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.

April 16, 1999

The Hockey News April 16, 1999

<div class="byline">By Chuck Carlton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02774/7166072-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="226" height="228"></div>Nothing has happened since the trade deadline to dash the plans of the Detroit Red Wings or ease the dread among the NHL&rsquo;s other teams.Call them Microsoft on Ice, as critics do, using corporate cash and draft picks when all else fails. Call their acquisitions things such as mercenaries or hired heat. Just call them successful.After GM Ken Holland dealt for Chris Chelios, Wendel Clark, Ulf Samuelsson and Bill Ranford in one manic day, the Red Wings won four straight. They outscored opponents 13-5. And that was still without a true full lineup.No matter. The Empire has struck back.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s inspired everybody,&rdquo; goaltender Chris Osgood said. &rsquo;It&rsquo;s like a new season. We&rsquo;re playing with the edge you need in the playoffs.&rdquo;Clark made his presence known with two goals in his first three games, including a game-winner against the Philadelphia Flyers. Chelios had averaged 25 minutes a game, playing with virtually all other members of the Red Wings&rsquo; defense.Samuelsson was still on the mend from a broken right foot, but should be ready a week before the playoffs.The introductions have barely been concluded and the team was streaking.Even fans-who once hung Chelios in effigy when he played for the Chicago Blackhawks, who used to chant &ldquo;Wendy&rdquo; at Clark when he cap tained the Toronto Maple Leafs-are warming to the new acquisitions.&ldquo;The last week it&rsquo;s just been a whole different mindset for me,&rdquo; Chelios said. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t had this feeling for two years, not making the playoffs last year and being in the situation I was (this season). I&rsquo;ve got the butterflies. Every game means something. It&rsquo;s a whole different feeling. It&rsquo;s great.&rdquo;Nobody is happier than coach Scotty Bowman, who now has lineup options he lives for. Imagine a Nobel Prize-winning chemist discovering five more elements in the periodic table.Does Bowman put Clark with Steve Yzerman or Sergei Fedorov? Does Brendan Shanahan stay on right wing? Who goes to the Grind Line? Where does fleet Mathieu Dandenault fit if Bowman moves him to forward? On what line can Tomas Holmstrom wreak the most playoff havoc?Several established vets could be sitting and anxiously awaiting their chance as the playoffs begin.NOTEBOOK: The Red Wings were finalizing a three-year contract extension with captain Steve Yzerman. worth between $23 million and $24 million. The holdup: whether Yzerman would get a raise next season, in the final year of his contract, when he&rsquo;s scheduled to make $4.975 million&hellip;Even though goalie Chris Osgood had allowed just five goals in four games, he had gone 53 starts without a shutout, by far the longest drought of his NHL career. On the plus side, he passed Hall-of-Famer Harry Lumley with a 2-1 win over Los Angeles March 31 for second on the team&rsquo;s goaltender victory list with his 164th career win. Terry Sawchuk (352) holds the team record. &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Deadline trades bring quick payoff in winning streak, juiced-un attitude

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IN THIS ISSUE

AMERICAN LEAGUE

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DEPARTMENTS

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

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NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

<h2>99 No. 1 in goal scoring</h2>1. He stands alone Rangers&rsquo; center Wayne Gretzky now pro hockey&rsquo;s all time leading goal-scorer with 1,072.2. Roy rules Colorado&rsquo;s Patrick Roy becomes NHL&rsquo;s all-time winningest goalie with 505th victory.3. Top Canuck Adrian Aucoin smashes Vancouver team record for goals in a season by defenseman with 22.4. All in a day&rsquo;s work Dominic Pittis plays with Buffalo Sabres in afternoon, Rochester Americans in evening.5. Be-Leaf it! Toronto sets franchise mark with 21st road win, guaranteeing spot in playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0236/7165183-1-eng-US/c0002-022.jpg" title="C0002-02" width="434" height="603"><figcaption class="caption-body">Patrick Roy</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0327/7165176-1-eng-US/c0002-032.jpg" title="C0002-03" width="423" height="615"><figcaption class="caption-body">Shayne Corson</figcaption></div><h2>Infiltrator hit with six games</h2>1. Uninvited visitor Montreal&rsquo;s Shayne Corson suspended six games, five for entering Vancouver dressing room.2. March madness Four coaches, four players suspended six games, fined $1,000 for WHL playoff shenanigans.3. Lindros curse Hard-luck Philly star Eric Lindros sees another season marred by major injury.4. Waiting for Weekes Young Vancouver goalie Kevin Weekes winless in NHL through first 19 appearances.5. Frozen out Top-seed North Dakota fails to make Frozen Four after losing to Boston College in West Regional. &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</div>Prepare to go postal.If things unfold as they should-and a string of four straight Stanley Cup championship sweeps is ended-NHL post-season madness will grip the hockey world over the next two months.In anticipation of that, some thoughts on the regular season past and post-season ahead.&#9633; Jaromir Jagr was on pace to do what nobody but Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have done over the past two decades-make a mockery of the scoring race. Jagr&rsquo;s margin of victory in the Art Ross race could be in the range of 30 points, the highest since Gretzky in 1990-91. Remember that scoring has dropped 23 per cent since then.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0002-0415/7165214-1-eng-US/c0002-042.jpg" title="C0002-04" width="454" height="564"></div>&#9633; It says here Dominik Hasek has surpassed Terry Sawchuk, the choice of voters in The Hockey News&rsquo; Top 50 NHL Players of All-Time poll, as the No. 1 netminder ever.&#9633; It&rsquo;s time the NHL seriously considered the pros and cons of the shootout. I&rsquo;m one purist/traditionalist who has come to appreciate the crowd-pleasing method of breaking ties. Under no circumstances, however, should it be implemented for the playoffs.&#9633; Prediction I: Overtime will be the most exciting part of the playoffs. Prediction II: Skate toe caps in the crease will be the most excruciating part of the playoffs.&#9633; John Davidson says Colin Campbell is a leading candidate for NHL rookie of the year. I&rsquo;m leaning toward Chris Drury, but really like Marian Hossa and Pavel Kubina.&#9633; THN has a reputation for trumpeting the virtues of young players prematurely. Let me add to it: Jason Spezza, 15, and soon to be a member of the Mississauga Ice Dogs, is the real deal. Pay close attention to him.&#9633; Claude Lemieux is second only to Gretzky (24) in NHL history with 19 career gamewinning goals. There is no greater measure of his ability. Behind Lemieux are Rocket Richard, Mike Bossy and Glenn Anderson.&#9633; Gold-plated defenseman Nicklas Lidstr&ouml;m had 10 penalty minutes in 74 games. If he doesn&rsquo;t end a 50-year streak during which no blueliner has earned the Lady Byng Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s most gentlemanly player, it will never happen.&#9633; The Ottawa Senators have emerged as everybody&rsquo;s second favorite team in Canada.&#9633; If the Dallas Stars are upset in the first round, we will likely be treated to a Detroit Red Wing-Colorado Avalanche showdown in the Western Conference final. A renewal of hockey&rsquo;s hottest rivalry would be magical.&#9633; The Hockey News readers are united by a fighting spirit. You have spoken loudly: fighting belongs in the game. &#9632;

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EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie Associate Editor</div>Commissioner for a day? How about a week?It&rsquo;s going to take at least that long to fix all that is wrong with the Stanley Cup playoffs alone.When readers of the The Hockey News were asked what they would do if they were NHL commissioner for a day, they came up with ideas that ranged from innovative (don&rsquo;t allow shorthanded teams to ice the puck) to insane (make it mandatory for players to retire at age 35). But of the more than 40 submissions published in THN two weeks ago, only two honed in on the timely topic of the Stanley Cup playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011740/7165266-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="468" height="522"></div>One reader suggested division winners should not be guaranteed one of the top three playoff seeds.Hear, hear.By all means, guarantee the Carolina Hurricanes a playoff position by virtue of winning the weak Southeast Division, but see them according to their point total, which would make them no better than seventh or eiehth in the Eastern Conference.Another reader suggested re-seeding the final four playoff teams on points (1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3) and not playing the Cup semi-final along conference lines. It&rsquo;s a suggestion THN has made before, ostensibly because the league has had four consecutive four-game sweeps in the Cup final.Steps the league has taken to minimize the chances of a fifth consecutive sweep consist of the following: Nothing but a prayer.But the most pressing playoff problem is that of timing. The playoffs start and end too late. Last year, the regular season started Oct. 1 and ended April 19. The league managed to play the Winter Olympics during that span. This year, the regular season started Oct. 9 and ends April 18. There was one additional team (Nashville Predators) to accommodate, but no Olympics. The bottom line? We started eight days later, finished one day earlier.So what&rsquo;s wrong with this picture? A potential Game 7 of the Cup final June 22, that&rsquo;s what wrong.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021393/7165259-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="3248" height="2603"><figcaption class="caption-body">SMILE, SAY &lsquo;HOT&rsquo;The sizzling Detroit Red Wings celebrated winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship last June 16 at Joe Louis Arena.</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s ludicrous to be playing hockey in the summer. It has happened only once-when the New Jersey Devils won the Cup June 24 in 1995-but that was the year of the lockout.Last year, we figured we were flirting with summer hockey only because of the Olympic shutdown. Now, though, we find ourselves facing the same prospect, but with no Olympic break. What gives?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03910/7165252-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="387" height="534"></div>NHL owners, especially those in the United States, do not like playing games in October, when they&rsquo;re competing for attention with Major League Baseball&rsquo;s playoffs and World Series. And they know if their club reaches the Cup final, their fans won&rsquo;t complain about hockey in June.But playing the game&rsquo;s showcase series in the middle of June is clearly not the best way to sell the game, in Canada or the U.S.As a rule, the final is on at about the same time as the National Basketball Association championship series, even though the games are played on alternate days. For the NHL, which of the following options makes more sense: competing head-to-head with the NBA final in the U.S. at a time when Canadian fans, as much as they love hockey, are ready to start enjoying summer activities; or putting a handful of early season NHL games up against theMLB playoffs in late September/early October and finishing the Cup final by a reasonable date?It&rsquo;s elementary. Start the season Oct. 1 and put the U.S. teams on road trips into Canada, where fans can&rsquo;t wait for the season to begin.&ldquo;I think everyone would like to see it all over by May 31,&rdquo; said NHL senior vice-president Colin Campbell. &ldquo;Unfortunately, there are realities we have to satisfy-television commitments, building availability and other things. But I understand the concern, it is extended too long and it&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ll have to look at.&rdquo;In a perfect world, the Cup final would indeed be over by May 31. But that is, as Campbell said, somewhat impractical. June 10, however, is not. The NHL should ensure that no Cup final game, even a Game 7, is played any later than thatNow that we&rsquo;ve settled that problem, we should turn our attention to the Stanley Cup itself and whose names and how many of them (certainly not 52) should be inscribed upon it.But that&rsquo;s a job for another day. So much to do, so little time. It&rsquo;s a commissioner&rsquo;s lament.<h2>VITAL STATS: No. 99 passes No. 9</h2>Everybody knew it would take a &lsquo;Great&rsquo; player to pass &lsquo;Mr. Hockey.&rsquo; And that&rsquo;s exactly how it unfolded when Wayne Gretzky, &rsquo;The Great One,&rsquo; scored his 1,072nd pro goal March 29 to slip by Gordie Howe as pro hockey&rsquo;s all-time leading sniper, including regular season and playoffs goals in both the NHL and World Hockey Association. It took Gretzky 1,780 total games compared to Howe&rsquo;s 2,421-the equivalent of eight full seasons.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04508/7165245-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="4214" height="1198"></div> &#9632;

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COLUMNS

Boys of Summer?

<div class="byline">Complied by` THN staff</div>Wayne Gretzky was 16 when he led the 1978 World Junior Championship in scoring. Eric Lindros was 16 when he played two exhibition games with Canada&rsquo;s national team in of 1989.Now Jason Spezza, the 15-year-old phenom from the Ontario League&rsquo;s Brampton Battalion, has set a new standard for progress.Spezza, who won&rsquo;t turn 16 until June 13, made his first appearance with the senior national team in a 4-1 win over a select team from the Czech Republic at Sarnia, Ont., March 30.He just missed scoring in the first period, then set up the third Canadian goal in the third period.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a faster game and with no red line, they (the Czechs) try to stretch it out,&rdquo; Spezza said. &ldquo;You have to watch those guys, they&rsquo;re slippery.&rdquo;Team Canada coach Mike Johnston was impressed.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s poised with the puck and has good vision. Defensively, his line did have trouble, but when you consider his age, he did an outstanding job.&rdquo;WATER OR BEER? Western Pro League officials investigated the possibility New Mexico Scorpion players drank beer on the bench during a March 17 game against the Arkansas GlacierCats.The investigation found no evidence to support allegations Scorpions&rsquo; players traded a game jersey for a case of beer and consumed it before and during the game on the bench.Arkansas GM Derek Bundy said four water bottles found near the Scorpions&rsquo; bench and one from the New Mexico locker room following the game smelled of beer.The Scorpions were late coming out of the dressing room for the national anthem and the beginning of the second period. They took only 17 shots and lost 5-2.&ldquo;As far as we&rsquo;re concerned, it didn&rsquo;t happen,&rdquo; said WPHL president Rick Kozuback. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve done everything humanly possible to find out. We have found nothing.&rdquo;New Mexico coach Mark Ciaccio and owner Michael Plaman denied the allegations.Referee Rick Looker and linesmen Bill Nebe and Jim Panasiuk told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette there was no smell of beer on any of the Scorpions&rsquo; players and they did not notice anything out of the ordinary during the game.NO TO YUGO: Citing security reasons, Yugoslavia&rsquo;s national team has been denied entry into the Netherlands and won&rsquo;t participate in the World C Pool championship.The Netherlands is a member of NATO and is participating in the assault on Yugoslavia.The Yugoslav team left its homeland before the NATO bombing started and was training in Slovakia. They had obtained entry visas, but the Dutch government revoked them.BEAR ATTACK: Third time was the charm for the University of Alberta Golden Bears.Alberta beat the Moncton Blue Eagles 6-2 at the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union championship final March 28 in Saskatoon, Sask. The Golden Bears were runner-up the previous two years.Alberta has won nine CIAU titles in 23 appearances. Tournament MVP Cam Danyluk scored a hat trick.BACK TO QUEBEC: Equipe Quebec won its fourth title in six years at the Esso Women&rsquo;s Canadian championship in Mississauga, Ont. Quebec beat Alberta&rsquo;s Oval X-treme 4-2 March 27. Caroline Proulx scored two goals as Equipe was outshot 3117 by the defending champions. &#9632;

Spezza ‘poised’ on big stage

Just imagine: A summer without hockey. Unless you&rsquo;re well into your 40s, that&rsquo;s all it is-a distant memory.You&rsquo;d have to go way back to the 1964 Stanley Cup final between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings to find a playoff that ended before the month of May rolled around. The Leafs won their second last Cup in Game 7 April 25-almost 35 years ago.But never mind May anymore. A final hasn&rsquo;t finished before June 1 since 1991 when the PittsburghPenguins won their first Stanley Cup May 25 in a 8-0 shellacking over the Minnesota North Stars in Game 6.The longest the season has ever been stretched out was the 1994-95 lockout year when the New Jersey Devils dumped Detroit in four straight games concluding June 24.Last year&rsquo;s Olympic break extended the season until June 16-the second latest date of all-time. The Red Wings won their second straight Cup in a four-game sweep of the Washington Capitals.And this year is no different. If each of the first three rounds go the limit and the final goes seven games, the Stanley Cup won&rsquo;t find its next home until June 22.PLAYOFF SCHEDULING NOTE: Teams play in either Schedule A or B depending on matchups, building availability and television. All schedules are tentative and subject to change. The start date for successive rounds may be moved up.<h2>FIRST ROUND</h2>Conference QuarterfinalsSchedule A Schedule B1.Wed., April 21 1. Thur., Aprii~222.Fri., April 23 2. Sat., April 243.Sun., April 25 3. Mon. April 264.Tue., April 27 4. Wed., April 285.Thurs., April 29* 5. Fri., April 306.Sat., May 1* 6. Sun. May 27.Mon., May 3* 7. Tues., May 4* if necessaryESPN Up to 10 games. National coverage with local blackouts in effect.ESPN2 Up to 15 games. National coverage.Fox Sunday afternoon games only. Regional coverage of selected first-round series.CBC All games in selected series. Canadian teams followed regionally.CTV Sportsnet Up to 14 games. National coverage of American-based teams only.<h2>CTV Sportsnet</h2>Maximum games: 14Broadcast Teams: Play-byplay, Jim Hughson; Color, Craig Simpson.Special: Hockey Central studio show with host Darren Dreger and analysts Greg Millen and Nick Kypreos.Ratings: First year of NHL coverage.<h2>SECOND ROUND</h2>Conference SemifinalsSchedule A Schedule B1.Thurs., May 6 1. Fri., May 72.Sat., May 8 2. Sun., May 93.Mon., May 10 3. Tues., May 114.Wed., May 12 4. Thurs., May 135.Sat., May 15* 5. Sun., May 166.Mon., May 17* 6. Tues., May 187.Wed., May 19* 7. Thurs., May 20* if necessaryESPN Up to 10 games. National coverage with local blackouts in effect.ESPN2 Up to 14 games. National coverage with local blackouts in effect.Fox Sunday afternoon games only.CBC All games in selected series. If Canadian teams eliminated, best remaining matchup shown nationally.<h2>CBC</h2>Maximum games: TBABroadcast Teams: 1. Play-byplay, Bob Cole; Color, Harry Neale. Other play-by-play: Chris Cuthbert. Other color: Kelly Hrudey, Dick Irvin, Patrick Flatley.Special: Coaches&rsquo; Comer with Don Cherry and Ron MacLean appears alternate nights on Hockey Night in Canada. MacLean, Scott Oake, and Scott Russell host pre-game shows.Ratings: 1997 Cup final: 2 million viewers. 1998 final: 1.39 million.<h2>THIRD ROUND</h2>Conference FinalsSchedule A Schedule B1.Sat., May 22 1. Sun., May 23~2.Mon., May 24 2. Tues., May 253.Thurs., May 27 3. Fri., May 28~4.Sat., May 29 4. Sun., May 305.Mon., May 31* 5. Tues., June 1*6.Wed., June 2* 6. Thurs., June 3*7.Fri., June 4* 7, Sat., June 5** if necessaryESPN Up to 12 games.Fox Sunday afternoon games only. National coverage.CBC All games.<h2>ESPN</h2>Maximum games: 35Broadcast Teams: 1. Play-byplay, Gary Thorne; Color, Bill Clement. 2. Steve Levy, Darren Pang.Special: John Saunders hosts 30-minute preview show Quest for the Cup, with analysts Barry Melrose and Pang prior to each ESPN game of final. Telecasts will be on site during Stanley Cup final.Ratings: 1997 final: 4.1 (3 million households). 1998 final: 2.6 (1.9 million).<h2>ESPN 2</h2>Maximum games: 29Broadcast Teams: 1. Play-byplay, Dave Strader; Color, Brian Engblom. 2. Dave Ryan, TBA.Special: John Buccigross hosts NHL2Night every night at 11:30 p.m. (EST) or following game coverage, with Barry melrose during first three rounds on game nights.&rdquo; Ratings: 1997: 0.7 (221,000 homes). 1998: 0.5 (300,000 homes).<h2>FOURTH ROUND</h2>Stanley Cup FinalSchedule1.Tues, June 8 CBC, Fox2.Thurs., June 10 CBC, Fox3.Sat., June 12 CBC, ESPN4.Tues., June 15 CBC, ESPN5.Thurs, June 17* CBC, Fox6.Sat., June 19* CBC, ESPN7.Tues, June 22* CBC, Fox* if necessary<h2>FOX</h2>Maximum games: TBABroadcast Teams: I. Play-byplay, Mike Emrick; Color, John Davidson. 2.Sam Rose, Joe Micheletti. 3. Kenny Albert, Peter McNab.Special: Approximately 10 cameras are used during Emrick/Davidson broadcasts.Ratings: 1997 final: 4.0 (4.2 million households). 1998 final: 3.3 (3.3 million households). &#9632;

