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.

December 1, 2000

The Hockey News December 1, 2000

<div class="byline">Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</div>Slash and burn&nbsp;Phoenix&rsquo;s Brad May strikes Columbus&rsquo; Steve Heinze in the face and is suspended 20 games, one of the harshest bans in NHL history.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011563/7449256-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="991" height="1048"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021312/7449249-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="958" height="1045"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03983/7449242-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="997" height="1048"></div><h2>Editor&rsquo;s Notebook</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04746/7449235-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="286" height="349"></div>Diving is the ultimate victimless crime in the NHL &mdash; and yet it&rsquo;s the subject of the latest league crackdown. So, do we commend the NHL for responsiveness or condemn it for shining a light on a total non-issue?GMs met in Toronto Nov. 13, raised a stink about players competing tor Olympic gold in the pool and the NHL responded by instructing its officials to judge harshly any and all would be divers.This has not been a priority this season. There had been only two penalties called under Rule 41 (o) through 264 games. The rule states, &ldquo;A minor penalty shall by imposed on a player who attempts to draw a penalty by his actions (diving).&rdquo; It falls under the general heading of Abuse of Officials and other Misconduct. It&rsquo;s unclear which of those categories diving falls under - although it may be more the former than the latter, considering officials believe themselves to be shown up by players whose fakery draws penalties.Hall of Fame defenseman Harry Howell says he doesn&rsquo;t remember players diving during the 1950s and 1960s. He also says if they did, referees such as Red Storey would make them pay many times over for their indiscretions. Howell says they would have had to have their heads chopped off in subsequent incidents for someone such as Storey to make a call when the referee suspected subterfuge.Bill Barber knows all about that. The Philadelphia assistant coach and Hall of Fame player perfected the art of ice diving.&ldquo;The thing of it was that I got away with it for a while,&rdquo; Barber says. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t abuse it, but on the other hand it got to a point where nothing was called. I could be hooked right off my feet or tripped up and nothing was called. I was trying to get the referee&rsquo;s attention that something was going on that shouldn&rsquo;t be going on. As far as falling every time, that wasn&rsquo;t the case at all. It worked for a very short period of time and after that, no matter what happened, I paid the price for it.&rdquo;Barber adds: &ldquo;This diving term is B.S. I think it&rsquo;s a bad term. It&rsquo;s trying to draw a penalty It&rsquo;s trying to get the official&rsquo;s attention. Diving is swimming. This is hockey.&rdquo;Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke supports the crackdown, but acknowledges his former teammate&rsquo;s prowess. &ldquo;I used to think he was going to hurt himself when he landed,&rdquo; Clarke says. &ldquo;Billy was smart. It wasn&rsquo;t like he was doing it every game. Every once in a while, he&rsquo;d give it the big swan and we&rsquo;d get a power play.&rdquo;More are on the way. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

History says habitual divers pay stiff price for embellishing

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div><h2>NOTEBOOK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02557/7451267-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="269" height="252"></div>When former Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; GM-president Glen Sather took over the New York Rangers last spring, Hartford Wolf Pack goalie J.F. Labbe knew his days with the organization were numbered.So in a mid-November deal, Labbe - who doesn&rsquo;t think the Oilers gave him a serious look when he played for their American League affiliate in Hamilton in 1997-98 - was traded to the Columbus BlueJackets for defenseman Bert Robertsson.The cornerstone of two Calder Cup champions over the past four years, Labbe was assigned to Syracuse to give the Crunch some desperately needed quality goaltending.Meanwhile, the Rangers have created ice time for goaltending prospects Johan Holmqvist and Vitali Yeremeyev.Holmqvist, Labbe&rsquo;s backup in Hartford, was 4-3-0 with a 2.52 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.Yeremeyev, promoted from Charlotte of the East Coast League, posted a 30-save shutout at St. John&rsquo;s in his first AHL start.NO BIG DEAL Staring down the ice at Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; backup goalie and former AHL all-everything Martin Biron didn&rsquo;t faze Louisville Panthers netminder Sean Gauthier.Instead, Gauthier stopped all 32 shots he faced to blank Rochester 1-0 in the head-to-head duel with Biron. It doesn&rsquo;t make a difference to me if it&rsquo;s Patrick Roy or some kid out of Africa at the other end,&rdquo; Gauthier said. &ldquo;I just have to worry about my game and give my team a chance to win.&rdquo;Biron, with Rochester for a three-game conditioning stint after ending his contract holdout with Buffalo, was 2-1-0 with a 0.67 GAA, .968 save percentage and one shutout for the Amerks.AHL TIDBITS Worcester defenseman Jaroslav Obsut was named player of the week after back-to-back first-star performances&hellip; Referee Bob Langdon called just one minor penalty during St. John&rsquo;s 7-3 win over Philadelphia Nov. 11&hellip;Kentucky&rsquo;s second-year defenseman Robert Mulick extended his streak of consecutive games without a point to 77.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03421/7451260-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="1332" height="1772"><figcaption class="caption-body">Saint John&rsquo;s Rico Fata is one of the quickest skaters in the American League.</figcaption></div><h2>AHL</h2>SCOUTING REPORT<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04342/7451253-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="325" height="424"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Bell</figcaption></div>VITAL STATISTICSHometown: St. Paul&rsquo;s, Ont. Age: 20Size: 6-3,198LAST AMATEUR CLUBOttawa 67&rsquo;s (OHL)POSITION Center2000-01 SEASONNorfolk Admirals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05288/7451246-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="365" height="80"></div>NHL AFFILIATIONChicago BlackhawksNOTEWORTHYDrafted eighth overall in 1998, he was derailed by a concussion last season, but still scored 34 goals and 72 points in 48 games. He nearly stuck with Chicago in training camp.BOTTOM LINEAlternating between dominant and average, Bell must learn mental and physical preparation so he can compete on every shift before he joins the Hawks. &#9632;

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It’s Crunch time for ex-Pack Labbe

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01170/7452880-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="503" height="3442"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-02104/7452873-1-eng-US/f0053-022.jpg" title="f0053-02" width="523" height="3448"></div><h2>EAST COAST LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0364/7452866-1-eng-US/f0053-032.jpg" title="f0053-03" width="499" height="2110"></div><h2>WEST COAST LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0455/7452859-1-eng-US/f0053-042.jpg" title="f0053-04" width="497" height="1248"></div><h2>UNITED LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0538/7452852-1-eng-US/f0053-052.jpg" title="f0053-05" width="513" height="1712"></div><h2>WESTERN PRO LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0631/7452845-1-eng-US/f0053-062.jpg" title="f0053-06" width="517" height="1636"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0720/7452838-1-eng-US/f0053-072.jpg" title="f0053-07" width="503" height="1700"></div><h2>CENTRAL COLLEGIATE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0813/7452831-1-eng-US/f0053-082.jpg" title="f0053-08" width="525" height="502"></div><h2>EASTERN COLLEGIATE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0912/7452824-1-eng-US/f0053-092.jpg" title="f0053-09" width="505" height="556"></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-1012/7452817-1-eng-US/f0053-102.jpg" title="f0053-10" width="507" height="436"></div><h2>WESTERN COLLEGIATE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-1111/7452810-1-eng-US/f0053-112.jpg" title="f0053-11" width="515" height="520"></div><h2>METRO ATLANTIC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-1210/7452803-1-eng-US/f0053-122.jpg" title="f0053-12" width="501" height="522"></div><h2>COLLEGE HOCKEY AMERICA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-138/7452796-1-eng-US/f0053-132.jpg" title="f0053-13" width="493" height="276"></div><h2>ATLANTIC UNIVERSITIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-148/7452789-1-eng-US/f0053-142.jpg" title="f0053-14" width="503" height="420"></div><h2>CANADA WEST</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-158/7452782-1-eng-US/f0053-152.jpg" title="f0053-15" width="507" height="470"></div><h2>ONTARIO UNIVERSITIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-167/7452775-1-eng-US/f0053-162.jpg" title="f0053-16" width="513" height="826"></div> &#9632;

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HOCKEY’S BEST STATS

SCOREBOARD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04317/7450471-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="223" height="240"></div>Minnesota Wild forward Kai Nurminen didn&rsquo;t need anybody to tell him he had a poor training camp.Wild coach Jacques Lemaire did, though. Of course, sending him to Cleveland (IHL) before the start of the season spoke louder than anything Lemaire said.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a goal-scorer who didn&rsquo;t score goals in training camp,&rdquo; Lemaire said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s not so much he wasn&rsquo;t scoring goals, you at least want to see a goal-scorer get chances and he wasn&rsquo;t even getting chances. He has played well in Cleveland.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s why the Wild recalled Nurminen when a slew of Wild players went down with injuries. He scored a goal in his first game back, Nov. 16 against the Rangers-his first NHL goal since April 12,1997 when he was a member of the Kings.ANALYSIS After losing several forwards to injury for a few games, the Wild may have stumbled upon a No. 2 center. The juggling of lines had Lemaire moving Wes Walz to center with rookie Marian Gaborik on the right wing. Walz was second on the team with five goals. His inspired play has made him one of the Wild&rsquo;s most effective offensive players.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick Not In NHL: Nick Schultz, 18, D, Prince Albert (WHL), 33rd selection. Schultz performed so well in training camp the Wild considered keeping him with the big club. But it decided playing full-time in junior was better than part-time in the NHL.GP-17, G-3, A-ll, P-14, PIM-51.Key Prospect: Dan Cavanaugh, 20, C, Boston University(HE), 38th selection by Calgary, 1998. Cavanaugh has never been a big goal-scorer in college - he had nine goals, 34 points in 40 games last season - but the Wild likes his feisty attitude and willingness to take punishment to get to the net.GP-7, G-l, A-4, P-5, PIM-25.NOTEBOOK In the first five weeks of the season, only right winger Sergei Krivokrasov (sprained knee) went down with an injury. Then in a span of three games, the Wild lost nine regulars. &ldquo;We barely have enough to practice, let alone play,&rdquo; said coach Jacques Lemaire&hellip;Left winger Sylvain Blouin and right winger Peter Bartos each picked up their first NHL points by assisting on defenseman Lubomir Sekeras&rsquo; goal in a game against the Rangers Nov. 15.- Tom Jones &#9632;

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NHL TEAM REPORTS

Nurminen back up, scores in return

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011808/7449294-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div><h2>Gritty & Great</h2>Hockey&rsquo;s top cornermenEdmonton coach Craig MacTavish is convinced Oilers&rsquo; right winger Ryan Smyth is the best cornerman in the NHL. He just may be right.The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Smyth isn&rsquo;t as big as many defenders he faces 1-on-1 in the corners, but he has a knack for playing bigger.&ldquo;To be a good cornerman, you usually need a combination of size and patience,&rdquo; says Anaheim pro scout Lucien DeBlois. &ldquo;The size helps against big defensemen and you need to have patience to keep the puck moving and in your control when you&rsquo;re being challenged.&rdquo;DeBlois says the best cornermen have to be mentally tough because they know they&rsquo;re going to take a beating.Here are some of the NHL&rsquo;s best cornermen (listed alphabetically):Peter Forsberg Arguably the game&rsquo;s most complete player, the Colorado center prides himself on matching up against the game&rsquo;s biggest and toughest players. He beats defenders in the corners with speed and power.Michal Handzus The St. Louis left winger is patient with the puck and nearly impossible to knock off his feet. He likes to work the puck down low, looking for the wraparound.Jarome IginlaThe Calgary right winger uses speed and tenacity to punish defenders in his quest for the puck. His determination makes him difficult to defend against.Jamie Langenbrunner The Dallas right winger likes to spread his legs wide to hold his balance and work the puck with his skates, all the while fending off opponents with hisarms and stick.Ryan Smyth He has great hands and uses his body well to shield the puck. Some players look to unload the puck; Smyth likes to work it to the net.<h2>Don&rsquo;t compare to McSorley</h2>This won&rsquo;t happen, but the hockey world would be forever grateful if every time there is a grievous stick infraction from here on in, it isn&rsquo;t compared to the Marty McSorley incident.Brad May faced that after smacking Steve Heinze in the face.The McSorley mayhem represented a confluence of unique circumstances unlikely to be repeated. He was a five-time stick offender who hunted down an opponent and rendered him unconscious with a deliberate, non-reactionary swing of the stick.May, never before suspended, was trying to check Heinze - not initiate a fight. May messed up and got what he deserved. It&rsquo;s possible there will never be another occasion in which McSorley&rsquo;s suspension would be properly used as a comparable.<h2>Best of the rest</h2>From SIHR with LoveThe Society for International Hockey Research (SIHR) has undertaken a special initiative in conjunction with The Hockey News. SIHR is beginning the job of filling in NHL honor rolls.In the first of several projects, SIHR and THN are teaming up to name playoff MVPs since 1917-18, the NHL&rsquo;s first season. The league didn&rsquo;t introduce the Conn Smythe Trophy until 1965, when Montreal superstar Jean Beliveau was named the post-season&rsquo;s first most valuable player.SIHR and THN want to recognize the most brilliant performances over the first 47 years of NHL playoffs. Winners will be announced in the spring.A prime example of somebody who deserves acknowledgement for playoff magnificence is Terry Sawchuk. The Detroit goalie recorded four shutouts, a 0.63 goals-against average and .977 save percentage en route to the 8-0 Red Wings sweeping then way to the 1952 Stanley Cup.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing to recognize all the great performances by players before 1965,&rdquo; says SIHR president Ernie Fitzsimmons.SIHR and THN plan to do the same for the NHL&rsquo;s other major awards &mdash; the Hart, Norris and Calder &mdash; naming the most worthy candidates in the seasons before those trophies were introduced.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021447/7449287-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="553" height="774"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tie Domi</figcaption></div><h2>THN ONE-TIMERS</h2>A small story, but a good story: Minor coach does right thingMinor and youth hockey horror stories are a dime a dozen. Here&rsquo;s the opposite - a case of someone doing the right thing. The story: A goalmouth battle between two 17-year-old all-star players in Toronto turned into a fight. The aggressor didn&rsquo;t fare well, so his teammates picked up the opposing player&rsquo;s stick and smashed it to smithereens. The stick cost $120. The player&rsquo;s team doesn&rsquo;t supply sticks, so it appeared the player was going to pay handsomely for defending himself. Then something completely unexpected happened. The other team&rsquo;s coach said his players would pay for the cost of a new stick. He insisted they be accountable for their actions. Wow, what a concept.GET ME BACK OUT A bleeding Steve Heinze&rsquo;s instructions to the Blue Jackets&rsquo; trainers were precise and concise after he absorbed that horrible slash to the face from Brad May. &ldquo;Stitch me up, boys. We&rsquo;re on a power play.&rdquo; For the record, Heinze made it back out for the power play. Also, for the record: Heinze is an unrestricted free agent next summer&hellip;born petr svoboads, the 20-year-old with Toronto, and the 34-year-old with Tampa Bay, wear No. 23&hellip;Four of five suspensions this season have been in response to head shots&hellip;How important is the ice-time stat to players? Important enough to play hurt. One defenseman, whose value is reflected more accurately in minutes than points, learned a valuable lesson last year when he pulled himself from a game just two minutes into the first period. That dragged down his average ice-time for the year. This season, he was hurt again early, but rather than take the rest of the night off, he said to himself: &ldquo;Must finish the game.&rdquo; And he did.FINAL WORDS Gord Miller of Canada&rsquo;s TSN television had this to say about an offering on the Tie Domi web site: &ldquo;For $300, you can buy an autographed, three-sequence photo of Domi knocking out Ulf Samuelsson. You may recall that sucker punch in 1995; it earned Domi an eight-game suspension. Hawking autographed pictures of yourself deliberately trying to injure someone else is questionable at best.&rdquo;&hellip; &ldquo;The difference between the East and the West,&rdquo; says Vancouver GM Brian Burke, &ldquo;is that in the East, they try to take your head off as soon as you get the puck. In the West, they let you take a few strides before they try to take your head off.&rdquo; The West owns a decisive advantage on the ice this season, going 48-2415-3 in head-to-head meetings through Nov. 16. &ldquo;There is a difference, a big difference,&rdquo; says Sean Burke of Phoenix. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have any easy games in the West.&rdquo; &#9632;

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POWER PLAY

Legendary New York Ranger Rod Gilbert set a franchise record of 615 career assists over a 16-year career flying up and down the right wing for Broadway&rsquo;s Blueshirts.And though his Hall of Fame career ended in 1978, the 59-year-old Gilbert is still collecting assists.Working with the Rangers as director of community relations, he organizes and attends programs for disadvantaged school children.&ldquo;We entertain them in the gym with street hockey, talk to them about developing dreams and a capacity to learn and to grow up to be good citizens.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011746/7449325-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="220" height="268"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rod Gilbert</figcaption></div>Gilbert is also president of the New York Rangers&rsquo; players&rsquo; alumni association, helping out former Rangers who&rsquo;ve fallen on hard times.The Montreal native lives in New York City with his wife Judy Together they enjoy travelling to far-flung destinations in Europe and the Far East.Never a Stanley Cup champion during his 406-goal career, Gilbert said the 1972 Summit Series was his highlight. &ldquo;We went to Russia and won three out of four games against all odds,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;The camaraderie that grew from that series is just phenomenal.&rdquo;- Jeremy Sandler &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

Gilbert: Retired Ranger still earning assists

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011737/7449387-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Having won twice in 16 games, Trevor Kidd and Florida should demand a recount.</figcaption></div>Give Stars&rsquo; coach Ken Hitchcock credit for stating the obvious.&ldquo;It just wasn&rsquo;t working,&rdquo; Hitchcock said.Hitchcock wasn&rsquo;t talking about a plugged toilet, but about his Stars on a night they tied the Sabres 2-2 to inch - no, make that crawl - closer to a playoff spot.Yes, the same Stars who&rsquo;ve won the most games in the NHL the past three seasons (143); the same Stars to win the Stanley Cup two years ago; and the same Stars that lost in the final last season, are running on fumes in 2000-01.If the playoffs had begun in mid-November, the Stars would have been on the outside looking in.Dallas isn&rsquo;t the only supposed contender to slip. Over on the east side of the NHL, the Stanley Cup-champion New Jersey Devils were battling then-own demons and just hanging on to eighth spot in the conference, while the surprisingly woeful Panthers were still looking for win No. 3 after 16 games.So far, what the season has shown hockey fans is this: The East is weak and the West is a horse race. The standings don&rsquo;t lie.And if this pattern persists, just wait for the debate when the sprint for the playoffs begins in earnest.Consider the dysfunctional Southeast Division. Of the NHL&rsquo;s 25 other teams, 21 had a good enough record to be in first place in the Southeast. If the playoffs were to start in mid-November, the Southeast-leading Carolina Hurricanes would be seeded third in the East because the NHL wants to guarantee representation from every division when the post-season party begins. The league needs the representation for its national footprint (a.k.a. television) in the United States. The Hurricanes would open against Philadelphia and we can only hope the mercy killing is quick and painless for Carolina.Is that fair? No.Who potentially could be left out if a sub.-500 club captures the Southeast Division crown? The Devils, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers were all vying for that last playoff berth and really, which market is more important to the NHL? Carolina or New York, especially with Mark Messier leading the Rangers?That&rsquo;s not to say there aren&rsquo;t some races worth watching.The Northeast Division is about as tight as Harry Sinden&rsquo;s grasp on the Bruins&rsquo; bank accounts. Ottawa, Toronto and Buffalo are having their own version of a cat-fight for top spot and the Bruins should improve their fortunes with the acquisition of Bil Guerin from Edmonton for Anson Carter. Boston added scoring and surrendered a player who wasn&rsquo;t playing.Nobody is running away with the Atlantic Division, which means there&rsquo;s plenty of potential for those crucial four-point games. Pittsburgh has run hot and cold this season; the Rangers are improved; Philadelphia has overcome injuries and is showing signs of life, while the Islanders surprise people and the Devils have group dinners meant to be group hugs to snap them out of their funk.And while the Southeast exists on paper, it doesn&rsquo;t count.Out west, the need for points has never been greater.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to take 90 points to make the playoffs,&rdquo; said San Jose coach Darryl Sutter. &ldquo;Someone is going to have 85 to 88 and not make it.&rdquo;Colorado is still the top team, but the Avalanche can&rsquo;t afford to keep losing top offensive players to injury (Adam Deadmarsh, Chris Drury and Peter Forsberg). And try to find a weakness in St. Louis. That brings us to Phoenix. The question here is: Will the Coyotes keep howling when Wayne Gretzky takes over, especially since Gretzky is bringing Nikolai Khabibulin with him? Goalie Sean Burke has been the story in Phoenix and to use a much-used cliche, why mess with success?&ldquo;Goalies are fickle and when you get one in a groove, it&rsquo;s best to let him do what he wants,&rdquo; said one NHL observer.But once you get past Colorado, much is up for grabs. Six points separated second-place Phoenix from eighth-place Vancouver and Dallas was only eight points out of second.The division to watch is the Pacific, where someone is going to be left out. Three teams - Phoenix, San Jose and L.A. - have to keep their eyes on Dallas because the Stars will get then-act together.But what would a playoff race be without a wildcard? Enter Eric Lindros, who could severely alter the NHL playoff picture.Lindros will stick to his guns about not playing in Philadelphia and if he&rsquo;s traded, he has the potential to turn a pretender into a contender. He&rsquo;ll have something to prove when he comes back and he could have a huge impact on the balance of power.That&rsquo;s assuming, of course, the Flyers make the deal in the first place. (See pg. 35 for more.)As tight as the playoff races are early in the season, not everyone is enjoying the hockey being played. &ldquo;There are a lot of games that look alike,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be watching Toronto and it might as well be Tampa Bay or the Rangers.&rdquo;Of course, the Maple Leafs and Rangers can only dream of being part of the Lightning&rsquo;s stumbling Southeast Division. &#9633;Puck Poll results from <a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">www.thehockeynews.com</a> & <a href="http://www.ctvsportsnet.com">www.ctvsportsnet.com</a>Should divisional winners in the NHL be seeded 1-2-3 for the playoffs?Yes: 39%No: 61%To participate in the weekly Puck Poll, visit our web site: <a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">www.thehockeynews.com</a> &#9632;

