last season and was a fan favorite, not because he was black, but because of his play-he would hit people, fight, score goals and do whatever was necessary to pump up the team and the fans.It is sad that a good player such as Worrell is going to be set apart because of his color, not his talent. I agree racism has no place in hockey regardless of how few or how many black players there are, but instead of always trying to find the racial angle on players, like Worrell, Anson Carter, Mike Grier, or Kevin Weekes, reports should focus on their abilities as players.Michael Consiglio,New Haven, Ct.<h2>If it&rsquo;s not Scottish&hellip;</h2>I may be on the other side of the Atlantic, but even from here I can smell how bad the Chicago Blackhawks are. What was the point in spending all that money on Doug Gilmour only to go cheap on a coach. I love Dirk Graham as much as any Hawks&rsquo; fan, but a 10-3 loss to the Maple Leafs is something I can&rsquo;t bear, even way over here.Sandy Young,Scotland<h2>Roy dominated</h2>Contrary to what Bob McKenzie suggests (THN, Nov. 13), Patrick Roy didn&rsquo;t lose his confidence because of the crackdown on goalie gear. Sure he has lost those &ldquo;cell phone&rdquo; pads, but Roy really lost his game during the Olympics when the Terry Sawchuk of our time turned into Hank Bassen.The cocky Roy vowed to bring home Canadian gold, but his one-on-one showdown defeat to Dominik Hasek blew his mind and he hasn&rsquo;t been the same goalie since.Grant Tracey,Cedar Falls, la.<h2>Roy not equipped</h2>Isn&rsquo;t it interesting that Dominik Hasek was all for the &ldquo;downsizing&rdquo; of goalie equipment at this summer&rsquo;s GM meetings and it would be for the better of the game. Patrick Roy, on the other hand, was totally against the idea, saying that goalies were just better now and that it had nothing to do with the size of their gear.Not surprisingly, Hasek is once again among the league leaders in save percentage while Patrick and his &ldquo;new&rdquo; equipment are off to a poor start.Jeff Van Wart,Truro, N.S.<h2>Shootout love-in</h2>Having called minor league hockey play-by-play for seven seasons, I can tell you first hand how excited a crowd gets during a shootout. It is a very dramatic ending to a tie game.I understand the old guard wanting to keep the tie for old fashioned reasons, but how about a compromise:Have a column in the standings of games won by a shootout. At the end of the season, make this the tie-breaker in playoff seedings if two teams tie. This will cause teams to have a reason to win a shootout and will eliminate the concern of teams getting a point in the standings. The game would still end in a tie for standings purposes.And don&rsquo;t tell me ESPN wouldn&rsquo;t upgrade its NHL highlights (they are buried now, even with the NBA lockout) if we saw the occasional Wayne Gretzky-Patrick Roy overtime shootout.The number of 0-0 and 1-0 games is embarrassing. The NHL needs to jump on this public relations bandwagon. The fans love it, the owners would love it and the media would eat it up.Tim Woodburn,Lexington, Ky.(Ed. correction: THN Letters, Nov.20. Mark Shapiro, 30, is a 14-year New York Islanders&rsquo; season ticket holder.)Fax us your comments at(416) 340-1641 or write toLetters, THN, 777 Bay St, Suite 2700, Box 148, Toronto, Ont, M5G 2N8in Canada. In the U.S., write toLetters, THN, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947. E-mail us at kayj@trans-continentaLca Include hometown as well as home and business phone numbers. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

It’s time all pro leagues made visors mandatory

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011967/8537150-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="518" height="730"></div>Some people would argue one Tie in the NHL is more than enough. Others could care less about the final score and insist ties art; a simple fact of life-so deal with it.&rsquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s anything wrong two teams playing a competitive game and neither one of them getting the win,&rdquo; said Florida Panthers&rsquo; GM Bryan Murray. &ldquo;Ties keep the pack together and keep the games interesting.&rdquo;Well commissioner Gary Bettman disagrees. And Bettman has been soliciting opinions from hockey folk on how to eliminate (ar at least reduce) dreaded tie games. To do it, it&rsquo;s going to require taking a whole new, perhaps revolutionary, approach to the game.Still, tie games, as some would suggest, are not yet a front-bumer issue. But with 7.7 (35 of 456) per cent of games (as of Nov. 19) ending in draws this year, perhaps it should be.The increasing number of draws in the NHL was on the agenda at the last GMs&rsquo; meetings in early November and will no doubt be included when they gather again in February.Last year, 219 of 1,066 NHL games went into overtime with just 54-or 15.5 per cent-producing a winner. That&rsquo;s a marked increase from the 10.2 per cent of games that wound up deadlocked following overtime in 1983-84, the year the NHL re-introduced the extra session for regular season games.&ldquo;Coaches and players have decided in the third period of a close game, it&rsquo;s better to get a single point than it is to take a chance at trying to get two points and then getting scored on,&rdquo; said NHL senior vice-president Colin Campbell.Some NHL movers and shakers have become so frustrated with the number of ties, there is even talk of scrapping the five-minute overtime period. The feeling is, if it&rsquo;s not working, and it just adds another five minutes of boring hockey, then what&rsquo;s the point?That&rsquo;s a knee-jerk reaction. Instead, the league has to explore new measures to settle games. It means attacking the problem with an open mind because such measures would no doubt have an affect on the record book. So did allowing the forward pass in football and the designated hitter in baseball and those sports survived. Who will care 50 years from now?Ties in the three others major sports aren&rsquo;t nearly as prevalent. Baseball doesn&rsquo;t have them. Games go into extra innings when tied after nine and are played to completion, some extending into the wee hours of the morning. In 2,430 MLB games last season, 209 (8.6 per cent) went into extra innings.In the National Football League last season, 17 of 225 games (7.6 per cent) went into overtime and all but two produced a winner. Teams play an extra 15-minute quarter when the score is tied after four. In the National Basketball Association, meanwhile, 72 of 1,189 games (6.1 per cent) were decided by overtime.There are a number of ideas being kicked around to eliminate or reduce the number of tie games, some new, some old, each with advantages and disadvantages:&#9633; The Shootout. To those who simply detest ties, it makes sense. And it&rsquo;s hard to argue with the excitement of seeing games end in such a dramatic fashion. Who will ever forget a young Peter Forsberg putting his stamp on the 1994 Winter Olympic Games when he scored the winning goal against Canada in a shootout?&#9633; (One NHL insider mockingly suggests holding the shootout before the game to give the team that loses it more incentive to win in regulation time.)&#9633; Reduce the number of skaters. Go from four players per side to three etc., in one-minute intervals. This is often done in minor hockey and is very exciting, especially when it gets down to one-on-one. The down side is, what if a player is on a breakaway and the buzzer sounds ending the one-minute shift before he shoots?&#9633; Give both teams a point when the score is tied after 60 minutes and let them play five minutes for the extra point. This isn&rsquo;t ideal because teams will go into a defensive shell earlier in the third period aiming for the guaranteed point. Also teams satisfied with the single point could pull their goalie in overtime trying for the second point. That makes a mockery of the system.&#9633; Raise the stakes. In the event overtime in the regular season is eliminated, give teams one point for a tie and three points for a victory. Teams would be more inclined to go all out for the win with an extra point up for grabs.&#9633; Start the home team off with a power play in overtime. If no goal is scored, give the visiting team a two-minute man advantage. Sorry, that would be hokey hockey.After careful consideration, I&rsquo;m leaning toward the shootout. &#9632;

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COLUMNISTS

Shootout maybe best way to end ties

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FEATURES

CRIME and not enough PUNISHMENT

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy Senior Writer</div>Steve Martins thinks eye injuries are nothing to joke about .That&rsquo;s why the 5-foot-8, 175-pound fourth line center for the Ottawa Senators plans to wear a visor from now on. That puts him in a minority among NHLers, but he doesn&rsquo;t care.&ldquo;There is definitely a stigma attached to being a small player who wears a visor,&rdquo; Martins says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of those things that people don&rsquo;t really talk about much, but you know it&rsquo;s there. There are coaches and GMs in the league who don&rsquo;t like their players wearing them. If I was 6-foot-2, I wouldn&rsquo;t hesitate to wear one. But when you&rsquo;re a smaller player, you worry that people might think you&rsquo;re not courageous.&rdquo;Martins made the decision to protect his face after being hit with the puck in the left cheek in Buffalo Nov. 10. He was cut for 10 stitches. Martins has played with two players, Kevin Smyth and Jason Karmanos, who have lost eyes in hockey accidents.&ldquo;I had a long talk with my coach (Jacques Martin) and told him how I feel about it,&rdquo; Martins says. &ldquo;He suggested I wear one and he insisted he wouldn&rsquo;t think any less of me if I do.&rdquo;An NHL player wouldn&rsquo;t dream of playing an entire game without gloves to protect his hands. Or shin pads to protect his legs. Or a jock to protect, uh, you get the idea.But most players don&rsquo;t think twice about playing hockey without eye protection. In fact, when The Hockey News polled the 27 NHL teams Nov. 15, exactly eight days after minor pro defenseman Jeff Libby lost his eye when it was cut by a skate blade, we found just 89 of 597 skaters (14.9 per cent) wore visors or facemasks.The findings were consistent with those of a Nov. 6, 1995 survey which revealed 84 of 582 players (14.4 per cent) wore eye protection. That indicates only a very small increase in the number of players who wear facial protection.Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; captain Steve Yzerman, who was speared in the face and required plastic surgery as a junior and has suffered numerous cuts in the face as a pro, has never worn a visor in a game. He tried one on about 10 years ago in practice and quickly tossed it away.&ldquo;I honestly can&rsquo;t think of a good reason why I don&rsquo;t wear one, other than the fact I&rsquo;ve never worn one,&rdquo; Yzerman says.If the horrible career-ending injury to Libby doesn&rsquo;t make players sit up and take notice, nothing will. Libby&rsquo;s eyeball was sliced by the skate. It deflated and, ultimately, had to be removed.In a very short period of time this season, the Senators were hit with a rash of facial injuries. Wade Redden took four stitches in the eye area after being high-sticked, Andreas Johansson was cut for 11 stitches over his left eye after being elbowed in the face by Erik Rasmussen of the Sabres, Daniel Alfredsson was high sticked by Sean Brown of the Edmonton Oilers and missed action because of blood behind the eyeball and Martins took the puck in the face in Buffalo.Alfredsson says he&rsquo;ll wear a visor when he returns to action in late November, but won&rsquo;t commit to being a life-long convert.The NHL says it can&rsquo;t unilaterally impose a mandatory visor rule on its players; that would have to be collectively bargained with the NHL Players&rsquo; Association. The NHLPA, meanwhile, says it&rsquo;s up to individual players whether they want to wear visors.&ldquo;Players at the professional level understand there are risks when they step out on the ice,&rdquo; says NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow. &ldquo;How they want to equip themselves is their own choice.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s difficult to argue wearing a visor hampers a players&rsquo; ability to perform at peak level when you consider at the time of the THN survey Peter Forsberg of the Colorado Avalanche was leading the league in scoring and he wears a visor. So does Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; right winger Jaromir Jagr, who won his second scoring title last season.Not a game goes by that New York Islanders&rsquo; defenseman Rich Pilon, a visor convert, doesn&rsquo;t hear the taunts of opposing team&rsquo;s tough guys.&ldquo;They tell me I&rsquo;m hiding behind the visor and they scream for me to take it off,&rdquo; says the 30-year-old Pilon, a 10-year NHL veteran.But that won&rsquo;t be happening.In 1989, during his second NHL season, Pilon was standing in traffic at the side of the Islanders&rsquo; net when he peeked out of the crowd to find the puck. A shot by Brent Fedyk of the Red Wings hit him in the right eye socket and he lost his straightline vision. He has only peripheral vision in the right eye now and has worn a visor ever since.&ldquo;I knew I had to wear one even if I didn&rsquo;t want to,&rdquo; Pilon says. &ldquo;If I lose my other eye, I&rsquo;m screwed. I&rsquo;d be almost blind.&rdquo;Pilon still flirts with danger, though, taking his helmet off each time he gets into a fight. The last player to suffer a career-ending eye injury in the NHL was Oilers&rsquo; defenseman Ryan McGill. He suffered a detached retina in his left eye after being hit with a puck on a deflected shot and was forced to retire in 1995.Dr. Tom Pashby of Toronto, hockey&rsquo;s leading proponent of eye protection, estimates some 30 players in the history of the NHL have had their careers ended due to eye injuries. He doesn&rsquo;t understand why more big leaguers don&rsquo;t use facial protection.&ldquo;The pros, a lot of them are prima donnas,&rdquo; Pashby says. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not going to tell them what to do.&rdquo;Oddly, most players wear visors after suffering a facial injury and then, once their wound is healed, take them off.<h2>NHL VISOR WATCH</h2>The Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators lead the NHL in visors. Each team has seven players sporting facemasks. Three teams-the Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers-have no players wearing visors. A total of 89 players are wearing visors, representing 14.9 per cent of all players.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012026/8537317-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="737" height="1719"></div> &#9632;

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NHL players still not protecting their eyes

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011787/8537348-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Darcy Tucker, superpest, takes his checking role seriously. (Photo By Rocky Widner)</figcaption></div>When Darcy Tucker of the Tampa Bay Lighting and Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers lined up opposite each other in an early November game, one of them was wearing the &rsquo;C.&rsquo; Care to take a stab who it was?Okay, it&rsquo;s an odd question-everybody knows Brian Leetch is the Rangers&rsquo; captain-but sometimes hockey is a funny game.Sometimes a 23-year-old superpest who screams at less motivated teammates to get their butts in gear is the best, most courageous leader a team has. Sometimes a guy just finds himself in the middle of so many messy, messy incidents, it&rsquo;s only natural people would look to him to find the action.Actually, Tucker is not Tampa&rsquo;s fulltime captain-yet. But coach-GM Jacques Demers has already talked to him about the likelihood of it happening some day. That&rsquo;s not to suggest full-time captain Rob Zamuner should be looking over his shoulder, but if he were to move on&hellip;Demers likens Tucker&rsquo;s personality to some of the foremost leaders he has coached-Doug Gilmour, Brian Sutter, Steve Yzerman, Kirk Muller and Guy Carbonneau among them.&ldquo;Man, if you didn&rsquo;t come to play they&rsquo;d let you know and he&rsquo;s very much like that,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not one night&hellip;that this guy has not come to play.&rdquo;In the past year, Tucker has angered more people than the IRS. He has been shoved into the penalty box by a referee; falsely accused of uttering racial slurs against Ronda Panthers&rsquo; forward Peter Worrell and picked fights with some of the NHL&rsquo;s foremost heavyweights.Darcy Tucker, 5-foot-10 and 178 pounds, has fought 23 times in just 168 career games, an average of one scrap every seven games.Last summer, he lost seven pounds in a workout program with brother-in-law Shayne Corson and trimmed his body fat down to an all-time Tucker low of 10 per cent. Then, in his first game this season, he fought Ed Jovanovski and cut him with a punch.&ldquo;I can look after my own battles, I don&rsquo;t need someone else to jump in there and look after me,&rdquo; said Tucker, a farm boy from Red Deer, Alta. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m feisty and I don&rsquo;t back down. I&rsquo;m usually the guy to drop my gloves first.&rdquo;Tucker has been contributing offensively, too, with seven goals and 11 points in 18 games. This, from the 151st pick in the 1993 entry draft, by the Montreal Canadiens. The more relevant number is three-as in three Memorial Cups in four years with the Western League&rsquo;s Kamloops Blazers.And to think it wasn&rsquo;t even a year ago Tucker was deemed too small and slow to get out of the press box in Montreal, let alone get off the fourth line.&ldquo;Every day in Montreal I&rsquo;d come home and Shannon (his wife and Corson&rsquo;s sister) would say to me, &lsquo;Why are you so down?&rsquo; I had a hard time with it,&rdquo; Tucker said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like I was playing behind guys I thought I was better than.&rdquo;He asked to be traded and Habs&rsquo; GM Rejean Houle obliged, sending Tucker, Stephane Richer and David Wilkie to Tampa for Patrick Poulin, Mick Vukota and Igor Ulanov.His agent, Carlos Sosa, believes Tucker will be an NHL general manager one day, he knows the game so well. Sosa said Tucker is the epitome of what a hockey player should be.&ldquo;He could fire me tomorrow and I&rsquo;d feel the same way,&rdquo; said Sosa, who negotiated Tucker&rsquo;s four-year, $3.55-million deal that took effect this season. &ldquo;To play the way he plays with his size, he&rsquo;s probably the most courageous player I&rsquo;ve ever seen.&rdquo;That &lsquo;C&rsquo; on his sweater could stand for any number of things. Crazy, chatterbox and cuckoo come to mind. Anything but chicken.Tucker has a daughter on the way, his first child, due in March. And he is realizing, that just working hard and doing his job may be a more effective way to earn respect from opposing coaches and GMs than yapping like a terrier at anything that moves.&ldquo;To tell you the truth,&rdquo; Tucker said, &ldquo;playing 22 minutes a night, playing against the other team&rsquo;s top line, is a dream come true for me.&rdquo;Going head-to-head against Gretzky was the biggest. Demers gave him the assignment the day before the game by saying, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s see you try to outsmart this guy.&rdquo;Tucker was geared up all day. That night, everything fell apart. Mikael Ren-berg broke his thumb in the first period, forcing Demers to juggle his fines and deprive Tucker of his cherished matchup. By the end of the first it was 4-1 New York. The final score was 10-2.Tucker kept his mouth shut and played through it.&ldquo;The only thing I said to (Gretzky) was, &rsquo;What an embarrassment this is,&rsquo; &rdquo; Tucker said. &ldquo;He just said &rsquo;Yup.&rsquo;&rdquo;Tucker didn&rsquo;t outsmart Gretzky that night, but with the &rsquo;C&rsquo; on his sweater he did outrank him. It was small consolation, though. Tucker doesn&rsquo;t take losing lightly, no matter what letter he&rsquo;s wearing. &#9632;

f0011-01

Future captain flicker fulfilling dream

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div>Used to be, to run for office you threw your hat into the ring. Now, to get elected, you throw somebody out of the ring.Jesse &rsquo;The Body&rsquo; Ventura, a former pro wrestler, is now Governor-Elect of Minnesota. They voted in a guy in tights on a promise to keep the budget tight.You thought sports and politics don&rsquo;t mix? Then you never inter-viewed Jacques Demers. Or worked (however briefly) on an all-Anglophone Montreal power play. Or tried to get an arena built to save a team in Winnipeg. Or once made the mistake of uttering the words &rsquo;You know, Mess, some of us were thinking maybe there&rsquo;s a better way than what you&rsquo;ve been saying.&rsquo; &ldquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011969/8537386-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="519" height="728"></div>Granted, Roger Marino couldn&rsquo;t get elected dogcatcher these days in Pittsburgh. But the truth is games are perfect breeding grounds for political behavior. There has to be some reason why Ted Nolan can&rsquo;t get a job.In the 1960s, Red Kelly actually got elected to parhament. And since then, hockey has had some truly great campaigners. For instance, Dave Schultz often used to get out to press the flesh, usually Dale Rolfe&rsquo;s. Goalies trying to play for Mike Keenan have won more seats than the Tories.Of course, not everybody cut out for a political career has jumped into public service. &rsquo;Bugsy&rsquo; Watson was uniquely qualified to work in the Nixon White House.Used to be that in hockey, democracy took a worse beating than Pierre Bouchard from Stanley Jonathan. Teams were run like dictatorships. Now, only the Devils are. But forever, coaches have had to kiss babies like Alexander Daigle. Player mistakes have caused Pat Bums&rsquo; head to fill more back rooms with smoke than the Islanders have blown pretending they are going to sign a big name player.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021546/8537379-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="1033" height="1630"><figcaption class="caption-body">Media-friendly Brendan Shanahan would be a good vote-better. (Photo By John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div>Always, the first man to the corner gets the puck, but the first man to the owner&rsquo;s ear is the real winner. We&rsquo;ve all known some peach of a guy who we found out was an impeachable guy, been in locker rooms that had more lawyers than OJ. Every time a superstar doesn&rsquo;t like the coach, the place looks like the Roman Senate.And now, in this era of the soundbite, all the players are starting to sound like they are running for office. They promise streets safer than a Roger Neilson gameplan, want schools as good as the ones the Canadiens used to take the Bruins to every spring. They call for the punishment the Capitals endured last spring at the hands of the Red Wings, pledge to have their constituents less taxed than a goalie when he faces the Rangers.More than ever, hockey people are doing their best to reach the voters. Like:Pierre Gauthier: Works both sides of his mouth better than Mike Bossy used to use both sides of the goal. Lately, been holding his promise about as well as Jason Arnott.Wade Flaherty: Hasn&rsquo;t started a game, but has a more important job than U.S. vice-president Al Gore.Brett Hull: Smile more disarming than Pierre Trudeau&rsquo;s. But when the going gets tough, Brett is harder to find now than Michael Dukakis.Pat Quinn: Biggest media basher since Spiro T. Agnew. Has shot at more messengers than poachers at a carrier pigeon competition.Wayne Gretzky: Last said the wrong thing during the Woodrow Wilson administration.Craig Berube: Last said a politically incorrect thing during the Ron Wilson administration.Robbie Ftorek: Biggest stonewall since the Kremlin.Brendan Shanahan: Takes a 10 percentage point lead in the polls for whatever he&rsquo;s running for every time he talks to the media.Sergei Fedorov: Keeps such pleasant-looking company, enjoys more photo opportunities than Bill Clinton.Grant Fuhr: Secret desire to get into politics is often given away by appearance at first day of training camp. Obviously spent the summer at $100 a plate fundraisers, taking advantage of such ample portions. &#9632;

f0012-01

Hockey has its share of political animals

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Staff Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011731/8537417-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wade Redden&rsquo;s strong play early should put an end to his reputation as a slow starter. (Photo By Andre Pichete/BBS)</figcaption></div>The question was put to Ottawa Senators&rsquo; goalie Damian Rhodes: Does Wade Redden ever act his age? Does &rsquo;Steady Reddy&rdquo; ever say to heck with his trademark composure and really let loose like a normal 21-year-old? Has he ever pinched when he should have backpedaled or even slept through his alarm and been late for a team meeting?We ask only because it seems Redden&rsquo;s hockey style and personality are one and the same. He&rsquo;s a 6-foot-l, 205-pound defenseman from Lloydmin-ster, Sask., who rarely tries to do too much, even though he has surprising offensive abilities. Yet if his heart rate was as calm as his play, he&rsquo;d be a dead man. And when you talk to Redden, not one controversial word emanates from his lips.Rhodes, by the way, is no amateur when it comes to nuttiness. Last year, he woke up one morning and decided to bleach-dye his hair as white as a jackrabbit. He takes a humidifier on the road because he likes the hum.So this is one wacky goalie who knows rebellion when he sees it. With Redden, he never has.&ldquo;No, you don&rsquo;t, really,&rdquo; Rhodes laughed, as if he has been looking, too. &ldquo;You know, I&rsquo;ve seen Reds out in the bar and I&rsquo;ve known him to date a few girls, but you know, Reds is Reds. (He&rsquo;s) usually pretty even keel, and that&rsquo;s what it takes to be a player in this league.&rdquo;There is one exception to the rule. Looking back over Redden&rsquo;s two full years in the league, a pattern has started to develop. Redden&rsquo;s passion meter seems to kick in extra juice when the snow starts to melt. On the positive side, it&rsquo;s fantastic his game picks up at the most important time of the year. In his rookie year, 1996-97, his play kept climbing and he finished sixth in Calder Trophy voting. Last season, after an inconsistent first half, he was a rock in the Sens&rsquo; late-season drive to a playoff berth.The blunt assessment, though, is that for two years in a row when the gun went off to start the season, Redden was still tying up his skate laces.So Ottawa coach Jacques Martin met with Redden in the summer to emphasize the importance of playing with intensity from Day 1, and Redden insists the message has sunk in.When asked how he approached the start of this season differently, Redden allowed he came into camp m the best shape of his career, then offered the following nugget: &ldquo;Just try to have a good start.&rdquo;Whatever, it works. After 15 games he had two goals and nine points, tied for 14th among all defensemen, and was on pace for a career-high 49. He was a team-high plus-7.&ldquo;He has been probably our best defenseman,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;He has been very consistent. I&rsquo;m really pleased with the way he has performed.&rdquo;Ottawa acquired the rights to Redden and goalie Rhodes from the New York Islanders for Bryan Berard, Martin Straka and goalie Don Beaupre, in January, 1996. Berard and Redden, the first and second overall picks in the 1995 draft, will be forever linked by the deal even though their styles and personalities are so distinct.So far, the two have come as advertised: Berard, the brash gambler, remains full of offensive dynamism, but he is also prone to big gaffes and has yet to find the perfect balance. Meanwhile, Redden and teammate Chris Phillips, the No. 1 pick in 1996, are the logical anchors for the Senators for years to come. &ldquo;We both want to get better and we both want to see ourselves in the future leading this defense, leading the team,&rdquo; Phillips said.They also share a goal to be together on Canada&rsquo;s 2002 Olympic team in Salt Lake City. In what promises to be the most hyped hockey tournament ever in North America, Redden&rsquo;s maturity and his ability to stay cool under pressure could work in his favor. &#9632;

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Steady Redden quick out of the gate

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div>The smile on Darius Kasparaitis&rsquo; face seems almost as wide as the Monongahela River, which Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Civic Arena overlooks, and if life got any better for the defenseman, he might dive into its waters.His Penguins are competing better than expected; his pay-checks haven&rsquo;t bounced and his line of Kasparaitis Kruncher pickles still can be found on local supermarket shelves.&ldquo;Even my neighbor, Alexsey Morozov is buying a lot of them,&rdquo; said Kasparaitis, &ldquo;although three bucks ajar is expensive.&rdquo;After a pre-season injury which suggested that the world had fallen on his blond head, Kasparaitis appears to have cleared yet another in a long line of obstacles that included a bout with alcoholism.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011549/8537455-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="517" height="727"></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m enjoying life,&rdquo; the laughing Lithuanian said after a practice. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going on five years since I stopped drinking and I can tell you that sobriety is the best thing I did in my life-aside from my daughter being bom.&ldquo;Quitting alcohol was a great opportunity for me because I realized I could have fun with-out it.&rdquo;Ironically, the term &ldquo;quit&rdquo; seems incongruous in Casper&rsquo;s vocabulary. Devastating injuries that would have sidelined others merely inspire him to bigger and better comebacks, especially in this 1998-99 campaign.Nobody expected Kasparaitis to be taking a regular turn for Pittsburgh these days or this year. Not after his right knee was so-badly mangled in a pre-season match against the Detroit Red Wings that even his agent Mark Gandler figured him finished for the year.&ldquo;The accident happened the&ndash;same way it happened the first time when I was with the Islanders,&rdquo; Kasparaitis remembered while rivulets of sweat trickled down his cheeks. &ldquo;My knee cracked and I knew right away it was serious.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021206/8537448-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="1091" height="1563"><figcaption class="caption-body">Darius Kasparaitis says he can&rsquo;t imagine life without hockey. (Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;At first doctors told me there was an 80 per-cent chance I tore my anterior cruciate ligament. But I didn&rsquo;t want surgery because it would have cost me nine months. I didn&rsquo;t want to miss the season; I want to play hockey.&rdquo;Others recommended rehab and for a month Kasparaitis sufficiently re-built his strength to resume skating and hitting in practices. Finally, he was ready and one of his first challenges was a match between the Penguins and Flyers.&ldquo;The Philly game was very important to me,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;because Eric Lindros was in their lineup and everybody expected me to do something. I had some hits on him, but I tried to do more hip checks. By the second period, I felt I was back in the game.&rdquo;Despite his ebullient facade, Kasparaitis worries. After two serious knee setbacks, he knows that the next one could be career-threatening. His antidote is weight-lifting-300-pound squats and leg extensions-and positive thinking. The latter is a pre-requisite because he continues to be singled out for criticism, most recently by Don Cherry who labeled him &ldquo;a cheap-shot artist.&rdquo; By contrast, teammates see Kasparaitis&rsquo; hits through a more understanding viewfinder. Chris Tamer calls him &ldquo;one of the NHL&rsquo;s best hitters.&rdquo;&ldquo;He delivers good checks and doesn&rsquo;t take penalties,&rdquo; said veteran Bobby Dollas, who makes a distinction between a hipcheck and a cheapshot.Currently in his playing prime, the 26-year-old Kasparaitis envisions himself playing another decade-plus of NHL hockey, providing the knees cooperate. &ldquo;I want to be like my idol, Slava Fetisov and play until I&rsquo;m 40,&rdquo; he clucked, &ldquo;because I can&rsquo;t imagine my life without hockey.&rdquo;Recuperating referee Paul Stewart echoed the same words on his first NHL night back after cancer surgery. Coincidentally, Stewart officiated a game in which Kasparaitis was skating against the New Jersey Devils.&ldquo;I looked at Stewart and thought how amazing it is what people can do,&rdquo; Kasparaitis reflected. &ldquo;Then, I thought about John Cullen and how he has fought back to play hockey again.&ldquo;Those guys tell me something about life. You have to live one day at a time because you never know what&rsquo;s going to happen tomorrow. It also tells me that I&rsquo;m a very lucky guy.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-01

No hurdle too high for Pens’ Kasparaitis

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello Senior Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011480/8537486-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"></div>Peter Stastny&rsquo;s hockey career has included many firsts.He was the first Czechoslovakian defector to star in the NHL. Stastny won the Calder Trophy in his first season, 1980-81. He set a league record for assists (70) and points (109) by a first-year player. He was the first player to play for three separate national teams in international competition. He&rsquo;s the highest scoring Europeanbom and trained player in NHL history and the first 1,000 point man from overseas.And now, Peter Stastny is a pioneer again. He&rsquo;s the first defector to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He&rsquo;s also the first NHLer trained behind the Iron Curtain to gain Hall entry.Russian goalie Vladislav Tretiak was the first European star inducted into the Hall in 1989.Swedish defenseman Botje Salming was the first European-born NHLer to gain Hall entry in 1996.Stastny, 42, was one of six Hall of Fame inductees Nov. 16 in Toronto. He and Quebec Nordique teammate Michel Goulet received majority approval from the Hall&rsquo;s 18-member selection committee.Stastny&rsquo;s scoring exploits were second only to Wayne Gretzky in the 1980s. Gretzky had 1,864 points during the decade, Stastny 1,024. The playmaking center from Bratislava, Czech Republic finished his career with 450 goals, 789 points and 1,239 points in 977 games, retiring in 1995. He ranks 22nd in all-time points.Being a defector, Stastny explained, wasn&rsquo;t anything to be ashamed of. He was 23, the reigning Czechoslovakian player of the year, and well aware of what the NHL had to offer in 1980. Stastny wanted to play in the NHL while still in his prime. Had he waited until glasnost was introduced, he would have been well into his 30s before entering the NHL.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re a kid you dream of playing for the (Czechoslovakian) national team,&rdquo; Stastny said at the induction ceremony. &ldquo;Once you get there, you realize there is something better. There&rsquo;s better players. There&rsquo;s the NHL. There is Canada. But it was taboo. It was a closed room. We didn&rsquo;t know much about it, but we knew it was the home of the game we love so much.&rdquo;Even though Stastny started his pro career bound by political constraints to remain in his country-he played five years with Slovan Bratislava-there was a warming on the hockey front.&ldquo;I was lucky enough to live in the historic moment where the two highways-intemational hockey and NHL hockey-were getting closer and closer,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The relationship was getting established with the 1972 (Summit) series. In 1976,1 was playing in the Canada Cup. There were temptations and curiosities. When the opportunity arrived, I didn&rsquo;t hesitate. I wanted to have the challenge of playing and competing against the best players in the world.&rdquo;Stastny was an NHL star as a rookie and reeled off six straight 100-point seasons.&ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t do it easily, either,&rdquo; said former Nords&rsquo; coach Michel Bergeron. &ldquo;A lot of people were tough on him in opposition rinks. He had to prove himself as a European who could play on the road. He had to prove himself everywhere.&rdquo;After starring for Czechoslovakia at the 1980 Olympics, Stastny became a Canadian citizen and played for his new country at the 1984 Canada Cup. Then near the end of his pro career-between tours of duty with the New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues-Stastny joined Slovakia for the 1994 Olympics.&ldquo;He was a premier player,&rdquo; Goulet said. &ldquo;He was like Bryan Trottier. He could do whatever he wanted on the ice. He could kill penalties. He was physical. It didn&rsquo;t matter the style of game. He could play it.&rdquo;Fluent in five languages, Stastny speaks each with tremendous conviction. His defection to North America, with his pregnant wife and brother Anton, was cloak-and-dagger, fraught with danger. The brothers became separated in Austria before sneaking onto a plane for Amsterdam and then Canada. It made international headlines. Asked if he ever worried about being able to crack the NHL after his defection, Stastny&rsquo;s answer was filled with pause and emotion.<h2>Leaving family behind tough for Stastny.</h2>&ldquo;I worry about many things,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I worry about my family. There were so many images. You look at people as you&rsquo;re leaving and you wonder if that&rsquo;s the last time you&rsquo;re going to see them. My mom, my dad, they didn&rsquo;t know. Only a few people knew. I knew for them that not knowing would be helpful.&rdquo;Stastny now lives in St. Louis with his wife and three children (their first child is away at university) and is a scout for the Blues. His induction into the Hall of Fame came one day before the ninth anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Slovakia, which commemorates the breakup of the former Czechoslovakia.Had Stastny abandoned defection plans and waited until Nov. 17, 1989 (the Velvet Revolution) to join the NHL, virtually his entire 10year career with the Nordiques-and more than 350 goals and 1,000 points-would have been wiped from the slate.<h2>Four receive Hall of Fame welcome</h2>The Hockey Hall of Fame opened its doors for four new members at a gala celebration in Toronto Nov. 16.Former Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; stars Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet were inducted in the players&rsquo; category.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in hockey heaven,&rdquo; Goulet said. Roy Conacher was posthumously honoured in the veterans players&rsquo; category and Monsignor Athol &rsquo;Pere&rsquo; Murray was posthumously welcomed in the builders&rsquo; category.The Hall of Fame also presented awards to two media members. Howie Meeker was selected winner of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award and Yvon Pedneault was given the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award.<h2>Stastny owns seven records</h2>Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet still hold 12 team records for the Colorado Avalanche franchise (formerly Quebec Nordiques). Most prominent among Stastny&rsquo;s seven records are:&#9633; Most points, career (1,048 in 10 seasons)&#9633; Most points, season (139 in 1981-82)&#9633; Most points, game (eight on Feb. 22, 1981) &#9632;