Stanley Cup finalists will play into mid-June

<div class="byline">By Jason Paul Staff writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011677/7165369-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Boston GM Harry Sinden and A.J. Mleczko of the U.S. women&rsquo;s team were given Lester Patrick Trophies March 30 in Boston.</figcaption></div>How do you top an Olympic gold medal?Just ask A.J. Mleczko.The Harvard forward had one of the greatest seasons ever in U.S. women&rsquo;s college hockey.After winning the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the country&rsquo;s top varsity player March 25, Mleczko helped lead Harvard to the national championship.Mleczko, 23, had 109 points in 32 games, including 36 goals, to smash Cindy Schlaepher&rsquo;s record of 89 points in a season, set in 1976-77.&ldquo;She&rsquo;s a terrific player,&rdquo; said Harvard coach Katey Stone. &ldquo;She has been the glue that kept us together.&rdquo;Mleczko set up linemate Jennifer Botterill&rsquo;s winning goal 8:01 into overtime as Harvard defeated defending champion New Hampshire 6-5 March 27 in the final of the second American Women&rsquo;s College Hockey Alliance championship.Three days later, the Nantucket, Mass., native, along with the rest of the women&rsquo;s 1998 gold-medal winning Olympic team, were honored along with Boston Bruins&rsquo; GM Hany Sinden with the Lester Patrick Award for outstanding service to hockey in the United States. (See pg. 9 for more on Patrick Award).The U.S. men&rsquo;s 1980 Olympic gold-medal team is the only other team to earn the honor.Mleczko, a history major, took two years off from Harvard to prepare for the Olympics.&ldquo;A.J. came off the Olympic experience in Japan and was much stronger and faster this year and that gave her the ability to dominate,&rdquo; Stone said.Mleczko didn&rsquo;t join the American national team for the Three Nations Cup or World Championship this year because she didn&rsquo;t want to leave Harvard mid-season.&ldquo;This was Harvard&rsquo;s Olympics in a way,&rdquo; Stone said.&ldquo;She&rsquo;s a great spokesperson for the game. She has accomplished so much that everybody, I think, should aspire to be like A.J. Mleczko.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Stunning year for Mleczko

<div class="byline">By Denis Gibbons</div>The future looks bright for Canada&rsquo;s national men&rsquo;s team as it tries to meet a deadline of raising $300,000 by May 1.Mike Johnston, coach-GM of the Calgary-based team, said about $125,000 has been raised and he&rsquo;s optimistic the goal will be reached.&ldquo;A month ago we had only about $90,000, but since then there has been a real push on with alumni members calling in,&rdquo; Johnston said March 30.An alumni association has been formed to solicit support from the approximately 550 players who have passed through the program since 1963.Florida Panthers&rsquo; goalie Sean Burke committed $10,000 a year for the next four years and Carolina Hurricanes&rsquo; center Keith Primeau $5,000 a year, even though he didn&rsquo;t go through the national team program. Primeau was a member of Canada&rsquo;s gold-medal winning team at the 1997 World Championship.Also committed, but with unspecified amounts, are Paul Kariya, Bryan McCabe, Adrian Aucoin and Fran Huck, a member of Father Bauer&rsquo;s original national team in the 1960s.Player agents Gus Badali and Stacey McAlpine of National Sports and Entertainment Management have organized a celebrity auction for Friday, April 30 at the Cowboys NightClub in Calgary in an effort to put the fund-raising drive over the top.A re-shuffling of Canadian Hockey Association finances made the fundraising drive necessary. There are now 58 programs under the jurisdiction of the CHA, with women&rsquo;s and coaching programs demanding more money.President Bob Nicholson said the CHA receives about $1 million annually from the federal government, but that represents only about seven per cent of the association&rsquo;s budget. He estimated the men&rsquo;s national team might wind up with $ 100,000 of that.This year&rsquo;s World Junior Championship in Winnipeg made a profit of $2 million and the CHA received $900,000 of that.Johnston said players&rsquo; salaries, equipment and supplies represent most of the team&rsquo;s costs. Travel to and from international matches is paid for largely through prize money and gate guarantees.Salaries of players not under contract to NHL clubs range from $15,000-$25,000. The players pay for their own room and board.&ldquo;They would make better money elsewhere, but they know if they come here it can open up some doors for them,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;This program is about total development.&rdquo;Tickets for the April 30 auction in Calgary are selfing for $50. Further information can be obtained by calling (403) 278-6133. &#9632;

Canadian alumni ante up support

It was a standard not recognized until Gordie Howe brought attention to it.Wayne Gretzky became the leading goal-scorer in pro hockey history when he scored No. 1,072 March 29 against Wade Flaherty of the New York Islanders. That gave Gretzky 894 regular season NHL goals to go along with 122 in the playoffs and 56 in the World Hockey Association. (See pgs. 3 and 23 for more).Howe had 869 in the NHL and 202 in the WHA for a total of 1,071.In 1993-94, Gretzky scored his 802nd career regular season NHL goal, surpassing Howe in what the hockey industry defined as hockey&rsquo;s greatest personal career achievement.That&rsquo;s when Howe attempted to set the record straight. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t confuse the people,&rdquo; Howe said at the time. &ldquo;The career, he has got a little way to go.&rdquo;The Hockey News is making a deposit each week to our Millennium Time Capsule to mark the final year of the millennium. This week THN deposits all of Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s pro goals.Jan. 8 Russian Child MedalWorld Junior ChampionshipJan. 15 TearDropDoug Wickenheiser&rsquo;s deathJan. 22 Panthers&rsquo; Jan. 20 Game SheetPavel Bure&rsquo;s Florida debutJan. 29 All-Star TruckWayne Gretzky all-star MVP Feb. 5 Hall of Fame StickShawn Heins&rsquo; 106 m-p-h shotFeb. 12 BluelineLarry Murphy. Ray Bourque GPFeb. 19 Eight Stanley Cup BannersLeafs won eight Garden titlesFeb. 26 Unproven resumeRookie coach Dirk Graham firedMarch 5 Small talkCalgary explains Theo Fleury dealMarch 12 Roberto LuongoTop Future Watch prospectMarch 19 America&rsquo;s scoring kingPhil Housley passes Joe MullenMarch 26Ken Holland&rsquo;s phone billDetroit&rsquo;s deadline dealsApril 2 Gretzky&rsquo;s 1,072 pucksWayne Gretzky sets goal standard &#9632;

THN’s MillenniumTIME CAPSULE

This is a message for all Canadians who want the Stanley Cup to be in Canada.As the playoffs approach, Canadians should realize we only have one contender to challenge for our precious trophy. The Ottawa Senators are this team.We should all come together and cheer on this exciting time for Canada. No matter what team you love, deep inside of us we should have one common goal-that is to bring the Stanley Cup back to our country and the Senators are the team to take on this task. So hop on the bandwagon and let&rsquo;s bring the Cup back home. We don&rsquo;t know how many more chances we have left.Alex Scott,Saint John, N.B.<h2>Ciao Chelios</h2>This letter goes out to Chris Chelios. Thank you for nine wonderful seasons in a Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; uniform. You were and always will be a fan favorite in Chicago. The fans appreciate everything you&rsquo;ve done here for the Hawks, from the Stanley Cup final in 1992 to your charity work off the ice.Brian Testa,Chicago, III.<h2>Chelios cashes in</h2>I would like to express my extreme anger at Chris Chelios. How could he ever do this to his team? What ever happened to that &ldquo;handshake&rdquo; deal he had to play until the end of next season? This is the sad story of players today. They care more about their wallets than actually being faithful to their teams who badly need them.Sofie Rhoads,Sunbury, Pa.<h2>Zezel&rsquo;s choice</h2>I would just like to say something about the Peter Zezel situation. I am a Mighty Ducks of Anaheim fan and I am sure his playoff experience will be missed, but he did the right thing by not reporting after the attempted trade.He has realized there are more important things than hockey. I am also impressed with how well Anaheim GM Pierre Gauthier handled the situation.Peter, my heart and prayers are with your niece.Frank Lankey,Edison, N.J.<h2>No ice capades</h2>I would like to comment on Don Baizley&rsquo;s article &ldquo;Fighting Cons&rdquo; (THN, March 19).I can respect Mike Bossy&rsquo;s comments opposing fighting in the sidebar because he&rsquo;s an all-star player. But this Winnipeg lawyer wrote a ton of drivel and double talk. Baizley says, &ldquo;The real reason fighting is retained in professional hockey is financial.&rdquo; Later he writes, &ldquo;but how many fans are not turning to the game because of fighting?&rdquo; Isn&rsquo;t that financial greed also?I could care less about new fans wanting ice capades. How about the true fans-don&rsquo;t we count? We don&rsquo;t need lawyers dictating how hockey should be played-leave it to the fans and the players.Kevin JohnsonBrookfield, III.Fighting viewsI must admit, I enjoyed the series on fighting you guys did. I am in favor of fighting, but I liked reading the opinions of those who are opposed to it.I do feel fighting has a place in the game to protect the top players on a team. Besides, I enjoy a good fight every now and then.Paul Liebfried,Concord, Mass.<h2>Fix crease rule</h2>The crease rule has become a pain in the crease. The NHL has taken the spontaneity away from the fans. How can you cheer a goal if you don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;ll stand?Leave it in the hands of the refs. If there&rsquo;s no contact with the goalie, let it stand.Chester A. Krakowski,Fairfax, Mich.<h2>Cease complaints</h2>I think the crease rule is a major improvement over last year when it was up to the referee&rsquo;s discretion whether to go to review.This season players know that if you are in the crease prior to the puck, the goal is disallowed. Period.I look at the rule as being akin to offside. If you are over the line before the puck, then no goal.&ldquo;What about all the beautiful goals wiped out because someone&rsquo;s toe is on the edge of the crease?&rdquo; some people cry. Well, what about the spectacular touchdowns in football that are called back because someone was holding away from the play? If there is an infraction, the score does not count regardless of the relevance of the offender to the result of the play. It works in football and it is working fine in the NHL.Silvio Pietroluongo,Bronx, N. Y.Fax us your comments at&nbsp;(416) 340-1641&nbsp;or write to&nbsp;Letters, THN, 777 Bay SL, 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.&nbsp;E-mail us at <a href="mailto:paulj@trans-continental.ca">paulj@trans-continentaL.ca</a> Include hometown as well as home and business phone numbers.&nbsp;THN&nbsp;reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Super Sens only hope among Canadian clubs

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ELSTON

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021262/7165503-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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PUCK POLL

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011698/7165534-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Patrick Marleau is younger than this year&rsquo;s top Calder candidates.</figcaption></div>The San Jose Sharks spumed some tempting trade offers to hang on to the second overall selection in the 1997 NHL entry draft.Coming off successive last-place finishes in the Western Conference, the Sharks definitely had motivation to deal the pick in search of immediate help. The rare chance to land a potential top-line center in the draft, however, was an opportunity San Jose simply could not afford to give away.Nearly two years later, the Sharks wouldn&rsquo;t even think about swapping Patrick Marleau for any of the veteran players they might have had, even if one was then-Calgary Flames&rsquo; star Theo Fleury.Only time will deter-mine whether Marleau develops into the go-to guy San Jose desperately needs, but early indications are nothing but positive.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s going to be great,&rdquo; said Sharks&rsquo; captain Owen Nolan, who generally plays on a line with Marleau. &ldquo;He struggled maybe a little bit early this season, but his play right now is right on pace to be a superstar in this league. You have to remember, he&rsquo;s still i young guy-19 years old.&rdquo;Marleau, in fact, is at least three years younger than all of the NHL&rsquo;s to Calder Trophy candidates. His offensive numbers-19 goals and 31 points in 73 game: through April lwer right there with those o:Colorado Avalanche forwards Chris Drury and Milan Hejduk, New Jersey Devils&rsquo; center Brendan Morrison and Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; center winger Jan Hrdina.Marleau won&rsquo;t be the league&rsquo;s rookie of the year, however, because he&rsquo;s already in his second season.&ldquo;When you realize his age, it&rsquo;s incredible how talented the guy is,&rdquo; said San Jose assistant coach Bernie Nicholls. &ldquo;A lot of people are hard on Patty because he is a little inconsistent at times. But if you realize he&rsquo;s just 19 and he still should be playing junior, then you understand just how good this kid is.&ldquo;He was put in a position to be a No. 1 center at basically, 18, 19 years old. That&rsquo;s a lot of pressure.&rdquo;Marleau, chosen after only Joe Thornton of the Boston Bruins in the 1997 draft, produced 13 goals and 32 points in 74 games for the Sharks last season.While Marleau has already bettered last season&rsquo;s status, a better indication of his progress is the quality of his ice time. This season, Marleau finds himself more often matched against the league&rsquo;s premier centers. Given that, his plus-1 mark was even more impressive.&ldquo;A little adversity or a little challenge has to make him better if he&rsquo;s the player we think he is,&rdquo; said Sharks&rsquo; coach Darryl Sutter. &ldquo;There are still details that you have to see big improvement in-faceoffs, coverages, things like that. But the best part about Patrick is he&rsquo;s going to make mistakes, but he has the ability to cover up most of them. That&rsquo;s not the case with a lot of young guys.&rdquo;Perhaps the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Marleau&rsquo;s greatest gift is speed, but it is by no means his only one.&ldquo;When he starts skating, he just flies,&rdquo; said Sharks&rsquo; center Mike Ricci. &ldquo;He has a great shot. He has a big reach. He has a long stick and he&rsquo;s strong on it. Even if you&rsquo;re kind of on his body, he can still get that shot away. It&rsquo;s going somewhere and it&rsquo;s going with a purpose. He finds openings. He&rsquo;s smart for a young guy. He&rsquo;s going to be a great goalscorer.&rdquo;Marleau is as quiet and unassuming as one might expect for a teenager from tiny Aneroid, Sask. By no means, however, is his soft-spoken nature indicative of a lack of confidence. Even as a rookie, when he found himself opposite Steve Yzerman, Peter Forsberg or Mike Modano, Marleau had little time for awe.&ldquo;Maybe just for a split second,&rdquo; Marleau said. &rsquo;You can&rsquo;t have that because then you&rsquo;ll get stuck watching them. You have to wake up and do your job. I think I have a little I more confidence now to play against those guys.I &ldquo;Defensively, I think I can do a good job on them. I&rsquo;ve proved that, at times, I can. It just comes with confidence and doing it over and over.&rdquo;San Jose, still searching for the first bona fide superstar in the franchise&rsquo;s largely forgettable eight-year history, is certainly going to give Marleau every chance.&ldquo;He knows what he has to do,&rdquo; Ricci said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the good thing about him. You don&rsquo;t have to keep harping on him. He&rsquo;s pretty confident, pretty smart. He&rsquo;s a good kid, too, so it&rsquo;s easy to be around him.&rdquo; &#9632;

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FEATURES

Shark star in making

<div class="byline">By Jack Falla</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011759/7165572-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ENDURING RAYRay Bourque&rsquo;s Bruin legacy will be one of robust endurance and a quiet iron dignity.</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;The heart is a stubborn organ.&rdquo; -Tennessee Williams</blockquote>A Clydesdale caught a quarter horse in late March.At 8:01 of the first period of the Boston Bruins-Toronto Maple Leafs game at Air Canada Centre March 28, Bruins&rsquo; defenseman Raymond Jean Bourque, 38, hammered a shot from the top of the left circle past the glove hand of Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph to give Boston a 1-0 lead and-more notably-to give Bourque 385 career goals. That tied him with the once-dazzling Paul Coffey for most career goals by an NHL defenseman. The achievement strengthens Bourque&rsquo;s already impregnable position as the greatest all-purpose defenseman of hockey&rsquo;s post-Orr era.But the more revealing statistics from that game are these: Bourque skated 33 shifts totalling 35 minutes and 55 seconds in the kind of robust performance he has routinely turned in since breaking into the league as a 17-year-old in 1979, winning the Calder Trophy and instantly being anointed heir apparent to Eddie Shore and Bobby Orr in the now almost royal triumvirate of Brums&rsquo; franchise defensemen. Yet Bourque-his 17 all-star selections, five Norris Trophies and No. 14 ranking on THN&rsquo;s all-time Top 50 list notwithstanding-remains the superstar we least know and most take for granted.Which gives us something in common with Bourque, who seems to take himself for granted. Characteristically, and diplomatically, he played down his record-tying goal. &ldquo;Paul (Coffey) is still playing and I&rsquo;m sure he has some goals left in him,&rdquo; Bourque said. &rsquo;Tm proud of (the record), but it&rsquo;s not over.&rdquo;Yes it is. There is no desire here to denigrate Coffey, his three Norris Trophies, four Stanley Cups, eight all-star selections or the memories of him in the 1980s when he, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and the rest of the Edmonton Oilers practically reinvented North American hockey with their breathtaking Euro-swirl hybrid game. Indeed, Coffey still leads Bourque in career assists-1,101 to 1,078 (they run second and third to Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s unreachable 1,959).But as of April 2, Coffey had two goals and 13 points this season to Bourque&rsquo;s 10 and 52, tied for second among defensemen. The running goes on, but the race is over.&ldquo;Ray belongs where he&rsquo;s going to end up-with most goals and points by a defenseman,&rdquo; says Bruins&rsquo; president and GM Harry Sinden, who drafted Bourque eight overall in 1979. &ldquo;Was I surprised that Raymond caught Paul Coffey?&rdquo; asks Sinden. rhetorically setting up his own punch line: &ldquo;Not one millionth as surprised as I was when Coffey once caught Ray Bourque.&rdquo;Says Bobby Orr: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been telling everybody who asks me about Ray that I don&rsquo;t think there has been anybody in 20 years who has played the game as consistently&rdquo; (Orr comes down hard on; that word) &ldquo;at the level that Ray has | played it.&rdquo;Well, Bobby, maybe you should tell that to the trading card company nitwit executive who earlier this season asked Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; coach Scotty Bowman-perhaps the shrewdest judge of talent in hockey-to name his (Bowman&rsquo;s) top 10 active s players, including three defensemen. When Bowman named as his defensemen Nicklas Lidstr&ouml;m, Chris Pronger and Bourque, the nitwit said, &ldquo;Bourque? Are you sure?&rdquo;To which an incredulous Bowman replied: &ldquo;Yeah, I&rsquo;m sure. Game in and game out Bourque has only been the best defenseman in the league for, oh, 10 years.&rdquo;Which makes it all the more remarkable that Bourque is one of the few superstars-in any pro sport-who has played his entire career with the same team. Gretzky and Messier can match him with 20 NHL seasons, but Gretzky is now with his fourth team and Messier his third.Earlier this season, Bourque signed a two-year extension to his $4-million-a-year contract. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s incredible what he means to this franchise,&rdquo; said Bruins assistant GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell. &ldquo;When you know you have the top defenseman in the league playing half the game every game, that&rsquo;s a huge advantage.&rdquo;But not enough of an advantage for Boston to win a Stanley Cup, a fact that means-for all the statistical glitter on his resume-Bourque most likely will end his career as the best player never to win the Cup. Not that he&rsquo;ll concede that.&ldquo;We have a pretty good group of young guys here,&rdquo; he says.True. But will Joe Thornton, Kyle McLaren and Byron Dafoe develop fast enough to give Bourque the championship supporting cast that Phil Esposito, Johnny Bucyk and Gerry Cheevers gave Orr? Doubtful.No matter. With Bourque, to play is the thing.&ldquo;I love what I do and I still have a passion for the game,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;As long as I enjoy it. I&rsquo;ll keep doing it.&rdquo;Though Bourque has lost half a step and while most of his goals (eight of 10 this season) now come on the power play, he can still rush the puck out of the defensive zone, make the up-the-gut home run pass as well as anyone in the league and make the rink-wide neutral-ice back hand pass better than anyone except Gretzky.The accuracy of his shot is a commonplace of the game, annually showcased in the team&rsquo;s and league&rsquo;s skills competition. And strong? Bourque is stronger than a tax increase and has the center of gravity of an industrial freezer.Knock him off the puck? Yeah. Right. You&rsquo;d have a better chance knocking a grizzly off of a salmon.But Bourque&rsquo;s legacy-as distinct from his talent-will be as the worthiest of successors to Shore and Orr, each of whom, in his era, marked the franchise with the essence of his game and personality: Shore with determination and terrifying malevolence of i intent; Orr with a boyish joy and preeminent skill; and Bourque with robust endurance and a quiet iron dignity.&ldquo;But the best p thing about him,&rdquo; Orr says, &ldquo;is that you never hear or read anything negative about Raymond. He&rsquo;s not a donkey off the ice.&rdquo;No, he&rsquo;s a workhorse on it. And for 20 years Ray Bourque has been hitched to a wagon and running into forever.<h2>Bourque vs. Coffey: Comparing season goals</h2>While Paul Coffey&rsquo;s single-season scoring has ranged from two. goals in 1997-98 to 48 in 1985-86, Ray Bourque has been a model of consistency. He has scored between 17 and 31 goals in 17 of his 19 full seasons. He scored 12 in lockout-shortened 1994-95 and 13 last season. Bourque had 10 goals to Coffey&rsquo;s two this year.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021342/7165565-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="4223" height="961"></div> &#9632;

