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 11, 1998

The Hockey News December 11, 1998

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff </div><div class="byline">-with file from Brendan Savage</div><h2>PUCK BRIEFS</h2>Windsor Spitfires&rsquo; left winger Jeff Kugel, who was issued one of the stiffest suspensions in Ontario League history, will be allowed to apply for reinstatement at the end of this season.OHL commissioner Dave Branch worked out conditions under which Kugel can re-apply while OHL governors were deciding Nov. 27 to back Branch&rsquo;s original decision to ban Kugel from the league for the remainder of his junior career.Kugel, 18, was suspended 25 games and banned for life by Branch for an Oct. 25 attack on unsuspecting Owen Sound Plater winger Juri Golicic.The Spitfires appealed the suspension to the league&rsquo;s board of governors, which met for more than four hours. The governors decided unanimously that Branch acted reasonably and within his powers as commissioner to ban Kugel from the league.Branch presented his new position to board chairman Jim Rooney following deliberations.&ldquo;During the presentation by Jeff, I was quite taken by his concern,&rdquo; Branch said. &ldquo;He extended an apology and was extremely remorseful. He acknowledged what he did was clearly incorrect and cannot be part of the game. I&rsquo;m not uncomfortable that this young man deserves an opportunity for reinstatement if he so wishes.&rdquo;Through lawyer Lawrence Green-spon, Kugel said he&rsquo;s disappointed with the immediate decision, but pleased at the prospect of rejoining the league in the future.CHARGES LAID: Thunder Bay Thunder Cats&rsquo; defenseman Barry McKinlay faced criminal charges and was slammed with a 54-game United League suspension after a stick he threw into the crowd struck two school-aged girls.McKinlay, a four-time all-star, was banned for the rest of the season and playoffs after the Nov. 21 incident, in Madison, Wis. He was arrested on two counts of recklessly causing harm to a child. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Dec. 8. The girls, ages 8 and 9, were not hurt.According to the criminal complaint, McKinlay swung his stick in a sideways arc and threw it into the stands, where it hit one girl in the head and the other in the neck.The girls admitted taunting McKinlay as he left the ice following a misconduct penalty.&ldquo;After reviewing the events and speaking with those involved, it is clear Mr. McKinlay did not intend to throw his stick in a manner that would result in physical harm to anyone,&rdquo; said UHL commissioner Richard Brosal.&ldquo;However, I do believe this act was reckless and committed with disregard to the safety of others.&rdquo;GELINEAU DIES: Former goalie Jack Gelineau, the NHL&rsquo;s top rookie in 1949-50, died of cancer Nov. 12, one day after his 74th birthday.A native of Toronto, Gelineau was 25 when he broke in with the Boston Bruins and played 67 games, compiling a 22-30-15 record and 3.28 goals-against average. He followed up his Calder Trophy-winning season by playing all 70 games in 1950-51.Gelineau then spent the next four years-save for a two-game stint with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1953-54-with the Quebec Aces in the Quebec Senior League. Prior to his pro career, Gelineau was a star at McGill University and was inducted into the McGill sports hall of fame in 1997. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

Kugel can apply to return as OHL softens suspension

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02695/8210734-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NHL GOALTENDNG STATSTCS

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Staff Writer</div>There was a refreshingly simple rationale behind the CALGARY Flames&rsquo; waiver wire acquisition of Phil Housley last summer. That being, if you&rsquo;ve got a hole the size of Montana where power play offense and a puck-moving defenseman should be, fill it first and worry about the baggage later.The need for a Housley-type player was glaring. Too much pressure was being put on a young defenseman such as Derek Morris to run the power play and start the attack, which created much frustration for a veteran forward such as Theo Fleury who couldn&rsquo;t make full use of his speed without a strong, accurate outlet pass.Housley, 34, puts it on the tape nine times out of 10 and, as a power play quarterback, he is one of the best in the game.&ldquo;The last couple years we&rsquo;ve had as skilled forwards as anybody in the league,&rdquo; said Fleury, one of Housley&rsquo;s best friends on the Flames,&rdquo;and a lot of times we were just chasing the puck around. We had to really simplify our game. With (Housley), he can get back there, get the puck, turn up ice and make a good play with it. He has been a great addition.&rdquo;Indeed, after 21 games, the Flames 23rd-ranked power play of a year ago was humming along at 16.7 per cent (l0th-ranked overall) with Housley at the helm. The bonus is the Flames haven&rsquo;t had much else to worry about.No question, Housley, a 16-year veteran, has carried a lot of baggage lately: six teams in the past seven years, a reputation as a liability in his own zone, and a career in which only one team he has played on-the Washington Capitals last season-has ever gotten past the second round of the playoffs. On that team, at even strength or a man down, Housley was little more than a $2.6million bench warmer on the downside of what had taken on the look of a hired gun career.The Flames were able to clear up salary room last summer by moving goalie Rick Tabaracci to Washington for future considerations two weeks after the Housley waiver claim; GM Al Coates maintained they were unrelated deals. But the Flames knew what they were getting in Housley; the St. Paul, Minn.-native spent two seasons in CALGARY before being traded to the New Jersey Devils in February, 1996, as he was about to become an unrestricted free agent.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011894/8209137-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="557" height="1003"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Housley is the fifth highest-scoring defenseman ever. (Photo by Rocky Widner)</figcaption></div>Coach Brian Sutter wasn&rsquo;t around then, but the first thing he did when Flames&rsquo; management discussed acquiring Housley last summer was look up who among defensemen had more points over the past 12 years than Housley&rsquo;s 737-an average of 62 per year. The answer is two: Raymond Bourque (892) and Paul Coffey (871). Not bad company.&ldquo;His first pass is as good as anybody in the game,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;Everybody says he&rsquo;s a pleasant surprise. Hell, he&rsquo;s not a pleasant surprise. He has over 1,000 points in this league.&rdquo;One thousand twenty one entering this season to be precise-the fifth-highest total among defenseman all-time. So it&rsquo;s not so much the 16 points in 21 games-fifth among all blueliners-that has people surprised, but the fact that he is playing a complete game. His team-high plus-six alongside bruiser Todd Simpson proves it.If Housley ever had doubts about his play, they&rsquo;re gone, along with much of the criticism that he&rsquo;s a one-dimensional player.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve proven this year that I can do those things,&rdquo; he said,&rdquo;and when people keep presenting you with new challenges, like media portraying you that you can&rsquo;t play defense, I think you just have to accept it as another challenge.&rdquo;Housley attributes his resurgence largely to the change in conferences, from the slow-moving, trapping East to a quicker-paced, freer-flowing West CALGARY plays a creative offensive game more to Housley&rsquo;s liking.For both sides, it has been a snug fit. The only downside for Housley is that his wife Karin and four children are still living in Washington.For the Flames, the relationship has been everything they could have hoped. In a Western Conference packed more tightly than a can of sardines, the difference Housley makes on the power play could be enough to earn the Flames a playoff spot. &#9632;

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FEATURES

Housley good fit on young Flames

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0042-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01573/8210896-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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EAST COAST LEAGUE

<h2>Coyotes howl wav to too</h2>1.Lucky 13 Phoenix Coyotes rise to top of NHL standings with 13-game unbeaten streak.2.Backup is No. 1 Philadelphia backup goalie Ron Hextall becomes Flyers&rsquo; career leader in goalie wins with 233.3.Perfect 10 Providence scores 10 first-period goals en route to 14-2 AHL win over Syracuse.4.Back in Style Sheldon Kennedy makes return to pro hockey, scores winner in first IHL game with Manitoba.5 Worth the Waite Goalie Jimmy Waite of Phoenix off to 5-0-1 start with 1.15 GAA and .956 save percentage.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0265/8208838-1-eng-US/c0002-022.jpg" title="C0002-02" width="337" height="491"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Hextall</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0357/8208831-1-eng-US/c0002-032.jpg" title="C0002-03" width="328" height="489"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jimmy Waite</figcaption></div><h2>NHL crowns King bad boy</h2>1. Hit hard Kings&rsquo; enforcer Matt Johnson hit with 12-game suspension for suckering Rangers&rsquo; Jeff Beukeboom.2. Lightning fizzles After playing .500 hockey through 14 games, Tampa Bay loses six in a row.3.Berube&rsquo;s bad Washington&rsquo;s Craig Berube suspended three games for using physical force against linesman in fight.4.Busted Thunder Bay&rsquo;s Barry McKinlay arrested after tossing stick in crowd and hitting two UHL fans.5.Belly up on road San Jose Sharks playing better after bad start, but still winless (0-5-3) on road. &#9632;

C0002-02

PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0437/8208869-1-eng-US/c0002-042.jpg" title="C0002-04" width="351" height="452"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Jim Mclsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div>Curtis Joseph may not be an all-star this season, but he&rsquo;s on pace to be an all-pro.Not since Dan Marino in his prime has anyone dropped back into the pocket and fired long bombs like Curtis Joseph, the goalie-cum-quarterback who brings an offensive dimension to a defensive position. The Toronto netminder has earned only two assists this season, but it&rsquo;s the way he earned one of them that can&rsquo;t be overlooked by NHL teams. He did it with an alley-oop pass that cleared all five Buffalo Sabre skaters and sent Mike Johnson in alone to beat Dominik Hasek.Joseph is emerging as the most likely threat to score among goalies since Ron Hextall reinvented the position in the mid-1980s. Goalies have been credited with five goals in NHL history-Martin Brodeur was the last to do so in 1997-but there could be a sixth in the offing if Joseph&rsquo;s aerial game continues to flourish. &rsquo;If it&rsquo;s cut and dried,&ldquo;Joseph says,&rdquo;maybe you go for it if you&rsquo;ve got a two-goal lead, but you don&rsquo;t want to make any mistakes.&rdquo;Goalies scoring goals remains uncommon, but what makes Joseph&rsquo;s potential goal-scoring ability more extraordinary is that he fires the puck backhand and not forehand like virtually all other goalies. Joseph is left-catching and right-shooting, which means he has to shoot backhand to get maximum benefit from the left curve on his stick. When Joseph wants to clear the zone most effectively, he switches from stopping to shooting hand positions. While turning to the left, he swings the stick across his body and puts his catching glove at the butt end to assume a backhand shooting position.&ldquo;If he has the time to switch hands, it&rsquo;s a signal to go somewhere,&rdquo; says teammate Igor Korolev. That &ldquo;somewhere&rdquo; is generally the offensive side of the neutral zone where Joseph&rsquo;s long bombs usually land. Korolev rocketed down the invisible lane connecting the two goal creases one game and had one of Joseph&rsquo;s high-trajectory saucer shots land directly on his helmet. It bounced forward and Korolev just missed having a breakaway. It was a good illustration of how if teams aren&rsquo;t prepared, they can get caught with forwards on the forecheck and defensemen flat-skated in the neutral zone. Joseph&rsquo;s specialty, converting soft dump-ins into high-flying dump-outs (particularly in penalty-killing situations), came close to resulting in a goal last year with Edmonton. A Joseph clearing attempt was sliding just wide of an empty net when teammate Boris Mironov dove to re-direct the puck in for a goal. The pass was recorded as an assist and a 57-yard completion. &#9632;

C0002-04

Joseph shoots at unique place in NHL history

<div class="byline">Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021541/8208907-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="352" height="457"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011930/8208900-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="1607" height="2461"><figcaption class="caption-body">Shark forward Owen Nolan may need a playmaking center before he starts scoring again. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>When Darryl Sutter was hired to coach the San Jose Sharks in the summer of 1997, he was warned about a couple of things.One, Sharks&rsquo; winger Owen Nolan would be a lazy, selfish player. Two, if the lazy and selfish Owen Nolan got the puck within 20 feet of the net, the red light would be coming on.Well, after one full season and one quarter of another, Sutter can be excused for being more than a little confused.&ldquo;I was told Owen was a bad kid with a bad attitude and since I&rsquo;ve been here, I haven&rsquo;t seen that at all. He&rsquo;s been a hard worker who&rsquo;s done everything I&rsquo;ve asked of him,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;I was also told that if he did nothing else, he&rsquo;d fill the net and he hasn&rsquo;t done that.&rdquo;Not at all.The 26-year-old former No. 1 overall pick in the 1990 entry draft had just one goal in the first 17 games of this season.One goal? For a 6-foot-l, 205-pound power forward who as a 19-year-old sophomore pro scored 42 goals and followed that up with seasons of 36 goals, 30 (in the lockout-shortened 48-game season), 33 and 31?One goal? For a guy who scored three on home ice in the 1997 All-Star Game, calling the shot, no less, on that famous breakaway goal on the NHL&rsquo;s premier goaltender, Dominik Hasek?One goal? And just 14 last season.&ldquo;Is that what it was, 14?&rdquo; Nolan said when asked about his missing scoring touch. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t even keep track, it was so pitiful.&rdquo;If 14 was pitiful, what adjective will be used this season? With one goal in 17 games, Nolan was on pace to finish 1998-99 with five.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been frustrating,&rdquo; Nolan admitted. Tm definitely not getting as many chances as I used to, but when I do get my chances, I&rsquo;m not burying them. I don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s rustiness or confidence or what. I can&rsquo;t make any excuses. One goal, that&rsquo;s not good enough.&rdquo;That said, Nolan is chagrined at how his career has developed. He came into the league with a reputation for being a surly one-trick pony, a pure goal-scorer who didn&rsquo;t contribute significantly in any other area.Since being traded from Colorado (nee Quebec Nordiques) early in 1995-96, Nolan has made a concerted effort to become a more complete player. According to Sutter, he has done that.Now, though, his touch has deserted him.&ldquo;I got criticized when all I did was score goals,&rdquo; Nolan said. &ldquo;Now, I&rsquo;m doing all the things I didn&rsquo;t do before, but I get criticized for not scoring goals. It&rsquo;s kind of funny, actually.&rdquo;Not that Nolan or the Sharks are laughing. Not that they&rsquo;re panicking either.&rsquo;The only thing he&rsquo;s not doing is scoring goals, because he&rsquo;s doing everything else,&rdquo; said Sutter, who isn&rsquo;t easily pleased. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s really changed his game. He&rsquo;s the first guy to loose pucks. He works hard without the puck. I&rsquo;m happy with the other parts of his game.&rdquo;But one goal? The Belfast-born Nolan should be able to knock in more than that with pucks bouncing off his backside.Another factor is the lack of a play making center. Nolan has played most of this season and last year with talented youngster Patrick Marleau, who is gifted offensively. But Marleau is likely a better goal-scorer than he is a playmaker and like many young centers, he&rsquo;s better off the rush than he is in the offensive-zone puck-control game.As a result, Nolan doesn&rsquo;t end up with the puck in the prime scoring area as much as he used to, when centers such as Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin, Peter Forsberg and Craig Janney fed him in the heavy traffic areas around the crease.On the Sharks&rsquo; power play, which is in the bottom third of the league, Nolan&rsquo;s job is to plant himself in front of the net and provide a traffic jam. In his goal-scoring days, he used to come off the half-boards, shots a blazin&rsquo;.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not complaining,&rdquo;he said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m not making excuses, but we play a dump-and-chase style with an emphasis on defensive hockey. I&rsquo;ve really tried to buy into it and I don&rsquo;t mind (sacrificing offense for defense) because everyone&rsquo;s doing it. We need to do it to be successful.&rdquo;GM Dean Lombardi believes the Sharks lack at least a couple of elements-a goal-scoring winger (Theo Fleury?) and a pure playmaking center.&ldquo;Owen really needs (a playmaking center),&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;Obviously we&rsquo;d like more offense from him now, but it may be that we won&rsquo;t get it until we get (one). We have to be patient. I don&rsquo;t believe you can contend without a power forward and Owen is our power forward.&rdquo;A power forward with one goal? Go figure. &#9632;

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COLUMNISTS

One goal? No figuring Nolan

The NHL hit the quarter point of its 1,107-game regular season Nov. 28 and compared to the same period last year, we can draw the following conclusions:&#9723; Scoring is down, but only marginally.Last season, teams averaged a combined 5.4 goals per game as opposed to 5.3 this season.That it&rsquo;s even close is surprising, given that it was down around 4.7 and 4.8 for the first few weeks of the season. If the trend continues, goalscoring is likely to be up by mid-season.There have, however, been more low-score results-three 0-0 ties this season compared to one last year and ten 1-0 games versus five a year ago.&#9723; Video review is down, way down. Chalk this up largely to revised goal-crease infringement rules. Crease reviews have fallen by more than half-152 last season to 73 this season. Now, if they can just get the phone lines working from the video goal judge to the penalty box at the MCI Center.Overall video review has fallen from 192 a year ago to 114.&#9723; Fighting is down. There were 1.6 fighting majors per game last season. The figure now is 1.3.&#9723; Shutouts are up. The increase is greater than 30 per cent with last season&rsquo;s mark of 33 rising to 44 this season.&#9723; Power-play goal scoring has increased. It&rsquo;s a marginal gain, from 383 goals last season to 409 goals this season. Some believe the gains will be bigger as the season proceeds and more teams start gearing their power plays to use the additional space behind the net.Of course, that means even-strength goalscoring has decreased, going from 1,072 last season to 996 this season.Incidentally, fears that the two-referee system would result in a penalty parade have been unfounded. There was an average of 36.8 penalty minutes per game last season. The figure this season is almost identical-36.7.&#9723; Games are being completed a little quicker. This season&rsquo;s average of two hours, 35 minutes is four minutes quicker than last season&rsquo;s two hours, 39 minutes. &#9632;

Scoring down slightly at quarter pole

THN readers spoke with a single voice in the 1995-96 season, telling the NHL and Fox network in no uncertain terms to&rdquo;get the puck outta here!&rdquo;Almost three years later, the wish has come true. The controversial blue glowing puck has faded to black.Fox spokesman Lou D&rsquo;Ermilio confirmed the puck with the computer: hip inside it will not be used by the network this season, its last covering NHL hockey. He said he did not know why the decision was made, but the Toronto Sun reported the network cancelled the project because it was too expensive.Last summer, Disney signed a five-year, $600-million deal with the NHL to take over network broadcasts in the United States beginning in 1999-2000.In a THN survey March 8, 1996, weeks after FoxTrax&rsquo;s debut, readers on both sides of the border voted by a 10-1 margin for the puck to be scrapped, claiming the colorful streaks intended to attract new viewers were an eyesore and insulting to traditional fans.This doesn&rsquo;t mean the end of television experiments, however. NHL vice-president of broadcasting Glen Adamo told the Sun the league is considering installing electronic sensors into players&rsquo; helmets that could measure the speed and force of collisions for a television audience. &#9632;

DEPARTMENTS

THN readers get their way with death of streaking puck

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN staff</div>Canada&rsquo;s six NHL teams should receive a federal tax break to keep them competitive with their American counterparts, a Commons sub-committee on sport is expected to recommend.Published reports suggest members of Canada&rsquo;s federal parliament say the Liberal government will make the recommendation Dec. 3, provided the pro teams can show they are providing substantial revenues to their communities.The final committee report, headed by Liberal MP Dennis Mills, is expected to support a plea from the Canadian teams for tax relief to help cope with rising player salaries, a weak Canadian dollar and high relative tax rates when compared to those faced by American teams.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not talking about propping anybody up,&rdquo; Mills told the Toronto Star.He said the proposal would be accepted by the Canadian public if it ensures teams such as the Montreal Canadiens, which pay $55 million in taxes to federal, provincial and local governments, stay in the country.&ldquo;Shouldn&rsquo;t we be happy to provide them with a $5-million break to keep $50 million in the treasury?&rdquo; he said.Apparently not, according to some opposition members.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a national priority,&rdquo; said New Democrat MP Nelson Riis. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe Canadians would support tax breaks for companies paying their employees $4 (million) or $5 million per year.&rdquo;&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want special programs that would dig into the pockets of taxpayers to help the millionaires,&rdquo; said Bloc Quebecois MP Suzanne Tremblay.According to Mills, to get the tax break teams would also have to provide amateur teams with the free use of their arena a minimum 20 nights per year; make players and resources available for community events; and subject players to random drug-testing.Mills said the tax break is one of 69 recommendations in the report, which deals with the role of sports in Canada on professional, amateur and community levels. &#9632;

Committee to support tax breaks for Canadian teams

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div>In the end, John Cullen&rsquo;s body told him what to do.His lungs burned, overtaxed by the burden of trying to come back from cancer. His spine shook every time he took a hit. His heart said hockey was still in his blood, but it couldn&rsquo;t beat fast enough to allow him to play like he wanted. And his head? Well, his head knew what was best.Cullen, 34, ended his incredible comeback story Nov. 27, when he announced his retirement as a player and revealed plans to continue in the game as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning.He played four games for the Lightning and six for the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International League following an 18-month layoff while he fought non-Hodgkin&rsquo;s lymphoma.&ldquo;I had so much chemotherapy and radiation that hit my heart and my lungs, and that hurt my conditioning,&rdquo; Cullen said. &ldquo;Every time I got hit hard or put my head down, I got kind of a vibration down my spine and through my whole body.&rdquo;Enough was enough, he decided.&ldquo;I knew my shot (back) to the NHL was slim,&rdquo; said Cullen, who played for four NHL teams-the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hartford Whalers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay-in an 11-year career. &ldquo;Basically, I had to make a decision. Finally I said, &rsquo;OK, it&rsquo;s time.&rsquo; The greatest thing was to come back, but the greatest thing of all is to be healthy.&rdquo;The fight has been taxing since the beginning, ever since Cullen first complained of a cold and doctors discovered a grapefruit-sized mass in his chest. That was in March of 1997. Since then, Cullen endured chemotherapy and radiation treatment, and a brush with death in which his heart stopped beating.Tampa kept Cullen around to start the year, but assigned him to Cleveland Oct. 26. He finished with two goals and nine points in six games, including one seven-point game.Cullen returned home to St. Petersburg, Fla., after contracting bronchitis while in Cleveland. He never returned to Cleveland.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t give John a coaching job just to do him a favor because he got sick. I ain&rsquo;t gonna play that game,&rdquo; Lightning coach-GM Jacques Demers said. &ldquo;I hired John Cullen because I think he&rsquo;ll be a great plus to this organization.&rdquo; &#9632;

