FROM THE CHICAGO BIACKHAWKS LOCKER ROOM:

Once upon a time we had groin pulls. A guy was out a week, maybe two, and then came back. Now, we’ve got stomach muscle pulls and tears, and guys are on the IR for a month or three like the Chicago Blackhawks’ Jean-Yves Leroux who needed surgery. “A groin pull is in the belly of the muscle and you pretty much know the player will be back in a week, maybe two weeks,” said Hawks’ trainer Mike Gapski. “Even if it’s the tendon area, it might be six weeks, but you know it’ll get better. “With the abdominal muscle it’s different. Through all the diagnostic studies with MRIs, bone scans and CT-scans, nothing shows up. If there was a tear and it was big enough with some fluid, you’d see it,…

Anaheim ponders opponent as playoff time approaches

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim’s goal for the final games of the regular season was to finish fifth in the Western Conference. If they do, they will likely face the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round of the playoffs. But if the Ducks slip, they would face either the Detroit Red Wings or Colorado Avalanche. “I think that would be a way better situation to play against Phoenix,” said right winger Teemu Selanne. “That’s our goal. We don’t have anything else on our mind.” Captain Paul Kariya agreed: “We know that we get in fifth spot we’re going to play Phoenix, a team we’ve had some success against in the past, both in the regular season and playoffs.” Two seasons ago, the Ducks beat Phoenix in the first round, but were swept by the…

Ageless Wonder

Anatoli Tarasov s vision of hockey perfection endures in Igor Larionov. To this day, Larionov remembers one of the sayings of Tarasov, the godfather of Soviet hockey. “His famous expression to the players was that even when you were playing the game and controlling the puck and going 5-on-5,” Larionov said, “you still have to see that nice looking blonde girl sitting in the second row. That’s what he was saying. You have to see the other things around you.” in the Russian factory town of Voskresensk, he was always the smallest player and had to use his mind as much as his physical skills. Larionov was one of the first Red Army players to question the dictatorial system and methods of coach Viktor Tikhonov and survived to play in the NHL. Now…

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT