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.

October 5, 2001

The Hockey News October 5, 2001

The NHL is used to stars missing in action when the season opens due to contract disputes, but if you thought there were fewer big names unsigned this season, you&rsquo;re correct. Last year at the same time there was a significantly higher number, among them: Jason Arnott, Anson Carter, Sergei Gonchar, Nikolai Khabibulin, Eric Lindros, Derek. Morris, Scott Niedermayer, Michael Peca, Sergei Samsonov, Ryan Smyth and Joe Thornton. Here are the significant free agents who had not signed a contract as of Sept. 21.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021203/7209935-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="592" height="1154"></div> &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

Waiting to sign on dotted line

My biggest concern with Team Canada is Pat Quinn as the coach. Unless they play the Ottawa Senators for the gold, there&rsquo;s no reason to believe Canada will win. Why weren&rsquo;t Larry Robinson or Bob Hartley given the job?David McKnight, Belwood, Ont.While Brian Leetch has captained the U.S. to a World Cup win, Chris Chelios was in charge when Team USA disgraced itself at Nagano. So why is he the captain again? The U.S. needs the class of Leetch on and off the ice.Jim Fix, Centreville, Va.Vancouver should obtain Detroit&rsquo;s Chris Osgood. The Canucks are in need of a No. 1 and Osgood could teach Dan Cloutier for a few seasons, then go somewhere else.Terry Bishop, EdmontonAs a Flyers&rsquo; fan since 1975, I&rsquo;d like to &ldquo;thank&rdquo; THN for picking Philadelphia for the 2001-02 Stanley Cup. Talk about the kiss of death. Why couldn&rsquo;t you guys have picked New Jersey?Robert Bugsch,&nbsp; Apache Junction, Ariz.After years of being underdogs, the Sharks can finally swim with the West&rsquo;s &ldquo;big four.&rdquo; San Jose has many skilled forwards and both youth and veteran leadership on defense. Their crease is set with two fine young goalies. They&rsquo;re a team to watch this year.Jay Rush, Pennington, N.J.<h2>READERS&rsquo; ONE-TIMERS</h2>This is your place for quick comments on current hockey events. Reader&rsquo;s One-Timers accepts opinions of 60 words or less, so please be concise. &#9632;

Canada, U.S. make leadership mistakes

<div class="byline">-Rob Tychkowski</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03612/7210810-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="216" height="241"></div>The way some players see it, playing on a line with Doug Weight is like winning the lottery.Keep your stick on the ice, go to the net and one of the most gifted passers and unselfish players in the NHL will put you on the scoresheet.Ryan Smyth knows this better than most. He flanked Doug Weight&rsquo;s left side for the better part of five seasons with the Edmonton Oilers and piled up 131 goals.&ldquo;Doug helped me a tremendous amount,&rdquo; said the 25-year-old winger. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying I didn&rsquo;t create my own chances by going to the net and stuff, but if the puck&rsquo;s right there on your tape&hellip;he was a tremendous player to play with.&rdquo;Weight is a St. Louis Blue now, so Smyth will have to go it without Weight&rsquo;s golden touch.&ldquo;I have to go out and step up my level and show other players and other teams that I can compete with the best of them without one of the best passers in the game,&rdquo; he said.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. How will the Oilers make up for the loss of Doug Weight? Sophomore Mike Comrie is penciled in as the first line center, but the onus isn&rsquo;t on him to fill the void alone. The party line is offense by committee.2. Will the Oilers finally have a solid second line scoring threat? They&rsquo;re hoping the addition of Jochen Hecht and Marty Reasoner, acquired in the Weight trade, will give them the scoring balance they seek.3. Who will be the puck-moving, powerplay defenseman this year? With Tom Poti out in a contract dispute, the Oilers are taking a long look at rookies Ales Pisa (a 26-year-old Czech) and Marc-Andre Bergeron. Failing that, it&rsquo;ll fall on Janne Niinimaa&rsquo;s doorstep.NOTEBOOK &ldquo;Unreal, now if only we could get Mike Modano to retire.&rdquo; That was Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe&rsquo;s reaction upon hearing Oiler killer Peter Forsberg was taking a leave of absence. Lowe was kidding, of course. He hates to see one of the game&rsquo;s greats walk away: &ldquo;You want to see your big stars playing.&rdquo; he said &ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad Eric (Lindros) is back.&rdquo; &#9632;

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NHL TEAM REPORTS

Gritty Smyth determined to connect without Weight

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011706/7210073-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011751/7209787-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Members of the Rangers and Devils stand united during the playing of the national anthem prior to the first sports event in New York after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (Jim McIsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

New York solidarity

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021400/7209818-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="292" height="349"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s impossible to consider Peter Forsberg&rsquo;s status without thinking about Saku Koivu&rsquo;s.While one is battling for his life, another is merely re-arranging the priorities in his. Let&rsquo;s not lose sight of that. Let&rsquo;s not get worked up about Forsberg&rsquo;s voluntary absence from the NHL.He needs a time out from hockey.Who knows how long it will last. Maybe forever. Maybe for a season. Maybe for a couple of months.This is all we know for sure: Forsberg&rsquo;s journey to NHL stardom has taken an excessive toll on his mind, body and soul. He is 28, the owner of a magnificent personal and team record, and just as appropriately the subject of a story in the New England Medical Journal as The Hockey News.It has been a hard period for Forsberg in North America. He has suffered three concussions, endured knee surgery, shoulder surgery, a splenectomy and ankle surgery.Forsberg plays a punishing brand of hockey. He rarely has a soft game. &ldquo;You wouldn&rsquo;t call Peter Forsberg tidy,&rdquo; said Forsberg&rsquo;s representative, Don Baizley. &ldquo;He plays a messy game. He&rsquo;s very artistic and very skilled, but at times messy.&rdquo;Translation: Forsberg seldom puts himself out of harm&rsquo;s way.None of Forsberg&rsquo;s peers among the game&rsquo;s best players absorbs or delivers as much abuse as him. He can play no other way. He cannot play a careful game. And Forsberg is no easier on himself than opposition defenses that target him for special attention at all times.&ldquo;Peter tends to be very tough on himself,&rdquo; Baizley said.Translation: Forsberg&rsquo;s own lofty expectations of performance takes some of the joy out of the game for him.Given his success at all levels-junior, Swedish national, international and the NHL-it boggles the mind to think what Forsberg has ever found seriously lacking in his game.Forsberg felt he owed it to himself and the Avalanche to try and stir the requisite level of commitment to compete in the NHL. So, he attended the Avalanche camp in Stockholm. But he couldn&rsquo;t muster what he needed.Those closest to Forsberg have thought for some time that the Swedish superstar was not here for the long term. Had he left the team at the end of his current contract-which runs through 2001-02-it would not have surprised his confidantes. The fact this is an Olympic year and he is giving up $11 million tells you everything you need to know about how Forsberg is feeling at this time in his life.It tells you that he&rsquo;s spent for now. More than his spleen is missing from his game. So is his heart. &#9632;

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Forsberg’s voluntary absence no big shock to confidantes

<div class="byline">-Denis Gibbon</div>Gus Bodnar doesn&rsquo;t take a back seat to any of today&rsquo;s record-smashing NHL stars.Bodnar, who retired from the NHL in 1955, still holds the records for the fastest goal by a rookie and fastest three assists. He scored 15 seconds into his first NHL game with Toronto in 1943-44, then assisted on Bill Mosienko&rsquo;s three fastest goals in history-in 21 seconds-with Chicago on March 23,1952.Bodnar won the Calder Trophy as the league&rsquo;s top rookie in 1944, captured Stanley Cups with the Maple Leafs in 1945 and 1947 and played in the 1951 All-Star Game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011718/7209849-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="242" height="292"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gus Bodnar (THN Archives)</figcaption></div>With Bud Poile and Gaye Stewart, he formed the &lsquo;Flying Forts,&rsquo; a line which was shipped to Chicago as part of the Max Bentley trade in 1947. All three were from Fort William, Ont.&ldquo;When I went to Chicago, they were getting about 1,800 fans,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We drew more for a practice in Toronto.&rdquo;Bodnar guided the Toronto Marlboros to the Memorial Cup in 1967 and later coached the Oshawa Generals. He also worked as a sales rep for Kitchener-based Dahmer Steel.Now 78, he lives in Oshawa and still plays golf about three times a week. &#9632;

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Nearing 80, Bodnar still holds two NHL records

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011685/7209904-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Murphy (Dale MacMillan/BBS)</figcaption></div>Larry Murphy has a significant record in his sights, but it&rsquo;s not blinding him to the fact his NHL career may be over.Murphy, second all-time to Gordie Howe in games played with 1,615, isn&rsquo;t actively looking to hook up with a team, but if a competitive club came along with an offer which would also provide a good situation for his family, he&rsquo;d gladly return for a 22nd NHL season.&ldquo;If something comes up, I am more than happy to jump at it,&rdquo; says Murphy, an unrestricted free agent who played for Detroit the past four seasons. &ldquo;If it is not there, it is not there. My life is not built around it (resuming his NHL career).&ldquo;I am not in a position to come out and say I am retiring. And while there is always that possibility, I am just proceeding that I am not going to play.&rdquo;While Murphy, 40, is leaving the door open for a return, don&rsquo;t pick him in your pool because the odds are he&rsquo;s done. He has had inquiries from some teams, but none in the past couple of months.If this is the end of Murphy&rsquo;s career, he&rsquo;ll retire 152 games behind Howe, who appeared in 1,767 games over 26 seasons. Mark Messier of the New York Rangers (1,561) is poised to bump Murphy into third place and the veteran defenseman, who has played on four Stanley Cup championship teams, could drop down another peg depending on how many more games Ron Francis (1,489) has left in him. The closest active defenseman to Murphy&rsquo;s mark is Scott Stevens of the New Jersey Devils, at 1,434 games.Murphy stands 28th on the all-time scoring list with 1,216 points, three back of Montreal great Jean Beliveau. Murphy is also third in all-time scoring for defensemen, but has no chance of catching Ray Bourque (1,579 points) and Paul Coffey (1,531).Murphy says he&rsquo;d take a run at Howe&rsquo;s record if he was younger, but achieving milestones isn&rsquo;t enough to make him take any offer or have his agent, Don Baizley, actively soliciting clubs. &ldquo;(Catching Howe) is not a motivating factor,&rdquo; he says.Murphy isn&rsquo;t the only unrestricted free agent who&rsquo;s on the outside looking to get in. Doug Gilmour remains unsigned, as are Dave Reid, Gord Murphy and Kirk McLean.And as training camps wind down and the Oct. 3 season-opening date draws near, there&rsquo;s a handful of top-end restricted players looking to negotiate new contracts. The unsigned players include Vincent Lecavalier of Tampa Bay, Jason Allison of Boston, Ottawa&rsquo;s Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara, and Tomas Kaberle of Toronto. (See accompanying table for prominent free agents).While none of the aforementioned players appeared close to signing, there was a distinct lack of acrimony in talks this season, at least for public consumption. This year&rsquo;s trend is to state your position and let the negotiators do the bickering, but only behind closed doors.&ldquo;Everybody realizes that in this business climate, it isn&rsquo;t necessarily personal and there will be difficult negotiations that are more reflective of the times than the personalities,&rdquo; says player agent Steve Bartlett, who represents Chara.Bartlett also says the public has less time for NHLers angling for big bucks in light of the terrorist attacks in the United States.&ldquo;I think any of us, when we get hit with a (tragedy) like that, instead of being concerned about what we do not have, we are grateful with what we have,&rdquo; Bartlett says.&ldquo;It is not the time when you feel real comfortable taking a real tough stand, but at the same time, we have a job to do and as long as the market is established, you can&rsquo;t ignore it.&rdquo;Kent Hughes, who represents Lecavalier, says this is not the time to get involved in a public war of words over a contract dispute.&ldquo;It (the terrorist attacks) affects it from a publicity standpoint,&rdquo; Hughes says. &ldquo;I think that certainly as athletes and individuals there is concern whether this is even newsworthy when there is so much more important stuff in the world.&rdquo; &#9633; &#9632;

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FEATURES

End of the line for Murphy?

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy Senior Writer</div>The NHL plans to continue its crackdown on flagrant player-on-player violence, particularly blows to the head.Players deemed to have extended an elbow, a forearm or a glove in an attempt to inflict damage on an opponent, will pay the price.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not an easy call to make,&rdquo; said NHL senior vice-president Colin Campbell, who has come to an agreement in principle with commissioner Gary Bettman to remain in his position for another season.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something people who have been in the game a long time develop a feel for. Clearly, though, there are times in a game when you see a player deliver a hit that you know he took it too far. That&rsquo;s what we want to control.&rdquo;Last year the league targeted slashing, particularly in the arm and hand area, and although no numbers have been released, the NHL said it is pleased with the results.&ldquo;Our numbers indicate there were fewer instances of injuries due to slashing in the arm area,&rdquo; said former NHL goalie Dave Dryden, now a consultant with the league working on injury prevention and player safety.Last season, the NHL suspended 33 players a total of 137 games and fined them $1,287,317. The money from fines goes to the players&rsquo; emergency fund.There were four suspensions related to slashing issued in the pre-season and regular season for a total of 29 games. There was one post-season incident-Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios was fined $1,000 for slashing Luc Robitaille, now a teammate, but then a member of the Los Angeles Kings, in the head.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011877/7209987-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="348" height="486"><figcaption class="caption-body">Colin Campbell</figcaption></div>The most severe sentence was to Phoenix left winger Brad May, who received 20 games for slashing Steve Heinze of Columbus in the face.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not trying to take hitting out of the game, not by any means,&rdquo; Campbell said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the cheap shots we&rsquo;re concentrating on. It used to be if you broke a hand or a finger, the NHL took action against you. If there was no break, there was no punishment. We simply said (last year), &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s punish slashing. If there&rsquo;s a slash, call it.&rsquo;&rdquo;.Campbell is entering his fourth season as the man responsible for league discipline. He took over the post previously held by Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; GM Brian Burke. As a player, Campbell was an average talent who survived by going through walls, not around them. A graduate of the school of hard knocks, he never went to a training camp assured of a job.The 48-year-old Campbell relies on the same gut instinct that carried him to such a lofty position in the NHL when making tough calls. He said it would be impossible to come up with a strict set of punishment standards to fit infractions. Dryden agreed.&ldquo;You have to be careful you don&rsquo;t put something down that is so black and white it forces people to make calls they don&rsquo;t want to make,&rdquo; Dryden said.Added Campbell: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s more of a feel you get as you watch the action. Every game is different; every hit is different. Sometimes you see a play and you get a gut feeling, because you&rsquo;ve been in the game so long, that what you saw was wrong.&ldquo;Other times a play might look bad, but because you&rsquo;ve played the game, you know it&rsquo;s not as bad as it looks. Every case will be treated as an individual entity.&rdquo;There is a certain amount of inherent violence that comes with a sport that encourages body contact and, to a degree, fighting, which is punishable only by five minutes in the penalty box. There does, however, need to be guidelines that allow players to perform at a physically intimidating level without crossing an undefined line.That said, Campbell emphasized the league must be careful not to overreact in terms of alterations to rules and the way the game is played.&ldquo;You want to maintain the integrity of the game as far as toughness is concerned,&rdquo; Campbell said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to change the game simply because there are more reported head injuries. You don&rsquo;t want to have a knee-jerk reaction to the fact there seem to be more concussions.&ldquo;There will always be injuries; we understand that. In watching games the past few years since I took this job, I just couldn&rsquo;t understand why we allow slashing as much as we did. When I played, if you slashed a guy, there would be consequences. More than likely it would be an altercation. We seemed to grow to accept slashing as part of the game.&rdquo;Campbell, who coached the New York Rangers from 1994-95 through 1997-98, said slashing even became a tactic that was taught.&ldquo;When a team was on the penalty kill, you would tell your players to go after the puck carrier and slash the hands&hellip;play the hands,&rdquo; he said. &#9633;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021268/7209980-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="990" height="676"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03758/7209973-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="990" height="676"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04464/7209966-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="990" height="676"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad May&rsquo;s vicious slash to the head of Columbus&rsquo; Steve Heinze Nov. 15,2000, earned the Phoenix left winger a 20-game suspension, the third-longest in NHL history for a player-on-player incident.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Keeping it clean tall order

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-05366/7210018-1-eng-US/f0006-052.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Fans wanted to listen to George Bush&rsquo;s speech rather than finish a Flyers-Rangers pre-season game Sept. 20.</figcaption></div><h2>PATRIOTISM TAKES PRIORITY</h2>Unity prevails in a Sept. 20 pre-season game at First Union Center as the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers call it a game after two periods. Fans chant for continued coverage of U.S. president George W. Bush&rsquo;s historic speech shown on the video scoreboard during the second intermission. The players also become spectators as Bush rallies the nation in the aftermath of terrorist attacks nine days earlier. The players shake hands and agree to a 2-2, 40-minute tie.For Mike Brophy&rsquo;s daily Cheers & Jeers visit <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a> &#9632;

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PLUS

Over the years, certain teams touch your heart. For whatever reason, some clubs have a group personality that&rsquo;s special, different from the others.Looking back over my 30-plus years as a hockey fan, there are maybe four or five teams I think of in this way. One is the 1971-72 Boston Bruins. They were my first experience with hockey. The greats on that team spoiled me for the future. I can still clearly see Ace Bailey scoring a crucial goal on the way to the Stanley Cup.Fast forward nine years and 1,500 miles to the 1980-81 Wichita Wind. Picture fans that cheered at an icing call and a rink in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but a hot prairie breeze. The Wind was a down-and-out team, but they came together at the end with guts and heart and pride. And in the middle of it all was the coach, Ace Bailey My hockey life will never be the same.Karen Suppes Cole, Leavensworth, Kan.<h2>Honor memories of fallen Kings</h2>As the United States endures the pain and suffering caused by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the loss of loved ones, the loss of Garnet Ace&rsquo; Bailey and Mark Bavis sticks out in my mind.They were both scouts for the Los Angeles Kings who were in the wrong place at the wrong time; their lives were taken away by a barbaric act of terrorism.I&rsquo;m filled with anger that their lives were cut short without warning. I hope the NHL and the Kings honor these two men and the countless other victims. In particular, I hope Bailey and Bavis are remembered for making a difference in the hockey world.Grace Later, Valencia, Calif.(Editor&rsquo;s Note: See pgs. 10, 11 for coverage of NHL reaction.)<h2>Condolences from Europe</h2>I&rsquo;m sure I echo the sentiments of all hockey fans in Europe when I say I&rsquo;m deeply saddened by the terrorist attacks in the U.S.My condolences to the friends and family of Garnet Ace&rsquo; Bailey and Mark Bavis.Gareth Wheatley, Darlington, England &#9632;