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Topsy-turvy early season

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-05283/7449446-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg" title="f0005-05" width="346" height="616"><figcaption class="caption-body">Evgeni Nabokov</figcaption></div>The Best of the Hockey World<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021232/7449467-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="97" height="37"></div>NHL HITS BACK The NHL&rsquo;s 20-game suspension of Phoenix left winger Brad May - for his slash to the face of Columbus&rsquo; Steve Heinze - fits the crime.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03790/7449460-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="91" height="34"></div>SMYTH SIZZLES Edmonton&rsquo;s Ryan Smyth becomes the first player to score all three goals in a 3-0 win twice as his Oilers defeat St. Louis.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04478/7449453-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="88" height="34"></div>HOT START Rookie goalie Evgeni Nabokov sparkles early with a 10-2-2 record, 1.79 goals-against average and .933 save percentage</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>The Worst of the Hockey World<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-06158/7449439-1-eng-US/f0005-062.jpg" title="f0005-06" width="88" height="34"></div>WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? Just as the Marty McSorley aftermath is dying down, Brad May swings his stick baseball-style into the face of Steve Heinze.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0794/7449432-1-eng-US/f0005-072.jpg" title="f0005-07" width="88" height="34"></div>TAKE TWO Washington defenseman Joe Reekie is suspended two games for elbowing Phoenix center Jeremy Roenick in the head.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0861/7449425-1-eng-US/f0005-082.jpg" title="f0005-08" width="88" height="34"></div>OFFENSE STIFLED Ottawa suffers back-to-back shutouts in the midst of a four-game losing streak, managing just four goals in the four games.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0937/7449418-1-eng-US/f0005-092.jpg" title="f0005-09" width="349" height="601"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Reekie</figcaption></div>For Mike Brophy&rsquo;s daily Cheers & Jeers, visit <a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">www.thehockeynews.com</a> &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011936/7449505-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div><h2>Honor Robinson in rafters</h2>Twenty-one years in the NHL. Eight Stanley Cups - six as a player, one as an assistant coach and one as a coach. A man who took over a troubled team with only eight games left in the season and led them to the Cup.This man is not just a Hall of Famer who has gained the respect of the hockey world - he&rsquo;s also my father, Larry Robinson.I felt compelled to write because my father has given so much to the game, but even though his No. 19 hasn&rsquo;t been worn since he left Montreal 11 years ago, the Habs still haven&rsquo;t retired the number.After 17 years of blood, sweat and tears in Montreal, I think my father deserves the highest honor from the franchise where it all began.Rachelle Robinson,Marina Del Ray, Calif.<h3>Many days for May</h3>Did Phoenix&rsquo;s Brad May get arrested for his slash on Steve Heinze of Columbus?Will he have to make a special request to be allowed back into the league? There wasn&rsquo;t as much injury to Heinze as there was to Donald Brashear, but the intent was certainly there.For intentionally slashing someone across the face, May deserves at least what Marty McSorley got, doesn&rsquo;t he?Chris Courtney,Columbus<h3>Good teams left out</h3>As I look over the standings, it&rsquo;s plain to see some good teams will again miss the playoffs due to the NHL&rsquo;s format.Just look at the Southeast Division. Yes, it&rsquo;s early in the season, but every Southeast team has more losses than wins; yet, the division &ldquo;winner&rdquo; will get the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.The NHL should help itself and appease its fans by ranking teams No. I through 30, with the top 16 making the playoffs. This guarantees the best teams a berth in the post-season. And with the collective bargaining agreement set to be renegotiated in 2004, the NHL should give the fans what we want: Great games to remember, so we come back after the strike!.Brian McNay,WestIlsip, N.Y.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021303/7449498-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="1731" height="832"></div><h2>Hulls won&rsquo;t be first combo in Hall</h2>The story &ldquo;Hull dynasty tops in sports&rdquo; made the claim that Bobby and Brett Hull could become the first father-son combination - of the four major pro sports - to both be inducted into the Hall of Fame (THN, Nov. 3). That&rsquo;s wrong. Hockey&rsquo;s Oliver and son Earl Siebert were inducted in 1961 and 1963, respectively.Pat O&rsquo;Hara,St. LouisBob Gainey has to be feeling left out. He has guided Dallas to consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup, was an assistant GM at the 1998 Olympics and has as thorough a hockey resume as there is, but it&rsquo;s Wayne Gretzky who gets to call the shots for Canada in 2002. Nothing against Gretzky, who is a good choice, but where is the respect for Gainey?James Harrison,HoustonHas Mathieu Schneider finally found a home? I&rsquo;ve always thought he was a solid, all-around defenseman who had some toughness, but after Montreal, Toronto and both New York teams let him go, I began to question his worth. But paired with Rob Blake in Los Angeles this year, Schneider is proving he can be a valuable asset if given the opportunityEric Belair,Quebec CityDon&rsquo;t look now, but Dominik Hasek is healthy, happy and playing his world-beating best.Lewis Jacoby,Chicago<h3>READERS&rsquo; ONE-TIMERS</h3>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.<h2>Gauthier&rsquo;s GM skills overrated</h2>Once again, Anaheim appears destined to miss the playoffs despite having two of the most offensively gifted players in the world. Yet Mighty Ducks&rsquo; GM Pierre Gauthier is considered a great hockey executive. Why?When he was GM in Ottawa, Gauthier traded Pavol Demitra for Christer Olsson. Demitra has since emerged as a point-a-game player in St. Louis, while Olsson, a defenseman, has vanished from the NHL.Sure, Gauthier has won the odd trade and drafted some good players in later rounds, but Ottawa has continued to prosper since his departure, while Anaheim hasn&rsquo;t done so since he arrived.It&rsquo;s time to dismiss the Gauthier myth. With Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya in the lineup, winning should be a tradition, not a fluke.Corey Oliver,Ottawa<h3>Kalinin one to watch</h3>One of Buffalo&rsquo;s top defensemen this season, if not the best of the bunch, is Dmitri Kalinin.After being drafted 18th overall in 1998, he spent 1999-2000 in the American League; it was obviously time well spent.Kalinin makes smart decisions and excellent plays, especially for a 20-year-old. He has great instincts and reads plays very well. Kalinin hasn&rsquo;t been mentioned in many polls of the year&rsquo;s top rookies, but the fans and media will soon realize what a special talent he is.Eric Voglmayr,Buffalo<h3>O&rsquo;Connell&rsquo;s onerous task</h3>So Harry Sinden has finally handed over the GM reins in Boston. After his extended training session, I hope Mike O&rsquo;Connell can establish himself as a respected GM, as opposed to a shadowy extension of the once-GM king he has replaced.O&rsquo;Connell has a tough task ahead of him: To rebuild an uninspired team that is still struggling to come to terms with the firing of Pat Burns.As a Bruins&rsquo; fan, I support O&rsquo;Connell, but my hurting heart can&rsquo;t help but notice other teams&rsquo; successes due to wise GM moves. My advice to O&rsquo;Connell: Go with your head, not your heartJay Strempek,South Burlington, Vt. &#9632;

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LETTER OF THE WEEK

<h2>Canadians win</h2>Canada&rsquo;s national women&rsquo;s team won the gold medal at the Four Nations Cup in Provo, Utah, with a 2-0 win over the U.S. Amanda Benoit-Wark and Geraldine Heaney scored for Canada, while goalie Kim St-Pierre stopped all 28 shots. Meanwhile, Greg Parks scored two goals as Canada&rsquo;s national men&rsquo;s team won the Deutschland Cup with a 5-2 win over Hannover, Germany. Jason Miller, Dwayne Norris and Mike Kennedy also scored.<h2>Fan report</h2>The NHL Fans&rsquo; Association issued results of its third annual fan report and 45 per cent of 3,100 respondents believe new players in the league should be required to wear visors. The NHLFA (www.nhlfa.com) sent a list of 55 questions to its 16,000 members and tabulated these results: 89 per cent don&rsquo;t want fighting banned, eight per cent do; 63 per cent think the average NHL salary is too high; 88 per cent believe ticket prices are too high.<h2>Nash fastest</h2>Speedsters Simon Gagne and Shawn Bates won fastest skating events for Philadelphia and Boston in Dodge/NHL Super-Skills team competitions. Gagne skated a lap in 13.898 seconds, while Bates clocked in at 13.984. The leader to date is St. Louis&rsquo; Tyson Nash (13.688 seconds). Philadelphia&rsquo;s Michal Sykora registered a 98.6 miles-per-hour shot, while Boston&rsquo;s Ken Belanger was 98.7 m.p.h. Mike Modano has the hardest shot to date at 103.4 m-p-h.<h2>Off to Russia</h2>The NHL Players&rsquo; Association Goals and Dreams Fund is off to Siberia Nov. 21 to aid youth players in Novokuznetsk, Russia. Fund chairman Mike Gartner and manager Devin Smith will deliver much-needed equipment to youth programs. The NHLPA Goals and Dreams Fund, launched one year ago, assists hockey-related initiatives globally. Its mandate is to distribute $15 million worth of hockey aid over a five-year period.<h2>Quebec is out</h2>Quebec City and Montreal have pulled out of the running to host the 2003 World Junior Championship. That leaves bids from eight cities looking to host the international event in Canada. They are Calgary, Halifax, Hamilton/Kitchener, London, Mississauga, Ottawa, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. A short list of five will be made in early December and the winning bid determined by the International Ice Hockey Federation Dec. 31. &#9632;

INSIDE HOCKEY

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello, Senior Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011759/7449567-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Lindros, seen here doing endorsement work in Toronto in mid-November, is one NHL star fans still can&rsquo;t pay to see. For more on Lindros&rsquo; situation in Philadelphia, see pg. 35.</figcaption></div>While some NHL tans complain about having to visit the mortgage officer on their way to the game, a survey shows hockey ticket prices are rising at a slower rate than pro football, baseball and basketball.Figures released by Team Marketing Report, a Chicago-based newsletter, show the average ticket price for an NHL game this season rose to $47.69 (U.S.), compared to $45.73 last season. The 4.3 per-cent increase is significantly less than the percentage increase in Major League Baseball (11.6), the National Football League (8.4) and the National Basketball Association (5.5).The NBA retained top spot as the priciest pro team sport in North America with an average ticket price of $51.02, slightly ahead of the NFL ($48.97) and NHL ($47.69). MLB&rsquo;s average is $16.65.The NHL previously led the pro circuit four straight years, from an average price of $32.75 in 1994-95 through 1997-98 when the average ticket cost $41.76.The average NHL ticket price has risen 45.6 per cent since 1994-95. The NHL&rsquo;s hike of 4.3 per cent this season is the second-smallest in six years.&ldquo;The opening of several new arenas in years past helped boost the average ticket price,&rdquo; said Matthew Freedman, editor of Team Marketing Report. &ldquo;New arenas contain expensive premium seating. The fact only two new arenas (Minnesota and Columbus) opened this year has helped keep ticket prices somewhat in check.&rdquo;Toronto again leads the league in average ticket price ($67.01 U.S.), while Calgary still offers the best bargain with an average cost of $32.86. That, however, represents a league-high 18 per-cent increase.Six teams lowered their average ticket price including Montreal, Carolina, Atlanta, St. Louis, Phoenix and Florida.Nashville, Boston, the Islanders and Rangers did not increase prices.Team Marketing Report also has a Fan Cost Index which tabulates the cost of a family of four to attend a game. It includes four average-priced tickets, four small drinks, two beers, four hot dogs, two hats, two programs and parking.The NHL average is $264.77.The Rangers have the most expensive total ($373.27) and Calgary the cheapest ($180.09).<h2>Average ticket price</h2>Toronto leads all 30 NHL teams in average ticket price, according to Team Marketing Report. Included is attendance this season, ticket prices last season and this season and the percentage change.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021169/7449560-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="685" height="1423"></div> &#9632;

f0007-01

Ticket price hike slows

<div class="byline">By Szymon Szemberg</div>Sweden has exported the Volvo, Bjorn Borg, Abba &mdash; and the neutral zone trap.While the trap has at times held the NHL in an iron grip, Sweden has moved on. It is now into the &lsquo;Torpedo,&rsquo; an exciting system that is the brainchild of Mats Waltin, coach of the Swedish champions, Djurgarden of Stockholm.Waltin, 47, has support from above in the form of Anders Hedberg, the new GM of the Swedish national team. The former Winnipeg Jet and New York Ranger is using his recently appointed position to brand the trap as politically incorrect and make the hockey world embrace the Torpedo.Waltin has scrapped the traditional setup of two defensemen and a forward line comprised of two wingers and a center. Instead, the former rushing defenseman and member of Team Sweden in the 1976 Canada Cup has introduced a five-man unit that works like this:&#9633; Two energetic forecheckers (&ldquo;torpe-does&rdquo;) probe the defense. Their main mission is to create havoc in the other team&rsquo;s zone. &#9633; Behind the torpedoes is apair of playmaking &ldquo;halfbacks.&rdquo; &#9633; The remaining skater is the &ldquo;libero,&rdquo; a traditional rearguard.The revolutionary quintet features four forwards and one true defenseman. With this system, Djurgarden won both the regular season title and swept the Sedin twins and MoDo in the playoff final.&ldquo;When I returned to Swedish hockey in 1998 after 11 years of playing and coaching in Switzerland, I found the Swedish league extremely boring,&rdquo; Waltin told The Hockey News. &ldquo;It struck me the players practised twice a day and were in perfect condition, but when they entered the rink the coaches asked them to stand still and wait in the neutral zone. That didn&rsquo;t make sense.&rdquo;In Djurgarden, no one refers to the terms &ldquo;left winger&rdquo; or &ldquo;center&rdquo; or &ldquo;defensemen,&rdquo; except in the past tense.&ldquo;My players are torpedoes, halfbacks and liberos only,&rdquo; Waltin said.In the defensive zone, the usual rules apply, but the torpedoes are always prepared for a change in possession and outlet pass. No center ice red line in Sweden makes that pass even longer and more dramatic.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011828/7449605-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="333" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mats Waltin</figcaption></div>Hedberg, who stepped down as the assistant GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1999, left Sweden for the World Hockey<h2>The Swedish Torpedo</h2>Rather than three forwards and two defensemen, the &lsquo;Torpedo&rsquo; system consists of two energetic forecheckers or &lsquo;Torpedoes, &rsquo; two playmaking &lsquo;Halfbacks&rsquo; and one &lsquo;Libero, &rsquo; or traditional defenseman.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021378/7449598-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="833" height="848"></div>Association in 1974. That was before the neutral zone trap was introduced in Sweden and he retired from the NHL before its gospel reached North American rinks.For him, it was the monster he heard about, but never encountered.&ldquo;The mid-zone trap is like having $10,000 and putting it under your pillow,&rdquo; Hedberg said. &ldquo;You risk nothing, you gain nothing.&ldquo;With the Torpedo system you invest the $10,000 wisely, some into stocks, some low-risk funds, some high-risk funds. You might lose a little now and then, but in the end you gain.&rdquo;Waltin is more to the point.&ldquo;We give up some 3-on-2s, 2-on-ls and even 3-on-ls, but in the end we still win and the crowd likes it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Win and entertain.&rdquo;Djurgarden scored the most goals diming the 50-game season (3.6 per-game average), but also kept their goals-against average down - at 2.54, it was the lowest in the league.The only Canadian in the Swedish Elite League this season is Montreal-born defenseman Francois Bouchard, 27, who played at Northeastern University before he pursued his career overseas.With Djurgarden, Bouchard found himself as a halfback. The reaction from his buddies at Northeastern?&rdquo;Any touchdowns, yet, Francois?&rdquo;&ldquo;I enjoy it because it focuses on speed,&rdquo; said Bouchard, a 1994 supplemental draft pick by Tampa Bay. &ldquo;This makes you see hockey in a different way.&rdquo;The Torpedo system also alters the way coaches change lines. Waltin goes with four torpedo units where each shift lasts 25-30 seconds while the halfbacks and liberos log their usual 60 seconds.&ldquo;That gives you high-octane hockey, the way the game was meant to be played,&rdquo; said Hedberg, who thinks the Torpedo system can catch on in North America. &ldquo;In the NHL, you have exactly the types of players you need for that system - fierce forecheckers, great playmakers and traditional blueliners.&rdquo;So can it work in the smaller rinks of North America? Waltin and Bouchard think so, but in a slightly different way.The long outlet passes are, of course, not feasible because of the center ice red line. On the other hand, that eliminates the concern that the torpedoes would be nullified by two-zone passes. Also, the system should work more effectively in the forechecking aspect because of the smaller ice surface to cover.Now in its second season in Djurgarden, the Torpedo has received admiration, but not acceptance. No other teams have adopted it, although several have it on the radar screen.Tommy Sandlin, the dean of Swedish coaches, told reporters he will introduce the Torpedo on his Leksand team next season.Can Waltin, once drafted by the Atlanta Flames, become the next European coach in the NHL and re-introduce firewagon hockey, 21st-Century style?&ldquo;I think he will,&rdquo; Hedberg said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of time.&rdquo; &#9633; &#9632;

f0008-01

FEATURES

Torpedo guns down trap

<div class="byline">By Bob McManaman</div>When Steve Heinze testified at the Marty McSorley trial in October, he gave a blunt, but realistic description of stickwork in the NHL A little more than a month later, reality hit Heinze in the face.It came in the form of a Brad May slash, one the Phoenix left winger said was unintentional. Nonetheless, in the wake of the Marty McSorley ruling, May was suspended 20 games by the NHL, the third-longest ban ever for a player-on-player incident.&ldquo;Stickwork is always part of the game,&rdquo; Heinze told the court when testifying on behalf of his former teammate. &ldquo;Every game, every shift. They are used all over the body to affect other people&rsquo;s play. You swing and you aim for a spot. Pinpoint accuracy doesn&rsquo;t occur when a guy is flying by you.&rdquo;And May contended that&rsquo;s what transpired in the Nov. 11 game. &ldquo;I had no reason to go after Steve Heinze,&rdquo; May said. &ldquo;It was a reaction to a backcheck when he got better position on me. I just wanted to let him know I was there.&rdquo;May felt horrible afterwards. He went to the Blue Jackets&rsquo; dressing room after the game to apologize to Heinze, who accepted. Heinze suffered a banged-up nose and required nine stitches. He missed just one shift.Still, NHL vice-president Colin Campbell said he felt compelled to levy the hefty ban on the first-time offender. &ldquo;The message to all players in the NHL should be clear:The act of a player striking an opponent in the head with his stick will carry severe consequences,&rdquo; said Campbell in a statement.After his ruling, he added, &ldquo;I feel bad for Brad. It was a tough situation and a tough penalty to pay. He&rsquo;s an honest player.&rdquo;May believes he is being used as an example in the wake of the year-long McSorley suspension, one which raised the bar on stick fouls. &ldquo;If this is the suspension given to a player who makes an accidental mistake, then this is pretty harsh for the fact there was no intent and it was an accident,&rdquo; May said.Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, May forfeits $111,647 in salary. The money goes to the NHL&rsquo;s Players&rsquo; Emergency Assistance Fund. (See pg. 3 for opinion on suspension).<h2>May&rsquo;s days on shelf among most ever</h2>Brad May&rsquo;s 20-game ban is the third-longest ever in the NHL for a player-on-player incident. Tampa&rsquo;s Gordie Dwyer (23 games this season) and Chicago&rsquo;s Tom Lysiak (20 games, 1983) were suspended for incidents involving abuse of officials. Here are all player-on-player suspensions of 15 games or more.23 Games Boston&rsquo;s Marty McSorley slashes Vancouver&rsquo;s Donald Brashear on the head, Feb. 23, 2000. The sentence is later extended to one year.21 Games Washington&rsquo;s Dale Hunter hits the Islanders&rsquo; Pierre Turgeon into the boards after a goal, April 28,1993.20 Games Phoenix&rsquo;s Brad May slashes Columbus&rsquo; Steve Heinze in the face, Nov. 15, 2000.16 Games Boston&rsquo;s Eddie Shore hits Toronto&rsquo;s &lsquo;Ace&rsquo; Bailey from behind, Dec. 12, 1933.15 Games Los Angeles&rsquo; Tony Granato slashes Chicago&rsquo;s Neil Wilkinson on the head, Feb. 4,1994.15 Games Philadelphia&rsquo;s Dave Brown cross-checks the Rangers&rsquo; Tomas Sandstrom in the jaw, Oct. 27, 1987.15 Games Colorado&rsquo;s Wilf Paiement slashes Detroit&rsquo;s Dennis Polonich on the head, Oct. 25,1978.15 Games Montreal&rsquo;s Maurice Richard swings stick at Boston&rsquo;s Hal Laycoe, March 16,1955. &#9632;

May pays hefty price as league raises bar on stick fouls

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011797/7449667-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="379" height="382"></div>He&rsquo;s proud and stubborn and disagreeable and supremely confident in his ability.Those qualities helped Tom Barrasso win 353 NHL games, a Calder Trophy and two Stanley Cups. Those same qualities are responsible for his enforced absence from the NHL, one that may or may not bring down the curtain on one of the best American goaltending careers.If Barrasso plays, it will be on the terms he set for himself. If he is forced into de facto retirement, it will bebecause he isn&rsquo;t willing to compromise on what he wants. An unrestricted free agent, he&rsquo;s setting rules, but he&rsquo;s not controlling the game, at least not yet.&ldquo;Tom has made it clear he only wants to sign where he can play as the No. 1 goalie and be paid as the No. 1 goalie,&rdquo; said Steve Reich, Barrasso&rsquo;s Pittsburgh-based agent.For the foreseeable future, the 35-year-old Barrasso isn&rsquo;t ready to budge. (Or give phone interviews, for that matter.)&ldquo;He&rsquo;s willing to wait, however long it may be,&rdquo; Reich said. &ldquo;If it&rsquo;s the end &mdash; and we don&rsquo;t think it is &mdash; it&rsquo;s the end.&rdquo;Then everybody can do the postmortem on Barrasso. If that happens, expect stories to be two-pronged, about a good goaltender and a bad human being, with the emphasis on the latter.It isn&rsquo;t that simple.Barrasso&rsquo;s grating personality - think the-Grinch-meets-Terry-Sawchuk, if there&rsquo;s any accuracy to all the stories that have accumulated - overshadows a remarkable career. People too often forget Barrasso made the improbable jump from a Massachusetts high school to the NHL and was rookie of the year with Buffalo. And on a Pittsburgh team where the goaltender was the defense, Barrasso backstopped two Stanley Cup champions.Only Frankie Brimsek, who retired 50 years ago, can make a case for being a better American-born netminder. The success of Barrasso and Phil Housley helped legitimize U.S. hockey players.But that was a couple decades ago, long enough for normal people and an eternity for hockey players.The question is whether Barrasso, warts and all, is still a No. 1 goalie. He played well for Pittsburgh in the 1999 playoffs and battled injuries last season. Ottawa jettisoned Ron Tugnutt for Barrasso and called it an upgrade in a controversial move by GM Marshall Johnston last March. While Barrasso wasn&rsquo;t the reason the Senators lost in six games to Toronto, neither did he elevate the team or his game. The Leafs talked about his standup style in a butterfly world and about how he could beaten by side-to-side passing. He added another chapter to his, uh, colorful history by performing one-seventh of a vintage George Carlin comedy routine for a live CBC audience.Many swear at Barrasso, while some, like Detroit&rsquo;s Scotty Bowman, who coached him in Buffalo and Pittsburgh, swear by him.&ldquo;He can stop the puck, which is the main object, but there&rsquo;s a lot of peripheral concerns,&rdquo; said goaltender-turned-analyst John Davidson. &ldquo;His health is one thing. And there&rsquo;s his ability to work with the backup goaltender. Is he willing to share? If it&rsquo;s a young goaltender and that guy is stopping everything, is he willing to take a step back?&ldquo;Everybody has baggage. Part of Tom&rsquo;s baggage is not working well with the other goaltender. When you&rsquo;re on the back nine of your career, that matters more.&rdquo;.Contrast Barrasso with Calgary&rsquo;s Mike Vernon, a player with similar wins and Stanley Cups. Despite a sometimes prickly relationship with the media, Vernon got high marks for working with Chris Osgood in Detroit.Barrasso didn&rsquo;t exactly play nice with recent understudies such as Patrick Lalime and Jean-Sebastien Aubin. GMs take notice. If Barrasso was the Barrasso of 10 years ago, they&rsquo;d write a check. Now they hesitate in this poker game with so much at stake.&ldquo;It has to be the right situation at the right money,&rdquo;Reich said. Reich doesn&rsquo;t feel Barrasso&rsquo;s persona is working against him, calling it more of a &ldquo;media perception. He has been a good teammate.&rdquo;But he acknowledges Barrasso&rsquo;s personality &ldquo;is not suited to being a No. 2 goaltender.&rdquo;So they wait. Barrasso still wants to play, but isn&rsquo;t dying a thousand deaths with every ring of his cell phone. He has certain goals he&rsquo;d like to accomplish, such as 400 career victories, Reich said.Barrasso is financially secure enough to wait and hope that a team will weigh his pluses and minuses and figure he might make the difference one more time.A pretty good career is at stake.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021309/7449660-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="1132" height="1975"></div> &#9632;

