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.

February 11, 2000

The Hockey News February 11, 2000

<div class="byline">By Helene Elliott</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04366/7110852-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="144" height="144"></div>Someday the Los Angeles Kings will beat the Dallas Stars.Really, they will, no matter that the futility streak against the defending Stanley Cup champions reached 22 games (0-17-5), stretching to 1995, after a 3-2 loss at Dallas Jan. 26.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to play them again,&rdquo; coach Andy Murray said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to play them again until we beat them. It&rsquo;s like when you&rsquo;re a kid and you&rsquo;ve just lost the third game in a best-of-three. You want to play best-of-five and then seven and nine. For the world championship. The championship of the universe. The intergalactic championship.&rdquo;Before the Kings can think about winning a galactic title, they must first worry about making the playoffs. And their loss to Dallas aside, they had reason to be encouraged about their chances of ending their lengthy swoon and rejoining the top eight in the Western Conference. Why? Because their goaltending appeared to be sorted out as goalies Stephane Fiset and Jamie Storr were healthy and sharp.Both goalies have missed considerable time due to injuries and both struggled to regain their timing when they returned. Fiset was 2-7-1 after recovering from a hand injury that idled him for four weeks, but he regained his early-season form with late January victories over Colorado and Nashville. Storr missed four weeks with a concussion and was 13-0 in his first four games back.For Fiset, the victories over Colorado (3-2) and Nashville (6-2) represented the first time he had won two consecutive starts since Oct. 28-30.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing really well,&rdquo; said teammate Luc Robitaille. &ldquo;(Fiset) is back to where he was.&rdquo;Fiset acknowledged having lost his edge and aggressiveness during his struggles.&ldquo;I was trying too hard. Now, I have my confidence back,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t having any fun. Now, I&rsquo;m just playing and having fun.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Kings&rsquo; president Tim Leiweke said the club will lose about $5 million this season despite moving to the new. 18,118-seat Staples Center and despite being able to tap new revenue sources such as suites and premier seats. That would be better than the $20 million loss the Kings piled up last season at the Forum, but the prospect of cutting losses and not making a profit adds to Leiweke&rsquo;s concerns over the league&rsquo;s salary structure. &ldquo;At some point it has to get fixed,&rdquo; he said&hellip;Left winger Vladimir Tsyplakov, a healthy scratch 17 times, requested and was granted a trade. He had six goals and 13 points in 29 games before being dealt to the Buffalo Sabres for an eighth round draft pick Jan. 25. &#9632;</div>

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NHL TEAMS

Goaltenders Fiset, Storr regain form

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02324/7111772-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01422/7111765-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="3338" height="3858"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01435/7111758-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="3338" height="3858"></div> &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

NHL GAME SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">By Robert Tychkowski</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03411/7110683-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="311" height="429"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bert Robertsson</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02589/7110690-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="142" height="140"></div>Bert Robertsson knew he was a hated man in the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; dressing room.So you can imagine his surprise when Oilers&rsquo; GM Glen Sather offered Robertsson, who can play defense or wing, a contract in the off-season.&ldquo;To tell you the truth i was a little worried about that when I first came here, because of the way I played against them in Vancouver,&rdquo; Robertsson said. &ldquo;And I found out I was right in the very first scrimmage.&rdquo;Seconds into the first intra-squad game, Robertsson and Sean Brown got into a fight at center ice.&ldquo;I just hated the way he played in Vancouver,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;And 1 thought he was like that all the time. Now that he&rsquo;s here and I see him all the time I like him and I respect the way he plays. He gets up for every game. He has a &lsquo;grrr&rsquo; on every night.&rdquo;Edmonton coach Kevin Lowe said he got good reviews on Robertsson, who had one assist and eight penalty minutes in 25 games, from an ex-Oiler.&ldquo;I talked to (Mark Messier) about him early in the season and he said Bert is one of those guys on a 25-man roster that&rsquo;s really easy to have on the team,&rdquo; Lowe said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s well-liked, he works his behind off and he knows how to play the game.&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>Of course, a year ago Lowe had a slightly different opinion.&ldquo;I hated him,&rdquo; grinned the coach. &ldquo;I just hated him. We&rsquo;d be getting ready to play Vancouver and all I could think about was Bert Robertsson.&rdquo;Robertsson, 25, doesn&rsquo;t care what others think about him.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been very, very competitive&rdquo; said the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder. &ldquo;If a guy is challenging me I&rsquo;m going to take the puck away from him no matter what it takes. It&rsquo;s as simple as that. I like playing tough.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Coach Kevin Lowe was still fuming at his club the day after a listless 3-3 tie with Vancouver Jan. 22. After practising at the West Edmonton Mall ice rink, Lowe took out his frustrations on a video game near the entrance to the dressing room area. He smashed his stick on the machine, but the graphite shaft snapped in half and hit him in the face. He needed stitches to close the gash on his lip&hellip;A number of Oilers ended scoring droughts in a 7-0 romp over Calgary Jan. 19. Right winger Alex Selivanov ended a 21-game scoring drought, right winger Mike Grier snapped a 14-game slump and defenseman Sean Brown scored his first goal in 43 games. Netminder Tommy Salo, meanwhile, got his first shutout as an Oiler. &#9632;

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Determined Robertsson makes friends of foes

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01306/7111889-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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SCOREBOARD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011728/7109490-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cartoonist Dave Elston made this submission to the NHL's Visions of Hockey display. Pg. 12.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

CANADIAN DELIVERY ROOM

<h2>Brodeur hits 30-win mark</h2>1. My favorite Martin Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur becomes fifth NHLer to win 30 games five straight years.2. Duck tales Anaheim's Paul Kariya on fire with goals in four straight games, eight in 10 games.3. Leafs take Manhattan Toronto snaps dreadful IO-year winless streak in New York with 4-3 win over Rangers.4. Big Mac Rangers' John MacLean greets the new millennium with IO goals in 13 January games.5. Kings of the road Calgary Hitmen establish Western League record with 13 consecutive road wins.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021383/7109528-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="302" height="442"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03903/7109521-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="301" height="441"></div><h2>Two minutes for yapping</h2>1. Rappin' ref Luc Miville reprimanded after suggesting QMJHL team should dress goons to face OHL competition.2. When singer finishes &hellip; shoot St. Louis fails to register shot on goal in first period of 4-1 loss to Rangers.3. Homers they aren't Vancouver Canucks winless-going 0-6-2-in eight straight home games.4. Three down, 18 to go Jackson Bandits Jose first three games of ECHL record 21-game road trip.5. Giveaway Florida's Robert Svehla turns over puck in dying seconds allowing New Jersey to score winner at 19:58. &#9632;

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PLUS/MINUS

<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/f0003-04503/7109559-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="318" height="410"></div>Far be it from me to defend the lot of Nm&hellip; goaltenders.I think Dan Cloutier should have been suspended 40 games, not four, for kicking Tun Connolly in the helmet I think all goalies should be assessed major penalties and game misconducts for pounding players with their blockers-not an uncommon practice. I think any goalie who swings his stick up between an opponent's legs should, himself, be forced to undergo a vasectomy on the spot.I think any goalie who comes out of the goal crease should be protected by the rules of the game, not by some invisible force field. I think last year's crease rules didn't so much provide for the safety of goalies as the lunacy of endless video reviews that sucked the life out of arena crowds and bastardized the intent of the rule. I think that if goalies want to be protected like an endangered species, they should act like them and not come charging out of their goal at the drop of the puck.That said, Nm&hellip; goalies are in desperate need of protection.The league changed its crease rules this season to eliminate a loophole being penetrated by tiny toecaps. Legitimate goals on plays in which a netminder's space or ability to stop the puck was not being compromised were waved off because a player's skate had crossed into the crease. That result spoiled the spirit of a rule whose intent was noble-give goalies unfettered freedom to defend their goals on the blue ice of their creases. The intent has been maintained in this year's rule changes, but implementation of the new "no-harm, no-foul, no-video-review" rule has been inconsistent. Goalies are being run over and their creases being violated. Players are routinely skating onto the blue for the same reason men climb mountains: Because they can.The purpose of changes to Rule 78 was not to turn creases into traffic intersections. It was to acknowledge not every trespass is tangential to the unique cause and effect relationship that is a goal. Instead, attacking players are trespassing at an alarming rate and they shouldn't be forgiven. They could be held accountable under Rule 78. It stipulates: That if a player initiates contact (deliberate or not) with a goalie in his crease, a goal shall not count; that if a player initiates deliberate contact with a goalie outside his crease, a goal shall not count; that if a player impairs a goalie's ability to stop the puck by establishing a position in the crease, a goal shall not count; and that if a player initiates deliberate contact with a goalie, inside or outside his crease, that player shall be assessed a penalty.Call 'em all. &#9632;

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Crease-crashers spoil spirit of new ‘no-harm’ rule

Saint John, N.B., was the first stop for the NHL Players&rsquo; Association&rsquo;s Goals & Dreams program.Full sets of hockey equipment were distributed to 50 underprivileged children in Saint John as part of the union&rsquo;s $15-million world wide campaign to assist grass roots hockey over the next five years.The 50 children receiving the equipment will also get ice time once a week, compliments of Saint John and its Hockey for Everyone program. &#9632;

Goals & Dreams makes first stop

Vancouver will join the National Women&rsquo;s League as a 10th team next season.The first-year league has two teams in Montreal and one each in Brampton, Toronto, Ajax, Scarborough, Mississauga, Ottawa and Quebec City this season. The NWHL is considered the top amateur league for women&rsquo;s hockey in the world.Also expressing interest in joining are Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle, Portland, Ore., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and Detroit. &#9632;

Vancouver women set for 2000-01

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie </div><div class="byline">Associate Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011665/7109662-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Lindros will be an unrestricted free agent in 2004-the same year the NHL and NHLPA are slated to negotiate a new CBA. (Jim Mclsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div>There is little, if anything, said or done by Gary Bettman that can be considered &ldquo;off the cuff.&rdquo;So when the NHL commissioner suggested he would be prepared to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement-four years before the current one is set to expire-it appeared to be a calculated public invitation to the NHL Players&rsquo; Association to strike a new deal to ensure the future of Canadian-based franchises.&ldquo;Legally, we can&rsquo;t do anything without the players&rsquo; consent until 2004,&rdquo; said Bettman during his news conference Jan. 21 to react to the Canadian govern-X ment&rsquo;s tax relief flip-flop. &ldquo;If the Players&rsquo; Association believes that (the Canadian issue) is something that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, tell me where and when to be.&rdquo;Bettman was effectively lobbing the ball into the court of players&rsquo; union boss Bob Goodenow, whose return volley didn&rsquo;t take long.&ldquo;The well-documented currency and tax issues faced by the Canadian clubs are not CBA issues,&rdquo; the NHLPA executive director told The Hockey News, while suggesting the union is not inclined to reopen a deal with four years left to run.&ldquo;The (NHL) owners&rsquo; commissioner has said this CBA works, that the growth of league revenues has exceeded the growth I of player costs in three of the last four years of the current &rsquo; agreement and this CBA allows each NHL club to spend whatever it can afford and do business as it sees fit. The responsibility for the structure of the league lies with the owner If the owners really want to ensure the future of the Canadian teams in Canada, they will instruct their commissioner to take the necessary steps to do it.&rdquo;Which is to suggest additional revenue sharing, over 4 and above the existing Canadian Assistance Plan. This is fr9 an old argument about responsibility.The NHLPA is effectively saying it isn&rsquo;t responsible Mr for ensuring the future of financially challenged Canadian franchises-a position bound to be unpopular with the Canadian public. But the NHLPA maintains that onus is on the owners. The same owners who could have beg negotiating a new CBA this summer, but extend the current deal to 2004 in order to hassle free expansion-and collect $320 millie in expansion revenues. (See box below.)Beyond the warm and fuzzy feelings of altruism, the NHLPA has no real tangible stake in the Canadian controversy. If a Canadian franchise, be it in Ottawa, Calgary or Edmonton, can&rsquo;t survive in the current economic climate, the franchise will be relocated to the United States. Not one play-er job will be lost. That rankles the Canadian public, which has difficulty reconciling multi-million-dollar player salaries. It may also seem callous, but it&rsquo;s a reality. Just ask the players who moved from Winnipeg to Phoenix or Que-bee City to Denver.If the NHL has already entered into-and twice extended-a CBA that makes life very difficult for Canadian teams to survive, who&rsquo;s responsibility is that?And if the real issue is the weak Canadian dollar and excessive taxation-and government won&rsquo;t provide the necessary relief-the NHL can either make up the shortfall via revenue sharing or open the U.S. border for cash-strapped Canadian franchises.Beyond the Canadian Assistance Plan, the NHL has little appetite for any new revenue-sharing plans. Four Canadian teams split a league pool of $13 million last year; Toronto and Montreal didn&rsquo;t qualify. But NHL owners will be considering whether to maintain existing Canadian assistance in light of the federal government&rsquo;s withdrawal of aid.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe revenue sharing in the absence of cost certainty makes any sense,&rdquo; Bettman said. &ldquo;And the issues of cost certainty are not ones we can address-unless the Players&rsquo; Association is inclined-until 2004. That is just the law. That is the way it is. That is what the CBA says.&rdquo;As long as Goodenow maintains there will be no renegotiation of the current CBA, the NHL, and any level of government interested in helping out, will have to find alternative solutions to the Canadian problem.One being considered by the league is a legal challenge of five provincial sports lotteries which use the results of NHL games to generate $170 million (Cdn.) in estimated annual revenue. The league believes those lotteries are guilty of copyright infringement. If that was found to be the case, the NHL would have leverage to negotiate a share of those revenues.The National Basketball Association successfully shut down a similar-type lottery in Oregon. The NBA then successfully lobbied the U.S. federal government to make it illegal for governments to run sports lotteries in the U.S. That won&rsquo;t happen in Canada-where lotteries and casinos are government-sponsored endeavors-but a legal challenge by the NHL on the lotteries themselves is a possibility.Provinces with NHL franchises, meanwhile, are looking at the viability of levying a new tax on visiting professional athletes, with the proceeds going to Canadian NHL team relief. This type of tax currently exists in a number of U.S. states and is seen as a way of generating revenue without the Canadian taxpayers footing the bill.<h2>Why agreement goes on and on</h2>The current collective bargaining agreement was reached in January, 1995, and originally scheduled to expire in September, 2000, although there was a built-in re-opener that would have allowed either side to terminate the deal in September, 1997. Here&rsquo;s a look at the two extensions that have been negotiated and why:Extension No. 1: When the NHL decided to participate in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, it wanted to ensure the venture would not be torpedoed by a labor dispute in the fall of 1997. So the league and union agreed to waive the re-opener and allow the existing deal to run its course to the fall of 2000.Extension No. 2: As part of its plan to expand by four teams between 1998 and 2000, the NHL wanted to eliminate labor disruptions that might cripple new teams before they even began operations. So the league requested-and the union agreed-to extend the deal to September, 2004.<h2>Revenue-sharing & salary caps</h2>Salary caps exist in the National Football League and National Basketball Association. Here, along with a look at revenue sharing, are the basics of each:NFL: A hard salary cap was established in 1993 and is set at 64 per cent of gross revenues-$53 million (U.S.) per team this season. The NFL has been a leader in revenue sharing long before the advent of a salary cap. Each team gets $70 million (U.S.) in annual TV money and teams share gate receipts on a 60-40 basis.NBA: A salary cap of 48 per cent of revenue-$34 million (U.S.) per team this season-is in place, but teams may exceed it if it is to re-sign their own free agents. If overall league salaries exceed more than 55 per cent of revenue, the players' association must reimburse the difference. Each NBA team receives almost $23 million (U.S.) annually from league TV money, but beyond that there is no significant revenue sharing in the NBA. &#9632;

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FEATURES

No new CBA on horizon

When I heard the Canadian government was going to help Canadian-based NHL teams, I was disappointed.I&rsquo;m just like any other Canadian hockey fan; I don&rsquo;t want the teams to leave. But the NHL can and should be the one to help. After reading how much money NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has helped the league rake in (through expansion fees and TV deals), I think some of it should be used to help the six Canadian teams.Emanuel Sequeira, Victoria, B. C.<h2>Thanks for the teams</h2>Now that the Canadian government (in response to public outcry) has decided not to assist its NHL franchises, it&rsquo;s time for that same public to stop whining about the U.S. stealing their teams.The U.S. isn&rsquo;t stealing them; Canada is giving them away.Suzy Manning, Detroit<h2>The people have spoken</h2>I'm an American who has always loved Canada and its people. But during a recent game between the Islanders and a Canadian team, Fox Sports did a &lsquo;Man on the Street&rsquo; segment asking people to comment on Canadian teams&rsquo; request for tax relief. Most of the people were more concerned about keeping their government benefits than the teams&rsquo; well-being.And now the Canadian government has rescinded its offer. It&rsquo;s with sorrow that I conclude Canada doesn&rsquo;t deserve its NHL franchises anymore. At least I can look forward to the Las Vegas Senators without feeling any guilt.John Keitz, Fallon, Nev.<h2>Puck bucks solution</h2>After the Canadian government&rsquo;s flipflop on subsidies for Canadian NHL teams, it&rsquo;s up to the league to address the currency exchange problem.How about creating &lsquo;NHL Dollars,&rsquo; with a value between Canadian and U-S dollars so as to lessen the disparity between Canadian and U.S. teams?Ryan McGuire, Edmonton<h2>Gov&rsquo;t can afford $12M</h2>I agree with Editor-in-Chief Steve Dryden&rsquo;s comments about the withdrawal of federal aid for Canadian-based NHL teams (THN, Feb. 4).In the Canadian federal budget, $12 million is negligible. As a Canadian living in the U.S., I enjoy seeing Canadian teams succeed. I&rsquo;d gladly send $500 a year to the government to keep those teams there-generating tens of millions for the local economy of those small markets, I might add.Robert McTavish, Chicago<h2>Don&rsquo;t come crying to U.S.</h2>The Canadian government finally offered to &ldquo;subsidize&rdquo; (minimally) its country&rsquo;s NHL teams and the people of Canada revolted. I was always saddened when a Canadian team relocated to the U.S., but get ready for more franchises to be heading south.In 10 years-or less-there won&rsquo;t be any NHL teams in Canada and Canadians will have nobody to blame but themselves as they chose not to support their national pastime.Bruce Ellis, Gibsboro, N.J.<h2>Isles in trouble, too</h2>I&rsquo;m writing to inform fans about the sorry state of the New York Islanders.Their arena management company, Spectator Management Group, has a long-term lease entitling it to all arena concessions, parking and a percentage of ticket sales. It&rsquo;s great for SMG, but team ownership is losing big bucks.The result is a bare-bones payroll and an embarrassing record. Fans won&rsquo;t pay to watch bad hockey, so attendance drops, quality players are traded, the team keeps losing and the vicious cycle continues.An ownership group, headed by former Madison Square Garden president Bob Gutkowski, wants to buy the Isles, but needs a break on the lease. He isn&rsquo;t about to spend nearly $200 million on a money-losing proposition.I urge SMG to cut a deal for the franchise&rsquo;s well-being. If it doesn&rsquo;t, it will end up without tenants from which to collect.Steve Epstein, Port Washington, N.Y.<h2>Primeau deal for Canes</h2>I have a question for Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke: Why? Why trade Rod Blind&rsquo; Amour and hot prospect Jean-Marc Pelletier for Keith Primeau?Brind&rsquo; Amour has been a solid NHLer for 10 years. He never causes problems and does everything asked of him. And Pelletier is a promising goalie with a bright NHL future.Meanwhile, Primeau hasn't performed to his potential and he whines when things don&rsquo;t go his way. Clarke prefers size over talent, but didn&rsquo;t he learn from the Chris Gratton fiasco?Primeau&rsquo;s arrival will cause internal problems. Where will Simon Gagne play? On the fourth line, wasting his talents? And John LeClair is up for a new contract in the off-season and Primeau&rsquo;s $22.75-million deal won&rsquo;t help matters. Finally, Primeau has never played well in the post-season.So when the Flyers lose again in the playoffs, blame Clarke. Brind&rsquo; Amour gave his heart to the Flyers; Primeau will only give them heartache.Bob Olsen, Raleigh, N.C.<h2>Ready for major junior</h2>Chuck Carlton&rsquo;s column about the possibility of a U.S. major junior league didn't mention the four northwest U.S. cities with teams in the Canadian Hockey League (THN, Jan. 21). Seattle, Spokane, Tri-Cities and Portland are all in the Western League.With no university hockey beyond club level and no NHL teams nearby, the WHL dominates the hockey scene. Portland, Seattle and Spokane have hosted the Memorial Cup and each has a strong fan base. Spokane had the second-biggest per-game attendance in Memorial Cup history and Portland holds many WHL attendance records.The support given these teams speaks strongly of a U.S. major junior league&rsquo;s viability.John Jacobson, Seattle, Wash<h2>Shield study half empty</h2>The report on face shields versus half shields was off-base to conclude &ldquo;full face shields don&rsquo;t promote dangerous play&rdquo; (THN, Jan. 14).It&rsquo;s not surprising players with half shields received more facial injuries. But the players who are reckless with their sticks are usually the ones who have grown up wearing full shields.Full facial protection has been mandatory in youth hockey in Canada and the U.S. for about two decades. So if you want to see careless use of sticks, visit your local rink on any given day.There are rarely any consequences for failing to control sticks beyond the odd minor penalty. Players seldom see the pitfalls of their recklessness, such as cuts or something more catastrophic.And when those players are put on the ice with half-shield players, isn&rsquo;t it obvious who will receive more cuts and have their teeth knocked out?Rick Ellison, Everett, Wash.<h2>Fire still bums</h2>Every hockey fan dreams of playing in the NHL. And if commissioner Gary Bettman&rsquo;s expansion plans continue, we will all get that chance.Thanks Gary, for keeping the dream alive.Rob Downes, Yonkers, N.Y.Fax us your comments at&nbsp;(416) 340-2786&nbsp;or write to&nbsp;Letters, THN, 777 Bay St, Suite 2700, Box 148, Toronto, Ont, M5G 2N8&nbsp;in Canada. In the U.S., write to&nbsp;Letters, THN, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947.&nbsp;E-mail us at <a href="mailto:mccaigs@trans-continental.ca">mccaigs@trans-continental.ca</a> Include hometown as well as home and business phone numbers.&nbsp;THN&nbsp;reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Helping out Canada NHL’s responsibility

