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

December 14, 2001

The Hockey News December 14, 2001

<div class="byline">By Denis Gibbons</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011744/7465038-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sami Kapanen</figcaption></div>The heart of Finland&rsquo;s Olympic team was plucked out of its chest five months before the Games opened in Salt Lake City.It remains to be seen if the 1998 bronze medalists can be resuscitated without the services of Montreal captain Saku Koivu, who was diagnosed with abdominal cancer in September and is undergoing chemotherapy treatments.Koivu&rsquo;s Olympic stats speak for themselves-six goals and 17 points in 14 games in the last two tournaments, in Norway (1994) and Japan (1998). Bronze medals both times for a country of five million.The tenacious 5-foot-10,180-pound center has been skating, but the most optimistic forecast is he might be ready for the NHL playoffs in April.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s up to him totally, how he feels, but the chances of his playing are very, very slim,&rdquo; said Finnish coach Hannu Aravirta.The Finns plan to announce their 23-man roster Dec. 13.Koivu was one of Finland&rsquo;s eight early selections last spring. Six of the seven others-forwards Teemu Selanne (San Jose), Sami Kapanen (Carolina) and Jere Lehtinen (Dallas) and defensemen Teppo Numminen (Phoenix), Janne Niinimaa (Edmonton) and Kimmo, Timonen (Nash ville) are key players with their NHL clubs. The surprise nomination was Tampa Bay center Juha Ylonen, who was picked for his stellar defensive play.The leading goalie candidates are NHL backups Miikka Kiprusoff (San Jose) and Jani Hurme (Ottawa) and Pasi Nurminen (Atlanta), a prospect who has been playing with Chicago of the American League after recovering from knee surgery at the end of last seasonAlthough the American League is not shutting down for the Olympics, Aravirta said he expects Nurminen will be made available because he has an NHL contract.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been told that even if a player is playing with the farm team, as long as he&rsquo;s on an NHL contract it should be totally OK,&rdquo; the coach said.Thirty-sevenyear-old cen ter Raimo Helminen, who played briefly with the Rangers and Minnesota North Stars more than a decade ago, is aiming to become the first player to participate in six Olympics. He remains among the Finnish League&rsquo;s top scorers and is a likely pick. Former NHL forwards Juha Lind and Ville. Peltonen and defenseman Petteri Nummelin, all playing in Europe, also will be considered.Aravirta and assistant coach Jari Kurri scouted 20 Finnish players in eight NHL games in November, including Toronto defensemen Aki Berg and Jyrkki Lumme and Vancouver right winger Jarkko Ruutu. Many of the other selections will be based on specific roles.Los Angeles defenseman Jere Karalahti, for example, has one of the hardest slapshots in hockey and is dangerous on the power play. Colorado right winger Ville Nieminen battles like Finnish superpest Esa Tikkanen, while Atlanta right winger Tomi Kallio has a penchant for clutch goals.The Finnish Olympic Committee is offering monetary awards for medals, but the players have indicated they would donate the cash to the Finnish Players&rsquo; Association to distribute to children&rsquo;s organizations.Selanne, Kapanen and Lehtinen could form a solid No. 1 line. But the Finns can&rsquo;t match the depth of Canada, the Czech Republic, Russia, Sweden and the U.S.&ldquo;I believe we have a chance for another medal,&rdquo; Aravirta said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ll have to play at the very top of our game to get it.&rdquo;<h2>Olympic Series</h2>It&rsquo;s Finland&rsquo;s turn in the sixth installment of our weekly examinations of how national teams are shaping up for the 2002 Olympics. Next week we&rsquo;ll feature Slovakia, followed by the seven other preliminary round teams. See pgs. 10-11 for updates on Canada and U.S. Olympic teams. &#9632;

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FEATURES

Upstart Finns lack Koivu, depth

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Bucky Gleason</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011374/7465321-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="221" height="252"></div>Slava Kozlov has had it with riding the pine and hinted he&rsquo;d just as soon not be in Buffalo if he&rsquo;s not on the ice.Kozlov was angry after coach Lindy Ruff made him a scratch Nov. 27 against the Rangers, but the left winger responded with a goal the next night in a 5-2 win over Washington.The time off did little to change his position, although he had not specifically asked management for a trade.&ldquo;I said I&rsquo;m not going to take this any more, if they decide to bench me,&rdquo; Kozlov said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to make a decision between me and Lindy or between me and (GM) Darcy Regier.&rdquo;Kozlov went 15 games with just one point, his lone assist for the season, before he banged in a rebound for his first goal since Oct. 20.He came to Buffalo in the trade that sent Dominik Hasek to Detroit, but has not embraced the Sabres&rsquo; defensive system. Ruff benched him for scrappy winger Eric Boulton.&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re not producing, you&rsquo;d better be bringing something else,&rdquo; Ruff said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;d better be scrapping, you&rsquo;d better be fighting for every inch.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Scoring. The Sabres thought there would be an influx of goals with Kozlov and center Tim Connolly joining the team, but the pair combined for just eight goals in the first quarter.2. Consistent goaltending. Martin Biron has played adequately, but the Sabres still are waiting for him to find his groove. They won&rsquo;t make the playoffs with mediocrity.3. Good health. Buffalo was an inferior team without defensemen Rhett Warrener and Dmitri Kalinin, both of whom missed November.NOTEBOOK The Sabres had a season-high 49 shots against the Rangers, but mustered only two goals. They were more frustrated, though, with allowing a goal in the final 10 seconds in both the second and third periods en route to a 2-2 tie&hellip;Coach Lindy Ruff shook hands with Rangers&rsquo; left winger Theo Fleury after the game. The two had engaged in a war of words after Fleury criticized Buffalo right winger Vaclav Varada&rsquo;s roughhouse style&hellip;The Sabres recalled right winger Ales Kotalik from Rochester to get more size in the lineup. It was the second time this season they have passed on higher-rated prospect wingers Taylor Pyatt and Norm Milley. &#9632;

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NHL TEAM REPORTS

Riding the pine doesn’t suit Kozlov

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01984/7467202-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"></div>&lsquo;How I survived the early years&rsquo;WHO&rsquo;S GOING TO OLYMPICS?WE RANK CANADA, USA HOPEFULSNHL HOLIDAY WISH LISTTHREE GIFT IDEAS FOR EVERY TEAMCurtls Joseph5 Reasons Why MARIAN GABORIK Will Be An NHL Star &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

the CHRIS PRONGER STORY

I&rsquo;ve always been against NHLers participating in the Olympics. The current controversy reflects why, when national honor has to take a back seat to financial considerations. I&rsquo;m talking about the fact that Slovakia and seven other countries won&rsquo;t have access to most of their best players for the preliminary round because it conflicts with the NHL schedule.Should the NHL not reverse its stance, the players from countries involved in the preliminary round should just walk out on the NHL and go to Salt Lake City In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the U.S. has seen an outpouring of national spirit. In this time of heightened national unity, it&rsquo;s appalling to me that the NHL is, in effect, suppressing the patriotism of some of its European players. And without their best players, some countries may be prematurely eliminated.Wake up, NHL! Support the Olympics-let the NHL&rsquo;s affected Olympians head to Utah for the preliminary round.Tom Midney, Bloomfield, Ct.<h2>Players should go to Games</h2>If the NHL is going to wade into the Olympics, it has to be all or nothing. To not release all players shows ignorance and arrogance.Do it right or don&rsquo;t do it at all. It&rsquo;s not fair if one country has all its best players, while another is missing most of its team. Next time, give fans a summer break with a 16-team World Cup. It would truly be the best of the best and the issue of player availability would be void.Tim MacMillan, Port Hawkesbury, N.S.<h2>No question, Joseph is No. 1</h2>Patrick Roy&rsquo;s announcement that he&rsquo;s not going to the Olympics is great for Curtis Joseph, who&rsquo;s now the obvious choice to be Canada&rsquo;s starter.Joseph has played better than Martin Brodeur this season-and Ed Belfour, Sean Burke, Roberto Luongo and every other candidate. And with a star-studded roster in front of him, Joseph will lead Canada to gold!Bick Nugent, Belleville, Ont. &#9632;

DEPARTMENTS

Olympics bigger than NHL

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011811/7464511-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Linesman Jean Morin restrains irate Vancouver goaltender Dan Cloutier during a skirmish in a game against Boston.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Ice Dancing

