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March 30, 2001
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.
Leafs’ sparkplug enjoyed long coaching career
Whenever the Toronto Maple Leafs’ attack stalled in the early 1960s, coach Punch Imlach brought Billy Harris off the bench to get it going. The 6-foot, 155-pound center was a brilliant stickhandler. He scored 126 goals and 345 points in 769 NHL games with Toronto, Detroit, Oakland and Pittsburgh from 1955 to 1969 and played in the 1958 All-Star Game. Not to mention, Harris earned three Stanley Cup rings with the Leafs (1962-64). Harris also had a long and varied coaching career, including stints with the Canadian and Italian national teams, 1972 Swedish Olympic team, Team Canada/WHA (vs. the Soviets in 1974), junior Hamilton Red Wings and Sudbury Wolves, WHA’s Ottawa Nationals and Toronto Toros, Laurentian University and as an assistant with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. “In my second year there, I…
Rich in prospects, poor in players
The New York Islanders will miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season, having spent much of that time pawning off high-priced talent for prospects. Hence, it has become an annual occurrence for the Isles to be included among those teams boasting hockey’s deepest up-and-coming talent pools. But it’s a list that GM Mike Milbury and deep-pocketed owner Charles Wang are tired of making as they turn their attention to finally reaping the benefits of the team’s perpetual youth movement. When considering the Islanders’ top prospects who have yet to earn regular NHL duty, remember that center Tim Connolly has produced 70 points over two full NHL seasons before his 20th birthday. And New York’s prospect coffers would be even richer if prized youngsters such as left winger Taylor Pyatt and goalie…
Stars relying on core 11 to get them back to final
While the rest of the Western Conference GMs were acting like commodities’ traders at the trade deadline, the Stars merely recycled one of their own. In a transaction sure to be lost in agate type, the Stars acquired 39-year-old defenseman Grant Ledyard from Tampa Bay for a seventh round pick. Although they were among the bidders for high-scoring Atlanta right winger Donald Audette, Ledyard was their lone acquisition. The Stars lost right winger Blake Sloan, who was claimed off waivers by Columbus. Sloan’s playing time had declined and he was put on waivers, in part, to help him get a new start. The Stars have the top six forwards, the top four defensemen and the goaltender that formed the core of back-to-back Stanley Cup finals’ appearances. “I think we have a good team, a…
Fletcher takes time to stock talent
When Wayne Gretzky and Cliff Fletcher took over the hockey department of the Phoenix Coyotes, one of the most pressing issues they vowed to address was the perceived lack of quality prospects in the organization. There are a handful of potential candidates in the fold, but not nearly enough can’t-miss blue-chippers to satisfy Gretzky and Fletcher. That’s one reason why they went after youngsters from Tampa Bay in the Nikolai Khabibulin trade, acquiring Russian right winger Ruslan Zainullin, 19, along with defenseman Paul Mara, 21. The Coyotes crave speed and size, two things they don’t have enough of in the system. Here are the top five prospects in order: 1. Krys Koianos, C, Boston College It isn’t every day that a kid from Western Canada winds up at Boston College, but Koianos has handled…
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