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ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Mike Gibb </div><div class="byline">Staff Writer</div>Standing behind the bench as a coach for the first time, Russ Rivas had no hockey background to rely on to help him through his first crisis. So he went with his instincts.He started heckling.A stand-up comic by night, Rivas&rsquo; friendship with a pro hockey coach and a desperate situation gave him the chance coach potato fans dream of-to coach a real game.Rivas is a Chicago native who fives and owns a comedy club in Albuquerque, N.M. When his good friend Tony Martino, coach the Western Pro League&rsquo;s New Mexico Scorpions, was suspended for a game and with Scorpions&rsquo; assistant Mark Ciaccio out of town on business, the team needed someone to stand behind the bench. So Rivas volunteered. Blessed with a number of veteran players, Rivas didn&rsquo;t have to do too much, but in the third period of the game against the Lubbock Cotton Kings Dec. 10, he made up for two periods of dormancy.&ldquo;The game was in hand, so I decided to have fun,&rdquo; said Rivas, 37. &ldquo;It was like fishing. The more they fought, the more I tugged. It was a ton of fun. I almost got a trainer to come over the glass at me. I was hanging over the boards yelling at guys.&rdquo;Most of what Rivas, who wore a loud Crayola-color jacket behind the bench, said to opponents is unprintable, but here are a few gems:&#10063; &ldquo;Did you get your toe-pick caught?&rdquo;&#10063; After a Cotton King was beaten up in a fight, &ldquo;I told him how pretty he looked and how he must not be hungry anymore after getting stuffed like that.&rdquo;&#10063; Rivas, who is 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, would kiss his biceps while yelling at opponents, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m too tough for you. Go sit down.&rdquo;&#10063; &ldquo;Weren&rsquo;t you supposed to be in the IHL by now?&rdquo; is what he asked one fuming Cotton King. &ldquo;It has been 40 games. Maybe the dream has passed you by.When Martino returned from his suspension, he had Rivas stand behind the bench again (Dec. 12 against the El Paso Buzzards), just to enjoy some of the fun.&ldquo;I told him it wasn&rsquo;t fair, I wanted to laugh too,&rdquo; Martino said. &ldquo;During a timeout, he asks if he can borrow my chalkboard. So he takes it and starts drawing directions to his club on it. He said if we won, the beer was on him.&ldquo;We laughed so hard. It was a tight game and he loosened the tension. We went out and won and he kept his deal. He kept me on an even keel, instead of being my normal tyrant-self. If the league would let me, I&rsquo;d do it again.&rdquo;When word got back to the WPHL what Rivas was doing, the league banned him from appearing behind the bench. Rivas said it&rsquo;s not totally a bad thing. He may switch to singing the national anthem.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just glad the league stepped in before I got my a-kicked,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But it was a huge honor. I look forward to doing it again.&rdquo;For the record, Rivas was 2-0 as coach. &#9632;

Comedian coach banned with perfect record

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011687/7109786-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="692" height="1330"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith Primeau debuted Jan. 27 wearing No. 25 for his new team, the Philadel-phia Flyers. See pgs. 20, 29. (Bruce Benet Studios)</figcaption></div>Scott Niedermayer is quick, but not quick enough.The New Jersey Devils&rsquo; defenseman circled the ice in 13.635 seconds, runner-up as the quickest time in the NHL. Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; right winger Darryl Laplante clocked a time of 13.597 in his team&rsquo;s FedEx SuperSkills competition.All but the All-Star Game host Toronto Maple Leafs had held their competitions.New Jersey also placed a couple players in the hardest shot event. Defenseman Sheldon Souray (100 miles per hour) and center Jason Arnott (99.5 mph) were sixth and ninth overall. Bobby Holik was 4-for-4 in accuracy shooting.Also holding events in late January were the Atlanta Thrashers, Phoenix Coyotes and Washington Capitals.Hardest shooters were Atlanta&rsquo;s Ed Ward (95.8 mph), Phoenix&rsquo;s Louie DeBrusk (94.9 mph) and Washington&rsquo;s Peter Bondra (98.0 mph).Fastest skaters were Atlanta&rsquo;s Patrik Stefan (14.111 seconds), Phoenix&rsquo;s Daniel Briere (14.051) and Washington&rsquo;s Joe Sacco (13.93).POLL SAYS NO: A majority of Canadians polled by the National Post think the federal government should not provide subsidies to Canadian hockey teams.The survey of 430 Canadians showed that 50 per cent take a hard-line stance against reducing the tax burdens on hockey teams. Another 16 per cent said tax relief should probably not be given.The federal government granted, then withdrew a proposed handout of about $12 million to Canada&rsquo;s six NHL teams in mid-January.The poll also showed that 46 per cent of men support federal aid compared to 27 per cent of women. Support declines in older age groups to a low of four per cent in Canadians 60 and over.MORE PRACTICES: The Canadian Hockey Association is setting restrictions on the number of games played in youth hockey next season.In an attempt to halt a perceived decline in the skills of young players, the CHA guidelines would become mandatory as soon as next season. It would apply to players up to and including peewees, 12-and 13-year-olds. It is expected the number of games cannot exceed the number of practices.MARATHON GAME: The longest game in hockey history was set to begin Jan. 31 in Toronto and end with a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.The Labatt Blue/NHL Pick Up Marathon game will continue 24 hours a day and include 180 players on 10 units of 18 players apiece. The game will continue until the final two teams can no longer play. Proceeds from Labatt Breweries go toward Hockey Fights Cancer.<h2>BIG SHOTS</h2>Three members of the Los Angeles Kings are among the seven heaviest shooters in the NHL after 27 of 28 team events in the FedEx Super-Skills competition. Here are the top 10 shooters in miles per hour.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021132/7109779-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="544" height="463"></div><h2>SPEED DEMONS</h2>Three members of the Detroit Red Wings are among the six fastest skaters in the NHL after 27 of 28 team events in the FedEx Super-Skills competition. Here are the top 10 rink revolutions in seconds.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03706/7109772-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="547" height="459"></div> &#9632;

f0007-01

Devils’ Niedermayer a close second

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011745/7109824-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="359" height="469"></div>Give the Ottawa Senators credit for fighting the good fight in the Alexei Yashin mess.The Senators have not capitulated on their refusal to give in to the Russian defector&rsquo;s demand for more money or a trade.But the time has come for Ottawa to change its stance.Not to appease Yashin, who has said he&rsquo;ll never play for them again, but to take advantage of the rare opportunity the Senators have at their fingertips-to win the Stanley Cup. Because in their effort to do right thing where &mdash; right thing one player is concerned, Ottawa has lost sight of the ultimate goal-to win the championship. Not to mention the rights of the players who have remained faithful to the cause and believe they are only one trade away from Cup contention.And don&rsquo;t kid yourself, that&rsquo;s how the players feel. They might not be saying it publicly, at least not yet, but as the March 14 trade deadline draws nearer, don't be surprised if you hear some grumbling.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t say much about it,&rdquo; said one Senators&rsquo; player, &ldquo;but we all know how close (to being a contender) we are. I think (management) will have to think about eventually doing something.&rdquo;As much as management wants Yashin to come back grovelling-which will never hap pen-it&rsquo;s not fair to the fans or other players to forsake a shot at the &ldquo;Cup.The Senators have an &mdash; impressive 24-17-8-2 record despite the distraction of possibly having to relocate to the U.S. because of financial instability and playing without Yashin, who was a candidate for the Hart Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player last season. Ottawa is stingy defensively, ranking sixth overall with a 2.45 team goals-against average, and is well-coached under Jacques Martin, but could use help in goal and more offense.Say what you want about Yashin being a two-faced, untrustworthy, greedy little so-and-so, but trying to teach him a lesson in ethics he&rsquo;s not likely to learn comes with a very high price tag.Even without Yashin and with all the serious injuries the team has endured this season, the Senators are still in a pack of second-tier teams that, with a little bit of tinkering, could join the top challengers for the Cup.At the all-star break, the New Jersey Devils, Dallas Stars (after a slow start) and Detroit Red Wings are in the top tier of contenders, with the Senators, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, Florida Panthers and Phoenix Coyotes a notch below. The right deal for Yashin could boost Ottawa into the top group or at least make it the cream of the second group.Of course, that would mean backing off on the tough stance the Senators have taken. Stubborn GM Marshall Johnston suspended Yashin for the season (playoffs included) Nov. 9, 1999, and in a press release Jan. 28 reiterated he will not entertain trading Yashin.&ldquo;You tell me one deal where the team that traded a player demanding to be moved ended up with the best player in the deal,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;If we&rsquo;re going to make any moves, it will be on our terms, not on a player&rsquo;s terms.&rdquo;Fair enough. But teams don&rsquo;t stay on the cusp of the Cup forever. The Senators have a strong nucleus, but need additional help. You would hate to think they I will look back a few years from now and wonder if they didn&rsquo;t blow a golden opportunity simply to make a point.Ottawa said by sitting out the final year of his contract this season, Yashin owes them another year of service. And they are prepared to do whatever it takes-the case will likely go to arbitration this summer-to see he honors his existing deal.If the team wins at arbitration, what does it get? An unhappy player. It&rsquo;s hard to imagine Yashin being dedicated to the Senators if he&rsquo;s forced to work for them for a salary he thinks is unfair, no matter how misguided his thought process is. If Yashin wins, he becomes a Group II free agent and the Senators face the dilemma of having to match any offer he might get or accepting draft picks as compensation for losing him.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021333/7109817-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="364" height="471"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Yashin</figcaption></div>Neither scenario helps the current version of die Senators win the Cup anytime soon.As unstable as Yashin is-he routinely demands to renegotiate contracts-there are still teams interested in him.He is, after all, a 26-year-old super-star. Johnston, though, is holding firm.&ldquo;In my mind, no, we will not trade him,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s not my team. It&rsquo;s not my money.&rdquo;Hopefully, ownership will see that statement as a window of opportunity to change its mind while allowing its GM to keep his credibility intact.Make the deal. &#9632;

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COLUMNS

Time to trade Yashin is now

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie </div><div class="byline">Associate Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011650/7109855-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sylvain Lefebrve and Mats Sundin, a Canadian and a Swede, represent the NHL&rsquo;s diversity as the league skates into the 21st century. (Jim Mclsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div>Darryl Sittier knows a thing or two about Us and Them.The former Toronto Maple Leaf Hall of Famer broke into the NHL in 1970, just before the groundbreaking 1972 Summit Series with the Soviet Union, and he scored the winning goal over Czechoslovakia in the 1976 Canada Cup final. He also witnessed first-hand the trials and tribulations of Swedes Borje Salming and Inge Hammarstrom as they established themselves in what had been an almost exclusively Canadian pro game.So it&rsquo;s interesting to get Sittier&rsquo;s perspective on this year&rsquo;s NHL All-Star Game in Toronto Feb. 6 at Air Canada Centre, which for the third consecutive year pits North American players against their European counterparts.Us vs. Them? Only in the loosest sense, said the ex-Leafs&rsquo; captain.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good format, it makes for fun, some interest,&rdquo; said Sittier, who played in four all-star games. &lsquo;1 know I&rsquo;m looking forward to seeing teammates like (Toronto captain) Mats Sundin go up against (Toronto goalie) Curtis Joseph. The fans can have some fun with that.&rdquo;But the way Sittier sees it, the All-Star Game is less about Us vs. Them than it is a celebration of the NHL&rsquo;s evolution to a truly world game.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m as proud of Canadian hockey as anybody,&rdquo; Sittier said, &ldquo;and I know the European influence has been tough for a lot of Canadians to swallow, but the game is a lot better for it and I think most Canadians know and appreciate it&rdquo;Playing alongside the great Salming-who was run repeatedly by opponents in vain attempts to intimidate him-Sittler&rsquo;s eyes were opened to the value of a global game.&ldquo;I remember my first training camp with Boije and Inge,&rdquo; Sittier said. &ldquo;You could see they were in phenomenal shape, head and shoulders better than everyone else, and I liked to think I was well-conditioned. Whether it was Swedes like Boije or later the players from the communist countries, you could see what they added to the game-speed and skill. The European players accepted the challenge, the intimidation and everyone has sort of moved on.&rdquo;The rest, as they say, is history.When this season opened, Canadia content was at an all-time low of 56 per cent-it was 71 per cent just 10 years a ago-and Americans accounted for 16 per I cent of the NHL player population. The Europeans just keep coming, with the Czechs (eight per cent). Russians (seven). Swedes (six) and Finns (three) providing much of the talent in a league represented by 17 nations.No problem, Sittier i said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s always going to be a lot Canadian pride and concern as ' to where Canadian hockey is at, but in the NHL, fans really just want to see good hockey. I see the fans at the Air Canada Centre and they&rsquo;re not concerned that Mats Sundin is a Swede or Sergei Berezin is a Russian or Tomas Kaberle is a Czech. They&rsquo;re Maple Leafs, they&rsquo;re good players and that&rsquo;s enough for the fans.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s no different anywhere else in the NHL. Detroit fans thrill to the Russian Red Wings. Colorado couldn&rsquo;t imagine being without its Swede, Peter Forsberg, or its Latvian, Sandis Ozolinsh, and the Pittsburgh Penguins regularly ice a lineup that&rsquo;s the hockey equivalent of the United Nations.In some ways, it&rsquo;s as if it has always been this way. But the first Russian wasn&rsquo;t released to the NHL until Sergei Priakin joined the Calgary Flames in the spring of 1989.Think about it, Russians have only been playing in the NHL for a dozen years.When Sittier suited up for Canada in the 1976 Canada Cup, he said most of the opposition was a totally unknown quantity.&ldquo;By then,&rdquo; Sittier said, &ldquo;the Soviets were kind of becoming household names because of the 1972 series and the (World Hockey Association) series with them in 1974. But we knew nothing about the Czechs and we were just starting to become familiar with the Swedes and Finns.&ldquo;Peter Stastny was a rookie on that Czechoslovakian team in the 1976 tournament, but we had no idea who he was, who anyone was. It sure has changed.&rdquo;But then so has everything, especially the All-Star Game itself.&ldquo;I was just talking to Lanny McDonald about this,&rdquo; Sittier said.&lsquo;We used to go in the night before the All-Star Game and have an all-star dinner or banquet. We would get up the next day, have a skate and then we would play the game that night. Then it would be over. It&rsquo;s like a week-long festival now, a real celebration for everyone connected with the game.A celebration of hockey as a world game.<h2>Sing it out, NHL &lsquo;We are the world&rsquo;</h2>The NHL is pro sports&rsquo; most multi-national entity in North America, with only Major League Baseball approaching hockey&rsquo;s percentage of players from outside Canada and the United States. Twenty-eight per cent of NHLers are from outside North America compared to 21 per cent of Major Leaguers from outside the U.S. Here&rsquo;s a look at where players from the major pro sports come from. Canadians and Americans are combined for the NHL.<h3>NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE</h3>North America 72 per centEurope 25 per centOther countries 3 per cent<h3>MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL</h3>United States 79 per centLatin America 19 per centOther countries 2 per cent<h3>NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION</h3>United States 91 per centEurope 5 per centOther countries 4 per cent<h3>NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE</h3>United states 97 per centOther countries 3 per cent &#9632;

f0009-01

Global games

<div class="byline">By Lance Hornby</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011719/7109886-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Dan Hamilton/VPS)</figcaption></div>No, hockey wasn&rsquo;t invented in Toronto. It just seems that way.So when the smug denizens of Canada&rsquo;s largest city heard their Maple Leafs were lobbying to host the 2000 NHL All-Star Game, everyone knew the center of the hockey universe would triumph.As ancient Rome exerted its power on scattered provinces, so it seems everyone and everything to do with hockey either comes from Toronto or is trying to get noticed there, even if it&rsquo;s just a line in a newspaper. Likewise, bad news must be hushed up before it gets there.When the NHL Players&rsquo; Association first chose its headquarters in the 1960s, it picked Toronto. Maple Leaf Gardens was the ultimate hockey theater from 1931 until its closing last February. The NHL&rsquo;s Canadian office moved much of its business from Montreal to Toronto years ago and just set up beautiful new offices in the Air Canada Tower.The Leafs haven&rsquo;t won the Stanley Cup since 1967, you say? True, but the Cup&rsquo;s permanent home, along with the rest of the game&rsquo;s treasures, is the Hockey Hall of Fame, a slapshot from the Leafs&rsquo; new ice palace, the Air Canada Centre.Is it any surprise the ACC&rsquo;s owners call it the jewel of NHL rinks?&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why we bid on the All-Star Game,&rdquo; said Tom Anselmi, vice-president of business for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. &ldquo;We want to be the most important organization in hockey and you do that by putting on the biggest and the best show.&rdquo;Toronto-bashing ranks just ahead of shoveling snow as Canada&rsquo;s national pastime and the city&rsquo;s influence on hockey gives critics more ammunition.&ldquo;It does appear Toronto gets everything in hockey,&rdquo; said Bill Watters, who has been a teacher, player agent, broadcaster and is now a Leafs&rsquo; executive, all in the shadow of the CN Tower.&ldquo;But we are what we are in Toronto. We have about six million people in the Greater Toronto Area and when you look at more than 65 years of sellouts with the Maple Leafs, it shows the support and knowledge of the fans here. They enjoy hockey, but they also know winning isn&rsquo;t everything. There&rsquo;s a love of the game.&rdquo;At the risk of grating on the rest of Canada and North America, here are some more examples of Hogtown&rsquo;s puck power:&#10063; What other team could convince the NHL into redrawing the league map so it move from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference 20 years ago and then back to the East in 1998?&#10063; At least a couple of members of every NHL team has a connection to Toronto. OK, so Wayne Gretzky isn&rsquo;t one of them, but he didn&rsquo;t put his restaurant on a barren Edmonton street, either.&#10063; As Montreal&rsquo;s Stanley Cup banners flutter over a growing number of empty seats, the Leafs&rsquo; corporate clientele and three generations of subscribers pack the ACC every night, generating revenue for Canada&rsquo;s richest NHL franchise.&#10063; Several of the most powerful player agents are based in and around Toronto, led by the Don Meehan stable (Newport Sports Management), which includes half the Maple Leafs&rsquo; roster.&#10063; Toronto was-and remains-recognized as the capital city for players and officials during bitter labor disputes with the NHL&rsquo;s New York headquarters in the 1990s.&#10063; Up until the 1980s, the Ontario League&rsquo;s Toronto Marlboros were the nation&rsquo;s most successful junior team with seven Memorial Cup wins, while boasting almost 100 drafted NHLers.&#10063; After the Marlies moved to Hamilton, the OHL realized the importance of the GT A market and put teams in Toronto (St. Michael&rsquo;s) and suburbs Mississauga and Brampton, joining the nearby Oshawa Generals.&ldquo;From a media standpoint and a business standpoint, our commissioner (Dave Branch) has always seen the importance of having teams in the Toronto area,&rdquo; said OHL information director Ted Baker. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s where everything is for our needs and it&rsquo;s a short drive to most of our teams.&rdquo;Moreover, the Canadian Hockey League office (encompassing the OHL, WHL and QMJHL) is based in Toronto.&#10063; The Greater Toronto Hockey League is the largest of its kind in the world, boasting about 45,000 minor players.&#10063; The National Women&rsquo;s Hockey League, Canada&rsquo;s top female loop, has four GTA clubs: Beatrice North York Aeros, Brampton Thunder, Mississauga Chiefs and Scarborough Sting, many featuring women&rsquo;s national team members.&#10063; The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation&rsquo;s head offices are in Toronto. CBC is the engine for the Hockey Night In Canada machine.&#10063; TSN (The Sports Network, not the Toronto Sports Network as out-of-town critics call it), CTV Sportsnet, CFTO, Global and OnTv are Toronto-area broadcasters of NHL and junior games, while powerful production company Molstar Sports and Entertainment, as well as Headline Sports, are also based in Toronto.&#10063; Four major newspapers-the Sun, Star, National Post and Globe & Mail-cover the Leafs and the NHL every day with a small army of beat writers and columnists, whose work appears nationally in sister papers and on the Internet.&#10063; Lastly (but not leastly), The Hockey News, the &lsquo;Bible of Hockey,&rsquo; has been located in Toronto since 1979.Geographically, Toronto is about as central as you can get in the diverse 28-team NHL. Twelve teams are located east of Toronto, 15 to the west.Like it or lump it, Toronto is the center of the hockey universe. It&rsquo;s fact, not friction. &#9632;

f0010-01

Toronto: Hockey Central

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011548/7109917-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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The Hockey News

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011676/7109976-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="920" height="1408"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;On the Bench&rdquo; by Tony Luciani</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021334/7109969-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="1207" height="836"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;Pick-Up Game in Westmount&rdquo; by Michel Lapensee</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03861/7109962-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="1204" height="963"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;Go&rdquo; by Adam Rogers</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04500/7109955-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="2075" height="1482"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;The Goalie&rdquo; by Cornelius Spek</figcaption></div>It is said the ability to play hockey is an art form. And so a group of 12 Canadian artists has put together a collection of hockey-themed artwork celebrating the sport in Canada. The work will be featured in a public exhibit during the NHL All-Star Game festivities in Toronto Feb. 2 to 6 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Here is a sampling of the art that is being auctioned off online at <a href="http://www.DodgeNHLAuction.com">www.DodgeNHLAuction.com</a> from Jan. 20 to Feb. 7. Proceeds will benefit Hockey Fights Cancer, a joint venture between the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-05358/7109948-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="1796" height="1468"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;St. Hippolyte Skating Party&rdquo; by William Roy Brownridge</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0012-01

Visions of Hockey: The art of fund-raising

<div class="byline">By Mike Gibb </div><div class="byline">Staff Writer</div>Cammi Granato recognized the enemy eight years ago, then became pen pals with her.Granato was an instructor at a 1992 hockey camp in Penticton, B.C., when she noticed a dazzling 13-year-old named Hayley Wickenheiser. Granato went as far as to tell her, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll see you at the 1998 Olympics.&rdquo;The two exchanged infrequent letters over the next couple of years until they met again. It was not yet the Olympics, but it was the 1995 Women&rsquo;s World Championship. Granato played for the U.S.; Wickenheiser was a 15-year-old rookie on Canada&rsquo;s national team.Wickenheiser&rsquo;s ability has progressed with her age. She&rsquo;s a three-time world champion, has attended the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; rookie camp the past two years, was a silver medal winner at the 1998 Winter Olympics-the U.S. won the gold-and at 21, Wickenheiser is just skating into her prime.Her youth and array of skills make her the consensus pick as the top female player in the world, heading into a home-and-home exhibition series between Canada and the U.S. The teams play Feb. 2 in Buffalo and Feb. 4 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto as part of the NHL&rsquo;s All-Star Game festivities.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s really scary is she&rsquo;s still getting better,&rdquo; said Canadian teammate Cassie Campbell. &ldquo;She enjoys pressure. It&rsquo;s what makes her tick. Even when she&rsquo;s standing in line for a drill, she&rsquo;s working on shooting or puckhandling.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s that focus that has propelled Wickenheiser from a young girl playing shinny on an outdoor rink in Shaunavon, Sask., to the world stage. It&rsquo;s also what has allowed her to try to become a two-sport athlete.Wickenheiser is one of 10 players vying for the five final spots on the Canadian national softball team destined for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. A utility player, Wickenheiser feels that to make the team, she needs to use her offensive skills and capitalize on her power. If her power on the baseball field is anywhere close to her power on the ice, she&rsquo;s a lock.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011560/7110007-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="519" height="927"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hayley Wickenheiser is the top player in women&rsquo;s hockey today.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t give her any space on the ice,&rdquo; Granato said. &ldquo;You give her an inch and she&rsquo;s gone.&rdquo;Wickenheiser has played every position but goalie with the Canadian team. Normally a center-where she&rsquo;s most comfortable-she&rsquo;s also used as a quarterback on the point during power plays and on the wing in given situations.She&rsquo;s the top women&rsquo;s player due to her versatility, not because of any one particular asset. An adept puckhandler and smooth skater, Wickenheiser can be an artist or a carpenter on the ice, depending on the situation.&ldquo;She plays laterally very well,&rdquo; Granato said. &ldquo;And she&rsquo;s good at dragging a defenseman and hitting someone with a pass against the grain.&rdquo;Wickenheiser put on one of the most impressive displays ever by a female at the Three Nations Cup in Montreal in December when she scored four goals and set up the fifth in a 5-4 OT win over the U.S.That was one of the best performances I had ever seen,&rdquo; said Canadian national team coach Melody Davidson. Granato called it one of the best games by an individual against the U.S.A teammate of Granato&rsquo;s, forward Karen Bye, deserves an honorable mention. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t seen a woman with a harder shot than Karen,&rdquo; Granato said. &ldquo;Anytime we have the puck in the offensive zone, she&rsquo;s a threat to score.&rdquo;Wickenheiser won&rsquo;t come out and say she&rsquo;s the best at what she does, but she will acknowledge she&rsquo;s a special player who has the ability to control a game.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a very intense person,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of my best qualities. I like to think I can change the momentum of a game on my own. I want to raise the intensity of the game through the way I play.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Hail Hayley: Best in game

