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.

November 26, 1999

The Hockey News November 26, 1999

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011409/6931129-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="399" height="574"></div>It has long been my contention the best way to honor Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s astonishing NHL career is to induct him into the Hockey Hall of Fame twice-first as a player, then as a builder.One of the attractions of Gretzky&rsquo;s 20 NHL seasons is you can split the impact of his career almost right down the middle.In his first nine seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, he had a statistical impact on the league that the NHL had never seen before&ndash;or will again. He averaged 185 points per season with the Oilers and won eight consecutive Hart Trophies and seven straight scoring titles.There were also the four Stanley Cup championships and, twice, Gretzky captured the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.In the first month of his 11th season&ndash;or just as the NHL was about to enter the 1990s-Gretzky had already become the highest-scoring player in league history. He passed Gordie Howe on Oct. 15,1989, then went on to stretch his lead over Howe to 1,007 points by the time he retired last spring.Even if Gretzky had only started in the NHL on the day the Edmonton Oilers traded him to the Los Angeles Kings-Aug. 9, 1988-he still would have done enough to qualify for the Hall of Fame as a player.But as Kings&rsquo; GM Dave Taylor will tell you, Gretzky&rsquo;s greatest contribution in his post-Oilers&rsquo; career came off the ice.&ldquo;I think Gretzky had more of an impact on the league in his years in Los Angeles than what we did in his years in Edmonton,&rdquo; Taylor said. &ldquo;Although he won his Stanley Cups and set a lot of his records up there, the whole face of the league changed when he came to L.A. All the expansion teams-Anaheim, San Jose, Tampa Bay, Florida-those teams wouldn&rsquo;t be around, I don&rsquo;t think, if Wayne Gretzky hadn&rsquo;t come to L.A.&rdquo;Taylor was already there in L.A. in 1988, a dominant player in his own right when Gretzky arrived. Along with Marcel Dionne and Charlie Simmer, he was part of the &lsquo;Triple Crown Line,&rsquo; one of the most celebrated offensive units of their generation.Even so, the &lsquo;Triple Crown Line&rsquo; received far greater notoriety in Canada than in California. The Kings boasted a loyal-but small-group of hard-core fans, probably about 15,000 in all. However, in the grand scheme of things, they barely registered a blip on the Los Angeles sporting scene. The cachet involved in attending a professional ice hockey game didn&rsquo;t come until Gretzky.&ldquo;He was the one person who could bring just the casual fan out to a hockey game,&rdquo; Taylor said.&ldquo;They wanted to come out to see Wayne Gretzky because they&rsquo;d heard so much about him and his reputation.&ldquo;Marcel Dionne and Rogie Vachon, great players in their own right, had been here, but they didn&rsquo;t have Wayne&rsquo;s impact. Wayne was able to get the casual observers in the door and turn them into fans. Then there was the marquee value of being perceived as the best in the game. A lot of the (Hollywood) stars in the Los Angeles area began to gravitate towards the Kings because of Wayne&rsquo;s presence.&rdquo;For years, the Kings used to practice and prepare for games, virtually on their own. A favorite personal recollection: One day in the mid-1980s during Pat Quinn&rsquo;s era as the Kings&rsquo; coach, Los Angeles was preparing for a Saturday afternoon matinee against the Calgary Flames.A colleague and I trudged down to the ice box known as their Culver City practice facility on the day before the game to research a story on goaltender Glenn Healy. It was our third trip to Culver City that year and when Quinn left the ice following practice, he spotted us and joked: &ldquo;I see you two here more than I see our own writers.&rdquo;We all laughed and went about our business. The next night, seeing one of the Los Angeles beat writers, I casually asked how many times he had been to Culver City that season. The answer: Twice. Quinn was right. He had seen more of us than the local scribes. All of that anonymity changed after Gretzky came aboard. The Kings became a travelling circus, home and away.&ldquo;Between us and Vancouver, I think we played to six of the 10 smallest crowds in the NHL the year before Gretz arrived,&rdquo; Taylor recalled. &ldquo;Then after he arrived, we were the best draw in the league&ndash;and that was just in the arenas. Off the ice? For me personally, that was an eye-opening experience. Anywhere in Canada, forget it. Every place we went into, everybody knew who he was&ndash;and wanted an autograph.&ldquo;In the U.S., it wasn&rsquo;t quite as bad, but in the hockey centers, the demands on his time were unbelievable and he always handled it so well.&rdquo;In all, there are 316 honored members in the Hall of Fame: 14 referees and/or linesmen, 86 builders and 216 players, including Gretzky.To add Gretzky as an 87th builder would be a unique and uncommon tribute to the &lsquo;Great One&rsquo; and it would be altogether appropriate, too.He was, after all, a unique and uncommon talent, on the ice&hellip; and off. &#9632;

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COLUMNS

Induct Gretzky as builder, too

How tough is the Pacific Division? The defending champion Dallas Stars were bringing up the rear through mid-November. THN has projected all five Pacific teams will make the playoffs. Find out why in the Dec. 3 issue of The Hockey News. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

UPCOMING IN THN

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello </div><div class="byline">Senior Editor</div>Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s immediate entry into the Hall of Fame this year is the final time a player will get the fast-track treatment.Gretzky is the seventh and final player to be whisked through the doors the same year they retired. The others were Dit Clapper (1947), Maurice Richard (1961), Jean Beliveau and Gordie Howe (1972), Bobby Orr (1979) and Mario Lemieux (1997).From now on, the Hall of Fame has made a three-year wait mandatory. The idea is two-fold: Put everyone on a level playing surface. The selection committee has three years to digest whether a player is worthy of inclusion. Secondly, to ensure the inductee is truly retired. Rod Langway, for example, retired in 1993 and would have been inducted in 1996. He has come out of retirement twice and now is not eligible until 2001.SELECT COMPANY: The Hall of Fame selection committee consists of 18 hockey knowledgeable individuals appointed by the board of directors.It includes chairman Jim Gregory and members Ed Chynoweth, John Davidson, Red Fisher, Cliff Fletcher, Emile Francis, Dick Irvin, Stan Mikita, Bobby Orr, Richard Patrick, Marty Pavelich, Jim Proudfoot, Pat Quinn, Bertrand Raymond, Serge Savard, Frank Selke, Harry Sinden and Frank Udvari.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04309/6931346-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="336" height="330"></div>To be inducted, a nominee must first be endorsed by one of the 18 members.After discussion and a secret ballot, the player must receive at least 75 per cent approval (14 of 18) from the committee.If the player gets more than 30 per cent approval, a second ballot is taken. A minimum 75 per cent is required on the second ballot.CROWDED ENTRANCE: There figures to be a log-jam at the Hall of Fame door in the coming years. Here&rsquo;s a list of players worthy of consideration in the next three years. A maximum three players can be inducted each year.2000 - Glenn Anderson, Neal Broten, Dale Hawerchuk, Joe Mullen, Denis Savard.2001 - Slava Fetisov, Mike Gartner, Jari Kurri, Pat LaFontaine, Rod Langway, Kevin Lowe, Sergei Makarov, Andy Moog.2002 - Dino Ciccarelli, Dale Hunter, Bemie Nicholls.HALL GAME: The first annual Hall of Fame Game is scheduled to be played Nov. 20 at Toronto&rsquo;s Air Canada Centre. The hometown Leafs will host Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s former team, the New York Rangers, and The Great One and the other 1999 Hall of Fame inductees will be introduced during a pre-game ceremony. The game will be played every year, marking a new tradition with the NHL and the Leafs. &#9632;

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FEATURES

Gretzky last of fast-track inductees

<div class="byline">By Loppy Mahoney</div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>Northeastern University was the only one of the nine Hockey East teams that failed to qualify for the league&rsquo;s post-season tournament last year.But coach Bruce Crowder told them at the season-ending banquet that when friends and relatives asked them how they did, he didn&rsquo;t want them to say they finished ninth.&ldquo;I told them I wanted them to say they finished last,&rdquo; said Crowder, who hoped the lesson would shame his players into taking steps to ensure it didn&rsquo;t happen this season.The Huskies have responded, going 1-1-1 in its first three league games, including a 2-2 tie at top-ranked Maine Nov. 5. Prior to the Maine game, NU had suffered a pair of tough 4-2 setbacks at Wisconsin, which was ranked seventh.Senior center and captain Roger Holeczy said finishing last a year ago was a humbling experience.&ldquo;Over the summer, people would ask me what was wrong with us,&rdquo; Holeczy said. &ldquo;It made us work harder and come back even stronger. We were mentally ready for the season.&rdquo;Maine coach Shawn Walsh called the Huskies a &ldquo;much improved team.&rdquo;Crowder said he has been particularly pleased by the play of his defense corps and pointed out he doesn&rsquo;t have a senior on the blueline.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got five pretty good veteran defensemen,&rdquo; said Crowder, who added the return of sophomore Arik Engbrecht, a redshirt a year ago with a back injury, has been key to their success.Also contributing was freshman goalie Mike Gilhooly, who boasted a 2-1-1 record, 2.17 goals-against average and .917 save percentage.He was chosen the league&rsquo;s rookie of the month for October.&ldquo;Mike is big, quick and very athletic,&rdquo; Crowder said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s focused as a freshman. He knows what he wants.&rdquo;MISFIRING: UMass-Amherst coach Joe Mallen is hoping the floodgates will open. Soon.The Minutemen have allowed only 2.5 goals per game, but they have managed to score just 1.33 per game.In a 1-0 overtime win over Army and 4-1 and 2-1 losses to Boston College and New Hampshire, respectively, the Minutemen unleashed a total of 114 shots and outshot all three teams.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like we aren&rsquo;t getting chances,&rsquo;&rsquo; Mallen said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting 30 shots a game. We just aren&rsquo;t finishing. We need a breakthrough game.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Boston University&rsquo;s defensemen scored 10 goals all of last season. They had 10 through the first eight games this season. Sophomore Chris Dyment and freshman John Cronin led with three apiece&hellip;Maine&rsquo;s 5-2 win over Providence Nov. 7 extended their home-ice unbeaten streak against the Friars to 19 games (18-0-1). &#9632;

LEAGUES

Humbled Huskies howl, cellar a distant memory

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021255/6930518-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Never say never: Colorful winger Claude Lemieux makes an unlikely return to New Jersey. Pg.8.</figcaption></div>1. Andy&rsquo;s dandy Boston&rsquo;s Dave Andreychuk slides past Rocket Richard into 17th all-time in goals with No. 545.2. Makes amends Dallas center Joe Nieuwendyk scores in own net; tallies one for Stars 18 seconds later.3. Mr. Zero Michigan State goalie Ryan Miller sets school record by playing 181:09 with no goals against.4. Capital punishment Washington kills off 37 straight penalties, including nine in one game against Tampa Bay.5. Dominik who? Buffalo rookie Martin Biron wins six of first seven games replacing injured Dominik Hasek.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03935/6930511-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="317" height="452"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Andreychuk</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0002-02

Andreychuk reborn as Bruin

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04704/6930549-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="323" height="453"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brendan Shanahan</figcaption></div>1. Bleu, blanc et&hellip;bad Montreal coaches and GM feel heat when Canadiens stumble through nine-game winless skid.2. East Coast brawlers Three Mobile, three Mississippi players suspended total 21 ECHL games after bench-clearing brawl.3. Goon show Three Huntsville players suspended in game against Fayetteville that totals Central League-record 453 PIM.4. Ban the Shan Detroit&rsquo;s Brendan Shanahan suspended two games slashing Tampa Bay&rsquo;s Darcy Tucker. for5. Kids in the hall Detroit coach Scotty Bowman fined $1,000 NHL by for shoving cameraman in arena hallway. &#9632;

f0002-04

Losing now just a Hab-it

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden </div><div class="byline">Editor-In Chief</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011511/6930580-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="351" height="458"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Jim Leary/BBS)</figcaption></div>St. Francis of assist.To the hockey world at large, Ron Francis officially earned that status Nov. 11 when he passed Gordie Howe, &lsquo;Mr. Hockey,&rsquo; with the 1,050th assist of his career. To those who have had the good fortune to play line as Francis over the past 19 years, he had on the same already been elevated to sainthood.Nobody has upon hockey history as quietly as Francis, who now stands No. 5 in all-time assists. He has played in two hockey outposts, Hartford and Carolina, and another city, Pittsburgh, where a single player established himself as the most overwhelming presence a single team has ever known. Mario Lemieux didn&rsquo;t cast a shadow, he cast an eclipse.But Francis is slowly emerging into full view this season with milestone achievements that bring into perspective the enormity of his career. The 36-year-old Carolina center has passed teammate Paul Coffey and Lemieux in points to reach No. 6 all-time at 1,502 and vaulted past Marcel Dionne and Howe in assists. There is more to come. Much more. With three years left on his contract after this season, Francis appears headed for near-immortality: Depending upon Mark Messier&rsquo;s future in the game, Francis could finish his career second only to Wayne Gretzky in assists.Second only to The Great One.Messier has more assists (1,057), but it&rsquo;s unlikely he will last as long as Francis. Ray Bourque also stands in front of Francis (1,093), but may retire after this season. The only other player a head of Francis, Coffey (1,103),is through as a productive NHLer.As such, Francis can feel history unfolding around him. When it was announced he had tied Howe&rsquo;s mark, one Hurricane teammate put into words what Francis was feeling. &ldquo;Curtis Leschyshyn said when he heard Gordie Howe&rsquo;s name mentioned it sent shivers down his back,&rdquo; said Francis, whose play-making philosophy is simple. Do not pass for the sake of passing, pass to set up wingers for scoring opportunities: &ldquo;I want to put the puck in a position where (wingers) don&rsquo;t have to handle it. They just have to shoot it.&rdquo; Benefactors of Francis&rsquo; largesse have ranged from Blaine Stoughton to Sylvain Turgeon to Kevin Dineen to Pat Verbeek to Joe Mullen to Kevin Stevens to Lemieux to Jaromir Jagr to current linemates Bates Battaglia and Sami Kapanen. It is Francis and his latest partners, Battaglia and Kapanen, who have emerged as one of NHL&rsquo;s most effective and surprising lines this season.You&rsquo;d think we would have learned by now not to be surprised by anything Francis does.) &#9632;

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Understated star headed for No. 2 behind Gretzky

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie </div><div class="byline">Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011687/6930618-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="318" height="433"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021351/6930611-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="3028" height="3069"></div>We can hardly wait for Alexei Yashin to end his self-imposed NHL exile in Switzerland.Not because he&rsquo;s a gifted player and the league could use another one of those.And not because if he returns, his girlfriend, former supermodel Carol Alt, will be gracing NHL arenas more often.No, Yashin&rsquo;s return is significant because then we will find out if the Ottawa Senators and the NHL have a legitimate case against the Russian star who is refusing to honor the final year of his contract.The battle of wills between Yashin, who is seeking a renegotiation of his $3.6-million (U.S.) salary, and the Sens, who have steadfastly refused to renegotiate or trade him to a team that will, became a broader issue Nov. 9.That&rsquo;s when Ottawa, with NHL backing, announced Yashin &ldquo;has been suspended for the balance of this season, including playoffs.&rdquo;Senators&rsquo; GM Marshall Johnston said in a prepared statement that &ldquo;it is our view, supported by the NHL, that, under the terms of the standard players&rsquo; contract and the collective bargaining agreement, as well as under accepted principles of contract law, Alexei is obligated to deliver to our club one more full season of play under the terms and conditions of his contract.&rdquo;Effectively, the Senators maintain Yashin will not become a restricted free agent this summer even if he sits out the entire season. Ottawa also said it will seek damages from Yashin for the missed season and will not consider a trade nor will they accept him back at any time this season.It is all unprecedented in the NHL. The National Football League collective bargaining agreement deals with this specific situation-if a player fails to honor his contract after a certain point in the season, the club has the option of &ldquo;kicking back&rdquo; the contract terms to the next season.But in the NHL, it&rsquo;s not spelled out. Historically, any player who opts to forego his salary by not honoring his contract has been permitted to return when he sees fit and begin collecting a paycheck again.Until now.Clearly, this is destined to end up on the desk of independent arbitrator Larry Holden of Lincoln, Mass., who currently has upwards of 65 grievances to be settled between the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association. But until Yashin reports for duty this season or until the season ends and his status is called into question, the matter isn&rsquo;t likely to come to a head.&ldquo;If (Yashin) shows up and demands to play and the Senators won&rsquo;t let him, it will have to go to arbitration immediately and be settled quickly, in a week or two,&rdquo; said one source familiar with the situation.&ldquo;If he doesn&rsquo;t show up this season, then it will go to arbitration and have to be settled before July 1 (when Yashin is scheduled to become a restricted free agent).Predictably, the NHL and NHLPA aren&rsquo;t saying anything publicly about the Yashin case.The NHLPA is, however, highly skeptical of the NHL&rsquo;s strategy.For one thing, the NFIL attempted to have this contract violation issue negotiated as a clause in the current collective agreement, but the NHLPA refused.So how could the NHL expect to enforce an issue that was specifically excluded from the CBA?The NHL focus seems to be on the issue of &ldquo;contract law.&rdquo; That if an employee fails to honor a contract, the company is permitted to reasonably punish the employee and is entitled to that year&rsquo;s service, but on the company&rsquo;s terms, not the employee&rsquo;s.For the Sens and the league, it has become a matter of principle, one more signpost of the NHL&rsquo;s new hard line on the fiscal/labor front.It may also be they have nothing to lose. For Yashin, it&rsquo;s an intensely personal matter, one which the NHLPA finds difficult to support or endorse for obvious reasons.But given the choice between ignoring or censuring one of its own or battling the league on a precedent-setting labor issue, it&rsquo;s an easy decision for the NHLPA.The next move belongs to Yashin. Then, quite likely, it will be in the hands of the independent arbitrator.<h2>NHL&rsquo;s position</h2>Publicly, league commissioner Gary Bettman said he supports the Senators. Privately, the NHL is counselling, perhaps even leading, the strategy. The foundation of its position is contract law: That if an employee refuses to honor his contract, he may be reasonably punished (i.e. suspended); that the terms of the contract remain in force, but at the convenience of the employer, not the employee; and that having to pursue other arrangements (i.e. signing Joe Juneau) only strengthens the employer&rsquo;s case to hold the contract over to another year. The league theory is the longer Yashin remains out, the stronger Ottawa&rsquo;s case becomes.<h2>NHLPA&rsquo;s position</h2>Executive director Bob Goodenow has neither publicly endorsed nor criticized Yashin&rsquo;s holdout and was non-committal after the Senators suspended him. Privately, the&nbsp;union has disassociated itself from Yashin&rsquo;s actions, but also believes the NHL/Sens are overstepping their bounds; that the collective bargaining agreement governing all NHL-NHLPA relations doesn&rsquo;t permit the season-long suspension of a player should he decide to report after holding out; and that a contract year cannot arbitrarily be carried over to another season at the discretion of the club. Though the union isn&rsquo;t endorsing Yashin&rsquo;s actions, it will fight the league on the above issues. &#9632;

f0003-01

Ball in Yashin’s court

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011688/6930649-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="613" height="295"></div>The Ottawa Senators suspended holdout center Alexei Yashin for the balance of the season, including playoffs, after he ignored the club-imposed Nov. 8 deadline for him to report to the team. (See pg. 3 for more).&ldquo;It is our view, supported by the National Hockey League, that Alexei is obligated to deliver to our club one more lull season of play,&rdquo; said Senators&rsquo; GM Marshall Johnston of Yashin, who is in the last year of his contract.The Hockey News is making a deposit each issue to our Millennium Time Capsule to mark the final year of the millennium. This week THN deposits Yashin&rsquo;s contract, which could still be valid next season.Oct. 1Ice pack for Lome MollekenBlack eye courtesy GM&rsquo;s punchOct. 8Ruslan Salei&rsquo;s Rap SheetFour-time on-ice offenderOct. 151,000 PucksPierre Turgeon gets 1,000th pointOct. 22Five Minutes Exciting Hockey 4-on-4 OT receives rave reviewsOct. 29Canadian Dollar Financial aid approved for SensNov. 5Firewagon HockeyHabs miss Hying Frenchmen daysNov. 12Alexei Yashin&rsquo;s ContractStill valid for one more season &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