Cullen’s stunning return halted by wavering both

Today, I am ashamed to be a Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; fan. Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s last visit to the Great Western Forum Nov. 19 was tarnished by Matt Johnson&rsquo;s blatant disregard for opponents.In the second period, he hunted down Alexei Kovalev and took him out when he was nowhere near the play. Then in the third period, Johnson sucker-punched Jeff Beukeboom, knocking him out cold before he hit the ice face first.My seats were in the comer where that took place and I was appalled. Staples Center or no Staples Center, I will not support a team that has a goon like this, even though I have supported them for more than 10 years. There has to be a line drawn between competition and assault.John Boland, Beverly Hills, Calif.<h2>Dirty dozen</h2>I think Matt Johnson got what he deserved when the NHL suspended him for 12 games for his sucker-punch on Jeff Beukeboom.Quite frankly, I think he should look for new employment. There is no room in the NHL for cowards.Aaron Kerzner, Stratford, Conn.<h2>Tight is right</h2>This is an open letter to all NHL players that don&rsquo;t wear their helmets properly:Why don&rsquo;t you have the helmet strap tighter? Haven&rsquo;t there been enough players hurt because of loose helmets? Whether you like it or not, you are role models, even heroes, to some young kids.Come on guys, open your eyes-nothing is worth jeopardizing your health for. Use your head for more than just someplace to hang your helmet.Derek Jenny, Lloydminster, Sask.<h2>Wiser with visor?</h2>This is in regards to Alex Pufhal&rsquo;s letter (THN, Dec. 4) about making face shields.mandatory.Mr. Pufhal, I must take issue with your insistence the NHL should force players to wear face shields. First of all, there are many players in the NHL who wear the shields now. Years before the shields were being used, sticks were never up at the height they are now.The shields have given players a false sense of security and it causes the sticks to be held at dangerous heights. Shields are a major factor why high sticks have been so common. Since you mentioned college hockey, have you ever seen how bad the stickwork is in an NCAA hockey game? It is worse than the NHL.Don Cherry is critical of the players who wear shields and run around giving people face rubs and high sticks, but refuse to fight after they do this.He is correct when he bad-mouths these kinds of players. If you are going to wear the visor, keep your stick down and do not take advantage of players without them.Randy Sheahan, Kentwood, Mich.<h2>Prayer for Libby</h2>I think I speak for hockey fans everywhere in saying our thoughts and prayers are with Jeff Libby of the American League&rsquo;s Lowell Lock Monsters. Hockey is a rough game and injuries are a part of it, but when something as tragic as losing an eye occurs, it makes us all think how fragile we really are.Bruce Macdonald, Saint John, N.B.<h2>Harvey hard worker</h2>As a New York Ranger fan, it is sure nice to see the fine play of Todd Harvey this season. He gives 100 per cent in every game he plays and has an intensity and attitude that seems to be growing on other Rangers. More guys in the NHL could learn a thing or two from this guy on how hockey should be played.Steve Tucker, Belle Mead, N.J.<h2>Savardian slip?</h2>You so-called experts did it again by excluding Denis Savard from the Top 100 NHL Players of All Time. He&rsquo;s the 17th highest point getter of all time and has the eighth most playoff points. THN should be embarrassed.Joe Francella, Toronto, Ont.<h2>Janney&rsquo;s dandy</h2>It&rsquo;s about time a member of the media admits Craig Janney has been willfully cast aside by the journalist fraternity (THN, Nov. 13). How else can you explain how little press a rare career point-a-game man like Janney has gotten over the years.He is still one of the best pure passers in the game. Granted, he is soft and a one-way player, but if we had more kids emulating his play, maybe we&rsquo;d see some more of those gorgeous offensive plays we&rsquo;re all craving.So, to you folks in the media, just because a player doesn&rsquo;t like talking to you doesn&rsquo;t mean that we don&rsquo;t want to hear or read about them.Carl Lemelin, Nun&rsquo;s Island, Que.<h2>Four-get shootouts</h2>Here&rsquo;s an idea to reduce the number of tied games without resorting to a shootout: Make the teams skate four-on-four in regular season overtime.Not only will it open up the ice, it should reduce the number of late-game penalties, as no one would want to have to skate four-on-three for the extra period.Bryan Mangum, Ypsilanti, Mich.<h2>Zero out ties</h2>Why not make ties worth zero points? If that wouldn&rsquo;t provide motivation to win the game, nothing would.Darby Larsen, Sarnia, Ont.<h2>Forsberg all Hart</h2>Peter Forsberg is by far the best two-way player in the game today and, hopefully, he&rsquo;ll finally receive the HartTrophy after being the best player on the planet the past three years.I know he&rsquo;s considered a superstar, but I still don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s given enough credit. You guys rank Paul Kariya ahead of him (THN Yearbook) and I think it&rsquo;s because Kariya is Canadian. You just don&rsquo;t want to rank two Europeans (Dominik Hasek was first) No. 1 and 2.Don&rsquo;t get me wrong, I love Canada and the hockey over there, but consider this: Forsberg is as good offensively as Kariya, much better defensively and way more physical.There&rsquo;s only one spot for Peter Forsberg on next year&rsquo;s ranking and that&rsquo;s on top.David Josephson, Bergshamra, Sweden<h2>Two much</h2>As a loyal fan of the NHL for the past 12 years, I have been somewhat irritated by the two-referee system.Most nights it appears to be a competition of who can call the most penalties.It doesn&rsquo;t take a genius to call a legitimate penalty, but the ridiculous&rdquo;ticky-tac&rdquo; calls must go. The game needs flow more than it does power plays.Let&rsquo;s remember, this is a hockey game, not ballet.David Clause, La Mirada, Calif.Fax us your comments at&nbsp;(416) 340-1641&nbsp;or write to&nbsp;Letters, THN, 777 Bay St, Suite 2700, Box 148, Toronto, Ont., M5G 2N8&nbsp;in Canada. In the U.S., write to&nbsp;Letters, THN, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947. E-mail us at&nbsp;kayj@trans-continental.ca&nbsp;Include hometown as well as home and business phone numbers. THN&nbsp;reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Johnson’s barbaric act humiliates Kinas’ fan

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012094/8209106-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy Senior Writer</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021480/8209182-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="336" height="499"></div>Gordie Gallant has never walked away from a fight.In his prime, as a 5-foot-10, 170-pound World Hockey Association terror in the mid-1970s, Gallant battled all comers no matter how big or fierce.&ldquo;Fighting was a role I understood,&rdquo; Gallant says. &ldquo;I fought with the biggest and best of them and I held my own.&rdquo;Gallant, 48, is now in the biggest fight of his life and, yes, he&rsquo;s holding his own-although some days, he admits from his hospital bed in Moncton, N.B., it&rsquo;s a struggle.Nearly six months ago Gallant saved the lives of his girlfriend, Debbie, and her seven-year-old son, Cole, by getting them out of Debbie&rsquo;s waterfront cottage in Point-Du-Chene after a water heater exploded. It was around 5:30 a.m. June 20 when Debbie awoke to a crackling sound in the closet where me water heater was installed. Cole had climbed into bed with Gordie and Debbie during the night.Suddenly the water heater exploded knocking Cole out of bed. Burning steam consumed the room. Debbie quickly climbed out to get her son and the two of them slipped to the floor. Gordie jumped out of bed and &ldquo;fired&rdquo; both Cole and Debbie to safety outside the cottage. By the time he made it out, 85 per cent of his body-his legs, arms, hands, bad and chest-was burned by the steam. Only his face was relatively bum-free.Debbie received bums to about 20 per cent of her body and Cole to about five per cent of his.Since that day Gallant has spent most of his time in the hospital. Twice, when near death, he was given last rites. Three times he was put in an induced coma because the pain was unbearable. There have been nine surgeries representing a total of nearly 50 hours on the operating table undergoing skin grafts. Those who know him well insist a lesser man would have succumbed.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011979/8209175-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="1957" height="1012"><figcaption class="caption-body">Fighting Saints&rsquo; brawler Gordie Gallant, left, twice led the WHA in penalty minutes.</figcaption></div>Gallant refuses to give up the fight &ldquo;All I think about is getting out of the hospital and getting myself back in shape,&rdquo; says the native of Shediac, N.B. &ldquo;I have always prided myself or being in shape. I just don&rsquo;t understand not being in shape.&rdquo;It was in 1972, the year the Campbellton Tigers won the Hardy Cup to become intermediate champions of Canada, when Peter Maher got an idea of Gallant&rsquo;s toughness. Maher is now the play-by-play voice of the CALGARY Flames, but managed the Tigers back then.Gallant, 21, was picked up by Campbellton from Dalhousie for the Hardy Cup final. Byron McCrimmon, whose son Brad had a long NHL career as a defenseman, laid a hit on Gallant that would have knocked out most men.Not a person in the home arena of the host Rosetown (Sask.) Red Wings doubted for a second Gallant was in pain after the blow. But he wouldn&rsquo;t give them the satisfaction of knowing.&ldquo;Gord had three broken ribs going into the game, but he got them frozen so he could play,&rdquo; Maher recalls. &ldquo;The hit was the hardest I&rsquo;ve ever seen. It was an open ice hit and I&rsquo;d swear he flew from one blueline to the other. He got up and kept playing. He never missed a shift. He&rsquo;s a tough, gritty guy&hellip; the toughest guy I&rsquo;ve ever seen play hockey.&rdquo;Eddie St. Pierre, retired sports editor of the Moncton Times Transcript, says Gallant was one of the toughest players he ever covered as a journalist.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-031039/8209168-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="396" height="525"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gordie Gallant (THN file photo)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I remember one night he went toe-to-toe with a big lefty named Dennis Henderson,&rdquo; St. Pierre says. &ldquo;When the fight ended, Henderson wobbled off the ice like a drunken soldier on roller skates.&rdquo;Gallant&rsquo;s hockey travels took him to the International and American Leagues as well as the NHL&rsquo;s 1970s nemesis. In 273 WHA games over four seasons with the Minnesota Fighting Saints, Quebec Nordiques and Birmingham Bulls, Gallant collected 31 goals, 90 points and 849 penalty minutes. Twice he led the league in penalty minutes.After retiring, he spent five years in the Canadian Army and did two tours of duty in Croatia.Since the accident, a trust fund has been founded to help Gallant, who will be unable to work again for a long time, if ever at all. A benefit game was played, Nov. 25 in Moncton. Earlier in the day a $50-a-plate luncheon was held with half the cost of lunch going to the trust fund. Other benefit games have also been scheduled.&ldquo;People down here (in the Maritimes) have been unbelievable,&rdquo; Gallant says. &ldquo;I just can&rsquo;t thank them enough. It means so much to me.&rdquo;The 1972 Tigers were inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame three weeks before the fire. Gallant, a construction worker, was unable to attend the ceremony.That Gallant has survived the explosion and is on the road to recovery surprises nobody who knows him. For Gallant though, he only wishes life could return to normal. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m tired of being tough,&rdquo; Gallant says. &ldquo;This is the last battle I want to fight.&rdquo;Contributions to the Gordie Gallant Trust Fund can be made in Canada at any Bank of Montreal or sent to P.O. Box 550, Bank of Montreal, 362 Main St., Shediac, N.B., EOA 3G0. &#9632;

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Gallant fights toughest battle

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011821/8209220-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="397" height="566"></div>The Nashville Predators appointed David Poile as their first-ever GM in July, 1997. For the next 11 months, until the day of the NHL expansion draft, he spent his time poring over the rules and regulations, trying to find every little loophole in the expansion agreement that he could work to his advantage.After all, it is a time-honored NHL tradition to extort huge fees from new expansion teams and then make the process so onerous that you need a five-year plan just to achieve mediocrity. The only time the league ever felt the first twinge of sympathy for their newest lodge members-the 1993-94 expansion to stock Florida and Anaheim-those teams became too competitive too fast. Couldn&rsquo;t let that happen again.As a result, NHL teams were given a window of opportunity, between the end of the Stanley Cup final and the week before the expansion draft, to manipulate their ROSTERs in their own best interests, trading away any commodities that had some value on the open market. That&rsquo;s why the creative, slightly sneaky maneuvers Poile devised to stock his team were nothing less than brilliant.Example: The expansion rules permitted him to draft up to five goaltenders. Now, Poile didn&rsquo;t really need five goal tenders himself, but he discovered in his analysis of NHL ROSTERs that there were a lot of teams that had invested considerable time in developing their young netminders and didn&rsquo;t especially want to lose them in the expansion draft. It&rsquo;s why two of Poile&rsquo;s expansion-draft picks that day in Buffalo appeared so bizarre. Tomas Vokoun from Montreal? Frederic Chabot from Los Angeles? They were backup goalies in the minor leagues. Surely, there were more attractive commodities available than them.But the method to Poile&rsquo;s madness was simply this: He approached the two GMs in question, Rejean Houle in Montreal and Dave Taylor in Los Angeles, with an offer. To Houle, who wanted to keep both Jocelyn Thibault and Jose Theodore, he agreed to take Vokoun-provided Houle sent him center Sebastien Bordeleau as a consolation prize.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021249/8209213-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="548" height="940"><figcaption class="caption-body">David Poile</figcaption></div>To Taylor, who wanted to keep both Stephane Fiset and Jamie Storr, he agreed to take Chabot-provided Taylor sent him Vitali Yachmenev and Jan Vopat as consolation prizes. Everybody walked away from the deal happy because under NHL rules if you lose a goalie in the expansion draft this year, you can&rsquo;t lose one next year.So for the Canadiens and Kings, the deals meant they could keep their young goalies without fear of losing them to the expansion Atlanta Thrashers in next year&rsquo;s draft.The St. Louis Blues prevented goalie Jamie McLennan from being drafted by Poile only by sending Nashville the rights to Darren Turcotte and the compensatory draft choice the Blues will receive for losing Brett Hull as a free agent.In all, Poile ended up with three compensatory picks-Hull&rsquo;s plus one for losing Mike Richter, whom he drafted from the New York Rangers and the other for losing Uwe Krupp, whom he drafted from Colorado. All should be second-rounders because of the salaries Hull, Richter and Krupp signed for with their new teams. Add in two more third-rounders that Poile stockpiled (from Detroit for Doug Brown and from Colorado for Greg deVries) and he&rsquo;s looking at eight picks in the first three rounds of the 1999 entry draft, a good position to be in if you&rsquo;re committed to an orderly building process.Poile didn&rsquo;t break any rules. He just bent them to his own advantage, which is sign of a GM who knows what he&rsquo;s doing.The job of any expansion GM is to put a blueprint in place that will pay dividends over time. Poile&rsquo;s was paying dividends already, as Nashville&rsquo;s 8-11-1 record attested. But sustained growth comes slower in the NHL than in the National Basketball Association because you&rsquo;re drafting 18-year-olds, a fact neophyte Sunbelt team owners rarely comprehend.A quarter of the way through his first season you can say this: Poile has made all the right moves so far. &#9632;

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GM Poile’s ingenuity gave claws to Predators

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011951/8209251-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Petr Nedved has something to prove in New York, the sequel. (Photo by Bill Wippert)</figcaption></div>It wasn&rsquo;t a completely novel idea when the New York Rangers traded right winger Alexei Kovalev in a package for Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; Group I free agent center Petr Nedved.In fact, in 1993-94, the Rangers nearly traded Kovalev for Nedved, then a holdout from the Vancouver Canucks, but the sides couldn&rsquo;t agree on a new contract for Nedved.Rangers&rsquo; president/GM Neil Smith long has coveted Nedved, and that is why Smith got him from the St. Louis Blues after that championship season, as part of the compensation package when coach Mike Keenan broke his contract and signed to be the coach-GM of the Blues.When it came time to trade Kovalev for real-something Smith nearly did several times, and actually did once (in the overturned Eric Lindros package in 1992)-Nedved was probably as good a player in return as the Rangers were going to get. So Nov. 26, Smith and the Rangers traded Kovalev, who turns 26 in February, center Harry York, 24, and a league-approved $2.5 million in cash to the Penguins for Nedved, 26, rugged defenseman Chris Tamer, 28, and center Sean Pronger, 25.The Rangers then signed Nedved to a three-year contract that pays him a $1 million signing bonus, plus a pro-rated $2 million salary this season, $3.5 million next year and $4 million in 2000-OL It is possible the Rangers also picked up some of Kovalev&rsquo;s $1.5 million salary from the cash-strapped Penguins, who shed Tamer&rsquo;s $925,000 salary while the Rangers went back over $40 million in payroll.The Rangers outbid a late effort by the Florida Panthers, who offered Radek Dvorak and $2.5 million for Nedved and promised to sweeten the pot in an attempt to beat the Rangers to the Group I free agent.&ldquo;I was concerned that this was a piece we needed,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to not get that piece because I didn&rsquo;t know where else I could go to get it.&rdquo;Nedved was happy to be back with the Rangers-he had a miserable experience with them in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, when he had problems with coach Colin Campbell, captain Mark Messier, and expectations of a big, skilled kid joining a Stanley Cup champ. He scored just 12 times that year.He was dealt to Pittsburgh after the season with defenseman Sergei Zubov, for defenseman Ulf Samuelsson and left winger Luc Robitaille, a trade that bombed because Robitaille lost his scoring touch and because Nedved starred with 45 goals and 99 points with the Penguins.&ldquo;Petr taught us a lesson,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;He really stuck it to us in &rsquo;96.&rdquo;Nedved, who entered this season with 158 goals and 337 points in 441 career games, was also happy just to be back in the NHL, because he hadn&rsquo;t played a major league game since the 1997 playoffs. That&rsquo;s when he became a restricted free agent. In the interim, he played briefly in Europe (last season), and in the International League (last season and this season).Remember, this is the strong-willed Nedved who pulled off a courageous defection from the Czech Republic at 17 in order to play in North America; and who sat out more than half of 1993-94. This time, principles cost him a season and a quarter, and probably between $3 million and $4 million in salary he will never recover.Was it worth it?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to focus on the past,&rdquo; Nedved said. &ldquo;There is no point for me to think about the past. I want to focus on what I&rsquo;m going to do from this moment on. I&rsquo;m very pleased with the deal and with the Rangers.&rdquo;Nedved feels he has some proving to do in his second stint on Broadway.&ldquo;Definitely, I wanted to come back to New York,&rdquo; Nedved said. &ldquo;I think one of the biggest reasons was that when I was playing for the Rangers I didn&rsquo;t have the best year of my career. I wanted to come back and show the people that it was the right move (the first time). I had some difficulties and I wasn&rsquo;t playing as well as I wanted to.&ldquo;I hope I can help this team win hockey games, obviously. I hope I can bring some offense to the team. I just want to be part of this team and play the best I can.&rdquo;&ldquo;Our team didn&rsquo;t play very well when he was here, either,&rdquo; said Rangers&rsquo; captain Brian Leetch.&ldquo;At the end of the year, remember, he played very well for us down the stretch and played hard for us in the playoffs. He carried that over into Pittsburgh. Hopefully that will carry over with us.&rdquo;That carrying over will likely be done at center. After a brief experiment at right wing, coach-GM John Muckier moved Nedved back to his more familiar center position. That means the Rangers will have to go outside the organization to get a right winger to replace Kovalev on Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s line. Can you say Pavel Bure? &#9632;