f0019-01

Another first for Stastny

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello Senior Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011376/8537517-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michel Goulet holds the franchise record for goals in a season (57) and career goals (456).</figcaption></div>Technically, it was unlawful entry. The only thing stolen, however, was a clean sheet of ice.Who knows? Had Michel Goulet not been so bold, hockey may have been robbed of a Hall of Fame career.As a midget player in the mid-1970s, Goulet stole the key to the local arena in Mistassini, Que., and let himself in to skate between five and six o&rsquo;clock in the morning. He did it three or four times a week for more than a year. Never did get caught.More than 20 years and 500 goals later, Goulet was given the key to the Hockey Hall of Fame. His induction in the players&rsquo; category coincided with Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; teammate Peter Stastny Nov. 16 in Toronto.Goulet, 38, starred for the Nordiques in the 1980s, scoring at least 50 goals four straight years and following up with seasons of 49 and 48. He was an NHL first team all-star three times and a second teamer twice during his 15-year career. His 548 career goals stands 16th all time and his 1,152 points 30th.&ldquo;He could do everything,&rdquo; said Rick Vaive, who played against Goulet in the Quebec League and with him as part of the &rsquo;Baby Bulls&rsquo; of Birmingham in the World Hockey Association in 1978-79. &ldquo;He had the outstanding speed and great shot to be a goal-scorer, but he also knew how to get open. He had a real sense for the game.&rdquo;Goulet traces that hockey sense back to his upbringing on the family farm in Lac St-Jean, Que., about a three-hour drive north of Quebec City. The fifth son among eight boys, he grew up in a competitive atmosphere.&ldquo;We had a little pond on the side of the farm, maybe 40 feet by 50 feet,&rdquo; Goulet said. &ldquo;You could skate right away, as soon as it was frozen, everyday, whether it was 30 (degrees) below or not. We had a lot of fights after games, but it was just fun.&rdquo;There was no organized hockey in Goulet&rsquo;s community. He remembers playing 10 or 12 games a winter as a youth, little town against little town. Then when he moved to Mistassini for midget hockey, he was so accustomed to skating every day on the pond that the excitement of self-prescribed sessions in the local arena outweighed the risk of being caught.&ldquo;If he had to break into an arena to be able to skate like that, then so be it, it was worth it,&rdquo; said John Brophy, Goulet&rsquo;s coach with the Birmingham Bulls. &ldquo;I wish everyone had the ability and desire he had at 18.&rdquo;Goulet joined Vaive, Rob Ramage, Craig Hartsburg, Pat Riggin and Gaston Gingras as Birmingham&rsquo;s &rsquo;Baby Bulls&rsquo;, so called because they were lured from junior hockey and were 19 or younger. Goulet, then 18, led the team with 28 goals and was second behind Vaive with 58 points.&ldquo;I remember after one particular good play he made,&rdquo; Brophy said, &ldquo;Paul Henderson turned around on the bench and just sort of shook his head at me and said, &rsquo;I wonder how good this kid is going to be.&rsquo; He turned out to be great.&rdquo;When Goulet moved to Birmingham, he hadn&rsquo;t even heard an English conversation, let alone be able to speak it. He roomed with Gingras in an apartment complex that housed all the &rsquo;Baby Bulls.&rsquo;&ldquo;Hockey is an international language and he spoke it superbly,&rdquo; said Vaive who played on a line with Goulet and Rick Adduono. &ldquo;He was a natural from the start.&rdquo;When the WHA was absorbed by the NHL in 1979, Goulet was drafted by Que-bec and he began his star-studded career in his home province. He was regarded as the premier left winger of the 1980s.&ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t just the best left winger,&rdquo; Stastny said. &ldquo;He could think the game as well as anybody else. That&rsquo;s why it was so easy for him to adjust in the services of Team Canada. If they needed him to be a defensive winger, he could do it. Who wouldn&rsquo;t want a defensive left winger scoring 50 goals plus.&rdquo;Goulet, who appeared for Canada in three international competitions, was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1990 and played four more seasons before a severe concussion in 1994Michel Goulet holds the franchise record for goals in a season (57) and career goals (456). forced his retirement. He&rsquo;s now director of play-er personnel for the Colorado Avalanche.At the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Goulet remembered a gathering of 500-goal scorers in Atlantic City a few years ago.&ldquo;There was Jean Beliveau, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe. I was the youngest player there,&rdquo; Goulet said..&ldquo;I was picturing myself with &rsquo;Rocket&rsquo; Richard, Johnny Bucyk and wondered, &rsquo;What am I doing there.&rsquo; They ask us what goal you remember the most. And I describe the 500th goal of Jean Beliveau. I remember when I was 11, I thought to myself, &rsquo;One day I will score 500 goals.&rsquo; To me that was motivation to be a better player and better person.&rdquo;Now Goulet and Beliveau are teammates in the Hall of Fame. &#9632;

f0020-01

Goulet’s key to success

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello Senior Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011117/8537548-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Roy Conacher led the NHL in goal-scoring as a rookie in 1938-39.</figcaption></div>Leave it to Roy Conacher to complete the Hockey Hall of Fame hat trick.The 1940s scoring ace became the third Conacher brother to be inducted into the Hall of Fame when he was posthumously honored in the veteran player category Nov. 16 in Toronto.The younger brother of Hall of Famers Charlie and Lionel played 11 seasons with the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks. He led the NHL with 26 goals as a rookie and capped it off with six goals in the playoffs including the 1939 Cup winner for Boston.Charlie, &rsquo;The Big Bomber&rsquo;, starred for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1930s on the &rsquo;Kid Line&rsquo; with Harvey &rsquo;Busher&rsquo; Jackson and Joe Primeau. He was a Hall inductee in 1961. Lionel, &rsquo;The Big Train&rsquo;, dominated in hockey, football, boxing, wrestling, rugby and was named Canada&rsquo;s athlete of the half century in 1950. He was inducted into the Hall in 1994.With Roy, they&rsquo;re the only brother threesome in the Hall of Fame.Roy and twin brother Bert, bom Oct. 5, 1916 in Toronto, were the youngest of five boys and 10 children. Roy was a member of the 1936 Memorial Cup champion West Toronto Nationals, then broke in with the Bruins in 1938-39. He finished among the league&rsquo;s top 10 goal-scorers each of his first four seasons.At 25 and entering, his prime, Conacher joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942 and spent the next four years in the service. After an honorable discharge in 1946, he rejoined the Bruins for four games before coach-GM Art Ross made what he would call his &ldquo;biggest mistake&rdquo; by trading Conacher to Detroit.Conacher led Detroit with 30 goals and rebuffed critics who said he couldn&rsquo;t regain his scoring touch after four seasons off. He then moved to Chicago for five seasons, winning the scoring title in 1948-49 and being named to the NHL&rsquo;s first all-star team.Conacher finished his career in 1951-52 with 226 NHL goals, one more than brother Charlie.&ldquo;He spoke proudly of his years in the NHL,&rdquo; said his son, Roy Conacher Jr. &ldquo;He was always a little nervous before every game. He didn&rsquo;t have the same confidence as Lionel or Charlie, but he was a perfectionist.&rdquo;As Jim Proudfoot of the Toronto Star pointed out, Roy could have retired as the league&rsquo;s leading goalscorer had he played an unabbreviated career. Factor in a modest 25 goals for each of his four seasons missed (he averaged that much in nine seasons) and Conacher would have had 325 goals in 13 seasons. That&rsquo;s one more than Nels Stewart, the all-time leading NHL goal-scorer from 193637 through 1952-53, before being passed by Maurice &rsquo;Rocket&rsquo; Richard.&ldquo;He has no regrets about missing those four years,&rdquo; Roy Jr. said. &ldquo;He was proud of being able to serve.&rdquo;Conacher coached in Midland, Ont., before retiring to Victoria, B.C. in the late 1970s. He died in 1984. &#9632;

f0021-01

Roy Conacher joins two brothers in Hall

<div class="byline">By Jason Paul</div>Gee willikers!You&rsquo;d think that if you knocked out the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, you wouldn&rsquo;t find yourself being honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame.But that&rsquo;s where Howie Meeker, whose colorful phrases and knack with the telestrator entertained millions of Canadians, found himself Nov. 16 when he received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for a 30year career-most prominently on Hockey Night in Canada and TSN.&ldquo;I had some team success and I knew I would never come close to qualifying as a player, but to be two rooms away from some of the guys I played with is unbelievable,&rdquo; said Meeker, who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1950s and won four Stanley Cups.He won the Calder Trophy in 194647, scoring 27 goals and 45 points in 55 games, including five goals in one game.During the early 1950s, Meeker also balanced a second career as politician, sitting as a Conservative Member of Parliament.Meeker finished with 83 goals and 185 points in 346 games-all with Toronto-after a back injury ended his eight-year career in 1953.But golly gee, his time with the Leafs ended in a dust up. After a year behind the Toronto bench, Meeker was named GM in the spring of 1957, but was quickly fired by Stafford Smythe a few months later in October aft\er the two got into a heated exchange.&ldquo;He shoved me and I popped himHowie Meeker between the eyes,&rdquo; recalled Meeker, 74.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-07250/8537645-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="979" height="1385"><figcaption class="caption-body">Howie Meeker</figcaption></div>And that was the last the NHL saw of Meeker until he slid behind the mike.It was by chance that he bumped into Hockey Night in Canada host Ted Darling in 1969 and was asked if he could do color commentary for a Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; game the next night&hellip;and presto, Meeker&rsquo;s next career was bom.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got the worst voice in the world, I can&rsquo;t remember faces or names and they want to make me a color analyst,&rdquo; said Meeker, who spends most of his time now at his Vancouver Island home.&ldquo;Some guys were scared to say then-thoughts and skirted the subject by not saying what really happened. There was nothing ever instructive or critical,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I had enough other things going that the money I got from HNIC was holiday money. It didn&rsquo;t matter to me if I got fired.&rdquo;He became one of the most popular analysts in Canada with his colorful phrases and squeals of delight. So, Jiminy Cricket, Howie, where did that begin?&ldquo;I grew up in an era when locker room language was atrocious and I was a part of it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If I would have used it on the air, I would have been fired, so I used something else.&rdquo;He also became the first hockey analyst to use the telestrator.&ldquo;It took me about five years to learn how to use it,&rdquo; said Meeker, who became famous for always calling for the freeze frame. &ldquo;My producers used to go ape when I&rsquo;d say, &rsquo;Stop it there, back it up,&rsquo; because they would have to back it up by hand.&rdquo;Honored along with Meeker in the media category was Yvon Pedneault, recipient of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award by the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association. Pedneault has been covering the Montreal Canadiens for more than 30 years for three different newspapers and four separate television stations.Monsignor Athol &rsquo;Pere&rsquo; Murray was selected posthumously in the builders&rsquo; category for founding the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox, Sask., which has produced more than 100 NHL draft picks, most recently 1998 No. 1 pick Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning. &#9632;

f0022-07

Nothing meek about Meeker

<div class="byline">-Brian Costello</div>More than six years after retiring from the NHL, Rod Langway will finally receive Hall of Fame consideration next September.The two-time Norris Trophy winning defenseman ended an outstanding 15-year NHL career in 1992-93. He was regarded by many as the premier defensive rearguard in the game through much of the 1980s.Langway, 41, was a first-team all-star twice and a second teamer once, playing four sea-sons with the Montreal Canadiens and 11 with the Washington Capitals. He was also a key figure for Team USA in three Canada Cup events.The reason it will be six years before Lang-way gets a call from the Hall of Fame is because of a bylaw that states a player must be inactive from pro hockey for at least three seasons. Langway came out of retirement in 1994-95 to play for the East Coast League&rsquo;s Richmond Renegades, then spent 1995-96 with the International League&rsquo;s San Francisco Spiders.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-08198/8537676-1-eng-US/f0022-082.jpg" title="f0022-08" width="433" height="608"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rod Langway (Meker Photo by Dave Sandford/HOF)</figcaption></div>THN considers Langway the only &rsquo;sure bet&rsquo; to gain Hall entry in 1999. Also eligible for the first time next year is Cam Neely (see pg. 2 for more on his chances).Players who were eligible this year but did not receive consideration were Mark Howe and Steve Larmer. Dave Taylor and Brian Propp have been eligible since 1997, but haven&rsquo;t been nominated.A motherlode of NHL stars are up for nomination in 2000. A maximum of three will get in. They include Dale Hawerchuk, Joe Mullen, Denis Savard, Glenn Anderson and Neal Broten. Make that just two from the group should 1999-2000 be Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s final season. He would surely bypass the three-year waiting period. &#9632;

f0022-08

Langway earmarked for induction

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011135/8537707-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="219" height="219"></div>Left winger Marty McInnis started the season as a healthy scratch in Japan for the Calgary Flames. By mid-November, he found himself playing in Teemu Selanne&rsquo;s spot on the top line of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.So far, he has made the most of his opportunity.After producing only two points in six games with Calgary this season, McInnis had four goals, 11 points and was plus-4 in his first 11 games with the Ducks. Two of the goals came on the power play, which had been dreadful for the Ducks before he arrived.&ldquo;Marty has been doing a great job for us,&rdquo; said Ducks&rsquo; captain Paul Kariya. &ldquo;He has a lot of speed and a good shot. He has helped us a lot.&rdquo;The Ducks acquired McInnis and his $1.1-million salary Oct. 27 from the Chicago Blackhawks for a fourth round draft pick in 2000. Earlier that day, Calgary had traded McInnis, promising defenseman Jamie Allison and center Erik Andersson to the Blackhawks for centers Jeff Shantz and Steve Dubinsky.McInnis&rsquo; addition became extremely timely when the Ducks&rsquo; top two right wingers, Selanne and Tomas Sandstrom, were both knocked out of the lineup within three days of each other. Sandstrom is likely out until the new year with a fractured left wrist suffered Nov. 8 and Selanne is out indefinitely with a right thigh strain suffered Nov. 11.McInnis, who had already been playing on the top power play unit, was moved from left wing on the second line to right wing on the first line. He has also been killing penalties regularly with former New York Islanders teammate Travis Green.McInnis had 19 goals and 44 points in 75 games for Calgary last season, but Flames&rsquo; coach Brian Sutter wasn&rsquo;t a McInnis fan.McInnis said his rejuvenated play in Anaheim was a result of &ldquo;a little bit of everything,&rdquo; including new surroundings, more ice time and renewed confidence. &ldquo;Sometimes you just need a change,&rdquo; McInnis said.NOTEBOOK: Goalie Guy Hebert recorded his second shutout of the season in a 1-0 victory at Calgary Nov. 14. In his first 15 games, he was 7-4-4 and held opponents to one goal or less five times. &ldquo;He has been almost technically perfect,&rdquo; said Ducks&rsquo; goaltending coach Francois Allaire&hellip;A 3-1 win over the Rangers Nov. 18 kept the Ducks&rsquo; record a perfect 5-0-0 at home against the Blueshirts&hellip;Tough guy right winger Jim McKenzie had more goals (two) than fights (none) through Nov. 20&hellip;The Ducks&rsquo; Nov. 13 flight to Vancouver was forced to make an emergency landing in Seattle because of a problem with the hydraulic system. &#9632;

f0023-01

Rejuvenated McInnis helps spark offense on Ducks’ ton line

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02797/8537738-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="217" height="216"></div>It lasted barely half as long as expected, but it produced what Cam Neely needed.Four practice sessions over six days gave Neely clear, no-doubt-about-it proof he was physically incapable of playing in the NHL.Neely, the 33-year-old right winger who cracked the 50-goal barrier three times before retiring on the eve of the Boston Bruins&rsquo; 1996-97 training camp, began a regimen in March aimed primarily at lessening the likelihood of hip replacement surgery. The results were so positive he was able to get back on skates, which led to thoughts of a possible comeback.The attempt, however, lasted less than a week. Neely practised with the Bruins for the first time on Nov. 11, but by the afternoon of Nov. 16 he knew the attempt was futile.&ldquo;I know how I felt when I had to retire,&rdquo; Neely said. &ldquo;I know how I&rsquo;m feeling now and I know how I was starting to feel as I progressed (with) this. It&rsquo;s not really how I want to feel.&rdquo;Mentally, however, Neely felt much better than late summer, 1996, when he was forced to retire after roughly six months of rest did nothing to improve the hip&rsquo;s condition.&ldquo;I think relieved is a good word, to be honest,&rdquo; Neely said. &ldquo;It was fun while I was out there, but each day I skated, the pain just kind of lingered a lot longer than I would have liked.&rdquo;As that pain subsides, Neely will finally begin to focus on his post-playing career. The notion he might still have a chance to play caused him to turn down broadcast and coaching opportunities. A position within the Boston organization has been discussed and probably will be again, according to assistant GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell, but Neely said if he takes another hockey job, it&rsquo;ll have to come with some responsibility.&ldquo;It would have to be the right situation; something where I&rsquo;d feel I could be a real contributor to a team or an organization,&rdquo; he said.Though disappointed the comeback didn&rsquo;t work out, Neely took two important things into the rest of his life-a healthier hip, and peace of mind that his playing career could rest in peace.&ldquo;This was an opportunity I didn&rsquo;t think I was going to get.&rdquo; Neely said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy I did this and excited 1 tried it. By giving it this opportunity, I can certainly feel good about the fact that I can&rsquo;t play, as opposed to not giving it that try.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Tim Taylor returned to the lineup Nov. 13 after missing 12 games with an ankle sprain, but he aggravated it in a 3-3 tie with the Rangers and missed the next two games&hellip;Left winger Ken Belanger, obtained for left winger Ted Donato in a Nov. 7 deal with the Islanders, recovered sufficiently from a lacerated nose to debut Nov. 18. Belanger fought Florida defenseman Paul Laus a few seconds into his first shift as a Bruin&hellip;Through Boston&rsquo;s first 18 games, defenseman Ray Bourque (one goal, eight points) was still looking for his first even-strength point Right winger Rob DiMaio, who had played 15 of the Bruins&rsquo; first 18, had yet to score his first goal&hellip;The Bruins failed to win three straight games (0-1-2) in which they opened the scoring, the last one a 5-5 tie with the Panthers Nov. 18 in which Boston blew leads of 4-0 and 5-2. &#9632;

f0023-02

Neely comeback attempt short, but he departs with no reqrets

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03591/8537769-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="219" height="215"></div>Hey! Want to start a bogus goaltending controversy?Just tell your friends that Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; back-up goalie Dwayne Roloson has an absolutely perfect record in the nets.To be sure, 20 minutes of mop-up time against the struggling Chicago Blackhawks isn&rsquo;t much to write home about, but Roloson will take the work anytime he can get it. Which so far hasn&rsquo;t been very often.Roloson finally had a chance to play in a game for the Sabres as he finished up a 6-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks Nov. 14. It was the first time two-time and reigning league MVP Dominik Hasek had not been in the Sabres&rsquo; net this season.Roloson stopped all six shots that he faced in his 20 minutes of work.In fact, he was so good the Sabres sent him to Rochester on a conditioning assignment the next night.Seeing how that was the only playing time he has seen all season, the idea wasn&rsquo;t just to scrape the rust off, it was to raise him up from alongside the Titanic.&ldquo;It was nice to get in,&rdquo; said Roloson, signed as a free agent after appearing in 39 games for the Calgary Flames last season. &ldquo;1 haven&rsquo;t played in a while and I felt pretty good. 1 was able to calm myself down and not do any stupid things out there.&rdquo;Roloson has been good-natured about having a job along the lines of the Maytag repairman. He said he has learned a lot about the profession just by watching Hasek. He also said he knew his role would be limited playing behind the Hart Trophy winner, but then the alternative was either being out of hockey or the minors.Sabres&rsquo; coach Lindy Ruff said he expects to give Roloson more work as the schedule compresses a bit in December.&ldquo;So far Dorn&rsquo;s workload hasn&rsquo;t been something he can&rsquo;t handle,&rdquo; Ruff said. &ldquo;The schedule is lighter than at this time last year. We&rsquo;ve had stretches were I think we haven&rsquo;t had enough games to keep one guy sharp.&rdquo;Ruff said he wouldn&rsquo;t have a problem turning to Roloson when the schedule demanded it, but it&rsquo;s a certainty that Hasek won&rsquo;t lack for playing time.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the league MVP and he seems to thrive on a lot of action,&rdquo; Ruff said.NOTEBOOK: Coach Lindy Ruff was experimenting with line shuffles and looking for ways to get right winger Rob Ray more ice time. Ruff likes Ray&rsquo;s contributions so far this season and has experimented having him on wing with regular centers Derek Plante and Wayne Primeau or with center Brian Holzinger and left winger Geoff Sanderson&hellip;Primeau is also in an experimental stage at left wing. Primeau said he likes the concept. &ldquo;I can go to the net more and therefore use my size more,&rdquo; he said. Primeau is coming off a shoulder injury, but has also been competing for ice time with Plante&hellip;There was no movement on negotiations between right winger Donald Audette or defenseman Mike Wilson and the club. Audette has left Buffalo and returned to his home in the Montreal area; Wilson has signed to play with Las Vegas of the International League. &#9632;

f0023-03

Roloson’s 20 minutes of game perfect work (when he gets it)