THN’s Millennium TIME CAPSULE

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden </div><div class="byline">Editor-In-Chief</div>The NHL&rsquo;s bold bid to enhance the overtime experience and resolve a higher percentage of games has not been an unqualified success.New 4-on-4 rules have resulted in more eventful and conclusive OT periods, but there has not been as significant a drop in the number of tie games as might be expected.The percentage of overtime games ending in decisions was. approaching an all-time high through 224 games, as 40.4 per cent (21 of 52) had been resolved during the five-minute extra periods featuring four skaters aside. Since overtime was re-introduced in 1983-84, the highest percentage of OT games ending in wins was 41.5 in 1985-86. Last season, 27 per cent of all OT games ended in victory.The new wide open and exciting 4-on-4 OT format has met with widespread fan approval.What the new system-including the awarding of one point for regulation time ties-hasn&rsquo;t done, however, is dramatically reduce the number of tie games.Many more games are being settled in overtime this year than last, but many more games are going to overtime (52 vs. 40) and the end results have been similar. Thirty-five of the first 224 games in 1998-99 finished in ties. Thirty-one of the first 224 games in 1999-2000 finished in ties.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011630/6930704-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="357" height="361"></div>That&rsquo;s only four fewer ties, albeit an 11.4 per-cent falloff.So, while fans are being entertained more often and better by overtime games, the league is faced with 13.8 per cent of its games still going unresolved. That compares to 15.6 per cent at the same time last year.So, why are so many more games going to overtime this season?One reason is that competitive balance and defensive coaching have led to an extraordinary number of close games this season. Consider that during one nine-game stretch, the woeful Montreal Canadiens had eight games settled by one goal. The other game ended in a tie.At first blush, a second reason would seem to be that teams are playing for the single point guaranteed by regulation time ties and then going all out for the extra point in overtime. But the NHL says statistics don&rsquo;t bear out that contention. It says teams are scoring more late-game goals ultimately leading to decisions than last season, debunking any suggestions there is a trend toward playing for guaranteed single points. The league views the new overtime system as a big success. &#9632;

f0005-01

More OT games decided, but NHL ties persist

Normally it&rsquo;s considered bad form to upstage your boss, but new Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; owner Mario Lemieux probably doesn&rsquo;t mind star center Jaromir Jagr&rsquo;s showmanship.During a seven-game stretch from Oct. 16 to Nov. 4, Jagr figured in on all of his team&rsquo;s 15 goals, scoring seven himself and assisting on eight others. Jagr&rsquo;s streak is a new NHL best, passing some of the most potent offensive players in history, including his boss and former teammate Lemieux (see chart on right).Ironically, despite Jagr&rsquo;s high performance production, the Penguins didn&rsquo;t win any of the seven games in the stretch, going 0-5-2.WORLD PREPARATION: Pascal Leclaire may very well play his way overseas twice in six months.The Halifax Mooseheads&rsquo; (Quebec League) rookie goalie has been impressive this season after backstopping the Canadian under-18 team to a gold medal at the Four Nations Cup in August. The 17-year-old is now getting serious consideration for an invitation to the national junior team&rsquo;s final tryout camp, which gets under way Dec. 12 in Kitchener, Ont.<h2>PUCK BRIEFS</h2>&ldquo;Leclaire is so sound fundamentally and technically sound it&rsquo;s scary,&rdquo; said national junior team scouting director Barry Trapp.Leclaire had the fourth best goals-against average (2.86) of any QMJHL goalie who had played more than 300 minutes.Trapp has also been pleasantly surprised by the play of Barrie Colts&rsquo; right winger Michael Henrich (10th in Ontario League scoring with 24 points in 19 games), Mooseheads&rsquo; center Brandon Reid (38 points in 19 games) and Hull Olympiques&rsquo; center Ryan Lauzon (29 points in 22 games).&ldquo;Henrich has been a major surprise,&rdquo; Trapp said. &ldquo;Reid and Lauzon are two kids playing well and earning themselves some consideration (for the final camp).&rdquo;But what has Trapp excited is the idea of having the two Jays-Jay Bouwmeester (Medicine Hat, Western League) and Jason Spezza (Mississauga, OHL)-for the next few years. Both 16-year-olds could play for this year&rsquo;s squad, who take on Finland to open the championship in Sweden Dec. 25, and could also be key contributors for the next few seasons. (See pg. 10 for more on Bouwmeester and Spezza).The Americans will have between eight and 11 players returning from last year&rsquo;s team, depending on three eligible skaters playing with NHL clubs-defenseman David Tanabe of the Carolina Hurricanes, center Tim Connolly of the New York Islanders and center David Legwand of the Nashville Predators.U.S. national team assistant coach Bob Mancini has been impressed with the early-season play of three other players-Notre Dame center Connor Dunlop. UMass-Lowell defenseman Ron Hainsey and Michigan State defenseman J.M. Liles.&ldquo;Hainsey has stepped right in and been a dominant player,&rdquo; Mancini said. &ldquo;Dunlop is off to a quick start and Liles is a skilled defenseman who becomes more important when we move to the international size sheets in Sweden.&rdquo;As for the veterans, Mancini said forwards Andy Hillbert and Barrett Heisten will anchor the front lines while Jeff Jillson. Jordan Leopold and Doug Janik will be the rocks on the blueline.The Americans haven&rsquo;t yet decided whether to hold a final tryout camp or just name the roster later this month or in early December.NO BURE, NO WAYNE: Wayne&nbsp;Gretzky said he may have postponed retirement to play one more season if the New York Rangers had acquired Pavel Bure last season.&ldquo;If they would have traded for Pavel Bure last year, I probably still would be playing right now,&rdquo; Gretzky said in an interview on TSN Nov. 10.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s only one or two guys that were in the league that would excite me to play with at this time. He would be one of them.&rdquo;Bure was eventually traded from the Vancouver Canucks to the Florida Panthers.CHERRY PICKING: Don Cherry may not have had much of a playing career in the NHL, but he continues to be a force in the broadcast studio.Cherry, the star of Coach&rsquo;s Comer on Hockey Night in&nbsp;Canada, was recently voted the most popular sports media personality in Canada in an Angus Reid survey. Nineteen per cent of the 3,000 respondents picked Cherry when they were asked: &ldquo;Which sports media personality do you enjoy the most?&rdquo;Cherry&rsquo;s partner on the show, Ron MacLean, was a distant second, picked by six per cent.<h2>Streaking Jagr</h2>Jaromir Jagr set a new streak in the NHL by figuring in on all 15 of his team&rsquo;s goals in seven games from Oct. 16 to Nov. 4. He passed Mario Lemieux in establishing the new miles stone.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021171/6930742-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="248" height="327"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jarom ir Jagr</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03761/6930735-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="568" height="451"></div> &#9632;

f0005-02

Jagr breaks Lemieux’s streak standard

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011811/6930773-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>I was disappointed to see Montreal Canadien Trevor Linden receive a &lsquo;Minus&rsquo; (THN, Nov. 12).If it&rsquo;s just about points, then so be it. But he should have also been in the &lsquo;Plus&rsquo; column for his phone call to Islander Eric Brewer.When Brewer was sent to Lowell of the American League a couple of weeks ago, Linden tracked him down and gave him a pep talk. It&rsquo;s not something Linden was looking to have publicized, but a class move nonetheless.Remember: Old captains never die. They just don&rsquo;t score as many points on the ice.Mark Shapiro,Merrick, N. Y.<h2>Don&rsquo;t give up the fight</h2>I completely agree with Barry Stevenson&rsquo;s letter that said fighting should remain in the game (Oct. 29, THN).If the NHL got rid of that stupid, lame &ldquo;instigator&rdquo; rule, scoring would return to the level it reached in the 1980s, when it was at its highest. Due to the instigator rule, star players are being pushed around and injured. If the rule was scrapped, enforcers would be able to do their jobs: Protect their team&rsquo;s stars from injuries and cheap shots from idiots who don&rsquo;t know how to play the game the way it was meant to be played.Mike Vodnoski,Candle Lake, Sask.<h2>Shark makes splash</h2>In his Nov. 5 column, Editor-In-Chief Steve Dryden declares New Jersey Devils&rsquo; defenseman Brian Rafalski is THN&rsquo;s choice for rookie of the year.He mentions some other worthy candidates such as Colorado&rsquo;s Alex Tanguay, Philadelphia&rsquo;s Simon Gagne and New Jersey&rsquo;s Scott Gomez, but overlooks one player who deserves consideration.The rookie in question is among defensemen scoring leaders, up there with Rob Blake, Larry Murphy, Chris Pronger and Brian Leetch. He is also among top rookie scorers and plays over 20 minutes a game, often against other teams&rsquo; top lines. He hits, kills penalties and is so steady the coach trusts him to play him in critical situations. I have seen him make plays that would be astounding for any blueliner, let alone a 19-year-old rookie.His name is Brad Smart and he plays for the San Jose Sharks.Allan Mackenzie,Milpitas, Calif.<h2>4-on-4 achieves goal</h2>Four-on-four play is faster, results in fewer ties and has contributed to a slight increase in scoring. So why not incorporate it into the game full-time?The games would be quicker, thereby allowing overtime to be expanded to 10 minutes. Surely, the aim is to declare a winner in at least half of the games that go into OT. That will never happen in five minutes.The NHL has captured the interest of a lot of new fans in diverse locales. To keep them, the league has to give them something to cheer about. Too many ties and not enough goals lend to a boring predictability.Michael J. Goodman,Wexford, Pa.<h2>Remember roots</h2>Stan Fischler is way off with his support for playing 4-on-4 during regulation time (THN, Nov. 12).It&rsquo;s bad enough to watch 4-on-4 during overtime. Some may find it exciting, but it&rsquo;s not the way hockey was meant to be played.Why must the NHL keep changing the game? The scary thing is, I can see some teams going for this idea. Southern and expansion teams would be all for it, as would small market teams because they could cut their rosters and save money.Athan Kompos,Williamsville, N. Y.<h2>Harvey passed over</h2>If there was to be a trophy for the top defensive defenseman, it shouldn&rsquo;t be named in honor of Rod Langway, the low-scoring rearguard who won two Norris Trophies in the 1980s.It should be named for Doug Harvey, who won eight Norrises while never scoring more than nine goals in a season. Also, Harvey&rsquo;s excellence lasted far longer than Langway&rsquo;s-Harvey was a first-team all-star 10 times, Langway twice.Finally, you are wrong to say Langway was the only defensive defenseman to finish runner-up for the Hart. Harvey also did it in 1962.John Tors,Toronto(Editor&rsquo;s Note: THN regards Harvey as a great all-around defenseman rather than a pure defensive specialist like Langway.)<h2>Hurts to watch</h2>As a transplanted Blackhawk fan who can now watch their home games on television, I just wanted to let my fellow Hawks&rsquo; fans back in Chicago know that owner Bill Wirtz is doing you a favor by upholding his life-long position to not televise home games.Paul Dempsey,Laguna Hills, Calif.Fax us your comments at&nbsp;(416) 340-2786&nbsp;or write to&nbsp;Letters, THN,&nbsp;777 Bay St, Suite 2700, Box 148, Toronto, OnL, 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&nbsp;<a href="mailto:mccaigs@transcontinental.ca">mccaigs@transcontinental.ca</a>&nbsp;Include hometown as well as home and business phone numbers.&nbsp;THN&nbsp;reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

f0006-01

Linden gets kudos for call to Brewer

Vancouver Canuck defenseman Mattias Ohlund&rsquo;s career is on hold after being struck in the eye during a pre-season game. Ohlund wasn&rsquo;t wearing a visor, but says he will upon his return. Should the NHL make visors mandatory for all players?Yes, visors should be mandatory &#10065;No, visors should not be mandatory &#10065;Place a check mark in the box beside your choice.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021238/6930804-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="500" height="893"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mattias Ohlund</figcaption></div><h2>HOW TO PARTICIPATE</h2>RESPOND BYFax: Puck Poll, 416-340-2786Mail: Puck Poll, 777 Bay St.,Suite 2700, Toronto, Ont.MSG 2N1E-mail: <a href="mailto:mccaigs@transcontinental.ca">mccaigs@transcontinental.ca</a>PRIZES Winners are chosen at random. The first five people selected will receive a copy of the video &ldquo;NHL&rsquo;s Greatest Goals.&rdquo;RESPONDENTS Include return mailing addresses and phone numbers to be eligible for prizes. Responses must be received no later than Nov. 23.RESULTS Results and winners will appear in Dec. 10 issue of THN.CONTEST RULES See THN masthead on pg. 4. &#9632;

f0006-02

PUCK POLL

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011646/6930849-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="352" height="514"></div>There have been a number of changes in the way the game is being played this season; some obvious to even the casual viewer and some not so evident.Four-on-four overtime is getting positive reviews, as is the NHL&rsquo;s decision to return to the no-harm, no-foul crease rule (from everyone but the goalies, that is). Fans have seen the positive results of both alterations to the game, from the exciting end-to-end action in overtime to fewer stoppages in the game as reviews to determine if anyone had a toenail in the crease are extinct.Less noticeable to the average fan, but perhaps as important, is the fact many teams have figured out how to break the neutral zone trap. If you don&rsquo;t know exactly what the trap is, don&rsquo;t worry. You&rsquo;re in good company.&ldquo;Some players don&rsquo;t even know what the trap is,&rdquo; laughed Boston Bruins&rsquo; forward Anson Carter. &ldquo;(Coach) Pat Bums always jokes, &lsquo;If you&rsquo;re going to break the trap, first you have to know what it is.&rsquo;&rdquo;What the trap is, aside from being the monster that has been blamed for choking the life out of hockey, is a defensive scheme whereby the defending team sends one forward into the offensive zone and it&rsquo;s his job to funnel the attacking team up one side of the rink. While he performs his duty, the other two forwards drop back into the neutral zone (between the bluelines) and clog up the puck carrier&rsquo;s passing and skating lanes, leaving the offensive player very few options.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03699/6930842-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="3066" height="1777"></div>&ldquo;You put the puck carrier in a position where he has to give the puck away or ice it,&rdquo; Bums said.With both teams playing the trap, games get monotonous.Now before you get all excited and think 8-6 and 10-2 games are just around the comer, forget it. Virtually every team in the NHL plays some form of the trap and while beating it isn&rsquo;t impossible, it remains difficult. And just as it&rsquo;s not easy to spot when one team slips into trap mode, it&rsquo;s equally difficult to see when a team is beating it.To beat the trap, it takes two key ingredients&mdash;speed and patience. The speed part is obvious: When there&rsquo;s a transition, it helps when the team with the puck can bust it out of their zone before the defending team sets up.The patience? Well, that&rsquo;s a tough one.The Bruins and the Ottawa Senators have been acknowledged as two of the most successful teams at beating the trap. They&rsquo;ve done it by hanging a forward back on the weak side (the side the trapping team has elected to leave open) and then get the puck over to that man with a sharp pass.The man whose job it is to stay back must exercise patience, even though he is tempted to join the rush.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough thing to do,&rdquo; Carter said, &ldquo;because if you&rsquo;re the man hanging back, you&rsquo;re thinking to yourself, &lsquo;I hope the pass comes because if it doesn&rsquo;t, I&rsquo;m going to be 15 feet behind the play.&rsquo; If you do it properly, you give your defense an outlet.&ldquo;But for those few seconds when you&rsquo;re hanging back, it&rsquo;s a weird feeling.&rdquo;Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said there&rsquo;s a limit to what you can do to avoid being gobbled up by the trap. He likes the defenseman carrying the puck out of the Senators&rsquo; end to throw it back to his partner, who then relays it to the winger open on the weak side.Bruins&rsquo; assistant coach Jacques Laperriere said the trap, or at least various versions of it, has been around for 20 years or longer.&ldquo;They gave the monster a name (circa 1993) and suddenly everybody was talking about it,&rdquo; Laperriere said. &ldquo;It was there for years.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021108/6930835-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="370" height="526"><figcaption class="caption-body">Anson Carter</figcaption></div>That said, there&rsquo;s no question there has been a greater emphasis placed on defensive hockey through the 1990s and the result has been a reduction in goals. The league has acted on its concern about the lack of scoring by cracking down on obstruction (in theory to give freedom to the game&rsquo;s skilled players); moving the nets out further from the end-boards; and returning to the no-harm, no-foul crease rule.Has any of it made a difference? Well, scoring is up this season, if only marginally.Teams were averaging 5.38 goals per game through 224 games, compared to 5.24 per game at the same time last season. The change in the crease rule has been given it&rsquo;s fair share of credit. But the dismantling of the trap has also had a positive effect.&ldquo;When something is around for a few years, teams will eventually figure out a way to handle it,&rdquo; said St. Louis Blues&rsquo; defenseman Chris Pronger. &ldquo;The way to beat (the trap) is with quick puck movement. You can&rsquo;t stop and let the other team set up the trap. The idea is to catch the other team while it&rsquo;s in a transition.&ldquo;The other thing is, you have to move strictly north and south. As soon as you start going side to side, you play right into the trap.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0007-01

Teams ‘hang back,’ beat trap

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011702/6930887-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="370" height="522"></div>Claude Lemieux is back in New Jersey, surely the start to a better world. Next, John Muckier and Ted Nolan will kiss and make up. Bobby Orr will say if you really get to know Alan Eagleson, you can overlook his faults. Mike Keenan and Neil Smith will go shopping for furniture.Halley&rsquo;s Comet figured to return before Lemieux to the Devils. Pete Karmanos first would be honored by the Hartford Chamber of Commerce.When Ken Daneyko got the news 15 minutes before the Devils went out to play the Montreal Canadiens Nov. 3, his jaw dropped further than stock in Trevor Linden.&ldquo;It was a shocker,&rdquo; Daneyko said. &ldquo;We forgot to play the first period.&rdquo;New Jersey GM Lou Lamoriello is perceived to have a memory longer than even some of the shots Chris Osgood has let in. Lemieux, a Devil from 1990-91 through 1994-95, played his final season in New Jersey under the terms of a new contract he had never signed. Somehow, that must have slipped through the same crack that he wriggled between on a wet day to demand more money,Most of Lemieux&rsquo;s teammates thought that was sleazy-as did Lamoriello, who sent the Conn Smythe Trophy-winner packing in a three-way trade to the Colorado Avalanche that saw the Devils get Steve Thomas from the New York Islanders.That was then, when the Devils seemed so deep, as opposed to now, when they can&rsquo;t go deep into the playoffs. Having won one round in four years despite significant strength of numbers, they now realize there is only one Claude Lemieux. As good a thing as that probably is for the planet, he left a void.&ldquo;We made the (1995) decision for philosophical and ethical reasons,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;But time passes. Claude had some great years here. I had to take a step back and re-evaluate.&ldquo;As we (Lemieux&rsquo;s agent Mike Barnett, Avalanche GM Pierre Lacroix and Lamoriello) talked, the thing I had to know is whether Claude wanted to be here. I never had any question about what he brings to a team. We are a little young up front. And a guy like Lemieux gives energy by example.&ldquo;Did we miss him? The only thing I can say is we didn&rsquo;t win, so maybe.&rdquo;If you blinked, you missed the admission of a mistake in there. You only get about one per lifetime from Lamoriello and this is a doozy, like &lsquo;The Prodigal Pepe&rsquo; himself. Back at the Meadowlands in exchange for Brian Rolston and a draft pick, Lemieux is happier than a skunk in garbage.&ldquo;No, I didn&rsquo;t think it was possible,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;We all know how I ended up getting moved on, so it&rsquo;s a big commitment by this club, a lot of respect shown me. I feel really good about this, excited to be here.&rdquo;And he promises to remain, as long he stays.Lemieux, 34, is making $2.46 million on the final year of his contract and hopes to command at least that much on the next one. He likely will spend the season showing he is still worth it. He might be expensive for the Devils, who always have Brian Rolstons coming in and never see a need to overpay anybody.But Lamoriello is hinting an extension offer might come before the end of the season.&ldquo;Anything can happen,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;It will fall into place when it will fall into place.&rdquo;The Devils have fallen hard from first place three straight springs because they haven&rsquo;t been assertive in tight spots.&ldquo;We were missing feistiness in the playoffs,&rdquo; said the veteran defenseman Daneyko.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021312/6930880-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="372" height="515"><figcaption class="caption-body">Claude Lemieux</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Twenty choir boys don&rsquo;t win it and Claude is certainly no choir boy. So far he has been on his best behavior in the dressing room. That will change in a couple weeks, but that&rsquo;s okay because he was in a grumpy mood all &rsquo;95 and we won the Cup.&rdquo;There is no post-hockey position awaiting Lemieux in the diplomatic corps. But most of us grow up to some degree at some point. Lemieux has moved onto a golf course in Sherman Oaks, Calif., next to the Gretzkys. &lsquo;The Grate One&rsquo; and &lsquo;The Great One&rsquo; have become best of friends. If they seem like the odd couple, then remember opposites, like a button-down organization and one of the game&rsquo;s more controversial players, can attract.&ldquo;As you get older, you learn to pick and choose what you say, sometimes wait until the next day,&rdquo; Lemieux said.&lsquo;Twenty players like myself might not be a good combination, but 20 players not like myself might not be either.&rdquo;The Devils found out the latter the hard way. Nothing like going down hard to turn a hard guy to like back into somebody you want on your side. Rarely has any misfit looked like a better fit than Claude Lemieux with the Devils. &#9632;

f0008-01

Devils turn to The Grate One’