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Nedved focuses on future

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Staff Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011728/8209282-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pavol Demitra has evolved into a first-liner with the Blues. (Photo by Mark Buckner/BBS)</figcaption></div>When a green, offensively gifted teenager disappears into the minors, Pavol Demitra is what he ought to look like on the rebound. Responsible. Hard-working. Someone who can score and not stink up the joint when it&rsquo;s time to do the dirty work.&ldquo;Coach (Joel) Quenneville, I think he trusts me,&rdquo; said Demitra, a 24-year-old Slovakian putting his howitzer of a snapshot to good use with the St. Louis Blues. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy with how he&rsquo;s playing me. You have to find the right people in the right time and I think I&rsquo;ve found my place in St. Louis.&rdquo;Part of the reason is he now knows how to find the Blues&rsquo; end of the rink, which is more than you could say before Dave Allison got hold of him.Quenneville taps Demitra on the shoulder nightly for his regular shift on the No. 1 line with center Pierre Turgeon and right winger Geoff Courtnall, plus penalty killing and power play time. Allison is the now-forgotten man who helped Demitra get there by picking him up in underwhelming outposts like Charlottetown, P.E.I., and Grand Rapids Mich., and cattle-prodding him to improve.In 1993-94, Demitra&rsquo;s ability to find the holes, his quickness and obvious playmaking gifts allowed him to crack the Ottawa Senators&rsquo; lineup as an 18-year-old after being selected in the ninth round by the Sens, 227th overall that summer. The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder broke his leg early in the season, though, and couldn&rsquo;t reach the same level when it healed. The Sens sent him to their American League farm team in P.E.I., where Allison was coach. So began the start of a topsy-turvy tough-love relationship.&ldquo;My first couple of years I didn&rsquo;t really like him too much because he gave me a hard time about my defense and everything,&rdquo; Demitra said. &ldquo;But now I know he did the right thing. I&rsquo;m happy he did that for me.&rdquo;If Allison grated on Demitra in those early days, there were times the feeling was mutual. It was a game of chicken they played, daring the other to break first. Allison sat through one team karaoke party and learned Demitra&rsquo;s English was passable, but he watched too many games from behind the bench to know that backcheck wasn&rsquo;t part of the vocabulary.&ldquo;I always liked Pavol as a person because he was like a little kid that you knew liked you, but was mad when you said, &rsquo;Hey, Pavol, you can do better,&rsquo;&rdquo; Allison said from his home in Fort Frances, Ont.Demitra played parts of three seasons in Ottawa-59 games in total-but found himself stuck behind Daniel Alfredsson and Alexandre Daigle at right wing and was hardly the ideal third-liner. The Senators traded him to the St. Louis Blues in November, 1996 for defenseman Christer Olsson, who is currently playing in Europe. It will go down as one of former Blues&rsquo; GM Mike Keenan&rsquo;s best trades.That year, though, Demitra couldn&rsquo;t quite stick with the Blues either and was sent to the Las Vegas Thunder of the International League where he knew nobody. He was miserable. So he found himself in the unexpected position of being relieved with a trade to the Grand Rapids Griffins-and a reunion with the Griffins&rsquo; new coach. Dave Allison.&ldquo;I picked him up at the airport and it was almost like a homecoming,&rdquo; Allison said. &ldquo;There were a couple of times (during games) he&rsquo;d look back at me and say, &rsquo;I don&rsquo;t know why I&rsquo;m happy to be here.&rsquo;&rdquo;There are no such doubts with the Blues. With 10 goals and 21 points in 18 games this year, he&rsquo;s on pace to shatter his 52 points of last season and appears to have found a comfort zone, a home.Teammates notice his off-ice shyness of the past couple years, common among young Europeans, is fading as his successes mount.&rsquo;Tm not sure how big a scorer he can be,&rdquo; Quenneville said. &ldquo;Last year he had a real solid and consistent year for us and this year he seems to be on a greater pace. Whether he can be a consistent point-a-game guy, I&rsquo;m not sure.&rdquo;One place he fits right in is with his work ethic and no-nonsense attitude toward pain; he played with a broken finger in last season&rsquo;s playoffs. Both traits were instilled in him by his father Pavol Sr., who coached him growing up and rolled his eyes when trainers tended to the squirming fallen masses on-ice. &ldquo;He hated that. He always talked to me, you can&rsquo;t do that,&rdquo; Demitra said.Last year Al MacInnis hit Demitra in the face with a slapshot and broke his jaw. He lost 10 pounds and for the first week drank only milkshakes while his jaw was clamped shut with elastic bands.His luck too is improving.&ldquo;hit my stick twice and I got two goals,&rdquo; Demitra said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s much better.&rdquo; This year (MacInnis)Life for Allison, meanwhile, could be better; the one-time Senators&rsquo; coach for 25 games in 1995 is spending this winter doing maintenance on his Fort Frances home, waiting for the phone to ring after being fired by the Griffins last season.He would get at least one call, though it would come from a friend, not a prospective employer. Demitra, at the end of his interview with a reporter, requested one thing only: Allison&rsquo;s number. &#9632;

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Demitra paid dues on journey to Blues

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011901/8209320-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">HOWLIN&rsquo; HOTJeremy Roenick and the Phoenix Coyotes are off to a blazing start-the best in franchise history-and have come together as a team like never before. (Photo by Rocky Widner)</figcaption></div>Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the defining moment for this season&rsquo;s best NHL team came after a loss, one of only two in 17 games.For what have the Phoenix Coyotes (nee Winnipeg Jets) been known as in their 20-year NHL existence if not lovable losers?They have just two playoff series wins to show for 15 tries, numbers which are a stark contrast to their franchise-record 13-2-2 start to the 1998-99 20th anniversary season. That included a 13-game unbeaten streak and a post-expansion NHL record of allowing two goals or less in 16 consecutive games leaving them two shy of the all-time NHL record, 18 games, by the 1958-59 Montreal Canadiens.As the Coyotes prepared to close out November, their last loss was way back in their fourth game of the season, a 2-1 decision at Dallas Oct. 22.To a man, that&rsquo;s the day when the Coyotes (22-1 at the time) sensed this season would be different, that this team would be different than the underachieving one that crashed and burned against the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of last spring&rsquo;s playoffs.&ldquo;After that game, everyone, and I mean everyone, was really angry,&rdquo; said veteran winger Rick Tocchet. &ldquo;We were mad in the room, we were mad on the plane and we were mad the day after. That was the difference. We stayed mad because we expected to win. That was the first real sign we weren&rsquo;t going to go through the same bull&mdash;as last year.&rdquo;Or, as Coyotes&rsquo; coach Jim Schoenfeld put it,&rdquo;Last season we would have been satisfied to have played well against a top NHL team and lost a close game. This time, we realized it&rsquo;s not good enough to play well, you have to win. I was thrilled at how legitimately upset everyone was. That was a real turning point for this team.&rdquo;The Coyotes parlayed their anger into a 10-0-2 run to become the talk of the NHL. But it was Stars&rsquo; coach Ken Hitchcock who may have recognized the emergence of the Coyotes before even they did.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re playing like they&rsquo;re the best team in the league,&rdquo; Hitchcock said in the wake of that Oct. 22 meeting in Dallas. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got incredible speed, they play physically and, most importantly, they&rsquo;re playing with a real commitment to defense. I think they&rsquo;re for real.&rdquo;It certainly looks that way. Mind you, there&rsquo;s nothing the Coyotes can do between now and the end of the regular season to improve upon the franchise&rsquo;s woeful playoff history, but every indication is they&rsquo;re steeling themselves to become a team with some real resolve.It wasn&rsquo;t so much the Coyotes lost to Detroit, which went on to win the Stanley Cup. It was that they were up on the Wings two games to one and leading in Game 4 before ultimately collapsing. The seeming self-destruction was punctuated by apparent ill will, some in-fighting and when respected war-horse Tocchet publicly questioned the team&rsquo;s leadership, it was seen as an outright slap in the face of team captain Keith Tkachuk and flamboyant assistant captain Jeremy Roenick.The two have always been regarded as terrific players and dynamic personalities, but their energy was nothing if not misguided at times.Tkachuk&rsquo;s well-documented contract controversies-it looked as though he might even miss this season in his bid to get his deal renegotiated-took some of the luster off his status as the game&rsquo;s pre-eminent power forward. His own immaturity over the years, especially in his early days in Winnipeg, also contributed to his reputation as a selfish player. The franchise&rsquo;s losing ways only exacerbated it.&ldquo;I think Keith has finally realized he could score 50 goals a year for the rest of his life, but he was never going to be judged favorably until the franchise started winning something,&rdquo; GM Bobby Smith said.Tkachuk downplays all that talk-"I haven&rsquo;t really changed that much, he said-but suggested he&rsquo;s seen as a better leader this season because the other Coyote players have taken it upon themselves to be more responsible.&ldquo;I took the heat for last year&rsquo;s playoff loss, which is fine,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;But I think that excused other guys from their responsibility. Now, every guy is showing leadership, the stars, the role players, everybody. That&rsquo;s the way it has to be.&rdquo;And that&rsquo;s the way Tocchet, the franchise&rsquo;s guiding light, expects it to be. The battle-scarred 34-year-old has played on some terrific Philadelphia Flyer teams. He won a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh. He was instrumental in Canada winning the 1987 Canada Cup. When the Los Angeles Kings traded him to the Boston Bruins in January of 1996, he was supposed to be physically spent, but has continued to be a productive player (26 goals last season, six in six playoff games) and physical force. He&rsquo;s the ultimate warrior and, as such, sat down with Tkachuk at the beginning of the season and emphatically explained how things had to be.&ldquo;I needed to know that we&rsquo;re all on the same page,&rdquo; Tkachuk said of the meeting. So far, so good.There&rsquo;s no better role model for leadership for Tkachuk than Tocchet, who, in the off-season, took a number of young Coyotes under his wing and hooked them up for group workouts in the Los Angeles area with his personal trainer.&ldquo;Rick Tocchet is what I call a man,&rdquo; Schoenfeld said. &ldquo;You give him a job to do and, like a Dale Hunter, he gets it done. They don&rsquo;t worry about the obstacles. They just do it. Rick has been a real positive influence on Keith and Jeremy. They&rsquo;ve both taken huge steps forward this season.&rdquo;Roenick was actually among the group of young Coyotes who joined Tocchet in L.A. for the off-season workouts. Tocchet&rsquo;s trainer worked on Roenick&rsquo;s physical side. Tocchet took it upon himself to work on Roenick&rsquo;s psyche.Roenick has always been regarded as a star player in the NHL, as dynamic a personality as there is in the league. But in recent years, his production has tailed off. His critics suggested his game lacked focus and commitment, that it was more flash and dash and not enough substance.Roenick effectively admitted as much prior to this season, when he went public with deeply personal revelations that he&rsquo;d always been a selfish person and selfish player who was in danger of losing his family if he didn&rsquo;t change his ways.&ldquo;Jeremy has always wanted so badly to please everyone, to be liked,&rdquo; Schoenfeld said.&rdquo;But what he basically realized was he didn&rsquo;t have his priorities straight. He wasn&rsquo;t as focused on his family and his job as he needed to be. He had to learn to say&rsquo;no to people who needed his time or efforts. Now, he has his ducks in a row and you can see he&rsquo;s enjoying life better, he&rsquo;s enjoying hockey better.&rdquo;We&rsquo;ll have to take Schoenfeld&rsquo;s word for it. Roenick said &rsquo;no to a THN request for an interview. Presumably, he&rsquo;s still bitter over a THN story late last season that highlighted his declining offense and suggested his game lacked commitment, precisely what he admitted to before this season.Actually, it&rsquo;s refreshing that Roenick is letting his play do the talking. In recent years, he talked a better game than he played. Now, by playing a north-south, go-hard-to-the-net game, he&rsquo;s much more effective playing alongside Tkachuk and unsung hero Dallas Drake on the Coyotes&rsquo; No. 1 line. He had been playing a more east-west, flamboyant style that wasn&rsquo;t nearly so productive.There have always been rumors of dissension between Tkachuk and Roenick, but those have never truly gone beyond differing styles on the ice. Tkachuk wants and needs Roenick to play a straight-line game. Roenick&rsquo;s teammates simply want him to show a consistent commitment to the game, not the trappings around it.&ldquo;Jeremy can&rsquo;t take nights off,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;He can&rsquo;t play east-west. He can&rsquo;t play that freewheeling game. He has to finish his checks. He&rsquo;s doing all that and we&rsquo;re all having more fun than we&rsquo;ve ever had.&rdquo;With six goals and 21 points in 17 games, Roenick led the team in scoring. With 12 goals and 20 points in 17 games, Tkachuk led it in goals. With three goals and 10 points in 14 games, Drake is a lesser-known quantity on the line, but extremely valuable nonetheless.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011735/8209313-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="2052" height="1693"><figcaption class="caption-body">Defenseman Jyrki Lumme and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin have helped cut the team&rsquo;s goals-against average. (Photo by Rocky Widner)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Dallas is the glue who holds it together, Schoenfeld said.Drake is a fearless competitor, pound-for-pound, one of the grittiest, most abrasive performers in the league. The trio is arguably the NHL&rsquo;s No. 1 line in the first quarter of the season.&ldquo;Their (Tkachuk&rsquo;s and Roenick&rsquo;s) attitudes may have changed,&rdquo; Smith said, &ldquo;but don&rsquo;t overlook the hockey part of it. For the past couple of years, Jeremy has been playing out of position on the wing. We had Craig Janney and Cliff Ronning at center and because J.R. was so athletic we could move him to the wing. He&rsquo;s really a natural center. Because we didn&rsquo;t have a real top No. 1 line, we couldn&rsquo;t always put Keith&rsquo;s line out in crucial situations late in the game. Now, playing them together and them playing together so well, it gives us a real No. 1 line that can play against any line in the NHL. That&rsquo;s maybe the biggest difference in our team this season.&rdquo;As vital as the evolution of key Coyotes Tkachuk and Roenick has been, there are other tangible explanations for the Coyotes&rsquo; turnaround.Start with their defense. No team in the NHL has a five-man core that is as mobile and gifted at moving the puck as the Coyotes&rsquo; group of Teppo Numminen, Oleg Tverdovsky, Jyrki Lumme, Keith Carney and Gerald Diduck. Numminen has long been one of the NHL&rsquo;s unheralded, but most effective defenders. Lumme was a key free agent acquisition. Tverdovsky, 22, is a burgeoning star who is sacrificing offensive numbers to play a simpler, more effective game. Carney and Diduck are reliable stay-at-home types who increase the grit factor.&ldquo;The fact of the matter is we don&rsquo;t spend a lot of time in our own end,&rdquo; Tocchet said. &ldquo;Our &rsquo;D&rsquo; is so quick. They get back in there, pick up the puck. make one pass to get us out of danger and they join the attack.&rdquo;Three (Lumme, Numminen and Tverdovsky) of the Coyotes top eight point-getters this season are defensemen. &ldquo;That,&rdquo; GM Smith said, &ldquo;adds so much dimension to our team. It&rsquo;s another big reason we&rsquo;ve done so well so far.&rdquo;So is goaltending. Nikolai Khabibulin, always capable of scaling great heights, but prone to deep dives, too, was rock solid in 11 outings, posting an 8-2-1 record with a 1.70 goals-against average and .933 save percentage with one shutout. When Khabibulin went down with an injury, perennial backup Jimmy Waite, who is an unrestricted free agent at season&rsquo;s end, stepped in and was spectacular (5-0-1 with a league-leading 1.15 GAA and .956 save percentage).Another key factor is improved team speed up front. The first fine of Tkachuk, Roenick and Drake could always fly, but the insertion of free-agent Greg Adams (playing well despite only one goal and three points in 16 games) and rookie Daniel Briere on the second line with Tocchet has upgraded team speed. Ditto for speedy Mike Sullivan, another key free agent acquisition, on the checking line.Veteran center Cliff Ronning was traded to the Nashville Predators, ostensibly to lighten the payroll and give Briere the opportunity for more minutes. But it remains to be seen if the 21-year-old is up to the challenge of producing as a second-line center.Eventually, the Coyotes will start giving up more than two goals per game. When that happens, will they get enough offense from players other than Tkachuk, Roenick, Drake and Tocchet to keep winning?Speculation is the Coyotes will, closer to the March trade deadline, look at a possible veteran upgrade at No. 2 center, but that largely depends upon Briere&rsquo;s development.One other explanation for the early-season success-and it should not be minimized-is the Coyotes&rsquo; new practice facility, the Ice Den.Last season, the Coyotes, most of whom live in Scottsdale, had to drive about 25 miles downtown to America West Arena, where they would get dressed for practice. Then, in full gear, they&rsquo;d get back in their cars and drive to a poorly equipped, makeshift practice rink in another part of town. Practice time fluctuated from day to day. When practice was over, they&rsquo;d have to drive back to America West, get changed and showered and then make the long trek back home to Scottsdale.&ldquo;It was awful,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;Quite often, you&rsquo;d eat breakfast, but you wouldn&rsquo;t have time to get lunch because of all the driving and running around. It would be closer to dinner time by the time you got home.&rdquo;Now, they have the Ice Den, a new complex that is home to the team&rsquo;s corporate offices and just a few miles from the homes of most players. The facility has a fully equipped gym (indoor and outdoor) and two pads of ice, which are put to good use.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll do 15 or 20 minutes of skating and skills on the one pad,&rdquo; Schoenfeld said,&rdquo;and then we&rsquo;ll move onto the fresh sheet to work on power play and penalty killing.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s an innovative approach to practicing, but the bottom line is how much easier it is for the players to practice and work out under one roof.&ldquo;Last year, on average,&rdquo; Smith said, &ldquo;we were spending two-and-a-half to three hours more time than, say, the Dallas Stars to do the same practice and workout. You can&rsquo;t quantify what the (Ice Den) has meant in terms of improvement in the standings, but I would say it has been significant in improving the attitude.&rdquo;After what the Coyotes have experienced, both in Phoenix and Winnipeg, all connected with the team are keeping the strong start in perspective.As Smith said, &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t won a playoff series yet.&rdquo;And they know they&rsquo;ve been the beneficiary of a relatively easy schedule in October and November-not many games (18), lots of prep time in between and 10 of them at home.December may not be so kind, with 14 games in 28 days and only four of them at home.And it&rsquo;s not that Smith is particularly superstitious, but.&ldquo;I remember The Hockey News a couple of years back did a cover story on how well the Florida Panthers were playing,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I think their winning percentage since that story dropped to about .300.1 hope that&rsquo;s not going to happen here.&rdquo;It won&rsquo;t-if the Coyotes&rsquo; new-found camaraderie, team approach and leadership is the real deal. &#9632;