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011218/8537800-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="216" height="215"></div>Jason Wiemer, at age 22 and in his fifth NHL season, is finally starting to show the promise that convinced the Tampa Bay Lightning to select him eighth overall in the 1994 entry draft.The only problem is, he&rsquo;s doing it for the Calgary Flames.Calgary, which acquired Wiemer in a trade for Sandy McCarthy plus a couple of draft choices, gave him the opportunity to play regularly at center, a comparatively new position for him.Coach Brian Sutter uses Wiemer to check against other teams top pivots and occasionally rewards him with a little power play time. Wiemer plays as much as any forward on the team, except for right winger Theo Fleury.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a huge boost when a coach is confident to put you on the ice,&rdquo; Wiemer said. &ldquo;If you make a mistake, it&rsquo;s not like you go to the back of the bus. He puts you back out there and throws you back in the fire and says, &rsquo;You&rsquo;re what we&rsquo;ve got, go do the job.&rsquo; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something that didn&rsquo;t always happen in Tampa Bay, where Wiemer was a work in progress.&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t happen consistently,&rdquo; Wiemer said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d get them sporadically. I&rsquo;d get 10 games, where I played a lot and then 10 games where I wasn&rsquo;t. I didn&rsquo;t feel like I was fitting in right-or maybe just not developing into what they expected me to be, or as quickly as they wanted me to. It was a hard situation.&rdquo;Wiemer will almost certainly establish personal bests for points and penalty minutes. His 65 penalty minutes put him fourth in the league in mid-November and his 11 points in 18 games was halfway to matching his career high of 22, set last season.NOTEBOOK: A day after being stricken with a heat rash so severe it prevented him from travelling with the team on its four-game road trip, left winger Dave Roche was ready to go again, thanks to an emergency shot of adrenaline. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something that has happened to me before,&rdquo; Roche said, &ldquo;but that&rsquo;s only the fourth time it has happened that seriously.&rdquo; Much of the swelling disappeared in under two hours, but it didn&rsquo;t stop Roche&rsquo;s teammates from going around the dressing room, calling him &rsquo;The Nutty Professor&rsquo; after the overstuffed Eddie Murphy character in the remake of the Disney movie&hellip;Center Jeff Shantz suffered a concussion in a 1-0 loss to Anaheim Nov. 14, but was only scheduled to miss two games (Detroit Nov. 16 and Montreal Nov. 19)&hellip;Center Clarke Wilm, the only Flames&rsquo; rookie this season to have played every game, finally scored his first NHL goal in a 4-3 loss to Montreal. &#9632;

f0024-01

Young Wiemer making most of fresh start

<div class="byline">By Dustin Long</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02866/8537831-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="216" height="216"></div>Don&rsquo;t tell Carolina Hurricanes&rsquo; veter ans they&rsquo;re too old. Instead, age and experience has helped the &rsquo;Canes move atop the Southeast Division.In a three-game stretch ending Nov. 19, eight of Carolina&rsquo;s 12 goals were scored by players 30 and older.&ldquo;Life goes so fast,&rdquo; said 31-year-old right winger Robert Kron, who scored one of those goals. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s more fun every year.&rdquo;The most productive 30-something was right winger Ray Sheppard, with goals in each of the three games. The &rsquo;Canes were 5-1-0 when the 32-year-old Sheppard scored.Carolina needs strong veteran performances to contend for its first playoff appearance in seven years. Carolina also needs the stability the veterans provide.&ldquo;We just went through a tough stretch where we lost some games, where we played well in spots and not well,&rdquo; said 31-year-old coach Paul Maurice, referring to a three-game losing streak in early November. &ldquo;It got a little testy. Nobody was in too good of a mood.&ldquo;When that happens, the quality veteran guys step up. We had to stop the bleeding and it hasn&rsquo;t been pretty. Those guys know how to get it done ugly if they have to.&rdquo;Also helping things was the healthy resurgence of 32-year-old Gary Roberts, who led the team in scoring with four goals and 17 points and was one of the more physical players.Right winger Kevin Dineen, 35, was also feisty in a Nov. 17 game against the Montreal Canadiens, recording a Gordie Howe hat trick-a goal, an assist and a fight.NOTEBOOK: Carolina&rsquo;s nine-station radio network includes one in LaGrange, Ga., but none in Greensboro, N.C&hellip;A fight after time expired against Montreal gave right winger Kevin Dineen enough penalty minutes to become the club&rsquo;s all-time leader in that category (1.380)&hellip;The &rsquo;Canes had lost just 14 man-games to injuries through their first 19 contests&hellip;With seven wins, goalie Arturs Irbe already was halfway toward matching his victory total of last year at Vancouver&hellip;The power play&rsquo;s 0-for-44 drought ended with two goals against Los Angeles Oct. 14&hellip;During a recent six-game stretch, Carolina lost four times and was outscored 12-6 in the third period&hellip;When center Keith Primeau suffered a bruised ankle versus Montreal and left the arena for X-rays, he found out the score (5-4 win) after calling his parents in Toronto, who were listening to the broadcast on the Internet. &#9632;

f0024-02

Age, experience irreplaceable as power behind Hurricane wins

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03617/8537862-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="215" height="214"></div>It was Jocelyn Thibault&rsquo;s dream to play in his native Montreal for the hometown Canadiens.But when Thibault was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks with Dave Manson and Brad Brown Nov. 16 for Jeff Hackett, Erie Weinrich, Alain Nasreddine and future considerations, the 23-year-old goalie felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from his back.The dream had turned into a nightmare.&ldquo;1 feel like a free man right now,&rdquo; Thibault said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been living through some kind of hell for the last two years.&rdquo;Simply put, Thibault said he couldn&rsquo;t be Patrick Roy to those fans and media members who expected that from him after he was a key part of the 1995 trade that sent Roy to the Colorado Avalanche.&ldquo;The people expected me to play like a legend at age 20 or 21,&rdquo; Thibault said. &ldquo;I did my best, which I thought was good, but 1 guess it was never good enough for the people there.&ldquo;I was tired of answering the same questions all the time. I&rsquo;m really looking forward to playing with less adversity and just have fun playing hockey again.&rdquo;Hawks&rsquo; GM Bob Murray was looking for a young goaltender and picked up seven years, getting Thibault for the 30-year-old Hackett.After two solid seasons as the Hawks&rsquo; No. 1 goalie, Hackett was off to a miserable start. Murray admitted Hackett was letting too many off-ice things affect his play, specifically the fact backup Mark Fitzpatrick was making $1.2 million to his $950,000. &rdquo;Coach Dirk Graham said performance would dictate playing time for Thibault and Fitzpatrick.NOTEBOOK: GM Bob Murray said he felt a need to deal defenseman Eric Weinrich. &ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t think (coach Dirk Graham) and him got along. There was some friction and I had to back up my coach,&rdquo; Murray said. Graham claimed he had nothing personal against Weinrich. &ldquo;1 just expected him to play at a higher level,&rdquo; Graham said. &ldquo;The same goes with &rsquo;Hack.&rsquo; I had certain expectations for some players and they didn&rsquo;t meet them."&hellip;Murray made three trades in five days. In addition to the Montreal blockbuster, the Hawks picked up defenseman Bryan Muir from New Jersey Nov. 13 for a future draft pick and acquired left winger Mike Maneluk from Philadelphia Nov. 17 for center Roman Vopat. &ldquo;I think now we need to take some time and let things settle,&rdquo; Murray said&hellip;The Hawks&rsquo; 10-game winless streak that ended Nov. 17 with a win at Nashville was the club&rsquo;s longest since 1995. &#9632;

f0024-03

Trade gives Thibault new life after madness of Montreal

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04432/8537893-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="213" height="214"></div>If anyone in hockey should go by the nickname of &rsquo;Old Scrap Iron,&rsquo; it is Colorado Avalanche right winger Jeff Odgers.His nose resembles a crushed beer can, he won&rsquo;t win any skating contests nor challenge Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s scoring records anytime soon, but Odgers has gotten the most out of what little talent the hockey gods dished out to him.It&rsquo;s why the Avs recently saw fit to give Odgers a two-year, $1.3-million contract extension. That&rsquo;s not bad for a guy who was nearly out of hockey last year and for someone playing for an organization that hasn&rsquo;t exactly been known for shelling out dollars ahead of time.But Odgers deserved it. The former San Jose Sharks&rsquo; captain has quietly won over Avs&rsquo; management with his fierce determination and willingness to accept any role. The fact Odgers has beaten up just about everybody he has fought this season didn&rsquo;t hurt, either.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of my jobs with this team; to get things settled down and look after people,&rdquo; said Odgers, who has won fights this year against opponents such as Marty McSorley, Patrick Cote, Jim Cummins and Tie Domi.Odgers&rsquo; grandfather, Adam Faul, boxed for Canada in the 1948 Olympics and served as a fighting tutor to his grandson. Although not the biggest fighter in the league at 6-feet and 200 pounds, Odgers knows the ins-and-outs of fighting, which is why many NHL tough guys shy away from dropping the gloves with him.&ldquo;If you can get inside, you can do well,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you get strung out, it&rsquo;s look out. I&rsquo;ve lost as many as I&rsquo;ve won.&rdquo;As for his new deal with the Avs, Odgers said: &ldquo;It was a pleasant surprise. I love Colorado and hopefully 1 can be part of something here for a while.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Avs cut a year and $3.3 million off their offer to unsigned defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh. Colorado originally offered Ozolinsh a three-year. $9.9million deal, but reduced it to two years at $6.6 million. The Avs think they shouldn&rsquo;t pay much more for Ozolinsh than the two-year, $6.5-million deal New Jersey gave Scott Niedermayer. and also believe they may be giving Ozolinsh a break. In two years, by the Avs&rsquo; thinking, the $3.3 million annually may make Ozolinsh seem underpaid. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t need them telhng me what&rsquo;s best for my client,&rdquo; said Ozolinsh&rsquo;s agent, Paul Theo-fanous. who asked the Avs to trade his client&hellip;Against the Canucks Nov. 19. the Avs were missing six defensemen to injury, along with Ozolinsh. That left Aaron Miller as the only blueliner in the lineup who played for the team the year before&hellip;The Avs were shut out by the Canucks that night 5-0, the third time this season they were held scoreless at home-a franchise record. &#9632;

f0024-04

Odgers earns Avs’ respect, new contract

<div class="byline">By Mike Heike</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02750/8537924-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="411" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brett Hull</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011093/8537931-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="213" height="212"></div>The 1,000th point of Brett Hull&rsquo;s career was an assist into an empty net-nothing really to roll tape on.But Hull&rsquo;s 999th point Nov. 14 showed exactly how the 34-year-old winger has been able to roll up points so quickly in a career that stood at 815 games and counting.Late in the third period of a 1-1 tie with the Boston Bruins, Hull pulled his magic stick out and did exactly what the Stars were hoping for when they signed him to a three-year, $17-million contract this summer-he scored a near-impossible goal.After Mike Modano picked up a loose puck that had hit referee RichardTrottier and reversed flow on the Bruins, Hull found himself in a head-to-head meeting with goalie Byron Dafoe. Hull moved quickly through the slot and tried to beat Dafoe by pushing farther and farther into the right faceoff circle. It was the ultimate gunslinger battle and Hull refused to flinch. He waited until Dafoe went down and then fired a wrist shot from almost the goalline to get the game-winner with 4:26 remaining.&ldquo;I had a solid foot to go (to the goalline),&rdquo; Hull said with a laugh.Hull&rsquo;s shot impressed his new teammates, who had seen the power of Hull&rsquo;s slapshot, but were witnessing his steely calm for really the first time.&ldquo;1 have no idea how that puck went in the net,&rdquo; said winger Jamie Langenbrunner. &ldquo;I guess that&rsquo;s how you score 1,000 points, with shots like that.&rdquo;Hull became the 53rd player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points. He and father Bobby (1,170 points) are the only father-son combination in NHL history to each score 1,000 points.Hull said while he hasn&rsquo;t talked with his dad about the milestone, they both have kidded about it in the past.&ldquo;I told him that if I played when he did, I would have done this three years earlier,&rdquo; he said.After picking up his 1,000th point, Hull broke a week-long media silence and said he is &ldquo;having the time of his life&rdquo; with the Stars.&ldquo;It was so uncalled for,&rdquo; he said referring to a story in which he was quoted as saying: &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no possible way Brett Hull can do anything in 11 minutes,&rdquo; after playing 11:55 in a game.Hull said he was simply analyzing one game and not complaining about his role with the Stars.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t (gripe) and moan about ice time and then all of the sudden I&rsquo;m being crucified for (griping) and moaning about ice time,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not fair to me, trying to get rid of this reputation I have that&rsquo;s totally unfounded. It just starts all over again.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Winger Jere Lehtinen sustained a broken right thumb after a second period slash by Boston defenseman Kyle McLaren Nov. 14. Lehtinen was expected to be out until at least late November.. Coach Ken Hitchcock moved defenseman Darryl Sydor into Lehtinen&rsquo;s left wing spot on a line with Hull and center Mike Modano (Hull has moved to the right side)&hellip;With Sydor moving to a wing spot, Hitchcock recalled rookie defenseman Sergey Gusev from Michigan (International League)&hellip;Center Joe Nieuwendyk allowed center Tony Hrkac just six days in the record books. Nieuwendyk scored seven seconds into a 5-1 win over Detroit Oct. 13 for a franchise record. Hrkac had scored eight seconds into a 4-3 win over Los Angeles Nov. 7&hellip;Playing their 13th game of the season on Friday November the 13th and wearing their alternate jersey for the 13th time in franchise history, Dallas beat Detroit 5-1. That improved the Stars&rsquo; record to 10-0-3 in the &ldquo;green star&rdquo; sweater. &#9632;

f0025-02

Hull gets magical, showdown goal en route to 1.000-point milestone

<div class="byline">By Chuck Carlton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04343/8537962-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="411" height="553"><figcaption class="caption-body">Uwe Krupp</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03516/8537969-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="214" height="213"></div>He can relate to the impatience of fans and the expectations of management.He understands the baggage that came from signing a four-year, $16.4-million contract as an unrestricted free agent with the Detroit Red Wings.If only Uwe Krupp&rsquo;s body would co-operate, he would happily oblige.For now, the 33-year-old Krupp is asking for a little more time as he tries to rebound from an early-season knee and quadriceps injury which has slowed his adjustment to a new team. Krupp wants to make sure that a first impression doesn&rsquo;t become a lasting one.&ldquo;They don&rsquo;t know me,&rdquo; Krupp said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m coming back pjaying at 70 per cent. It&rsquo;s not something I enjoy. If it was easy, though, everybody would be doing it.&rdquo;Krupp&rsquo;s trouble has been getting a chance to do it. He took a shot off his knee in the home opener against the St. Louis Blues, aggravated it and missed seven games with an ailing quadricep muscle.In his second game back, he turned over the puck to Dallas Stars&rsquo; center Joe Nieuwendyk for a gimme goal seven seconds into a 5-1 loss. The rust was evident.&ldquo;The biggest problem I have-it&rsquo;s not that I don&rsquo;t know the guys-the nature of the injury was such that I couldn&rsquo;t do much with the leg and had some atrophy in it,&rdquo; Krupp said.GM Ken Holland said he has no doubt Krupp, whom the Wings plucked from the arch-rival Colorado Avalanche, will justify the team&rsquo;s investment when he does heal and adjust.Coach Scotty Bowman is already hoping to spell Nicklas Lidstrom and Larry Murphy on penalty killing duties with the 6-foot-6 Krupp. And if Krupp can mesh with Anders Eriksson, the Red Wings hope to stabilize their second defen-sive pairing.&ldquo;He has been in the league a long time (since 1986-87) and we know what level he can play at,&rdquo; Holland said. &ldquo;It has just taken him a little while longer as a big guy to get going.&rdquo;The Red Wings have a big investment in Krupp. They decided not to re-sign defensemen Bob Rouse and Slava Fetisov once Krupp came aboard, strengthening Detroit and dealing a blow to the Avalanche simultaneously.Krupp has shown recent signs of rebounding. He was a combined plus-4 in consecutive games against the Calgary Flames Nov. 16 and Edmonton Oilers Nov. 18 and scored his first goal as Red Wing in the 5-3 loss to the Flames.NOTEBOOK: Redbird One is grounded. A Calgary airport vehicle which services toilets collided with the Red Wings&rsquo; private plane Nov. 17, ripping a hole in the fuselage. The team had to bus from Calgary to Edmonton and contract with a charter company for the rest of the road trip, (which ended Nov. 21). Redbird One may not be available for several weeks&hellip;GM Ken Holland said he expects to have a contract extension done for center Steve Yzerman by the end of summer, although formal negotiations had yet to start with the Wings&rsquo; captain. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not going anywhere,&rdquo; Holland said&hellip;Left winger Brent Gilchrist is not expected back until at least February after undergoing a second hernia surgery&hellip;Goalie Chris Osgood wasn&rsquo;t impressed with Stars&rsquo; owner Tom Hicks, who said Dallas is no longer scared of Detroit and that Stars&rsquo; goalie Eddie Belfour is better than Osgood. &rsquo;To talk (that way) about a team that has won titles the past two years is kind of disrespectful,&rdquo; Osgood said. &#9632;

f0025-04

Rusty Krupp promises improvement as he comes back from leg ailments

<div class="byline">By Rob Tychkowskl</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011229/8538000-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="213" height="212"></div>Nobody knew what to expect when Andrei Kova-lenko and Josef Beranek strolled into the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; training camp this year, but you can bet your life it wasn&rsquo;t much.Kovalenko, plagued by off-ice distractions in 1997-98, finished the year in the sub-basement of Glen Sather&rsquo;s dog house, with a measly six goals in 59 games. The Oilers couldn&rsquo;t give him away over the summer.Beranek, meanwhile, was returning to the NHL after a season of obscurity with a Czech Republic club team. And where are they now? That would be them on the Oilers&rsquo; first line. The guys hovering around the top of the Oilers&rsquo; scoring leaders. The guys fighting it up with linemate Bill Guerin.On a recent road trip, Beranek scored the winner in overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks and Kovalenko scored with 14 seconds left in regulation to salvage a tie with the Ottawa Senators. They&rsquo;re like found money.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like getting a free player,&rdquo; Guerin said. &ldquo;Especially a guy of Kovy&rsquo;s calibre. He&rsquo;s so talented. He&rsquo;s big, he&rsquo;s strong. He could do a lot for our team. It&rsquo;s great to have him back playing.&rdquo;Kovalenko, clearly tired of talking about last year, sums it up this way: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve cleaned all my problems from last year and just concentrated on hockey&hellip;1 have an agent, I have lawyers, I have a wife, they take care of everything else.&rdquo;As for Beranek, he could represent about 25 more goals than the Oilers had last year. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always nice to be one of the guys the coaches trust, to be out on the ice when you have to win,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: Center Doug Weight is hoping to come back early from knee surgery to repair a tom MCL in his right knee. The original return date was right after the Jan. 24 All-Star game, but Weight is now trying for Jan. 3 in Philadelphia&hellip;Defenseman Marty McSorley, meanwhile, is hoping to be back from a separated shoulder by early-to mid-December&hellip;Defenseman Sean Brown served a three-game suspension for high-sticking Ottawa right winger Daniel Alfredsson Nov. 12. &#9632;

f0026-01

Linemates Kovalenko, Beranek emerge as unlikely Oilers’ heroes

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011175/8538093-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="217" height="216"></div>Goaltender Jeff Hackett could breathe a sigh of relief for at least a day.Entering a pressure cooker as the new No. 1 netminder for the Montreal Canadiens, Hackett made 16 saves in his Habs&rsquo; debut to help propel his new team to a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames Nov. 19. The win put an end to a Canadiens&rsquo; four-game losing skid.&ldquo;It was good to get the win, especially since the team has been on a little bit of a downslide lately,&rdquo; Hackett said.Hackett has been in a downslide himself. Acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks Nov. 16 along with defensemen Eric Weinrich and Alain Nasreddine in exchange for goalie Jocelyn Thibault and defensemen Brad Brown and Dave Manson, Hackett posted a 2-6-1 record with a 3.78 goals-against average with the Hawks.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t been playing well because I&rsquo;ve let things bother me, things that I can&rsquo;t control,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m looking forward to a fresh start.&rdquo;Of course, he has some of the toughest critics in the world to please in Habs&rsquo; fans who are still waiting for someone to fill the throne vacated by Patrick Roy when he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche. Almost immediately after the Canadiens acquired Hackett, GM Rejean Houle said he would be the No. 1 goalie ahead of Jose Theodore.&ldquo;1 hope we can work together and I can give (Theodore) the benefit of my experience,&rdquo; Hackett said.NOTEBOOK: Despite suffering from pneumonia symptoms, right winger Mark Recchi saw 13:45 of ice time against Calgary Nov. 19 to extend his ironman streak to 561 games. Philadelphia center Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour is second among current ironmen (419 games), followed by Washington center Dale Hunter (295), Philadelphia center Chris Gratton (276) and Philadelphia left winger John LeClair (269)&hellip; Defenseman Alain Nasreddine was sent to Fredericton of the American League where he will team up with his brother Sami&hellip;Center Saku Koivu, recovering from a strained abdominal muscle, resumed skating Nov. 17 after missing 10 games. He was hoping to get back in the lineup for a Nov. 27 game against Boston. &#9632;

f0027-01

Hackett hopes for rebound in Habs’ nressure cooker

<div class="byline">By Jeff Legwold</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03575/8538124-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="777" height="1221"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ville Peltonen</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02803/8538131-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="216" height="208"></div>This time last year Ville Peltonen and Patrie Kjell-berg were on their way to becoming the first-and second-leading scorers in the Swedish Elite league. They also were on their way to the top of David Poile&rsquo;s list of untapped resources.Poile, the Predators&rsquo; GM, saw the former NHLers as sources of offense for a team that would be in short supply of firepower.The plan has worked pretty well so far, especially in Peltonen&rsquo;s case. The 25-year-old left winger had three goals and seven points in seven games-he missed the first 10 because of a shoulder injury-while playing on a line with center Cliff Ronning and right winger Scott Walker.&ldquo;This is a good chance for me,&rdquo; said Peltonen, who previously played in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks in 199697. &ldquo;I am older since the last time, I feel stronger, I think I am a much better player. I am more ready this time.&rdquo;&ldquo;He has speed, maturity and shown some of the offensive skills we&rsquo;d hoped to see,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;He has been confident enough to make a play with (the puck) instead of just sending it out of the zone.&rdquo;Things have come a little more slowly for Kjellberg, 29, who previously played seven games for the Montreal Canadiens in 1992-93 Kjellberg had three goals and four points in 15 games on a line with Tom Fitzgerald and Darren Turcotte.&ldquo;Overall&hellip;if Patrie and Ville continue at their current pace, improve a little, it was a risk well worth taking,&rdquo; Poile said.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Kaj Linna. who had been sent to Milwaukee of the International League late in training camp, was forced to retire because of a head injury. Linna was knocked unconscious by a check in a game against Grand Rapids Nov. 7. That led to some bleeding on the brain. After visiting neurologist Dr. Jim Kelly, the 27-year-old was advised he should retire. He is still suffering severe headaches and cannot drive or fly for a month&hellip;Right winger Blair Atcheynum was still trying to decide whether he should have surgery to repair a tom anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. If he has the operation he&rsquo;ll be out at least three months. The alternative is risking further damage by playing with a brace this season and having surgery in the summer. &#9632;

f0027-03

Europeans pitching in

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04407/8538162-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="213" height="212"></div>Jacques Lemaire would not have tolerated the style of hockey the New Jersey Devils were playing under new coach Robbie Ftorek. Even the winning would not have relieved Lemaire&rsquo;s headache.Adopting Ftorek&rsquo;s more-aggressive offensive style, the Devils overcame a 1-3-0 start and quickly evolved into a winning team that could also be called exciting.&ldquo;From a spectator&rsquo;s point of view, this is definitely more exciting,&rdquo; said center Bobby Holik. &ldquo;We still rely on very solid defense, but at the same time when we get the puck we can go&rdquo;There were nights to forget, such as the 6-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Nov. 14. It marked the first time since early in his rookie season (Nov. 26, 1993) that Martin Brodeur had allowed six goals in a game. Brodeur&rsquo;s goals-against average rose from 2.10 to 2.42.However, an overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes Nov. 19 gave the Devils a 9-3-0 record since their poor start.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a different game for me than it was for the last five years.&rdquo; Brodeur said. &ldquo;More shots, odd-man rushes, breakaways. It&rsquo;s not like it worries me or I&rsquo;m scared. When a team plays with fire, you&rsquo;ll get burned every once in a while. There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with that.&rdquo;There were several factors behind the dramatic change. Ftorek does not believe in sitting back when there is a chance to go on the offensive and he has encouraged younger players such as Petr Sykora, Patrik Elias and Brendan Morrison to be creative.Then there was the return of Scott Niedermayer, who immediately injected life into the team after agreeing to a new contract Oct. 30.&ldquo;There is a lot of excitement going onto the ice every period,&rdquo; Niedermayer said. &ldquo;Guys are enjoying it. The enjoyment is there and we&rsquo;U continue to play like that.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Dave Andreychuk missed five straight games with a bruised sternum suffered Nov. 7&hellip;Looking to shake up his power play, coach Robbie Ftorek scratched left winger Patrik Elias and center Brendan Morrison Nov. 19. The power play went O-for-8 against Carolina that night in a 32 win&hellip;GM Lou Lamoriello on the possibility of acquiring Vancouver right winger Pavel Bure: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anything is ridiculous. I also don&rsquo;t think it is appropriate to discuss any of this. I don&rsquo;t talk about other teams&rsquo; players."&hellip;Goalie Chris Terreri won his first three games for New Jersey this season, extending his winning streak as a Devil to six. He hadn&rsquo;t lost a game since May 3, 1996. &#9632;

f0027-04

New Jersey winning with exciting style

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011220/8538193-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="216" height="215"></div>The New York Islanders do not want to think about where they would be if captain Trevor Linden had not swallowed his pride and signed a one-year contract four days before the season began for the same $2.5 million he earned last year.Linden scored eight goals in the first 18 games and helped the team remain competitive (8-10-0) without unsigned star Ziggy Palffy.&ldquo;Any time he goes out there, he settles things down,&rdquo; said associate coach Lome Henning. &ldquo;Right from Day 1, his line has been the one that has done it for us.&rdquo;Linden. 28, obtained on Feb. 6 from the Vancouver Canucks for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabe and a third round draft pick, is re-establishing himself as one of the NHL&rsquo;s top goal-scoring power forwards. He averaged 30 goals and 66 points in seven non-lock-out seasons with Vancouver, but totaled only 26 goals and 78 points in 116 games over the previous two seasons.&ldquo;It seems like his whole game is coming back,&rdquo; said teammate Gino Odjick. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a physical force.&rdquo;Linden, the president of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, said he never considered his position with the union when he agreed to return without a raise.&ldquo;I concluded the best thing to do was to come back and play,&rdquo; Linden said. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t going to (sacrifice) 10, 20 or 30 games for a couple of hundred thousand dollars. (The Islanders) took a stand. I said, &rsquo;OK, you can win this one.&rsquo; Hopefully, next year, things are going to be a little different.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Kenny Jonsson suffered a concussion when Colorado center Peter Forsberg elbowed him in the head Nov. 17. but neurological tests indicated the injury was not serious&hellip;Coach-GM Mike Milbury visited Islander draft pick, defenseman Jeff Libby, Nov. 14 in Andover. Mass. Libby had his right eye surgically removed after being struck by a skate in an American League game&hellip;The Islanders&rsquo; power play was ll-for-43 at home, 3-for-34 on the road. &#9632;

f0030-01

Linden regains old power-forward form after swallowing contract pride

<div class="byline">By Rick Carplnlello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02817/8538224-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="214" height="213"></div>It is no secret the New York Rangers were interested in both Petr Nedved and Pavel Bure.That interest, however, was not to the point where they were ready to get into bidding wars with other teams over the two most available NHL players.The Rangers have been told Nedved, a former Ranger who sat out all of last year and the first six weeks of this season as an unsigned Group II free agent, is available from the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was reported the Penguins want Alexei Kovalev plus $4 million.Such a deal would almost surely be vetoed by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who disapproves of vast amounts of money changing hands in trades.Despite reports, the Rangers have not been told by the Vancouver Canucks, however, that it will cost them Niklas Sundstrom, Manny Malhotra and Dan Cloutier to get Bure; or two of those players plus Todd Harvey. Those packages have no chance of happening from the Rangers&rsquo; standpoint.Nor will they be hurried into dealing for Nedved by the threat of other teams getting involved, the Rangers say. They want Nedved, but not at all costs.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to outbid another team just to get a player that will help us in 1998-99,&rdquo; saidRangers&rsquo; president-GM Neil Smith. &ldquo;If I can do it and stick to the plan, I&rsquo;m going to do it. If I can&rsquo;t do it without varying from the plan, I&rsquo;m going to look for another way. The plan is simple. We&rsquo;re not trading Amonte for Noonan and Matteau.&rdquo;He was referring to the 1994 deal that sent Tony Amonte to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brian Noonan and Stephane Matteau, which helped the Rangers win the Stanley Cup that year. Smith has since called Amonte the best player he has ever traded away.&ldquo;It has nothing to do with money,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;The plan has to do with where you&rsquo;re headed in the future. It&rsquo;s more a plan of what you won&rsquo;t do than what you are doing.&ldquo;In any plan you have, if the right player comes along you have to go for that player because he can help you short-and long-term&hellip;There are some players you have to say are worth trading young players for. There are very few of them.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Rangers&rsquo; streak of games without a short-handed goal, believed to be an NHL record by a large margin, reached 100 Nov. 19. They have not scored one since the final game of the 1996-97 season, since captain Mark Messier left town&hellip;Right winger Alexei Kovalev scored his first two goals of the season in Game No. 18. He didn&rsquo;t score his first goal last season until the 19th game&hellip;Defenseman Jeff Beukeboom suffered a concussion after being sucker-punched from behind by Los Angeles winger Matt Johnson, who was immediately suspended indefinitely by the NHL. Beukeboom also faced possible discipline for a slew-foot against Kings&rsquo; right winger Glen Murray in the same game. &#9632;

f0030-02

Smith vows pursuit of Bure, Nedved won’t be mortgage on team’s future

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04423/8538255-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="213" height="212"></div>Ottawa Senators&rsquo; star right winger Daniel Alfredsson wasn&rsquo;t happy about his eye injury, but in this case he did consider himself lucky.&ldquo;It could have been worse,&rdquo; Alfredsson said. &ldquo;I could have lost my vision. Knees and shoulders can always be fixed. Eyes can&rsquo;t be repaired.&rdquo;While the team struggled to stay above the .500 mark, the Senators&rsquo; right winger was stuck in front of the television set at his apartment with a bad headache and sleeping about 15 hours a day.After taking a stick above the right eye Nov. 12 from Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; Sean Brown-who received a three-game suspension-Alfredsson was expected to be out of action a minimum of 10 days when doctors discovered blood behind the eyeball.Because of the severity of the injury, similar to the one defenseman Chris Phillips suffered last year when he took a puck in the face from Edmonton defenseman Dan McGillis, Alfredsson wasn&rsquo;t allowed to move until Nov. 18.Still, he considers himself fortunate and decided that when he returned the week of Nov. 23, he&rsquo;ll wear a visor on his helmet (see pg. 10 for more on visors and injuries).Alfredsson missed seven weeks with a knee injury, but knew this was far more dangerous. Reading gave him a headache. Driving was impossible. Sunlight blinded him. He didn&rsquo;t want to leave his couch.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never slept that long in my life,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s no fun just sitting around. I didn&rsquo;t feel like a hockey player. I haven&rsquo;t even been able to work out. I&rsquo;ve just been watching television and sleeping. I can&rsquo;t wait to get back on skates.&rdquo;Alfredsson returned to full workouts Nov. 19, but the club wanted to take its time in bringing him back.Despite missing 32 games in the past year with four separate injuries, Alfredsson isn&rsquo;t worried that he may be injury prone. Frustrated, yes. The injury bug has bit his ankle twice, his knee once and now the eye. Enough already.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been very lucky until last year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I ever missed a game before that due to injuries. I&rsquo;ve thought about (the number of times he has been hurt), but really there&rsquo;s nothing you can do. If an injury happens, it happens&hellip;I&rsquo;m just really going to have to hope I stay healthy from here on in.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Senators were steamed at the replay official in Chicago Nov. 15 following a 2-2 tie with the Blackhawks. Ottawa had the apparent game-winning goal by defenseman Igor Kravchuk called back when it was ruled left winger Andreas Johansson was in the crease. &ldquo;It was a horse (expletive) call.&rdquo; Johansson said. &ldquo;I looked down and my feet weren&rsquo;t in. I went back and told the guys not to worry because I wasn&rsquo;t in."&hellip;The Ottawa Sun reported GM Rick Dudley is looking for a winger and has offered injured defenseman Stan Neckar. who is scheduled to resume skating soon. Dudley has talked to Florida about right winger David Nemirovsky and Vancouver about right winger Markus Naslund. &#9632;

f0030-04

Alfredsson set on eye protection, feels fortunate injury wasn’t worse

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011123/8538286-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="217" height="212"></div>If you&rsquo;re a fan of Roman Vopat&rsquo;s and &rsquo; you&rsquo;re mailing a request for an autographed picture, don&rsquo;t send it to Los Angeles, where he began the season.Don&rsquo;t address it to Colorado, either. And forget about Chicago, that&rsquo;s history.The correct location, for now, is Philadelphia, where Vopat landed Nov. 17. The Flyers are Vopat&rsquo;s fourth team in four weeks. And five altogether for the 22-year-old left winger.Vopat hopes the Flyers-who sent 25-year-old rookie right winger Mike Maneluk to the Black-hawks-are his final destination. All this moving around could give a guy a complex.Keith Jones, who also arrived from Colorado (Nov. 12, for Shjon Podein), said Vopat&rsquo;s recent travelogue is mind-boggling.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t imagine getting traded that many times at that age,&rdquo; said the 30-year-old Jones. &ldquo;Maybe each team was trying to fill a different need.&rdquo;Vopat said no one has ever told him why he has been moved so much. The journey began in 1996 when he was part of the deal that brought Wayne Gretzky to St. Louis. In Los Angeles, Vopat thought he had found a home. He lasted two years, then was shipped to Colorado three games into this season. Vopat never played a game during his two-week stay with the Avalanche. Then it was off to Chicago, where he played three games before the trade to Philadelphia.&ldquo;That (the multi-trading) is what I really don&rsquo;t understand,&rdquo; Vopat said. &ldquo;Am I bad? Am I good? I really don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;Flyers&rsquo; president-GM Bob Clarke said he needed the 6-foot-2, 223-pound Vopat to fill the checker/grinder role left vacant by Podein.&ldquo;I thought we were getting a little bit small a lot of times,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;We had to have some bigger bodies out there. We thought it was a better fit.&rdquo;Clarke added he had reached an impasse with Maneluk&rsquo;s agent, Neil Sheehy, on a contract extension beyond this year. Sheehy was asking for $900,000 for Maneluk, who becomes an unrestricted free agent.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Keith Jones made a big splash in his first two games with the Flyers. Two days after arriving from Colorado, Jones scored 45 seconds into the third period to snap a 1-1 tie and ignite a 61 win over New Jersey Nov. 14. The win snapped a seven-game (0-5-2) winless streak dating back to Oct. 29. It also ended a six-game (0-5-1) drought against the Devils. Three nights later, Jones scored again to help the Flyers beat Pittsburgh 4-1 for only their second win (213-5) in the last eight years at the Civic Arena. Jones played on a line with center Eric Lindros and left winger John LeClair. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an easy game for me,&rdquo; Jones said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a plumber and I&rsquo;ve got two great players there. I just have to chip the puck to them and they do all the work."&hellip;Goalie Ron Hextali recorded the win in the New Jersey game. It was Flyer career win No. 232 for Hextail, tying him with Bernie Parent for the franchise record. Hextali was looking for a chance to break the record in a scheduled Nov. 20 start at Carolina. &#9632;