Bailey on ‘special’ teams

Like the rest of the hockey world, I was stunned at the news that Saku Koivu, the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; feisty and talented young Finn, has cancer.Koivu has endured much in his short NHL career, countless injuries have prevented him from breaking out It was only a few years ago when Koivu was the NHL&rsquo;s leading scorer before he tore up his knee; he has struggled to regain that form. Anyone who has seen him play recognizes his talent. He is the little general, the Habs&rsquo; emotional leader, captain and he will be a cancer survivor because he&rsquo;s so strong.Like the old saying, what doesn&rsquo;t kill you, only makes you stronger. When he returns-not if-Koivu will become that elite player and continue to be the lifeblood of the bleu, blanc et rouge.Cary Hayashi, Castlegar, B.C.<h2>Prayers for cancer fight</h2>I want to encourage Saku Koivu in his fight against cancer.Don&rsquo;t give up, Saku! We&rsquo;re all thinking of you!Olivier Mireux, Montreal<h2>NHL working conditions unsafe</h2>Bobby Orr, Mike Bossy, Mario Lemieux and now Peter Forsberg have decided the nightly beatings of the NHL are not worth it.I hope commissioner Gary Bettman notices that NHL hockey is being ruined by thuggery Fans pay to see players such as Teemu Selanne, Pavel Bure and Jeremy Roenick skate, score, check and create. Instead, we get the likes of Tie Domi, Bryan Marchment Darius Kasparaitis, who slash, hold, punch and legcheck.Fans are tired of the NHL&rsquo;s lip service regarding violence in the game. I don&rsquo;t care if the rinks are widened or if the red line is eliminated, but something needs to be done. I don&rsquo;t mind 1-0 or 2-1 games, but I can&rsquo;t stand those games when there are only a couple of legitimate scoring chances.Do something drastic, NHL. Enforce the rules or next year the league may lose Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman and Mike Modano.John Duquette, Shrewsbury, Mass.Got something to say?MAIL: U.S.A.: Letters, THN, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y, 14240-9947.Canada: Letters, THN, 25 Sheppard Ave. W, Suite 100, Toronto, Ont., M2N 6S7E-MAIL: <a href="mailto:mccaigs@transcontinental.ca">mccaigs@transcontinental.ca</a> or visit <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a>. Include name, hometown, province/state and phone number. Submissions will be edited. &#9632;

Keep believing, Koivu

<div class="byline">By Jim Benton</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011770/7210152-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BBS)</figcaption></div>He can play the game with the grace of an eagle, the tenacity of a pit bull or the brute strength of a rhinoceros. This winter, however, Peter Forsberg will more closely resemble a bear: He&rsquo;s hibernating.The 28-year-old superstar center shocked his Colorado Avalanche teammates during their abbreviated training camp in Stockholm, Sweden, when he informed them he might sit out the entire 2001-02 season to rest his battle-weary body He won&rsquo;t be paid any of his $11-million salary while he&rsquo;s away Forsberg said he hasn&rsquo;t retired, but needs time to heal and &ldquo;regain his enthusiasm for the game.&rdquo;In other words, he&rsquo;s doing it for Pete&rsquo;s sake. &#9632;

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COVER STORY

TAKING a BREATHER

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011672/7210183-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Forsberg&rsquo;s participation in the Olympics is also up in the air.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how long it&rsquo;s going to take,&rdquo; Forsberg said. &ldquo;It has been a couple of hard years and I need to sit back and listen to my body for a while and see how it feels. I&rsquo;m not retiring and I don&rsquo;t want to retire from hockey. I think I&rsquo;ll be back, but how long it&rsquo;s going to take, I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;The Avs have experienced life without Forsberg for brief periods, the most recent coming in last year&rsquo;s playoffs when he missed the final 12 games of Colorado&rsquo;s Stanley Cup run after undergoing a splenectomy. He also had surgery on each of his ankles during the summer. Over the course of his seven-year career, he has also had to deal with concussions, hip pointers and surgeries on his quadriceps and shoulder, among other ailments. His toughness can&rsquo;t be questioned.&ldquo;As a teammate, I accept-I&rsquo;m not saying I agree-but I accept Pete&rsquo;s decision and I understand it, too,&rdquo; said goalie Patrick Roy. &ldquo;He has been injured a lot and he feels like he needs a year off. It&rsquo;s a team sport and we all have different views and we all approach the game in different ways.&ldquo;You always have to adjust and I have to adjust to his thinking and now we have to regroup as a team and find a way to battle like we did last year. Sometimes you have to make decisions that are not necessarily popular as far as your teammates go, but you have to think about the good of yourself. I think that&rsquo;s the way Pete felt and we have to respect his decision.&rdquo;Defenseman Rob Blake, who has had numerous injuries in his career, understands what Forsberg is going through.&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t want to be in pain,&rdquo; Blake said. &ldquo;He wants to maybe take a year to feel better and get his head back into the game. He said he&rsquo;s not sure of the time frame, but he said it could be a year. He didn&rsquo;t want to say a month or two months and then have it be four or five. It&rsquo;s unfortunate, but you have to support what he wants to do.&rdquo;Said captain Joe Sakic: &ldquo;I was pretty surprised, but that&rsquo;s just the way he feels and you&rsquo;ve got to respect that.&ldquo;He has to see if he gets the fun back. Hopefully, he will. You have to like what you&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;While there were rumblings last season that Forsberg was suffering from battle fatigue, the announcement still came as a surprise. Just days before the start of training camp in Sweden, he was talking with excitement about the upcoming season.Then, he apparently had a sudden change of heart and left for his home town of Ornskoldsvik after telling the media he was taking a sabbatical. He plans &ldquo;to return to the Denver area to visit friends sometime this year.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I was being honest with myself during this time because of everything in Sweden with training camp and us being Stanley Cup champions,&rdquo; Forsberg said. &ldquo;I wanted to get back playing hockey. But when I got on the ice and needed to do things on the ice&hellip;I&rsquo;m not being fair to myself or to my body to go out and play and do my best.&rdquo;Forsberg&rsquo;s sudden about-face has led to speculation about &ldquo;hidden&rdquo; reasons for his hiatus. One report pointed to the terrorist attacks in the United States as a motivating factor; that he wasn&rsquo;t fond of flying to begin with and the hijackings pushed him to a decision. Or, the violence reinforced a belief he should do more with his life than play hockey.Forsberg quickly tried to put an end to the conjecture.&ldquo;What happened in America was tragic, but it had nothing to do with my decision,&rdquo; Forsberg said. &ldquo;I felt that practising (in Sweden), I wasn&rsquo;t holding up and I can&rsquo;t do myself justice on the ice. I think it&rsquo;s going to get worse if I keep on playing. I feel comfortable with my decision about taking a little break from hockey for a little while and making sure my body heals and gets back to where I want it to be if I want to be on the ice.&rdquo;When he&rsquo;ll come back is anybody&rsquo;s guess, but Forsberg maintains he won&rsquo;t play in the 2002 Olympic Games unless he has already returned to the Avalanche.Forsberg began his NHL career with the Quebec Nordiques in 1994-95-after being part of the 1992 Eric Lindros trade-and won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. He posted career highs for goals (30), assists (86) and points (116) in 199596, when the Avs won their first Cup. He had 89 points last season and was tied for the lead in playoff points when he had his ruptured spleen removed. In 466 NHL games, Forsberg has registered 169 goals and 580 points, along with 444 penalty minutes. He has been a clutch playoff performer, with 42 goals and 108 points in 95 games. (See accompanying table for career highlights.)Colorado fans, and NHL fans in general, are hoping those aren&rsquo;t his career totals.For now, Forsberg is just asking for supporters to respect his decision.&ldquo;I hope people aren&rsquo;t mad at me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I love Denver and playing hockey with those guys. I haven&rsquo;t really thought about what I&rsquo;m going to do. I&rsquo;m going to take it easy and hopefully I can get back to where I&rsquo;d like to play hockey again.&rdquo;&#9633; &#9632;

f0009-01

‘Hopefully I can get back to where I’d like to play hockey again’

Peter Forsberg was a major player on the hockey scene long before he arrived in the NHL. The Hockey News named Forsberg the best player outside the NHL in 1994. Here are other career highlights.&#9633; Drafted sixth overall by Philadelphia in 1991.&#9633; Centerpiece of eight-player package Quebec received from Philadelphia in 1992 trade for Eric Lindros.&#9633; Top forward and top scorer (seven goals and 31 points in seven games) at 1993 World Junior Championship as Sweden won silver.&#9633; Scored game-winning goal in shootout vs. Team Canada leading Sweden to 1994 Olympic gold medal. Also represented Sweden on 1998 Olympic team.&#9633; Had 50 points in 47 games and won Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1994-95.&#9633; Fifth in regular season scoring (116 points) and had 21 points in 22 playoff games as Colorado won the Stanley Cup in 1996.&#9633; Was a first-team all-star in 1998 and 1999. &#9632;

Peter The Great

<div class="byline">-Jim Benton</div>Colorado GM Pierre Lacroix, a veteran of blockbuster trades, is confident his team has the depth to withstand Peter Forsberg&rsquo;s absence and isn&rsquo;t looking to make a deal for a replacement.&ldquo;I think this team has proven in the past&hellip;if you look at the last playoff, this team has gotten together and accomplished what they needed to accomplish,&rdquo; Lacroix said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to do anything to jeopardize or show Peter we&rsquo;ve lost our hope. Our hope is he&rsquo;s going to heal his body and feel better about everything and come back. We&rsquo;re not going to rush to do any drastic move.&rdquo;Center Joe Sakic won the Hart Trophy last year as NHL MVP and Chris Drury filled in admirably as Forsberg missed 12 playoff games after undergoing a splenectomy. Stephane Yelle and Steven Reinprecht are NHL-caliber centers. The team also has a highly touted prospect in 19-year-old Vaclav Nedorost.Without Forsberg, the Avalanche will save his $11-million salary, but Lacroix isn&rsquo;t anxious to use that money to bring in another player.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021165/7210238-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="280" height="449"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Drury (Steve Babineau/SA)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We had injuries last year, didn&rsquo;t we?&rdquo; Sakic said. &ldquo;We found ways to win and we&rsquo;ll have to do it again. This team&rsquo;s capable of it.&rdquo;Sakic insists he won&rsquo;t feel a burden to excel without Forsberg.&ldquo;The pressure&rsquo;s the same,&rdquo; Sakic said. &ldquo;You always want to do your best. We&rsquo;re a pretty mentally tough team. You go through a lot and you have to keep going through a lot. That&rsquo;s the game of hockey. You deal with it; you go on.&rdquo;Colorado will also open the season without two defensemen, Ray Bourque and Adam Foote, who played pivotal roles in the Cup run. Bourque has retired, while Foote is expected to miss at least a month recovering from shoulder surgery. Also gone is the reliable Jon Klemm, who signed as a free agent with Chicago.&ldquo;Some guys will have to step up. It might take a bit of time, but I&rsquo;m sure we&rsquo;re going to be successful,&rdquo; said goalie Patrick Roy. &ldquo;We have a lot of talent on this team. We have a lot of guys with big hearts. I&rsquo;m sure they&rsquo;ll find a way,&rdquo; &#9632;

f0009-02

Avalanche not panicking to replace Forsberg

<div class="byline">By Tom Wheatley</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011742/7210269-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Rooney wears the red, white and blue ribbon all referees will have this year.</figcaption></div>Pucks, sticks, skates and goals. Box-cutters, fireballs, rubble and body counts. Until Sept. 11, no worst-dream scenario could ever connect those two groups of images. Then the cold, real world smashed head-on into the cozy, little world of the NHL.Terrorists turned four airliners into missiles, killing more than 6,000 civilians in New York, Washington and a forest outside of Pittsburgh. Kings&rsquo; scouts Ace Bailey and Mark Bavis were aboard United Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles. Their jet was the second to strike the World Trade Center towers.In that horrible flash, captured on live television, &ldquo;business as usual&rdquo; ceased to exist in the NHL.So it made perfect sense nine days later when an arena of Philadelphia fans shouted for a halt to an exhibition game they paid to see between their Flyers and the archrival New York Rangers. As the third period was to start, U.S. president George W. Bush was live on the scoreboard TV, laying out his anti-terrorist battleplan. The players heartily agreed with the crowd&rsquo;s wish to listen.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not part of a movie,&rdquo; said Ranger Brian Leetch, who lost a friend in the New York rubble and has a brother poised for action in Kuwait. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s part of our life now.&rdquo;The response across the NHL came in three waves: Grieving, for two members of hockey&rsquo;s close-knit family. Worry, about security during travel and on game nights. And action, to help relief efforts in the stricken areas.With the loss of Bailey, 53, and Bavis, 31, the horror became personal for hockey folks. Eddie Johnston, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s assistant GM, played with Bailey in Boston on two Stanley Cup winners. Johnston learned of his friend&rsquo;s death from former Boston teammate Wayne Cashman, who spent two hours the night before the crash with Bailey in his home in Lynnfield, Mass.&ldquo;(Cashman) told me Ace told his son four or five times, &lsquo;Make sure you take care of your mom,&rsquo;&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something he never does more than once in a while. To do that four or five times in a night, that&rsquo;s kind of scary. It tells you he might have had a premonition or something like that.&rdquo;Chicago right winger Tony Amonte was close to Bavis since they were college teammates. Amonte watched TV coverage of the attack without knowing his buddy had perished before his eyes.&ldquo;Just watching it sent chills down my spine,&rdquo; Amonte said. &ldquo;Then to get the terrible phone call from my wife after practice, dropping the bomb on me about my good friend back home&hellip;&ldquo;We went into Boston University together the same year. I grew up playing against him and his twin brother, Michael, who is an assistant coach for Boston University. I was very close with Mark.&ldquo;I got a chance to talk with Michael, but what do you say? It&rsquo;s his identical twin brother and they&rsquo;ve been attached at the hip since they were born. Best friends. What can you say?&rdquo;While the grieving was still taking place, NHL players and teams were re-examining their flight plans. Most teams already charter a plane for virtually every destination. They figure the extra expense is worth the decrease in travel fatigue. The passenger list is confined to the team travel party, a comfort that suddenly looks like a necessity.After the attacks, the cash-strapped Phoenix Coyotes quickly scrapped plans to fly commercially to three exhibition games. Managing partner Wayne Gretzky, a friend of Bailey&rsquo;s since their playing days in Edmonton, chartered a private plane instead.Teams that still rely on commercial jets have some uneasy players. In Chicago, which charters about half the time, Russian center Alex Zhamnov said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty scary to think about getting on a plane right now. Any plane. For sure, we&rsquo;d like more charters, but that&rsquo;s not up to us.&rdquo;Mike Smith, GM of the Hawks, was noncommittal. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;However you travel, things are never going to be the same.&rdquo;Pro teams using a charter flight usually enjoyed access perks. The team bus often drove through a service gate onto the tarmac, bypassing the terminal&rsquo;s check-in and security points. Players would board the plane from the pavement. Luggage was unchecked, as were equipment bags and trunks for the cargo area. Such luxuries figure to be a thing of the past.Some teams located centrally are investigating the use of charter buses. The Hawks, for example, are looking into bus rides to St. Louis, Detroit, Nashville, Columbus and Minnesota.As for nervous flyers, their path has become more turbulent. Carolina&rsquo;s Jeff O&rsquo;Neill, for example, recently saw a therapist to discuss a fear of flying. Their first session was Sept. 10.&ldquo;We were talking about how safe it is to fly and all the odds,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Neill, whose team charters. &ldquo;The next day I turned on the TV and I was like, &lsquo;Holy crap.&rsquo;&rdquo;Transportation is not the only concern. After the World Trade Center towers crumbled, Montreal GM Andre Savard canceled his team&rsquo;s pre-season stay at a Detroit high-rise hotel.The NHL is taking a behind-the-scenes approach to security. Commissioner Gary Bettman has made no Bush-like address on the issue.Bernadette Mansur, NHL vice-president for communications, said the league has been in touch with the teams and has made suggestions, but information passed along remains confidential.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to disclose the details,&rdquo; Mansur said. &ldquo;That would allow people to anticipate and go around them. Fans should allow more time to go to the building, just as they must allow more time to go to the airport.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">We were talking about how safe it is to fly and all the odds. The next day I turned on the TV and I was like, &lsquo;Holy crap.&rsquo;&nbsp;Carolina&rsquo;s Jeff O&rsquo;Neill</blockquote>What the NHL did loud and clear was to aid rescue and relief efforts. Mansur said as of Sept. 20, the teams had combined to raised more than $1.3 million-and counting-for the American Red Cross. The NHL Players&rsquo; Association donated another $500,000.In other efforts to help the cause, New York Islander staffers at Nassau Coliseum and at the team offices in Plainview, N.Y, supplied numerous containers of ice to Long Island Blood Services. The Red Wings gave blood. The Panthers are selling &ldquo;Unity Pucks&rdquo; at $10 each for emergency relief. In NHL rinks across North America, teams held emotional pre-game tributes to the victims and their would-be rescuers.The Kings, whose losses put a face on the tragedies for many hockey fans, will wear black armbands this season in memory of Bailey and Bavis.President Bush, in the address that stopped the show in Philly, had this message for America: &ldquo;Live your lives.&rdquo;And so the NHL continues to grieve, help and move on. &#9633;-With files from THN correspondents &#9632;