<div class="byline">By John Davidson</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011665/7110045-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="321" height="422"></div>Pavel Bure may not be as good as Jaromir Jagr, but he&rsquo;s more fun to watch.That&rsquo;s why Bure was chosen over Jagr as first-team right winger and captain of the All-Davidson NHL Excitement Team.Bure, the Florida Panthers&rsquo; speedster who is as fast with the puck as he is without, was a unanimous choice to the elite squad. For that matter, all members were unanimous choices&hellip;because the selection committee consisted of one person.The Hockey News asked me to pick the game&rsquo;s most vibrant players by position, assembling a squad based roughly along the same hierarchy as a regular team. Only first line players were considered for our top line, second-liners for the second line and so on. The same went for defensemen and goalies.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021253/7110038-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1781" height="1176"><figcaption class="caption-body">Superstar Pavel Bure is a perfect 10 on the Excitement Scale: He plays the game with elan and electricity. (Jim Mclsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div>It could be argued we stretched the definition for a pair of Colorado Avalanche, Joe Sakic and Sandis Ozolinsh, putting them in secondary positions despite their status as first-rate players. But hey, it&rsquo;s my team and I insisted on final say-so over the lineup. &#9632;

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Our team is worth price of admission

No. 1 Left Winger PAUL KARIYA, Ana.The ultimate thinking man's player with a brain that keeps up with hockey's fastest feetNo. 2 Left Winger ALEXEI KOVALEV, Pit.The NHL&rsquo;s over-the-top practitioner of a lost art: StickhandlingNo. 3 Lett Winger RYAN SMYTH, Edm.Few drive to the net more effectively; he pays the price to score goals.No. 4 Left Winger MATTHEW BARNABY, Pit.Teams need energy and nobody denies that Barnaby is full of itNo. IDefense Pair ROB BLAKE, L.A.Only player who can control the tempo of the game by stepping up and smashing foesNo. 2 Defense Pair SANDIS OZOLINSH, Col.The rover position was eliminated during the 1910s; it came back when Ozolinsh joined the NHLNo. 3 Defense Pair BRYAN BERARD, Tor.He wants to be Sandis Ozolinsh when he grows up; the Leafs want him to be Ray BourqueNo. 1 Center ERIC LINDROS, Phi.No single player influences the physicality of a game more than LindrosNo. 2 Center JOE SAKIC, Col.Sakic darts around the ice like a waterbug on a frozen pond, unleashing wicked wrist shotsNo. 3 Center MICHAEL PECA, But.Best open-ice hitter in the game explodes when he bodychecks opponentsNo. 4 Center IAN LAPERRIERE, L.A.Few players know how to stir up the pot better than this three-time 10O-penalty minute manNo. 1 Defense Pair AL MACINNIS, St.LTwo players have intimidated with legendary slapshots: Bobby Hull and MaclnnisNo. 2 Defense Pair ADAM FOOTE, Col.He is so emotional and nasty, I&rsquo;d hate to be his dog on game dayNo. 3 Defense Pair ZDENO CHARA, NYIThe world's tallest and most mobile free-standing structure is headed for big, big thingsNo. 1 Right Winger PAVEL BURE, Fla.Last century&rsquo;s runaway leader in breakaways and goals on breakaways.No. 2 Right Winger MARK RECCHI, Phi.Fearless speed and full health have restored Recchi to his rightful place among league's eliteNo. 3 Right Winger MAXIM AFINOGENOV. Buf.He pulls people out of their seats with his speed, puckhandling and daring creativityNo. 4 Right Winger TIE DOMI, Tor.Fans either love the colorful two-fisted fighter or love to hate him1st Goalie CURTIS JOSEPH, TorHe has written his own book on how to play the position; he&rsquo;s agile, innovative and entertaining2nd Goalie JOSE THEODORE, Mon.Aggressive and acrobatic, Theodore brings an extraordinary level of enthusiasm to the creaseCoach RON WILSON, Was.Highly quotable coach has a good clothing contract and a good bodyguard in Tim Hunter &#9632;

J.D.’s All-Excitement Team

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy </div><div class="byline">Senior Writer</div>Football has its All-Madden Team, a collection of gritty players chosen annually by yappy sportscaster John Madden.Now hockey has an All-Madden Team, too.New Jersey Devils&rsquo; rookie center John Madden, who leads the league with four shorthanded goals, has identified the five players-excluding himself-he would have on the ice to kill off a penalty.A graduate of the University of Michigan who was signed as a free agent by the Devils in 1997, the 5-foot-ll, 195-pound Madden has his sights set on Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s NHL record of 13 shorthanded goals in a single season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d love to break that record,&rdquo; he said.It should come as no surprise the NHL&rsquo;s All-Madden team includes two members of the Dallas Stars (91.2 per cent) and Devils (89.1 per cent), who rank 1-2 in penalty killing in the league. Following is the All-Madden Team, with comments from the Devils' rookie:Goal: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey &ldquo;He handles the puck so well it&rsquo;s like having a third defenseman on the ice. He forces the other team to carry the puck into our zone. They know if they shoot it in, he&rsquo;ll get it and fire it back out. In fact, if the other team shoots the puck in, I call it a giveaway.&rdquo;Defense: Chris Pronger, St. Louis &ldquo;With Pronger it&rsquo;s a combination of his long reach and his positioning. He always gets himself in the right position. And he&rsquo;s so big (6-foot-6), when he reaches for you, you have no chance. On top of that, for a big man he&rsquo;s as good a skater as there is in the league.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011533/7110107-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="260" height="364"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Pronger</figcaption></div>Defense: Scott Stevens, New Jersey &ldquo;I remember watching him even before he became a Devil and being so impressed with his anticipation and aggressiveness on the puck. He doesn&rsquo;t allow the other team to set up in our zone.&rdquo;Forward: Guy Carbonneau, Dallas &ldquo;He always starts with the puck because he&rsquo;s so good on the faceoff. When you&rsquo;re killing a penalty, possession off the draw is very important. He wins the draw back to a defender and the Stars play with the puck for a while before icing it. That kills 30 seconds right off the bat.&rdquo;Forward: Mike Keane, Dallas &ldquo;His tenacious puck pursuit is unmatched. By going after the puck with so much force, he never allows the other team to feel comfortable in setting up. That throws the other team&rsquo;s power play off-balance.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021077/7110100-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="761" height="985"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Madden</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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All-Madden Team kills penalties

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy </div><div class="byline">Senior Writer</div>To the Viktor go the spoils.After what seems like an eternity-actually, it has been six years-Viktor Kozlov is finally making his mark in the NHL.Though not yet a high-profile player, Kozlov-who turns 25 on Valentine&rsquo;s Day-has been having a sweetheart of a time since being placed on the Florida Panthers' top line with fellow Russian Pavel Bure. While Bure grabs the headlines in South Florida, Kozlov has slowly crept up and joined the league&rsquo;s top scorers. Part of the reason, obviously, is the fact he&rsquo;s playing with one of the league&rsquo;s most dynamic players. But don&rsquo;t sell Kozlov&rsquo;s effort short.He was 16th in league scoring after 49 games with 12 goals and 46 points. A representative for the World team in the Feb. 6 All-Star Game, he was on pace for 20 goals and 77 points, easily topping his career highs of 16 goals and 51 points set last season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing a lot of hockey,&rdquo; said Panthers&rsquo; coach Terry Murray. &ldquo;I use him on both special teams and of course he plays with Pavel. And I plan to use him even more in the second half. He&rsquo;s doing things in his complete game that we really like, specifically in terms of defense.&ldquo;We match his line against the other team&rsquo;s top line so that means when he doesn&rsquo;t have the puck, he has to play defensively. I don&rsquo;t think he gets enough credit for that part of his game.&rdquo;Never deemed a Can&rsquo;t Miss Kid because his skating was suspect, the hulking 6-foot-5, 232-pound Russian center has been slow to emerge.Kozlov entered the 1993 entry draft as the top-rated prospect by the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau. But as the names were called in what was one of the best drafts in league history, he sat slumped in his seat at the Quebec Colisee until the San Jose Sharks chose sixth. The Ottawa Senators took Alexandre Daigle first. Then the Hartford Whalers made a deal to pick second and selected defenseman Chris Pronger. And it wasn&rsquo;t until after forwards Chris Gratton, Paul Kariya and current teammate Rob Niedermayer were chosen that the Sharks took Kozlov.That, of course, prompted San Jose to give it the old &ldquo;We had him No. 1 on our list&rdquo; in expressing delight Kozlov was still available. And they gave him all the opportunity in the world to develop during his first 3-1/2 years in the NHL, never expressing disappointment in his play even though he had just 29 goals and 69 points in 174 games. But when the Panthers, who were trying to get bigger and younger up front, came calling two years ago with the offer of a first round draft choice, the Sharks bit.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03765/7110138-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="352" height="475"><figcaption class="caption-body">Viktor Kozlov</figcaption></div>He had showed signs of improvement in San Jose, producing a 16-goal, 41-point season in 1996-97, but Viktor&rsquo;s potential was still Koz for concern as Pronger and Kariya became superstars. Could he be a No. 1 center?&ldquo;I never worried about how good other players were getting because I always knew I was working as hard as I could to be the best player I could be,&rdquo; Kozlov said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t care what others thought about me; only what I thought.&rdquo;Kozlov has made the most of skating between Bure, who had 35 goals and 58 points in 41 games, and left wingers Ray Whitney or Scott Mellanby.While he&rsquo;s not flashy, Kozlov has learned to react quickly to Bure&rsquo;s considerable speed.&ldquo;The biggest change in his game this season is seeing the ice when he&rsquo;s coming out of our zone,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Pavel forces the puck to come to him. I think he&rsquo;s pretty demanding of Viktor. You hear them chattering away on the bench in Russian and I assume Pavel&rsquo;s telling Viktor what he expects. Pavel has been a very positive influence on Viktor.&rdquo;Kozlov is renowned for his work ethic. He&rsquo;s usually one of the first players on the ice at practice and one of the last to leave. And he&rsquo;s a physical fitness nut who works hard on his conditioning off the ice.&ldquo;Part of that is being Russian,&rdquo; Kozlov claimed. &ldquo;In the Russian system, if you don&rsquo;t work hard, they get rid of you. It&rsquo;s the way I was raised to play hockey.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s all smiles when his name is mentioned in Florida these days.&ldquo;There were times in the past when, at the end of the night, he left you wanting simply because he&rsquo;s so good with the puck and so strong,&rdquo; said GM Bryan Murray.&ldquo;But he wouldn&rsquo;t shoot when he should have or get moving when he had a chance to. Now it seems to be falling into place for him. Some of that has to do with Pavel, but I think you have to take his maturity into account. 1 don&rsquo;t see any reason why he can&rsquo;t be a top-10 scorer in the league.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Kozlov basking in Florida sun

<div class="byline">By Mike Gibb </div><div class="byline">Staff Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011450/7110211-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div>The drive from Edmonton to Calgary takes about three hours. But it&rsquo;s the last five minutes that have been the hardest for the Edmonton Oilers.Somewhere in that 200 miles between Alberta&rsquo;s two NHL franchises is the fine line that separates overtime success and failure. And Calgary was on the right side of it, having already won an NHL-record 10 OT games. The Oilers weren&rsquo;t, going 0-7-13 before finally beating Vancouver 5-4 in overtime Jan. 25. Even more astounding was Calgary (23-21-5-1) had seven more wins than Edmonton (16-2013-7), but the two clubs were still tied for seventh place in the Western Conference with 52 points.The reason for that is the regulation tie. Giving both teams one point in games tied after 60 minutes has kept teams like Edmonton in the playoff hunt.&ldquo;Coaches and GMs cringe when they open the paper nowadays,&rdquo; said Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; coach Andy Murray, whose team had an 0-3-7 record in overtime, but was just two points out of a playoff spot. &ldquo;The most dreaded thing in hockey now is an in(tra)-conference regulation tie. Because one team gets one point and the other team gets two points; it&rsquo;s an extra point. We don&rsquo;t look for wins in the paper, we look for the overtime wins. They&rsquo;re killers.&rdquo;Coaches agree intra-conference games are more important than inter-conference games, as the eight playoff spots are determined by conference standings. Greater emphasis is placed on not giving up extra points in intra-conference games, though the numbers don&rsquo;t reflect that. Nearly 44 per cent of intra-conference games had been decided in overtime, while only 38 per cent of inter-conference games had been settled.The Flames&rsquo; success has been amazing, considering they are the lowest-scoring team in the West and have won twice as many games in overtime as the next-best NHL teams (the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs both have five overtime wins).Here are a few key reasons for the Flames&rsquo; overtime success:<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05449/7110204-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="1417" height="1040"><figcaption class="caption-body">Calgary goalie Fred Brathwaite has a 5-1-3 record in overtime games this season. (John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div>&#10063; Confidence. &ldquo;If we tie now, it feels like a loss,&rdquo; said Calgary power forward Jarome Iginla. &ldquo;We know we can play in tight games, in regulation or overtime. A tie isn&rsquo;t appealing anymore.&rdquo;&#10063; Phil Housley. An offensive defenseman with great puck skills, Housley is a perfect fit for 4-on-4. It creates open ice and is a fantasy-come-true for rushing defensemen. He is tied with teammate Valeri Bure for the NHL lead in overtime points with five. Housley has played 32:57 minutes of the 55:01 that Calgary has spent in overtime this season, almost six minutes more than Bure, who is second with 26:59. &ldquo;Overtime is so much about puck control,&rdquo; Iginla said. &ldquo;And Howie&rsquo;s our quarterback. He&rsquo;s always looking to create something.&rdquo;&#10063; Composure. The Flames started the season playing poorly early in games. That forced them into frequent comebacks and that barnstorming style carried over into overtime. Now, tight games don&rsquo;t give the Flames anxiety attacks. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t panic," said coach Brian Sutter. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not afraid to make mistakes. There&rsquo;s no real secret. We just have a strong mentality.&rdquo;The Oilers were lacking in all three of these characteristics. Their blueliners rarely led the rush into the offensive zone in OT and wavering confidence and blown composure had become an epidemic in Edmonton before they finally beat Vancouver.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s starting to be a habit now,&rdquo; said Oiler Georges Laraque to the Edmonton Journal a day after losing to Nashville in overtime and a day before beating Vancouver. &ldquo;We go into overtime and just try to hang in there. Everybody that steps on the ice is nervous to make a mistake.&rdquo;Teams&rsquo; fortunes have improved on the strength of a lot less than an overtime win, so if it happens in Edmonton, it&rsquo;s not too surprising. But to expect it is premature. Still, that didn&rsquo;t stop the Oilers from celebrating like they had won the Stanley Cup when Ethan Moreau scored the overtime winner against Vancouver.&ldquo;It was only two points, but it felt like more,&rdquo; Moreau told the Edmonton Sun.&ldquo;You could see the looks on everybody&rsquo;s faces as they were hugging me, how much it meant to the team. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021120/7110197-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="174" height="150"></div><h2>Calgary Flames</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03836/7110190-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="801" height="722"></div>Flames' 0T Record: 10-1-5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04618/7110183-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="768" height="166"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06377/7110176-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="154" height="156"></div><h2>Edmonton Oilers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07347/7110169-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="745" height="934"></div>Oilers' 0T Record: 1-7-13 &#9632;

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Prairie Paradox

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011298/7110249-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="317" height="442"></div>Once over lightly, but not politely:&#10063; Image is everything. That&rsquo;s why Canada&rsquo;s feds nixed NHL aid. Grass roots Canadians don&rsquo;t like the look of Nikolai Khabibulin snubbing a few million a year to stop pucks or Alexei Yashin yipping over a contract worth a few more mil while they work for a living.&#10063; I get a kick out of Dan Cloutier&rsquo;s goaltending, his suspension notwithstanding. Granted, kicking Tim Connolly was gross, but remember, Cloutier is also making a powerful statement about crease-running that should be heard in Bettmanville.&#10063; If the Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; high command believes Keith Tkachuk is over budget, why was owner Richard Burke foolish enough to guarantee him $8 million next year in the first place?&#10063; This is major no-no talk in New York, but those in the know will tell you the Rangers are a better team without Wayne Gretzky. And Mathieu Schneider has (gulp!) become a better defenseman than Brian Leetch.&#10063; If I was Igor Larionov and the Red Wings offered me a bundle-which they did-at age 39, the first thing I would do is think of ex-teammate Vladimir Konstantinov, who will never play again. The second thing I&rsquo;d think of is how lucky I am to still be playing. And the third thing I&rsquo;d think of is how fast I ought to put my name on a Detroit contract instead of making like a mope.&#10063; The stupidest wind to come out of Calgary is the one whistling that Fred Brathwaite belongs in the All-Star Game over Mike Richter. The day Fearless Freddie can hold Marvelous Mike&rsquo;s goalie stick will be the day the earth stands still.&#10063; The rising star at Bettman Inc. is bright, insightful, multilingual Claude Loiselle, currently understudying for Colin Campbell.&#10063; How come Herb Brooks got two games for shoving Colorado Avalanche announcer John Kelly, but when Dominik Hasek choked Buffalo News columnist Jim Kelley and ripped Kelly&rsquo;s shirt, the goalie&rsquo;s suspension was a grand total of no games?&#10063; Carolina wins the Rod Brind&rsquo; Amour-Keith Primeau trade if the Hurricanes make the playoffs. Philly wins the deal only if Lindros and Co. win the Stanley Cup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02991/7110242-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="873" height="1602"><figcaption class="caption-body">The deal that brought Kevin Weekes to Long Island for Felix Potvin will look like a steal for the Islanders. (Brian Winkler/BBS)</figcaption></div>&#10063; Brilliant idea for opening up the game: Forbid the use of stick checks between the bluelines.&#10063; Memo to Mark Messier: You&rsquo;re rich, handsome and, hopefully, wise. Call it a career this spring and become a coach. Or buy the Islanders!&#10063; It took me a dozen years to find out Don Koharski is a good guy. Hey, what was the big rush?&#10063; Hall of Famer-tumed-player-agent Bobby Orr says it&rsquo;s time for the NHL Players&rsquo; Association to cut a new deal with ownership. Good idea, but is NHLPA boss Bob Goodenow listening? Let&rsquo;s rephrase that: Does Goodenow ever listen? Let&rsquo;s rephrase that: How about Bobby Orr as the next NHLPA director? Obviously, my vote is already in!&#10063; If Hasek does not play goal for Buffalo before the All-Star Game, he should not-repeat not-be allowed to play in the All-Star Game.&#10063; I&rsquo;d love for minor league bosses Doug Moss (International League) and Dave Andrews (American League) to hold a summit and come out of it with a super, low-ticket-price, high-quality unit.&#10063; If Calgary finishes at .500 or over and makes the playoffs, Brian Sutter is my coach of the year. (He&rsquo;s also my undisputed hard handshaker of all-time.)&#10063; &ldquo;Hockey is a simple game,&rdquo; says Anaheim coach Craig Hartsburg. Oh, yeah. Try telling that to NHL stats men, team video coordinators, TV analysts and coaches trying to beat the trap.&#10063; When the all-time NHL movie is made, Phil Esposito will be played by Danny Aiello.&#10063; Gary Bettman should be concerned when owners are more interested in developing land around their arenas than developing their hockey teams.&#10063; A year from now the switch of Bill Muckalt, Dave Scatchard and Kevin Weekes to the Isles for Felix Potvin will be looked upon as a steal-and not for Vancouver.&#10063; Opponents of the shootout argue games should not be determined by a &ldquo;skills competition.&rdquo; And what, may I ask, is wrong with skill settling a match? &#9632;

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Richter right man for All-Star Game