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021449/7464542-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="297" height="351"><figcaption class="caption-body">Editor&rsquo;s Notebook Jason Kay Managing Editor</figcaption></div>As a self-acknowledged cheapskate, there are plenty of things I hesitate to purchase. Premium gas, bottled water and designer pet foods are among items on my &ldquo;could-be-a-marketing-scam&rdquo; list.Another thing I don&rsquo;t buy is the argument NHL players can&rsquo;t get used to wearing visors. It has been my experience that people can get used to anything.Granted, passing VisorWearing 101 can take perseverance. Anyone who has played the game without one can attest to the freedom you feel with the breeze in your face, to the clarity of vision without a thin piece of plastic covering your eyes.It took Al MacInnis a while before he was comfortable behind a shield. Of course, MacInnis didn&rsquo;t feel he had much choice. He sustained a serious eye injury last January&ndash;even believed to be career-threatening at one point&ndash;and was unable to explain to his two young children why he wasn&rsquo;t wearing a visor. Now, at 38, the old dog has learned a new trick and considers the shield just another piece of his equipment.Calgary&rsquo;s Jarome Iginla, the hottest scorer in the NHL, is also a visor convert following a close call. He took a stick to the eye in April, 2000, and has been wearing a shield ever since. &ldquo;There was a bit of an adjustment, but I think it was more mental than anything,&rdquo; Iginla says. &ldquo;I feel I got lucky once. I&rsquo;m not going to take any more chances.&rdquo; Stars Iginla and MacInnis are living proof successful transitions can be made. They are joined by a host of elite players who have opted to protect their peepers. Of the NHL&rsquo;s top 10 scorers this season, seven wear visors. Four of the top five point-getting defensemen are seeing clearly through plastic, too. And, unofficially, 100 per cent of NHL goalies keep their eyes covered at all times. Judging by the scarcity of goals this season, netminders are seeing pucks better than ever.Goalies notwithstanding, about 28 per cent of the league&rsquo;s population wears visors, an increase over last year&rsquo;s figure of 24. (See pg. 16 for more.)The NHL Players&rsquo; Association maintains its members should have the right to choose whether to protect their eyes. Point accepted. But for those players unwilling to take cover, please don&rsquo;t use the &ldquo;I-can&rsquo;t-get-used-to-it&rdquo; argument. In the big picture, having a little patience may prevent you from becoming one.Last week, I promoted Larry Pleau to GM of the U.S. Olympic team from associate GM. Apologies to Craig Patrick, the man ultimately responsible for committing a roster spot to goalie Mike Dunham too early. &#9632;

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Some don’t see big picture when it comes to visors

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Denis Gibbons</div>When he was 16, Marcel Bonin used to bulk up by lifting homemade dumbbells made from baskets of cement. So he didn&rsquo;t hesitate to accept the challenge when the Barnum & Bailey circus offered $1,000 to anyone who could wrestle&ndash;and pin&ndash;a brown bear.&ldquo;He had no claws and wore a muzzle, but was eight feet tall and was trained to hold on very tight,&rdquo; said Bonin, who lost three bouts to the bruin.A scrappy 5-foot-10,170-pound winger, Bonin won four Stanley Cups-one with Detroit and three with Montreal between 1955 and 1960. He also played with Boston. He scored 97 goals and 272 points in 454 NHL games. In 1958-59, he scored 10 goals and 15 points in 11 playoff games for the Canadiens and likely would have received the Conn Smythe Trophy&ndash;if it had existed before 1965.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011749/7464573-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="246" height="295"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marcel Bonin</figcaption></div>Also a marksman off the ice, Bonin dazzled visitors at Expo &rsquo;67 with a display of pistol-shooting accuracy.Bonin, 69, spent seven years with the police force in Joliette, Que., and another 16 with the Commission Scol-aire as a juvenile court officer. He retired in 1983 after being diagnosed with asthma, but is in good health and lives in Joliette with wife Simone. &#9632;

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Four-time Cup champion Bonin battled brown bear

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011740/7464635-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jon Klemm Chicago Blackhawks</figcaption></div>Rolling the dice on an unrestricted free agent can be a tricky proposition. Are you paying the player for what he has already accomplished or for what he can do to help your team?Obviously the answer is you&rsquo;re paying for what they have accomplished. That said, expectations of free agents are always high.Taking into consideration 200102 salary and the impact they have made on their new team, here are THN&rsquo;s picks for the best five free agent signings (among players who joined new teams). Stats, as of Nov. 29, are games-goals-assists-points for skaters and record-GAA-SP for goalies:1. Jon Klemm, Chicago, $2.5 million (26-2-7-9) Piling up minutes (more than 25 per game) and contributing at both ends. He&rsquo;s not a No. 1 defenseman, but he&rsquo;s closer than you think.2. Tom Barrasso, Carolina, $600,000 (5-6-3, 2.23,.921)Gives Hurricanes a solid 1-2 punch in net with Arturs Irbe.Could play his way onto the American Olympic team.3. Brett Hull, Detroit, $3.5 million (26-9-11-20)Brings rich tradition of scoring big goals to a team already knee-deep in offense. A less political Hull has been a nice fit in Hockeytown.4. Yanlc Per-reault, Montreal, $2.8 million (24-11-8-19)Remains one of best faceoff men in the game and a consistent scoring threat. What were the Leafs thinking when they let him get away?5. Andrew Brunette, Minnesota, $1.2 million (26-818-26) Second-tier scorer is at his best when opposition is shorthanded. &#9632;

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Ranking hired guns

Anybody up for making the nets bigger yet?Don&rsquo;t look now, but the NHL is on pace to set another record for shutouts in a single season. There were 186 whitewashes in 1,230 games last season, the most ever. That&rsquo;s one shutout every 6.61 games-the highest ratio since 1963-64, when it was one in every 5.25 games.This season, with 70 shutouts through the first 377 games-one every 5.39 games-the league was on pace for a whopping 228.How stingy have defenses become?Consider this: Of the 20 teams in action Nov. 29, five were shut out and another four managed to score just one goal apiece.Colorado&rsquo;s Patrick Roy leads the way with five shutouts in 19 games. Nikolai Khabibulin of Tampa Bay and Tommy Salo of Edmonton were next with four each. And Salo&rsquo;s backup, Jussi Markkanen, got a shutout in his NHL debut Nov. 28.The Oilers had four shutouts in November. &#9632;

Shutouts galore

Former Islander Brett Lindros is not the least bit surprised at big brother Eric&rsquo;s production with the Rangers after sitting out last season. &ldquo;I think people forgot how good he is,&rdquo; said the younger Lindros, who hosts the NHL Players&rsquo; Association-produced TV show Be A Player. Eric had 13 goals and 29 points in 27 games to lead the Rangers.&ldquo;Whenever people talked about Eric it was always about all the stuff that was going on off the ice and then they&rsquo;d say,&rsquo;Oh yeah, he&rsquo;s a good player, too.&rsquo;&rdquo; As well as his TV duties, Brett Lindros has immersed himself in the world of finance-and said he loves it-since retiring in 1996 because of concussion problems.BORN TO PLAY NET Scott Myers, goalie for the New Mexico Scorpions of the Central League, was bom in Stonewall, Man&hellip;.Dear Santa: Would you please tell the publishers of the NHL&rsquo;s Official Guide & Record Book to include save percentage in the goaltending register? It&rsquo;s the most telling stat for netminders&hellip;Number of deals made by Phoenix GM Michael Barnett since taking the job Aug. 28: Zero&hellip;We like Jeff O&rsquo;Neill, but we don&rsquo;t like his stance on no game-day interviews. &ldquo;Five years ago when I had three goals, nobody cared,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Neill muttered Nov. 27-a game day-in Toronto. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the same guy, though.&rdquo; Hmmm, we wonder&hellip;How important are faceoffs? Consider: Detroit, the Islanders and Calgary ranked 1-2-3 in faceoffs and were first, third and fifth in the NHL&rsquo;s overall standings.<h2>Olympic Watch</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021233/7464690-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="592" height="1459"></div> &#9632;

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THN ONE-TIMERS

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011939/7464721-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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Little time for No. 1 lines

<h2>Best of the Hockey World</h2>+ BACKUP POWER Edmonton understudy Jussi Markkanen makes 27 saves in his NHL debut to record a shutout in a 2-0 win over Anaheim.+ THAT&rsquo;S THE (OLYMPIC) SPIRIT New Jersey&rsquo;s Martin Brodeur says he&rsquo;ll represent Canada regardless of whether he&rsquo;s the starter, No. 2 or No. 3 goalie.+ TEEMU&rsquo;S HOT San Jose&rsquo;s Teemu Selanne scores once in a 5-0 win over Pittsburgh, giving him six goals in a seven-game span.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021306/7464759-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="370" height="621"><figcaption class="caption-body">Teemu Selanne</figcaption></div><h2>Worst of the Hockey World</h2>- TENDER TIMES During a six-game winless streak, Calgary goalies Roman Turek and Mike Vernon combine for a.824 save percentage.- HAWKS COOL OFF The Chicago Blackhawks remain unbeatable at home (9-0-3-0), but struggle after a great start going winless in seven games (0-3-4-0).- LET HIM GO Avs&rsquo; GM Pierre Lacroix won&rsquo;t release backup goalie David Aebischer for the Olympics&rsquo; preliminary round. But isn&rsquo;t he better off playing than sitting?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03768/7464752-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="368" height="625"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Vernon</figcaption></div>For Mike Brophy&rsquo;s daily Cheers & Jeers visit <a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a> &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011762/7464814-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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Elston

