The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

November 10, 2000

The Hockey News November 10, 2000

<h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01402/7601163-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="515" height="1933"></div><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02219/7601156-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="504" height="1408"></div><h2><b>EAST COAST LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03161/7601149-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="531" height="1852"></div><h2><b>UNITED LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-04124/7601142-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="497" height="1482"></div><h2><b>WESTERN PRO LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-05106/7601135-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="509" height="1901"></div><h2><b>WEST COAST LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0696/7601128-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg" title="f0044-06" width="508" height="1418"></div><h2><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0789/7601121-1-eng-US/f0044-072.jpg" title="f0044-07" width="507" height="1564"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0875/7601114-1-eng-US/f0044-082.jpg" title="f0044-08" width="514" height="1770"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0971/7601107-1-eng-US/f0044-092.jpg" title="f0044-09" width="518" height="1692"></div><h2><b>WESTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1062/7601100-1-eng-US/f0044-102.jpg" title="f0044-10" width="520" height="1640"></div><h2><b>CENTRAL COLLEGIATE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1153/7601093-1-eng-US/f0044-112.jpg" title="f0044-11" width="503" height="520"></div><h2><b>METRO ATLANTIC</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1248/7601086-1-eng-US/f0044-122.jpg" title="f0044-12" width="499" height="370"></div><h2><b>WESTERN COLLEGIATE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1345/7601079-1-eng-US/f0044-132.jpg" title="f0044-13" width="496" height="444"></div><h2><b>ATLANTIC UNIVERSITIES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1442/7601072-1-eng-US/f0044-142.jpg" title="f0044-14" width="493" height="446"></div><h2><b>CANADA WEST</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1541/7601065-1-eng-US/f0044-152.jpg" title="f0044-15" width="490" height="468"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO UNIVERSITIES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1638/7601058-1-eng-US/f0044-162.jpg" title="f0044-16" width="484" height="780"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0044-01

HOCKEY’S BEST STATS

SCOREBOARD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04496/7598692-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="244" height="278"></div><p>He didn&rsquo;t fire any shots at a front office many felt was waiting for an excuse to fire him, but that wasn&rsquo;t completely unexpected.</p><p>Pat Burns, relieved of his coaching duties and replaced by coach Mike Keenan after eight games (the last four of them losses, by a combined score of 18-5), wants to work in the NHL again, and didn&rsquo;t see how lobbing grenades at a former employer would make him attractive to potential new ones.</p><p>The Bruins let him go Oct. 25 &mdash; four full days after they&rsquo;d ended a 1-4-0-0 road trip with a 3-2 loss at Calgary and after they&rsquo;d practiced twice under him.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re one game under .500 (3-4-1-0),&rdquo; said defenseman Hal Gill. &ldquo;The season wasn&rsquo;t a bust. I thought the last two periods we played (at Calgary) were played well and that we were back on track.&rdquo;</p><p>With his top two goalies sidelined, two defensemen hurt and right winger Anson Carter still unsigned, Burns chose to re-emphasize the defensive system Boston president-GM Harry Sinden doesn&rsquo;t feel will work.</p><p>&ldquo;It just seemed to me that in those last four games,&rdquo; Sinden said, &ldquo;we were slowly moving back to a style of play that, in my opinion, was not going to produce the success I expected if we were to change.&rsquo; &ldquo;</p><p>To which Burns responded, &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t say I was going to do that all year. I said, &lsquo;For now I think we have to play a different style. We have to change a little bit and try to stay in games.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Assistant coaches <b>Jacques Laperriere</b> and <b>Peter Laviolette</b> were retained&hellip;Defenseman <b>Kyle McLaren</b>, whose left knee had already been operated on twice since April, was awaiting word on whether he&rsquo;d need a third procedure. McLaren played Boston&rsquo;s first eight games, but experienced persistent swelling in the knee last operated on in August. He was consulting with renowned orthopedic specialist <b>Dr. Richard Steadman</b>. McLaren had no points and was minus-3.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Mike Loftus</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-04

NHL TEAM REPORTS

Burns fired after Bruins drop four straight games

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div><h2><b>NOTEBOOK</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02697/7600030-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="433" height="214"></div><p>Who said 4-on-4 doesn&rsquo;t work? Just give it some time.</p><p>Defenseman <b>Eric Charron</b> scored his second goal of the game at 1:21 of overtime Oct. 22, giving the Cleveland Lumberiacks a 6-5 victory over the Houston Aeros and prompting great sighs of relief from International League headquarters in Detroit.</p><p>It took three weeks, but the league finally had its first winner in 4-on-4 overtime.</p><p>The IHL adopted the NHL-style overtime for this season, but the first six regulation-time ties weren&rsquo;t decided by 4-on-4 and went to a shootout. As of Oct. 25, seven of eight IHL games were undecided in overtime and required shootouts.</p><p><b>VIPERS WIN</b> The Detroit Vipers took care of some overdue business, halting a winless streak that had grown to 18 games (0-17-1), including last season.</p><p>The top affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning went 0-12-1 to end 1999-2000 and began this season with five straight losses. They finally ended the skid by prevailing 4-1 over the visiting Orlando Solar Bears Oct. 22.</p><p>Impressively, the streak-snapping victory came in a game that began at noon after Detroit had hosted the Manitoba Moose the previous evening.</p><p>Former NHL defenseman Brad Shaw is the Vipers&rsquo; coach this season, taking over from Paulin Bordeleau.</p><p><b>HUNGRY WOLF</b> Chicago center <b>Robert Petrovicky</b> got off to a fast start with the Wolves after being sent to the IHL by the New York Islanders.</p><p>Petrovicky, who played 43 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning last season, led the IHL with five goals and 10 points as of Oct. 25. He was signed as a free agent by the Islanders in July.</p><p><b>DOTTING THE &lsquo;I&rsquo;</b> The battle of the Leebs was won by <b>Greg Leeb</b> after Utah&rsquo;s 3-2 victory over Kansas City Oct. 24. Center Greg, 23, had one assist in the matchup against his younger brother and Blades&rsquo; right winger <b>Brad Leeb</b>, 21&hellip;The loss by Kansas City came in the first game of a 10-game road trip that sees the Blades through late November, while the rodeo takes over Kemper Arena&hellip;Chicago, which drew a sell-out 17,618 for its Turner Cup banner-raising ceremonies at its home opener Oct. 14, drew only 3,978 four nights later, a franchise low&hellip;Cincinnati right winger <b>Jeff Heerema</b> scored five goals in eight games to lead IHL rookies.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03494/7600023-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="1279" height="1852"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>The Utah Grizzlies are off to a roaring start, thanks in part to goalie Mike Bales&rsquo; 0.66goals-against average and .966 save percentage.</i></figcaption></div><h2><b>IHL SCOUTING REPORT</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04342/7600016-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="325" height="451"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Vaclav Nedorost</b></figcaption></div><p><b>VITAL STATISTICS</b></p><p>Hometown: Ceske Budejovice, Czech Rep.</p><p>Age: 18</p><p>Size: 6-1,187</p><p><b>LAST AMATEUR CLUB</b></p><p>Ceske Budejovice (Czech Rep.)</p><p><b>POSITION</b> Center</p><p><b>2000-01 SEASON</b></p><p>Ceske Budejovice</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05260/7600009-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="373" height="85"></div><p><b>NHL AFFILIATION</b></p><p>Colorado Avalanche</p><p><b>NOTEWORTHY</b></p><p>Colorado&rsquo;s first pick (14th overall) in 2000 won a gold medal with the Czech world junior team. His role this year has changed from defensive center to first line scoring center.</p><p><b>BOTTOM LINE</b></p><p>Soft hands, great skating and a heavy shot made him a top pick and the brightest Czech hope in years. Now he needs strength to compete at the NHL level.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-02

DEPARTMENTS

4-on-4 produces decision, finally

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div><h2><b>NOTEBOOK</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02632/7599916-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="250" height="256"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>D</span>aniel Briere</b> figured this would be his rebound season, but instead the 1997-98 American League top rookie is back with the Springfield Falcons.</p><p>Briere, 23, cleared waivers and was assigned to Springfield after playing just one game with the Phoenix Coyotes.</p><p>He had a goal and three assists in his second game back, a 6-5 win over Lowell, and Falcons&rsquo; coach <b>Marc Potvin</b> gave him new responsibility: Penalty killing.</p><p>Briere had never killed penalties as a pro, but it may help the small center (5-foot-9,185 pounds) get back to the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t given up on him,&rdquo; said Taylor Burke, the Coyotes&rsquo; assistant GM. &ldquo;We talked to him about going to Springfield and working on his game.&rdquo;</p><p>Briere played 68 NHL games (eight goals, 22 points) with Phoenix in 1998-99, but was with the Coyotes for only 13 games (one goal, two points) last season.</p><p><b>TIME TO REFOCUS</b> A scheduled day off turned into a punishment practice for the Hartford Wolf Pack after an 8-2 loss at Worcester dropped them to 4-3-0-0.</p><p>Coach <b>John Paddock</b> put the team through 45 minutes of nopuck practice Oct. 23, trying to emphasize to the defending Calder Cup champions that the game still must be played with passion and as a team.</p><p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t win every game but that was unacceptable,&rdquo; said Paddock of the most lopsided loss in the team&rsquo;s four-year history</p><p>&ldquo;Hockey is more than ability. It&rsquo;s a tough game with a sense of pride.&rdquo;</p><p>Because of the practice, the team softball game was canceled. Paddock also skipped the scheduled team lunch.</p><p><b>AHL TIDBITS</b> Wilkes-Barre/Scranton rookie goalie <b>Sebastien Caron</b> posted the first shutout in club history, stopping 15 shots in a 7-0 victory over Albany Oct. 22&hellip;The Edmonton Oilers rid themselves of Hamilton winger <b>Alexandre Volchkov</b>, buying him out after he refused to report to Tallahassee (East Coast League). A first round pick (fourth overall) of Washington in 1998, Volchkov showed little desire to play. He had been in Hamilton, but wasn&rsquo;t playing or practicing.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03463/7599909-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="1300" height="1798"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Trenton&rsquo;s Dave Risk clears Richmond Craig Paterson from the crease area.</i></figcaption></div><h2><b>AHL SCOUTING REPORT</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04341/7599902-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="322" height="433"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Daniel Tkaczuk</b></figcaption></div><p><b>VITAL STATISTICS</b></p><p>Hometown: Toronto, Ont. Age: 21</p><p>Size: 6-0,190</p><p><b>LAST AMATEUR CLUB</b></p><p>Barrie Colts (OHL)</p><p><b>POSITION</b> Center</p><p><b>2000-01 SEASON</b></p><p>Saint John Flames</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05271/7599895-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="364" height="85"></div><p><b>NHL AFFILIATION</b></p><p>Calgary Flames</p><p><b>NOTEWORTHY</b></p><p>Selected sixth overall by Calgary in 1997, Tkaczuk was a first-team OHL all-star in 1998-99 and named to the 1999-2000 AHL all-rookie team. He led Saint John last season with 25 goals and 66 points.</p><p><b>BOTTOM LINE</b></p><p>Saint John&rsquo;s best player this season has talent and hockey smarts. But the NHL Flames wonder if he has big-league intensity.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-02

Briere back on farm to diversify game

<div class="byline">Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011577/7598039-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>Editor&rsquo;s Notebook</b></h2><p><b>Reach for the Stars</b></p><p><i>Dallas&rsquo; Mike Keane attempts to gather in a loose puck from his belly before Ottawa defenseman Jason York can lay claim to it.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021328/7598032-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="299" height="348"></div><p>America&rsquo;s Team is nowhere near America.</p><p>It&rsquo;s 280 miles north of the 49th parallel and is the most compelling evidence in the NHL that, on one team anyway, hockey can be America&rsquo;s game.</p><p>The Edmonton Oilers lead the league in U.S.- born players; eight of them dot the roster, one more than the Phoenix Coyotes. The Oilers have two legitimate Stars and Stripes stars, Doug Weight and Bill Guerin, and another budding one, Tom Poti. With eight of 25 players from the U.S., representing 32 per cent of the squad, the Oilers are at more than double the league average of 15 per-cent Americans.</p><p>The decline of Canadian content in the NHL is a source of great consternation in the Great White North &mdash; Canada&rsquo;s share of players is down to an all-time low of 53.2 per cent. The decline in American content, albeit marginal, seems not to be a cause for alarm. It has gone from an all-time high of 17.9 per cent in 199495 to a 12-year low of 15 per cent this season. To some extent, that&rsquo;s to be expected considering the blossoming of Europe as a feeder system. But many people have nonetheless expected the U.S. to improve its share of players, even in the face of increasing availability of Europeans.</p><p>It hasn&rsquo;t happened yet &mdash; although the caliber of Americans is indisputable. The No. 1 pick in the 2000 entry draft was an American &mdash; goaltender Rick DiPietro. Three of the last four NHL rookies of the year have been American &mdash; the ill-fated Bryan Berard, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez. Four of six members of the 1999-2000 all-rookie team were American &mdash; Gomez, Brian Boucher, Brian Rafalski and Mike York.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;d like to have a larger percentage of Americans in the league,&rdquo; says USA Hockey executive director Doug Palazzari, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s an international league and it&rsquo;s hard to get there&hellip;We&rsquo;re not dissatisfied at all. We think we&rsquo;ve got a lot of real good players. We think we&rsquo;ve got a lot of real good young players.&rdquo;</p><p>Asked if the U.S. could reach something like a 20 per-cent share of NHL players, Palazzari expresses confidence the U.S. is headed for bigger and better things as a result of national elite programs and hockey&rsquo;s ever-growing footprint.</p><p>&ldquo;It takes time,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;when you look at where the growth is coming the last 10-15 years. It has come in our non-traditional areas. Our sport now is everywhere. We&rsquo;re seeing elite players coming out of California. It won&rsquo;t be long before they&rsquo;ll be coming out of Texas and Florida and everywhere around. Then I think you&rsquo;re going to see the 20 per-cent (share of NHL content).&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0002-01

IN THIS ISSUE

Mixed signals about growth of American presence in NHL

<h2><b>Kariya in Lindros&rsquo; corner</b></h2><p><i>Superstar says No. 88 can make comeback</i></p><p>Some people wonder if <b>Eric Lindros</b> can come back from a sixth concussion. Not <b>Paul Kariya</b>. The Mightiest Duck of Anaheim is optimistic No. 88 will play again. &ldquo;Sure he can,&rdquo; says Kariya, who trails Lindros 6-4 in concussions. &ldquo;I hope he&rsquo;s getting himself 100 per-cent healthy and strong enough to play again. It (concussions) is the one injury the medical community doesn&rsquo;t have a handle on. Just look at NFL quarterbacks. Some of them suffer countless concusions and they come back. Not only that, they get hit hard on almost every play.&rdquo; Kariya missed 28 NHL games, plus the Olympics, with post-concussion syndrome after being hit by <b>Gary Suter</b> Feb. 1,1998. He returned for the start of the 1998-99 season and played all 82 games.</p><p><b>LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE</b> If <b>Markus Naslund</b> scores high marks as Vancouver captain, former Canucks&rsquo; captain <b>Mark Messier</b> deserves an assist. Messier is regarded as one of the all-time great leaders in sports. Late last season, Mark suggested we start bringing in three or four other players to our meetings,&rdquo; said Canucks&rsquo; coach <b>Marc Crawford</b>. &ldquo;His idea was that the responsibility doesn&rsquo;t fall on one guy&rsquo;s shoulders. It&rsquo;s a shared responsibility. Mark is gone, but his influence is still felt.&rdquo; Naslund was among those included in the meetings.</p><p><b>UNBREAKABLE RECORD Terry Sawchuk&rsquo;s</b> 103 career shutouts is one NHL record that won&rsquo;t fall. Dallas netminder <b>Ed Belfour</b> is the active leader with 50 shutouts. Buffalo&rsquo;s <b>Dominik Hasek</b> has the best shutout-per-game ratio among active goalies, posting one for every 10 games played. That means Hasek could play 1,000 games and still be three shutouts behind Sawchuk. &ldquo;One hundred and three shutouts, that&rsquo;s just ridiculous,&rdquo; says Detroit goalie <b>Chris Osgood</b>. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s incredible. That&rsquo;s like a player scoring 1,000 goals.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011839/7598077-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="413" height="533"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Paul Kariya</b></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021474/7598070-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="2712" height="1860"></div><h2><b>THN ONE-TIMERS</b></h2><p><b><i>Fletcher one more candidate for Canadian Olympic post</i></b></p><p><b>Bob Gainey</b> and <b>Pierre Lacroix</b> remain the frontrunners to be named GM of Canada&rsquo;s 2002 Olympic team, but here&rsquo;s another name certain to be considered: <b>Cliff Fletcher.</b> The Canadian Hockey Association loves the job Fletcher did for the 2000 World Championship team, which finished fourth. Fletcher has been hired by <b>Wayne Gretzky</b> to act as executive vice-president when No. 99 and <b>Steve Ellman</b> gain control of the Phoenix Coyotes. Fletcher may not be the only ex-GM considered by CHA president <b>Bob Nicholson</b>. Another could be <b>Neil Smith</b>, who is now working as a consultant with Anaheim.</p><p><b>GOALS GO UP</b> NHL scoring has increased by seven per cent, a decent jump for a league that has battled to jump-start offense. Average goals per game stood at 5.70, compared to 5.33 at a similar time last season&hellip;Nashville defenseman <b>Bill Houlder&rsquo;s</b> nickname should be &lsquo;Wallet.&rsquo;</p><p><b>WILDLY SIMILAR</b> Maybe it&rsquo;s because of the number or maybe it&rsquo;s because Of the way he looks on the ice. But <b>Lubomir Sekeras</b> is reminiscent of <b>Paul Colley</b> Sekeras, the 31-year-old first-year NHL defenseman with Minnesota, wears No. 77 and shares Coffey&rsquo;s skating style and mannerisms.</p><p><b>POWERFUL WOMEN</b> So, which team has the best power play in North America? The NHL-leading New Jersey Devils? One insider who saw Toronto&rsquo;s Beatrice Aeros play the U.S. national team in a women&rsquo;s exhibition series at Lake Placid, N.Y., Oct. 21-22, says nobody does it better than the Americans. He says the U.S. moves the puck astonishingly well, first because of the team&rsquo;s skill level, and second, because it can. He says women&rsquo;s teams don&rsquo;t have the size or speed to fill the lanes and gaps as quickly as men. Credit for the Americans&rsquo; effectiveness is largely due blueline commanders <b>Sue (Ethel) Merz</b> and <b>Karen Bye</b>&hellip;Legendary Toronto center <b>Syl Apps</b> granddaughter, Gillian Apps, is a 5-foot-11,170-pound center with loads of potential. The 16-year-old plays for Beatrice.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0003-01

POWERPLAY

<div class="byline">By Matt McHale</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011767/7598108-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ziggy Palffy is healthy, happy and scoring in bunches for L.A</figcaption></div><p>For Ziggy Palffy, the stardust is back and the Los Angeles Kings are rocking because of it.</p><p>After making the transition to a new home in southern California and then suffering through a lower back injury last season, Palffy has regained the scoring touch that made him one of the NHL&rsquo;s top right wingers for five seasons with the New York Islanders.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b><i>&ldquo;When you see him every day in practise, you marval at all the skill he has.</i></b></blockquote><p><b>Kings&rsquo; caption Rob Blake</b></p><p>During the first month of the regular sea son, Palffy was among the league leaders in goals (eight) and points (16) and he scored the 200th goal of his career Oct 15 versus Phoenix.</p><p>He has become the focal point of the Kings&rsquo; reconfigured first line, which has welcomed back newly re-signed center Jozef Stumpel and added rookie winger Tomas Vlasak, 25.</p><p>Palffy and Stumpel are Slovak, while Vlasak is from the Czech Republic. Kings&rsquo; coach Andy Murray has been complementing the top line with defensemen Jaroslav Modry who is Czech, and rookie Lubomir Vishnovsky, a Slovak.</p><p>The five are a tight-knit group that often dine together at local Czech restaurants. Palffy and Stumpel are neighbors in Manhattan Beach, which is five minutes from the team&rsquo;s practice facility. And when Vishnovsky arrived for his first Kings&rsquo; training camp, he stayed at Palffy&rsquo;s home.</p><p>&ldquo;This is a lot of fun for me,&rdquo; said Palffy, who recently sold his house on Long Island. &ldquo;We all speak the same language and it&rsquo;s great to hear it out on the ice. We have a great bunch of guys here, four lines going hard every night. No one has to do it all.</p><p>&ldquo;And we are winning. That is the most important thing.&rdquo;</p><p>Palffy, 28, saw a lot of winning while he was in New York, but it was usually by the opponents &mdash; he never made the playoffs as an Islander. And when he was acquired along with Bryan Smolinski and Marcel Cousineau on June 20,1999, in exchange for Olli Jokinen, Josh Green, Mathieu Biron and a draft choice, Palffy joined an organization that had reached the post-season just once in the previous six years.</p><p>The Kings got in last year as the fifth seed in the Western Conference, but were swept in the first round by Detroit.</p><p>Although he averaged more than a point a game (27 goals and 66 points in 64 games) last year, Palffy rarely displayed the dazzling offensive skills that led to three consecutive 40-goal seasons with the Islanders.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he knew what to think coming to a new place,&rdquo; Smolinski said.</p><p>&ldquo;He was expected to get 40 goals, after always doing so well. He played through injuries and battled and finished the season strong. He has come into this season with a great frame of mind. It&rsquo;s open. He&rsquo;s ready to play and you can see it. He&rsquo;s better than ever.&rdquo;</p><p>Palffy, who missed just three games due to injury in five years with the Islanders, admitted it was difficult in the second half last year when he was sidelined for 18 games with a strained lower back.</p><p>The injury raised old questions about his conditioning. Murray was critical of his club&rsquo;s top offensive player last season, saying Palffy was getting by on talent alone.</p><p>Palffy was placed on a rigorous rehabilitation schedule to strengthen his abdominal region. Although he rested during a return to Slovakia this past summer, Palffy is back in top shape.</p><p>&ldquo;I think Ziggy&rsquo;s biggest problem last year was the injuries, no question,&rdquo; said Kings&rsquo; captain Rob Blake. &ldquo;When you see him every day in practice, you marvel at all the skill he has. But that was missing when he got hurt. I&rsquo;ve had lower back problems and sometimes there is not a lot you can do. He worked hard and came back. He was our best player in the playoffs and you see what he is doing now.&rdquo;</p><p>Palffy and Luc Robitaille opened this season on the first line with rookie Eric Belanger in the middle. Even without the unsigned Stumpel, Palffy and Robitaille each had 12 points in the first six games as the Kings got off to a fast start.</p><p>But when Blake went down for 10 days with a hairline fracture in his lower back, the club faltered. Things started improving when Blake returned and Los Angeles was 5-4-2-0 as of Oct. 26.</p><p>Stumpel finally signed a three-year, $7.7million contract in mid-October and Murray teamed him with Vlasak and a thrilled Palffy Palffy understood Stumpel&rsquo;s no-show. Two years ago with the Islanders, Palffy missed 32 games while negotiating his current contract that will pay him $5 million this season.</p><p>&ldquo;I know what he was going through, it&rsquo;s something every player faces,&rdquo; Palffy said. &ldquo;Now we&rsquo;ve got everybody back and we&rsquo;re ready to go. I can&rsquo;t tell you how good it feels.&rdquo; &#9633;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0004-01

FEATURES

Ziggy plays the star again

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05796/7598167-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="362" height="674"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Marian Hossa</b></figcaption></div><p><i>Best of the Hockey World</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021502/7598188-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="92" height="36"></div><p><b>HOSSA HOT</b> Marian Hossa gets on the scoresheet in each of Ottawa&rsquo;s first eight games to reside among the NHL&rsquo;s top point-producers.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031219/7598181-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="92" height="36"></div><p><b>YOUNG GUN</b> St. Louis Blues&rsquo; veteran Scott Young is off to the best start of his career with a league-leading 10 goals in nine games.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04987/7598174-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="92" height="36"></div><p><b>MINOR LEAGUE MOXY</b> East Coast League defense man Jon Sorg is granted his trade demand to a coastal city so he can sail his boat on off-days.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p><i>Worst of the Hockey World</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06465/7598160-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="91" height="34"></div><p><b>PANTHER MELTDOWN</b> Florida is the NHL&rsquo;s final team without a victory, failing to win in their first seven games (0-3-2-2).</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-07292/7598153-1-eng-US/f0004-072.jpg" title="f0004-07" width="91" height="34"></div><p><b>COLDER THAN ALASKA</b> Anchorage-born Scott Gomez, last year&rsquo;s rookie of the year, registers just two assists in New Jersey&rsquo;s first seven games.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-08201/7598146-1-eng-US/f0004-082.jpg" title="f0004-08" width="91" height="34"></div><p><b>OVER AND OUT</b> Alexandre Volchkov, the fourth overall pick by Washington in 1996, is bought out by Edmonton after flopping in Hamilton (AHL).</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-09174/7598139-1-eng-US/f0004-092.jpg" title="f0004-09" width="361" height="668"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Scott Gomez</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-05