f0012-01

Dog Days Behind Them

<div class="byline">By Stu Hackel</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011882/8209407-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="708" height="860"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021429/8209400-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="990" height="893"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03990/8209393-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="765" height="1087"></div>Bigger may be better when it comes to the size if hockey players, but not necessarily when it comes to hockey books.With one notable exception, the size of this year&rsquo;s average hockey book is smaller. But the quality seems to have increased.That&rsquo;s the finding of Kevin Harper who, as national sales manager for the Canadian book distributor North 49, closely monitors hockey titles annually.Last year, publishers released an unusually high number of pricey coffee table gift books. &ldquo;In general,&rdquo; Harper says,&rdquo;the sales were pretty lackluster.&rdquo;So there are fewer high-priced items this year. Instead, publishers have refocused on upgrading their standard hardcovers and those large books they are producing.Because of this, Harper projects&rdquo;an above-average year&rdquo; for sales led by that one notable I exception-Total Hockey, the immense encyclopedia which has rocketed to the top three on Canada&rsquo;s hardcover non-fiction best seller list.Publishers have not stopped riding the nostalgia wave, Harper observes, sensing fans remain uncertain about the game&rsquo;s current state. Interestingly, that wave increasingly washes over the 1970s, perhaps reflecting today&rsquo;s parallels with the expansion era&rsquo;s escalating salaries, franchise instability and struggles for the game&rsquo;s identity.Here are some of the noteworthy new books. Titles are listed alphabetically within the various categories.<h2>Reference Book</h2>Total Hockey, edited by Dan Diamond. Total Sports, $69.95 (Cdn.)/$54.95 (U.S.) 1,878 pages. Beyond its status as the ultimate statistical resource,&rdquo;people should recognize the high quality of the book&rsquo;s essays,&rdquo; Harper says. &ldquo;There is some incredible writing here and it is also international in scope. Fans are not going to get all that in one book anywhere else.&rdquo;Hockey Scouting Report 1998-99, by Sherry Ross. Greystone, $17.95 (Cdn.)/$12.95 (U.S.), 432 pages. Pro scouts pester the author for copies. Can there be a better endorsement?The Hockey News&rsquo; Hockey Almanac 1999, edited by Zander Hollander. Visible Ink, $27.95 (Cdn.)/$19.95 (U.S.), 856 pages. The Hockey News joins forces with Hockey Almanac to provide a new and improved version of this annual encyclopedia. Included in this offering is a foreword by THN associate editor Bob McKenzie.<h2>Coffee Table Books</h2>Etched In Ice, by Michael McKinley. Greystone, $36.95 (Cdn.), 138 pages. This tribute to hockey&rsquo;s 25&rdquo;defining moments&rdquo; is often puzzling-why Terry Sawchuk&rsquo;s death and not his unmatched 1950s&rsquo; goaltending; why Bobby Orr turning pro and not his 1970 Cup-winning goal?-but the book scores with its rare black and white photos.Jeux Cocasses au Vieux Forum (Bloopers at the old Forum), photographs by Denis Brodeur. Les Editions de 1&rsquo;Homme, $64.95 (Cdn.), 304 pages. A terrific collection of flying bodies, flying sticks, flying ice and-in the 1970s-flying hair.Shooting Stars, by Andrew Podnieks. Doubleday, $60 (Cdn.)Firefly, $40 (U.S.) 168 pages. The sequel to the author&rsquo;s topnotch volume of classic Turofsky photos from the Hockey Hall of Fame archives, this collection of Lewis Portnoy&rsquo;s 1970s color portraits is again complemented by Podnieks, thoughtful, entertaining text.The Game We Knew: Hockey In The Sixties, by Mike Leonetti, photos by Harold Barkley. Rain-coast, $31.95 (Cdn.), 128 pages. Hockey&rsquo;s first great color photos, Barkley&rsquo;s 1960s images, would have been better served had they been enlarged to fill more of the page, like last year&rsquo;s collection of his rare 1950s&rsquo; black and white shots.The Top 100 NHL Players of All Time, edited by Steve Dryden. McClelland & Stewart, $29.99 (Cdn.)$22.95 (U.S.), 160 pages. This expanded version of THN&rsquo;s hotly debated&rsquo; Top 50&rsquo; list includes a foreword by Wayne Gretzky, an introduction explaining the selection process, a new section on future greats and 50 additional selections over which to argue.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04685/8209386-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="1780" height="2241"><figcaption class="caption-body">Terry Sawchuk&rsquo;s troubled life and times are well-documented in Sawchuk. (THN file photo)</figcaption></div><h2>Standard Hardcovers</h2>Canada On Ice, edited by D&rsquo;Arcy Jenish. Viking, $35 (Cdn.), 347 pages. These articles from Maclean&rsquo;s archives have stood the test of time. The magazine&rsquo;s insightful reporting and marvelous writing create lively portraits of hockey&rsquo;s top events and personalities.Hockey Towns, by Bill Boyd. Doubleday, $29.95 (Cdn.)$23.95 (U.S.), 250 pages. By exploring the meaning of hockey in small-town Canada, the author (a former CBC news producer)&rdquo;covers some of the same ground as last year&rsquo;s book The Rink, so you might dismiss it,&rdquo; Harper says. &ldquo;But he really gets the flavor of the people he&rsquo;s writing about. It&rsquo;s a much better book.&rdquo;In The Bin, by Lloyd Freeberg. Triumph, $19.95 (U.S.), 215 pages, An off-ice official in Anaheim, the author relates amusing penalty box banter. His experiences as a goal judge also make interesting reading.Of Ice And Men, by Bruce Dowbiggin. McFarlane, Walter & Ross, $29.95 (Cdn.)$24.95 (U.S.), 309 pages. When this ambitious book sticks to its stated task-examining hockey&rsquo;s craft at its highest level-it is intriguing and successful, but the author occasionally jumps the track with barely relevant material, including the imposition of research from natural and social sciences onto hockey.Remembering the Rocket, edited by Craig MacInnis. Stoddard, $26.95 (Cdn.)$19.95 (U.S.), 128 pages. Looking (and priced) like a shrunken coffee table book, striking photos and sharp design surround Anglo press stories from Maurice Richard&rsquo;s career. Unfortunate omission: the evocative account of his I miraculous 1952 playoff goal against a Boston from Andy O&rsquo;Brien&rsquo;s 1961 Richard bio.Rinkside, by Craig McCarty. Benchmark Press, $14.95 (U.S.), 200 pages. Written by the father of Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; right winger Darren McCarty, this look at the making of an NHLer is both the story of a family&rsquo;s determination to realize a son&rsquo;s I dream and its battles against serious illnesses.Sawchuk, by David Dupuis. Stoddard, $29.95 (Cdn.)$19.95 (U.S.), 304 pages. David Kendell&rsquo;s 1996 Sawchuk bio was good. This is even better. With contributions from his wife, children, extended family and teammates, it presents the full picture of a tortured, misguided man who was hockey&rsquo;s greatest netminder.Scotty Bowman, by Douglas Hunter.Viking,&rsquo; $32 (Cdn.Triumph, $22.95 (U.S.), 384 pages. Like his 1994 Tim Horton bio, the author crams in facts, but a disorganized rambling plagues his narrative. Large gaps (one lone paragraph on Bowman&rsquo;s childhood) and plain mistakes; (e.g., placing his Pittsburgh hiring seven months ahead of reality) lead to strange interpretations, undermining the book&rsquo;s credibility. Consequently, it&rsquo;s only a partial success and Bowman remains an elusive figure.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011715/8209379-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="605" height="811"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021227/8209372-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="504" height="788"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03861/8209365-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="597" height="784"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04632/8209358-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="511" height="704"></div>The Death of Hockey, by Jeff Z. Klein and Karl-Eric Reif. Macmillan Canada, $29.95 (Cdn.), 234 pages. This funny, smart, sometimes flawed, but always passionate book-which is part love letter, part Molotov cocktail-is a traditionalists&rsquo; manifesto. It will also enlighten newcomers as to why too many longtime fans are disillusioned with today&rsquo;s NHL.<h2>Paperbacks</h2>Crossing The Line, Laura Robinson. McClelland & Stewart, $19.95 (Cdn.), 254 pages. In the most controversial hockey book of the year, the author details incidents and allegations of violence and sexual abuse by junior players and proposes some unusual solutions.Over the Glass & Into The Crowd, by Brian McFalone. Main Street Press, $24.95 (Cdn.), 286 B pages. Published by the author out of his Guelph B home, this offers good mini-profiles of more than 200 ex-NHLers, from Hall of Earners to 15-gamers, who discuss their careers, the sometimes hard transition to life after hockey and divulge their little-known nicknames.The Third Best Hull, by Dennis Hull. ECW Press, $16.95 (Cdn.). A hilarious banquet speaker, Hull peppers the book with some great g; laughs, but also fresh insights on his three careers, his teammates, brother Bobby and himself.The Ultimate Bad Boys, by Stan Fischler. Warwick, $15.95 (Cdn.), 260 pages. The fourth book of the series not only lets fighters tell their stories, but also contains rankings and scouting reports on the top guns.Understanding Ken, by Pete McCormack. Douglas & McIntyre, ,$18.95 (Cdn.), 242 pages. Catcher in the Rye meets 1970s pee wee skater as an 11-year-old ponders life, death, family and why Ken Dryden would sit out a season. This funny and painful novel stands with hockey&rsquo;s best fiction.<h2>Kids Books</h2>My Leafs Sweater, by Mike Leonetti, illustrations by Sean Thompson. Rain-coast $19.95 (Cdn.) /$ 15.95 (U.S.) 27 pages. The antithetical relationship to Roch Carrier&rsquo;s The Hockey Sweater is unmistakable, but at its most basic this is a pleasant story with patriotic undertones.Nightmare In Nagano, by Roy Mac-Gregor. McClelland & Stewart, $4.99 3 (Cdn.), 117 pages. The author imports observations gleaned from covering the 1998 Olympics for his loyal readers-and Nish moves from defense to goalie!&mdash;in the ninth Screetch Owls book.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05439/8209351-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="1344" height="1772"><figcaption class="caption-body">Funnyman Dennis Hull offers laughs and fresh insights in his new book. (THN file photo)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-01

Less is more Nostalgia, hot issues popular book topics

<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/f0016-011679/8209438-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Daniel Sedin, left, is rated ahead of Henrik. The twins were 16 at the time of this photo. (Photo by F.H.Gerling)</figcaption></div>The buzz from Sweden had trickled through to Atlanta Thrashers&rsquo; GM Don Waddell before most folks had cracked the morning paper. Modo center Henrik Sedin was hurt in a game last night. Possible concussion. Might miss some action, too.Waddell must have smiled inside. What&rsquo;s that they say about one man&rsquo;s misfortune? Opportunities like this don&rsquo;t come along often.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re watching them every night right now,&rdquo; Waddell said in late-November of the prized prospects for the 1999 NHL entry draft, Henrik and brother Daniel. They are rated 1-2 among Swedish players by the Central Scouting Bureau (see pg. 38 for listing). Both will likely be among the top five selections. Atlanta, which begins play in 1999-2000, is guaranteed a top-three pick.&ldquo;Truthfully, with this much talent, these guys have got to be able to play by themselves. (But) there is an issue, (how) are they going to respond when you break them up?&rdquo;So when you get a chance to see the terrific twins apart, you jump. turned out to be a good scoop, but bad luck-for the scouts. Henrik recovered and was expected to center Daniel-usually a right winger-in Modo&rsquo;s next game.Daniel, the better scorer of the two and favorite as the No. 1 overall pick, had eight goals and 19 points in 21 games with Modo, great numbers for an 18-year-old in Sweden&rsquo;s top pro league.If he was available last year, he would have gone No. 1 without any hesitation or question,&rdquo; said Florida Panthers&rsquo; scout Paul Henry, who has seen the brothers play at least 25 times prior to this season. &ldquo;No one has even been close to Daniel Sedin to me in terms of the overall excellence on a shift-to-shift basis.&rdquo;Henrik had five goals and 14 points and is considered a sure-fire top-five pick.&ldquo;Maybe Henrik is better defensively than me and maybe is the better passer, but some others say maybe I&rsquo;m a better skater and maybe a better scorer,&rdquo; Daniel said.The brothers still live at home; Modo plays in Omskoldsvik, the northern hometown the Sedins have in common with Peter Forsberg, among others. Except for parts of last season when Henrik was stuck behind a deep crop of centers, they have been playing on the same line since they were 13. They worked out together in the summer to add strength to their 6-foot-2 frames. Daniel weighs about 190 pounds, Henrik about 196. &ldquo;He eats a lot of food,&rdquo; Daniel said.And they both have scouts drooling.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you can play much better than what they have done this year,&rdquo; said one European-based scout.&ldquo;They killed our team here in Gothenberg,&rdquo; said Swedish hockey writer Szymon Szemberg. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re so good. They&rsquo;re really good.&rdquo;Teams might not even have a chance to draft one of them this summer. There is talk one of them-likely Henrik-might wait until next year before opting into the draft, which makes sense considering both plan to stay at home next season to finish their final year of school. That way there&rsquo;s a slim chance one NHL team could wind up drafting them both in consecutive years.Too far ahead to speculate, Daniel said. Same goes for the push to have them play for Sweden in the World Championship this spring. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a dream,&rdquo; Daniel admits. But for now the focus is on Modo and the World Junior Championship in Winnipeg in late-December.As the brothers, linemates and countrymen continue their journey, the hockey world is watching. &#9632;

f0016-01

Super Sedins simply amazing

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021311/8209469-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim ConnollyMartin GrenierKris Beech</figcaption></div>Highly touted center Patrick Stefan doesn&rsquo;t appear on the Central Scouting Bureau&rsquo;s preliminary November ranking of top prospects for the 1999 NHL entry draft, but don&rsquo;t let that fool you. Stefan, 18, plays for the Long Beach Ice Dogs in the International League-a league not covered by the CSB. We&rsquo;ve included him in the list below along with CSB&rsquo;s top-rated three skaters and top goaltender for each of the Ontario League, Western League and Quebec League, as well as the top-rated skaters from Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland and U.S. colleges. Statistics are from this season, where available.<h2>CENTRAL SCOUTNG NHL RANKNG &#9632;</h2>

f0016-02

IHL’S STEFAN BELONGS

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021169/8209500-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="593" height="1278"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stu Grimson</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011500/8209507-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="173" height="174"></div>Mighty Ducks of Anaheim enforcer Stu Grimson was standing alone in the slot when Ted Drury got him the puck.Grimson buried the shot past Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; goalie Mark Fitzpatrick Nov. 22, raising his hands in celebration of his third goal of the year, matching his personal career high for a season.His teammates were thrilled. &ldquo;We all know how much Stuey means to this team,&rdquo; Paul Kariya said.Grimson was an alternate captain for the Ducks during their inaugural 1993-94 season. But 31 games into the second season, Grimson was traded in a package deal to the Detroit Red Wings (with Mark Ferner and a 1996 sixth round draft pick for Mike Sillinger and Jason York).Last season, the Ducks lacked leadership and a strong physical presence to deter opponents from taking liber ties with Kariya and Teemu Selanne. So when Grimson became available, the Ducks knew he was the perfect fit for both roles. Grimson was reacquired Aug. 11 from the Carolina Hurricanes, along with defenseman Kevin Haller, for defenseman David Kama and a draft pick&ldquo;Stuey is all about team,&rdquo; said coach Craig Hartsburg. &ldquo;He contributes every day, even when he doesn&rsquo;t get ice time. Guys have a lot of respect for what Stu Grimson brings to this hockey team.&rdquo;Grimson was leading the Ducks with 46 penalty minutes and tries to make the most of only a handful of shifts per game he gets while anchoring the fourth line.&ldquo;I guess when you don&rsquo;t command a lot of playing time, two things happen,&rdquo; Grimson said. &ldquo;You have to find a way to contribute, whether it&rsquo;s encouraging or critiquing on the bench or just pointing out things you see. You also have to stay ready.&rdquo;And occasionally even chip in with a goal. Crimson&rsquo;s three this season matches his career high set last season with Carolina, so it almost seems as if the sky&rsquo;s the limit.&ldquo;And it&rsquo;s only November,&rdquo; Grimson said. &ldquo;don&rsquo;t know what to do with myself.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Since going pointless at ionic against St. Louis Nov. 4, left winger &rsquo;Paul Kariya had points in 10 consecutive&rsquo;antes. He had six goals and nine assists during that stretch to propel him to the top of the NHL scoring race with 28 points (12 goals and 16 assists).Center Matt Cullen was demoted to Cincinnati of the American League Nov. 25 after struggling this season with just one assist in 17 game&hellip;Right winger Teemu Selanne returned to the lineup Nov. 25 at about&rdquo;80 per cent&rdquo; after missing six games with a strained right thigh. &#9632;

f0017-02

NHL TEAMS

Three times lucky makes it career year for scrapper Grimson

<div class="byline">By Nancy L. Marrapese</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011560/8209538-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="172" height="171"></div>He has never been one to say much, preferring to let his on-ice play do his talking for him.So it was all the more telling Nov. 24 when 37-year-old Ray Bourque did a little extra celebrating after scoring the winning goal in a road game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.The Lightning tried what many other teams also attempt-wear down the 20year veteran with punishing hits. In the case of the Lightning&rsquo;s Sandy McCarthy, it led to an ill-advised crosschecking penalty and Bourque scored on the power play with less than six minutes left in regulation, giving Boston a 2-1 lead that wound up a 4-1 victory. McCarthy was embarrassed and Bourque was elated.Bourque has seen opponents try to take him out for 20 years. The object is to make it work for you.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to come after you sometimes,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s part of it. You can hit me as hard as you want, you can cross-check me or crash me, but I&rsquo;ll keep doing what do or keep trying to do it. Sometimes you&rsquo;ve got to put yourself in a position where you know you&rsquo;re going to get hit and when somebody does do something foolish, you make them pay. That was the case and it worked out great.&rdquo;During the man advantage, Bourque collected a pass from Jason Allison and teed up a slapper from high in the left circle that blew by goalie Bill Ranford.&ldquo;It was very nice,&rdquo; Bourque said. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t get any better than that.NOTEBOOK: Center Jason Allison, who joined the Bruins late in the pre-season after missing all but one exhibition game because of a contract dispute, said he&rsquo;s starting to feel much better after recovering from a bout with the flu. &ldquo;My physicalness was getting there before got sick, but my game wasn&rsquo;t where wanted it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I really think the last three or four games, it has been a lot better&rdquo; &hellip;Allison is one of the reasons the Bruins had the top-rated power play in the league at 21.6 per cent. He led the league with 14 power play points in 21 games Center Tim Taylor was listed as day-to-day with a sprained ankle. Fifteen-year defenseman Dave Ellett. 34, was a healthy scratch in back-to-back games. &#9632;

f0018-01

Bourque makes’em pay for rough-housing ways

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03868/8209569-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="599" height="954"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dominik Hasek</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021197/8209576-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="169" height="168"></div>They were only two goals, insignificant against the four the Buffalo Sabres scored in a win Nov. 25 against the New York Rangers, but they marked an end of a special kind of dominance.Dominik Hasek had shut out the New York Rangers four times in as many meetings, a feat of individual brilliance almost unheard of in today&rsquo;s NHL. The streak came to an end when Adam Graves scored a power play goal in the first period of a game at Marine Midland, but the individual brilliance still had the Rangers shaking their heads.Such is the way in Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s world.You have to go back to December, 1996 to find a record of the last New York win against Buffalo (3-0, Dec. 13, 1996). That&rsquo;s so long ago Pat LaFontaine was still wearing a Sabres uniform, Ted Nolan was his coach and John Muckier was GM.Hasek said he had no explanation for the shutout streak that reached 281:57, but was almost glad it was over.&ldquo;There was a lot of attention to it, so in that way guess I&rsquo;m glad it ended,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We won the game and that&rsquo;s the important thing. Maybe I&rsquo;ll start a new one next time.&rdquo;Hasek has had other streaks of shutout brilliance, but never such a sustained period of excellence against one team. Home or away it didn&rsquo;t matter. Hasek stopped nearly 200 shots during the streak. He said he thought the Rangers were not the same team they were a few years ago.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Dixon Ward scored a natural hat trick against the Rangers Nov. 25, pushing his season total to a team-high eight. It&rsquo;s an especially satisfying start for the veteran who was exposed to Nashville in last summer&rsquo;s expansion draft.Ward&rsquo;s linemate, Vaclav Varada was not overly impressed with the Rangers even after they acquired center Petr Nedved. &ldquo;They really didn&rsquo;t create a problem for us,&rdquo; Varada said of playing against center Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s line. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve played against better first lines. Gretzky was just skating around without the puck. It was easy&rdquo; &hellip; Defenseman Rumun Ndur has begun to get significant playing time, filling in for injured players and alternating with veteran defenseman James Patrick. &#9632;

f0018-03

Hasek’s run conies to end

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04581/8209607-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="170" height="168"></div>The CALGARY Flames Derek Morris finds himself under the microscope more these days, as all second-year defensemen do.As a 19-year-old last season, Morris played an exceptionally composed game for the Flames and finished fifth in the NHL&rsquo;s Calder Trophy balloting, prompting inquiring minds to ask: How would he do at 20?The early returns are in and a quarter of the way through the NHL season, Morris is showing no signs of faltering. Teammate Phil Housley may have more points and Cale Hulse may have more hits, but no one provides a more consistent two-way presence than Morris. Not since the heyday of Al MacInnis and Gary Suter have the Flames been this excited about a defensive prospect.&ldquo;You put more pressure on yourself in the second year to be better,&rdquo; Morris said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not allowed to make the same mistakes you made your first year, the ones you got away with. But don&rsquo;t think Brian (coach Sutter) would allow me to slip.&rdquo;The Flames are using Morris alongside veteran Steve Smith and the two are developing a nice chemistry. According to Smith, one of the qualities that sets Morris apart from other young defensemen is his ability to shrug off miscues.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s great about Mo is he learns from mistakes and doesn&rsquo;t dwell on them,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s going to be such a great professional for many years.&rdquo;Morris has an instinctive feel for the game, a sixth sense that separates the good ones from the potentially great ones.&ldquo;Mo sees the ice as well or better than anyone I&rsquo;ve played with for a long time-and I&rsquo;ve played with some great defensemen,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;He reads plays well, especially when he has the puck. He&rsquo;s able to slow the game down when he needs to. He&rsquo;s able to get on his horse and take off when he has the opportunity.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Theo Fleury trade rumor No. 462: n late November, it looked as if the San Jose Sharks were prepared to make an offer for the soon-to-be-unrestricted free agent right winger. Speculation was the Sharks would trade defenseman Brad Stuart, their first choice in the 1998 draft. As long as the Flames are within hailing distance of a playoff spot, they are reluctant to trade Fleury because of the message it would send-that they&rsquo;re rebuilding. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m in a listening mode,&ldquo;said GM Al Coates. After a promising 4-3 start on the road, the Flames lost four straight between Nov. 18 and 25. The Hames were leading or tied going into the final 20 minutes in all four games, but were outscored 8-0 in the third&rdquo;. &#9632;

f0018-04

No jinx for sophomore Morris

<div class="byline">By Dustin Long</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07254/8209638-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="593" height="966"><figcaption class="caption-body">Trevor Kidd</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05392/8209645-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="170" height="172"></div>Just when the Carolina Hurricanes were starting to shed their image of perennial losers, reality struck.The &rsquo;Canes, who have not made the playoffs the past six seasons, opened the season 6-4-3 and were No. 1 in the Eastern Conference for four days in early November. Through the first 10 games, the Canes had allowed a league-low 1.6 goals a game.But things have not been good since. Through Nov. 26, the &rsquo;Canes had lost six of their past nine games.The problem?The players and coach Paul Maurice blamed scheduling, which had the team playing or traveling 18 days in a 25-day stretch. That left little time for practice.Another problem has been the defense. The &rsquo;Canes have struggled clearing the puck from their end. Forechecking teams often force Carolina into mistakes.&ldquo;We definitely have to work on our defensive end,&rdquo; said right winger Ray Sheppard after a 5-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils Nov. 22. &ldquo;Six games ago we were one of the best defensive teams in the league, so we know we can do it. t&rsquo;s just a question of getting back to it.&rdquo;Defensive-zone mistakes cost the &rsquo;Canes in a pair of losses to New Jersey, but Maurice said his forwards also need to improve their play.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve gotten anxious,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to take the puck and go. We&rsquo;re getting beat down low. We have to move the puck better and quicker.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Trevor Kidd started for the first time in two weeks in Carolina&rsquo;s game against San Jose Nov. 25. He stopped 36 shots in a 3-0 victory for his 14th career shutout. The day before the game, he had his shoulder-draping hair cut for the first time in 2-12 years. &ldquo;They needed a pickup truck to get the hair out of there,&rdquo; he said The line of left winger Sami Kapanen, center Keith Primeau and right winger Ray Sheppard scored 26 of the team&rsquo;s fust 56 goals. Sheppard was on a six-game goal streak. Through Nov. 25, center Ron Francis had two points in his past 14 games. Coach Paul Maurice said he&rsquo;s partly to blame for Francis&rsquo; drought because of the constant line mixing, leaving Francis with a rotating cast of wingers. &#9632;