f0010-01

COLUMN

No. 1 or bust for Barrasso

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>Try this out for the perfect winter evening in. A friend carrying skates, stick and six-pack drops over for some late-night shinny in your backyard. The floodlights are shining and Chuck Berry jives on the radio. The two of you alternate taking swigs of beer and pot-shots at an empty net until your young son emerges from the house decked out in full goalie gear. Now really, can it get any better than an outdoor rink and an in-house goalie?The boy is a willing target until you torment him completely by blasting pucks from bad angles out of the shadows near the boards. &ldquo;You two are sick,&rdquo; the son says before bailing. The skating and shooting and beers in the snow bank continue on into the night.Evidently, you can do things like this when you have your own ice and kids young enough to and grown-up enough to know who the backyard rink is really for. It&rsquo;s for dad, of course. One of the great parts about Home Ice: Reflections on Backyard Rinks and Frozen Ponds, is author Jack Falla never pretends otherwise. Did he and his buddy Doc fire invisible pucks at Brian to get him to go to bed or did it just happen that way? Falla never says.A former columnist with The Hockey News and Sports Illustrated staffer, Falla has watched his kids&rsquo; lives and the lives of their friends play out on the ice he has built for the past 18 years. It&rsquo;s one of his life&rsquo;s great joys. Though he travelled in early 1987 to Walter Gretzky&rsquo;s home in Brantford, Ont., to get a look at the backyard rink where the Gretzky legend began, this intimate book is more about how homemade ice builds family ties and enduring friendships than NHL careers.Yet to say the book is about family is to minimize Falla&rsquo;s unique role in all of this. Backyard rinks in suburban New England are not built by happenstance. They require huge plastic liners and a station wagon full of plywood boards and late nights of frigid-weather watering and making peace with the neighbors and their flooded gardens. It is a labor of love born out of love of a sport.Falla&rsquo;s first date with his wife was to a hockey game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011618/7449698-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="913" height="1138"></div>He and his dad had generational issues common to war-era fathers and post-war sons, but when they were together at a Bruins&rsquo; game it was nothing but net. For Falla, the rink became the place where he could be at home at a young age. That hasn&rsquo;t changed. As a writer he is impressively well-rounded and insightful and witty without ever sounding contrived. Yet as an adult conversationalist he is like the unilingual French Canadian from Asbestos who winds up in Atlanta. He doesn&rsquo;t have much to say until he or the conversation steps onto ice.So it has come to be that Falla&rsquo;s backyard rink is where many of the defining moments of his life have played out. He spent New Year&rsquo;s 2000 skating on the rink with his wife Barbara as fireworks exploded in the distance. He skated while tucking his infant grandson in his arms like a football. He realized something dramatic had changed when his 14-year-old son sprinted past him in a figure-eight race around the nets: &ldquo;&lsquo;Goodbye, Brian,&rsquo; I said to myself as he pulled away. I was happy for him. But if I had to point to a particular moment when middle age - the beginning of the inevitable and, I hope, long descent - officially began for me, it would be the final turn of that race, the instant Bri got that shoulder in front of me.&rdquo;There is one noticeable slip-Falla mistakenly says Wayne Gretzky set the NHL&rsquo;s consecutive points streak at 53 games rather than 51 - but it is minor slush in the corner of a literary rink free of potholes. Falla&rsquo;s honesty shines through every word. He is experienced enough in hockey&rsquo;s roots to admit the best ice in the history of his rink is no match for black ice or a clear, frozen lake.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t love the game unless you&rsquo;ve shoveled the ice,&rdquo; Falla writes, crediting Dave King with the line. It&rsquo;s not entirely fair to southern fans who only know hockey as a sport built by the NHL&rsquo;s marketing machine. But not fair doesn&rsquo;t mean not true. Would they love the game enough to get a stick from Gretzky and allow it to get stepped on in a game of street hockey in the driveway? Would they love the game enough to throw fresh skate snow around the kitchen at age 55? Only if they&rsquo;re very, very lucky.Home Ice: Reflections on Backyard Rinks and Frozen Ponds, by Jack Falla, McGregor, $18.95 U.S., 190 pages. &#9632;

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Home Ice celebrates love of game & family

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy, Senior Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011748/7449736-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div>OK, let&rsquo;s get it out of the way right off the bat: Jason Allison is not a pretty skater.If that&rsquo;s old news, it&rsquo;s only because some people choose to paint him with the same brush they did when he first appeared in the NHL in 1993-94. A lot has changed since then.Did you know he&rsquo;s a quick skater? Did you know he has spent a month in each of the past two summers training with an Olympic speedskater improving his form? Did you know he&rsquo;s not the least bit intimidated by his opponents&rsquo; speed?&ldquo;If there&rsquo;s a race for the puck, I don&rsquo;t think there are many guys in the league who can beat me to it,&rdquo; said the Bruins&rsquo; 25-year-old center.That&rsquo;s your opinion, Jason. But is that reality?&ldquo;A lot of people who make judgments about Jason&rsquo;s skating are sitting high above the ice in the press box,&rdquo; said former Bruins&rsquo; coach Pat Burns. &ldquo;But if you get down to ice level, then you get an idea of how fast he really is.&rdquo;Added current Brums&rsquo; coach Mike Keenan: &ldquo;Let me remind you of another player who people used to criticize for his skating: Wayne Gretzky They said he&rsquo;d never make it when he was a junior because he couldn&rsquo;t skate well enough. Now I&rsquo;m not saying Jason Allison is Wayne Gretzky, but he has the offensive instincts and the skating skills to be a successful NHL player.&rdquo;When you think about it, how could Allison not be fast, even if he does score low on artistic impression? Today&rsquo;s game is all about speed and a quick glance at the scoring race shows Allison in a battle with Ziggy Palffy, Joe Sakic and Doug Weight for top spot. In trying to become the first Bruin to win the scoring race since Bobby Orr did it in 1974-75, Allison had 10 goals and 26 points in 18 games.If you think Allison&rsquo;s output is a fluke, think again. Three years ago, in his second full NHL season, he finished ninth in league scoring with 33 goals and 83 points - both career-highs. Even two years ago, when he played half the year with an injured wrist, the native of North York, Ont., still wound up 14th in league scoring.But just as quickly as Allison darts to the net with the puck, his career was sidetracked. That Allison is once again among the league&rsquo;s top performers is as big a shock as the Florida Panthers&rsquo; nosedive. Allison&rsquo;s wrist was still ailing when last season opened and it got worse in the Bruins&rsquo; first game. Doctors told Allison he would likely need surgery to repair the damage, but that would mean a six-month recovery period. He could, however, continue playing as long as he could endure the pain. So that&rsquo;s exactly what Allison did, even though he wasn&rsquo;t as effective as he could have been. He rarely took faceoffs and his shot suffered dramatically&ldquo;I thought it was important to try to help the team get as many points as we could to make the playoffs,&rdquo; Allison said.Things changed Jan. 8 when he suffered a broken thumb. It was finally time to shut things down and get his wrist surgically repaired. He underwent a tendon transplant - there&rsquo;s an eight-inch scar to prove it - and started this season 100 per-cent healthy.Good health has enabled him to get his promising career back on track. A sniper in junior with London (Ontario League), Allison was picked 17th overall by Washington in 1993. But he made virtually no impact with the Capitals and was traded to Boston on March 1,1997, along with goalie Jim Carey, right winger Anson Carter and a third round draft choice for goalie Bill Ranford, center Adam Oates and right winger Rick Tocchet.The Bruins were: 1) ridding themselves of high-priced older talent, and; 2) setting themselves up for the future with some promising young talent. Carey has since disappeared from the NHL landscape, but Carter was traded to Edmonton for Bill Guerin Nov. 15; and Allison, despite his injuries, offers promise for the future. So much so, Keenan named him captain shortly after he replaced Burns as coach. The Bruins had been captain-less since Ray Bourque was dealt to Colorado at the trade deadline last season.&ldquo;I think he earned it,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;I consulted with Harry (Bruins&rsquo; president Harry Sinden) and Michael (GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell) and they agreed. He was a captain in junior and he&rsquo;s a take-charge guy He&rsquo;s not overly verbal, but a lot of leaders are that way His teammates respect him and players in the league respect him. He sets a very high standard.&rdquo;Third-year center Joe Thornton added: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s our best player. And giving him the &lsquo;C,&rsquo; I think, will make him play even better.&rdquo;Allison&rsquo;s game is about puck control and playmaking. He once preferred to work along the sideboards, but Burns convinced him Gretzky had the right idea and Allison has since discovered the value of positioning himself behind the net. It increases his passing options. Allison used to be more of a scorer, then he became mainly a passer; now, he&rsquo;s again concentrating on shooting the puck.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to give everybody a little something to think about,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Especially those who think I&rsquo;m always going to pass.&rdquo;When Allison recorded his 83-point season, he didn&rsquo;t rest on his laurels. He was just 22 and knew there was much more to accomplish. In an effort to take his game to the next level, he hired Canadian Olympic speedskater Kevin Scott. For a month in each of the past two summers, Scott has bunked with Allison and his wife, Christine, at their cottage while putting Jason through grueling workouts.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the hardest training I&rsquo;ve ever been through in my life,&rdquo; Allison said. &ldquo;In terms of skating, speedskaters have to be so technically superior; they have to get the most out of each push. He has taught me to lengthen my stride.&rdquo;Is his stride long enough to glide him into the Olympics?Allison won&rsquo;t say yes; he won&rsquo;t say no. He will say this, though: &ldquo;I played in the (1995) World Junior Championship and I led the tournament in scoring. And I wasn&rsquo;t nearly as good a skater then as I am now. Actually I think the big ice is perfect for my game. I like to have time to make plays with the puck and the big ice allows that.&rdquo;Even on the smaller ice surfaces of NHL rinks, Allison is hard to contain.Just ask superchecker Michael Peca, who has plenty of experience playing against Allison, as a minor hockey player in Toronto, a junior in the OHL and as a pro.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a tough guy to play against,&rdquo; Peca said. &ldquo;People don&rsquo;t think he can get from Point A to Point B quickly but he has very deceptive speed. He has a long reach and if you slow down to try to check him, he&rsquo;ll slip it between your legs and he&rsquo;s gone. He&rsquo;s the type of player who can make other players look bad.&rdquo; &#9633;LEADER OF THE PACK<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011618/7449729-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="2521" height="3520"></div><h2>Cover Story</h2>25-and-Under All-Star TeamsIf the NHL were to name first and second all-star teams for players 25 and under, Jason Allison would be our No. 1 center. Here are our picks, based on play this season.1st All-Star TeamGOALIEEvgeni Nabokov, SJ, 25DEFENSEMENEd Jovanovski, Van, 24 Janne Niinimaa, Edm, 25CENTERJason Allison, Bos, 25LEFT WINGChris Drury, Col, 24RIGHT WINGMarian Hossa, Ott, 212nd All-Star TeamGOALIETomas Vokoun, Nash, 24DEFENSEMENOleg Tverdovsky, Ana, 24 Tom Poti, Edm, 23CENTERVincent Lecavalier, TB, 20LEFT WINGPatrik Elias, NJ, 24RIGHT WINGRyan Smyth, Edm, 24 &#9632;

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COVER STORY

They used to say Jason Allison couldn’t skate. He can now. Boston’s new captain can score, too.

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011741/7449774-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"></div>familiar ringDenis Savard, Joe Mullen and Walter Bush show off the Hall of Fame rings they were presented upon their induction Nov. 13<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021307/7449767-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="473" height="476"></div>The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted retired NHL stars Joey Mullen and Denis Savard in the players&rsquo; category and USA Hockey president Walter Bush in the builders&rsquo; category in Toronto Nov. 13. As well, newspaper columnist Jim Matheson and broadcaster Bob Miller were media honorees.On their way to sign the honored members&rsquo; book following their Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Denis Savard and Joey Mullen were led by cheers and the wailing of bagpipes up to a makeshift stage in a procession fit for surviving war heroes.These two did plenty more than survive.We are told over and over how hockey is a big man&rsquo;s game, but anyone at the Nov. 13 festivities could see Mullen and Savard are physically unexceptional, dwarfed by many in the crowd of suits. Mullen is thick in his chest, but hardly imposing. Savard in a tuxedo is downright scrawny. Yet the dozens of Hall of Famers who lined up to meet them in hockey&rsquo;s royal receiving line are proof size doesn&rsquo;t mean a damn thing to the grand institution they have entered.Minutes earlier, Mullen and Savard became players No. 219 and No. 220 to be inducted into the Hall. The greatest American goal-scorer in history and one of the most dynamic players ever to come out of Quebec were joined by Walter Bush, the 88th member of the builders&rsquo; category, recognized for his vast contributions to the game in the United States.NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said it was fitting on a night honoring one of the greatest U.S. players of all-time, the Hall was also honoring Bush, a man who has nurtured U.S. hockey for more than four decades.Suffice to say, the boys who nurtured Mullen and played with him on the streets of New York don&rsquo;t care for pretty turns of phrase.As Mullen prepared to sign the members&rsquo; book, they stood on chairs to get a better look, gnawed on toothpicks and shouted his name: &ldquo;Yeah, Joey&rsquo;&rdquo; Mullen grinned back with a smile so wide his cheeks must have ached.The representation from home included &ldquo;construction workers, cops, truck drivers, working stiffs,&rdquo; said Frankie S., one of the old gang still living in the old Hell&rsquo;s Kitchen neighborhood.About 30 of them made the trip. More would have come if they could have afforded the weekend and time off work, Frankie said.&ldquo;When he got inducted into the Hall of Fame, he inducted all of us. Remember that,&rdquo; instructed Matty York, another boyhood pal and goalie on the Westside Rockets roller hockey team.A story that Matty says has never been told: The Rockets were 13-0-0 when Mullen, his brother Tom and another local boy off playing hockey at school returned home over the Christmas break in 1975 to join &#9632;

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Unique, sublime in Hall

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011600/7449840-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"></div>them for a few games. But with the hotshots in the lineup, the Rockets lost two and tied one. They screwed up the lines.&ldquo;We sent &lsquo;em back to college,&rdquo; Matty said.Mullen&rsquo;s eyes got wide when former Ranger great Andy Bathgate walked across the stage to shake his hand. The Hell&rsquo;s Kitchen contingent roared again.In his earlier acceptance speech, Mullen&rsquo;s voice cracked when explaining what ex-Ranger GM Emile Francis meant to his life and his family. Francis started the ice hockey league that Mullen first played in as a boy and eventually signed Mullen as a free agent with the St. Louis Blues in 1979.&ldquo;The thing that Mr. Francis did for all us city kids was give us a reason to get off the streets, give us a reason to think about college, but he also gave us a reason to dream,&rdquo; Mullen said. &ldquo;And for 16 years I lived his dream in the NHL and I loved every minute of it.&rdquo;Savard, who starred for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1980s and single-handedly returned excitement to Chicago Stadium, managed to get through his acceptance speech with only minor tear-ups. He singled out the Wirtz family, owners of the Hawks, as well as scout Jack Davison and longtime Hawks&rsquo; executive Bob Pulford.&ldquo;Thank you for believing in my ability and thank you for letting me be myself as a hockey player,&rdquo; he said.Kevin Lowe was among those watching Savard speak on television screens outside the main ceremony area. It was a tough night for the former Edmonton defenseman. They must have played the stunning highlight clip of Savard scoring against the Oilers while killing a 5-on-3 penalty at least three times. On each occasion, everyone watching shook their heads and laughed and glanced over at Lowe.&ldquo;You left your underwear out there on the screen,&rdquo; someone yelled.He knew it, too, those many years ago, just as soon as the puck went into the net.&ldquo;All I could think of,&rdquo; Lowe said, &ldquo;was that&rsquo;s going to be a highlight for a lot of years. Wayne (Gretzky) and Mark (Messier) and Jari (Kurri) wanted to blame me and I wanted to blame Fuhrsie (Grant Fuhr).&rdquo;As sincere off the ice as he was dangerous on it, Savard spoke in English and French and gave particular thanks to the people of Quebec and the MontrealCanadiens, with whom he spent three seasons and won a Stanley Cup in 1993.Bush, the president of USA Hockey and the man responsible for helping to bring NHL hockey to Minnesota in 1967, accepted his award on behalf of volunteers every-where.&ldquo;Without the great volunteers that we have that love hockey throughout this world,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;we wouldn&rsquo;t have hockey as we see it today.&rdquo;Longtime Edmonton Journal beat writer Jim Matheson received the Elmer Ferguson award for excellence in print reporting.Bob Miller was awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his work broadcasting Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; games for the past 28 years. &#9633;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021122/7449833-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="297" height="316"></div><h2>DENISSAVARD</h2>Born Feb. 4, 1961, in Pointe Gatineau, Que.Age 39Career Summary Shifty center was picked by Chicago third overall in 1980; had 12 straight 20-goal NHL seasons, three times scoring 40 or more; named to second all-star team in 1983; scored more than 100 points five times; traded to Montreal for Chris Chelios in 1990; won Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1993; finished 17-year NHL career with 473 goals and 1,338 points in 1,196 games.Quotable &ldquo;Winning the Stanley Cup in 1993, having my jersey retired and now this - these three things are my hat trick.&rdquo;Current occupation Assistant coach with Chicago Blackhawks<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03788/7449826-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="297" height="324"></div><h2>JOEMULLEN</h2>Born Feb. 26, 1957, in New York CityAge 43Career Summary Gritty right winger signed as free agent by St. Louis in 1979; only U.S.-born player to score 500 goals and first to 1,000 points; won three Stanley Cups in four years, with Calgary (1989) and Pittsburgh (1991, &rsquo;92); two-time Lady Byng winner; first team all-star in 1989; came out of retirement to play for U.S. in World Championship qualifying event in 1999; finished 16-year NHL career with 502 goals and 1,063 points in 1,062 games.Quotable &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t go out thinking I was paving the way for other Americans, but if anybody wants to say that, that&rsquo;s OK with me.&rdquo;Current occupation Assistant coach with Pittsburgh<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04579/7449819-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="293" height="324"></div><h2>WALTERBUSH</h2>Born Sept. 25, 1929, in MinneapolisAge 71Career Summary Played hockey at Dartmouth College; helped form Central League in 1955 and served three years as league president; GM of 1964 U.S. Olympic team; Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; first president (1966 though 1984); named to U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1980; on International Ice Hockey Federation executive since 1986.Quotable &ldquo;A lot of people said things couldn&rsquo;t be done - such as getting the NHL to come to Minnesota and that American kids couldn&rsquo;t win gold medals and compete with the rest of the world. I just enjoyed watching the progress we made.&rdquo;Current occupation President of USA Hockey<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05401/7449812-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="296" height="316"></div><h2>JIMMATHESON</h2>Born April 17, 1949, in WinnipegAge 51Career Summary Graduated from University of Manitoba in political science and history; started at Edmonton Journal in 1970; didn&rsquo;t miss an Oilers&rsquo; game for more than a decade after Edmonton joined WHA in 1973; spent 24 years as Oilers&rsquo; beat writer, covering all five Stanley Cups.Quotable On his career highlight, watching Edmonton beat Montreal in the 1981 playoffs: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s when (Montreal goalie) Richard Sevigny patted his back pocket and said he&rsquo;d have Wayne (Gretzky) in his back pocket the whole series. Wayne got five points in the first game.&rdquo;Current occupation Edmonton Journal columnist<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06326/7449805-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="297" height="324"></div><h2>BOBMILLER</h2>Born Oct. 12, 1938, in ChicagoAge 62Career Summary Broadcasting career began in Iowa calling Hawkeyes&rsquo; football and baseball games; moved to Madison, Wis., where he called university hockey and football games and hosted two sports shows; hired as voice of LA. Kings in 1973; has called more than 2,300 L.A. games in the past 27 years, the first 17 on radio-TV simulcasts.Quotable On the point that made Wayne Gretzky the NHL&rsquo;s career scoring leader: &ldquo;For about a month I thought of what I was going to say - &lsquo;The Great One has become the greatest of them all, the all-time leading scorer in the history of the NHL.&rsquo;&rdquo;Current occupation Play-by-play voice for Los Angeles Kings &#9632;

f0015-01

Big night for U.S.

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011529/7449878-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div>The Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2001 could make expansion-era history. Never since the days of the Original Six have four recently retired players been inducted into the Hall in the same year.Something will be seriously amiss if at least the maximum four players don&rsquo;t make an entrance together next tall and there&rsquo;s a valid argument at least five deserving candidates exist.Right winger Jari Kurri is a lock; so is defenseman Slava Fetisov, recognized by The Hockey News as the best European player ever, based on his body of work outside he NHL.The only thing going against Fetisov is precedent. Vladislav Tretiak is the only Russian among the Hall&rsquo;s 220 players and the only one who made his mark outside the NHL. Dale Hawerchuk (rejected for the Hall this year despite having better numbers than Denis Savard or Joey Mullen) also deserves to be in the Hall.Close behind Kurri, Fetisov and Hawerchuk are sniper Mike Gartner and standout defensive defenseman Rod Langway. In a third tier are longshot candidates including Pat LaFontaine, Kevin Lowe, Sergei Makarov and Andy Moog.Players are eligible for induction three years after they have retired from competitive hockey. The Hall had the power to make exemptions in exceptional cases and did so for Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. A maximum of four players can be inducted in one year. Each must receive 75 per-cent support in a vote by the 18-member selection committee to be inducted. Here&rsquo;s how things look for the 2001 candidates.<h2>SURE THINGS</h2>Slava Fetisov. The rock-hard defenseman and legendary captain of Russia&rsquo;s national team was on the downside of his career when he came to the NHL in 1989, yet he played eight more seasons and won two Stanley Cups with Detroit. In Russia he was named a first team all-star nine times in 10 years. The combined weight of his gold medals won in international play could send a man to the bottom of the sea.Jari Kurri: A five-time all-star, Kurri won five Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, four playing alongside Wayne Gretzky. The Fmnish right winger had seven consecutive 40-plus goal seasons in the 1980s and finished his career with 601 goals. And he was also a superb defensive player.Dale Hawerchuk: Turned down once already, Hall voters should admit they made a mistake and induct the high-scoring center next year. He has all the credentials: Six 100-point seasons and career totals of 518 goals and 1,409 points (13th all-time) in 1,188 games. He&rsquo;s the only player ever to win two Memorial Cups and two Canada Cups.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021180/7449871-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="341" height="560"><figcaption class="caption-body">Slava Fetisov</figcaption></div><h2>IN THE HUNT</h2>Rod Langway: Defensively, there were none better. Despite never scoring more than 10 goals and 40 points in 15 seasons, he won two Norris Trophies and was a three-time all-star. Langway was never a minus player until his last season with Washington in 1992-93. He last played with Providence of the American League in 1997-98.Mike Gartner: His scoring talents over a 19-year, five-team career are too strong to overlook. Gartner holds the NHL record for most 30-goal seasons with 17 &mdash; no one else in history has more than 14 &mdash; and stands fifth all-time with 708 goals. The blazing right winger never won a Stanley Cup or individual honor. The question is, should that matter for someone who scored as frequently and consistently as Gartner did?<h2>DOUBTFUL</h2>Pat LaFontaine: He was dynamic, but didn&rsquo;t play long enough. Teams he played on made it to the second round of the playoffs three tunes in 15 seasons. Concussions prematurely ended his career.Kevin Lowe: Being the defensive conscience on the freewheeling Oilers&rsquo; dynasty won&rsquo;t be enough to push Lowe ahead of other candidates.Sergei Makarov: He was the Soviet Union&rsquo;s leading scorer nine times in the 1980s and starred on the famed &lsquo;KLM&rsquo; line. He joined the NHL at age 31 and averaged better than a point a game in his first three seasons. Being up against Fetisov hurts his chances. &#9633; &#9632;