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie </div><div class="byline">Associate Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011333/7110280-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ranger in a strange land: Kevin Stevens, facing a felony drug charge, was a top power forward in the early &rsquo;90s, scoring 40 goals four straight years and tying the mark for most goals in a season by an American with 55. (Reuters)</figcaption></div>Pro hockey&rsquo;s age of innocence-or was it naivete?-was shattered in 1989 when Bob Probert was caught crossing the U.S.-Canada border with cocaine stuffed in his underwear.But here it is, more than 10 years later, and the NHL community&rsquo;s capacity for being shocked remains intact. How else to characterize the alleged exploits of New York Ranger Kevin Stevens in East St. Louis in the wee hours of Jan. 23, if not as shocking?Crack pipes, cocaine, a prostitute, a pimp and a felony drug charge&hellip;if hockey has difficulty reconciling this sordid saga, imagine the utter disbelief of the friends and family of the 34-year-old Stevens.A terrific hockey player? Of that, there was no doubt. A classic late bloomer, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound left winger from Brockton, Mass., was, in the early 1990s, the game&rsquo;s pre-eminent power forward. He won two Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh, led the playoffs with 17 goals in 1991, scored big with and without Mario Lemieux, played it hard and tough and exhibited a sheer joy for the game, on and off the ice.A wonderful person? His current woes might suggest otherwise to some, but &lsquo;Artie&rsquo;-as he is affectionately known, a nickname taken from his father Arthur-was always considered a good husband to wife Suzanne, a good father to two young children (with a third due soon) and a near and dear friend to the best and brightest in the game, including Wayne Gretzky, Lemieux, Ron Francis, John Cullen, Mark Recchi, Brian Leetch, Rick Toc-chet and many more.&ldquo;I consider him one of my very best friends,&rdquo; Tocchet said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not a better guy anywhere.&rdquo;Recchi agreed: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the kind of guy people always want to be around. He has a special quality about him. That&rsquo;s why he has so many great friends.&rdquo;When Stevens hit bottom, his friends didn&rsquo;t distance themselves; instead, they reached out to him and his family. Lemieux phoned Stevens at the jail where he spent the night after being arrested. Gretzky offered his support. Others are doing what they can to help Stevens&rsquo; wife, who is dealing with a difficult pregnancy.It&rsquo;s a sony tale that illustrates drug addiction doesn&rsquo;t play favorites.Dr. David Lewis and Dr. Brian Shaw, who head up the NHL&rsquo;s Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program, won&rsquo;t discuss any aspect of Stevens&rsquo; case. But they are eager to help promote understanding of drug and/or alcohol addiction.&ldquo;We look at addiction as a disease of the heart,&rdquo; Lewis said. &ldquo;That is, &lsquo;If I don&rsquo;t like the way I feel, I can change that right away with the drug of my choice.&rsquo; People who choose a chemical will choose a chemical they like that will change their feelings. We look at those feelings and that chemical of choice.&rdquo;Stevens is currently in a West Coast rehab center. There&rsquo;s a chance he&rsquo;ll relocate to one in the East as the birth of his third child nears.Inevitably, there will be those who will try to find the defining moment that led Stevens to where he is now. Some will say it occurred in the 1993 playoffs, when he suffered a catastrophic facial injury that required reconstructive surgery. Many maintained he was never again the same player.Others will identify the winding down of his career. Although he scored 23 goals last season, he was ineffective this season and likely was close to being traded or waived by the Rangers. He may have been on the verge of being moved back to Pittsburgh, where he remained highly regarded.Pinpointing the cause is best left to medical experts. But Stevens&rsquo; problems didn&rsquo;t occur overnight.In the glory days in Pittsburgh, he was known as a player who loved a good time. But those who hung out with him then didn&rsquo;t suspect there was any serious problem. After Pittsburgh, there were stints in Boston and Los Angeles. Those close to him believe that&rsquo;s when his problems emerged.In the fall of 1997, his first as a Ranger, there was a pre-season incident when he went missing. It was the first sign of things to come. Stevens reportedly checked into the joint NHL-NHLPA program and a West Coast alcohol treatment center in the summer of 1998.To the best of anyone&rsquo;s knowledge, there were no further incidents after his 1998 rehab until this past November in Chicago, when he once again went AWOL on the Rangers. Between then and his episode in St. Louis, Stevens was under constant program scrutiny that is said to have included substance testing every other day.It&rsquo;s believed Stevens is now in Stage Two of the league program, which would mean he has been suspended without pay until such time that he&rsquo;s declared healthy and fit enough to play. His friends pray he&rsquo;s hit rock bottom and is on the way back up.Stevens has a long, difficult road back. There are legal issues to be resolved-a felony conviction carries jail time-and there&rsquo;s no guarantee he has a career to come back to. But first things first.&ldquo;We all just want him to get well, to get back with his family and get on with his life,&rdquo; Recchi said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all that matters now.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Fallen Star

The NHL entered the enlightened age in 1996 when it began treating substance abuse as an illness rather than simply punishing offenders with suspensions. The league can still suspend players, but only after a player has his condition treated. Prior to 1996, the NHL suspended five players on six occasions. Here&rsquo;s a summary:<h2>Don Murdoch, New York Rangers</h2>July 24,1978 - Suspended one season after conviction for possession of cocaine. Served 40 games before being reinstated.<h2>Ric Nattress, Montreal Canadiens</h2>Sept. 23,1983 - Suspended one season after conviction for possession of marijuana. Served 30 games before being reinstated.<h2>Borje Salming, Toronto Maple Leafs</h2>Sept 4,1986 - Suspended one season after admitting in a newspaper to using cocaine. Served eight games before being reinstated.<h2>Bob Probert, Detroit Red Wings</h2>Nov. 8,1989 - Suspended 1-1/2 years after conviction for possession of cocaine. Served one year before being reinstated.<h2>Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers</h2>Sept. 27, 1990 - Suspended one year after admitting to using cocaine. Served four months before being reinstated.<h2>Bob Probert, Chicago Blackhawks</h2>Sept. 2,1994 - Declared indefinitely inactive after second cocaine conviction. Sat out entire season and was reinstated in 1995-96. &#9632;

A Quick History of Pucks and Drugs

<div class="byline">By Rick Car piniello</div>Beating a felony drug charge might be the easy part for Kevin Stevens, whose hockey career may be over and whose life fell apart in the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis.Stevens, 34, was arrested Jan. 23 and later charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance-crack cocaine-in Collinsville, Hl. The New York Rangers&rsquo; left winger faces a maximum of three years in prison if convicted.Stevens, who entered a plea of not guilty and posted $1,500 bail after spending a night in jail, was released and immediately entered the Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program run by the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association. Directors Dr. Dave Lewis and Dr. Brian Shaw will administer medical assessment and treatment. Stevens has been suspended without pay.This was not the first time Stevens was involved with the program. He had entered into it confidentially earlier in his career and had a brief relapse, believed to have been with alcohol, last November when he was scratched for two games with what the club called the flu.Stevens&rsquo; Ranger days were already winding down. Had his long-time friend and road roommate Brian Leetch been activated from injured reserve as hoped Jan. 20, Stevens likely would have been traded. But he remained a Ranger and on the night of Jan. 22, following a win over the Blues in St. Louis, Stevens went to Sauget, Hl., and his troubles began.Stevens, whose wife Suzanne is nearly due with the couple&rsquo;s third child, was arrested after Collinsville police responded to a disturbance call at a motel. Police said Stevens took a cab from the OZ Night Club in Sauget to East St. Louis, Ill., where the cab driver contacted a prostitute, Pamela J. Velia, 27, of St. Louis.According to a written statement from Velia, Stevens was already smoking crack cocaine with a glass pipe when she entered the cab. She indicated Stevens gave her $500 in cash and then purchased another $500 worth of crack cocaine from a street dealer in East St. Louis. Velia told police Stevens paid for materials for her to make her own crack pipe and allowed her to smoke crack with him.Stevens gave police a written statement admitting that he had smoked crack cocaine, the report said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011235/7110335-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="778" height="1114"><figcaption class="caption-body">(John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div>A disturbance at the hotel resulted in the arrest of Stevens, Velia, the cab driver and a friend of Velia&rsquo;s, who police said was a member of a street gang and perhaps Velia&rsquo;s pimp.However, when Stevens was charged, only the simple possession charge was filed.Stevens&rsquo; lawyer, Neil Bruntrager, said the felony charge of possession is the least of all the possible charges that might have been filed.What had Bruntrager annoyed was a press release put out by Collinsville police detailing the night&rsquo;s events.Bruntrager noted that the &ldquo;inflammatory statements&rdquo; in the press release and the simple charge levied by the Madison County prosecutor&rsquo;s office were &ldquo;vastly different.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s got to leave you with a question of &lsquo;What&rsquo;s up?&rsquo;&rdquo; Bruntrager said. He added that such a question leaves the impression &ldquo;there&rsquo;s another side of this story.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s emotional,&rdquo; said Rangers&rsquo; GM-president Neil Smith, who remained in St. Louis to spend several hours with Stevens at the jail and offer his assistance. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very emotional time.&ldquo;What we want to say is we&rsquo;re doing everything possible to support him and get him through this situation as best we can.&ldquo;At the time we were with him (Sunday), he was emotional and distraught. There are thousands and thousands of people who have this addiction. It&rsquo;s hard. He&rsquo;s trying to beat it and I&rsquo;m sure when he has a relapse like this, there&rsquo;s a lot of remorse.&rdquo;Leetch, who has known Stevens since their days together at Boston College, was also very supportive. Worried about his friend, Leetch didn&rsquo;t want to discuss if Stevens had slipped back into substance abuse or that he hadn&rsquo;t come back to their hotel room Saturday night.&ldquo;Of course, I&rsquo;m worried about him,&rdquo; Leetch said. &ldquo;But it has all happened (already). We&rsquo;ve got to move on and deal with the situation.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been friends with Kevin and we&rsquo;ve talked about his situation and others. He knows the problems he has, he has been educated, but it&rsquo;s a lifelong thing.&rdquo;Stevens&rsquo; jersey hung in the Rangers&rsquo; dressing room for victories in Atlanta and Pittsburgh and will remain there for the rest of the season, or until he returns. &#9632;

f0019-01

Drug charge stops Stevens

After a respectable 23-goal effort in 199899, Kevin Stevens had only three goals and eight points in 38 games this season. His days as a Ranger were likely coming to an end before the events of Jan. 22-23. Here are the highlights of his 12-year NHL career:&#10063; Scored first NHL goal in first game, March 1,1988, with Pittsburgh against Minnesota.&#10063; Named second-team all-star for his 40-goal, 86-point season in 1990-91.&#10063; Led 1991 playoffs with 17 goals en route to winning Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh.&#10063; Finished second in scoring with 54-goal, 123-point 1991-92 season and became first ever with 50 goals, 100 points and 200 penalty minutes. Named first-team all-star.&#10063; Tied Jimmy Carson for most goals by an American in a season with 55 in 1992-93.&#10063; One of two Penguins with four straight 40-goal seasons (Mario Lemieux). &#9632;

Disgraced Stevens’ career highlights

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011120/7110397-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="355" height="466"></div>It&rsquo;s all about leverage.Keith Primeau has six feet and four inches of it to hold off opponents, like he did the Carolina Hurricanes, knowing somebody was going to pay him enough in the long run to make up for a half, even an entire, season missed.The Philadelphia Flyers wanted a big, skilled center to help them wedge loose the Stanley Cup for the first time in a quarter-century, but also to give them an insurance policy in case Eric Lindros&rsquo; concussions prove ongoing, or they tire of their own headaches trying to get the big star signed.So they traded Rod Brind&rsquo; Amour, threw in a second-round goalie named Jean-Marc Pelletier and an exchange of picks for the dual purposes of getting better now and maybe a little less desperate to keep Lindros later. The Flyers are weary of the hassle of going year-to-year with Lindros and have become wary of committing up to $50 million long-term. So unless the happiest of endings occurs this June, our guess is that Lindros probably will sign a compromise two-year deal this summer.He cannot become an unrestricted free agent until 2004, the year the NHL is scheduled to blow itself up when the current collective bargaining agreement expires, so the Flyers still hold the cards and an umbrella for a rainy day, presuming anyone can thrust it high enough to get it over their top two centers&rsquo; heads.&ldquo;The teams in our division have big defensemen that they put against Lindros and (John) LeClair all the time,&rdquo; said Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke. &ldquo;We can use a bigger guy on the second group.&ldquo;Primeau is a pretty good skater and a physical player. Rod&rsquo;s a physical player as far as battling and going into the dangerous areas, but Keith hits more. There is nothing not to like with Rod, but Primeau more fit the mold.&rdquo;Mold has been growing on the player who fits the mold. Primeau missed almost four months to settle for about $22.75 million (the $3.5 million for this season is pro-rated for the 47 games he missed) over five years. This was pretty close to the $20 million over five seasons Carolina originally offered, but pardon the dust Primeau kicked up on Tobacco Road as he beat it out of town. He wasn&rsquo;t going back after being called a &ldquo;prima donna&rdquo; by Canes&rsquo; owner Peter Karmanos.&ldquo;The comments made by both sides sound personal,&rdquo; said Hurricanes&rsquo; GM Jim Rutherford. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it was. He thought we weren&rsquo;t offering market value. We thought he was asking more than he was worth to the franchise and making a bad decision.&ldquo;We said near the end of December there was a deadline after which we weren&rsquo;t going to trade him until the off-season. But when we had asked about Rod Brind&rsquo; Amour before, the answer was always no.&rdquo;Rangers&rsquo; sources say the Canes were ready to say yes to Petr Nedved and Manny Malhotra for Primeau, who then would have been moved along with Radek Dvorak to Phoenix for Keith Tkachuk. Rutherford says Rangers&rsquo; GM Neil Smith never offered that package, that there was no deal rumored squelched by Karmanos because he didn&rsquo;t agree with Tkachuk getting $8.3 million next season.We may never get the true story, unlike the teams involved in this trade, who just pulled off a rare deal that, except for Pelletier, doesn&rsquo;t leave much unknown.What we saw from Brind&rsquo; Amour for 484 consecutive games over six seasons is exactly what Carolina is getting.&ldquo;Rod can check the other teams&rsquo; best players and he has good stats,&rdquo; Rutherford said. &ldquo;The way he and (Primeau) play is pretty equal.&rdquo;The Flyers obviously don&rsquo;t believe so, which doesn&rsquo;t mean they don&rsquo;t think a lot of Brind&rsquo; Amour, a player who was the first foundation block when the franchise was at low ebb and deserved to plant the flag if the Flyers ever got back on top the mountain.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02764/7110390-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="360" height="464"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith Primeau (Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the perfect player for a team,&rdquo; Clarke said.&ldquo;Until (a broken leg) this year, he never missed a game or a practice. He conducted himself in an exemplary way for any professional athlete. You have to take the emotion out of it to make a move like this.&rdquo;In the 1997 playoffs, Brind&rsquo; Amour scored like a second line center must for his team to make it to the final.But if you had to rely on his offense, you were asking for the first-round knockouts the Flyers suffered with a late-to-retum Lindros in 1998 and no Lindros at all in 1999.Brind&rsquo; Amour didn&rsquo;t see the ice well, often went to war with his confidence and wound up his own prisoner.He tried too hard sometimes, unlike the people in Philadelphia, who never had to work at admiring him. Replacing Brind&rsquo; Amour will be a tall order, but that&rsquo;s exactly why Primeau was brought in. &#9632;

f0020-01

Primeau gives Flyers options

<div class="byline">By Bill Plunkett</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01886/7110428-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="141" height="141"></div>Teemu Selanne had never been through a slump like it before.After scoring the only goal in a 1-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks Dec. 26, the NHL&rsquo;s most prolific scorer over the past seven seasons had just one goal in the next 11 games.Selanne broke out of his slump with goals in consecutive games against the Colorado Avalanche, San Jose and New York Islanders. It was the first time since mid-December he had goals in back-to-back games.&ldquo;Hopefully, this will be a big boost for me,&rdquo; Selanne said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a confidence thing.&rdquo;Ducks&rsquo; captain Paul Kariya defended his linemate during the slump, saying Selanne, who averaged .64 goals per game over his NHL career, played well even though his scoring totals (19 goals in 47 games, an average of .40) lagged well behind his career average.&ldquo;Teemu&rsquo;s really played extremely well,&rdquo; Kariya said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been doing a lot of little things that people may not notice. Everyone goes through (slumps) no matter who you are.&rdquo;Ducks&rsquo; coach Craig Hartsburg echoed Kariya&rsquo;s sentiments, saying he had no doubt Selanne would break out.&ldquo;Teemu feels bad that he hasn&rsquo;t produced, but any guy who is an offensive player is going to feel that way if he&rsquo;s not scoring,&rdquo; Hartsburg said.&ldquo;His effort, his focus has been there and that&rsquo;s a sign that it&rsquo;s going to turn for him real soon.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Steve Rucchin returned Jan. 22 against San Jose after missing 11 games with a bruised ankle. He picked up an assist, but pain persisted and he said it was limiting what he could do on the ice. &ldquo;At least I was able to lace it up and go play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But, I&rsquo;m not going to look forward to doing it every day. It&rsquo;s just pretty frustrating the way it still feels.&rdquo; &hellip;In a Jan. 25 interview in the Orange County Register, Disney CEO Michael Eisner responded to questions about his company&rsquo;s desire to sell the Mighty Ducks, by saying, &ldquo;The Ducks are not for sale. They&rsquo;ve never been for sale.&rdquo; &hellip;In a six-game span, left winger Paul Kariya had 45 shots on goal, more than 20 per cent of his season&rsquo;s league-leading 218. &#9632;</div>

f0021-01

Selanne scores way out, goal barrage stops slump

<div class="byline">By Nancy Marrapes-Burel</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03295/7110459-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="312" height="428"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ken Belanger</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02509/7110466-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="146" height="144"></div>The last time Ken Belanger suited up for a game for the Boston Bruins was Nov. 10 against the Buffalo Sabres.So it seemed an eerie kind of coincidence his first game back from post-concussion syndrome was against the Sabres Jan. 29.Belanger had tried to come back sooner, but was plagued by dizziness, headaches and personality changes such as irritability and impatience, symptoms of the syndrome.After time spent in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., with his wife, Sandra, and parents, Belanger returned to Boston refreshed, free of symptoms and ready to play. Following several days of skating and working on his conditioning, he pronounced himself fit for action against the Sabres. He modified his Bauer helmet to facilitate more padding, but other than that Belanger said no other changes were necessary.Belanger said coach Pat Bums was the person who recommended he get out of town for a while to clear his head, literally and figuratively.&ldquo;(Bums) called me in his office and said he thought 1 should get away for a week, get away from everything and don&rsquo;t think about hockey, don&rsquo;t think about coming back,&rdquo; Belanger said. &ldquo;That right there, him calling me in, took a piano off my back. To have the coach understand the situation is unbelievable. Him saying that, I was like, &lsquo;Wow, I guess he does care.&rsquo; I guess he is still a person.'&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>The first week spent in Ontario was helpful, but he said it was the additional five days that really helped him come around.&ldquo;I did some snowshoeing,&rdquo; Belanger said &ldquo;I skated on an outdoor rink like I did when I was growing up.&ldquo;I really got back to my roots, where it all started and it puts a lot in perspective. Now I&rsquo;m feeling good.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: In a very unusual turn of events, the Bruins&rsquo; game against Montreal scheduled for Jan. 27 was postponed until March 2 because the Canadiens were stuck in North Carolina as a result of a storm. The Canadiens and their equipment were separated during the time they were grounded in the Raleigh area and the club was unable to practice or be transported out of the area&hellip;Defenseman Kyle McLaren is playing with two bad thumbs. McLaren tore ligaments in his left thumb earlier in the year and missed seven games before returning. On Jan. 24 late in a game against Calgary, McLaren strained ligaments in his right thumb when he had it bent backwards. McLaren said taping it and covering it would give him enough protection to play. &#9632;

f0021-03

Trip home helps Belanger clear head, regain health

<div class="byline">By Jeff Schultz</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04214/7110497-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="143" height="140"></div>As the Atlanta Thrashers approached the all-star break, they had little to feel good about regarding their goaltending situation.Damian Rhodes remained a fixture in the training room and Norm Maracle was a picture of inconsistency.Maracle has become the yo-yo of goalies. He followed a 6-0 loss to the Nashville Predators with a shutout win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Then came a collapse against the New York Rangers-three goals on six shots-followed by a 37-save effort in a 3-3 tie against the Florida Panthers. Then came another implosion against the Rangers-five on 16 shots-before being pulled in a 6-3 loss.Maracle knew he was letting a golden opportunity slide by.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what the heck&rsquo;s going on,&rdquo; he said after the second Rangers&rsquo; loss. &ldquo;I play great one game and (bad) the next. Here, I am given an opportunity to show that I can be a No. 1 goalie and I&rsquo;m awful. Just awful. I have to get my head (on straight).&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in the last year of my contract and I&rsquo;ve been awful. If I don&rsquo;t start playing better, I&rsquo;m going to be back in the minors before you know it. I need to just go out and play and have fun and not worry about anything. Forget about whether I&rsquo;m going to start the next game or be a backup and just play.&rdquo;Barring a trade, which was unlikely, coach Curt Fraser had few options. Rhodes remained sidelined indefinitely with injuries and Maracle would have to clear waivers if assigned to the minor leagues.GM Don Waddell reaffirmed his confidence in Maracle and said of his play, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be more worried if he was consistently bad.&rdquo;Waddell said Maracle needs to handle pressure better.&ldquo;Norm has the opportunity to grab the ball and run with it,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and he&rsquo;s put the pressure on himself and he&rsquo;s fighting it.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The scheduled game against Phoenix Jan. 26 was canceled when Phoenix was stranded in Raleigh, N.C., because of a winter storm. The game will be made up March 29&hellip; Defenseman Petr Buzek was expected to miss a few games with a strained groin, but said he would play in the All-Star Game &ldquo;even if I had only one leg.&rdquo;&hellip;Rookie center Patrik Stefan was improving his game, but still suffered from a goal slump that saw him score once in 31 games&hellip;Goalie Damian Rhodes had been out two months with a sprained right ankle and tom cartilage in his left knee and his return was still uncertain. "I could probably skate if I wanted to,&rdquo; Rhodes said. &ldquo;But I can&rsquo;t play my position. You want to pull your hair out.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

f0021-04

Net losses mounting for Thrashers

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011013/7110528-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="145" height="141"></div>Tommy Albelin played against Phil Housley for more than a decade; he was once traded for Housley; and for much of the current season, he has played alongside Housley.So Albelin was asked: How has Housley&rsquo;s game changed and evolved over the years?&ldquo;He&rsquo;s better defensively than people give him credit for,&rdquo; Albelin answered. &ldquo;In the old days, he was pretty much all offense, but he&rsquo;s changed his game, so he&rsquo;s more of a complete player these days.&rdquo;Housley is in his second stay with the Flames, rejoining them in the summer of 1998 when Calgary claimed him off waivers from the Washington Capitals. Essentially, the Flames grabbed him after falling short in the Jyrki Lumme unrestricted free agent sweepstakes. They desperately needed a power play quarterback and Housley looked to be a cost-effective solution.Indeed, Housley has kept the Flames&rsquo; power play in the top half of the league for much of the past two years and continues to pile up the points.Toward the end of January, he recorded his 800th NHL assist. In addition, he scored his 309th career goal, which left him one shy of Denis Potvin for third place on the all-time defensemen scoring list.Additionally, Housley has been among the scoring leaders for defensemen all season (seven goals, 36 points in 49 games), which prompted his addition to the NHL All-Star Game. Indeed, Housley&rsquo;s selection meant that he will be one of a handful of players to appear in the game in three different decades.On the day of his selection, Housley told reporters that he was &ldquo;thrilled&rdquo; by the chance to go. He said, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re a little nervous because there are so many great players, but after a shift or two, everybody relaxes and has fun.&rdquo;Some thought Housley would have a difficult time playing for demanding coach Brian Sutter. Instead, the two have co-existed exceptionally well. Indeed, it was partly his satisfaction at playing for Sutter that convinced Housley to sign a two-year contract extension just before Christmas to remain in Calgary.&ldquo;I laugh when people say I don&rsquo;t like skill players,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;The truth is, I&rsquo;d like to have more like Howie and Vai (Bure).&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Grant Fuhr, out since Dec. 18 recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, was assigned to Saint John of the American League for a conditioning stint. It is Fuhr&rsquo;s first minor pro appearance since he played five games for Rochester on a conditioning duty in 1993-94. At one stage, goalie Fred Brathwaite started 11 games in a row and 16 of 17 with Jean-Sebastien Giguere serving as backup and playing occasionally in Saint John. Fuhr, who struggled in the first six weeks of the season, was hoping to salvage his year in the final third, just as he did with the St. Louis Blues last season&hellip;Defenseman Tommy Albelin was scheduled for exploratory arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder, an injuiy that first occurred two years ago and has been troubling him ever since. &ldquo;Best-case scenario is there&rsquo;s nothing (substantially) wrong, so they clean it out and I rehab and I&rsquo;ll be ready to play in two weeks,&rdquo; Albelin said. &ldquo;The worst-case scenario is out for the season.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