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Everybody loves Raymond

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div>If not for hockey&rsquo;s storied Patrick family, Harry Sinden might never have begun a coaching and frontoffice career that has spanned 36 seasons.&ldquo;I never met Lester, but I certainly knew of his exploits and his family had a profound effect on me,&rdquo; said the Boston Bruins&rsquo; president-GM, one of this season&rsquo;s recipients of the Lester Patrick Award for outstanding service to hockey in the United States. &ldquo;His son Lynn was a mentor, a major influence on my career.&ldquo;Lynn gave me my start in the organization (as a player-coach in Kingston, Ont.). He recommended the Bruins hire me as coach-and that was as he was being fired as (general) manager. I&rsquo;ve never forgotten that.&rdquo;The connection to one of hockey&rsquo;s first families made his selection as a Patrick Trophy honoree all the more meaningful to Sinden-though he thinks others may be more deserving.&ldquo;As far as people who do things for hockey in the United States, I think I fall way down the line,&rdquo; said Sinden, a Toronto native who became a U.S. citizen within the past two years. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m accepting the award on behalf of the parents of all young hockey players and all the coaches at the youth, high school and college levels. They&rsquo;re the people who really promote the sport, who keep it so strong and so vibrant.&rdquo;Sinden&rsquo;s Bruins, who support minor hockey by inviting local teams to compete and raise funds at FleetCenter, and by annually honoring the top student-athlete playing high school hockey in Eastern Massachusetts, are very much responsible for the healthy state of hockey in New England.The star-studded Bruins he coached to the 1969-70 Stanley Cup, still a powerful and entertaining club when he became Boston&rsquo;s GM in October, 1972, prompted an explosion in rink construction and player participation in the region. When he wasn&rsquo;t on the bench or in his office, Sinden was often at a municipal rink, running a clinic.&ldquo;We put on 36 of them one year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was tough, with the team&rsquo;s game and practice schedule, but the demand and the interest were incredible. It was important for the organization to be involved.&rdquo;Those colorful Bruins of the late 1960s and early 1970s, led by Bobby On, left an indelible mark on New England, which remains one of the richest U.S. hockey veins.&ldquo;Everyone in this area,&rdquo; Sinden said, &ldquo;knows someone who plays hockey.&rdquo;The Lester Patrick Award has been presented since 1966. Eligible recipients include players, coaches, officials and teams (See pg. 42 for list of previous winners.)The other winners of this year&rsquo;s Lester Patrick Award were members of the 1998 U.S. women&rsquo;s Olympic team. Coached by Ben Smith, the team posted a perfect 6-0-0 record at the Olympics, including a 3-1 victory over defending world champion Canada in the gold medal final.Cammi Granato (Downer&rsquo;s Grove, DI.) was team captain while Karyn Bye (River Falls, Wise.) was assistant. Other members of the team were Sara DeCosta (Warwick, R.I.), Sarah Tueting (Winnetka, DI.), Tara Mounsey (Concord, N.H.), Angela Ruggiero (Harrison Township, Mich.), Colleen Coyne (East Falmouth, Mass.), Sue Merz (Greenwich, Conn.), Vicki Movsessian (Lexington, Mass.), Chris Bailey (Marietta, N.Y.), Lisa Brown-Miller (Union Lake, Mich.), Laurie Baker (Concord, Mass.), Sandra Whyte (Saugus, Mass.), A.J. Mleczko (Nantucket, Mass.), Jennifer Schmidgall (Edina, Minn.), Shelley Looney (Trenton, Mich.), Alana Blahoski (St. Paul, Minn.), Katie King (Salem. N.H.), Gretchen Ulion (Marlborough, Conn.) and Tricia Dunn (Derry, N.H.). &#9632;

Sinden influenced strongly by Patrick family

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>Beware of people with something to prove.Beware of a team full of people with something to prove.For the Phoenix Coyotes-at times one of the NHL&rsquo;s best teams, at others one of its biggest underachievers-the time is ripe to make a statement. Because if they don&rsquo;t make their mark in the playoffs, all the right moves GM Bobby Smith made this year (his abrupt defusing of Keith Tkachuk&rsquo;s contract dispute was one of the most underrated moves of the year) will be forgotten.History is not on the Coyotes&rsquo; side. This is a franchise that has not been in the second round of the playoffs since 1987. In fact, in the team&rsquo;s 19year history, the first 17 in Winnipeg, it has only won two of 15 post-season series and has finished out of the playoffs six times.What the Coyotes do have in their favor is a number of key individuals who should be highly motivated. People such as:Jeremy Roenick Can he make his critics understand he&rsquo;s a solid twoway performer when all they seem to harp on is his dip in production?Keith Tkachuk Can he be a leader in the crunch or is he destined to be remembered for his contract disputes?Oleg Tverdovsky Is he Norris Trophy material or just an expensive flash-in-the-pan?Robert Reichel Can he regain the form he displayed scoring back-to-back 40-goal seasons with the Calgary Flames in the early 1990s?Teppo Numminen Would a good playoff bring him the recognition he rightly deserves?Rick Tocchet Can his fire and desire help inspire another Stanley Cup, like it did with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992?Jim Schoenfeld Is he the man to lead this team to the promised land?&ldquo;When you look at the experience we have on this team now, I don&rsquo;t think there would be many teams who would want to play us in the playoffs,&rdquo; said Tocchet, who questioned the team&rsquo;s leadership after last season and challenged his teammates to get serious. &ldquo;But the one thing this team lacks is tradition. There&rsquo;s a lot to be said for a team that has tradition, that you know will rise to the occasion in the playoffs no matter how their season has gone. Tradition is not overrated. We have to start building some.&rdquo;Phoenix, obviously, is in a tight Western Conference that includes the Detroit Freespenders, Colorado Fleurys and Dallas Frontrunners, but don&rsquo;t count them out. If there is one team capable of using a first-round victory to build unstoppable momentum, it&rsquo;s Phoenix.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011732/7165627-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="499" height="701"></div>The Coyotes have already proven they can dominate. They burst out of the gate 20-6-4 looking very much like a team on a mission. And how about a modem day record 17-game streak of allowing two or fewer goals from Oct. 15 through Nov. 26?But there have been troubled times, too. Like a streak during which they lost 11 of 13 games. There was a hot rumor at the time Schoenfeld&rsquo;s job was on the line, but the Coyotes claim that was cooked up by a local radio station and was completely false.&ldquo;We just got away from our game a little,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;A couple elements slipped three or four per cent at the same time and suddenly the games we were winning 2-1 and 3-2, we started losing.&ldquo;Things like the way we exited our zone; the way we had been shutting down the neutral zone; the way we hadn&rsquo;t been giving teams opportunities on the power play. All those things changed a little and it added up to losses. Also, we had key players out with injuries at different times.&rdquo;Tkachuk missed a quarter of the season with knee and rib injuries. Roenick sat a few games with a concussion and Dallas Drake rested seven games with a shoulder injury. Defenseman Jyrki Lunune, an important off-season acquisition is still out after shoulder injury, and fellow blueliner Gerald Diduck is nursing a broken foot, but both are expected to get some games in before the playoffs begin.When they return, they&rsquo;ll give Phoenix one of the best defense corps in the league. It includes nine rearguards: Numminen, Lumme, Diduck, Tverdovsky, Keith Carney, Stan Neckar, Deron Quint, J.J. Daigneault and Jamie Huscroft.Smith finally got his team a capable No. 2 center in Reichel, whom he acquired from the New York Islanders March 20, and found a solid backup for goalie Nikolai Khabibulin when he traded with the Edmonton Oilers for Mikhail Shtalenkov.One thing is for certain, the Coyotes are primed for the playoffs.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no complacency on this team,&rdquo; Tocchet said. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t accomplished enough yet to grow complacent.&rdquo; &#9632;

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It’s time for Coyotes to start forging tradition

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021268/7165672-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"></div>MARCH WINNER: JAROMIR JAGRSomebody forgot to tell Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; superstar Jaromir Jagr scoring is down.How else do you explain the way the super-skilled right winger is running away with the scoring title? Though Jagr isn&rsquo;t the only sniper on the Penguins-center Martin Straka is also enjoying a career year-he was having no trouble whatsoever producing points.Jagr averaged nearly two points a game, scoring nine goals and 27 points in 15 games to earn Dodge Trucks NHL Player of the Month honors for March. And thanks in a large part to Jagr&rsquo;s individual heroics, the Penguins were close to guaranteeing themselves an invitation to the post-season party for the ninth straight year.Many wondered how the Penguins would fare following Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s retirement two years ago, but Jagr has been responsible for keeping the team in the thick of things even though the franchise is in financial turmoil.If Jagr wins the scoring race, it would mark the fifth straight year a member of the Penguins has led the NHL in scoring.Jagr, who won the Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring champion in 1994-95 (he and Eric Lindros tied with 70 points in the lockout-shortened year, but Jagr got the nod because he had more goals) and again last season. Lemieux won back-to-back scoring titles in 1995-96 and 1996-97.Jagr was especially dominant at home in March.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03789/7165665-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="1557" height="2541"></div>In 10 games at the Civic Arena, Jagr scored seven goals and 20 points. In five road games, he had two goals and seven points.March was also a big month for two members of the Colorado Avalanche. Peter Forsberg was second in scoring with seven goals and 24 points in 13 games and Theoren Fleury managed eight goals and 15 points in eight games.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04538/7165658-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="2431" height="846"></div> &#9632;

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH

<div class="byline">By Murray Townsend</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011688/7165703-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Come playoffs, Brendan Shanahan, right, isn&rsquo;t the only one picking on Claude Lemieux.</figcaption></div>Just when you thought it couldn&rsquo;t get any better, this year&rsquo;s playoff hockey pool feature has gone and done just that. More stats, better insights and even more laughs. All for the same low, low price.It can be a challenge to come up with different ways of presenting our invaluable stats package, but that&rsquo;s why we get paid the big bucks. This year, we&rsquo;re using celebrity sound-a-likes. Honest.They&rsquo;ll tell you exactly what you need to know and they sound just like the famous person they&rsquo;re portraying. But, they&rsquo;re not.Here are some things to consider and not to consider when selecting the teams and their players for your pool.FINAL FOUR by Dick Vitale Sound-a-Like. Ohhhhhh baby, ya gotta love that hockey! But you gotta pick the teams going to the final four if you want to win the pool, baby!Last year, during April-May-June Madness, the top 15 playoff scorers were all from the last four remaining teams. Figure out your final four and just do it, baby!HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE by Bill Clinton Sound-a-Like. First, I need to know the exact definition of home-ice advantage. Is it where one team gains an advantage by playing at home? If that&rsquo;s the case, then no, there is no advantage. Last year, home teams won 41 games and lost 41 games. And if you&rsquo;re a home team in the seventh game, don&rsquo;t go lighting up that cigar too early. Since 1995, visitors are 5-4 in playoff seventh games. Now, about the cigar&hellip;SEASON SERIES by Mister Rogers Sound-a-Like. Sometimes, boys and girls, it may seem like a wonderful day in the neighborhood when it really isn&rsquo;t. So, when you see one team dominating the other during the regular season series, it doesn&rsquo;t mean a gosh-dam thing. Last year, Edmonton lost five of their six games to Colorado and then beat them in the playoffs. You know, boys and girls, learning is fun and losing teams learn more than winners.MOMENTUM by John Wayne Sound-a-Like. Yuh know, pardner, sometimes yuh get in the saddle and get to riding as fast as yuh can, but then when yuh need to outrun the bad guys your horse ain&rsquo;t got nothing left in him. And sometimes yuh&rsquo;re just riding along nice and easy like, and when yuh need to give the horse a kick, by golly he&rsquo;s ready to go. So don&rsquo;t yuh be paying no mind to late-season records down the stretch, yuh hear?UPSET TEAMS by Barbara Walters Sound-a-Like. Tell me about your childhood. Do you think there&rsquo;s something to the theory that upset teams are often teams that didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs the previous season? Is that because Washington didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs before going to the finals last year? Or because Horida did the same thing two years ago? Do you think there&rsquo;s also something to looking for a team &ldquo;on a mission,&rdquo; say, a club such as Colorado, which got knocked off early last year? If you were a hockey stick, what kind of hockey stick would you be?SURPRISES by Don Cherry Sound-A-Like. For all you kids out there, I&rsquo;m gonna tell ya what happens in the playoffs. Teams concentrate so much on checking the opposition&rsquo;s top line that sometimes second-and third-liners get more chances than they would otherwise. Look at that Matthew Barnaby last season. Gotta love him. Good Canadian boy! Tomas Holmstrom? A Swede-Heart, but I guess he did OK last year.DEFENSEMEN by Murray Townsend Sound-a-Like. You may not think I&rsquo;m a celebrity, but my name is at the top of this story and that means I can be anybody I want. Besides, I just wanted to say this one normally. Defensemen tend to score higher in the playoffs than during the regular season. Checking is so much tighter at even strength that a higher percentage of goals are scored on the power play. That means a pointman is usually in on the scoring.PLAYOFF PERFORMERS AND SLEEPERS by Claude Lemieux Sound-a-Like. Why do I play so much better in the playoffs? I don&rsquo;t know, but maybe it&rsquo;s because everybody is always picking on me. What did I ever do to anyone? How do you find the other guys who have histories of playing so well in the playoffs? Don&rsquo;t know, but I could give you some names. Mark Recchi, Theoren Fleury, and Joe Salde for starters. As for sleepers, they aren&rsquo;t just guys who slept during the regular season and woke up in the playoffs. They&rsquo;re usually players who joined their teams late in the year from the minors. Keep an eye out for them. I know I will.STRATEGY by Robert DeNiro Sound-a-like. Are you looking at me? Are you looking at me? You&rsquo;d be better off looking at your pool list, which you should always prepare in advance. Also, it&rsquo;s important to pick an upset team or two because then you get more of their better players and if that team wins, so do you. Keep in mind that you&rsquo;re concentrating on mostly just four teams.Are you still looking at me? Best to look at the following paragraph which tells you how to use the points per game chart on the following pages.After the playoff matchups are set, go through each series, assigning an average of six games per series. Calculate how many series you think each team will play, multiply it by six and then take that sum and multiply it by each player&rsquo;s points-per-game to give you a comparative ranking. You should make adjustments for such things as second-half performance, defensemen scoring higher, power-play time and playoff history. &#9632;

f0012-01

Sound advice for your pool

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011570/7165748-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"></div><h2>PLAYOFF NUMBERS GAME</h2>The key to success in any hockey pool is knowing the numbers&hellip;and a measure of blind luck. We can only help you with the first. Over these three pages is a compilation of all the stats you&rsquo;ll need to make informed decisions in your playoff pool. The numbers are in two groups: career and 1997-98 playoff stats and 1998-99 regular season stats. CAREER and 1997-98 PLAYOFF STATS: career games (GP), points per game average (PPG), 1997-98 games and points per game. 1998-99 REGULAR SEASON: overall points per game through games of March 28, average minutes per game (MIN), power play points (PPP), power play ice time per game (MIN), and first and second half games, points (P) and points per game. Players are listed in order of 1998-99 overall points per game. The 18 teams still in realistic playoff contentions as of April 2 are included. On pg. 15 are leaders in 1998-99 power play points, career points per playoff game (minimum 10 games), biggest increases in 1998-99 points per game between the first and second halves (minimum 15 games in each half) and biggest decreases in points per game between the first and second halves (minimum 15 games).<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011676/7165741-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="8901" height="5054"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011540/7165734-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="4249" height="3562"></div> &#9632;

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1999 NHL PLAYOFF PREVIEW I: POOL PRIMER