f0016-01

Hall’s on-deck circle full

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div>Angela James feels honored when people call her the Wayne Gretzky of women&rsquo;s hockey. And she wouldn&rsquo;t mind a bit if she and Gretzky had something else in common one day - honored member status in the Hockey Hall of Fame.On way or another, recognition will soon come her way. FranRider, executive director of the Ontario Women&rsquo;s Hockey Association, said a movement is afoot to celebrate outstanding achievements in the women&rsquo;s game.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re working on a lot of ideas on our own,&rdquo; Rider said. &ldquo;Whether or not we actually do have people recognized by the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, we&rsquo;re investigating ways to recognize some of the women who built and grew our game.&rdquo;James, a longtime international star for Canada and, according to Rider, the person most responsible for winning women&rsquo;s hockey credibility through the media, is a clear choice to be among the first saluted.&ldquo;She really brought up the level of competition a notch or a couple of notches. Any team Ang was on you knew would be a competitor. She had the explosive ability to turn a game around by herself,&rdquo; Rider said.Yet if the choice is between becoming one of the first members of a women&rsquo;s-only club or joining a storied institution that recognizes hockey&rsquo;s best, there&rsquo;s no question where James would rather be.&ldquo;Why try to go off on your own when there&rsquo;s something so great as the Hockey Hall of Fame? Why not try to be part of that?&rdquo; said James. 35.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03887/7449909-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="341" height="420"><figcaption class="caption-body">Angela James</figcaption></div>Such an honor, she said, would be &ldquo;probably the ultimate ever.&rdquo;A Hockey Hall of Fame board of directors subcommittee, which is chaired by 1999 inductee Scotty Morrison, is trying to decide how to best recognize women&rsquo;s excellence. One dramatic option is to have women actually compete for one of four annual honored member spots with retired NHL greats. Another possibility is to recognize women in the international section since the sport doesn&rsquo;t receive much attention outside of World Championships or Olympics, but not grant honored member status. For now, Morrison isn&rsquo;t ruling anything out. The goal is to have a system in place by the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something that we feel has to bedone, but it&rsquo;s not something we want to rush into,&rdquo; Morrison said. &ldquo;We want to see it developed the right way.&rdquo;Forward France St. Louis is the other Canadian player from the 1990s who would be a clear candidate for recognition. On the American side, national team captain Cammi Granato and possibly forward Karen Bye would have to be considered, though both are still playing and should be around for the 2002 Olympics.Granato, sister of San Jose Sharks&rsquo; forward Tony Granato, was happy to hear the Hall may move forward.&ldquo;I think it would be really good for the sport,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;From my perspective, as a female athlete playing hockey, I know I&rsquo;ve shared the same passion and same love for the game as my brothers did.&rdquo;Outside Canada and the U.S., Finnish standout forward Riikka Nieminen would have to be considered for any honors, as well as perhaps forward Sari Krooks. &#9633; &#9632;

f0016-03

Women in line for enshrinement

<div class="byline">By Kevin Allen</div>Michigan State&rsquo;s Ron Mason is in the 35th season of his &ldquo;temporary&rdquo; career as a college coach.It was 1966 and Mason had finished his master&rsquo;s degree at the University of Pittsburgh and was in the midst of pursuing a doctorate when he decided he needed a break from academia. He looked at the employment landscape and decided coaching might be a short-term fit while he recharged his battery before tackling yet another intellectual pursuit.&ldquo;I thought I would still end up getting my PhD at Pittsburgh and end up being a professor or something else,&rdquo; Mason says.When Mason decided to take a job at Lake Superior State in 1966-67, he certainly couldn&rsquo;t have envisioned that at the start of the 21st century he would still be coaching and would own more wins than any coach in U.S. college hockey history - 871 and counting. To put that in perspective, consider no active coach is within 140 wins, including Bob Peters of Bemidji St., who is in second place.He has been the NCAA coaching record-holder for seven years, but the Central Collegiate Hockey Association&rsquo;s decision last spring to name its championship trophy the &ldquo;Mason Cup&rdquo; has put the spotlight back on him. Mason acknowledges the unique situation he&rsquo;s in - trying to capture a trophy bearing his own name.&ldquo;Going back to the spring, I was ambivalent because I didn&rsquo;t know how to handle it,&rdquo; Mason says. &ldquo;The guys seemed to think it was the right thing to do and I went along with it. When I think of it, I&rsquo;m proud of it. I go back to the early stages. In fact, I&rsquo;ve been here most of my life and I&rsquo;ve seen the growth and fought the battles. It&rsquo;s not something I took lightly.&rdquo;Mason had joined Jack Vivian of Bowling Green and Bill Selman of St. Louis University in 1971 in the lobby of Parker House hotel in Boston to produce a scheduling agreement that eventually led to the formation of the CCHA in 1971-72.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011304/7449940-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="568" height="742"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Mason has the chance to win the first-ever Mason Cup.</figcaption></div>Would it mean more to win the first Mason Cup? He laughs. &ldquo;It would be neat, wouldn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But as fleeting as championships can be&hellip;&rdquo;Mason, who turns 60 Jan. 14, has been approached a few times through the years to discuss the possibility of joining the pros. Detroit and Pittsburgh were two teams that had interest in Mason at various junctures.&ldquo;I never really pursued a pro job,&rdquo; Mason said. &ldquo;I was really firmly entrenched in the college game. And to be honest, they weren&rsquo;t paying NHL coaches much in those days and their tenure wasn&rsquo;t much better than it is today.&rdquo;When Mason hatched his idea to become a coach in 1966, he applied for posts with Lake Superior State and Merrimack College &mdash; and was offered both, even though he had no previous college coaching experience.&ldquo;That just shows how far college hockey has come,&rdquo; Mason says. &ldquo;I had some teaching experience in clinics. Back then everyone had a teaching background and they were willing to give me a chance.&rdquo;His decision to accept the job at Lake Superior &mdash; a school that was just launching its hockey program &mdash; says as much about Mason&rsquo;s style as anything else he has done. &ldquo;I figured sink or swim, I may as well do it on my terms,&rdquo; he says.That approach has been central to his style through seven seasons at Lake Superior State (1966-1973), six at Bowling Green (1973-79) and 21 at Michigan St. (1979-present).&ldquo;The one thing I think has changed the most since I started coaching is the opportunity that kids now have to go to the next level,&rdquo; Mason said. &ldquo;In the early stages, that opportunity was reserved for very few.&rdquo;That has made his job more challenging, not less, because players now show up with an agenda beyond winning at the university level.&ldquo;There is a lot of, &lsquo;What did you do for me lately?&rsquo; that goes into your coaching,&rdquo; Mason says. &ldquo;Players all have to be in a position to develop. I try to put those players in those positions. If we recruit someone, you had better have a hole for them. It used to be that this was the last stop for players and the hype here was everything to a player. Now we are just part of the development process.&rdquo;But that doesn&rsquo;t mean Mason is enjoying the sport any less than he did 34 years ago.&ldquo;I want to coach as long as I can,&rdquo; Mason said. &ldquo;That may sound like an evasive statement, but that&rsquo;s meaningful for me. It&rsquo;s meaningful because you have to be healthy and have enthusiasm and passion for the game. I still have that. The best and most fun part of my day is putting on the skates and going out for practice every day.&rdquo; &#9633; &#9632;

f0019-01

Spartans’ Mason legend in own time

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02832/7449978-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="569" height="2524"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011196/7449985-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="205" height="236"></div>The NHL team reports in this issue feature updates on each club&rsquo;s top pick in 2000 as well as another key prospect. For the three teams whose No. 1 picks are in the NHL - Minnesota, Nashville and Philadelphia - another key prospect is highlighted. Here&rsquo;s a statistical update on the first-rounders from 2000.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03582/7449971-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="1144" height="1356"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ed Belfour&rsquo;s Dallas Stars are struggling to regain their elite form.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-02

Theme Issue: Prospect Report

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04381/7450016-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="205" height="256"></div>Just when defenseman Pavel Trnka returned to the lineup, giving the struggling Mighty Ducks a full complement of 23 healthy Players. No. 1 center Steve Rucchm went down with a broken nose and cheekbone.Rucchin is out indefinitely after being struck in the face during a 3-0 loss to Colorado Nov. 15.Rucchin, who missed the season&rsquo;s first six games because of a broken left hand, had three goals and eight points in 14 games.&ldquo;All the bad luck we&rsquo;ve had and now this,&rdquo; said Selanne, struggling to find answers for an eight-game Anaheim winless streak. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s unbelievable.&rdquo;Trnka returned for the Colorado game, making his first appearance since suffering a sprained right ankle Oct. 8.ANALYSIS One-fourth of the way through the season, Anaheim&rsquo;s most successful line was Mike Leclerc, Matt Cullen and Marty McInnis. While Selanne, Rucchin and Paul Kariya had combined for 17 goals, Leclerc, Cullen and McInnis had 16. Given their respective ice time, the Leclerc-Cullen-McInnis trio had outplayed its more celebrated teammates.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Alexei Smirnov, 18, LW, Moscow Dynamo (Rus.), 12th selection. In his first year in the Russian elite league, Smirnov began the season playing on Dynamo&rsquo;s fourth line before earning a promotion to the third unit and more ice time. A 6-foot-3,207-pounder, Smirnov is growing into his body GP-9, G-0, A-0, P-0, PIM-8.Key Prospect: Maxim Balmochnykh, 21, LW, Cincinnati (AHL), 45th selection, 1997. A gifted player who has always gotten by on ability, Balmochnykh is finally developing a good work ethic. After an injury-plagued 1999-2000, Balmochnykh muddled through camp with the Ducks, but seems to be fitting into the system in Cincinnati and earning scoring chances within the team concept. GP-12, G-2, A-2, P-4, PIM-2.NOTEBOOK TheDucks assigned highly regarded first-year right winger Jonas Ronnqvist to Cincinnati (AHL) Nov. 12 after he produced two assists and went minus-6 in his first 15 NHL games&hellip;Defenseman Pavel Trnka, on his blue-line partner, Vitaly Vishnevski: &ldquo;He hits like a train. That guy is crazy&rdquo;.- Dan Wood &#9632;

f0020-04

Rucchin back on injury-go-round

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05216/7450054-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="560" height="892"></div>The Thrashers&rsquo; dreadful start last season could be partly attributed to Damian Rhodes&rsquo; four-month absence with an ankle sprain and a parade of green backups filling the void.That shouldn&rsquo;t be a problem this year.Milan Hnilicka played the final two periods of an 8-3 win over Boston Nov. 4 after Rhodes had to leave with a groin strain, then went 2-1-1 while allowing only six goals on 109 shots (.945 save percentage) in four games.The 27-year-old Hnilicka, who had a 37-save effort in his first career shutout Nov. 15 over Nashville, said, &ldquo;I just want to keep playing the way I am. I don&rsquo;t want to change anything.&rdquo;ANALYSIS The Thrashers&rsquo; improved defensive play and goaltending is best illustrated in comparing five-game increments. The team allowed: 18 goals in Games 1-5 (3.6 averages); 15 in Games 6-10 (3.0); and nine in Games 11-15 (1.8). The team is comfortable playing conservatively and working a counterpunch attack.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 pick: Dany Heatley, 19, LW, Wisconsin (WCHA), 2nd selection. Heatley didn&rsquo;t disappoint the Thrashers when he made the decision to return to Wisconsin and hasn&rsquo;t disappointed scouts with his play since, showing both scoring ability and an edge to his game. GP-12, G-5, A-10, P-15, PIM-30Key Prospect: Zdenek Blatny, 19, C, Kootenay (WHL), 68th selection, 1999. The excitement over Blatny cooled a bit after a poor camp, but he remains a highly skilled prospect with strong potential.GP-21, G-15, A-24, P-39, PIM-47NOTEBOOK Center Patrik Stefan, who missed the first five of games of the season with a groin strain, TTs was goal-less through fc 10 games&hellip;Pro scout Pete Mahovlich has been brought in to tutor players on faceoffs. Mahovlich estimates he won 70 per cent of the draws in his career.- Jeff Schultz<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06168/7450047-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="207" height="264"></div>QUARTERBACK Yannick Tremblay adds a dash of offense to Atlanta&rsquo;s blueline. His two goals accounted for all the scoring by Thrasher &lsquo;D&rsquo; through mid-November. &#9632;

f0020-05

Hnilicka provides Atlanta with relief

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-07144/7450085-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="207" height="242"></div>Are times changing in Boston or is the Bill Guerin trade an aberration?That was the question some Bruins&rsquo; fans were asking as the club acquired the 30-year-old power forward from Edmonton Nov. 15 in exchange for unsigned right winger Anson Carter, a second round draft choice next season and the option to switch first round picks in 2001 or 2002.The deal, Mike O&rsquo;Connell&rsquo;s first as GM, was atypical of a Boston trade because at 26, Carter should have a longer shelf life than the 30-year-old Guerin. Guerin, meanwhile, jumps to No. 2 on Boston&rsquo;s historically moderate payroll (behind center Jason Allison) at $3.2 million on a contract that expires June 30.&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re going to acquire someone of Billy Guerin&rsquo;s calibre, you&rsquo;re going to have to pay him,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Connell said.Guerin, a native of Wilbraham, Mass., had 12 goals and 22 points in 21 games in Edmonton.ANALYSIS Guerin, who will play alongside either Jason Allison or Joe Thornton, should alleviate Boston&rsquo;s over-dependence on power play goals by helping give the club a balanced attack. Half of the Bruins&rsquo; 44 goals through 18 games came via power plays.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 pick: Lars Jonsson, 18, D, Leksand (Swe.), 7th selection. Jonsson has moved up from junior to the Swedish Elite League. He had just one goal in 19 games, but the Bruins were pleased he was playing well enough to continue to get quality ice time. GP-19, G-l, A-0, P-1, PIM-10Key Prospect: Jonathan Girard, 20, D, Providence (AHL), 48th selection, 1998. After two occasionally trying seasons spent between the junior level and Boston, Girard is finally a full-time pro at Providence. His offensive skills have translated well to the AHL level and he may get a look in the NHL this season. GP-12, G-l, A-7, P-8, PIM-4NOTEBOOK Boston&rsquo;s depth at goal took on a new look in mid-November when Byron Dafoe returned from a hamstring injury and Peter Skudra was claimed on waivers from Buffalo. It&rsquo;s Skudra&rsquo;s second stint in Boston - he was signed in the summer, but was lost to Buffalo on waivers Oct. 3.- Mike Loftus &#9632;

f0020-07

Guerin acquisition atypical for Bruins

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01955/7450116-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="208" height="250"></div>Doug Gilmour played about15 games before realizing his original retirement plans didn&rsquo;t sound so bad after all.Gilmour said repeatedly lastyear he would hang up his skates after this season. He changed his mind over the summer and announced in training camp he would play this season and beyond if his 36-year-old body would allow.His body hasn&rsquo;t cooperated.Gilmour, nagged by pelvis problems that hamper his skating, now says he&rsquo;ll likely retire after the season. He&rsquo;s in the final year of a contract that pays him $6 million this year.&ldquo;You go into training camp, you feel good, nobody&rsquo;s hitting you,&rdquo; Gilmour said. &ldquo;Then all of a sudden the games start and the hits take a toll on your body&rdquo;Gilmour is in his 18th season and has more than 400 goals and 1,300 points. He moved past Dale Hawerchuk and into 13th place on the all-time assist list with his 892nd assist Nov. 15 against Dallas.&ldquo;I know there are other things that are important, my body and my family,&rdquo; he said.ANALYSIS The Sabres made a concerted effort in the offseason to improve a power play that was the worst in the league last season at 10.5 per cent. Through their first 16 games, the Sabres scored 17 goals on the power play, converting at 23 per cent, third best in the league.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Artem Kriukov, 18, C, SKA (Rus.), 15th selection. The Sabres were still waiting to get their first look at Kriukov since the draft when questions loomed about previous concussion problems. He had no points in three games in the Four Nations tournament in Sweden.GP-3, G-0, A-0, P-0, PIM-2Key Prospect: Mika Noronen, 21, G, Rochester (AHL), 21st selection, 1997. The Hockey News&rsquo; 1999-2000 minor pro prospect of the year filled in admirably for injured Dominik Hasek at the beginning of the season, but struggled with Rochester. W-L-T-l-3-0, GAA-4.01, SP-.830.NOTEBOOK The Sabres have started talks with GM Darcy Regier about a multi-year extension. His contract expires in June. &ldquo;An afternoon would complete it,&rdquo; said CEO Tim Rigas. &ldquo;Whether we get that afternoon a week from now or three months from now, I can&rsquo;t really tell.&rdquo;- Bucky Gleason &#9632;

f0021-01

Gilmour re-thinking retirement plans

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02569/7450147-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="211" height="247"></div>The primary failing of the Calgary Flames&rsquo; through the first quarter was their perplexing inability to win games at home.The Flames were a respectable 4-4-1-1 in their first 10 road games, but had registered just a single victory in their first 10 home games, a key reason why they had fallen off the pace in the NHL&rsquo;s Western Conference playoff hunt.A variety of theories were advanced to explain their shortcomings at the Pengrowth Saddledome, none of which offered much in the way of a solution.Right winger Jarome Iginla suggested the Flames &ldquo;play a little nervously&rdquo; in front of their growing crowds. Attendance is up even though performance is off. Thanks to last summer&rsquo;s season ticket push, the average was 16,035 through 10 games, up from 14,946 through the same period a year ago.ANALYSIS Perhaps the most surprising element of Valeri Bure&rsquo;s struggles around the net is the fact he remains among the NHL&rsquo;s leaders in shots on goal. Through games of Nov. 16, Bure had recorded 75 shots, second in the league behind only the Penguins&rsquo; Jaromir Jagr.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Brent Krahn, 18, G, Calgary (WHL), 9th selection. After losing only six games last season, Krahn was approaching that total through mid-November. He&rsquo;s facing more shots than he did a year ago when his club spent much of the season as the top-ranked junior team. W-L-T-10-4-1, GAA-2.79, SP-.900Key Prospect: Rico Fata, 20, RW, Saint John (AHL), 6th selection, 1998. He is slowly coming to terms with the fact he may never be a major goals-corer in the NHL. The Flames are trying to convince Fata he can evolve into a useful third-line player with a 15-goal-per-season upside. GP-16, G-3, A-6, P-9, PIM-22.NOTEBOOK Right winger Jarome Iginla&rsquo;s mother, Susan Schuchard, was scheduled to sing the Canadian and U.S. national anthems at the Flames&rsquo; Nov. 18 home game against the New York Rangers&hellip;After breaking his hand in a fight and playing only the first five games of the season, defenseman Denis Gauthier was close to returning.- Eric Duhatschek &#9632;

f0021-02

Flames save worst for home games

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03340/7450178-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="211" height="241"></div>Every time Shane Willis passes up a scoring chance, he thinks to himself, &lsquo;Oh, shoot.&rsquo;And that&rsquo;s exactly what histeammates and coaches with the Carolina Hurricanes have been telling him: Shoot the puck.Willis, a rookie right winger, has emerged as one of the team&rsquo;s best offensive options. But a few weeks into the season, Willis - who averaged 2.7 shots per game in 18 games - was not pleased with his output.&ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;m getting a little more attention (from opposing defenders),&rdquo; said Willis, who led the Hurricanes with seven goals.Willis has a quality shot, having won the hardest shot competition at last season&rsquo;s International League all-star game skills competition with a 95.9-mph blast.&ldquo;We want him to shoot,&rdquo; said coach Paul Maurice. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what he does (best).&rdquo;Willis compiled 11 of his first 13 points at home. He said he&rsquo;s determined to create the same production on the road.&ldquo;Being a rookie, I definitely do feel more comfortable at home,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m still getting used to everything.&rdquo;ANALYSIS Defenseman David Tanabe returned from a concussion and was immediately put on the first power play unit, which had been struggling.&ldquo;Anyone who&rsquo;s on the power play is going to get the opportunity to get more points,&rdquo; Tanabe said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re given those opportunities, you have to seize them.&rdquo;PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 pick: Tomas Kurka, 18, LW, Plymouth (OHL), 32nd selection. A hip flexor injury put Kurka on the sideline and he&rsquo;s listed week-to-week while going through rehab. He&rsquo;s a good skater with a hard shot, but is considered to be a couple of years away from the NHL. GP-2, G-0, A-l, P-1, PIM-0Key Prospect: Jean-Marc Pelletier, 22, G, Cincinnati (AHL), 30th selection by Philadelphia, 1997. A pre-season ankle injury hampered his progress and mobility. He will get most of the work with the Cyclones.W-L-T-5-4-0, GAA-3.13, SP-.905.NOTEBOOK Rookie Craig Adams has emerged as the fourth line right winger. A former Harvard University player, Adams replaced Jeff Daniels. Adams had a goal and a fight in 10 games.- Bob Sutton &#9632;

f0021-03

Rookie Willis aims to be NHL big shot

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011076/7450209-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="211" height="254"></div>The Chicago Blackhawks were getting little production out of their defense despite coach Alpo Suhonen&rsquo;s desire to have them be a big part of the attack.Through 19 games the only defenseman with a goal was Jaroslav Spacek and he scored his two with Florida before being traded for Anders Eriksson.Eriksson had two goals before he left.&ldquo;Our defensemen should be able to score,&rdquo; Suhonen said.Boris Mironov&rsquo;s play and conditioning is a concern. He had no goals and five assists in 19 games and was minus-4.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not worried about my points,&rdquo; Mironov said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m worried about winning games.&rdquo;ANALYSIS Steve Sullivan&rsquo;s offensive exploits are a bright spot in a difficult season. He led the team with 18 points in 18 games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing about 20 minutes a game and you&rsquo;re going to get chances,&rdquo; Sullivan said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s also a matter of growing as a player, becoming wiser on the ice.&rdquo;The best thing to happen to Sullivan was getting picked up on waivers from Toronto early in 1999-2000. (See pg. 55 for more on Sullivan.)PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Mikhail Yakubov, 18, C, Lada Togliatti (Rus.), 10th selection. He has been getting minimal ice time as a fourth-liner with Lada&rsquo;s senior team and there was talk of dropping him to the second team. There is concern he isn&rsquo;t progressing. His arrival in the NHL is at least two years. GPA), G-0, A-0, P-O, PIM-OKey Prospect: Mark Bell, 20, C, Norfolk (AHL), 8th selection, 1998. Bell is working on becoming a complete player. He needs more than just outstanding skill to make the Hawks late this season or next year. Bell is getting schooled on faceoffs, taking the body and defensive coverage. (See pg. 39 for Scouting Report on Bell.)GP-14, G-4, A-8, P-12, PIM-14NOTEBOOK Right winger Tony Amonte scored the 300th career goal Nov. 16 in Calgary&hellip;Left winger Jean-Yves Leroux is expected to be out until mid-December with a sprained left knee. He had just won a job on the first line&hellip;While left winger Eric Daze&rsquo;s play was improving, he didn&rsquo;t back off his trade demand. &ldquo;I stand by what I said,&rdquo; said Daze, who had three goals and five points in three games as Leroux&rsquo;s replacement on the top line.- Tim Sassone &#9632;