PLUS MINUS

<p>Harry Howell and Bobby Orr were linked long before they were both inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1979.</p><p>It was Howell who signalled the end of an era in 1967 by winning the Norris Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s best defenseman. Howell marked the occasion by making a bold prediction about that season&rsquo;s rookie of the year. &ldquo;I said Bobby was going to win (the Norris) for the next 10 years, but he let me down,&rdquo; Howell says. &ldquo;He only won it for the next eight years.&rdquo;</p><p>A chronic knee injury that eventually forced Orr&rsquo;s early retirement prevented the Boston great from stretching his Norris dominance to a decade. Howell, meanwhile, put the finishing touches on an excellent career that saw him play 21 NHL seasons &mdash; including 17 with the New York Rangers - from 1952-53 through 1972-73 and three more in the World Hockey Association.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011765/7598219-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="64" height="56"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 64px"><b>Harry Howel</b></figcaption></div><p>The native of Hamilton, Ont., moved into NHL management, serving as Cleveland assistant GM and GM, Minnesota chief scout and, then, Edmonton amateur and pro scout through last season. Howell, 67, moved to New York along with Glen Sather this past summer and is a Rangers&rsquo; pro scout.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

Rangers’ great Howell captured Norris just in time

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011967/7598281-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>Scoring Bossy&rsquo;s mission</b></h2><p>I read with interest the story &ldquo;Model Marksman&rdquo; about Mike Bossy (THN, Oct. 27).</p><p>I had the good fortune to play with Bossy for two years in Laval of the Quebec League. One story quickly comes to mind regarding his natural prowess as a scorer. On the eve of the season opener in our final year (1976-77), we were wandering the streets of Chicoutimi, killing time.</p><p>Mike commented that he always worried about not scoring and what if he got off to a bad start and didn&rsquo;t recover? I was incredulous &mdash; here was a guy coming off a 79-goal season, discussing scoring with a defenseman who managed all of three the previous season.</p><p>Needless to say, it wasn&rsquo;t an issue &mdash; Bossy went out and scored four goals the next night. But I&rsquo;ll never forget how he said he felt pressure to do well and that&rsquo;s what drove him to score. <i>John Saunders, Vancouver</i></p><h3><b>Feeling Blue</b></h3><p>As a Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; fan, it hurt to see Pierre Turgeon on the cover with the headline &ldquo;Scoring Machine&rdquo; (THN, Oct. 27).</p><p>Montreal GM Rejean Houle&rsquo;s best trade? Stealing Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov from the Islanders for Kirk Muller and Mathieu Schneider.</p><p>Houle&rsquo;s worst trade? Two years later, sending Turgeon and Craig Conroy to St. Louis for Shayne Corson and Murray Baron. <i>Brian Hunsberger, Waterloo, Ont.</i></p><h3><b>Fast talk from Hitchcock</b></h3><p>Ken Hitchcock has the hockey media in his pocket because he&rsquo;s a great quote.</p><p>However, he&rsquo;s one of the game&rsquo;s biggest hypocrites. He talks about the speed game and exciting hockey, but Dallas plays a boring, defensive style.</p><p>Why doesn&rsquo;t he back up his words and give the fans an exciting, attacking game? Relentless defense can keep any team competitive, but only one team wins the Stanley Cup &mdash; and it has to have the speed and skill to generate offense. Dallas has those traits, they just don&rsquo;t use them enough. <i>Dr. David Mishkin, Charleston, S.C.</i></p><h2><b>Fewer fans thrilled by Jagr&rsquo;s heroics</b></h2><p>As a native of Pittsburgh, it was hard to hear Jaromir Jagr criticize the city&rsquo;s lack of support. But he&rsquo;s right. The Penguins aren&rsquo;t drawing well, averaging under 15,000. Jagr, though, is holding up his end. He&rsquo;s off to a great start, giving the fans (that do show up) what they&rsquo;ve come to expect.</p><p><i>Joseph Stiger, Pittsburgh</i></p><p>Marty McSorley is a bright, personable guy &mdash; off the ice. But on it, he has a tendency to &ldquo;lose it.&rdquo; Sadly, there are McSorleys in pretty much every recreational league; guys that are real nice off the ice, but a little crazy when they strap on the blades. There&rsquo;s a place in the pro game for policemen, but there&rsquo;s no place in any game for what McSorley did.</p><p><i>Rob Scott, Calgary</i></p><p>Damien Cox&rsquo;s comment that Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s two Hart Trophies equals two of Patrick Roy&rsquo;s Stanley Cups is absurd (THN, Oct. 20). No one would swap one Cup for 10 Harts &mdash; it&rsquo;s the Cup that counts. Roy&rsquo;s hardware beats Hasek&rsquo;s, case closed.</p><p><i>Minda Nieblas, San Diego</i></p><p>I knew it! Patrice Brisebois has developed into another Eric Desjardins. Now if Montreal can just keep the team together, they can become a contender again.</p><p><i>Zvi Hershcovich, Los Angeles</i></p><h2><b>READERS&rsquo; ONE-TIMERS</b></h2><p>This is your spot for quick comments on current hockey events. Reader&rsquo;s One-Timers accepts opinions of 60 words or less, so please be concise.</p><h2><b>Neilson&rsquo;s world of hockey</b></h2><p>This past summer, I took my family to Israel, where we journeyed to the northern tip of the country. My purpose was to visit Canada Centre, which contains an Olympic-size hockey rink, the only one of its kind in the country.</p><p>Funded and built by the Canadian Jewish Community, Roger Neilson holds an annual hockey clinic there. Imagine my surprise when I encountered young Israeli children stickhandling, skating and shooting under the watchful eye of Neilson and his staff! (He looked terrific so soon after recovering from cancer, which is a miracle no matter what faith one follows.)</p><p>Neilson was most cordial and chatted with us. My oldest son is a house league squirt and he listened with rapt attention as Neilson told him to be sure to bend his knees and backcheck!</p><p>Neilson does a superb job with limited means &mdash; and he has had help from NHLers such as Doug Gilmour and Steve Dubinsky &mdash; but the program needs some basics. It would be great if a manufacturer were able to donate some kids&rsquo; equipment.</p><p><i>Bill Schur, Chicago</i></p><h3><b>Taunting tradition</b></h3><p>The NHL is all bent out of shape because Vancouver&rsquo;s Donald Brashear rubbed his hands together after pummeling another player in a fight.</p><p>Don Cherry expounded upon a mythical secret code among fighters that says not to taunt the other team. Mike Keenan said Brashear&rsquo;s actions lacked class.</p><p>Taunting has been going on for generations and the fans love it. Sprague Cleghorn, Eddie Shore, Red Horner, King Clancy &mdash; just to name a few &mdash; were masters at it.</p><p>As long as it&rsquo;s done without vulgarity, there&rsquo;s nothing to fear.</p><p><i>Alan Kelso, Niagara Falls, Ont.</i></p><h3><b>Smith&rsquo;s trade folly</b></h3><p>Doug Gilmour, J.P. Dumont, Michal Grosek and Brad Brown for Stephane Quintal.</p><p>If you were an NHL GM, would you make this trade? No! But Chicago GM Mike Smith did, once you boil down the deals involving these players. It&rsquo;s going to be another long winter in Chicago.</p><p><i>Brian Boguhn, Fremont, Calif.</i></p><h2><b>Got something to say?</b></h2><p><b>MAIL: U.S.A.:</b> Letters, THN, RO. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y, 14240-9947</p><p><b>Canada:</b> Letters, THN, 777 Bay St., Suite 2700, Toronto, Ont., M5G 2N8</p><p><b>E-MAIL:</b> mccaigs@transcontinental.ca or visit www.thehockeynews.com. Include name, hometown, province/state and phone number. Submissions will be edited.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-01

LETTER OF THE WEEK

<h2><b>Player manhunt</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span> Romanian hockey player is a suspect in the death of a man hit over the head with a baseball bat. Romanian police are searching for Florin Stanici of Bucharest&rsquo;s Sportul Studentesc, who was driving to a game when he got into an altercation with another driver. Stanici allegedly beat the man with a bat, then fled the scene. Coach Ioan Marin said he hopes Stanici will turn himself in to police. An arrest warrant has been issued.</p><h2><b>Kudos for Marsh</b></h2><p>Fred Marsh, inventor of the patented flexible goal posts that have been used in NHL arenas since 1991, has won the Manning Innovation Award and $5,000. Marsh pegs are a rubber-plastic blend that bend and return to their original position, allowing the net to stay in place when jostled. If the net is hit hard, it will pop off the pegs. Marsh, 65, said he invented the device to ward off injuries to players sliding into the anchored net.</p><h2><b>Hazing report</b></h2><p>Seven members of the Plattsburgh (N.Y.) State University team face school charges after being accused of hazing eight freshmen. The rookies allegedly were blindfolded, made to do push-ups and drink alcohol wearing only their underwear and wrapped in plastic and coated with chocolate syrup and honey The University of Vermont cancelled the last 15 games of its 1999-2000 season after a hazing scandal.</p><h2><b>Group of seven</b></h2><p>Chris Simon&rsquo;s two-year, $4.5million contract with the Washington Capitals Oct. 23 reduces the number of restricted free agents out of action down to seven. They include Boston right winger Anson Carter, Buffalo center Michael Peca and goalie Martin Biron, Calgary defenseman Derek Morris,. New Jersey center Jason Arnott and defenseman Scott Niedermayer and Phoenix goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.</p><h2><b>Women&rsquo;s worlds</b></h2><p>The Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission are joining forces to kick off the state&rsquo;s hosting of the 2001 Women&rsquo;s World Hockey Championship. The international event features the top eight women&rsquo;s national teams in the world, including defending champion Canada and 1998 Olympic gold medalist United States. It will be held April 2-8, 2001, in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Rochester and St. Cloud.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

INSIDE HOCKEY

<div class="byline">By Jeremy Sandler</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011859/7598336-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Wavne Gretzkv says Canadian kids should be encouraged to be creative on the ice.</i></figcaption></div><p>Two goals won&rsquo;t win many games, but as a follow-up to the 1999 Open Ice Summit, it&rsquo;s a nice first period start.</p><p>Canadian Hockey Association president Bob Nicholson is pleased with the implementation of two programs that arose from the heralded Open Ice Summit, which was hosted in Toronto in August, 1999, and looked at the state of hockey in Canada.</p><p>Trumpeting the debut of the CHA&rsquo;s new web site of coaching resources &mdash; www.coachesclub.net &mdash; Nicholson said the CHA was on track in moving the Open Ice recommendations from theory to practice.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve trained mentors from coast to coast, that&rsquo;s starting to roll now,&rdquo; Nicholson said. &ldquo;This (web site) is next to get more information into rinks.&rdquo;</p><p>The site offers downloadable coaching drills and tips on handling unruly parents as well as nutrition theory and a chat room for coaches to exchange ideas. Unlimited access costs $45.</p><p>Nicholson said other initiatives borne from the Open Ice meetings were taking shape. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re working on the sports school,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have pilot projects Alberta which will have a huge impact on how we&rsquo;re teaching the skills through the school system. After we get feedback we&rsquo;ll be able to roll that next year on a full-time basis across the country. Open Ice is still alive and we&rsquo;ll continue to work on (its recommendations).&rdquo;</p><p>Wayne Gretzky, a summit delegate and CHA advisor, attended the launch and praised the Internet coaching tool.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve made some good strides here and this web site will be great in that area,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;I think what we have to do, especially at a young age, is make sure the kids really understand that it&rsquo;s fun to go out there and enjoy the game.</p><p>&ldquo;Very few Jean Beliveaus and Paul Coffeys come through the ranks now because we&rsquo;re taught so many systems and so much discipline at a young age. I think we&rsquo;ve taken away a lot of creativity and a lot of our great players.&rdquo;</p><p>As a prospective co-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, Gretzky has a vested interest in seeing young players develop skill and return the sometimes plodding NHL game to it&rsquo;s high-flying incarnation of the mid-1980s.</p><p>&ldquo;What has changed the style of the NHL has not been the NHL, but (rather) our minor hockey and our junior hockey,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;Just let them go out there and play pond hockey to a certain age and let them have fun and learn the skills of puckhandling and skating and creativity&rdquo;</p><p>At the press conference held at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Gretzky confirmed he&rsquo;s interested in being part of Team Canada&rsquo;s management team for the 2002 Olympics.</p><p>Nicholson said the NHL&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer would be a welcome addition, but wouldn&rsquo;t confirm who had the inside line on the top job. GMs Bob Gainey of Dallas and Pierre Lacroix of Colorado are considered to be front-runners.</p><p>Teams must name at least eight players by April 1,2001, but Gretzky didn&rsquo;t think that created an urgency to name a GM.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty easy to name eight guys,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;After that the makeup of the team has a lot to do with the coach. The next 12 or 13 guys are the key decisions. I&rsquo;m going to put it on the backburner until November. We&rsquo;ll meet then and go from there.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

Gretzky helps CHA launch site

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy, Senior Writer</div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he nightly hockey highlights are filled with pretty passing plays, sweet goals, huge saves, thunderous checks and the occasional fight. To varying degrees, each can have an impact on the outcome of a game.</p><h2><b>Winning on the wall</b></h2><p><i>Winning battles in the grey zone, between the dots and the boards, often determines whether a team wins or loses the game.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011746/7598374-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="489" height="836"></div><p>But there&rsquo;s one critical area of the ice that rarely gets air time in video recaps &mdash; the trenches. That&rsquo;s the ice between the faceoff dots and the boards as well as the corners and behind the nets. It&rsquo;s a zone Dallas Stars&rsquo; coach Ken Hitchcock says gets far too little attention.</p><p>&ldquo;When you win the battles in that area, you give yourself a better chance to win,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;In the offensive zone in particular, it gives you the opportunity to get more shots.&rdquo;</p><p>When the Stars won the Stanley Cup two years ago, Hitchcock claims his players won more than 60 per cent of the 1-on-1 confrontations between the dots and the boards and averaged 27.6 shots per game, which placed them in the middle of the pack. Last season, the Stars dipped below 60 per cent in the 1-on-1 tussles and their shots on goal slipped to 25.6 per game, second-lowest in the league.</p><p>&ldquo;It takes a lot of energy and focus for players to be successful in that area,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;We just didn&rsquo;t seem to have it last season.&rdquo;</p><p>One coach who wasn&rsquo;t the least bit surprised to hear about the emphasis Dallas places on controlling the outside of the ice surface was Vancouver&rsquo;s Marc Crawford.</p><p>&ldquo;Dallas is a very grinding team,&rsquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;And they really grind you down when they have the lead. They don&rsquo;t give you any chance to set up.&rdquo;</p><p>For years, we have heard how certain players won&rsquo;t venture into the danger zone, choosing instead to remain on the perimeter. Those players are often criticized and portrayed as soft &mdash; which they may indeed be. But if they play for Dallas, they had better be prepare! to work just as hard in the trenche as they would in any other part of the rink.</p><p>&ldquo;What it tells you is if the player is up to the intensity level of the game,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a real good gauge for the intensity level.&rdquo;</p><p>Edmonton coach Craig Mac-Tavish agreed.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s something we should start monitoring,&rdquo; he said &ldquo;We play a 1-on-1 system in our own zone and we try to keep good body position because if you lose a guy off the boards, you potentially create a 2-on-1 going to your net.&rdquo;</p><p>Dallas players are aware of what is expected of them. If their effort begins to lag, they&rsquo;ll hear about it.</p><p>Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said his team has had great success pressuring the puck in the offensive zone. In fact, a few coaches contacted by The Hockey News suggested the growing trend this season is to send forecheckers deep, with fewer teams dropping back into the dreaded neutral-zone trap.</p><p>&ldquo;A lot of times you hear guys talking about a system breaking down when, in truth, it really has nothing to do with the system at all,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;It has to do with commitment, the battle for space.</p><p>&ldquo;Usually the team that wins the small battles throughout the game is the team that wins the game. Goaltending is the other factor. A team like Toronto, for instance, has Curtis Joseph. If Toronto loses some of the 1-on-1 battles, Joseph will bail them out. (Ed) Belfour does the same for Dallas.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021204/7598367-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="1564" height="1704"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Want to gauge a player&rsquo;s intensity? Study how he fares in battles along the boards.</i></figcaption></div><p>Hitchcock said all players on the Stars share equal responsibility when it comes to winning fights for the puck.</p><p>&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter if you&rsquo;re 5-foot-5 or 6-foot-5, if you want to play on our team in this league, you have to win those battles consistently,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re a big player, you might use your size. If you&rsquo;re a small player you need to use your speed. It doesn&rsquo;t matter how you do it, though. It is non-negotiable &mdash; you have to win the battles.&rdquo; &#9633;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-01

Small battles, big gains

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011829/7598426-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Players such as Bobby Holik have helped shatter the myth that Europeans can only fill skilled roles.</i></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; GM is Craig Patrick, an American. Last summer he hired as his coach Ivan Hlinka, a Czech. On Hlinka&rsquo;s recommendation, the Penguins used a 10th round pick to select 29-year-old Roman Simicek, a 6-foot-3,210-pound Czech center.</p><p>Simicek&rsquo;s job is to go to the front of the net, dig in and take abuse, just like a good Canadian. His good Canadian numbers &mdash; two goals, five points and 12 penalty minutes in eight games &mdash; are proof of his effectiveness. &ldquo;He fills a niche on our team our coach felt he could do,&rdquo; Patrick said.</p><p>And why, exactly, did that particular niche need filling? Because to a certain extent the old stereotypes hold true. With seven European puck-wizard forwards on the roster last season, the Penguins lacked grease under the fingernails, gravel in the back of the pick-up truck. To use a decidedly North American term, grit.</p><p>That Hlinka found a solution by bringing in an older, experienced European illustrates the essential paradox of what is happening in today&rsquo;s NHL. European players are now being used in the other roles, too, ones that in the past had been reserved for Canadian kids because the Euros were supposedly ill-suited to fill them.</p><p>&ldquo;I think over the last 10 years the biases have diminished, so it&rsquo;s easier for a European to make it,&rdquo; said Chicago GM Mike Smith. &ldquo;There are a lot more clubs now where they don&rsquo;t have to overcome that. They just have to come and play and if they&rsquo;re good enough, they&rsquo;ll play&rdquo;</p><p>And they are. For the first time in NHL history, teams this season are employing more first-year European players than first-year North Americans.</p><p>According to figures compiled by The Hockey News, of the 89 new faces on rosters in late October, 45 were from Europe and 44 from North America. Last season, using the same criteria there were 80 new players, 50 from North America and 30 from Europe. Included in these totals are true NHL rookies according to Calder Trophy rules; first-year players aged 26 and older; and players such as Ottawa&rsquo;s Patrick Lalime and Washington&rsquo;s Ulf Dahlen, who returned to the NHL after being away for at least two seasons.</p><p>Over the past three seasons, the additions of Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus and Minnesota have opened 92 new roster spots spread across 30 teams. The majority of those spots have been filled by Europeans. But hold on a season or two before pressing that panic button. It&rsquo;s not as if Canadians or Americans are actually losing jobs. Not yet.</p><p>Though their percentage of NHL players has declined, the absolute numbers have increased marginally. And with the explosion of hockey at the minor league level, never have so many Canadians and Americans been able to make a living at the sport.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see anything negative in this towards North America,&rdquo; Smith said.</p><p>But there&rsquo;s no denying North Americans are taking fewer and fewer of the newly created jobs. The league is now 31.8 per cent non-North American-born according to NHL statistics, up from 27.7 last year. Pittsburgh has the most Europeans with 15, followed by Ottawa (13), and Anaheim and Toronto (10 each).</p><p>The 4.1 per-cent jump in Europeans this season is the second-largest year-over-year increase since 1991-92 to 1992-93 (5.3). The search for new talent sources after the addition of expansion teams Ottawa and Tampa Bay accounted for much of that &rsquo;92-93 increase. That was also the year the first significant wave of Russians arrived in the NHL, players such as Alexei Zhamnov, Alexei Zhitnik, Sergei Zubov, Dmitry Yushkevich, Alexei Kovalev and a host of others.</p><p>Those Russians were valued for their skills and in many respects that&rsquo;s why the European invasion continues to steam ahead.</p><p>&ldquo;You look down the players and you look at what they bring to the team and it usually tends to be that way,&rdquo; said Ottawa forward Rob Zamuner. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a stereotype, but I think it&rsquo;s fairly true.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b><i>Last season, 30 of 80 NHL newcomers (38 per cent) were non-North American</i></b></blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b><i>This season, 45 of 89 NHL newcomers (51 per cent) are non-North American</i></b></blockquote><p>Yet players such as Simicek, Chicago&rsquo;s Swiss winger Reto Von Arx (271st overall in 2000) and Swedish center Jonas Ronnqvist, a 27-year-old Swede drafted 98th by Anaheim in 2000, don&rsquo;t fit the traditional mould. They, too, are winning jobs.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little bit quicker and faster game here,&rdquo; said Ronnqvist, who was playing on Anaheim&rsquo;s third line, between Andrei Nazarov and German Titov. &ldquo;A little bit tougher, too. But it&rsquo;s not too, too different.&rdquo;</p><p>It&rsquo;s worth noting the recent expansion clubs do not have a disproportionate number of Europeans. Atlanta has nine, Minnesota and Nashville seven and Columbus only five. The difference is the new franchises, given the abundance of hardworking grinding types available in the expansion draft, are using older Europeans to help drive their offense.</p><p>Minnesota&rsquo;s top defenseman has been Lubomir Sekeras, a mobile, skilled 31-year-old selected 232nd overall in 2000. While he has defensive shortcomings, coach Jacques Lemaire isn&rsquo;t looking at him as a stopgap. &ldquo;He could play until 35,36. Why not?&rdquo;</p><p>With no more expansion planned, it may still be three or four years before there&rsquo;s a good indication where the North American-European balance will settle. Expansion disrupts a team&rsquo;s farm system as well. Prospects are spread thinner and clubs don&rsquo;t have the organizational depth to plug holes on their NHL roster.</p><p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re looking for somebody that can play right away and maybe get you through until your younger players develop,&rdquo; said Ottawa GM Marshall Johnston. And those &ldquo;right away&rdquo; players are coming from Europe.</p><p>Lemaire and Smith both believe the European percentage will continue to rise, perhaps another five-to-10 percent or even more. Others, such as Toronto GM Pat Quinn, are only sure it isn&rsquo;t going to fall.</p><p>GMs and players point to a number of familiar reasons for the trend: More of an emphasis on skills in Europe; a club system which channels money and resources to groom top prospects from a young age; and, a more favorable practice-to-game ratio in minor hockey.</p><p>There&rsquo;s another factor, too: The collective bargaining agreement. NHL teams retain rights to North American junior players for only two years after they&rsquo;re drafted.</p><p>For Europeans, as long as they stay in Europe, the team retains their rights. An unsigned, late-blooming North American might give up the game. The same player in Europe will keep playing at home. That might explain how players such as Swedish defensemen Hans Jonsson, 27, in Pittsburgh and Kim Johnsson, 24, with the Rangers are now NHL regulars. Nobody could have predicted it. They were the respective last picks in the 1993 and 1994 drafts, both 286th overall.</p><p>Even so, Ottawa GM Johnston agrees NHL clubs may still be undervaluing Europeans in the scouting process. In the past five drafts dating to 1996, 17 Europeans chosen 160th or later (roughly after the sixth round) are NHL regulars today There are just three North Americans.</p><p>&ldquo;I think most of the time a European scout has to fight harder for their guy than a North American scout has to,&rdquo; Said Montreal scout and forn NHLer Mats Naslund.</p><p>Ronnqvist and Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle swear there are plenty of players in Europe who could play in the NHL, particularly given the penalty crackdown designed to, let skill players excel. And now that more are coming, the ones back home are more familiar with what&rsquo;s ahead.</p><p>&ldquo;They fit in,&rdquo; said Wild GM Doug Risebrough. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re not intimidated by the situation. The world&rsquo;s more global. There isn&rsquo;t that isolation. There isn&rsquo;t that mystery anymore.&rdquo;</p><p>It has become a global game behind the benches and in the executive suites, too. If Alpo Suhonen does well in Chicago and Hlinka in Pittsburgh, more Europeans will come over. Smith thinks it&rsquo;s inevitable. Ottawa now has a director of player personnel, Jarmo Kekalainen, who lives in Europe and only comes to North America when he has to.</p><p>Patrick said it has never mattered to the Penguins where then-players are from. That he has more Czechs (10) than Canadians and Americans combined (eight) is a coincidence.</p><p>&ldquo;We had an idea of the kind of team we wanted and these were the people that were available at a price we could afford,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Lest we forget, that offensive, free-flowing style of play that Patrick has in mind was made famous in Pittsburgh by the Canadian who now owns the team. You&rsquo;d have to think Mario Lemieux believes it&rsquo;s a small (hockey) world after all. &#9633;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011637/7598419-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="1984" height="3000"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Peter Forsberg Colorado Avalanche</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>NHL Global Village Built In 1990s</b></h2><p><i>Non-North American content in the NHL has risen from 2.6 per cent in 1970-71 to a high of 31.8 this season. The explosion came in the &rsquo;90s, when the European invasion began in earnest.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021163/7598412-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="573" height="240"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03770/7598405-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="417" height="2324"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0010-01