Hats off to Daniel Briere, who&rsquo;s leading Phoenix in goals after spending four years in the minors. The team&rsquo;s old management felt he couldn&rsquo;t play on a top line in the NHL, but he has been a clutch Coyote this season.Jeff Stanley, PhoenixI&rsquo;ve been checking THN&rsquo;s &ldquo;Olympic Update&rdquo; each issue, but still haven&rsquo;t noticed Mike York&rsquo;s name on Team USA. He&rsquo;s playing with two world-class skaters-Eric Lindros and Theo Fleury-but York&rsquo;s contribution is vital.Phil Luogameno, West Milford, N.J.The most significant &ldquo;impact goalie&rdquo; in the NHL is Edmonton&rsquo;s Tommy Salo. He&rsquo;s unbelievable and is the best player on the Oilers&rsquo; team. Give him his due!Travis Bradley, CalgaryI can&rsquo;t understand why fans and media don&rsquo;t take the Hurricanes seriously. This is a club that believes in itself and does a good job at developing young talent. I think they&rsquo;re gearing up for a run at the Stanley Cup.Danny Alexander, Denton, N.C.I&rsquo;m not sure who&rsquo;s more desperate for Peter Forsberg to return-Colorado or Sweden. The Avs can&rsquo;t score-and certainly won&rsquo;t defend the Cup-without him, while Sweden doesn&rsquo;t have a shot at a medal without him.Phil Gossage, Denver<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;

Forgotten desert dog has nose for net

Memo to Theo Fleury: You&rsquo;ve had a stellar career so far. You are one of several Rangers surpassing expectations during a comeback season after dealing with on-ice/off-ice turmoil. And you&rsquo;re an inspiration, showing that it&rsquo;s not the size of the player, it&rsquo;s the size of the heart.My point is, you&rsquo;re too talented to resort to the juvenile &ldquo;chicken dance&rdquo; behavior that you pulled against the Islanders. The game was all but over. Your taunting was unacceptable and I&rsquo;m surprised and disappointed by your behavior. You&rsquo;re enjoying a great season. Don&rsquo;t tarnish it.C.J. Ramirez, Scarborough, Ont.<h2>Stars steal Rucinsky</h2>What a dumb trade! Montreal sends Martin Rucinsky and Benoit Brunet to Dallas for Donald Audette and Shaun Van Allen?It&rsquo;s not bad for Dallas, like most people say, but for the Habs! While Audette is flashy and can score, Rucinsky is dependable and solid on offense and defense. And Brunet would&rsquo;ve done anything to stay in Montreal.Jeff Wiebe, La Crete, Alta.<h2>Amonte wrong about Keenan</h2>Ranger fans should be offended by Tony Amonte&rsquo;s comments about Mike Keenan. (THN, Nov. 23)I understand Amonte&rsquo;s support of Chicago coach Brian Sutter, but his statements were ludicrous: &ldquo;Mike Keenan couldn&rsquo;t hold (Sutter&rsquo;s) jock strap.&rdquo; Is Amonte kidding? He hasn&rsquo;t even been to the Stanley up final, while Keenan is a proven winner.Terry Plunkett, Holtsville, N. Y.<h2>Need role model? Try Turek</h2>It&rsquo;s refreshing to see a pro athlete who isn&rsquo;t ruled by money.Flames&rsquo; goalie Roman Turek recently agreed to a four-year, $19-million deal with Calgary Turek said the city had a major influence in his signing a long-term pact a year before he could&rsquo;ve become an unrestricted free agent-simply, his family really likes it here. He could earn more in another city, but chose more important things than money: his and his family&rsquo;s happiness.Grant Buchanan, Calgary<h2>GOT something to say?</h2>MAIL: U.S.A.: Letters, THN, EO. BOX 904, Buffalo, N.Y, 14240-9947.Canada: Letters, THN, 25 Sheppard Ave. W, Suite 100, Toronto, Ont., M2N 6S7E-MAIL:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:mccaigs@transcontinental.ca">mccaigs@transcontinental.ca</a> or visit <a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a>. Include name, hometown, province/state and phone number. Submissions will be edited. &#9632;

Hockey, dancing don’t mix

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011831/7464900-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Jones ColumnistArtist at work&nbsp;Marian Gaborik has his own artwork on display in his family&rsquo;s home in Slovakia, but it&rsquo;s his flair with a hockey stick that has Minnesota teammates and Wild fans looking on in awe.</figcaption></div>It happens slowly at first. You straighten up and inch a little closer to the edge of your seat. Your eyes widen. A buzz begins around you. It&rsquo;s soft at first, then louder. And then louder still. You know you&rsquo;re about to see something special. You feel it. You expect it.This is what a 19-year-old Slovakian right winger has been doing to nearly 19,000 people every time there&rsquo;s a game at Minnesota&rsquo;s Xcel Energy Center. Every time a puck drifts toward his stick, a charge jolts the building. Just the way it does when Jaromir Jagr gets the puck. Or Pavel Bure.Before the eyes of Minnesota hockey fans, a new north star is being born.We figured he would be good. After all, he was the third pick in the 2000 draft. But did anyone expect the Wild&rsquo;s Marian Gaborik to be this good, this soon?Nearly a third of the way through his sophomore season, Gaborik is averaging better than a point a game. With 13 goals and 27 points in 25 games-he missed the season-opener-he could challenge for 40 goals and 90 points.Just a year ago he was called the franchise&rsquo;s future. Today, he is Minnesota&rsquo;s franchise player. And his transformation from shy, unknown teenager to dominant NHL player has been nothing short of amazing.No one really knew what to expect of the Wild last season. Gaborik arrived in town not knowing what was waiting for him with his new team and country. After all, there&rsquo;s no Mall of Slovakia where he comes from.&ldquo;Last year was hard at times,&rdquo; Gaborik said. &ldquo;Just getting used to everything was hard-the language, the food, living on my own. My parents came over for a month or so and my mom cooked for me. She cooked food from Slovakia. That was nice. But I was on my own, too. And that wasn&rsquo;t easy.&rdquo; His English was fair. He understood things and, despite an accent thicker than pudding, he could get his point across in conversation.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t take any lessons or anything, but I learned more and more because I was using the language all the time and I was around people who spoke English all the time,&rdquo; Gaborik said.Movies helped, too.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a movie fanatic,&rdquo; said his agent, Alan Walsh.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen somebody who watches as many movies.&rdquo;Now it&rsquo;s Gaborik who is a star on film, a regular lead character on the local sports shows with his jaw-dropping moves.After pacing the Wild with 18 goals as a rookie, Gaborik started this season recovering from off-season hernia surgery. He missed Minnesota&rsquo;s first game, then tried to make up for six weeks on the sidelines-on every shift. But he didn&rsquo;t score a goal in his first three games. Then there was a five-game goal-less drought in early November.&ldquo;I was trying to do too much,&rdquo; Gaborik said.&ldquo;But then I just tried to settle down and work with my linemates. I knew if I gave the puck up, it eventually would come back to me.&rdquo;Using his new philosophy, Gaborik is on a tear that might not let up for, oh, the next 10 years. The smoothskating dynamo has the tools-speed, stick handling and soft hands-as well as a determined mindset.But does he have the staying power, the ability to make an impact every night? We think so. Here are five reasons, besides his dazzling skills, why Gaborik will be an bona fide NHL star:&#9633; Determination. Despite having the world (and puck) on a string, Gaborik usually is one of the first Wild players on the ice for practice and often the last player off. His off ice workouts amaze even long-time veterans.&ldquo;He wants to be the best,&rdquo; said linemate Jim Dowd. &ldquo;He has such confidence. Not a cockiness, but confidence. He believes in himself, he believes he can be the best. And when he&rsquo;s on the ice, that just comes through. He gets the puck and expects something great to happen.&rdquo;<h2>Top-scoring teens</h2>Marian Gaborik is on pace to join Dale Hawerchuk as the only player to twice lead his team in scoring as a teenager. Here are other NHLers who have led their team in offense while playing part of the season as a teen. Age is as of start of the season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011723/7464893-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="612" height="598"></div>&#9633; Maturity. Gaborik is aware of the pitfalls of being a teenage millionaire and isn&rsquo;t about to do anything silly to detour his goals.It&rsquo;s all due to his solid upbringing. Gaborik grew up playing hockey, but spent just as much time creating art-oil paintings, sculptures, circle drawings-that are now on display in his parents&rsquo; home. He also helped in the family furniture-making business. Gaborik&rsquo;s father, Pavol, still makes pieces by hand and sells them out of a little shop.&ldquo;His parents are the most decent, hardest-working people you would ever want to meet,&rdquo; Walsh said. &ldquo;If you meet them, you can see why Marian is the way he is. He&rsquo;s a man now. He&rsquo;s 19 going on 30.&rdquo;&#9633; Patience. The Wild, following coach Jacques Lemaire&rsquo;s lead, isn&rsquo;t about to rush Gaborik. There is no pressure or expectation from within the organization that Gaborik must produce at a sniper&rsquo;s pace.&ldquo;I would never say that Marian should score a certain amount of goals,&rdquo; Lemaire said. &ldquo;I just want Marian to go out and play his game. Because I know if he plays his game, with his talent, he will score goals. But I don&rsquo;t want to pressure him. His time will come.&rdquo;&#9633; Size & Toughness. Gaborik is 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds and plays at least that big. He doesn&rsquo;t wilt when play gets chippy.Teammates say his best performances have come after he has been smoked by a bodycheck early in the game.&#9633; Coachability. Under Lemaire, Gaborik continues to improve as a scorer and playmaker and is learning to play defense, too.While he&rsquo;ll always be known as an offensive player, Gaborik has become a responsible two-way player.Best of all, he absorbs everything Lemaire says. &ldquo;I just want to go out and keep working hard and if the team&rsquo;s winning, then I&rsquo;m happy,&rdquo; Gaborik said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t let myself start thinking about what it (all means). It&rsquo;s great, for sure, if people think of me as a (star), but I really don&rsquo;t try to think about that.&ldquo;I just want to keep getting better and better.&rdquo;<div class="sidebar">&lsquo;(Gaborik) gets the puck and expects something great&rsquo; &#9632;</div>