f0022-01

Nothing offensive about the defense

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02761/7450240-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="209" height="248"></div>They&rsquo;re scoring early against David Aebischer, but fortunately for the Colorado rookie, not too often.In the first five games of his NHL career, the 22-year-old Aebischer surrendered a goal on the first shot three times. The third came in a 6-3 loss to Phoenix Nov. 16, Aebischer&rsquo;s first defeat of the season.&ldquo;It just seems like it&rsquo;s in my head and I have to not think about it,&rdquo; Aebischer told the Denver Post. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m thinking about it too much.&rdquo;Said Avs&rsquo; coach Bob Hartley after the Phoenix loss: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very certain of one thing - that David will bounce back in a very positive way. He&rsquo;s a fierce competitor and I guess this is part of the learning process.&rdquo;Overall, Aebischer was 4-1-0 with a 2.20 goals-against average and .902 save percentage.ANALYSIS Hartley experimented with an all-rookie, fourth line in the Phoenix game &mdash; Brad Larsen between right winger Scott Parker and left winger Ville Nieminen. The move was partially necessitated by injuries to players such as center Peter Forsberg and right winger Adam Deadmarsh.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Vaclav Nedorost, 18, C, Ceske Budejovice (Cze.), 14th selection. A complete player who has an edge to his game, Nedorost has advanced to the top line in the Czech Republic&rsquo;s best league this season. Adept defensively, he needs to bulk up to prepare for the North American game.GP-12, G-2, A-5, P-7, PIMKey Prospect: Mikhail Kuleshov, 19, LW, St. Petersburg (Rus.), 25th selection, 1999. A knee injury last season limited him to eight games and snuffed out a year&rsquo;s progression. The lumbering winger was loaned from Cherepovets to St. Petersburg this season and he has shown promise as a power forward. He&rsquo;s still a long-range prospect. Statistics not availableNOTEBOOK Center Peter Forsberg was optimistic he could begin skating in mid-November after suffering a stomach muscle injury, but there was no timetable for his return&hellip;Right winger Adam Deadmarsh (concussion) was targeting late November for his return. He suffered his injury Nov. 1&hellip;Right winger Scott Parker scored his first NHL goal in his 46th NHL game. It came against the Coyotes.- THN staff &#9632;

f0022-02

Aebischer proving to be shaky starter

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03549/7450271-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="209" height="256"></div>Ron Tugnutt for president? It may be a little far-fetched, but Tugnutt would certainly carry a lot of votes in Columbus right now.The Blue Jackets are off to a tremendous start in their inaugural season and nobody has played a bigger role than the team&rsquo;s goalie. In one seven-game stretch, Tugnutt went 5-11 with a 1.71 goals-against average and .945 save percentage.The wins were over Washington, San Jose, Dallas, Phoenix and Nashville.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re seeing just what a big pick-up Ron was for this organization,&rdquo; said coach Dave King. &ldquo;You want a guy back there you can bank on and Tugnutt has certainly been that for us. The confidence is building from that point forward.&rdquo;ANALYSIS When Columbus claimed forward Robert Kron from Carolina in the expansion draft, it was expected he would provide the Blue Jackets with some scoring punch. Instead, Kron has been in an early-season slump, going without a goal in the first 19 games and missing a bevy of open nets and quality chances.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Rostislav Klesla, 18, D, Brampton (OHL), 4th selection. Klesla spent eight games with the Blue Jackets before returning to junior. MacLean has seen him play twice since, including one game where he had three assists and played almost 40 minutes. GP-6, G-l, A-6, P-7, PIM-2.Key Prospect: Chris Nielsen, 20, C, Syracuse (AHL), 36th selection by the Islanders, 1998. When he hasn&rsquo;t been injured, Nielsen has been mostly ineffective in his first pro season. Nielson scored 14 goals in 13 Western League playoff games last season with Calgary, but wasn&rsquo;t on his game early this year.GP-11, G-l, A-l, P-2, PIM-2.NOTEBOOK Remarkably, right winger Steve Heinze emerged from a lumberjack slash to the face by Phoenix&rsquo;s Brad May with only a cut to his nose. The cut required nine stitches and Heinze&rsquo;s nose swelled to the size of a fist. &ldquo;I got lucky,&rdquo; said Heinze, who missed only one shift. &ldquo;If that&rsquo;s one inch higher or lower, it&rsquo;s a different story.&rdquo;&hellip;Columbus won four straight games between Nov. 9 and Nov. 16, tying a record for expansion teams. Since the NHL began its expansion from six teams in 1967, no new team has won five straight.- Aaron Portzline &#9632;

f0022-03

Tugnutt stands tall for Blue Jackets

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01972/7450302-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="235" height="242"></div>After almost every loss this season, the Dallas Stars have retreated to the group think of a team meeting.They met behind closed doors for more than 20 minutes after a 3-2 loss to Columbus Nov. 14 and they met the next day before their first game in Buffalo since the 1999 Stanley Cup.The Stars had become divisive, players said. Coach Ken Hitchcock&rsquo;s line juggling lad become a locker room topic. The attention to defense, detail and work hasn&rsquo;t always been there. Even goalie Ed Belfour had struggled.&ldquo;We need to play like the Dallas Stars can play to be successful,&rdquo; said right winger Brett Hull. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like we&rsquo;re playing bad, but just not up to the level of our expectations.&rdquo;ANALYSIS Hitchcock is facing a quandary. He doesn&rsquo;t want to play Brett Hull with Mike Modano for fear other teams will match up against that line during a stretch that includes 13 of 19 games on the road.&ldquo;Which negates everything we&rsquo;re trying to do,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. Hull and Modano have enjoyed solid chemistry. When he was reunited with Modano, Hull broke a five-game goal drought with three goals in two games.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Steve Ott, 18, C, Windsor (OHL), 25th selection. Concern about his offensive upside has been quelled by a great start with the Spitfires. An abrasive player, Ott should be helped by Windsor&rsquo;s acquisition of whiz kid Jason Spezza. GP-14, G-12, A-6, P-18, PIM-65Key Prospect: Richard Jackman, 22, D, Utah (IHL), 5th selection. After starting in Dallas as the No. 5 defenseman, Jackman had problems with defensive coverage and lost confidence. Even with the puck, the reputed offensive defenseman struggled. A third year in the minors is required. GP-4, G-l, A-l, P-2, PIM-2NOTEBOOK GM Bob Gainey downplayed the notion of making personnel moves. He said the Stars, who talked to Philadelphia at the draft about Eric Lindros, are waiting because of medical concerns, &ldquo;ft seems it is in Lindros&rsquo; hands as to when he would become healthy,&rdquo; Gainey said&hellip;Players had no sympathy for angry Buffalo fans still bemoaning Brett Hull&rsquo;s disputed goal in the 1999 Stanley Cup final. &ldquo;Our names are on the Cup and we don&rsquo;t worry about it,&rdquo; said right winger Mike Keane.- Chuck Carlton &#9632;

f0023-01

‘Divisive’ Stars look to re-group

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02646/7450333-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="211" height="238"></div>Just 5-foot-8, the the legend of Manny Legace grows with every game he plays.A 27-year-old career minor-leaguer who twice went on waivers last season has blossomed into a go&mdash;to goalie.While starter Chris Osgood struggled to a 4-5-0 record and was benched, Legace&rsquo;s record was 7-1-1. Over two seasons with the Wings, Legace was 11-1-1.&ldquo;You have to go with the hot goalie,&rdquo; said coach Scotty Bowman.Said Osgood: &ldquo;It just shows - (the coaches have) faith in me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;No question, Ozzie&rsquo;s still the No. 1 guy&rdquo;ANALYSIS Grinders Mathieu Dandenault and Kirk Maltby have responded to being put on scoring lines. Skating with Martin Lapointe and Brendan Shanahan, Dandenault, who had been scoreless, notched two goals against San Jose Nov. 15. Maltby was hot, so the Wings put him with snipers Sergei Fedorov and Slava Kozlov. After scoring just six goals in 41 games last season, he had six already this year.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Niklas Kronvall, 19, D, Djurgarden (Swe.), 29th selection. Considered a good hitter despite weighing only 165 pounds, Kronvall has been with the Swedish national team. A foot injury has limited him.GP-4, G-0, A-3, P-3, PIM-4Key Prospect: Jesse Wallin, 22, D, Cincinnati (AHL), 26th selection. Assistant GM Jim Nill said Wallin is ready for the NHL, but the Wings are carrying eight defensemen and they want him to play every day. Wallin is steady but needs work on moving the puck.GP-15, G-0, A-2, P-2, PIM-11NOTEBOOK With Wings&rsquo; captain, center Steve Yzerman, nursing an injured knee, right winger Martin Lapointe was centering the top line&hellip;The Wings were making an effort to play aggressively the length of the ice. &ldquo;It was better than the way we had been playing, which was backing in and just giving the teams the red line for easy dumps,&rdquo; said left winger Brendan Shanahan.- Nicholas J. Cotsonika &#9632;

f0023-02

Osgood benched as Legace shines

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03453/7450364-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="549" height="1052"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04320/7450371-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="209" height="244"></div>GM Kevin Lowe didn&rsquo;t want to break up the hottest line in the NHL, but he had to strike while the iron was hot. And with that, he said hello to Anson Carter and bye to Bill Guerin.&ldquo;Anson is just scratching the surface,&rdquo; said Lowe, who acquired the 26-year-old right winger and a second round draft pick in 2001 from Boston. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a quick, gritty forward who has a terrific scoring touch. I strongly believe Anson Carter is going to be a major impact player for years to come.&rdquo;Carter, in a contract dispute with the Bruins all season, scored 24 goals in 55 games two years ago and 22 goals in 59 games last year. He has been troubled by ankle, shoulder and wrist injuries.&ldquo;When I heard the Oilers were interested I was excited,&rdquo; said Carter, who signed a two-year deal worth $3.6 million.The Oilers have the option of flipping first round picks with the Bruins in 2001 or 2002.ANALYSIS The line of Guerin, Doug Weight and Ryan Smyth was carrying the Oilers. They scored 29 goals of Edmonton&rsquo;s 60 goals and on the rare nights when one of them didn&rsquo;t score, the Oilers didn&rsquo;t win (1-4-1). But with Weight and Guerin both eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of next season, Lowe struck with Guerin&rsquo;s value at its highest.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Alexei Mikhnov, 18, LW, Moscow Dynamo (Rus.), 17th selection. The Oilers love his raw skill and nose for the net, but he&rsquo;s still a few years away His 6-foot-5 frame should fill out to 220 pounds, so he&rsquo;ll need time to get co-ordinated. Statistics not availableKey Prospect: Jani Rita, 19, RW, Jokerit (Fin.), 13th selection, 1999. After averaging two minutes a game on Jokerit&rsquo;s fourth line last season, Rita is up to 15 minutes. Problem is, he&rsquo;s not scoring. He will play in North America next year.GP-20, G-l, A-2, P-3, PIM-16NOTEBOOK Left winger Bill Guerin doesn&rsquo;t return to Edmonton as a member of the Bruins until next season.- Rob TychkowskiLINE CHANGE Center Doug Weight, left, and left winger Ryan Smyth will miss traded triggerman Bill Guerin, but new Oiler Anson Carter is expected to get a shot with the potent pair. &#9632;

f0023-03

Oilers enticed by Carter’s upside

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011048/7450409-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pavel Bure&rsquo;s Panthers were looking for ways to stop the bleeding.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02723/7450402-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="209" height="240"></div>A four-game road trip loomed with seven regulars out of the lineup. The previous game had been seen the Florida Panthers crumple at home to Atlanta.So, it was time to talk.In Carolina, Panthers&rsquo; GM Bryan Murray, the coaching staff and players had an all-out meeting. That captain Scott Mellanby and team leaders Ray Whitney and Paid Laus were back home with injuries mattered less than clearing what was becoming a defeatist air.&ldquo;When things aren&rsquo;t going well, they build up inside and there&rsquo;s no way of venting,&rdquo; said Panthers&rsquo; goalie Trevor Kidd.When Pavel Bure, Todd Simpson and Len Barrie spoke, the message wasn&rsquo;t unique - minor league call-up or star have to work hard and sacrifice style.&ldquo;There was some constructive criticism,&rdquo; Kidd said. &ldquo;There was agreement that whether we won (that night) or not, we had to get some identity going.&rdquo;Stripped of their stars and with six minor leaguers in the lineup, the Panthers had to go with a stripped down strategy for the Nov. 15 game against Carolina. Playing a chip-it-in, chip-it-out, low-risk pass strategy, the Panthers won 4-1.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Vladimir Sapozhikov, 18, D, North Bay (OHL), 58th selection. A 6-foot-3, 205-pounder, Sapozhikov left Russia to play junior in Canada. His offensive contribution will be limited, but he&rsquo;s a good passer and is the kind of defenseman that makes few mistakes.GP-9, G-0, A-l, P-1, PIM-4.Key Prospect: Kristian Huselius, 22, LW, Vastra Frolunda (Swe.), 47th selection, 1997: Huselius&rsquo; excellent scorer&rsquo;s hands make him a regular atop the Swedish Elite League scoring charts and he&rsquo;s schooled well in the defensive game.GP-19, G-9, A-17, P-26, PIM-12.NOTEBOOK Panthers&rsquo; president Bill Torrey and GM Bryan Murray both stated several times publicly they&rsquo;ll gauge this year&rsquo;s team &mdash; and with it, coach Terry Murray &mdash; when the team has returned to an average level of health&hellip;Right winger David Emma was called up from Louisville (AHL), sent back and called up on three consecutive days.- David J. Neal &#9632;

f0024-01

Panthers respond to team meeting

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03486/7450440-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="209" height="258"></div>It is not coach Andy Murray&rsquo;s nature to get excited no matter how well his team is doing.Even after his Los Angeles Kings extended their unbeaten streak to seven games with a victory over the Islanders Nov. 16 - the club&rsquo;s longest run since January, 1998 - Murray refused to enjoy it.Still, the change in the team has been striking since losing to expansion Columbus Oct. 31. Goaltender Jamie Storr lost that game, but started the next seven and was undefeated.Ziggy Palffy, who led the league in scoring the first month, had tailed off, but the club&rsquo;s fourth line of Kelly Buchberger, Bob Corkum and Nelson Emerson provided critical forechecking that has kept pressure away from Storr.ANALYSIS Although the Kings were among the league leaders in scoring, they are concerned that first line left winger Tomas Vlasak, 25, might be a little too slow to play in the NHL. Vlasak, who was teamed with Jozef Stumpel and Ziggy Palffy to form a Czech/Slovak line, was scratched in four of six games before being sent to the minors. &ldquo;He is working hard in the weight room,&rdquo; said GM Dave Taylor. &ldquo;But speed is something that is hard to improve at his age.&rdquo;PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Alexander Frolov, 19, LW, Soviet Wings (Rus.), 20th selection. Frolov is probably a year or two away from signing with the Kings. GM Dave Taylor said he is pleased with the 6-foot-3 center&rsquo;s skating and two-way play.GP-20, G-8, A-8, P-16Key Prospect: Alexei Volkov, 20, G, New Orleans (ECHL), 76th selection, 1998. Volkov got left out in the goaltender rotation in Lowell (AHL) and played poorly when he got in. The Kings sent him to New Orleans to get work and hopefully get his confidence back.W-L-T-0-1-0, GAA-5.92, SP-.791.NOTEBOOK With his eighth goal of the season, left winger Luc Robitaille passed Guy Lafleur for 14th place on the all-time goal scoring list with 561&hellip;Kings&rsquo; coach Andy Murray found himself in an odd predicament during a break in the schedule. His redeye flight to Minnesota was delayed and he missed his connection in Las Vegas. The next flight was not until morning, but instead of getting a hotel, he spent the night on the floor of the airport. He was recognized by several Kings&rsquo; fans.- Matt McHale &#9632;

f0024-03

Coach stays calm as Kings go on tear

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01910/7450502-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="204" height="231"></div>As losses mount in Montreal, Canadiens&rsquo; president Pierre Boivin has offered assurances there is no payroll freeze and asked fans and players to remain calm.&ldquo;I can guarantee to all our fans that our budget isn&rsquo;t frozen,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in a black hole. But to make an impetuous move just for the sake of making a move isn&rsquo;t the answer.&rdquo;After a promising 4-3-2 start, the Canadiens, who have missed the playoffs two straight seasons, slumped to last place (5-11-2) in the Northeast with just one win in nine games.ANALYSIS During their nine-game slump, Montreal scored just 15 goals and was held to two goals or fewer in seven of those games. The Canadiens suffered back-to-back shutouts and endured a scoreless streak of 144:28. But with 44 goals in 18 games the Habs had eight more than at the same point last season; Montreal was the NHL&rsquo;s third-lowest scoring team in 1999-2000.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Ron Hainsey, 19, D, UMass-Lowell (HE), 13th selection. A good skater, Hainsey moves the puck well and has good instincts, but the 6-foot-3,200-pounder must play a more physical game and increase his strength before thinking of an NHL career.GP-8, G-2, A-10, P-12, PIM-16Key Prospect: Mathieu Garon, 22, G, Quebec (AHL), 44th selection, 1996. Technically sound with good hands, the organization loves his size and quickness and many consider him Montreal&rsquo;s goalie of the future. He has to read NHL shooters better, but that won&rsquo;t happen until the Canadiens create an opening for him.W-L-T-6-0-1, GAA-2.15, SP-.931NOTEBOOK Jean Beliveau, who as captain from 1961 through 1971 led the Habs to five Stanley Cups, said the current team lacks leadership. &ldquo;I watch the team play and wonder if there really is a leader in the group,&rdquo; he said&hellip;Assistant coaches Clement Jodoin and Roland Melanson have signed one-year contract extensions, joining head coach Alain Vigneault. But GM Rejean Houle remains in his final contract year&hellip;Trent McCleary, the 28-year-old forward who required life-saving surgery after a shot puck struck his throat last season and whose injuries forced his retirement, will scout Western League teams for Montreal.- Herb Zurkowsky &#9632;

f0033-01

Pleas for patience from Montreal boss

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02614/7450533-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="230" height="225"></div>A broken foot is no excuse to miss games; just ask Predators&rsquo; goalie Tomas Vokoun.With starting goalie Mike Dunham already out with a sprained knee, Vokoun had been playing on a slightly fractured left foot, injured when he was hit by a shot in practice.Doctors told the 24-year-old he didn&rsquo;t risk further injury unless he took a puck off the same spot, so, after a brief stint on injured reserve, he has played with the injury including one stretch of nine consecutive games.&ldquo;Occasionally I feel some pain, but it&rsquo;s slight,&rdquo; Vokoun said.Until a 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Vokoun had posted a 2.03 goals-against in 10 starts.ANALYSIS Predators&rsquo; assistant coach Brent Peterson, in charge of penalty killing, has pushed the team&rsquo;s shorthanded units to be more aggressive. Willing to sacrifice occasional mistakes for more speed on the ice, he feels additional forwards make it easier to disrupt the opposition and is using six to eight forwards in shorthanded situations.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Daniel Widing, 18, RW, Leksand (Swe.), 36th selection. Despite being knocked around a bit, he turned heads at the Predators&rsquo; conditioning camp by showing a willingness to go in the corner and do the dirty work. Team officials hope he can be a quality two-way forward.GP-18, G-4, A-4, P-8, PIM-6Key Prospect: Brian Finley, 19, G, Barrie (OHL), 6th selection, 1999. Had a spotty season last year in Barrie before performing well in the Memorial Cup. Since the organization has depth in net, Finley won&rsquo;t be rushed and will likely start with Milwaukee (IHL) in 2001-02.W-L-T-4-8-0, GAA-3.41, SP-.893NOTEBOOK GM David Poile thought about claiming Ottawa defenseman Igor Kravchuk off waivers. He even travelled to Atlanta to see Kravchuk play, but Calgary claimed him first&hellip;Goalie Mike Dunham had started to skating with equipment, but was still experiencing knee pain so backup goalies Tomas Vokoun and Chris Mason will likely get most of the work until December&hellip;Center Randy Robitaille, a 100-point player in the minors, continued his scoring slump. He had just one goal and seven points in 17 games- Jeff Legwold &#9632;

f0033-02

Vokoun boots pain, plays with fracture

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03460/7450564-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="215" height="252"></div>Smiles and goals were coming infrequently from last season&rsquo;s rookie-of-the-year Scott Gomez.A seven game goal-less drought that coincided with the Devils&rsquo; 0-6-1 winless streak ended with Gomez&rsquo;s overtime winner in Boston, but his coaches and teammates still had concerns.&ldquo;I hope it gives Gomer some good feelings.&rdquo; said defenseman Ken Daneyko. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping it boosts his confidence.&rdquo;&ldquo;He was a fun-loving individual,&rdquo; said New Jersey coach Larry Robinson. &ldquo;Now he&rsquo;s not getting the points and I don&rsquo;t see that fun-loving enthusiasm. He&rsquo;s getting retaliatory penalties and he doesn&rsquo;t come back to the bench with that smile on his face.&rdquo;ANALYSIS GM Lou Lamoriello suggested he was getting close to shaking up his slumping team with a trade. &ldquo;Patience is running thin,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;I have to give them help. It could be sooner rather than later.&rdquo; But he refused to blame the team&rsquo;s struggles on the absence of unsigned free agents Scott Niedermayer and Jason Arnott.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 pick: David Hale, 19, D, North Dakota (WCHA), 22nd selection. In the mold of Scott Stevens, the Colorado Springs native has exceeded expectations. Just a freshman, he has dominated with his size (6-foot-2,205 pounds) and competitive play. He will not likely be ready for the NHL for several years.GP-12, G-2, A-l, P-3, PIM-31Key Prospect: Ari Ahonen, 19, G, HIFK Helsinki (Fin.), 27th selection, 1999. Ahonen, who had an impressive first NHL training camp, has become one of the Finnish Elite League&rsquo;s top goalies. The Devils worried that he played over his head a year ago, but Ahonen has so much talent, everything has come easily to him.W-L-T-10-3-2, GAA-2.43, SP-.927NOTEBOOK After four tries, goalie Martin Brodeur recorded his 250th career victory Nov. 16 in Boston&hellip;The team&rsquo;s six-game losing streak was its longest since Jan. 1-14,1991&hellip;A seven-game winless streak was the longest since an 0-6-2 slump March 6-19,1992&hellip;A frustrated GM Lou Lamoriello said his unsigned free agents, defenseman Scott Niedermayer and center Jason Arnott, both of whom use Don Meehan as an agent, would sign &ldquo;when the representative decides it&rsquo;s time.&rdquo;- Rich Chere &#9632;

f0033-03

Sophomore slump hits Gomez big time

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011029/7450595-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="205" height="234"></div>Fans have stayed away in droves from Nassau Coliseum this season, despite the efforts of new owners Charles Wane and Sanjay Kumar who have upped the Islanders&rsquo; payroll and refurbished the 28-year-old building to make it more fan-friendly But during a recent interview, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman dismissed worries about the franchise.&ldquo;In dealing with something that has been neglected and deteriorated over a long period of time, you can&rsquo;t bring it back like throwing a light switch,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It has to be done a step at a time and it has to be done right.&rdquo;While Wang has admitted the arena could be home for another five seasons, Bettman said it was imperative to get a new rink as soon as possible.ANALYSIS Despite the addition of point men Roman Hamrlik and Garry Galley, the Isles had one of the NHL&rsquo;s worst power plays, going 0-for-27 at one point and scoring just once in their first 31 power play chances at home. Right winger Mariusz Czerkawski, who finished second in the league with 16 power play goals last season, had zero man advantage goals &mdash; and only three goals overall - this season.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Rick DiPietro, 19, G, Chicago (IHL) 1st selection. GM Mike Milbury originally said DiPietro might jump directly from the college ranks to the NHL this season, but he has struggled. Hailed as a revolutionary stickhandler, DiPietro has had trouble simply stopping the puck.W-L-T-2-4-0, GAA-3.86, SP .851Key Prospect: Branislav Mezei, 20, D, Lowell (AHL), 10th selection, 1999. The Isles are happy with Mezei&rsquo;s progress as a stay-at-home type, although they&rsquo;d like to see 6-foot-5 Slovak play more physically than he has in his first pro season GP-15, G-0, A-2, P-2, PIM-20 NOTEBOOK Coach Butch Goring and defenseman Kevin Haller were upset the NHL didn&rsquo;t review San Jose left winger Scott Thornton&rsquo;s high stick in a 4-0 New York loss Nov. 11. Haller suffered a concussion, but practised two days later&hellip; Remarkably, Buffalo goalie Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s career record against the Islanders is a measly 5-11-5. His 2-0 win over New York Nov. 9 marked his first-ever shutout against the team.- Peter Botte &#9632;