New world order

<div class="byline">Eric Duhastschek THN columnist</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011780/7598464-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="553" height="368"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>ogether, the quartet is an unofficial Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; taxi squad. They go on the ice, almost every day now in Scottsdale, Ariz., usually before, but sometimes after, the official team practice.</p><p>There is the goaltender, Nikolai Khabibulin, plus veterans Claude Lemieux, Greg Adams and Michel Petit, all of whom expect to play again in the NHL someday soon.</p><p>Three of the four are unrestricted free agents who could shop themselves to any NHL team, but would prefer to be in Phoenix.</p><p>The options of the fourth player, Khabibulin, are more limited. As a restricted free agent, he is really not free at all, except to sign again with the Coyotes, the team that owns his rights.</p><p>That didn&rsquo;t happen all of last season and entering November, Khabibulin&rsquo;s absence was approaching 100 games. The standoff wasn&rsquo;t expected to end until the club&rsquo;s ownership situation is resolved.</p><p>When last we saw Khabibulin in a Coyotes&rsquo; uniform, he was tending goal brilliantly for Phoenix in the 1999 playoffs against St. Louis. The Coyotes held a 3-1 lead in that series, but the Blues got it back to 3-3. In the seventh and deciding game, the teams battled through 77 scoreless minutes before Khabibulin finally surrendered the winning goal to Pierre Turgeon, putting an unhappy exclamation point on the organization&rsquo;s eighth consecutive first round loss.</p><p>That Coyotes&rsquo; defeat occurred May 4, 1999, about a fortnight after Wayne Gretzky retired.</p><p>Gretzky re-entered the NHL picture last summer when he was coaxed into the prospective Phoenix ownership group by real estate developer Steve Ellman.</p><p>Gretzky&rsquo;s plans for the present appear to dovetail neatly with Khabibulin&rsquo;s for the future, if only because The Great One is on record as saying the Coyotes need their 27-year-old goaltender back.</p><p>Presumably, Gretzky has studied Khabibulin&rsquo;s numbers in his last NHL season. He was the league&rsquo;s No. 6-rated netminder, with a 2.13 goals-against average, 32-23-7 record, eight shutouts and a sparkling .923 save percentage.</p><p>Even as a novice would-be owner, Gretzky understands the importance of asset management. To have Khabibulin and Robert Reichel playing outside the organization does the Coyotes little good. If they cannot be brought back into the fold, or are found to be too pricey, then they represent chits to be used in the NHL trading game.</p><p>Either way, there is a strong sense among the Coyotes&rsquo; players that Khabibulin is on his way &mdash; they just don&rsquo;t know when he may arrive.</p><p>&ldquo;Nikki&rsquo;s a big part of this team and I&rsquo;m sure things are going to settle once the new ownership comes in,&rdquo; said captain Keith Tkachuk.</p><p>Tkachuk went on to observe: &ldquo;Right now, our goaltending has been solid. Everybody was questioning that before the season, but hopefully, those questions have been put aside. When you have good goaltending, you can win a lot of hockey games.&rdquo;</p><p>Khabibulin won a lot of games last season on behalf of the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International League, a team he joined after it became clear the Coyotes weren&rsquo;t planning to budge on their offer. In fact, Khabibulin dominated in the IHL after joining the club mid-way through the season. He went 21-11-1 with a 1.83 goals-against average and .930 save percentage. The Coyotes brought in Sean Burke and Bob Essensa to play goal and when it looked as if Khabibulin&rsquo;s stalemate with the team would drag into this season, Burke signed on again.</p><p>Burke knows his time as the Coyotes&rsquo; No. 1 goalie could be limited. If Khabibulin signs &mdash; he&rsquo;s seeking an annual stipend in the $4-to-5-million range &mdash; he&rsquo;ll eventually be the main man between the pipes.</p><p>&ldquo;Absolutely true,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;I thought that would happen in the summer, that the sale would just go through.</p><p>Right now, my job is to make their decision as hard for them as possible.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021409/7598457-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="283" height="388"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>N. Khabibulin</b></figcaption></div><p>So Khabibulin&rsquo;s limbo continues. Frustrated? Yes, he&rsquo;s a touch antsy. (Khabibulin and his agent, Jay Grossman, asked not to be quoted in this story.) In hindsight, it looks to him as if the Coyotes&rsquo; financial woes contributed to their response to his contract demands. Originally, the plan was for outgoing owner Richard Burke and Ellman to be partners in the new arena complex. Then Burke put the team on the market and had little interest in sinking more money into the club.</p><p>Compounding Khabibulin&rsquo;s uncertainty was the early-season talk he would be moved to the Rangers in a blockbuster deal, a story that had a ring of truth to it, even as it was denied on all sides.</p><p>Through it all, after more than a year on the outside, the only sure thing is Khabibulin has retained a belief in his value to the Coyotes&rsquo; organization.</p><p>It remains to be seen if his number and Gretzky&rsquo;s match once the two sides sit down to do a deal.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

Lost dog: Khabibulin absence drags on

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011640/7598509-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="369" height="474"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Vincent Lecavalier</b></figcaption></div><p>Tampa Bay may be a retirement capital, but with an average age of 25.4 years, its hockey team is the youngest in the NHL.</p><p>Captained by 20-year-old Vincent Lecavalier, the Lightning stray from a trend that sees the average age of an NHL player increase to an all-time high of 27.8. The typical NHLer was 27.2 years old in 1999-2000; the previous high was 27.4 in 1995-96.</p><p>Not only is the NHL older than ever before, it&rsquo;s heavier, too. The league average of 202.1 pounds is 2.8 more than last season&rsquo;s 199.3, the largest single-season jump since the NHL began tracking these statistics in 1972-73.</p><p>The New York Islanders lead this season&rsquo;s scale tale, averaging 209 pounds, including a monster defense corps that comes in at 220.9 pounds per blueliner.</p><p>For the seventh season in a row, the average height is 6-foot-l.</p><p>The numbers are based on NHL rosters as of Oct. 13.</p><h2><b>Season-by-season height, weight, age</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021140/7598502-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="590" height="1218"></div><h2><b>Team-by-team player profile</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03837/7598495-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="594" height="1258"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0013-01

Tales of the tape, time measure 2000-01 NHL demographics

<div class="byline">By Jim Benton</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011772/7598554-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Police arrested Patrick Roy at his home after a 911 hang-up call.</i></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he week of Oct. 20-26 was declared &ldquo;Patrick Roy Week&rdquo; in Denver. Unfortunately, that period of time will be remembered more for tears than cheers.</p><p>Less than 48 hours after being honored in an elaborate ceremony to celebrate becoming the winningest NHL goaltender of all-time, Patrick Roy was arrested at his suburban Denver home on investigation of domestic violence charges.</p><p>According to a police report, Roy and his wife, Michele, were arguing about in-laws when she called 911 because she was scared of what he might do.</p><p>Roy admitted to Greenwood Village police that he ripped two doors off then-hinges in the master bedroom of the couple&rsquo;s new $1.4-million house, but only after his wife had called 911 and then hung up.</p><p>During a brief court appearance, Roy entered no plea. Roy&rsquo;s father, mother, sister and brother accompanied him to court, but Michele Roy did not appear and refused to co-operate with investigators.</p><p>Colorado law requires an arrest during domestic violence incidents if there is property damage, coercion or intimidation even if no one is injured. The police report said neither Roy nor his wife were injured.</p><p>Roy, who was released after posting a $750 cash bond, had not been charged through Oct. 26. Arapahoe County Judge Richard Jauch issued a mandatory restraining order that instructed Roy not to harass, molest, intimidate, retaliate against or tamper with any witness in the case. It also orders Roy not to possess or control a weapon or possess or consume alcoholic beverages or drugs while the case is pending. The restraining order does not prevent Roy from having contact with his wife or traveling with the Avalanche.</p><p>After his court appearance, Roy took part in an Avalanche practice. Afterwards he read a prepared statement to the media, but wouldn&rsquo;t answer questions. &ldquo;I wanted to speak to you today, even though I can&rsquo;t comment on anything related to the matter you are here for,&rdquo; Roy said. &ldquo;I am convinced you understand that I have to follow the recommendations of my advisers.</p><p>&ldquo;Obviously, this is creating a distraction and my wish is that this distraction will soon be over. I am thankful for the support I am getting from my family and every one of my teammates. I was glad to have been able to participate in practice today. I hope you will respect our privacy during this time.&rdquo;</p><p>Roy is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 7 for a pretrial conference.</p><p>If convicted, Roy faces a maximum of a year in the county jail and a $1,000 fine on the criminal mischief count. No specific penalty is called for on the domestic violence charge.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021330/7598547-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="427" height="583"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Reaction to Roy&rsquo;s arrest has been cautious in Denver, while Avs&rsquo;players are supporting their teammate.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03908/7598540-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="430" height="586"></div><p><b>GREENWOOD VILLAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT</b></p><p>As a Canadian citizen, Roy could also be deported. But a spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service told the Denver <i>Rocky Mountain News</i> deportation proceedings are instituted on a case-by-case basis and Roy would not automatically be deported if convicted.</p><p>The incident was a swift reversal of fortune for Roy, who earned victory No. 448 to become the NHL&rsquo;s winningest goalie Oct. 17 when the Avalanche beat the Capitals 4-3 in Washington. The celebrations for Roy&rsquo;s milestone continued Oct. 20 in Denver when, before a game against Florida, he was showered with gifts from the city, state and NHL dignitaries.</p><p>Denver officials also renamed the portion of the street outside the Pepsi Center &ldquo;Patrick Roy Blvd.&rdquo; for the remainder of this season.</p><p>But following the Florida game, things toned sour. Roy played golf on the afternoon of Oct. 21 with Jerry Sawchuk, the oldest son of the late Terry Sawchuk, whose 30-year-old record Roy surpassed.</p><p>Roy, his wife, and several friends had dinner at a Denver restaurant that night and left around 1 a.m. Oct. 22. Greenwood Village police said they received the hang-up 911 call and arrived at the home at 2:33 a.m.</p><p>Although the police report doesn&rsquo;t indicate whether the Roys&rsquo; children were at home, authorities subsequently said they believed the couple&rsquo;s three pre-teen children &mdash; Jonathan, Frederick and Jana &mdash; were there at the time of the incident.</p><p>The reaction in Denver has been mostly cautious. The mayor&rsquo;s office said it hadn&rsquo;t received any complaints about the renaming of the street and there had been no discussions about pulling down the new street signs.</p><p>In his first start at home after his arrest, Roy received polite applause when his name was announced as the starting goalie. A few fans even held signs in support of him.</p><p>Roy talked with the Avalanche players about his arrest and his teammates came to his defense.</p><p>&ldquo;Teams have to deal with distractions,&rdquo; said right winger Adam Deadmarsh. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know anything about this. It&rsquo;s not much of a distraction. We&rsquo;ve gone through some tough times in the past and we&rsquo;ll do it again.&rdquo;</p><p>Defenseman Ray Bourque echoed Deadmarsh&rsquo;s sentiments.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to deal with this as a team,&rdquo; Bourque said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve always stuck together and we&rsquo;ll stick by Patrick because we know he&rsquo;s a quality person and a great family man. We&rsquo;re with him We&rsquo;re going to ride the wave, stick by him and keep playing hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Avalanche management said it would not comment about the situation until after the investigation was complete. &#9633;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

Rocky Mountain highs and lows

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011560/7598592-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>hicago Wolves&rsquo; defenseman Tom Tilley has held the Turner Cup aloft in triumph on three occasions. He won it with Peoria in 1991 and with Chicago in 1998 and again last season. By now he has memorized the Cup&rsquo;s contours. One side is smooth, the other bruised and dented from too many overzealous celebrations. He has learned to make sure he shows the good side of silver when the cameras are flashing.</p><p>&ldquo;It looks like it has been around a long time,&rdquo; Tilley says.</p><p>Far too long, if the truth be known, because Joe Turner left the hockey world far too early.</p><p>Joe who? It&rsquo;s a common reaction. Tilley and hundreds of other players fortunate enough to win the International League championship know how the Cup feels in their hands. Unfortunately, most of those still around to recount their glories don&rsquo;t have any idea what it represents. There&rsquo;s a running joke among EHL champs these days: Ike or Tina?</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard references to Tina Turner,&rdquo; Tilley says, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s right. No one knows what it means, if it&rsquo;s a person or a thing or what.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>World of Potential</b></h2><p><i>Nobody knows how great Joe Turner would have been, but observers saw him as Detroit&rsquo;s goalie of the future in the mid-1940s.</i></p><p>Jud McAtee knows what it means. McAtee, an 80-year-old retiree living in Hot Springs Village, Ark., knew Joe Turner well. In 1941-42, McAtee, a left winger, saw Turner cover the goal for the American League-champion Indianapolis Capitals like a stiff sheet draped from post to post. Indianapolis was Detroit&rsquo;s top farm team; in Turner, McAtee saw the Wings&rsquo; goalie of the future. Then he saw him go to war. He never saw him return.</p><p>As millions observe Memorial Day in the United States and Remembrance Day in Canada, it&rsquo;s easy to flatter the unknown who perished in battle. Bless their memory with exaggerated virtues and talents and feats of heroism? It has been done before. Nobody is going to call the bluff.</p><p>Except Turner was hardly anonymous in his day, not in the same way as were most of some 50,000 Canadian and 300,000 American soldiers who lost their lives in World War II. And in this case, there&rsquo;s no bluff to call. Turner led the AHL in wins and goals-against average that &rsquo;41-42 season. He was called up for one NHL game &mdash; a 3-3 tie against Toronto Feb. 5, 1942 to replace injured Wings&rsquo; goalie Johnny Mowers.</p><p>Red Wings&rsquo; GM Jack Adams said: &ldquo;The kid showed me tonight that he has everything he needs to be a great goalie.&rdquo; Turner was 22. It was the only NHL game he ever played.</p><p>The history books chronicling World War II wouldn&rsquo;t be any different had Turner not volunteered for the U.S. Army and died in Holland after being hit by a German artillery shell in December of 1944. The hockey books would have.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011398/7598585-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="1800" height="1692"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Tom Tilley says few people know the story behind the naming of the International League&rsquo;s Turner Cup.</i></figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>(Turner) definitely could have been one of the best&hellip;I don&rsquo;t know anything could have stopped him.</i></blockquote><p>For starters, Hall of Famer Harry Lumley probably would have had to find somewhere else to start his NHL career.</p><p>&ldquo;(Turner) definitely could have been one of the best, definitely,&rdquo; McAtee said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have any reason to say that except I know it was true. I don&rsquo;t know anything could have stopped him.&rdquo;</p><p>He was a big man, much larger in descriptions from those who knew him than the 5-foot-10,182 pounds he&rsquo;s listed at in the record books. He played a standup style and had rapier-like reflexes, startlingly uncommon for someone his size. Looking at him, McAtee said, you never would believe he&rsquo;d have the agility to be a goalie.</p><p>He was soft-spoken. Aside from the battlefield, he had no known enemies.</p><p>&ldquo;Most of us drank a little beer, but Joe never took a drink of anything,&rdquo; McAtee said. &ldquo;But he still got along with all the guys. He was one of the nicest fellas you&rsquo;d ever meet.&rdquo;</p><p>Though he was Canadian, born and raised in Windsor, Ont., Turner&rsquo;s decision to fight for the U.S. wasn&rsquo;t uncommon at the time, said Tony Techko, a Windsor sports historian who has researched Turner&rsquo;s life. Turner married an Indianapolis girl less than a year before enlisting for the war. They never had kids. She later remarried and is believed to be long dead. His one sister died a few years ago.</p><p>What was left of Turner&rsquo;s own body wasn&rsquo;t positively identified until more than two years after his death and simple battleground burial. Sometime in the 1950s, his remains were transferred from a Belgium military cemetery to his final resting place in Windsor&rsquo;s Victoria Memorial Cemetery.</p><p>Shortly after the war, executives who were creating the new International League decided to honor Turner by naming their championship trophy after him. For some reason they chose to use his last name only.</p><p>According to Bob McCammon, the IHL&rsquo;s vice-president of hockey operations, everyone in the league office knows Joe Turner&rsquo;s story. Asked about the possibility of changing the name of the trophy to the Joe Turner Cup, McCammon said that the NHL&rsquo;s trophy is called the Stanley Cup, not the Lord Stanley of Preston Cup.</p><p>True enough. But no one has ever complained about the name of the Maurice Richard Trophy And no one will ever forget the man for whom it is named.</p><p>After a moment, McCammon reconsiders. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never thought about it, changing the name to Joe Turner, but it&rsquo;s not a bad idea. You&rsquo;d know it&rsquo;s a person, right?&rdquo;</p><p>Tilley also likes the idea. &ldquo;At least the players would have an idea what it was when they&rsquo;re carrying it around the ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Joe Turner, recognized for the life he gave as well as for the life that might have been, deserves at least that much. &#9633;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-01

The unknown legend

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011439/7598623-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="240" height="264"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>n ultra-competitive spirit too often absent a year ago served the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim well during the early stages of the 2000-01 season.</p><p>By rebounding from two-goal deficits in back-to-back games, a 4-3 triumph Oct. 21 at Philadelphia and a 5-4, overtime loss Oct. 23 to visiting Los Angeles, the Ducks sent a message to both themselves and the opposition they won&rsquo;t wilt under pressure.</p><p>&ldquo;So far, that&rsquo;s the difference between last year and this year,&rdquo; said center Tony Hrkac. &ldquo;Last year, we pretty much folded the tents and kind of played it out. If we got a goal (when trailing), great. If not, it was a try again next time sort of attitude.&rdquo;</p><p>The victory over the Flyers completed a spirit-lifting 3-1-1 road trip.</p><p>&ldquo;We talked before the trip about the importance of it, not so much even winning, but for team chemistry,&rdquo; said right winger Teemu Selanne.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> A strong effort by Matt Cullen has resulted in Cullen, Mike Leclerc and Marty McInnis forming a formidable second line. With McInnis&rsquo; team-leading six goals, four from Leclerc and one from Cullen, the trio&rsquo;s total of 11 was two more than top line members Selanne, Steve Rucchin and Paul Kariya.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> The Ducks recalled rookie Antti-Jussi Niemi from Cincinnati (AHL) Oct. 24 after Pavel Trnka sprained his right ankle Oct. 8 and Ruslan Salei bruised his left foot Oct. 21. Niemi, who made his NHL debut in a 6-2 loss at Los Angeles Oct. 25, was the team&rsquo;s final cut in training camp.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Center <b>Steve Rucchin</b>, who missed the first six games with a broken metacarpal bone in his left hand, returned Oct. 20 for a 2-2 tie at Buffalo&hellip;A hat trick by right winger <b>Marty McInnis</b> in a 5-4, overtime loss to visiting Los Angeles Oct. 23 was the 14th in Anaheim team history, but only the third by someone other than right winger <b>Teemu Selanne</b> or left winger <b>Paul Kariya</b>.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Dan Wood</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-01

Comebacks leave Ducks feeling good about start

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03767/7598661-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="242" height="258"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021084/7598654-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="1474" height="1222"><figcaption class="caption-body">Atlanta&rsquo;s Dean Sylvester and teammate Andrew Brunette team up against a Ranger.</figcaption></div><p>One victory doesn&rsquo;t qualify as a Stanley Cup run. Far from it, in fact.</p><p>But when the Atlanta Thrashers finally recorded their first win of the year, a 3-1 decision at Edmonton that followed an 0-3-3 start, players and coaches felt it was long overdue and a sign of a brighter future.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like anybody was panicking,&rdquo; said center Ray Ferraro. &ldquo;We had played some real solid games and we were happy with the way we were playing, for the most part. But you can never be too happy when you haven&rsquo;t won yet.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Coach Curt Fraser was intent on changing the Thrashers from a dreary dump-and-chase bunch to more of a puck possession team and progress was evident. The Thrashers scored 11 goals in consecutive games against the New York Islanders and Ottawa, and their 21 goals through seven games for a 3.0 average was far ahead of last season&rsquo;s 2.07 average.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> A Thrashers&rsquo; forward among the league scoring leaders? Right winger Donald Audette had seven goals and 14 points through seven games; that meant he was in on 66 per cent of the team&rsquo;s 21 goals and put him on pace for an 82-goal, 164-point season.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Thrashers finally got center <b>Patrik Stefan</b> (strained groin) and defenseman <b>Adam Burt</b> (facial fractures) back. But they lost defenseman <b>Petr Buzek</b> (concussion-like symptoms)&hellip;GM <b>Don Waddell</b> is not counting on defenseman Gord Murphy to return from shoulder surgery before Jan. 1&hellip;The Thrashers overcame a four-goal deficit for the first time in club history in a 6-6 tie at Ottawa Oct. 21.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Jeff Schultz</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-03

Solid play finally leads to victory for Thrashers

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011334/7598751-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="241" height="261"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>ominik Hasek says he&rsquo;s fine physically. The knee strain he suffered in the season opener is fine. The groin problems that plagued him for most of the past two seasons are no longer.</p><p>But also absent was Hasek&rsquo;s dominance. &lsquo;The Dominator&rsquo; had a 0-3-1-1 record in his first five games and didn&rsquo;t earn a victory until the Sabres rolled over Carolina 4-1 Oct. 25.</p><p>During the slump, Hasek had a 3.49 goals-against average and .876 save percentage &mdash; well beneath his career standards of 2.26 and .926.</p><p>Granted, Hasek is no Mr. October. Entering this season, he was 16-24-5 in the campaign&rsquo;s first month, dating to 1995.</p><p>The Sabres weren&rsquo;t overreacting to the poor play and were encouraged by the 30-save performance against the Hurricanes.</p><p>&ldquo;You know that Dom&rsquo;s in the game when he&rsquo;s telling you where to go and what to do and everything like that,&rdquo; said right winger Rob Ray. &ldquo;He was doing that. He was giving directions all night.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Coach Lindy Ruff reworked his lines in mid-October. The biggest move was putting left winger Doug Gilmour with center Chris Gratton and right winger Maxim Afinogenov. Gilmour scored his first goal of the season one game after the switch. Gratton, who had been pointless in his first five games, scored twice in three games after the juggling.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> The four-game suspension handed to defenseman Alexei Zhitnik created a lineup spot for 36-year-old James Patrick. If anything, the Sabres played better in the first few games without Zhitnik. Patrick gives the Sabres a right-hand shot from the point on the power play, something they lack with Zhitnik. Patrick set up one goal and nearly scored another against Carolina.,</p><p><b>notebook</b> Right winger <b>Rob Ray</b> equaled his goal output from the past two seasons combined when he scored against the Hurricanes. Ray had no goals two years ago and had not scored since last Feb. 26&hellip; Center <b>Chris Gratton&rsquo;s</b> only goal in a Buffalo uniform before this season was scored into an empty net. His first goal this year came Oct. 20 when he beat Anaheim&rsquo;s <b>Dominic Roussel</b> with 7.2 seconds remaining in regulation, enabling the Sabres to tie the Ducks. &ldquo;I tried driving different ways (to the rink), changing sticks, I tried just about everything,&rdquo; Gratton said.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Bucky Gleason</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02989/7598744-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="263" height="294"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gary Roberts Toronto</b></figcaption></div><p><b>HOME TEAM</b></p><p>Ontario native Gary Roberts and Keith Tkachuk of Massachusetts, have something in common beyond their power forward ways. They each hail from their country&rsquo;s top NHLer-producing areas. Listed are province/state, number of NHLers, percentage of country&rsquo;s NHLers and overall NHL percentage.</p><p><b>Canada&rsquo;s Top NHLer-Producing Provinces</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03666/7598737-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="868" height="227"></div><p><b>U.S.&rsquo;s Top NHLer-Producing States</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04509/7598730-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="868" height="236"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05380/7598723-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="268" height="299"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Keith Tkachuk Phoenix</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-01