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy </div><div class="byline">Senior Writer</div>BUFFALO-Raymond Bourque and Dave Andreychuk have engaged in many battles for space and possession of the puck as opponents over the years.So you would think Bourque, in his 21st year in the NHL, would know just about everything there is to know about Andreychuk, his new teammate who is in his 18th season. You would be wrong.&ldquo;I knew he was tough to play against,&rdquo; Bourque said, &ldquo;and how good he is at positioning himself in front of the net and scoring from in tight. What I didn&rsquo;t know about him was how much enthusiasm he brings to the link every day. On and off the ice, you can tell just how much he loves the game. And how committed he is to the game. It rubs off on the other players.&rdquo;Andreychuk, who said he is not known for fast starts, is making the Boston Bruins look like geniuses for taking a chance on him last summer when he became an unrestricted free agent. The Bruins needed to replace Dmitri Khristich&rsquo;s offense after deciding to part company with the high-scoring winger.Though Andreychuk scored just 15 goals last season and 14 in 1997-98-two years in which he incurred numerous injuries, including two broken ankles-coach Pat Bums convinced cost-conscious GM Harry Sinden to sign the 36-year-old left winger.&ldquo;They asked me about Dave and I told them if they wanted a guy who brings passion to the game, then he was their man,&rdquo; Bums said.Andreychuk, who also had contract discussions with the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings and Tampa Bay Lightning, said he felt the Bruins were a perfect fit for him. And coming in at today&rsquo;s bargain basement price of $1.2 million (with a $200,000 bonus for scoring 25 goals and another $200,000 bonus for hitting 35), he gave the frugal Bruins a potential 30-goal man for relatively little money. Andreychuk earned $2.5 million as a New Jersey Devil last season.Through the Brains&rsquo; first 17 games, the 6-foot-4. 220-pounder was tied Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins for first in goals with 13. Included in the total was a four-goal outburst against the Lightning Oct. 28, the fourth time in his career he had scored four or more in a game. He led the Brains in scoring with 16 points, In fact, of all the unrestricted free agents who switched teams after last season, none had more goals or points than Andreychuk.Khristich was off to a decent start in Toronto with four goals and seven points in nine games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011614/6930918-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="820" height="1533"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Andreychuk has been a bargain for the Bruins.</figcaption></div>Andreychuk said it was easy to pick the Bruins from the teams that were interested in his services.&ldquo;First of all, I played for Pat in Toronto and knew what he&rsquo;s about as a coach,&rdquo; Andreychuk said. &ldquo;Also, I was looking at teams where I would get playing time. I felt that would be the case with the Bruins.&rdquo;Andreychuk has played more than he had expected, upwards of 20 minutes a game, which he said is as much as he ever played with Toronto, New Jersey and the Buffalo Sabres, who drafted him 16th overall in 1982. He has been used as a penalty killer as well as on the power play.&ldquo;I had a couple of bad years in New Jersey and I didn&rsquo;t want to go out of the game on a downer,&rdquo; Andreychuk said. &ldquo;I knew (Bums&rsquo;) system and I looked at the Bruins as a team that needed a veteran presence up front. I&rsquo;m the type of player who needs to be counted on. But even more than all that, I still love to train in the off-season to get ready to play again. I&rsquo;m not prepared at this point in my life to put that behind me.&rdquo;For most players, suffering broken ankles (left and right) in successive seasons could have a disastrous affect on their speed. In Andreychuk&rsquo;s case, he didn&rsquo;t have a lot to lose. He is most effective down low and in front of the net. That doesn&rsquo;t require speed, just patience, courage and tenacity.&ldquo;He battles for the puck like nobody,&rdquo; Bourque said. &ldquo;Even in practice, he won&rsquo;t give up on the puck until it&rsquo;s in the net.&rdquo;Asked about that particular trait, Bums laughed heartily and said: &ldquo;When we were in Toronto, he and (goalie) Felix Potvin used to have quite a thing going. Dave would battle and battle until he scored; then he&rsquo;d raise his hands in the air like it was in a game and he&rsquo;d stare down the goalie. It used to drive Felix crazy.&rdquo;It is that kind of intensity that has helped make Andreychuk the 17th-highest goal-scorer&lt;545 and counting) in NHL history. It&rsquo;s not out of the question that he&rsquo;ll finish with 600 career goals, which would place him among the top 15 all-time and would put him in line for Hall of Fame consideration. Or will he simply be hockey&rsquo;s answer to Dave Kingman, the baseball star who finished 23rd all-time with 442 home runs, but isn&rsquo;t in the Hall of Fame?Time will tell. For now, Andreychuk lives for the moment.&ldquo;Some of the younger guys get a kick out of me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They see an older guy who doesn&rsquo;t sleep in late every morning-I get up early-who doesn&rsquo;t need three hours of sleep every afternoon and who likes to go for long walks.&rdquo;So far, this season has been a walk in the park. &#9632;

f0009-01

Hard work makes Dave super again

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone </div><div class="byline">--Jim Cressman</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011675/6930949-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Bouwmeester has been a 16-year-old whiz kid on defense for the Medicine Hat Tigers this season.Jason Spezza</figcaption></div>How good is Jay Bouwmeester going to be?That is the million-dollar question.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re asking me?&rdquo; laughed Rick Carriere, the Medicine Hat Tigers&rsquo; coach and director of hockey operations. &ldquo;He has handled the puck more this year than I have in my entire life.&rdquo;Bouwmeester (pronounced BO-meester) has managed the ascent to major junior with remarkable aplomb.After 20 games, the young Tiger was tied for seventh among Western League defensemen in scoring with five goals and 15 points.And he isn&rsquo;t even eligible for the NHL draft until 2002. But scouts have already indicated Bouwmeester&rsquo;s upside is on par with that of Canada&rsquo;s other wunderkid, 16-year-old center Jason Spezza of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Mississauga IceDogs, the anticipated No. 1 pick at the 2001 NHL draft. That leads people to wonder how far Bouwmeester can go. What are his limitations?&ldquo;He has a ton of potential,&rdquo; said one NHL chief scout. &ldquo;The thing is whether he will realize that potential. At this stage, he has the potential to be a top-end defenseman at every level-including the NHL. He has size, ability and hockey sense. Physically, he&rsquo;s able to play the game at any level.&rdquo;Bouwmeester didn&rsquo;t mm 16 until Sept. 27, two days after the Tigers&rsquo; regular season opener. Already, the 6-foot-3&frac12;, 199-pounder is being mentioned in the same breath as NHL stars, although it is important not to get carried away.&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t Bobby Orr,&rdquo; the scout added. &ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t an Eric Lindros-level player. The comparison would probably be to (St. Louis Blues&rsquo;) Chris Pronger. He&rsquo;s a big, tall defenseman who can dominate a game and play a lot of minutes. He&rsquo;ll be a No. 1 or No. 2 defenseman on his NHL team. That&rsquo;s his upside.&rdquo;Statistics bear out the scout&rsquo;s comparison. Bouwmeester was not scoring at an Orr-like pace at a comparable juncture. Over the course of a full season, Bouwmeester&rsquo;s numbers project to 19 goals and 57 points in 72 games. A 16-year-old Orr had 34 goals and 93 points in 56 Ontario League games with the 1964-65 Oshawa Generals. He also had 29 goals and 72 points in 56 appearances as a 15-year-old with Oshawa.But Bouwmeester is a solid bet to rival the junior production of Ray Bourque, who had 12 goals and 48 points in 69 games as a 16-year-old with the Quebec League&rsquo;s Sorel Eperviers in 1976-77.Bouwmeester&rsquo;s totals could also compare to those of Hall-of-Famer Denis Potvin, who registered 13 goals and 31 points in 42 games with the OHL&rsquo;s Ottawa 67&rsquo;s in 1969-70. The previous season, Potvin had 12 goals and 37 points in 46 games as a 15-year-old.Bouwmeester, by contrast, played only eight major junior games as a 15-year-old. WHL rules prohibit players from joining the league on a full-time basis until age 16In abbreviated WHL duty last season, the Edmonton-born Bouwmeester accounted for two goals and three points. He added 14 goals and 43 points in 32 midget AAA contests with Edmonton&rsquo;s South Side Athletic Club.&ldquo;For sure, he could have played for us last year,&rdquo; Carriere said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s big enough and he&rsquo;s a very strong athlete. He never looks rattled. He&rsquo;s very confident and focused, in a quiet way.&rdquo;Quiet is an appropriate description of Bouwmeester. He is pleasant, but reserved.&ldquo;This year has been pretty good,&rdquo; Bouwmeester said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve gotten to play a lot, which helps. The scoring is just a bonus because I&rsquo;ve been getting a lot of ice time.&rdquo;Carriere estimates Bouwmeester customarily logs 25 to 28 minutes per game.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty amazing how good a skater he is,&rdquo; Carriere said. &lsquo;Two strides and he&rsquo;s beaten a forechecker and gotten himself in pretty good offensive position.&ldquo;The thing that you marvel at most is that he&rsquo;s such a great skater. His head is up all the time and he has great offensive sense. He&rsquo;s fun to watch and he has such a great attitude toward everything.&rdquo;Those who are closest to Bouwmeester want him to maintain his calm disposition.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s just an average kid,&rdquo; said Dan Bouwmeester, Jay&rsquo;s father.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s unassuming. He doesn&rsquo;t swagger around. That will help him in the long run.&rdquo;The defenseman&rsquo;s agent, former NHL and World Hockey Association player Bryon Baltimore, doesn&rsquo;t want his client not be overwhelmed by the growing hype.&ldquo;Jay just turned 16,&rdquo; said Baltimore, an Edmonton-based lawyer.&ldquo;He has a long way to go. He has a lot of fun to experience in high school and in playing the game at the junior level. We want him to strive to be the best he can be without taking away the growing up that any 16-year-old will experience.&rdquo;Bouwmeester already lives a life that is foreign to most teenagers. After all, potential first overall NHL draft picks are a rare breed.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think about the draft a lot,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a long way away and a lot of things can happen. I&rsquo;m just having fun right now.&rdquo;If Bouwmeester becomes a No. 1 pick, it won&rsquo;t be the first time. Medicine Hat chose him to open the 1998 bantam draft.&ldquo;Jay Bouwmeester was the first round of that draft,&rdquo; recalled Regina Pats&rsquo; GM Brent Parker. &ldquo;There was a special round for him. The rest of the draft started after that. Jay Bouwmeester was just that good.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the real deal,&rdquo; Parker said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a special player. The sky&rsquo;s the limit for him.&rdquo;<h2>Are Bouwmeester, Spezza ready for World tour of duty?</h2>Jay Bouwmeester is one of two Canadian 16-year-olds who may get a chance to take on the world.Jason Spezza, scoring ace for the Ontario League&rsquo;s Mississauga IceDogs, is also meriting consideration to be invited to the selection camp for the team that will represent Canada at the 2000 World Junior Championship Dec. 26 to Jan. 4. The camp is Dec. 12-17 in Kitchener, Ont.Spezza, the early favorite to go first overall in the 2001 NHL draft, was leading the Ice Dogs with eight goals and 24 points and was tied for eighth in the OHL. The only others to play for Canada at 16 were Wayne Gretzky in 1978 and Eric Lindros in 1990.&ldquo;I could see Jason playing with a couple of quick 19-year-old wingers,&rdquo; said Barry Trapp, director of scouting for Canada&rsquo;s WJC team. &ldquo;I warned the Canadian Hockey Association last summer these two could earn an invite to camp.&rdquo;Twenty-two of the 32 players invited to Kitchener will go to Sweden for the world junior tournament. While there is some support for the youngsters to make the Canadian team, it won&rsquo;t be easy for them.&ldquo;This is a really hard tournament for 16-year-olds,&rdquo; said one NHL scout. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a 19-year-old&rsquo;s tournament. The younger players tend to break down.&rdquo;A second scout said Lindros struggled in 1990 as a 16-year-old, though he managed four goals in Canada&rsquo;s gold-medal effort at Helsinki.Gretzky led all scorers in the 1978 tournament at Montreal with eight goals and 17 points. &#9632;

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Eyes on the Tiger

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011509/6930980-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ON THE COVER

Wayne’s World

* players are listed with team with which they gained most prominence<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011635/6931098-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="325" height="470"></div><h2>Clint Benedict</h2>GoalieOttawa SenatorsI9I7-I8-1929-30Fall-down puckstopper<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-05352/6931091-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="322" height="478"></div><h2>Bob Goldham</h2>DefensemanDetroit Red Wings1941-42-1955-56Pioneer shot-blocker<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021307/6931084-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="325" height="478"></div><h2>Bernie Geoffrion</h2>Right WingerMontreal Canadiens1950-51-1967-68Popularized slapshot<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03848/6931077-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="319" height="469"></div><h2>Jacques Plante</h2>GoalieMontreal Canadiens1952-53-1972-73First puckhandling goalie<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04492/6931070-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="313" height="468"></div><h2>Glenn Hall</h2>GoalieChicago Blaekhawks1952-53 - 1970-71Introduced butterfly style<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-06289/6931063-1-eng-US/f0012-062.jpg" title="f0012-06" width="326" height="475"></div><h2>John Ferguson</h2>Left WingerMontreal Canadiens1963-64 - 1970-71Policeman<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-07252/6931056-1-eng-US/f0012-072.jpg" title="f0012-07" width="313" height="469"></div><h2>Bobby Orr</h2>DefensemanBoston Bruins1966-67 - 1978-79Rushing defenseman<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-08217/6931049-1-eng-US/f0012-082.jpg" title="f0012-08" width="328" height="478"></div><h2>Wayne Gretzky</h2>CenterEdmonton Oilers1979-80-1998-99Best-ever playmaker &#9632;

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THE NHL PIONEERS

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8 players who changed the game Pioneering players Legacies to remember

<div class="byline">By Roy MacGregor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011262/6931160-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"></div>Excerpt From Total GretzkyIt is no small task raising a prodigy. Great accomplishment does not demand precociousness-Einstein was no Einstein as a child, Churchill didn&rsquo;t even play war particularly well-but Mozart was a brilliant child composer and Picasso painted well almost as soon as he could walk. Wayne Gretzky, as a child hockey player, had such astounding talents that he could not help but be tagged special. He had uncommon ability, great curiosity and a natural penchant for inventiveness.The more he tried untried things, the more he came up with new ideas for the game. Slim and small, Wayne Gretzky found a place behind the net that was, for hockey, unexplored territory. He saw the net as an impediment to others, and protection for himself, something that could offer him both space and time, even if it amounted to little more than a few square feet of ice and a fraction of a second. He had discovered what others would one day come to call his &ldquo;office.&rdquo;Only Wayne Gretzky knows what view he saw from behind the net. &ldquo;Gretzky sees a picture out there no one else sees,&rdquo; Boston Bruins&rsquo; GM Harry Sinden once said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s difficult to describe because I&rsquo;ve never seen the game he&rsquo;s looking at.&rdquo; Perhaps Gordie Howe said it best when he once joked, &ldquo;I sometimes think that if you part Wayne&rsquo;s hair, you&rsquo;ll find another eye.&rdquo;The connection between superior eyesight and superior play is as old as professional sport. It is commonly held that the truly gifted athlete-whether Michael Jordan in basketball, Martina Hingis in tennis, Sammy Sosa in baseball or Wayne Gretzky in hockey-have special visual gifts. Rogers Hornsby, the baseball Hall of Famer from the 1920s and winner of six batting titles in a row, refused to read books or go to movies with his teammates for fear it would harm his most effective weapon. Ted Williams, the last person to hit .400 in Major League Baseball, used to claim he could pick out the seams on a spinning ball, and therefore know what pitch was coming in. Stan Musial, another great hitter, used to claim, &ldquo;If I want to hit a grounder, I hit the top third of the ball. If I want to hit a line drive, I hit the middle third. If I want to hit a fly ball, I hit the bottom third.&rdquo; In George Will&rsquo;s ground-breaking book on baseball talents, Men At Work, gifted hitter Tony Gwynn reduced the mysteries of hitting to only five words: &ldquo;See the ball and react.&rdquo;Perhaps the great athletes cannot always explain what they see and how it might be different from what the rest of us see, but there is, assuredly, a difference. There is a famous story told of whenAmerican writer John McPhee was researching A Sense of Where You Are about 1960s basketball great Bill Bradley (now the U.S. senator) and how Bradley one day complained in a high school gymnasium where he was shooting hoops that the net felt about 3/8ths of an inch too low. It seemed a preposterous conceit to McPhee until he returned that evening with a tape measure and checked. The net was precisely 3/8ths of an inch too low. Vision, McPhee therefore concluded, had to be Bradley&rsquo;s great natural gift, and subsequent tests at Princeton University confirmed that the basketball star&rsquo;s peripheral vision was considerably more developed than average. &ldquo;During a game,&rdquo; McPhee wrote, &ldquo;Bradley&rsquo;s eyes are always a glaze of panoptic attention, for a basketball player needs to look at everything, focusing on nothing, until the last moment of commitment.&rdquo; For those close enough to watch Gretzky at work in his &ldquo;office,&rdquo; the sense is the same: He focuses on nothing, he sees everything.They say of gifted playmakers that they see the ice particularly well, and the scoring statistics would seem to argue that no one has ever seen it as clearly, or in such detail, as Wayne Gretzky. But there is more to it than scoring. He saw danger as acutely as opportunity, and was able to avoid checks to the point that a common belief took hold among many fans that there was an unwritten rule in the NHL that players were not to hit the game&rsquo;s No. 1 star. There was not. As Denis Potvin says, &ldquo;There was nothing I wanted to do more than hit the guy,&rdquo; but the big New York Islander defenseman could never find him. &ldquo;He had,&rdquo; says Potvin, &ldquo;the strongest danger radar of anyone on the ice.&rdquo; Always cool and methodical, he never rushed his play, never made the critical pass until the last possible moment, usually the perfect moment. In the opinion of goaltender Mike Liut, &ldquo;He had the highest panic threshold of any player I ever faced.&rdquo;Studies done bn Gretzky and teammates during the early days of the Edmonton Oilers suggest nothing particularly special about the young NHL sensation. Tests done by Dr. Cam O&rsquo;Donnell, now of the visual attention laboratory at the University of Western Ontario, found that Gretzky&rsquo;s reaction time was no faster than any other player&rsquo;s. Nor was his short-term memory the secret, as those tests found only that the team&rsquo;s highest-educated player, Randy Gregg, now a medical doctor himself, scored highest, yet was never considered anything but a reliable defenseman on the ice. Dr. Art Quinney, dean of the faculty of physical education at the University of Alberta, did early physiological tests on Gretzky and his teammates, yet found nothing scientific to explain the gifts. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s fair to say,&rdquo; Quinney told the National Post, &ldquo;that Wayne is not gifted physically in any particular way. He had during the years that he was here a very acceptable level of fitness, and some years worked harder at it than others&hellip;but I think what sets Wayne Gretzky apart is his intelligence and his ability to see the game and his dogged determination to develop skills.&rdquo;Nearly 20 years ago, when Peter Gzowski was writing his book on the Oilers and Gretzky, he became fascinated by the notion that Gretzky was neurologically different from mere mortals. Gzowski had noted that there seemed to be &ldquo;an unhurried grace to everything Gretzky does on the ice.&rdquo; The pause, in fact, can be as effective a move in hockey as the quick break, but much more difficult to do as one is based on pure adrenaline and the other on pure nerve. It is, Gzowski said, &ldquo;as if, as time freezes, he is enjoying an extra handful of milliseconds. Time seems to slow down for him, and indeed, it may actually do so.&rdquo; Gzowski then turned to scientists who agreed that, for some elite athletes, their neurological motors may run with such efficiency that, for them, the pace is slower. As one of them put it, there is &ldquo;a great deal more room, in effect, in the flow of time than there is for the rest of us.&rdquo;Mario Lemieux has said in the past that when things were going well for him on the ice it was almost as if everything moved in slightly slow motion for him. Raymond Bourque, the Boston Bruins&rsquo; future Hall-of-Famer, says he knows the feeling, but would never dare compare what he feels out there to what it must have been like for Gretzky. &ldquo;When I&rsquo;m playing well,&rdquo; Bourque says. &ldquo;I can feel what&rsquo;s coming behind me. You feel the game differently. It&rsquo;s slower for you. But that just comes from confidence, I think. Most guys hurry because they&rsquo;re just not sure what to do.&rdquo; While others panic, the elite players grow oddly calm under stress. &ldquo;For you,&rdquo; says Bourque, &ldquo;sometimes it seems so simple and easy you wonder why more guys can&rsquo;t see it that way. You try sometimes to tell them.&rdquo;Unfortunately for hockey coaches, the power of suggestion alone cannot create in an average player the gifts of the vastly superior one. When journeyman forward Shaun Van Allen was playing for the Edmonton Oilers during the 1992-93 season, he was hit so hard that he barely staggered back to the bench and sat trying to recover as the trainer held smelling salts under his nose.&ldquo;Is he all right?&rdquo; coach Ted Green shouted down the bench.&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t even know who he is!&rdquo; the trainer shouted back.&ldquo;Tell him he&rsquo;s Wayne Gretzky.&rdquo;The Hockey News&rsquo; Total Gretzky, The Magic, The Legend, The Numbers, Edited by Steve Dryden. McClelland & Stewart, $29.99 (Cdn.)/$24.95 (U.S.). &#9632;

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Gretzky’s vision stands alone Gretzky: Unhurried grace