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COLUMN

Gaborik magic show wows ’em

<div class="byline">by CHRIS PRONGER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011800/7464945-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div>Chris Pronger is one of the best players in the world, a Hart and Norris Trophy winner in 2000. In a special to The Hockey News, the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; defenseman recalls his NHL apprenticeship as a teenager with the Hartford Whalers.I don&rsquo;t know if there is such a thing as being destined to play in the National Hockey League. I do know, however, when I joined the Hartford Whalers in 1993 at age 18,I felt right at home.Obviously, I was a little nervous. Who wouldn&rsquo;t be walking into a dressing room and seeing veteran NHLers such as Pat Verbeek, Brian Propp and Brad McCrimmon? I knew there was going to be some heat on me to make my mark early for a couple of reasons.For starters, the Whalers made a draft-day deal with San Jose to move up from sixth overall to second to pick me. (The Hockey News even suggested I should have gone No. 1, an honor that went to Alexandre Daigle.) Also, the Whalers were coming off a non-playoff season and had lost out in the first round the previous six years. I think the coaches and my teammates had a good perspective about what I was going to be able to accomplish at 18, but the owner and the fans didn&rsquo;t. They thought I&rsquo;d be able to turn the team around on my own.I knew it was going to be very difficult, at my age, to make a big impact. Think about it, even Mario Lemieux didn&rsquo;t carry the Pittsburgh Penguins to the playoffs as a teenager.That said, I was excited about the challenge that lied ahead. I was coming off two successful years in junior with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario League, having made it to the Memorial Cup final in my second year. I also played in the 1993 World Junior Championship, helping Canada win a gold medal in Sweden and I was named the top defenseman in Canadian major junior.At that point. I really felt the best way for me to continue to develop into the best player I could be was to move up and compete against the best players in the world. I didn&rsquo;t feel a third year in junior would benefit me in that respect.The NHL draft, in Quebec, was special, but it was as much a relief as it was a thrill for me. I knew I wasn&rsquo;t going to be picked No. 1. I think I had one very short meeting with the Ottawa Senators and it was obvious they were going to pick Daigle.Ottawa was kind of painted into a corner being a bilingual city with Daigle, a francophone, being available. I also knew I wasn&rsquo;t going second to San Jose. They told me they were set along the blueline and didn&rsquo;t have any use for me.At the draft, Hartford GM Brian Burke (now with Vancouver) came up to me and my agent, Pat Morris, and said,&rdquo;We&rsquo;re going to draft you. Will you come?&rdquo; I think teams were feeling a little gun-shy after Eric Lindros refused to play for Quebec. I said,&rdquo;Sure.&rdquo;Even after that conversation, I wasn&rsquo;t sure, when I&rsquo;d get picked. You never know what&rsquo;s going to happen at the draft. I&rsquo;ve heard of teams putting a player&rsquo;s name on the back of a jersey, walking up to the podium and then changing their mind at the last second and picking somebody else. When my name was called, it was great. It was great for my friends and my family as well. It was also great to have it over with, but I knew that was just the beginning.It was a thrill to be picked second overall in a draft many consider one of the deepest of alltime. Look at the players who went high that year Chris Gratton (third), Paul Kariya (fourth), Rob Niedermayer (fifth), Viktor Kozlov (sixth), Jason Arnott (seventh), Adam Deadmarsh (14th) and Jason Allison (17th). Even the second round produced players such as Jamie Langenbrunner (35th), Brendan Morrison (39th) and Bryan McCabe (40th). The list goes on and on.<blockquote class="pullQuote">If somebody saw me drinking at a party on a Friday night and assumed that was how I lived every day of my life, they were wrong. Did those people see me training during the week?</blockquote><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011620/7464938-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="1988" height="2054"><figcaption class="caption-body">Then & Now&nbsp;Chris Pronger was just a 19-year-old kid when he joined the Whalers in 1993. There were good times and bad during Pronger&rsquo;s two seasons in Hartford, but he steadily improved and eventually emerged as a star in St. Louis.</figcaption></div>I didn&rsquo;t know much about the Whalers. They weren&rsquo;t a team that got on TV very often. I did, however, get a chance to see them play once because the NHL brought some of the top prospects to Quebec for a game and it just so happened it was against Hartford. When training camp began, I soon learned I was in a whole new situation. I think it really helped that I had moved to Hartford in July to train.I was lucky my first NHL season for a couple of reasons. For starters, the Whalers put me up with a family in Hartford. I moved away from my home town of Dryden, Ont., at age 15 to play Jr. B in Stratford, where I lived with a family I did the same thing for two years in Peterborough. I think it helps to have a little structure in your life when you turn pro at such a young age.Also, I roomed with McCrimmon on the road. Brad was a big help to me. I think one of the main reasons the Whalers got him was to help make my transition a tle easier. Brad sort of took me under his wing and watched out for me. I don&rsquo;t remember every little thing he told me, but I do know he suggested I just go out and play the game the way I have always played it. He said that&rsquo;s what was expected of me.Was there pressure on me my first year? Of course there was. But I didn&rsquo;t look at it like I was going to come in and be a savior. Rarely can you step into a new situation where a team has struggled and turn it around on your own. You need to assemble a supporting cast. I knew that. At 18 you&rsquo;re not going to dominate. You&rsquo;re going to make mistakes; the key is to learn from your mistakes. I knew I was the last line of defense. If you&rsquo;re a forward and you lose the puck in the neutral zone it might lead to a 2-on-1. You lose the puck as a defenseman and it might give the other team a breakaway.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021149/7464931-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="832" height="1166"></div>I felt pretty good for the most part my first year. I played well at times and poorly at times. Your confidence comes and goes, but I felt I was able to play my game most of the time. Brad taught me to keep things simple and make sure of the first pass coming out of our zone. He said everything revolves around the first pass-it&rsquo;s a chain reaction. You give a guy a good pass and he&rsquo;s able to give another guy a good pass. You screw up on the first pass and the next guy will probably screw up, too.I think I was able to put things in perspective in terms of what I expected from myself my first year. I looked at it as a start (to my career), not an end. I knew there was lots to learn, lots to experience. Of course, even now, I&rsquo;m never satisfied. I had 30 points. Could I have got more? Sure. I probably could have had 40 to 45 if all had gone well. But I wasn&rsquo;t about to dwell on it.Off the ice, a couple of incidents my first two years in Hartford got attention. The first was a driving-under-the-influence charge and the other was a ruckus at a bar in Buffalo that was blown out of proportion. Both were mistakes that many people make, but one can only learn from the mistakes they make. Those that learn from their mistakes are better people and better players.I think there were a lot of false rumors about how I was conducting myself away from the rink my first few years. The reality is, it was Hartford. How much could I really do in Hartford? Summertime was when I tended to conduct myself inappropriately. I actually drank more as I got older and after I was traded to St. Louis. And more in the offseason. Was it ever out of control? Maybe. If somebody saw me drinking at a party on a Friday night and assumed that was how I lived every day of my life, they were wrong. Did those people see me training during the week?Ultimately, I realized if I was going to reach my potential as a player, I needed to be smarter about fitness and training. Maybe some guys can drink all the time and still play. Not me. Eventually it catches up with you. It might be when you&rsquo;re 32&hellip;or 34&hellip;or 62. The way I saw it, for me to peak as a player, I couldn&rsquo;t do that.When I look back on my early years in the NHL, I think I got off to a good start. But I don&rsquo;t commit every detail to memory. The reason is, I look at my career as a journey. I won the Hart and Norris Trophies in 2000 and I don&rsquo;t remember every detail about that season, either.I consider myself a perfectionist. As such, I&rsquo;m never satisfied. Maybe if I win the Stanley Cup that will change. Or maybe when I&rsquo;m older, I&rsquo;ll look back and be able to put things in perspective. For now, though, all I care about is getting better and winning the Cup.The journey continues. &#9632;

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COVER STORY

Making it BIG

<div class="byline">By Kevin Allen</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011751/7464976-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Richter</figcaption></div>Mike Richter&rsquo;s knee rehabilitation seemed to pain U.S. Olympic coach Herb Brooks as much as it hurt the goalie at the orientation camp in Colorado Springs last September.Brooks seemed genuinely disappointed almost apologetic-that Richter wouldn&rsquo;t be officially named to the U.S. team because no one could be sure he would fully recover from his second knee surgery in two years.History shows Brooks can be a cold hearted leader, and he&rsquo;s a coach who likes to have multiple options, but sentimentality leaked out in Colorado Springs when he all but said Richter would be on the team if he looked good in the fall.As it has turned out, Richter, 35, didn&rsquo;t need the help of sentimentality. He has rebounded so convincingly that it would be impossible to deny him an Olympic roster spot. His sharpness makes it seem as if he has replaced Nashville Predators&rsquo; Mike Dunham as the favorite to be USA&rsquo;s No. 1 netminder.&ldquo;Richter is the guy we have that has the experience, and everyone was hoping that he would get his game going,&rdquo; said U.S. associate GM Larry Pleau. &ldquo;And it&rsquo;s obvious that he has.&rdquo;Dunham was clearly America&rsquo;s top netminder last season and deserved his place on the team, but Richter has an advantage over Dunham. The key players on the U.S. squad-Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios, Mike Modano, Keith Tkachuk, Brett Hull, John LeClair, Tony Amonte and Gary Suter-are Richter&rsquo;s peer group. Those are his guys. Remember Richter was outstanding to help USA win the World Cup in 1996.Many of the 2002 Olympians were on that 1996 squad with him.&ldquo;When Richter has the side to side going and he can split those legs, you know he is going,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;And he looks like he&rsquo;s at the top of his game right now.&rdquo;With Richter taking command of his fate, the real U.S. goaltending battle is for the No. 3 spot, with the Carolina Hurricanes&rsquo; Tom Barrasso and the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; Brian Boucher barging into the picture with strong starts. Neither was invited to the-Olympic orientation camp, yet both are in the mix with the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; Brent Johnson. &ldquo;Barrasso was probably an option that no one thought about before,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;All of the sudden he&rsquo;s very confident. He&rsquo;s up on the puck. He&rsquo;s up on the second shot, too. It makes for a nice competitive situation for us.&rdquo;Boucher is expected back soon from a hamstring problem. Before getting hurt in midNovember, he was among the NHL&rsquo;s hottest goalies. This season has been redemption of sorts for Boucher, who had a great rookie season in 1999-00 and then lost his starting job last season to Roman Cechmanek.&ldquo;What he went through over the past two seasons, both the good and the bad, has taught him a lot,&rdquo; said his agent Tom Laidlaw. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s gotten mentally stronger. His mental toughness and confidence is higher than it&rsquo;s ever been, even when he was in the semifinal two years ago.&rdquo;Barrasso, 36, didn&rsquo;t play last season and was signed to give over-worked Arturs Irbe a reliever, but the Hurricanes believe they now have two No. 1 goalies.&ldquo;You wondered how the layoff would have affected him,&rdquo; said Carolina GM Jim Rutherford. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s turned out to be a positive rather than a negative, because he had the opportunity to rest his body and rest mentality. He is fresh and eager.&rdquo;It isn&rsquo;t just in goal where the U.S. will probably select players who weren&rsquo;t invited to orientation camp. Mark Parrish, Mike York and Craig Conroy are prime contenders, and none were in Colorado Springs.&ldquo;Everyone was sent a letter telling them that they were still in our pool,&rdquo; said USA Hockey&rsquo;s Art Berglund. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve widened 010-pool. But if you look there are going to be some very good players who aren&rsquo;t going to be picked.&rdquo;<h2>ROSTER COUNTDOWN</h2>Competition for the final Olympic roster spots has reached the hot and heavy stage. Canada is expected to name its 23-man team Dec. 15 and the U.S. Dec. 21. The large numbers in the tables below indicate how many spots are left at each position. Statistics are as of Nov. 29. &#9632;

f0012-01

Expect Richter to be No. 1

<div class="byline">By Scott Burnside</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011620/7465007-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mario Lemieux</figcaption></div>Armed with the hard lessons learned through the crushing loss in Nagano, Canada&rsquo;s Olympic braintrust hoped to sail into Salt Lake City under a full head of steam.Yet with the deadline to name a final ros ter a few short weeks away, the good ship Canada was listing more than a little, beset by injury and controversy that no amount of foresight could have prevented.&ldquo;We still have some questions, clearly,&rdquo; acknowledged head coach Pat Quinn as November drew to a close.Chief among those questions was one that seemed to have been answered succinctly last June when Patrick Roy won his fourth Stanley Cup and third Conn Smythe Trophy-the state of Canada&rsquo;s goaltending.But a month before the Dec. 22 deadline for teams to name their Olympic rosters, Roy shocked Canadian Olympic officials when he announced he would not play in Salt Lake City.While the media debated the real reason behind Roy&rsquo;s decision (ego, injury, impending retirement, all of the above), Wayne Gretzky and company scrambled to re-think their netminding position.Canadian Hockey Association president Bob Nicholson said the team will stay with the original plan to name a No. 1 and No. 2 goaltender with both netminders playing in the preliminary round.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why we didn&rsquo;t name a goaltender to start, because for that critical position we wanted to wait and see if we catch the hot guy,&rdquo; Quinn said.The Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; coach has said throughout the process he hopes to have a smart, fast team able to employ an attacking transition game.But as it did prior to the Nagano Olympics in 1998, the spectre of injury is playing havoc with the selection process.&ldquo;It happened to the last team that went to Japan. On the way over they were still trying to make the decisions about who should be added and who shouldn&rsquo;t be,&rdquo; Quinn said.While Canada lost Paul Kariya before the Nagano games and Joe Sakic before the elimination round, the Salt Lake City team is facing the prospect of playing without their captain and one of the great-est players of all-time, Mario Lemieux.After stunning the hockey world with 76 points in 43 games following his dramatic return to hockey last December, Lemieux has been hobbled by injury most of this season. By late November Lemieux had scored only once in 11 games and no timeline was being given for his return to action from a nagging hip injuryInjury has also struck down a significant component of what was expected to be a strong youth movement when red-hot Ryan Smyth of the Edmonton Oilers (23 points in 21 games) broke his ankle. His return for the start of the Olympic tournament is in question.And then there are those among the original eight named to the Canadian team last spring whose current play is below expectations. Owen Nolan, Scott Niedermayer and Rob Blake have all struggled statistically in the first quarter of the season.&ldquo;When they decided for public relations, I suppose, to fix a number that would get named, it kind of puts a little bit of a cramp in it. You&rsquo;d rather wait and name all of them at one time,&rdquo; Quinn said.All is not doom and gloom, though, for a Canadian squad that boasts the greatest depth of any country competing. There are a handful of Canadians whose play has seen them move from the outer edge to front and center in the minds of the selection committee.&ldquo;Jarome Iginla wasn&rsquo;t even planned to be there (at September&rsquo;s mini-camp) and all of a sudden he&rsquo;s the hottest guy in the bunch,&rdquo; Quinn said.Still, Quinn insisted the scoresheet isn&rsquo;t the only evaluation tool to be employed in naming the 23 men who will carry Canada&rsquo;s hockey dreams.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not always just the best statistically,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They also have to fit into what we think we need.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0013-01

Canada must rely on depth

<h2>36 invited to Canada&rsquo;s final camp</h2>Nine players invited to the final tryout for Canada&rsquo;s national junior team are returning from last year&rsquo;s bronze medal unit.A list of 36 invitees was announced by the Canadian Hockey Association Nov. 29. From that group, 34 play major junior in the Canadian Hockey League. The final selection camp is Dec. 10-17 in North York, Ont.The nine returnees are Jay Bouwmeester, Brad Boyes, Mike Cammalleri, Dan Hamhuis, Jay Harrison, Steve Ott, Mark Popovic, Jason Spezza and Jarret Stoll.A roster of 22 players will represent Canada at the 2002 World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic, Dec. 25 to Jan. 4. (See pg. 40 for invitation list.)Of the 34 major junior players, 13 are from the Western League, 12 from the Ontario League and nine from the Quebec League.The other two invitees are from the U.S. college ranks.Stan Butler of the OHL&rsquo;s Brampton Battalion is coach.<h2>NHL thinks links</h2>The NHL is talking with officials from the Senior PGA Tour about a joint golf venture next year. According to reports, discussion is in the early stages, but the event would be similar to the PGA arrangement with the NFL in that players compete against each other in a four-day tournament. There are many accomplished golfers in the NHL and the Senior PGA Tour&rsquo;s money leader is Allen Doyle, a former college hockey player at Norwich University.<h2>More concussions? No, we know more</h2>The sudden increase-and subsequent plateau-of concussions in the NHL since 1997 is likely due to heightened awareness and more vigilant reporting rather than an increase in incidence, according to a Toronto neurologist. Dr. Richard Wennberg, who reviewed 15 seasons of NHL injury reports (1986-87 through 2000-01) as published in The Hockey News, concluded that factors such as bigger and faster players, harder equipment and less forgiving boards and glass did not cause the sharp rise in NHL concussions seen in the last five seasons. Those factors were slowly introduced to the NHL and should&rsquo;ve led to a gradual increase in concussions, he said, not a sudden jump. From 1986-87 through 1995-96, the number of concussions per 1,000 NHL games ranged from four to eight. Then, it increased to 13,20,30,27 and 30 from 1996-97 through 2000-01. The rise in number coincides with a 1997 article in a medical journal detailing concussion symptoms. &#9632;