October not kind to ‘The Dominator’

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011224/7598789-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="265" height="277"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>is goal-scoring drought having reached 25 games, Calgary&rsquo;s Valeri Bure was keeping an even emotional keel, even as he struggled to find the mark in the early season.</p><p>Bure led the Flames with 35 goals last year despite failing to score in the final 15 games and he didn&rsquo;t tally in the first 10 games of this season.</p><p>&ldquo;What are you going to do?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Obviously, I&rsquo;ve got to laugh it off because it is funny to me.</p><p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t hang mv head about this.&rdquo;</p><p>Bure said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s happened to me before in the past and it&rsquo;s happened to my brother (Pavel) in the past. Of course, when guys like me don&rsquo;t score the goals, it brings attention. When I start scoring again, it&rsquo;ll bring attention again.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Defenseman Phil Housley&rsquo;s ice time was one casualty of the early season crackdown on penalties.</p><p>Housley was playing about 20 minutes per game, down from the 23:29 he averaged last season under excoach Brian Sutter, and wasn&rsquo;t killing penalties anymore, something he did occasionally last year.</p><p>Even with the injury to Denis Gauthier and Derek Morris&rsquo; ongoing contract stalemate, the Flames had six NHL-calibre defenseman available every night. Housley, who was playing with fellow veteran Steve Smith, was teamed with Robyn Regehr. Smith was shifted alongside Toni Lydman, so the two young defensemen get the benefit of playing with an experienced player.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> In the early going Mike Vernon and Fred Brathwaite had almost equal time in goal with Brathwaite outperforming Vernon in the key statistical areas.</p><p>Vernon&rsquo;s 4-3 loss to St. Louis Oct. 27 dropped his record to 1-5 while Brathwaite was 2-1-1. But the plan was to split time equally.</p><p>&ldquo;This will spread it out a bit and relieve a little pressure for both of us,&rdquo; Vernon said. &ldquo;We can concentrate on just going out and playing our games.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Calgary has decided to keep 19-year-old left winger <b>Oleg Saprykin</b>, who got his first goal plus an assist Oct. 24 against Phoenix. GM <b>Craig Button</b> and coach <b>Don Hay</b> insisted it wasn&rsquo;t a difficult decision to keep Saprykin&hellip;Calgary&rsquo;s Oct. 29 game was scheduled to be the 1,300th of defenseman <b>Phil Housley&rsquo;s</b> career. Housley also needed five assists to tie <b>Alex Delvecchio</b> for 19th on the all-time list at 825&hellip;Center <b>Clarke Wilm</b>, hit in the face by a puck Oct. 21, needed stitches between his nostrils and may require plastic surgery next summer.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Eric Duhatschek</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02860/7598782-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="694" height="1006"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0020-01

Calgary, we have a problem: Pocket Rocket stuck on launch pad

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03602/7598820-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="262" height="262"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith the Hurricanes&rsquo; defense corps ripped apart by injuries, defenseman Dave Karpa, a training camp casualty last year, is logging more than 21 minutes of ice time a game.</p><p>After spending more than half of last season with the IHL&rsquo;s Cincinnati Cyclones, Karpa won&rsquo;t complain about the workload. He&rsquo;s just happy to be playing in the NHL.</p><p>In this, his 10th NHL season, Karpa has been one of Carolina&rsquo;s most reliable defensemen.</p><p>&ldquo;Personally, I had something to prove to myself,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I faced a little adversity down there (in the minor leagues). In the long run, when I look back, it&rsquo;s probably going to help me with what I went through.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Coach Paul Maurice has tried numerous combinations trying to jump start the &lsquo;Canes dismal power play that ranked 26th (8.9 per cent) in the league after eight games.</p><p>The Hurricanes were having difficulty getting to the puck after dumping it in and were giving opponents too many shorthanded opportunities.</p><p>The absence of defenseman Kevin Hatcher, out with a bruised hand, took away a key right-hand shot on the power play.</p><p>Maurice said he&rsquo;ll turn to younger players such as center Josef Vasicek and right winger Shane Willis, both rookies, while playing with the man advantage.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> Injuries decimated Carolina&rsquo;s blueline, forcing the team to use 10 defensemen through the first seven games.</p><p>Pairings that changed on a game-by-game basis stunted the team&rsquo;s ability to establish continuity.</p><p>Meanwhile, through eight games Sandis Ozolinsh had the only goal by a defenseman.</p><p>Marek Malik, out with a sore neck, returned for the seventh game while David Tanabe is likely out until at least mid-November with a concussion, joining Hatcher on the sidelines.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not at 100 per cent and everyone would like to have their guys at 100 per cent,&rdquo; said defenseman Glen Wesley.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> In the first seven games, left winger <b>Martin Gelinas&rsquo;</b> had a four-game goal streak. Last season he didn&rsquo;t score his fourth goal until the 40th game&hellip;Defensemen <b>Niclas Wallin</b> and <b>Greg Kuznik</b>, right winger <b>Craig Adams</b> and center <b>Josef Vasicek</b> have all made their NHL debuts this season. Kuznik, a native of Prince George, B.C., was excited coming out on the road versus the Habs. &ldquo;To every Canadian, Montreal is a special place,&rdquo; he said.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Bob Sutton</i></b></p><p><b>NOT HOT ROD</b> Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour is struggling on offense &mdash; collecting just four points in eight games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-03

Veteran defenseman Karpa upgraded from Cyclone status to Hurricane

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04398/7598851-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="250" height="262"></div><p>Not everyone agrees with Alpo Suhonen&rsquo;s unconventional ideas of coaching.</p><p>Don Jackson didn&rsquo;t, so he was fired as one of Suhonen&rsquo;s assistants after just eight games and replaced by Al MacAdam.</p><p>GM Mike Smith decided to dismiss Jackson after concluding the two men had differences that simply couldn&rsquo;t be ironed out.</p><p>&ldquo;I had an uncomfortable feeling in training camp about a few things,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t like some things I was seeing in terms of the team that I thought could be traced back to a group of coaches who weren&rsquo;t working together.&rdquo;</p><p>Jackson refused to get into the specifics of his problems with Suhonen, but they were believed to be centered on defensive philosophies and the lack of structure in Suhonen&rsquo;s systems.</p><p>A Chicago <i>Tribune</i> report claimed Suhonen felt Jackson didn&rsquo;t like him because he was European.</p><p>&ldquo;The only comment I&rsquo;m going to make was our philosophies were irreconcilably different,&rdquo; Jackson said. &ldquo;When you work in a room you&rsquo;ve got to believe that the way you&rsquo;re doing it is the right way. Alpo has a big heart and a deep feeling for how the game should be played. I didn&rsquo;t know him before I came here this season. I took a chance with the hope that it would work and it didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;</p><p>Suhonen said he tried hard to reach an understanding with Jackson.</p><p>&ldquo;I was trying to the last moment to find a way to work this out,&rdquo; Suhonen said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s unfortunate that we couldn&rsquo;t find a way I don&rsquo;t want to get very deep with this discussion, but if you are running a team, a play or a company, the guy who runs the operation is the key. You can&rsquo;t direct Hamlet two different ways on a stage.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> The Hawks were 4-for-38 on the power play in their first eight games and were getting too few scoring chances on the power play and at even strength.</p><p>Smith said a 1-0 loss to St. Louis Oct. 21 showcased Chicago&rsquo;s shortcomings.</p><p>&ldquo;We pull up in the corner or dump it behind the net or try to recycle,&rdquo; Smith said.</p><p>Smith also criticized Chicago&rsquo;s goaltending.</p><p>&ldquo;We need to have our goaltenders perform better,&rdquo; Smith said. Jocelyn Thibault and Rob Tallas had a combined .874 save percentage.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Right winger <b>Tony Amonte</b> questioned the Hawks&rsquo; heart after a 2-0 loss to Colorado on Oct. 26&hellip;Assistant coach <b>Al MacAdam,</b> coach of Toronto&rsquo;s AHL affiliate last year, is GM <b>Mike Smith&rsquo;s</b> eighth import from the Maple Leafs, including coach <b>Alpo Suhonen</b>, assistant GM <b>Nick Beverley</b> and defenseman <b>Alexander Karpovtsev</b>&hellip;<b>Bill Lesuk&rsquo;s</b> long awaited hiring as director of amateur scouting finally happened Oct. 26.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Tim Sassone</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-04

Windy City coaching controversy blows assistant Jackson out of town

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011103/7598889-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="244" height="259"></div><p>Colorado held center Peter Forsberg out of most of the team&rsquo;s pre-season practices and games to allow his sprained ankle to heal.</p><p>Turns out it was a smart decision because Forsberg hasn&rsquo;t missed a beat since the season began. He&rsquo;s healthy and his play shows it.</p><p>His ankle, which he sprained in a charity socer game in August in sweden, is fine. Last year, he played only 49 games. He missed the first part of the season while rehabilitating from shoulder surgery and was also sidelined by a hip pointer, concussion and bruised shoulder</p><p>After the Avalanche&rsquo;s first 10 games, Forsberg was leading the team in scoring with eight goals, 14 points and a league-high four game-winners. The NHL&rsquo;s stricter enforcement of slashing and obstruction penalties has benefited Forsberg.</p><p>&ldquo;What I like the most about Peter is he&rsquo;s putting pucks to the net,&rdquo; said coach Bob Hartley &ldquo;That makes him so tough to stop because right now he&rsquo;s shooting, he&rsquo;s passing and with his skills and speed, it makes it basically impossible for the other team to stop him.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Colorado concentrated on team defense late last season and has continued the effort this year, allowing only 13 goals in the first 10 games.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a commitment from everybody on the ice,&rdquo; said defenseman Aaron Miller. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just the defensemen. The forwards are really hustling back and really doing a great job on the boards, getting the puck out. And we&rsquo;re getting great goaltending.&rdquo;</p><p><b>defense</b> Rookie goalie David Aebischer had two wins in two starts, including a shutout. Aebischer, the 22-year-old from Fribourg, Switz., made 20 saves in a 5-1 victory over Columbus in his first NHL start Oct. 18. He then stopped 18 shots Oct. 16 in Chicago in a 2-0 win.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Defenseman <b>Ray Bourque</b> became the highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history when he picked up two assists against Nashville. But he wasn&rsquo;t sure how long he would remain the leader. The two assists gave Bourque 1,529 points, two more than Boston&rsquo;s <b>Paul Coffey</b>, who was injured.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Jim Benton</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02787/7598882-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="685" height="865"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-01

Early rest pays off for Avs’ Forsberg

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03574/7598920-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="241" height="255"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Blue Jackets had a hard time fitting Ted Drury into their plans and on Oct. 25 &mdash; needing to free up a roster spot &mdash; they assigned the veteran center to their American League affiliate in Syracuse.</p><p>It&rsquo;s unfortunate, said Columbus GM-president Doug MacLean. &ldquo;Ted didn&rsquo;t really get a chance here because we only had one forward go down with an injury.&rdquo;</p><p>That forward was center Espen Knutsen (broken finger), whose return to the active roster predicated Drury&rsquo;s reassignment. It can&rsquo;t be a good sign for Drury, a veteran of 414 NHL games, including 66 last season with the New York Islanders and Anaheim Mighty Ducks.</p><p>Drury played in only one game for Columbus, a 7-1 loss to Los Angeles in which he was minus-3 in just under 15 minutes of ice time. He was a healthy scratch in seven other games.</p><p>In seven NHL seasons, the 1993 Hobey Baker Award finalist has scored 41 goals and 93 points.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> The Blue Jackets have found a way to get the puck on net, but they haven&rsquo;t taken the next step &mdash; getting it past the goaltender. Columbus, which slumped miserably on offense early in the season, took 47 shots at Detroit&rsquo;s Chris Osgood Oct. 22, but lost 2-1. Three nights later, they outplayed and outshot San Jose, but managed just one goal on 36 shots.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> The Jackets were still undetermined about the fate of rookie Rostislav Klesla. Once he plays in 10 NHL games, Columbus must pay his first-year salary of $537,500. As of Oct. 25, he had played in eight games and had scored twice.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Detenseman <b>Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre</b> suffered a bruised foot in an Oct. 21 game in Pitts, burgh, forcing him to sit out the next two games&hellip;After taking a 3-0 lead on chicago in tne season opener, Columbus was outscored 22-4 in</p><p>A Nationwide Arena. Center <b>Espen Knutsen&rsquo;s</b> return was a welcome sight for a lagging offense.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Aaron Portzline</i></b></p><p><b>ELECTION YEAR</b> How popular is Ron Tugnutt in Columbus? There&rsquo;s a mock campaign promoting the Canadian citizen for the U.S. presidency<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-03

Drury victimized by numbers game

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04398/7598951-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="250" height="238"></div><p>Just four games into the season, the Dallas Stars faced a choice forced by a 1-2-1-0 start.</p><p>&ldquo;We said, &lsquo;What do we want to do? Do we want to argue all the first half and have no fun, or nip it in the bud and go back to work?&rdquo; said center Kirk Muller. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot more fun this way.&rdquo;</p><p>The Stars ironed out their differences well enough for a five-game winning streak that ended Oct. 25 with a 6-2 loss to Vancouver. That streak was facilitated by the leadership provided by several Stars&rsquo; veterans. Netminder Ed Belfour chastised teammates after a game in which he didn&rsquo;t even play Joe Nieuwendyk dipped into his wallet, offering to make a generous donation to the team fund for nine out of 12 points during an extended homestand. The team did Nieuwendyk one better, earning 10 points.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Blake Sloan played in 35 playoff games the past two seasons. And he&rsquo;s a classy kid with a nice story &mdash; an undersized defenseman who made it to the NHL after moving up to become a checking line right winger.</p><p>But Dallas needed more on then checking line, so they sent Sloan to the Houston of the International League Oct. 25. &ldquo;His play has been solid,&rdquo; said coach Ken Hitchcock. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t have off games. He doesn&rsquo;t have off nights. You can count on one hand Blake Sloan&rsquo;s bad shifts. We&rsquo;re just at a stage where we need more from that position.&rdquo;</p><p><b>defense</b> Sometimes, the Stars were their-old stifling selves through the first 10 games. During their five-game winning streak, they outscored the opposition 18-6. But other games were puzzling. The Vancouver loss was the first time in 130 regular season games they had allowed six goals. &ldquo;As a team, we were playing maybe a little loose,&rdquo; Belfour said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know the reason behind that.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Right winger <b>Brett Hull</b> had eight goals in an eight-game span, his best start since joining Dallas. Hull had dinner with his father, <b>Bobby,</b> when the team visited Chicago Oct. 19, but the topic of the son passing the father on the all-time goal list never arose. &ldquo;We have so many other things to talk about instead of sitting there telling each other how great we are,&rdquo; Brett Hull said&hellip;Goalie <b>Ed Belfour</b> bought Chicago goalie coach <b>Vladislav Tretiak</b> a ring this summer to show appreciation for Tretiak&rsquo;s guidance when Belfour was a Hawk. The diamond ring features a Stanley Cup, Belfour&rsquo;s No. 20 and the names of Belfour and Tretiak.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Chuck Carlton</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-04

Team’s turnaround spurred by veterans

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05293/7598982-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="243" height="250"></div><p>The Detroit Red Wings held their breath.</p><p>Already missing captain Steve Yzerman and defenseman Chris Chelios because of knee injuries, they couldn&rsquo;t stand the sight of center Sergei Fedorov clutching his left knee Oct. 21 after he had collided with Buffalo&rsquo;s Jay McKee.</p><p>The Wings exhaled the next night. Fedorov played at Columbus and joked about the incident. &ldquo;I got a knee, I got an elbow and my helmet was on my nose,&rdquo; Fedorov said. &ldquo;I was like, &lsquo;Shoot, I must be playing hockey.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>With Yzerman out, no Wing is more valuable than Fedorov, the team leader in points (11) through Oct. 25. He won the Hart Trophy in 1993-94 when Yzerman was injured and he sees similarities between then and now.</p><p>&ldquo;This pressure doesn&rsquo;t bother me at all,&rdquo; Fedorov said. &ldquo;I see this as an opportunity. It&rsquo;s not like I have my hands full and don&rsquo;t know what to do.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve felt my whole career that the more I play, the better I play. If I get more ice time, I can get more action. And if I can get more action, hopefully it will be a positive.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Left winger Slava Kozlov was in coach Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s doghouse. Coming off a disappointing 18-goal season, Kozlov held out during camp and got off to a poor start. Bowman moved him from to center for a game, hoping extra space would give Kozlov a spark, but that didn&rsquo;t work and Bowman scratched him against Tampa Bay Oct. 25. The 28-year-old could be trade bait if this keeps up.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> Right winger Martin Lapointe was helping to pick up the slack left by Yzerman&rsquo;s injury. He was tied with Fedorov for the team lead in goals with five. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s important for him as a veteran now to maintain that level of confidence,&rdquo; said Brendan Shanahan. &ldquo;If he keeps getting minutes and opportunities, he&rsquo;s going to have a good year.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Defenseman <b>Larry Murphy</b> played in his 51st NHL arena Oct. 22 when Detroit visited Columbus. No. 52 figures to come Jan. 5 at Minnesota. The total doesn&rsquo;t include neutral-site games&hellip;Defenseman <b>Chris Chelios</b> practised only four days after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee&hellip;<b>Boyd Devereaux</b> was scratched two straight games, then moved from center back to left wing, the position he played the past two years in Edmonton.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Nicholas J. Cotsonika</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-05

Increased heat cool with Fedorov

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01996/7599013-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="254" height="264"></div><p>Life is a series of checks and balances for Todd Marchant.</p><p>Check the opposition&rsquo;s top line night-in and night-out and hope like mad it balances in the end.</p><p>But 10 games into the 2000-01 season and sitting at minus-6, Marchant&rsquo;s account is overdrawn.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m the first to admit I haven&rsquo;t done a great job of checking against the other team&rsquo;s top line,&rdquo; said the scrappy center, who was The Hockey News choice as the NHL&rsquo;s top defensive forward last season. Detroit star Steve Yzerman won the league&rsquo;s Selke Trophy.</p><p>Marchant took no solace in the fact that he and linemates Mike Grier (minus-6) and Rem Murray (minus-4) were victimized by top opposition such as Mats Sundin and the Toronto Maple Leafs and Jeremy Roenick&rsquo;s Phoenix Coyotes.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s our job, to stop them from scoring,&rdquo; Marchant said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s a long season and it&rsquo;s just taking time is all.&rdquo;</p><p>With only five goals between them, the line was struggling at both ends of the ice.</p><p>&ldquo;We just have to dig in, try and be a little sharper defensively and when we get our chances offensively, start putting them in,&rdquo; Grier said.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Michel Riesen, the second line left winger who usually plays with center Brian Swanson and Daniel Cleary on right wing, was still looking for his first goal of the year after scoring four times in the pre-season.</p><p>The Swiss native has seen his ice time cut back dramatically and could be dispatched to affiliate Hamilton (AHL) to get confidence and playing time.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> In an attempt to balance scoring, coach Craig Mac&mdash;Tavish occasionally bumps hulking winger Georges Laraque onto the top line with center Doug Weight and left winger Bill Guerin.</p><p>Ryan Smyth, who occupies right wing on the No. 1 unit, then drops down to the second line with Swanson and Cleary.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Oilers allowed the first goal in eight of their first 10 outings, but still managed to get off to their best start (5-1-1) since 1985-86&hellip; <b>Paul Comrie</b>, who has been suffering from post-concussion syndrome and inner-ear problems, began skating with the team in mid-October&hellip;The Oilers&rsquo; first six home dates averaged just 14,590 fans or 85.3 per cent of capacity. Toronto&rsquo;s visit was the only sellout.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Mario Annicchiarico</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0023-01

Oilers’ Marchant off to slow start

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02670/7599044-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="244" height="268"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>ere&rsquo;s how desperate the goal-scoring situation has gotten around the Florida Panthers: Right winger Pavel Bure is advocating a dump and-chase game.</p><p>After the Panthers scored just nine goals in their first six games, none of which were wins, even Bure said Florida had to resort to blue collar hockey.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been playing hockey professionally for many years and it happens almost every season,&rdquo; Bure said. &ldquo;The puck just won&rsquo;t go in &mdash; breakaways, posts, crossbars. Then, sometimes, you have two shots, two goals. Why? Nobody will tell you.</p><p>&ldquo;So, you have to go back to basics, try to get ugly goals, rebounds.&rdquo;</p><p>The next night, the Panthers did that, got an early goal on a double deflection off two defenders&hellip;and nothing more against New Jersey in a 2-1 loss that left Florida the only winless team in the NHL.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Among the advice in a paper given to each Panther was, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to shoot the puck.&rdquo; Still, the Panthers often try to be too fancy at key moments. On a five-minute power play late in a 0-0 game with Minnesota, the Panthers got zero shots. Same for a three-minute advantage while leading Jersey 1-0 and a middle third period power play with the score 1-1.</p><p><b>defense</b> Coach Terry Murray alternated Trevor Kidd and Roberto Luongo in goal early because of the broad spacing of the games. The first time Murray broke from that, Luongo got the call against New Jersey and stopped 26 of 28 shots. In Luongo&rsquo;s three games after giving up four goals on 22 shots to Boston in his first start of the season, he had a 1.29 goals against average and .944 save percentage.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> After the Oct. 22 scoreless tie against Minnesota, goalie <b>Roberto Luongo</b> quipped he didn&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;d get his first shutout as a Panther before he got his first win&hellip;Injuries to defensemen <b>Lance Pitlick</b> and <b>Todd Simpson</b> prompted right winger <b>Paul Laus</b>, a defenseman the first six years of his career, to be moved back against Minnesota. Laus stayed back after another defenseman, <b>Mike Wilson</b>, suffered a dislocated shoulder. Wilson slammed into the rear boards when hooked off his feet by Wild defenseman <b>Maxim Sushinsky</b> as the two raced for an icing touch up.</p><p><i>&mdash; David J. Neal</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0023-02

Panthers pressing to net more goals

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03475/7599075-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="254" height="272"></div><p>The Kings shook up their lines with impressive results in a pair of victories over Anaheim.</p><p>Left winger Luc Robitaille, among the scoring leaders the first month, was dropped to the second unit to make room for rookie Tomas Vlasak, who scored his first NHL goal Oct 23 vs. the Ducks.</p><p>In that game, each member of the first unit had a goal, including Jozef Stumpel, who scored twice in his first three games back after a lengthy contract holdout.</p><p>Robitaille moved to the second line with rookie center Steven Reinprecht and right winger Glen Murray</p><p>Center Bryan Smolinski, who had 36 assists last year, was dropped to the fourth line.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t look at it as a demotion,&rdquo; Smolinski said. &ldquo;The team has responded to the new lines.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Staying mum on the three-year, $24-million contract he wants, defenseman and Kings&rsquo; captain Rob Blake was letting his play talk for him.</p><p>Winless (0-2-1-0) in the three games Blake missed with a hairline fracture in his lower back, the Kings won both games against Anaheim after his return, with Blake scoring in each game.</p><p>Despite no contract talks since training camp, it&rsquo;s certain both sides noticed the three-year, $29.5-million contract Chris Pronger signed with St. Louis.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> In training camp, coach Andy Murray&rsquo;s plan for a Czech/Slovak first line didn&rsquo;t fly because of Stumpel&rsquo;s holdout.</p><p>Murray liked Vlasak, a rookie who played seven years in Europe, and finally got to play him between Stumpel and Ziggy Palffy.</p><p>&ldquo;You could see their chemistry immediately&rdquo; said defenseman Mathieu Schneider.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Goalie <b>Steve Passmore</b>, who appeared in four games and shut out Boston Oct. 13, was sent to the club&rsquo;s American League affiliate in Lowell. If the Kings kept him or rookie center <b>Eric Belanger</b>, who opened the season on the first line, for 30 days or 10 games, either could have been lost on waivers without compensation. Belanger was sent out when left winger <b>Stu Grimson</b> was activated from IR&hellip;<b>Stephane Fiset,</b> the projected opening night goalie until he sprained his knee Sept. 22, is expected to be out until mid-November.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Matt McHale</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0023-03