f0034-01

Islanders marooned without many fans

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02699/7450626-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="211" height="244"></div>John MacLean&rsquo;s NHL career may re-start somewhere else, but his time as a New York Ranger apparently ended Nov. 15.That&rsquo;s when he cleared waivers and was assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the IHL as punishment for not agreeing to take an 80 per-cent buyout.So MacLean, 36, will receive 100 per cent of his $2.5 million salary while playing in the the minors. Rangers&rsquo; GM-president Glen Sather said he ran out of options when no other team was interested in MacLean. Sather said he offered to pay 80 per cent ($2 million) of MacLean&rsquo;s salary in trade talks, leaving other teams on the hook for just $500,000. Sather and MacLean&rsquo;s agent, Rick Curran, agreed upon an 80 per-cent buyout, but the Rangers wanted to pay it out over two years. MacLean refused.&ldquo;Sure I&rsquo;m angry, upset,&rdquo; MacLean said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m all those things. I think it was the wrong way to be have been handled. But that seems to be the way (Sather) handles his business. I can&rsquo;t do anything but go from there.&rdquo;ANALYSIS Coach Ron Low admitted that, if Brian Leetch continued to pile up ice time the way he had the first part of the season, &ldquo;he&rsquo;ll be dead by Christmas.&rdquo; Leetch was regularly going over 30 minutes a game, partly because of an injury that had Vladimir Malakhov out for six weeks.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Filip Novak, 18,D, Regina (WHL), 64th selection. Novak was third in the league in defensemen scoring, first in goals. Novak won the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award as the best rookie in Rangers&rsquo; training camp.GP-21, G-9, A-16, Pts-25, PIM-17.Key Prospect: Pavel Brendl, 19,RW/C, Calgary (WHL), 4th selection, 1999. Brendl has had-some ups and downs, though his ups are pretty high. He had a five-goal game Nov. 11 and he&rsquo;s in the top 10 in the WHL goals.GP-16, G-19, A-15, Pts-34, PIM-12.NOTEBOOK Rangers&rsquo; president GM Glen Sather said he has no idea if his team will be in the running for restricted free agent center Eric Lindros when he is ready to return. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t spoken to him since the draft in Calgary,&rdquo; Sather said. &ldquo;I told him, when he&rsquo;s feeling better and he&rsquo;s ready to go, give me a call and let me know.&rdquo;- Rick Carpiniello &#9632;

f0034-02

Rangers, MacLean go separate ways

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03545/7450657-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="213" height="244"></div>Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson was ready to return to the lineup - perhaps just in time to save the sinking Senators. With the team mired in a four-game losing streak and scoreless in more than seven periods, Alfredsson was set to come back from a hip flexor injury against the Florida Panthers Nov. 18.Alfredsson, who missed 13 games, was just happy to be back and trying to help his team turn their fortunes around during their annual November troubles.&ldquo;I really didn&rsquo;t think it was going to take this long; it had bothered me for three weeks before I missed the first game (Oct. 19),&rdquo; he said.Alfredsson didn&rsquo;t think it was anything serious until doctors discovered a tear Oct. 30. And all they could prescribe was rest.Unlike most players in rehabilitation, he wasn&rsquo;t allowed to skate or stretch the area because that would have aggravated the injury.&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t an injury that happened because of one particular incident,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The thing now is, it feels good. When I&rsquo;m on the ice, it doesn&rsquo;t bother me.&rdquo;ANALYSIS Coach Jacques Martin tried changing his top three lines against Carolina Nov. 16 and used Alexei Yashin on the point of the power play.It didn&rsquo;t work. The Sens were shut out 1-0 by the Hurricanes and hadn&rsquo;t scored in 141 minutes and 20 seconds.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 pick: Anton Volchenkov, 18, D, Krylia Sovetov (Rus.), 21st selection. Physically strong and solid on his skates, he should be a lock to play for Russia at the World Junior Championship. Scouts said he was the best blueliner at a recent 1981-born tournament in Sweden. Stats not available.Key Prospect: Petr Schastlivy, 21, LW, Grand Rapids (IHL), 101st selection, 1998. He had a poor training camp after being given every opportunity to make the Senators. The Griffins are trying to get Schastlivy to learn the defensive side of the game and have used him as a penalty killer.GP-13, G4, A-6, P-10, PIM-2.NOTEBOOK Left winger Magnus Arvedson suffered a broken bone in his left foot and is expected to be out until at least late December&hellip;Despite signing defenseman Jamie Rivers after Calgary claimed Igor Kravchuk on waivers, rumors abounded GM Marshall Johnston coveted St. Louis defenseman Marc Bergevin.- Bruce Garrioch &#9632;

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Injured Alfredsson hip to returning

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01968/7450688-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="209" height="226"></div>You don&rsquo;t need a hand count, a recount or any kind of count to know where things stand between these two. It&rsquo;s the coldest of cold wars.The feud between Eric Lindros and Bob Clarke remains in a deep freeze.The Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo;disgruntled center refuses to speak to the GM, even to discuss a possible trade.In turn, the GM has made it clear Lindros will only return to hockey on the Flyers&rsquo; terms.Things were icy when Clarke showed up for NHL GM meetings in Toronto. The two were within a few city blocks of each other, yet were never close to meeting face to face.&ldquo;There&rsquo;ll be no meetings,&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve made our side clear.&ldquo;I made it clear when I turned down $8.5 million, I would not play there again.&rdquo;. Clarke said he had wanted to meet with Lindros, but when that didn&rsquo;t materialize, reissued an ultimatum: Either return to the Flyers (without his father, Carl, as agent) or wait for a team to offer a quality player in return.Given Lindros&rsquo; uncertain health status, the latter possibility seems remote.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care about Eric Lindros,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;Eric walked out on our team.&rdquo;PROSPECT REPORTKey Prospect: Maxime Ouellet, 19, G, Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL), 22nd selection, 1999. After playing one game for the Flyers and two in the AHL, Ouellet was returned for a fourth and final major junior season. He responded with shutouts in his first two games. He still has to work on his puckhandling and stickwork. W-L-T-4-2-1, GAA-1.62, SP-.939Key Prospect: Tomas Divisek, 21, C, Philadelphia (AHL), 195th selection, 1998. The 6-foot-3,215-pounder has been sidelined since camp due to shoulder surgery The Flyers expect him back in mid-December. When healthy, he performs well in traffic, but skating speed is a concern. GP-0, G-0, A-0, P-0, PIM-0NOTEBOOK Right winger Mark Recchi returned from a three-week absence and scored in overtime, against Toronto Nov. 15&hellip;Left winger John LeClair, who underwent back surgery Oct. 21, resumed practicing Nov. 14. He was hoping to return by the end of the month&hellip;Right winger Kevin Stevens&rsquo; goal in a 4-3 win over Ottawa Nov. 11 ended a 32-game drought.- Wayne Fish &#9632;

f0035-01

Lindros-Clarke feud far from finished

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02677/7450719-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="203" height="260"></div>If the NHL is serious about cracking down on dangerous hits, Jeremy Roenick wants to know why Washington&rsquo;s Joe Reekie was only suspended two games after nearly decapitating the Phoenix Coyote.&ldquo;The stickwork is bad, yes, but the elbows and high hits and cheap shots are wnat&rsquo;s Keeping guys out of games longer, so they better look at what they&rsquo;re doing,&rdquo; said Roenick, who suffered a mild concussion after getting elbowed by Reekie in a game at Washington Nov. 14.&ldquo;The NHL talks about sending a message, but they seem to be focusing on stick incidents. Guys are missing games&hellip;because of head injuries (and) concussions. I can&rsquo;t remember the last time a stick foul caused a major concussion or has knocked somebody out.&rdquo;Roenick said Reekie&rsquo;s hit was worse in its intent than the one Derian Hatcher of Dallas delivered two years ago, which broke Roenick&rsquo;s jaw in three places.ANALYSIS There were fears of backlash from the dressing room after Sean Burke criticized the team&rsquo;s play during their secondbest start in club history&ldquo;We have to improve,&rdquo; said the goalie. &ldquo;I keep saying all along, I don&rsquo;t want to be the guy raining on our parade, but we&rsquo;re not playing good hockey&rdquo;Truth is, they weren&rsquo;t - even during a 12-game unbeaten streak. Nonetheless, frequent shots fired by Burke didn&rsquo;t sit well with some teammates.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Krys Kolanos, 19, C, Boston College (Hockey East), 19th selection. Hitting his stride as a sophomore after a tough first-year transition from the WHL, Kolanos&rsquo; skill is taking over. Give him a year or so. GP-9, G-10, A-9, P-19, PIM-16. Key Prospect: KirillSafronov, 19, D, Springfield (AHL), 19th selection, 1999. One of only two 19-year-olds in the AHL, it has taken him a while to his feet wet, but the mature Safronov is figuring it out - it helps he&rsquo;s logging 25 minutes a game. He&rsquo;ll be ready in case of recall. GP-17, G-l, A-5, P-6, PIM-24.NOTEBOOK Wayne Gretzky and Steve Ellman appeared set to finally close their purchase of the team from Richard Burke on Nov. 30.- Bob McManaman &#9632;

f0035-02

Roenick to NHL What about elbows?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04436/7450750-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="508" height="976"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03551/7450757-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="207" height="244"></div>Craig Patrick acted swiftly after his team suffered three major injuries to its defense corps in successive games.The GM signed unrestricted free agent Jeff Norton to a one-year, $750,000 contract and acquired Dan Trebil from the New York Islanders for a ninth round draft pick.Patrick had already recalled Andrew Ference from affiliate Wilkes/Barre Scranton (AHL) and rookie Josef Melichar had made the club out of training camp.&ldquo;We need more depth,&rdquo; Patrick said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got only six defensemen down there (Wilkes-Barre). Instead of getting someone from the East Coast League to fill a hole in Wilkes-Barre, we wanted to get some experience.&rdquo;Bob Boughner (broken wrist), Janne Laukkanen (sprained knee) and Ian Moran (broken knuckle) were the three injured defensemen. None were expected back before mid-December.ANALYSIS Pittsburgh&rsquo;s penalty killing has improved dramatically after faltering the past two seasons. Through 18 games, they had the NHL&rsquo;s second-best road mark (91.2) and were 10th overall (86.0).The biggest reason for the improvement is goaltending. Garth Snow and Jean-Sebastien Aubin have been solid.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 pick: Brooks Orpik, 20, D, Boston College (Hockey East), 18th selection. He had picked up where he left off last year - playing physically and leading his club in penalties - before suffering a quadriceps contusion in early November. He hadn&rsquo;t played since. GP-7, G-0, A-l, P-1, PIM-30.Key Prospect: Konstantin Koltsov, 19, RW, Kazan (Rus.), 18th selection, 1999. One of the fastest skaters in his draft year, his scoring touch is a concern. But he has already surpassed his goal output of last season. GP-8, G-4, A-3, P-7, PIM-0NOTEBOOK Coach IvanHlinka said he wouldn&rsquo;t I decide until the summer whether he would accept an invitation to coach the Czech team at the 2002 Olympics.PUCK POISE Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Alexei Kovalev, a masterful stickhandler capable of embarrassing any defenseman, is translating his talent into points.- Joe Starkey &#9632;

f0035-04

Injuries put Patrick on guard for ‘D’

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01929/7450788-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="213" height="244"></div>Exceptional penalty killing - a 90.7 per-cent kill rate through 18 games - helped the Blues to their torrid start, and good thing too, because St. Louis also happened to be the most-penalized team in the NHL.The Blues have spent 20.9 minutes per game in the penalty box but allowed just nme goals on 97 opposition power plays.Before the high-octane Pittsburgh Penguins scored a pair of power play goals in the Blues&rsquo; 4-3 win Nov. 16, the Blues had killed off 20 penalties in a row and blanked opponents on the man advantage in 11 of 13 games.Overall, the opposition did not score a power play goal in 13 of the Blues first 18 games and scored more than one on only two occasions. But that doesn&rsquo;t explain why the Blues were getting so many penalties.&ldquo;I thought (the crackdown) would help us, but it seems like we take a lot of penalties,&rdquo; said center Craig Conroy, a prime penalty-killer. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather see (the penalty-killers) not have to go out there. We&rsquo;d rather kill two or three penalties a game than nine or 10. It&rsquo;d be better if (the shorthanded units) were on the bench.&rdquo;ANALYSIS With defenseman Marc Bergevin coming off injured reserve, the Blues had to make a roster move to keep their roster at the league maximum of 23. The Blues could have traded or waived Bergevin, who drew interest from Ottawa and Pittsburgh, but he remains a valuable leader in the locker room. So, they opted to send struggling center Marty Reasoner to Worcester in the American League. With only one goal in a dozen games, he had been a healthy scratch in five of seven recent games. Reasoner didn&rsquo;t have to go through waivers and St. Louis didn&rsquo;t want to risk losing anyone.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Jeff Taffe, C, 19, Minnesota (WCHA), 30th selection. Taffe is a good skater with good hands who needs to get more involved in the action. He has some work to do to reach the next level and the Blues want him to spend some time in the weight room. GP-10, G-l, A-9, P-13Key Prospect: Barret Jackman, D, 19, Regina (WHL), 17th selection, 1999. Scouts report that Jackman is skating well, playing intense hockey and pounding the body. Named the WHL&rsquo;s defenseman of the month for October, the Blues expect him to be a stay at home blueliner who contributes in the physical aspect of the game.GP-19, G-5, A-17, P-22, PIM-40NOTEBOOK Of right winger Pavol Demitra&rsquo;s seven goals this season, four were game-winners&hellip;Right winger Reed Low continues fighting, with 10 bouts in the 13 games he had played&hellip;The 3-0 loss to the Oilers on Nov. 14 was the third shutout against the Blues this season&hellip;Backup goalie Brent Johnson ran his record to 6-0 with a 5-2 win over Vancouver Nov. 11. He was leading the NHL with a 1.17 goals-against average.- Dave Luecking &#9632;

f0036-01

Most visits to sin bin no problem for St. Louis’ shorthanded stars

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02613/7450819-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="265" height="258"></div>It took playing the second night of back-to-back games on the road and three re-directed goals to snap Evgeni Nabokov&rsquo;s club record-tying 11-game unbeaten streak.The 25-year-old rookie, with just 11 games of NHL experience before this season, went 9-0-2 from Oct. 20through Nov. 14 before losing in Detroit 4-1 Nov. 15.Nabokov came to the Sharks&rsquo; rescue following an ankle injury that sidelined No. 1 goalie Steve Shields in October. But Nabokov was playing so well, he got the majority of starts after Shields returned in earlv November. Overall, Nabokov was 10-2-2 with a 1.79 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.While he&rsquo;s not receiving much attention for his play, Nabokov is earning high praise from those who see him every day.&ldquo;Nabby makes everything look easy and that&rsquo;s a good sign,&rdquo; said center Vincent Damphousse. Said coach Darryl Sutter: &ldquo;He has definitely been our best player.&rdquo;ANALYSIS Without captain Owen Nolan for all but three of their first 17 games and with steady defenseman Marcus Ragnarsson and starting goalie Shields out much of the early going, the Sharks still had their best start in franchise history (11-4-2-0).The news got better in mid-November as Nolan and Ragnarsson were expected to return for a six-game homestand. Nolan&rsquo;s contributions are obvious, while Ragnarsson will allow a taxed blueline to settle back into their usual roles.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Tero Maatta, 18, D, Espoo Blues (Fin.), 41st selection. The Sharks were disappointed in Maatta&rsquo;s conditioning at the outset of the season, but reports are he&rsquo;s in better shape now. Maatta, expected to participate in the World Junior Championship, is working on strength and skating.GP-12, G-0, A-0, P-0, PIM-6Key Prospect: Jeff Jillson, 20, D, Michigan (CCHA), 14th selection, 1999. Jillson is playing a pro style, simple game this season. He&rsquo;s showing more poise consistent with the growth and maturity process. A sore groin, however, has hampered his productivity.GP-9, G-3, A-2, P-5, PIM-30.NOTEBOOK In an effort to snap Alexander Korolyuk from a scoring slump, Sutter moved the right winger to center between veterans Stephane Matteau and Tony Granato for three games. Overall, Korolyuk had I goal and 3 points in 17 games&hellip;Right winger Todd Harvey was goal-less for the season&rsquo;s first 12 games before scoring. His second goal came Nov. 11 when he banked a shot off the skate of Islander defenseman Zdeno Chara. Said Harvey: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve had a good goal yet. Ever.&rdquo;&hellip;The Sharks are 1-17 all-time in regular season games at Detroit.- Ross McKeon &#9632;

f0036-02

Nabokov quietly putting together stellar season for San Jose

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03504/7450850-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="209" height="242"></div>The Southeast may be the dollar store of NHL divisions, but the Tampa Bay Lightning isn&rsquo;t complaining.With 14 points in 16 games, the club was tied for first in the Southeast with Atlanta - a position the Lightning attained thanks largely to the play of goalie Kevin Weekes.Weekes had started 10 consecutive games (and counting), played in 13 of 14 contests and was at the forefront of a four-wins-in-five-games streak. He stopped 152 of 162 shots in that span (a .938 save percentage) and raised hisrecord to 6-6-0. Overall, he had a 3.45 goals agamst average and .894 save percentage.&ldquo;Positionally, he&rsquo;s so good right now,&rdquo; said goaltenders&rsquo; coach Jeff Reese. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s making the game a lot simpler.&rdquo;Weekes was exceptional when he stopped 34 shots in a 1-0 victory over the Canadiens Nov. 14. It was Tampa Bay&rsquo;s first shutout on the road since October, 1998.ANALYSIS Mike Johnson has turned his season around. The right winger struggled mightily in the beginning and was taken off Vincent Lecavalier&rsquo;s No. 1 line, but has found his niche on the No. 2 line centered by Brad Richards. Johnson is one of the Lightning&rsquo;s smartest players, but looked lost early. Then he began playing physically, knocking opponents around and taking opponents out of their games. Overall, he had 5 goals and 12 points in 16 games.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Nikita Alexeev, 18, RW, Erie (OHL), 8th selection. Alexeev has continued his excellent play in junior after an outstanding training camp. According to Tampa Bay GM Rick Dudley, Alexeev&rsquo;s an excellent skater. The 6-foot-5 Russian is not afraid to hit and he may arrive in Tampa Bay next season.GP-18, G-8, A-13, P-21, PIM-20Key Prospect: Dmitri Afanaksenkov, 20, LW, Detroit (IHL), 72nd selection, 1998. He had an excellent first half of training camp, but struggled once pre-season games arrived and has not come out of it with Detroit in the IHL. Afanasenkov has a nice touch around the net, but even he has voiced concerns about his lack of physical play. He&rsquo;s probably two seasons away from the NHL.GP-15, G-3, A-4, P-7, PIM-6.NOTEBOOK Center Vincent Lecavalier&rsquo;s father, Yvon, said his son is close to naming a new agent and that Mike Liut is in the mix. Lecavalier split with agent Bob Sauve this past summer&hellip;Right winger Brian Holzinger was experimenting with a visor in practice. If he decides to wear one full-time he will be the sixth Lightning player, and fourth this season, to make the move&hellip;Lecavalier&rsquo;s nose was broken in three places by the stick of Montreal left winger Martin Rucinsky. Lecavalier will wear a full shield until it heals and then discard it.- Damian Cristodero &#9632;

f0036-03

Lightning ride hot goalie Weekes to success in weak Southeast

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03429/7450881-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="697" height="934"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01827/7450888-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="211" height="244"></div>Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; captain Mats Sundin admits wearing a visor would be the &ldquo;smartest thing&rdquo; to do, but he has no intention of adopting one full-time, despite suffering a near-disaster eight months to the day after watching his best friend, Bryan Berard, likely lose his career because of a high stick to the eye.During a 3-3 tie with the Chicago Blackhawks Nov. 11, a puck fired by defenseman Bryan McCabe on a dumpin hit Sundin between the eyes, leaving a nasty four-inch gash that required 15 stitches to close.But Sundin, who wore a half-visor when he played for the Quebec Nordiques, said he intends to go bare-faced as soon as the injury heals.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s awful to skate with,&rdquo; Sundin said. &ldquo;By now I&rsquo;m so used to not wearing one, it would be tough to go back.&rdquo;ANALYSIS Defenseman Dmitry Yushkevich and partner McCabe were in a deep mid-November funk. The pair was on the ice for seven of the last eight goals against Toronto, including all five scores against in the tie with Chicago and a 2-1 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Nov. 15. &ldquo;You have to be concerned a little bit,&rdquo; said coach-GM Pat Quinn. &ldquo;We have to see if we can get that rectified.&rdquo;PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 Pick: Brad Boyes, 18, C, Erie (OHL), 24th selection. Boyes hasn&rsquo;t disappointed the Leafs as an offensive force, emerging as a dominant player in junior hockey. Second in the OHL points race and leading all goal-scorers, he must improve defensively and gain size and strength in his upper body.GP-22, G-22, A-16, P-38, PIM-26Key Prospect: Adam Mair, 21, LW, St. John&rsquo;s (AHL), 84th selection, 1997. Consistent effort has never been, and will never be. a problem for Mair, but he&rsquo;s had trouble putting up good offensive numbers in the minors.While there is little doubt he 11 play in the NHL, it will be strictly in a checking/banging role.GP-20, G-6, A-6, P-12, PIM-32NOTEBOOK Center Igor Korolev, the subject of trade rumors, and his wife Vera became Canadian citizens in Toronto Nov. 15. Korolev said he plans to make Toronto his permanent home regardless of where his career takes him&hellip; Yanic Perreault, the NHL leader in - faceo-ffs at 60-plus per cent was on the bench while center Darcy Tucker lost three straight draws against Chicago Nov. 11. The last of those led to the tying goal with six seconds left and reportedly prompted some dressing room yelling by goalie Curtis Joseph after the game.<h2>NEW DIMENSION</h2>Rambunctious defenseman Danny Markov, who seemingly prefers handing out punishment to producing points, is on pace for a career-best 40 points.- Ken Campbell &#9632;