INSIDE HOCKEY

Herb Brooks, Larry Pleau and the 1960 U.S. Olympic team are the recipients of the Lester Patrick Award for outstanding service to hockey in the U.S.The award honors the memory of Lester Patrick, who spent 50 years in hockey as a player, coach, GM, owner and NHL governor. The 2002 winners will be honored at a Jan. 15 luncheon in St. Paul, Minn.The 1960 U.S. team, coached by Jack Riley, won America&rsquo;s first Olympic gold medal in hockey by upsetting the favored Canadian and Czechoslovakian teams at Squaw Valley, Calif. After surprising Canada in the semifinal, the USA overcame a 4-3 deficit with six third period goals against Czechoslovakia to claim a 9-4 gold medal victory.Brooks is best known as the coach of the 1980 &ldquo;Miracle on Ice&rdquo; team that upset the Soviet Union at Lake Placid, N.Y. He also played for the 1964 and 1968 Olympic teams and competed for U.S. national teams five times.He&rsquo;s coach of the 2002 U.S. team for the Salt Lake City Olympics.Pleau, 54, is in his fifth season as GM of the Blues. Under Pleau, the Blues advanced to the playoffs in each of the past five seasons, won the Presidents&rsquo; Trophy in 1999-2000 and last season advanced to the Western Conference final. He&rsquo;s also the associate GM for Team USA in Salt Lake. &#9632;

1960 team, Pleau, Brooks recognized

<div class="byline">By Brett Prettyman</div>When Tara Mounsey tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during a college game in March of 2000, the best defender in the U.S. women&rsquo;s program took it all in stride.She knew the rehab program because she had gone through it for her other knee and there was plenty of time before the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.Three knee surgeries and 20 months later, Mounsey can see the biggest tournament of her career looming and she is starting to feel the pressure.&ldquo;The Olympics are making me anxious,&rdquo; she said earlier this season. &ldquo;Before, I told myself, &lsquo;Take your time and get better, don&rsquo;t rush it.&rsquo; (But) I have to do something between now and (the final cut) to prove I belong on the team.&rdquo;To hear Mounsey worry about making the final cut is akin to hearing Rob Blake fret about his status among the game&rsquo;s best. But injuries have a way of deflating a player&rsquo;s confidence.Mounsey was in the lineup Nov. 27 when Team USA beat Canada&rsquo;s national women&rsquo;s team 5-2 in Kanata, Ont. It was the first of three games between the two powerhouses in the TSN Challenge. Mounsey took the next night off in Montreal as the Americans won again, 4-3, but was expected back in the lineup for the finale Nov. 30 in Hamilton.Team USA improved to 14-0-0 this season, including 4-0-0 against arch-rival Canada.The Americans carried 25 players through October and November and will pare their roster to a final 20 in midDecember.Having extra bodies on the roster has given Mounsey an opportunity to ease her way back into the lineup. She has battled tendinitis in her knee from the rehab, but has made excellent progress since October.When at the top of her game, Mounsey is a dominating force and among the top few players in the women&rsquo;s game. She&rsquo;s a natural leader and a physical, aggressive, intelligent defender. The Brown University student makes few mistakes and knows when to take risks.Her teammates say her attitude and desire to win are something they missed during her absence.Mounsey knows it&rsquo;s time to show she&rsquo;s still among the elite and can be the guiding force she was in helping Team USA claim the first gold medal ever offered in women&rsquo;s hockey at the 1998 Olympics.Mounsey has the support of U.S. coach Ben Smith.&ldquo;Players have the opportunity to establish an account with me,&rdquo; he said during tryouts last August. &ldquo;You have credits and debits. Tara Mounsey has got a pretty good account with me and all the players.&rdquo;While Smith&rsquo;s words are comforting to the 23-year-old from Concord, N.H., they also have a way of placing even more pressure on perhaps the best defenseman in the women&rsquo;s game.&ldquo;The way he believes in me as a player is a great feeling, but a little bit stressful,&rdquo; Mounsey said.&ldquo;I have to perform up to his expectations. A lot rides on my shoulders because I have to back up his words.&rdquo;<h2>Hey, Mom! I&rsquo;m in the NHL</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011603/7465117-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="148" height="162"></div>Weekly report of players making their NHL debuts.J-F Damphousse, 22, NJ, Nov. 23 vs. TB.First round pick from 1997 made 20 saves in a 2-0 loss as Martin Brodeur got his first night off. Patrick DesRochers, 22, Pho, Nov. 23 vs. Min. First goalie picked in 1998 draft (14th overall) was struggling in Springfield before recall.Mike Farrell, 23, Wsh, Nov. 23 vs. NYR.He played mostly defense in college, but is more suited to be physical, checking fourth line winger. Blake Beliefeuille, 23, Clb, Nov. 27 vs. Pho. Boston College grad (pronounced BELL-fay) was anjnjury recall and centered checking line.Mike Weaver, 23, Atl, Nov. 27 vs. Mtl.Michigan State grad stands 5-foot-9, but moves the puck well and is an aggressive defenseman. Jussi Markkanen, 26, Edm, Nov. 28 vs. Ana. Nine-year Finnish League veteran from Saipa Lappeenranta posted 2-0 shutout in NHL debut. &#9632;</div>

f0015-01

Mounsey rounds into form

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021183/7465183-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="274" height="368"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cliff Ronning</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011532/7465190-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="220" height="220"></div>NHL visor use is trending up-a welcome sight for too many sore eyes. A survey by The Hockey News has found 182 players on NHL rosters through Nov. 30 are wearing visors this season-about 28 per cent of all non-goalies. Last year the number was 24 per cent; in 1999-2000 it was 21 per cent. Colorado and Montreal each have a league-high 10 players wearing facial protection. Below is the number of visored players on each team in 19992000 and 2001-02.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03890/7465176-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="274" height="368"><figcaption class="caption-body">Miroslav Satan</figcaption></div>Team-by-Team Visor Count<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04667/7465169-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="590" height="1331"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05480/7465162-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="272" height="360"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ziggy Palffy</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06404/7465155-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="270" height="362"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brendan Morrison</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07366/7465148-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="1193" height="1353"><figcaption class="caption-body">Islander center Alexei Yashin is one of 182 NHLers wearing visors this season. San Jose&rsquo;s Mike Ricci is with the majority who do not.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0016-02

TEAM THEME

More NHL players seeing the light

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08325/7465221-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="218" height="250"></div>Bryan Murray of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim never dreamed back in 1982 that he would ever coach 1,000 NHL games, but he became just the eighth man in league history to reach that milestone Nov. 28, in a 2-0 loss to against Edmonton.Murray, 58, joined Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour, Dick Irvin, Billy Reay, Mike Keenan, Pat Quinn and Jacques Demers as coaches who have worked 1,000 games.Murray won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year with the Capitals in 1983-84, then doubled as coach and GM in Detroit from 1990-93. He also served as Florida&rsquo;s GM for six seasons before being fired last year.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been able to work in the National Hockey League for quite a number of years,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been very fortunate in that respect. I&rsquo;ve dealt with a lot of great players over the years and I&rsquo;ve had some good teams. I&rsquo;ve met a lot of good players who have played awfully hard for me.&rdquo;Things certainly haven&rsquo;t been easy in Murray&rsquo;s first season with the cellar-dwelling Ducks.The most frustrating thing for Murray has been Anaheim&rsquo;s inability to win a number of close games in the third period.&ldquo;To the outsider, I know it doesn&rsquo;t appear like there&rsquo;s been much fun here, or much competitiveness, but we have not been pushovers,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Our guys have competed hard for the most part. We&rsquo;re a little bit thin and injuries have been a factor, but I think this team is on the bubble of being a real competitive hockey team.&rdquo;HOUDAY WISH LIST 1. No. 1 center. The Ducks paid the price for counting on oft-injured Steve Rucchin, who was out because of a stress fracture of his left tibia, in the form of a nine-game winless streak. It&rsquo;s hard to imagine Anaheim becoming a playoff contender without adding a top-notch center.2. Experience. The Ducks are the only team in the NHL without someone who has played in the Stanley Cup final. The lack of leadership shows through in crunch time in games.3. Fans. The Arrowhead Pond is closer to empty than full virtually every night. It would be nice if someone in Southern California actually cared about this team.NOTEBOOK Right winger Kevin Sawyer, the NHL leader with 15 fighting majors and 107 penalty minutes, scored his first goal in 45 career games Nov. 25 against the Rangers. &#9632;