f0022-01

Housley fits nicely second time around

<div class="byline">By Cecil Harris</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02705/7110559-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="146" height="130"></div>Rod Brind&rsquo; Amour&rsquo;s reaction was understandable when he learned that his nine-year run in Philadelphia had ended&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still in shock,&rdquo; said the center who joined the Carolina Hurricanes in a Jan. 23 trade that sent power center Keith Primeau to the Flyers.Brind&rsquo; Amour, 29, ignored persistent rumors that he would be part of a deal for Primeau.&ldquo;My job is to play,&rdquo; said Brind&rsquo; Amour, one of the league's best two-way centers.After getting a call from Canes&rsquo; coach Paul Maurice following the Flyers&rsquo; morning skate in Pittsburgh, Brind&rsquo; Amour&rsquo;s job became helping Carolina reach the playoffs for a second straight year. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not looking to light it up or be the savior,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just want to help the team win.&rdquo;Carolina also received minor pro goaltending prospect Jean-Marc Pelletier and a second round draft pick in 2000. The Hurricanes sent a fifth round draft pick in 2000 to the Flyers.The Canes beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 Jan. 24 despite uncommon play on Brind&rsquo; Amour&rsquo;s behalf. He was called for three minor penalties after amassing only four penalty minutes in 12 games with Philadelphia.Brind&rsquo; Amour called his first game in Canes&rsquo; uniform No. 27 (he wore No. 17 in Philadelphia) &ldquo;the worst of my career.&rdquo;He was a minus-one and had one shot on goal in 21 minutes on a line with Jeff O&rsquo;Neill, formerly Carolina&rsquo;s No. 2 center, and Gary Roberts.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a feeling-out process, especially for Rod,&rdquo; captain Ron Francis said. &ldquo;He has to get used to 19 other guys.&rdquo;Brind&rsquo; Amour also had to adjust to an atypical winter storm that dumped 20 inches of snow on Raleigh, N.C., two days after his arrival. &ldquo;I need a suit,&rdquo; he said after the Canes lost 4-2 to Phoenix in a Jan. 27 game delayed two days by the storm.&ldquo;I only brought one suit with me here. I thought I&rsquo;d be able to go shopping, but with the weather so bad I haven&rsquo;t had a chance.&rdquo;The Canes believe once Brind&rsquo; Amour gets acclimated to new teammates and new surroundings, he&rsquo;ll give them a much better chance to win.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a strong center-ice player, but he&rsquo;s putting pressure on himself to make an immediate impact and put pucks in the net and set up other players,&rdquo; coach Paul Maurice said.&ldquo;You hear the same things over and over about him. Consistency. A great character guy. A perfectionist when it comes to physical conditioning. He&rsquo;s a very intense man. A man with a tremendous amount of pride in his game.&rdquo;Said Brind&rsquo; Amour: &ldquo;Maybe I can help put this team over the hump. Change is good.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Jean-Marc Pelletier may be the key in the Keith Primeau-Rod Brind&rsquo; Amour trade. Carolina&rsquo;s insistence on getting the 6-foot-3,200-pounder held up the deal for several days. Pelletier, 21, moves from Philadelphia of the American League to Cincinnati of the International League&hellip;Defenseman Sean Hill may undergo a groin operation for an injury that has sidelined him since Dec. 23&hellip;Because of a Jan. 25 snowstorm, the Canes gave fans a chance to see three games for the price of one. Ticket holders for a Jan. 27 make-up game against Phoenix could bring a guest for free and receive a free ticket to games Feb. 17 against Montreal and Feb. 21 versus Washington. The Canes also let fans in free Jan. 27. A crowd of 9,675 attended at the 18,730-seat arena in snowbound Raleigh. &#9632;</div>

f0022-02

‘Perfectionist’ Brind’ Amour adds consistency to top line

<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/f0022-03497/7110590-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="146" height="141"></div>The Buffalo Sabres finally made a deal to add a new face to their roster, but it was hardly a shakeup move.The Sabres acquired Vladimir Tsyplakov from the Los Angeles Kings Jan. 24 for an eighth-round pick in the 2000 draft.Tsyplakov scored 18 goals for the Kings two seasons ago, but fell out of favor with the Los Angeles crowd and hadn&rsquo;t been seeing much ice time this season, averaging just 5:45 minutes per game. Tsyplakov had six goals and 13 points in 29 games with the Kings.It&rsquo;s thought the 30-year-old left winger was acquired as an insurance policy as the Sabres await a doctor&rsquo;s evaluation of injured center Wayne Primeau.Primeau suffered a Charley horse in an ugly collision with Toronto Maple Leaf Kris King on New Year&rsquo;s Day. Complications have set in and there is talk Primeau may be lost for the remainder of the season.If Primeau is indeed off skates for a significant length of time, Tsyplakov will stay with the Sabres until Primeau returns or will be sent to Buffalo&rsquo;s American League affiliate in Rochester once they are healthy enough to send a player back up.Tsyplakov has some scoring and playmaking ability and likely will get a look-see on the Sabres power play unit at least for a few games. That unit is struggling mightily-they sat last in the NHL in power play efficiency, operating at 10 per-cent-and are in desperate need of a scorers touch.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s had some good moments in the NHL,&rdquo; said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, &ldquo;but he kind of got lost in the shuffle after (they) made some deals to acquire (Ziggy) Palffy and (Brian) Smolinski. We&rsquo;ll take a look and see what he can do.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Sabres may have finally solved their naming problem. The club is said to have reached a tentative agreement with HSBC, a worldwide banking operation, to change the name of Marine Midland Arena to HSBC Arena. Marine is a defunct bank that was dissolved by HSBC. HSBC claimed it had the right to a name change, but the matter ended up in court&hellip;The Buffalo News reported the Rigas family, which has been operating the club for two seasons, will likely close a sale for the club in mid-March. The closing will give the group 100 per-cent ownership of the club, officially marking an end to Knox family involvement. The Knoxes and their original investors brought the NHL to Buffalo 30 seasons ago&hellip;Goalie Dominik Hasek has begun workouts with the team. The club has still not set a return date, but Hasek had not ruled out playing in the All-Star Game, which indicated a return is imminent. Hasek had not played since suffering a tom groin muscle Oct. 29. &#9632;</div>

f0022-03

Tsyplakov acquired as insurance, Primeau’s return remains cloudy

<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/f0022-04336/7110621-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="148" height="144"></div>Lome Molleken makes no secret he wants his old job back as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.&ldquo;My focus remains trying to get this team in the playoffs,&rdquo; Molleken said. &ldquo;And I also want to regain the title of head coach.&rdquo;Molleken&rsquo;s future rests with new manager of operations Mike Smith, who is in no rush to discuss the Hawks&rsquo; uncertain coaching situation for next year other than to say Bob Pulford&rsquo;s days as coach will end when the season is over.Molleken was demoted from head coach to associate coach Dec. 2 during the Hawks&rsquo; front-office shakeup that saw Bob Murray fired as GM and Pulford shuffled from senior vice-president to coach-GM.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m observing what&rsquo;s going on and we&rsquo;re going to visit that when the season&rsquo;s over,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I think our team, since I&rsquo;ve been here, has been fine. Our roster is probably a .500 roster and we&rsquo;ve been .500 since I&rsquo;ve been here.&rdquo;Smith said the Hawks don&rsquo;t have to make the playoffs for Molleken to be asked back.&ldquo;Everything is going to come into play like how we do, how we played, what we plan to do in the future,&rdquo; Smith said.The players remain behind Molleken, many of whom resent the way he was humiliated by the demotion on orders from owner Bill Wirtz.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a guy who is always trying to look at the positive around here,&rdquo; said right winger Tony Amonte. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a guy I really enjoy playing for, and I think the other guys do, too.&ldquo;When Bob Murray was here, he was trying to call the shots with the lineup and how we forechecked and things like that. Lome has been through a lot and I hope we can get into the playoffs and put him in the spot he wants to be.&rdquo;Molleken has handled an awkward situation with dignity and class after deciding against telling the Hawks to stuff their demotion.&lsquo;I&rsquo;ve got confidence in my ability,&rdquo; Molleken said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure at the end of the year, Mike will sit down and evaluate everybody, me included. But you can&rsquo;t worry about that stuff because you don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen.&rdquo;Pulford thinks Molleken is doing a good job but stopped short of endorsing his return as head coach. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve started to turn it around and Lome has a lot to do with that,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;But there isn&rsquo;t one person who won&rsquo;t be reevaluated at the end of this season.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Blackhawks didn&rsquo;t consider center Todd White enough of a prospect to keep him. White, 24, was traded to Philadelphia Jan. 26 for a conditional draft pick in 2001. &ldquo;He was going to be an unrestricted free agent and he wasn&rsquo;t going to play here,&rdquo; said manager of hockey operations Mike Smith&hellip;Struggling defenseman Bryan McCabe was a healthy scratch for the first time in his NHL career, Jan. 27 against Colorado&hellip;Center Alex Zhamnov&rsquo;s hamstring injury turned out to be more serious than expected as the Hawks shut him down until after the NHL all-star break. Zhamnov&rsquo;s hamstring is partially tom and his target return is unknown&hellip;The Hawks tied a club record for fewest shots on goal with 11 in a 3-0 loss to St. Louis Jan. 21&hellip;Defenseman Sylvain Cote played in his 1,000th NHL game Jan. 23 against Dallas&hellip;Mike Smith denied a report he was trying to make a trade with the Ottawa Senators for holdout center Alexei Yashin. &#9632;</div>

f0022-04

Associate tag not enough for Molleken

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01903/7110652-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="143" height="139"></div>The play of goalie Marc Denis this season has been solid enough for the Colorado Avalanche to cut back how often Patrick Roy suits up. But it has been inconsistent enough for Denis to know he is still on the short end of the experience curve.The highs have been extremely high. Three shutouts and, at one point, Denis was the league-leader in goals-against average.Then, there have been the lows. A two-game stretch against the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks in which he allowed nine goals on 39 shots, both losses.But Denis refused to get down on himself. He is smart enough to take the bad with the good and not have his emotions swing as often as his play.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all part of a career. I&rsquo;m learning something new every day, and hopefully I&rsquo;ll be better for it one day,&rdquo; said the eloquent 22-year-old. &ldquo;I know there are going to be some bumps in the road along the way. I just have to accept that and learn from it.&rdquo;Denis, who was 6-6-2 with a 2.52 GAA and .921 save percentage, had been good enough for the Avs to make the decision to cut down on Roy&rsquo;s playing time this season. The plan is for the 34-year-old Roy to play 60 games, down from his usual 65.&ldquo;Marc has done what we&rsquo;ve asked, which is give us some quality goaltending in relief of Patrick,&rdquo; said coach Bob Hartley. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very smart young man and he&rsquo;s going to get better.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Avalanche lost four regulars in a 4-3 victory over San Jose Jan. 25. Defenseman Alexei Gusarov sustained a concussion after a cross-check to the head. Gusarov, who also lost three teeth, was expected to be out until mid-February. Centers Joe Sakic (groin pull) and Stephane Yelle (bruised sternum) and right winger Dave Reid (bruised knee) were listed day-to-day following the costly win&hellip;After the loss to Chicago, the Avs fell to 1-4-0 this season against the two worst teams in the NHL, the Blackhawks and New York Islanders. &ldquo;It comes down to poor preparation and we&rsquo;re going to look at that,&rdquo; said coach Bob Hartley.. Center Milan Hejduk suffered through a career-worst minus-5 night in the 6-4 loss to Chicago Jan. 27. &#9632;</div>

f0023-01

Rookie year inconsistent for Avs’ goalie of future

<div class="byline">By Miks Helka</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04291/7110721-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="141" height="141"></div>The Dallas Stars opened the season hoping to get younger and quicker, in some instances even suggesting they were looking at stealing a few ideas of puck-carrying offense from a team like the Detroit Red Wings.But 50 games into the season, it&rsquo;s clear the Stars&rsquo; offensive philosophy is still the same as it ever was-dump and chase and play good defense.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t ever think we were going to be the type of team that was going to circle around after a rush, regroup in our own end and then go at it again&hellip;we don&rsquo;t have the ability to hold onto the puck that long,&rdquo; said Stars&rsquo; GM Bob Gainey. &ldquo;But at the beginning of the season, our hope was to bring in younger, quicker, more skilled players to take the place of some of our veteran players. In doing that, we were going to obviously use the skills of the younger players.&rdquo;That plan called for immediate impact from players like Czech forward Pavel Patera, Finnish winger Juha Lind and Canadian speedster Warren Luhning. But Patera returned to Europe, Luhning is in the minors and Lind was traded Jan. 22 to the Montreal Canadiens for gritty Scott Thornton, who plays center and wing.That trade is a sign the Stars&rsquo; future is in players like Brenden Morrow, Blake Sloan, Grant Marshall and Thornton. The Stars are younger and faster, but they still are the NHL&rsquo;s quintessential dump-and-chase team. If they are to make a run at defending the Stanley Cup, they will do it with position and pursuit. That&rsquo;s not to say they don&rsquo;t want possession, but they&rsquo;re willing to give it up.&ldquo;Sometimes you have to hunt the puck,&rdquo; Gainey said.Thornton, who had two goals and five points with 70 penalty minutes in 35 games with the Canadiens, could be a key acquisition in that department. He&rsquo;s a bruiser, at 6-foot-3 and 217 pounds, and the Stars believe he also can be a strong forechecker and a great defensive forward.NOTEBOOK: The Stars&rsquo; plans to move their International League affiliate to Oklahoma City fell through when the city council awarded the Myriad Arena lease to the Central League Blazers instead of the IHL Blades. The Stars are discussing remaining with Michigan at the end of the season or disbanding their affiliate and sending prospects to several minor league teams&hellip;Defenseman Derian Hatcher (severed right calf) hopes to be skating by early February&hellip;Goalie Ed Belfour went on a five-game winning streak where he stopped 147 of 155 shots (.948 save percentage). He said his snubbing by the All-Star Game selection committee helped provide motivation. &ldquo;I like proving people wrong,&rdquo; Belfour said. &#9632;</div>

f0023-04

New Stars play same old style

<div class="byline">By Chuck Carlton</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05226/7110752-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="144" height="140"></div>Sergei Fedorov handled inquiries about his ailing neck by turning his head one way and the other, then scoring a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs.If only every question could be handled as swiftly and neatly, then everybody would be happy.For the moment, Fedorov and the Detroit Red Wings will take being fully healthy, something he hasn&rsquo;t been since November and hope results follow.&ldquo;So far, this season&rsquo;s been just up and down,&rdquo; a philosophical Fedorov said. &ldquo;I just think it&rsquo;s part of this business. I just always think I can do better and bounce back and play even better than before the injury.&rdquo;He suffered a sprained neck against the Edmonton Oilers Jan. 16 and missed three games. That injury came just as he was coming back from a concussion which caused him to miss six games in November and December. He&rsquo;d failed to score in 11 games before clicking against Toronto Jan. 26.&ldquo;We have half a season to go,&rdquo; Fedorov said. &ldquo;Everything is still possible.&rdquo;Despite pre-season talk of regaining his MVP form, Fedorov has struggled offensively. While he has yet to complain about ice time like last season, he had 11 goals and 31 points through 40 games.&ldquo;Maybe he hasn&rsquo;t played to the level he&rsquo;s capable of over an entire regular season,&rdquo; said GM Ken Holland. &ldquo;But every year, he&rsquo;s at his best in the playoffs. So history tells us he&rsquo;ll be fine.&rdquo;Fedorov had four straight 20-or-more points playoff years before scoring a respectable nine points in 10 games last year.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Joey Kocur, 35, believes he has a chance of a comeback from hernia surgery nine months ago. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to push it and see how it feels,&rdquo; Kocur said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty much now or never. If I don&rsquo;t get back to playing in the next couple weeks, even if I do get healthy, I won&rsquo;t be playing come playoff time because I think (coach) Scotty (Bowman) would feel you need some games before you can be effective.&rdquo; Kocur has been undergoing reconstruction therapy, which involves injections to relieve lingering pain in his groin and lower back. He hopes to play shortly after the all-star break&hellip;In wins over Ottawa and Toronto, goalie Chris Osgood, stopped 59 of 63 shots after a 1-5-2 start since returning from a broken hand. &#9632;</div>

f0023-05

Wings expect maximum from Fedorov in playoffs

<div class="byline">By David J. Neal</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01975/7110783-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="145" height="145"></div>Maybe it was the sopho-more slump for Mark Parrish. Or maybe it was the security of knowing he wouldn&rsquo;t be scratched from the lineup for a goof-up as was the case during his rookie season.&ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;m young and still learning the league,&rdquo; guessed Parrish, last year&rsquo;s NHL rookie goal leader with 24.Parrish&rsquo;s slump of three goals in 20 games was one of the reasons why the Panthers signed free agent right winger Ray Sheppard Nov. 15. It served as a wake-up call to Parrish. Beginning Dec. 15, Parrish went on a tear of 11 goals and 15 points in 18 games.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of those times where everything is going in,&rdquo; Parrish said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re getting the puck from your linemates in the right spots and getting yourself in a position where you can get some good scoring chances. Right now. I&rsquo;m taking advantage of those.&rdquo;Parrish got some veteran help in not wallowing in his earlier goal-scoring troubles. Parrish shares a home state (Minnesota), an agent (Brian Lawton) and hotel rooms (on the road) with defenseman Bret Hedican.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a good head on his shoulders to begin with,&rdquo; Hedican said. &ldquo;He knows what to do along the boards and how to score goals. I can&rsquo;t help him with that."The way I try to help Mark is by not letting him get too high or too low. He has all the potential in the world. I know a guy like him can score 40 to 50 goals a year.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Pavel Bure broke the franchise single-season goal scoring record, 32, with the 300th goal of his NHL career Jan. 22 against Boston. Bure was the seventh fastest player to reach 300 goals, in his 478th game. Bure said he would remember No. 301 more-it was the overtime winner that night&hellip;Defenseman Dan Boyle, last season&rsquo;s late season surprise who was a late training camp cut, was recalled Jan. 25 as the Panthers tried to add some mobility to their blueline and help with moving the puck quickly out of the defensive zone. The Panthers&rsquo; Achilles heel has been being unable to defend against teams that forecheck hard and well, pinning them in their defensive zone for long stretches. &#9632;</div>

f0026-01

Sophomore Parrish snaps out of long scoring slump

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03520/7110814-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="314" height="431"><figcaption class="caption-body">Juha Lind</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02655/7110821-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="143" height="139"></div>He has gone from the Stanley Cup champions to a team that will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs; from a climate where it rarely snows to one where the winters are cold, long and hard.But Juha Lind isn&rsquo;t complaining. He hopes his Jan. 22 trade to the Montreal Canadiens will prove to be the elixir that jump-starts his career.&ldquo;This is a new challenge and I hope I can help the team,&rdquo; the checking left winger said after being acquired by the Canadiens from the Dallas Stars for Scott Thornton. &ldquo;I have a good feeling about this.&rdquo;Lind. 26, couldn&rsquo;t find a regular spot with the Stars after sustaining a back injury earlier this season. In 34 games, he had only three goals and seven points. But Lind figures to get more ice time with the rebuilding Canadiens. He made his debut in Carolina Jan. 24. Playing on a line with Shayne Corson and Dainius Zubrus, Lind failed to register a point in a 3-2 overtime loss.&ldquo;If Dallas doesn&rsquo;t have a spot for me and I can&rsquo;t help them, it&rsquo;s better to go to a team that needs help,&rdquo; said the 5-foot-11,185-pound Finn.Lind spent five full seasons-including 1998-99, when he returned to Europe due to a contract dispute-with Jokerit of the Finnish League, always reaching double figures in goals, including last season, when he scored 20 in 50 games. He also represented Finland at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, twice at the World Championship and three times at the World Junior Championship.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>As a rookie for Dallas in 1997-98, Lind had two goals and five points in 39 games. Three times he was assigned to the Stars&rsquo; International League affiliate in Kalamazoo. Mich.&ldquo;I think I can play at this level,&rdquo; Lind said. &ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;m just a late-bloomer.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Shayne Corson is willing to take a pay cut to stay in Montreal. Corson has a team option for $4 million awaiting him for 2000-2001, but realizes the Canadiens are unlikely to pay that amount. &ldquo;If they&rsquo;re fair with me, I&rsquo;ll be fair with them,&rdquo; he said. Corson has been playing through a hiatus hernia. It&rsquo;s one reason why he has lost 10 pounds and had only three goals and 15 points in 37 games. Surgery would alleviate the problem, but Corson is reluctant to do it until after the season&hellip;A snowstorm that swept through the U.S. eastern seaboard forced the Canadiens to spend three nights in North Carolina following a Jan. 24 game against Carolina and eventually to the postponement of a Jan. 27 game at Boston which will be played March 2. &#9632;

f0026-03

Lind looking to blossom with more ice in Montreal

<div class="byline">By Jeff Legwold</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01927/7110883-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="147" height="144"></div>The land of opportunity in the NHL can be found on the banks of the Cumberland River.Thanks in part to contributions from players such as Rob Valicevic and Randy Robitaille-who have seen their careers flourish in Nashville-the Predators have remained within sight of the playoffs.Now cast-off Niklas Andersson has a chance to help the team and himself.The 5-foot-9,175-pound Swedish left winger is a fleet-but undersized-forward who has grabbed the team&rsquo;s attention with his skills.Andersson had played just one day-Jan. 21 in Calgary-after Nashville picked him up off waivers from the New York Islanders. With long-term injuries to forwards David Legwand (foot), Darren Turcotte (knee) and Patrick Cote (hand) and Scott Walker also out day-to-day, Preds&rsquo; coach Barry Trotz will give Andersson a good look.Andersson, a player Trotz said &ldquo;has lots of speed and pretty good hands,&rdquo; should boost Nashville&rsquo;s offense. The 28-year-old had three goals and 10 points in 17 games with New York. Trotz said Andersson will stay if he produces.The coach has already compared Andersson to Vitali Yachmenev, another undersized forward Trotz uses in many different situations.Andersson, who will see time on the point on the power play if he sticks around, was on a line with right winger Sergei Krivokrasov and Robitaille.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Scott Walker had an MR1 on his right foot, but there was no fracture. He suffered a severe bruise and swelling when he was hit by a puck against the Flames Jan. 21. The Preds were hopeful he would return after the all-star break&hellip;Left winger Patrick Cote was considering surgery on his right hand. He would likely be lost for the season if he had the procedure&hellip;Defenseman Jan Vopat skated in a full practice Jan. 26 for the first time since November. Vopat had a recurring rash that became infected when he wore his equipment. He had a non-aller-genic liner sewn into his pads and hoped that solve the problem&hellip;Defenseman Kimmo Timonen skated Jan. 26 for the first time since fracturing his wrist Jan. 11. &#9632;</div>

