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January 1, 1999
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.
People of Intrigue
ART WILLIAMS Lightning quick tongue He is a former high school football coach from Georgia, replete with Southern drawl and a penchant for saying “dadgum.” He calls periods “quarters” and refers to the ice as “the field.” He admits he does not know a lick about hockey, yet bought the Tampa Bay Lightning and the lease to its home, the Ice Palace, for $117 million last May. But Art Williams makes no apologies. He hardly needs to. “This team is going to adopt my personality,” said Williams, a retired billionaire who turned the concept of term life insurance into a fortune. “I am a tough, get-up and get-after-it, take-no-prisoners kind of dude. And that is the kind of team we’re going to have. We’re going to the playoffs every year. We’re going to win championships.…
Crease Ciccarelli’s home away from home
It was the summer of 1998 when the Florida Panthers, coming off a disastrous season that saw them finish 24th in a 26-team league, seriously considered dropping Dino Ciccarelli from their payroll. He was too old, too cranky and, at a time when changes clearly needed to be made, what’s easier than dropping a smallish 38-year-old, approaching the end of a distinguished NHL career. Panthers’ GM Bryan Murray thought about it alright, but in the end, decided to bring Ciccarelli back after all. The two share a lot of history from their days together in Washington and Detroit, which is why Murray remembered the one thing Ciccarelli does well, day in and day out. He score goals and he makes it look easy. Dino’s formula has never varied, he goes to the net and…
Renberg not a full-time Doomer, but feeling at home again in Phillv
It only took two games for Mikael Renberg to feel like he was right back at home again. The 6-foot-2, 218-pound right winger scored a goal and was one of the better players on the ice in a 3-3 tie with the Calgary Flames Dec. 17. He made his return to Philadelphia four nights earlier against the Edmonton Oilers after coming over from the Tampa Bay Lightning Dec. 12 along with center Daymond Langkow for forwards Chris Gratton and Mike Sillinger. “I felt a lot better (against Calgary),” said Renberg, 26. “The first game I was more nervous and kind of felt tight. Tonight, I felt more relaxed and getting more ice time…hopefully it will keep getting better.” In pulling off the trade, president-GM Bob Clarke wasn’t necessarily hoping for a reincarnation of…
1999 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Canada’s entry at the World Junior Championship is under both spotlight and microscope with the tournament at home for the first time in four years. As if that weren’t enough pressure, crank it up a notch in light of last year’s eighth-place finish in Finland, a result that along with the Olympics, has been a springboard to a flurry of examinations of Canadian hockey. A maximum of five returning players will be among the 22 who have the task of atoning for last year’s failure. They’re guided by former Vancouver Canucks’ coach Tom Renney. “With the tournament in Canada and all eyes of the country on us, experience could be a factor in terms of the ability to cope,” Renney said. Canada promises to be bigger than at last year’s tournament. “We have some physical…
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