f0016-08

Lofty milestone for coach Murray

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Jeff Schultz</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10263/7465252-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="480" height="1075"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09287/7465259-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="220" height="252"></div>The good news the other day was Patrik Stefan scored a goal and his team won.The bad news was the goal came in Grand Rapids, Mich., and his team was the Chicago Wolves.Stefan, the first overall pick in the Atlanta Thrashers&rsquo; first draft in 1999, was demoted two months into the season when the Thrashers assigned him to Chicago.In his first two pro seasons, the only time Stefan showed flashes of the player they expected was when the team shifted him from center to left wing late last year and he totaled 11 points in 15 games. But he could not escape injury problems this year, playing in only five of 22 games while missing 17 with a fractured jaw and a hyper-extended elbow.&ldquo;They told me they want me to get back in game situations and play a lot so that I can get my confidence and my hands back. I don&rsquo;t think (confidence) is a problem.&rdquo;HOUDAY WISH UST&nbsp;1. No. 1 center. Just think what an elite, experienced playmaking pivot could do for the games of Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley2. Stability in net. The Thrashers already have one of the NHL&rsquo;s worst defenses. It doesn&rsquo;t help that neither Milan Hnilicka nor Damian Rhodes can compete with the league&rsquo;s best in goal, either.3. Splints and bandages. The way Atlanta players get hurt, they&rsquo;ll be put to good use.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Petr Buzek was suspended when he told coaches the day of a game that he did not feel emotionally prepared to play. Buzek has been distracted by an expiring disability policy, which he took out because of a history of concussions, dating back to a 1995 car accident. Buzek then mentioned the possibility of a trade to a team that might give him a contract extension and/or help him to resolve the insurance matter.<h2>VETERAN LEADERSHIP</h2>Chris Tamer provides a steadying presence on an Atlanta blueline besieged by injuries and the banish ment of defenseman Petr Buzek. &#9632;

f0016-10

Stefan finds net…in new uniform

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Nancy Marrapese-Burrell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-11246/7465290-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="215" height="251"></div>Some teams have elected to lock up their unrestricted free agents long before they ever reach the free market. So far, the Bruins have shown no such inclination with regard to No. 1 goalie Byron Dafoe.When the season began, there were more than a few people around the Bruins who were holding their breath with regard to how many games Dafoe was going to be able to log.Dafoe, who spent the summer working hard at building up his right knee and strengthening both his hamstrings in an effort to avoid the injuries that have hindered him in recent seasons, said he was hoping for upwards of 60 starts.It looks as if that is a reasonable goal. Dafoe started 21 of the Bruins&rsquo; first 25 games. Yet Bruins&rsquo; GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell said he has no plans at the moment to try to lock up Dafoe long-term.&ldquo;Personally, I think it&rsquo;s a distraction,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Connell of trying to negotiate during the season. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s so much emotion involved in playing the game that we don&rsquo;t want to distract from that.&rdquo;O&rsquo;Connell said there have been internal discussions held concerning Dafoe&rsquo;s future with the club.HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Fan excitement. As good as the team has played, Fleetcenter fans haven&rsquo;t let themselves get too worked up.2. Continued health for Byron Dafoe. So far so good. If that changes, the Bruins&rsquo; fortunes follow.3. Road warriors. The Bruins were eight games above.500 at home and two games under on the road.NOTEBOOK Center Scott Pellerin, who missed four games after being struck in the right eye with an errant puck, said he will wear a visor for the rest of his career. &ldquo;I spoke to the doctors and they told me to wear it permanently,&rdquo; Pellerin said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I have to deal with and I don&rsquo;t find it that big of an adjustment.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-11

New deal for Dafoe will have to wait

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021055/7465352-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="218" height="251"></div>Talk about a fall from grace.In the span of 10 days, Calgary Flames&rsquo; center Marc Savard went from the first line to the second to the fourth to the bench.On the night he returned from a 15-game absence because of a knee injury, Savard filled in for Craig Conroy on the team&rsquo;s top line and had a sparkling three-point outing.Upon Conroy&rsquo;s return, Savard was shifted to the second line, but wasn&rsquo;t nearly as effective, playing with Rob Niedermayer. By the time he played his fifth game&ndash;a 3-0 Nov. 29 loss to the Dallas Stars-Savard was on the fourth line, with Scott Nichol and Craig Berube.Savard played three minutes in the first period, three minutes in the second and didn&rsquo;t get off the bench in the third. Coach Greg Gilbert was clearly trying to send a message to Savard that he needs to be better defensively to earn back his spot on one of the top two lines.&ldquo;We play a system here,&rdquo; Gilbert said,&rdquo;and everybody has to play within it. Marc&rsquo;s a strong-willed guy, who has been used to playing one way for a long time. Maybe he has to change a little bit to fit in.&rdquo;Savard wasn&rsquo;t trying to sugarcoat the problem.&ldquo;This is rock bottom,&rdquo; he said,&rdquo;though I have to hope to rebound. Pat LaFontaine (a former New York Ranger teammate) once told me not to let the highs get too high and lows get too low. This is definitely a low.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST 1. A new contract for Jarome Iginla. Neither Iginla nor the Flames wants to go to arbitration and both expressed interest in getting a contract done without a long, acrimonious summer of negotiations.2. A win for goaltender Mike Vernon. The 38-year-old backup to Roman Turek, has 383 career victories, but none since Feb. 9 of last season.3. An improved penaltykilling unit. After a decent start, they slipped to 24th in the league and sometimes appear too passive allowing opponents to set up in the zone.NOTEBOOK Goalie Roman Turek confirmed coaches from the Czech Olympic team invited him to back up Dominik Hasek for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Turek played for the Czech national team in Albertville, France, in the 1994 Olympics, winning both games he started and allowing just three goals. &#9632;

f0017-02

Savard tumbles from line to line

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Luke DeCock</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03754/7465383-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="223" height="225"></div>Arturs Irbe played in 152 of 164 games for the Hurricanes in 1999-2000 and 20015-01, but Tom Barrasso&rsquo;s play in November has given him first shot at the Carolina net.When coach Paul Maurice made the decision to give Barrasso a run, he had given up nine goals in five starts.&ldquo;You have to give the guy the opportunity when he has his confidence,&rdquo; Maurice said after Barrasso made 26 saves in a 5-2 win over Toronto Nov. 27. &ldquo;What I liked most was I didn&rsquo;t think it was an easy game for him.&rdquo;Barrasso gave up five goals in his next start, a 5-0 loss to the Rangers, but Maurice felt Barrasso had earned the chance.Barrasso was signed in the off-season to give Irbe some much-needed relief, but the 36-year-old Barrasso has played so well it has been hard to keep him off the ice.After the Rangers game, Barrasso and Irbe had each played 14 games. Barrasso was 5-6-3 with a.921 save percentage; Irbe 7-6-1 with an.898 save percentage.Perhaps more importantly, Barrasso has earned 15 points. Over the previous three seasons, Irbe&rsquo;s backups earned just 22 points.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing every bit as good now as he did in 1991 and 1992 when we won those Cups,&rdquo; said Ron Francis, who played with Barrasso in Pittsburgh. &ldquo;His attitude, his work ethic and the way he&rsquo;s moving, it&rsquo;s all similar to the early 1990s.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A puckmoving defenseman. It&rsquo;s one thing to play five defenseman on a regular basis, but there&rsquo;s little depth in case of injury.2. An effective power play. The current one isn&rsquo;t cutting it. Carolina has twice gone five games without a power-play goal this season. The Canes ranked 30th in the league.3. Exposure. The Canes are winning and home attendance is up 12 per cent. How about some exposure on the tube?NOTEBOOK The Canes hosted a charity game between the Raleigh Police and U.S. Secret Service, with proceeds going to the family of Secret Service officer Craig Miller, who died at the World Trade Center&hellip;After starting poorly, defenseman Marek Malik was leading the team at plus-11. He was even or plus in 16 straight games&hellip;Right winger Sami Kapanen&rsquo;s hat trick against Toronto was the third of his career. All have come against Curtis Joseph. &#9632;

f0017-03

Barrasso’s play too good for No. 2

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021059/7465414-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="219" height="250"></div>The stalemate between Tony Amonte and the Chicago Blackhawks over a contract extension was headed for a resolution.There is a growing likelihood that Amonte will now be traded prior to the March 19 deadline after the Hawks pulled all their offers off the table. In addition, an attempted intervention to get the matter settled by owner Bill Wirtz failed, leaving the Hawks all but resigned to the fact that a trade of their captain was the route to go.GM Mike Smith removed all contract offers from the table after Amonte and his agent, Mike Gillis, turned down a three-year pact worth $15.8 million. The Hawks also had a four-year deal worth $22 million rejected.Amonte is seeking a five-year extension for $40 million.Smith maintains he has not spoken to one other GM about a possible deal for Amonte, though it&rsquo;s believed several clubs are getting more interested in adding him to their lineup for the playoffs.&ldquo;This is no big deal,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;When they turned down the offers, they were telling us we don&rsquo;t want to negotiate. This was our way of saying we don&rsquo;t want to either.&rdquo;Amonte claimed to be in agreement with Smith&rsquo;s decision to get on with the season.&ldquo;He just wants to put it to rest and eliminate the distractions, which is fine,&rdquo; Amonte said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way I want it to be anyway, concentrating on hockey and not anything else.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Good health for Alexander Karpovtsev. The Hawks are a better team with the oft-injured defenseman in the lineup.2. Muscle on defense. Even with a healthy Karpovtsev, the Hawks could still use a punishing presence on the blueline.3. Steve Sullivan to heat up. With Sullivan scoring just five goals in 26 games, there was a huge gap in the offense.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Jaroslav Spacek broke his right index finger Nov. 25 at Detroit when he was hit by a puck&hellip;There were continued rumblings the Hawks were searching for a proven veteran to help relieve some of goalie Jocelyn Thibault&rsquo;s workload&hellip;A winless six-game road trip (0-3-3) took some of the steam out of the Hawks&rsquo; fast start. They scored only 14 goals in the six games. &#9632;