f0010-01

NHL responding to terror

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011566/7210307-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ranger defenseman Brian Leetch says virtually all New Yorkers know somebody connected to the tragedies. (Jim McIsaac/BBS)</figcaption></div>Back-ordered by apathy and a false sense of security, a new perspective finally was delivered September 11.Meanwhile, those of us charged with the chronicling are still waiting for the new dictionary, now that the words like &ldquo;horrific&rdquo; and &ldquo;catastrophic&rdquo; have proven inadequate in what is now clear were long-exaggerated misapplications.For instance, &ldquo;devastated&rdquo; used to be a description of many hockey players after their elimination from the playoffs. That&rsquo;s absurd after what the Rangers have seen at the firehouses of New York, or compared to the burdens of assistant GM Don Maloney and star defenseman Brian Leetch.Neither Maloney&rsquo;s brother-in-law, Tom Palazzo, nor John Murray, one of Leetch&rsquo;s best friends, have been heard from since the World Trade Center towers came down.&ldquo;There aren&rsquo;t too many people who have been (in New York) for a few years that don&rsquo;t have somebody connected somehow,&rdquo; said Leetch, deferring his torture. And truly, whether or not the people were directly touched by the more than 6,000 dead and missing, there has become no such thing in New York as a casual acquaintance. All citizens came together, both in sorrow at the worst thing to ever happen in one day on United States soil, and in pride with the response.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s such an enormous thing it&rsquo;s hard to put into perspective,&rdquo; said Mike Richter, the well-read goalie now as lost as all of us.He is one of many athletes who has been taken to Ground Zero, a 10-storey hulk of burned, twisted metal and betrayed innocence, all that&rsquo;s left of 220 stories of dreams.&ldquo;The scale of the destruction is the biggest thing that hits you,&rdquo; Richter said. &ldquo;Those buildings were 1,400 feet high and now there&rsquo;s pieces of rubble and the rest was pulverized.&ldquo;One of the reasons why it&rsquo;s so hard is that in our lifetime, there is nothing to gauge this against. The theory that we can protect ourselves has been tested and broken. It&rsquo;s not paranoia anymore, it&rsquo;s reality&rdquo;The last war turned out to be a staged-for-television event to show off new weaponry that an enraged American public seems convinced can do the trick on Osama bin Laden in one laser swoop. We need a face on the evil, so, like a coach working a room between periods, George Bush kept up rhetoric like &ldquo;as in the West,&rdquo; wanting bin Laden &ldquo;dead or alive.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021117/7210300-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="291" height="371"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg&nbsp;Columnist</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I think that was entirely inappropriate, sickening, actually,&rdquo; Richter told Newsday&rsquo;s Johnette Howard. &ldquo;This is no cowboy movie, something to be glib about.&ldquo;It just scares me. There&rsquo;s a lot of rage you feel when somebody takes this liberty within your own country OK, acknowledge that it&rsquo;s there. At the same time, do something constructive about it.&ldquo;Maybe there are solutions to problems that don&rsquo;t involve bombing other innocent people. It&rsquo;s easy to dismiss bin Laden as evil and a madman, but killing him doesn&rsquo;t end the situation. We&rsquo;ve got to address the fact a lot of Islamic people think we&rsquo;re trying to destroy them.&rdquo;He is saying we only prove them right if blind vengeance causes us to treat life as cavalierly as do terrorists. Time will tell just how measured and effective is our response.As desolation set in, there was solace in any sign of normalcy. Weary, heartsick rescue workers trying to find a needle of life in a haystack of death, lit up at the sight of people who play games for a living.&ldquo;You wonder when is it okay to laugh again,&rdquo; Richter said. &ldquo;You need a break from the gravity of it. Wall Street people going back to work Monday was comforting to me. Now, (athletes) have a role in getting back to living life.&rdquo;A Devils-Rangers pre-season game happened to be not just the initial sports event, but also the first gathering of several thousand persons in New York since the terror.Late mail delivery of Ranger season tickets was exacerbated by the catastrophe, making it hard to measure how much the crowd in the one-third filled Madison Square Garden was held down by depression and anxiety.&ldquo;I suppose you do feel a bit more vulnerable in a large gathering,&rdquo; Richter said. &ldquo;But I think security has been beefed up to where you probably are more safe than ever.&rdquo;The hand-held scanners at the entrances were no magic wand to make things normal again, but fans happily opened their bags for inspection. The boards were cleared of advertising, replaced by &ldquo;our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all the injured and lost, New York&rsquo;s Finest and Bravest, and all volunteers.&rdquo;Fans waved little paper flags, the players wore a ribbon patch on their shoulders, plus police and fire stickers on the backs of their helmets. After a silent moment of tribute, John Amirante sang &ldquo;God Bless America&rdquo; and fans chanted &ldquo;USA!&rdquo; While exhibition hockey was more irrelevant than ever, the gathering itself was liberating.&ldquo;This has been an awakening,&rdquo; Mark Messier said. &ldquo;The way we do things will change. But to say we&rsquo;ll never feel confident again, never is a long time. And I think it is important we establish freedom again in our everyday lives.&ldquo;The point has been made a lot about going back to work as a little way of showing we are fighting back. More important, it says a lot about our confidence in our government and leadership, the people responsible for our safety and security.&rdquo;Before last night, the only tears we ever had shed at an exhibition game were out of boredom. But as New Yorkers gathered in the thousands for the first time since their violation, as tribute was paid to martyrs, not all moistened eyes should have been reserved for the dead and missing.Also moved should have been the living, sent a strong and necessary example of refusal to give in to the fear. &#9633; &#9632;

f0011-01

COLUMN

Irrelevant, but liberating

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy Senior Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021348/7210345-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Line change&nbsp;A switch to left wing from center late last season helped Patrik Stefan find his scoring touch. The Czech youngster will likely be shifted back to his natural pivot position if he&rsquo;s offensively effective in the early stages of 2001-02. (Dale MacMillan/BBS)</figcaption></div>A lesser man might be a little envious, perhaps even jealous of all the attention hotshot Atlanta Thrashers&rsquo; rookies Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk are getting.The dynamic duo-OK, perhaps it&rsquo;s a little early to pin that on them-were the talk of the Thrashers&rsquo; training camp and grins turned to Cheshire cat smiles when the pair each scored twice in Atlanta&rsquo;s first pre-season game, a 4-3 decision over Nashville Sept. 17. Heatley and Kovalchuk, both left wingers and the second and first overall picks in the 2000 and 2001 NHL entry drafts, respectively, have generated all kinds of hope for a franchise that has been a little slow out of the gate.Patrik Stefan is cool with the kids. For starters, at 21, he&rsquo;s a kid, too. Also, he knows the excitement their razzle-dazzle provides takes some of the heat he has felt to be the man in Atlanta off of him.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s great the way they have played,&rdquo; Stefan said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s exciting for our team to have such good young players.&rdquo;In two seasons with Atlanta, Stefan has yet to make a blip on the NHL screen. The top pick in the 1999 draft, had a modest five goals and 25 points in 72 games as a rookie two years ago and followed that up with a 10-goal, 31-point sophomore campaign, playing in 66 games.He has been anything but the flashy scoring ace the Thrashers hoped they were getting after playing as a teenager in the International League for parts of two seasons.&ldquo;He was somewhat disappointing from a points standpoint,&rdquo; said Atlanta GM Don Waddell. &ldquo;But you have to remember he was an 18-year-old kid playing center against the best centers in the NHL and trying to look after things at both ends of the ice. Perhaps we asked him to do too much. We didn&rsquo;t put him in a situation where he could succeed.&rdquo;The Thrashers came to that realization late last season. Through his first 51 games, Stefan managed just four goals and 21 points. The feeling was he was concentrating a little too much on his defensive play and it was preventing him from fulfilling his offensive potential. In an attempt to change that, Stefan was switched to left wing.The plan worked.In his debut at left wing he scored two goals and an assist in a win over Boston. Over the final 15 games, the slick 6-foot-3,205-pounder scored six goals and 10. points.&ldquo;It was a little bit different for me at first,&rdquo; Stefan said. &ldquo;I had never played the wing in my life. But it allowed me to work the puck along the boards and to go to the net more. I had a good finish to the year and I want to use that to continue to get better.&rdquo;Stefan is back on the wing to start the year, with Ray Ferraro at center and Tomi Kallio on the right side. If both Kallio and Stefan take the next step and Heatley and Kovalchuk enjoy productive freshman seasons, the Thrashers will be exciting to watch, if nothing else.The idea is once Stefan finds his offensive game, he&rsquo;ll be switched back to center.&ldquo;Playing the wing, he turned into the player we thought we were getting,&rdquo; said Atlanta coach Curt Fraser, who doesn&rsquo;t put defensive shackles on his skilled offense-minded players. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t have to worry about the middle of the ice. He was simply able to concentrate on his offense and that&rsquo;s his game.&rdquo;Stefan entered the NHL with a history of concussion problems. Thus far, it has not been a problem. However, there is a little concern about how often he was in and out of the lineup last year. He missed a total of 16 games, including five with a groin pull, one with the flu, three with a mild concussion and broken nose, one with another groin pull, three with a groin strain and another with the flu, again.Stefan is aware eyes will be on him, no matter how well Heatley, Kovalchuk and company perform. In an effort to step up his game, Stefan spent a great deal of time in the off-season working on his leg strength.&ldquo;I spent more time running than doing the bike,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I wanted to get faster; get my speed up. I worked on the lower part of my body-my legs and abs.&rdquo;Stefan said he knows what he must do to become a star in the league. &ldquo;The biggest thing is learning about the league,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You have to be able to know when to make the plays at the right time and in the right place.&rdquo;Waddell is confident Stefan can do it, but is wise enough to put the onus on the player.&ldquo;A lot of it is going to come down to how he plays in the first 20 games,&rdquo; Waddell said. &ldquo;He knows it&rsquo;s up to him; I can&rsquo;t shield him forever, he knows that.&rdquo; &#9633;<h2>SKILL THRILLS</h2>Atlanta&rsquo;s Patrik Stefan is considered the most skilled player on his team. Here are the players who were judged to be their team&rsquo;s most skilled player in the 2001-02 THN Yearbook. Asterisks denote changes from the Yearbook as Joe Sakic replaces Peter Forsberg in Colorado and Martin Rucinsky is in for Saku Koivu in Montreal. Both Forsberg and Koivu are out indefinitely.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011697/7210338-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="500" height="1379"></div> &#9632;

f0012-02

Poised and ready to soar

<div class="byline">By Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011576/7210376-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="895" height="1521"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Jim Leary/BBS)</figcaption></div>Alexei Kovalev and Jaromir Jagr weren&rsquo;t particularly close when they played together in Pittsburgh. But it would be no surprise to some if they were very close in the NHL scoring race this season.Kovalev and Jagr were neck-and-neck last season, you&rsquo;ll recall, until Mario Lemieux came out of retirement and helped bolster Jagr&rsquo;s point production. Jagr finished the season with 121 points to win his fourth consecutive Art Ross. Kovalev finished with a career-high 95 points.The Penguins know Jagr&rsquo;s rarefied skills will be missed, but they believe they have another right winger who&rsquo;s out of this world. They aren&rsquo;t buying the theory Kovalev&rsquo;s point total will suffer because Jagr isn&rsquo;t around to divert defensive attention or create space for Kovalev on the power play.Defenseman Ian Moran believes Kovalev might match Jagr point-for-point this year.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s capable of it, for sure,&rdquo; Moran said.&ldquo;You watch him, he&rsquo;s scary. His skill level is second to none. His vision is right up there. Last year was his breakthrough year and he&rsquo;s just going to get better. Honestly, I think he can do what Jags has done.&rdquo;What Jagr has done better than anyone the past several years is produce points consistently. That is where Kovalev still has something to prove. Until last season, his career had been a monument to underachievement. He averaged just 24 goals and 57 points over his first five full NHL seasons.But something clicked for Kovalev last season. He parlayed his skill into points. He was, in fact, the Penguins&rsquo; best player on many nights. Like when he slapped back-to-back hat tricks on the Philadelphia Flyers and the New Jersey Devils in early February.As his former GM in New York, Neil Smith, might put it, Kovalev finally figured out the object of the game is to put the puck in the other team&rsquo;s net. His 44 goals were fifth in the NHL and 18 more than his previous best effort.The question is, can he do it again?&ldquo;You can repeat anything in your life,&rdquo; said Kovalev, 28. &ldquo;It just depends on how bad you want it.&rdquo;Based on his Popeye-like physique entering camp, he wants it bad. He decided he wanted to improve his strength this summer, so he built his arms with push-ups and by walking steps on his hands.&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s growing,&rdquo; said Kovalev, who packs a heavy wallop at 6-foot-l, 215 pounds. &ldquo;The defensemen are getting bigger. You have to keep up. It&rsquo;s not easy in this league to stay in front of the net.&rdquo;Or in front of the pack. Kovalev has continued his practice of endlessly shooting weighted pucks, something his father introduced him to in their home town of Togliatti, Russia. Kovalev has one of the harder shots around and it is his increased desire to use it, more than anything, that has propelled him to stardom. He finished fifth in the league in shots last season with 307.For many years, Kovalev simply refused to shoot. He seemed to take more pleasure out of beating defensemen than goaltenders.&ldquo;He grew up playing keep-away hockey with the kids in his neighborhood-him versus everybody,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;The objective wasn&rsquo;t to score goals, but who could keep the puck. He carried that right into the NHL.&rdquo;Kovalev&rsquo;s sensational season resulted in an arbitrator awarding him $8.85 million over the next two years. His entire line went to arbitration. Hence, their new nickname: the Arbitration Line. The stability he enjoys with linemates Robert Lang and Martin Straka is another big part of Kovalev&rsquo;s success. The group has stayed intact for more than two years and it produced 270 points last season.Kovalev isn&rsquo;t worried that several teams in the Eastern Conference added big-name players this summer while the Penguins&rsquo; lost Jagr.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to concentrate too much on other teams,&rdquo; Kovalev said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have some fun here.&rdquo;Without Jagr?&ldquo;We&rsquo;re positive we can play good without him&mdash;even better.&rdquo; &#9633; &#9632;

f0013-01

Kovatev: Jagr’s heir apparent?

<div class="byline">By THN staff</div>Head safety and ice quality are the primary targets of attention in the first report to be issued by the NHL&rsquo;s safety and injury prevention committee.Website <a href="http://tsn.ca">tsn.ca</a> reported details of the recommendations to be presented by the new NHL committee following a year of research and study. The committee, headed by Dave Dryden, will unveil the report to NHL GMs during a Sept. 25 conference call.It&rsquo;s clear the committee is concerned about the growing number of reported concussions in recent years. It is recommending a crackdown on illegal blows to the head, both in terms of more penalties and stiffer suspensions in supplementary discipline. (See pg. 6 for more on NHL crackdown.)The committee will also suggest requiring all players to wear chin straps tightly. There will be no penalty for failure to comply, but the league will revisit that possibility if it sees players aren&rsquo;t responding early in the season.Another recommendation is giving players new helmets in mid-season and encouraging them to use them to use the new ones. Moreover, not allowing team training staff to alter or reduce padding in the helmets or modify them so as to reduce the effectiveness.As far as trying to improve ice conditions, the committee will recommend the following, according to <a href="http://tsn.ca">tsn.ca</a>: no more pre-game or in-game pyrotechnics or fireworks. Clubs will be able to use them at the end of games. The pyrotechnics could negatively affect ice conditions and air quality.Secondly, new standards for ice quality, which include all NHL icemakers attending league-sponsored seminars and conferences on quality control.Also, limiting on-ice intermission activities to the first three minutes, but strongly encouraging all clubs to do away with on-ice activities entirely.Other committee recommendations include:&#9633; New, safer standards for the cushioning of hard shells on shoulder and elbow pads that have a plastic protective cap.&#9633; The outlawing of some specific models of elbow pads, which are seen as hazardous to the health of NHL players.&#9633; Strictly regulating the introduction of any new equipment so as to determine its potential for negative impact.&#9633; Ensuring that boards and glass in arenas throughout the NHL are fitted with shock-absorbing systems, providing more give for players checked into them. The new American Airlines Arena in Dallas is seen as the prototype for a system that utilizes lightweight plexiglass that has clear plexiglass stanchions instead of the metal version or the seamless glass systems that players have grown to despise.&#9633; Regularly inspect all bench areas and walkways to dressing rooms to ensure they&rsquo;re free of debris or exposed metal or concrete that could impact negatively on the players&rsquo; skates.The safety and injury prevention committee is made up of players, coaches, managers, executives and officials. GMs were scheduled to meet in Toronto, but in the wake of the U.S. terrorist attacks it was decided to have a conference call. &#9632;