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy Senior Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011460/7165779-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div>The anti-fighters have taken one on the chin.In the final installment of The Hockey News&rsquo; recent three-part series on fighting in the NHL, readers were asked the following questions in a Puck Poll: 1. If fighting should be punishable by automatic ejection; 2. How their interest in the game would be affected should the NHL take steps to reduce fighting; and 3. Why there is fighting in the NHL.The results were not really surprising given fans&rsquo; favorable reaction during games when fights break out. An overwhelming majority of respondents (85.3 per cent) felt fighting should not be punishable by automatic ejection. In other words, fans enjoy a good punch-up despite the fact it has been proven serious injuries, sometimes career-ending ones, do occur.&ldquo;I think interest in the NHL would go down, down, down if they took fighting out,&rdquo; said Joseph Allen, 72, of Chilliwack, B.C. &ldquo;I know guys have been trying to get rid of it. I hope they&rsquo;re not successful. I wouldn&rsquo;t go to a game if they took fighting out.&rdquo;Though the fighting debate rages on, it is not a frontbumer issue with the NHL.&ldquo;As you have seen by the reaction of your readers, most people like it,&rdquo; said NHL spokesman Gary Meagher. &ldquo;As long as the game has been around the debate about fighting has been going on. And it likely will continue, but I don&rsquo;t hear as much about it this sea-son. Fighting is down 23 per cent this year.&rdquo;While few established fans want to see a crackdown on fighting, many (49 per cent) said their interest in the game would remain the same if the NHL took steps to significantly reduce fisticuffs. Forty-two per cent of respondents said they would have less interest, while eight per cent said their interest would increase.As for why there is fighting in the game, most respondents said it serves a useful purpose. Asked to rank the reasons in order of importance, readers came up with the following results: 1. It provides protection for star players; 2. It decreases stickwork and cheap shots; 3. It has always been a part of the game; 4. It acts as a release valve for frustration; and 5.It&rsquo;s part of the entertainment package.&ldquo;I hadn&rsquo;t read The Hockey News for a while, but I saw the first issue with the first part of the fighting series and I ended up buying all three,&rdquo; said Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; fan Laurie Ruday, 34, of Kent, N.Y. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it should ever be taken out of the game. Our team has Robbie Ray and I&rsquo;ve seen many times when we&rsquo;ve been down and he has gone out and fought the other team&rsquo;s tough guy and tamed the game around. It&rsquo;s why people come to the games. I heard a guy on the radio say if they take fighting out of hockey, you might as well go to the Ice Capades and I agree.&rdquo;For many THN readers, their interest in the NHL doesn&rsquo;t depend on fighting.&ldquo;When I&rsquo;m at the game, I love it&hellip;1 get right into it,&rdquo; said THN subscriber James McCray, 32, of Saint Stephen, N.B. &ldquo;When there&rsquo;s a fight on TV though, I find it just slows things down. It&rsquo;s weird.&rdquo;&ldquo;My view on fighting has changed in recent years,&rdquo; said 49-year-old Wilbert Crocker of Charlottetown, Nfld. &ldquo;I was never really bothered by fighting, because you know in a high-pressure game things will flair up. But I have found in the last five or six years too much of it seems orchestrated. You know when Buffalo plays Toronto at some point Rob Ray and Tie Domi are going to fight. That kind of turns me off.&rdquo;Carol Gerber of Wooster, Ohio, had her husband William fill out her survey because she had a cast on her writing hand. No, she didn&rsquo;t injure her hand in a fight. In fact, Carol detests fighting.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m totally against it,&rdquo; said the 58-year-old Gerber. &ldquo;It gives hockey a bad name. Whenever we tell people we watch hockey they say, &rsquo;Oh, you like that game with all the fighting.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s how people identify with hockey. I think the sport would gain all kinds of new fans without it. If they would start cracking down on fighting and give stricter suspensions, you could get rid of it.&rdquo;<h2>PUCK POLL</h2><h3>RESULTS</h3>Should fighting in the NHL be punishable by automatic ejection? Yes: 14.7% No: 85.3%It the NHL took steps to significantly reduce fighting, how would your interest in the game be affected?I would have less interest in watching NHL games: 42.3% I would have more interest in watching NHL games: 8.4% My interest would remain the same: 49.3%Why is fighting in the NHL?(Readers were asked to rank the reasons. Here are the results)1.Provides protection for stars.2.Decreases stickwork, cheap shots3.It has always been part of the game4.Acts as a release valve for frustration5.It&rsquo;s part of the entertainment package<h3>PRIZEWINNERS</h3>Team Hat:Ken Kunz; Linden, NJDave Muckleston; Ottawa, Ont.Kenn Nantau; Windsor, Ont.Brien Comerford; Glenview, III.Ron Valerino; Pittsburgh, PaDenim Jacket:Leo Gillis; Vancouver, BC &#9632;

f0016-01

Fighting’s all right by THN readers

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011310/7165810-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="210" height="208"></div>Mighty Ducks of Anaheim captain Paul Kariya has played well by NHL standards this season. But according to an authority-himself-he&rsquo;s just starting to play up to his own higher standards.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m starting to feel better,&rdquo; Kariya said. &ldquo;It has been up and down a lot of this season. I&rsquo;m starting to feel more comfortable and starting to do things I should have been doing all year. Sometimes it takes time after an injury, but it feels a lot better now.&rdquo;Kariya played just 22 games last season due to a lengthy contract dispute and a bout with post-concussion syndrome.&ldquo;It took a lot longer than I thought it would,&rdquo; Kariya said of returning to the level he was at during the end of 199697. &ldquo;But I did everything I could in the summer to get myself ready. It&rsquo;s just that nothing (you can do on your own) creates the NHL environment. You just have to go through it and hope you stay healthy for a long time.&rdquo;Kariya had 34 goals and 92 points, fourth most in the NHL through April 1.Linemate Teemu Selanne agreed Kariya is recently returning to form. And as a duo, they are just starting to click the way they did when they combined for 95 goals in 1996-97.&ldquo;This year we have really missed a lot of chances, especially 2-on-ls,&rdquo; Selanne said. &ldquo;In practice it has worked pretty well, but somehow the games, we have bad luck or something.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Steve Rucchin missed three games with a strained groin, returned to play in a 7-1 loss to New Jersey, and then was taken out of the lineup again indefinitely&hellip;The Ducks signed goalie Gregg Naumenko. 22, to a multi-year contract. Naumenko, a freshman at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, led the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with a 2.31 goals-against average and .920 save percentage&hellip; Left winger Stu Grimson always is the first Duck to arrive on game day, about four hours early. Right winger Teemu Selanne is usually last, arriving about 15 minutes before the team meeting, 90 minutes before game time. &ldquo;I think (Selanne) can put on all his equipment in three minutes,&rdquo; said defenseman Kevin Haller. &#9632;

f0017-01

Kariya hits comfort zone for first time all season

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03717/7165841-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="437" height="595"><figcaption class="caption-body">Anson Carter</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02999/7165848-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="208" height="200"></div>Anson Carter is too busy looking forward to spend time wondering what might have been.&ldquo;1 try never to look back at anything,&rdquo; said the Boston Bruins&rsquo; 24-year-old right winger, who topped last year&rsquo;s career-high 16 goals with the winner in Boston&rsquo;s 3-2 decision over the Canadiens April 1 at Montreal. &ldquo;I believe things happen for a reason. I&rsquo;m still pleased about my season.I&rsquo;m just concentrating on what I can do before it ends, and hopefully what I can do in the playoffs.&rdquo;That Carter had a shot at his first 20-goal season was remarkable, considering he missed one-third of it. Carter didn&rsquo;t play in Boston&rsquo;s first 12 games because of a contract dispute and he missed another 15 games between Jan. 4 and Feb. 7 with a sprained ankle.Carter&rsquo;s return to the lineup helped Boston re-establish itself as a probable playoff participant. The Bruins, 4-8-3 while he was hurt, went 12-7-4 in his first 23 games back. Carter, who had six goals and 13 points in 24 games before the injury, managed 11 and 19 over 23 games upon his return.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve improved, and my goal is to improve from year to year,&rdquo;Carter said. &ldquo;I feel like my offensive game is starting to develop more.&rdquo;Part of the package Boston obtained from the Washington Capitals in a seven-player blockbuster March 1, 1997, Carter credits a more visible role and his versatility as the main reasons for his improved scoring pace.&ldquo;It helps to play with offensive guys all the time,&rdquo; said Carter, whose ability to play left or right wing has allowed coach Pat Bums to use him on fines centered by Jason Allison and the emerging Joe Thornton. &ldquo;The scoring chances come more consistently when you play with guys like Jason and Joe.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Boston&rsquo;s inability to solidify its playoff position meant overtime for No. 1 goalie Byron Dafoe, who started 18 straight games (10-4-4) through April 1. &ldquo;I have no choice,&rdquo; said coach Pat Bums. &rsquo;Tally (backup Rob Tallas) has been tremendous about it, but right now I have to go with Byron."&hellip;Right winger Dmitri Khristich, who&rsquo;s jockeying with center Jason Allison for the team scoring title, returned March 30 after missing two games with a mild shoulder separation. Allison, meanwhile, remained in the lineup despite a sore wrist&hellip;Left winger Sergei Samsonov, last season&rsquo;s Calder Trophy winner, scored his 22nd March 30 against Los Angeles. That matched his 1997-98 total, but was his first in 10 games and second in 15. &#9632;

f0017-03

Carter’s numbers solid despite inactive stretch

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04527/7165879-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="213" height="205"></div>Michael Peca is again on track for serious consideration for the Selke Trophy as the league&rsquo;s best defensive forward.Only this time he has company-from a teammate, no less.Curtis Brown, a left winger-tumed-center has emerged as a defensive stalwart for the Buffalo Sabres this season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got two,&rdquo; said coach Lindy Ruff regarding the major award. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got two players who really do a magnificent job against the other teams&rsquo; top lines. Michael can lay out the big guys with hits and be nastier, but Curtis is a good guy for getting in the lanes and cutting off passes.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of those guys who doesn&rsquo;t have to follow people around. He can anticipate where passes are going. That anticipation is something you can&rsquo;t teach. The best players in the game either have it or they don&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Ruff uses Brown a lot like Peca. He&rsquo;ll check the other team&rsquo;s top forward, especially on the road where Ruff can&rsquo;t always get the line matchup he desires. Brown first came into prominence during the playoffs when he and Peca did a job on Eric Lindros and company in a first round playoff victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. He has been even more noticeable since.Brown has helped Buffalo become one of the least scored upon teams in the league and in game&rsquo;s through April 1 is plus-25.Since January 1, 1998, Brown has been one of the top five plus-minus players in the league. In addition, he&rsquo;s having a career best year on offense with 45 points, including 16 goals, in 69 games.Peca, the Selke winner in 1997, meanwhile has gone beyond his usual strong defensive play and has set career marks for goals (27) and likely will for points. He leads the Sabres and is tied for fourth in the league with seven game-winning goals.And he had a point in all three of the Sabres&rsquo; overtime goals. His plus-minus is not as good as Brown&rsquo;s, but his overall game is much more developed.NOTEBOOK: Dominik Hasek has returned from Europe after seeing a specialist regarding his injured groin. He played Pittsburgh to a 1-1 tie in Pittsburgh March 27 and was in the nets when the Sabres won the next day, 4-3. against the Penguins in Buffalo. Hasek took the loss in a 2-1 defeat at Chicago March 31.. The Sabres&rsquo; offense, particularly on the power play, continued to struggle. Buffalo was O-for-5 with the man advantage in the loss to Chicago. The team scored just one goal in that game. Not shooting the puck enough appears to be the biggest problem&hellip;Ex-Sabres&rsquo; left winger Matthew Barnaby got a goal against his old mates in Pittsburgh, but he also got a wicked right to the end from old friend and roommate Rob Ray upon his return to Buffalo. Barnaby was traded to the Penguins for right winger Stu Barnes&hellip;Defenseman Rhett Warrener. acquired from the Florida Panthers for defenseman Mike Wilson, was making his presence felt with strong physical play. &#9632;

f0017-04

Peca gets Selke competition from Sabres’ teammate Brown

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05373/7165910-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="218" height="216"></div>In the first heady days of the post Theo Fleury era, the Calgary Flames produced some of their most effective offensive games of the season, as the new headliners, Cory Stillman, Jarome Iginla, Valeri Bure, stepped up their play.As time passed, however, the goals eventually became harder to come by.In eight games leading up to an April 14-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes, the Flames produced only 13 goals, as every player, but Bure (who had five in that stretch) fell into a goal-scoring funk.Of the players the Flames now count on to score, Jarome Iginla had zero goals in 11 game; same with Andrei Nazarov, and Andrew Cassels had zero goals in his last 13. Hnat Domenichelli had none in eight. With only one in their last eight games, Cory Stillman and newcomer Rene Corbet were not exactly lighting it up either.Coach Brian Sutter wanted to see more consistency from Iginla and Stillman, two players he believes need constant reinforcement from the coaching staff. Iginla had his scoring opportunities, but according to Sutter, needed to &ldquo;bear down harder. He&rsquo;s a young man who needs to do that shift after shift.&rdquo;Said Iginla: &ldquo;For myself, the goals have been hard to come by, and I&rsquo;ve been getting the chances, game-in and game-out. If things were going well, some of them would be going in. I should be burying a few of them. You hear it all the time, but the main thing is, we&rsquo;re getting opportunities, creating offense. It&rsquo;s not like we go through a game with only five shots and two scoring chances. Maybe we have to go to the net harder and bang them in. I need to get an ugly goal again.&rdquo;In the aftermath of the Fleury trade, the Flames just weren&rsquo;t getting many easy goals. As a result, if they fell behind too far too early in the game, they had difficulty mounting a rally.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t got too many easy goals all year and we don&rsquo;t expect them now,&rdquo; Iginla said. &ldquo;We need to get as much traffic and wave our sticks as much as we can.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: As expected, the Flames announced Kamloops Blazers&rsquo; defenseman Robyn Regehr was the player-to-be-named later in the Theo Fleury trade. Under terms of their deal with Colorado, the Hames had 30 days to announce their selection from a pool of prospects. GM Al Coates said the team was leaning towards Regehr from the start, but wanted to take the 30-day window to review all the prospects at their disposal. In Regehr, who was born in Recife, Brazil, where his parents were missionaries, the Hames receive a drafted prospect rated No. 13 in the NHL by THN&rsquo;s Future Watch. &ldquo;I was happy to be with Colorado,&rdquo; Regehr said, &ldquo;but I look at this situation, coming to Calgary, they have a younger team, an exciting team. Staying in Western Canada is great."&hellip;Defenseman Lee Sorochan, acquired from the New York Rangers in a trade for defenseman Chris O&rsquo;Sullivan, was with the American League affiliate in Saint John for just one game when he was recalled because of injuries. &#9632;

f0017-05

Flames’ scoring by committee runs dry after post-Theo surge

<div class="byline">By Todd Grail</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011343/7165941-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="220" height="220"></div>Arturs Irbe turned down a pair of bargain-basement two-year deals last summer in order to prove himself this season and perhaps earn a more lucrative long-term deal.On March 30, the Carolina Hurricanes gave Irbe what he sought, when they agreed to a three-year contract worth $5.8 million. The deal includes a no-trade clause and could earn Irbe $1 million more per season should he meet certain performance bonuses.&ldquo;The security is nice,&rdquo; the 31-year-old Irbe said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to the next three years and helping the team.&rdquo;Irbe signed a one-year contract for $550,000 just days before training camp opened last September. He started the season 4-1-2 with a minuscule goals-against average and quickly supplanted Trevor Kidd as the Hurricanes&rsquo; No. 1 goaltender en route to the AllStar Game.While Irbe has struggled lately, he owned a 25-18-11 mark with a 2.30 goals-against average through the end ofMarch and was one of the chief reasons for the Hurricanes&rsquo; success this year.The signing arrived a month after GM Jim Rutherford signed Kidd to a two-year extension. Unless the Canes trade for a goaltender before the June 25 expansion draft, one of them must be exposed to the Atlanta Thrashers.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a big decision to make and it&rsquo;s going to be dictated by what happens at the end of the season and in the playoffs,&rdquo; Rutherford said.NOTEBOOK: While GM Jim Rutherford has inked a trio of potential free agents to extensions in the past couple of months, he said there won&rsquo;t be any more talks until after the season. &ldquo;With the playoffs getting close,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;this is not the right time.&rdquo; The Canes have seven potential free agents, including center Keith Primeau. Rutherford made an initial gesture to Primeau&rsquo;s agent, Don Reynolds, but said those talks won&rsquo;t continue until after the playoffs.. .Goalie Trevor Kidd saw the Arturs Irbe signing as an indication of whom the team may expose in the expansion draft. &ldquo;Obviously if they make the decision right now on stats and games played, you don&rsquo;t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out who&rsquo;s the odd guy out,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

f0018-01

Irbe’s big gamble pays off as new deal rewards play

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03697/7165972-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="455" height="609"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Gilmour</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021000/7165979-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="223" height="219"></div>Doug Gilmour will never forget his first season with the Chicago Blackhawks.Though he&rsquo;d probably like to.Unfortunately for Gilmour, his season ended 10 games earlier than the rest of the Hawks when on March 27 he was advised by doctors to take the last few weeks of the season off because of a bulging disc in his back.Gilmour may need off-season surgery to shave down the disc that is pressing on his sciatic nerve, causing pain in his leg.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not major surgery or career threatening; it&rsquo;s just something that has got to be attended to,&rdquo; Gilmour said. &ldquo;The pain was starting to go down my leg more. I wanted to make it through the whole season, but we decided to shut it down and get ready for next year.&rdquo;Until this, the 35-year-old Gilmour hadn&rsquo;t missed a game in his first season with the Hawks after signing a three-year, $18-million contract as an unrestricted free agent. He finished with 16 goals and 56 points in 72 games, playing in pain since mid-February.&ldquo;He probably shouldn&rsquo;t have been playing for the last six weeks or so,&rdquo; said coach Lome M&ouml;lleken. &ldquo;But we know what Doug Gilmour is all about. There were many times we told him to take the equipment off, that he wasn&rsquo;t playing, but he played anyway.&rdquo;Gilmour maintains he has no regrets about signing with the Hawks, who are finishing one of the most bizarre seasons in franchise history.GM Bob Murray made 15 trades since the start of training camp, including sending captain Chris Chelios to the Detroit Red Wings, and fired coach Dirk Graham with 23 games left in his first year.&ldquo;It has been a frustrating and very disappointing year, but it has been a learning process,&rdquo; Gilmour said.NOTEBOOK: The Hawks lost only five of their first 16 games (7-5-4) under interim coach Lorne M&ouml;lleken&hellip;Chicago will finish the season without a captain following the trade of defenseman Chris Chelios. M&ouml;lleken did appoint center Alex Zhamnov an alternate captain, joining center Doug Gilmour and right winger Tony Amonte&hellip;Zhamnov and Amonte were playing their best hockey of the season. Amonte had 10 goals in a nine-game stretch while Zhamnov had 20 points in 16 games&hellip;Amonte earned a $400,000 bonus by hitting the 40-goal mark. He&rsquo;ll earn $100,000 more this year and in each of the final three years of his deal&hellip;Newly acquired defensemen Boris Mironov and Anders Eriksson were paired together. &#9632;

f0018-03

Gilmour shelved for year, wants to remain a Hawk

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04442/7166010-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="222" height="216"></div>There will be somebody new signing the checks of Colorado Avalanche players, starting next season.An agreement in principle to sell the Avalanche, along with the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association and the under-construction Pepsi Center, was reached last week between Ascent Entertainment and Bill Laurie, a one-time college basketball player whose wife is an heir to the Wal-Mart Corp, fortune.The Denver Post first reported the agreement, which probably won&rsquo;t be completed until July 1, because of tax issues surrounding the 1997 spinoff of Ascent from Comsat Corp., the Maryland communications giant.Ascent CEO Charlie Lyons would neither confirm nor deny the reported sale, but was seen introducing Laurie to various friends and colleagues at a recent Denver Nuggets game. Laurie wouldn&rsquo;t comment, either, but sources said the deal is imminent. An exact price for entire deal hasn&rsquo;t been given, but it is likely to be a minimum of $400 million.Contrary to popular belief, the owners of the Avs didn&rsquo;t have the deep financial pockets most thought they did. Lyons, then head of what was known as Comsat Video Enterprises, bought the Quebec Nordiques in 1995 for $75 million, and quickly renamed the team the Colorado Avalanche.Lyons&rsquo; company, which specialized in satellite communications and pay-per-view movies in hotels, has been in the red for the past few years, and its stock price had been underachieving. Still, with the Pepsi Center, brighter financial days were forecast for the Avs and Nuggets.Those better days still are forecast, but now it will be Laurie at the reins.Laurie, who played guard for the Memphis State team that lost to UCLA in the 1973 NCAA finals, is married to Nancy Walton, whose father and uncle founded the Wal-Mart chain of stores. Forbes magazine listed the Lauries&rsquo; net worth recently at $992 million.NOTEBOOK: Goalie Patrick Roy tied Glenn Hall for fourth place on the all-time NHL wins list with 407 after a 7-2 Avs&rsquo; victory over Los Angeles March 28&hellip;Forward Adam Deadmarsh returned from a five-game absence with back spasms against Los Angeles and scored a goal&hellip;Peter Forsberg returned to his natural center position, with Chris Drury and Claude Lemieux as his linemates. Theo Fleury was moved to left wing on a line with center Joe Sakic and right winger Milan Hejduk&hellip;Goalie Craig Billington recorded his 99th career victory March 31 over San Jose&hellip;No matter who owns the Avs and Nuggets, the teams cannot be moved. Both have an iron-clad 25-year lease to play in the Pepsi Center. &#9632;