f0018-07

Top defense takes tumble

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06307/8209676-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="170" height="168"></div>For a few scary moments in CALGARY Nov. 8, Sylvain Lefebvre&rsquo;s career flashed before his eyes. Make that eye. He had vision out of just one of them.The veteran Colorado Avalanche defenseman was struck flush in the left eye by a deflected shot off the stick of the Flames&rsquo; Cory Stillman, and immediately fell to the ice. After being helped off the ice, Lefebvre realized he couldn&rsquo;t see anything out of the eye. t was swollen shut and had become bloodshot.For two days, Lefebvre stayed in CALGARY because flying in an airplane would have put too much pressure on the eye. Finally, the swelling subsided to the point his vision returned. He ended up driving 18 hours by car back to Denver with the aid of Avs&rsquo; public relations assistant Damen Zier. But when he got back and was examined further by eye specialists, things got scary again: Lefebvre&rsquo;s retina was damaged.&ldquo;Anytime things are out of your control and you have to wait for what doctors tell you, it&rsquo;s tough,&rdquo; Lefebvre said. &ldquo;You just take your eyesight for granted. But they&rsquo;re more delicate than other parts of your body.&rdquo;Lefebvre&rsquo;s retina wasn&rsquo;t damaged to the point where he couldn&rsquo;t see as well as he could before. Doctors, however, advised him to wear a visor, something he hadn&rsquo;t done since junior.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be wearing one from now on,&rdquo; Lefebvre said.NOTEBOOK: The Avs twice had chances to get to the .500 level (Nov. 19 against Vancouver and Nov. 25 against Edmonton), but were shut out both times. Colorado was blanked five times in 20 games and are one whitewash short of tying the team record Rookie defenseman Brian White played only the final 1.7 seconds of Colorado&rsquo;s 3-2 win over Montreal Nov. 22. Avs&rsquo; coach Bob Hartley wanted to give White the opportunity to say he played in at least one NHL game. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m in the books now.&rdquo; said White, 22, who is likely headed back to Hershey of the American League before long.Another week of no progress in the Sandis Ozolinsh saga. The team&rsquo;s offer to the Latvian defenseman remained a two-year, $6.6 million deal. &#9632;

f0018-06

Lefebvre looking at visor after taking puck in eve

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-021081/8209707-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="603" height="1272"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jocelyn Thibault</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011431/8209714-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="172" height="173"></div>The day after the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; third trade in five days, the blockbuster six-player swap with the Montreal Canadiens, Tony Amonte sat in the dressing room at Nashville Arena and shook his head at the number of teammates he didn&rsquo;t know.&ldquo;It almost feels like you&rsquo;re the one who has been traded,&rdquo; Amonte said. &ldquo;You look around the room and I&rsquo;ve never played with half these guys.&rdquo;The Hawks&rsquo; abysmal start has left GM Bob Murray in a wheeling and dealing mood. Murray started cleaning house Oct. 27 when he sent Steve Dubinsky and Jeff Shantz to the CALGARY Flames for Jamie Allison and Marty McInnis. Murray quickly giftwrapped McInnis and dealt him to Anaheim for a fourth round draft pick in 2000, a move he admits now might have been a mistake.Murray then completed three deals in five days starting Nov. 13 when he acquired defenseman Bryan Muir from the New Jersey Devils for future considerations.Two days later came the biggie with Montreal, with Jocelyn Thibault, Dave Manson and Brad Brown coming to Chicago for Jeff Hackett, Eric Weinrich and Alain Nasreddine. The very next day, Nov. 17, Murray sent the much-traveled Roman Vopat to the Philadelphia Flyers for winger Mike Maneluk.What the Hawks did was change 11 players who were on their opening night ROSTER, seven by trade. Four others were assigned either to the minors or juniors.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s quite a bit of change,&rdquo; saic coach Dirk Graham. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we expected it to that extent, but again as we went along we were learning all the time and evaluating the situation.&rdquo;Graham remained optimistic the Hawks would eventually turn things around even as rumors swirled about his job being in jeopardy.After a 4-2-1 start, the Hawks went into a 1-11-2 tailspin that dropped them to the bottom of the NHL standings. The Hawks were outscored 56-22 during that stretch, making them last in the league offensively and defensively.NOTEBOOK: Management had to eat a little crow Nov. 23 when left winger Eddie Olczyk was recalled from Chicago of the International League to help beef up the offense. Olczyk cleared waivers Oct. 31 and at the time Hawks&rsquo; GM Bob Murray made it sound like Olczyk wouldn&rsquo;t be back by criticizing his work habits. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s done is done,&rdquo; Olczyk said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m here to play and help this team&rdquo;&hellip;Defenseman Chris Chelios returned Nov. 24 at Phoenix after missing five games with a groin strain.Goalie Jocelyn Thibault lost his first two start for the Blackhawks. &#9632;

f0019-02

GM Murray’s trading daze has Hawks wondering what hit them

<div class="byline">By Mario Annicchiarico</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011329/8209745-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="171" height="171"></div>Either hanging around with the media has made Tom Poti a smarter young man or he simply took Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; coach ion Low&rsquo;s message to heart.Likely it was the latter after the Oilers&rsquo; 21-year-old rookie defenseman used a brief press box hiatus as a leaning tool to re-establish himself among the club&rsquo;s top four rearguards.&ldquo;I think sitting him out a couple of games didn&rsquo;t hurt.&rdquo; Low said of the Worcester, Mass., native. &ldquo;He got a hance to watch the other defensemen play the game.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a smart kid and he did watch how they played and the panic level he had maybe at the start of the season has disappeared.&rdquo;Now Poti&rsquo;s using his 6-foot-3 height and that massive reach to advantage. He&rsquo;s also not afraid to slide up into scoring position as he showed in recording his first NHL goal Nov. 18 in a 6-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m definitely feeling more comfortable in stepping up, making hits, making plays,&rdquo; Poti said. &ldquo;It all comes with being comfortable.&ldquo;It definitely helped being up in the press box, watching the other guys and seeing how much time they actually have with the puck.&rdquo;The former Boston University star has now settled into his role among a very young and aggressive defense that also features Europeans Boris Mironov, Janne Ninimaa and Roman Hamrlik.NOTEBOOK: Goaltender Bob Essensa recently felt a slight pop in his left knee during a morning skate in Anaheim. An MR revealed no structural damage and Essensa took on a backup role to Mikhail Shtalenkov rather than a spot on the injured list. Shtalenkov made three straight starts, earning an overtime win over his former Anaheim teammates Nov. 20, and his first shutout as an Oiler in a 3-0 blanking of Colorado Nov. 25.Oilers&rsquo; GM-president Glen Sather has been having conversations with agent Paul Theo-famous regarding a contract extension for defenseman Boris Mironov, who is in the final year of a deal that is paying him $1.2 million. A source says The famous is looking for upwards of $3 million annually. &#9632;

f0020-01

Brief exile to press box proves positive for Poti

<div class="byline">By Chuck Carlton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04474/8209776-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="595" height="958"><figcaption class="caption-body">Norm Maracle</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02958/8209783-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="171" height="170"></div>As nice as the zero looks in the loss column, Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; goalie Norm Maracle remains grounded in reality. Sooner or later, he knows he&rsquo;ll lose an NHL game.His true concern is a long career, or establishing the beginnings of one. He&rsquo;s enough of a student of recent goaltending history to know that quick starts are sometimes misleading.&ldquo;Look at Patrick Lalime,&rdquo; said Maracle of the former Pittsburgh goalie who began 14-0-2 two seasons ago. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not playing in the league anymore. The players don&rsquo;t know my style yet. Once they do, it&rsquo;ll be a lot harder for me.&rdquo;At least overconfidence isn&rsquo;t a problem for Maracle, a perfect 4-0-1 lifetime with a 1.92 goals-against average. He took advantage of Chris Osgood&rsquo;s hip-flexor injury to get his first start this season. He made 29 saves in a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks Nov. 21 and came back to play well in a 5-2 victory against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks four nights later.Yet, he admitted to self-doubt before the game with the Canucks.Maracle, 24, had barely seen the ice in training camp because of a sore ankle, and the Red Wings&rsquo; three-goalie situation with Osgood and Kevin Hodson isn&rsquo;t conducive to great workouts.&ldquo;I told Ozzie that was a little nervous, that didn&rsquo;t know if could play in the league,&rdquo; Maracle said.&rdquo; played a couple games last year, out mat was a long time ago.&rdquo;He played well enough, though, that Detroit now hopes to end its crowded crease by eventually dealing Hodson.NOTEBOOK: Coach Scotty Bowman was looking for defense when he put Sergei Fedorov at center between Steve Yzerman and Darren McCarty. The result was offense. The threesome had seven goals and 14 points in their first three games as a unit, all Detroit victories&hellip;McCarty&rsquo;s father Craig has authored a book entitled&rdquo;Rinkside,&rdquo; which began as a Father&rsquo;s Day gift to his son. t chronicles the elder McCarty&rsquo;s battle with a form of bone cancer and his son&rsquo;s fight against alcoholism, along with thoughts on child-rearing&hellip;Former Wing Petr Klima&rsquo;s decision not to accept a $75,000 minor-league contract in training camp looks questionable now after injuries to left wingers Brent Gilchrist and Kirk Maltby. &#9632;

f0020-04

Maracle moving up

<div class="byline">By Mike Heike</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05276/8209814-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="167" height="166"></div>Ed Belfour&rsquo;s hockey philosophy hasn&rsquo;t changed all that much at its base.&ldquo;Numbers don&rsquo;t mean a thing,&rdquo; the Dallas Stars&rsquo; goalie said. &ldquo;t&rsquo;s all about how you feel about yourself and how you&rsquo;re playing.&rdquo;But while that confidence remains the core for Belfour, 33, he has certainly changed the application of his inner psyche to the game. Now, instead of getting flustered by fluke goals and strange hops, Belfour is showing maturity in his second season with the Stars.&ldquo;As you get older, think you have to get more mature,&rdquo; Belfour said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen a lot of things in this league and I&rsquo;ve learned from them.&ldquo;Hey, there are good shooters in this league and sometime you&rsquo;re going to get beat. The key is to not let the last goal affect the next one.&rdquo;That attitude was never more clear than when Belfour allowed two goals on the first three shots against the San Jose Sharks Nov. 23-one of his former teams and currently his greatest nemesis. But instead of folding, Belfour bounced back and stoned the Sharks for the remainder of the game, eventually taking a 3-2 victory.Belfour has a reputation for snapping. He did it twice in the playoffs last season-once when he punched out Sharks&rsquo; winger Shawn Burr and once when he made a vicious slash to the groin of Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; winger Martin Lapointe.And while he might not rid himself of those ghosts until this season&rsquo;s playoffs, Belfour is doing a great job of being Mr. Calm now.&ldquo;The thing that has impressed me is he has had a lot of opportunities to, quote, &rsquo;lose it,&rsquo; and he hasn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Stars&rsquo; coach Ken Hitchcock said. &ldquo;He has had lots of opportunities to get frustrated and he hasn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;His numbers-while he says they are not important-are nonetheless impressive at 9-3-1 with a 1.94 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.NOTEBOOK: Winger Brett Hull sustained a bruised kidney when he was accidentally speared Nov. 20 in a 4-2 win over the Islanders. Hull sustained the injury in the first period and then went on to tally two assists, drawing praise from his teammates for his toughness. However, when he returned to play Nov. 25 against New Jersey, he caught a skate in a rut and pulled his groin. He was listed as day-to-day. n 13 games since returning from knee surgery, center Joe Nieuwendyk had six goals and five assists and also was tops among NHL regulars in faceoff efficiency at 68 percent&hellip;Defensemen Derian Hatcher and Richard Matvichuk ranked Nos. 2 and 3 in the NHL in hits with 62 apiece through 18 games. &#9632;

f0020-05

Moody Eddy matures into Mr. Calm

<div class="byline">By David J.Neal</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-08132/8209845-1-eng-US/f0020-082.jpg" title="f0020-08" width="584" height="960"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kirk McLean</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06220/8209852-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="168" height="172"></div>Back in October, Kirk McLean was insisting he wasn&rsquo;t the Florida Panthers&rsquo; No. 2 goalie, despite the contradictions of Sean Burke&rsquo;s greater usage and the flat-out declarations of coach Terry Murray that Burke was No. 1.The weekend before U.S. Thanksgiving, the situation finally matched McLean&rsquo;s point of view.In the locker room after a Nov. 21 3-3 tie at New Jersey, Murray told McLean he would be starting the following day against the Philadelphia Flyers instead of the previously-announced Burke. It was the first back-to-back starts this season for McLean and a start against the Boston Bruins made it three in a row.&ldquo;Kirk&rsquo;s performance (against New Jersey) was solid against a really top team,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;If he can get on a bit of a roll here, we&rsquo;ll see what happens. If you have an 82-game schedule, you&rsquo;ll change thoughts and ideas about players.&rdquo;In Burke&rsquo;s previous two starts he gave up five goals in Boston and four in Pittsburgh. In neither case did the Panthers play well defensively, but at least they matched Boston&rsquo;s five to get a tie.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re the No. 1 guy the night you&rsquo;re playing, and that&rsquo;s it,&rdquo; Burke said, shrugging the whole thing off.&ldquo;This No. 1-No. 2 thing gets blown out of proportion,&rdquo; said McLean, earning a team-high $2.55 million this season. &ldquo;It take everybody to win. But to get labeled a No. 2 goaltender, it&rsquo;s an awful feeling because you don&rsquo;t feel a part of the team.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Panthers&rsquo; GM Bryan Murray didn&rsquo;t want to identify the player who would&rsquo;ve gone to Pittsburgh in a deal for center Petr Nedved, but sources and the process of elimination point to right winger Radek Dvorak. As for going after restricted free agent forwards Pavel Bure of Vancouver or Ziggy Palffy of the Islanders, Murray said,&rdquo;Bure is going to make $8 to 9 million, Palffy is asking $6 or $7 million. t&rsquo;s a little different than Petr at $3.5 million. don&rsquo;t think we can go get them from a player point of view-what you have to give up to get them-and from a financial point of view &rsquo;&rsquo;.The first South Florida return of John Vanbiesbrouck as a Philadelphia Flyer Nov. 22 drew mixed crowd reaction. &#9632;

f0020-08

McLean in, Burke waits

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-07185/8209883-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="168" height="167"></div>The Los Angeles Kings welcomed a six-day break in the schedule as a chance to regroup and to regain some of their injured players.But even as some of their wounded returned, enforcer Matt Johnson was lost to a 12-game suspension for his punch from behind on New York Rangers&rsquo; defenseman Jeff Beukeboom Nov. 19.Johnson said he reacted to Beukeboom having slew-footed Glen Murray in the same game and for Beukeboom having hit Kings&rsquo; center Ray Ferraro last season, which left Ferraro with an injured knee. Johnson and Kings&rsquo; GM Dave Taylor tried to plead their case for mercy during a hearing at the NHL&rsquo;s New York offices, but Colin Campbell, the NHL&rsquo;s senior vice-president and chief disciplinarian, didn&rsquo;t bite.&ldquo;A punch from behind by Mr. Johnson resulted in a head injury to Mr. Beukeboom, and the league has made clear that deliberate blows to the head-particularly those which cause injury to the head of an opponent-will be treated severely,&rdquo; Campbell said. &ldquo;Also considered was the fact that Johnson was the recipient of supplementary punishment on two occasions last season.&rdquo;Johnson, who will lose $95,121.96 of his $650,000 salary, will be eligible to return Dec. 22.&ldquo;I felt he went after our best player,&rdquo; Johnson said.&rdquo; think slew-footing is more dangerous than punching a guy.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Kings hoped to have center Jozef Stumpel back from an ankle injury when they resumed action Nov. 28 against Phoenix after a six-day break. Stumpel was off the ice for a week because of an ankle injury. Defenseman Doug Bodger (fractured hand) was also expected to return against the Coyotes. The return of goalie Stephane Fiset (groin pull) was possible, but the Kings wanted to be sure he was ready and not risk a recurrence&hellip;Goalie Jamie Storr, who has been limited to one game since Oct. 18 because of a groin pull, hoped to get in some game action with Long Beach of the International League during the break in the Kings&rsquo; schedule, but his planned start was canceled when he felt discomfort in his groin. &#9632;

f0020-07

Johnson nailed from front by Campbell’s suspension

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011072/8209914-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="170" height="173"></div>Maybe this NHL ironman stuff is for real.Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; right winger Mark Recchi kept his streak of consecutive games played alive even while he was battling a two-week case of pneumonia.&ldquo;As soon as start breathing hard, start coughing,&rdquo; said Recchi, who had played in 562 consecutive games and counting. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s just at the beginning. t only lasts for about five minutes.&rdquo;And Recchi is considered one of the Canadiens&rsquo; healthier players.&ldquo;Every team has injuries, but can&rsquo;t remember a situation where a team has lost most of its top two lines,&rdquo; said left winger Shayne Corson, who suffered a pinched nerve in his neck Nov. 17 at Carolina, returned against CALGARY two nights later and hadn&rsquo;t played since.Little wonder this team was reeling as it approached the quarter pole of its regular season, with only seven wins in 19 games. The Canadiens have been decimated by injuries.Center Saku Koivu, who plays between Corson and Recchi on the team&rsquo;s top line, missed 12 games with a strained abdominal muscle before returning Nov. 27 against the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens limped to a 4-7-1 record without Koivu.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to do something about getting this team winning.&rdquo; Koivu said.Consider these numbers: the Canadiens were 710-2 after 19 games compared with a record of 13-4-2 at the same point last season-in other words, 12 points behind last season&rsquo;s pace.They had scored only 45 goals, down 20 from last season, and allowed 55, an increase of 14. They were coming off a six-game stretch, including five losses, in which they were held to 11 goals.To put the Canadiens&rsquo; woes in perspective, they&rsquo;ve lost 71 man-games to injuries, suspensions and the late start of Martin Rucinsky and Brian Savage, both of whom were involved in contract disputes. At the same point last season, 34 man-games had been lost.NOTEBOOK: Canadiens&rsquo; legend Guy Lafleur, employed by the club as a goodwill ambassador, made news when he criticized the team, saying it had only one good line and that left winger Brian Savage, signed to a new contract by GM Rejean Houle during training camp, is overpaid. Following the recent trade of goaltender Jocelyn Thibault to Chicago, the cry has been heard, yet again, that it&rsquo;s simply too difficult for a French-Canadian to play in Montreal, where every move a player makes, both on and off the ice, is reported by a ravenous media. &ldquo;Pressure can be good for a goaltender,&rdquo; said Robert Sauve, Thibault&rsquo;s agent and a former NHL netminder himself. &ldquo;But believe the problem is the abuse. For some reason, it seems now that the criticism that some of these players face is in the form of abuse.&rdquo; Former Canadiens, including Colorado goalie Patrick Roy and Philadelphia defenseman Eric Desjardins. have expressed similar opinions.&rdquo; hope it&rsquo;s easier for Jocelyn in Chicago,&rdquo; Roy said. &#9632;

f0021-01

Injuries to frontliners take toll, but ironman Recchi marches on

<div class="byline">By Jeff Legwold</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02681/8209945-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="161" height="156"></div>In his first NHL head coaching job with a team in its first season, Barry Trotz has shown no fear of change.Even what had been the team&rsquo;s top scoring line-Greg Johnson between Andrew Brunette and Sergei Krivokrasov-wasn&rsquo;t immune.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re always going to be looking for the right combinations,&rdquo; Trotz said. &ldquo;And being an expansion team we&rsquo;re going to make sure we&rsquo;re doing everything we can. We can&rsquo;t match player for player so our combinations, keeping up the tempo, has to be the way we play.&rdquo;In late November, Trotz tried Johnson with Krivokrasov and Vitali Yachmenev, the latter of whom responded with a goal and an assist in the first game the three played together. Yachmenev, a late cut in training camp, was a call-up from Milwaukee of the International League in late November to take winger Scott Walker&rsquo;s spot on the ROSTER. Walker is not expected to return until mid-December because of a shoulder injury.Brunette, a fixture on the team&rsquo;s power play as well, was then moved onto a line with Cliff Ronning at center and Ville Peltonen on the right wing.The major shuffles, though, have come along the blueline. Trotz has repeatedly sent messages by sitting healthy players in the press box. And to a group that is comprised of similarly skilled players, it has worked.Not counting 24-year-old Joel Bouchard, who missed several games with an injured right ankle, veteran Bob Boughner has been the only defenseman who has yet to be a healthy scratch this season.All of the others, from the lesser-experienced such as Jan Vopat to veterans such as Jay More and J.J. Daigneault, have felt the sting.&ldquo;Definitely you know it&rsquo;s there,&rdquo; Boughner said. &ldquo;t&rsquo;s a little hard on everybody, but you know you could be watching the game upstairs. t has made things pretty competitive.&rdquo;&ldquo;A lot of our &rsquo; s&rsquo; are similar players,&rdquo; Trotz said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have the real, big, stay-at-home guy.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The team&rsquo;s defensive struggles could be helped by the return of defenseman Joel Bouchard, who came back from a sprained ankle injury with a goal and an assist Nov. 27 against CALGARY, his former team. Bouchard said he had &ldquo;waited for that all summer. &ldquo;&hellip; Left winger Blair Atcheynum has put off surgery on his right knee and has elected to try to skate with a brace on his leg over the next couple weeks&hellip;Backup goalie Eric Fichaud got his first start Nov. 24 since his return from Milwaukee of the International League. He surrendered four goals on 41 shots against St. Louis, but it was marked improvement over his first outing this season when he gave up three late goals to lose to Chicago. Fichaud said he felt much better in the second start, that he had&rdquo;panicked&rdquo; against the Blackhawks. Goalie coach Mitch Korn has spent a great deal of time with the 22-year-old Fichaud, trying to get him to maintain his technique. Fichaud and goalie Tomas Vokoun each had 0-2-0 records backing up Mike Dunham. &#9632;