f0027-01

Andersson gets chance to make his NHL point

<div class="byline">By Peter Bette</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03391/7110914-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="309" height="433"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gino Odjick</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02590/7110921-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="143" height="143"></div>What is the only more unlikely occurrence than the New York Islanders winning two straight games?Try enforcer Gino Odjick getting the winner in each of them.The Isles won consecutive games for only the second time all season Jan. 22 and Jan. 26, with defeats of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.Odjick, who had five goals (including three winners) and 71 penalty minutes in 38 games, began the week by scoring the first of the Islanders&rsquo; two goals in a 2-0 win over the Lightning. The game ended a six-game losing streak for the NHL&rsquo;s worst team and marked goaltender Kevin Weekes&rsquo; first shutout since he was acquired along with forwards Dave Scatchard and Bill Muckalt from the Vancouver Canucks for goalie Felix Potvin Dec. 19.Odjick also scored on a lucky bounce off Anaheim defenseman Pavel Tmka to provide the winning margin in the Isles&rsquo; 4-2 victory to start a three-game West Coast road trip.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t even a scoring chance,&rdquo; Odjick said. &ldquo;I just got lucky. But sometimes, when you work hard, it goes in. I was really happy because I&rsquo;ve taken a lot of shots in some games this year and nothing went in.&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>The Islanders, the NHL&rsquo;s youngest team with an average age of 24.6 years, and among the lowest-paid with an $18.1-million payroll hadn&rsquo;t won more than two games in a row since a four-game streak almost two years ago.Even with the two victories, however, the Isles had the fewest points (31) and fewest goals (102) in the league.&ldquo;We feel we are making strides. The kids are gaining confidence every game,&rdquo; said coach Butch Goring. &ldquo;They have worked hard and made it miserable for the other team on most nights.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Philadelphia-based Spectacor Management Group (SMG), which controls the Islanders&rsquo; lease at Nassau Coliseum through 2015, reportedly is attempting to use this as leverage to block the dragging sale of the team to a group fronted by former Madison Square Garden president Bob Gutkowski and record industry mogul Charles Koppelman&hellip;Disappointing prospect Dmitri Nabokov, the center acquired in 1998 from Chicago for former No. 1 pick J.P. Dumont, finally scored his first goal as an Islander, an empty-netter against Anaheim Jan. 26&hellip;Center Jorgen Jonsson, the 27-year-old rookie brother of defenseman Kenny Jonsson, notched his 10th goal of the season (his fourth in seven games), against Anaheim. &#9632;

f0027-03

Ham-handed enforcer Odjick has magic touch

<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/f0027-04264/7110952-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="142" height="146"></div>Only five goaltenders in NHL history have won 30 or more games in five consecutive seasons. Patrick Roy never did it. Glenn Hall never did it. Nor did Grant Fuhr or even Georges Vezina.Martin Brodeur joined that exclusive club which includes Hall of Famers Tony Esposito, Jacques Plante, Terry Sawchuk and Ken Dryden, when the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; goalie won his 30th game of the season Jan. 26 in Florida.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s weird, I never thought about being mentioned with those guys,&rdquo; Brodeur said. &ldquo;These are guys that my dad is always talking about or my goalie coach (Jacques Caron). They&rsquo;re big, big names. They made history.&ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m doing stuff and going for the same type of records. It&rsquo;s pretty amazing.&rdquo;Brodeur, 27, remained on pace to win 50 games this season, which would break the NHL mark of 47 set by Bernie Parent of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1973-74.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really proud of how many wins I have,&rdquo; Brodeur said. &ldquo;The other stats are irrelevant. I&rsquo;ve been on a great roll, myself and the team.&rdquo;In fact, Brodeur&rsquo;s 30th came on a game-winning goal from left winger Patrik Elias with 1.7 seconds remaining in the third period against the Panthers at the National Car Rental Center. The goal extended Elias&rsquo; scoring streak to 14 straight games, adding to the Devils&rsquo; record he broke one game earlier.&ldquo;He (Elias) cut it a little close there,&rdquo; Brodeur joked.Since Christmas, the Devils had only one blemish on their record (12-1-2), an overtime loss to the Washington Capitals Jan. 14. They had earned at least one point in 15 straight games.Win No. 30 for Brodeur marked his 10th straight victory and extended his personal unbeaten streak to 14.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing the best hockey of his career right now,&rdquo; Caron said.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Lyle Odelein, a healthy scratch in back-to-back games, met with GM Lou Lamor-iello. Although Odelein publicly denied he asked to be traded, it was believed he did not want to create a disturbance and privately asked Lamoriello to look into a deal. Odelein is an unrestricted free agent after this season&hellip; Lamoriello was believed to be shopping a package that included Odelein, center Brendan Morrison and right winger Denis Pederson&hellip; Rookie forward Scott Gomez went three straight games without a point (Jan. 19-26) for the first time this season. He led the team in scoring with 13 goals and 44 points in 49 games; center Petr Syko-ra was three points behind. &#9632;</div>

f0027-04

Goalie joins exclusive 30-win club

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01964/7110983-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="143" height="145"></div>Mike Knuble has played everywhere from first line to fourth this season.But the New York Rangers&rsquo; right winger also spent the better part of a month on the sideline.That&rsquo;s why, when Knuble scored the tying and winning goals in one of the Rangers&rsquo; biggest wins this season, he felt a certain amount of satisfaction.The two goals capped a third period comeback for a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Jan. 25, closing the first sweep of a four-game road trip in Rangers&rsquo; history.&ldquo;As a team, we were pretty miserable for two months,&rdquo; Knuble said. &ldquo;Individually, it was pretty miserable for a month.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m not going to lose my confidence in one year. You believe in yourself, that you can do the job, and when you get the chance to play it feels really good and really rewarding to make something happen and get a chance to be a factor.&rdquo;Knuble, scratched 10 times in a span of 11 games from late December through mid-January, was back in the lineup on a fourth Une with Tim Taylor and Eric Lacroix, a threesome that combined for three goals and eight points in the emotional win.&ldquo;I think it was just a perfect time for those guys to step up,&rdquo; said Mathieu Schneider.Knuble had a breakout year in 1998-99, scoring 15 goals and 35 points after being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings. Coach John Muckier had him playing much of the early going this season as No. 1 center Petr Nedved&rsquo;s right winger. Then he fell out of sight for a while.That win closed a trip that included three games without Adam Graves, at home with his prematurely bom twin boys, and also included the personal disaster that befell Kevin Stevens, who was arrested on drug possession charges and entered the NHL rehab program. (See pg. 18 for more.)Still, the Rangers swept the four-game trip, stretched their winning streak to seven and had won nine of 10 games to get into the Eastern Conference playoff race in seventh spot.NOTEBOOK: No news wasn&rsquo;t good news for defenseman Brian Leetch. Further X-rays on his broken right arm showed the bone is healing, but not enough for him to resume stickhandling or practicing. Leetch had hoped to be back by Jan. 20, but no new target date had been set&hellip;The Rangers&rsquo; seven-game winning streak was their longest since October-November, 1993, the season they won the Stanley Cup&hellip;Center Petr Nedved scored two hat tricks during the streak of nine wins in 10 games, and had 15 points in that span&hellip;The Pittsburgh win Jan. 25 enabled the Rangers to creep over .500 for only the fifth time in the 212 games they&rsquo;ve played since 1996-97, and they have not been two games over .500 in that entire span. They slipped back to .500 two nights later after a last-minute loss to Toronto&hellip;Left winger Johan Witehall, recalled from Hartford (American League) to replace Kevin Stevens, scored his first NHL goal and first NHL assist in a win at Atlanta Jan. 24. &#9632;</div>

f0028-01

Pressbox seat no longer reserved, Knuble enjoying life on fourth line

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02642/7111014-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="141" height="141"></div>Ottawa Senators&rsquo; left winger Magnus Arvedson can five with the pain because the way he sees at it, he&rsquo;s lucky to be alive.Hammered into an open bench door by Philadelphia Flyers' winger Marc Bureau Jan. 20 at First Union Center, Arvedson learned he&rsquo;ll be out at least six weeks-and possibly the season-after surgery to repair a tear in his small intestine.Doctors removed three inches of Arvedson&rsquo;s intestine after a CAT scan revealed a tear in the bowel during the operation performed in Philadelphia. The surgery required a foot-long incision down Arvedson&rsquo;s lower stomach.&ldquo;I thought I was dying,&rdquo; said Arvedson of the hit, which came in the final minutes of the game.The injury and surgery have left Arvedson in extreme pain. Doctors administered morphine to help ease the pain and his girlfriend, Therese Tilly, has been by his side since the surgery. He took a small step towards his recovery Jan. 24 when doctors had him walk the corridor in the hospital.&ldquo;It felt pretty good, but everything I do, my stomach hurts,&rdquo; Arvedson said.Ottawa is going to be in tough without Arvedson in the lineup. A Seike Trophy runner-up as the NHL&rsquo;s top defensive forward last year, his absence leaves a big hole up front as the playoffs near.It&rsquo;s possible GM Marshall Johnston could make a trade, but the Senators are hoping Rob Zamuner&rsquo;s return from a knee injury after the all-star break will bolster the lineup. The main concern was for Arvedson&rsquo;s health.&ldquo;Hopefully, everything is good for him,&rdquo; said linemate Radek Bonk. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big loss for the team, but there&rsquo;s nothing we can do about it. We&rsquo;re going to have to overcome it.&ldquo;I saw (Arvedson) right after he got hit and I knew he was in a lot of pain. He couldn&rsquo;t even stand up. He thought he could and we tried to help him, but he went back down.&rdquo;Arvedson doesn&rsquo;t think Bureau intended to injure. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t blame Bureau at all for that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why we have doors anyway. We just jump over them all the time.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Senators' owner Rod Bryden continued to work to keep the team in Ottawa after the province of Ontario rejected a plan by local politicians to tax visiting players. It was believed Bryden would like to decide before the Feb. 6 All-Star Game in Toronto whether or not to sell the franchise to U.S. interests&hellip;Ottawa held talks with Chicago about hardnosed defenseman Dave Manson, 33. The veteran makes $1.65 million (U.S.) and is an unrestricted free agent at season&rsquo;s end&hellip;Sens'' defenseman Grant Ledyard has the rare distinction of playing pro sports in the same city as his late father. Hal. He was a quarterback with the Canadian Football League&rsquo;s Ottawa Rough Riders (1956-58). &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;m very proud of,&rdquo; Ledyard said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not something that happens very often, where a son gets a chance to play in the same city as his father.&rdquo;&hellip;Ottawahas had contract talks with left winger Shawn McEachern, who was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. No deal had been reached. &#9632;</div>

f0028-02

‘The Machine’ out of commission after run-in with open bench door

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01852/7111045-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="141" height="143"></div>When they left the frozen tundra of Winnipeg for sunny Arizona four seasons ago and changed their name to the Coyotes, they never thought they&rsquo;d experience a real &ldquo;whiteout&rdquo; and be forced to postpone any games due to adverse weather.&ldquo;It never happened to us when 1 was in Winnipeg,&rdquo; said goalie Bob Essensa. &ldquo;But it just goes to show you-if you stick around in this game long enough, you&rsquo;ll see everything.&rdquo;The Coyotes saw more than they cared to see during their scheduled trip to Raleigh, N.C., Atlanta and Washington. The biggest winter storm on record in North Carolina history caused two Phoenix games to be postponed and forced the Coyotes to remain trapped in a hotel for four days.More than 20 inches of snow and ice buried the Raleigh area, making it impossible for the team to practice, let alone play. The Coyotes&rsquo; game against the Hurricanes Jan. 25 was wiped out, and a day later, so was their scheduled to trip to Atlanta for a game the next night against the Thrashers.&ldquo;Back home in Canada, this would be nothing,&rdquo; said goalie Sean Burke. &ldquo;But I hear they&rsquo;ve only got something like six snow plows here in Carolina and a couple of them are in the garage. Obviously, they&rsquo;re not used to this kind of storm.&rdquo;Neither were the Coyotes, who were "trapped like rats,&rdquo; according to coach Bobby Francis. Until the team finally arranged to reschedule the Carolina game for Jan. 27-once the roads were reasonably cleared of huge snowdrifts and ice-the Coyotes basically wandered the halls of the Embassy Suites in Cary, N.C., like zombies.&ldquo;We got sick of the hotel and the hotel got sick of us,&rdquo; said captain Keith Tkachuk.&ldquo;This is like Groundhog Day,&rdquo; defenseman Teppo Numminen muttered to himself as he paced the hotel lobby. &ldquo;This is crazy.&rdquo;Even crazier was the fact the Coyotes, despite skating only once in four days, managed to put a 4-2 freezeout on the Hurricanes. Everyone contributed and Burke had his finest game since his trade from the Florida Panthers earlier in the season, stopping 30 shots. After the game, the team had to bus to Greensboro to make it out of Carolina and get to Washington for their game there the next night.NOTEBOOK: The Coyotes&rsquo; game against the Thrashers is rescheduled for March 29 in Atlanta. The NHL apparently tried to pressure the team into making the game as planned, primarily because of the horde of journalists in town covering the Super Bowl, but Phoenix couldn&rsquo;t get a bus that would take them to Greensboro in time for a flight that night&hellip;Left winger Greg Adams returned to the lineup after missing 11 games following nasal surgery. He must wear a face shield for at least a few weeks. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the most awkward thing right now, looking through the visor,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just awkward if you&rsquo;re not used to it.&rdquo;&hellip;Trade rumors kept following left winger Keith Tkachuk, with teams ranging from the Buffalo Sabres to the New Jersey Devils. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve come to the conclusion that I can't let it distract me. If you do that, you&rsquo;re going to go in the wrong direction,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. Tkachuk was second in Coyotes&rsquo; scoring with 21 goals and 39 points in 42 games. &#9632;</div>

f0029-01

Snowed-in Coyotes get stir crazy

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02549/7111076-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="142" height="140"></div>Keith Primeau had his own personal Y2K fear. But. like the unfounded worldwide computer scare, the story has a happy ending.&ldquo;When the calendar turned toward 2000, I thought I was sitting for the entire season,&rdquo; said Primeau, the restricted free agent who wound up property of the Philadelphia Flyers via a Jan. 23 trade with the Carolina Hurricanes for Rod Brind&rsquo; Amour.Hurricanes&rsquo; owner Peter Karmanos, once determined to make Primeau either sit or play for the final Carolina Hurricanes&rsquo; offer (two years, $6 million), relented after his team began to falter and slide from the playoff picture.&ldquo;I thank him for coming to his senses,&rdquo; Primeau said with a chuckle. &ldquo;I guess it was just time for them as an organization to move past the Keith Primeau situation. They&rsquo;ve struggled on the ice the last little while and they need to get some bodies on the ice.&rdquo;The 28-year-old center arrived in Philadelphia along with a fifth-round selection in the 2000 NHL entry draft in exchange for Brind&rsquo; Amour, goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier (who was playing for the Flyers&rsquo; American League affiliate, Philadelphia) and a second-round pick in 2000.Primeau was immediately signed to a five-year, $22.75-million contract. He will get $3.5 million (pro-rated to $1.49 million for 35 games) this season, $4.25 million in 2000-2001 and $5 million for each of the last three seasons.Back in December, after coach Roger Neilson was diagnosed with a form of bone marrow cancer, Flyers&rsquo; president/GM Bob Clarke promised his players he wouldn&rsquo;t make any trades for three months as a gesture to support team unity. But when the Hurricanes came calling in the midst of rumors that a three-way deal involving the New York Rangers (Petr Nedved and Manny Malhotra), Primeau and Phoenix Coyotes (Keith Tkachuk) was imminent, Clarke couldn&rsquo;t resist.&ldquo;There hadn&rsquo;t been any talks between us since the last proposal they made a couple months ago (a deal believed to involve Eric Lindros, which the Flyers declined),&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;We actually thought Primeau was taken off the market. They called and said they were ready to make a deal.&rdquo;The Flyers wanted the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Primeau to upgrade their size in the middle and help them match up better against teams such as the New Jersey Devils. Primeau practiced three days with the Flyers, then made his debut in a Jan. 27 game against the Florida Panthers. He had four shots, won 13 of 20 faceoffs and fought Panthers&rsquo; defenseman Todd Simpson in a 4-2 win.NOTEBOOK: Center Eric Lindros returned from a concussion Jan. 27 and scored a goal in the win over Florida. He also got into a fight with the Panthers&rsquo; defenseman Todd Simpson, lost his helmet and received a cut to the side of his head from an errant stick. Lindros said he was fine. &ldquo;You do what you have to do to get by,&rdquo; said Lindros, who missed four games from the Jan. 14 concussion, the third of his career. Asked if he had concerns after losing his helmet in the fight, Lindros said, &ldquo;You tie up the arms and wait for your chances.&rdquo;&hellip;Rookie goalie Brian Boucher started back-to-back games for the first time this season. He played in consecutive ties (1-1 vs. Ottawa Jan. 20 and 4-4 vs. Pittsburgh Jan. 23)&hellip;Upon arriving in Philadelphia, newly acquired center Keith Primeau switched to No. 25 rather than pay defenseman Ulf Samuelsson&rsquo;s demand for giving up No. 55. The tag? A cool $100,000 to charity. &lsquo;Too rich for my blood,&rdquo; said Primeau with a grin. &#9632;</div>

f0029-02

Flyers cough up big bucks to get free agent Primeau

<div class="byline">By Joe Starkey</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03355/7111107-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="141" height="142"></div>Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; GM Craig Patrick is a man of his word, but if his team doesn&rsquo;t find a way to win more road games, his promise of a playoff trip won&rsquo;t come true.On Dec. 9-the day he fired Kevin Constantine and hired Herb Brooks as coach-Patrick guaranteed the Penguins would make their 10th consecutive playoff appearance, even though they were 8-14-3.The Penguins improved-they were 12-10-1 in their first 23 games under Brooks-but their road record was 6-17-1 as January drew to a close. Only the Tampa Bay Lightning had more road losses.Ask most hockey people, and they&rsquo;ll point to the Penguins as one of the more skilled teams in the Eastern Conference. But skill isn&rsquo;t necessarily what wins on the road. When the Penguins posted a 19-14-8 road record two seasons ago, they did it with perspiration, great goaltending and solid positional play. AH those things have been lacking this season.&ldquo;You know, people call us a talented team,&rdquo; said goaltender Tom Barrasso. &ldquo;They call us a lot of things. But I don&rsquo;t hear anyone calling us a good team yet. I&rsquo;d really like to hear them call us a good team.&rdquo;Barrasso added, &ldquo;Screw how talented we are. I want to hear people say we&rsquo;re good. Until we do that, I&rsquo;m not really going to be very impressed with what we&rsquo;ve done.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s not that the Penguins have been blown out on the road. It&rsquo;s just that they can&rsquo;t put a complete game together. At the end of January, they&rsquo;d gone a month without a road victory (0-6-0-1).&ldquo;It has to be 60 minutes,&rdquo; Brooks said. &ldquo;It can&rsquo;t be little pockets of it. You can&rsquo;t have any passengers on the road.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Captain Jaromir Jagr had four acupuncture treatments in six days to treat his strained left rib cage. As a result, theright winger returned to the lineup earlier than expected, Jan. 27 against Atlanta. Jagr missed four games. His status for the Feb. 6 All-Star Game remained in doubt&hellip;Defenseman John Slaney was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American League Jan. 27. He had been switched to center at Wilkes-Barre, but returned to defense with the Penguins, replacing injured Peter Popovic. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a while since I&rsquo;ve skated backwards,&rdquo; Slaney said. Slaney made the most of his Wilkes-Barre experience. In 34 games, he had 20 goals and 44 points. He led Wilkes-Bane in power play goals (eight)&hellip;Goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin was recalled from Wilkes-Barre for the fifth time this season Jan. 27 to replace an injured Tom Barrasso. GM Craig Patrick did not rule out the possibility Aubin will stay up even when Barrasso returns from a recurring hip/groin injury. &#9632;</div>

f0029-03

Road woes have Penguins worried about qualifying for post-season

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04246/7111138-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="146" height="139"></div>St. Louis Blues&rsquo; defenseman Todd Reirden has lived the life of a hockey nomad since finishing his collegiate career-and earning his degree in communications-at Bowling Green University in 1994, but he might have found a home in St. Louis.In six years as a pro, he has played on 10 teams in four leagues.On the eve of the regular season, the Blues claimed Reirden, 28, off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers as a depth player, but he has become a mainstay on the blueline. He has been playing mostly with captain Chris Pronger, creating one of the tallest defensive pairings in the NHL. Pronger is 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds; Reirden is 6-foot-4 and 220.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been quite a pick up,&rdquo; said coach Joel Quenneville. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got speed, and he&rsquo;s getting better in all areas. Offensively, he recognizes when to (attack), he gets his shot through and he moves the puck fine, too. Defensively, he&rsquo;s been strong.&rdquo;Of course, it helps to be playing with Pronger, a Norris Trophy candidate. Reirden credits Pronger with helping him understand the nuances of the game and proper positioning.&ldquo;If you watch his positioning, he&rsquo;s always in the right spot,&rdquo; Reirden said. &ldquo;Just watching that every day has helped me put myself in a better position on the ice. He&rsquo;s always in the middle of the ice, because with one stride and a long reach he can get to the boards. If we both take away the middle, there&rsquo;s not much left when guys come down on a 3-on-2 break.&rdquo;Reirden&rsquo;s best weapon might be his shot, which edged out Pronger&rsquo;s as the hardest in the team&rsquo;s skills competition. Defending NHL champion Al Maclnnis didn&rsquo;t participate because of an injury.Maclnnis was out with a broken ankle at the time of the Blues&rsquo; skills competition and is sidelined again with a collapsed right lung, suffered on a hit by Chicago&rsquo;s Bob Probert Jan. 21. Doctors believed Maclnnis developed a slow leak on a hit by Mike Leclerc of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Jan. 14 and Probert&rsquo;s hit aggravated it, causing the lung to deflate.Maclnnis&rsquo; injury reinforces Reirden&rsquo;s value to the team. He was third among Blues&rsquo; defensemen in scoring with two goals and 17 points and was plus-12.NOTEBOOK: A conversation with Colin Campbell. the NHL&rsquo;s director of hockey operations, convinced Blues&rsquo; goalie Roman Turek to change his mind about declining an all-star berth if one were tendered to replace an injured goalie. If called, he will serve. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s exactly like Colin said; it&rsquo;s unbelievable to play in an All-Star Game,&rdquo; Turek said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something special for every player.&rdquo;&hellip;After failing to score on 10 shots in his first four games with the Blues, left winger Stephane Richer finally scored his 400th career goal in the Blues&rsquo; 4-1 victory over Ottawa Jan. 26&hellip;The victory over Ottawa gave the Blues an 11-0-2 record against Canadian teams this season and extended their overall unbeaten streak against their friends from the north to 14 games at 11-0-3&hellip;After sitting out nine games as a healthy scratch, right winger Kelly Chase returned to the lineup Jan. 21 and had an assist in the Blues&rsquo; 3-0 victory over Chicago. The Blues were 9-4-1 when Chase, who adds muscle to the team, was in the lineup this season. &#9632;</div>

