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December 24, 1999
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
Colts’ Jefferson corraled for 10 games after stick incident
The Ontario League served notice it will not tolerate repeat offenders when Barrie Colts’ right winger Mike Jefferson was suspended 10 games Dec. 2 for a stick incident. Jefferson cross-checked Matt Coughlin of the Mississauga IceDogs across the face Nov. 21. Coughlin lost three teeth. OHL director of hockey operations Ted Baker said Jefferson then punched Coughlin three times-twice while Coughlin was on his skates and once after he’d fallen to the ice bleeding. It’s the eighth suspension in Jefferson’s three year OHL career. Last season he was suspended six times for a total of 18 games. Two of those suspensions were a result of match penalties for stick infractions. Baker said Jefferson’s past record was taken into account when determining the length of his latest suspension. “We have great concern when it’s a player who…
Reducing star sightings won’t help ticket sales
So empty seats cause concern? Well, they should (THN. Dec. 10). Over the last few years, the NHL has legislated new rules to make games more fan-friendly-but without consulting the fans. Now Calgary GM Al Coates is pushing for conference-only play because his franchise can’t sell tickets. As a Philadelphia Flyers’ fan, I would rather see Detroit or Colorado once a year than suffer through more boring Tampa Bay Lightning or New York Islander games. In the same article, Vancouver GM Brian Burke said “repeatedly seeing the same teams begets nasty, emotional hockey which becomes a hotter ticket.” Yet the NHL has tried its best to eliminate “nasty, emotional hockey” the last few years. My advice to the NHL’s board of governors: Listen to your fans, because if you continue to ignore us, we will…
‘Tiger’ earned his stripes
5 Outspoken and pugnacious, Dave ‘Tiger’ Williams finished his 14-year career in 1988 as the NHL’s all-time penalty-minute leader with a reputation for speaking his mind. In his first full season with the Maple Leafs, Williams’ prediction on the Toronto-Pittsburgh playoff series was typically blunt: “Them Penguins is done like dinner.” Williams scored 241 goals in a 962-game career, but perhaps his most memorable came during his first game back at Maple Leaf Gardens after being traded by Toronto to the Vancouver Canucks. He scored the winning goal, and to celebrate, Williams rode his stick-broomstick style-almost the full length of the ice. Constantly at odds with the NHL’s powers-that-be, Williams was called on the carpet a dozen times in his career. Many of his appearances came in the company of Harry Neale,…
Cats await Bure’s best
About 160 miles south of Cape Canaveral, the transferred Russian Rocket periodically pokes its nose from the silo. Some days, this candle looks about to light, on others it appears as rusted as a Soviet submarine. But one night in early December, the very threat of Pavel Bure had Washington running more scared than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Late in the first period. Bure picked up the puck in the neutral zone, fired down the wing and from almost against the boards, blasted the puck between the legs of Washington goalie Olaf Kolzig. Bad-angle goal, sure, but scored on a goalie more frozen in anxiety than even the Florida Panthers’ management every time Bure gets hit. “I don’t worry about it,” said team president Bill Torrey, his nose…
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