Rookie gets lucky, Luc to second line

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011070/7599106-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="238" height="254"></div><p>Only the dancing bears and clowns were missing.</p><p>When Minnesota Wild coach Jacques Lemaire and assistant Mario Tremblay arrived in Montreal for an Oct. 24 game against their former team, there was a circus waiting for them. The two held an hour-long news conference which had 25 members of the Montreal media in attendance and was shown live on the French-language all sports TV network.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s what I expected,&rdquo; Lemaire said. &ldquo;The thing lasted an hour and they asked two questions about the Wild.&rdquo;</p><p>The first question asked was what Lemaire thought when former teammate Rejean Houle was hired as GM of the Canadiens and Tremblay was hired as coach. That was five years ago. The first question for Tremblay was his much-publicized dispute with former Montreal goalie Patrick Roy. That was five years ago, too.</p><p>&ldquo;They live in the past here,&rdquo; Lemaire said. &ldquo;They asked me if I was happy to come back here and I said, &lsquo;Not at all because I have to do all this.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Make no mistake, Lemaire has brought his famed neutral zone trap to Minnesota.</p><p>It doesn&rsquo;t make for exciting hockey, but it has allowed the Wild to remain competitive. Only once in the Wild&rsquo;s 10 games was the Wild blown out. That came Oct. 25 in a 6-1 loss to Toronto and was the Wild&rsquo;s third game in four nights.</p><p>&ldquo;We have to be smart defensively to give ourselves a chance,&rdquo; Lemaire said.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> When it drafted Lubomir Sekeras in June, the Wild was hoping the 31-year-old defenseman could be a sixth defenseman and help the team on the power play.</p><p>Turns out, he has become the Wild&rsquo;s workhorse. He routinely leads the Wild in ice time and played a whopping 31 minutes in a 2-2 tie against Montreal.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Right winger <b>Maxim Sushinsky</b> slammed Florida&rsquo;s <b>Mike Wilson</b> face first into the boards, separating the defenseman&rsquo;s shoulder Oct. 21. Two days later, defenseman <b>Andy Sutton</b> gave Montreal&rsquo;s <b>Christian Laflamme</b> a concussion with an elbow to the head. Neither was suspended, but Sutton did receive a $1,000 fine&hellip;The Wild is interested in hosting the 2004 or 2005 All-Star Game. It would prefer 2004 because the 2005 event could be jeopardized by a strike or lockout.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Tom Jones</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-01

Ex-Habs enveloped in media circus

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02743/7599137-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="228" height="252"></div><p>The Canadiens may need to fumigate the Molson Centre to rid themselves of the injury bug that continues to plague the team.</p><p>After losing an astonishing 536 man-games to injury last season, this year&rsquo;s Habs have lost center Saku Koivu, defensemen Sheldon Souray, Enrico Ciccone and Karl Dykhuis and now goalie Jeff Hackett to the virulent pest.</p><p>A shot got under his blocker and broke three bones in his right hand midway through a 22 tie with Minnesota Oct. 24.</p><p>&ldquo;You get hit there sometimes, but usually it glances off and maybe you get a bruise,&rdquo; Hackett said. &ldquo;This one hit right on.&rdquo;</p><p>With Hackett out until at least mid-November, and likely longer, Montreal is relying on Jose Theodore to fill the void.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a challenge,&rdquo; Theodore said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s more responsibility and that&rsquo;s what I want.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Both Montreal goals against Minnesota were power play markers, giving the Canadiens a league-leading 14 goals with the man advantage.</p><p>The power play success is a big reason Montreal was able to play over .500 through the first nine games.</p><p>Dainius Zubrus, re-united with Sergei Zholtok and Oleg Petrov following Koivu&rsquo;s injury, contributed a pair of power play goals while each member of the Trevor Linden, Brian Savage and Martin Rucinsky unit scored twice with the man advantage.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> The top line of Linden, Savage and Rucinsky accounted for all 14 points in the Canadiens&rsquo; 5-2 win over Carolina Oct. 21.</p><p>Savage scored an empty-netter to complete his sixth career hat trick. He also had two assists.</p><p>Rucinsky had a goal and four assists while Linden scored once and assisted on three goals.</p><p>&rdquo;I don&rsquo;t remember a night when one line accounted for all the scoring,&rdquo; Linden said.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Goalie <b>Eric Fichaud</b> replaced the injured <b>Jeff Hackett</b>&hellip;Defenseman <b>Christian Laflamme</b> suffered a mild concussion when he was elbowed in the head by Minnesota&rsquo;s <b>Andy Sutton</b>&hellip;GM <b>Rejean Houle</b> said he had no interest in obtaining Phoenix center Daniel Briere&hellip;Center <b>Sergei Zholtok</b>, the team&rsquo;s leading goal scorer last season with 26 tallies, hadn&rsquo;t scored through nine games this season.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Sean Farrell</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-02

Hackett’s hand smashed by shot

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03504/7599168-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="244" height="258"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>nyone needing proof things are different with the Nashville Predators this season need only look in the Pepsi Center Dress box Oct. 25 when David Legwand was a healthy scratch against Colorado.</p><p>Legwand, the team&rsquo;s first-ever draft pick in 1998, was centering the top line Delore getting chastised for poor defensive play. The coaches wanted to send a message that poor play is poor play, whether from a No. 1 draft pick or not.</p><p>And while in the past two seasons, the team&rsquo;s top players played no matter what, coach Barry Trotz has been unforgiving this season; center Sebastien Bordeleau was a healthy scratch several times in the early going.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all part of the process, you hope the organization is getting stronger,&rdquo; Trotz said.</p><p>Of particular concern is Legwand&rsquo;s play in the defensive zone. He was minus-2 in the Predators&rsquo; 4-4 tie with Vancouver Oct. 24 and was scratched the next night.</p><p>Legwand had a goal and five points in eight games.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> After sitting out two games, Bordeleau had worked himself back up the ladder. He even centered the top line &mdash; with Cliff Ronning and Patric Kjellberg at times.</p><p>Bordeleau worked his way into the coach&rsquo;s good graces with his work in the faceoff circle. During one three-game stretch, Bordeleau won 71 per cent of his draws.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> The Predators were planning to work goalie Mike Dunham a great deal, but when backup Tomas Vokoun took a puck off his left foot in practice, Dunham was asked to play even more.</p><p>Dunham played in seven of nine games with a goals-against average of 2.14. Vokoun sustained a deep bruise and slightly cracked bone, but came off the injured reserve Oct. 23.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Right winger <b>Brantt Myhres</b> is having a hard time cracking an effective lineup. He had played just once in nine games. But for an undersized team, the 6-foot-4, 215-pounder will be needed eventually&hellip;Rookie right winger <b>Scott Hartnell</b> delivered a thundering check on San Jose&rsquo;s <b>Bryan Marchment</b> Oct. 21 that left the defenseman seething. Marchment was so upset he took 19 minutes worth of penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct and tried to pick a scrap with the 18-year-old Hartnell.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Jeff Legwold</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-03

Legwand learns lesson in press box

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01960/7599213-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="256" height="266"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>here were times during the playoffs last spring when Devils&rsquo; right winger Randy McKay couldn&rsquo;t take a shot or make a pass because his right shoulder ached so badly.</p><p>Throwing a punch in a fight might have sidelined him for good.</p><p>So it was encouraging when McKay, who underwent off-season surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff he suffered in a Dec. 23,1999 fight with Toronto&rsquo;s Tie Domi, started this season with new-found offensive verve.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel good out there,&rdquo; said McKay, who had three goals in seven games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not timid. I&rsquo;m not scared to fall on the shoulder or take a shot. It got to the point last year where it probably affected me a lot mentally.&rdquo;</p><p>The trick now is for the 33-year-old McKay to maintain the groove.</p><p>&ldquo;I definitely have come out of the gates pretty good a couple of times and, for whatever reason, I&rsquo;ve fallen off,&rdquo; said McKay, who had 16 goals in 67 games last season. &ldquo;Especially now as I get older I have to keep myself in shape.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> In a 5-2 loss to Washington Oct. 19, goalie Martin Brodeur got pulled for the first time in two seasons. The veteran was amused by the media attention he received when his record fell to 2-2-1 and his goals-against rose to 3.24. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing. I guess getting pulled out of a game after such a long time does that,&rdquo; Brodeur said. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t make sense to be judged like that, but I guess that&rsquo;s the price I pay for being me.&rdquo;</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> Shorthanded scoring threat John Madden spoke up when the team&rsquo;s penalty killing fell to 29th among 30 teams (72.3 per cent). &ldquo;I feel responsible to provide the team with the best penalty killing,&rdquo; said Madden, who led the NHL with six shorthanded goals last season. &ldquo;At the very least, among the top five in the league.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Goalie <b>Martin Brodeur&rsquo;s</b> Oct. 25 victory in Florida made him 10-0-3 over the Panthers (including playoffs) since April 9,1997&hellip;Coach <b>Larry Robinson</b> was inducted to the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame Oct. 23&hellip;Center <b>Scott Gomez</b> had yet to score a goal in seven games and had only two assists&hellip;Rookie defenseman <b>Willie Mitchell</b>, assigned to Albany (AHL) for playing time, got into a brawl while in the minors and received a one-game suspension.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Rich Chere</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02631/7599206-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="264" height="290"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Alexei Yashin Ottawa</b></figcaption></div><p><b>GOOD & BAD</b></p><p>While the story of this NHL season is only in its first chapter, there have already been some intriguing plot twists to ponder. Listed are samplings of each.</p><p><b>GOOD</b> Alexei Yashin is back and playing as if he never left</p><p><b>BAD</b> A slumping Vinny Prospal is demoted to the fourth line</p><p><b>GOOD</b> The Sedin twins are living up to the hype in Vancouver</p><p><b>BAD</b> Flashy Penguin Aleksey Morozov continues to disappoint</p><p><b>GOOD</b> Every Pacific Division team has more wins than losses</p><p><b>BAD</b> Led by winless Florida, no Southeast club was plus-.500</p><p><b>GOOD</b> Edmonton&rsquo;s line of Guerin, Weight and Smyth had 14 goals</p><p><b>BAD</b> The rest of the Oilers combined have 14 goals</p><p><b>GOOD</b> Sean Burke is making Phoenix forget about Khabibulin</p><p><b>BAD</b> Last year&rsquo;s Flyer hero, Brian Boucher, had an .860 SP</p><p><b>GOOD</b> Peter Forsberg had eight goals, including four winners.</p><p><b>BAD</b> Valeri Bure, he of 35 goals last year, was looking for No. 1</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03413/7599199-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="262" height="296"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Valeri Bure Calgary</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0025-01

McKay in groove following surgery

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011068/7599244-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="254" height="266"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>ookie left winger Taylor Pyatt had no points and only three shots in five games this season, leading to speculation he would be returned to junior.</p><p>The eighth overall draft selection in 1999, Pyatt averaged less than six minutes of ice-time per game on a fourth line with veterans Mike Stapleton and Steve Webb. Pyatt had seen his ice-time diminish from 9:30 in the season opener to zero shifts despite dressing in the Isles&rsquo; 4-4 tie against Washington Oct. 21.</p><p>Pyatt, 19, has one year of junior eligibility remaining and it&rsquo;s likely he&rsquo;ll be returned to Sudbury of the Ontario League before he plays 10 NHL games. That would save the Islanders a year towards his status as a professional. Pyatt signed a three-year deal worth $3,075 million in the summer.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Not that anyone in New York noticed during the &lsquo;Subway&rsquo; World Series, but road games on consecutive nights in Atlanta and Washington (Oct. 20-21) produced three of four points.</p><p>The power play unit, which opened the season 0-for-24, sprung to life and clicked for three goals in 10 chances in the Isles&rsquo; 5-3 win over Atlanta and 4-4 tie with the Capitals.</p><p>Recently recalled center Jeff Toms was placed between slumping wingers Brad Isbister and Mariusz Czerkawski and they combined for four goals and nine points in the two games.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> Defenseman Roman Hamrlik appears to have found his stride in his first season with the Isles. Through six games, he led the team in goals (four), points (seven), plus minus (plus-5), shots (24) and penalty minutes (14), while also averaging a team-high 26:20 minutes per game. His presence has also sparked captain Kenny Jonsson, who has played forceful two-way hockey.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Mark Parrish and Oleg <b>Kvasha</b>, the wingers acquired from Florida in the deal for goalie <b>Roberto Luongo</b>, combined for all three goals in a 4-3 loss to Anaheim (Oct. 17). They are on the top unit centered by <b>Tim Connolly</b>. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel like such a slug right now,&rdquo; Parrish said&hellip;Backup goalie Wade <b>Flaherty</b> recorded his first win since 1998-99, against Atlanta. It was his first game since a season-ending shoulder injury last November.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Peter Botte</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-01

Underage Pyatt likely OHL-bound

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02730/7599275-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="246" height="264"></div><p>The New York Rangers have not taken advantage of the creampuff schedule they were given to open the season.</p><p>Five of their first six foes were against fellow non-playoff teams, three had games the night before and the Rangers had no back-to-back games.</p><p>The only playoff team New York faced &mdash; Pittsburgh &mdash; had just come back from Japan and played the night before facing the Rangers.</p><p>And what did the Rangers do with that schedule? Three wins, three losses. They followed that up with home-and-home losses at the hands of Philadelphia, a team that had given up 31 goals in a seven-game losing streak.</p><p>&ldquo;We have to look at every game as if it&rsquo;s a tough game and play desperate hockey,&rdquo; said Mark Messier.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> The Rangers have continued a trend they had last season when they got off to horrible starts at home.</p><p>Aainst Philadelphia and Anaheim, they went most of the first periods without a shot and trailed both games 3-0.</p><p>Coach Ron Low has tried a number of remedies, as did his predecessor John Muckier. The team has skated at Madison Square Garden on game days, and skated at Rye Playland, their practice facility. In all cases, the Rangers were fragile once they fell behind early.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> When Hobey Baker winner Mike Mottau was recalled from Hartford (AHL), he became the fifth defensive partner in seven games for Rich Pilon. Pilon had also paired with Brad Brown, Jason Doig, David Wilkie and Drew Bannister.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Center <b>Mark Messier</b> was slated to play his 1,488th game Oct. 27, which would move him ahead of <b>Wayne Gretzky</b> into sixth place all-time. Messier holds the playoff record of 236&hellip;Goalie <b>Mike Richter</b> returned from April 5 left knee surgery, but lost against Tampa Bay and Philadelphia&hellip; Left winger Adam Graves scored his 272nd goal as a Ranger, moving into a third place tie with <b>Andy Bathgate</b> on the franchise list.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Rick Carpiniello</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-02

Rangers hamstrung by sluggish starts

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03581/7599313-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="498" height="1032"></div><p>Alexei Yashin has to pay another price for his decision to hold out last season.</p><p>Ontario Court Justice Douglas Cunningham ruled Oct. 25 the Ottawa Senators center would have to pay $27,639.39 of the NHL&rsquo;s legal fees for a court hearing.</p><p>Originally, the NHL was seeking $46,000 from Yashin for the one-day session in court which was held after he tried to gain his right to restricted free agency because he didn&rsquo;t feel arbitrator Lawrence Holden acted within his rights.</p><p>Mark Gaudier, Yashin&rsquo;s agent, said he doesn&rsquo;t feel his client got fair treatment from Cunningham in the first place.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m thoroughly disgusted,&rdquo; Gandler said. &ldquo;The way this decision was made and the manner in which it was made lacked class. The judge set a poor example. Alexei is being judged by a different set of standards because of who he is.</p><p>&ldquo;If you look at Justice Cunningham&rsquo;s decision, his opinion is full of sarcasm. He was supposed to decide on this matter based on law, not what he thinks of Alexei Yashin.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Center Vaclav Prospal, who struggled with no goals and one assist in eight games, has been moved to the fourth line. There is talk GM Marshall Johnston may rid himself of Prospal and move him to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a defenseman.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> Ricard Persson, who had been one of the club&rsquo;s top blueliners, was lost indefinitely with a broken ankle after he took a shot from Atlanta&rsquo;s David Harlock Oct. 21. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m pretty disappointed because I was just starting to feel comfortable,&rdquo; said Persson, signed as a free agent in the offseason from St. Louis.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Goalie <b>Jani Hurme</b> likes to listen to heavy metal band Iron Maiden to relax between periods. &ldquo;I listen to them all the time,&rdquo; he said&hellip;The Senators extended their club record unbeaten streak from the start of the season to eight games (5-0-3) Oct. 25.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Bruce Garrioch</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04411/7599306-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="266" height="274"></div><p><b>REGULAR SHIFT</b></p><p>Chris Phillips has improved his play and second among Ottawa defenseman in time on ice at 22:41.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-03

Judge says Yashin must cover costs

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011019/7599344-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="238" height="266"></div><p>For a split-second, fans watching Flyers&rsquo; practice had to blink to make sure Ron Hextall hadn&rsquo;t come out of retirement.</p><p>A goalie was smashing his stick over the crossbar and trying to heave what was left of the handle out of the rink.</p><p>Frustration had finally got to Brian Boucher.</p><p>Like the rest of the Flyers, the 23-year-old Boucher got off to a poor start. Then he was benched for two games in favor of 29-year-old Czech rookie Roman Cechmanek.</p><p>When Boucher got back into the lineup Oct. 24 in New York, he won a game, but gave up a floater to the Rangers&rsquo; Valeri Kamensky with 13 seconds left to make it a one-goal game.</p><p>The next day he got torched in practice, leading to the smash-arama.</p><p>&ldquo;I stunk,&rdquo; Boucher fumed. &ldquo;I was awful. I&rsquo;m not perfect. Do you ever get angry and want to break something? Well, I broke something. But I&rsquo;ll be fine.&rdquo;</p><p>Boucher broke his string of tough outings in his next game, a 3-0 shutout of the Rangers. The Oct. 26 win raised his record to 3-1-1-1 and his save percentage to .860 and lowered his GAA to 3.83.</p><p><b>analysis</b> The Flyers were struggling on the penalty kill. After finishing sixth in the NHL last season, they were dead last this year at a miserable 69.8 per cent. &ldquo;We have to focus on point shots,&rdquo; said captain Eric Desjardins. Added Luke Richardson: &ldquo;The problem with our box is that we&rsquo;re not moving together.&rdquo;</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> The Flyers like to think of defense as a six-man concept, but the team&rsquo;s backline clearly had its problems in the early going. Newcomer Michal Sykora struggled and Chris McAllister, filling in for injured Chris Therien (strained back), was still getting the system down. Speculation is GM Bob Clarke will trade for help if things don&rsquo;t improve. Through nine games, the Flyers had given up a league-leading 38 goals.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Left winger <b>John LeClair</b>, who underwent back surgery Oct. 21, will begin rehabilitation on or about Nov. 5. He&rsquo;s expected to be out until at least mid-December&hellip;Right winger <b>Mark Recchi</b> was a last-minute scratch from the Oct. 24 game against the Rangers and missed the rematch two nights later. He was still suffering concussion-like symptoms from a hit he absorbed Oct. 5.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Wayne Fish</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-01

Boucher smash hit for wrong reasons

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02663/7599375-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="250" height="266"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>ikolai Khabi-WHO-lin? Sean Burke might still lose his role as the No.l goalie in Phoenix, but the veteran was making it harder and harder to justify a relegation to No. 2 status or a trade after his 5-1-1-0 start for the red-hot Coyotes.</p><p>Burke, who didn&rsquo;t expect to return with Phoenix this season, was a big reason why the Coyotes leaped out to a 6-1-2 start. His 1.70 goals-against average and .941 save percentage were among the league best.</p><p>&ldquo;Up to this point, he has to be the best goalie in the league,&rdquo; said coach Bob Francis.</p><p>Burke, 33, was re-signed in the off-season as an unrestricted free agent. It has been thought he will just be a stopgap until Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s ownership team took over and re-signs Khabibulin, a restricted free agent. <i>(See pg. 12 for more on Khabibulin).</i></p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Veteran defenseman Jyrki Lumme got the assignment to play alongside fellow Finn, rookie Ossi Vaananen. The move wasn&rsquo;t stifling Lumme&rsquo;s offensive production. He had two goals and nine points in nine games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m at a stage in my career where only one things matters,&rdquo; Lumme said. &ldquo;Give me the Stanley Cup and I don&rsquo;t need <i>any</i> points.&rdquo;</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> The Coyotes were getting a balanced attack through nine games, with 14 different players scoring at least one goal. The No. 1 line of center Jeremy Roenick and wingers Keith Tkachuk and Mika Alatalo had produced 13 of the club&rsquo;s 31 goals. The second and third lines had each accounted for six.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Coyotes set a franchise record by playing in four straight overtime games from Oct. 18 through Oct. 24. They posted wins over Florida and Vancouver and settled for ties with Edmonton and Calgary. &ldquo;Please, no more,&rdquo; said center <b>Jeremy Roenick</b> said of the extra minutes&hellip; Roenick recorded his 500th career assist against Edmonton&hellip;<b>Wayne Gretzky</b> and Steve Ellman were expected to finalize their purchase of the Coyotes from <b>Richard Burke</b> during the first week of November&hellip;Including last season, defenseman <b>Radoslav Suchy</b> had played 69 games for the Coyotes without registering his first goal, the longest drought of any skater in franchise history.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Bob McManaman</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-02

Burke’s hot play pleasant surprise

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03448/7599406-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="248" height="264"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Penguins surrendered the first goal in six of their first eight games. They managed to post a 4-3-1-0 record, but their habit of falling behind early and storming back late is no recipe for long-term success.</p><p>Captain Jaromir Jagr said as much and plenty more &mdash; after a 3-2 loss Oct. 25 against the visiting Senators. The Penguins fell behind 3-0 after two periods.</p><p>&ldquo;We fall behind 3-0 because we&rsquo;re not good,&rdquo; Jagr said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the point. There&rsquo;s no excuses. (It&rsquo;s not like) we don&rsquo;t try hard the first two periods. We&rsquo;re just not good yet. We have to work harder, we have to practice harder, we&rsquo;re not in shape, I don&rsquo;t know. If Ottawa would play the same as they played in the first two periods, they would beat us 6-0, 7-0. Nobody would even show up here for the hockey game.&rdquo;</p><p>On the bright side, the Penguins were outscoring their opponents 15-5 in third periods.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Because of a reluctance to shoot, center Jan Hrdina was separated from Jagr and moved to the second line with Robert Lang and Alexei Kovalev. Martin Straka jumped to the first line, centering for Jagr and Kip Miller or Aleksey Morozov. Hrdina had just 13 shots in the first eight games. Morozov was slowly being worked onto the first line, taking shifts from Miller, who had no goals in the first eight games.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> After starting slowly, the Penguins&rsquo; highly skilled power play was beginning to produce nightly, scoring eight goals in five games. All five of Lang&rsquo;s goals had come on the power play. Hlinka was often using five forwards &mdash; Lang, Jagr, Simicek, Kovalev and Straka. The team was shooting more than last season and moving around more, which makes them more difficult to defend. &ldquo;We talk about it a lot: You have to stay in front of the net instead of standing on the side waiting for one-timers or something,&rdquo; Kovalev said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where all the goals come on the power play.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Owner <b>Mario Lemieux</b> returned to the ice Oct. 24 to team with right winger <b>Jaromir Jagr</b> on a segment for ESPN titled, &ldquo;How to Create Offense.&rdquo; The segment aired Oct. 27 during a game against the Rangers&hellip;Rookie center <b>Milan Kraft</b> dressed, but did not play Oct. 25 against Ottawa. It was the second time this season he failed to play a shift.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Joe Starkey</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-03

Jagr rips Penguins for poor starts

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011053/7599437-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="240" height="274"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>lues&rsquo; captain Chris Pronger has never considered him-self a stats&rsquo; watcher, so when he found himself obsessing over numbers, he knew it was time to get the situation resolved. Pronger approached team president Mark Sauer about getting a new contract done and removing the weight that had been hanging over his head.</p><p>Negotiations moved quickly and the deal was announced Oct. 26 &mdash; a three-year extension worth $29.5 million. Pronger will earn $9.5 million per year starting next season, with a $1million signing bonus that bumps his pay this season to $5.6 million. Pronger, 26, stood to become a restricted free agent July 1 without a new deal.</p><p>Pronger said because of his contractual uncertainty, he was constantly comparing his stats to other star players. He said he quickly realized it was detracting from his team play.</p><p>&ldquo;At that point, I felt something needed to be done,&rdquo; Pronger said. &ldquo;Now I can concentrate just on playing.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> When Mike Eastwood returned from a high right ankle sprain, coach Joel Quenneville inserted him at center on the fourth line and shifted Craig Conroy to right wing on the third line with center Marty Reasoner and left winger Jochen Hecht. Although the Reasoner, Hecht and Conroy line didn&rsquo;t score in its first few games, it consistently produced scoring chances, with Conroy serving as the catalyst.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> Pavol Demitra, the Blues&rsquo; leading scorer in each of the past two seasons, was off to a poor start with three goals and five points in nine games. Part of the reason might be the Blues&rsquo; Slovakian line had played only four games together through Oct. 26 because center Michal Handzus missed the first four games with a left abdominal strain.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Rookie goalie Brent Johnson improved his record to 3-0-0 by backstopping the Blues&rsquo; 4-3 victory over Calgary Oct. 26. In his three starts, Johnson had a 1.33 goals-against average and .929 save percentage&hellip;After a tough start to the season, No. 1 goalie <b>Roman Turek</b> allowed three goals over a three-game span. Overall, he was 3-2-1, with a 1.98 goals-against average and .906 save percentage&hellip;Right winger <b>Scott Young</b> was the first player in the NHL to score 10 goals this season.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Dave Luecking</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-01