f0021-02

Fear of finding fanny in press box keens defense coms competitive

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011165/8209976-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="172" height="174"></div>If kid forwards Patrik Elias and Brendan Morrison thought this season was going to be a stroll through the park with new coach Robbie Ftorek and his adventurous offensive philosophy, they found out differently.After being a healthy scratch for one game Nov. 19, Elias returned to the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; lineup only to see his goal-scoring drought reach 16 games. Elias had only two goals with four assists through 17 games.And Morrison, who sat out three of the team&rsquo;s 18 games because Ftorek wasn&rsquo;t satisfied with his work habits, had two goals in 17 games.&ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t been a great start for me by anyone&rsquo;s expectations,&rdquo; Morrison said.&rdquo; know what can do and I&rsquo;m not living up to my expectations.&rdquo;Elias, who made a strong run at the Calder Trophy last season, has discovered the meaning of sophomore jinx.&ldquo;(Ftorek) said I&rsquo;m not working as hard as was at the beginning of the season,&rdquo; Elias said.&rdquo; know can play better, but if you&rsquo;re in a slump the only way to break it is to keep playing.&rdquo;Morrison, who once scored 126 goals in 77 games in bantam, has never had trouble putting the puck in the net. Many hockey observers expected him to be the favorite for the Calder Trophy.&ldquo;I guess at every level I&rsquo;ve been at I&rsquo;ve been judged by the points scored and haven&rsquo;t scored many points here,&rdquo; Morrison said. &ldquo;Every night you have to prove you belong.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Ken Daneyko extended his consecutive games streak to 46, the longest active streak on the team. He also moved within five games of breaking right winger John MacLean&rsquo;s all time Devils&rsquo; record of 934 career games&hellip;Center Brian Rolston shook off a bruised knee sustained Nov. 22 and did not miss a game&hellip;After playing just 10 games, Scott Niedermayer became the team&rsquo;s leading scorer among defensemen. He had two goals and nine points&hellip; GM Lou Lamoriello would not rule out the chance of acquiring right winger Pavel Bure from Vancouver, but said he felt the team&rsquo;s $31 million payroll was already&rdquo;too high.&rdquo; Owner John McMullen did not sound anxious to pick up Bure&rsquo;s salary. &#9632;

f0024-01

Kids having Devil of time scoring under coach Ftorek

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03580/8210007-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="603" height="966"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kenny Jonsson</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02825/8210014-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="171" height="171"></div>The New York Islanders had questions about the future of franchise defenseman Kenny Jonsson after he missed two games due to a concussion, returned for two periods of the next one, developed a headache and was sidelined again.Jonsson was averaging 26 minutes and 41 seconds of ice time per game and had four goals, nine points and a plus-1 rating in 17 games before the injury. t occurred during the second period of a 5-2 road loss to the Colorado Avalanche Nov. 17 when Jonsson was sandwiched between Peter Forsberg and Cam Russell. He left that game and missed the next two in Dallas and Nashville before returning for a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers Nov. 25 at Nassau Coliseum.Jonsson scored 2:07 into the Flyers&rsquo; game and played 15:24 over the first two periods. But he developed a headache, consulted with team director of medical services Dr. Elliot Pellman and sat out the third. Jonsson missed the team&rsquo;s next game in Ottawa.&ldquo;Right now I&rsquo;m concerned,&rdquo; he said.&rdquo; didn&rsquo;t feel good enough to play a whole game, so you have to feel concerned.&rdquo;Two days after he was injured initially, Jonsson said he felt disoriented and nauseated. He returned to practice two days after that, but reported a splitting headache later that night. He did not declare himself symptom-free until after the morning skate for the Flyers game.&rdquo; had to be 100 per cent before was going to return and that&rsquo;s how feel today,&rdquo; he said after the skate.NOTEBOOK: When defenseman Scott Lachance realized during the warmup he could not play in Nashville Nov. 21 due to a sore thigh muscle, the Islanders went with five defensemen for a trip-ending 6-3 win over the Predators. Bryan Berard played 28:05, David Harlock 26:48, Eric Brewer 24:07, Barry Richter 22:29 and Rich Pilon 17:00. The Islanders are 17-3-3 against Philadelphia at Nassau Coliseum since the 1991-92 season&hellip;The Islanders reached a tentative contract agreement with goalie Roberto Luongo, their first round pick in 1997, according to his agent Gilles Lupien&hellip;Restricted free agent right winger Ziggy Palffy&rsquo;s agent Paul Kraus told club president David Seldin that Palffy will not play for the Islanders ever again. &#9632;

f0024-03

Headache woes sideline Jonsson

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04397/8210045-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="172" height="172"></div>As soon as the New York Rangers completed the deal for the second-line center they required, Petr Nedved, their sights turned to their most pressing need: a top scorer for the No. 1 line.The Rangers certainly still consider themselves contenders for the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; holdout, super scorer Pavel Bure.Rangers&rsquo; president-GM Neil Smith said he made sure he wasn&rsquo;t losing a player he might need to get Bure when he dealt Alexei Kovalev to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a five-player swap which included a $2.5-million, league-approved cash payment.&ldquo;No, about a week ago, before consummated this trade, spoke with (Vancouver GM) Brian Burke and mentioned was thinking of trading Alex and asked if it would upset what we were doing. He said, no it wouldn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Smith said.Burke indicated he had no interest in Kovalev, even though his coach, Mike Keenan, and captain, Mark Messier, are big Kovalev fans. The Canucks want young players such as goalie Dan Cloutier and forwards Niklas Sundstrom, Manny Malhotra and Todd Harvey. It will come down to how many of those players Vancouver demands, or to another team coming up with a better offer. There is almost no chance the Rangers will trade Malhotra or Harvey.When asked if he believed his team is in the Bure hunt, Smith said,&rdquo; believe the Rangers are. We&rsquo;ve talked and he&rsquo;s calling me back. wouldn&rsquo;t say it&rsquo;s a hot issue, or that there&rsquo;s something that could get done at any moment. But know Brian is involved in the process and he wants us involved. We&rsquo;ll stay involved until it gets too rich for our blood.&rdquo;And if not Bure, then whom?A cynic would suggest no matter who was put at right wing with Wayne Gretzky, he would surely get more than the three goals and seven points Kovalev had when he was traded.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Jeff Beukeboom missed two games, but was getting better from a concussion after being punched to the back of the head by Los Angeles&rsquo; Matt Johnson, who was suspended for 12 games&hellip;Center Wayne Gretzky went three games without a shot on goal and was stuck on 4,999 career shots through the drought&hellip;Coach John Muckler returned to Buffalo for the first time since he was fired in a venomous power struggle with then-coach Ted Nolan and team president Larry Quinn Nov. 25. The Sabres spoiled Muckler&rsquo;s return by beating the Rangers 4-2. The Rangers acquired defenseman Stan Neckar from Ottawa Nov. 27 for winger Bill Berg and a second round draft pick. &#9632;

f0024-04

Blueshirts still in hunt for Bure

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-07172/8210076-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="593" height="971"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Neckar</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05269/8210083-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="169" height="173"></div>When the Ottawa Senators signed defenseman Sami Salo in the off-season, the running joke around town was that they&rsquo;d signed the wrong Salo.Were they sure it wasn&rsquo;t New York Islanders&rsquo; goalie Tommy Salo that had put his name on a contract?But as the Senators hit the quarter pole, Sami Salo was having no problem making a name for himself on the club&rsquo;s blueline. After a brief stint with the International League&rsquo;s Detroit Vipers, Salo, 24, has emerged as one of Ottawa&rsquo;s top defenseman.Paired with rising star Wade Redden, Salo not only had three assists in three games after being recalled, but he&rsquo;d done a pretty respectable job defensively too.In fact, it didn&rsquo;t take long for Salo to move ahead of the likes of Stan Neckar, Radim Bicanek and Patrick Traverse on the club&rsquo;s depth chart. All have been in the organization longer, but he made a big impression.&ldquo;This feels good for me,&rdquo; said Salo, who sustained a groin injury in the club&rsquo;s third game of the season.&rdquo; just wanted to come up here and play well. t helped me to play in Detroit because got to play a lot.&rdquo;The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Finn had to be realistic about his chances when he came to camp because they weren&rsquo;t very good. The 239th pick overall in the 1996 NHL entry draft didn&rsquo;t expect much of a shot.&ldquo;We think he can be one of our top bur defensemen,&rdquo; said GM Rick Dudley. &ldquo;This guy has tremendous ability.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Senators traded defenseman Stan Neckar to the New York dangers for left winger Bill Berg and a second round draft pick Nov. 27. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a trade that&rsquo;s going to help me because I&rsquo;ll get a chance to play there,&rdquo; Neckar said. Ottawa GM Rick Dudley described Berg as a&rdquo;good character player."&hellip;Right winger Daniel Alfredsson and defenseman Chris Phillips returned to the lineup from the injury list. Alfredsson, who missed four &rsquo;antes after taking a stick in the face from Edmonton defenseman Sean Brown, wore a protective shield Nov. 23 against Vancouver. Phillips, who missed three games with back spasms, returned Nov. 28 against the New York Islanders. Alfredsson isn&rsquo;t sure how long he&rsquo;ll wear the shield. &#9632;

f0024-07

‘Right’ Salo helps Sens

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06210/8210114-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="167" height="170"></div>Mike Sillinger has been this route before, so he can&rsquo;t say he&rsquo;s surprised. Still, he was hoping his career might be taking a different path.Throughout his seven-year NHL stay, the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; 27-year-old center has been mostly limited to checking assignments, penalty killing and lower-line duty.But Sillinger thought all that had changed after a sparkling 1997-98 season in which he scored a career-high 21 goals, including 11 with the Flyers in just 27 games.Yet when coach Roger Neilson decided to move Alexandre Daigle to center, Sillinger&rsquo;s role once again became limited. His ice time was reduced from about 17 minutes per game to under 10. And Sillinger went without a goal in 20 games. He had just two assists and was a team-low minus-8.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve talked to the coaches a few times and right now it&rsquo;s a battle for ice time,&rdquo; Sillinger said. &ldquo;The ice time is down immensely from last year, but at the same time probably don&rsquo;t deserve that ice time. I&rsquo;m not contributing offensively at all.&rdquo;Neilson likes to go with three lines, especially late in close games. That doesn&rsquo;t help Sillinger&rsquo;s cause.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m willing to accept (being on the fourth line) if that&rsquo;s the role they want me to play, then fine,&rdquo; Sillinger said. &ldquo;But at the end of the day, they shouldn&rsquo;t be asking &rsquo; Why no goals?&rsquo;&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: A 4-2 loss to the Islanders Nov. 25 extended the Flyers&rsquo; winless streak at Nassau Coliseum to seven games (0-6-1) dating back to April 2, 1996.Right winger Keith Jones scored in overtime to help the Flyers defeat Florida 2-1 Nov. 22. Jones scored three goals in four games in Philadelphia, all Flyer wins&hellip;Goalie Ron Hextall registered the win in the 3-1 victory at Carolina Nov. 20. t was Flyer career win No. 233 for Hex-tall, putting him ahead of Bernie Parent for the franchise record. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud to have done it, but again, it&rsquo;s longevity,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been fortunate to have been associated with this organization for a long time and with some good teams. Winning is a team stat.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-06

Reduced roll for Sillinger brings reduction in goals

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011047/8210145-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="171" height="168"></div>Greg Adams kept telling himself it was only a matter of time, but after going 14 games from the start of the season without a goal, time was running out.So was coach Jim Schoenfeld&rsquo;s patience. Though satisfied with Adams&rsquo; play away from the puck and the fact he was getting decent scoring chances, Schoenfeld briefly moved Adams from the second line to the fourth.But all is now well. Adams, back as the Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; No. 2 left winger, scored three goals in a three-game stretch, including two during a clutch 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils Nov. 26 that pushed the club&rsquo;s winning streak to seven games and its undefeated streak to 13, tying a franchise record.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure was squeezing my stick a little too hard,&rdquo; Adams said. &ldquo;When you go that long without a goal, that&rsquo;s a long time. don&rsquo;t remember ever going that long without a goal.&rdquo;Before his breakout game, Adams said once he got untracked, the goals should start coming like bananas-in bunches.&ldquo;Usually happens that way,&rdquo; said Adams, who signed an incentive-laced, one-year deal that pays him $300,000 in base salary. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had so many opportunities and just haven&rsquo;t been able to put the puck in the net. I&rsquo;ve been frustrated, but everyone has been keeping me positive and knew sooner or later, they were going to start going in.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky was showing the affects of taking a hard check Nov. 11 in Dallas, when he sustained a badly bruised elbow. The offense-minded Tverdovsky was credited with only four shots on goal in a seven-game stretch&hellip;The Phoenix penalty-killing unit soared to No. 1 in the NHL after killing 33 straight penalties in a seven-game span. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a ton of reasons why we&rsquo;re on the roll we are right now,&rdquo; said coach Jim Schoenfeld,&rdquo;and without a doubt, our penalty killers are one of them&hellip;"The Coyotes began a 13-game stretch Nov. 28 in Los Angeles in which 11 games are on the road&hellip;Defenseman Gerald Diduck was expected to be back in the lineup after missing one game with a bruised shoulder. &#9632;

f0025-01

Adams finally puts end to early-season drought

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03485/8210176-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="601" height="948"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scott Young</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02712/8210183-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="172" height="168"></div>The St. Louis Blues checking line hadn&rsquo;t done much offensively in 14 games this season.With rookie Michal Handzus at center, Scott Pellerin on left wing and Selke Trophy finalist Craig Conroy out of position on the right, they not only shut down the opposition, but did a great job of shutting down themselves. Pellerin had the fine&rsquo;s only two goals.This checking line wasn&rsquo;t nearly as dynamic as last year&rsquo;s &lsquo;CPA&rsquo; unit of Conroy, Pellerin and the departed Blair Atcheynum, which combined for 33 goals and 96 points, with a plus-minus rating of plus-39.Handzus, Pellerin and Conroy combined for only two goals and 10 points with a minus-eight rating in 14 games, prompting Quenneville to make a change.He moved Conroy back to his natural position at center and put newcomer Scott Young on the right side, with Handzus going into the second-line center slot. The new line clicked, checking in with four goals and nine points in four games together, with a plus-minus rating of plus-nine.&ldquo;They work well together,&rdquo; Quenneville said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to see them chip in. That&rsquo;s what we counted on last year and we&rsquo;re going to count on this year.&rdquo;The line-dubbed &rsquo; The Two Scotts And A Connie Line&rsquo; was the checking line envisioned during pre-season, but it took 15 games to materialize.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a rocky first 15 games for me,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;Hopefully, we found something here.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Although goalie Grant Fuhr is out until January with a tom adductor muscle and Jamie McLennan has been playing through injuries, coach Joel Quenneville said,&rdquo; don&rsquo;t see us going out and getting a goal tender&hellip;&rsquo;After leaving the Blues&rsquo; 3-3 tie against Dallas after one period with back spasms Nov. 21, McLennan returned to record the Blues&rdquo; first shutout of the season and the third of his career with a 4-0 victory over Nashville Nov. 24. Rookie Rich Parent relieved McLennan against Dallas and recorded his first NHL decision-a tie&hellip;To boost attendance for die Nashville game, the Blues had a &lsquo;Beanie Baby&rsquo; giveaway. They handed out 7,500 of the little stuffed critters to children 15 and under, bumping their attendance to 18,167. &#9632;

f0025-03

Checkers find groove

<div class="byline">By Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04316/8210214-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="170" height="167"></div>When New York Rangers&rsquo; GM Neil Smith tried to inform Alexei Kovalev he had been traded, Kovalev was nowhere to be found. Some would say that was typical of Kovalev&rsquo;s six-year stint in New York.When Smith finally caught up to the enigmatic right winger, he delivered the not-so-surprising news: Kovalev, center Harry York and $2.5 million were off to Pittsburgh in exchange for centers Petr Nedved and Sean Pronger and defenseman Chris Tamer.Smith, by all accounts, was thrilled to get Kovalev off his hands. The Penguins were more thrilled to have him.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the most talented players I&rsquo;ve ever seen,&rdquo; said Penguins&rsquo; captain Jaromir Jagr. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s in the top four or five. He has no weaknesses offensively.&rdquo;The bankrupt Penguins can always use cash, but it was Kovalev&rsquo;s arrival that had GM Craig Patrick dancing on the rooftops.&ldquo;In my opinion, (Kovalev) is one of the best in the world, right up there with the Jaromirs,&rdquo; Patrick said.Kovalev laughed when that statement was relayed to him.&ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;m definitely not better than Jagr is,&rdquo; he said.The numbers back that assertion. Kovalev, 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, has averaged a little more than 19 goals per season since the Rangers selected him in the first round (15th overall) of the 1991 draft. He had three goals and seven points in 14 games this season.But that&rsquo;s not to say Kovalev lacks world-class skills. He has size, speed and puck-handling ability. Unfortunately for the Rangers, he also had a knack for missing golden scoring opportunities and a habit of going long stretches without a goal.Kovalev couldn&rsquo;t explain his up-and-down tenure in New York.&ldquo;Nobody knows,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;m never going to score that many goals. The good thing is, maybe I&rsquo;ll do something else good for the team.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved the Penguins&rsquo; $20-million loan from a French bank called Societe Generale, which has a branch office in New York City. The money will enable the franchise to meet payroll through the rest of the season. Right winger Jaromir Jagr was eight games and counting without a goal as of Nov. 27 while left winger German Titov was mired in an 11-game drought. &hellip;Left winger Stu Barnes had a hat trick Nov. 25 at Washington, the third of his career. He led the team with 12 goals at that point. No Penguin had posted a hat trick in a road game since Mario Lemieux pumped four shots past Montreal&rsquo;s Jocelyn Thibault Jan. 26, 1997. &#9632;

f0025-04

Penguins go cuckoo for Kovalev

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011178/8210245-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="170" height="170"></div>Colorful center Bernie Nicholls expected to spend the rest of November mulling an assistant-coaching offer from the San Jose Sharks after the club asked him to retire.GM Dean Lombardi summoned Nicholls to a meeting after the Sharks and New York Rangers played to a 2-2 tie Nov. 21 at San Jose Arena. Lombardi &ldquo;recommended&rdquo; that Nicholls hang up his skates.Shocked, Nicholls did not join his former teammates the next day, when the Sharks left town to begin a four-game road trip in Dallas.&ldquo;They just want me to step down,&rdquo; Nicholls said. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t feel I&rsquo;m doing what should be doing. think understand where they&rsquo;re coming from, guess. just don&rsquo;t understand the timing.&rdquo;Nicholls, 37, played 18 years in the NHL and ranks 26th on the league&rsquo;s all time scoring list with 1,209 points. He has 475 goals and 734 assists in 1,127 career games, but is no longer anything near the offensive threat who piled up 70 goals and 150 points for Los Angeles in 1988-89.Nicholls, who signed a free-agent contract with San Jose in 1996, managed only two assists in 10 games this season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not angry because know how the business works,&rdquo; Nicholls said. &ldquo;Obviously, you don&rsquo;t want to go out by someone telling you it&rsquo;s time. You want to go out on your own.&rdquo;Mike Barnett, Nicholls&rsquo; agent, spent the next few days investigating possibilities for Nicholls to continue his playing career. While there might be an opportunity somewhere to latch on for the rest of the year, the post-career job offer from the Sharks is on the table now.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to be recognized as one of the best centermen to ever play,&rdquo; said coach Darryl Sutter.&rdquo;But the schedule is hard on him. Every other night, he&rsquo;s just not able to do it.&rdquo;Sharks&rsquo; players didn&rsquo;t know quite what to make of the sudden move.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to see him go,&rdquo; said captain Owen Nolan. &ldquo;Trades and stuff are part of the game, but this is a little different. Guys have weird emotions about it. don&rsquo;t think anybody was expecting this.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Having determined left winger Shawn Burr no longer fits in their plans, the Sharks were attempting to trade him. In the meantime, San Jose assigned Burr to American League affiliate Kentucky Nov. 24.After matching his career-high with an eight-game point-scoring streak from Oct. 29-Nov. 18, left winger Jeff Friesen went scoreless in four games&hellip;Right winger Ron Stern, who missed all of last season as a CALGARY Flame because of a knee injury, scored his first two goals of the year in back-to-back games Nov. 21 and 23.San Jose recalled center Stephen Guolla and right winger Mike Craig from Kentucky Nov. 22 and 24, respectively. &#9632;

f0026-01

Nicholls Bonders options after forced ‘retirement’

