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February 4, 2000
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.
Hodson can’t escape coach Ludzik’s bad books
Kevin Hodson has gone from Tampa Bay Lightning coach Steve Ludzik’s doghouse to the outhouse. Hodson, whose work ethic had already been questioned by Ludzik this season, was in line to get the chance to take over in goal after No. 1 goalie Dan Cloutier was suspended four games in mid-January for kicking New York Islanders’ forward Tim Connolly. Instead, Rich Parent, acquired from the St. Louis Blues the day Cloutier was suspended, started against the Florida Panthers Jan. 15 and lost 5-2. Two days later in Game 2 of Cloutier’s suspension, Parent started and lost again, this time 6-3 to the Washington Capitals. By starting Parent against Florida, Ludzik was apparently looking to shake up the struggling Lightning. Parent, after all, hadn’t played in the NHL in nearly a year. By starting…
Canadians don’t know good deal when they see it
For the record, there are 282 NHL players (and at least 28 owners, we can only assume) earning $1 million or more this season. You need to know this because that’s what scuttled the federal government’s offer of conditional subsidies to the six Canadian teams. In the end, nothing else really mattered and the overwhelming specter of those seven-figure salaries guaranteed that more heat than light was shed on a highly contentious issue. Certainly little else but talk of “millionaire players and owners” entered public or private discourse on the issue in the wake of a Jan. 19 offer by the government of Canada. Rational debate was confined to very tight quarters. (See pg. 7for more.) Within 48 hours, after a level of public outcry seldom seen in Canada, the federal…
Whatever happened to the All-Star Game?
The year was 1970. Scotty Bowman was coaching in his second All-Star Game, behind the bench of the Western Division-his Davids to Claude Ruel’s Goliaths from the powerful Eastern Division. Those were different times for the NHL. It was only three years after the first expansion and among the Original Six, only the Chicago Blackhawks had transferred to the Western Division. The league’s balance of power was heavily skewed towards the East. The season before, Bowman took his underdog Western all-stars into Montreal and escaped with a 3-3 tie. Accordingly, Bowman knew the East, embarrassed by the previous year’s result, was looking for revenge. “They had all the players,” Bowman recalled. “They had Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe. And Claude Ruel played those guys a lot. They beat us only 4-1, but it was all…
Kids bright light in dark season
Buffalo is on the same path of self-destruction that was last travelled by the 1998-99 Washington Capitals, but don’t blame the Sabres’ kids. Last season, Washington became the third team in five years to miss the playoffs the year after appearing in the Stanley Cup final. The New Jersey Devils failed to make the playoffs after winning the Cup in 1994-95 and the Florida Panthers missed after losing to the Colorado Avalanche in 1995-96. As of Jan. 21, Buffalo was 10th in the Eastern Conference and was a ghost of the team that forced eventual Cup-champion Dallas Stars to six games in last year’s final. Despite their plight, there were good things happening in Buffalo and most of them had to do with youth. The Sabres might have three players on the season-ending…
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