f0031-01

Roman’s empire spans country as grinder lands with fifth team

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02742/8538317-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="215" height="213"></div>He was enjoying a nine-game, point-iSyTa scoring streak and was on pace for a 57-goal season. He was leading the league at plus-15 and had scored more goals (216) in the past five-plus seasons than anyone in the NHL.Save it, said Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; captain Keith Tkachuk. AH he wants to be remembered for is winning. Nothing else.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re measured on winning. Team success. Not individual stats,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve scored 50 (goals) before. That&rsquo;s fine. I don&rsquo;t need to prove I can score 50. I&rsquo;ve got to prove I can lead this team and do the right things to get us there in the end.&ldquo;Goal-scoring is nice, but everything is measured on winning. That&rsquo;s when you get known. That&rsquo;s all I care about.&rdquo;So far, the Coyotes have been just as hot, if not hotter, than their bruising power forward. Phoenix carried a nine-game unbeaten streak into its game against the San Jose Sharks Nov.20 and was 9-2-2 after 13 games, its best start in franchise history.The Coyotes also tied a post-expansion NHL record for allowing two goals or fewer in 12 straight games. The overall record is 18, set by the 1958-59 Montreal Canadiens.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in a situation where the organization had to get off to a good start and we needed everybody playing their best,&rdquo; Tkachuk said.It was just as critical for him. Especially after his holdout this summer, which damaged his image around the league. But Tkachuk has won back the fans in Phoenix, which is going ga-ga over hockey.&ldquo;Fortunately, I&rsquo;m playing with two good guys in J.R. (Jeremy Roenick) and Dally (Dallas Drake). I love what I see from Jeremy right now. He&rsquo;s really putting in the commitment to the team. We&rsquo;ve played well together.&ldquo;This is why we&rsquo;re winning, because we&rsquo;ve got all the guys on the same page. The problem we had last year was guys were taking too many nights off. This year, everybody&rsquo;s playing solid every night.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: With No. 1 goalie Nikolai Khabibu-lin nursing a bruised right hand, backup Jimmy Waite started four straight games and went 3-0-1, allowing just four goals to improve his league-leading goals-against average to 0.98. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to be able to get in and help the team do well,&rdquo; said Waite, who earned player-of-the-week honors for the period ending Nov. 15&hellip;GM Bobby Smith was given a three-year contract extension, but it wasn&rsquo;t revealed until Nov. 18-nearly two months after the fact&hellip;Left winger Greg Adams, brought in via free agency to help provide scoring depth was goal-less after his first 13 games and was dropped from the second line to the fourth during a 4-2 win over Vancouver Nov. 18. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of time before I get a bounce and things start to change for me,&rdquo; Adams said&hellip;Defenseman Jason Doig, who had yet to play this season because of a tom pectoral muscle suffered during a summer workout, was close to being activated and likely will be sent to the minors for a rehab assignment. &#9632;

f0031-02

Tkachuk howls team-first mantra as Covotes bolt to best-ever start

<div class="byline">By Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011195/8538348-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="214" height="212"></div>Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; right winger Dan Kesa doesn&rsquo;t want anyone harming the team&rsquo;s biggest asset.&ldquo;When somebody hits (Jaromir) Jagr, I&rsquo;m going to be the first guy to go in there and knock that guy off,&rdquo; Kesa said.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s our star player and I don&rsquo;t think anybody should be hitting him or punching him.&rdquo;Kesa was signed by the Penguins as a free agent after playing the past two years with the Detroit Vipers of the International League.Kesa&rsquo;s teammates feel the same way and their attitude is understandable: right winger Jagr figures in on about 50 per cent of the Penguins&rsquo; goals.The problem is, if the Penguins chose to avenge every cheap shot leveled against Jagr, they&rsquo;d spend at least half of every game playing shorthanded.And when you consider they had the league&rsquo;s second-best power play (20.7 per cent success rate) and its worst penalty killing unit (78.6 per cent), that wouldn&rsquo;t be too smart.So the Penguins need to choose their spots carefully.&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s going to pick on Jagr,&rdquo; said defenseman Darius Kas-paraitis. &ldquo;But I think Jaromir knows we can&rsquo;t go and just try to kill somebody for that. This is hockey, and you have to take some hits, and you have to wait for your chance to get back.&rdquo;The Penguins&rsquo; critics say Jagr is left to fight his own battles too often. What does Jagr say?&ldquo;Well, I should be able to protect myself. I&rsquo;m a big guy (6-foot-2, 230 pounds). But sometimes (the opponents) are even bigger, you know?&rdquo;Whether it&rsquo;s defending Jagr or anyone else, the Penguins fight back as a group. That&rsquo;s good thinking because the team&rsquo;s best fighter, Chris Tamer, often was a healthy scratch in the first16 games. &ldquo;We just believe you stay together as a group of five, that there&rsquo;s strength in numbers,&rdquo; said coach Kevin Constantine.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why I think over the last year-and-a-half, even though we haven&rsquo;t been one of the bigger teams in the league, we haven&rsquo;t been intimidated. We stick up for each other.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Penguins reached an agreement to obtain a $20 million loan from a French bank (Societe Generale) with a branch in New York City. The loan would provide the team with working capital through August. After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct. 13, the franchise had to rely on a pair of $2.5-million loans from coowner Roger Marino to meet their first two payrolls. &ldquo;This should end all questions about whether we will be able to meet player payroll,&rdquo; said Garvin Warden, the Penguins&rsquo; interim CEO&hellip;Right winger Aleksey Morozov sustained a mild concussion as a result of an elbow to the jaw he took from Florida&rsquo;s Peter Worrell Nov. 14. The hit occurred with the Penguins leading 4-0. Worrell was suspended three games. &#9632;

f0032-01

Teammates watch out for Jagr

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02795/8538379-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="213" height="212"></div>Until recently, veteran defenseman Rudy Poeschek had been the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; odd man out.The Blues had played 12 games before Poeschek played his first, Nov. 7 at San Jose against the Sharks. He replaced struggling veteran blueliner Marc Bergevin, but was promptly returned to the press box for the next two games.Coach Joel Quenneville paroled Poeschek for a second time Nov. 14. He scratched Chris McAlpine, which allowed Poeschek to leave his mark in the Blues&rsquo; 5-1 victory over the Nashville Predators at Kiel Center.The mark consisted of the gash on the bridge of Predator left winger Patrick Cote&rsquo;s nose, which Poeschek re-arranged at a 45-degree angle in their second-period fight. The two heavyweights-Poeschek at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Cote at 6-foot-3 and215 pounds-squared off and threw thundering rights at each other&rsquo;s head.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way I fight&hellip;I chuck &rsquo;em,&rdquo; said Poeschek, who bloodied Cote&rsquo;s nose, as well as his own hand, in the bout. &ldquo;I stand back and throw &rsquo;em.&rdquo;Poeschek, 32, doesn&rsquo;t get near the attention of his fellow Blues&rsquo; en-forcers-media-savvy Tony Twist and Kelly Chase-but he&rsquo;s as tough as they come.&ldquo;He gives us some toughness and presence back there,&rdquo; said Quenneville. who commended Poeschek for his work against Nashville and for keeping himself ready to play. &ldquo;He worked hard while he was out. He worked on his quickness and kept pushing himself so he&rsquo;d be prepared to come in and play.&rdquo;After signing as a free agent two summers ago with the Blues, Poeschek had 1 goal, eight points and 64 penalty minutes in 50 games last year.A veteran of 10 NHL seasons and four teams, including the Blues, TampaBay Lightning, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets, knew his day would come.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a long season and I knew that somewhere along the line, I&rsquo;d get in there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When you sit out, you might as well work hard, because once you play a little again, it all seems worthwhile. I just wanted to be part of it.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Blues sent center Marty Reasoner, their No. 1 pick in 1996, to Worcester of the American League Nov. 17. Although Reasoner had been among the rookie scoring leaders with seven points, his play had tailed off. Coach Joel Quennevillesaid he had been &ldquo;little flat."&hellip;With Reasoner&rsquo;s departure, Selke Trophy finalist Craig Conroy moved back to center on the checking line, which accounted for three goals and was plus-three in back-to-back games against Nashville Nov. 14 and Nov. 19. Conroy, and linemates Scott Young and Scott Pellerin each scored a goal and had two assists&hellip;Defenseman Al Maclnnis and right winger Pavol Demitra were tied for the Blues&rsquo; scoring lead with eight goals and 16 points. &#9632;

f0032-02

Idle Poeschek reports for battle

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011079/8538410-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="216" height="213"></div>The cold, hard truth came down on Friday the 13th.Less than two weeks into November, the San Jose Sharks announced high-profile free-agent acquisition Gary Suter will not play again this season.Suter&rsquo;s only action this year consisted of two periods in a 2-1 loss at Dallas on Oct. 24. He plans to undergo a third surgical procedure, probably in midDecember, in an attempt to resolve a triceps-tendon problem.If all goes well, Suter expects a full recovery before training camp next year.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have many reservations that this guy is still going to be a productive player,&rdquo; said San Jose GM Dean Lombardi.Suter, a five-time NHL All-Star Game participant, received a guaranteed three-year, $10-million contract from San Jose July 1. Shortly thereafter. Sharks&rsquo; medical personnel discovered a tom triceps tendon in Suter&rsquo;s right arm. Suter previously had been diagnosed with a ruptured bursa sac.Team physician Dr. Arthur Ting performed two summer surgeries, the second necessitated by a staph infection that ate away the repaired tendon. Suter lasted less than 13 minutes in his only game action before pain and swelling forced an early exit.&ldquo;The toughest thing is coming to the realization this is the best way to go,&rdquo; Suter said. &ldquo;I know in my heart it is, but being a hockey player, I&rsquo;ve been used to playing through injuries.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Jeff Friesen scored two goals and added an assist in a 54 win over visiting Los Angeles Nov. 18. The points gave Friesen an eight-game scoring streak, matching his career-high set in 1996-97&hellip;With 26 saves in the Nov. 18 victory over the Kings, goaltender Mike Vernon recorded his 335th lifetime triumph. tying (lump Worsley for ninth place on the NHL&rsquo;s all-time list&hellip;After initially balking at a Nov. 11 assignment to Kentucky of the American League, defenseman Andrei Zyuzin relented and reported to the Thoroughblades Nov. 16&hellip;The Sharks summoned defensemanAlexandre Boikov from Kentucky Nov. 17. A 1996 free-agent signee, Boikov had no NHL experience. &#9632;

f0033-01

Injury ends Suter’s season; expects return in 1999-2000

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03571/8538441-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="776" height="1205"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Ysebaert</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02731/8538448-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="215" height="209"></div>Last season, Paul Ysebaert led the Tampa Bay Lightning in scoring. On Nov. 16, less than two months into the defense of his team scoring title, the 11-season NHL veteran was demoted to the minors.Ysebaert, braced for the move, scoffed at rumors he would retire and accepted the assignment to Cleveland of the International League, though not without some reservations.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s part of the game,&rdquo; said Ysebaert, who was relegated to fourth-line duty out of training camp and was a healthy scratch for seven of the Lightning&rsquo;s first 17 games.&ldquo;Playing all the games last year and leading the team in scoring, I obviously felt pretty good coming into this year. But then I was left unprotected for the expansion draft and put on waivers and was told up front I wouldn&rsquo;t play every game, even though I think my versatility is one of my biggest assets. I kind of saw the writing on the wall.&rdquo;It is unlikely the Lightning will recall Ysebaert, although coach and GM Jacques Demers did not rule that out should injuries prompt the need.&ldquo;My respect for Paul Ysebaert is immense,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t have plans with Paul Ysebaert to sign him for next year. 1 want him to go the minors and to have a chance to be signed by another team, maybe an expansion team like Atlanta.&rdquo;Ysebaert, 32, was hoping the Lightning would buy out the final year on his $950,000 contract so another NHL team could sign him, or he could perhaps play in Europe.NOTEBOOK:By allowing 22 goals in losses of 10-2 to the Rangers, 8-1 at Colorado and 4-1 at Phoenix, the Lightning surpassed its previous worst three-game stretch of 21 goals allowed in Tampa&rsquo;s inaugural 1992-93 season&hellip;Ousted GM Phil Esposito was hired by Fox as a hockey analyst&hellip;Lightning right winger Andrei Nazarov was suspended seven games without pay and fined $ 1,000 for cross-checking Colorado defenseman Cam Russell in the face during a Nov. 13 game&hellip;Christmas came early for Lightning center Vincent Lecavalier, who was given an autographed stick by superstar Wayne Gretzky when the Rangers visited Tampa. Lecavalier said Gretzky personalized the stick: &ldquo;Good Luck in Your Career, Wayne Gretzky.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0033-03

Demotion to T for Ysebaert

<div class="byline">By Paul Hunter</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04452/8538479-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="218" height="211"></div>When the Toronto Maple Leafs, desperate for offensive help, gave Steve Thomas a two-year, $5-million contract last summer, there was no shortage of skeptics.Trapped in the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; tight defensive system, the winger had scored only 29 times over the past two seasons and, at 35, he was five seasons removed from his last 40-goal campaign.It seemed like just another example of the Leafs throwing too much money at a player past his prime.Thomas is silencing the doubters. After 18 games, his seven goals had him on pace for a 31-goal season. But. perhaps more importantly, as a fixture on the right side of the No. 1 line, Thomas gives center Mats Sundin the savvy winger he has craved for the past two seasons.The two mesh well. Of Sundin&rsquo;s team-leading eight goals, Thomas had assisted on six of them. Sundin was in on four of Thomas&rsquo; markers.But Thomas&rsquo; contribution goes beyond the numbers. He&rsquo;s an important veteran dressing room presence on a young team and his boisterous play sets a needed example. He&rsquo;s even killing penalties for the first time since he played junior in Toronto for the Marlies in the early 1980s.And Thomas is loving every minute of his resurrection in the city where his NHL career began in 1984.&ldquo;Right now things are going well and 1 want to ride it,&rdquo; said Thomas, who always maintained Toronto as his off-season home. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of pressure here. 1 didn&rsquo;t want to go out there and embarrass myself in front of people who think I can be a lot better.&rdquo;As for employing an offensive player such as Thomas as a penalty killer, coach Pat Quinn said it helps turn the tables on the opposition.&ldquo;It makes the power play guys more aware and more afraid what he might do if he steals the puck,&rdquo; Quinn said.NOTEBOOK: Lawyer Harvin Pitch, representing 15 of about 30 men who came forward in the Maple Leaf Gardens sexual abuse scandal, told the Toronto Star mediation was used to help reach out-of-court settlements for many of the victims. &ldquo;The pain of the victims is tragic and mind-boggling I&rsquo;m grateful for most of my clients that it&rsquo;s over,&rdquo; he said&hellip;Defenseman Alexander Karpovt-sev is out until late December with a broken left thumb after a slash from Ottawa left winger Andreas Johansson&hellip;Assistant coach Rick Ley did not attend the Leafs&rsquo; Nov. 18 game at Washington. He remained at home to mourn the passing of his older brother. Ron. who died of lung cancer. &#9632;

f0033-04

Local boy Thomas key contributor

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011216/8538510-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="213" height="213"></div>Mike Keenan laughingly suggests the reason he has won 500 games as an NHL head coach is because, &rsquo;Tve been around too long.&rdquo; Keenan reached the lofty milestone Nov. 19 in Denver as the Vancouver Canucks, his fifth team, crushed the injury-depleted Colorado Avalanche 5-0.He became only the sixth coach in league history to record 500 victories and pulled even with Toe Blake, who finished at an even 500.Now in his 14th year, Keenan&rsquo;s record was 500-346-112 (.574 winning percentage) and trails just Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour, Dick Irvin Sr. and Bill Reay on the all-time victory list.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a select group and I&rsquo;m very proud of the accomplishment,&rdquo; said Keenan. 49. &ldquo;It means you&rsquo;ve had some great players and great teams to work with because you don&rsquo;t win hockey games, players do.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve also had some fine coaches to work with throughout my career. I had great teaching as a youngster from people who have made their mark in hockey, namely Scotty Bowman who brought me into pro hockey. Tom Watt, Roger Neilson and Red Berenson, just to name a few, were instrumental in my development years.&rdquo;Canuck center Peter Zezel broke into the NHL at the same time Keenan began his coaching career with the 1984-85 Philadelphia Flyers. Zezel had high praise for the man who has made some enemies along the way.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great credit to his ability and hopefully he can push it to 600,&rdquo; said Zezel, who scored the winner in win No. 500. &ldquo;Nowadays with so many coaches coming and going, Mike certainly has established himself as one of the best in the league. He stands by what he believes in and he doesn&rsquo;t change because it has won for him. Why change if something is going good?&rdquo;After leaving the Flyers, Keenan spent four years with the Chicago Blackhawks and guided them to the final in 1991-92. He then spent a year in New York with the Rangers before joining the Canucks last season, replacing Tom Renney behind the bench.Mark Messier, who won a StanleyCup with Keenan and the New York Rangers in 1994, also had high praise for the iron-willed coach. Some players have found it difficult to play for Keenan over the years, but Messier admires the fact Keenan is a winner.&ldquo;I think Mike&rsquo;s record speaks for itself,&rdquo; said the Canucks&rsquo; captain and long-time Keenan admirer. &ldquo;Everything he does is geared to winning, not only short term but long term. He knows what it takes.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Canuck GM Brian Burke thinks a trade involving disgruntled holdout superstar right winger Pavel Bure won&rsquo;t happen before late November at the earliest. He said more than five teams were involved in the sweepstakes with the Islanders, Rangers and Los Angeles among the front-runners&hellip;The Canucks&rsquo; regular season futility against Colorado ended at 15 games and three years when Vancouver whipped the Avs 5-0. Vancouver had been 0-12-3 dating back to Dec. 18, 1995. The Canucks still have never beaten the Avs at GM Place where they are 0-7-1&hellip;The Canucks placed center Brandon Convery on waivers (he was picked up by Los Angeles). partially to make room for center Josh Holden. &#9632;