New deal alleviates worries for Pronger

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02715/7599468-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="266" height="276"></div><p>With the fearless style Mike Ricci plays, injuries are probable if not inevitable.</p><p>So the fact Ricci was able to play 234 consecutive games is remarkable. The streak ended Oct. 21 in Nashville when the versatile San Jose center sat out as a precaution.</p><p>Ricci took a knee to the helmet and didn&rsquo;t play during the third period of an Oct. 20 game in Minnesota. Ricci&rsquo;s ironman streak was the second longest among active players. Chicago&rsquo;s Tony Amonte (255 and counting) is first.</p><p>&ldquo;The streak didn&rsquo;t really matter to me, but you hate missing games,&rdquo; Ricci said. &ldquo;The doctor wanted to be safe. I wouldn&rsquo;t call it a concussion, but I&rsquo;ve never had one before.&rdquo;</p><p>Ricci also went through a series of league-mandated cogency tests, which he passed the second time a couple days after failing before the Nashville game. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t reveal my secrets, but I outsmarted &lsquo;em,&rdquo; Ricci said. &ldquo;It was stressful. I thought I lost some hair during those tests.&rdquo;</p><p>Ricci returned Oct. 24 at Carolina after missing one game.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> The Sharks killed 53 of their first 56 shorthanded situations, leaving them with a league-high 94.6 per-cent efficiency mark. San Jose ranked 17th in the NHL last season when it killed 83.6 per cent of its penalties. The big change from last year is new assistant coach Rich Preston&rsquo;s tactic to be more aggressive in the team&rsquo;s own end. &ldquo;When the puck comes low, we stress being more aggressive going to it and trying to clear,&rdquo; Preston said. &ldquo;We want to force teams to go around the box and step in and take the passing lanes away.&rdquo;</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> A couple of young Sharks were carrying the offensive load. Right winger Niklas Sundstrom led the Sharks in scoring with eight points (all assists) and had at least one point in six of seven games. And center Patrick Marleau scored three goals and six points on a five-game road trip.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Goalie <b>Evgeni Nabokov</b> stepped in for an injured <b>Steve Shields</b> and had a 5-1-0 record with a 1.73 goals-against average and .939 save percentage&hellip;Defenseman <b>Gary Suter</b> played in his 1,000th regular season game Oct. 25 in Columbus&hellip;The city was close to renaming the eight-year-old San Jose Arena to Compaq Center at San Jose.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Ross McKeon</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-02

One-game absence ends Ricci’s streak

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03511/7599499-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="240" height="264"></div><p>For at least one game, emotion carried the day for the Tampa Bay Lightning.</p><p>One day after an embarrassing 7-2 loss to New Jersey, Tampa Bay bounced back with a convincing 4-2 victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.</p><p>The players gave much of the credit to coach Steve Ludzik, who inspired the troops with a heartfelt pregame speech.</p><p>&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t loud,&rdquo; said defenseman Paul Mara. &ldquo;But it was intense and from the heart.&rdquo;</p><p>Ludzik also reverted back to his original line configurations after a one-day experiment against the Devils. That switch was prompted by a 6-5 loss to Minnesota.</p><p>But it was the speech that seemed to make the most difference. &ldquo;I think I was pretty irritated before the game,&rdquo; Ludzik said. &ldquo;I gave a pretty emotional speech to my guys. I was very brusque with my comments and very abrupt. I told them to come out with their hearts and play hard.&rdquo;</p><p>Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, the feeling didn&rsquo;t last as it dropped its next game, 5-1 in Detroit.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Ludzik gave these lines a try during the Devils&rsquo; game: Vinny Lecavalier&rsquo;s linemates on the top line went from left winger Todd Warriner and right winger Mike Johnson to Alexander Kharitonov and Fredrik Modin. Brad Richards centered for Warriner and Brian Holzinger instead of Wayne Primeau and Modin. And Primeau shifted from right wing to center between Mike and Ryan Johnson. By the time Tampa Bay left Continental Airlines Arena with a 7-2 loss, things were back to normal.</p><p><b>DEFENSE</b> Goalie Dan Cloutier had a rough ride in mid-October. He took a loss at Minnesota though he played just 24 seconds and didn&rsquo;t face a shot. (He was pulled for an extra skater and the ensuing empty-netter was the gamewinner as Tampa added a subsequent goal). He followed that by allowing seven goals to the Devils. And then he went on the injury list with left biceps tendinitis.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Left winger <b>Fredrik Modin</b>, whose nose was broken during an Oct. 17 practice by an inadvertent high stick, said he may stick with his visor even after the injury is healed.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Damian Cristodero</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-03

Emotion works… at least for a game

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01935/7599530-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="247" height="265"></div><p>Steve Thomas said he was simply trying to plant a seed, but it turned out to be one of the worst gardening accidents in NHL history.</p><p>The Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; top right winger put himself out of the lineup until early November when a cut he sustained in an Oct. 21 fight with Calgary&rsquo;s Jason Wiemer became infected. The fight, which came six seconds into the third period of a 2-1 win, came as the result of solid hit on Thomas by Wiemer, one which Thomas later admitted was legal.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to make excuses, it was a good hit,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;I just wanted to let him know I wasn&rsquo;t going to accept that, just wanted to plant a seed.&rdquo;</p><p>Instead, Roberts planted his fist on Wiemer&rsquo;s tooth, resulting in a cut to his knuckle that ballooned the next day because of an infection.</p><p>&ldquo;When I got home, Dr. (Leith) Douglas opened up the stitches and it was all swollen,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;He drained the poison and put me on antibiotics.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> The Leafs have been among the highest scoring teams the past two seasons, but much of their creativity has disappeared this season. The quick transition that launched odd-man rushes the past two seasons has not been evident.</p><p>Coach-GM Pat Quinn claimed that was the result of a newfound commitment to defensive play, which resulted in a goals-against average of 2.00 after eight games.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> A visit by the Minnesota Wild was exactly what the Leafs&rsquo; catatonic offense needed. Going into a 6-1 win over the Wild Oct. 25, the Leafs had scored just 14 goals in seven games.</p><p>On a Western Canada road trip in mid-October, the Leafs took more than 10 minutes to register a shot on goal in three of the nine periods.</p><p>Gary Roberts had two goals against the Wild.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Center <b>Don MacLean</b> cleared waivers Oct. 25, but was spared an assignment to St. John&rsquo;s (AHL) by the hand injury to right winger <b>Steve Thomas.</b>..Center <b>Igor Korolev</b> left the team Oct. 23 to return to his Moscow home after his father, Boris, died following a brief illness. Korolev hoped to return Oct. 27&hellip;The Maple Leafs have taken 24 of a possible 30 points in Western Canada since Pat Quinn began coaching in 1998-99.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Ken Campbell</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0029-01

Infected knuckle sidelines Thomas

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02615/7599561-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="248" height="274"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>E</span>d Jovanovski and Mattias Ohlund are supposed to be the workhorses on the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; blueline, but early in the season they had company in Adrian Aucoin.</p><p>The 27-year-old right defenseman was off to a torrid start, which helped immeasurably when Ohlund required surgery on his damaged right eye.</p><p>Aucoin had nine points in 10 games and was among league leaders in plus-minus at plus-9.</p><p>&ldquo;Adrian is playing as well as I&rsquo;ve ever seen him play,&rdquo; said coach Marc Crawford. &ldquo;He is jumping into the play, playing with confidence, offensively getting his shot through and defensively playing with authority&rdquo;</p><p>The longest-serving player in the organization, Aucoin said his fine play was a function of more ice time and responsibility.</p><p>&ldquo;When you play a lot, you play better,&rdquo; said Aucoin, who has been with the Canucks since 1994.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> After starting 2-for-23 on the power play, the Canucks went back to the standby &mdash; get shots from the point and crash the net for rebounds.</p><p>The strategy paid off as Vancouver went on an 8-for-34 surge and scored at least one power play goal in seven straight games. Aucoin, who did not start the season on the No. 1 unit, was a key figure while center Andrew Cassels, playing both the point and along the sideboards, continued to make great plays.</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> One week Henrik Sedin looks like the better twin, the next week it&rsquo;s Daniel leading the sibling rivalry. Daniel, the left winger, put together a five-game points streak and when that was broken, he came back with four points in his next two games. At the 10-game mark, Daniel had three goals and nine points. Henrik had three goals and seven points.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Surgery on the right eye of defenseman <b>Mattias Ohlund</b> Oct. 20 was pronounced a success. He could return by mid-November&hellip;After beating the Stars 6-2 in Dallas Oct. 25, Stars&rsquo; coach <b>Ken Hitchcock</b> had this to say about the Canucks: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a hell of a team.</p><p>That&rsquo;s the best team we&rsquo;ve faced this season by far.&rdquo;</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Elliott Pap</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0029-02

Mainstay Aucoin at peak of game

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03410/7599592-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="910" height="856"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04284/7599599-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="230" height="270"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Washington Capitals have their burly goal-scoring left winger signed. They hope the goals aren&rsquo;t far behind.Chris Simon held out for 46 days before signing a deal that pays him $2.25 million each of the next two seasons. He made $1.32 million last season.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought this should have been done a long time ago,&rdquo; said Simon, indicating not all the hard feelings from negotiations have been forgotten. &ldquo;Am I satisfied? Yeah, I&rsquo;m satisfied.</p><p>&ldquo;I got a little signing bonus ($100,000), it puts me close to where I want to be. I just wanted to start playing. I think the longer this would have gone on, the worse it would have been for me and the team.&rdquo;</p><p>The Caps planned to hold Simon out for 10 days to allow him to practise and get into game shape. Simon said the toughest part of training is trying to do it without teammates pushing you along.</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> The return of Simon was bad news for center Kris Beech, the last first-year player with the Caps. He was returned to Calgary (WHL) because management didn&rsquo;t think he was strong enough to compete in the NHL right now.</p><p>&ldquo;I really wanted to be here, but for whatever reason it didn&rsquo;t work out,&rdquo; Beech said. &ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m going to work hard and make sure I stay next year and be here for a long time.&rdquo;</p><p><b>OFFENSE</b> The Caps are happy to see right winger Peter Bondra off to another quick start with five goals in nine games.</p><p>At the same point last season, Bondra had eight goals in nine games but scored just 13 after that to finish with 21.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Left winger Chris Simon&rsquo;s trademark long brown hair, the ponytail dangling down his back, is gone, disappearing during the summer. He won&rsquo;t discuss it. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a long story, someday I&rsquo;ll tell it,&rdquo; he said&hellip;Defenseman <b>Ken Klee</b> had minor surgery on his right wrist to remove a piece of floating cartilage. He is out day-to-day.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Dave Fay</i></b></p><p><b>MINISTER OF &lsquo;D&rsquo;</b> Calle Johansson holds the Caps&rsquo; record for games played by a defenseman (823 and counting).<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0029-03

Simon back in fold, without long hair

<p>Projected defense pairs and lines, including restricted free agents</p><p>* Rookie</p><p>** Restricted free agent</p><h2><b>Anaheim Mighty Ducks</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011048/7599833-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="606" height="494"></div><h2><b>Carolina Hurricanes</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02702/7599826-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="610" height="484"></div><h2><b>Detroit Red Wings</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03492/7599819-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="606" height="514"></div><h2><b>Montreal Canadiens</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04338/7599812-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="618" height="514"></div><h2><b>Ottawa Senators</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05249/7599805-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="624" height="514"></div><h2><b>San Jose Sharks</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06196/7599798-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="630" height="518"></div><h2><b>Atlanta Thrashers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-07166/7599791-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="610" height="522"></div><h2><b>Chicago Blackhawks</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-08146/7599784-1-eng-US/f0030-082.jpg" title="f0030-08" width="632" height="524"></div><h2><b>Edmonton Oilers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-09129/7599777-1-eng-US/f0030-092.jpg" title="f0030-09" width="614" height="512"></div><h2><b>Nashville Predators</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-10116/7599770-1-eng-US/f0030-102.jpg" title="f0030-10" width="610" height="530"></div><h2><b>Philadelphia Flyers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-11106/7599763-1-eng-US/f0030-112.jpg" title="f0030-11" width="606" height="512"></div><h2><b>Tampa Bay Lightning</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-12100/7599756-1-eng-US/f0030-122.jpg" title="f0030-12" width="612" height="516"></div><h2><b>Boston Bruins</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1391/7599749-1-eng-US/f0030-132.jpg" title="f0030-13" width="622" height="510"></div><h2><b>Colorado Avalanche</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1484/7599742-1-eng-US/f0030-142.jpg" title="f0030-14" width="622" height="496"></div><h2><b>Florida Panthers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1577/7599735-1-eng-US/f0030-152.jpg" title="f0030-15" width="624" height="506"></div><h2><b>New Jersey Devils</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1662/7599728-1-eng-US/f0030-162.jpg" title="f0030-16" width="622" height="514"></div><h2><b>Phoenix Coyotes</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1755/7599721-1-eng-US/f0030-172.jpg" title="f0030-17" width="606" height="508"></div><h2><b>Toronto Maple Leafs</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1845/7599714-1-eng-US/f0030-182.jpg" title="f0030-18" width="620" height="510"></div><h2><b>Buffalo Sabres</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1936/7599707-1-eng-US/f0030-192.jpg" title="f0030-19" width="620" height="528"></div><h2><b>Columbus Blue Jackets</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-2030/7599700-1-eng-US/f0030-202.jpg" title="f0030-20" width="616" height="482"></div><h2><b>Los Angeles Kings</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-2124/7599693-1-eng-US/f0030-212.jpg" title="f0030-21" width="610" height="478"></div><h2><b>New York Islanders</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-2219/7599686-1-eng-US/f0030-222.jpg" title="f0030-22" width="604" height="488"></div><h2><b>Pittsburgh Penguins</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-2315/7599679-1-eng-US/f0030-232.jpg" title="f0030-23" width="592" height="480"></div><h2><b>Vancouver Canucks</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-2412/7599672-1-eng-US/f0030-242.jpg" title="f0030-24" width="612" height="494"></div><h2><b>Calgary Flames</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-2511/7599665-1-eng-US/f0030-252.jpg" title="f0030-25" width="612" height="534"></div><h2><b>Dallas Stars</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-269/7599658-1-eng-US/f0030-262.jpg" title="f0030-26" width="630" height="514"></div><h2><b>Minnesota Wild</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-279/7599651-1-eng-US/f0030-272.jpg" title="f0030-27" width="612" height="488"></div><h2><b>New York Rangers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-288/7599644-1-eng-US/f0030-282.jpg" title="f0030-28" width="596" height="490"></div><h2><b>St. Louis Blues</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-297/7599637-1-eng-US/f0030-292.jpg" title="f0030-29" width="610" height="526"></div><h2><b>Washington Capitals</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-306/7599630-1-eng-US/f0030-302.jpg" title="f0030-30" width="620" height="490"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0030-01

NHL DEPTH CHARTS

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div><p>When Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned pro there were no limitations as to what the highest-drafted member of the Fab Four might accomplish.</p><p>But 4-1/2 years after he and three other goalies were selected in the first round, Giguere &mdash; the 13th overall pick by Hartford in 1995 &mdash; is the only Fab Four member without an NHL post. Martin Biron (16th by Buffalo) is an unsigned restricted free agent, but spent last season with the Sabres and is their acknowledged No. 2; Brian Boucher (22nd by Philadelphia) is No. 1 with the Flyers; and Marc Denis (25th by Colorado) is the backup in Columbus.</p><p>The Calgary Flames, however, gave up on Giguere after three uneventful seasons in the American League, trading him to Anaheim last June for a second round draft pick in 2000.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01967/7599864-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="256" height="337"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>J-S Giguere</b></figcaption></div><p>So Giguere, 23, is again trying to prove he&rsquo;s an NHLer. Refocused and working with Anaheim goalie instructor Francois Allaire, he has been his old stingy self with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.</p><p>Giguere gave up just one goal in each of his first four starts, was a perfect 4-0-0 and had the AHL&rsquo;s best goals-against average (1.00).</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s too early to say (the trade) was the best thing that ever happened,&rdquo; Giguere said. &ldquo;Something I&rsquo;ve learned in the NHL is they won&rsquo;t give it to you, no matter what you were before. If they don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;ll help them win, they just won&rsquo;t play you.&rdquo;</p><p>Giguere, who once thought life would be easy in the pro game, is learning otherwise.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a process in becoming a good pro,&rdquo; said Cincinnati coach Mike Babcock. &ldquo;You have to build a good foundation before you can play in the NHL. I think if you&rsquo;re rushed and get there too soon, you never build that proper foundation.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-01

Hot start for perennial prospect Giguere

<div class="byline">By Rob Mueller</div><h2><b>NOTEBOOK</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06220/7599947-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="205" height="217"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Florida Everblades dispelled the myth of the sophomore jinx last year by shattering East Coast League records for wins (53) and points (108) in Year 2.</p><p>Perhaps a case of the third-year blahs had something to do with their surprising 0-1-2 start, but two-time ECHL coach of the year <b>Bob Ferguson</b> knew all along that time would heal all wounds.</p><p>&ldquo;We needed to work out a few things and get some people back,&rdquo; Ferguson said. &ldquo;The expectations for this team are still high, but it might take some time.&rdquo;</p><p>Florida began its third season ravaged by call-ups and injuries. The key early losses were defenseman <b>Hugh Hamilton</b>, who was loaned to Cincinnati of the American League, and left winger <b>Matt Demarski</b>, who separated his shoulder.</p><p>Good news arrived when goalie <b>Bujar Amidovski</b> &mdash; an all-star with Trenton and Louisiana the past two seasons was assigned from Cincinnati of the International League. Amidovski led the Everblades to their first win, while handing Louisiana its first loss. The defending Southern Conference champion IceGators were 5-0-0 under new coach Dave <b>Farrish</b> before falling to Florida.</p><p><b>DOCKED</b> Talk about being captain of your own fate.</p><p>After he was acquired in a trade from Wheeling over the summer, defenseman Jon Sorg refused to report to Baton Rouge and had an unusual request when the Kingfish began shopping him around. Sorg inherited a large boat and wanted to be dealt to a team in a coastal city. His wish was granted when the Kingfish traded him to the Florida Everblades for rookie defenseman <b>Josh Mizerack.</b></p><p>Mississippi and Pensacola &mdash; other coastal teams &mdash; also made offers for Sorg.</p><p><b>TIGER TALES</b> The saga of the beleaguered Tallahassee Tiger Sharks took another turn when new owner <b>Michel Cadrin</b> demoted GM <b>Larry Kish</b>, a 35-year veteran of pro hockey, to a sales job.</p><p>A few days later, the Sharks released goalie Stan <b>&lsquo;Smokey&rsquo; Reddick</b>, whom Kish had persuaded to return to the ECHL after Reddick had spent six seasons in Slovenia.</p><p><b>ONE-TIMERS</b> Jackson&rsquo;s season opener against the Birmingham Bulls was postponed after the Bandit&rsquo;s bus broke down&hellip;Less than three weeks after acquiring him in a trade with Birmingham, Arkansas released <b>Hugo Belanger</b>, the ECHL MVP in 1995-96.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-06

Goalie Amidovski awakens sluggish Everblades

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div><p>A mirror has been one of Harold Druken&rsquo;s biggest weapons to start the season.</p><p>The 21-year-old center was assigned to the Kansas City Blades at the start of the season after an indifferent camp with the Vancouver Canucks. But the long drive to the International League city &mdash; and some advice from his father &mdash; helped Druken convert his disappointment into motivation.</p><p>That self-assessment also sparked Druken&rsquo;s four goals and nine points in his first six IHL games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011031/7599978-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="256" height="334"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Harold Druken</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I might have showed up to Vancouver this year just expecting a job,&rdquo; said Druken, who played 33 games for the Canucks last season, scoring seven goals and 16 points. &ldquo;I shouldn&rsquo;t have done that. I should have battled like I did the last half of last season. I have to learn from this. I talked to my parents, to my dad, who&rsquo;s a pretty wise guy. He gave me a lot of tips, just to relax, play my game and have some fun. He said I&rsquo;m 21, that hockey&rsquo;s fun and I&rsquo;m supposed to enjoy it.&rdquo;</p><p>Druken said the drive did him a world of good.</p><p>&ldquo;It was three days; I took my time and had some time to myself to think about what happened,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It put things in perspective.&rdquo; That perspective &mdash; and the 6-foot-2 center&rsquo;s talents &mdash; were dynamite ingredients for the Blades, said coach Stan Smyl.</p><p>&ldquo;He still believes in what he can do,&rdquo; Smyl said. &ldquo;In some other cases, players get a little knock and they might not agree with the decision made about them.</p><p>&ldquo;(Druken) is a very relaxed person. He said, &lsquo;Hey, I didn&rsquo;t have the best camp, I&rsquo;m here to get myself back there.&rsquo; He sees the ice well. He moves the puck and he&rsquo;s a dangerous player 1-on-l. In that way, I&rsquo;m not really surprised at the start he has had.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-01

Druken finds resolution on highway

<p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he 15-team United League has come up with an unusual playoff format that will see four teams play in a one-game series, called a &ldquo;wildcat round.&rdquo; Five teams in each conference make the playoffs with the division winners seeded Nos. 1 and 2. The three teams with the next-best records will fill out each conference field. The Nos. 4 and 5 seeds in each conference will meet in a one-game knockout, followed by a best-of-five series in each conference&rsquo;s semifinal and final. The Colonial Cup championship is a best-of-seven affair.</p><p><b><i>&mdash; Brendan Savage</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

UNITED LEAGUE

<p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs of the Western Pro League got acquainted with one another the hard way. The two-time defending league champions opened the season with a three-day, three-game bus trip totalling 1,587 miles - and they won all three games. The Mudbugs&rsquo; trip from Shreveport, La., to Tupelo, Miss., to Lake Charles, La., and to Belton, Tx., resulted in wins over Tupelo, Lake Charles and Central Texas. &ldquo;We definitely got to know each other by the end,&rdquo; said Mudbugs&rsquo; broadcaster Brandon Walker.</p><p><b><i>- David Henry</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

WESTERN PRO LEAGUE

<p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>daho Steelheads&rsquo; forward Forrest Gore filed a $l-million lawsuit against former Hampton Roads&rsquo; (ECHL) defenseman Trevor Johnson and former Admirals&rsquo; coach John Brophy. Gore, who played for Richmond (ECHL) in 1998-99, said Johnson, now with South Carolina (ECHL), intentionally butt-ended him with a stick, breaking his cheekbone and causing eye damage. The suit claims Brophy ordered the attack&hellip;Interleague play between the West Coast League and the CHL began Oct. 27, with Idaho hosting Oklahoma City and Phoenix (WCHL) visiting San Antonio.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

WEST COAST LEAGUE

<p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he $2.2-million lawsuit between former Wichita player Todd Howarth and the Oklahoma City Blazers and defenseman Simon Olivier was settled out of court. Howarth, who played for the Thunder in 1998-99, was struck in the right eye by the butt end of Olivier&rsquo;s stick in a game Feb. 9,1999. Howarth received permanent eye damage along with double concussions and facial fractures, ending his eight-year pro career. The injuries have prevented Howarth, 30, from returning to construction work, his previous job.</p><p><i>- Bob Stratton</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