f0018-04

Wal-Mart heir to take over ownership

<div class="byline">By Mike Heika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011133/7166041-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="226" height="223"></div>The Stars were battling injuries, a struggling power play and a poor transition game. But coach Ken Hitchcock said the team had the perfect schedule down the stretch to be prepared for the playoffs.&ldquo;We have solid competition that should keep us focused and we have plenty of time to rest and practice,&rdquo;Hitchcock said of playing the final seven games-five at home-over 15 days. &ldquo;We had to suffer through a lot in the past month or so, but now we&rsquo;re reaping the benefits.&rdquo;The Stars played 16 games in the month of March, including a franchise high 10 on the road. From March 10-28 (19 days), they played 11 games and never had more than one day off. To conserve energy, Hitchcock didn&rsquo;t have the Stars practice on off days-some-thing that led to the gradual decline of the details in their game.&ldquo;There are a lot of things that we can straighten out in our game right now,&rdquo; winger Pat Verbeek said. &ldquo;We have to be serious about the details, all the little things that can help us be a better team. You can&rsquo;t just flip a switch and expect it to be there for the playoffs.&rdquo;While the Stars had a winning record at 6-3-2 during the 11-game stretch, it was clear the details of their game had eroded. Part of that was due to injuries faced by defensemen Richard Matvichuk (knee) and Shawn Chambers (hip flexor) that caused Derian Hatcher, Sergei Zubov, Craig Ludwig and Darryl Sydor to pick up more than their normal share of the load.&ldquo;And I think we really saw it affect their game,&rdquo; Hitchcock said.NOTEBOOK: Center Mike Modano sustained a groin strain March 31 against Tampa Bay and was expected to be out one to two weeks. It was thought he would play in at least the final three games of the season&hellip;Defensemen Richard Matvichuk (MCL strain) and Shawn Chambers (strained hip flexor) and center Brian Skrudland (tom rib cartilage) were each expected to return to the lineup by April 11&hellip;Center Joe Nieuwendyk had 11 goals and four assists in March, including five game-winning goals. &#9632;

f0020-01

Stars anxious to iron out wrinkles with time for practice before playoffs

<div class="byline">By Rob Tychkowskl</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03530/7166103-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="224" height="221"></div>Somebody get this team a psychiatrist before they drive their fans insane.Edmontonians were at wit&rsquo;s end trying to figure out their hockey team&rsquo;s self-destructive split personality.One night they play with fire and look very much like the Edmonton Oiler team that nobody wanted to meet in the first round of last year&rsquo;s playoffs. The next night they&rsquo;re going through the motions like a team that couldn&rsquo;t care less if it ever saw the post-season again.It had been a agonizing, frustrating, Jekyll and Hyde stretch run for the Oilers. They began the month of March with a seven-game road trip, and promptly beat the Colorado Avalanche and Buffalo Sabres and tied the Pittsburgh Penguins. Great stuff. Then they blew all their hard work with four consecutive losses to end the trip.They returned to Edmonton for an eight-game homestand and started out 1-2-1.Suddenly they had one win in their last nine games and were four points back of the Calgary Flames in the race for the final playoff spot.That&rsquo;s when the good Oiler team decided to show up for a while. The Oilers easily beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 and downed the St. Louis Blues 2-1 to move into a tie for eighth.It was the first time they&rsquo;d won back-to-back home games since Nov. 2-4.&ldquo;The last two efforts were unbelievable for our hockey club,&rdquo; said Doug Weight. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been emotional, not just playing with heart and character but a tremendous sense of urgency and togetherness.&rdquo;The next day, on home ice, they fall behind 5-0 in the first 15 minutes of the first period and lost 7-4 to the Phoenix Coyotes.&rsquo;Tve been sitting in the back trying to figure an excuse, but there isn&rsquo;t one,&rdquo; Low said afterward. &ldquo;All the good things that happened to our club went out the window very quickly. It&rsquo;s pretty sad.&rdquo;Sad? Yes. Surprising? No.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s happened more than a couple of times this year,&rdquo; said defenseman Janne Niinimaa. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not bad luck. I&rsquo;m not using the word panic, but we do stupid things.&rdquo;Low says the problem is between their ears and nowhere else and that they&rsquo;d better get it fixed before it&rsquo;s too late.NOTEBOOK: The Oilers had not won a single home game this season in which the opposing team had scored first. They were 0-16-4 in that category heading into the final seven games of the season. They were also 0-10-2 at home when trailing after the first period&hellip;Right winger Bill Guerin scored twice in the 5-2 victory over San Jose to reach the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his career&hellip;Right winger Mike Grier&rsquo;s two goals in the loss to Phoenix gave him 34 points, a new career high&hellip;Left winger Ryan Smyth returned to the lineup after missing a month with a broken jaw (courtesy of a point shot from former teammate Boris Mironov) and had a goal and an assist in his second game back &#9632;

f0020-03

No figuring Jekyll and Hyde Oilers as strange stretch run turns sour

<div class="byline">By David J. Neal</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01896/7166134-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="223" height="218"></div>The week the Florida Panthers left the playoff race, the organization led the media in a game of &ldquo;What Did They Know and When Did They Know It?&rdquo; regarding the anterior cruciate ligament in Pavel Bure&rsquo;s right knee.In the process, the credibility of team orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Attarian was publicly questioned.While Bure went to the Alabama Sports Medicine Clinic for his second reconstruction on the ACL. the Panthers revealed they had known it was tom since Attarian&rsquo;s arthroscopic surgery to repair tom cartilage March 5.When Bure looked almost game ready in his skating and was vague about what in the knee was keeping him sidelined, there were murmurings about his dedication to anything other than the dollar. Meanwhile, the team hid that Bure had gone to see Vancouver team doctor Ross Davidson, who did the original ACL reconstruction.Meanwhile, Attarian was quoted in one South Florida newspaper as saying the original reconstruction was stretching out some when the Panthers traded for Bure and it set the stage for a series of injuries. Or, essentially, the Panthers had made a mondo trade for and were making a $47.5 million, five-year commitment to damaged goods.The next day Attarian told two other reporters he had been misquoted and when the Panthers traded for Bure, he had looseness in the knee, but no greater injury risk than any other NHL player.NOTEBOOK: Rookie right winger Mark Parrish&rsquo;s late third period rocket over the glove of New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur was a money shot. Not only did it get the Panthers a 2-2 tie with Jersey Mar. 28, but it was Parrish&rsquo;s 20th goal of the season, triggering a $325,000 bonus&hellip;The New Jersey game was played without left winger Bill Lindsay, who wanted to play despite suffering from a sprained knee. The tie continued an interesting trend: the Panthers have never won a game without the professional pest and original Panther in the lineup. Florida is 0-11-2 without Lindsay overall, 0-9-2 during the regular season&hellip;Defenseman Jefl Ware, Toronto&rsquo;s first pick in the 1995 entry draft, was recalled from New Haven of the American League April 1. &#9632;

f0021-01

Bure soap opera takes new twist in Florida

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03300/7166165-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="457" height="609"><figcaption class="caption-body">Luc Robitaille</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02518/7166172-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="223" height="220"></div>The numbers didn&rsquo;t favor the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; hopes of rallying to grab the last Western Conference playoff spot, but coach Larry Robinson vowed he and his team would not go down without a fight.The Kings were seven points behind the eighth-place Calgary Flames with eight games left on their schedule-not the best situation, but the Kings still had a detectable pulse.&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t look good, but I don&rsquo;t give a damn,&rdquo; Robinson said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to play it hard right to the end.&rdquo;Robinson&rsquo;s four-year, $3.2-mtllion contract expires after this season and his chances of retuming or, perhaps, his desire to retum-could be affected if the Kings don&rsquo;t qualify for the postseason. However, Robinson said he&rsquo;s not making any decisions or thinking about his employment prospects just yet.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to concentrate on what&rsquo;s at hand here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have to be fair to myself, I have to be fair to the team, I have to be fair to these players. Most of all, I&rsquo;ve got to be fair to the players.&rdquo;The Kings&rsquo; effort has improved noticeably, but their offensive woes continued to undermine their playoff hopes. During a recent 1-4-0 slump, they scored only seven goals. They gave up 16 in that span, but seven of those came in a 7-2 loss against the Colorado Avalanche March 28 in which goalie Jamie Storr didn&rsquo;t make it past 5:09 of the first period.Simply making a valiant effort was no longer enough and to their credit, players acknowledged that.&ldquo;We keep saying (we&rsquo;re making the effort), but I think we keep fooling ourselves,&rdquo; said left winger Luc Robitaille. &ldquo;A big effort is great, but if you don&rsquo;t win, it doesn&rsquo;t matter. Winning is all that matters.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Josh Green, who began the season with the Kings, but was sent to the American League in December, was called up for one game, a 2-1 victory at Boston March 30. Green acknowledged the demotion has been educational. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned 1 have to come to work every day and be consistent,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where I was struggling and I&rsquo;m trying to work on that in the minors."&hellip;The Kings hired Kevin Gilmore, a former Mighty Ducks of Anaheim executive, to be their assistant GM. Gilmore will focus on contract negotiations and other legal matters&hellip;The Kings signed right winger Scott Barney, their second round pick in 1997, to a three-year contract and assigned him to Springfield of the American League. &#9632;

f0021-03

Robinson won’t surrender, but Kings’ chances slim

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011024/7166203-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="224" height="223"></div>Shayne Corson made a mistake on the ice. He made a bigger one off it.The Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; forward was suspended six games without pay for events that took place during a March 27 game at Vancouver.Corson was suspended one game for attempt to injure after his stick struck Canucks&rsquo; defenseman Ed Jovanovski on the side of his head in the third period. Corson claimed he was grabbed from behind by linesman Randy Mitton and lost his balance. As he fell forward, Corson said his stick struck Jovanovski&rsquo;s shoulder.That should have been the end of the story. But following the ejection, Corson pursued Jovanovski into the Vancouver dressing room despite warnings from an NHL security representative on duty.&ldquo;The NHL never has tolerated, and never will tolerate, inappropriate off-ice conduct such as this,&rdquo; said NHL vice-president Colin Campbell in a written statementCorson said he was reacting to a derogatory statement made by Jovanovski against a family member. He refused to disclose what was said. Corson denied he was seeking a physical confrontation when he entered the room. Rather, he simply wanted to tell Jovanovski his remark was inappropriate.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s one thing to hear something about yourself or your game. But to bring a family member into it is improper,&rdquo; said Corson, who was eligible to return for the Canadiens&rsquo; final three games, starting April 13.Corson loses $66,406 (U.S.) in salary.&ldquo;I was upset about certain things that were said,&rdquo; Corson continued. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve all got a bit of a temper. We&rsquo;ve all got families and, when certain things are said, we get upset. I guess I reacted with my heart and not my head.&rdquo;After maintaining he didn&rsquo;t warrant a suspension, Corson didn&rsquo;t take the news well, saying he was disappointed and in shock. With the Canadiens 11 points out of a playoff spot and only eight games remaining, this was the last thing they needed.NOTEBOOK: Goaltender Jeff Hackett said he believes having three players who are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents this summer-forwards Mark Recchi and Vincent Damphousse. both of whom were traded, along with defenseman Stephane Quintal (who remains with the team)-became a distraction for the Canadiens this season. &ldquo;It was the first time the team went through that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everyone was wondering what was going on, hoping things would get settled.&rdquo; Hackett has vowed not to fall into the same predicament. Next season is the final year of his contract. Hackett, underpaid among NHL starting goalies with a contract that currently pays him $950,000 (U.S.), said he hopes to have a new deal by the start of training camp and that he believes the Canadiens feel the same way. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be surprised if they don&rsquo;t take care of it by September,&rdquo; he said. Hackett is believed to be seeking approximately $2.5 million (U.S.) annually. &#9632;

f0022-01

Enraged Corson enters Canuck room, so NHL boots him from Habs’ for six

<div class="byline">By Jeff Legwold</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02715/7166234-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="228" height="225"></div>When Ray Shero was hired as an assistant GM by the Nashville Predators this season, GM David Poile jokingly said it was because he would need so much help in the off-season.And as the team&rsquo;s inaugural year drew to a close and the Predators finally lost their grip on any chance at a Western Conference playoff spot, it became clear that pile of work is tall for both of them.&ldquo;We certainly have a lot of things to look at and to talk about,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;But as I&rsquo;ve said, this was by design, we wanted to have flexibility&rdquo;Most of the team is up for contract negotiation at the end of the season. Centers Cliff Ronning and Darren Turcotte were signed to extensions during this year and some others arrived with longer deals in hand, including goalie Mike Dunham and captain Tom Fitzgerald.But the vast majority of the players-nearly all of them on the NHL roster-are restricted free agents whom the team will have to decide if they will try to keep.Poile has already hinted that the league&rsquo;s lowest payroll isn&rsquo;t likely to get all that much higher next season, saying the Predators would not be pursuing any &ldquo;Theo Fleury or Mark Recchi types&rdquo; in the off-season.At the same time, several of the Predators&rsquo; players have quietly said that since many of them have had career years with their increased playing time, they would be looking for raises.One player about whom Poile is nearing a decision is left winger Ville Peltonen.The team likely will pick up the option on Peltonen&rsquo;s contract for 1999-2000, but they also want to make sure he has recovered from December shoulder surgery.Trotz has said Peltonen would have been a 50-point player had he played the entire season. Peltonen had five goals and five assists in 14 games.Backup goaltender Tomas Vokoun has also earned a significant chance at a new deal.NOTEBOOK: Center Darren Turcotte had been playing with a tom medial collateral ligament in his right knee and has since discovered he also has a tom anterior cruciate ligament in the same knee. He was scheduled to have surgery April 8&hellip;One thing the Predators accomplished this season was a 2-0 sweep of the Washington Capitals, the team that elected not to renew GM David Poile&rsquo;s contract&hellip;Center Rob Valicevic, who made his NHL debut this season for the Predators at age 27 and has been on a yo-yo between Houston and Nashville several times this year, scored his first NHL goal in a 3-2 victory over the Capitals March 3O&hellip;Left winger Ville Peltonen has expressed a desire to play for Finland in the World Championship in May, but has been out of the Predators&rsquo; lineup since season-ending shoulder surgery in December. The Predators want to make sure it is completely healed before picking up the contract, so they may not be inclined to let him play. Peltonen said he will participate without a &ldquo;green light&rdquo; from the team. &#9632;

f0022-02

Stack of summer decisions piling up; GM counts dollars, potential blessings

<div class="byline">By Rich Chore</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03507/7166265-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="218" height="212"></div>For the rest of the NHL, 50 goals might be the standard for greatness among goalscorers. But the measure is significantly lower for the New Jersey Devils, a team that has stressed defense for the past six seasons.No Devils&rsquo; player has reached the 30-goal plateau since John MacLean scored 37 in 1993-94. And, even though coach Robbie Ftorek predicted the team would have five or six 30-goal scorers by playing his style, that did not happen this season.Petr Sykora, the right winger on the Devils&rsquo; No. 1 line with Jason Arnott and Patrik Elias, had the best shot. Sykora had 26 goals with nine games remaining and a feeling for the importance of joining the 30-goal club.&ldquo;I really feel I have a shot at 30, but I don&rsquo;t want to put that pressure on myself,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have to go out and relax. That&rsquo;s how I&rsquo;ll score those goals.&rdquo; Pressure was unavoidable.Bobby Holik seemed a sure shot to score 30 last season when he collected his 29th goal March 14. But Holik failed to score in the final 16 games and ended with 29. So did MacLean and Bill Guerin the previous season.As the season neared its conclusion, the Devils had three players with 20 or more goals.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got some guys who have some good numbers, although they are not great numbers league-wise,&rdquo; Ftorek said. &ldquo;If you were to guess who is going to score in our games, you&rsquo;d be hard-pressed.&rdquo;Until this season, Sykora&rsquo;s career high was 18 goals as a rookie in 199596.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never scored 20 before this year. I think there&rsquo;s a big difference going from 20 to 30 goals,&rdquo; Sykora said.&ldquo;Once you score 30, you know you can score goals. It means confidence. Thirty is the line that makes you a goal-scorer in this league. It&rsquo;s not easy. Trust me, I felt very good about scoring 20.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: After a prolonged slump, the team&rsquo;s No. 2 line of left winger Dave Andreychuk, center Bobby Holik and right winger Randy McKay each scored a goal March 31 as the Devils clinched a playoff spot for the third straight season. For Andreychuk, who missed 21 games with a fractured right ankle, it was his first goal since Dec. 28. It was Holik&rsquo;s first since Feb. 19&hellip;Defenseman Scott Stevens returned to the lineup March 28 after missing five games with a groin pull&hellip;GM Lou Lamoriello called Florida forward Kirk Muller&rsquo;s flip of Devil right winger Petr Sykora March 28 a &ldquo;slew foot,&rdquo; but Muller was not disciplined by the league.. Center Jason Arnott fell on his hip in practice and was sidelined for the fifth time this season by either injury or illness. &#9632;

f0022-03

Sykora aims for exclusivity: membership in 30-goal club

<div class="byline">By Rick Carplniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01916/7166296-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="225" height="225"></div>After he had scored for the pro-record 1,072nd time, New York Rangers&rsquo; icon Wayne Gretzky was asked if he had a favorite.He didn&rsquo;t hesitate. It was an enormous goal for the Edmonton Oilers, against arch-rival Calgary Flames, in Game 2 of their 1988 playoff series. Shorthanded. In overtime. It got the Oilers rolling to their fourth Stanley Cup, the last one Gretzky has won.Gretzky talked about his first pro goal, for the Indianapolis Racers in the World Hockey Association at age 17, and compared it to No. 1,072 in that &ldquo;it was an awful goal.&rdquo;Gretzky seemed to be enjoying the reminiscing the night he broke Gordie Howe&rsquo;s record for pro goals, NHL and WHA combined, including playoffs. This one was his own rebound, and it was the game-winner late in the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie with the New York Islanders.Gretzky said his best game was in the 1987 Canada Cup, against the Russians; a game, he noted, in which he didn&rsquo;t score a goal.Gretzky then recounted a sequence against goalie Mike Liut in St. Louis, when &lsquo;The Great One&rsquo; shot right off a faceoff and scored. Off one of the following faceoffs, from the circle on the other side, Gretzky recalled a linesmen coming over to him.&ldquo;He said, &rsquo;I&rsquo;ll bet you lunch you can&rsquo;t do it from this side&rsquo; and I backhanded it in. I think I got five that night.&rdquo;There used to be a lot of nights like that. Now, though, Gretzky is 38. His goals, nine for the season, are few and far between. He hadn&rsquo;t scored in 11 games since tying Howe, and in the middle of that slump was a 12-game absence due to a neck injury.But Gretzky&rsquo;s current struggles only underscore how remarkable the goal standard is.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see anybody breaking it, ever,&rdquo; said Rangers&rsquo; coach John Muckier, who spent most of his career with Gretzky in Edmonton. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t see it.&rdquo;&ldquo;Maybe some kid will break it in street hockey,&rdquo; said Brian Leetch. &ldquo;But in the NHL, or whatever professional leagues come along in the future, I don&rsquo;t think it can ever be done.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Petr Nedved was jabbed by the stick of Flyers&rsquo; center Eric Lindros in Philadelphia March 27 and suffered three cuts around his right eye. Lindros was suspended for two games. The incident prompted a war of words between Rangers&rsquo; GM Neil Smith and Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke, with Smith claiming Lindros is habitually reckless with his stick&hellip;In the next game, Nedved left with a rib cage muscle strain&hellip;Right winger Todd Harvey&rsquo;s broken thumb had not healed sufficiently, and it became obvious that he might have to miss the rest of the season&hellip;The Rangers swept the Islanders for the first time since 1972-73, the Islanders&rsquo; inaugural season. &#9632;