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011198/6931191-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Bruce Benet/BS)</figcaption></div>Born: Brantford, Ont. Age: 38Career Highlights: Gretzky&rsquo;s first goal in the NHL was against the Vancouver Canucks, Oct. 14, 1979. He scored on a partially fanned shot&hellip; His most publicized goal came while with the Los Angeles Kings March 23, 1994, career goal No. 802. It was the goal to surpass Gordie Howe for No. 1 all-time in the NHL&hellip; Gretzky accomplished one of his most impressive feats with an empty-net goal. It came against the Philadelphia Flyers, Dec. 30, 1981, when he scored his 50th of the season in just his 39th game. The goal smashed &lsquo;Rocket&rsquo; Richard&rsquo;s old record of 50 in 50&hellip;Gretzky&rsquo;s best international game came during the 1987 Canada Cup. In Game 2 of the final against the Soviet Union, Gretzky set up five goals including the double overtime winner by Mario Lemiuex&hellip;Gretzky&rsquo;s best NHL game was May 29, 1993, when he scored a hat trick to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Western Conference final and send his Kings to the Stanley Cup final&hellip;Gretzky&rsquo;s best game as an Oiler came May 25, 1985, which was Game 3 of the Cup final against the Philadelphia Flyers. On his way to the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, Gretzky scored a natural hat trick in a 4-3 win. &#9632;

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Wayne Gretzky

<div class="byline">-Mike Gibb</div>Wayne Gretzky, the No. 1 NHL player ever, finally has a new office.It&rsquo;s no longer behind the opposition&rsquo;s net, where he set up for many of his 1,963 assists. No, The Great One is going into the Great Hall, where hockey honors all its legends at the Hall of Fame.Gretzky, voted the top NHLer of all-time in a 1997 survey of experts conducted by The Hockey News, is the most offensively potent player in NHL history. His 2,857 points give him a 1,007 point margin over the second-best point-getter, Gordie Howe, and a 1,074 point gap over the top active scorer, former teammate and current Vancouver Canuck captain Mark Messier.Gretzky began his career in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers in 1979. Over the next eight seasons, he led the NHL in scoring each year and won eight consecutive Hart Trophies as the NHL&rsquo;s MVP.Seven of Gretzky&rsquo;s nine seasons as an Oiler were voted among the top 40 individual seasons in NHL history by The Hockey News in the collector&rsquo;s edition, A Century of Hockey. Gretzky&rsquo;s 1981-82 season, where he broke Phil Esposito&rsquo;s record of 76 goals in a season when he scored 92 and became the first and only player to crack the 200-point barrier, wa the second-best season ever.&ldquo;This is absolutely crazy&rdquo; sai Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; GM Bobb Clarke during the 1981-82 seasor &ldquo;At least with Bobby Orr you would see him wind up in his own end and you could try to set up some kind of defense to stop him. Gretzky just comes out of nowhere&hellip;it&rsquo;s scary.&rdquo;The Oilers were the first stop in a for Gretzky, who also suited up for the Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers.Along with the four Stanley Cups Gretzky won, he also picked up all or part of 61 NHL records.Gretzky was traded to the Kings August 9, 1988 and spent nearly seven seasons in California. Without his presence, it&rsquo;s argued there may not be teams in San Jose, Anaheim or Phoenix today.He spent 18 games with the Blues after being traded by the Kings during the 1995-96 season and then signed as a free agent with the Rangers before the 1996-97 season and spent his last three NHL seasons on Broadway, a perfect setting for hockey&rsquo;s brightest star. &#9632;

The Great One enters Great Hall

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02868/6931246-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg"></div>A tribute to hockey&rsquo;s greatest player, the one and only Wayne Gretzky!A valuable memento, a wonderful Christmas gift. 6-pce. 24 kt gold plated coin set. Complete with certificate of authenticity. 17&rdquo;x15&rdquo; Limited Edition Framed Print of The Great One along with a bronze Hall of Fame coin and certificate of authenticity.Only 9,999 of each are available, so ORDER NOW.Visit our Web site or call our toll free telephone number 1-800-263-6733<a href="http://www.egretzky.com/news">www.egretzky.com/news</a> &#9632;

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Gretzky Own a piece of history

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Mike Gibb</div>If anyone is looking for a standard by which to measure today&rsquo;s NHL officials, Andy van Hellemond would be it.Van Hellemond is the 14th official to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and the first since Neil Armstrong in 1991. The last game he officiated was Game 3 of the 1996 Stanley Cup final between the Colorado Avalanche and the Florida Panthers. He was scheduled to be the referee for Game 5 of the series, but Colorado swept their way to the Cup. It is fitting the final game of van Hellemond&rsquo;s NHL career was on hockey&rsquo;s biggest and brightest stage.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011082/6931284-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="329" height="556"><figcaption class="caption-body">Andy van Hellemond</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I get a sense of self-satisfaction being inducted into the Hall of Fame the same year as Andy, because I hired him after he showed up on my front door one day looking for a job,&rdquo; said Scotty Morrison, former NHL referee-in-chief. &ldquo;He was respected from the moment he stepped into the NHL and I can&rsquo;t say much more than that about the kind of referee he was.&rdquo;Van Hellemond signed a minor league contract with the NHL in 1970 and made his NHL debut at age 23 during the 1972-73 season.Over the next quarter-century, van Hellemond weaved a career that includes the most career appearances (1,475), most playoff games (227) and most Stanley Cup final appearances (19) by an official. Van Hellemond made his 19 Cup appearances in a 20-year span. For 14 straight seasons, he was ranked as the NHL&rsquo;s top official.Since the 1996-97 season, Van Hellemond has been the senior vice-president of the East Coast League overseeing league and player operations.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02729/6931277-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="1795" height="1836"><figcaption class="caption-body">Highly respected Andy van Hellemond is the 14th official to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.</figcaption></div><h2>Andy van Hellemond</h2>Born: Winnipeg Age: 51Career Highlights: Officiating Game 7 of the 1987 Cup final between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Edmonton Oilers&hellip; Officiating the playoff game between the Islanders and the Capitals that went 68:47 into overtime before Pat LaFontaine scored to give New York a 3-2 win.Favorite Gretzky&nbsp;Memory: Officiating the game Gretzky called his best NHL game, when he scored a hat trick to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1993 Western Conference final&hellip;van Hellemond also officiated the game Gretzky broke Phil Esposito&rsquo;s record of 76 goals in a season, Feb. 24,1982, against the Buffalo Sabres. &#9632;

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It’s official: Andy van’ The Man

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Mike Gibb</div>Six years after helping build the current Hall of Fame, Ian &lsquo;Scotty&rsquo; Morrison can call the museum home in more ways than one.Morrison is being inducted in the builders&rsquo; category and there is no better tribute for the man who ran the Hall of Fame for the majority of this decade.&ldquo;The game needs more people like Scotty,&rdquo; said Bill Hay, chairman of the Hall of Fame. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great family man who loves and respects the game and those who play it. I have a lot of respect for him.&rdquo;Morrison was a referee in the NHL, its referee-in-chief for two decades and spent 15 years in charge of the Hockey Hall of Fame.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03491/6931315-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="349" height="560"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scotty Morrison</figcaption></div>Morrison made his debut as a referee in the NHL at the tender age of 24, the youngest official at the time, in 1954. But he lasted only two seasons, giving up the game for a career in sales and marketing.After a decade working as a salesman while continuing to officiate in the WHL, he returned to the NHL as its referee-in-chief, replacing Carl Voss, the man who had originally hired Morrison as an official.From 1965 until 1986, Morrison was the referee-in-chief and then the NHL&rsquo;s vice-president in charge of officiating.In 1986, Morrison was named vice president, Project Development and President, Hall of Fame, and in 1991, was named Chairman and CEO of the Hall of Fame.Morrison, who retired from the Hall of Fame in 1998, is president of the Canadian Association of Sports Heritage and the International Association of Sports Museums and Halls of Fame.<h2>Scotty Morrison</h2>Born: Montreal Age: 69Career Highlight: In his first NHL game, Morrison ended up on his face after trying to emulate Bill Chadwick, who would swoop in from the side when dropping the puck for a faceoff. &ldquo;(Toronto&rsquo;s) Ted Kennedy asked me what I was doing and I said I wanted to be like Chadwick. Ted said, &lsquo;If you want to last, don&rsquo;t copy anyone,&rdquo; Morrison recalled.Favorite Gretzky Memory: One night in 1986, after years of being called &lsquo;Mr. Morrison&rsquo; by The Great One, Morrison asked Gretzky to simply call him &lsquo;Scotty.&rsquo; Gretzky agreed, but later that night said, &ldquo;See you Mr. Morrison.&rdquo; Said Morrison: &ldquo;He was too respectful not to say Mister.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Morrison at home in the Hall

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Mike Gibb</div>As a Pulitzer Prize nominee, Russ Conway is familiar with major honors. With that in mind, Conway said he was thrilled at being named this year&rsquo;s winner of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for newspaper excellence.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01850/6931384-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="309" height="390"><figcaption class="caption-body">Russ Conway</figcaption></div>In fact, Conway said being recognized by his peers for his achievements as a hockey writer is his career highlight.Conway, 50, began his career with the Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune in 1967, fresh out of high school and only 18.&ldquo;Russ is a dedicated journalist whose efforts exemplify what we all try to do in this business,&rdquo; said former PHWA president Jim Kelley.&ldquo;He has a great love for the game, but a greater understanding of the principles of journalism and an understanding of how good journalists can make things even better.&rdquo;Conway earned his Pulitzer bid for a series called &ldquo;Cracking the Ice-Intrigue and Conflict in the World of Big Time Hockey.&rdquo; It exposed years of corruption in professional hockey. The series also led to his book, Game Misconduct.Since 1981, Conway has been the sports editor of the Eagle-Tribune.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02476/6931377-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="1676" height="1182"><figcaption class="caption-body">Richard Garneau, right, calls the play with former Montreal Canadien Gilles Tremblay.</figcaption></div><h2>Russ Conway</h2>Born: Haverhill, Mass. Age: 50Career Highlight: Winning the Elmer Ferguson Award. &ldquo;It was the biggest shock of my life,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But the most pleasant one.&rdquo;Favorite Gretzky Moment: Conway spent an afternoon with Gretzky and Hall of Famer Ace Bailey sharing stories during the 1988 Stanley Cup final, ironically enough, at a bar called &lsquo;Champions.&rsquo; &#9632;

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Ferguson big thrill for Conway

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Mike Gibb</div>Given a most difficult task&ndash;to succeed a legend-Richard Garneau didn&rsquo;t bat an eye and carved an award-winning career of his own.Garneau, the longtime French-Canadian radio voice of hockey, replaced the legendary Rene Lecavalier, and not only filled his shoes, but followed Lecavalier&rsquo;s path. Garneau joins his predecessor as a winner of the Foster Hewitt Award, given to members of the radio and television industry who make outstanding contributions to hockey.Garneau began covering the game in Quebec in 1953. From 1957 through 1989 he was a member of the Radio-Canada broadcast team and for 24 seasons he worked for La Soiree du Hockey, Quebec&rsquo;s version of Hockey Night in Canada.&ldquo;He is in the category of Foster Hewitt, and Danny Gallivan,&rdquo; said veteran broadcaster Dick Irvin, who has known Garneau since the 1960s.&ldquo;He was a straight shooter and when he replaced Rene, he filled his shoes very well. His interviews were always smooth and he was never one-dimensional. He was a good all-around broadcaster.&rdquo;Garneau now works as a broadcaster for the TVA network in Montreal.<h2>Richard Garneau</h2>Born: Quebec City Age: 69Career Highlight: Garneau covered the exhiliarting concluding games of the 1972 Summit Series in Moscow.Favorite Gretzky Moment: During the 1981 playoffs, Garneau saw Gretzky in the press box before a game. Was he not playing? &ldquo;No, just stopping by to say hi to all the broadcasters,&rdquo; Garneau said. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t believe it&rdquo; &#9632;

Garneau among elite broadcasters

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05147/6931453-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="596" height="222"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03271/6931467-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="136" height="141"></div>The items pictured here are ideal Christmas gifts for the hockey-fans on your list. However, a common reaction is to want to keep them for yourself. Do not panic. Proceed to the bookstore and pick up another copy. Repeat as necessary.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04194/6931460-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="144" height="141"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>In bookstores everywhere<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-06118/6931446-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="700" height="862"></div>Paperback$lk.99 Can &bull; $12.95 US<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-07101/6931439-1-eng-US/f0021-072.jpg" title="f0021-07" width="820" height="1062"></div>Now in paperback$2k.99 Can &bull; $16.95 USThe Hockey News &#9632;

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<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02677/6931498-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg"></div>Subscription includes:42 issues including the No. 1 selling Yearbook in North America!Only S4995&nbsp;(plus applicable taxes)Don&rsquo;t Delay!Subscribe NOW!1712 Order Code1-888-361-9768<a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">www.thehockeynews.com</a> &#9632;

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A Subscription to The Hockey News

<div class="byline">By Mike Gibb </div><div class="byline">Staff Writer</div>No need to go scampering for the dental records-that really is defense man Oleg Tverdovsky playing a responsible, all-around game for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.Forgive the skepticism, but those who witnessed Tverdovsky&rsquo;s first incarnation in Anaheim remember a mistake-prone kid who didn&rsquo;t live up to overzealous expectations.The new version of the slick-skating Duck is a far cry from the 19-year-old last seen packing his bags and winter coat for frigid Winnipeg Feb. 7,1996.More than three years after being sent to the Winnipeg Jets-along with center Chad Kilger and a draft pick-in the deal that landed Anaheim superstar Teemu Selanne, Tverdovsky looks like the complete package. He has retained his offensive skills, but his defensive game has taken a quantum leap forward and he has become more popular in the dressing room.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a totally different guy,&rdquo; said Anaheim captain Paul Kariya, who was around the first time Tverdovsky was a Duck. &ldquo;Not that he was a bad person before, but his personality has started to come through and it shows on the ice.&rdquo;The Donetsk, Rus., native was selected second overall by Anaheim in 1994, the team&rsquo;s highest-ever draft pick. That&rsquo;s when life under the magnifying glass began. Tverdovsky, who didn&rsquo;t decide to pursue a hockey career until he was 15, was thrust into a spotlight for which he wasn&rsquo;t ready.&ldquo;It was hard at the time,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was a young kid making mistakes on a team that couldn&rsquo;t afford to make mistakes. It wasn&rsquo;t like I didn&rsquo;t fit in, but it wasn&rsquo;t the right time to be a young player on the team.&rdquo;The 1994-95 version of the Mighty Ducks was the worst in franchise history, sputtering to 16 wins.Tverdovsky&rsquo;s stay in Anaheim ended the next season with the trade. In three-plus seasons with the Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes-a club both skilled and deep on the blueline-Tverdovsky learned the nuances of playing NHL-level defense. Coyote rearguard Teppo Numminen has been given some of the credit for aiding Tverdovsky&rsquo;s maturation process, while veteran Rick Tocchet was another player to whom the youngster looked for advice.&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t gamble anymore in his own zone,&rdquo; said Anaheim assistant GM David McNabb. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s learned that in certain situations, it&rsquo;s better to be safe. He&rsquo;s not turning the puck over in his own end. At all.&rdquo;Tverdovsky, 23, returned to the Ducks in a draft-day trade last June in exchange for center Travis Green and Anaheim&rsquo;s 1999 first round pick (Scott Kelman).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01980/6931529-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="908" height="1557"><figcaption class="caption-body">Oleg Tverdovsky&rsquo;s defensive game is greatly improved. (Art Foxall/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The years he spent in Winnipeg and Phoenix, he must have played with some good defensemen,&rdquo; said goalie Guy Hebert, another Duck who has seen both the before and after of Tverdovsky. &ldquo;He has worked on the defensive part of his game which, you can&rsquo;t kid anybody, was what was really lacking when he was here the first time.&rdquo;A lot has changed for both player and team since the trade that sent him away. Tverdovsky is much more capable and consistent in his own end, while the Ducks are no longer goal-starved. Coach Craig Hartsburg has forgone the neutral zone trap, the choice of his predecessor, Ron Wilson, for an aggressive style.&ldquo;(The trap) really confined Olie&rsquo;s talents,&rdquo; Hebert said. &ldquo;Craig wants to play a more exciting, up-tempo game. Craig has given Olie more latitude where he can jump up into the play.&rdquo;Tverdovsky and Wilson never saw eye to eye on the defenseman&rsquo;s role. But his offensive instincts and defensive improvement have given Hartsburg the opportunity to utilize a rare coaching strategy&ndash;that of sending out five players as a group instead of separate forward units and defensive pairings.Tverdovsky, with partner Pavel Tmka, has played routinely with the No. 1 line of Kariya-Matt Cullen-Selanne. It has translated well on the stat sheets, as Selanne (21 points), Kariya (18) and Tverdovsky were 1-2-3 in team scoring. Tverdovsky, who had four goals and 11 points in 17 games, has also spent more time on the pond than any other Duck, averaging 23:14 of ice time, and was plus-10.All the ice time hasn&rsquo;t slowed him down a bit. His speed is always evident, as is the grace and ease with which he jumps into the play.&ldquo;He has the speed a lot of guys don&rsquo;t have,&rdquo; Hebert said. &ldquo;When we&rsquo;re in trouble, some guys will just bang it off the glass and ice the puck. Oleg can create more because he takes those first couple of strides and gets away from the forechecker and moves the puck up.&rdquo;Tverdovsky&rsquo;s numbers steadily declined in Phoenix (from a career-high 55 points in 1996-97 to 25 last season) as his defensive awareness grew. But as evidenced by his play so far this year, he is blending all his talents into a well-rounded game.Along with the defensive lapses, Tverdovsky has also lost the expectations and comparisons that were thrust upon him after being drafted second overall.&ldquo;Oleg was supposed to be Bobby Orr and that was terribly unfair to ask of an 18-year-old coming into an expansion team,&rdquo; McNabb said. &ldquo;Now, he knows what it takes to be successful and his game has come together.&ldquo;Oleg is now just Oleg. He doesn&rsquo;t have to be someone else anymore.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-01

Former baby Duck returns grown up

<div class="byline">By Jason La Cantora</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01958/6931567-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="405" height="568"></div>Ted Leonsis, an America Online bigwig and the new majority owner of the Washington Capitals, has a vision for his club: 23 players boarding the team plane, each holding a briefcase containing a laptop computer.Leonsis gave his troops new laptops, complete with AOL accounts, of course, and hopes soon he&rsquo;ll have the most computer literate and technologically savvy team in the NHL (not to mention one capable of challenging for the Stanley Cup while turning a hefty profit). His coach, Ron Wilson, is a self-professed computer junkie. Two hours before each game you&rsquo;ll find he and his assistants, Tim Army and Tim Hunter, poring over scouting reports, game tapes and player evaluations, with little said beyond the odd wisecrack.The Capitals are already well ahead of the curve when it comes to gigabytes. Their challenge now is to put more bite into their attack and defense.The first month of the Leonsis regime was marked by some stirring victories, ugly defeats and the kind of talk that would make Bill Gates proud. The club, with a 5-8-2-1 record, was showing signs of improvement, but seven regulars hadn&rsquo;t scored, including center Andrei Nikolishin and defenseman Sergei Gonchar. The defense had just four goals, three by Calle Johansson, and was giving up more than three per game despite strong performances by goalie Olie Kolzig.Worse yet, on most nights the Capitals played soft, lacking size and grit on the wing, letting teams feast on them in the crease.&ldquo;They seem to like the fancy stuff,&rdquo; said one scout who watched three straight games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure everyone is buying into the system. The defense doesn&rsquo;t punish you-they like to jump in the holes and join the attack, but they&rsquo;re not very physical. They don&rsquo;t really grind it out. The great teams earn their goals along the boards.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02645/6931560-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="921" height="1148"><figcaption class="caption-body">Washington coach Ron Wilson and his players hope to find success by going to the (inter)net.</figcaption></div>But there are signs of life.After going winless in six straight contests, including a horrid four-game western road trip, they came home and knocked off the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs, the two hottest teams in the NHL at the time. They were stellar in the third period and got vital contributions from 25-year-old rookie Glen Metropolit, who rose up from humble beginnings, was never drafted and never played major junior. He had three goals and five points in five games after a recall from Portland of the American League.The line of Richard Zednik, Jan Bulis and Steve Konowalchuk has dominated since its opening shift, creating consistent chances off a furious forecheck. Bulis, 21, was the first center on the team to embrace Wilson&rsquo;s system-in which the pivot is the third man high&ndash;and is joining the forecheck at the most opportune times. He had seven goals and 12 points through 15 games.Konowalchuk, who missed 37 games due to injuries last season, has been the team&rsquo;s most dependable player and a strong physical presence in every game. He has chipped in four goals and 11 points.Right winger Peter Bondra, who slipped from 52 to 31 goals last season, had 10 through 15 games, many of them huge. Washington&rsquo;s penalty killing was worst in the NHL after two weeks, then denied 36 straight, including key four-minute penalties in third periods. Kolzig was rarely even tested while a man down. They stifled potent offensive teams such as the Los Angeles Kings, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Toronto and Ottawa.If you need further proof, take a gander at Wilson&rsquo;s computer. It&rsquo;s all in there. Virtually every piece of information any NHL coach could possibly want-plus a lot of stuff few would even think to monitor-is there.Wilson has scouting reports and ratings on more than 1,000 players and tendencies and reports on all NHL teams. He has video clips of forechecking, breakouts, neutral zone play, every nuance of the game, which the coaches edit and then view during chalk talks with the team. Might as well call them the Cyber Capitals.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve put a lot of time into it over the last 10 years,&rdquo; said Wilson, who started programming while playing in Europe.Now, if only it were as easy to program his players. &#9632;

f0024-01

Cyber Capitals try to get with program

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03421/6931598-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg"></div>(THROUGH GAMES Of NOVEMBER 11,1999) &#9632;