f0037-03

Gashed Sundin sees visor benefits, won’t wear protection when healed

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02556/7450919-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="211" height="254"></div>A log jam on the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; blueline means one veteran defender will almost certainly be heading out of town once Mattias Ohlund (eye surgery) has been cleared to play.The Canucks will have nine defensemen and, barring further injury, five of the six on-ice spots will be occupied by Ohlund, Adrian Aucoin, Ed Jovanovski, Murray Baron and Scott Lachance.That leaves Greg Hawgood, Bryan Helmer, Brent Sopel and Jason Strudwick scrapping for the remaining ice time and two nress box seats, with Strudwick the likely odd-man out.Helmer and Sopel, both on two-way contracts, are unlikely to clear waivers. Strudwick has not played well this season, is a poor passer and on a one-way contract for $675,000.&ldquo;Of course you think about it,&rdquo; Strudwick said, &ldquo;but you just try to contribute when you get a chance.&rdquo;ANALYSIS With just one goal in 13 games, Steve Kariya&rsquo;s lack of production has made it easy for Canucks&rsquo; coach Marc Crawford to yank him from the lineup when he wants to dress seven defensemen. Crawford had done it five times this season, usually when a blueliner was returning from an injury.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 pick: Nathan Smith, 18, C, Swift Current (WHL), 23rd selection. A knee injury suffered during the summer at Canada&rsquo;s world junior tryout camp robbed Smith of much of his first NHL training camp, but with Swift Current he&rsquo;s anchoring the team&rsquo;s top line and putting up decent numbers. He isn&rsquo;t expected to compete for an NHL job for at least two years.GP-20, G-8, A-20, P-28, PIM-13Key prospect: Bryan Allen, 20, D, Kansas City (IHL), 4th selection, 1998. After an injury-plagued 1999-2000 season in which he barely played, first-year pro Allen is finally coming around.After a rough start, he&rsquo;s been one ot the Blades&rsquo; top three defensemen. He is expected to spend the entire season in the minors and then make a pitch for the $ big club at training camp next fall.GP-14, G-2, A-3, P-5, PIM-19NOTEBOOK The Canucks were 0-13-1 versus St. Louis after their 5-2 loss to the Blues Nov. 11. Since their last victory over St. Louis Dec. 15, 1996, the Blues had outscored Vancouver 62-20&hellip; Vancouver&rsquo;s 47 shots against Chicago netminder Jocelyn Thibault in their 4-2 win Nov. 14 were the mostby the team in four seasons. The club record is 62&hellip;Center Andrew Cassels&rsquo; son, Cole, was asked if he saw his dad&rsquo;s first career hat trick on TV &ldquo;No, I didn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; replied the five-year-old, &ldquo;but I heard about it&rsquo;&rdquo;- Elliott Pap &#9632;

f0037-02

Strudwick faces chopping block when Ohlund returns from surgery

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04352/7450950-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="207" height="254"></div>Washington Capitals&rsquo; owner Ted Leonsis said the shopping of right winger Peter Bondra around the NHL has been suspended because &ldquo;there is nothing hot or active, there have been no phone calls.&rdquo;Bondra, a two-time 50-goal scorer who becomes an unrestricted tree agent in July, requested a trade prior to the season in what he termed &ldquo;a business decision.&rdquo; There has been little interest.Leonsis said the team would consider an exchange for a big-ticket star to grant Bondra his wish. At the same time, Leonsis did not rule out signing him to a contract depending on his performance, which had been spirited and effective so far. Bondra led the Capitals with six goals and 16 points in 18 games.Problem is, Bondra&rsquo;s market value isn&rsquo;t as high as it was a couple of seasons ago and it&rsquo;s unlikely any team would be willing to give up the marquee player Washington wants in exchange for an erratic 32-year-old.Leonsis also said he remains committed to rebuilding the team from within the farm system and believes the fans are with him. Season ticket sales are up to 10,600; they were less than 2,500 when he took over 18 months ago. Average attendance through eight home games was 13,921, up from 12,047 at the same point last season.ANALYSIS The mystery of the Caps&rsquo; play this season continues. Against a top-notch foe such as Phoenix Nov. 14, the team battled twice from behind to earn a 2-2 tie. That game came two days after the club struggled to gain a 2-2 tie against second-year Atlanta. A TV commentator terming the Thrasher game &ldquo;guaranteed win night&rdquo; didn&rsquo;t make the struggle any easier.PROSPECT REPORTTop 2000 pick: Brian Sutherby, 18, C, Moose Jaw (WHL), 26th selection. As befits a man who has Mark Messier as an idol, Sutherby excels at both ends of the ice, taking great pride in his defensive skills. The Caps would like to see him fill the net more and he has answered the bell. He&rsquo;s suited to be an NHL third-liner.GP-14, G-10, A-10, P-20, PIM-39.Key prospect: Kris Beech, 19, C, Calgary (WHL), 7th selection, 1999. After four scoreless NHL games, the Caps returned Beech to major junior to work on his defensive play and physical strength. He has played extremely well since his return, was named team captain and averaging more than two points per game.GP-7, G-5, A-10, P-15, PIM-12.NOTEBOOK Left winger Craig Berube wore an A&rsquo; on his chest for the first time, Nov. 14 against Phoenix. He responded with a strongly worded suggestion between periods that his teammates step up their play. They did&hellip;Defenseman Calle Johansson credits rest and exercises devised by trainer Greg Smith for getting him back after nursing a sore back for two weeks&hellip;Defenseman Joe Reekie was suspended two games for elbowing Coyote Jeremy Roenick in the head.- Dave Fay &#9632;

f0037-04

Bondra taken off trading block until market expresses interest

Projected defense pairs and lines, including restricted free agents<h2>Anaheim Mighty Ducks</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01905/7451184-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="590" height="475"></div><h2>Carolina Hurricanes</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02621/7451177-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="588" height="473"></div><h2>Detroit Red Wings</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03497/7451170-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="590" height="505"></div><h2>Montreal Canadiens</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04388/7451163-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="595" height="512"></div><h2>Ottawa Senators</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05301/7451156-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="590" height="514"></div><h2>San Jose Sharks</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06258/7451149-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="596" height="507"></div><h2>Atlanta Thrashers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07235/7451142-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="594" height="472"></div><h2>Chicago Blackhawks</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-08201/7451135-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="596" height="510"></div><h2>Edmonton Oilers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-09182/7451128-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="600" height="510"></div><h2>Nashville Predators</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-10160/7451121-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="590" height="476"></div><h2>Philadelphia Flyers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-11146/7451114-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="591" height="504"></div><h2>Tampa Bay Lightning</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-12135/7451107-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="591" height="472"></div><h2>Boston Bruins</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-13123/7451100-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="588" height="509"></div><h2>Colorado Avalanche</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-14114/7451093-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="596" height="510"></div><h2>Florida Panthers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-15106/7451086-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="595" height="513"></div><h2>New Jersey Devils</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1699/7451079-1-eng-US/f0038-162.jpg" title="f0038-16" width="593" height="509"></div><h2>Phoenix Coyotes</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1788/7451072-1-eng-US/f0038-172.jpg" title="f0038-17" width="590" height="509"></div><h2>Toronto Maple Leafs</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1882/7451065-1-eng-US/f0038-182.jpg" title="f0038-18" width="584" height="470"></div><h2>Buffalo Sabres</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1977/7451058-1-eng-US/f0038-192.jpg" title="f0038-19" width="592" height="477"></div><h2>Columbus Blue Jackets</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2068/7451051-1-eng-US/f0038-202.jpg" title="f0038-20" width="598" height="478"></div><h2>Los Angeles Kings</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2161/7451044-1-eng-US/f0038-212.jpg" title="f0038-21" width="586" height="476"></div><h2>New York Islanders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2257/7451037-1-eng-US/f0038-222.jpg" title="f0038-22" width="593" height="475"></div><h2>Pittsburgh Penguins</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2352/7451030-1-eng-US/f0038-232.jpg" title="f0038-23" width="593" height="512"></div><h2>Vancouver Canucks</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2445/7451023-1-eng-US/f0038-242.jpg" title="f0038-24" width="593" height="475"></div><h2>Calgary Flames</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2541/7451016-1-eng-US/f0038-252.jpg" title="f0038-25" width="593" height="512"></div><h2>Dallas Stars</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2632/7451009-1-eng-US/f0038-262.jpg" title="f0038-26" width="595" height="515"></div><h2>Minnesota Wild</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2727/7451002-1-eng-US/f0038-272.jpg" title="f0038-27" width="592" height="514"></div><h2>New York Rangers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2820/7450995-1-eng-US/f0038-282.jpg" title="f0038-28" width="588" height="472"></div><h2>St. Louis Blues</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2914/7450988-1-eng-US/f0038-292.jpg" title="f0038-29" width="584" height="476"></div><h2>Washington Capitals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-3010/7450981-1-eng-US/f0038-302.jpg" title="f0038-30" width="582" height="506"></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

NHL DEPTH CHARTS

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>The Albany River Rats, for six years a franchise to admire due to constant winning and a seemingly endless supply of young talent, are more like sewer rats now.Through mid-November, Albany - the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; top affiliate - was mired in a 14-game losing streak, threatening the 1987-88 Baltimore Skipjacks&rsquo; all-time American League record of 16 consecutive losses.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re all for development, but we don&rsquo;t want to be developing losers,&rdquo; said coach John Cunniff.The team finished an average of 18 games above .500 from 1993-94 through 1998-99, but began this season 1-14-0-1 and face a lot more losing over the next few years.Goalie Corey Hirsch, on loan from Washington, has improved shaky goaltending, but the team was still dressing 10 rookies.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01855/7451215-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="259" height="328"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Cunniff</figcaption></div>The defense corps is the Romper Room of AHL bluelines, featuring converted winger Bryan Duce; project Lucas Nehrling, who could use East Coast League seasoning; and, rookies Josef Boumedienne and Mike Commodore, who was out with a broken orbital bone.&ldquo;Normally we&rsquo;re breaking in two rookies with four veterans.&rdquo; Cunniff said. &ldquo;You can work them in, let them develop slowly. We don&rsquo;t have that.&rdquo;Their young offense is also struggling. Rookie forwards Michael Rupp, Max Birbraer and Mike Jefferson had combined for just five goals and the rest of the team wasn&rsquo;t filling the net, either.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not faulting guys,&rdquo; Cunniff said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re working hard, but we&rsquo;re having to put guys in situations they can&rsquo;t handle. For us to succeed, we almost need everyone to play a perfect game.&rdquo;But perfection is a long way off, leaving Albany and its fans up the river. &#9632;

f0039-01

Crying a river for Albany’s awful Rats

<div class="byline">By Rob Mueller</div><h2>NOTEBOOK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06245/7451298-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="209" height="210"></div>Lars Pettersen is one lucky Lynx.True, the 23-year-old Augusta center probably wasn&rsquo;t feeling too fortunate after being sidelined until at least mid-December with a severe shoulder separation suffered in a game against the Florida Everblades in early November.But Pettersen, who tied for third in East Coast League scoring last year, knows he can count his blessings. A week before the injury, the Okotoks, Alta., native suffered a spinal cord injury and was temporarily paralyzed below the waist after a collision in a game against South Carolina.&ldquo;When something like that happens, you&rsquo;re not thinking about playing again, you&rsquo;re thinking about walking again,&rdquo; said Pettersen, who had not missed a game since the Lynx began play in Augusta in 1998-99, playing 147 consecutive games until the injury.In February, 1999, Pettersen made headlines when he scored five goals in the third period of a 7-6 loss to the Birmingham Bulls. He is one of only three players in pro hockey history to accomplish that feat.UP AND AT &lsquo;EMThe Kelly Cup champion Peoria Rivermen played an unusual 11 a.m. game in Mobile versus the Mysticks Nov. 8. Billed &ldquo;Snow Day,&rdquo; the promotion was designed to allow more than 5,000 area grade school students to attend. Peoria won 4-3 in a shootout.BLOWN AWAY A tornado sighting just before a Nov. 8 game prompted a local policeman to order the host Jackson Bandits and visiting Mississippi Sea Wolves to remove their skates, buckle uptheir helmets and huddle together in a cramped boiler room in the bowels of the Mississippi Coliseum. They stayed there about 15 minutes until an all-clear was issued. The several hundred fans inside the arena were not evacuated.ONE-TIMERS A 2-0 loss to Jackson Nov. 3 snapped the Louisiana IceGators&rsquo; 21-game regular season home unbeaten streak&hellip; After an 0-4-0 start, Pensacola Ice Pilots&rsquo; coach Wayne Cashman, the former Bruins&rsquo; star and Flyers&rsquo; bench boss, led his team on a league-high seven-game winning streak&hellip;Augusta&rsquo;s 7-1 win in New Orleans Nov. 8 featured 11 fights, including a third period brawl between rookie goalies Reg Bourcier (Augusta) and Pascal Gasse (New Orleans) and Lynx boss Scott MacPherson challenging Brass coach Ted Sator to a fight. &#9632;

f0039-06

Out until December, playmaker Pettersen lucky

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>That opponents give the Orlando Solar Bears&rsquo; Darcy Hordichuk both haymakers and love taps does nothing to reduce the rugged left winger&rsquo;s notoriety around the International League.A sixth round draft pick of the NHL&rsquo;s Atlanta Thrashers in June, the rugged 20-year-old from Kamsack, Sask., played for the Western League&rsquo;s Saskatoon Blades last season.Leading the IHL with 87 penalty minutes this year, he opened his rookie pro season by dropping the gloves with Manitoba Moose left winger Mel Angelstad, widely regarded as the IHL&rsquo;s best fighter.&ldquo;The word &lsquo;goon&rsquo; is not dirty to me,&rdquo; said Hordichuk about his role with the team. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a badge of honor.&rdquo;While the Oct. 6 bout with Angelstad, a roundhouse-filled tilt lasting nearly a minute, was a no-holds-barred affair, it was the combatants&rsquo; post-scrap camaraderie that made the encounter interesting.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01562/7451329-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="257" height="342"></div>&ldquo;I thanked him after the game for going with me,&rdquo; Hordichuk said. &ldquo;Older guys (Angelstad is 29) don&rsquo;t always want to. He was doing me a favor.&rdquo;Extending a second courtesy, Angelstad brawled with Hordichuk again Nov. 11 in Winnipeg, after which Angelstad patted Hordichuk several times on the helmet, as if he were a friend.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a young kid out to make a mark and he&rsquo;s doing it,&rdquo; Angelstad said. &ldquo;He shows up every night. I respect him for that.&rdquo;Solar Bears&rsquo; coach Peter Horachek, admitted the fighters&rsquo; friendliness was unusual.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a long, long time since I&rsquo;ve seen anything like that,&rdquo; Horachek said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re just honest tough guys who stand up for their teams.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0040-01

Young ‘goon’ grateful for scrap with vet

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div><h2>NOTEBOOK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02353/7451381-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="413" height="194"></div>The Grand Rapids Griffins, losers in last spring&rsquo;s six-game Turner Cup final against Chicago, are worried not just about winning, but winning with style. The Griffins improved their league-best record to 11-1-1 with a 4-2 win overUtah Nov. 11, but a Grizzlies&rsquo; goal with four seconds remaining had Griffins&rsquo; players steaming.&ldquo;The guys took it personally, said coach Bruce Cassidy. &ldquo;I love a team that gets mad about giving up goals when the game basically is over. That says a lot about character.&rdquo;MOOSE SHINE A well-rested Manitoba Moose squad that played only 12 games in the season&rsquo;s first 38 days set a franchise record with their eighth win in a row, a Nov. 12 triumph over Orlando. The 8-2-2 Moose hadn&rsquo;t lost since Oct. 14 and were leading the International League&rsquo;s Western Conference.&ldquo;Our special teams have been the difference in a lot of games,&rdquo; said Moose coach Randy Carlyle. Functioning at 24.1 per-cent efficiency, Manitoba&rsquo;s power play was leading the league. &ldquo;When you can win those little battles, it really enhances your chances of winning.&rdquo;UNITED LEAGUEAsheville Smoke tough guy Bruce Watson was charged with public intoxication, disruptive behavior and resisting arrest after a game against Muskegon Nov. 28. Watson was arrested, released to a teammate and a few hours later, re-arrested for allegedly breaking into a house and assaulting a female with a baseball bat and broom handle. Watson, 23, scheduled for two November court dates, sat out one game after the incidents before returning. He was voted Asheville&rsquo;s most popular player last season.- Brendan SavageMORE KIDS Eight full NHL affiliations are making the IHL a younger league.A month into the season, the average IHLer is 26 years old, down five months from last year and eight months two years ago.Among the teams with full affiliations, the average age is 24.9 years.The IHL&rsquo;s youngest team is the Detroit Vipers, Ottawa&rsquo;s top affiliate, averaging 22.8 years.DOTTING THE I&rsquo; The Kansas City Blades, in the midst of a month-long, 10-game road trip, were hurt by goalie injuries that sidelined Corey Schwab and Alfie Michaud. Benoit Thibert was called up from Missouri of the United League, but the Blades then acquired Rich Shulmistra, a former standout with Manitoba, on loan from the Florida Panthers, to fill the void&hellip;Orlando lost its captain when defenseman Geordie Kinnear was dealt in a Nov. 6 trade between parent club Atlanta and the New Jersey Devils. To make matters worse, the Solar Bears also lost center Mark Beaufait, the IHL&rsquo;s leading scorer, when he suffered a serious knee injury Nov. 11 that was expected to keep him out until at least mid-December.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03254/7451374-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="1255" height="1864"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Grand Rapids Griffins and Todd White are off to a great start this season with 11 wins in 13 games. White had five goals and 13 points.</figcaption></div><h2>IHL</h2>SCOUTING REPORT<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04201/7451367-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="319" height="451"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad Tapper</figcaption></div>VITAL STATISTICSHometown: Scarborough Age: 20Size: 6-0,175LAST AMATEUR CLUB Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC)POSITION Right winger2000-01 SEASONOrlando Solar Bears<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05174/7451360-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="367" height="79"></div>NHL AFFILIATIONAtlanta ThrashersNOTEWORTHYTapper had 116 points in 106 games at RPI over three seasons. He was an NCAA East second team all-American last season and signed as a free agent with Atlanta. Tapper led ECAC goal-scorers with 31 including seven winners.BOTTOM LINETapper has good speed, instincts and a knack for scoring, but he has frustrated coaches by not paying the price every night.<h2>WESTERN PRO LEAGUE</h2>The New Mexico Scorpions offered free admission for a game against the El Paso Buzzards to any fan who sacrificed their hair to representatives of the Albuquerque Barber College. The freshly clipped follicles were donated to &lsquo;Locks of Love,&rsquo; a charity providing hairpieces to needy children with medical hair loss. Scorpions&rsquo; broadcaster Wayne Amman was among the newly shorn. &ldquo;If players can give up their bodies for the team, then I can give up my hair for a great cause,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Besides, it grows back.&rdquo;- David Henry<h2>WEST COAST LEAGUE</h2>Bakersfield Condors right winger Jamie Cooke spent a recent rare weekend off living in a man-made &lsquo;Condor&rsquo;s nest,&rsquo; 40 feet above a busy Bakersfield intersection. When he came down two days later, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation was about $15,000 richer, the money donated by a local company in exchange for people bringing in aluminum cans to be recycled. Cooke, an environmental science major in his college days at Colgate University, is now a spokesman for Sierra Recycling, promoting recycling in Bakersfield.- Don Ruiz<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>A three-game losing streak cost Border City Bandits&rsquo; coach Peter South his job. The expansion team fired South Nov. 9 and replaced him with player/assistant coach Daniel Shank. South, an assistant coach in the UHL and IHL for the last 15 seasons, finished with a 5-6-2 record&hellip;Curtis Voth, who had 1,216 penalty minutes in his first four CHL campaigns and last season set a league record with 466 penalty minutes, was traded by Tulsa to Huntsville after he grabbed Tulsa coach Shaun Clouston at a practice.- Bob Stratton &#9632;

f0040-02

Griffins’ rapid start sets grand pace

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01467/7451412-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="373" height="208"></div>Windsor Spitfires&rsquo; coach Tom Webster can&rsquo;t believe his good fortune in coaching great players.First, there The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, who skated for Webster when he coached the Los Angeles Kings. And now, after Windsor GM Mike Kelly won the Jason Spezza trade sweepstakes, Webster will be coaching another superstar and he knows what awaits his newest player.&ldquo;Spezza is already under the microscope,&rdquo; Webster said. &ldquo;This is something he has been faced with at a very young age. I&rsquo;m sure he has had to deal with that pressure.&ldquo;One thing with Wayne, he knew how important the supporting cast was and I&rsquo;m sure Jason already understands that.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s how the trade breaks down: The Mississauga IceDogs get center Ryan Courtney, wingers Mike James and Tyler Eady and defenseman Steve Rawski, plus two draft picks and cash. Windsor gets Spezza.It&rsquo;s the biggest junior trade since 1990 when Eric Lindros balked at reporting to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and was traded to the Oshawa Generals.Spezza, who had seven goals and 30 points in 15 games with the IceDogs this season and is regarded as a surefire lottery NHL draft pick in 2001, requested Nov. 4 that Mississauga trade him.He wasn&rsquo;t happy with his development under coach Rick Vaive on a team with the worst record (2-14-2-0) in the Canadian Hockey League.&ldquo;It was time to move on,&rdquo; said Spezza, who in his first two OHL campaigns scored 46 goals and 132 points in 119 games, last season with Mississauga and in 1998-99 as an underage 15-year-old with the Brampton Battalion.Spezza had two assists in his first game Nov. 16, a 4-3 loss to Kitchener.&ldquo;We all need time to make this work,&rdquo; Spezza said.Windsor, third overall in the Western Conference, now sees the three-year plan brought to town by Kelly and Webster last year greatly accelerated.&ldquo;From a win-loss stand point, it gives us a legitimate chance to move into the top four in the OHL,&rdquo; Kelly said.KNIGHT HOUSE League commissioner David Branch ruled Nov. 10 that London Knights&rsquo; GM-owner Mark Hunter, who with his brother Dale bought the team and the Ice House arena in May, could enter the arena to fulfill his responsibilities as the facility&rsquo;s manager.As part of the most severe off-ice suspension in the OHL&rsquo;s 68-year history, Hunter had been completely banned from the arena until March 24,2001.But when Branch learned Hunter also runs the arena, he relented a bit.&ldquo;He is not to watch a game unless, as arena manager, he&rsquo;s required to do so,&rdquo; Branch said. &ldquo;The spirit and the intention of the sanctions are clear and we would hope they will be honored.&rdquo;Hunter is appealing the suspension.899 AND COUNTING Brian Kilrea, who was one victory shy of becoming the first CHL coach with 900 wins, had an unexpected delay Nov. 12. That&rsquo;s because the Toronto St. Michael&rsquo;s Majors - who had never beaten Kilrea&rsquo;s Ottawa 67&rsquo;s in 14 tries since rejoining the league in 1997 - defeated the 67&rsquo;s 4-2 at Toronto&rsquo;s Air Canada Centre. &#9632;

f0041-01

Spezza faces pressure after forcing trade

<div class="byline">By Willy Palov</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02285/7451443-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="379" height="274"></div>Maxime Ouellet has a lot of things going for him, but maybe his biggest talent is his ability to see the big picture.The 19-year-old goalie is back in the Quebec League after starting the season with the Philadelphia Flyers. Refreshingly, he has a mature understanding of why that&rsquo;s not such a bad thing.&ldquo;I was a bit upset to leave the NHL, but when they sent me to the Philadelphia Phantoms (American League) for conditioning, I knew that was the beginning of me coming back to junior,&rdquo; said the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies&rsquo; stopper. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s what I was expecting when I went there in August.&rsquo; Drafted 22nd overall by Philadelphia in 1999, Ouellet realized goalies often arrive in the NHL later than skaters. With that in the back of his mind as he headed to his second pro camp, the 6-foot-2,195-pounder was just looking for experience.&ldquo;I expected to play two or three exhibition games, but I got to play five; I also got a start in the regular season,&rdquo; said Ouellet, who had a 2.37 goals-against average and .889 save percentage in 76 NHL minutes.Ouellet wasted little time re-establishing himself as the QMJHL&rsquo;s marquee backstop. He recorded shutouts in his first two games and didn&rsquo;t allow a goal until 6:47 of the second period of his third game.&ldquo;It was more that my team played good in front of me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I got 34 (total) shots in two games when I came back.&rdquo;With the NHL lifestyle still fresh in his mind, Ouellet said he&rsquo;s focused on junior hockey for 2000-01. He badly wants a league title and would like another crack at gold with Canada&rsquo;s world junior team.&ldquo;I had a chance to do it last year and I want to do it again this year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And obviously the (QMJHL) playoffs are important. The last three years we had good teams, but we couldn&rsquo;t do it.&rdquo;300 PLATEAU Sherbrooke Castors&rsquo; coach Joe Canale added another achievement to his resume.Canale notched his 300th career QMJHL win Nov. 5 against the Victoria-ville Tigres, putting him sixth on the league&rsquo;s all-time list.Canale is second among active coaches trailing Guy Chouinard of the Quebec Remparts (469).With his Castors trailing 5-2 in the third period, Canale watched as they rallied for four goals in the final 8:50 to win.Canale started his career in 1977-78 with a 2-29-2 record with the Shawinigan Cataractes. He has since spent time in Chicoutimi, Beauport, Laval and Sher-brooke.Coaching totals with Medicine Hat of the Western League and Sarnia of the Ontario League are not part of the 300 total.WELCOME BACK Nearly three months after launching his pro career, Wesley Scanzano has returned to junior.Starting with his second straight tryout with the Phoenix Coyotes, the 20-year-old winger played three exhibition games with Springfield (AHL) before settling in with Mississippi (East Coast League).But Rouyn-Noranda persuaded the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder to build on his 106-point season.&ldquo;I had seven points in seven games and I was the leading scorer with Mississippi, but I decided there&rsquo;s always going to be opportunities in the East Coast League,&rdquo; he said.<h2>So far, so valuable</h2>Kootenay Ice center Mike Comrie is the clear-cut favorite for the Western League&rsquo;s MVP honors.Comrie, whose season began with a 21-game point-scoring streak, boasted league-high totals of 35 goals and 63 points after 23 games. At that pace, the former University of Michigan star is on track to threaten Ray Ferraro&rsquo;s league record of 108 goals.Meanwhile, Val-d&rsquo;Or&rsquo;s Simon Gamache is the early leader to win MVP honors in the Quebec League.The 5-foot-10,185-pound left winger is following up on a 143-point season with 19 goals and 62 points through 25 games this year.And in the Ontario League, 18-year-old center Brad Boyes is captaining the Erie Otters to the best record in the league at 14-3-5-0.The Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; 2000 first round pick (24th overall) was second in OHL scoring with 22 goals and 38 points in 22 games. &#9632;

f0041-02

Ouellet flying high, just not in NHL (yet)