f0023-01

Gretzky’s latest goal standard brings sea of memories flooding back

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02598/7166327-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="228" height="223"></div>Everywhere the New York Islanders go, fans, opposing players and reporters ask the same question: What&rsquo;s wrong with Trevor Linden?His offensive futility mirrors the Islanders&rsquo; season. Playing on a one-year $2.5-million contract in a season in which he wanted to lay groundwork for a multi-year deal, Linden lost his scoring touch and has seemed disinterested at times. After getting 11 goals and 24 points in his first 34 games, he went 3-14-17 in his next 41. As of April 1, he was 0-6-6 in an 18-game stretch.His season totals were 14 goals and 41 points in 75 games.&ldquo;He has to go to the net,&rdquo; said injured enforcer Gino Odjick, a teammate and friend of Linden&rsquo;s for eight seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. &ldquo;I know you can&rsquo;t score from the comers.&rdquo;On a team going nowhere, Linden has spent much of the season cruising around the perimeter without getting his nose dirty. He blew so many scoring chances he stopped shooting and made too many passes. The subject of trade rumors for a month before the deadline, Linden has done little to justify the confidence coach Bill Stewart has shown in him.&ldquo;All I know,&rdquo; Stewart said, &ldquo;is that the guy gives a hundred per cent, whether it s in practice or in a game. His leadership qualities, in my opinion, are second to none. He&rsquo;s a positive influence on the (Eric) Brewers and (Zdeno) Charas&hellip;! didn&rsquo;t want Trevor moved.&rdquo;As the Islanders hit a 1-10-2 tailspin, however, Linden was a $2.5-million penalty-killer; that was the only thing he was doing well. After GM Mike Milbury traded centers Robert Reichel to the Phoenix Coyotes and Sergei Nemchinov to the New Jersey Devils, Stewart shifted Linden from right wing to center-a move Linden liked-but he could not break out of his goal-scoring slump. When Milbury was asked what his top needs were, he said &ldquo;first line center.&rdquo;Linden said his slump &ldquo;possibly&rdquo; is the worst of his career.NOTEBOOK: Coach Bill Stewart got himself in hot water with GM Mike Milbury after his March 29 remark that &ldquo;certainly if we had the resources to go out and acquire some National Hockey League talent, it would be a different story.&rdquo; Stewart immediately backpedaled and said he was not criticizing Milbury or the owners, nor was he belittling his players, but his remarks might jeopardize his chances of returning. Stewart is said to have a window in his contract starting in early May and running until the end of June during which he can look for another job. He may have to. The team was 8-16-6 under his direction after going 3-18-3 in Milbury&rsquo;s last 24 games behind the bench. &#9632;

f0023-02

Stewart praises Linden’s leadership, but captain mired in brutal slump

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03420/7166358-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="229" height="222"></div>Magnus Arvedson was pinpointed in training camp by Ottawa Senators&rsquo; GM Rick Dudley as a player who had the potential to score 20 goals this season.Eight months later, mission accomplished.&ldquo;This is the most productive year for me,&rdquo; said Arvedson, who scored his 20th March 30 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m doing anything different&hellip;except now when I get a chance I usually score. Most of the time in the past I would miss. My last year in Sweden, they said if I scored every time I had a chance, I would have led the league in scoring.&rdquo;Arvedson, 27, has been one of the club&rsquo;s best players this season. His line with Radek Bonk and Marian Hossa has been effective down the stretch.Arvedson was tied as the Senators&rsquo; third-leading goal-scorer with Andreas Johansson and had a sparkling plus-minus rating of plus-33. That has earned him recognition as a strong candidate for the Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward.&ldquo;He should get consideration,&rdquo; said Ottawa assistant coach Perry Peam. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not talking about a guy here who is playing against the third and fourth lines. He&rsquo;s out there against the top lines night in and night out.&rdquo;Arvedson gives credit for his success to staying healthy-he missed 21 games last season because of various injuries. He also likes his role playing with Bonk and Hossa.&ldquo;Getting Hossa on that line really helped,&rdquo; said Arvedson. &ldquo;And I think we&rsquo;ve just gotten better and better as the season went on. We&rsquo;re always out there trying to create chances. We know where each other is going to be.&ldquo;I feel that we have a good chemistry. It helps that we&rsquo;ve played together for a long time now. We talk a lot to each other, help each other out. Talking is important for a line.&rdquo;Whether Arvedson will get enough support to be a Selke finalist isn&rsquo;t known and quite frankly he&rsquo;s not worried about.&ldquo;I worry about what we&rsquo;re going to do in the playoffs,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: Goaltender Ron Tugnutt was voted the Ottawa nominee for the Masterton Trophy by the local chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Tugnutt, a journeyman who has played in the minors, has led the league with a sparkling goals-against average of less than 1.70 most of the season. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a long uphill battle for me. It&rsquo;s nice to get recognition,&rdquo; Tugnutt said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe what&rsquo;s happened in my career."&hellip;Winger Andreas Johansson, who cashed in a $75,000 (U.S.) bonus when he scored his 20th goal of the season in March, was a healthy scratch for games March 30 and April 1 against Pittsburgh. He had only one goal in his past 15 games. &#9632;

f0023-03

Arvedson emerges as Selke candidate bv reaching goals at both ends of ice

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01986/7166389-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="226" height="228"></div>Seven years into his NHL career, Eric Lindros hasn&rsquo;t known a complete regular season.The latest blow came April 1-no fooling-in a game against the Nashville Predators. Lindros sustained a collapsed lung, apparently on a cross check. When he woke up later that night, he was experiencing chest pains and went to Baptist Hospital in Nashville.That&rsquo;s when doctors discovered a puncture. GM Bob Clarke said nearly three quarts of blood filled the space where the lung collapsed and doctors were draining the blood out with a chest tube.&ldquo;He was checked in the ribs on the right side,&rdquo; said Flyers&rsquo; team physician Dr. Gary Dorshimer. &ldquo;He either suffered a rib fracture of there was enough force with the sudden impact trauma that it caused a small microtear in the lung.&rdquo;Lindros, 26, was expected to remain in Baptist Hospital until at least April 4. His status for the post-season, the Flyers said, would be determined when he returned to Philadelphia.&ldquo;The players&rsquo; health is of major concern to us,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;We won&rsquo;t be playing him until all doctors are very confident that his health is fine.&rdquo;At the time of the injury, Lindros-who because of injuries has never played more than 73 games in a season-led the Flyers with 40 goals and 93 points in 71 games. He had just returned from a two-game suspension for high-sticking Petr Nedved of the New York Rangers.NOTEBOOK: At a news conference to announce the signing of a new contract, defenseman Eric Desjardins revealed his knee injury was worse than people were originally led to believe. Desjardins, who inked a four-year deal estimated in the $15-to-$16-million range, said the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee was &ldquo;about 80 per-cent tom,&rdquo; as opposed &ldquo;partially tom,&rdquo; as first announced. Rather than have surgery now, the 29-year-old defenseman said he will try to play the rest of the season the way it is (with the help of a brace), then consider an operation in the off-season. Before the injury, Desjardins was having a career year (a personal best 14 goals and career high-tying 47 points) and was being mentioned as a Norris Trophy candidate. &#9632;

f0026-01

Another bad blow for Lindros as he suffers collapsed lung

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03525/7166420-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="459" height="613"><figcaption class="caption-body">Shane Doan</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02663/7166427-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="223" height="225"></div>Shane Doan has a new outlook on life.Of course, when you score only three goals in 71 games in your fourthNHL season, and you&rsquo;re expected to carry a much larger load, it&rsquo;s probably time for a new outlook.&ldquo;I was joking around the other day, saying, &rsquo;This is the first day of the rest of my NHL career,&rsquo; &ldquo;said the 22-year-old right winger. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m forgetting the first four years and starting it all over. Hopefully, I&rsquo;ll get it going now and get my confidence back and keep playing well.&rdquo;Soon after making the remark, Doan-the seventh overall pick in the 1995 draft-was placed on the team&rsquo;s No. 1 line alongside Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk. Doan responded with a goal and two assists-the first three-point game of his NHL career-as Phoenix beat the Edmonton Oilers 7-4.Making things more special, the native of Halkirk, Alta., did it while playing in front of more than 100 family members and friends March 30.&ldquo;It was a pretty special night,&rdquo; he said.It was the breakthrough game he needed. Doan&rsquo;s confidence had been sagging; he hadn&rsquo;t scored in 20 games.If the Coyotes are to go deep in the playoffs, they will need players such as Doan to chip in with the occasional big night. He knows it, too. That&rsquo;s why he was pressing so hard.Some of the pressure was relieved when GM Bobby Smith didn&rsquo;t deal him at the trading dead-line. Instead, Smith moved Doan&rsquo;s good friend, Brad Isbister, who went to the New York Islanders in exchange for Robert Reichel.&ldquo;You always question your confidence and whether you belong on a team when you&rsquo;re struggling as I have been here,&rdquo; Doan said, &ldquo;but to hear they still feel they want you&hellip;I&rsquo;m very grateful.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Robert Reichel reiterated he isn&rsquo;t sure what his plans will be this summer when he becomes a restricted free agent. He has hinted he might return to his native Czech Republic, but said, &ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t about money, it&rsquo;s family.&rdquo; He said he won&rsquo;t discuss it again until after the playoffs&hellip;Defenseman Teppo Numminen. whose consecutive games streak reached 291 April 1, (the second-longest active streak in the NHL), said he would consider sitting out a game or two down the stretch if it were in the best interests of the club&hellip;By reaching the 88-point mark with a win over Calgary March 27, the Coyotes tied the second-best mark in franchise history with six games remaining. The highest point total was 96 in 1984-85. &#9632;

f0026-03

Doan aims to forget past and regain lost confidence

<div class="byline">By Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04371/7166458-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="231" height="224"></div>The relationship between Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; coach Kevin Constantine and team captain Jaromir Jagr has gone remarkably well this season.But it hit a bump after a March 27 game against the Buffalo Sabres.Jagr sat out the first 1:20 of a power play with his team trying to take a 2-1 lead midway through the third period. Constantine said Jagr. the NHL&rsquo;s leading scorer, wanted other players on the ice. The Penguins were 0-for-7 on the power play at that point, including a pair of twoman advantages.&ldquo;To be honest with you, he just indicated to let those (other) guys go,&rdquo; Constantine said after the game. &ldquo;As to his thinking as to why he wanted to let those guys go, I couldn&rsquo;t tell you directly, because we didn&rsquo;t talk about it.&rdquo;Jagr seemed surprised to hear that the decision was attributed to him and not Constantine.&ldquo;What do you mean, decision?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;(Constantine) didn&rsquo;t say anything. My name wasn&rsquo;t called, so I sit on the bench. I&rsquo;m not a coach.&rdquo;Apparently, Constantine wasn&rsquo;t going by a Jagr statement, but rather by reading Jagr&rsquo;s body language.&ldquo;He likes to go 28-29 minutes a game, but a lot of times how much I use him is based on his body language in terms of what he looks like he wants to do,&rdquo; Constantine said. &ldquo;He wanted those guys to go first.&rdquo;Said Jagr: &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t score before. Maybe it was my fault we didn&rsquo;t score. Try something different. I&rsquo;m not upset at all.&rdquo;An obvious question arises: Shouldn&rsquo;t Constantine be ordering Jagr to take the ice in such a key situation?&ldquo;If push came to shove in a critical moment, I&rsquo;d want him out there,&rdquo; Constantine said. &ldquo;But in a game like that, if a player&rsquo;s gone out early in a game and not had a lot of success&hellip; maybe tonight someone else can get it done.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Rookie Jean-Sebastien Aubin could have the inside track on the No. 2 goaltender spot heading into the playoffs. He and Peter Skudra are vying to back up Tom Barrasso, assuming Barrasso returns from a broken wrist tn time. Aubin had an unbeaten stretch of nine games (4-0-5) before losing to Buffalo 4-3 in overtime March 27. Skudra had an impressive 15-9-5 recond but had surrendered some soft goals. &ldquo;All we know is they&rsquo;ve both done a good job,&rdquo; said coach Kevin Constantine. &ldquo;Peter&rsquo;s done it a little more over a course of time, so that&rsquo;s the likelihood (that Skudra will remain No. 2), but you can&rsquo;t take anything away from the fact Aubin just played nine games in a row without losing.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-04

Words needed between Jagr, Constantine?

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01974/7166489-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="226" height="228"></div>The bizarre situation surrounding suspended San Jose Sharks&rsquo; defenseman Andrei Zyuzin appeared no closer to a resolution two weeks after he left the team.Zyuzin, 21, said March 31 he has no intention of rejoining the Sharks because of what he perceives as mistreatment from coach Darryl Sutter and the team&rsquo;s failure to address the matter.&ldquo;They hurt myself,&rdquo; Zyuzin said. &ldquo;I will be waiting for a trade.&rdquo; Zyuzin, the second overall selection in the 1996 entry draft, did not show up for San Jose&rsquo;s March 19 team flight to Boston. The Sharks claimed they had no idea where Zyuzin was until several hours later. Zyuzin maintains he alerted GM Dean Lombardi ahead of time he was leaving the club.&ldquo;I told him why,&rdquo; Zyuzin said. &ldquo;I told him I had a problem with my coach. I don&rsquo;t want to say anything (specific) about the problem. The NHL (Players Association) is working on this right now and everybody is going to know the whole story about me and Darryl Sutter.&rdquo;Lombardi and other club officials expressed frustration over a lack of communication with Zyuzin since he fired his former agent, Jay Grossman, and adopted Vitali Shevchenko as a representative. Shevchenko, who formerly represented NHL players Vladimir Krutov, Alexander Godynyuk and Dmitri Khristich, was bidding to regain certification as a player agent from the NHLPA.The Sharks also expressed concern Zyuzin might be somehow under the influence of Shevchenko, who reportedly was under scrutiny from multiple law-enforcement agencies in the United States and Canada.Zyuzin denounced the San Jose organization for &ldquo;lying&rdquo; through the media and took exception to media reports that Shevchenko&rsquo;s background is unsavory.&ldquo;1 want to say that all the comments in newspapers about me and Vitali are not the truth,&rdquo; Zyuzin said. &ldquo;People don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going on. I can tell you it&rsquo;s all lies. This is from my lips.&rdquo;Lombardi said the Sharks have no intention of trading Zyuzin.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to be sitting a long time.&rdquo; Lombardi said.NOTEBOOK: Center Vincent Damphousse recorded three goals and two assists in his first four games with San Jose&hellip;The Sharks fell one game short of matching a franchise-record nine-game unbeaten streak, established in 1994, when they lost 5-2 March 28 at Edmonton. The defeat also snapped a six-game road unbeaten streak that was San Jose&rsquo;s longest ever&hellip;Goalie Mike Vernon returned from a nine-game absence caused by a strained groin to register a season-high 40 saves in a 1-1 tie at Ottawa March 26&hellip;After having beaten the Senators 3-2 March 13, the Sharks joined Boston as the only teams to win season series from the Eastern Conference-leading Senators. &#9632;

f0028-01

’Hurt’ Zyuzin demands trade; Sharks have no intention of granting wish

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecklng</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02649/7166520-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="229" height="231"></div>Although the St. Louis Blues had hoped right winger Jim Campbell would try to finish the season before undergoing groin surgery, Campbell opted for the season-ending procedure at University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Care.Campbell will undergo surgery for &ldquo;athletic pubalgia syndrome,&rdquo; which essentially is a groin injury in which the pain is severe and persistent and doesn&rsquo;t respond to standard treatment. He said his recuperation will take 12 full weeks.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really disappointing,&rdquo; Campbell said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to play in the playoffs. I&rsquo;ve been playing in pain for quite a while.&rdquo;Campbell sat out three games with what the team called &ldquo;a sore groin&rdquo; in mid-February. He was listed as a healthy scratch Feb. 22 and 24, then came back to score a goal and five points in the next three games.The 26-year-old Campbell was rumored to be headed to the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Pascal Rheaume, for Stu Barnes in March, but the deal fell through when Rheaume was sidelined with post-concussion syndrome. Campbell, who remained on the trade block, didn&rsquo;t miss another game until the groin injury sidelined him again March 22, the day before the trade deadline.In the next 10 days, Campbell visited four doctors in three cities-St. Louis, Boston, and two in Tampa Bay. Blues&rsquo; GM Larry Pleau said an MR1 showed &ldquo;a little bit of a groin pull&rdquo; and the &ldquo;start of a hernia,&rdquo; but that Blues doctors felt Campbell could play depending on his pain threshold and they&rsquo;d evaluate his condition at season&rsquo;s end.&ldquo;They felt he was in no danger by playing,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;He could play according to his pain threshold, but he&rsquo;d have to decide that. Everybody&rsquo;s different. Nobody can get into anybody&rsquo;s head as far as pain threshold.&rdquo;The surgery ends a disappointing season for Campbell. After scoring 45 goals and 84 points in 144 games in his first two seasons with the Blues, he had only four goals and 25 points and was minus-8 in 55 games this season.NOTEBOOK: Since returning from his third knee operation in three years, goalie Grant Fuhr had started nine of 10 games through April 2 and had played quite well. He was 5-3-1 in those games, with a 2.10 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage&hellip;The St. Louis chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association nominated left winger Scott Pellerin as the Blues&rsquo; candidate for the Masterton Trophy, awarded for dedication, perseverance and sportsmanship. Pellerin, 28, was having a career year with 19 goals and 34 points. Through April 2, he was tied with Colorado center Joe Sakic for the league lead in shorthanded goals with five. &#9632;

f0028-02

Painful season comes to early ending, groin surgery nuts Campbell on shelf

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03463/7166551-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="222" height="224"></div>Holding down a steady job in the NHL sometimes means becoming something you&rsquo;re not.Jason Bonsignore has come to realize that fact. That explains why he is determined now to become the two-way player he never really was. It is also why the Tampa Bay Lightning decided to keep the young center up with the big team for the remainder of the season after recalling him from Cleveland of the International League Feb. 23.Bonsignore, 22, playing on the fourth line of the league&rsquo;s last-place team, had three assists in his first 14 games following the promotion. Bonsignore has the Lightning re-thinking its plans for him because he has been finishing checks, playing hard in both ends and absorbing hits from which he once shied away. The Lightning can only hope the flashes become something that lasts.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to look at him for the rest of the year,&rdquo; Demers said, &ldquo;so we can say we did give him enough ice time to show he has improved and is playing better, and so that we can go to the owners and say, &rsquo;Hey, we should sign him.&rsquo; &ldquo;Bonsignore was buoyed by the news.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great vote of confidence, especially coming from Jacques,&rdquo; Bonsignore said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve really enjoyed my time with Tampa and I want to be a part of the future.&rdquo;Bonsignore, a 1994 first round draft choice of the Edmonton Oilers (fourth overall) was acquired in a December. 1997 trade. He played 35 games for Tampa Bay following the deal, then spent most of this season out of sight and out of mind in the minors.When the Lightning finally recalled him in February, it was presumably for a last look to make sure Bonsignore did not fit into the team&rsquo;s plans.&ldquo;I felt it was now or never, at least with the Tampa organization,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I knew I had to do whatever I could to stay.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad we didn&rsquo;t give up on him,&rdquo; DemersNOTEBOOK: Left winger Rob Zamuner, who has played most of this season hurt, will return after the season to Colorado Springs soft-tissue specialist Mike Leahy so he can resume a rehab program for his abnormally tight groin/hamstring muscles&hellip;Coach Jacques Demers criticized rookie center Vincent Lecavalier and rookie defenseman Pavel Kubina for playing outside the team&rsquo;s system and benched both for two periods and overtime of the 3-3 tie with Carolina March 28. Both were disappointed. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re competitors,&rdquo; Demers said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m sure they&rsquo;re upset."&hellip;Defenseman Drew Bannister played in the Carolina game, his first after missing 26 with broken bones in his right hand. &#9632;

f0028-03

Bonsignore’s commitment to adapt earns him another shot in Tamna

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02557/7166589-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="452" height="611"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sergei Berezin</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01861/7166596-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="226" height="222"></div>There were no champagne showers in the dressing room, no hooting and hollering and very little sense of accomplishment. If you hadn&rsquo;t done the math your-self, you&rsquo;d probably have had no idea that the Toronto Maple Leafs had secured a playoff berth for the first time in three years.With a 5-1 road victory over the Edmonton Oilers April 1, the Leafs clinched a spot in the post-season, an accomplishment a good number of hockey observers thought the Leafs wouldn&rsquo;t achieve this season. But despite beating the odds, the Leafs were subdued in their celebration.&ldquo;There won&rsquo;t be any bubbly,&rdquo; said left winger Derek King. &ldquo;Maybe we&rsquo;ll have a few beers, but that&rsquo;s about as bubbly as it will get for us.&rdquo;But if exceeding expectations were reason to celebrate, the Leafs would probably warrant a ticker tape parade. Few hockey observers gave them much of a chance to make the playoffs and nobody could have envisioned them as the highest scoring team in the NHL. Who would have thought they&rsquo;d challenge for the franchise record for victories (44) and set a new standard for road wins (21)? For that matter, after watching Sergei Berezin miss the net about as often as he hit it, who would have thought that he&rsquo;d break through with a 30-goal season one year after he was a healthy scratch for 14 games?&ldquo;Sergei has been really hot for us,&rdquo; said Leafs&rsquo; coach Pat Quinn. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s seeing the net and he&rsquo;s finding the places to put the puck and that&rsquo;s a good thing for us.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05214/7166582-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="456" height="612"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Quinn</figcaption></div>Berezin scored a hat trick against the Oilers to give him 32 goals on the season, just nine fewer than he scored in his first two NHL seasons combined. But the Leafs, who led the NHL with 242 goals in 75 games, were receiving goals from a variety of sources. They had nine players in double digits in goals, including five with at least 20 goals.But as the Leafs prepared to enter the post-season, they were riddled with concerns. This group is not exactly battle-tested in the playoffs and in fact, have just three players who participated in last year&rsquo;s post-season tournament.&ldquo;Experience is a great asset, but if you don&rsquo;t have it, what do you do? You don&rsquo;t worry about it,&rdquo; Quinn said.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Bryan Berard missed games March 31 against Vancouver and April 1 against Edmonton with a nasty bout of the flu. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t been that sick in five or six years,&rdquo; Berard said. &ldquo;It really knocked a lot out of me."&hellip;Defenseman Sylvain Cote also missed the two games with a sprained shoulder&hellip;With three wins and a tie March 26-April 1, the Leafs put together a four-game unbeaten streak for just the second time this season. They were riding a two-game winning streak going into an April 4 game against Calgary, but had not won four straight once this season&hellip;Right winger Steve Thomas is the Leafs&rsquo; nominee for the Masterton Trophy, awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Thomas, 35, had 27 goals this season, two fewer than he had with New Jersey the past two seasons combined. &#9632;

f0029-02

Record for road wins leads to playoff spot

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03362/7166627-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="224" height="225"></div>Proving it&rsquo;s never too late to be a late bloomer, Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; defenseman Adrian Aucoin is putting an exclamation point on a wonderful breakthrough season.The 25-year-old blueliner, who was a healthy scratch 23 times in 1997-98, broke the Canuck team record for goals by a defenseman when he beat Jeff Hackett of the Montreal Canadiens for his 20th of the season March 27. He then added his 21st the same night and his 22nd four nights after that.The three goals shattered Doug Hal-ward&rsquo;s 16-year-old club mark of 19 and also moved Aucoin into the league lead as this year&rsquo;s top goal-scoring defenseman.&ldquo;I was quite pleased to break the record,&rdquo; said Aucoin, who was drafted 117th overall in 1992. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a nice positive thing in a tough year for our team. A lot of guys are taking what they can from a year like this. This is a big step up in my career and I hope I can maintain it.&rdquo;Aucoin&rsquo;s sudden success at the NHL level seems to have surprised even himself. He had only scored 13 times in 155 career games before this year. His previous career best at any level was 17.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have much in the way of expectations after last year,&rdquo; said the Ottawa native, referring to the numerous benchings from Mike Keenan. &ldquo;It all depended on the way Mike was feeling coming into the year. He&rsquo;s made careers and he&rsquo;s broken careers. So it was nice to be on his good side.&rdquo;With Bryan McCabe unsigned to start the season, Keenan was forced to use Aucoin out of sheer necessity. He also required a right-shot pointman for the power play and Aucoin was his choice.&ldquo;From the first week, it just seemed everything I touched was right and I was riding a high,&rdquo; said Aucoin. &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s what helped me the most.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Rookie goalie Kevin Weekes, handed the backup job when he signed Feb. 24, was still seeking his first career win after going 0-6-1 in his first seven Canuck decisions. Weekes was 0-5-1 with Florida last season&hellip;The Canucks were officially eliminated from the playoffs with seven games remaining in the season. It marked the third straight year they have missed the Stanley Cup party&hellip;Left winger Brad May ended his season abruptly by breaking his left hand in practice while play-fighting with left winger Donald Brashear. May finished with six goals and 17 points&hellip;Garth Snow marked his 60th appearance of the season with a 1-0 shutout over Phoenix. It was his second consecutive blanking of the playoff-bound Coyotes. &#9632;

f0029-03

From spare part to stardom

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04250/7166658-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="227" height="226"></div>As a youngster growing up in Montreal, Benoit Gratton&rsquo;s idol was Dale Hunter.That had a few heads shaking in Gratton&rsquo;s neighborhood since Hunter is remembered in Montreal mostly as part of the criminal element that once played in Quebec City.Gratton is now a young man, 22, in the Washington Capitals&rsquo; system trying to prove he belongs with the NHL team. As the Caps work their way toward the end of an injury-plagued season, Gratton is one of several players taking advantage of openings on the parent roster to try and create an early good impression.&ldquo;Ever since I was a little boy first playing, this is all I ever wanted to do, be a regular in the NHL,&rdquo; Gratton said. &ldquo;Just being in the NHL is all that matters, I don&rsquo;t care if it&rsquo;s first line or fourth line.&rdquo;At 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds, it&rsquo;s probably going to be the third or fourth line doing what his idol has done successfully for 19 seasons, harassing the opposition.Gratton had 18 goals and 135 penalty minutes in 64 games with Portland of the American League so he knows the drill.&ldquo;He has a way of getting under people&rsquo;s skin and then attention gets drawn to him,&rdquo; said coach Ron Wilson, comparing him to Hunter who was traded to the Colorado Avalanche at the trade deadline opening a spot on the roster for the youngster. &ldquo;Then people try to strike out at him and he&rsquo;s even more effective; he draws penalties, gets people out of position.&rdquo;Gratton was the Capitals&rsquo; sixth choice, 105th overall, in the 1995 entry draft and has played the past two years in Portland.According to Wilson, Gratton&rsquo;s drawbacks include a lack of consistency and not enough speed, which the center plans to work on this summer.NOTEBOOK: The Caps signed free agent Jeff Halpern right after the center s college career at Princeton ended. The native of suburban Maryland might be the first ever home-grown player to wear a Cap sweater. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if (owner) Abe Pollin could have envisioned this 25 years ago when he brought NHL hockey to Washington,&rdquo; said GM George McPhee in introducing Halpern to the media. Pollin was not present. The team first learned of the 22-year-old when, at his own expense, he took part in the players&rsquo; unsanctioned summer workouts and the veterans started bringing his name up. He was assigned to Portland of the American League for a few games then allowed to return to Princeton to graduate. &#9632;

f0029-04

Gratton assumes idol’s spot

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzlja</div>Domenic Pittis has never met Ernie Banks, but the Rochester Americans&rsquo; center obviously would get along very well with &lsquo;Mr. Cub.&rsquo;Echoing Banks&rsquo; famous &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s Play Two&rdquo; battle cry, Pittis completed the ultra-rare hockey doubleheader March 28, playing a noon game for the Buffalo Sabres before driving 75 minutes down the New York State Thruway to play an American League game for Rochester six hours later.He didn&rsquo;t have any points, but was on the ice for two Buffalo goals in a 4-3 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, then helped set up both Rochester goals in a 3-2 loss to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.&ldquo;The unbelievable thing was how much I ate after the second game,&rdquo; Pittis said. &ldquo;Had I known in the (morning that I would be playing at (noon), I would have eaten different. But all I had was some cottage cheese and fruit when I got up, and I had some supplement shakes and Power Bars before the game at night. I was starving.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s because Pittis didn&rsquo;t learn of his recall to the Sabres until about 9 a.m. that morning, and he was still in Rochester. Curtis Brown (knee) and Joe Juneau (illness) were unable to play, sot the call went to Pittis.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01973/7166689-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="576" height="573"></div>He hurriedly grabbed his equipment from the rink and drove to Buffalo, arriving at 10:30 a.m. He played a little more than 12 minutes against the Penguins, including full-time duty on the top power play unit that produced two goals. While he won a faceoff that led to Miroslav Satan&rsquo;s goal, he didn&rsquo;t get an assist.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t about to tell anyone I deserved one,&rdquo; Pittis said of his peon status in Buffalo.Nevertheless, the 4-3 overtime victory was sweet since the Penguins owned Pittis&rsquo; rights the previous four seasons and gave him just one NHL game.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve been kind of making a statement all year that they maybe made a mistake,&rdquo; said Pittis, the AHL&rsquo;s second-leading scorer with 31 goals and 86 points through late March. Eighteen of those points came in eight games against the Penguins&rsquo; affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.After the game, he showered and dressed, then was asked by Sabres&rsquo; management to play for the Amerks that night. Rochester coach Brian McCutcheon said he&rsquo;d use him primarily on power plays. He ended up playing 24 minutes.&ldquo;I said, &rsquo;You tell me, be honest,&rsquo; and as the game progressed he said he felt fine,&rdquo; McCutcheon said.Pittis assisted on a goal by Craig Fisher, who, ironically, is one of only two other players in recent memory to play in two games the same day. Fisher and Pat Murray both did it during the 1990-91 season with the Philadelphia Flyers and Hershey Bears.&ldquo;I was kind of laughing when I saw Dom suiting up again,&rdquo; Fisher said. &ldquo;But &gt;. Dom at 70 percent is still one of the best players in the league.&rdquo;&rdquo; HOT RAT: Albany River Rats&rsquo; center John Madden was on a p sizzling scoring tear through | March.In a 13-game stretch, Madden scored 11 goals and assisted on 15, others, leap-frogging from 14th to third in AHL scoring (33 goals, 85 points).And it&rsquo;s not like he was part of a total team outburst. Madden figured in 60 per cent of Albany&rsquo;s goals during that span (26 of 43).&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t put my finger on one thing, but for some reason I&rsquo;ve just gotten some confidence,&rdquo; Madden said. &ldquo;When I get out there, I just feel I&rsquo;m in control.&rdquo;Madden was on the verge of setting a franchise record for points (Bobby House had 86 in 1995-96) and assists (Jason Miller had 53 in 1993-94) and was suddenly in the race for the AHL scoring title.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not out of reach, but it&rsquo;s not my focus,&rdquo; Madden said. &ldquo;I want the team to finish in first place.&rdquo;AHL TIDBITS: Cincinnati defenseman Byron Briske reached the dubious AHL record of most games without scoring a goal, 175 over his three seasons&hellip;Saint John Flames&rsquo; goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 49 saves in a 2-0 shutout of the Worcester IceCats March 27&hellip;The Phantoms had 25 shorthanded goals through late March, one shy of the AHL single-season record set by the St. Catharines Saints in 1985-86. &#9632;

f0030-01

Pittis accomplishes rarity of playing doubleheader

<div class="byline">By Kevin lole</div>The Las Vegas Thunder early in the season had some of the most skilled players in the International League, men such as center Petr Nedved and defenseman Mike Wilson, both NHL Group II free agents.But their presence and that of numerous other veterans did little for the Thunder in the first half, as Las Vegas bumbled its way to a 9-25-5 start and looked like one of the worst teams in IHL history.After a makeover that for a while had the Thunder as the youngest team in the league, a strange thing started happening: the Thunder started winning. And Las Vegas reached the .500 mark for the first time in Game 70 when it posted a shootout win over the arch rival Utah Grizzlies March j 27.&ldquo;I got sick of going on the road and picking up j the paper and reading, how we were the worst team in the league,&rdquo; i said Thunder coach Bob Bourne. &ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;ll tell you what, we&rsquo;re not the worst team in the league now.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02649/7166720-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="942" height="375"></div>Las Vegas&rsquo; turnaround came about because of superb goaltending from Petr Franek, who stepped in as the No. 1 man after the Thunder cut affiliations with the Phoenix Coyotes Jan. 10. Under the Phoenix deal, Las Vegas was using Scott Langkow as its No. 1 man, but Langkow struggled for most of his stint with the Thunder.The team also turned around because of a superb work ethic. The young players on the Thunder took it upon themselves to prove they belonged to be in the league, prompting a 23-71 stretch that vaulted Las Vegas into the fringes of playoff contention.&ldquo;Nobody wants to play us in the playoffs, I&rsquo;ll tell you that,&rdquo; said team captain Kevin Kaminski, who also has played a key role in the Thunder&rsquo;s rebirth. Kaminski missed a significant portion of the season with a facial injury and the absence shows in the Thunder&rsquo;s record. Las Vegas was 22-11-1 with Kaminski in the lineup and 10-21-5 without him.It is, however, more than a one-man show. Las Vegas, collectively, doesn&rsquo;t have a high talent level, but it is playing far more efficiently than it did when it had Nedved and Wilson, who both left the team to sign NHL deals with the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres, respectively. Wilson was subsequently traded to the Florida Panthers.Bourne took a none-too-veiled shot at Wilson&rsquo;s effort in Las Vegas when he spoke of forward Petr Zurba, a recall from the West Coast League who signed a contract without even looking to see how much it was for, and Shawn Wansborough, a rookie forward who was making a name for his fearlessness and determination.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a difference between playing hard and playing with passion and for the team,&rdquo; Bourne said. &ldquo;If Mike Wilson had the kind of desire Shawn Wansborough does, he&rsquo;d have signed a contract with Buffalo a long time ago. He&rsquo;d have said, &rsquo;I&rsquo;m just happy to play. I&rsquo;ll sign the contract now and I&rsquo;ll sign the big one after I have three or four great years.&rsquo; When you get a Shawn Wansborough or a Peter Zurba, who are dying for an opportunity to play at this level, you can do a lot of things.&rdquo;MALTAIS HITS 50: Left winger Steve Maltais, the Chicago Wolves&rsquo; goalscoring machine, reached the 50 plateau again when he scored against the Fort Wayne Komets March 28. It was Maltais&rsquo; fourth 50-goal season in the past five years.DEADLINE DEALS: The Houston Aeros, who have been in first place overall most of the season, helped itself at the trading deadline by acquiring three players in deals, as well as signing defenseman Greg Andrusak.Houston acquired rugged forward Lane Lambert, left winger Jason Ruff and defenseman Jim Paek from the Cleveland Lumberjacks for a combination of future considerations and the completion of an earlier deal.The Orlando Solar Bears, meanwhile, picked up forward Rob Pearson from Cleveland for future considerations and sent promising rookie right winger Kirby Law to the Adirondack Red Wings of the American League for defenseman Barry Dreger. &#9632;

f0030-02

Thunder making loud noise since severing NHL ties

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>For Chris Valicevic, it&rsquo;s business as usual. For Maxime Gingras, it&rsquo;s an amazing achievement for someone who has always been told he&rsquo;s too small for pro hockey.Gingras, the Richmond Renegades&rsquo; goaltender who stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 155 pounds, was named rookie of the year in the East Coast League.Valicevic of the Louisiana IceGators was selected the league&rsquo;s top defenseman for the fourth consecutive season.Gingras wound up with the Renegades after first spending time in the training camps of the Michigan K-Wings (International League), Dayton Bombers (ECHL) and Orlando Solar Bears (IHL). The 20-year-old netminder had accounted for 28 of Richmond&rsquo;s 38 wins with one week left in the regular season.&ldquo;My first year as a pro couldn&rsquo;t have been better than this one and it&rsquo;s not done yet,&rdquo; Gingras said. &ldquo;I just want a chance (at the next level). That&rsquo;s all I want.&ldquo;It has always been like this for me, so I just have to keep on working hard.&rdquo;Gingras was second in the league in goals-against average (2.26), first in save percentage (.924) and first in shutouts (with a league-record seven).Valicevic was tied for second in scoring (92 points) and second in the ECHL in assists (72) with three games left. The 30-year-old blueliner helped Louisiana win its third division title in four years.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03447/7166751-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="515" height="534"></div>Dayton center Jamie Ling was recipient of the Bauer sportsmanship award, given to the player who best exemplifies the combination of talent and sportsmanship on the ice. Ling had 37 goals and 92 points.The league&rsquo;s other major award winners were expected to be announced in early April.ANOTHER FIVE-SPOT: Another Augusta Lynx player recorded a five-goal game, when rookie left winger Chris Thompson, better known " for his pugilistic abilities than scoring, accomplished the feat in an 8-4 victory over the Miami Matadors March 26.Thompson, 20, had only nine goals in 53 games this season for Augusta when he turned in his five-goal performance.In joining teammate Lars Pettersen-who became the first ECHL player to score five goals in one period Feb. 11-Thompson got his fifth goal on a penalty shot with 51 seconds left in the game. He also had an assist for a six-point night.&ldquo;I never had a hat trick in three years of major junior and in my first pro year, I get one,&rdquo; Pettersen said. &ldquo;I guess it&rsquo;s just being in the right spot at the right time and just bearing down.&rdquo;COAST LINES: The Roanoke Express announced the resignation of GM Tony Mancuso March 24 amid reports the six-year-old franchise was in financial trouble. &ldquo;In no way, shape or form is this franchise going to fold,&rdquo; co-owner Joe Steffen told the Roanoke Times. Mancuso, who joined the Express prior to the start of this season, will be moving back home to Rhode Island to work in the family business. &#9632;