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TOP 100 OVERALL LEADERS

<div class="byline">By Cammy Clark</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02542/6931629-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="560" height="999"><figcaption class="caption-body">Teemu Selanne (Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01853/6931636-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="152" height="151"></div>Only a very special group of players have surpassed what Mighty Ducks of Anaheim right winger Teemu Selanne accomplished in his first 500 NHL games.Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull and Selanne&rsquo;s good friend, Jari Kurr are the only players to score more goals in their first 500 games than Selanne. In his 500th NHL game Nov. 7, Selanne scored his 321st goal in the Ducks&rsquo; 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.Gretzky had an incredible 448 goals with the Oilers in his first 500 games, followed by Bossy (395 with the New York Islanders), Lemieux (393 with the Pittsburgh Penguins), Brett Hull (386 with the Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues) and Kurri (339 with the Oilers).&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great confidence to do those things when you look at those guys,&rdquo; Selanne said. &lsquo;They&rsquo;re unbelievable hockey players.&ldquo;A lot of things have been good in my hockey career. First of all, I have played with great players. I&rsquo;ve been real lucky that every team I&rsquo;ve played on, I have big roles. Plus, I&rsquo;ve been lucky that only a few games each season I&rsquo;ve been hurt.&rdquo;At the 500-game mark, Selanne, last year&rsquo;s winner of the inaugural Maurice &lsquo;Rocket&rsquo; Richard Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s top goal-scorer with 47, also had 344 career assists to give him 665 career points (1.33 points per game).Selanne, who set the rookie goal record when he fired 76 as a Winnipeg Jet in 1992-93, said his days in Anaheim have gone by much quicker than they did when he played for the Jets because of the better traveling, weather and more time with family.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s easier here because we charter everywhere,&rdquo; Selanne said. &ldquo;The traveling was just crazy in Winnipeg. We never could go anywhere on a straight flight. Always Minnesota first, wait a couple of hours. It really killed us.&ldquo;And I (like) playing here in the sun and warm and I have a family here. I enjoy everything so much more.&rdquo;Selanne, 29, would like to play another 500 games if he can stay healthy and maintain his passion for the game.&ldquo;Nobody can play 1,000 games if they don&rsquo;t enjoy this game,&rdquo; he said.And, of course, he&rsquo;d like to capture a Stanley Cup championship in his next 500 games.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the one thing I really want to do most,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Jim McKenzie&nbsp;said he suffered a &ldquo;boxer&rsquo;s fracture, somewhere by the last knuckle,&rdquo; Nov. 9 after slamming his left hand into the glass. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not exactly known for my hands anyway,&rdquo; said a smiling McKenzie. &ldquo;Why not just throw something I can play with on it and let me go? This isn&rsquo;t going to affect my power play time.&rdquo;&hellip;Guy Hebert recorded the franchise&rsquo;s first shutout Dec. 15, 1993, a 1-0 victory in Toronto. The Ducks then went 0-6-4 in Toronto until Hebert recorded his 23rd shutout as a Duck and 24th of his career with a 2-0 victory over the Maple Leafs. &#9632;

f0025-02

NHL TEAMS

‘Finnish Flash’ Selanne joins elite goal-scoring company

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03350/6931702-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="424" height="427"></div>$25 to enter/$20 each additional entryMust be postmarked by Nov. 30, 1999Runs from December 1, 1999 to December 31, 1999<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04216/6931695-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="853" height="677"></div>Hey fantasy fans' are you ready for some hard hitting hockey? Well I have the best way to solve that problem. If you have never really watched hockey this is the best time to do so. Hockey is very exciting, very physical, and very fast.Here is a game that is simple for anyone to play. It doesn&rsquo;t matter if you watch a lot of hockey or very little. This is what you need to do. Choose one team per box for a total of 9 teams.This contest runs from December 1 to December 31. Then you pick the three best goal scorers you believe will score the most goals during this time for the tie breaker. The closest guess wins the tie.Scoring is as follows:For every win = 10 pts.Every goal scored = 1pt.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-05163/6931688-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="1077" height="427"></div>Circle one in each box:<h2>BOX 1</h2>San JoseTorontoOttawa<h2>BOX&nbsp;2</h2>Los AngelesDetroitPhiladelphia<h2>BOX 3</h2>PhoenixVancouverSt. Louis<h2>BOX 4</h2>New JerseyFloridaBoston<h2>BOX 5</h2>ColoradoAnaheimDallas<h2>BOX 6</h2>EdmontonNew YorkCarolina<h2>BOX 7</h2>Buffalo PittsburghCalgary<h2>BOX 8</h2>Tampa BayChicagoWashington<h2>BOX 9</h2>NashvilleAtlantaMontreal Long Island<h2>Guaranteed Prizes</h2>1st prize - $ 20002nd prize - $5003rd prize - $2504th prize - $1505th prize - $1006th through 10th prize - $50<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-06135/6931681-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="932" height="652"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-07123/6931674-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="2547" height="640"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-08108/6931667-1-eng-US/f0025-082.jpg" title="f0025-08" width="373" height="322"></div>Extreme Team Games is a registered trade name. Not affiliated with the National Hockey League or NHLPA. Must be 18 years or older to play. Void where prohibited. &#9632;

f0025-03

HOCKEY CHALLENGE

<div class="byline">By Jeff Schultz</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01937/6931733-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="154" height="155"></div>After winning only three of their first 13 games, several Atlanta Thrashers were feeling frustrated. But six weeks into an 82-game schedule, the frustration had not beaten down the subjects.&ldquo;Last year, I played on two teams that won their division, Carolina and Ottawa,&rdquo; said right winger Nelson Emerson. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s how it goes. Not everybody can be on first place hockey teams. But, coming into this, you knew it wasn&rsquo;t going to be easy.&rdquo;In a 4-1 loss against the Florida Panthers Nov. 10, the Thrashers allowed two power play goals and continued to rank near the bottom of the league in penalty-killing efficiency at 75.4 per cent. It has been the source of most of coach Curt Fraser&rsquo;s vents.But what is most distressing is their lack of scoring. Atlanta scored two or fewer goals in nine of 13 games, putting immense pressure on goalie Damian Rhodes. The Thrashers were 2-7-0-0 in those games.&ldquo;We know we&rsquo;re supposed to score,&rdquo; said Ray Ferraro. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s not because of a lack of effort. It&rsquo;s a big net and a little puck. It&rsquo;s just hard to get it in there sometimes.&rdquo;Defenseman Gord Murphy believes the team can pull some positives out of recent games.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s times like these when you have to stick together and dwell on the positives,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have the blatant mistakes in our zone (against Florida) where we gave up the easy goal. For the-most part, we battled hard and cleared the puck. We just have to find something to get us over the hump.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK:&nbsp;Center Patrik Stefan broke a seven-game point drought with a goal against Florida Nov. 10&hellip;Atlanta&rsquo;s best player through the first six weeks of the season was rookie defenseman Petr Buzek. After recovering from a horrific car wreck four years ago, he was one of the best skaters and most physical players. Through 13 games, he was tied for second on the team with three goals&hellip;Left winger Andrew Brunette was hot, scoring eight goals in 13 games, three short of his career-high for a season. &#9632;

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Unproductive beginning to first season hasn’t disgruntled Thrashers

<div class="byline">By Nancy Marrapsesa-Burrell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02623/6931764-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="151" height="148"></div>Joe Murphy&rsquo;s law, at least where the New York Rangers are concerned, goes something like this: You snooze, you lose.The unrestricted free agent right winger was believed to be close to signing a contract with the Rangers, the team he&rsquo;d been working out with for a week. Instead, Murphy felt the Rangers were dragging their feet, so he took the offer the Boston Bruins made him Nov. 12.Murphy will be paid $1 million in base salary, plus bonuses for goal-scoring that could add another $400,000. He made $3.8 million as a San Jose Shark last season.As fate would have it, the Bruins visited Manhattan to take on the Rangers Nov. 13, the day after Murphy signed his Boston deal.&ldquo;I came to New York with the word that they were going to do something with me when I got into New York,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;I was going to practice with the Rangers and doing their fitness and doing stuff with them.&ldquo;Basically, I tried to track (GM Neil Smith) down every day to try to get something done and I was risking my career by being out there. If I got hurt, I&rsquo;m not going to get a contract. My objective was to get a contract and get back to the league. I&rsquo;ve been sitting out for a while. (The Rangers) had me in here, they&rsquo;d seen me and I kept pressing the issue to get something done and I was just getting Up service.&rdquo;When Murphy was a Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; rookie, he roomed with a defenseman named Mike O&rsquo;ConneU. O&rsquo;Connell, now the Bruins&rsquo; assistant GM, pursued Murphy, who jumped at the chance.&ldquo;My life is hockey, I love to play this game and I didn&rsquo;t have a contract,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;I phoned (Rangers&rsquo; coach) John Muckier and I totally respect John Muckier. I am thankful for him letting me come in there, but I had the total risk. If it doesn&rsquo;t work out in New York, I&rsquo;m finished.&ldquo;I still pressed the issue to get something done, but I wasn&rsquo;t a priority. No team had offered me a contract until the Bruins did and that&rsquo;s what i&rsquo;m was looking for. I&rsquo;m very grateful and I&rsquo;m very excited. Boston was my favorite team growing up.&rdquo;Murphy, a 32-year-old native of London, Ont., had 25 goals and 48 points in 73 games with San Jose last season. His most productive season was 1991-92, when he had 35 goals and 82 points in 80 games with the Edmonton Oilers.NOTEBOOK: Center Jason&nbsp;Allison was benched for much of the second period of Boston&rsquo;s Nov. 11 game against Toronto. Allison, who missed two games because of an ailing right forearm prior to returning to the lineup against Buffalo Nov. 10, wasn&rsquo;t skating well and coach Pat Burns sat him down. Allison responded by setting up left winger Dave Andreychuk&rsquo;s tying goal in the third period. Boston won 4-3 in overtime&hellip;Goaltender Byron Dafoe picked up his second victory of the season against the Leafs and got his fourth start in a row when he took on the Rangers at Madison Square Garden Nov. 13. Dafoe missed the first month of the season as an unsigned restricted free agent. &#9632;

f0026-02

Murphy escapes from New York, signs one-year pact with Bruins

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03496/6931795-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="145" height="145"></div>The Buffalo Sabres are getting better.They are also getting younger.Fresh faces are still popping up in the lineup of one of the NHL&rsquo;s youngest teams the past few seasons (average age 26.3 at season&rsquo;s start; seventh-youngest in league). Some of them, notably goalie Martin Biron, defenseman Cory Sarich and now winger Maxim Afinogenov, also contributed to a winning streak.The Sabres had won five straight through Nov. 11. Biron, a 1995 first round draft pick, was in net for four of the five victories and was unbeaten since replacing Dominik Hasek full time. Sarich also played during the streak, while Afinogenov was called up from affiliate Rochester of the American League in time for a game against the Boston Bruins Nov. 10.The Russian rookie, whose style has been compared to Pavel Bure&rsquo;s, scored his first NHL goal and later picked up his first assist against the Bruins, prompting Sabres&rsquo; coach Lindy Ruff to declare the young winger a fixture in his lineup.&ldquo;He scores a goal and he sets up another one and he really gained confidence in the second half (of the game),&rdquo; Ruff said. &ldquo;I liked what I saw, he added a dimension to our team. I think everybody saw he improved in his own end. He&rsquo;s shooting the puck more instead of stickhandling all the time. He has really forced our hand.&rdquo;In more ways than one. It&rsquo;s expected the Sabres will either try to make a trade-perhaps a veteran or two for draft choices&ndash;or attempt to slide Domenic Pittis through waivers and back to Rochester. Pittis has had difficulty staying in the lineup, partly because of a variety of injuries and partly because of his lack of speed. The Sabres likely will lose Pittis if they do try to put him through waivers, but the way Afinogenov is playing they have to do something. Dixon Ward is coming off an injury (strained neck) and could also figure in a trade scenario. So might Brian Holzinger or Wayne Primeau.Afinogenov was leading rookie scorers in the AHL this season and was eighth overall with 15 points when he was called up. Ruff put him on a line with Curtis Brown and Michal Grosek and it performed well. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got some good balance on our top three fines and we have a good fourth fine that can give us some grit and be tough to play against, too,&rdquo; Ruff said.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Vaclav Varada notched his first goal in 46 regular season games when he lifted a floater past goalie Byron Dafoe in Buffalo&rsquo;s 6-2 win over Boston Nov. 10. Defensemen Alexei Zhitnik and Jay McKee and right winger Maxim Afinogenov also got their first goals of the season in that game&hellip;The SaGres had picked up their defensive play since goalie Dominik Hasek left the lineup with a groin tear. Goalie Martin Biron had a goals-against average of 2.30 and a .908 save percentage since he took over for Hasek. Overall, Biron was 6-1-0-0&hellip;Buffalo&rsquo;s power play was the league&rsquo;s third worst, having connected on just 11.6 percent of its chances. &#9632;</div>

f0026-03

Afinogenov may force moves thanks to strong start after recall

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02620/6931826-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="324" height="431"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Smith</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01929/6931833-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="148" height="147"></div>The really frustrating part, the development that bothered Steve Smith the most about his latest injury, was the fact he was just starting to feel good again.Smith, the Calgary Flames&rsquo; captain, dislocated his elbow in a 6-3 loss to the Florida Panthers Nov. 6.The injury occurred as Smith was trying to rub out Panthers&rsquo; center Rob Niedermayer along the boards. His elbow twisted so badly it was almost cartoonish. When he looked down at his hand to see if anything was broken, Smith discovered his hand pointing in the wrong direction.Smith described the feeling as the most pain he has ever experienced in his life. For someone who has endured a broken leg, a slashed neck, a dislocated shoulder and chronic back pain that requires daily maintenance, that&rsquo;s saying something.&ldquo;I can honestly say, I&rsquo;ve never gone through anything as painful as this,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;Beyond the pain, it was such a weird thing to look at. 1 looked to see if my fingers were moving&ndash;and they were-but my hand was bent completely the wrong way. It was a real gruesome feeling.&rdquo;Not much of anything has gone right for Smith this season. He missed all of the pre-season, recovering from an off-season ankle injury that became infected and didn&rsquo;t heal properly.Once the regular season began, Smith put himself into the lineup even though he wasn&rsquo;t 100 per cent. With his ankle swollen, he couldn&rsquo;t fully lace up his skates, inhibiting his on-ice mobility. Uncharacteristically, he was a team-worst minus-10 when he left the lineup.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>&ldquo;In the first 10 games, I really felt I was letting everybody down, myself included,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t playing well. I didn&rsquo;t feel good about my game.&ldquo;Then I changed skates. Graf custom-made a pair of skates for me. They were comfortable, but best of all, I was able to tie them up, which was so important. I don&rsquo;t care how good or bad a skater you are, if you can&rsquo;t tie them up, you can&rsquo;t play hockey.&ldquo;It just made a huge difference in how I was feeling. That&rsquo;s the unfortunate part. It was just starting to come around.&rdquo;Doctors put Smith&rsquo;s elbow in a moveable brace. He is expected to return to action around Christmas, but said he will begin skating as early as the beginning of December.NOTEBOOK: Calgary established a team record by winning their fifth overtime game of the season, a 4-3 verdict over San Jose Nov. 10. Through 16 games, Calgary boasted a 5-0-2 record in overtime. In games that lasted a regulation 60 minutes, they were 0-9. Under the new NHL standings, in which teams earn a single point for a regulation tie, it means the Flames had surrendered a point to their opponents in every game they&rsquo;ve played this season&hellip;That same night against San Jose, with his parents in the stands to see him play live for the first time, rookie defenseman Robyn Regehr scored his first NHL goal, on a long shot from the right point that squeezed between goalie Mike Vernon&rsquo;s pads&hellip;A rash of injuries to regular Flames' defensemen-Steve Smith. Denis Gauthier, Wade Belak-made it likely Regehr would stay on with the Flames for a long stretch. The 19-year-old Regehr can only play 10 NHL games before he loses a year of eligibility for the waiver and expansion drafts. Smith and Gauthier (shoulder) were expected to be out long-term. A concussion to Belak made his return date more cloudy. &#9632;

f0030-02

Smith suffers another injury in nightmare season

<div class="byline">By Cecil Harris</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03430/6931864-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="151" height="145"></div>Since scoring five goals in six playoff games for the Carolina Hurricanes last season, Ray Sheppard has been on the outside looking in at the NHL.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s ironic,&rdquo; he said with a chuckle. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m in the best shape of my career. I&rsquo;m down to 188 pounds and I played at 195 last year. I feel faster than ever, but I&rsquo;m not playing.&rdquo;Sheppard, 33, is an unrestricted free agent without a team. The only player in NHL history to score at least 20 goals for six different teams (the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres) was not re-signed by the offensive challenged Canes after he rejected a two-year, $3.4-million deal during the 1998-99 season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not bitter toward the Hurricanes,&rdquo; Sheppard said. &ldquo;(Coach) Paul Maurice gave me a lot of playing time and (GM) Jim Rutherford treated me great. It&rsquo;s just that teams are really trying to control players&rsquo; salaries now and I&rsquo;ve been caught in the middle.&rdquo; Sheppard denies reports that he&rsquo;s asking for $2 million a year. He says he has no asking price and he has had feelers from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sabres and Montreal Canadiens.Sheppard says he skates every morning in Florida and works out at a gym every afternoon, but he knows that&rsquo;s no substitute for being in game shape.&ldquo;After I sign with somebody, it would take me a while to get into the swing of things physically,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I know I can still play at a high level. I won&rsquo;t lose my skills for a long time. I guarantee it.&rdquo;Sheppard scored 25 goals for the Canes last season, second only to linemate Keith Primeau. That Primeau, a restricted free agent center, isn&rsquo;t playing because of a contract dispute is disappointing to Sheppard.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s too young not to be playing,&rdquo; Sheppard said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s too good not to be playing.&rdquo;Sheppard said he expects to be back in the NHL by December.NOTEBOOK: Center Ron Francis set three personal milestones during Canes' losses: He tied Mario Lemieux for sixth place on the all-time scoring list Oct. 22 in a 7-3 loss at Buffalo, tied Gordie Howe for fifth on the assists list Nov. 5 in a 3-2 loss to Detroit and passed Howe Nov. 11 during a 4-1 Philadelphia win&hellip;The loss to Philadelphia dropped Carolina below .500 for the first time this season&hellip; The lack of a consistent No. 3 center prompted coach Paul Maurice to switch rookie winger Tommy Westlund to the middle during a Nov. 3 loss to Toronto. But Westlund panned his performance Nov. 5 at Detroit, despite scoring his fust NHL goal in the game: &ldquo;I felt completely lost.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0030-03

