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September 14, 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.
Healthy Johnson happy to be back
Training camp was still two weeks away, but Craig Johnson was skating with teammates and having a blast. For the first time in more than eight months, he was one of the fellas again. It was far different from the day after Christmas when Johnson slammed into the boards in a game against the San Jose Sharks and severed a tendon in his right foot with his left skate. Moments earlier, Johnson had scored his first goal of the season. It also was his last. “I don’t remember a lot about what happened,” said Johnson, who came off the ice and then collapsed. “But I remember all the work it has taken to get back. When you’re rehabbing you are away from your teammates. You don’t feel a part of it. It’s just good…
Addition of Lindros should help Messier
If Eric Lindros can restart his career, it might prolong that of his boyhood hero, Mark Messier. Lindros’ arrival in New York means Rangers’ coach Ron Low will have some options and perhaps won’t have to burn out his workhorse center from last season. Messier, who turns 41 in January, is in the final year of a two-year contract. He had a terrible slump in the middle of last season, partly due to fatigue, though he’d refuse to admit it; and partly due to playing on a line with slumping wingers Adam Graves and Valeri Kamensky and later minor-leaguers Jeff Toms and Brad Smyth. Late in the season, when placed in the middle of a speedy new line with Radek Dvorak on his right and Manny Malhotra on his left, Messier’s game was…
Sykora hits paydirt in historic hearing
Petr Sykora has performed like one of the NHL’s top stars ever since he became linemates with Jason Arnott and Patrik Elias in February of 1999. But it took a landmark salary arbitration ruling for the Devils’ right winger to finally be paid like a VIP. After earning just $675,000 last season, Sykora was thrilled when arbitrator Michel Picher awarded him a 389 per-cent raise to $3.3 million for this season. Although the 24-year-old Czech had sought $4.4 million, while the Devils offered $2.5 million, it represented the largest percentage increase in NHL arbitration history. Overall, Sykora received a two-year, $6.8-million deal in the Aug. 16 ruling. “I was very happy with the way the arbitration hearing was handled,” he said. “I had had a lot of people tell me that I was…
Lindsay returning to South Florida
The current Florida Panthers want to be like the Florida Panthers of old. So, when old Panther Bill Lindsay needed a team, he found the current Panthers needed a Bill Lindsay - on and off the ice. The free agent signing of the left winger, an original expansion draft Panther, is intended to have a threepronged effect. On the ice, it gives the Panthers more flintiness on the left side and an experienced penalty killer with above-average speed. Second, it gives the dressing room a character leader who was well-liked by teammates while in Florida from 1993-99. And, not necessarily least of all, it gives Panthers’ fans a visible link to the days when the franchise won over South Florida with its modesty and diligence. The peak was the 1996 playoffs, which saw Lindsay score…
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