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02833/8210276-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="168" height="171"></div>Together, they form one of the NHL&rsquo;s most-experienced goaltending tandems: Bill Ranford and Daren Puppa, both former All-Star Game participants, have combined to play more than 1,000 games dating back to 1985.The Tampa Bay Lightning&rsquo;s blessing, however, may also be a curse.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very difficult to have two No. 1 goaltenders,&rdquo; said coach-GM Jacques Demers, who has tried to keep both happy and busy by starting them in alternate games. &ldquo;A No. 1 goalie needs to play five, six, seven games in a row, and think Ranford is better when he plays, five, six, seven in a row.&rdquo;The Lightning stood to find that out after Puppa went on injured reserve with a strained groin sustained in the third period of the Lightning&rsquo;s 5-2 loss at Pittsburgh Nov. 21.Ranford, though, didn&rsquo;t get off to a great start as he took the loss when Tampa Bay fell 4-1 to the Boston Bruins Nov. 24. With that, the Lightning had lost its sixth game in row-a span in which it had been outscored 36-8, including 23 goals allowed by Ranford in his last 10 periods played.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not happy with the way I&rsquo;m playing because we&rsquo;re not winning,&rdquo; said Ranford. acquired in an off-season trade with the Washington Capitals as insurance against Puppa&rsquo;s surgically repaired back.&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s not like I&rsquo;m giving up all bad goals. I&rsquo;m getting pucks blown by me from the blueline, then you look at yourself and say, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m not doing my job.&lsquo; Right now I&rsquo;m doing the job. I&rsquo;m just not having much success at it. So have to look at myself and say, &rsquo;Do better.&rsquo;&rdquo;Ranford, whose resume is highlighted by his Conn Smythe Trophy award in 1990, hopes to get to work on just that by playing on a regular basis. And for someone struggling to restore respectability to his statistics, including a 4.76 goals-against average after the Bruins&rsquo; game, the opportunity is a welcome one.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Wendel Clark sustained a pulled groin during practice Nov. 23. He was expected to be out of the lineup until Dec. 7. .Lightning coach-GM Jacques Demers will serve as spokesman for the newly created Tampa Bay Lightning Cancer Research Fund at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something that means a lot to me, because of my wife, and mother, who died of cancer, and of course John Cullen. &ldquo;Demers said. Three members of the Lightning family-center Cullen, director of pro scouting Pete Mahovlich and Demers&rsquo; wife, Debbie-have been struck by various forms of cancer in the past two years. &#9632;

f0026-02

Ranford’s opportunity knocks when injury sidelines Puppa

<div class="byline">By Paul Hunter</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03675/8210307-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="169" height="170"></div>Igor Korolev is quietly establishing himself as the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; MVP, as in Most Versatile Performer.Korolev bounces back and forth with apparent ease between duties as first-line left winger and third-line center, often making the switch in mid-contest as coach Pat Quinn looks to either balance the attack or fortify team defense.The results have been impressive. Through 22 games, the 28-year-old Moscow native was third in team scoring with 17 points and tied for second with a plus-10 rating. Heady stuff for a Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; castoff who arrived in Toronto as a training camp walk-on last season.&ldquo;Korolev has been a surprise,&rdquo; said Quinn as he assessed his team, one quarter of the way into the season. &ldquo;wasn&rsquo;t anticipating his reliability. was anticipating he&rsquo;d have some skill, but 1 didn&rsquo;t expect him to be a player that, as a coach, you feel comfortable putting in any situation.&rdquo;Korolev posted decent numbers during his first season with the Leafs, finishing fourth on the team with 39 points, including 17 goals. But there was always a sense his production didn&rsquo;t match his talent. The intensity was missing from his game some nights.Korolev realized it himself, saying, &ldquo;have to play hard every night, but sometimes it doesn&rsquo;t happen for me. &ldquo;.There are no such questions this season. Feeling liberated by Quinn&rsquo;s decision to unshackle his offense, Korolev looks faster, but he has also displayed an unfamiliar grit, battling for pucks along the boards and in the comers.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s pretty much the complete package,&rdquo;praised Mats Sundin, his sometimes center on the top line.While Quinn revels in his forward&rsquo;s versatility-calling it &ldquo;a bonanza&rdquo;-truth be told, Korolev wishes his coach would make up his mind.&ldquo;I find it hard to switch back and forth,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m more comfortable on the wing.&rsquo;d rather just play there and get used to one line. But I&rsquo;m not going to complain. I&rsquo;m just happy to be playing.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Rookie defenseman DanIl Markov sustained a cracked larynx when a puck hit him in the throat during a Nov. 23 game against CALGARY. He was expected to miss just two games&hellip;Veteran goalie Glenn Healy, toiling in Chicago of the International League, has been told he&rsquo;s free to work out a deal with another NHL team if he can find a taker. Healy, 36, earns $1.2 million this season and next&hellip;Center Alyn McCauley was forced to wear a visor after getting hit near the eye with a shot, but he said he &ldquo;can&rsquo;t wait&rdquo; to take off the facial protection&hellip;Defenseman Kevin Dahl, claimed from St. Louis in the pre-season waiver draft, was assigned to Chicago of the HL Nov. 23. &#9632;

f0026-03

Unexpected versatility, grit Korolev’s new calling card

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011125/8210338-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="171" height="169"></div>With their forward ranks already thinned by Pavel Bure&rsquo;s walkout, the Vancouver Canucks received another blow when right winger Alexander Mogilny went down with a sprained knee and was lost until at least Christmas.The Canucks couldn&rsquo;t afford to lose their best winger especially when their second best winger, Todd Bertuzzi, is already out until the new year with a broken leg.Mogilny was injured five minutes into a Nov. 21 game against the Detroit Red Wings, which Vancouver lost 4-2. The Canucks also dropped their next two games without Mogilny and were outscored 13-6.This dramatically increased the pressure on GM Brian Burke to deal Bure and arrest a possible slide to the bottom of the Western Conference standings. But Burke maintained that neither injuries, nor losing would force him into a panic trade he would later regret.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not making a crappy deal just because a guy got hurt,&rdquo; Burke stated. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t give a damn if five more guys get hurt and 1 don&rsquo;t care if we lose five games in a row. You know that I&rsquo;m going to make the deal when it&rsquo;s time, or I&rsquo;m not going to make it at all. Our injury situation and our record are not factors in this trade.&rdquo;Burke also said the New York Rangers&rsquo; dealing of winger Alexei Kovalev in the Petr Nedved package had no bearing on his talks with Rangers&rsquo; GM Neil Smith.NOTEBOOK: The Canucks&rsquo; 56th and final game at Maple Leaf Gardens was a resounding 5-1 defeat Nov. 25, closing Vancouver&rsquo;s all-time mark at the Toronto hockey shrine at 20-26-10.Sophomore center Dave Scatchard had a career high six-game point streak (3-3-6) snapped in the Toronto game&hellip;Defenseman Adrian Aucoin, who had never scored more than five goals in one NHL season and had only 13 in his career, reached the eight-goal mark after 21 games&hellip;The Canucks outshot the opposition only four times in 21 games and lost all four&hellip; t took right winger Trent Klatt 16 games to score his first goal as a Canuck after being picked up from Philadelphia Oct. 19-for a sixth round draft pick in 2000. &#9632;

f0027-01

Pressure for deal climbs after sniper Mogilny falls

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03535/8210369-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="601" height="958"><figcaption class="caption-body">Olie Kolzig</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02756/8210376-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="170" height="169"></div>The goal was to get the anemic Washington Capitals&rsquo; offense working, but not at the expense of defensive performance.So while coach Ron Wilson has gotten the offense untracked, the defense is definitely suffering.The first dozen games of the season was a very bumpy ride for the Stanley Cup finalists, who surrendered a respectable 2.5 goals a game but scored just 1.67-not enough to win in any league.In their first 12 games, Washington scored more than three goals only once while rolling to a disturbing 3-6-3 mark. n their next seven contests, they scored more than three goals five times while going 4-3-0. The offense climbed to 3.86 goals per game while the defense fell to 3.43 goals against.&ldquo;The nice thing is how our players have reacted lately,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re turning up the jets a little bit, putting a little pressure on ourselves to play better, play harder, play tougher, to dig in and play with some intensity.&rdquo;Wilson would specifically like his team to be more focused in the first periods of games.Washington was outscored 18-8 during the opening 20 minutes of contests, digging holes from which it was difficult to emerge.Wilson continued to shuffle forward fines, both out of a desire to find better chemistry and because missing personnel have forced his hand. He has also changed defensive partners, trying to plug some of the glaring holes that had developed.NOTEBOOK: The Caps are apparently not content with losing players by the dozen to injury, so they&rsquo;ve found a new way-suspensions. They already had right winger Richard Zednik missing four games for high-sticking Toronto defenseman DanIl Markov when left winger Craig Berube was hit with a three-game sentence for abuse of an official. Berube used a forearm to try to move a linesman out of the way during a donnybrook in Boston Nov. 21. The brawl lasted more than 15 minutes and all 12 players on the ice, including sparring goalies Olie Kolzig and Byron Dafoe, best men at each other&rsquo;s weddings last summer, were ejected&hellip; Center Jan Bulis re-injured his left ankle against Boston and will be out until early January. &#9632;

f0027-03

Bumpy ride for finalists

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>For now, Derek Armstrong&rsquo;s fame in the hockey world has come for his role in Norelco&rsquo;s fall advertising blitz for a new electric razor.The Hartford Wolf Pack center plays a prominent role in the television commercial and is featured in magazine ads. But while Armstrong has enjoyed the sudden stardom, he&rsquo;s trying to make sure everyone knows him as a hockey player, not an actor or a model.&ldquo;Everywhere we go, people are talking about it or I&rsquo;m signing (autographs) on a lot of magazines,&rdquo; the sixth-year veteran said. &ldquo;got into a fight in Philadelphia (with Sergei Klimentiev) and when got to the penalty box, a couple fans leaned over the glass and said, &lsquo;Next commercial: Armstrong gets beat up by European.&rsquo; I don&rsquo;t know how much it&rsquo;s on TV in Canada, but we see it at least once a day here (from ESPN to MTV).&ldquo;But that was just luck (being cast for the role). It&rsquo;s not something want to make a living Hopefully can be remembered scoring the winning goal in the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;While the Stanley Cup may be a long way off, Armstrong is at least showing he&rsquo;s deserving of NHL consideration from the parent New York Rangers. He ranked among the top six scorers in the American League with six goals and a team-leading 21 points in 17 games.A sixth round draft pick of the New York Islanders in 1992, the club used Armstrong as a checker. He played a career high 50 NHL games with the Islanders in 1996-97 and has nine goals and 19 points in 79 career games for New York and the Ottawa Senators.But after bouncing between the NHL and minor leagues the past five seasons, the 5-foot-11, 188-pound Armstrong is trying to bring offense back into his game.&ldquo;It may be better to work more on offense,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve proven can play a defensive role, but want to be better offensively.&rdquo;FAST, FAST LANE: Jeff Lazaro faced a court date in upstate New York after the Adirondack Red Wings&rsquo; left winger was clocked driving 134 miles per hour on Interstate 87 and found to be legally intoxicated.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011164/8210407-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="459" height="458"></div>Lazaro, 30, said he was out having a few beers with friends Nov. 21, overslept and was late for practice the next morning. As he was driving home to Glens Falls, he was stopped by New York State Police at 10:20 a.m.His blood alcohol content was .12 per cent. The legal limit in New York is .10. Lazaro had a Dec. 1 court date in Wilton Town Court. The Red Wings, meanwhile, assigned him to the New Orleans Brass of the East Coast League.&ldquo;He&lsquo;s lucky he&rsquo;s on the court page and that somebody&rsquo;s not on an obituary page,&rdquo; said Adirondack coach Glenn Merkosky.BOULERCE VS. LONG: Jesse Boulerice and Andrew Long are back in the same league together, though their teams don&rsquo;t face one her until March.Boulerice has played five games for the Philadelphia Phantoms after sitting out a suspension levied by the Ontario League last season when he viciously slashed Long in the head. Boulerice was with the Plymouth Whalers and Long le Guelph Storm. The OHL sus-led Boulerice for life and the AHL honored that for 14 games.Long, a center in the Florida Panthers&rsquo; system, began the season with the Miami Matadors in the East Coast League. He was recalled to the Beast of New Haven in late November.The court battle stemming from the slashing incident has been delayed after Boulerice&rsquo;s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the charge of assault to do great bodily harm less than murder. Philadelphia next plays New Haven March 3.RECORD OUTBURST: The Providence Bruins broke a 41-year-old AHL record Nov. 25 when they scored 10 first period goals en route to a 14-2 win over the Syracuse Crunch.The previous record of nine goals in a period was set in March of 1947 by the Pittsburgh Hornets and tied three times, most recently by the Baltimore Skipjacks in 1990-91.Six Bruins scored in the record setting first period. Second-year center Randy Robitaille had three goals on his way to a league-high five goal game. Landon Wilson and Andre Savage each had two goals while Terry Virtue, Dennis Vaske and Cameron Mann each had one in the first period. &#9632;

f0028-01

Wolf Pack’s Armstrong not just a fresh-cut face

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div>Sheldon Kennedy&rsquo;s return to pro hockey was a success, at least on the first night.The former NHL winger who revealed last year that he was sexually abused by his junior coach, scored a goal for the Manitoba Moose Nov. 20 against the Kansas City Blades in his first game in a year-and-a-half.Kennedy, who played 310 NHL games with three teams, scored the winner on the power play after drawing the penalty. Through three games with the Moose, Kennedy had two goals and three points. He hadn&rsquo;t played since the 1996-97 season ended because of leg injuries sustained in an auto accident.&ldquo;I looked in the stands and saw a few people knew were happy for me,&rdquo; Kennedy said. &ldquo;It was a good feeling. It was uplifting and exciting.&rdquo;Moose coach-GM Randy Carlyle signed Kennedy to a 25-game tryout contract because he said his first-place , club could use the speed and Kennedy&rsquo;s feistiness.&ldquo;I thought he was a real positive for our club emotionally,&rdquo; Carlyle said. &ldquo;Everybody on the bench felt good for him. He was more nervous than anything.&rdquo;BACH FACES UTAH: When goalie Ryan Bach began the season with the Utah Grizzlies, the last thing he figured was his first HL game would be against the Grizzlies. That&rsquo;s what happened due to a strange twist of circumstance.The 25-year-old stopper was set to play for the Grizzlies this season, but the Detroit Red Wings, who drafted Bach in 1992, traded him to the Los Angeles Kings, who had injury problems in goal.Bach made his NHL debut playing in two games for the Kings, then was dispatched to the Long Beach Ice Dogs upon the return to health of Los Angeles goalie Jamie Storr.Fate would have it Bach&rsquo;s first Ice Dogs&rsquo; game was against Utah, where he was supposed to spend the season. Bach played well in a 2-1 victory over the Grizzlies.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s how hockey always has been-up in the air,&rdquo; Bach said.What&rsquo;s more, Bach could return to the Grizzlies if the Kings opt to assign Manny Legace to Long Beach when Stephane Fiset returns to the lineup sometime in December.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02806/8210438-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="416" height="430"></div>Bach said he will play wherever. &ldquo;The main thing is need to be playing,&rdquo; he said.FEEL SORRY FOR RAY: Boston Bruins&rsquo; defenseman Ray Bourque has spent his entire 19-year career with the Bruins, the total opposite of the nomadic ways of Michel Petit.The 17-year veteran defenseman joined his 13th pro team when the Phoenix Coyotes assigned him to the Las Vegas Thunder. But Petit, who has played for 10 NHL teams and the Fredericton Express, Detroit Vipers and Las Vegas in the minors, insisted he was not envious of Bourque&rsquo;s stability.&ldquo;I feel sorry for him,&rdquo; Petit said, laughing. &ldquo;He has only gotten to experience life from one city. I&rsquo;ve been everywhere and gotten a chance to learn a lot of different things. That&rsquo;s what has been so fun about this. I&rsquo;ve taken a little of each the places I&rsquo;ve been with.&rdquo;HOT ROOKE: Michigan K-Wings&rsquo; rookie goalie Marty Turco has gotten off to a quick start, leading the league in goals-against average at the end of November.Turco, who starred collegiately at Michigan, had a 6-2-0 record and a league-best 2.08 goals-against average. He stopped 48 of 49 shots in his K-Wings&rsquo; debut, leading Michigan to a 2-1 win over the Kansas City Blades.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a quality individual on and off the ice,&rdquo; K-Wings&rsquo; coach Bill McDonald said. &ldquo;He has fulfilled (his potential) early in Michigan.&rdquo;Turco, who was 127-28-7 in college, was a fifth round draft pick of the Dallas Stars in 1994. He was fisted sixth on the Stars&rsquo; prospect list in THN&rsquo;s 1998 Future Watch issue.I-OPENERS: The Houston Aeros&rsquo; offense suffered a blow Nov. 17 when the Pittsburgh Penguins recalled center Sean Pronger, who was tied for fifth in league scoring with 11 goals&hellip;The Chicago Wolves lost winger Ed Olczyk to the Chicago Blackhawks, but acquired defenseman Kevin Dahl on loan from the Toronto Maple Leafs&hellip;Long Beach Ice Dogs&rsquo; coach John Van Boxmeer registered his 500th pro win in a 7-6 shootout win against Utah Nov. 21. He is 500-370-107. &#9632;

f0028-02

Kennedy scores winner in return to pro hockey

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>Jacksonville Lizard Kings&rsquo; left winger Justin McPolin was suspended 35 games for punching an East Coast League linesman in the face.&ldquo;It was a blatant uppercut with the left hand,&rdquo; said Jacksonville GM Shawn Hegan. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very obvious it was no accident. He knew it was the linesman and not another New Orleans player. There&rsquo;s no excuse. We won&rsquo;t appeal.&rdquo;The incident happened Nov. 20 against the New Orleans Brass. Officials tried to break up a fight involving McPolin and Brass defenseman Jason Downey. The linesman separated the two and McPolin fell to the ice. New Orleans coach Ted Sator said that&rsquo;s when McPolin got up and lost it.&ldquo;Not only did he manhandle the linesman, he attempted to head-butt him and then punched him,&rdquo; Sator told Canadian Press. &ldquo;In my involvement in hockey, at all levels, haven&rsquo;t seen anything as bad and flagrant as that. The linesman got popped and he got popped good.&rdquo;McPolin, 6-foot-2 and 220 pound assessed a game misconduct; escorted off the ice by his teammates.&ldquo;The ECHL does not condone any player who uses physical force towards an on-ice official,&rdquo; said Andy Van Hellemond, ECHL senior vice-president of operations.A 22-year-old native of North York Ont., McPolin had 55 penalty minutes in seven games with Jacksonville. He had one goal, six points and 281 penalty minutes in 43 games with the Columbus Chill last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03591/8210469-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="741" height="297"></div>Hegan said he isn&rsquo;t sure if he&rsquo;s going to keep McPolin on the ROSTER for the length of the 35-&rsquo;game suspension.ATTENDANCE DROPOFF: Despite the fact Louisiana had won its first nine home games, the IceGators&rsquo; attendance was down from last year. They were averaging 9,818 in the, 11,700-seat Cajundome after leading the league with 11,196 last season and 11,433 the year before.One reason for the drop was three Sunday games, when the National Football League&rsquo;s New Orleans Saints command-id much of the area&rsquo;s audience.The IceGators were in danger of falling to second behind the Greenville Grrrowl, which vas averaging 9,330 after six home dates.COAST LNES: Dayton Bombers&rsquo; right winger Bobby Brown was the player of the week after scoring five goals in three games. Top goalie honors were shared by Huntington Blizzard&rsquo;s Blaine Russell and Mobile My sticks&rsquo; Chad Alban, both of whom posted 2-0-0 records and 1.00 goals-against averages&hellip;With two power play goals in a 5-4 shootout win over the Jacksonville Lizard Kings Nov. 21, Baton Rouge finally bumped their power play above 10 per cent. At one stage, the Kingfish allowed more shorthanded goals (four) than they had scored with the man advantage (three. The ECHL and The Hockey News have created &ldquo;The Hockey News/ECHL Youth Literacy Program.&rdquo; Players from all 27 teams will visit elementary schools and youth organizations during the 1998-99 season and read to children. &#9632;

f0028-03

Jacksonville winger suspended for decking linesman

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>Two days after firing his coaching staff, Don Cherry was having second thoughts about owning the Mississauga IceDogs.&ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t fun for me to sit up there,&rdquo; Cherry told the Toronto Sun. &ldquo;When got the team, thought would enjoy it. often wonder if had known it was going to be so tough up there, whether would have got into it or not.&rdquo;With the worst record in the Canadian Hockey League (1-21-1), coach-GM Peter Sturgeon and assistant coach Adam Bennett felt the wrath of Grapes Nov. 22, just minutes after a 30 loss at home to the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s.&ldquo;I did it quick. t lasted only 30 seconds,&rdquo; Cherry said. &ldquo;We allowed 68 shots (in a 6-1 loss) against St. Michael&rsquo;s (Nov. 21) and that&rsquo;s a team we should be competing with.&rdquo;The new coach is Jim Hulton, a former player with the Kitchener Rangers.Sturgeon said the firings &ldquo;shouldn&rsquo;t have happened.&rdquo; The expansion IceDogs had allowed the most goals, scored the fewest and led the league in penalty minutes.Cherry, now the GM, ran practices for a few days until he hired Hulton Nov. 25. Cherry said he&rsquo;d love to coach, but his time is spent on other hockey interests, most notably as a TV personality on Hockey Night in Canada.Hulton, 31, was coaching Jr. A Kingston. The Voyageurs had a 18-6-1 record. He was an assistant with the North Bay Centennials last season.Trevor Whitten, IceDogs&rsquo; governor and Cherry&rsquo;s lawyer, said although Cherry is disillusioned with this first season, he isn&rsquo;t planning to leave the OHL.&ldquo;I think what Don said was just an expression of frustration,&rdquo; Whiffen said.On a positive note, Cherry said he was moved after Toronto St. Mike&rsquo;s Majors donated $7,500 to the Rose Cherry Foundation, raising money to build a hospice for terminally-ill children.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011033/8210500-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="734" height="252"></div>The Majors drew 8,336 for their Nov. 21 game at Maple Leaf Gardens against the IceDogs and donated fifty cents from each ticket to the foundation. Cherry&rsquo;s wife Rose died June 1, 1997 after a battle with cancer.MAYHEM: Even with suspensions galore this season, the message isn&rsquo;t getting through to the players as majors and game misconducts for brawling continue on a record pace.The league was investigating yet another line brawl that spread into the penalty box during a Kingston Frontenacs-Toronto St. Michael&rsquo;s Majors&rsquo; game Nov. 22 at Maple Leaf Gardens. Gross misconducts were issued to Sean Griffin of the Frontenacs and Gerald Moriarity of the Majors.The Frontenacs and London Knights engaged in a penalty-box battle two weeks earlier that resulted in suspensions to five players and Frontenacs&rsquo; coach-GM Larry Mavety. Six players were suspended after a brawl between the Majors and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Nov. 12.Ted Baker, the OHL&rsquo;s director of operations, thinks the players will be on their best behavior.&ldquo;On any suspension, you would think the byproduct would be the player would think &rsquo; can&rsquo;t Jo that. I&rsquo;m not going to put myself in that position,&rsquo;&rdquo; Baker said.NO SURPRSE: The Sarnia Sting traded disgruntled goalie Patrick DesRochers, an NHL first rounder not performing up to his potential.DesRochers, 19, went to the Kingston Frontenacs, along with a eighth round midget draft pick in 2000, for goalie Curtis Cruickshank, 19, and overage winger Matt Price, 20.DesRochers, unhappy with limited playing time, refused to start a game Nov. 21 in Belleville and left the team. Selected 14th over-ill this year by the Phoenix Coyotes, he&rsquo;d started only three of the previous 13 games. Backup Greg Hewitt, 19, had started nine straight.&ldquo;This was a deal we had to make,&rdquo; said Sting: coach-GM Mark Hunter. &#9632;

f0029-01

Cherry not having fun guiding moribund IceDogs

<div class="byline">By Gordie Sutherland</div>James Desmarais laughs when he&rsquo;s asked to compare himself to Boston Bruins&rsquo; defenseman Ray Bourque.There are few similarities, really, but the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies&rsquo; winger is showing some of his famous uncle&rsquo;s offensive touch.Desmarais, who had 33 goals and 73 points last season with the Laval Titan, assumed the Quebec League scoring lead in late November with 35 goals and 74 points in just 28 games.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t say have many of his skills,&rdquo; he said of Bourque, whose sister Lise is Desmarais&rsquo; mother. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a forward. (But) I&rsquo;m sure we have some of the same assets because we are blood.&rdquo;Bourque, who turns 38 Dec. 28, played in the Quebec League as an Epervier for three seasons-two with Verdun and one with Sorel-before breaking into the NHL in 1979, the J year Desmarais was born.The first time Desmarais &mdash; got to play on the same ice&mdash;&rdquo; surface as his uncle was at the Bruins&rsquo; training camp this year. The 19-year-old was invited to Boston as a walk-on and is still a free agent.&ldquo;I played against him three times, never with him,&rdquo; Desmarais said. &ldquo;He was playing his game, but he wasn&rsquo;t too hard on me.&rdquo;Desmarais, 5-foot-ll and 180 pounds, has surprised himself with his production this season and credits linemates Mike Ribeiro and Jerome Tremblay for his success. Rouyn-Noranda acquired Desmarais from the Titan in the pre-season so he could play alongside Ribeiro, last year&rsquo;s rookie of the year.The Huskies sent forwards Denis Boily and Jules-Edy Laraque to Bathurst.The teams met for the first time this season Nov. 22 and the game was televised on Canada&rsquo;s new sports network, CTV SportsNet.Desmarais erupted for four goals and two assists in an 8-5 victory in Bathurst. Ribeiro also had six points, including five assists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02691/8210531-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="553" height="511"></div>&ldquo;(Desmarais is) an explosive player because of his speed and a guy like Mike Ribeiro can really give him the puck at the right time,&rdquo; said Rouyn-Noranda coach Jean Pronovost.ON HS OWN: Rimouski Oceanic winger Brad Richards is escaping the shadow of friend and former linemate Vincent Lecavalier.With Lecavalier playing for the NHL&rsquo;s Tampa Bay Lightning, Richards was asked to carry Rimouski&rsquo;s offense and has responded with 59 points in 26 games.He leads the league in assists and had a 22-game points streak, breaking the Rimouski club record of 17 shared by Allan Sirois (1995-96) and Eric Belanger (1996-97).&ldquo;This is a great challenge,&rdquo; said Richards, Tampa Bay&rsquo;s third round draft pick last June. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good opportunity because Tampa Bay can see me play without him and can show people my own talent and not be the guy who played with Vince.&rdquo;Lecavalier and Richards, a native of Murray Harbour, P.E.I, played together for just one season in Rimouski, but were also teammates at Notre Dame College in Saskatchewan.Richards tied Lecavalier with 115 points last season and was third in the league in assists, with 82. Some wondered if playing with Lecavalier inflated Richards&rsquo; numbers.NOTEBOOK: Chicoutimi Sagueneens&rsquo; left winger Ramzi Abid, the league&rsquo;s MVP last season, sustained a knee injury Nov. 22 and is expected to be out of action until late December. That will greatly diminish his chances of playing at the World Junior Championship, beginning Dec. 26 in Winnipeg&hellip;The Quebec Remparts were on a 21-game unbeaten streak through Nov. 23. They haven&rsquo;t lost since falling 2-1 to the Halifax Mooseheads Sept. 25.Center Domenico Scali went from one last-place team to another when the Dilio Division&rsquo;s Baie-Comeau Drakkar traded him to the Lebel Division&rsquo;s Drummondville Voltigeurs Nov. 21. The Voltigeurs gave up a sixth round midget draft pick in 2000. &#9632;

f0029-02

Desmarais scoring points just like uncle Bourque

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Call it a Tri-fecta, The resurgent Tri-City Americans boasted the Western League&rsquo;s top three scorers.Dylan Gyori led the points parade Nov. 25 with 42-one more than Scott Gomez. Ken McKay, who had a team-high 20 goals among his 39 points, was a strong third.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of funny, because we never talk about scoring,&rdquo; said Americans&rsquo; coach-GM Don Hay. &ldquo;From Day 1, we stressed that if every player paid attention to detail and was responsible defensively and didn&rsquo;t cheat, we&rsquo;d get scoring opportunities.&rdquo;&ldquo;They&rsquo;re all working hard and contributing in both ends and it&rsquo;s paying off in the end. They&rsquo;re three very talented and unselfish individuals. That&rsquo;s what makes them a success.&rdquo;Gyori, Gomez and McKay (who are occasional linemates) helped the Americans enjoy a 16-7-3 start.After 26 games, Tri-City was one &rsquo; win shy of matching its total for last season-after which Hay was hired.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t really know what to expect,&rdquo; said Hay, whose son Darrell is a Tri-City defenseman. &ldquo;had seen the team play last year and knew it had some quality players.&rdquo;Center Gomez, 18, was a first round draft pick, 27th overall, of the New Jersey Devils in June. Center Gyori, 19, and right winger McKay, 20, were one-two in team scoring last season and are undrafted.Tri-City had a 17-49-6 record last season after going 22-43-7 the previous winter. The Americans are coming off two consecutive last place finishes in the seven-team West Division.&ldquo;The guys have worked hard to put themselves in a position where they&rsquo;re winning,&rdquo; Hay said. &ldquo;t&rsquo;s good to see them rewarded.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve had a tough two years here and some of the guys were labeled with names they didn&rsquo;t really deserve. In the past, think teams enjoyed playing the Tri-City Americans. Hopefully, we&rsquo;re changing the attitude of teams.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03476/8210562-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="406" height="413"></div>GO EAST, YOUNG MEN: WHL commissioner Dev Dley likes the idea of interlocking games against Ontario and Quebec league teams.&ldquo;I would hope we&rsquo;d see it,&rdquo; Dley said, &ldquo;but it has to be feasible from a scheduling point of view and on the economic side.&ldquo;It wouldn&rsquo;t make sense for Prince George to pay the expenses of someone coming from the east if it&rsquo;s not going to put any more people in the building. They&rsquo;re already at capacity.&ldquo;There has to be an independent way of funding this. We need a corporate sponsor.&rdquo;The CHL has bandied about a concept which would call for selected WHL, OHL and QMJHL teams to play a handful of inter-league games. As it stands, the major junior circuits only meet at the Memorial Cup.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ve been talking about for some time,&rdquo; Dley said. &rsquo;Generally, I think the reaction has been very positive. think this will be a long process.&rdquo;BLAZERS STLL HOT: The Kamloops Blazers had a team record 21-game unbeaten streak (180-3) in the final week of November.Kamloops rookie goalie Kenric Exner, 19, was also undefeated (17-0-4).As a successor to the graduated Randy Petruk, the previously unheralded Exner has fashioned a 1.74 goals-against average, two shutouts and .935 save percentage.&ldquo;He has definitely helped the team,&rdquo; said Blazers&rsquo; coach Marc Habscheid. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s quite a story and quite a kid. We lost Petruk and there was supposed to be a gaping hole in goal. Kenric came in and filled it more than adequately.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Seattle Thunderbirds had a 10-game unbeaten string before they went up against the red-hot Blazers and lost 4-0 Nov.25&hellip;The Saskatoon Blades snapped an 11-game winless drought by defeating Tri-City 4-1 Nov.23&hellip;The Spokane Chiefs traded right winger Josh Maser, 19, to the Swift Current Broncos for future considerations Nov. 20. Seattle traded defenseman Rod LeRoux, 19, to the Kootenay Ice for futures. &#9632;

f0029-03

Tri-City’s hot-shooting trio has Americans winning bio

<div class="byline">By Andy Baggot</div>Wisconsin Badgers&rsquo; coach Jeff Sauer is looking into the possibility of what it would take to bring the World Junior Championship to the Madison, Wis., area in the next couple of years.The tournament features the best 20-and-under players in the world and takes place in late December and early January. Playing sites usually alternate between Europe and North America. The event _was held in Finland last year. The 1999 WJC is in Winnipeg Dec. 26-Jan. 4. The last time the U.S. hosted the event was 1996 in Massachusetts.Sauer, a member of the international committee for USA Hockey, believes Madison would be a good candidate to host such an event and has approached school officials with his ideas.&ldquo;The reason thought about it is because of the facilities,&rdquo; Sauer said.There are no less than four Olympic-sized (100 feet-by-200 feet) rinks in the area. In addition to the Kohl Center and the Dane County Coliseum-where the Badgers play games and practice-there are newer buildings in suburban communities Verona and McFarland.Sauer envisions having communities adopt the various teams. That could include local families opening their homes to the players.As far as financing, Sauer has not broken everything down, but he believes it would cost between $200,000 and $400,000 to get the tournament up and running. Some of the money could come from USA Hockey, the governing body of amateur hockey in the U.S. Sauer said the NHL might be inclined to chip in given that more scouts attend the World Junior Championship than any other international event.&ldquo;I just think it would be a great event for the community of Madison,&rdquo; Sauer said.TALE OF TWO GOALES: For the second time in his Western Collegiate Hockey Association career, goalie Willy Marvin has decided to leave the Minnesota program. Unlike his first defection, there will be no return, according to Gophers coach Doug Woog.Marvin was 1-1-1 with a 3.62 goals-against average and .870 save percentage. The junior walk-on was reportedly displeased with the lack of playing time behind freshmen Adam Hauser. The departure of Marvin leaves Minnesota with only two active goalies in Hauser and freshman Ryan Westrum.&ldquo;I never wanted to quit before because always thought had a chance to play in the future,&rdquo; Marvin said. &ldquo;That hasn&rsquo;t happened, so it&rsquo;s time to move on with my life.&rdquo;BG BREAKTHROUGH: Alaska-Anchorage was 0-37-5 when the opponent scored first in its past 42 games until a Nov. 20 home game with Minnesota. The Gophers drew first blood on a goal by Reggie Berg, but the Seawolves answered with two first-period goals by Chris Pont, then held on for a 5-3 win. &#9632;

Madison could host WJC, says Badgers’ boss Sauer WCHA

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div>Michigan had a darned good week.In addition to a pair of victories over archrival Michigan State and Central Collegiate Hockey Association upstart Notre Dame Nov. 20-21, the Wolverines learned one of the most sought after recruits in the U.S. has signed a letter of intent to attend Michigan next season.Joining the Wolverines in 1999-2000 will be 5-foot-ll, 184-pound center Andy Hilbert, who is playing with the USA Hockey under-18 national development team, based in Ann Arbor, Mich. n 17 games this season against United States League (Jr. A) competition Hilbert has nine goals and 24 points.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great skater and should fit in well with Michigan,&rdquo; said Team USA national coach Jeff Jackson. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the total package. He has the ability to do some offensive things like we saw from Brendan Morrison and play defensively with the intensity of a Cam Stewart.&rdquo;To protect his college eligibility status, Hilbert, 17 and from Howell, Mich., won&rsquo;t opt in to the NHL entry draft until 2000.&ldquo;Andy is an elite player not only in the USA developmental program but in his entire age group,&rdquo; said Michigan coach Red Berenson. &ldquo;He will be a great addition to Michigan hockey and to college hockey in general.&rdquo;The wins (2-1 over Michigan State and 1-0 over Notre Dame) moved the Wolverines (7-11) into a first-place tie with Notre Dame.&ldquo;It was a huge weekend,&rdquo; said freshman goalie Josh Blackburn, who allowed one goal in the two games. &ldquo;Guys were preparing for it all week.&rdquo;The contest against Michigan State was also the first of what should be many Blackbum vs. Blackbum goalie battles. Josh, who&rsquo;s from Choctaw, Okla., isn&rsquo;t related to Michigan State sophomore stopper Joe Blackburn, who&rsquo;s from Livonia, Mich.FAST START FOR FERRS: Ferris State is off to its best start in 15 years.The Bulldogs went into Marquette and swept Northern Michigan 2-0 and 4-2 Nov. 20-21. Ferris State was in fourth place in the CCHA with a 6-3-1 record. That&rsquo;s the Bulldogs&rsquo; best start since 1983-84 when they were 8-4.Ferris State junior Brian McCullough assisted on both game winners and scored a goal to be named offensive player of the week. Bulldogs&rsquo; sophomore goalie Vince Owen stopped 68 of 70 shots to win defensive player of the week.NOTEBOOK: When Miami (Ohio) defeated Ohio State 4-1 Nov. 21, it snapped a five-game losing streak dating back to Oct. 30. t was the first time this season the RedHawks won when leading after two periods&hellip;Michigan State senior center Mike York had three goals and 15 points after 11 games, which meant he had a hand in 43 per cent of the Spartans&rsquo; 35 goals this season. &#9632;

Top junior recruit Hilbert says yes to Wolverines CCHA

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggle</div>It&rsquo;s easy for Ivy League athletes to lose their focus as seniors because of all the distractions.Athletics have to be juggled with job interviews, writing a senior thesis and applications to graduate school, to name a few.But Princeton senior goalie Nick Rankin isn&rsquo;t bothered by distractions. Finally getting the chance to become the Tigers&rsquo; No. 1 goalie, Rankin isn&rsquo;t letting the opportunity slip away.&ldquo;Nick has taken care of a lot of the things that kids do in their senior year,&rdquo; said Princeton coach Don Cahoon. &ldquo;He did an internship on Wall Street during the summer. He has his senior thesis out of the way. He&rsquo;s committed to hockey to a greater degree than most seniors.&rdquo;It has paid off. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound economics major from Minnetonka, Minn., compiled a 1.37 goals-against average and .941 save percentage in two starts to lead the Tigers to a 3-1-1 record.As a sophomore in 1996-97, Rankin alternated with Erasmo Saltarelli early in the year, then settled into the backup role, playing 12 games.Then Rankin&rsquo;s playing time dropped dramatically last season. He played just 20 minutes in two games as Saltarelli led the Tigers to their first Eastern College Athletic Conference title.&ldquo;In fairness to the other guys last year, Erasmo had such a strong personality,&rdquo; Cahoon said. &ldquo;He was older and more mature and the other guys kind of got overwhelmed.&rdquo;Despite his strong early-season performance, Rankin is still battling for the No. 1 position with freshman Dave Stathos. Stathos has been almost as good as Rankin, compiling a 1-0-1 record with a 2.88 goals-against average.Sophomore Craig Bradley was tagged with Princeton&rsquo;s only loss, 9-1 to Boston University.Cahoon doesn&rsquo;t mind seeing competition for the position. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think &rsquo;d classify anyone No. 1,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But they know they&rsquo;re in a position to be a significant piece of the puzzle.&rdquo;COACHNG MLESTONE: Colgate coach Don Vaughan chalked up his 100th career win Nov. 20 as the Red Raiders routed Vermont 7-2.Vermont had a 2-0 lead before the Red Raiders scored seven goals in the final 30 minutes. Sophomore right winger Sean Nolan had two goals and junior goalie Shep Harder made 29 saves as the Red Raiders improved to 5-2.Vaughan, a St. Lawrence graduate, is in his seventh season behind the bench at Colgate.HUGE UPSET: Union&rsquo;s Skating Dutchmen pulled off the biggest upset of the season Nov. 20 when they knocked off RP5-4 in overtime.The win was Union&rsquo;s first ever during the regular season at RP&rsquo;s Houston Field House. RP had an 11-1-2 record against the Dutchmen in the past 14 games between the two teams.Sophomore Bryan Yackel scored the winner at 1:53 of overtime and senior goalie Leeor Shtrom came up with 35 saves. &#9632;

Princeton senior goalie isn’t part of Rankin file ECAC

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>Long-time advocates of firewagon hockey, New Hampshire and Maine have switched to a defense-first philosophy this season.The Wildcats and Black Bears aren&rsquo;t among Hockey East&rsquo;s top four scoring teams-where they have been each of the past four years-but the two schools are getting it done in the defensive zone this season.The teams were atop the standings with 4-1-1 records. Maine allowed 10 goals in six games while New Hampshire surrendered 13, ranking them one-two respectively.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re similar teams,&rdquo; said New Hampshire coach Dick Umile. &ldquo;We have (Jason) Krog and they have (Steve) Kariya (to lead the offense); we each have good goaltending and good balance.&rdquo;There are several other similarities:? Both teams have veteran workhorse goalies. New Hampshire&rsquo;s Sean Matile and Maine&rsquo;s Alfie Michaud have been outstanding.? Both have terrific penalty-killing units. New Hampshire killed off the first 26 power plays it faced, while Maine had a 91.4 per cent efficiency rating.? Each team has a prominent newcomer: New Hampshire freshman right winger Darren Haydar had six goals in six games while Maine&rsquo;s Brendan Walsh, a Boston University transfer, had four goals and an assist.Kariya, Maine&rsquo;s senior right winger and captain, said his team&rsquo;s defensive prowess can be attributed&rdquo;first and foremost to the goalies. They&rsquo;ve been terrific. (Freshman defensemen) Doug Janik and Peter Metcalf have added a lot and everyone came back a lot stronger.&rdquo;LAROCQUE SHNES: Boston University&rsquo;s Michel Larocque led the Terriers to an upset win over Boston College and was Hockey East&rsquo;s defensive player of the week for the period ending Nov. 22.Larocque, a fifth round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks in 1996, made 32 saves in a 4-2 win over the Eagles, the nation&rsquo;s No. 2-ranked team, Nov. 21. The win, which followed Boston College&rsquo;s 6-2 win the night before, gave the Terriers a 21-9-4 record versus the arch-rival Eagles in the 1990s. Boston College&rsquo;s Brian Gionta had his second hat trick of the season Nov. 20.New Hampshire&rsquo;s Darren Haydar, who had two goals and an assist against Northeastern Nov. 20-21, was rookie of the week. Maine&rsquo;s Brendan Walsh, who had four goals in a sweep of Providence, was the player of the week.NOTEBOOK: New Hampshire&rsquo;s Jason Krog eclipsed the 100-assist plateau with three in a 4-2 win over Northeastern Nov. 2L.UMass-Lowell senior defenseman Anthony Cappelletti had six goals, three more than he had all of last season. The Hobey Baker Award, presented to U.S. college&rsquo;s top player, signed a sponsorship agreement with Schafer Corporation. &#9632;

Wildcats, Black Bears switch gears to defense HOCKEY EAST

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011148/8210703-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011169/8210696-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="6997" height="4067"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011062/8210689-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="3423" height="4045"></div> &#9632;

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NHL STATSTCAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01948/8210772-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011030/8210765-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="3415" height="4069"></div> &#9632;

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NHL GAME SUMMARES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01964/8210803-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NHL ROSTERS AND TRANSACTONS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01664/8210834-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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AMERCAN LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01561/8210865-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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INTERNATONAL LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01572/8210927-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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December 11, 1998

Kugel can apply to return as OHL softens suspension

NHL GOALTENDNG STATSTCS

Housley good fit on young Flames

EAST COAST LEAGUE