Safety committee to issue initial report

<div class="byline">By THN staff</div>Billy Harris is being remembered not only as a graceful, stickhandling center with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1950s and 1960s, but as a kind, caring gentleman who easily made friends.Harris died Sept. 20 in Toronto after a six-year battle with a rare form of leukemia. He was 66.A Toronto native, Harris played amateur hockey in the Toronto Marlboros&rsquo; system and was the team&rsquo;s leading scorer when they won the Memorial Cup in 1955. He debuted with the Maple Leafs later that year and spent 10 of his 13 NHL seasons in Toronto.&ldquo;What a guy he was,&rdquo; Hall of Fame goalie Johnny Bower told the Toronto Sun. &ldquo;He was not only a gentleman, but a very good player.&rdquo;&ldquo;He was unique in that he could stickhandle like nobody else,&rdquo; said Leafs&rsquo; president Ken Dryden, who called Harris his favorite player as he grew up watching junior hockey.Harris scored 126 goals and 345 points in 769 games and was a member of three Maple Leaf Stanley Cup teams in the early 1960s. He also played for Detroit, Oakland and Pittsburgh.Harris turned to coaching after hockey, spending time with the Canadian and Italian national teams the 1972 Swedish Olympic team and various amateur teams. He also coached the Toronto Toros (World Hockey Association) and was an assistant in Edmonton with the NHL Oilers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011550/7210431-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="531" height="772"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy Harris</figcaption></div>&ldquo;In my second year (in Edmonton), I saw every one of Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s 92 goals,&rdquo; Harris told THN in a March interview.Harris was also the first president of the Leafs&rsquo; Alumni.In 1995, Harris was diagnosed with Walderstrom&rsquo;s marcoglobu-linemia, a type of leukemia and was given only two to three years to live. He endured the illness, then was diagnosed with diabetes in 1999, and brain cancer this year.PLAYERS DONATE The NHL Players&rsquo; Association made a $500,000 donation to help aid families of fallen New York City firefighters and police officers following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.&ldquo;This donation is in addition to the various contributions we are making with our teammates and our teams,&rdquo; said Washington Capitals&rsquo; center Trevor Linden, president of the 700-plus member NHLPA.&ldquo;We hope this donation will help the families of the courageous men and women who lost their lives bravely trying to save others,&rdquo; said Boston&rsquo;s Bill Guerin, a member of the executive committee.FINNS WIN TITLE Russian center Alexander Perezhogin, the 25th overall pick by Montreal in June, was named best forward and Tero Maatta of Finland, San Jose&rsquo;s top pick in 2000 (41st overall), top defenseman as Finland won the Five Nations Junior (under-20) tournament in the Czech Republic.Finland and Russia finished tied for first with 3-1 records during the Sept. 3-8 tournament, which is a preview to the 2002 World Junior Championship.The Finns won the gold because they defeated Russia 5-4. The Czech Republic and Sweden each finished with 2-2 records, while Slovakia failed to win.The WJC tourney is scheduled to open in the Czech Republic on Christmas Day.HOCKEY ANNIVERSARY Former Hockey Night In Canada host Dave Hodge is being invited back as a guest as part of the show&rsquo;s 50th anniversary special.Hodge was the show&rsquo;s popular host until a 1987 incident when he tossed a pencil in frustration on-air just before the network broke to news rather than continue with a Montreal-Philadelphia game that had gone into overtime.Hodge will join former HNIC regulars Howie Meeker, Brian McFarlane and Dick Irvin in a classic Hot Stove intermission session Oct. 6. Watch for THN&rsquo;s radio-TV directory in the Oct. 12 issue.WRITER HONORED&nbsp;Globe and Mail sportswriter Grant Kerr received the Jake Milford Plaque, awarded to the person whose contributions to hockey in B.C. have been significant. Kerr, 58, has covered sports in B.C. since 1964.CORRECTION A feature story on Carolina&rsquo;s Glen Wesley in THN&rsquo;s Season Opener Special erroneously included an action photo of teammate Sandis Ozolinsh with a Wesley cutline. &#9632;

f0015-01

Leafs lose Toronto native Billy Hams

<div class="byline">-Dan Wood</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021135/7210462-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">New Jersey left winger Patrik Elias, middle, will be getting lots of extra attention as teams try to slow down the scoring star.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011470/7210469-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="216" height="250"></div>Bryan Murray got a pleasant surprise during his first week on the ice as coach of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.&ldquo;Watching this group, I feel pretty good that we can be a real competitive hockey team,&rdquo; Murray said.Even with Niclas Havelid, one of the club&rsquo;s more reliable defensemen, sidelined indefinitely following knee surgery, Murray has a capable blueline crew. The off-season acquisitions of veterans Keith Carney and Jason York, as well as journey-men Drew Bannister and Aris Brimanis, give some depth to a group that includes Oleg Tverdovsky, Ruslan Salei and Vitaly Vishnevski.And with the goaltending tandem of Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Steve Shields, Anaheim should be able to cut down on last season&rsquo;s goals-against average of 2.99. Only one team in the Western Conference gave up more than Anaheim&rsquo;s 245 goals.With Teemu Selanne sent to San Jose in a March trade, Paul Kariya remains the only bona fide NHL scorer. Centers Steve Rucchin and Matt Cullen and wingers Jeff Friesen, Marty McInnis and Mike Leclerc will be counted on to produce more. Murray was toying with the idea of teaming Leclerc with Kariya and Rucchin.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Can Rucchin return to form as a No. 1 center? Rucchin seems to be fully recovered from the injuries that forced him to miss 60 of last season&rsquo;s final 62 games.2. Will Friesen regain his scoring touch? The opportunity to play with Kariya, at least on the power play, can only help Friesen find the net.3. Can Murray get the best out of goaltenders Shields and Giguere? With this year&rsquo;s condensed schedule, the Ducks will need each goalie to carry the ball at times.NOTEBOOK Because of visa complications, there is a chance Swedish defenseman Niclas Havelid won&rsquo;t be ready for the season opener Oct. 4 at Boston&hellip;Defenseman Ruslan Salei missed the first week of training camp after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery Aug. 31&hellip;Defenseman Keith Carney reported to camp four days late after his wife, Amy, gave birth to triplets, all boys, on Sept. 8. &#9632;

f0016-02

No quacks evident in Ducks’ defense

<div class="byline">-Jeff Schultz</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03849/7210500-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="219" height="256"></div>Norm Maracle found a unique way to avoid being lectured about his weight and poor workout habits this fall. He didn&rsquo;t show up for training camp.The Atlanta Thrashers&rsquo; goalie, whose mental approach and work ethic has never been at the same level as his natural ability, told GM Don Waddell he is not in shape. Waddell, who initially had been told by Maracle&rsquo;s agent that the goalie was retiring, said Maracle would be assigned to the American League&rsquo;s Chicago Wolves.Maracle may have burned his final bridge with Atlanta. Asked if the goalie still has a future with the Thrashers, Waddell said only, &ldquo;I still think he has a future in the National Hockey League.&ldquo;Knowing what our expectations were, he felt he would fail any test given to him,&rdquo; Waddell said. &ldquo;Instead of facing that, his way out was not to come. Norm will not come to our camp. He doesn&rsquo;t deserve the right to come to our camp.&rdquo;Waddell added that Maracle is &ldquo;not a self-motivator&rdquo; and &ldquo;some guys have to be kicked harder than others.&rdquo;Maracle, an expansion draft pick from Detroit, was the regular season and playoff MVP for Orlando in the International League last season, but was a long shot to win a roster spot in Atlanta over Milan Hnilicka or Damian Rhodes.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Is Hnilicka ready to be a starting goalie? Hnilicka is exuding confidence in his quest to win the No. 1 job over Rhodes. But there&rsquo;s a big difference between exhibitions and the regular season.2. Can Rhodes bounce back after two miserable seasons? He&rsquo;s healthy, but has not been sharp in training camp.3. Can rookies Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk contribute this season? The highly regarded prospects each scored two goals in the team&rsquo;s first pre-season game. Not a bad debut.NOTEBOOK Left winger Hnat Domenichelli recorded a hat trick in a 4-4 exhibition tie with Pittsburgh. His tying goal came with a half-second remaining&hellip;Center Ray Ferraro was named team captain, a long-anticipated move. Ferraro has been an alternate captain for three different teams: the New York Islanders, Los Angeles and Atlanta&hellip;Goaltender Milan Hnilicka on his quest to start: &ldquo;I have two strong goals for this year. The first one is to be the No. 1 goalie and play as many games as I can. The second one is to make the playoffs.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-03

Atlanta farms out overweight goalie

<div class="byline">-Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04631/7210531-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="217" height="248"></div>Like every Bruin, Joe Thornton hopes captain Jason Allison re-signs with Boston. If not, though, Thornton believes he can become the team&rsquo;s No. 1 center.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got four years of good experience here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think this is the right time for me to step up.&rdquo; Thornton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 entry draft, has blossomed from a seven-point debut as a 1997-98 rookie to a 71-point scorer last season, when he set career highs for goals (37) and points over 72 games.If Allison remains unsigned, or if Boston doesn&rsquo;t get a center better than Thorntori in a trade, the 22-year-old could play between Sergei Samsonov and Bill Guerin.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll probably get set up with some new wingers and that&rsquo;d be fine with me,&rdquo; said Thornton, who led Boston&rsquo;s just-miss bid for a playoff spot by scoring 21 goals and 35 points in 27 games after the all-star break.&ldquo;I think that, for about the last 30 or 40 games of last year, I probably played the best hockey I&rsquo;ve ever played in my life,&rdquo; Thornton said. &ldquo;If I keep doing that, I think I&rsquo;ll do very well.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. How will Boston compensate for the loss of Allison if he sits out the season? Thornton, who has progressed in each of his four NHL seasons, will be asked to continue that trend.2. Can Byron Dafoe return to the form that made him a Vezina Trophy finalist in 1998-99? Dafoe thinks an off-season knee operation and aggressive conditioning have him in the best shape of his life.3. With defenseman Eric Weinrich gone, who&rsquo;ll move the puck and man the point on power plays? Kyle McLaren wants the job, but the B&rsquo;s are hoping former Dallas first-rounder Richard Jackman or prospect Jonathan Girard can do it.NOTEBOOK Center Jason Allison told a Boston newspaper he hopes for a face-to-face meeting with Bruins&rsquo; management that could unlock their negotiating stalemate. GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell indicated a willingness to participate. Allison, who earned $4.5 million last season (including $1 million in bonuses), was believed to be seeking as much as $8 million, but thought to be willing to lower his request. Boston&rsquo;s initial offers were rumored to start at about $5.5 million annually. &#9632;

f0016-04

Thornton on deck if Allison sits out

<div class="byline">-Bucky Gleason</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05458/7210562-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="217" height="254"></div>The Sabres might not have superstar goaltender Dominik Hasek, but their entire defense corps returned when Alexei Zhitnik signed a two-year contract just before training camp.The deal could be worth $10.5 million, should the Sabres pick up an option for a third year. Zhitnik appeared to be bracing himself for a lengthy dispute before the two sides reached the agreement.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s important is our defense is intact going into camp,&rdquo; said Sabres&rsquo; coach Lindy Ruff. &ldquo;The fact (the deal) got done and he will be in camp looks good for us.&rdquo;Zhitnik was Buffalo&rsquo;s best two-way defender last season. Hasek got much of the credit for the Sabres&rsquo; allowing the fewest goals in the NHL (184), but much of his success resulted from the fortress Buffalo built around the crease.Zhitnik, who had eight goals and 37 points in 78 games last season, will likely start the season paired with veteran Richard Smehlik. Jay McKee and Rhett Warrener are expected to stay together, while Dmitri Kalinin had a solid rookie campaign and Brian Campbell is pushing Jason Woolley for playing time. The Sabres also have steady veteran James Patrick.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Will goaltender Martin Biron play well enough in place of the allworld Hasek? Hasek won&rsquo;t be forgotten, but Buffalo will ride Biron into the post-season.2. Can center Tim Connolly emerge as the playmaker the Sabres desperately need? He&rsquo;s the best setup man in Buffalo since Pat Lafontaine.3. With Michael Peca traded to the Islanders, who will become the Sabres&rsquo; new captain? Bet on either Warrener or Stu Barnes.NOTEBOOK The Sabres had to hold their first practice in Amherst, N.Y., instead of St. Catharines, Ont., after the terrorist attacks and heavier security at the border. Later, they moved their camp to Charleston, S.C., as originally scheduled&hellip;Defenseman Alexei Zhitnik&rsquo;s signing left Buffalo with one unsigned restricted free agent, left winger Erik Rasmussen&hellip;The Sabres were high on rookie defender Henrik Tallinder before a knee injury sidelined him indefinitely. &#9632;

f0016-05

All familiar faces back on blueline

<div class="byline">-Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011321/7210593-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="220" height="251"></div>Even after he cleared waivers in the days leading up to training camp, there was much uncertainty about Phil Housley&rsquo;s long-term future with the Calgary Flames.The Flames told Housley at the end of last season his role would be diminished as they tried to work four younger defensemen, all under the age of 25, into the lineup. The team discreetly shopped his rights around the league and Housley, meanwhile, sold his home in Calgary and resettled his family in Minneapolis.Unhappily for both parties, Housley attracted little interest, largely for financial reasons. He is scheduled to earn $2.5 million (U.S.) this season and has an option for the same amount next season, provided he meets some easily achievable point totals.Moving Housley would be easier if the Flames agreed to pick up a part of his contract, but for now, they are not prepared to do so.Stranded in Minneapolis when the terrorist attacks in New York shut down air service between the United States and Canada, Housley reported to camp five days late. His family stayed behind in Minnesota.GM Craig Button couldn&rsquo;t say how long Housley would remain in the situation. Button invoked the case of Peter Bondra and the Washington Capitals, a player and a team that seemed on a collision course for divorce last season, only to mend fences and amicably resolve their dispute.It is unlikely that a similar scenario will unfold in Calgary.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Who will score goals following the departure of Valeri Bure? The hope is that up to six regulars-benefitting from extra time-will pick up the slack for both Bure and Cory Stillman, who was traded to St. louis last March.2. How much will goaltender Mike Vernon play? Roman Turek will play the majority of games, but Vernon, 38, wants to prove he isn&rsquo;t finished just yet.3. Is promising youngster Oleg Saprykin ready for prime time? After a so-so start to camp, Saprykin has been practising with players who mostly will be destined to play in Saint John of the American League.NOTEBOOK Al MacNeil, who previously held a variety of front-office positions with the Flames, has rejoined the team as special assistant to GM Craig Button&hellip;Calgary will have a bona fide enforcer to call on when the season starts. Left winger Craig Berube begins his second stint with the team after signing as an unrestricted free agent in midSeptember. &#9632;

f0017-01

Housley destined to find new NHL home as Flames create ice time for youngsters

<div class="byline">-Luke DeCock</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021008/7210624-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="216" height="222"></div>When Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour signed a five-year contract extension, it removed the last pending controversy facing the Hurricanes heading into training camp.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want it to drag on,&rdquo; said Brind&rsquo;Amour, who wants to raise his three young children in Raleigh. &ldquo;I really didn&rsquo;t want to move. I like it here. The way (free agency) went this year, it makes you think you have to take a shot at it. At the same time, my first agenda was staying here.&rdquo;Brind&rsquo;Amour&rsquo;s contract will pay him $4.25 million this season, $4.75 million next season and $5 million in each of the three seasons after that. The team has a $7-million option and Brind&rsquo;Amour a $4million option for a sixth season and the deal has a no-trade clause.&ldquo;It shows the most stability the franchise has ever had,&rdquo; said GM Jim Rutherford. &ldquo;From a team point of view and from a player point of view the pieces of the structure are in place for this franchise to continue to improve.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. What impact will Tom Barrasso have? The Canes have spent two years looking for a backup for Arturs Irbe. Now they&rsquo;ve got one who could bump Irbe out of the No. 1 spot, assuming age and a one-year layoff haven&rsquo;t robbed Barrasso of his skills.2. Will Jeff O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s move to left wing give him more shot opportunities or throw him for loop? After scoring 41 goals in his first full season as a right winger, O&rsquo;Neill faces another position change. But considering the move was made so he could skate with center Ron Francis, O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s output shouldn&rsquo;t decline.3. Is Igor Knyazev for real? The Canes drafted the Russian defenseman because they think he can crack the NHL roster as an 18-year-old. If not, he&rsquo;s likely headed back to Russia.NOTEBOOK It was just a scrimmage, but goaltender Tom Barrasso stopped all 18 shots he faced in 30 minutes of action, his first competition in more than a year&hellip;Right winger Jeff Nielsen, who played for Minnesota last season, is in camp as a free agent tryout. He is the brother-in-law of assistant GM Jason Karmanos&hellip;For the first time, coach Paul Maurice set his top three lines coming into camp. Ron Francis centers Jeff O&rsquo;Neill and Sami Kapanen: Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour is the pivot man for Martin Gelinas and Shane Willis; and Josef Vasicek is between Bates Battaglia and Chris Dingman&hellip;The Canes brought former NHLer Alex Godynyuk to camp to act as a mentor/translator for 18-year-old Russian defenseman Igor Knyazev. &#9632;

f0017-02

Brind’Amour’s reply to Hurricanes’ offer: ‘Nothing finah than to be in Carolina’

<div class="byline">-Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011354/7210655-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="220" height="252"></div>New Chicago coach Brian Sutter wasted little time early in training camp letting the players know there was a new sheriff in town.&ldquo;People have got to fear what&rsquo;s going to happen if we&rsquo;re not successful,&rdquo; Sutter said.Can you say accountability? Holding players accountable was something former coach Alpo Suhonen seldom did last season even as the losses mounted. As a result, he lost respect in the dressing room from those players who grew tired of watching mediocrity and indifferent play continually rewarded.&ldquo;Our team needed a little more accountability and Brian Sutter is going to bring that,&rdquo; said Steve Sullivan. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got the skill on this hockey club to be better than the last two years and it&rsquo;s just accountability.&rdquo;Sutter made it clear quickly that he won&rsquo;t accept anything less than everyone&rsquo;s best effort. Those who don&rsquo;t commit themselves won&rsquo;t be long for the club.&ldquo;The bottom line is it&rsquo;s the coach&rsquo;s job to have the nerve to make people accountable,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;Hey, playing on the power play or killing penalties isn&rsquo;t a God-given right. It&rsquo;s a privilege that&rsquo;s earned and when you earn it you&rsquo;ve got to work to keep that respect. Obviously, I sense coming in here that things aren&rsquo;t the way they should be.&rdquo;Sutter&rsquo;s top priority in training camp was getting the Hawks&rsquo; team defensive play in order. &ldquo;People have got to be afraid to come into our end of the rink,&rdquo; he said.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Can the Hawks improve defensively after allowing the most goals in the Western Conference? Sutter thinks free-agent Jon Klemm will help settle things down and that Boris Mironov will have a big rebound season.2. Will Jocelyn Thibault play well enough in goal for the Hawks to challenge for a playoff spot? See above. Many think Thibault plays to the level of the defense in front of him.3. Who will comprise the third and fourth lines? Sutter has put out a call for grit and aggressiveness. Passive types can forget about making the club.NOTEBOOK Coach Brian Sutter had no plans to change captains, keeping right winger Tony Amonte in the key leadership role despite his unsettled contract status. Amonte can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. &#9632;

f0018-01

Intensity lacking? Heads will roll

<div class="byline">-Jim Benton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021008/7210686-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="214" height="243"></div>From beer league to the Stanley Cup champions? That&rsquo;s the switch that Darryl Shannon, in training camp with the Colorado Avalanche, is trying to pull off.Shannon, a 33-year-old defenseman who has played parts of 13 seasons in the NHL, was with the Montreal Canadiens for seven games last season before he was sent to the American League. He didn&rsquo;t agree with the move and retired.&ldquo;They were going to buy me out and we gave them our word that I wouldn&rsquo;t go and play somewhere else for the rest of the year,&rdquo; Shannon explained. &ldquo;I was retired for a year, I guess. At the time I actually thought I was done. But being away from it, I realized how much I missed the game and I wanted to come back and play.&rdquo;Shannon is in camp on a tryout basis, but with Adam Foote sidelined, his chances of making the team and getting a contract have improved-even if his game might be a little rusty.&ldquo;I played Thursday and Sunday night hockey back home with the boys. Does that count?&rdquo; asked Shannon, a native of Barrie, Ont. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t very serious. All I can do is go out and try to play decent, solid hockey.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. How will Colorado compensate if Peter Forsberg sits out the entire season? Chris Drury will likely become the full-time center on the second line and the Avalanche will be forced to test its organizational depth.2. Which players will step up on defense? Ray Bourque retired and Jon Klemm signed with Chicago. Foote (shoulder surgery) won&rsquo;t be ready to start the season and Bryan Muir (appendectomy) has missed part of training camp. Rick Berry is now almost a lock to make the team while Shannon, rookie Alex Riazantsev or free agent acquisition Pascal Trepanier could also stick.3. Will Colorado play with the same mettle as it did last year? It will be tough. Colorado will start the season without two of its top players in Forsberg and Foote, so coach Bob Hartley will have to rely on his team to rally together right from the start.NOTEBOOK Colorado was in Stockholm when terrorists struck against the United States. The team canceled one of its two games in Stockholm and one in Helsinki. &#9632;

f0018-02

Shannon attempts unlikely transition

<div class="byline">-Aaron Portzline</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03704/7210717-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="216" height="254"></div>Even on its worst days now, Ray Whitney&rsquo;s back feels better than it did most of last season.&ldquo;Some days, it&rsquo;s just a little tight in the morning,&rdquo; Whitney said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s nothing I can&rsquo;t work out with some stretching and it&rsquo;s nothing I couldn&rsquo;t play with.&rdquo;This is great news to Whitney, of course, but also to the Blue Jackets, who sorely need him to stay healthy if they&rsquo;re to develop two forward lines that can consistently score.Whitney played only 46 games last season, including three with Columbus after he was traded just before the March deadline. He strained a back muscle lifting weights last off-season and never fully recovered.The Blue Jackets parted with Kevyn Adams and a fourth round pick to get Whitney, knowing his track record as a scorer, something they covet.Whitney&rsquo;s goal is to stay healthy all season. He&rsquo;s working out daily with an exercise ball to keep the back muscles strong.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to see what he can do,&rdquo; said president-GM Doug MacLean. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to see what our forward lines are going to look like as we get deeper in to training camp and into the season.In three seasons prior to 2000-01, Whitney averaged 77 games, 29 goals and 66 points. He also had a plus-23 rating in that span.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. How will Columbus cope if defenseman Deron Quint stays unsigned? They&rsquo;ll miss Quint&rsquo;s ability to carry the puck and provide offense, but not badly enough-in their eyes-to cause grave concern.2. Can the Blue Jackets expect more scoring this season? Ray Whitney, Grant Marshall and Mike Sillinger joining the top two forward lines and power play units should help the Blue Jackets improve on their 190 goals from a year ago.3. Is rookie defenseman Rostislav Klesla ready to play in the NHL? He certainly showed he was in his brief eight-game trial to start 2000-01. Early in camp this year he looked timid offensively, but that should improve over the course of the season. He&rsquo;ll definitely play.NOTEBOOK Former Bowling Green roommates Sean Pronger and Brett Harkins are in a battle for the fourth line center spot. &#9632;

f0018-03

Recovered Whitney back on track

<div class="byline">-Chuck Carlton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011254/7210748-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="241" height="244"></div>Just because the roster says the Dallas Stars have three centers, even world-class ones, doesn&rsquo;t mean coach Ken Hitchcock concurs.In his mind, the Stars have three world-class players. The distinction is important.He plans to use the preseason to think outside the box-and no, we&rsquo;re not talking the one for penalties.Hitchcock is experimenting with a possible dominant line that would feature at least two of the top three centers, possibly Modano and Turgeon, both of whom have limited experience at wing.&ldquo;We might be using one as a winger,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;We have a lot of options.&rdquo;The musical centers approach has precedent. For years, Scotty Bowman has mixed and matched his three centers in Detroit. And Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic sometimes presented the ultimate matchup problems when they were united in Colorado.&ldquo;We can exchange guys and throw a number of combinations at different teams,&rdquo; Modano said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good that we have that option to go at if we do get into trouble.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. What about Ed Belfour going into a contract year at 36? If Belfour remains focused on hockey, he remains an elite goaltender who can take the Stars deep into the playoffs.2. Can Valeri Kamensky find his game in Dallas? While Kamensky hardly seems like the Hitchcock type, the Stars love his still-formidable skill and speed.3. Will the Stars change their system to accommodate skilled forwards? Hitchcock won&rsquo;t budge on issues like work, accountability and play without the puck, but he also wants a transition game that could result in more scoring chances than the Stars generated last season.NOTEBOOK Center Mike Modano and defenseman Darryl Sydor are both experimenting with visors in training camp. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the way the league has gone with stickwork and the amount of high-sticking,&rdquo; Modano said. &ldquo;Everybody having the eye injuries the past few years put a little bit of that thought back in players&rsquo; minds.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0019-01

Star centers pivotal to Stars’ versatile attack

<div class="byline">-Nicklas J. Cotsonika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02915/7210779-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="223" height="257"></div>This might be defenseman Jesse Wallin&rsquo;s last chance to make the Detroit Red Wings.But Wallin isn&rsquo;t worrying. He has done far too much of that already. Wallin, 23, was the Wings&rsquo; first pick in the 1996 draft, 26th overall. Yet he has played only one NHL game. At training camp in 1998, he began a pattern of pressing. He worked so hard, he worked against himself. He squeezed his stick. He did it the next year. And again last year.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t been able to play the way I can because I&rsquo;ve been so uptight,&rdquo; Wallin said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been hard on myself. The last couple of years, being in the minors and trying to get here, I was getting so frustrated. It was getting to the point where I needed to do something about it.&rdquo;This summer, Wallin saw a sports psychologist, who reminded him to worry only about what he can control: Himself.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s something you hear and you know, but it&rsquo;s kind of good to have someone beat it into your head,&rdquo; Wallin said.Wallin sits ninth on the team&rsquo;s defense depth chart and is battling Steve Duchesne, Maxim Kuznetsov and Uwe Krupp for an NHL job.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. What will happen to Chris Osgood? The Wings want to trade him, because he makes too much for a backup. But it&rsquo;s a buyer&rsquo;s market.2. Can defenseman Uwe Krupp come back after sitting out two years with a back injury? Krupp has looked surprisingly sharp. He might make it.3. If center prospect Pavel Datsyuk doesn&rsquo;t make the team, will he go to the minors? No. His contract stipulates he would return to Russia in that event, but he will stay in North America next season no matter what.NOTEBOOK Right winger Brett Hull skated with center Steve Yzerman at training camp. Right away, he felt different than he did in Dallas. &ldquo;Stevie loves to have motion and get going and make plays and dipsy-doodle,&rdquo; Hull said&hellip;Hull admits he&rsquo;s not a practice player. To illustrate his point, he offered this anecdote: He worked out this summer with some younger players and he overheard them in the dressing room afterward. &ldquo;You sure that was Brett Hull out there?&rdquo; &#9632;

f0019-02

Wallin takes it easy in latest bid for NHL job

<div class="byline">-David J. Neal</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04470/7210841-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="219" height="258"></div>In mid-1990s tournaments ranging in age from under-16s through the world junior championship, Marcus Nilson, Kristian Huselius, Olli Jokinen and Niklas Hagman knew each other from the Sweden-Finland rivalry.Nilson and Huselius wore Sweden&rsquo;s three crowns, Jokinen and Hagman wore Finland&rsquo;s lion.Now, as teammates on the Florida Panthers, they only fight over giving the other guys credit for the chemistry they&rsquo;ve shown when playing together. Valeri Bure&rsquo;s holdout-which ended Sept. 19 when he agreed to a reported three-year, $8.6-million deal-gave right winger Hagman a chance to play with Jokinen and left winger Huselius on a potential second line. Hagman responded with a hat trick in his first pre-season game, a 3-1 win over Carolina Sept. 18.Huselius&rsquo; stickhandling ability had Jokinen gushing after an intrasquad scrimmage, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the best stickhandlers in the league already.&rdquo;Nilson, who has made a home on the first line&rsquo;s left side with center Viktor Kozlov and right winger Pavel Bure, has coordinated seamlessly when replacing Huselius with Jokinen and Hagman.&ldquo;Obviously, you can see they&rsquo;ve played some elite hockey, whether it&rsquo;s in the NHL or outside of it,&rdquo; said Panthers&rsquo; coach Duane Sutter of the four.THREE KEY QUESTIONS 1. How much will Valeri Bure&rsquo;s holdout hurt him? In the big picture, not much. You can bet he&rsquo;ll be on the second line and first power play unit.2. Who&rsquo;ll be the second line center? Jokinen has the inside track. No other center, with the possible exception of Kevyn Adams, has looked up to the role.3. What will happen to Stephen Weiss? The No. 4 overall pick will be sent back to junior. His ice time would be limited with the Panthers and he could use another year of physical maturity.NOTEBOOK As part of their effort to reconnect with fans, the new ownership group opened practices and morning skates at National Car Rental Center to the public during training camp. During the three previous seasons the Panthers trained at NCRC, the practices there were closed with a few exceptions. &#9632;

f0019-04

Euro foes come together to become Panther mates

<div class="byline">-Matt McHale</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02783/7210872-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nashville has depth in goal, starting with No. 1 man Mike Dunham.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011143/7210879-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="220" height="240"></div>The scouting report on Jaroslav Bednar was impressive. It just wasn&rsquo;t dead-on.It said Bednar, the Kings&rsquo; fourth pick (51st overall) in the June draft, is a great skater who can take the hits in front of the net. But for the second straight year, it appears the Kings did not quite get the player advertised.At 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, the Czech-born Bednar can take the hits. But as training camp progressed, Bednar seemed more content circling the ice waiting for a pass than digging for loose pucks in the corners, the way coach Andy Murray likes.&ldquo;We were told he would be one of our top six forwards,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;He may eventually become a top-six forward, but that first might mean spending some time in Manchester (of the American League).&rdquo;Last season, Czech winger Tomas Vlasak was paired with Ziggy Palffy and Jozef Stump-el, but couldn&rsquo;t skate well enough to keep up. He was gone before Christmas.Palffy, however, believes Bednar will deliver.&ldquo;There are a lot of things that go into playing in the NHL,&rdquo; Palffy said. &ldquo;There are language problems and just getting comfortable with your surroundings. But (Bednar) is a skill player. It will come out.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. How will the Kings compensate for the loss of Luc Robitaille? The team is hoping Glen Murray bounces back from a bad year. Newcomer Steve Heinze also will need to produce.2. Will Adam Deadmarsh&rsquo;s wrist injury hinder his offense? He missed the first 10 days of camp, but will play with some discomfort.3. Will Felix Potvin be the goaltender who led the Kings to within a game of the Western Conference final or the one booed out of Vancouver a month earlier? So far, Potvin has been very sharp.NOTEBOOK Either backup goaltender Stephane Fiset or Jamie Storr was expected to be traded by Sept. 25, the deadline before a three-day blackout period leading up to the waiver draft&hellip;Center Steve Kelly will be lost for up to three months after undergoing abdominal surgery Sept. 17&hellip;Left winger Derek Bekar, who&rsquo;s trying to catch on as a non-roster invitee, survived the first two cuts after collecting four goals and nine points in early intrasquad games. Bekar scored 24 goals for Portland (AHL) last year. &#9632;

f0020-02

Bednar below par in Kings’ workouts

<div class="byline">-Tom Jones</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03537/7210910-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="231" height="228"></div>Sergei Krivokrasov is back. And this time he has something to prove.Specifically, that he is a better player than he was a season ago.The Wild had high hopes for Krivokrasov during its inaugural season. Once, with the expansion Nashville Predators, he scored 25 goals and 48 points and appeared in the All-Star Game. But things didn&rsquo;t work out that way last year. Krivokrasov&rsquo;s season was marred by injuries and a serious lack of potency when he was in the lineup. In 54 games, the right winger contributed just seven goals and 22 points.His season was such a disappointment that the Wild didn&rsquo;t make him a qualifying offer last spring, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.But the Wild, in desperate need for offense, re-signed Krivokrasov to a one-year deal, with a team option for a second season.&ldquo;I liked it here last year, my family liked it and I was happy when we worked it out so I could come back,&rdquo; Krivokrasov said. &ldquo;I know last season was a disappointment. Absolutely, I&rsquo;m happy that they wanted me back and I want to let them see that they are not making a mistake in bringing me back.&rdquo;Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said he&rsquo;s confident a new-and-improved Krivokrasov will show up this season.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Is the goaltending set with Manny Fernandez and Jamie McLennan? If Dwayne Roloson, a veteran of 102 NHL games, plays well in the pre-season, the Wild might trade McLennan.2. What&rsquo;s happening on defense? Veteran Andy Sutton, free agent signees Brad Brown and Jason Marshall, last year&rsquo;s second round pick Nick Schultz and former North Dakota star Travis Roche are fighting it out for the final two spots.3. Will Andrew Brunette make a difference on offense? No team scored fewer goals (168) or was shut out more (14 times) than Minnesota. Brunette&rsquo;s 59 points last season easily would&rsquo;ve led the Wild and the encouraging news is he put up those numbers with second-year Atlanta.NOTEBOOK Right winger Marian Gaborik missed the start of training camp because he is recovering from hernia surgery in July. Gaborik is skating on his own and will be reevaluated midway through camp. He&rsquo;s expected to start the regular season&hellip;Right winger Roman Simicek continues rehabilitation following three surgeries on his right knee. &#9632;

f0020-03

Minnesota sticking with Krivokrasov

<div class="byline">-Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04343/7210941-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="221" height="224"></div>Jeff Hackett has come to the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; training camp seeking to rediscover his game. But if he succeeds, the veteran goalie realizes it might be with another organization.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just trying to get myself in the right frame of mind, trying to get myself playing at my best level.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m here now to get myself back to the level I was previously.&rdquo;Hackett, 33, has two years remaining on a contract that will pay him $7 million-far too much for a guy who could be the backup to Jose Theodore. That&rsquo;s why, according to the Montreal Gazette, Hackett&rsquo;s name has surfaced in trade discussions involving right winger Sandy McCarthy of the New York Rangers.Hackett is coming off a season that&rsquo;s better left forgotten. He shattered his stick hand early in the season and was limited to 19 games, going 4-102 with a 3.25 goals-against average. The Canadiens made him available heading into last March&rsquo;s trade deadline, although his hand wasn&rsquo;t completely healed.But as recently as two seasons ago, Hackett logged a 2.40 GAA in 56 games for Montreal.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d never say my hand&rsquo;s going to be 100 per cent,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It still looks a little different than my other hand. But I can tell you this: I&rsquo;m 100 percent ready to play with it.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. How will the Canadiens compensate for the loss of captain Saku Koivu? Free agent center Yanic Perreault will move up the depth chart and be expected to produce offensively.2. Can Jose Theodore and Hackett co-exist in the Canadiens&rsquo; crease? Highly unlikely. Look for Hackett to be traded.3. Can a team carry nine defensemen with NHL experience? No. Look for a trade, with Patrice Brisebois the most likely candidate. He&rsquo;s scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in JulyNOTEBOOK Canadiens&rsquo; management could be in pursuit of center Doug Gilmour, an unrestricted free agent. The 38-year-old, a veteran of 18 NHL seasons, has 429 career goals and 1,343 points in 1,342 games. He earned $6 million in Buffalo last season, but obviously would have to take a pay cut before signing with Montreal. A report out of New York also suggested Rangers&rsquo; center Petr Nedved could be headed to Montreal in a trade. (See pg. 20 for more on Habs.) &#9632;