f0029-04

Journeyman Reirden finds happy home

<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/f0030-01965/7111169-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="144" height="140"></div>Just nine weeks after an accident left him with two fractured vertebrae, former San Jose Sharks&rsquo; defenseman Tom Pederson explained how fortunate he is.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very lucky,&rdquo; Pederson said during a Jan. 25 visit to watch the Sharks face the Colorado Avalanche. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just thankful I&rsquo;m walking.&rdquo;Pederson, 30, was playing for the Hannover Scorpions in a German League game Nov. 21 when a seemingly innocent play threatened not only his career, but his quality of life.&ldquo;I was trying to beat a guy 1-on-l,&rdquo; Pederson said. &ldquo;I put the puck through his legs and went around him and he tripped me.&rdquo;Unable to get his hands up, Pederson crashed into the boards headfirst.&ldquo;If it happens in the middle of the ice, it&rsquo;s no big deal,&rdquo; Pederson said.Pederson ranks eighth on the all-time Sharks&rsquo; list with 225 games played. He was in his second season in Germany.Doctors, who expressed fears of paralysis, took bone from Pederson&rsquo;s hip and used eight screws and three rods to repair the damage. His recovery is progressing, though he still experiences numbness in his arms and legs.&ldquo;Everyone asks whether I&rsquo;m going to play again,&rdquo; Pederson said. &ldquo;If I was making two or three million dollars, it might be worth it. Playing hockey over there, I&rsquo;m making a decent living and having fun, but I don&rsquo;t know. I&rsquo;m thinking maybe it&rsquo;s time to move on, start something new.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: With two goals in a 4-3 loss to Colorado Jan. 25, right winger Owen Nolan established a franchise record with 32. Nolan scored 31 goals in 1996-97 and left winger Jeff Friesen matched that output the following season&hellip;After going 21 games without a goal, right winger Niklas Sundstrom found himself a healthy scratch for three straight games (Jan. 22-25). Sundstrom had never previously been a healthy scratch in his four-plus seasons in the NHL&hellip;A hip pointer kept left winger Alex Korolyuk out of the lineup for three straight games (Jan. 22-25)&hellip;Struggling left winger Marco Sturm recorded his first two-goal game and just his second two point game this season in a 4-3 win over visiting Anaheim Jan. 22. &#9632;</div>

f0030-01

Pederson ponders retiring after brush with paralysis

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03443/7111200-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="322" height="428"><figcaption class="caption-body">Trent Klatt</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02643/7111207-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="146" height="145"></div>A taste of the minors has created a new hunger in Trent Klatt.The Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; right winger has been one of the team&rsquo;s best forwards in January after spending the season&rsquo;s first half in the American League with the Syracuse Crunch.Klatt, who turned 29 Jan. 30, was demoted at the start of the year as the Canucks opted to go with rookie forwards Steve Kariya, Peter Schaefer and Artem Chubarov. But injuries and poor performances prompted the team to call Klatt up Dec. 31.The native of Robbinsdale, Minn.. who scored just four goals in 73 outings last season, managed to score four in a seven-game stretch in late January. He was playing so well-hitting and going to the net-that he earned a spot on the first fine with Mark Messier and Markus Naslund as well as time on both the power play and penalty-killing units.&ldquo;1 thought I was never going to be back here,&rdquo; Klatt admitted. &ldquo;If anything, 1 thought I&rsquo;d be in the (visitor&rsquo;s) dressing room down the hall.&rdquo;Klatt was acquired by the Canucks early last season from the Philadelphia Flyers for a conditional 2000 draft pick, a salary dump by the Flyers. Klatt is making $1.1 million this year and slated to make $1.2 million in 2000-2001.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>He used the stint in Syracuse to rediscover his offensive touch. Klatt scored 13 goals and had 24 points in 24 games and began enjoying himself again.&ldquo;I had a lot of fun in Syracuse,&rdquo; Klatt said. &ldquo;I really concentrated on offense. 1 don&rsquo;t know if it was my own thinking, or people saying I was a defensive player, but that&rsquo;s all 1 thought about. Since being in Syracuse, it kind of flip-flopped.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I took playing in the NHL for granted but I am more aware of it now. I&rsquo;m more aware that it can disappear quickly.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Canucks continued their miserable performance against Northwest Division counterparts as they blew late third period leads to Edmonton twice in four days, settling for a tie Jan. 22 and an overtime loss Jan. 25. The results left Vancouver with a 1-9-3 divisional record this season. Their lone victory came Dec. 2 against Edmonton in overtime, meaning the opposition had taken at least one point in all 13 divisional games&hellip; With just seven victories in their first 26 home dates (7-15-4-0), the Canucks are in danger of setting a franchise record for fewest home wins in a full season. The dubious mark is 13, accomplished three times, last in 1989-90. They are also flirting with the home-ice loss mark of 22, set two years ago. &#9632;

f0030-03

Klatt goes on scoring binge thanks to some Crunch time

<div class="byline">By Tom Jones</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04309/7111238-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="142" height="143"></div>The Tampa Bay Lightning is finding that going from bad to mediocre is a long and bumpy road.In early December, the Lightning was nipping at .500 and a few points out of a playoff spot. But during a 23-game span from then through late January, the Lightning lived a midseason&rsquo;s nightmare, going 2-17-4-2.As of late January, Tampa Bay stood 13th in the 15-team Eastern Conference and 17 points out of a playoff position. The Lightning was one point removed from last place overall in the NHL&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be lying if I said we expected to still be going through something like this,&rdquo; said team CEO and governor Tom Wilson. &ldquo;We did think we would be a little further along at this point. &ldquo;But we also new it wasn&rsquo;t going to happen overnight.&rdquo;The nosedive made .500 a memory and the playoffs a dream. But don&rsquo;t look for GM Rick Dudley to make massive personnel changes.The biggest move of late was to bring in Joe Sheridan, a 51-year-old self-taught sports motivator.&ldquo;My job is to get these players thinking positively again,&rdquo; Sheridan said. &ldquo;And to get them on common ground and make them realize what they need to do again to get back on the winning track.&rdquo;Sheridan has had success before. In 1993, Lightning assistant coach John Torchetti was coaching the lastplace San Antonio Iguanas of the Central League. He brought Sheridan in and the Iguanas went on to win the championship.Three years ago, Lightning coach Steve Ludzik, then with the Detroit Vipers, brought in Sheridan to rally his team after it had fallen behind 2-0 in a best-of-five International League playoff series. The Vipers rallied to win the series.After Sheridan spoke to the Lightning, they dropped three straight road games. &ldquo;I still feel good about this team,&rdquo; Ludzik said.NOTEBOOK: Center Chris Gratton played his 500th NHL game Jan. 24-a somewhat astonishing accomplishment considering Gratton is only 24. &ldquo;I guess I can say it now, the years are going by pretty quickly,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;1 guess it&rsquo;s a pretty big deal. 1 came in the league at 18 and at first, it seems like time goes by so slowly. Now I&rsquo;m already at 500. and it would be great to play another 500 or even more." Gratton had 108 goals and 300 points in 500 games&hellip;Right winger Stan Drulia returned to the lineup Jan. 25 after missing nine games with a concussion&hellip; Defenseman Andrei Zyuzin had successful surgery on his left shoulder Jan. 28 and is expected to be ready in time for next season&rsquo;s training camp. &#9632;</div>

f0030-04

Blow up ends Lightning’s playoff hopes

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06184/7111269-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="323" height="429"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Thomas</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05226/7111276-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="142" height="146"></div>In their efforts to pull themselves out of the dol drums, the Toronto Maple Leafs discovered one goal-scorer and re-discovered anotherGoals do not come in large quantities for Igor Korolev, so his mid-January outburst of seven goals in 10 games was a surprise. Steve Thomas, on the other hand, has forged much of his NHL identity on his ability to put pucks in the net, so his lack of production was disconcerting for the Leafs.But as January drew to a close, Thomas was beginning to find his scoring touch. He scored three goals in two games, a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings Jan. 26 and a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers the next night. The goals gave Thomas, who led the team with 27 assists, 11 for the season.&ldquo;To tell you the truth, I just love getting goals,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;I made a pact that I was going to have a much better second half and I&rsquo;ve kind of started that off pretty well.&rdquo;Korolev has been a defensive gem for the Leafs, probably their best forward in that area, but a slash that shattered a finger last March took two surgeries and was slow to heal. It robbed him of almost all of the shoot-ing, passing and faceoff strength, thus, limiting his effectiveness.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>But he was finally pain-free and it was showing in his increased offensive production. His 14 goals this season, were one more than he scored last year.&ldquo;Maybe I shoot more,&rdquo; Korolev said after a two-goal effort in a 3-3 tie with the Ottawa Senators Jan. 24. &ldquo;When I have the chance, shoot the puck, don&rsquo;t go looking for a pass. I&rsquo;m always looking for a better play and maybe I should shoot.&rdquo;Quinn agreed with that philosophy.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not what you would call a big shot team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We prefer to pass it into the net.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Maple Leafs&rsquo; 4-3 win over the Rangers Jan. 27 ended a futility streak at Madison Square Garden that dated back to Dec. 19, 1990. The Leafs were 0-8-1 in that span&hellip;In a six-game stretch, the Leafs had faced a two-goal deficit five times. They also went to overtime in four of five games&hellip;In a four-game span between Jan. 17 and 26, Vezina Trophy candidate Curtis Joseph had a 4.00 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage&hellip; Defenseman Danny Markov was thought to have a bruise in his left foot, but an MRI revealed a crack in the bone&hellip;The Leafs signed free agent defenseman Gerald Diduck to a reported three-year, $3-million deal Jan. 27. Toronto hoped he would provide insurance and grit. &#9632;

f0030-06

Two goal sources tapped, Thomas, Korolev odd pair

<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/f0030-07156/7111307-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="143" height="139"></div>It&rsquo;s not clear if the Washington Capitals all asked for the same thing for Christmas or if their dramatic turnaround was the result of an impromptu team meeting on a coast-to-coast flight from Vancouver. But one thing is clear. The team that stumbled badly before the holidays (12-16-5) has made a remarkable course correction.Washington had gone on a run unlike anything in more than a decade. Since a 6-3 drubbing by the Vancouver Canucks Dec. 22, the Caps turned around and went 10-1-3 during the next 14 games. That included a six-game winning streak and a nine-game (8-0-1) unbeaten streak overall, a 6-0-2 stretch at home and even some rare success on the road (4-0-1).During the 14-game span Washington scored an average of 3.58 goals per game and allowed a paltry 1.86. The power play connected 10 times and the penalty-killers gave up only five power play goals. Goalie Olie Koizig&rsquo;s save percentage went from .892 to .904 while his goals-against dropped from 2.80 to 2.46. The team moved up into sixth place in the Eastern Conference.&ldquo;Every time (people) were ready to get excited about us we would find a way to break people&rsquo;s hearts,&rdquo; Kolzig said. &ldquo;And I think the guys just realized (we needed to) put something together and make people proud of the Caps and make them cheer for us. And the guys have been phenomenal-since Christmas we&rsquo;ve won every way imaginable.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: A genuine scoring race had developed within the Caps, a team usually known for one prolific scorer and a batch of lesser contributors. Right winger Peter Bondra and left winger Chris Simon were tied for the lead with 15 goals apiece while right winger Richard Zednik had 13. Simon was only one short of his career high, Zednik four short of his&hellip;Defenseman Brendan Witt scored his first of the season Jan. 26 in a 2-1 win over Calgary. It was the first birthday of his daughter Aliana&hellip; The blizzard that wreaked havoc along the Atlantic seaboard, dumping up to two feet of snow, was dismissed as flurries by some of the Caps. Tm western Canadian, this was nothing at all,&rdquo; said left winger James Black, who lives in Edmonton &#9632;</div>

f0030-07

Caps execute turnaround to get into playoff hunt

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Robert Esche knew his first extended stint in the NHL with the Phoenix Coyotes would end when Sean Burke recovered from thumb surgery.And while Esche enjoyed gauging his talents against the NHL&rsquo;s best-not to mention making some big-league cash-he wasn&rsquo;t the least bit agitated when reassigned to the American League&rsquo;s Springfield Falcons in late January.Esche still believes he has things to prove in the AHL. A year ago, he emerged as a top goaltending prospect, earning a spot in the All-Star Game and getting named to the all-rookie team.But when the Calder Cup playoffs began, he was on the bench. Falcons&rsquo; coach Dave Far-rish chose to go with experience in Jimmy Waite in Game 1 and again in Game 3. The Hartford Wolf Pack swept the series 3-0.&ldquo;I was No. 1 all season and went into the playoffs No. 2; it was a little frustrating not to be able to start, so I want that to be different this year,&rdquo; Esche said. &ldquo;Yeah, it was great to be up there (in *Ai Phoenix) and make that money, but its nice to be an important part of the team here.&rdquo;Esche was a vital part of the Falcons in his first weekend back. He stopped 30 shots to shut out the Rochester Americans Jan. 21, then two nights later made 26 saves in blanking the Providence Bruins 3-0. That&rsquo;s one more shutout than he had in 55 games last season. On the day in between, Jan. 22, he celebrated his 22nd birthday.About the only thing he failed to do was score a goal, but he came close, missing an empty net against Rochester by inches with his rink-long clearing shot.&ldquo;I had never really tried for the empty net before, but I looked at the bench and the guys were telling me to try,&rdquo; said Esche, who was 2-5-0 with a 3.38 goals-against average and .893 save percentage in Phoenix.Esche sits third on the Coyotes&rsquo; depth chart (behind Burke and backup Bob Essensa), in part because of Nikolai Khabibulin's situation. Khabibulin, a Group II restricted free agent, remains unsigned. Esche doesn&rsquo;t concern himself with the what-ifs surrounding Khabibulin.&ldquo;I was just happy to get a chance to play there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I played great, but I surprised myself. I didn&rsquo;t really know how I&rsquo;d fit in there, but I felt good, other than one period.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01886/7111338-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="431" height="432"></div>That was a five-goal avalanche by the St. Louis Blues, when Pavol Demitra, Lubos Bartecko and Mike Eastwood all scored on breakaways.&ldquo;But even if you have three breakaways, you should stop at least one,&rdquo; Esche said.UNPAID HOLIDAYS: Wilkes-Barre/Scran-ton Penguins&rsquo; goalie Ryan Bach was given a two-game suspension for his one-handed, tomahawk-like slash to the back of Rochester left winger Randy Cunneyworth.&ldquo;After seeing the tape, I certainly feel lucky,&rdquo; said Cunneyworth, who escaped with just a welt on his back. &ldquo;Had he got me on the head or neck, it could have been pretty bad.&rdquo;Meanwhile, the Louisville Pan-thers lost defensemen Brad Fer-ence and Peter Ratchuk to suspensions for incidents in a Jan. 15 game at Kentucky. Ference received two games for climbing out of the penalty box and onto the timekeeper&rsquo;s table in an attempt to get at Thor-oughblade Garrett Burnett, while Ratchuk was given a three-game suspension for slashing Thoroughblades&rsquo; defenseman Jon Coleman.HAZARDOUS JOB: Linesman Scott Perdue underwent surgery on his left arm after he broke his humerus just above the elbow while working a game between Wilkes-Barre/Scran-ton and Rochester Jan. 19.While following the play into the Rochester zone, Perdue&rsquo;s skate caught a rut near the blue-line and he tumbled heavily to the ice.Perdue, 35, might return as soon as late March.AHL TIDBITS: Center Steve Washburn was on nearly a plus-a-game pace for the Philadelphia Phantoms. In just 29 games, Washbum had a league-best plus/minus rating of plus-28. He had 13 goals and 41 points&hellip;Right winger Jeff Mitchell is working on a unique collection-a set of sweaters from Ohio&rsquo;s pro teams. Mitchell, who leads the East Coast League&rsquo;s Dayton Bombers in goals, had a one-game recall to the International League&rsquo;s Cincinnati Cyclones earlier in the season and was promoted to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in January. &#9632;

f0031-01

Esche’s dog days are over, so he focuses on Falcons

<div class="byline">By John Packett</div>Don Granato knows how to keep his players happy&mdash;give everyone plenty of ice time.That philosophy has forged a balanced attack for the Peoria Rivermen and carried them to the top of the Northern Conference during a nine-game winning streak.The Rivermen had no one among the top 20 in East Coast League scoring, but they had the best record (27-9-3) in the Northwest Division with a nine-point lead over the Huntington Blizzard after edging them 5-4 in a shootout Jan. 23.&ldquo;When we have a power play, I just roll three Unes out,&rdquo; said Granato, who succeeded Mark Reeds as Peoria&rsquo;s coach last July. &ldquo;Especially early in the season, I think it&rsquo;s important to let all your players know that they&rsquo;re valuable.&ldquo;I try to get as many guys involved in special teams as I can. I think it works out that the scoring is a lot more balanced than if you keep double-shifting your top players.&rdquo;Right winger James Desmarais, the nephew of Boston star Ray Bourque and a 10th round selection of the St. Louis Blues last year, topped the scoring list with 13 goals and 34 points in 29 games. He was followed by center Joe Rybar (32 points) and right winger Blaine Fitzpatrick (30).Rybar and Fitzpatrick played in Peoria last year and Granato said he had no trouble getting them to stay after Reeds left.&ldquo;When I came in, the first thing I did was call all the players who could return and they were begging to come back to Peoria,&rdquo; Granato said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03418/7111369-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="351" height="368"></div>&ldquo;They love the town. The affiliation with St. Louis is very strong, too. They&rsquo;ve probably seen us play 20 times this season.&rdquo;Veteran Duane Derksen has done most of the goaltending for the Rivermen. In one stretch of starting 13 consecutive games, the Washington Capitals&rsquo; draft pick went 11-1-1. His overall numbers were 16-3-2 with a 2.79 goals-against average.&ldquo;Donnie was nice enough to sign me as player-coach,&rdquo; said Derksen, 31. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t play much at the start of the season, but we had a couple of injuries and some call-ups.&rdquo;TELEVISION PACKAGE: The ECHL and CSS, a partnership of Comcast Corporation and Charter Communications, have agreed to produce and distribute 11 games as part of an &lsquo;ECHL Friday Night Game of the Week&rsquo; package. In addition, one Southern Conference playoff game is scheduled for TV.The games will originate from five Southern Conference locations: Augusta, Ga., Birmingham, Ala., Greenville, S.C., Mobile, Ala., and North Charleston, S.C. The first broadcast was Jan. 21 and the final regular season game is scheduled for April 1.ON THE ROAD: The Jackson Bandits lost the first three games of their league-record 21-game road trip by a combined score of 11-3. Because of a rodeo, circus, basketball tournaments and other assorted events, the Bandits won&rsquo;t return home until March 17. Making matters even tougher, Jackson&rsquo;s leading scorer, center Jim Brown, left the team for Europe. &#9632;

f0031-03

Rivermen roll three lines on way to first place

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>The decision to re-enter the NHL&rsquo;s entry draft wasn&rsquo;t always part of the plan, but there have been few flaws for Shane Willis so far.The Cincinnati Cyclones&rsquo; right winger was having a definite impact in the first half of his first International League season, scoring 23 goals and 37 points through 43 games for the top affiliate of the NHL&rsquo;s Carolina Hurricanes.Willis, 22, was originally chosen by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third round of the 1995 draft, following his rookie Western League season in Prince Albert. But two years later, when a contract could not be ironed out at the re-entry deadline, Willis rolled the dice and ended up as a fourth round selection of the Hurricanes.Since then, he scored 58 goals for the WHL&rsquo;s Leth-bridge Hurricanes, then was rookie of the year and a first-team all-star in the American League with the Beast of New Haven &mdash; in 1998-99, scoring 31 goals and 81 points in 73 games.&ldquo;We were working on a contract with Tampa Bay,&rdquo; Willis said. &ldquo;They were also working on a deal with another player they drafted and they were calling us on the basis of those numbers.&ldquo;But when it came down to it, we couldn&rsquo;t get the numbers right, at least not where we felt comfortable, so the deadline came and went and I went back in.&rdquo;Now in the middle of a successful IHL season, he&rsquo;s wondering when a promotion might come.And in case the Edmonton native hadn&rsquo;t caught any scouts&rsquo; eyes in the early going, his hardest-shot performance at the all-star skills competition in Houston Jan. 17 took care of that.His winning blast was 95.9 mph as he added the title to the same one he won at last year&rsquo;s AHL skills competition.FROM MVP TO CINCY: Cincinnati also made a move to shore up its offense Jan. 19, acquiring left winger Brian Felsner from Houston in exchange for veteran defenseman Steve Bancroft.Felsner, 27, was the all-star game MVP just two days before the trade. The Cyclones will be his sixth IHL team since 1996-97. He recorded three assists in his first game with his new team, Jan. 21 against the Detroit Vipers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02575/7111400-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="676" height="278"></div>Bancroft, 29, had six goals and 20 points and was the Cyclones&rsquo; top-scoring defenseman at the time of the deal.JOCK TALK: In the two days after finding out he was 12 points short of tying Len Thorn-son&rsquo;s all-time IHL combined (regular season and playoffs) scoring record, Cleveland Lumberjacks&rsquo; center Jock Callander scored four points in two games to pull to within eight of the mark.Callander thought he had surpassed Thomson&rsquo;s mark of 1,382 points Jan. 14, but a statistical error was uncovered a few days later that showed Callander was at only 1,370, which he immediately increased to 1,374 in games at Michigan and Grand Rapids.COACH AXED: Dallas Stars&rsquo; GM Bob Gainey made a change in Michigan Jan. 22, firing K-Wings&rsquo; coach Bill McDonald.In his 1-1/2 years in Michigan, McDonald was 53-57-16 and the K-Wings were struggling near the bottom of the Eastern Conference (15-23-3) this season. Assistant Jim Playfair was named interim head coach.NOTEBOOK: The Utah Grizzlies have replaced No. 1 goalie Rich Parent with Mike Buzak. Parent had been on loan from the St. Louis Blues, but was traded to Tampa Bay Jan. 13. Buzak was obtained on loan from the New Jersey Devils. Parent was assigned to Detroit Jan. 24 and opened with a shutout over Long Beach Jan. 25&hellip;Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. the Phoenix Coyotes' unsigned Group II free agent, made his IHL debut a winning one for the Long Beach Ice Dogs, stopping 28 shots and then winning a shootout Jan. 22 in Kansas City&hellip;Why are the Grand Rapids Griffins in the hunt for first place in the East? One reason might be their 11-1-0 mark on the dreaded three-games-in-three-days weekends&hellip;It looks like the IHL&rsquo;s return to Las Vegas may be on hold again. In the days following the league&rsquo;s All-Star Game, MGM Grand issued a press release saying it was no longer interested in housing a team in its arena, sending the process back to square one. &#9632;

