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May 5, 2000
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
Turek’s stats look terribly inflated, but bad bounces more to blame
If the St. Louis Blues fell to the San Jose Sharks in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, a statistician would look at the numbers posted by goalie Roman Turek and say he found the problem. At first glance, it looked as if Turek had a terrible time against the Sharks. After posting a .913 save percentage and league-leading 1.95 goals-against average during the season, Turek had a .878 save percentage and 2.77 GAA as the Blues fell behind 3-1 to San Jose. However, Turek’s stats and the Blues’ fortunes have been skewed by a variety of bad bounces and misfortune. Five of the 11 goals Turek allowed through four games were last touched by Blues’ players. Two others were the result of goofy deflections, including Gary Suter’s winning goal…
Tucker rediscovers iron will
Asked if he ever played a meaningful game for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Darcy Tucker paused, thought for a few seconds, then offered, “Sure, the first game of the season.” After that, it was all downhill. When you are a competitive spirit, as is Tucker, just being in the NHL isn’t good enough. And during his two-plus years in Tampa, that’s exactly how he felt: Like he was in the NHL, but not really. There was no chance for a Stanley Cup. Not even a realistic chance of seeing playoff action. The paychecks were nice; so was the weather. But the hockey? It bit. That’s why being in the thick of post-season action with the Toronto Maple Leafs—and contributing two goals and three points in his team’s first four games of its series…
OHL
Peter DeBoer can savor this coach-of-the-year award. Last year’s award was bittersweet. The day the Plymouth Whalers’ coach was honored by the Ontario League, his team was bounced from the second round of the playoffs in a stunning upset by the London Knights. “I have more than an afternoon this time,” he said. DeBoer, 31, is the third coach to win the Matt Leyden trophy in back-to-back years. Ottawa 67’s coach Brian Kilrea won in 1981 and ’82; and George Burnett won with the Niagara Falls Thunder in 1991 and ’92. The trophy is decided by a ballot of OHL coaches and GMs. DeBoer received 77 points while runner-up Tom Webster of the Windsor Spitfires got 28. Stan Butler of the Brampton Battalion was third (25). The Whalers, 45-19-4, finished first for the second straight…
Blackhawks will improve defense
Don’t look for a radical overhaul of the Chicago Blackhawks, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a calm off-season. Manager of hockey operations Mike Smith has targeted what the Hawks need to return to the playoffs after a three-year absence and it starts on defense. The blue line remains a big concern once you get past Boris Mironov. “I think our defense at the end of the year was doing everything better than our defense was in the middle part of the year,” Smith said. “But I think we need to upscale our puck-moving ability on the blue line.” That will likely need to be done through trades, although Smith said he doesn’t expect to be able to deal for a high-profile No. 1 defenseman. “We do have a small list of…
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