Sheppard still sits on sideline

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04304/6931895-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="145" height="144"></div>Jocelyn Thibault is no stranger to adversity, having survived some difficult times as a French Canadian playing in his hometown of Montreal.But the way Thibault has started this season for the Chicago Blackhawks might be the low point of his career.Thibault went 1-6-3-0 through the Hawks&rsquo; first 15 games and was starting to lose playing time to backup Steve Passmore.In back-to-back starts at home Nov. 4 against the Buffalo Sabres and Nov. 10 against the Nashville Predators, Thibault never even made it out of the first period.&ldquo;Obviously, I&rsquo;m not playing the greatest hockey of my career,&rdquo; Thibault said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what to say.&rdquo;Thibault seemed to have everything going his way coming into the season. He was finally a clear-cut No. 1 goalie, expected to start upwards of 60 games, and had signed a new two-year contract worth $4.3 million.But Thibault struggled in the pre-season and got pulled on opening night in a 7-1 loss at San Jose. He did blank the Canadiens 1-0 in Montreal Oct. 27, but couldn&rsquo;t generate any momentum from that game.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very frustrating." Thibault said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get beat on the easy goals, but the puck seems to find a way to get in. I have to find a way to make the big save. That&rsquo;s my job. I&rsquo;m here to win games and play great every night.&rdquo;The coaching staff was bending over backwards to help Thibault rediscover his game. Goalie coach Vladislav Tretiak, normally in town from Moscow for only two weeks at a time, stayed nearly all of October to try to help Thibault get turned around.&ldquo;Joce has put a lot of pressure on himself,&rdquo; said coach Lome Molleken. &ldquo;His play, in my eyes, has been a tittle inconsistent, but we have the belief and trust in him that he&rsquo;s our No. 1 goaltender.&ldquo;His focus isn&rsquo;t on the puck right now. He&rsquo;s devastated by this. He&rsquo;s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Chicago&rsquo;s 0-6-3-1 start at home broke a 63-year-old club record&hellip;The Blackhawks traded defenseman Bryan Muir and left winger Reid Simpson to Tampa Bay for center Michael Nylander on Nov. 12&hellip; Attendance was getting worse and worse as the home losses mounted. Only 13,913 showed up for the Nashville game, making it the second-smallest crowd in two years&hellip;GM Bob Murray had only briefly resumed negotiations with defenseman Boris Mironov&rsquo;s agent, Paul Theofanous. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to pay him more than $9.6 million (over three years).&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m probably nuts for offering him that much." &#9632;</div>

f0030-04

Poor play frustrates Thibault

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02559/6931926-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="555" height="996"><figcaption class="caption-body">Patrick Roy (Claus Andersen/BBS)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01857/6931933-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="151" height="149"></div>On Y2K day. Patrick Roy may be bugged a little more than usual.That&rsquo;s the day the Colorado Avalanche goalie&rsquo;s no-trade clause expires.As a 34-year-old nearing the end of his career on a team with two promising young goalies, Roy knows it&rsquo;s not guaranteed he&rsquo;ll finish his career in Colorado. His contract is good through next season.&ldquo;I am not stupid,&rdquo; Roy toldThe Denver Post. &ldquo;I see things.&rdquo;What Roy sees is this: The Avs have talented young goalies Marc Denis and David Aebischer behind him and one of the three will have to be exposed in next year&rsquo;s NHL expansion draft. Barring a trade, the Avs will face a tough choice as to whom that will be.Does Colorado want to sacrifice Denis or Aebischer in the draft? Or would they rather trade Roy after Dec. 31 and likely get an established player or two, or a host of draft picks?&ldquo;I know they are going to have a tough choice to make,&rdquo; Roy said. &ldquo;One of us is going to have to go, probably, in the expansion draft.&rdquo;That Roy was concerned about a trade caused a furor in Denver, so much so the future Hall of Famer had to clarify his comments a couple of days later. Yes, a trade would be possible, Roy said, but, no, he&rsquo;s not losing a lot of sleep over it.&lsquo;The fear of being traded is there for every professional athlete in team sports,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But do I expect to be traded this year? No, I don&rsquo;t. I want to finish my career in Colorado.&rdquo;Unless the Avs go totally into the tank this season, a trade involving Roy is highly improbable. Still, after the season, there are no guarantees. The Avs have a tight-fisted new owner in Donald Sturm and Avs&rsquo; GM Pierre Lacroix always has an eye towards acquiring younger talent, either by trade or through the draft.What is also possible is Aebischer could be traded. The Swiss goalie likely would yield a high draft pick or an established player in return. Then the Avs wouldn't have to worry about whom to expose in the expansion draft.Roy is in his 15th NHL season, having won two Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens-in 1985-86 and 1992-93, capturing the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP both times&ndash;and another with Colorado in 1995-96. He had 418 career wins as of Nov. 12, 29 behind all-time leader Terry Sawchuk.NOTEBOOK: Captain Joe&nbsp;Sakic missed a game in Los Angeles Nov. 11&ndash;and a chance to get the two points he needed to get to the 1,000 mark-because of back spasms. The center&rsquo;s condition was listed as day-to-day&hellip;Center Peter Forsberg (off-season shoulder surgery) was slated to take contact drills for the first time during the Avs&rsquo; three-game road trip through L.A., Calgary and Vancouver. An early December return is anticipated&hellip; Defensemen Adam Foote and Jon Klemm returned from the injured list against die Kings Nov. 11, a game won by L.A. 5-2. &#9632;

f0031-02

Roy fears young stoppers, expansion draft threaten his Denver days

<a href="http://www.thnsupremepool.com">http://www.thnsupremepool.com</a>Point totals are for games through November 11, 1999<h2>FORWARD LINE #1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03405/6932118-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="453" height="312"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04303/6932111-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="444" height="314"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05244/6932104-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="444" height="316"></div><h2>FORWARD LINE #2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06204/6932097-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="450" height="316"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-07178/6932090-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="437" height="315"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-08150/6932083-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="446" height="318"></div><h2>FORWARD LINE #3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-09131/6932076-1-eng-US/f0031-092.jpg" title="f0031-09" width="453" height="318"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-10112/6932069-1-eng-US/f0031-102.jpg" title="f0031-10" width="443" height="316"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1194/6932062-1-eng-US/f0031-112.jpg" title="f0031-11" width="445" height="315"></div><h2>FORWARD LINE #4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1268/6932055-1-eng-US/f0031-122.jpg" title="f0031-12" width="453" height="318"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1355/6932048-1-eng-US/f0031-132.jpg" title="f0031-13" width="444" height="317"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1448/6932041-1-eng-US/f0031-142.jpg" title="f0031-14" width="445" height="314"></div><h2>DEFENSE PAIR #1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1543/6932034-1-eng-US/f0031-152.jpg" title="f0031-15" width="443" height="319"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1637/6932027-1-eng-US/f0031-162.jpg" title="f0031-16" width="442" height="318"></div><h2>DEFENSE PAIR #2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1734/6932020-1-eng-US/f0031-172.jpg" title="f0031-17" width="440" height="318"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1832/6932013-1-eng-US/f0031-182.jpg" title="f0031-18" width="440" height="318"></div><h2>DEFENSE PAIR#3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1927/6932006-1-eng-US/f0031-192.jpg" title="f0031-19" width="441" height="317"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-2025/6931999-1-eng-US/f0031-202.jpg" title="f0031-20" width="445" height="317"></div><h2>GOALTENDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-2120/6931992-1-eng-US/f0031-212.jpg" title="f0031-21" width="439" height="313"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-2220/6931985-1-eng-US/f0031-222.jpg" title="f0031-22" width="442" height="313"></div><h2>TEAM TRADES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-2318/6931978-1-eng-US/f0031-232.jpg" title="f0031-23" width="1308" height="540"></div><h2>Trading Rules/Deadlines</h2>&bull; During the regular season, you will have two opportunities to trade players. You can trade up to six players (one from each position) before each trading deadline. Each player you obtain must be from the same position and line as the player you drop. Once you trade players at a particular position before the trading deadline, the change is set and you cannot attempt to trade again at that position until the deadline passes. &bull; The first deadline is 9 PM CT, Tuesday November 30, 1999, with trades effective for games played on Wednesday, December 1, 1999. The second deadline is 9 PM CT, Monday, January 31, 2000, with trades effective for games played on Tuesday, February 1, 2000.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-2417/6931971-1-eng-US/f0031-242.jpg" title="f0031-24" width="1305" height="283"></div>NHLPA, National Hockey League Players&rsquo; Association and NHLPA logo arc trademarks of the NHLPA and arc used under license by CDM, Inc. CDM, Inc. is solely responsible for operating and administering The Hockey News Supreme Pool.<h2>GET YOUR STATS VIA THE INTERNET!</h2>Stats and standings are updated daily and are available via the Internet in lieu of receiving mailed reports. Call us toll-free at 1-800-787-5674 to set up Internet access for your team.Monthly Stat/Prize Periods1. October 1-October 31 2. November 1-November 30 3. December 1-December 31 4. January 1-January 31 5. February 1-February 29 6. March 1-March 31Overall Contest PeriodOctober 1 - April 9Mailed UpdatesIf you prefer to receive mailed reports, they will be sent the weeks of November 15,1999, January 17, 2000, and April 17, 2000.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-2515/6931964-1-eng-US/f0031-252.jpg" title="f0031-25" width="410" height="464"></div><h2>MAKE YOUR TRADES USING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING METHODS:</h2>PHONE: Call us toll-free at 1-800-787-5674INTERNET: Call us toll-free to setup Internet accessFAX: Fax completed tradingsheet to (314) 991-1564MAIL: Send completed tradingsheet to:THN Supreme Pool/CDM, Inc., 11756 Borman Or., Suite 220St. Louis, MO 63146 &#9632;

f0031-03

TRADING SHEET

<div class="byline">By Mike Hefka</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02631/6932149-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="326" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Nieuwendyk</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01921/6932156-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="154" height="148"></div>In the Dallas Stars&rsquo; system, even the Conn Smythe Trophy winner isn&rsquo;t given a mulligan.Joe Nieuwendyk found out expectations are high for the Stanley Cup champions and that poor performance will result in changes.After scoring just one goal in 11 games, Nieuwendyk was dropped from the second line and moved to the fourth. It was a not-so-subtle message Stars&rsquo; players are expected to be tough.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the winning business,&rdquo; said coach Ken Hitchcock when making the move. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t wait for yesterday&rsquo;s news to catch up to us. You better move on. There are some players who are really playing good and we&rsquo;ve got to reward them with ice time.&rdquo;Nieuwendyk didn&rsquo;t flinch when challenged. game,&rdquo; Nieuwendyk said. &ldquo;You just keep working hard and you deal with it.&rdquo;Nieuwendyk did just that. Playing on the fourth line, he was tallied two assists in a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues Nov. 9 and then scored a goal and added an assist in a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings Nov. 10. By the end of his two-game demotion, Nieuwendyk was not only back to his second line spot, he was being double-shifted so he could take a few spins with Mike Modano on his left wing.&ldquo;Joe really responded well and we needed that kind of leadership from him,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &lsquo;To me, confidence comes from emotional commitment on a shift-by-shift basis.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s one reason the Stars didn&rsquo;t put up a big fight when first-year NHL center Pavel Patera decided to return to the Czech Republic. After a slow start, Patera was assigned to the International League&rsquo;s Michigan K-Wings and refused to report. The Stars then suspended him and tried to figure out exactly what was going on with the center who speaks little English. After talking with Patera&rsquo;s agent Rich Winter, the Stars decided to allow Patera to end his contract and return to the Czech Republic.The Stars last season saw Pat Verbeek fight through reduced playing time to succeed, and saw Dave Reid and Tony Hrkac and Brian Skrudland fight through healthy scratches.&ldquo;Players face challenges every day and how they respond to those challenges is what&rsquo;s going to shape this team come playoff time,&rdquo; Hitch- cock said. &ldquo;Adversity can make you better, but only if you overcome it and learn from it.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Dallas GM Bob Gainey&nbsp;said the Stars were not interested in re-signing winger Pat Verbeek and had not talked to Verbeek since June. &ldquo;I like our right wing situation. I think we&rsquo;re good at right wing,&rdquo; Gainey said&hellip;Dallas still had not found permanent replacements for Verbeek, left winger Dave Reid and center Tony Hrkac. Right winger Chris Murray, left winger Jon Sim and center Roman Lyashenko were filling in&hellip;After going 29-8-4 at home last season, Dallas started the 1999-2000 season with a 4-4-1-0 record at Reunion Arena. During a 2-4-1-0 stretch, the Stars scored 10 goals&hellip; In games in which Dallas scored at least two goals, they were 8-2-1-0&hellip;Sim recorded his first two-goal game as an NHLer Nov. 9 against St. Louis, a 5-2 Dallas victory. Lyashenko tallied his first NHL point assisting on Sim&rsquo;s first goal&hellip;The Stars were hoping to have left winger jere Lehtinen (broken ankle) practising with the team by mid November and ready for game action by early December. Center Brian Skrudland was also scheduled to be ready in early December after recovering from a chest contusion. &#9632;

f0032-02

Nieuwendyk back on second line after short demotion

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05230/6932187-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="221" height="442"></div><h2>The Official Illustrated NHL History:&nbsp;From the Original Six to a Global Game</h2>By Arthur PincusThe only official NHL history&mdash;full of archival and modern-day color photos. Perfect for everyone, from diehard hockey buffs to the casual fan!9x11 &bull; &euro; 224 pagesHardback &bull; &euro; $36.95<h2>NHL Hockey: Official Fans&rsquo; Guide 2000</h2>By John MacKinnonPacked full of action photos, players' biographies, and all the stats you'll ever need, NHL Hockey: An Official Fans Guide 2000 is an indispensable tool for hockey fans everywhere.8&frac12; x11 &bull; &euro; 128 pagesHardback &bull; &euro; $23.95<h2>Crunch: A History of Fighting in the NHL</h2>By Kevin Allen, USA TodayHockey has become the toughest sport around. Crunch pays tribute to the big hitters, shotblockers, and bodycheckers&mdash;the "bad boys" of the NHL.6x9 &bull; &euro; 224 pagesHardback &bull; &euro; $22.95<h2>SPECIAL!</h2><h3>Official Rules of the NHL</h3>Buy any two of the above titles and receive Official NHL Rules 2000 FREE!!4x6 &bull; &euro; 160 pages Paperback &bull; &euro; $9.95TO ORDER, CALL 1-800-335-5323Triumph Books 601 South LaSalle Street Suite 500Chicago, IL60605 &#9632;

f0032-05

Free Official NHL Rules 2000

<div class="byline">By Chuck Carlton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03444/6932218-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="151" height="147"></div>Pat Verbeek was near his breaking point.Retirement soon may have been his only option without a serious offer from another team.&ldquo;I was just tired of sitting around-more anxious to play hockey than anything,&rdquo; Verbeek said. &ldquo;There comes a point you&rsquo;re thinking you might not play hockey again and adjust your life differently. 1 hadn&rsquo;t reached that point yet.&rdquo;Those worries are gone. The 35-year-old Verbeek signed a bonus-laden two-year contract worth a pro-rated $2.6 million with the Detroit Red Wings as an unrestricted free agent Nov. 10.He made his debut later that day in a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars, the team he had helped hoist the Stanley Cup last season.He remains popular in Dallas, where &ldquo;Sign Verbeek&rdquo; bumper stickers were a hot item this summer. But the Stars never offered him more than a one-year deal.When Detroit GM Ken Holland called Verbeek&rsquo;s agent Mike Gillis, things moved quickly. Detroit had lost forwards Brent Gilchrist, Kirk Maltby, Doug Brown and Joe Kocur to injuries.The Red Wings get is 35-year-old with 478 goals, 965 points and 2,665 penalty minutes in an 18-season NHL career, played with the New Jersey Devils, Hartford Whalers, New York Rangers and Dallas. He has earned the goals and the PIMs, along with a nickname&ndash;given by his Ranger teammates &ndash; &lsquo;Little Ball of Hate.&rsquo;&ldquo;Part of it (is) I have small man&rsquo;s disease,&rdquo; Verbeek said. &ldquo;That may be why I&rsquo;m like that. It&rsquo;s a style I developed. I&rsquo;m pretty intense when it comes to playing. And when it comes to my size, I&rsquo;ve always had to prove I was tough enough to play.&rdquo;Verbeek has scored 40 goals five times and had 31 in 1997-98 with Dallas. Last season, he scored 17, with the signing of Brett Hull and the development of Jamie Langenbrunner cutting into his ice time.NOTEBOOK: While center Steve Yzerman and right winger Martin Lapointe were cleared in an incident involving a TV cameraman during Detroit&rsquo;s game in Tampa Bay Nov. 7, coach Scotty Bowman was fined $1,000. He acknowledged pushing cameraman Richard Delaney after the second period, but only enough to get past a congested hallway blocked by a large equipment cart &ldquo;The biggest punishment is this story has been all the way around the world and there&rsquo;s no truth to it,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve gotten e-mails from friends and acquaintances asking me how come I&rsquo;m picking on a cameraman.&rdquo;&hellip;Detroit has begun negotiations on a contract extension with 38-year-old center Igor Larionov. &#9632;

f0032-03

‘Little Ball of Hate’ now a Wing

<div class="byline">By Robert Tychkowski</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04305/6932249-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="157" height="149"></div>Alex Selivanov, who didn&rsquo;t seem long for the Edmonton Oilers when the season began, is suddenly making it very difficult for GM Glen Sather to get rid of him.It&rsquo;s an about-face from his tenuous grip in training camp, when his reputation for taking nights off, his $1.7&ndash;million salary and the fact he spent much of last season in the doghouse made him an obvious candidate for the trading block. After all, finishing ninth in club scoring (14 goals, 33 points in 72 games) and being the third-highest paid forward (behind Doug Weight and Bill Guerin) just doesn&rsquo;t add up in small-market Edmonton.But Selivanov caught fire early, kept fanning the flames and now Edmonton&rsquo;s runaway scoring leader seems like a bargain. While big ticket stars such as Weight ($4.3 million) and Guerin ($2.5 million) struggled to find the net, Selivanov was on a rampage. He had scored 10 times on his way to 13 points in his first 15 starts.With a quarter of the season nearly gone, he had accounted for 27 per cent (10 of 37) of Edmonton&rsquo;s goals.&ldquo;I feel pretty good,&rdquo; said Selivanov, who became an Oiler in a three-way exchange of headaches with the Tampa Bay Lightning (who got Alexandre Daigle) and Philadelphia Flyers (Andrei Kovalenko) last January. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good start for me. This year is much better than last year. This year the coaches have more trust and I&rsquo;m getting lots of ice time. If they believe in you, you believe in yourself.&rdquo;Selivanov&rsquo;s reputation for coasting is well-earned and he isn&rsquo;t going to wipe the slate clean in two months, but there&rsquo;s no arguing with his production.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s doing his best to fit in and play the way we&rsquo;d hoped he&rsquo;d play,&rdquo; said coach Kevin Lowe, who wanted better defense and more emotion from the 28-year-old.Selivanov scored a career-high 31 goals with Tampa in 1995-96, but hasn&rsquo;t had more than 16 in a season since.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Rem Murray underwent successful surgery Nov. 10 to repair a tom MCL in his right knee. Murray is expected to be out until mid-January, which will seem like an eternity since he hurt his knee in only his second game back after missing a month with a separated shoulder. &ldquo;The worst part of it is watching the team play on the road,&rdquo; said teammate Ryan Smyth. &ldquo;He has been doing that for the last month already and now he has three months ahead of him.&rdquo;&hellip;Right winger Pat Falloon, who played all 82 games last season and finished fourth in club scoring, was a healthy scratch in eight of Edmonton&rsquo;s first 16 games. &#9632;

f0032-04

Surprising Selivanov strikes Oil

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02565/6932280-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="556" height="997"><figcaption class="caption-body">Trevor Linden (Andre Pichete/BBS)</figcaption></div>NHL TEAM REPORTS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01831/6932287-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="152" height="157"></div>It&rsquo;s hunting season in Quebec-which is bad news for ducks, rabbits, deer and GMs of struggling hockey teams.The Rejean Houle Watch has started. It appears to be only a matter of time before the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; beleaguered GM, who had no experience when he was hired four years ago, is fired.This once-mighty franchise was 4-12-1-1 and had scored more than two goals in just three of 17 games. The Canadiens were 28th in a 28-team league, making them worse than the expansion Atlanta Thrashers, Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders.Worse, Houle has lost the confidence of the rabid Montreal media, which might ultimately prove to be the kiss of death. Veteran Montreal Gazette hockey writer Red Fisher, while appearing on a Hockey Night in Canada intermission segment, called the Canadiens an embarrassment and said the time to make changes was now. Bertrand Raymond, a hockey columnist with Le Journal de Montreal, compared Houle with Pierre Gauthier, also hired four years ago to resurrect the Ottawa Senators. Gauthier, now with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, is competent, Raymond wrote, while Houle demonstrably is not.Houle had earlier said the Canadiens were rebuilding and had started the process last season by trading away forwards Mark Recchi and Vincent Damphousse, while allowing defenseman Stephane Quintal to leave as a free agent. But then last June the GM traded a first round draft choice (10th overall) to the Islanders for Trevor Linden, compounding matters by spending $15 million (U.S.) on a player whose best days are behind him.Houle has refused comment. Canadiens&rsquo; coach Alain Vigneault, whose team went nine games without a victory before edging Anaheim 2-1 Nov. 11, has criticized the media for its barrage, suggesting it has created one more distraction.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re all in this together,&rdquo; Vigneault said. &ldquo;Reggie has discussed all the decisions he&rsquo;s made and we&rsquo;ve reached an agreement.&rdquo;While the players have wondered when Houle will make his next move, they have exonerated him.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re the ones who have to do it on the ice,&rdquo; said captain Saku Koivu.NOTEBOOK: Coach Alain Vigneault believes Russian defenseman Igor Ulanov is one of the toughest players ever to wear the Canadiens' uniform. Vigneault arrived at that opinion after Ulanov declared himself fit to play against Pittsburgh Nov. 10-only six days after suffering a hairline fracture in his foot after blocking a blast by New Jersey blueliner Scott Stevens&hellip;Unhappy with his team&rsquo;s anemic offensive output, Vigneault recalled forwards Oleg Petrov and Jesse Belanger from the Canadiens&rsquo; American League affiliate in Quebec City. &#9632;