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03216/7451474-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="379" height="266"></div>Jared Aulin hopes his hockey season will be as productive as his off-season. So far, so good.The Kamloops Blazers&rsquo; center had 12 goals and 31 points after 17 games of the 2000-01 Western League season.&ldquo;I wanted to prove a point that I didn&rsquo;t prove last year,&rdquo; said Aulin, who had 17 goals and 55 points in 57 games last season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just worked really hard with the goal of having a good season.&rdquo;Aulin participated in dryland training, weight training and martial arts. The 6-foot-1,188-pound Calgarian gained 18 pounds in the process.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pretty proud of the summer and the way things went,&rdquo; said Aulin, 18. &ldquo;My dad put quite the goalie together this summer. He had someone mould a goalie together out of metal. You can bend it into certain positions. I threw goalie equipment on it. I&rsquo;d take it on the ice or I&rsquo;d shoot pucks at it in the backyard.&rdquo;Aulin also enjoyed a strong start last season. At one point, he was leading the league in scoring - only to suffer a sprained neck, followed by a severe ankle injury which hampered him for the rest of the season.&ldquo;It was really frustrating,&rdquo; Aulin said. &ldquo;I was doing well and then the injury took place. It kind of went downhill after that because I never came back ready to play I still had the ankle injury. I had it taped up like a cast. Between every period, they had to cut it off because it was cutting the circulation off. That didn&rsquo;t help any.&rdquo;The Colorado Avalanche drafted Aulin in the second round last June, 47th overall&ldquo;I was rated quite high in the first round early in the year, when things wen going well,&rdquo; Aulin said. &ldquo;When I came back and people didn&rsquo;t know what the circumstances were, my status went down.&ldquo;Like I said to all the teams in the meetings, I&rsquo;m going to prove to the teams that didn&rsquo;t pick me that they made a big mistake and prove to the team that picked me they made the right choice.&rdquo;RED-HOT RED DEER The Kootenay Ice and Calgary Hitmen receive most of the publicity in the Central Division.But the Red Deer Rebels have also become a force.&ldquo;Calgary and Kootenay can get all the credit,&rdquo; said Rebels&rsquo; center Justin Mapletoft. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve beaten both teams twice. If they get all the attention, fine.&rdquo;Red Deer began the season 14-3-0-0 and was the Canadian Hockey League&rsquo;s fourth-ranked team. At that point, the Rebels had handed the Ice (15-2-2-1) its only losses of 2000-01.&ldquo;The last couple of years were building years,&rdquo; said Mapletoft, who had 12 goals and 36 points after 17 games. &ldquo;Every year, we&rsquo;ve been getting better and better.&rdquo;MOEN AND GROAN Lethbridge Hurricanes&rsquo; winger Derek Parker was suspended 15 games for sucker-punching Kelowna Rockets&rsquo; winger Travis Moen.During the Hurricanes&rsquo; 4-1 win Nov. 3, Parker jumped on Moen during a goalmouth scramble and punched him twice in the face, breaking his nose. Moen suffered from sinus problems as a result of the injury and missed two games.&ldquo;We will not tolerate any serious incidents of this nature,&rdquo; said WHL commissioner Ron Robison. &#9632;

f0041-03

Bigger, better Blazer after summer tuneup

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01479/7451505-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="367" height="220"></div>Youth is being served in Central Collegiate Hockey Association creases.Early this season, three freshman goalies loudly introduced themselves to opposing forwards: Ohio State&rsquo;s Mike Betz, Northern Michigan&rsquo;s Craig Kowalski and Miami&rsquo;s David Bowen.Betz led Ohio State to a surprising 42-0 start by posting a 1.96 goals-against average and .939 save percentage. Both marks ranked second to Michigan State&rsquo;s Ryan Miller (1.54, .943).In the Buckeyes&rsquo; two-game sweep of Lake Superior State Nov. 10-11, Betz stopped 64 of 65 stops to earn defensive player-of-the-week honors. Earlier this season, he stopped 58 of 60 shots in an upset of Maine.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very athletic, he&rsquo;s quick,&rdquo; said OSU coach John Markell. &ldquo;He has great lateral movement.&rdquo;Kowalski was 4-2-1 with a 2.40 GAA and .916 SP.According to Wildcats&rsquo; coach Rick Comley, Kowalski is a good technical goaltender, but his best asset is his competitiveness.And although Bowen had only played four games, he showed promise by posting a 2-1-0 record, 2.30 GAA and .931 SP.He first arrived on the Miami campus in 1998, but was red-shirted. He played with Sioux Falls of the United States League last season.ANALYSIS During the past few seasons, the CCHA has been dominated by defense and goaltending.But that trend could be changing as five players were averaging at least 1.5 points per game this season. They were the Western Michigan trio of David Gove (2.6 points per game), Mike Bishai (2.4) and Steve Rymsha (2.0), Ferris State&rsquo;s Kevin Swider (1.6) and Michigan&rsquo;s Andy Hilbert (1.5). Last season only Michigan State&rsquo;s Shawn Horcoff managed 1.5 points per game.NEWS FOLLOW-UP After missing all but the opening game of 1999-2000 with a knee injury, Miami&rsquo;s Jason Deskins is trying to regain his form of 1998-99, which saw him lead the CCHA in goals with 26.The junior center had four goals and one assist in 10 games this season. He also led the team in shots with 36.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s coming around, he&rsquo;s taking time,&rdquo; said Miami coach Enrico Blasi.NOTEBOOK Assistant coach Mel Pearson directed Michigan&rsquo;s 4-1 win over Ferris State Nov. 10. That&rsquo;s because coach Red Berenson was at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. He was participating in the unveiling of the Summit Series monument celebrating the 1972 Canada-Soviet confrontation. Berenson, who was with the Detroit Red Wings at the time, was a member of Team Canada. &#9632;

f0042-01

Rookie goalies have no respect for top shooters

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02294/7451536-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="373" height="217"></div>Massachusetts-Lowell defenseman Ron Hainsey appreciates the fact he was drafted in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens after an all-rookie team season in Hockey East.But he has more to show you. The Bolton, Conn., native has made a concerted effort to generate some offense in his sophomore season. So far, so good. Hainsey had two goals and 12 points in just eight games, about equal to his freshman totals of three goals and 11 points in 30 games a year ago.Montreal drafted him 13th overall last June, enticed by his potential as a puck-moving offensive blueliner.&ldquo;He has taken charge more,&rdquo; said River Hawks&rsquo; coach Tim Whitehead. &ldquo;He is playing better defensively and has contributed more on offense. He has been more assertive.&rdquo;Not known as a physical presence in the defensive end, Hainsey trained hard during the off-season, adding 10 pounds to a frame that is now 6-foot-2 and 196 pounds. Scouts would love to see him be meaner in his own zone, but admire his progress spearheading the attack.&ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t tried to do too much,&rdquo; Whitehead said. &ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t tried to carry the puck coast-to-coast. He has kept it simple. He has a good sense for the game, anticipates well and can skate with anybody.&rdquo;ANALYSIS Maine&rsquo;s penalty killing has been resurgent. The Black Bears haven&rsquo;t finished above fourth in Hockey East the past three seasons, but they killed off 34 of 38 disadvantages during a stretch.&ldquo;We have experienced goaltending and defense,&rdquo; said Maine coach Shawn Walsh. &ldquo;I want us to be in the top 10 in the country in penalty killing. We&rsquo;ve added new twists to our forecheck. We do things to suit the needs of our penalty killers.&rdquo;And Winger Martin Kariya added, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got more speed this year.&rdquo;SPOTLIGHT Sean MacDonald is a checking line center, so goals are few and far between.But MacDonald picked an opportune time for his first goal in 52 games when he got the winner in Northeastern&rsquo;s 4-1 win over Boston University Nov. 12.His last goal came Nov. 13,1998, in overtime against Boston College.NOTEBOOK Providence defenseman Matt Libby registered at least a point in eight games and UMass-Amherst winger Martin Miljko had a point in all six of his games&hellip;New Hampshire broke an uncharacteristic three-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over Providence Nov. 11. &#9632;

f0042-02

First-rounder Hainsey more assertive in generating River Hawks’ offense

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggie</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03231/7451567-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="361" height="214"></div>A season that everyone wants to forget has been replaced by one that will be remembered for a long time.Last year, Vermont cancelled the second half of its hockey season because of a hazing incident. But two milestones &mdash; and the promise of a successful campaign &mdash; have buried some of the ugly memories.The Catamounts began the season with a 30th anniversary celebration of their national title and on Nov. 10, coach Mike Gilligan recorded his 250th victory at Vermont.The win came in a 5-3 decision at Harvard and boosted Gilligan&rsquo;s overall total to 390.In typical fashion, Gilligan downplayed the milestone.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to know a school will stick with you long enough to do something like this,&rdquo; Gilligan said.&ldquo;This is a tribute to Vermont athletics and the coaches and players who have been here.&rdquo;Vermont scored three goals in the third period to pull out the win and senior goalie Andrew Allen was brilliant, stopping 43 shots and showing the form that carried him to a 2.59 goals-against average as a sophomore.&ldquo;This was extra special,&rdquo; said Allen. &ldquo;It was a game he&rsquo;ll never forget.&rdquo;ANALYSIS After an 0-3-0 start, Cornell coach Mike Schafer brought the Big Red back to life by switching goalies.Schafer gave third-string sophomore goalie Chris Gartman his first start against RPI Nov. 11 and Gartman responded with 26 saves in a 3-2 win over the Engineers.Cornell needed a big effort from its defense, as the Big Red were playing without right wingers Stephen Baby and Greg Hornby, who were serving one-game suspensions for fighting in a 2-0 loss to Union the night before.SPOTLIGHT A sweep of Cornell and Colgate at home boosted Union&rsquo;s record to 5-1-0 and gave the Skating Dutchmen their first-ever 3-0-0 start in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.More importantly, the non-scholarship Dutchmen were ranked 14th in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll Nov. 12, the first time Union has ever been nationally ranked.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to be recognized,&rdquo; said coach Kevin Sneddon. &ldquo;But the one danger of polls is you can&rsquo;t let your head swell.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK RPI junior defenseman Jim Vickers scored his first career goal in a 3-2 win over Colgate Nov. 10. Vickers, the son of former New York Ranger Steve Vickers, had gone 55 games without a goal. &#9632;

f0042-03

Catamounts bury checkered season and win No. 250 for coach Gilligan

<div class="byline">By Andy Baggot</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04180/7451598-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="370" height="217"></div>Four losing seasons at Michigan Tech cost coach Tim Watters his job.Four straight losing seasons at Alaska-Anchorage got coach Dean Talafous a two-year extension.But while Watters was asked to step down Nov. 7 after a 1-7-1 start - on the heels of a horrendous 4-34-0 season - Talafous is making the same gamble Anchorage athletic director Steve Cobb took this summer, when the extension he agreed to looked like smart money.The Seawolves opened their Western Collegiate Hockey Association season with upbeat showings on the road against powers Minnesota and Wisconsin, including a stunning series sweep of the sixth-ranked Badgers Nov. 10-11.Behind the stellar play of freshman goalie Chris King, who stopped 62 of 67 shots, Anchorage recorded 5-3 and 3-2 wins at the Kohl Center, where the Badgers had been unbeaten in four games this season after going 16-3-1 in 1999-2000.The experience was sweet on several fronts for Talafous. Not only is he a former Wisconsin standout (1971-1973) who cut his coaching teeth at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-River from 1989 to 1996, Talafous saw his freshman son, Peter, record his first career point in the series opener in Madison.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best team we&rsquo;ve had,&rdquo; said Dean Talafous, who came into the season with a 43-84-17 mark at Anchorage. &ldquo;We finally have a group of guys who will play (hard) every night.&rdquo;SPOTLIGHT North Dakota defenseman Travis Roche tied a 34-year-old WCHA record when he was credited with six assists during a 7-5 win over Minnesota Nov. 10. Roche is the ninth to accomplish the feat. The first was Keith Christiansen of Minnesota-Duluth in 1966.NEWS FOLLOW-UP One of the strangest moments in WCHA history was played out Nov. 10 when Michigan Tech claimed a 5-4 overtime win against Minnesota-Duluth. It marked the Tech coaching debut of Mike Sertich, who was fired last spring after 18 seasons at Duluth.Sertich had two practices with his new club after being hired on an interim basis to replace Watters. After the win, Sertich was seen clutching a piece of paper with the words to the Tech fight song on it.&ldquo;When the game was over I was looking for someone to hug,&rdquo; Sertich said after his 351st career win, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t know anyone on the team well enough to hug, so we shook hands.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK At separate times during the first six weeks of the season, three WCHA teams were ranked No. 1 in the nation: North Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota. &#9632;

f0042-04

Alaska’s Talafous agrees to more northern exposure

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01496/7452007-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg"></div><h2>STANDINGS</h2>NHL Standings through games of Nov 16 (82-game regular season). GP-games played; W-wins; L-losses; T-ties; RT-regualtion ties; GF-goals for; GA-goals against; Difl.-difference between goals for and against; P-points; Pct.-percentage of actual points versus possible points. Below is a comparison between games played through Nov. 18/1999 versus games played through Nov. 16/2000.<h2>DIVISIONAL STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02331/7452000-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="1381" height="559"></div><h2>OVERALL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-07114/7451993-1-eng-US/f0043-072.jpg" title="f0043-07" width="499" height="814"></div><h2>RESULTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-08100/7451986-1-eng-US/f0043-082.jpg" title="f0043-08" width="496" height="1396"></div><h2>GOALS-AGAINST AVE.</h2>GP-games played; Min.-total minutes; GA-goals against; SO-shutouts; GAA-goals-against average; League average is average GAA of all goalies who have played a minimum of 360 minutes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0990/7451979-1-eng-US/f0043-092.jpg" title="f0043-09" width="586" height="994"></div><h2>SAVE PERCENTAGE</h2>GP-games played; Min.-total minutes; SA-shots faced; GA-goals against; SP-save percentage; League average is average save percentage of all goalies who have played a minimum of 360 minutes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1080/7451972-1-eng-US/f0043-102.jpg" title="f0043-10" width="601" height="994"></div><h2>TOP SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1170/7451965-1-eng-US/f0043-112.jpg" title="f0043-11" width="601" height="550"></div><h2>TOP DEFENSEMEN</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1264/7451958-1-eng-US/f0043-122.jpg" title="f0043-12" width="598" height="286"></div><h2>TOP ROOKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1358/7451951-1-eng-US/f0043-132.jpg" title="f0043-13" width="598" height="292"></div><h2>ATTENDANCE</h2>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.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1456/7451944-1-eng-US/f0043-142.jpg" title="f0043-14" width="592" height="802"></div><h2>TEAM PENALTIES</h2>PIM-total penalty minutes including BMI-bench penalty minutes; Avg.-average penalty minutes per game.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1552/7451937-1-eng-US/f0043-152.jpg" title="f0043-15" width="1003" height="457"></div><h2>PENALTY KILLING</h2>TSH-total times shorthanded; PGA-power-play goals allowed; Pct.-penalty-killing percentage.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1649/7451930-1-eng-US/f0043-162.jpg" title="f0043-16" width="1003" height="457"></div><h2>POWER PLAY</h2>Adv-total advantages: PPG-power-play goals; Pct.-power-play goals divided by total advantages.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1744/7451923-1-eng-US/f0043-172.jpg" title="f0043-17" width="1015" height="460"></div>KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONSStatistics provided by National Hockey League: PLAYER- listed by uniform number, position (F-forward; D-defenseman; G-goane). name: GP- games played; G- goals: A- assists; P- points; +/- -plus/minus: PIM- penalties; PP- power-play goals; SH- short-handed goals; GW- game-winning goals; GT- game-tying goals; S- shots; SP- shooting percentage; H- 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; GV- giveaways. A giveaway is when a player&rsquo;s own actions result in the loss of possession to the other team; TK- takeaways. A takeaway occurs when pressure by a defending player results in gaining possession of the puck; MIN- average minutes played per game is expressed in minutes and seconds. Players indicated by an asterisk (*) are eligible for the Calder Trophy.NOTE: 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.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03265/7451916-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="250" height="328"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Sakic</figcaption></div><h2>THN THREE STARS OF THE WEEK</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-04183/7451909-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="76" height="79"></div>With several Colorado stars injured, Avalanche captain Joe Sakic scored four goals and nine points, leading his team to a 3-1-0-0 record for the week of Nov. 10-Nov. 16</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-05156/7451902-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="82" height="79"></div>First-year NHLer Lubomir Sekeras notched three goals and six points for an expansion Minnesota Wild team that went 1-1-0-1 in three games.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-06127/7451895-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="82" height="82"></div>Milan Hnilicka&rsquo;s first NHL shutout, a 1-0 win over Nashville, was part of a great week in which he went 2-0-1-0 with a 0.97 goals-against average and a .966 save percentage.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01386/7451888-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="1029" height="642"></div><h2>ATLANTA THRASHERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02210/7451881-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="1015" height="630"></div><h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03152/7451874-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="1013" height="772"></div><h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-04116/7451867-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="1021" height="138"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0598/7451860-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="1011" height="496"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0689/7451853-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg" title="f0044-06" width="1019" height="732"></div><h2>CAROLINA HURRICANES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0782/7451846-1-eng-US/f0044-072.jpg" title="f0044-07" width="1005" height="634"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0869/7451839-1-eng-US/f0044-082.jpg" title="f0044-08" width="1011" height="710"></div><h2>COLORADO AVALANCHE</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0965/7451832-1-eng-US/f0044-092.jpg" title="f0044-09" width="1029" height="172"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1057/7451825-1-eng-US/f0044-102.jpg" title="f0044-10" width="1017" height="554"></div><h2>COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1148/7451818-1-eng-US/f0044-112.jpg" title="f0044-11" width="1015" height="612"></div><h2>DALLAS STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1243/7451811-1-eng-US/f0044-122.jpg" title="f0044-12" width="1021" height="636"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1340/7451804-1-eng-US/f0044-132.jpg" title="f0044-13" width="1005" height="662"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1437/7451797-1-eng-US/f0044-142.jpg" title="f0044-14" width="1021" height="296"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01313/7451790-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="1011" height="378"></div><h2>FLORIDA PANTHERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-02169/7451783-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="1015" height="827"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-03126/7451776-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="1013" height="588"></div><h2>MINNESOTA WILD</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-04101/7451769-1-eng-US/f0045-042.jpg" title="f0045-04" width="1022" height="743"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0585/7451762-1-eng-US/f0045-052.jpg" title="f0045-05" width="1014" height="140"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0675/7451755-1-eng-US/f0045-062.jpg" title="f0045-06" width="1014" height="588"></div><h2>NASHVILLE PREDATORS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0766/7451748-1-eng-US/f0045-072.jpg" title="f0045-07" width="1007" height="609"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0852/7451741-1-eng-US/f0045-082.jpg" title="f0045-08" width="1012" height="640"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0949/7451734-1-eng-US/f0045-092.jpg" title="f0045-09" width="998" height="583"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1042/7451727-1-eng-US/f0045-102.jpg" title="f0045-10" width="1008" height="250"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1138/7451720-1-eng-US/f0045-112.jpg" title="f0045-11" width="1015" height="399"></div><h2>OTTAWA SENATORS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1230/7451713-1-eng-US/f0045-122.jpg" title="f0045-12" width="1031" height="691"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1326/7451706-1-eng-US/f0045-132.jpg" title="f0045-13" width="1013" height="689"></div><h2>PHOENIX COYOTES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1423/7451699-1-eng-US/f0045-142.jpg" title="f0045-14" width="1018" height="639"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1521/7451692-1-eng-US/f0045-152.jpg" title="f0045-15" width="1015" height="245"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01309/7451685-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="1017" height="450"></div><h2>SAN JOSE SHARKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02179/7451678-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="1029" height="664"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-03124/7451671-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="1011" height="638"></div><h2>TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-04102/7451664-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg" title="f0046-04" width="1011" height="404"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0579/7451657-1-eng-US/f0046-052.jpg" title="f0046-05" width="1003" height="306"></div><h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0671/7451650-1-eng-US/f0046-062.jpg" title="f0046-06" width="1019" height="582"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0761/7451643-1-eng-US/f0046-072.jpg" title="f0046-07" width="1019" height="634"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0847/7451636-1-eng-US/f0046-082.jpg" title="f0046-08" width="999" height="630"></div><h2>REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0944/7451629-1-eng-US/f0046-092.jpg" title="f0046-09" width="1011" height="2328"></div> &#9632;

f0043-01

2000-01 REGULAR SEASON STATISTICS

<h2>KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS</h2>KEY TO ABBREVIATIONSStatistics provided by National Hockey League; Players are listed by uniform number, name, games played (GP). minutes played (Min), goals-against average (GAA), wins (W). losses (L), ties (T), empty-net goals (EN), shutouts (SO), goals against (GA), shots against (SA), save percentage (SP). For goalies&rsquo; individual rankings see page 43.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1035/7452059-1-eng-US/f0046-102.jpg" title="f0046-10" width="761" height="780"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1134/7452052-1-eng-US/f0046-112.jpg" title="f0046-11" width="751" height="1016"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1227/7452045-1-eng-US/f0046-122.jpg" title="f0046-12" width="735" height="1014"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1323/7452038-1-eng-US/f0046-132.jpg" title="f0046-13" width="757" height="1022"></div> &#9632;

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December 1, 2000

History says habitual divers pay stiff price for embellishing

It’s Crunch time for ex-Pack Labbe

SCOREBOARD

Nurminen back up, scores in return