f0034-01

Keenan secures 500th victory

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02821/8538541-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="214" height="212"></div>To say goals have been hard to come by this season for Washington Capitals&rsquo; supersniper Peter Bondra is an understatement.The 30-year-old Slovakian has had well-documented dry spells in the past, but this is starting to look like an out-and-out drought.It was only last season that the right winger ended up tied with Anaheim Mighty Duck Teemu Selanne for the most goals in the league, each with 52 (Selanne played in three fewer games). It was the second time in four seasons Bondra won or shared the goal-scoring championship.So based on his track record it would be premature to call him out of the running for the Rocket Richard Trophy this early in the season, but he does have a lot of catching up to do.Through the Caps&rsquo; first 16 games, Bondra scored five goals, all coming in three games. He was on pace for 26 goals, which would be his lowest total since 1993-94.As of Nov. 19, he had scored in only one of the team&rsquo;s previous dozen con-tests-a hat trick on the road Nov. 7 against the Ottawa Senators.Only one of his goals was a gamewinner; he led the league with winners last season (13).Bondra said he is not feeling pressure, but acknowledged he is pressing, trying to reverse the disappointing trend.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no pressure I have to score 50 goals,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think I showed last year that whatever the team does is more important and that is how people will measure you. People are going to judge you on your effort, on how far you go with your team, not on how many goals you have.&rdquo;But the Caps have lost three one-goal decisions this season and been involved in three ties, all situations where one goal provides at least one more point in the standings.Tim Army, the assistant coach who breaks down and analyzes video, thinks the swift-skating Bondra is staying too far from the puck, is not attacking from close range. Bondra said he studied film and believes he is trying to get rid of the puck too quickly.Coach Ron Wilson believes at least part of the problem has been the inability to form consistent lines caused by the swath of injuries that have cut through the roster.It has been rare games where lines stayed intact from start to finish this season. Bondra in the past has liked to establish chemistry with just one center.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Richard Zednik was handed a four-game suspension for a reckless high stick on Toronto defenseman Daniil Markovin a Nov. 18 game. The Caps, though, were smarting that Markov didn&rsquo;t get a penalty for a crosscheck to Zednik&rsquo;s head that started it&hellip;The Caps 4-1 victory over the Leafs was the club&rsquo;s sixth straight win over Toronto and their first home win since opening night&hellip;The Caps are hoping their injury woes are subsiding. As of Nov. 20, the team was down to two players on injured reserve-center Michal Pivonka and winger Yogi Svejkovsky-which is the way it started the season. In between, the number of man-games lost to injury hit triple figures before the season was one-quarter old. &#9632;

f0034-02

Slumping Bondra soldiers on

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>At least one Ontario League GM feels commissioner Dave Branch went too far by awarding the Sarnia Sting compensation for losing import draft pick Yevgeny Lazarev.Lazarev, 18, from Ukraine, resumed playing with the American League&rsquo;s Hershey Bears and the Sting dropped its lawsuit that sought to force his return to the OHL.Branch gave the Sting additional selections in the third and seventh rounds of the 2000 OHL draft. The GM, who asked not to be identified, had a European pick not report to his club after being drafted by an NHL team.Jim Rooney, Guelph Storm president and chair of the OHL&rsquo;s board of directors, said it is within Branch&rsquo;s scope to award the picks. The Sting gave the picks to Belleville to get the Bulls&rsquo; higher selection in the Canadian League import draft.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure not every GM is going to embrace this, but it&rsquo;s the job of the commissioner to resolve a dispute,&rdquo; Rooney said.&ldquo;He has the privilege within the parameters of our constitution. And besides, the Lazarev case is different than any others. The Sting felt it had an agreement with him. He spent the summer with (coach-GM)Mark Hunter.&rdquo;Lazarev was drafted by Colorado and the Avalanche assigned him to Hershey. The Sting challenged that and got a court injunction Oct. 19 preventing Lazarev from playing anywhere.The Sting claimed the Avalanche contravened the NHL-CHL agreement that requires signed 18-and 19-year-olds to play in the NHL or be returned to their major junior team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011133/8538572-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="935" height="319"></div>The NHL said that only pertains to players in Jr. A or major junior the previous season. Lazarev had played Jr. B in Kitchener, Ont., last year.If Lazarev is eventually returned to Sarnia before the 2000 draft, the Sting won&rsquo;t get the picks, but Avs&rsquo; assistant GM Francois Giguere said there are no plans to send him down.SUSPENSIONS GALORE: Five players were suspended for a Kingston Frontenacs-Lon-don Knights penalty-box brawl.Frontenacs&rsquo; defenseman Walker McDonald got four games for leaving the bench and walking across the cement to the adjacent penalty box to join in. Kingston&rsquo;s Brett Clouthier and DJ. Maracle and London&rsquo;s John Erskine and Krys Barch each got two games for fighting in the penalty box. Kingston coach-GM LarryMavety got two games and the team was fined $1,000.St. Michael&rsquo;s captain Mike Jefferson got four games for leaving the players&rsquo; bench to help Majors&rsquo; rookie Sheldon Keefe during a brawl with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Six others got automatic two-game suspensions.Keefe led OHL rookies with 16 goals and 32 points in 19 games. Jefferson was second on the Majors with nine goals and 20 points and was peeved at his teammates.&ldquo;We have some serious problems on this team,&rdquo; Jefferson told the Toronto Sun. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no way I should have to fight every game to protect our best player. Look around the league and see what happens on other teams when you touch their best players.&rdquo;KUGEL HEARING: The Windsor Spitfires filed an appeal Nov. 19 to the suspension of Jeff Kugel. The 6-foot-7, 255-pound left winger was given a 25-game suspension and lifetime ban for coming off the bench to join a brawl in a game against the Owen Sound Platers Oct. 25. The OHL was to rule on the case Nov. 27.CHANGE OF ADDRESS: St. Mike&rsquo;s and the Erie Otters swapped goalies Nov. 12, the Majors sending Corey Batten. 18, to the Otters for Patrick Dovigi, 19. The Majors also got Erie&rsquo;s fourth and seventh picks in 1999.Dovigi, a 1997 Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; draft pick, developed an early-season rift with coach Paul Theriault and was sent home to Sault Ste. Marie a week before the trade. Batten had requested a trade from St. Mike&rsquo;s. &#9632;

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Lazarev compensation rulinq doesn’t sit well with everyone

<div class="byline">By Gordie Sutherland</div>The Rocket is expected to land in Montreal in time for the 1999-2000 season.The Quebec League expansion team, which would be called the Rockets after Hall of Famer Maurice &rsquo;Rocket&rsquo; Richard, is reportedly looking for 12 owners to invest $100,000 each.The expansion fee is $850,000 and the team is likely to have an annual operating budget of between $750,000 and $1 million.In keeping with their theme, the Rockets would play out of Maurice Richard Arena, which seats about 5,000.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident, but we have work to do before we make a final decision,&rdquo; said QMJHL president Gilles Courteau.A decision on the Montreal group&rsquo;s bid is expected to be made at the league&rsquo;s next board of governors meeting in mid-December. Courteau and the expansion committee plan to examine the bid before then<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02787/8538603-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="657" height="618"></div>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll look at the school facility, the (potential) own--ers, what kind of a deal do they have with the city, the rink, management,&rdquo; Courteau said.Adding a Montreal entry would bring the number of teams to 16 and could result in a two-conference, four-division format.Courteau said it&rsquo;s premature to talk format, but GMs in the league are talking as though it&rsquo;s a given Montreal will have a team next season.CHANGES LOOM: Changes have already begun in Chicoutimi.The Sagueneens, who have reportedly put wingers Ramzi Abid and Mathieu Benoit on the trading block, made a major move Nov. 18 when they fired coach Christian LaRue.Martin Daoust, who coached midget tripleA College Charles-Lemoyne to a national title last season, is the new bench boss.&ldquo;I have peace of mind,&rdquo; said LaRue, who at 27 was the youngest coach in the league. &ldquo;My owner (Marc Tremblay) took a decision. I have to respect it even if I disagree with it.&rdquo;LaRue, in the second year of a two-year contract, is the league&rsquo;s second coaching casualty of the season. The Baie-Comeau Drakkar fired Fernand LeBlanc Nov. 2.The financially strapped Sagueneens got off to a 7-15-1 start. LaRue said his relationship with Tremblay soured in November.&ldquo;I was ready to put in the time and energy to build something strong for the region,&rdquo; LaRue said. &ldquo;The region usually has a very competitive team and this year it was a shame what was going on, but we were ready to bring back a winning team here.&rdquo;HULL BATTERED: Through his team&rsquo;s first 21 games, Hull Olympiques&rsquo; coach Claude Julien has done more juggling than a busker.The Olympiques, battling to stay out of the basement in the Robert Lebel Division, have been plagued with injuries, forcing Julien to keep a roster of 27 players.The Olympiques made a November trip to the Maritimes with five players on the injured list, including top scorers Ryan Lauzon, out with a shoulder injury, and Marty Johnston, nursing a sore groin.Both returned to the lineup Nov. 11 in a 5-3 win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.It was the first game this season that Julien had his top line of Lauzon, 18, Johnston, 20, and Vince Malts, 20, together.Johnston, Hull&rsquo;s top scorer last season, didn&rsquo;t join the team until October when he was cut from the Utah Grizzlies of the International League. Malts, meanwhile, was sidelined in training camp with a back injury and then hurt his ankle.NOTEBOOK: Russian Dmitri Kalinin of the Moncton Wildcats sustained a knee injury Nov. 10 that will sideline him until at least midJanuary&hellip;Shawinigan Cataractes&rsquo; goalie Mathieu Chouinard had a league-leading three shutouts in his first 18 games since returning from the Ottawa Senators, who picked him in the first round, 15th overall, of the NHL draft last June. &#9632;

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Proposed Montreal team to be named after Richard

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>The Saskatoon Blades ended one dry spell while extending another Nov. 17.Saskatoon halted its goal-scoring drought at 306 minutes 24 seconds during a 4-2 Western League loss to the visiting Swift Current Broncos. The defeat, however, stretched Saskatoon&rsquo;s losing streak to seven games.Igor Valeev ended his team&rsquo;s offensive hibernation at 12:20 of the second period. Saskatoon&rsquo;s previous goal came 12 days earlier when center Garrett Prosofsky scored 5:46 into the second period of a 4-2 loss to the host Tri-City Americans.A drought exceeding five hours is believed to be a league record.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t remember anything like it,&rdquo; said Richard Doerksen, the WHL&rsquo;s long-time vice-president. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of those records we&rsquo;ve never kept. You don&rsquo;t realize it until someone has a streak like this.&rdquo;The Blades were shut out in four consecutive games during the power outage. Their plight was complicated by a spate of injuries.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen anything like this,&rdquo; said Blades&rsquo; coach Brad McCrimmon.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03647/8538634-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="507" height="517"></div>KEEPING UP WITH JONES: The Spokane Chiefs&rsquo; brass is elated over the return of right winger Ty Jones from the NHL&rsquo;s Chicago Blackhawks.Jones isn&rsquo;t complaining, either.&ldquo;I enjoyed being in the NHL, but I missed the guys here,&rdquo; said Jones, 19. &ldquo;I wanted to come back and spend one more year with the boys. You can never get enough of that.&rdquo;Jones began this season with Blackhawks, who picked him 16th overall in the 1997 NHL draft. Jones played in eight games with Chicago before being sent back to Spokane.&ldquo;You can only play so many years in junior hockey and I want to enjoy that,&rdquo; Jones said. &ldquo;In the pros, you can play until you retire or your body gives out. I hope I&rsquo;ve got a long career ahead. I don&rsquo;t need to rush things.&rdquo;Jones had three goals and eight points in his first seven games back with Spokane. He was held scoreless with Chicago.&ldquo;I came close to a couple of goals,&rdquo; Jones noted. &ldquo;The posts must be bigger up there-either that or the nets are smaller.&rdquo;RE-PEAT OFFENDER: Red Deer Rebels&rsquo; defenseman Stephen Peat received his second four-game suspension of the season after a Nov. 10 incident.Peat, who was also fined $250 by the WHL, was disciplined for leaving the penalty box and entering the Prince Albert box to fight Raiders&rsquo; right winger Craig Brunel.&ldquo;He looked at me and said he likes to be suspended,&rdquo; Brunel said.Peat had just returned from a four-game suspension he received for cross-checking Medicine Hat Tigers&rsquo; right winger Shaun Hill in the face during an Oct. 10 game.WASYLUK DEALT: The Leth-, bridge Hurricanes traded left winger i Trevor Wasyluk to the Kootenay . Ice Nov. 11 for forwards Kris Knoblauch, 20, and Brian Ballman,18. The 20-year-old Wasyluk had three goals and 12 points in 17 games at the time of the deal.Wasyluk was selected by the Hartford Whalers (now Carolina Hurricanes) in the second round of the 1996 NHL draft. He was unable to agree to a contract with Carolina and became a free agent.NOTEBOOK: The Kamloops Blazers established a franchise-record 17-game undefeated streak by defeating Kootenay 3-1 Nov. 14. Kamloops was 16-0-1 during that span. The Blazers had fashioned a 16-game unbeaten string during the 1989-90 season. The victory also extended Kamloops&rsquo; winning streak to 11 games&hellip;Tri-City Americans&rsquo; center Dylan Gyori had four goals during an 8-2 conquest of the Kelowna Rockets Nov. 14. In his next game, Gyori had a hat trick in a 6-6 tie with the Moose Jaw Warriors. The outburst gave Gyori 16 goals in 22 games&hellip;Lethbridge will play host to the WHL all-star game Jan. 20. &#9632;

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Dull Blades finally put end to five-hour goal drought

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Shane Willis is out to prove the wait was worthwhile, for himself and the Carolina Hurricanes.Just a rookie with the American League&rsquo;s Beast of New Haven, Willis is already aware professional hockey is much more than a game, that it also is a business.Drafted in the third round (56th overall) in 1995 by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Willis refused to sign with the club and re-entered the draft two years later. He didn&rsquo;t like the direction the Lightning were headed and didn&rsquo;t think it was the right fit for him.The next time around, after a 56-goal, 95-point season for Prince Albert and Lethbridge in the&rsquo; Western League, he was chosen in the fourth round (88th overall) by Carolina.But Willis again spumed a contract offer, deciding to remm to Lethbridge to play as an overage junior. He scored 58 goals and 112 &rsquo; points, then finally signed his first pro contract March 31.Through the first six weeks of the AHL season, the 6-foot, 176-pound right winger was all business. He was tied for third in league scoring with eight goals and 21 points in 15 games, the best point total among rookies.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011105/8538665-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="565" height="568"></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to show Carolina it was the right decision to draft me and sign me,&rdquo; Willis said. &ldquo;This year Kevin McCarthy (the New Haven coach) has shown a lot of confidence in me and it makes it easier to play when you know they have confidence in you.&rdquo;It helped that Willis was reunited with center Byron Ritchie, his former Lethbridge linemate.&ldquo;I think we were both confident right away,&rdquo; Willis said. &ldquo;It makes it so much easier playing with someone you know.&rdquo;Knowing Ritchie stmggled in New Haven as a rookie last season (13 goals, 31 points in 65 games) was a wakeup call for Willis. &ldquo;What really helped Shane was seeing that Byron went through a real tough year,&rdquo; McCarthy said. &ldquo;A lot of guys come out of junior and they don&rsquo;t realize how good the American League is. He knew what he was in for before he got here and he has made that step from junior fairly quickly.&rdquo;McCarthy says Willis has the tools to make the step to the NHL. too. &ldquo;He has two outstanding qualities: He is a great skater and has a great shot,&rdquo; McCarthy said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not weak without the puck, he knows his defensive responsibilities. Consistency will be the key for Shane.&rdquo;HE&rsquo;S BACK: Rochester Americans&rsquo; left winger Craig Fisher missed the first nine games of the season with a broken bone in his hand, but he has shown no lingering affects from the injury.Fisher, who played in Germany last season, scored six goals and 12 points in his first five games back, including four power play goals. &ldquo;I just like to be lurking in the weeds, to be there and pounce,&rdquo; said Fisher, 28.CAST YOUR BALLOTS: Fan voting for the AHL All-Star Game begins Nov. 30 in all league arenas, as well as on the league&rsquo;s*web site.For the ballots in arenas, fans will write in the name of one player. The top vote-getters at each position will be named the starters for Canada and Planet USA. The top Canadian-born players face players from the rest of the world in the Jan. 25 game at First Union Center in Philadelphia.AHL TIDBITS: Hartford Wolf Pack center Derek Armstrong had a team-record five assists in a 6-3 win over the Worcester IceCats Nov. 14&hellip;Hamilton Bulldogs&rsquo; goalie Steve Passmore earned player-of-the-week honors for the period ending Nov. 15. He went 2-0-1 and allowed just four goals, including a 34-save home shutout over the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. &#9632;

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New Haven’s Willis all business since finally siqninq pro contract