f0033-02

Habs’ GM Houle faces criticism after team’s awful opening

<div class="byline">By David J. Neal</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01931/6932318-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="154" height="147"></div>The goalless start to the season by Florida Panthers&rsquo; captain Scott Mellanby stretched so long, he started to playfully ask reporters when they would start interrogating him about it.But Mellanby got a big hint a change was going to come Nov. 9. He killed a field mouse in National Car Rental Center. Sure enough, he scored two goals the following night against the Atlanta Thrashers.Four years ago before the home opener at Miami Arena, Mellanby killed a rat by one-timing it against the wall. He went out and scored two first period goals, prompting goalie John Vanbiesbrouck to quip that Mellanby missed a hat trick, but got a &ldquo;rat trick.&rdquo;Thus began &lsquo;The Year of the Rat.&rsquo; When Mellanby continued on a hot streak to start the season, fans began throwing plastic rats onto the ice when-ever the Panthers scored.It&rsquo;s a different scene these days for Mellanby, the club&rsquo;s all-time leader in goals (119), assists (136) and points (255). He is no longer on the No. 1 line and missed three games with a concussion after smacking his head against the rear boards in Montreal Oct. 12.Mellanby, who scored 18 goals and 45 points last season, had managed just three assists this year until the mouse and the third period of the win over Atlanta.&ldquo;I saw (the puck) sitting there and 1 went hard for it,&rdquo; he said of the first goal, a lucky one after a point shot caromed off two skates and sat in the crease until he whacked it in. &ldquo;Sometimes you let up, thinking there&rsquo;s no way it&rsquo;ll still be there. I was lucky, but I&rsquo;ll take it.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger Ray Whitney. who&rsquo;s in the second of a two-year contract, had a three-game goal-scoring streak snapped against Atlanta Nov. 10, but picked up three assists. Commenting on Whitney&rsquo;s play, Panthers&rsquo; coach Terry Murray quipped, &ldquo;M ust be a contract year or something.&rdquo;&hellip;Sources told The Miami Herald that team owner H. Wayne Huizenga wanted to sell the team. He is worried about the lack of a salary cap on skyrocketing NHL salaries. &#9632;

f0034-01

Mellanby breaks out of goal drought after chance meeting with mouse

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02646/6932349-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="156" height="151"></div>Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center Len Barrie remembered his last NHL goal as if it were, well, 4 &frac12; years ago.Because it was.&ldquo;It has been a while,&rdquo; said Barrie, after beating Patrick Roy in the Kings&rsquo; 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche Nov. 11 for his first NHL goal since March 24, 1995, while he was a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to get it.&rdquo;Barrie, a veteran minor-leaguer who spent two seasons in Europe before signing with the Kings as a free agent last summer, is seizing the opportunity which arose when center Jozef Stumpel was forced to undergo hernia surgery. Barrie had been skating with the Kings&rsquo; top affiliate, the International League&rsquo;s Long Beach Ice Dogs.Playing between Vladimir Tsyplakov and Ziggy Palffy, Barrie was determined to keep the team&rsquo;s fast start going despite the losses of Stumpel until January and left winger Luc Robitaille until mid-December.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been waiting 10 years for an opportunity like this,&rdquo; said Barrie, 30. &ldquo;Anytime I&rsquo;ve played in the NHL, it has been on the fourth line.&rdquo;Losing Stumpel and Robitaille within a 24-hour span could have been devastating to the Kings. But unlike last season, when they went into a 2-10-1 tailspin in November and never recovered, they seem determined this season to get by on grit, character and defense until their big scorers return.&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s got to step up a little bit.&rdquo; said Tsyplakov, who tied a career-high with his two-goal game against Colorado. &ldquo;We lost two stars and that&rsquo;s difficult for any team. Everybody has got to pick it up and play harder.&rdquo;Tsyplakov attributed much of his success to Palffy, whose work ethic is as impressive as his dazzling offensive skills.&ldquo;The game is much easier when you play with superstars,&rdquo; Tsyplakov said.Kings&rsquo; coach Andy Murray said he has been pleased with the team&rsquo;s reaction to adversity and how most players have lifted their games a notch. However, he wasn&rsquo;t prepared to relax his standards, no matter if Robitaille and Stumpel are missing.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking for shift-by-shift consistency,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;We have this thing we talk about, that your next shift may be the most important. We want everyone to keep that in mind.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: As if the injuries to left winger Luc Robitaille and center Jozef Stumpel weren&rsquo;t enough for the Kings to worry about, they got a scare Nov. 9 when goalie Stephane Fiset was hit in the right hand twice during warmups and couldn&rsquo;t play because the hand swelled up so badly. Jamie Storr stepped in and made 28 saves in a 1-1 tie with Edmonton and was in net two nights later in a win over Colorado to give him a 3-0-1-0 record this season&hellip;The win over Colorado was the Kings&rsquo; 10th in 18 games. Last season, they needed 33 games to record 10 victories&hellip;With a 10-4-4-0 record, the Kings were at their highest point above .500 since April 16, 1998, when they were 38-32-11. &#9632;

f0034-02

Barrie makes most of first line job after injuries hobble Palffy’s pals

<div class="byline">By Jell Legwold</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03506/6932380-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="151" height="148"></div>It&rsquo;s all about rhythm, flow and opportunity. But it&rsquo;s also about doing what is asked of you and making the best of things.That seems to be Greg Johnson&rsquo;s on-ice world these days. An offense-minded player, the Nashville Predator has spent most of this season in a defensive posture.&ldquo;I still feel the strength of my game is creating plays with the puck,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But so far I&rsquo;ve been in a defensive role and I&rsquo;m doing it with two great players a lot of the time. I have to try and get better chances in those responsibilities. You have to do whatever they think is needed to help the team win.&rdquo;Johnson, who was the club&rsquo;s second-leading scorer in 1998-99 with 16 goals and 50 points in 68 games, has spent much of this year centering the team&rsquo;s checking line between right winger Scott Walker and captain Tom Fitzgerald.The posting was due to coach Barry Trotz&rsquo;s search for a better matchup against opponents&rsquo; top lines. The result has been Johnson&rsquo;s offensive output, as well as his scoring chances, were down dramatically.The Thunder Bay, Ont., native had two goals and seven points in the team&rsquo;s first 13 games.&ldquo;Thinking about offense has been more secondary for me this season, but that just means I&rsquo;m doing something a little differently in terms of my role,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;And to produce consistently on offense, you have to be in that role, you have to play on the power play, be working towards those kinds of chances.&rdquo;While Johnson has always been a quality two-way center with good speed, the specific duties of a checking line center are new to him.&ldquo;Without a doubt, when you&rsquo;re playing with offense in mind, there is a rhythm to your game,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;That changes somewhat for me in a defensive role, but I have to do a better job there as well. There is no reason I can&rsquo;t fulfill my responsibilities and also get more chances.&rdquo;Nashville, who does not have the same depth on defense as they do among their forwards, are always looking for ways to reduce the number of shots goaltenders Mike Dunham and Tomas Vokoun have to face.Trotz has said one of those ways was to ask Johnson, Walker and Fitzgerald &ldquo;to play the tough assignments.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: It came from an unlikely source, but Nashville forward Rob Valicevic made franchise history with the Predators' first hat trick. Valicevic. who made his NH L debut last year at age 27. scored three goals in the first period against Chicago Nov. 10. The three goals came in a 12-minute span. He had just five career NHL goals up to that point&hellip;Defenseman Bill Houlder, claimed off waivers from Tampa Bay, immediately became Nashville&rsquo;s most experienced and highest-paid defenseman. The 32-year-old had played in 544 games and will make $1,325 million this season. At 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, he adds bulk on the blueline, which Nashville desperately needs. &#9632;

f0034-03

Johnson making music as checker as Trotz seeks defensive stability

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05319/6932425-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="466" height="126"></div>Being an NHL trainer means being part medic, part psychologist. knee playing pickup hockey. You&rsquo;d like to be part soothsayer, too, and be able to read into the future, but nobody can predict when guys are going to get hurt. It&rsquo;s aggravating for trainers and players when a player rehabs an injury for weeks, diligently going for treatment, then he gets hurt when he returns. Case in point: Florida Panthers&rsquo; winger Peter Worrell, who sprained one knee, missed some action, then sprained the other one on a fluke play in his second game back. &ldquo;He came back and played against the Islanders and made an impact,&rdquo; said Panthers&rsquo; trainer Stan Wong. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t fight, but almost scored a goal and made his presence felt. He really skated well and felt great. In the next game, on the first shift in Buffalo, he was straddling the blueline and hurt the other knee.&rdquo;The worst thing about sports injuries is you&rsquo;re always up against the calendar as a player and a trainer. It&rsquo;s not like a stockbroker spraining his&nbsp;If the knee doesn&rsquo;t come around in a month or six weeks, so what? You can still work. Not a player. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re always working with people who&rsquo;ll get better but time is a big factor,&rdquo; Wong said. &lsquo;The players really feel it, and sometimes there&rsquo;s an unjustified amount of pressure that a guy puts on himself to get back as soon as possible.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04393/6932418-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="367" height="419"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan WongHead TrainerFlorida Panthers</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s hard when you&rsquo;re paid to play, not be tied to a training table. &lsquo;The older a player gets the more reasonable he becomes (with treatment),&rdquo; Wong said. &lsquo;They realize the price is high on reinjury. When I met Dave Poulin in Washington he had a saying I&rsquo;ve never forgotten. He said &lsquo;Stan, the hard way is the easy way.&rsquo; By that he meant, if you do the treatment right the first time (and put in the effort to get well), you won&rsquo;t have to do it over many times.&lsquo;There&rsquo;s no guarantees. Look at Peter. You can be 100 per cent (healthy after treatment) and something else gives out. There&rsquo;s freaks of nature.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06284/6932411-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="543" height="211"></div>P0WERBAR&hellip;THE ENERGY TO PERFORM &#9632;

f0034-05

FROM THE FLORIDA PAHTHERS’ LOCKER ROOM:

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01882/6932456-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="141" height="145"></div>kOn a team that spent the first six weeks of the season complaining about contracts, requesting trades and blaming its inconsistency on injuries and ever-changing line combinations, rookie center Scott Gomez was the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; brightest light.Just 15 games into his NHL career, Gomez was the team&rsquo;s leading scorer with three goals and 15 points. He has served notice that he will be a serious Calder Trophy candidate. And he did it all with a smile.At 19, Gomez quickly became one of the most popular players in the Devils&rsquo; dressing room.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good player,&rdquo; said goalie Martin Brodeur."He&rsquo;s young and he appreciates whatever happens to him right now. Everybody on this team is happy about what is happening to Gomer.&rdquo;Gomez has immediately clicked with re-acquired winger Claude Lemieux.&ldquo;He has great hands,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;He sees the ice very well. I didn&rsquo;t even know he was 19. It&rsquo;s fun playing with a young guy like that.&rdquo;The Devils&rsquo; second pick (27th over-all) in the 1998 entry draft, Gomez has excelled as a playmaker.&ldquo;I take pride in my passing,&rdquo; Gomez said. &ldquo;I always liked setting people up.&rdquo;Although he was under-utilized much of the time as a fourth line center after starting the season at left wing, Gomez was on pace to break the club&rsquo;s rookie record for assists (42) and points (63), established by Kevin Todd in 1991-92.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m living a dream right now,&rdquo; Gomez said. &ldquo;Playing in the NHL, especially on a winning team. It&rsquo;s a blast.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Randy McKay returned from a three-game suspension for slashing Philadelphia defenseman Ulf Samuelsson by scoring a goal in a victory over the Flyers Nov. 9&hellip;Owner John Mc-Mullen on the return of Claude lemieux: &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t so improbable. We never lost our fondness for him. (GM) Lou (Lamoriello) and I talked about this for some time. In the heat of battle, those things (contract problems) happen. I think he&rsquo;s glad to be back. He never lost his fondness for the place.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

f0035-01

Gomez winning friends, influencing Devils with torrid start to career

<div class="byline">By Anthony McCarron</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02632/6932487-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="148" height="146"></div>Josh Green was brooding and furious as he walked out of Nassau Coliseum lugging his sticks in late September. The 22-year-old left winger had been impressive for the first three days of training camp, but then &ldquo;faded,&rdquo; as New York Islanders&rsquo; coach Butch Goring put it.Green was bound for the Isles&rsquo; American League affiliate in Lowell. He left with his gut churning over his blown chance and the frustration carried over into the first nine games of the minor league season as he had just one goal.Green knew he had taken his chance to make the team for granted, believing he was a lock for the Isles after playing 27 games with the Los Angeles Kings last season before coming to Long Island as part of the Ziggy Palffy trade.&ldquo;I assumed good chances of staying,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;And I got away from things I had done last year-playing consistently, physically.&rdquo;After stewing for a few weeks, Green resolved to turn himself around. It worked so well Goring was glowing over reports from Lowell on Green and called him up Nov. 8. Green had recorded five goals and seven points in 15 minor league games.Green made sure the impression he left on Goring this go-round was vastly different than the one from training camp. In his Isles&rsquo; debut against the Carolina Hurricanes Nov. 10, he clanged a shot off the post in the first period before cashing in late in the third period, scoring what proved to be the winning goal.&ldquo;To get the call is great and to contribute is icing on the cake,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to go back to Lowell.&rdquo;If he continues to play the way he did against the Hurricanes, Green might as well go apartment hunting right now.&ldquo;There are a lot of things to like about Josh Green,&rdquo; Goring said. &ldquo;He was shooting the puck and that was something we keep stressing to him. We want to reward the guys who work hard in the minors and he did. He must have taken us at our word when we told him he needed to create, drive the net, shoot and play physical. If he continues to do it, he&rsquo;ll be a hard guy to get out of here.&rdquo;Once Green made the lineup, it meant that every player the Isles got from the Kings in the trade was playing in the NHL. Green joined defenseman Mathieu Biron and forward Olli Jokinen.NOTEBOOK: Even though the Isles were playing steady hockey through early November, captain Kenny Jonsson often looked glum. The reason? &ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;m worrying too much or putting too much pressure on myself and not being satisfied with the type of game I&rsquo;ve played,&rdquo; Jonsson said&hellip;Coach Butch Goring had repeatedly said he was behind struggling right winger Mark Lawrence, who hadn&rsquo;t scored in 13 games. But Goring also acknowledged the clock might be ticking. &ldquo;For Larry, as long as he&rsquo;s getting chances, he&rsquo;s OK,&rdquo; Goring said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just not getting any in the net.&rdquo; Said Lawrence: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not worried about it. I know it&rsquo;s going to come. But I need to get a goal here soon.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

f0035-02

Green capitalizes on second chance following training camp demotion

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpinlello</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03514/6932518-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="141" height="146"></div>Not only had the New York Rangers fallen to four games under .500, not only had they failed to win 12 of 17 games, but they had hit bottom. A team that had earlier been shut out three straight games now was blowing a two-goal, third-period lead in a 4-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators Nov. 10.No matter what people thought about their roster and how many reasonable excuses there might have been, there was no excuse for them to be this bad.And so there was little question coach John Muckier&rsquo;s job was hanging by the slimmest of threads. Yet the Rangers saved their coach, at least for the moment, by coming from behind three times, getting the tying goal with 19 seconds left in regulation and the winner in overtime from Tim Taylor to beat the Washington Capitals Nov.Muckier, though, said he was not worried about his job security.&ldquo;No, I have all the confidence in the world in myself and in the team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Things were good. The attitude of the players. Practices were good. They&rsquo;ve got the Work ethic back. They&rsquo;re playing with urgency now. The passion is back in the game.&rdquo;But in the course of a month, with a season going down the drain, a coach can lose his team and his job.Sometimes teams stand up and make a statement about how they feel about the coach.Mike Richter, second among the Rangers in seniority, said the coach should not be held responsible for the shape of the team.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been part of that before and you can&rsquo;t help but take responsibility,&rdquo; Richter said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nothing anybody wants to go through at all. You don&rsquo;t dwell on those things, but everybody&rsquo;s job is not secure when things are not going well.&rdquo;Added Brian Leetch: &ldquo;He has given us chances to get together and talk about it as a group and then he has come in and said, &lsquo;This is wrong, this is wrong and this is what you&rsquo;ve been doing right and we&rsquo;ve got to keep doing this,&rsquo; pointing out the things that were positive.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what our team needs right now because we&rsquo;ve been beating on ourselves a lot individually and we&rsquo;ve got to find a way to get something positive and he has been really trying to do that.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Rangers were stunned and angry at right winger Joe Murphy, an unrestricted free agent who called coach John Muckier and GM Neil Smith to ask them for a job, agreed to an incentive-filled, one-year, $800,000-deal, spent part of a week working out with the team and then decided to sign with Boston&hellip; Goalie Mike Richter stopped Washington right winger Richard Zednik on a penalty shot Nov. 11, giving him a remarkable 10-for-11 record on penalty shots in his career&hellip;Defenseman Kevin Hatcher was a healthy scratch for two consecutive games&hellip;The Rangers&rsquo; power play continued to hit new lows. It was 4-for-76 for the season, including 0-for-35 on the road. &#9632;</div>

f0035-03

Blueshirts struggle early in season, but Muckier feels job still secure

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04411/6932549-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg"></div>Since starting hockey at the age of five, Michael Sorrenti has yearned to make it to the top level. The 10-year-old resident of Nepean, On, tried out for and made the local Raiders this season despite the fact his team mates are a year older than him. Always ready to play and competitive, Michael is at his best digging loose pucks out of corners and trying to set up linemates. His most memorable moment this season was scoring his first goal. Michael is also keen on maintaining his high grades at school.<h2>EASTON STATS</h2>Name: MICHAEL SORRENTIHometown: NEPEAN, ONT.Age: 10Height: 4&rsquo;10&rdquo;Grate: 5&nbsp;Team: NEPEAN RAIDERSSchool: ST. PARTICK ELEMENTARY&nbsp;Favorite Player: SHAWN MCEACHERNFavorite Team: OTTAWA SENATORSIf you wish to enter a youth in the Easton Minor Hockey Showcase, please send a school photograph (non-returnable), along with biographical information on the player (name, age, height, present team, statistics, coach&rsquo;s name, school, grade, other activities enjoyed, favorite NHL team and player). Tell us why you feel this person should receive consideration along with any other hockey experiences of interest. Please include your name, address and phone number so we can contact you if this player is chosen.Each youth selected will receive a gift from The Hockey News and Easton. At the end of the year, The Hockey News and Easton will select from all entries received an overall Canadian and American Minor Hockey Player of the Year. One of the gifts the year end winners will receive is a one week Resident Program Scholarship to Huron Hockey School. Send all entries to:The Hockey News, Attention: Easton Minor Hockey Showcase, 777 Bay Street, Ste 2700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M 5G 2N1<h2>HP225 Youth Hockey Pant</h2>For the youth player who demands serious protection. Pre-curved protective plastics offer optimal protection in the kidney and thigh areas while a 2" panel provides for maximum comfort. With a 210 denier covering, the pant is durable enough to withstand the rigors of junior hockey.There are no o&rsquo;s in Jeff Riman&rsquo;s name, but there are plenty of O&rsquo;s in his statistical line. The eight-year-old resident of New Hope, Minn., was a shot-blocking ace for the Cooper Hawks last season. In his second year at the mite level, Jeff had five shutouts and a 15-6-5 record during the 1989-99 season. Coach Mike Delesha said Jeff was a very key member of the Hawks. When he takes off his goaltending mask, Jeff likes to roll around on his in-line skates and is an active member of the cub scouts.<h2>EASTON STATS</h2>Name: JEFF RIMANHometown: NEW HOPE, MINNESOTAAge: 8Height: 4&rsquo;8&rdquo;Grade: 3&nbsp;Team: COOPER HAWKS MITESSchool: ZACHARY LANE ELEMENTARY&nbsp;Favorite Player: MARK RECCHIFavorite Team: PHILADELPHIA FLYERS &#9632;

f0035-04

MINOR HOCKEY SHOWCASE

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01839/6932580-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="150" height="145"></div>Just when the Ottawa Senators thought they had ended their search for a veteran defenseman, they were forced to start all over again.Only 48 hours after signing Bobby Dollas to a two-year deal to help replace the injured SamiSalo and Igor Kravchuk, the Senators had the 34-year-old blueliner snatched up on waivers by the Calgary Flames Nov. 11.The Senators took a risk by putting Dollas-who made his debut in a Nov. 10 win over the New York Rangers-through waivers and paid the price.GM Marshall Johnston is working on a couple of possibilities.The most likely scenario is to sign another free agent. Johnston he has held talks with the agents for veteran NHLers Marty McSorley and Gerald Diduck and has brought in Grant Ledyard for a tryout.The other option is to make a deal. The Senators have held talks with the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks, but Johnston admitted there&rsquo;s not much available on the trade market.&ldquo;It seems like everybody is looking for defensemen and the teams that have defensemen want to keep them,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;We were trying to get depth defensemen for the organization and we couldn&rsquo;t even do that.&ldquo;If you can&rsquo;t do that, it&rsquo;s going to be even tougher to get an NHL defenseman.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Ottaw a acquired left winger Colin Forbes from Tampa Bay in exchange for center Bruce Gardiner Nov. 11. Gardiner had been a healthy scratch three times this season and had fallen into coach Jacques Martin&rsquo;s doghouse&hellip;Pittsburgh Penguins owner Mario Lemieux has thrown his support behind the Senators and their decision to suspend holdout center Alexei Yashin for the balance of the season. &ldquo;When you have a contract in hand you have to play,&rdquo; said Lemieux. &ldquo;If you want to renegotiate your contract during the regular season, it&rsquo;s not by sitting at home that you negotiate.&rdquo; &hellip;Senators&rsquo; coach Jacques Martin, troubled by a bulging disc, was unable to skate for a week and had difficulty standing behind the bench. &#9632;