f0031-02

Cyclone Willis blows ’em away in quest for Hurricane status

<div class="byline">By Brendan Savage</div>Allentown, Pa., was admitted as the United League&rsquo;s 15th franchise and the team will begin playing next season under the name Lehigh Valley.No nickname has been selected yet, but the league&rsquo;s newest club will be coached by a familiar name, former Philadelphia Flyer enforcer Dave Schultz who also coached the UHL&rsquo;s Madison Monsters from 1995-96 to 1996-97. He will also serve as GM.Lehigh Valley will play in a new 5,600-seat building currently under construction. It is scheduled to open by Oct. 1 and will feature 20 suites well as a sports bar.&ldquo;We are excited about becoming part of the United League,&rdquo; said team president Terry Bender Jan. 21. &ldquo;It will provide our fans with a high caliber of hockey at an affordable price.The new arena will be located about 50 miles from Philadelphia, allowing Schultz to maintain his home there while working with the team. Schultz has also coached in the Atlantic Coast League and was slated to coach the UHL&rsquo;s Mohawk Valley Prowlers this season before reconsidering and turning down the job.Comcast-Spectator Facilities (CSF), a $35-billion company which also owns the NHL&rsquo;s Philadelphia Flyers, will manage the company through its Global Spectrum division. CSF chairman Edward M. Snider founded die Flyers in 1966.Minor league hockey is really booming,&rdquo; Comcast-Spectator president Peter A. Luukko told the Allentown Morning Call. &ldquo;The (American League&rsquo;s) Phantoms are averaging more than 11,000 a game and they are across the street, 100 yards from where the Flyers play. This will be Allentown&rsquo;s team with an Allentown identity.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01950/7111431-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="340" height="181"></div>&ldquo;If more people in Allentown get hooked on hockey, then ultimately, maybe more of them will want to come to the First Union Center and take in a Flyers&rsquo; game.&rdquo;Commissioner Richard Brosal, who said Allentown fits perfectly in the UHL&rsquo;s geographic plans, would like to see the 16-team league (14 active and two slated for expansion) grow to 20 teams within the next few years. Green Bay will join the UHL as an expansion franchise in 2001-2002.NOTEBOOK: Adirondack&rsquo;s Trevor Jobe became the 11th player in minor pro history a record 500 goals and 1,000 points Jan. 19 in a 6-3 loss to Mohawk Valley. He scored two power play goals for points No. 999 and 1,000&hellip;The UHL needed just 273 games to top the million-mark in attendance this year. That breaks the record of 320 games set last year&hellip;Mohawk Valley center John Vecchiarelli had two goals and one assist in an 8-6 win over Adirondack Jan. 19, making him the seventh player in league history to accumulate 500 points&hellip;Muskegon started 10-0-0 against the UHL&rsquo;s three worst teams, Adirondack, Ohio and Knoxville&hellip;Ohio was in the midst of a UHL season-worst 12-game losing streak (0-10-2) through Jan. 25&hellip;When the Saginaw Gears moved to Ohio Dec. 19, owners said all bills would be paid in Saginaw by Jan. 21. But that deadline passed without anything being repaid. At least two companies have filed lawsuits&hellip;Knoxville beat Missouri Jan. 16 and Flint Jan. 18 for its first two-game winning streak this season. &#9632;

f0032-01

League expands to 15 welcoming Allentown

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>The Ontario League All-Star Game went to the dogs and while the Mississauga IceDogs hosted the event, three Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds ran off with the show.London Knights&rsquo; coach Gary Agnew, who guided Team West, figured why mess with a good thing when he was presented with his roster and decided to team up Greyhounds&rsquo; center Cory Pecker with right winger Ryan Jardine and left winger Josef Vasicek.The trio responded with four goals and 13 points in the West&rsquo;s 8-5 victory over Team East before a sellout crowd of 5,357 at the Hershey Centre Jan. 25.Jardine, with two goals and three assists, and Vasicek, with a goal and four assists, equalled the All-Star Game record for most points. Pecker had a goal and two assists.Jardine and Vasicek are usually on the same line in the Sault. They see Pecker on the power play. But after their performance at the All-Star Game, Jardine hoped Greyhounds&rsquo; coach Paul Theriault would consider keeping them together the rest of the season.&ldquo;I hope he was watching the game on TV and I hope we stay together,&rdquo; said Jardine, a fourth round draft pick of the Florida Panthers.Jardine led the Western Conference-leading Greyhounds with 27 goals and 53 points.Vasicek, a fourth round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, was on the Czech Republic&rsquo;s gold-medal team at the World Junior Championship. &ldquo;I was happy he (Agnew) gave me a chance to play with those two guys,&rdquo; said Vasicek, who had 15 goals and 43 points.Jardine and Vasicek never would have had the opportunity to play with Pecker anywhere if Pecker&rsquo;s father hadn&rsquo;t been transferred by his employer to Toronto from Montreal his junior draft year.&ldquo;This league is different from the Quebec League,&rdquo; said Pecker, a Calgary Flames&rsquo; sixth rounder who had 27 goals and 49 points. &ldquo;This league teaches you defense. That league is all offense, or a good part of it.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03455/7111462-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="696" height="248"></div>NO-HITTER: The OHL All-Star Game was penalty-free for the second straight year and OHL commissioner Dave Branch said no thought has been given to changing the format.The QMJHL&rsquo;s All-Star Game was Quebec versus the World, the world team consisting of Canadians from outside of Quebec, Americans and Europeans.Branch doesn&rsquo;t think Ontario versus the world would result in a fair representation of players.&ldquo;My initial reaction is that format would eliminate too many good players,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;With only two Europeans on each of our teams, it&rsquo;s too small a ratio and would eliminate too many potential opportunities for players who would otherwise deserve to be in the game.&rdquo;There were six Europeans and two Americans in this year&rsquo;s game.TOUGH AT THE TOP: The Barrie Colts led the Midwest Division and were third overall in the Eastern Conference, but they&rsquo;ve been dogged by controversy.Left winger Ryan Barnes, a Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; second round draft pick, appeared in an Oshawa court Jan. 24 to face a charge of assault with a weapon after Oshawa Generals' assistant coach Curtis Hodgins sustained a broken hand during a stick-swinging brawl Oct. 3.The case was remanded to Feb. 24.There also appeared to be a division at the All-Star Game between Colts&rsquo; captain Sheldon Keefe, the OHL scoring leader who went pointless in the game, and teammates Brian Finley, Denis Shvidki and Ed Hill.A week earlier, at a players-only meeting, the Barrie Examiner reported on the front page Colts&rsquo; players told Keefe and linemate Mike Jefferson they are a disruptive influence on the team.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something that is a team issue and something that will remain with the team. Everything is fine. Everything is cool,&rdquo; Keefe said at the All-Star Game. &#9632;

f0032-03

Greyhounds trio dogs opposition as West wins league dream game

<div class="byline">By Dave Henry</div>Despite winning the President's Cup title last year, the Shreveport Mudbugs had something to prove.This may have something to do with the fact the Mudbugs received a post-season fine by the Western Pro League for exceeding the league&rsquo;s salary cap following their champi-onship run.Shreveport, which was on seven-game win streak Jan. 24, catapulted into the Eastern Division lead. The Mudbugs set a record for consecutive wins last season (12) and have a league-low 801 penalty minutes this year.Goalies Hugo Hamelin (12-7-2, 3.05 goals-against average) and Chad Lang (15-5-2, and a league-best 2.16 GAA) have been spectacular.AT A LOSS: The Austin Ice Bats snapped a franchise record eight-game winless streak Jan. 15 with a 3-1 win over the Corpus Christi IceRays.&ldquo;I thought we were good enough to shut off any losing streak at two, three or four games,&rdquo; said Austin coach Brent Hughes. &ldquo;When it got to seven and eight, it created quite a monster.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02647/7111493-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="262" height="179"></div>The Amarillo Rattlers, quite familiar with this particular monster, extended their winless streak to 12 games with a 3-1 loss to the Odessa Jackalopes Jan. 22.ONE-TIMERS: Team World beat Team Texas 9-8 in a shootout in the fourth annual WPHL All-Star Game Jan. 14 thanks to a hat trick by the game&rsquo;s MVP, Dorian Anneck of Monroe&hellip;Supermodel Kim Alexis scored the winning goal and was named MVP, ironically, in a 9-8 shootout win, as a celebrity team edged a team of WPHL representatives Jan. 13 during all-star festivities&hellip; Corpus Christi winger Geoff Bumstead&rsquo;s 20-game point streak and eight-game goal streak was snapped Jan. 15 in a 3-1 loss to Austin&hellip;Central Texas center Chris Johnston tied the record for points in a game with a three-goal, four assist effort in a 11-0 romp over Fort Worth Jan.18. &#9632;

f0032-02

Mudbugs want to prove selves

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Jordin Tootoo is having a whale of a time in the Western League.The Brandon Wheat Kings&rsquo; right winger receives periodic shipments of food from his family, which resides in Rankin Inlet, a Nunavut community of 2.300 people on the shores of Hudson Bay.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04311/7111531-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="348" height="366"></div>&ldquo;I still get my cooler every to months,&rdquo; said Tootoo my parents sent down some caribou, fish and beluga hale. The freezer&rsquo;s full.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s (whale meat) tough. It&rsquo;s chewy and it smells. It stinks, but I grew up with it.&rdquo;Tootoo also grew up playing hockey, but seldom in a structured form. In fact, the 16-year-old is a WHL rookie in only his third season of organized hockey.&ldquo;Growing up, I&rsquo;d always be at the rink playing hockey with my buddies,&rdquo; Tootoo recalled. &ldquo;We were all rink rats. My dad owned the rink for a while, which helped. We would always shoot pucks around.&ldquo;We only got to go to one tournament a year and get about five games in.&rdquo;Tootoo was discovered in 1997 at a summer tournament in Spruce Grove, Alta.&ldquo;I was part of an all-native team and we flew down to Edmonton,&rdquo; Tootoo said. &ldquo;We all knew each other from growing up together. We were like the Russians, because we had played together since we were little. We won that tournament and I went from there.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">Group aims to move Americans to Vancouver&rsquo;s Pacific Coliseum</blockquote>Tootoo spent the following season in Spruce Grove, Alta., with the bantam AAA Falcons. Brandon proceeded to select him in the third round (43rd overall) of the 1998 bantam draft.Last winter, the 5-foot-8 &frac12;, 180-pound whirlwind had 16 goals, 37 points and 251 penalty minutes in 47 games with the Manitoba Junior League&rsquo;s OCN (The Pas, Man.) Blizzard.After 33 WHL games this season, he had 168 penalty minutes, the sixth highest total in the league, to go with three goals and eight points.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to play three years in the WHL,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Hopefully, I&rsquo;ll make. it to the NHL. That&rsquo;s my dream.&rdquo;GREAT SCOTT: Scott Bonner, the Tri-City Americans&rsquo; director of hockey, is to be the first GM of a Vancouver expansion franchise.&ldquo;He has a pretty good track record and it&rsquo;s an opportunity for him to move up a level,&rdquo; Americans&rsquo; vice-president Bob Brown said.Brown is one of four investors who have reached a tentative deal to buy the Americans from Ron Toigo, who received conditional approval from the WHL to base an expansion franchise at Vancouver&rsquo;s Pacific Coliseum.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01860/7111524-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="348" height="366"></div>The new team will begin play in the fall of 2001 if Toigo can complete a lease agreement with Pacific National Exhibition, which runs the Coliseum.If those negotiations are successful, Brown, who was the Kamloops Blazers&rsquo; GM when they won the 1992, 1994 and 1995 Memorial Cups, will succeed Toigo as Americans&rsquo; president and governor.&ldquo;I like it here and I want to be a part of it,&rdquo; said Brown, whose partners are Rick Meyer, Eric Van Winkle and Blake Still.The quartet, which forms Saddle Mountain Sports and Entertainment, will pay $2.3 million (U.S.) for the Americans. Toigo will remain in control of the Americans if the Vancouver venture falls through.NOTEBOOK: The Calgary Hitmen posted their 11th consecutive road win Jan. 23, when they blanked the Red Deer Rebels 2-0. Calgary was chasing the league record of 12 straight road wins, set by the Portland Winter Hawks from Jan. 16 through March 8, 1981&hellip;Former NHLer Pat Conacher has joined the Kelowna Rockets as an assistant coach&hellip;Kootenay Ice center Zdenek Blatny saw his franchise-record point-scoring streak end at 15 games in a 3-3 tie with Tri-City Jan. 22. &#9632;

f0032-04

Whale meat fit for King

<div class="byline">By Gordie Sutherland</div>The Quebec League has blown the whistle on referee Luc MivilleAfter working the first inter-league game in Canadian Hockey League history, Miville slammed the Ontario League&rsquo;s St. Michael&rsquo;s Majors for using goon tactics in a 3-2 overtime win against the Montreal Rocket Jan. 16.The 3 7-year-old referee later apologized, but has been reprimanded by the QMJHL. He will not be permitted to officiate any more games that involve OHL teams. The ban also will prevent Miville from working any games in the 2000 Memorial Cup which involve OHL teams.Miville, who did not deny his remarks when h&lt; appeared before the QMJHL disciplinary committee Jan. 20, must also write letters of apology to the OHL and the Majors.&ldquo;Even though Luc Miville&rsquo;s statements were the result of frustration, it (offends) all referees&hellip; from whom we ask impartiality,&rdquo; said QMJHL president Gilles Courteau.Miville called 19 minors, eight miscon-&reg; ducts and eight majors in the game, which &mdash; finished with just eight skaters on each&mdash;&ldquo;bench.&ldquo;Junior hockey in Ontario is five to 10 years behind Quebec, the West or Eastern Canada,&rdquo; Miville was quoted as saying in the French newspaper La Presse. &ldquo;That team came in here with the mentality of Americans, like they&rsquo;re above everybody and wanted to run the show.&ldquo;When the Rocket plays them in Toronto (Jan. 30), I recommend they play their tough guys, especially Benoit Beausoleil, for example, to deal with intimidation.&rdquo;In his apology, Miville said: &ldquo;I was frustrated and I admit I chose the wrong words to express my thoughts. I regret them sincerely. It is not in my job description nor is it my habit to comment on performances from a team or comment on a league&rsquo;s style of play.&rdquo;OHL commissioner Dave Branch said he&rsquo;s satisfied with the discipline, although he declined to comment on Miville&rsquo;s penalty.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02582/7111562-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="535" height="507"></div>TITAN SUSPENDED: The QMJHL suspended Bathurst Titan center Martin Autotte one game and fined him $100 for a racial slur during a Jan. 21 game.Autotte, 18, directed the slur at Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs&rsquo; defenseman Samuel Duplain, who is black.&ldquo;I said a bad word,&rdquo; Autotte admitted to the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. &ldquo;I never thought about it. He cross-checked me to the back of the head. It was in the heat of the moment when I said it.&rdquo;Referee Bruno Bernier assessed a game misconduct and filed a report with the league.Autotte planned to call Duplain to apologize. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a racist and I regret what I said,&rdquo; he said.TEAMS LOAD UP: More than 70 players switched sweaters between Dec. 17 and Jan. 17 as contending teams tried to load up on talent, while others began the rebuilding process.&ldquo;I thought the player movement was unreal,&rdquo; said Quebec Remparts coach Guy Chouinard. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been in the league 14 years and the pried some people had to pay is unbelievable.&rdquo;Strong competition in the Dilio Conference and the fact the league will have two teams at the Memorial Cup created a sellers&rsquo; market.The Halifax Mooseheads, who are hosting May&rsquo;s championship, overhauled their lineup and now have just six players left from last season&rsquo;s team.The Moncton Wildcats added seven new faces, including stars Jonathan Girard and Mathieu Benoit, and Quebec dealt for defending scoring champion Mike Ribeiro.DREAM GAME: Guy Chouinard of the Remparts and Claude Julien of Hull were voted by their peers to be the coaches for the league&rsquo;s Feb. 9 All-Star Game at Montreal&rsquo;s Molson Centre. Chouinard will direct the Quebec side, while Julien will coach the World team consisting of Europeans, Americans and other non-Quebec Canadians&hellip; Just back from the World Junior Championship, Brad Richards tied Hugo Turcotte&rsquo;s team record for points in a game, scoring three goals and eight points in Rimouski&rsquo;s 12-1 romp over the Vai d&rsquo;OrForeurs Jan. 23. &#9632;

f0033-02

Ref Miville reprimanded for speaking out of turn

<div class="byline">By Andy Baggot</div>As the new kid on the block in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association this season, Minnesota State-Mankato is learning two very hard lessons on the fly.First, opponents prepare and react differently now that points are on the line. That was not the case last year when the Mavericks were an affiliate member and their intraleague games did not count toward the MacNaughton Cup, awarded to the WCHA regular season champion.Another is that respect from league members does not come easily. It must be earned in every game, week after week.Those challenges came to a head Jan. 22 when Mankato faced WCHA leader and second-ranked Wisconsin to finish off a home series. The Mavericks were in the midst of a five-game winless streak, including a 5-2 loss the night before in a game thoroughly dominated by the Badgers.But in front of a record crowd of 4,921 at the Midwest Wireless Civic Center, Mankato skated away with a 3-0 win that kept it in the thick of the race to finish in the top five and secure home ice advantage for the first round of the WCHA playoffs.&ldquo;Our kids hadn&rsquo;t been playing well in a while,&rdquo; said Mavericks&rsquo; coach Don Brose. &ldquo;We needed that. We needed to show that we had some heart.&rdquo;The loudest heartbeats belonged to sopho-more goaltender Eric Pateman, who turned aside 36 shots on the way to establishing school records for most shutouts in a season (four) and a career (six), and freshman winger B.J. Abel, who scored twice.&ldquo;Without the outstanding goaltending, everything else breaks down,&rdquo; Brose said. &ldquo;Pateman just got stronger as the game went on. He&rsquo;s the key to us having success.&rdquo;With 12 regular season games remaining, Mankato (12-10-2 overall, 8-7-1 in league play) was in sixth place, two points behind St. Cloud State and Alaska-Anchorage and four behind Colorado College.CROWD CONTROL: There was one unsavory aspect of Mankato&rsquo;s 3-0 win over Wisconsin. When the final horn sounded, overjoyed Maverick fans littered the ice with debris. Players and coaches. Were struck by flying plastic cups and Badgers&rsquo; assistant Pat Ford was nearly hit with an empty glass liquor bottle.&ldquo;They beat us, fine,&rdquo; said Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer. &ldquo;But that stuff just doesn&rsquo;t work in this league.&rdquo;BREAKTHROUGH VICTORY: Minnesota rebounded from a 1-0 loss in the series opener at North Dakota Jan. 21 to win 5-2 in the second game. It was the first win for the Gophers at Engelstad Arena since Feb. 12, 1994. Minnesota had lost 10 consecutive games at the North Dakota ice palace. &#9632;

Mankato shows heart in upset of Wisconsin

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div>Coaches aren&rsquo;t usually fond of youth and inexperience.But that&rsquo;s not so with University of Michigan coach Red Berenson, who has six freshmen forwards playing regularly, plus a first-year defenseman who became eligible in January.The freshmen, who have accounted for 36 of the Wolverines&rsquo; 102 goals, are left winger/center Andy Hilbert (12 goals, 19 points), center Mike Cammalleri (11 goals, 19 points), right winger Jed Ortmeyer (five goals, 15 points), left winger Mark Mink (four goals, 12 points), center John Shouneyia (three goals, 12 points) and right winger J.J. Swistak (one goal and two points). The January newcomer is Mike Roemensky, who impressed Berenson immensely in his first three games.&ldquo;Cammalleri and Hilbert are really fighting it up offensively,&rdquo; said Berenson, whose team led the Central Collegiate Hockey Association with a 14-4-0 conference record (19-6-0 overall). &ldquo;Ortmeyer, Mink and Shouneyia play regularly on the power play and Swistak has been a regular killing penalties for the entire season.&rdquo;Hilbert was playing left wing on Michigan&rsquo;s first line with sophomore center Mike Comrie, the second-leading scorer in Division I, and junior right winger Jeff Koch. Cammalleri, Mink and Ortmeyer form an all-freshman unit.AWARD NOMINEES: Three CCHA players are nominees for the annual Hockey Human-itarian Award. They are Alaska-Fairbanks forward Ryan Reinheller, Michigan State junior left winger Damon Whitten and Western Michigan senior forward Jason Redenius, who also is the team&rsquo;s captain.Reinheller is a business major who has traveled to Mexico for the last six years to build houses for the homeless and each summer volunteers at the Eagle&rsquo;s Nest Ranch Summer Camp for kids. Whitten, a communications major, is on the MSU student-athlete advisory council and volunteers with the D.A.R.E. program, warning teens about the dangers of drugs. Redenius, an aviation major, is involved in the WMU Ready to Read program, which provides books for underprivileged children.The finalists will be announced Feb. 4 and the winner will be announced at the Frozen Four in Providence. R.I.NOTEBOOK: Just 363 days after the two teams set the on-campus NCAA college hockey attendance record at Ohio State&rsquo;s Value City Arena, Ohio State and Michigan set a new attendance mark when 17,343 fans watched the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes 6-4 Jan. 21. A crowd of 17,249 had watched the two teams skate to a 1-1 tie Jan. 23, 1999&hellip;In Notre Dame&rsquo;s 4-3 overtime victory over Western Michigan Jan. 21, the Irish took 56 shots on goal, the most the team has recorded in a game since it rejoined the CCHA in 1992-93. &#9632;

Wolverines get fresh and goals are result

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggle</div>At the beginning of the 1999-2000 season, Nick Boucher was chilling out as the third goalie at Dartmouth.Now, he&rsquo;s one of the hottest commodities in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.Boucher, a native of Coble Hill, B.C., put together a January hot streak that helped move the Big Green into a tie for fourth place in the standings.After losing 3-2 in overtime to top-ranked New Hampshire, Boucher came back with a 20-save shutout in a 2-0 victory over perennial ECAC power RPI, then held Union to one goal the next night in a 5-1 victory.Boucher stumbled against Colgate, allowing three third period goals in a 5-2 loss, but bounced right back by making 30 saves in a dramatic 3-2 victory at Cornell.Through 17 games, Boucher had a 2.28 goals-against average with a .927 save percentage. More important, with a 5-4-3 record, he had all of Dartmouth&rsquo;s wins and three of its four ties. The Big Green was 5-8-4 overall and 4-3-3 in conference play.Boucher wasn&rsquo;t even in Dartmouth&rsquo;s original recruiting plans, but when Jason Wong, a diabetic, decided not to return for his senior year, assistant coaches Brendan Whittet and Jamie Rice scrambled around and discovered him.&ldquo;We already had Rob Delwo, who&rsquo;s an older kid, and Eric Almon, who&rsquo;s a senior and has played a lot,&rdquo; said Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet &ldquo;But Nick came in and did a nice job early and he&rsquo;s gotten most of the time because of that.&rdquo;The Big Green doesn&rsquo;t score a lot of goals. After 17 games, sophomore Mike Maturo was the leading scorer with six goals and 11 points.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like we&rsquo;re always in our own end and getting barraged,&rdquo; Gaudet said. &ldquo;But Nick likes the fact that he&rsquo;s relied on.&rdquo;RPI STALLS: After romping through the first half of its schedule, RPI has hit a speed bump on the road to the ECAC championship in Lake Placid March 16-18.Beginning with a loss to Providence in the championship game of their own tournament, the Engineers went into a 1-4-2 slump. Their once-potent offense scored just 17 goals in that seven-game span.The schedule didn&rsquo;t help RPI. Seven of their eight games in January were on the road.NOTEBOOK: Yale got some unexpected scoring in a 5-1 win over Army Jan. 21. Evan Wax and David Sproule, both freshmen, scored their first career goals. Senior goalie Matt Zamec made 24 saves to record his first career victory&hellip;St. Lawrence moved into the ECAC lead Jan. 22, roughing up rival Clarkson 7-3. Sophomore Brandon Dietrich had a goal and four assists for the Saints, giving him 12 points in his last four games. &#9632;

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February 11, 2000

Goaltenders Fiset, Storr regain form

NHL GAME SUMMARIES

Determined Robertsson makes friends of foes

SCOREBOARD