f0020-04

Need a goalie? Habs have Hackett

<div class="byline">-David Boclair</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05188/7210972-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="244" height="226"></div>In his first NHL training camp, Dan Hamhuis has made a strong first impression, if not a lasting one.The first defenseman ever selected by Nashville in the first round (12th overall) was returned to Prince George of the Western League, two days after he appeared in the team&rsquo;s pre-season opener. He was the only Predators&rsquo; blueliner in the lineup that night who had no NHL experience.Nashville lost the game 4-3 to Atlanta, but Hamhuis already had established himself as a top-notch prospect with his performance in training camp scrimmages and the Traverse City (Mich.) Prospects Tournament.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to have to get bigger and stronger, (but) a lot of guys come in who are raw talents, are bigger and stronger but don&rsquo;t have (his) instincts,&rdquo; said coach Barry Trotz.A year ago right winger Scott Hartnell became the only Nashville draft pick ever to make the immediate jump to the NHL. Hartnell played in 75 games at the age of 18.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Who is going to score goals? Manage-ment hopes it will be David Legwand. The second overall pick in the 1998 draft, he clearly has the greatest potential to become Nashville&rsquo;s first player ever to get 30 goals.2. Will the franchise trade one of its goaltenders? Despite solid organizational depth-with Mike Dunham, Tomas Vokoun, Brian Finley and Jan Lasak-don&rsquo;t count on GM David Poile to move any of his goalies, all of whom continue to improve.3. Will Stu Grimson make a difference? Yes, against teams with physical defensemen, such as Columbus&rsquo; Lyle Odelein or San Jose&rsquo;s Bryan Marchment. But he&rsquo;s not likely to log much ice time.NOTEBOOK Team captain Tom Fitzgerald has been spending most of his time at center in practices and scrimmages. A right winger the last three seasons, he started taking defensive-zone faceoffs late last season&hellip;Minor league right wingers David Gosselin and Mark Mowers have been put on notice they must show the knee injuries that kept them out of the NHL last season are behind them. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time for them to make it,&rdquo; said GM David Poile&hellip;Left winger Yves Sarault, claimed off waivers from Atlanta during the off-season, has yet to practise because of lingering effects of shoulder surgery. &#9632;

f0020-05

Solid Hamhuis impresses Preds

<div class="byline">-Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01906/7211003-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="219" height="256"></div>Martin Brodeur was a bit stunned. This was a shot the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; goaltender never saw coming.Although Larry Robinson claimed he wasn&rsquo;t knocking Brodeur, the forthright coach said he didn&rsquo;t think the veteran goalie was at his best during the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring. He said it appeared Brodeur was distracted by comparisons to opposing goalies like Curtis Joseph, Johan Hedberg and Patrick Roy.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t disappointed (with Brodeur),&rdquo; Robinson said on the third day of training camp at South Mountain Arena in West Orange. &ldquo;Did he play as well as he could have played? I don&rsquo;t think so. I think he was burned out. Maybe not so much physically, but mentally.&rdquo;Robinson felt Brodeur was distracted and not on top of his game. Brodeur said he never felt distracted and defended his playoff performance in which he was 15-10 with a 2.07 average.However, Brodeur&rsquo;s (and New Jersey&rsquo;s) .897 save percentage was 14th among 16 playoff teams.&ldquo;I felt I did what I had to do to bring my team (to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final),&rdquo; Brodeur said. &ldquo;In my mind, that&rsquo;s plenty It gets harder and harder every year. You have good years, off years, OK years. I&rsquo;ll take a year like that anytime, one game from the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Who will take the place of departed winger Alexander Mogilny? Swedish winger Andreas Salomonsson has impressed Robinson with his intelligence.2. Will Scott Stevens get more time on the power play? Nope. The captain will actually see less time on the power play as the team tries to keep him fresh through what promises to be a grueling season.3. Does college star Brian Gionta really have a shot at making the club?If the 5-foot-7 Gionta is going to stick with the club, it would be by scoring goals and avoiding hits from opposing forwards with size. Few people think he can do it.NOTEBOOK Right winger Turner Stevenson, who could have become an unrestricted free agent next summer, agreed to a three-year deal worth up to $4.5 million with incentives&hellip;Right winger Randy McKay said he would talk to GM Lou Lamoriello if the team made an offer to extend his contract. McKay said he expected to be an unrestricted free agent after the season. &#9632;

f0021-01

Opinions differ on Brodeur’s playoff

<div class="byline">-Peter Botte</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02526/7211034-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="219" height="245"></div>The New York Islanders departed Long Island by bus Sept. 10, one day before the face of New York-and the United States-would be altered forever.Almost 300 miles from Manhattan for 10 days of training camp in upstate Lake Placid, the Islanders helplessly had little choice but to immediately move beyond the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.With their minds and their concerns focused on the tragic victims back home, the Islanders practiced inside the site of one of America&rsquo;s greatest sports moments, the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team&rsquo;s gold medal victory.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a terrible, terrible thing, but your life has to go on,&rdquo; said forward Mariusz Czerkawski, a native of Poland. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t let those people beat you. It doesn&rsquo;t matter if you&rsquo;re American, Polish, Russian or whatever, it&rsquo;s still something that really hurts and affects everybody.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Is Rick DiPietro ready to be a No.l NHL goaltender? The Isles hope the 2000 No.l overall draft pick proves able to handle more than half of their games, but they also signed veteran Garth Snow and European standout Dusan Salficky in case DiPietro needs more seasoning in the minors.2. Can Alexei Yashin light a fire under fellow Russian Oleg Kvasha? Kvasha, who scored just 11 goals after being the centerpiece of the Roberto Luongo blockbuster trade, has been shifted from center to left wing and was aligned almost exclusively with Yashin throughout camp.3. How will new coach Peter Laviolette get this team to respond to him after so many previous coaches failed? Butch Goring admitted he &ldquo;lost&rdquo; the Isles in training camp last season. Several players already have lauded Laviolette for improvements in organization, mutual respect and discipline. Also, Laviolette has stars in Yashin and Michael Peca to work with. Previous coaches were not so fortunate.NOTEBOOK Center Dave Scatchard was expected to miss about a week of camp with a fractured fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot&hellip;Center Alexei Yashin skated mostly on a line between wingers Oleg Kvasha and Mariusz Czerkawski, while center Michael Peca has been flanked by Brad Isbister and Mark Parrish. &#9632;

f0021-02

Islanders dealing with attack on NYC

<div class="byline">-Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03307/7211065-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="221" height="245"></div>Mike Richter still plans on being in goal on opening night for the New York Rangers.Richter eased his way into the training-camp scrimmages, playing half a period on the second day and a full period the next day while taking part in all drills during practices. He was hoping to make his first pre-season appearance by the third week of September.The 35-year-old goalie had major reconstructive surgery on his right knee, which he injured Feb. 19. Richter had just started to get back to normal following the same operation on his left knee the previous off-season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re moving along,&rdquo; Richter said. &ldquo;I talked to the doctor and he just wants the progression to go day by day.&rdquo;Richter said he hasn&rsquo;t experienced swelling in his reconstructed right knee as his workouts have increased daily, and that his left knee, reconstructed prior to last season, is very strong.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Who will fill the holes on the wings created by the departure of Adam Graves, Valeri Kamensky and Jan Hlavac? One of the teams five centers-probably Mark Messier, Petr Nedved or Mike York-could move to wing; along with newcomers Andreas Johansson, Zdeno Ciger and rookie Barrett Heisten.2. Who is Mike Richter &lsquo;s backup, assuming Richter is healthy? Peter Skudra, in camp on a tryout, is getting a good look, and 18-year-old Dan Blackburn is making a run in camp along with minor-leaguer Johan Holmqvist.3. Can Eric Lindros stay healthy? That is the $38-million question.NOTEBOOK The Rangers agreed to terms with their last restricted free agent, center Petr Nedved, Sept. 16. Nedved agreed to a three-year contract worth more than $13 million, with a club option for a fourth season&hellip;In his second day of scrimmages, center Eric Lindros got hurt. It isn&rsquo;t believed to be serious, though, just a &ldquo;tweaked&rdquo; left knee&hellip;Lost in the events of the six previous days was right winger Theoren Fleury&rsquo;s comeback from substance abuse rehab. &ldquo;For me, tonight is special because six months ago I didn&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;d be back here or not,&rdquo; Fleury said as the Rangers opened the pre-season with a 3-2 victory in Detroit. &#9632;

f0021-03

Richter progressing on re-built knees

<div class="byline">-Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04222/7211096-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="234" height="245"></div>As the Ottawa Senators opened the pre-season, the absence of restricted free agents Daniel Alfredsson, Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara was more noticeable.While Chara isn&rsquo;t missed as much because there are 14 defensemen in camp, only nine forwards who were with the club last year are participating in pre-season games with the season set to open Oct. 2.The Senators are going to be thin up front unless the club is able to come to agreements with Alfredsson, Hossa or Chara, but indications are talks have been quiet on all fronts with the recent events in the United States.Playing to a 4-4 tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning during their pre-season opener in Halifax, the Senators came to the realization they no longer have the likes of Rob Zamuner, Andreas Dackell, Mike Sillinger or Alexei Yashin up front.&ldquo;We only have nine forwards (in camp) that were with us last season,&rdquo; said coach Jacques Martin. &ldquo;The thing this is going to do is give other people a good opportunity to make the team. Guys like Chris Neil, Petr Schastlivy Ivan Ciernik, David Hymovitz and Chris Kelly are going to get a good look.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. What happens if Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara don&rsquo;t sign? The Senators will have to rely on players with mostly minor league experience.2. Are the fans going to buy tickets? The Senators season tickets sales are down which means there will be lots of seats to sell. People are taking wait and see approach.3. Can they advance beyond the first round? First, they have to make the playoffs and everybody in the Eastern Conference has improved.NOTEBOOK Prior to resigning a one-year deal with Ottawa Sept. 21, captain Daniel Alfredsson played the equivalent of floor hockey in Sweden. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just something I want to do for fun to pass the time,&rdquo; said Alfredsson, who played in a preseason Division III game in his hometown of Gothenburg. &ldquo;A bunch of my friends were going and I thought it was a great way to stay in shape.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0021-04

Sens concerned about lack of depth

<div class="byline">-Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011034/7211127-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="219" height="222"></div>Justin Williams surprised a lot of people by earning a job with the Flyers in his rookie season. Now, odd as it sounds, he might have to prove himself all over again.Competition for spots on the right wing suddenly became an item in training camp, with Rick Tocchet, Williams and Pavel Brendl all in contention for upper line duty.The 19-year-old Williams, drafted 28th overall in 2000, had a feeling that might be the case, so he spent almost the entire summer working out with strength and conditioning coach Jim McCrossin.Mission: Increase his aerobic threshold, improve his body core strength and expand his flexibility. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got the strength and power in his legs that you need for acceleration,&rdquo; McCrossin said. &ldquo;He wanted to make a point and he&rsquo;s making it right now.&rdquo;Williams has upped his weight from last season&rsquo;s 176 pounds to about 185. Now, instead of sliding through holes, he bursts through them.&ldquo;At the end of last year, we knew there were going to be changes here,&rdquo; Williams said. &ldquo;I took it upon myself to stay here and show that I&rsquo;m committed to the team. I want to play regularly.&ldquo;Of course, I was extremely upset that I wasn&rsquo;t playing (in the playoffs). But it&rsquo;s something you have to roll with, I mean it&rsquo;s your first year. Most likely it&rsquo;s not going to happen again this year, at least I hope not.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Can Roman Cechmanek repeat last year&rsquo;s performance? The Flyers believe he can, simply because he&rsquo;s proven himself at the international level.2. Will the Flyers struggle under the pressure of pre-season predictions, which have them all but into the Stanley Cup final? One thing working in their favor is a veteran lineup. As many as a dozen players on the opening night roster could be over 30.3. Can the Flyers make it through one year without a rash of major injuries? If they do, it will be a welcome change, as five of their top players missed significant time last season.NOTEBOOK Rookie right winger Pavel Brendl got off to a flying start in his first preseason game, scoring two goals and adding an assist in a 6-1 win at Washington Sept. 18. &ldquo;If he keeps playing like that, he&rsquo;s got a chance to crack our lineup,&rdquo; said coach Bill Barber. &#9632;

f0022-01

Williams pumps up his commitment

<div class="byline">-Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02724/7211158-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="216" height="256"></div>After watching the entire front office get reshuffled and three-quarters of the roster get disassembled, Bobby Francis had to wonder if he might be the next to head out the door.He had reason to worry, too, despite back-to-back, 90-point seasons in his first two years behind the Phoenix Coyotes&rsquo; bench. For five months, there were virtually no talks with Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s management team about a new contract. And he was entering the final year of his deal, the one he signed with the old regime.Well, he can now rest easy.&ldquo;We want to make everyone around here understand and realize that he&rsquo;s going to be here, that he&rsquo;s going to be the head coach and that he&rsquo;s going to be the captain of the ship,&rdquo; said Gretzky after announcing Francis had his contract restructured and was given a one-year extension.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve put his mind at ease and he can be comfortable going out there to do his job with some security.&rdquo;The deal was completed one day before the Coyotes&rsquo; first pre-season game. It contains new base salaries of about $500,000 and $600,000, up from the $400,000 he was scheduled to make and includes several reachable bonuses.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s over, I&rsquo;m happy and now it&rsquo;s back to business,&rdquo; Francis said.&ldquo;If I do my job this year, we sit down and we start all over again next year.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Who will replace injured Sergei Berezin, out until mid-October after suffering sprained knee ligaments, as the first line left winger? Two top candidates are bruiser Brad May and shifty Daniel Briere, one of the most impressive players in camp.2. How concerned is the coaching staff with on-ice discipline? Very. The players have been reminded early and often about composure and staying away from retaliatory penalties.3. Is there a potential star player in the mix of all the new faces? In the short term, no, but feisty winger Shane Doan, 24, is an up-and-comer.NOTEBOOK Goalie Zac Bierk, acquired earlier this summer as a free agent, may have a degenerative hip condition and has not been cleared to participate in camp. The team sent him to Nashville to see a specialist and his immediate future was uncertain. &#9632;

f0022-02

Francis receives Gretzky’s blessing

<div class="byline">-Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03515/7211189-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="216" height="238"></div>Some people collect stamps.Michel Petit collects hockey teams. Of the 6,000-plus players who have worn an NHL sweater, none has played for more teams than Petit.&ldquo;All I can say is, I know my way around,&rdquo; said Petit, 37, who is at Pittsburgh&rsquo;s training camp on a tryout contract.Pittsburgh would be Petit&rsquo;s 11th team, which would push him one past former Pens&rsquo; defenseman J-J Daigneault. Petit has been out of the NHL for three seasons. Daigneault played for three teams in that time, allowing him to catch up.After appearing in one NHL game last season, with Minnesota, Daigneault dialed up his former teammate. &ldquo;He said, &lsquo;Hey, I just tied you up,&rsquo;&rdquo; Petit said. &ldquo;I said, &lsquo;Well, I&rsquo;m going to have to get that record back.&rsquo;&rdquo;Petit has played in Vancouver, New York, Quebec, Toronto, Calgary, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, Edmonton, Philadelphia and Phoenix. As well, there have been minor league stops in Detroit, Chicago and Las Vegas and two years in Germany He was traded five times, signed as a free agent three times and claimed off waivers once.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Who will play with Mario Lemieux? Stephane Richer and Kevin Stevens started training camp with Lemieux and the three clicked in early scrimmages.2. Is defenseman Brooks Orpik ready to make the jump from college? Orpik didn&rsquo;t look out of place in the first week of camp, throwing his weight around and making good decisions.3. Is Jan Hrdina on his way to Washington for Dainius Zubrus? Everybody thought so, but now it appears Hrdina will be a Penguin when the season starts.NOTEBOOK Left winger Billy Tibbetts battled with Mario Lemieux on the first day of camp. Lemieux cross-checked Tibbetts into the net after Tibbetts scored and Tibbetts retaliated with a crosscheck to Lemieux&rsquo;s back. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t be able to look at myself in the mirror if I didn&rsquo;t do anything,&rdquo; Tibbetts said. &ldquo;Then again, it&rsquo;s the best player in the world, ever, so I don&rsquo;t want to hurt the guy, you know?&rdquo;&hellip;The Jaromir Jagr trade paid some early dividends. Centers Kris Beech, 20,- and Michal Sivek, 20, were having great camps and both scored in Pittsburgh&rsquo;s pre-season opener against Atlanta Sept. 18, while defenseman Ross Lupaschuk, 20, surprised with his offensive prowess and was contending for a roster spot. &#9632;

f0022-03

Petit in Pittsburgh for record books

<div class="byline">-Derrick Goold</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04348/7211220-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="216" height="244"></div>Keith Tkachuk&rsquo;s hat trick in scrimmage got things going on the ice, but the genesis of the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; Team USA line came much earlier.Sometime after the summer trade for center Doug Weight, Blues&rsquo; coach Joel Quenneville thought about bookending Weight with his best power forward and top returning goalscorer. What a star-spangled line it is.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a line of complements,&rdquo; said Weight of his threesome with Tkachuk and Scott Young. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a good fit-everything you need to have on a line.&rdquo;Weight, the leading scorer among U.S.-born players with 90 points last season, wants to help Tkachuk regain his 50-goal form. Young is the right winger that joins the two onetime world junior champion-. ship linemates. The three U.S. Olympians created five of the six goals for their team in the Blues&rsquo; first scrimmage.&ldquo;With those guys,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; GM Larry Pleau, &ldquo;you pretty much got the mixture that makes you say that&rsquo;s the perfect line.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. After Weight, who are the Blues&rsquo; centers? Daniel Corso has been given every opportunity to seize the No. 2 center spot while Sebastien Bordeleau, claimed off waivers from Nashville, was skating well and could be No. 3 or 4.2. Will a goaltender step forward? Brent Johnson was the best goalie in training camp and has his invite to the U.S. Olympic camp to fuel his confidence. He and Fred Brathwaite are expected to rotate into the regular season, though.3. How do the Blues make space for promising youngsters? Too few spots were open on the Blues to fit in some of the upstarts who shined in camp. Defensemen Mike Van Ryn and Barrett Jackman were among those sent to Worcester despite solid showings.NOTEBOOK Slapped together on a line with youngster Daniel Corso from the start of training, camp, wingers Cory Stillman and Pavol Demitra found immediate synergy. The two combined for three goals (all by Stillman) and seven assists (six by Demitra)&hellip;Left winger Tyson Nash, recovering from off-season knee and abdominal surgeries, continues to practice with the team, but has not suited up for a game. No date was set for his return. &#9632;