f0036-01

Sens sign then lose Dollas, still weak on thin blueline

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03475/6932611-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="319" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sandy McCarthy</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02577/6932618-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="145" height="144"></div>The list of Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; enforcers in the '90s is a long and colorful one. It&rsquo;s also a low scoring one.In fact, none of the cast-which included Dave Brown, Daniel Lacroix, Craig Berube, Scott Daniels, Dan Kordic and Shawn Antoski-ever reached double-digit goals in a season.But that streak might be coming to an end.Sandy McCarthy, who along with Berube keeps law and order in Philadelphia these days, is trying to make himself into a legitimate player.His goal in a 4-1 win over Carolina Nov. 11 put him on pace for about 14 this season, which would be a career high. His current best is nine.McCarthy worked hard on his skating in the off-season. He attended a skating camp in British Columbia, then spent time working out with fitness and conditioning coaches at the Flyers&rsquo; training base in South Jersey.Coach Roger Neilson rewarded him with a regular shift on Daymond Langkow&rsquo;s third line and McCarthy hasn&rsquo;t disappointed. He&rsquo;s been one of the most consistent players in a down-and-up season for the Flyers.&ldquo;I try and improve myself every summer,&rdquo; McCarthy said. &ldquo;When you see the results, it makes you more confident. I&rsquo;ve always tried to prove to people that 1 was good enough to be here as a player, not just as a fighter.&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>Guys who can throw their bodies and their fists, plus throw in the occasional big goal, are as good as gold nuggets.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a presence on the ice,&rdquo; said Mark Recchi. &ldquo;For a big guy, he&rsquo;s got good hands.&rdquo;McCarthy even has been getting some playing time on the Flyers&rsquo; power play.&ldquo;He can score around the net,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s one thing about him that people don&rsquo;t realize.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Left winger John LeClair continued his strong comeback from a slow start. After notching just four goals in 12 games, LeClair scored six in his next six to get back into the NHL goal scoring race. LeClair scored his 230th goal as a Flyer, moving him into a tie with Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour for eighth place on the Flyers&rsquo; all-time list&hellip;Rookie goalie Brian Boucher picked up his second win of the season in a 4-1 win over Carolina Nov. 11. Coach Roger Neilson said he does not want veteran goalie John Vanbiesbrouck to play more than 60 games, so Boucher should begin to see more action.. Mark Greig was returned to Philadelphia of the American League Nov. 9 despite having scored goals in his previous three games with the Flyers. &#9632;

f0036-03

McCarthy rounds out game after career as tough guy

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04361/6932649-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="154" height="150"></div>Just when it looked like contract talks would, pick up steam and result in an agreement between the Coyotes and unsigned goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, things completely fell apart after a five-minute conversation between Khabibulin&rsquo;s agent and Phoenix GM Bobby Smith.The two sides hadn&rsquo;t spoken since training camp until Jay Grossman telephoned Smith and gave the Coyotes his first official counter proposal to the team&rsquo;s three-year, $9 million offer. Smith didn&rsquo;t reveal any of the details, but it&rsquo;s believed Khabibulin was still demanding a deal worth close to $5 million a season and Smith told them to forget it.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m more pessimistic than ever that Nik will play for us this year,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;Their offer was completely unacceptable&hellip;We&rsquo;re planning on not having Khabibulin this season.&rdquo;Smith said he was expecting &ldquo;a tempting offer&rdquo; to consider from Grossman, but was stunned at the numbers Khabibulin wants. He said he doubts there will be any serious negotiating anytime soon and thinks Khabibulin will choose to sit out the entire season.But no one knows for sure, because neither Grossman nor Khabibulin are talking.Unless something changes, the Coyotes will stick with their current duo of Mikhail Shtalenkov and Bob Essensa, who to this point have managed to keep Phoenix in the early hunt for the Pacific Division title After 16 games, Shtalenkov was 7-4-2, Essensa was 2-0-1 and Khabibulin was still sitting in his Scottsdale home, working out daily at the gym and trying to stay in shape by practising with a club team at Arizona State University.Coyotes&rsquo; captain Keith Tkachuk said he wants to see Khabibulin back. And the sooner, the better. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a pretty good team right now,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;But with him, we&rsquo;re an excellent team.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Phoenix appears intent on signing defenseman Teppo Numminen&nbsp;to a long term extension to avoid losing him to unrestricted free agency. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to happen, but we&rsquo;ll see,&rdquo; Numminen said&hellip;Center Travis Green was tied for the league lead in goals with 11, putting him on a pace to finish with 56. &ldquo;W ell, they don&rsquo;t just give them to you,&rdquo; Green said&hellip;Phoenix was 7-0-1 when right winger Shane Doan gets at least one point&hellip;Center Jeremy Roenick said he&rsquo;s had offers of up to $5,000 for the helmet he wore when he returned for Game 7 of last season&rsquo;s playoff series with St. Louis with a shattered jaw. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to keep it for sentimental reasons.&rdquo; Roenick said. &#9632;

f0036-04

Bulin wall not going up this season

<div class="byline">By Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06263/6932680-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="331" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kevin Constantine</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05305/6932687-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="154" height="155"></div>With his team off to a miserable start, Pittsburgh Penguins coach Kevin Constantine suddenly found himself answering questions about his job security.Constantine. who makes $400,000, is in the final season of a three-year contract. GM Craig Patrick has not initiated extension talks with Constantine, leading to heavy speculation that the Penguins do not want him back next season. This is his third season coaching in Pittsburgh.After a 7-4 home loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning Nov. 6-in which the Penguins surrendered six unanswered goals-people began wondering whether Constantine would make it through this season. Talk quieted Nov. 10 when new owner Mario Lemieux spoke up in support of Constantine.&ldquo;Kevin has proven himself everywhere he&rsquo;s been,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a proven winner, and we still have a lot of confidence in him.&rdquo;Later that day, the Penguins snapped an eight-game winless streak by scoring four unanswered goals in the final eight minutes of regulation to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 5-4.Lemieux blamed a rash of injuries and an uneven schedule for the Penguins&rsquo; 3-7-3 start. Patrick said he had no immediate plans to discuss Constantine&rsquo;s contract status.Constantine, meanwhile, was focused on getting his team out of its funk. Chances are if he becomes available, he will command plenty of attention.&ldquo;In the meantime I&rsquo;ve always told any player to spend a little time, but not very much worrying about your future and spend a lot of time worrying about what you&rsquo;re doing on a day-to-day basis,&rdquo; Constantine said. &ldquo;If you keep doing a good job on a day-to-day basis, the future always takes care of itself.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK:&nbsp;Defenseman Brad Werenka recorded the hardest shot at the Penguins&rsquo; skills competition. Werenka clocked in at 97.1 m-p-h. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the first time I&rsquo;ve hit the net," joked Werenka. who didn&rsquo;t have a goal this season&hellip;Pittsburgh&rsquo;s winless streaks were nowhere near team records. Its eight-game winless streak (0-6-2) matched the longest it had since a 1987-88, but the team record is 18 games in 1982-8 3. The home winless streak of five games (0-3-2) matched its longest in the past 11 years, but the record is 11 games in 1983-84&hellip; Center Robert Lang was promoted from the third line to the first line Oct. 28 at Los Angeles and had seven points in six games. Lang had a career-best, four-point game Nov. 2 against the Kings. &#9632;

f0036-06

Lemieux backs Constantine as Penguins endure slump

<div class="byline">By Dave Leucking</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07242/6932718-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="148" height="143"></div>After a poor start, St. Louis Blues&rsquo; goalie Roman Turek appeared to get himself on track by winning four in a row and five of six starts through the end of October.But he faltered with a poor showing Nov. 3 at Colorado, allowing three goals on 12 shots in 35 minutes of the Blues&rsquo; 5-0 loss and earning a spot on the bench. Backup Jamie McLennan started the next three games, winning two before faltering himself against the Dallas Stars in a 5-2 loss Nov. 10.That put the goaltending reins back in the hands of Turek, who went into the game against the Edmonton Oilers Nov. 12 with a record of 5-5-0-0, a 2.48 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage. Not exactly the numbers the Blues had expected in acquiring him from the Dallas Stars for a. third round pick to replace Grant Fuhr as the Blues&rsquo; No. 1 goalie. As Eddie Belfour&rsquo;s backup last season in Dallas, Turek was 16-3-3, with a 2.08 GAA and a .915 save percentage.Like the Stars, the Blues defensive style of play keeps the shots against to a minimum, but Turek hasn&rsquo;t been able to minimize the goals-against at a consistent level.&ldquo;Sometimes in Dallas, I had games like I&rsquo;ve had here, 15 to 17 shots, but every game I had two or three good saves that helped me with my confidence,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Here, sometimes I have 15 shots, but three goals against. It&rsquo;s different.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: After a fast start, rookie left winger Jochen Hecht cooled off. He had two goals and nine points in his first 11 games, but only one goal and one point in his next five&hellip;Norris Trophy winner Al Maclnnis (broken ankle) and defenseman Rico Persson (knee) both out since Oct. 9, were close to returning to the lineup, prompting the demotion of Bryan Helmer to St. Louis' American League affiliate in Worcester&hellip; Left winger Derek King scored his first goal in a Blues&rsquo; uniform Nov. 9&hellip;The Blues have been impressed with 28-year-old rookie defenseman Todd Reirden. a waiver-wire pickup from Edmonton. Playing with captain Chris Pronger. Reirden had five assists in 10 games, with a plus-five rating. &#9632;</div>

f0036-07

Goalie situation muddled as Blues seek reliability

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01753/6932749-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="142" height="141"></div>The San Jose Sharks reached the unofficial quarter pole of their 82-game schedule in first place in the NHL&rsquo;s overall standings.Of course, the fact the Sharks had played at least three more games than every other team in the league had something to do with their unprecedented status.&ldquo;You would hate to say we have played this many games and we were way behind the eight-ball,&rdquo; said coach Darryl Sutter. &ldquo;The whole focus of our season was to try to get off to a good start and go from there. Hopefully, we can use it to our advantage.&rdquo;A 4-3 overtime loss Nov. 10 in Calgary, one night after a 4-4 tie in Vancouver, left the Sharks 11-7-2-1. Despite their impressive record, San Jose had some kinks to work out.Early-season injuries to defensemen Bryan Marchment and Jeff Norton and more recent ones to blueliners Marcus Ragnarsson and Mike Rathje left the Sharks performing a juggling act.When Norton and Marchment returned, they had to take over for Ragnarsson and Rathje as San Jose&rsquo;s top defensive tandem, with Gary Suter and impressive rookie Brad Stuart also playing more minutes than expected. Suter. 34, missed all but one game last season with a triceps injury.&ldquo;My biggest satisfaction to date is we haven&rsquo;t played with our whole team yet,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;Opening night. That&rsquo;s it.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: A goal in the 4-3 overtime loss at Calgary Nov. 10 gave left winger Alex Korolyuk 11 points, including four goals, in 10 games. Center Patrick Marleau had four goals and nine points during the same 10-game stretch&hellip;Wingers Marco Sturm and Stephane Matteau snapped 12- and nine-game goal-scoring droughts, respectively, at Calgary&hellip;In his first start since Oct. 24. goalie Mike Vernon registered 33 saves in a 2-1 win over visiting Dallas Nov. 6. It marked Vernon&rsquo;s first victory since opening night&hellip;After a coverage mistake by Brad Stuart led to a Vancouver goal, coach Darryl Sutter benched the rookie defenseman for the final 15 minutes of the third period and overtime in the 4-4 tie with the Canucks Nov. 9. &#9632;</div>

f0037-01

Injuries can’t slow down league’s first place team

<div class="byline">By Tom Jones</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03405/6932780-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="327" height="427"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Houlder</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02521/6932787-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="148" height="143"></div>Bill Houlder was supposed to be the captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning&rsquo;s ship. Instead, he walked the plank.Not the first, but certainly one of the biggest casualties of the new Lightning regime, Houlder was waived by the Lightning Nov. 10 and was quickly plucked by the Nashville Predators.Citing Houlder&rsquo;s lack of speed and the emergence of young defensemen such as Ben Clymer and Paul Mara, the Lightning chose to look to the future instead of holding on to Houlder.&ldquo;Bill was a very good captain for us, but there were two primary factors that played into our decision to make him available on waivers,&rdquo; said Lightning GM Rick Dudley. &ldquo;First, (coach) Steve Ludzik&rsquo;s system is predicated on speed and we feel the need to improve our team speed.&ldquo;But primarily, we feel an urgency to increase the amount of ice time we allow for young players.&rdquo;While the move may have surprised some, it really wasn&rsquo;t a shocker around Tampa Bay. Houlder, 32, had struggled with the Lightning and had made little impact. He was acquired from the San Jose Sharks during the off-season. Houlder, who played with the Lightning from 1995-97, was named the third captain in team history just prior to the regular season.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>In 14 games, Houlder had a goal, three points and was minus-3. Another factor was his contract, which paid him $1.2 million this season and he had the option for next year. Some think the move was made to clear the payroll for another deal or two.&ldquo;I would say we have to get faster, no question about it,&rdquo; Ludzik said. &ldquo;Billy, 1 think would be the first to admit, struggled. And at the end of the day, we have to think of the long term.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Daren Puppa&rsquo;s agent, Steve Reich, said the goalie had a fractured rib. but Tampa Bay claimed the rib was only braised and it shouldn&rsquo;t have prevented him from playing. Puppa. who was to be reexamined in mid-November, had cleared waivers and when he can play, the Lightning intend on sending him to a minor league team if he hasn&rsquo;t been traded&hellip; Right winger Colin Forbes&rsquo; career with the Lightning ended when he was traded to Ottawa for forward Bruce Gardiner Nov. 11. Forbes did not mesh with coach Steve Ludzik and was scratched for six of the Lightning&rsquo;s 14 games. He didn&rsquo;t have a point&hellip; Tampa traded center Michael Nylander to Chicago for defenseman Bryan Muir and left winger Reid Simpson Nov. 12. &#9632;

f0037-03

Captain Houlder falls prey to league’s waiver wire

<div class="byline">By Paul Hunter</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04333/6932818-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="141" height="146"></div>It was a delicious revenge fantasy fulfilled. Almost.Dmitri Khristich, spumed by the Bruins when he was awarded a $2.8-million contract at an arbitration hearing, returned to Boston as a Toronto Maple Leaf Nov. 11 looking for a little payback.The forward heightened the drama by taking pre-game potshots at Bruins&rsquo; management, particularly GM Harry Sinden, who had said Khristich was a non-factor in last year&rsquo;s stretch drive and playoffs.&ldquo;Yeah, well (Sinden) hasn&rsquo;t been a factor the past 26 years,&rdquo; Khristich said. &ldquo;The team is not going anywhere.&rdquo;Sinden, for his part, said of Khristich: &ldquo;I read somewhere he said he didn&rsquo;t get treated fairly, but that&rsquo;s a two-way street.&ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t treat us fairly, he played like (crap).&rdquo;With the stage set, Khristich followed the Hollywood-like script. The Toronto winger scored the opening goal, pumping both fists in the air to a chorus of boos at FleetCenter.&ldquo;That felt good, a little more than the usual goal,&rdquo; Khristich said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got nothing to prove to Harry, he&rsquo;s not my problem anymore. I don&rsquo;t even want to know him.&rdquo;Despite the team&rsquo;s off-night&ndash;the Leafs blew a 3-1 third period lead and lost 4-3 in overtime as Khristich&rsquo;s replacement, ex-Leaf Dave Andreychuk, scored twice-Khristich has been a valuable addition since the Leafs traded a second round draft pick for his rights and then signed him Oct. 21 to a four-year, $10.35-million deal.Playing left wing, he had four goals and seven points in his first nine games as a Leaf and, just as important, the 30-year-old has been a steadying influence on linemate Nik Antropov, a 19-year-old rookie center.Recently, that pair has combined with right winger Mike Johnson to form Toronto&rsquo;s best fine.NOTEBOOK: The loss in Boston Nov. 11 pushed Toronto&rsquo;s winless skid to four games (0-3-1-1), the longest such slide of Pat Quinn&rsquo;s 100 regular season games behind the Leaf bench. &ldquo;We have to understand we have to work our butts off to win games,&rdquo; said left winger Steve Thomas, who remained mired in a season-long slump with one goal. &ldquo;We need a good effort and I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s there.&rdquo;&hellip; Right winger Garry Valk did not make the trip to Boston because of a six-stitch cut to his elbow suffered when he fell during a 2-0 loss to Anaheim Nov. 9&hellip;Enforcer Tie Domi sat out against Boston because of a rib injury&hellip;Valk and Domi&rsquo;s absence allowed Kris King to dress for the first time in 10 games. &#9632;</div>

f0037-04

Khristich’s revenge short-lived

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06263/6932849-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="322" height="425"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Messier</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05299/6932856-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="142" height="143"></div>What could have been a pair of career-threatening injuries were found to be not so severe, allowing Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; GM Brian Burke a huge sigh of relief.Burke had been worried his captain, Mark Messier, and his top defenseman, Mattias Ohlund, might never return to action. Those fears were erased Nov. 10 when doctors said Messier had a second-degree strain of the medial collateral ligament of his right knee (four weeks) and that successful surgery on Ohlund&rsquo;s damaged right eye should enable him to return by the new year (six weeks).&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great news on Mess and tremendous news on Matty,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;I can live with four weeks (for Messier).&ldquo;With Matty, we&rsquo;re very pleased with the way the surgery went and his time frame for returning is greatly enhanced.&rdquo;Messier, 38, was injured in a goal-mouth collision with San Jose Sharks' defenseman Andy Sutton Nov. 9. The two became entangled and fell awkwardly as Sutton was attempting to prevent Messier from driving to the net. Last season, the Canucks were a dismal 3-16-4 in games Messier missed because of injury.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>Ohlund, 22, suffered his injury in a Sept. 21 exhibition game in Ottawa. He was hit in the eye when teammate Dave Scatchard deflected a shot by Senator Janne Laukkanen.Doctors were hoping the blood would drain from Ohlund&rsquo;s eye naturally, but when that didn&rsquo;t happen, the decision was made to have surgery.According to Canuck team physician Dr. Rui Avelar, blood was sucked out of the posterior chamber of Ohlund&rsquo;s eye and his sight should quickly return.&ldquo;I think the chances are very good for a full recovery,&rdquo; Avelar said.NOTEBOOK: Vancouver might want to switch conferences based on their first 16 games this season. Against Eastern teams. Vancouver went 6-2-14), but against Western clubs, the Canucks were a pedestrian 2-3-2-L.. Goalie Corey Schwab isn&rsquo;t likely to stick around once Garth Snow is healthy, but he will leave with a spot on the all-blooper team after scoring on himself. The goal came against San Jose Nov. 9 and was credited to Owen Nolan, whose centering pass deflected off Vancouver defenseman Adrian Aucoin and nestled against the outside of the net. Schwab, in an attempt to gather the puck into his body, scooped it through his five-hole&hellip;Right winger Peter Schaefer scored six goals in six road games, but none in 10 home games. &#9632;

f0037-06

Good news on injury front: Messier, Ohlund to return

<div class="byline">By Dave Fay</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07236/6932887-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="144" height="141"></div>Washington Capitals&rsquo; coach Ron Wilson was relating a tale recently about a slump ridden Ottawa player who was told facetiously if he wanted to end his goal-scoring problems, he should put his sticks in the toilet. He did and scored two goals in his next game-at least in Wilson&rsquo;s version.Wilson may be on the verge of suggesting that to right winger Richard Zednik. who has gone through the first 15 games with only one goal.Nobody is suggesting the speedster stop trying, because the effort he puts forth on a nightly basis has impressed everybody.&ldquo;Zed&rsquo;s working so hard,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t taken a night off yet, but he has only one goal to show for it. Last year when he was having one of those games, when he wouldn&rsquo;t score, he&rsquo;d be depressed. This year he&rsquo;s very self-motivated. He doesn&rsquo;t need us to be pushing him.&rdquo;Zednik, 23, held out for 16 days during camp before getting a three-year deal, but was in great shape when he reported. He&rsquo;s not pouting, moping or complaining. He just can&rsquo;t buy a goal.&ldquo;1 think it&rsquo;s going to come as long as we work hard.&rdquo; said second fine center Jan Bulis, who had seven goals in the team&rsquo;s first 15 games, matching his career-high. &ldquo;I talked to Zed and told him we have a long way to go. He keeps working and he keeps getting chances. They&rsquo;ll go in.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Jan&nbsp;Bulis celebrated his 100th NHL game Nov. 9 by scoring the game-winner against Tampa Bay in a tight 2-1 contest. Right winger Peter Bondra got the other Cap goal, his 30th in 30 career games against the Lightning&hellip;Miss America, Heather French, sang the national anthem before the Tampa game, a definite improvement over previous singers&hellip;Washington had killed 37 straight penalties after giving up nine power play goals in their first five games&hellip;Defenseman Calle Johansson&rsquo;s assist on a Joe Sacco goal against the Rangers Nov. 11 was his 300th helper as a Cap&hellip;Defenseman Joe Reekie bruised a foot blocking a shot Oct. 31 and it has not responded to treatment. Jamie Huscroft was recalled as a precaution. &#9632;</div>

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November 26, 1999

Induct Gretzky as builder, too

UPCOMING IN THN

Gretzky last of fast-track inductees

Humbled Huskies howl, cellar a distant memory