CENTRAL LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01936/7600164-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="379" height="280"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>ewildered by buffaloed contract negotiations, <b>Barrett Heisten,</b> the NHL Sabres&rsquo; first round pick in the 1999 entry draft, has enjoyed his fresh start with the Western League&rsquo;s Seattle Thunderbirds.</p><p>Selected 20th overall by Buffalo, the 20-year-old left winger was unable to reach a contract agreement with the Sabres.</p><p>&ldquo;We were pretty close,&rdquo; Heisten said. &ldquo;(The contract) was almost done. Things just fell apart. I don&rsquo;t really know where they went, but I&rsquo;m here.&rdquo;</p><p>Heisten recorded two goals and 14 points in his first seven games with the Thunderbirds.</p><p>Seattle chose the Alaskan-born Heisten in the fifth round of the 1998 bantam draft and retained his major junior rights after he joined the University of Maine Black Bears.</p><p>During two seasons with Maine, Heisten recorded 25 goals and 65 points in 71 Hockey East games.</p><p>&ldquo;I wanted to get my pro career started, but I can&rsquo;t really think about that now,&rdquo; Heisten said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m here and I&rsquo;m going to make the best of the situation.&rdquo;</p><p>Heisten will become an unrestricted free agent if he does not sign with Buffalo by June 1.</p><p>Represented by ex-NHLer <b>Brian Lawton,</b> Heisten said he was putting the business side of hockey out of his mind.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not thinking about that,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>&ldquo;I just want to come here and have a good year. I&rsquo;m here to play hockey I&rsquo;ll leave all the other stuff to my agent.&rdquo;</p><p><b>WEARING ONE HAT Rick Carriere</b> is now the Medicine Hat Tigers&rsquo; full-time GM, period.</p><p>Carriere, who began this season as the team&rsquo;s coach and director of hockey operations, handed the coaching reins to assistant <b>Randy Wong</b> after the Tigers&rsquo; 3-6-1-1 start.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02630/7600157-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="325" height="475"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Barrett Heisten</b></figcaption></div><p>In Wong&rsquo;s coaching debut, Medicine Hat beat the Red Deer Rebels 4-1 Oct. 21 and followed that the next night with a 6-6 tie against another top-ranked team, the Kootenay Ice.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little different avenue,&rdquo; Carriere said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ve discussed in the past. We want to be in contention here. What we have to do is set ourselves up much like a pro team. We have to have a good scouting circuit within the league and I&rsquo;m going to take charge of that.</p><p>&ldquo;I see (Brandon Wheat Kings&rsquo; GM) <b>Kelly McCrimmon</b> as a prime example of how to do that. We want to take this to the next step.&rdquo;</p><p><b>HOT HITMAN</b> Calgarv Hitmen gunner <b>Pavel Brendl</b> scored four third period goals during a 5-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors Oct. 18.</p><p>Brendl&rsquo;s feat was one tally shy of tying the WHL record for most goals in one period.</p><p>The record of five is shared by <b>Mike Bradbury</b> of Brandon (March 21,1976), <b>Dennis Sobchuk</b> of the Regina Pats (Jan. 19,1973), <b>Boyd Anderson</b> of Medicine Hat (Oct. 7,1972) and <b>Gerry Pinder</b> of the Saskatoon Blades (March 12,1967).</p><p>The 19-year-old Brendl had 11 goals in his first seven games after being returned to Calgary by the New York Rangers, who picked him fourth overall in the 1999 entry draft.</p><p><b>LIVE MIKE</b> Kootenay center <b>Mike Comrie&rsquo;s</b> goal-scoring streak was halted at 12 games in the Ice&rsquo;s 7-2 loss to Red I Deer Oct. 20.</p><p>The 20-year-old Comrie, who spent the past two seasons with the University of Michigan Wolverines, had scored at least one goal in each of his first 12 WHL games. After 14 games, he boasted league-leading totals of 22 goals and 38 points. His NHL rights belong to the Edmonton Oilers, but Comrie can become an unrestricted free agent if he&rsquo;s unsigned after June 1.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0033-01

Heisten wings away from Buffalo; first-rounder joins Thunderbirds

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03476/7600195-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="379" height="202"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ost players never experience one penalty shot during a career, let alone two, so what are the odds on a player scoring on back-to-back penalty shots?</p><p>Erie Otters&rsquo; center <b>Brad Boyes</b> made what&rsquo;s believed to be Ontario League history when he scored on consecutive penalty shots Oct. 21 at home against the London Knights and Oct. 22 versus the Battalion in Brampton.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take the goals any way I can get them,&rdquo; said Boyes of his unique double-dip that helped the Otters beat the Knights 5-3 and tie the Battalion 1-1.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve looked back through our records into the mid-70s and haven&rsquo;t found any similar occurrence,&rdquo; said OHL director of information <b>Aaron Bell</b>. &ldquo;If anyone has any information on anything like this, please contact our office.&rdquo;</p><p>The first penalty shot was awarded after a London player put his hand on the puck in the crease. Boyes earned the second shot the hard way, getting tripped up by Brampton defenseman <b>Paul Flache</b> while heading up ice on a breakaway.</p><p>The Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; first round pick (24th overall) in last June&rsquo;s entry draft, Boyes was second in OHL scoring with 12 goals and 24 points in 13 games.</p><p>Now in his third season with Erie, Boyes scored 24 goals and 60 points in his rookie year and last year led the Otters with 36 goals and 82 points. Erie coach <b>Dave MacQueen</b> said he was impressed with the 18-year-old&rsquo;s attitude when he came back from the Leafs&rsquo; camp. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s such a down-to-earth kid,&rdquo; said MacQueen, who named Boyes the Otters&rsquo; captain.</p><p>&ldquo;When he came back he said &lsquo;I&rsquo;m ready to be here. I know I should be here.&rsquo; Some kids come back and they don&rsquo;t feel they should be here and it takes them a while to come out of that.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I was a little disappointed in coming back, you always are,&rdquo; Boyes said. &ldquo;But at the same time, I was expecting to come back.&rdquo;</p><p><b>LOST AND HOUND</b> Defenseman <b>Trevor Daley</b> is back with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.</p><p>Daley, 17, left the team Oct. 3 for what his agent <b>Harry Francis</b> called &ldquo;personal reasons,&rdquo; but returned Oct. 22.</p><p>&ldquo;We had enough of a resolution to the problem that I felt we could put him back in the lineup,&rdquo; Francis said.</p><p>Daley had just one assist in six games this season, but scored 18 goals and 46 points with 77 penalty minutes in 54 games as a rookie last year.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s everything except big,&rdquo; said one NHL scout of the 5-foot-10,190-pounder who&rsquo;s pegged as a high first round pick in the 2002 entry draft, although perhaps not as a defenseman.</p><p>&ldquo;Some teams might project him as a center,&rdquo; said the scout. &ldquo;He can lead the rush and he&rsquo;s a good enough skater that he can get back in time to defend. He can play anywhere and in the middle, his lack of size would be less of a factor.&rdquo;</p><p><b>600 CLUB</b> Kingston coach Larry Mavety, third all-time in OHL wins and fourth in CHL history, joined <b>Brian Kilrea, Ken Hodge</b> and <b>Bert Templeton</b> in the exclusive group of major junior coaches with 600 wins.</p><p>The milestone came when the Frontenacs defeated the Toronto St. Michael&rsquo;s Majors 5-1 Oct. 22, upping Mavety&rsquo;s career record to 600-595-85.</p><p><b>CHL RULE CHANGE</b> The Canadian Hockey League has decided to adopt the icing rule used by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The rule stops play when the puck passes through the crease with the goalie in net after being shot from the other side of center.</p><p>Prior to the rule change, a puck passing through the crease was only called icing when the goalie was lifted in favor of a sixth attacker.</p><p>&ldquo;We have simplified the rule to conform to other levels of hockey around the world,&rdquo; said <b>Ted Baker</b>, the OHL&rsquo;s director of operations and referee-in-chief.</p><p>Baker indicated the NHL plans to consider the IIHF icing rule and added that the CHL felt implementing the rule a few games into the major junior season would cause &ldquo;minimal, if any, distraction.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0033-03

How Erie: Boyes delivers twin goals on back-to-back penalty shots

<div class="byline">By Willy Palov</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011057/7600233-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="379" height="286"></div><p>Some players wilt under the pressure of being labeled a franchise player, but not <b>Chris Montgomery.</b></p><p>He has flourished as the Montreal Rocket&rsquo;s marquee skater ever since the expansion team selected him first overall at its inaugural midget draft in 1999.</p><p>The gifted center captured the Quebec League&rsquo;s rookie-of-the-year award in 1999-2000 after ringing up 69 points in 59 games and is building on that impressive debut as a 17-year-old this season.</p><p>&ldquo;I came into this season prepared and the coaches have placed a lot of emphasis on the fact that players like myself need to take over,&rdquo; Montgomery said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve put a lot of confidence in me and I feel like I&rsquo;m ready for that.&rdquo;</p><p>Sitting 20th in QMJHL scoring with eight goals and 25 points in 16 games, Montgomery is making a case to be a high pick at the NHL entry draft in June.</p><p>&ldquo;I want to go in the first round,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;What I need to do is work on what most junior players need to work on and that&rsquo;s the defensive game.&rdquo;</p><p>Montgomery was the 24th rated prospect for the 2001 entry draft in the October issue of Red Line Report. He&rsquo;s third in the QMJHL behind Halifax goalie <b>Pascal Leclaire</b> (No. 5) and Sherbrooke defenseman <b>Artem Ternavski.</b></p><p>Despite adding 12 pounds since last year and vowing to add even more weight to his 5-foot-ll, 182-pound frame, Montgomery said size shouldn&rsquo;t be an issue.</p><p>&ldquo;I mean, it&rsquo;s still great if you can be a skilled player at 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4, but I don&rsquo;t see a problem at my size,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As long as you&rsquo;re strong enough, you should be fine.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02719/7600226-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="325" height="484"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Chris Montgomery</b></figcaption></div><p><b>RAPID IMPROVEMENT</b> Shawinigan coach-GM <b>Denis Francouer</b> expected the Cataractes to battle in the middle of the pack this season, but a series of solid acquisitions had his team leading the Lebel Conference&rsquo;s Central Division.</p><p>Francouer&rsquo;s first trade came in June when he landed goaltender <b>Frederic Cloutier</b> from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.</p><p>Acquired for draft picks, Cloutier plugged the gaping hole in net left by the departure of star goalie <b>Mathieu Chouinard</b> to the pros.</p><p>Cloutier, 19, already had three shutouts and was a big reason Shawinigan had the best defensive record in the league.</p><p>Francouer&rsquo;s other masterful move was when he pried Czech right winger <b>Radim Vrbata</b> away from Hull for the fourth overall pick in the July import draft.</p><p>The 19-year-old Vrbata provided instant scoring punch and was among the league leaders in goals. Francouer extolled the virtues of adding Vrbata to his team&rsquo;s mix.</p><p>Radim is a very skilled player with a lot of speed and he is excellent with our other big scorer, <b>Dominic Forget</b>,&rdquo; Francouer said.</p><p><b>FOREIGN EXCHANGE</b> After a summer of wasted deals, nobody would have blamed <b>Pierre Roux</b> if he quit trading for import players altogether.</p><p>The Victoriaville GM made separate deals for <b>Kirill Safranov, Andrei Shefer</b> and <b>Lauri Kinos</b>, only to watch all of them sign with pro teams rather than report to the Tigres.</p><p>But Roux&rsquo;s fourth deal in four months finally landed a player who is actually playing for the Tigres. Roux acquired 20-year-old Russian defenseman <b>Sergei Kaltygen</b> from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for a 10th round pick in 2001.</p><p>&ldquo;He played with us right after we traded for him, so he&rsquo;s here to stay,&rdquo; said a relieved Roux.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-01

Montgomery swift: Rockets’ star blasting up 2001 draft charts

<div class="byline">By Andy Baggot</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01994/7600264-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="379" height="223"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>espite an upgrade in Michigan Tech&rsquo;s talent base, a demanding early schedule stacked the odds against a good start for the Huskies in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.</p><p>But after opening 2000-01 with two losses at home to defending regular season champion Wisconsin, Michigan Tech pulled off a major upset when they went on the road and split a two-game series with defending NCAA champion North Dakota Fighting Sioux.</p><p>On the same weekend North Dakota raised its seventh national championship banner at Engelstadt Arena, junior right winger <b>Paul Cabana</b> and senior right winger <b>Tab Lardner</b> each had a goal and assist as the Huskies won 5-4 and snapped a 17-game winless streak which stretched back to last season.</p><p>Even though the Fighting Sioux answered with a 5-2 win, the Huskies got a much-needed jolt of confidence heading into consecutive home series with darkhorse title contender Colorado College Oct. 27-28 and upstart Minnesota State-Mankato Nov. 3-4.</p><p>That&rsquo;s the backdrop for a season Michigan Tech athletic director <b>Rick Yeo</b> calls &ldquo;really critical&rdquo; for the No. 1 sport at the school. When Yeo hired former Huskies&rsquo; all-American and 13-year NHL defenseman <b>Tim Watters</b> four seasons ago, Yeo thought he had the perfect coaching fit. But after one season of progress, Tech regressed to the point it won just four of 38 games last season, establishing a league record for futility.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re at a crossroads,&rdquo; Yeo said. &ldquo;Last year was just devastating. It shocked us all. We hope it was a fluke. You don&rsquo;t expect to go downhill.&rdquo;</p><p>Watters jettisoned five recruited veterans during the off-season and brought in 10 freshmen.</p><p>&ldquo;All the way around, we&rsquo;re a little bit better team than we were last year,&rdquo; Watters said.</p><p><b>PROSPECT WATCH</b> A year after missing 19 games with a severed Achilles&rsquo; tendon, Wisconsin right winger <b>Matt Doman</b> has started 2000-01 with a bang.</p><p>Drafted by Calgary 134th overall in 1999, Doman is throwing his 6-foot, 210-pound frame around with abandon. And he was tied for the team lead with four goals in six games.</p><p><b>SPOTLIGHT</b> As debuts go, it&rsquo;s hard to top the one by Colorado College rookie forward <b>Peter Sejna</b>, who accounted for three goals and two assists in a two-game sweep of Minnesota State-Mankato Oct. 13-14.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Against Michigan Tech Oct. 21, freshman <b>Quinn Pylling</b> attempted, but failed to convert, the first penalty shot awarded to a North Dakota player since 1979&hellip;Tough break for Minnesota-Duluth freshman <b>Jim Murphy</b>, who fractured his left arm on his first shift as a collegian against Minnesota Oct. 20&hellip;Wisconsin opened the season with six straight wins, its best start since 1981-82 when the Badgers went 7-0-0.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-01

Huskies hoping early road surprise harbinger of good things to come

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02698/7600295-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="379" height="223"></div><p>Michigan coach <b>Red Berenson</b> continues to pile up milestones.</p><p>His most recent achievement was earning his 300th victory in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, which came Oct. 22 against Bowling Green.</p><p>Berenson, who has been the Wolverines&rsquo; coach since 1984-85, is the second coach to win 300 CCHA games. The first was Michigan State coach <b>Ron Mason</b>, who has 461 career victories and counting.</p><p>Berenson&rsquo;s lifetime CCHA record is 300-155-35 and his overall college record is 425-207-42. He reached the 400-win plateau last season.</p><p>But Berenson, who played 15 NHL seasons for four teams from 1961-62 through 1977-78, wasn&rsquo;t thinking about No. 300. He was more concerned with how poorly his No. 2-ranked Wolverines had played in the 4-3 win at Bowling Green. Michigan&rsquo;s <b>Scott Matzka</b> broke a 3-3 tie with 78 seconds left in regulation time for the victory.</p><p>&ldquo;We got the win, but (the milestone) really doesn&rsquo;t mean anything to me,&rdquo; said Berenson to the <i>Ann Arbor News.</i></p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m coaching here and I&rsquo;m not keeping track of wins and losses.&rdquo;</p><p>Berenson, 60, also coached the St. Louis Blues for parts of three seasons from 1979-80 through 1981-82.</p><p><b>DRAFT WATCH</b> A few days after scoring a goal and two assists in his second CCHA game, Ohio State freshman center <b>R. J. Umberger</b> broke his jaw during practice and was out of action indefinitely.</p><p>Umberger, 18, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound native of Pittsburgh, played for the U.S. national under-18 team in the United States League last season, where he was fourth in league scoring with 33 goals and 68 points in 57 games.</p><p>He is the top-rated 2001 NHL draft prospect in the CCHA this season, ranked No. 34 in <i>Red Line Report.</i></p><p><b>SPOTLIGHT</b> After scoring only nine goals in 39 games as a junior last season, Michigan senior left winger <b>Josh Langfeld</b> had six goals in the Wolverines&rsquo; first six games this year.</p><p>He also had five assists.</p><p>Langfeld first made a name for himself as a freshman by scoring the overtime goal that gave Michigan the 1998 NCAA championship.</p><p>The native of Coon Rapids, Minn., said he worked extra hard on his conditioning this past summer.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Northern Michigan freshman goaltender <b>Craig Kowalski</b> was off to a strong start. In his first three games, he was 2-0-1 with a 2.59 goals-against average and .892 save percentage&hellip; Ohio State junior forward <b>Nick Ganga</b> had a hat trick in the Buckeyes&rsquo; 4-1 win over Niagara Oct. 21. Ganga scored just four times in 34 games last season.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-02

Wolverine coach Berenson unmoved as he hits 300-win plateau in CCHA

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggie</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01956/7600326-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="377" height="228"></div><p>Watching talented underclassmen stepping in for graduating seniors is a rite of passage for college coaches.</p><p>But at St. Lawrence, Saints&rsquo; coach <b>Joe Marsh</b> has two veterans ready to take the place of a gifted freshman goalie.</p><p>Seniors <b>Jeremy Symington</b>, a native of Camlachie, Ont., and <b>Sean Coakley</b>, who grew up in the shadows of St. Lawrence&rsquo;s Appleton Arena in Canton, N.Y., are battling for the spot vacated when freshman <b>Derek Gustafson</b> signed a pro contract with the NHL&rsquo;s expansion Minnesota Wild last summer.</p><p>To say Symington and Coakley have been playing a waiting game is an understatement. As sophomores, they watched as all America selection <b>Eric Heftier</b> took charge.</p><p>&ldquo;This is it for them,&rdquo; Marsh said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s fair in the early going to play a tandem. If one of them takes the bull by the horns, it might be different.&rdquo;</p><p>Symington, who was drafted by the New York Islanders in the eighth round in 1997, played in nine games last season, while Coakley played seven games. And neither griped that rookie Gustafson waltzed in and played 24 games.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been unbelievable,&rdquo; Marsh said. &ldquo;Both did a great job when they weren&rsquo;t playing and the other kids respect them. I remind the guys how much they gave to the team last year, so let&rsquo;s give something this year.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ANALYSIS</b> Clarkson coach <b>Mark Morris</b> put senior <b>Don Smith</b> on the same line with juniors <b>Chris Line</b> and <b>David Evans</b> in an attempt to add some punch to his offense and the move paid off.</p><p>The unit accounted for three goals and nine points as the Golden Knights came out of the gates with a 1-1-1 record. Line, who scored just three goals in his first 43 games at Clarkson, had two in the first three games.</p><p><b>PROSPECT WATCH</b> After suffering through a sophomore slump, RPI junior <b>Matt Murley</b> is back on track.</p><p>Drafted by Pittsburgh 51st overall in 1999, Murley had a goal in a 5-4 win over Boston University and two goals and an assist in a 4-3 loss to UMass-Lowell.</p><p>He scored goals in back-to-back games on just two occasions last season and finished with nine goals and 38 points in 35 games. Murley had 17 goals and 49 points in 36 games as a freshman in 1998-99.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Former St. Lawrence coach <b>Bernie McKinnon</b> died Oct. 22 after a battle with bone cancer. The St. Lawrence Hall of Famer coached from 1971-72 through 1975-76 and was instrumental in founding the women&rsquo;s program&hellip;<b>Dave Hains-worth</b> was hired as goaltender coach at Yale. Hainsworth had an eight-year minor pro career and was formerly an assistant coach with the New Haven Nighthawks (American League)&hellip;Union celebrated the 10th anniversary of its elevation to Division I with a 4-1 victory over Army.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-01

Young stopper Gustafson gone Wild, so vets Symington, Coakley step up

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02630/7600357-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="377" height="224"></div><p>Since joining Hockey East in 1994-95, Massachusetts-Amherst has never finished higher than sixth place.</p><p>Enter <b>Don Cahoon</b>, the Minutemen&rsquo;s first-year coach who had a 122-129-32 record in nine years at Princeton. Cahoon, 51, said he has a &ldquo;rough skeleton&rdquo; of how he intends to build the program into a winner, but added it&rsquo;s a day-to-day process.</p><p>Part of the equation is recruiting, said Cahoon, &ldquo;but the lifeline of any program is to do a good job developing players. You&rsquo;ve got to make sure your kids are getting stronger, faster and developing skills.&rdquo;</p><p>He intends to recruit the state heavily, offering Boston-area players a rural option that is just a 90-minute drive from the city, but he&rsquo;ll also recruit &ldquo;the rest of the hockey world like other schools.&rdquo;</p><p>Cahoon&rsquo;s Minutemen got off to an 0-2-1 start, including a 4-4 tie with Colgate in which UMass scored two goals with the goalie pulled.</p><p>&ldquo;We aren&rsquo;t the most talented team in college hockey so we&rsquo;ll need to overachieve and we can do that with the right mental attitude,&rdquo; said Cahoon, who also feels being in &ldquo;arguably the best conference in the country&rdquo; will help recruiting.</p><p><b>PROSPECT WATCH</b> Northeastern center <b>Mike Ryan</b> did a lot of maturing last year, even if his statistics stagnated.</p><p>Drafted by Dallas 32nd overall in 1999, Ryan scored two goals in his first game as a freshman, but had only two more the rest of the season, a span of 32 games.</p><p>Three games into his sophomore season, Ryan already had five goals and two assists. Northeastern coach <b>Bruce Crowder</b> said Ryan worked hard over the summer and it has paid off.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a lot stronger and he is obviously more mature,&rdquo; Crowder said. &ldquo;He definitely has a lot of the natural attributes you need to play at the next level. He&rsquo;s a tremendous skater with skill.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NEWS FOLLOW-UP</b> Maine coach <b>Shawn Walsh</b> returned home Oct. 23 after his second and final 20-day immunotherapy treatment cycle for his kidney cancer.</p><p>Walsh had cancerous tumors under his breastplate and the immunotherapy is designed to shock the immune system into destroying the cancerous cells. The effectiveness of the treatment, administered at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in California, was not immediately known.</p><p>Walsh rejoined the team Oct. 24. Interim coach <b>Gene Reilly</b> was 1-1-1 in his absence.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> New Hampshire sophomore defenseman <b>Garrett Stafford</b> had 12 points as a freshman, but already had six assists in his first three games of 2000-01&hellip;The UMass-Lowell line of <b>Kyle Kidney, Laurent Meunier</b> and <b>Dan Fontas</b> had four goals and four assists in the first two games of the season, both wins.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-02

Minutemen’s new boss Cahoon has winning plan, but needs time

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01853/7600500-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>2000-01 STANDINGS</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>HL Standings through games of Oct. 26 (82-game regular season) <b>GP</b>-games played; <b>W</b>-wins; <b>L</b>-losses; <b>T</b>-ties; <b>RT</b>- regualtion ties; <b>GF</b>-goals for; <b>GA</b>-goals against; Diff.-difference between goals for and against; <b>P</b>- points; Pct.- percentage of actual points versus possible points. Below is a comparison between games played through Oot. 21/1999 versus games played through Oct. 26/2000.</p><p>The top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. Division leaders are seeded No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3. Otherwise, seeding is determined by: 1. point total; 2. wins; 3. points obtained in games against tied teams; 4. goal differential. The regular season ends April 8.</p><h2><b>DIVISIONAL STANDINGS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02576/7600493-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="1365" height="576"></div><h2><b>OVERALL</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07259/7600486-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="493" height="838"></div><h2><b>RESULTS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-08219/7600479-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="487" height="1360"></div><h2><b>GOALS-AGAINST AVE.</b></h2><p><b>GP</b>-games played; Min.-total minutes; <b>GA</b>-goals against; <b>SO</b>-shutouts; <b>GAA</b>-goals-against average; League average is average <b>GAA</b> of all goalies who have played a minimum of 180 minutes.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-09187/7600472-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="577" height="997"></div><h2><b>SAVE PERCENTAGE</b></h2><p><b>GP</b>-games played; <b>Min</b>.-total minutes; <b>SA</b>-shots faced; <b>GA</b>-goals against; <b>SP</b>-save percentage; League average is average save percentage of all goalies who have played a minimum of 180 minutes.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-10166/7600465-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="589" height="997"></div><h2><b>TOP SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-11138/7600458-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="589" height="607"></div><h2><b>TOP DEFENSEMEN</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-12120/7600451-1-eng-US/f0037-122.jpg" title="f0037-12" width="595" height="289"></div><h2><b>TOP ROOKIES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-13109/7600444-1-eng-US/f0037-132.jpg" title="f0037-13" width="580" height="262"></div><h2><b>ATTENDANCE</b></h2><p>Listed are unofficial NHL attendance figures, including number of home games. 1999-00 average at the same number of games. 2000-01 average, difference between the two. percentage difference and percentage of capacity.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-14100/7600437-1-eng-US/f0037-142.jpg" title="f0037-14" width="583" height="799"></div><h2><b>TEAM PENALTIES</b></h2><p><b>PIM-</b>total penalty minutes including <b>BMI-</b>bench penalty minutes; <b>Avg.-</b>average penalty minutes per game.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1587/7600430-1-eng-US/f0037-152.jpg" title="f0037-15" width="997" height="460"></div><h2><b>PENALTY KILLING</b></h2><p><b>TSH-</b>total times shorthanded; <b>PGA-</b>power-play goals allowed; <b>Pct.-</b>penalty-killing percentage</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1676/7600423-1-eng-US/f0037-162.jpg" title="f0037-16" width="1000" height="469"></div><h2><b>POWER PLAY</b></h2><p><b>Adv-</b>total advantages; <b>PPG-</b>power-play goals; <b>Pct.-</b>power-play goals divided by total advantages.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1769/7600416-1-eng-US/f0037-172.jpg" title="f0037-17" width="1018" height="463"></div><h2><b>THN THREE STARS OF THE WEEK</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03447/7600409-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="253" height="325"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Nicklas Lidstrom</b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04369/7600402-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="82" height="79"></div><p>Center Peter Forsberg led the Colorado Avalanche to three victories the week of Oct. 20-26, scoring three goals, including an OT winner, and adding two assists.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05326/7600395-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="82" height="85"></div><p>Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, averaging 29:47 minutes per game for the season, was plus-2 with four assists in the Wings&rsquo; three wins.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06288/7600388-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="79" height="82"></div><p>San Jose Sharks&rsquo; goalie Evgeni Nabakov won four games, posting a 1.59 goals-against average and .948 save percentage during that week.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0037-01