f0022-04

Shooting stars in Team USA line

<div class="byline">-Ross McKeon</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05264/7211251-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="218" height="245"></div>Patrick Marleau returned to the San Jose Sharks by signing his second one-year contract in as many years.While the 22-year-old center, preparing to embark on his fifth NHL season, would have preferred a preferred a longer deal, Marleau felt it was important to get into camp and start skating with potential linemates Teemu Selanne and Adam Graves.&ldquo;He certainly will have the opportunity to play with people who can complement his abilities,&rdquo; said GM Dean Lombardi. &ldquo;He has improved every season. There&rsquo;s still a lot to develop in him. What you&rsquo;re looking for is that breakthrough season.&rdquo;Marleau posted career highs last season in goals (25), assists (27) and points (52) in 81 games. The second overall pick in the 1997 draft will earn approximately $1.3 million this season in a deal that includes a club option. However, if Marleau reaches certain performance levels, he can return to the negotiating table next year with the option of going to arbitration.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just glad to get it done and now we can get on with hockey,&rdquo; Marleau said.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. How will San Jose compensate for the absence of unsigned defenseman Mike Rathje? The Sharks have tried to shore up a lack of depth on the blueline by signing free agent prospects Jeff Jillson, Matt Carkner and Jesse Fibiger, but none can replace Rathje.2. How do the Sharks plan to improve on improve their 24th-ranked power play? Due to injury, San Jose never had quarterback Gary Suter and forwards Vincent Damphousse, Owen Nolan and Selanne on the ice at the same time during man-advantage chances last season. That combination alone should improve things.3. Did Miikka Kiprusoff&rsquo;s impressive performance in the post-season create a goalie controversy? No. Coach Darryl Sutter said Evgeni Nabokov is the starter and will get as much pre-season action as he needs.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Bryan Marchment suffered a broken bone in his left wrist on the first day of full workouts and was expected to miss at least the first four of San Jose&rsquo;s seven exhibition games&hellip;Defenseman Brad Stuart remains on target to return in time for the opening of the regular season following mid-summer shoulder surgery. &#9632;

f0022-05

Marleau takes it one year at a time

<div class="byline">-Damian Cristodero</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01925/7211282-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="219" height="244"></div>The Tampa Bay Lightning scrimmage on Sept. 14, four days after the terrorist attacks in New York and at the Pentagon, served two purposes.From a practical standpoint, it took the place of the two preseason games canceled because of the fallout from the attacks.From an emotional standpoint, the only sporting even to go on in the Tampa Bay area on that day offered a way to remember those who had suffered and those who lost their lives trying to help.The 2,500 fans in attendance at the scrimmage were asked to donate $5 each to the Tampa Bay chapter of the American Red Cross for disaster relief. The Lightning said $15,540 was collected.&ldquo;It was great to see,&rdquo; said center Brian Holzinger, who is from Parma, Ohio, and is one of three American players in training camp.&ldquo;It was exciting for us to play in front of our fans and for a great cause.&rdquo;Holzinger was so moved, he sang when the national anthem was played before the game, something he doesn&rsquo;t normally do.&ldquo;I looked around while the national anthem was going and saw some tears in people&rsquo;s eyes,&rdquo; he said.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Can Nikolai Khabibulin return to prime form? If he does, the $3.5 million the former Phoenix star goalie will make this season should be considered a bargain. If he doesn&rsquo;t, Kevin Weekes may rise again.2. When will Vincent Lecavalier show up? Hard to say. Both sides seem set in their positions. Tampa Bay is offering three years at about $5.35 million. Lecavalier&rsquo;s side wants a two-year deal for $6.3 million. Brad Richards already has assumed the top center position.3. Can Richards beat the sophomore jinx? He got off to a good start by reporting to camp at 194 pounds, 15 of which is added bulk.NOTEBOOK A pre-season game against Ottawa was the first of three that are part of the compensation Tampa Bay paid for signing GM Rick Dudley while he was still under contract with Ottawa. The Senators got forward Rob Zamuner, a cash payment believed to be $l-million and the gate from three pre-season games at a venue of Ottawa&rsquo;s choosing. &#9632;

f0023-01

Fans’ response moves Holzinger

<div class="byline">-Ken Campbell</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03426/7211313-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vancouver center Brendan Morrison will be looking to improve on a 16-goal, 54-point season of a year ago, his best year as an NHLer.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02604/7211320-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="219" height="250"></div>Even in the face of disaster, it was important for the Toronto Maple Leafs to live up to their word.The Leafs had promised the good people of St. John&rsquo;s, Nfld., they would hold their training camp there this year, but the entire exercise was thrown into disarray with the terrorist attacks in the United States Sept. 11. The Leafs had originally planned to hold their training camp at the brand new Mile One Stadium in St. John&rsquo;s Sept. 12-18. The visit was to be highlighted by a preseason game against the Montreal Canadiens Sept. 16.Not only were the Leafs held up with a backlog at the Toronto airport, it was impossible for them to occupy Mile One because it was being used as a refuge for about 5,000 stranded U.S. travelers.The Leafs finally made it to St. John&rsquo;s Sept. 15 and played their Blue and White intrasquad game Sept. 16. They delayed their game against Montreal by one day, losing 3-0 to the Canadiens.&ldquo;I thought it was important that we come,&rdquo; said coach-GM Pat Quinn. &ldquo;I wished we could have had a team game for the fans, but hopefully they enjoyed how Montreal played.&rdquo;THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Who will play with Mats Sundin? It was thought Gary Roberts would be on the left side and Mikael Renberg on the right, but Quinn had Jonas Hoglund back on Sundin&rsquo;s left wing for the pre-season. The second line was Robert Reichel between Roberts and Alexander Mogilny.2. Can the Leafs win with this defense corps? They certainly couldn&rsquo;t in their first three games of the pre-season. A team that is supposed to challenge for the Stanley Cup lost twice to Montreal and once to the Ottawa Senators and was outscored 12-1.3. What will it take to get Tomas Kaberle signed before the season begins? A miracle. Kaberle is reportedly looking for $2.5 million (U.S.), which represents a 1,000-per-cent raise. The Leafs have offered a three-year deal at $1 million per season.NOTEBOOK The Leafs received a scare during their intrasquad game when newcomer center Travis Green bowled over goalie Curtis Joseph. Green apologized after the game, saying he didn&rsquo;t see Joseph on the play. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the one wearing the pads,&rdquo; Joseph quipped. &#9632;

f0023-03

Leafs’ trip East abbreviated affair

<div class="byline">-Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04301/7211351-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="222" height="260"></div>The Vancouver Canucks reduced to one their number of unsigned players when defenseman Brent Sopel agreed to terms on a three-year-plus-option contract.Sopel will make $475,000 during the coming season, followed by $550,000 and $650,000 (all figures in U.S. dollars). The option year is for $800,000 but can almost double to $1.5 million if Sopel achieves certain performance levels. It is a one-way deal.Left winger Peter Schaefer remained the only unsigned Canuck.&ldquo;It took a little longer than anticipated but, near the end, both sides did a lot of bending and moving to try and get it settled,&rdquo; said Sopel, 24.The Canucks were adamant on locking up Sopel for a lengthy period.&ldquo;We think Brent is an NHL player or we wouldn&rsquo;t have offered him a long-term deal,&rdquo; said Canuck negotiator Dave Nonis. &ldquo;He is a player who has consistently improved each year.&rdquo;The 114th pick in the 1995 entry draft, Sopel played only 23 NHL games in his first three pro seasons. He became a regular last year.THREE KEY QUESTIONS&nbsp;1. Who will share netminding duties with Dan Cloutier? Mark Fitzpatrick is in camp on a tryout basis, but a trade is the most likely solution.2. Can Markus Naslund return to form following his broken leg? He looked superb in training camp when no one was trying to take him out.3. Will the Sedin twins be better? They admitted the 82-game grind wore them down at times last season, so they feel far better prepared mentally for the challenge this time around.NOTEBOOK Highly touted goalie Alex Auld flopped in his NHL exhibition debut by allowing four goals on 17 shots in 30 minutes of work against San Jose&hellip;In their search for a sniping winger, the Canucks are trying center Harold Druken on both the left and right sides&hellip;Right winger Todd Bertuzzi was skating alongside center Henrik Sedin and left winger Daniel Sedin during training camp. Bertuzzi finished last season playing with the brothers after his regular linemates, left winger Markus Naslund and center Andrew Cassels, both suffered year-ending injuries. Winger Trent Klatt, who spent most of last season with the Sedins, took Bertuzzi&rsquo;s spot with Cassels and Naslund. &#9632;

f0023-04

Sopel’s deal done, both sides happy

<div class="byline">-Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05230/7211382-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="222" height="258"></div>In the past, negotiating a new contract meant nothing but trouble for Brendan Witt.On two instances the Washington Capitals&rsquo; defenseman walked out of training camp, once missing hockey for an entire season. There was also the botched salary arbitration case of a year ago where he ended up losing money.Times have changed. Witt negotiated his own contract this time and came away with a three-year, $5-million deal. The best part was, there were no drawn-out hassles.&ldquo;Two 15-minute conversations and it was done,&rdquo; said Caps&rsquo; GM George McPhee. The GM emphasized the new contract wasn&rsquo;t payback; it was done because Witt has earned the respect of his teammates and opponents league-wide.&ldquo;Brendan is becoming one of the leaders on this club, a very valuable player and we hope he spends 20 years with the Capitals,&rdquo; McPhee said.Until a few years ago Witt, 26, was a tough guy with potential that needed polishing. Now the rough edges have been smoothed over; he has learned to control his temper while still letting others know he can revert to his unruly past when necessary.Witt&rsquo;s play has improved so much that Caps&rsquo; assistant coach Tim Hunter was upset Witt didn&rsquo;t get a shot at the Canadian Olympic team.THREE KEY QUESTIONS 1. How will Washington compensate for loss of Jeff Halpern if he doesn&rsquo;t sign a new contract by opening night? Rookie Brian Sutherby is filling in, but he is also unsigned. The only long-term solution is to get Halpern back.2. How will the Adam Oates unpleasantness be resolved? Oates and the Caps either have to make up or go their separate ways by the end of camp or the issue will become a dark cloud hanging over the team.3. Will it take long for Jaromir Jagr to fit in? It better not; falling behind early in the East could be fatal. Chances are it won&rsquo;t.NOTEBOOK Veteran Adam Oates is being used at left wing on a line centered by Trevor Linden with Jaromir Jagr. Oates says it&rsquo;s the first time he&rsquo;s played anything but center. Wilson says he is just experimenting&hellip;Tough guy left winger Stephen Peat survived the first two cuts and was making a strong push for a roster spot. &#9632;

f0023-05

Easy negotiations new way for Witt

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011002/7211420-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="346" height="358"></div>For the past year, Roy Boe held a unique distinction in the American League. He was the only person to own two active franchises.Which meant he may have been the only person the league was allowing to break the rules.Boe formed the Worcester IceCats in 1994-95 and has owned them since. Last year, he founded the expansion Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He did so to be closer to his Long Island roots and so he could own the farm club for his original hockey franchise, the NHL&rsquo;s New York Islanders.While the Tigers don&rsquo;t make their debut until Oct. 5, AHL bylaws prohibit dual ownership. With pressure mounting to sell, Boe found a buyer for the IceCats: the parent St. Louis Blues.&ldquo;We really like the setting and the fact it&rsquo;s in the breadbasket of hockey in this country,&rdquo; said Mark Sauer, president and CEO of the Blues.The purchase price was likely in the neighborhood of $2 million. Expansion franchises sell for $3 million, but Boe needed to sell and the IceCats have reportedly lost $250,000 the past couple years.Worcester also owed the Blues a reported $500,000 in affiliation fees, so that debt, and others, were absorbed in the deal.The sale became official Sept. 14, but the Blues were poised to make the purchase months ago. For much of the summer they have been working to renegotiate the lease at the 12,316-seat Centrum. The lease runs through 2003-04.&ldquo;We want changes and we want to add years. We&rsquo;ve had very positive discussions (with SMG, which operates the city-owned facility),&rdquo; Sauer said. &ldquo;The lease is the primary issue now.&rdquo;The IceCats pay $7,500 per game and receive only a small percentage of concessions and no parking revenue. They are the building&rsquo;s primary tenant, though the facility is busy because of concerts and shows.While the IceCats haven&rsquo;t been successful in terms of making money, they&rsquo;ve been one of the best at developing prospects. Jochen Hecht, Michal Handzus, Ladislav Nagy, Daniel Corso, Marty Reasoner and Brent Johnson spent considerable time in Worcester the past four years.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the lifeblood of our NHL franchise,&rdquo; Sauer said. &ldquo;We have a strong track record of developing talent.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02682/7211413-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="788" height="1088"><figcaption class="caption-body">Quebec center Eric Chouinard is vying for a job with the Montreal Canadiens. (Rob Skeoch/BBS)</figcaption></div>OWNER DIES Jane Pettit, who owned the Milwaukee Admirals since 1977, died at her home in River Hills, Wis. She was 82.Mrs. Pettit, who died Sept. 9, became a hockey fan after her marriage to Lloyd Pettit, radio voice of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1960s. Her money built the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, home of the Admirals and NBA&rsquo;s Bucks, and she also was a major backer of the PGA&rsquo;s Greater Milwaukee Open.&ldquo;She treated this like her house and everyone in it was her guest,&rdquo; said Admirals&rsquo; spokesman Brian Man-they. &ldquo;She really enjoyed the games and liked the fact there were a lot of families and kids at the games.&rdquo;The Admirals, affiliate of the Nashville Predators, will operate as usual, but their long-term future is dependent upon what happens to Mrs. Pettit&rsquo;s estate.BORDER DELAYS The terrorist attacks on America Sept. 11 have prompted greater security checks at the Canada-U.S. border, which could lead to delayed bus trips for teams.The Hamilton Bulldogs will be affected most. They make 12 one-day bus trips for games in Rochester, Syracuse, Cleveland and Grand Rapids, as well as extended road swings.&ldquo;Maybe once a year (the customs officials) would pull the bus over and inspect it,&rdquo; Bulldogs&rsquo; president Cary Kaplan told the Hamilton Spectator. &ldquo;I would suspect that will happen a lot more often now.&rdquo;STILL AN HONOR Right winger Dane Jackson, 31, has played more than 500 AHL games over nine pro seasons, but the oldest member of the Manchester Monarchs doesn&rsquo;t take it for granted.&ldquo;This is the second-best league in the world. I feel it&rsquo;s a privilege to play in the AHL,&rdquo; said Jackson after the parent Los Angeles Kings signed him to be one of the veteran leaders for their new farm team.Jackson played five of the past six years with the Rochester Americans.SOMETHING&rsquo;S BREWING The Portland Pirates will be visible on grocery shelves and in convenience stores throughout northern New England after teaming with Casco Bay Brewing Co. to create Salty Pete&rsquo;s Peg Leg Ale.The beer label features the Pirates&rsquo; logo and mascot, Salty Pete, and will also be sold at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Casco Bay is a microbrewery in Portland.&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be tailored to those who like a lighter beer,&rdquo; said team spokesman Dave Ahlers. &#9632;

f0024-01

IceCats bought by parent Blues

<div class="byline">By Rob Mueller</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03450/7211451-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="306" height="316"></div>America&rsquo;s tragedy hit close to home for the East Coast League and the Kelly Cup-champion South Carolina Stingrays.Former Stingrays&rsquo; forward Mark Bavis, who was a scout for the NHL&rsquo;s Los Angeles Kings, was on board United Airlines Flight 175- the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center by terrorists Sept. 11.The 31-year-old Boston native played two seasons with the Stingrays, in 199495 and 1995-96. His twin brother, Mike, also played for the Stingrays.&ldquo;Mark was a great person and a close friend to a lot of people,&rdquo; said South Carolina assistant coach Jason Fitzsimmons, who was Bavis&rsquo; teammate with the Stingrays for two seasons. &ldquo;He will be missed terribly.&rdquo;The former Boston University standout, a ninth round pick of the Rangers in 1989, was entering his second year as a Kings&rsquo; scout.The Stingrays and the league had not yet announced any formal tribute to Bavis or the other victims of the attacks as of mid-September. Stingrays&rsquo; winger Rob Concannon, who grew up with Bavis in Boston, said he&rsquo;s changing his number from 21 to 12, which was Bavis&rsquo;s number with the Rays.PLAYOFF FORMAT The ECHL has altered its playoff format again.Like last year, the top five teams in each division will qualify from the Southern Conference. But instead of a wild-card series, there will be a one-game playoff between Nos. 4 and 5 in each division. The winners become the fourth seed and face the division champion in a best-of-5 series.The best-of-5 division finals follow, with winners advancing to the best-of-5 conference final. The two conference winners meet in the best-of-7 Kelly Cup final.COAST LINES Forward Rob Bonneau, who led International League Milwaukee in scoring in 1999-2000, signed with Dayton&hellip;Peoria traded goalie Kenric Exner to Atlantic City Sept. 4 for cash and future considerations. The move cleared room for parent St. Louis to assign a pair of its prospects: Curtis Sanford, last year&rsquo;s ECHL goals-against average leader, and Scott Stirling, the ECHL&rsquo;s goalie of the year for Trenton in 2000-01, who signed with St. Louis. &#9632;

f0024-03

Bavis’ death shocks ECHL, Stingrays

<div class="byline">-Brendan Savage</div>The United League plans to honor victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. Before each home opener, a moment of silence will be held in memory of those killed in the plane crashes. Players will wear American flags under the middle of the neckline of both their home and road jerseys. The league also plans to send some sort of donation to help with relief, said commissioner Richard Brosal&hellip;Brosal said the dormant franchise in Massillon, Ohio, is set to rejoin the UHL for 2002-03. The team, to be known as the Arctic Xpress, has been inactive since 1999-2000, when it moved from Saginaw to Massillon after being sold to group headed by Dr. Bernie Bubanic. Construction on a new arena begins Oct. 2. &#9632;