f0030-03

Small stopper Gingras comes up big as top rookie

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>The Barrie Colts tried hard to keep an injury to goalie Brian Finley under wraps as they approached the Ontario League Eastern Conference semifinals.But when the story broke in the London Free Press and the Toronto Sun March 31, the Colts announced Finley, the top-rated netminder for the NHL entry draft, had a broken index finger on his stick hand and would miss the April 4 start of the club&rsquo;s series against the Oshawa Generals.The injury occurred during warmup for Game 4 of the quarterfinal against the Kingston Frontenacs when Finley stopped a shot with his blocker. He played the rest of that series and the Colts won in five games, but scouts said some-thing was definitely affecting Finley.The injury required surgery.Rookie Ben Vanderklok was named the Colts&rsquo; starter for the semifinals. He was 13-2-2 in the regular season. Finley was 36-10-4.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to be day-to-day and at this point we&rsquo;re going on the advice of the doctor,&rdquo; said coach-GM Bert Templeton. &ldquo;We experienced this before when Brian was gone with the (Canadian) world juniors. We played eight games and won seven with Ben in net.&rdquo;Templeton praised Finley, 17, for finishing the Kingston series despite obvious pain. &ldquo;He performed really well. Not too many guys would have played,&rdquo; Templeton said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01894/7166782-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="777" height="909"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kris Beech is hoping to be well enough to play in the post-season.</figcaption></div>UNDER REVIEW: Sarnia Sting owner Robert Ciccarelli said the coaching situation would be re-assessed after the Sting lost to the London Knights in six games.Coach-GM Mark Hunter has two years remaining on his contract. The Sting made a number of big trades in gunning for a championship this season, only to bow out in the first round.The Sting brought in scoring champion Peter Sarno from Windsor, Jeff Zehr from Erie and Peter Cava from Sault Ste. Marie, and dealt NHL first-round goalie Patrick DesRochers to Kingston for Curtis Cruickshank.IF AT FIRST: Dale Hunter made a second bid to buy the Owen Sound Platers, but managing partner Rob Holody said the offer fell short of the $2 million the family seeks for the team.Hunter, nearing the end of his NHL career with the Colorado Avalanche, would move the team, but Holody said the city of Owen Sound has the right to match any offer.&ldquo;A lot of people like to come and kick tires. We&rsquo;ve been at this for 18 months. I&rsquo;m getting a little tired of it,&rdquo; Holody said.LET&rsquo;S TALK: Former Windsor Spitfire Jeff Kugel has initiated reinstatement talks with OHL commissioner Dave Branch. Kugel, 19, needs to be reinstated to be eligible to play amateur hockey in Canada or his native United States. Agent Scott Norton said Quebec League teams have expressed interest in the 6-foot-7,265-pound left winger.<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2>WESTERN CONFERENCE EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND (Best of Seven)Plymouth 4 Windsor 0 Barrie 4 Kingston 1Guelph 4 Erie 2 Ottawa 4 North Bay 0Owen Sound 4 Sault Ste. Marie 1 Belleville 4 Sudbury 0 London 4 Sarnia 2 Oshawa 4 Peterborough 1SECOND ROUND (Best of Seven)Plymouth vs. London Barrie vs OshawaOwen Sound vs. Guelph Ottawa vs BellevilleHIGHLIGHTS (March 26 to April 1): Harold Druken, who led the OHL with 58 goals for Plymouth, scored six in a sweep of Windsor&hellip;Jonathan Cheechoo scored four goals, six assists in a sweep of Sudbury.. Ottawa goalies Levente Szuper and Seamus Kotyk combined for a .970 save percentage and 0.75 goals-against average in sweeping North Bay. &#9632;

f0031-01

Colts reeling as finger injury sidelines Finley

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Kris Beech won&rsquo;t have any shortage of medical attention as he recovers from mononucleosis.&ldquo;My father is a doctor,&rdquo; said the Calgary Hitmen center, who was bedridden at home in Sicamous, B.C., during the first round of the Western League playoffs.Beech isn&rsquo;t expected to return until the third round of the post-season. Calgary finished first overall in the regular season (51-13-8).&ldquo;I was really looking forward to the playoffs,&rdquo; Beech said. &ldquo;The last dozen games were kind of dull and hard to get up for. Now I&rsquo;m kind of missing out.&rdquo;The 18-year-old had 26 goals and 67 points in 68 regular season games.Beech began to feel sick two weeks before the beginning of the playoffs. He initially suspected the flu, but symptoms persisted.&ldquo;After about five days, I started to wonder what was going on,&rdquo; Beech said. &ldquo;I played in two games and I probably shouldn&rsquo;t have. I&rsquo;m not sure whether I played with my spleen enlarged, but I might have.&ldquo;I feel pretty bad. It&rsquo;s just an all-around sickness-kind of a serious flu that seems to last for ever.&rdquo;Beech was ninth among North American-based skaters in Central Scouting&rsquo;s mid-season rankings of prospects for the 1999 NHL entry draft.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s another thing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was looking forward to moving up in the draft by playing well in the playoffs. That&rsquo;s another disappointment, individually.&ldquo;I did want to try to elevate my draft status in the playoffs, with our team going as far as it&rsquo;s going to go. Being part of that would have helped. Hopefully, I can get better and help the team later on.&rdquo;FABULOUS THUNDERBIRD: The Seattle Thunderbirds were outshot 114-69 over the first two games of their first round Western Conference series against the Prince George Cougars.Even so, Seattle won both times thanks to 56-and 55-save performances by WHL player of the year Cody Rudkowsky.The 20-year-old backstopped Seattle to 5-2 and 3-1 home-ice victories March 27-28.&ldquo;How can I stand before you and say that we should be ahead 2-0?&rdquo; Seattle coach Don Nachbaur told the Prince George Citizen after Game 2.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02581/7166813-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="782" height="902"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goalie Kenric Exner staked Kamloops to a 2-1 lead over Kelowna.</figcaption></div>Rudkowsky led the WHL with a .920 save percentage and seven shutouts in the regular season.Shortly before the playoffs, the free agent signed a three-vear NHT. contract with the St l ouis Blues.<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2>WEST DIVISION CENTRAL/EAST DIVISIONFIRST ROUND (Best of Seven)Tri-City 3 Portland 0 Calgary 3 Kootenay 3Seattle 3 Prince George 1 Prince Albert 4 Lethbridge 0 Kamloops 2 Kelowna 1 Red Deer 4 Brandon 1Moose Jaw 3 Swift Current 2HIGHLIGHTS (March 26 to April 1): Kelowna beat Kamloops 3-1 March 30 to end the Blazers&rsquo; undefeated streak at 22 games (18-0-4). Kamloops had won the first two games of the Western Conference series&hellip;Brandon, which won its final seven regular season games, was quickly ousted by Red Deer in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Red Deer won the best-of-seven affair 4-1&hellip;Prince Albert swept Lethbridge to win another Eastern Conference quarterfinal. The Raiders had not won a playoff series-or a playoff game-since 1996. &#9632;

f0031-02

Mono beaches Beech for early playoff action

<div class="byline">By Gordie Sutherland</div>The Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs have fired the only GM they&rsquo;ve ever had.Michel Georges, who worked with Vai d&rsquo;Or since the team entered the Quebec League in 1993-1994, learned March 25 the Foreurs would not be renewing his contract.&ldquo;I know exactly the reason, but I can&rsquo;t say,&rdquo; Georges, 48, said of his firing. &ldquo;There was a personal problem inside the organization. Someone talked against me and that&rsquo;s it.&rdquo;The Foreurs were 29-34-5 under Georges this season and 183-215-24 since 1993-94. Foreurs&rsquo; team president Richard Helle said it was just a matter of trying to start fresh.&ldquo;(Michel) did good things here in Vai d&rsquo;Or and made good selection with prospects, but I think it&rsquo;s time to change the philosophy of the team with the coach and GM,&rdquo; Helie said.The veteran GM may not be out of work for long. The Drum-mondville Voltigeurs fired GM Gaston Drapeau April 1 and Georges could end up there. He&rsquo;s from Verdun, about an hour drive from Drummondville.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to wait to see if someone phones me,&rdquo; Georges said. &ldquo;They know my number and they know me. If nobody phones me, maybe I should go work in ringette.&rdquo;The highlight for Georges happened last season when the Foreurs won the President&rsquo;s Cup as the league champion.He said the hardest move he made with the Foreurs was firing coach Richard Martel late last season, though he was pleased with replacement Gaston Therrien, who is the leading candidate to become coach of the expansion Montreal Rockets.THAT&rsquo;S THE TICKET: The Halifax Mooseheads were the second-best team on the ice and the best team off the ice.The Mooseheads, who averaged a league-high 7,862 spectators per game, led the league with total attendance of 224,985-a gain of 50,182 over last season.Surging ticket sales in Halifax and the Titan&rsquo;s transfer from Laval to Bathurst, N.B., helped the Quebec League set another attendance record.The 16-team league drew 1,460,145 spectators to its 525 games this season, 58,352 more fans than last year.The Titan averaged only 2,897 per game, but still registered an increase of 58,772 over last season, when they played to sparse audiences in Laval.The Moncton Wildcats were second in the league, averaging 4,722 fans per game. The Voltigeurs had the league&rsquo;s lowest attendance at 1,255 per contest.WALSH BACK: Center Ryan Walsh overcame his second concussion of the year to rejoin the Shawinigan Cataractes for their playoff opener March 28.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nothing I can&rsquo;t handle,&rdquo; said Walsh, who hit his head March 2 against the Rimouski Oceanic. &rsquo;I&rsquo;m feeling pretty good.&rdquo;Walsh missed the last six games, but the Cataractes were able to clinch first place in the Lebel and earn a first-round bye.<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2>OHIO DIVISION LEBEL DIVISIONFIRST ROUND (Best of Seven)Bathurst 4 Cape Breton 1 Sherbrooke 4 Vai d&rsquo;Or 2Rimouski 4 Moncton 0 Hull 4 Victoriaville 2SECOND ROUND (Best of Seven)Bathurst 2 Halifax 1 Rouyn-Noranda 2 Sherbrooke 1Rimouski 2 Quebec 1 Hull 2 Shawinigan 1HIGHLIGHTS (March 26 to April 1): Three of the four teams (Halifax, Quebec and Shawinigan) who received first-round playoff byes trailed in their league quarterfinal series 2-1. Only Rouyn-Noranda was ahead 2-1&hellip;After dispatching Moncton in four games, Rimouski had regular season champion Quebec against the ropes. Rimouski&rsquo;s Juraj Kolnik is coming back to haunt his former team with five points in three games. Rimouski goalie Philippe Sauve had a sparkling playoff save percentage of .941 &#9632;

GM Georges fired by Foreurs after six years at helm

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>Huskies&rsquo; coach Dick Umile credited assistant coach Brian McCloskey with finding Jason Krog and enticing him to come to the University of New Hampshire.&ldquo;But after the first three or four weeks of practice, I was honestly wondering about him,&rdquo; Umile smiled.He hasn&rsquo;t wondered since.Krog, 23, became the school&rsquo;s first Hobey Baker Award winner thanks to a phenomenal sea son in which he led the country in scoring. The announcement was made April 2.The undrafted 5-foot-ll, 191-pound senior center from Femie, B.C., entered the national championship game against Maine with 34 goals and 84 points in 40 games.&ldquo;He has great offensive skills,&rdquo; said Mighty Ducks of Anaheim assistant GM Dave McNab.Krog called it an &ldquo;unbelievable honor that I will cherish for the rest of my life.&rdquo; He thanked his family, coaches, teammates, fans and the selection committee and praised the other nine finalists.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an honor to be associated with such great players,&rdquo; Krog said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to thank my teammates for making this season so successful and enjoyable. It is as much their award as it is mine.&rdquo;Michigan State center Mike York was runner-up for the Hobey Baker Award.Umile called Krog a &ldquo;special person&rdquo; who has always played the game with respect for opponents. &ldquo;He leads by example,&rdquo; Umile said.Merrimack coach Chris Serino, the former New Hampshire assistant, said Krog is a &ldquo;great player and an even better person.&rdquo;Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder said Krog &ldquo;does things few others can. He makes backhand passes you rarely see. He does all the little things.&rdquo;Krog continued his torrid pace at the Frozen Four in Anaheim. Krog and linemate Mike Souza scored two goals each April 1 in a 5-3 victory over the Michigan State Spartans to advance to the April 3 final against Maine. The Black Bears advanced on Bobby Stewart&rsquo;s goal at 5:16 of overtime for a 2-1 victory over the Boston College Eagles. &#9632;

Krog first Wildcat to capture Hobey Baker Award

Clarkson sophomore left winger Erik Cole gets his goals the old-fashioned way-he works for them.While many forwards pad their goal-scoring statistics by taking advantage of opponents&rsquo; penalty killing units, Cole is a rarity in college hockey-a high-scoring forward who doesn&rsquo;t play on the power play.The 6-foot-2, 198-pound native of Oswego, N.Y., who was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes 71st overall in the 1998 entry draft, finished his sophomore year with 23 goals. Only one came on a power play.&ldquo;If he&rsquo;s killing penalties, and playing solid defense and carrying two freshmen on his line, we feel we&rsquo;ve maximized what we can get out of him,&rdquo; said Clarkson coach Mark Morris.In two years, Cole has 34 goals. This season, he developed into one of the best penalty killers in the league and led the nation with six shorthanded goals. Morris admits there were times, during practice, when he tried Cole on the power-play units, but rarely was he on the ice in a man-advantage situation during games.<h2>ECAC</h2>&ldquo;He just didn&rsquo;t have the right chemistry,&rdquo; said Morris, who guided the Knights to both the regular season and tournament championships. &ldquo;Besides, he produced even strength and on the man-down and we had a lot of guys who could play on the power play.&rdquo;Morris points to Cole as one of players who helped get the Golden Knights back on track after a slow start.&ldquo;He scored three goals in five minutes when we were at Vermont (in a 4-2 Clarkson win Jan. 15), and that seemed to be the starting point for us.&rdquo;Cole shared ECAC rookie-of-the-year honors with teammate Willie Mitchell in 1998 and was a first-team all-ECAC forward in 1999.BEST FOR LAST: RPI senior Dan Riva can say his last shot as a collegian was good. Riva scored an empty-net goal on the last shot of his college career in the ECAC tournament consolation game, salting away the Engineers&rsquo; 6-4 victory over Princeton&hellip;Clarkson&rsquo;s appearance in the NCAA tournament only lasted one game, as the Golden Knights were routed by Maine 7-2 in the East Regional. But Clarkson freshman right winger David Evans made history. Evans, who had both of Clarkson&rsquo;s goals, scored the second one on a penalty shot in the second period-the first penalty shot in an NCAA East regional since the format was adopted in 1982.-Tom Boggle<h2>CCHA</h2>While many focused on the fact Michigan State won its first NCAA Tournament game in seven years with a 4-3 victory over Colorado College at Madison, Wise., May 28-which also sent the Central Collegiate Hockey Association team to the national semifinal-Spartans&rsquo; coach Ron Mason didn&rsquo;t look at it as a seven-year drought.MSU reached the NCAA Tournament each year since 1992, which was also the last time it advanced to the NCAA semifinal, but Mason said the Spartans did well just to get to the NCAA Tournament from 1993 through 1997.&ldquo;This year and the year before I thought we had a great chance to advance,&rdquo; Mason said. &ldquo;I thought we had teams that did a good job to get there.&rdquo;In 1998, the Spartans were one game away from the Frozen Four, but were upset in overtime by Ohio State. This season, MSU trailed Colorado College 3-2 with less than two minutes left in the East Regional quarterfinal contest, but freshman defenseman Andrew Hutchinson and freshman right winger Adam Hall, with his second goal of the game, scored 32 seconds apart to give the Spartans a victory.The two goals gave Hall five in four post-season games (three CCHA, one NCAA Tournament). Michigan State&rsquo;s other goal in the contest also came from a freshman, Joe Goode-now. He&rsquo;s the son of NHL Players&rsquo; Association president and executive director Bob Goode-now. The Spartans were 29-5-7 entering their April 1 semifinal contest with New Hampshire.TOUGH LOSS: Michigan&rsquo; s season ended with a 2-1 overtime loss to New Hampshire in Worcester, Mass., in the quarterfinal of the East Regional March 27. The Wolverines trailed Denver 3-0 the previous night before scoring five straight goals to win 5-3. The Wolverines ended the season with a 25-11-6 record. Ohio State was eliminated when it lost a 4-2 decision to Maine March 26 in the East Regional. The Buckeyes&rsquo; record was 21-16-4. And for the first time in six NCAA Tournament appearances, Northern Michigan lost in the first round when the Wildcats were beaten 2-1 by Boston College in the West Regional. NMU ended the season with a 22-15-5 record.BRIEFLY: Freshman right winger Adam Hall and senior left winger Bryan Adams were named to the NCAA all-West regional team. Senior Michigan defenseman Bubba Berenzweig and freshman Wolverine goalie Josh Blackburn made the all-East regional team.-Paul Harris &#9632;

Clarkson’s Cole scores playing at even strength

You&rsquo;ll have to excuse the smile on the face of Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna.For the first time in the 15-year history of Hockey East, the league placed three teams in the NCAA Tournament&rsquo;s Frozen Four. It is only the second time three teams from the same league have made the Frozen Four in those 15 years. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association had three teams in 1992 (Lake Superior State, Michigan State and Michigan).Hockey East has now placed nine teams in the Frozen Four over the past five seasons. The CCHA is next with six followed by the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (four) and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (one). And in two of those years, Maine had 26 and 24 wins, but was banned from the NCAA Tournament by the school and then the NCAA for various violations.<h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>Maine and Boston College each won two NCAA regional games to reach the Frozen Four while New Hampshire won one, giving the league a 5-0 record entering the semifinal in Anaheim.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great. Anybody in this situation would be happy,&rdquo; Bertagna said. &ldquo;To have lost the underclassmen we did in the off-season makes it a little nicer. We still have four Hobey Baker Award finalists (forwards Jason Krog of UNH, Steve Kariya of Maine and Brian Gionta of BC and goalie Michel Larocque of BU). This shows the depth we have going for us.&rdquo;BC coach Jerry York said, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got balance from top to bottom. Northeastern had a good hockey club and they didn&rsquo;t make the Hockey East playoffs. Our team prepared for Northern Michigan and North Dakota by playing within our league. Our games with Maine and New Hampshire helped us.&rdquo;TOP DOGS: Kariya and BC goalie Scott Clemmensen were named the most valuable players in the East and West regionals, respectively. Kariya had four goals and four assists in Maine&rsquo;s 4-2 win over Ohio State and 7-2 win over Clarkson. His three goals and three assists against Clarkson set an NCAA regional tournament record and was a career-high. Clemmensen made 57 saves in BC&rsquo;s 2-1 triumph over Northern Michigan and 3-1 victory over North Dakota, the nation&rsquo;s No. 1 team&hellip;Hockey East has already lost its first underclassmen to the pros as the Washington Capitals signed UMass-Amherst junior defenseman Dean Stork&hellip;Kariya and Clemmensen were named the player and defensive players of the week.-Larry Mahoney<h2>WCHA</h2>For the second straight year, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association is on the outside looking in at the NCAA Frozen Four.And for the second straight time, so is North Dakota after the Fighting Sioux again failed to capitalize on their status as a top seed.Denver, Colorado College and North Dakota gained berths in the 12-team field, but all were eliminated in stunning fashion. The Fighting Sioux (32-5-2) spent virtually all season ranked No. 1 in the nation and earned the top seed in the West Regional, but their high-powered offense was smothered in a 3-1 quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Boston College March 28.&ldquo;The most disappointing loss in my five years at North Dakota,&rdquo; said coach Dean Blais. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to lose when expectations are so high.&rdquo;The collapse came on the heels of a similar experience in the 1998 tournament. The Fighting Sioux were the defending NCAA champions and seeded second in the West Regional with a 30-7-1 record, but wound up dropping a 4-3 decision to eventual champion Michigan in the quarterfinal.Blais said his club fully expected to be taking part in the Frozen Four April 1-3 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim. The only solace was the effort put forth by the Fighting Sioux.Speaking of collapses, WCHA teams won only one game in the national tournament for the second consecutive year. Denver had a 3-0 lead over Michigan, but wound up dropping a 5-3 decision in the first round of the East Regional. Colorado College claimed a 5-2 win over St. Lawrence in the first round of the West Regional, but blew a one-goal lead in the final two minutes against Michigan State and absorbed a 4-3 loss.EMBARRASSING SHOWING: Perhaps the only thing more disappointing than the postseason showing by the WCHA was the turnout for the West Regional in Madison, Wise.Purported to be a haven for college hockey, the two-day, four-game attendance total at the Dane County Coliseum was only 5,324. That the hometown Badgers were not involved was a major factor. So was the fact second-seeded Michigan State had many of its fans opt to follow the men&rsquo;s basketball team to the Final Four in St. Petersburg, Fla. But many of the participants were stunned to see so little interest from local fans. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;d rather be playing in front of 18,000 people, even if they all hated you,&rdquo; said St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh.-Andy Baggot &#9632;

Hat trick for Hockey East; WCHA frozen out again

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April 16, 1999

Deadline trades bring quick payoff in winning streak, juiced-un attitude

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