2000-01 REGULAR SEASON STATISTICS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01930/7600797-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>tatistics provided by National Hockey League: <b>PLAYER</b>- listed by uniform number, position (F-forward; D-defenseman; G-goaue), name; <b>GP</b>-games played; <b>G</b>- goals; <b>A</b>-assists: <b>P</b>-points; +/- -plus/minus; <b>PIM</b>-penalties: <b>PP</b>-power-play goals; SH-short-handed goals; <b>GW</b>-game-winning goals; <b>GT</b>-game-tying goals; <b>S</b>-shots; <b>SP</b>-shooting percentage; <b>H</b>- hits. A hit is any legal contact by a player on an opposing player that exerts enough force as to prevent the player from controlling the puck, knocks him off the puck, or significantly impedes his progress: <b>GV</b>- giveaways. A giveaway is when a player&rsquo;s own actions result in the loss of possession to the other team: <b>TK</b>- takeaways. A takeaway occurs when pressure by a defending player results in gaining possession of the puck; <b>MIN</b>- average minutes played per game is expressed in minutes and seconds. Players indicated by an asterisk (*) are eligible for the Calder Trophy.</p><p><b>NOTE</b>: Statistics provided by NHL are incomplete. Extended stats for Columbus, Minnesota, Nashville and Pittsburgh were not available. Individual player stats are also not complete in some cases.</p><h2><b>ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS</b></h2><h2><b>ATLANTA THRASHERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02636/7600790-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="1009" height="727"></div><h2><b>BOSTON BRUINS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03511/7600783-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="1012" height="721"></div><h2><b>BUFFALO SABRES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04399/7600776-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="1009" height="487"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05311/7600769-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="1015" height="232"></div><h2><b>CALGARY FLAMES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06268/7600762-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="1012" height="736"></div><h2><b>CAROLINA HURRICANES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07245/7600755-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="1012" height="730"></div><h2><b>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-08210/7600748-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="1009" height="676"></div><h2><b>COLORADO AVALANCHE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-09188/7600741-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="1012" height="652"></div><h2><b>COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-10166/7600734-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="1015" height="124"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-11152/7600727-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="1012" height="613"></div><h2><b>DALLAS STARS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-12141/7600720-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="1009" height="700"></div><h2><b>DETROIT RED WINGS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-13129/7600713-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="1012" height="730"></div><h2><b>EDMONTON OILERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-14120/7600706-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="999" height="649"></div><h2><b>FLORIDA PANTHERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-15112/7600699-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="1010" height="552"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01882/7600692-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="1012" height="151"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES KINGS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02577/7600685-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="1015" height="688"></div><h2><b>MINNESOTA WILD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03438/7600678-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="1015" height="655"></div><h2><b>MONTREAL CANADIENS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04357/7600671-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="1018" height="712"></div><h2><b>NASHVILLE PREDATORS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05302/7600664-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="1006" height="688"></div><h2><b>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06258/7600657-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="1006" height="244"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07234/7600650-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="1012" height="457"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-08207/7600643-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="2032" height="1648"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Six-foot-6 Eric Cairns of the New York Islanders takes on a couple of Carolina Hurricanes in a fight for the puck.</i></figcaption></div><h2><b>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-09175/7600636-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="1015" height="655"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK RANGERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-10151/7600629-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="1012" height="535"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-11134/7600622-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="1018" height="193"></div><h2><b>OTTAWA SENATORS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-12118/7600615-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="1018" height="703"></div><h2><b>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-13107/7600608-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="1021" height="760"></div><h2><b>PHOENIX COYOTES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01583/7600601-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="1018" height="661"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02364/7600594-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="1006" height="667"></div><h2><b>SAN JOSE SHARKS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03264/7600587-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="1003" height="730"></div><h2><b>ST. LOUIS BLUES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04210/7600580-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="1009" height="691"></div><h2><b>TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05183/7600573-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="1009" height="373"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-06163/7600566-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="1009" height="325"></div><h2><b>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-07149/7600559-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="1006" height="703"></div><h2><b>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-08134/7600552-1-eng-US/f0040-082.jpg" title="f0040-08" width="1006" height="673"></div><h2><b>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-09108/7600545-1-eng-US/f0040-092.jpg" title="f0040-09" width="1000" height="664"></div><h2><b>REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-10100/7600538-1-eng-US/f0040-102.jpg" title="f0040-10" width="997" height="862"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1189/7600531-1-eng-US/f0040-112.jpg" title="f0040-11" width="1006" height="3547"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-01

<h2><b>KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>tatistics provided by National Hockey League; Players are listed by uniform number, name, games played (<b>GP</b>), minutes played (<b>Min</b>), goals-against average (<b>GAA</b>). wins (<b>W</b>). losses (<b>L</b>). ties (<b>T</b>), empty-net goals <b>(EN</b>), shutouts (<b>SO</b>), goals against (<b>GA</b>), shots against (<b>SA</b>), save percentage (<b>SP</b>). For goalies&rsquo; individual rankings see page 37.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01486/7600849-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="742" height="766"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02302/7600842-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="742" height="982"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03231/7600835-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="751" height="982"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04197/7600828-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="745" height="982"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0041-01

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

<h2><b>NOTE</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>U</span>nofficial game summaries provided by National Hockey League; (shots on goal/plus-minus); <b>SA</b>-shots against; <b>GA</b>- goals against; <b>ENG</b>-empty net goals; Decdecision, charges to goaltenders of record when winning goal is scored.</p><h2><b>FRIDAY, OCT. 20</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-05178/7601027-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="509" height="2064"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06166/7601020-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="505" height="2440"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-07152/7601013-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="513" height="2436"></div><h2><b>SATURDAY, OCT. 21</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-08128/7601006-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="508" height="2356"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0996/7600999-1-eng-US/f0041-092.jpg" title="f0041-09" width="505" height="2440"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1074/7600992-1-eng-US/f0041-102.jpg" title="f0041-10" width="501" height="2428"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01494/7600985-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="505" height="3556"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02304/7600978-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="501" height="3548"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03241/7600971-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="500" height="404"></div><h2><b>SUNDAY, OCT. 22</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04190/7600964-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="516" height="3088"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-05170/7600957-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="501" height="1740"></div><h2><b>MONDAY, OCT. 23</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-06156/7600950-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="513" height="1324"></div><h2><b>TUESDAY, OCT. 24</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-07139/7600943-1-eng-US/f0042-072.jpg" title="f0042-07" width="501" height="352"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-08120/7600936-1-eng-US/f0042-082.jpg" title="f0042-08" width="513" height="3560"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-09103/7600929-1-eng-US/f0042-092.jpg" title="f0042-09" width="513" height="2220"></div><h2><b>WEDNESDAY, OCT. 25</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1084/7600922-1-eng-US/f0042-102.jpg" title="f0042-10" width="521" height="1268"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01515/7600915-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="501" height="3546"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02345/7600908-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="518" height="3542"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03279/7600901-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="525" height="2962"></div><h2><b>THURSDAY, OCT. 26</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-04197/7600894-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="497" height="501"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-05169/7600887-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="497" height="3539"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-06138/7600880-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="502" height="451"></div><h2><b>TRANSACTIONS</b></h2><p><b>Transactions include NHL personnel moves from Oct. 13-20.</b></p><h3><b>ANAHEIM</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 24</b> Antti-Jussi Niemi, D, recalled from Cincinnati (AHL).</p><p><b>INJURIES Ruslan Salei,</b> D, bruised foot, day-to-day. <b>Pavel Tmka.</b> D, sprained ankle, Nov. 8.</p><h3><b>ATLANTA</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 21</b> Bryan Adams, LW, assigned to Orlando (IHL).</p><p><b>INJURIES Petr Buzek.</b> D, concussion-like symptoms, day-to-day. <b>Gord Murphy,</b> D, sore shoulder, Dec. 1. <b>Rumun Ndur,</b> D, strained groin, Nov. 21.</p><h3><b>BOSTON</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 24</b> Jonathan Girard, D, recalled from Providence (AHL). <b>Oct. 25</b> Pat Bums, coach, fired. Mike Keenan named coach.</p><p><b>INJURIES Paul Coffey,</b> D, hip flexor strain, day-to-day. <b>Byron Dafoe.</b> G, hamstring strain, day-to-day. <b>John Grahame,</b> G, ankle surgery, late December. <b>Kyle McLaren.</b> D. knee strain, indefinite. Andre Savage. C. shoulder surgery, late December.</p><h3><b>BUFFALO</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS</b> None.</p><p><b>INJURIES</b> None.</p><h3><b>CALGARY</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS</b> None.</p><p><b>INJURIES Denis Gauthier,</b> D, bruised wrist, midNovember. <b>Marty Murray,</b> C, hip pointer, day-to-day. <b>Ronald Petrovicky,</b> RW, surgery to repair wrist tendon, indefinite.</p><h3><b>CAROLINA</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 19</b> Greg Kuznik. D, and Mike Rucinski, D, recalled from Cincinnati (IHL). <b>Oct. 26</b> Kuznik and Rucinski assigned to Cincinnati.</p><p><b>INJURIES Kevin Hatcher,</b> D, bruised hand, day-to-day. <b>David Tanabe.</b> D, concussion, day-to-day.</p><h3><b>CHICAGO</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 25</b> Don Jackson, assistant coach, fired. Al MacAdam named assistant coach. <b>Oct. 26</b> Bill Lesuk named director of amateur scouting.</p><p><b>INJURIES</b> None.</p><h3><b>COLORADO</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS</b> None</p><p><b>INJURIES Stephane Yelle,</b> C, sore ankle, day-to-day.</p><h3><b>COLUMBUS</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 25</b> Ted Drury, C. assigned to Syracuse (AHL).</p><p><b>INJURIES Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre,</b> D, sore foot, day-to-day.</p><h3><b>DALLAS</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 24</b> Blake Sloan, RW, assigned to Houston (IHL).</p><p><b>INJURIES</b> None.</p><h3><b>DETROIT</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS</b> None.</p><p><b>INJURIES Chris Chelios,</b> D, sore knee, day-to-day. <b>Steve Duchesne.</b> D, sore knee, day-to-day. <b>Steve Yzerman,</b> C, sore knee, day-to-day.</p><h3><b>EDMONTON</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 24</b> Patrick Cote, LW, recalled from Hamilton (AHL).</p><p><b>INJURIES Paul Comrie.</b> LW. post-concussion, indefinite. Josh Green. LW, shoulder surgery, February. <b>Ethan Moreau.</b> LW, shoulder surgery, late October. <b>Brad Norton,</b> LW, abdominal strain, day-to-day.</p><h3><b>FLORIDA</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 26</b> Ivan Novoseltsev, RW, and Joey Tetarenko, D, recalled from Louisville (AHL).</p><p><b>INJURIES Brad Ference.</b> D, cracked jaw, early November. <b>Viktor Kozlov,</b> C, shoulder injury, early November. <b>Lance Pitlick,</b> D, bruised hand, mid-November. <b>Nick Smith,</b> C, knee surgery, mid-November. <b>Mike Wilson.</b> D. dislocated shoulder and broken arm, late December.</p><h3><b>LOS ANGELES</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 23</b> Andreas Lilja, D, and Eric Belanger, C, assigned to Lowell (AHL). <b>Oct. 26</b> Steve Passmore, G, assigned to Lowell. Marcel Cousineau, G. recalled from Lowell.</p><p><b>INJURIES Stephane Fiset,</b> G, sprained left knee. midNovember.</p><h3><b>MINNESOTA</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 26</b> Zac Bierk, G, assigned to Cleveland (IHL).</p><p><b>INJURIES Steve McKenna.</b> RW, back spasms, indefinite. <b>Sergei Krivokrasov,</b> RW, sprained right knee, midNovember.</p><h3><b>MONTREAL</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 23</b> Jason Ward, RW, assigned to Quebec City (AHL) <b>Oct. 24</b> Arron Asham, C. recalled from Quebec City. <b>Oct. 25</b> Eric Fichaud, G, recalled from Quebec City. <b>Oct. 26</b> Enrico Ciccone, D, assigned to Quebec.</p><p><b>INJURIES Karl Dykhuis.</b> D. abdominal surgery. Nov. 2. <b>Jeff Hackett,</b> G, broken right hand, Nov. 23. <b>Saku Koivu,</b> C, left knee surgery, January. <b>Christian Laflamme,</b> D, concussion, day-to-day. <b>Sheldon Souray,</b> D. abdominal surgery, late December.</p><h3><b>NASHVILLE</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 22</b> Chris Mason. G, assigned to Milwaukee (IHL). <b>Oct. 25</b> Craig Millar, D, claimed off waivers by Tampa Bay. Rory Fitzpatrick. D. recalled from Milwaukee (IHL).</p><p><b>INJURIES</b> None.</p><h3><b>NEW JERSEY</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 21</b> Willie Mitchell. D, assigned to Albany (AHL). <b>Oct. 22</b> Mitchell. D. recalled from Albany.</p><p><b>INJURIES Jay Pandolfo,</b> LW bruised left shoulder, day-today.</p><h3><b>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS</b> None.</p><p><b>INJURIES Eric Cairns.</b> D. broken left thumb, early November. <b>Bill Muckalt.</b> RW, dislocated right shoulder, late November.</p><h3><b>NEW YORK RANGERS</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 25</b> Mike Mottau, D, recalled from Hartford (AHL). Drew Bannister, D, assigned to Hartford.</p><p><b>INJURIES Vladimir Malakhov.</b> D, left knee sprain, Nov. 4.</p><h3><b>OTTAWA</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 23</b> Shane Hnidy, D, recalled from Grand Rapids (IHL).</p><p><b>INJURIES Daniel Alfredsson.</b> RW. right hip flexor. Oct. 31 <b>Patrick Lalime,</b> G, sprained left knee ligament, Oct. 31. Ricard Persson, D, sprained right ankle, day-to-day.</p><h3><b>PHILADELPHIA</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 21</b> Mark Greig, RW. assigned to Philadelphia (AHL). <b>Oct. 24</b> Ruslan Fedotenko. LW, recalled from Philadelphia.</p><p><b>INJURIES Keith Jones,</b> LW, concussion, day-to-day. <b>John LeClair.</b> LW, disc back surgery, indefinite. <b>Mark Recchi,</b> RW, concussion-like symptoms, indefinite. <b>Chris Therien,</b> D, herniated disc in back, indefinite.</p><h3><b>PHOENIX</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 20</b> Daniel Briere, C. assigned to Springfield (AHL).</p><p><b>INJURIES</b> None.</p><h3><b>PITTSBURGH</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS</b> None</p><p><b>INJURIES Ian Moran,</b> D, tom right knee ligaments, indefinite.</p><h3><b>ST. LOUIS</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 26</b> Chris Pronger, D, signed threeyear contract.</p><p><b>INJURIES</b> Marc Bergevin. D, sore right thumb, mid-November. <b>Todd Reirden,</b> D, sore left foot, mid-November.</p><h3><b>SAN JOSE</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 20</b> Greg Andrusak, D, recalled from Kentucky (AHL). <b>Oct. 24</b> Andrusak assigned to Kentucky.</p><p><b>INJURIES Steve Shields,</b> G, sprained right ankle, day-today.</p><h3><b>TAMPA BAY</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 24</b> Dieter Kochan, G, recalled from Detroit (IHL). <b>Oct. 25</b> Craig Millar, D, claimed off waivers from Nashville. Jaroslav Svejkovsky, RW, assigned to Detroit (IHL). <b>Oct. 26</b> Kyle Freadrich. LW, and Cory Sarich, D, assigned to Detroit. Ben Clymer, D, recalled from Detroit.</p><p><b>INJURIES Stan Drulia,</b> RW. broken left hand. mid-November. <b>Sergey Gusev,</b> D, right knee surgery, indefinite. <b>Dan Cloutier,</b> G, biceps tendonitis, day-to-day. <b>Petr Svoboda.</b> D, strained hip flexor, day-to-day.</p><h3><b>TORONTO</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS</b> None.</p><p><b>INJURIES Nik Antropov.</b> C, reconstructive surgery on right knee, Nov. 30. <b>Bryan Berard,</b> D. eye surgery, indefinite. <b>Steve Thomas.</b> RW, infected laceration in right hand, early November.</p><h3><b>VANCOUVER</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS</b> None.</p><p><b>INJURIES Ed Jovanovski,</b> D. oblique muscle strain, day-to-day. <b>Mattias Ohlund,</b> D, eyesurgery, Dec. 1.</p><h3><b>WASHINGTON</b></h3><p><b>TRANSACTIONS Oct. 23</b> Chris Simon, LW. signed twoyear contract. <b>Oct. 24</b> Kris Beech, C, returned to Calgary (WHL). Terry Yake, C. recalled from Portland (AHL). <b>Oct. 26</b> Glen Metropolit, C, assigned to Portland.</p><p><b>INJURIES Ken Klee.</b> D, right wrist surgery, day-to-day.</p><h2><b>THE WEEK THAT WAS</b></h2><p><b>A weekly compendium of significant events and developments (Oct. 20-26).</b></p><p><b>Oct. 22</b> Colorado Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy is arrested on investigation of domestic violence charges after police respond to a hang-up on a 911 call from Roy&rsquo;s wife, Michele. Roy spends six hours in jail and is released after posting a $750 bond.</p><p><b>Oct. 23</b> Restricted free agent left winger Chris Simon re-signs with the Washington Capitals, agreeing to a two-year, $4.5-million contract.</p><p><b>Oct. 25</b> Ottawa center Alexei Yashin is ordered to pay the NHL&rsquo;s legal and court costs for his ill-fated battle to skip out on the final year of his contract with the Senators.</p><p>The Boston Bruins fire coach Pat Burns and replace him with Mike Keenan.</p><p><b>Oct. 26</b> Defenseman Chris Pronger signs a three-year. $29.5-million contract extension with the St. Louis Blues.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0041-05

NHL GAME SUMMARIES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01358/7601201-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="292" height="490"></div><p>A little friendly advice for Mike Keenan: Just coach the team.</p><p>You never know if this is your final &ldquo;last&rdquo; chance to coach in the NHL. So as you take over your sixth NHL club, if you feel yourself starting to slip back into some bad habits, just remember the sick feeling you had in your gut the past few years wondering if you&rsquo;d ever be hired again.</p><p>A few weeks before he replaced Pat Burns behind the bench of the Boston Bruins Oct. 25, Keenan discussed his future as an NHL coach. On one hand, Keenan was almost indignant about his situation.</p><p>&ldquo;Want to be back in? I <i>should</i> be back in,&rdquo; he told The Hockey News. &ldquo;I would be an asset to a team in either a coaching or management position.&rdquo;</p><p>On the other hand, he was clearly worried he wouldn&rsquo;t get the opportunity.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;ll happen,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want to coach, no question about it. I just don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;</p><p>Keenan clung to the fact his mentor Scotty Bowman, the winningest coach in NHL history, was out of the NHL for four years after he was fired by Buffalo early in 1986-87. Just as clubs steered away from Keenan the last two seasons, teams were wary of the enigmatic Bowman and his player-bullying techniques. But he made it back - and added three more Stanley Cups to his coaching resume, giving him a total of eight.</p><p>&ldquo;If it can happen to Scotty, it can happen to anyone,&rdquo; Keenan said.</p><p>Since being fired by the Vancouver Canucks midway through 1998-99, Keenan has been <i>persona non grata</i> in the NHL. Outside of a half-hearted phone call from Glen Sather about the New York Rangers&rsquo; coaching position last summer, Keenan didn&rsquo;t get a sniff for a big-league job. Not a single interview. He bided his time working as an analyst for CTV Sportsnet in Toronto.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02235/7601194-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="1435" height="1429"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>New Boston coach Mike Keenan says he&rsquo;s harder on himself than he is on others.</i></figcaption></div><p>That Burns was fired by the Bruins came as no surprise - the team&rsquo;s owner, Jeremy Jacobs, was on Burns&rsquo; case last year and GM Harry Sinden chimed in this season. Boston opened with three wins and a tie, but things went downhill from there with four straight defeats. Following a 6-1 loss to Edmonton Oct. 17, Sinden said: &ldquo;We lose all the 1-on-l battles.&rdquo;</p><p>Then he sarcastically added, &ldquo;We probably have the wrong players again,&rdquo; in reference to complaints Burns had last season about Boston&rsquo;s personnel.</p><p>Never mind that Boston&rsquo;s top two goalies were out with injuries and offensive threat Anson Carter remained embroiled in a contract dispute.</p><p>Burns was in the final year of a three-year deal worth $950,000 this season.</p><p>The hiring of Keenan was a surprise, though. It was assumed Peter Laviolette, in his first year as an assistant coach with the team after a successful run with Providence of the American League, was being groomed for the job.</p><p>The Bruins will pay Keenan $800,000 this season and the club has an option to extend the deal to three years.</p><p>The baggage Keenan brings is a reputation for being a control freak who will badger his players and go to war with his GM. He addressed that issue at his introductory press conference in Boston.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned over the years managers manage, coaches coach and players play,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;If we remember that, we&rsquo;ll all be better off.&rdquo;</p><p>Then he added: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m now coaching in my third decade in the NHL. I wouldn&rsquo;t be sitting here now if I hadn&rsquo;t made changes. When you&rsquo;re not coaching, you reflect on the good things you did and the things you weren&rsquo;t happy with and you make changes. If people think I&rsquo;ve been hard on others, you should see how hard I&rsquo;ve been on myself.&rdquo;</p><p>Nobody has ever doubted Keenan&rsquo;s impact as a coach; his credentials are impeccable. After winning his Boston debut (4-1 over Washington Oct. 26), he had a career record of 507-372-117 and winning percentage of .568.</p><p>The NHL&rsquo;s coach of the year in 1985, Keenan guided the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup in 54 years in 1994. He twice took Philadelphia to the final and Chicago once. He also has two Canada Cup titles to his credit and has won championships at the minor league and Canadian university levels.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always liked Mike Keenan,&rdquo; said Bruins&rsquo; defenseman Paul Coffey. &ldquo;Any time I&rsquo;ve been associated with him (two Canada Cups), we won. And I have friends who have played for him who just love him. Rick Tocchet attributes a lot of his early development (in Philadelphia) to Mike. And it has been well-documented the success Mark Messier had with Mike.&rdquo;</p><p>And now it&rsquo;s up to Keenan. It&rsquo;s up to him to just coach the team.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>I&rsquo;m now coaching in my third decade in the NHL. I wouldn&rsquo;t be sitting here now if I hadn&rsquo;t made changes.</i>&nbsp;<b>Mike Keenan</b></blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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November 10, 2000

SCOREBOARD

Burns fired after Bruins drop four straight games

4-on-4 produces decision, finally

Briere back on farm to diversify game