UNITED LEAGUE

<div class="byline">-Don Ruiz</div>No West Coast League personnel were among casualties in the acts of terrorism against the U.S., however, Jonathan Fleisig, owner of the Bakersfield Condors, was evacuated from his stock brokerage office near the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 incident. Meanwhile, WCHL franchises got involved in relief efforts. The Long Beach Ice Dogs awarded two free tickets to anyone donating blood at the local American Red Cross. &ldquo;We hope this gesture will serve as both a thank you and an incentive,&rdquo; a team spokesman said&hellip;Former Long Beach winger Chris Kenady rejoined the team three years after his first tour of duty. Kenady, 28, played 18 games with Long Beach of the International League in 1998-99, between stints with St. Louis and the Rangers of the NHL. &#9632;

WEST COAST LEAGUE

<div class="byline">-David Henry</div>The shocking terrorist events of Sept. 11 were felt around the hockey world and the Central League. The CHL remembered victim Garnet &lsquo;Ace&rsquo; Bailey, the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; scout who perished when United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles was directed by hijackers into the World Trade Center. Bailey played for Oklahoma City (1967-68,1970-71) and Wichita (1980-81) in the old CHL&hellip;Fort Worth Brahmas&rsquo; majority owner Stuart Fraser&rsquo;s company, Cantor Fitzgerald, was located in the World Trade Center. The company lost a significant number of employees in the tragedy. Fraser was not at the company&rsquo;s offices at the time. CHL president Brad Treliving said the league is considering several possibilities to aid in relief efforts. &#9632;

CENTRAL LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01898/7211554-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="396" height="214"></div>The reality of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. hit home in a sobering phone call Tim Gleason received from his parents.The battles the 18-year-old Windsor Spitfires&rsquo; defenseman faces in the Ontario League are nothing compared to the war he might be forced to fight.&ldquo;I still can&rsquo;t believe this is actually possible,&rdquo; said Gleason, a native of Southfield, Mich., Sept. 18 after his parents received a call from U.S. military recruiters, asking their son&rsquo;s whereabouts. &ldquo;My parents are still in shock.&rdquo;Gleason, a first round pick (23rd overall) of the Ottawa Senators in June, is legally required to register with the U.S. Selective Service System. If the U.S. does declare war and Congress authorizes a draft, a lottery system would be used.The first to be called up would be 20-year-olds. The draft order would be 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,18 and 19.It&rsquo;s unlikely the U.S. would have to resort to conscription to support the existing military. But at the same time, it has taken Gleason&rsquo;s mind off hockey for the moment.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a buddy back home who&rsquo;s already signed up,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If I have to fight for my country, I wouldn&rsquo;t say no. That&rsquo;s just how I am. No ifs, ands or buts.&ldquo;But I go back to the early 1990s and the Gulf War and that was something I saw on TV. But now I&rsquo;m of age to fight. I could be in this thing. I really can&rsquo;t believe it. I&rsquo;m just taking it day to day, hoping I don&rsquo;t get that phone call. Nobody wants to be involved in a war, but you have to serve your country.&rdquo;OPENERS POSTPONED The OHL postponed the first two nights of its regular season following the terrorist attacks.&ldquo;We felt it important to take a position of respect in light of the occurrences,&rdquo; said commissioner David Branch after announcing the opening-night games of Sept. 13 had been rescheduled.The following day, Branch postponed games scheduled for Sept. 14 after Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien declared a day of mourning. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in uncharted waters,&rdquo; Branch said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to do what&rsquo;s right.&rdquo;All games involving the Erie Otters and Plymouth Whalers on the first weekend of the regular season also were postponed.Whalers&rsquo; coach-GM Mike Vellucci concurred with Branch&rsquo;s decision. &ldquo;Without a doubt. It&rsquo;s respectful.&rdquo;TWIST OF FATE London Knights&rsquo; president and co-owner Dale Hunter was supposed to be in Washington, D.C., the morning the terrorists struck, but he had delayed his travel by a few hours.Hunter, a former Washington Capitals&rsquo; player and scout, was scheduled to be at the team&rsquo;s training camp, but turned around and headed back to his home near Oil Springs, Ont., after his wife reached him on his cell phone following the attacks.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe I was headed for Washington when all this was happening,&rdquo; said Hunter after managing to get back into Canada before the borders were sealed for a few hours.Hunter&rsquo;s first concern was for the safety of his friends in the Washington area who work at the Pentagon. He spent 11 of his 20 NHL seasons with the Capitals.His wife Karynka was able to contact friends via e-mail later. &#9632;

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Gleason stunned by call from U.S. military

<div class="byline">By Willy Palov</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02578/7211585-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="394" height="295"></div>Gilles Courteau started the Quebec League season with a new title.The former league president now will be called commissioner, after the board of governors voted to give him more power. Courteau, in his 16th year at the QMJHL helm, now has the authority to make a ruling and have it stick, no matter what.That wasn&rsquo;t always the case, particularly during the past few years when the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and Chicoutimi Sagueneens tried to undermine Courteau&rsquo;s ruling on an illegal trade. The teams explored legal action and intervention by city councils to avoid having to honor Courteau&rsquo;s sanctions.Courteau&rsquo;s decisions now will carry the full backing of the board of governors and cannot be affected by alternative authorities.&ldquo;The league ruling will be all that matters from now on,&rdquo; Courteau said. &ldquo;What happened is the board of governors decided to give me more power, more authority to run the league the right way.&ldquo;The difference is now my decisions will have more weight.&rdquo;Courteau also will be able to make independent rulings without consulting the board of governors first.&ldquo;I really appreciate the confidence of the board of governors and I appreciate they recognized that with the way the league operates, the owners are behind us when we are trying to do things that are the proper way of doing business.&rdquo;NO. 12 RETIRED The Quebec Remparts retired the second number in team history at their season opener against the Montreal Rocket.The Remparts raised Simon Gagne&rsquo;s No. 12 to the rafters at the Pepsi Coliseum alongside Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s No. 4. Gagne played for the Remparts in 1997-98 and 1998-99 before joining the Philadelphia Flyers in 1999-2000.The Remparts are in their second incarnation in Quebec. There was a franchise there from 1969 to 1985, but the current edition has existed only since 199798. The Beauport Harfangs relocated to Quebec prior to the start of that season.Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet&rsquo;s Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; jerseys are the only other retired jerseys at the Quebec arena.DRAFT MOVES The 2002 midget draft will be be hosted by Bathurst, N.B. It will be the first time the event ever has been staged outside the province of Quebec.The vote by the board of governors was unanimous, but some league executives are privately questioning the decision. Some wonder why the league would move the event away from Quebec, where the majority of the draftees reside.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s something we might have to work on,&rdquo; Courteau said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll look at maybe helping kids out with the travel expenses or lodging. We&rsquo;ll see if there&rsquo;s anything we need to do.&rdquo;The QMJHL expanded to the Maritime provinces in 1994 when it awarded a franchise to Halifax. Teams in Moncton, Cape Breton and Bathurst followed.BRUNO HURT The Chicoutimi Sagueneens are without promising center Bruno Champagne for at least the first month of the season. The 17-year-old broke a bone in his wrist and will wear a cast until mid-October.Champagne scored 11 points in 31 games as a 16-year-old in 2000-01. &#9632;

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Ultimate authority for boss Courteau

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03371/7211616-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="396" height="271"></div>Western League governors have conditionally awarded an expansion franchise to Everett, Wash.The WHL&rsquo;s 20th team is to make its debut in the fall of 2003. Ground is to be broken early next year on Everett&rsquo;s recreation complex-a $50-million facility which includes an 8,000-seat arena. Everett has 84,000 residents.&ldquo;We are excited Everett will join our league,&rdquo; said WHL commissioner Ron Robison. &ldquo;The market and facility are ideal for the WHL and it completes our plan for four five-team divisions.&rdquo;As it stands, the league has three five-team divisions (East, Central, B.C.) and the four-team U.S. Division. Everett would join the Seattle Thunderbirds, Spokane Chiefs, Tri-City Americans and Portland Winter Hawks in the American loop.A WHL bylaw prohibits expansion into a market which falls within a 50-mile radius of an existing franchise. Because Seattle is within that radius, Thunderbirds&rsquo; owner Bill Yuill has the first option to purchase the Everett franchise.Yuill would have to sell the Thunderbirds if he was to acquire the expansion team. Yuill could not be reached for comment.TWO MORE YEARS Bryan Maxwell leads WHL coaches in stability and that won&rsquo;t change anytime soon.Maxwell, who is in his seventh season as the Lethbridge Hurricanes&rsquo; coach-GM, is under contract through 2003-04 after signing a two-year extension in mid-September.The Hurricanes&rsquo; board of directors gave the same extension to Bryan&rsquo;s brother, assistant GM Randy Maxwell. The Maxwells&rsquo; previous contracts were to expire after this season.&ldquo;You never like riding the last year of a contract,&rdquo; Bryan Maxwell said. &ldquo;Normally, if they don&rsquo;t re-sign you in the last year, they don&rsquo;t want you.&ldquo;For the board to come and offer this to us is really nice. It&rsquo;s nice to have security here for the next three years.&rdquo;Bryan Maxwell has coached two teams to Memorial Cup titles-the 1987-88 Medicine Hat Tigers and 199091 Spokane Chiefs. He guided Lethbridge to the 1996-97 WHL title.RAIDERS IN RED The Prince Albert Raiders announced Sept. 12 that they had incurred their fifth consecutive deficit.The community-owned team lost $136,156 on last season&rsquo;s operations. Over the past five years, the Raiders have lost $705,476-a run of red ink which has reduced their surplus to $854.The Raiders have set a goal of 1,850 season tickets for this season.&ldquo;We are not threatening anybody,&rdquo; said treasurer Craig Mitchell. &ldquo;This is just information. If we don&rsquo;t stabilize revenues, we could have a loss of $200,000 (this season).&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Red Deer named Cam Ondrik its goaltending/assistant coach. Ondrik, 21, completed his WHL goaltending career with the Rebels last season. He takes over for Andy Nowicki, who left to become a goaltending consultant for the Los Angeles Kings&hellip;Defenseman Kurt Sauer, 20, has rejoined Spokane after being unable to sign with the Colorado Avalanche, who picked him in the third round (88th overall) of the 2000 draft. Sauer is one of the WHL&rsquo;s elite defensemen. &#9632;

f0025-03

League opens doors to expansion Everett

<div class="byline">-Willy Palov</div>The inter-league all-star format was such a success last year that the Canadian Hockey League decided to bring it back again for a second season.Ottawa will stage the first leg of the three-game Hershey Cup when the Ontario League&rsquo;s Eastern Conference all-stars play the Quebec League&rsquo;s Lebel all-stars Jan. 6, 2002.Red Deer is the site of the second game when the Western League&rsquo;s East and Central Divisions face the OHL Western Conference team Jan. 16.Rimouski, Que., is the final stop as the QMJHL&rsquo;s Dilio Conference takes on the WHL West all-stars Feb. 6.The QMJHL captured the first-ever event last year by winning both its games. The WHL lost both its games, while the OHL split its pair. &#9632;

Format remains

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01995/7211671-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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HOCKEY MARKETPLACE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01943/7211702-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NHL DEPTH CHARTS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01983/7211740-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01904/7211733-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="3183" height="3590"></div> &#9632;

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HOCKEY’S BEST STATS

2001-02 NHL PRE-SEASON STATISTICS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01966/7211771-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NHL PRE-SEASON SUMMARIES & TRANSACTIONS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01873/7211809-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01983/7211802-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="3139" height="3572"></div> &#9632;

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2001-02 NHL REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01927/7211847-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="301" height="379"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Brophy&nbsp;Senior Writer</figcaption></div>Considering Saku Koivu is likely out for the year, the easy thing to do is write off the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; season.Just eliminate the possibility of the Habs making the playoffs, as if the team&rsquo;s fortunes rest in the hands of an injury-prone 5-foot-10,180-pounder.That would be a mistake.Without question, Koivu, who is being treated for non-Hodgkin&rsquo;s lymphoma, will be missed. He led the Canadiens in scoring last season with 47 points in only 54 games. But, let&rsquo;s be honest, the Habs are used to playing without their captain who, due to injuries, hasn&rsquo;t played a full season since his rookie campaign of 1995-96.&ldquo;Like any other team, when you lose your best player, it&rsquo;s certainly a factor,&rdquo; said Montreal GM Andre Savard. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think this is the time of year to make a playoff call. I think you can say if you are going in the right direction and we are definitely going in the right direction.&ldquo;If we&rsquo;re healthy, even without Saku, I think we&rsquo;ll be right there all year competing for the playoffs.&rdquo;The question then, is this: Are the Canadiens a better team since Andre Savard took over as GM last Nov. 20? The answer is a resounding yes.Montreal fans need to wrap their heads around the fact Stanley Cups are no longer a rite of passage. Nor is making the playoffs. In today&rsquo;s NHL, made up of a few haves and many have nots, the Habs are a member of the latter group.The loss of Koivu is devastating; a blow no team that has missed the playoffs three seasons running can afford. But it is not cause for the club to fold its tent.Savard had his work cut out for him the day he took over as GM from Rejean Houle. His first priority was to increase the team&rsquo;s depth.&ldquo;You need players,&rdquo; Savard said. &ldquo;The plan at the time I got the job was to not make trades for draft picks. As an organization we have to build through the draft, but at the time, I needed to add NHL-caliber players to our team.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02653/7211840-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="1487" height="1124"><figcaption class="caption-body">Patrice Brisebois says Montreal&rsquo;s offense should be more effective this season.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to say you want to make moves, but you need a (trading) partner to do it. You have to be ready at all times to make a move and you have to know the market.&rdquo;Which is exactly why Savard was elevated to GM from the position of director of hockey personnel-he knows players. He earned his stripes in a similar capacity with the Ottawa Senators.Thus far, Savard has not attracted a superstar to Montreal. The Canadiens, thanks largely to an increased budget courtesy of new owner George Gillett Jr., took a legitimate stab at unrestricted free agents Martin Lapointe, Brett Hull and Pierre Turgeon, but were unsuccessful in landing any of them.Savard has, however, been successful in putting his team into a position to seriously challenge for a playoff position.Last season he acquired tough guy Gino Odjick from Philadelphia for journeyman P.J. Stock; sent Sergei Zholtok to Edmonton for grinding winger Chad Kilger, who enjoyed a resurgence of a sagging career upon his arrival; and got defenseman Patrick Traverse from Boston for unrestricted free agent-to-be Eric Weinrich. None of the players Savard traded away are still with those teams.Savard&rsquo;s most significant swap came at the trade deadline, when he moved enigmatic left winger Dainius Zubrus, declining center Trevor Linden and a previously acquired second round pick to Washington for Richard Zednik, who could be the team&rsquo;s top right winger this year, Jan Bulis, who will attempt to pick up some of the slack created by the loss of Koivu, and Washington&rsquo;s first round pick last June, center Alexander Perezhogin. Besides bringing in skilled young legs, Savard relieved the Habs of paying $7 million to Linden over the next two years.In the off-season, Savard swung a deal to get Joe Juneau from the Coyotes and convinced the veteran center to play for slightly less than he would have in Phoenix. He traded a fourth round pick to Chicago for defenseman Stephane Quintal, who enjoyed his best NHL days with the Habs in the late 1990s. And he obtained useful right winger Andreas Dackell from Ottawa for an eighth-rounder.The GM also signed center Yanic Perreault, a solid second- or third-liner, who, sadly, will likely wind up being miscast as Montreal&rsquo;s No. 1 pivot. He&rsquo;s one of the best in the league on the draw and has a decent scoring touch.&ldquo;A few years ago, Molson (the former majority owner now reduced to 20 percent ownership) let the team go a bit,&rdquo; said defenseman Patrice Brisebois. &ldquo;We lost players like Mark Recchi, Vincent Damphousse and Stephane Quintal because they wouldn&rsquo;t pay these guys. Now it looks like the new owner will spend money on the team. And because of that, (Savard) has been able to make moves that make us deeper.&ldquo;Last year we couldn&rsquo;t score goals. We played some great defense and I think we lost a lot of games by 2-1 or 3-2 because we couldn&rsquo;t score. This year we should have a couple of scoring lines.&rdquo;Not to mention depth in net, where a healthy Jeff Hackett will battle Jose Theodore for the starting job and Mathieu Garon is pushing for work. On the blueline are 10 defensemen with NHL experience. None are a true No. 1, but Brisebois did manage a career-high 15 goals last year. Maybe Savard can spin more of his magic to find one.In the meantime, the key is not to dwell on all that has gone wrong in Montreal, including Koivu&rsquo;s illness. The past few years have been a reality check for the team&rsquo;s fans, who need to accept the fact the Habs are no longer invincible. They need to work for everything they get.That being said, brighter days are ahead. &#9633; &#9632;

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OVERTIME

Habs moving in right direction

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03532/7211878-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alex Tanguay&rsquo;s Avs open In Pittsburgh</figcaption></div>Here&rsquo;s what to look for in the coming weeksFri., Sept. 28 NHL holds waiver draftWed., Oct. 3 Ottawa visits Toronto on NHL&rsquo;s regular season opening nightWed., Oct. 3 Defending champion Colorado opens season in PittsburghFri., Oct. 5 Dallas opens American Airlines Center when it hosts VancouverSat., Nov. 10 New Jersey visits Toronto for Hall of Fame gameMon., Nov. 12 Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in TorontoFri., Dec. 21 Jaromir Jagr makes first visit to Pittsburgh since tradeSat., Dec. 22 Final Olympic rosters must be submitted to IIHFTues., Dec. 25 World Junior Championship begins in the Czech RepublicFor the latest news, visit <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a><h2>Next Issue</h2>October 12, 2001&#9656; Atlanta&rsquo;s Dany Heatley among the newcomers you should know&#9656; Poolie alert: Team-by-term NHL pre-season scoring&#9656; Getthe skinny on NHL affiliates in our Minor Pro preview special &#9632;

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October 5, 2001

Waiting to sign on dotted line

Canada, U.S. make leadership mistakes

Gritty Smyth determined to connect without Weight

ELSTON