<div class="byline">By John Packet</div>Putting together an expansion team in an established league is difficult enough. Having them play their first 13 games on the road is a prescription for disaster.That&rsquo;s what coach Bob Ferguson and his Florida Everblades were asked to do in their inaugural East Coast League season and they emerged from the baptism under fire in remarkable shape.After the first 13 games, the Everblades were 7-6-0 and just three points out of first place in the Southeast Division. The Everblades finally played in front of 7,500 friendly fans at sold-out Everblades Arena Nov. 19 in an 4-1 win over the Charlotte Checkers.&ldquo;The positive side of it was we had them in an environment where we could keep them focused,&rdquo; Ferguson said. &ldquo;It gave us time to get a little team camaraderie and chemistry.&rdquo;The Everblades held training camp in Detroit and, with the exception of a brief trip to Fort Myers, Fla., in early November, were on the road for 40 days, traveling over 6,700 miles to 11 ECHL cities.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02719/8538696-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="508" height="544"></div>&ldquo;Two things have really helped us,&rdquo; Ferguson said. &ldquo;We have a great affiliation with the Carolina Hurricanes. We&rsquo;ve got a lot of their young prospects. Plus, the other ones are players I&rsquo;ve either coached or coached against in the past, so they know our systems and my coaching style.Centers Pat Mikesch (19 points) and Eric Manlow (16) and feisty left winger Eric Boulton (15) were the scoring leaders, while goaltender Marc Magliarditi (6-1-0 and 3.39 goals-against average) has been steady.ECHL ON ESPN: The seventh annual ECHL All-Star Game, scheduled for Jan. 13 in Biloxi, Miss., will be shown on a tape-delayed basis by ESPN2, marking the first time the league will be featured on a national television broadcast.The game, which will be available to more than 60 million homes in the U.S., will be shown Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. EST. In addition, ECHL radio, in conjunction with NHL radio, will make its debut with a live syndicated broadj cast of the game. Steve Carroll, who does the New Orleans Brass games, will call the action, with Brass coach Ted Sator providing color analysis.COAST LINES: Louisiana IceGators left winger Don Parsons was player of the week for the period ending Nov. 15 after netting seven goals and five assists in five games, while Greenville Grrrowl netminder Nick Vitucci was goalie of the week after going 2-1-1 with a 1.50 GA A&hellip; Chris Bailey, a member of the 1998 gold-medal winning U.S. Women&rsquo;s Olympic team, has joined the Columbus Chill&rsquo;s front office staff as a sponsorship sales representative. Bailey will also conduct hockey classes for women learning the sport at the Chiller, Columbus&rsquo; practice facility. &#9632;

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Expansion Florida Everblades survive gruelling season-opening road trip

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01984/8538727-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"></div>Chris Joseph is doing all the things that merited him being the fifth overall selection in the NHL entry draft. He&rsquo;s moving the puck, he&rsquo;s jumping into the play without being a defensive liability, he&rsquo;s a standout on the power play and he doesn&rsquo;t need a road map to get around his own end.The only problem for Joseph is that he&rsquo;s doing it all 10 years too late and in the International League instead of the NHL.Joseph, picked in the first round by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1987, has gotten off to a brilliant start with the Cincinnati Cyclones, who acquired him when he was assigned there by the Philadelphia Flyers at the end of training camp.Joseph, 29, had eight goals and 20 points in the Cyclones&rsquo; first 18 games and was one of the league&rsquo;s top players night in and night out.He said he was doing the things Pittsburgh scouts thought he would do in the NHL when they drafted him out of the Western League&rsquo;s Seattle Thunderbirds in 1987.&ldquo;When I first started, there were a lot of expectations on me,&rdquo; Joseph said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what happened, honestly. The last couple of years, I was not playing the type of hockey I should. 1 was more defensive and playing tougher than I used to, but I found when I got to Cincinnati, I got back to my old game.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not giving up on playing strong defense or playing physically, but I have to use what I do best. I&rsquo;ve fit in real well here so far.&rdquo;Joseph was signed by Philadelphia as a free agent on Sept. 11, 1997, but didn&rsquo;t work out with the Flyers. With limited ice time in 15 games, he had one goal and 19 penalty minutes last season.He had been around long enough in the NHL to know during training camp his days with the Flyers were numbered. He hasn&rsquo;t given up on getting back to the NHL, however.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not holding my breath waiting to get called up, but I think I still have something to offer,&rdquo; Joseph said. &ldquo;(The Flyers) made their decision and obviously I&rsquo;m not happy about it because I&rsquo;d rather be in the NHL.&ldquo;This is a good place for me to be while I hope something comes up. We have a good, smart team and we&rsquo;re going to win a lot of games and I&rsquo;m getting a ton of ice time. That took some getting used to, considering what I&rsquo;d been used to the last little while, but I&rsquo;m not complaining, believe me.&rdquo;STEWART STILL BLAZING: The Houston Aeros got off to an 11-2-2 start, led in large part by veteran left winger Cam Stewart, who led the IHL in goals and was tied for eighth in points.Stewart, whose career high in goals was the 18 he had last year in 63 games with Houston, had 14 in the Aeros&rsquo; first 15 games. He had a six-game goal-scoring streak through Nov. 16.INJURY BUG: The Las Vegas Thunder lost its third player for an extended period of time Nov. 15 when center Stefan Ustorf suffered tom medial collateral ligaments in his left knee when he was checked by LongBeach Ice Dogs&rsquo; forwardShawn Wansborough.Las Vegas was upset with the hit, claiming Wansborough stuck out his knee in whatThunder personnel said was a deliberate attempt to injure. The Thunder sent a tape of the hit to the league.Ustorf will be sidelined for two to three months. This is the fourth time he has had the same injury. He previously injured the left knee twice and the right knee once.Las Vegas has also been without star right winger Patrice Lefebvre, who suffered a tom left medial collateral knee ligament Oct. 15, and captain Kevin Kaminski, who suffered multiple facial fractures when strack by a Petr Nedved slap shot Oct. 23. Kaminski had two plates and 12 screws inserted to repair the damage.I-OPENERS: The Chicago Blackhawks assigned sec-ond-year center Todd White, the IHL&rsquo;s rookie of the year last season, to the Chicago Wolves&hellip;National Basketball Association star John Stockton of the Utah Jazz drove the Zamboni at the Utah Grizzlies-Fort Wayne Komets game Nov. 14&hellip; Veteran goaltender Wendell Young of Chicago returned from off-season shoulder surgery Nov. 14 and took the loss in a 5-3 defeat to the Manitoba Moose&hellip;Moose defenseman Brett Hauer was enjoying a 10-game points streak&hellip;The IHL and NHL announced an agreement Nov. 13 to jointly promote the game through various promotions and sponsorships. &ldquo;This is a very important announcement for us,&rdquo; said IHL president Doug Moss. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s another example of how the IHL and NHL can help each other achieve individual goals and objectives while promoting the sport throughout North America.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Joseph excels in Cincinnati, but still has big league dream

<div class="byline">By Brendan Savage</div>The rich got richer as the United League&rsquo;s all-time top goal-scorer returned from the East Coast League.Right winger Kevin Kerr, who scored 308 goals in five seasons with the Flint y Generals, is back in the UHL, but this time with the two-time defending champion Quad City Mallards.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02668/8538758-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="620" height="326"></div>Kerr, 31, left Flint last summer after a falling out with Generals&rsquo; chief operating officer Robbie Nichols.After 12 games with the ECHL&rsquo;s Mobile Mystics in which he had six goals and 14 points, Kerr askedMobile to release him from his con-tract and the team consented. A free agent, he then signed with Quad City.&ldquo;(The ECHL) is a good league. It&rsquo;s just not my style of hockey,&rdquo; said Kerr, who had five straight seasons with at least 50 goals, 100 points and 200 penalty minutes.&ldquo;Sometimes, you think things are different and it&rsquo;s a little greener on the other side, but it&rsquo;s not always as green as you think.&rdquo;Kerr&rsquo;s decision to sign with Quad City was hard to swallow for Flint fans since the Mallards have beaten Flint in the past two UHL finals.Quad City was first overall with an 11-3-2 record when Kerr signed. &#9632;

f0037-02

UHL goal-scoring king Kerr back in fold with Quad City

<div class="byline">By Andy Baggot</div><h2>WCHA</h2>Quality teams are able to hold firm when key injuries strike. We are about to find out how good Colorado College and North Dakota are in their quest for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association title.Both are favorites to battle for the WCHA&rsquo;s MacNaughton Cup. Both lost marquee personnel during action Nov. 13-14.Colorado College will be without junior winger Toby Peterson until at least late January after he broke his left fibula against Denver Nov. 13. Several pins and a metal plate were inserted during surgery the following day. In seven games, Peterson had six goals and 10 points to help the Tigers jump to a 7-1 -0 start.The following night, the Fighting Sioux lost senior winger David Hoogsteen early January with a broken right ankle against Minnesota. Hoogsteen had five goals and eight points in six games after totaling 20-23-43 last season.Coincidentally, the next series for the two contenders was against one another in Grand Forks, N.D., Nov. 20-21.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll both have to find a way to win without them,&rdquo; said North Dakota coach Dean Blais, whose club went into the showdown with Colorado College 3-0-1 in league play and 5-01 overall. &ldquo;Even though it&rsquo;s early in the season, what happens (in the series) will be a pretty good indication of how the rest of the season will go.&rdquo;CLASSY GESTURE: As part of a ceremony Nov. 14 to retire its first sweater in school history-the No. 8 worn by all-time leading Scorer John Mayasich-current Minnesota players took the ice wearing replicas of the jersey with the name &rsquo;MAYASICH&rsquo; on the back.When the proceedings ended, the players removed the sweaters and tossed the 20 souvenirs into the sellout crowd at Mariucci Arena.From 1951-52 through 1954-55, Mayasich had 144 goals and 298 points in 111 games for the Gophers. He also played on the U.S. Olympic team that won the gold medal in 1960.LITTLE ROOM FOR ERROR: Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer registered the 575th win of his career when the Badgers beat Alaska-Anchorage 2-1 Nov. 13.The decision moved Wisconsin over the .500 mark (4-3-1) in league play, but Sauer remains squeamish about his offense.The Badgers hadn&rsquo;t scored more than three goals in a game and had taken part in six one-goal games (3-3-0). While Sauer likes his defense, power play (21.6 per cent efficiency) and penalty killing (89.1 per cent) numbers, he would like to see more even-strength scoring.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re going to win a lot of games 10-2 this year, but if we can score four or five goals, we&rsquo;re going to win some games because we&rsquo;re going to be able to hold people below three goals a game,&rdquo; Sauer said. &#9632;

Contenders will be tested after losing key performers

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div><h2>CCHA</h2>Lake Superior State coach Scott Borek knew his team would struggle to score this season, but he had no idea the Lakers would start the season so dismally.Lake State didn&rsquo;t win its first game of the season until Nov. 14, when it defeated Ferris State 3-1. That gave the Lakers a 1-5-2 conference record and a 1-7-2 mark overall.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;d be in this position, but it felt good (to get the win),&rdquo; said Borek.There was no mystery why the Lakers were struggling. Lake Superior scored just 13 goals in its eight conference games and just 17 in 10 games overall.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know who would score the goals and, to this point, no one has,&rdquo; said Borek, who&rsquo;s in his third season as coach. &ldquo;I think we have some players that, with some added confidence, can help us in that area, but the keys to our having success is playing hard, defense and goaltending. And those were the reasons we got the victory against Ferris.&rdquo;Inexperience is also a factor for the Lakers. The only seniors on the team are left wingers Mike Kucsulain and Tobin Praznik. Borek said both those players have bought into his program and been good leaders by providing enthusiasm and a strong work ethic.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been very happy with the way the team has been performing Monday through Thursday,&rdquo; Borek said. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;m confident we&rsquo;ll eventually get the job done on Fridays and Saturdays.&rdquo;BUCKEYES BOUNCE BACK: After playing its first nine games on the road, Ohio State won its first two games at home.After starting 1-3-2 in the CCHA and 1-6-2 overall on the road, the Buckeyes defeated Michigan State 3-2 and Northern Michigan 4-2 on home ice. It was the Buckeyes&rsquo; 11th and 12th consecutive victories on home ice.Junior center Hugo Boisvert had two assists in the victory over Michigan State and a goal and an assist the following night against Northern Michigan.Ohio State goalie Jeff Maund, who posted a .937 save percentage in the two games, was named CCHA defensive player of the week for the period ending Nov. 15.NOTEBOOK: Michigan freshman goaltender Josh Blackburn is beginning to play more consistently. Despite a 2.27 goals-against average and 6-1-1 record, Blackburn had games early in the season where he surrendered more than one bad goal. But Michigan coach Red Berenson said Blackbum has gotten more steady as the season goes goes on. &ldquo;I think you&rsquo;re going to have your off games,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;And you could probably say that in two of the seven or eight games, he gave up more than one bad goal. But we&rsquo;ve seen him come back and play well, too.&rdquo; &#9632;

Lake Superior struggling with inferior scoring touch

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggie</div><h2>ECAC</h2>Most teenage players in the United States can&rsquo;t wait until they get out of high school so they can leave home and try their hand at the college level.Matt Murley was just the opposite. He couldn&rsquo;t wait to get out of high school-and return home.Murley, a freshman left winger at RPI, has gone full circle, arriving back in his hometown of Troy, N.Y., after spending a good part of his teenage years about 2 1/2 hours to the west, outside of Syracuse.Since he was 11, Murley has either commuted to, or lived in, the Syracuse area so he could play in the well-developed junior programs in the area. Now, he&rsquo;s playing hockey five minutes from home.&ldquo;He had been traveling the last seven or eight years to Syracuse to play hockey,&rdquo; said RPI coach Dan Fridgen, &ldquo;and I think he was looking forward to coming home. Now, his family and friends have the chance to see him play, which they didn&rsquo;t have before.&rdquo;The 6-foot-l, 185-pounder, who turns 19 Dec. 17, is projected as a second or third round NHL draft pick next season.Red Line Report has Murley listed the 68th ranked prospect in its October issue. He had 56 goals and 126 points in 49 games for the Junior Crunch last season.Murley scored a goal in his first collegiate game, a 4-3 overtime win over Boston University, and after six games, led the league in scoring (two goals and 11 points).&ldquo;Matt knows the game,&rdquo; Fridgen said. &ldquo;The creative part of it, the offense, he has down well. Defensive situations, whether it&rsquo;s penalty kill or in-zone, that&rsquo;s what he needs to sharpen up on. But by no means is he just an offensive player. He&rsquo;s a good two-way player.&rdquo;PRINCELY START: Princeton recorded a pair of firsts when the Tigers began the league schedule with back-to-back wins over St. Lawrence (2-0) and Clarkson (4-3) Nov. 13-14.Senior goalie Nick Rankin made 28 saves to record his first career shutout in the win over the Saints, and coach Don Cahoon got his first sweep of the annual North Country trip in his eighth season behind the Tigers&rsquo; bench.NOTEBOOK: Dartmouth junior defenseman Ryan Poulton, who scored just one goal in 28 games last season, had a hat trick in the Big Green&rsquo;s 5-1 win over Union College Nov. 14&hellip;Cornell freshman David Krozier had three goals in the Big Red&rsquo;s 7-2 win over Harvard Nov. 13&hellip;Pre-season favorite Clarkson broke its four-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Yale Nov. 13, but dropped a 4-3 decision to Princeton the next night&hellip;The Golden Knights&rsquo; 1-5 start is the team&rsquo;s worst since 1988-89, when the Knights were 1-4-2 after seven games. &#9632;

Murley impressing early after coming home to RPI

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>Markus Heianen doesn&rsquo;t know the Finnish translation for &rsquo;big skates to fill.&rsquo; But as long as he can fill them, that&rsquo;s all that matters.The sophomore from Vantaa, Finland has shone for Massachusetts-Amherst this season, replacing the graduated Brian Regan as starter.Most recently, Helanen was Hockey East player of the week stopping 87 of 89 shots in a 2-1 win and 1-1 tie with previously unbeaten Maine Nov. 13-14. Maine was the nation&rsquo;s fourth-ranked team at the time.&ldquo;At this point, he would have to be the most improved player in the league,&rdquo; said Maine coach Shawn Walsh who watched Helanen make what Walsh classifies as &ldquo;46 grade-A saves&rdquo; in the two games.Helanen played in just eight games last season backing up Regan, who was voted the team&rsquo;s MVP. Helanen could very well be the next goalie with his name on the MVP plaque.His goals-against average improved to 2.38 and his save percentage to .931. Helanen hadn&rsquo;t allowed more than four goals, a game through seven games. He said he benefited from a productive summer in Finland.&ldquo;Our team won the Finnish in-line championship and I got a lot of confidence,&rdquo; said the 6-foot-3, 205-pound stand-up netminder. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve tried to play my angles much better this year.&rdquo;UMass-Amherst coach Joe Mallen said they sent Helanen home with a training regimen over the summer and he has reaped the benefits. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very hard worker, a good athlete and he is very mature,&rdquo; Mallen said.Mallen called the 1-0-1 weekend &ldquo;the biggest we&rsquo;ve had since restarting the Minutemen program in 1993-94 (after a 14 year absence).&rdquo; UMass-Amherst improved to 2-2-1.EXPANSION TALKS: Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna said he would like to see the league&rsquo;s athletic directors take a more, proactive approach to expansion.The league has nine teams and Bertagna doesn&rsquo;t like the idea of one team having a weekend off while the others are playing, especially during the stretch runs late in the season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had casual conversations with other schools but nothing formal,&rdquo; Bertagna said.Bertagna said the ideal situation would be to add another New England school to Hockey East, but expanding to another state would open up a new recruiting area.&ldquo;We also need to discuss whether we look for one team or possibly three teams and try to expand to 12,&rdquo; Bertagna said.HONOR ROLL: New Hampshire&rsquo;s Darren Haydar, who had two goals and an assist in a 31 win and a 2-2 tie against Boston University Nov. 13-14, was rookie of the week&hellip;UMass-Lowell defenseman Anthony Cappelletti, who had the shorthanded winner against Army in a 43 win Nov. 13, was defensive player of the week. &#9632;

Fine Finn goalie Helanen has Minutemen surging

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NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

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NHL GAME SUMMARIES

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NHL ROSTERS AND TRANSACTIONS

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INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

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CANADIAN LEAGUE

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December 4, 1998

AMERICAN LEAGUE

HALL OF FAME HONOR ROLL

Losing takes toll on goalie Legace as hunt for savior scorer continues

Panthers declawed when down, anxious to recover fighting spirit