f0018-02

Amonte extension on back burner

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Jim Benton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03747/7465445-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="218" height="240"></div>Ray Bourque&rsquo;s leadership was a key ingredient in Colorado&rsquo;s Stanley Cup championship last season.He retired last summer, but the future Hall of Fame defenseman returned to Denver to have his jersey retired by the Avalanche Nov. 24 and had words of encouragement for his sluggish team.Colorado has struggled to score and win this season. The Avalanche was.500 (12-12-1-0) and chasing three teams in the Northwest Division&ldquo;You look at a lot of teams that win the Cup, I haven&rsquo;t seen too many get off to great starts,&rdquo; Bourque said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think they&rsquo;ve played many home games (15 of Colorado&rsquo;s first 25 were on the road). It&rsquo;s a matter of not being able to score.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been playing good defense and (goalie) Patrick (Roy) has been playing great. They&rsquo;ll turn it around and they&rsquo;ll be there. There&rsquo;s certainly a point where you start to get concerned, but they&rsquo;re not even close to being at that point. This team is talented enough, no matter where they finish. It&rsquo;s not at the point where now you&rsquo;ve got to start worrying and I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s going to get there.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A healthy Peter Forsberg. One of the world&rsquo;s best players decked out in his Avalanche finery would be a welcomed gift under the tree.2. Offense. Colorado is averaging barely more than two goals per game through 25 outings. That&rsquo;s a pace that would be almost 100 fewer goals than last season.3. Power play banger. The power play has been in the bottom half of the league and could use a power forward to cause havoc in the crease and do damage on rebounds.NOTEBOOK All 22 Avalanche players wore Ray Bourque jerseys with the No. 77 during the pre-game warmup Nov. 24 on the occasion Colorado retired his jersey. Bourque autographed each of the jerseys and they were auctioned off during the game. The auction raised $190,000 that was given to the fund directed towards New York police, fire, widows and children&hellip;Goalie Patrick Roy allowed only one goal in four home games he played in November. He had a Pepsi Center shutout streak of 272:01 which ended in a 4-1 win over Florida. &#9632;

f0018-03

Bourque offers voice of wisdom

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Nicholas J. Cotsonika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04482/7465476-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="223" height="240"></div>Two months ago, Steve Duchesne was the odd man out on the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; defense and, charitably speaking, a not-so-hot commodity around the NHL.The Wings left him unprotected in the waiver draft and no one bit. Duchesne has played in three NHL All-Star Games, but was 36 with a left knee that was still aching from off-season surgery, he represented a risk. Also, his salary was an unattractive $1.6 million.Duchesne was a healthy scratch in the Wings&rsquo; first five games. He played the next three, then was scratched again. When the defense ran into injury trouble, Duchesne returned to the lineup Oct. 26 against Dallas and he hasn&rsquo;t been scratched since.Duchesne hasn&rsquo;t been dazzling, but he has been what the Wings have needed him to be-&ldquo;a good, ol&rsquo; veteran,&rdquo; according to associate coach Dave Lewis.Duchesne&rsquo;s confidence has grown and he has reported no pain in his knees. &ldquo;Knock on wood,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;He has been making good decisions with the puck, playing strong defensively,&rdquo; Lewis said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been involved in a lot of key situations. I just think he&rsquo;s playing at a high level consistently.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Money. Believe it or not, the Wings&rsquo; payroll is about maxed-out at almost $65 million, highest in the league, and they want to resign star defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. 2. A copy of &lsquo;Third Periods for Dummies&rsquo;. Despite their sterling record, the Wings often have gotten away with giving less than 60-minute efforts, often blowing leads. 3. The playoffs. Things are going so well, they&rsquo;d love to go after that Stanley Cup right now.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Chris Chelios is interested in playing beyond this season and his agent, Tom Reich, has made preliminary contact with GM Ken Holland about a contract extension. Chelios, 39, had three surgeries last season and played only 24 games. But Team USA has named him captain for the Salt Lake City Olympics and he&rsquo;s off to a strong start&hellip;Coach Scotty Bowman wanted more energy Nov. 27 against Calgary, so he gave 23-year-old forwards Pavel Datsyuk and Boyd Devereaux more ice time. They responded with two assists each and Bowman raved about them afterward. &#9632;

f0018-04

Veteran Duchesne rises to occasion

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Aaron Portzline</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06248/7465507-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="733" height="927"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05317/7465514-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="219" height="244"></div>After a painfully slow start, the real Ron Tugnutt has resurfaced for the Columbus Blue Jackets.Tugnutt started the season with a 1-7-2 record and he went eight games&ndash;from Oct. 19 to Nov. 25&ndash;without a win.But during a streak of five starts to usher in December, Tugnutt went 2-3-0 with a 1.86 goals-against average and.938 save percentage.&ldquo;The players need to feel confident in (fellow goalie) Marc (Denis) and I,&rdquo; Tugnutt said,&rdquo;and we have to feel confident they&rsquo;re going to play well for us. Lately, that&rsquo;s the way it has been for us. We&rsquo;re feeding off one another.&rdquo;Between Nov. 10 and 27, the Blue Jackets picked up 12 points in a nine-game stretch, beating St. Louis and Calgary among their five wins.HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A cattle prod. Coach Dave King has expressed disappointment several times this season at the Blue Jackets&rsquo; lackadaisical approach to games and practices. For a second-year club, that&rsquo;s inexcusable.2. More skilled forwards. Ray Whitney has been stellar on the left wing. Now, a big, sturdy center who can score would be lovely.3. Sanderson to stay healthy. Geoff Sanderson had 30 goals last year, but his back injury has left a huge void in the Blue Jackets&rsquo; scoring punch.NOTEBOOK Injuries mounted for the Blue Jackets. Center Serge Aubin (lacerated knee), defenseman Mattias Timander (bruise hip) joined left winger Geoff Sanderson (back bruise) on the shelf on a day-to-day basis&hellip;Left winger Ray Whitney scored goals in four straight games for a franchise record&hellip;Columbus recalled center Blake Bellefeuille from Syracuse of the AHL when center Aubin cut his knee, Bellefeuille joined wingers Blake Sloan and Jean-Luc GrandPierre on the checking line Nov. 27 and his reviews were overwhelmingly positive.<h2>SHOOTING STAR</h2>Joe Nieuwendyk scored eight goals and 13 points in 12 games in November to lead Dallas back into Pacific Division contention. &#9632;

f0018-06

Tugnutt gradually regaining his form

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Chuck Carlton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07210/7465545-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="224" height="248"></div>The turnaround from mediocre to pretty darn impressive might be because Benoit Brunet, Martin Rucinsky and Dave Manson are a good fit.The four-game unbeaten streak and growing confidence could be a case of addition by subtraction, with Donald Audette, Jyrki Lumme and their baggage gone. Whatever the catalyst, the Stars are playing well.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re back playing, I guess, what everybody calls Dallas Stars&rsquo; hockey,&rdquo; said coach Ken Hitchcock.Part of the credit has to go to a couple ex-Canadiens and a much-traveled defenseman.Brunet, healthy and contributing, had two goals and three points in three games, surpassing his 16-game production in Montreal.Rucinsky provided much needed quickness while giving Joe Nieuwendyk a left winger to call his own. And Manson has made the defense look like Darryl Sydor, Sergei Zubov and a lot of big guys.&ldquo;Those new guys are going to fit in extremely well and I think we&rsquo;re going to be off to the races,&rdquo; Nieuwendyk said. &ldquo;I really believe it.&rdquo;So does Hitchcock.&ldquo;We have a team now that has real potential to get a lot better,&rdquo; Hitchcock said.HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Action figure. One more high-scoring forward like Tony Amonte or Bill Guerin to contribute on the wing. Just nothing like that Donald Audette doll that was recalled.2. Good health. Especially six more months for Ed Belfour&rsquo;s wonky back.3. A long playoff run. It will help Dallas residents forget that Cowboys training camp will soon begin.NOTEBOOK Center Pierre Turgeon returned Nov. 29 after missing 12 games with a high-ankle sprain and scored in a 3-0 win over Calgary&hellip;The addition of left winger Benoit Brunet has made the Stars a two-Benny team, along with holdover left winger Benny Hogue, which prompted confusion in line changes. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s Hoguey. I&rsquo;m Benny,&rdquo; Brunet said. &#9632;

f0018-07

Support players help turn fortunes

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Robert Tychkowski</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011307/7465576-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="220" height="242"></div>They were supposed to fade like a hippie&rsquo;s blue jeans when their emotional and offensive leader broke his ankle in mid-November.Well, it hasn&rsquo;t happened, man.The Edmonton Oilers have not fallen off the face of the Western Conference without Ryan Smyth in the lineup.It has been a grind with lots of low-scoring, hard-fought battles, but the Oilers were a respectable 4-2-1 in seven games after Smyth was injured.Included in that mix are wins over Chicago and former Oiler Doug Weight&rsquo;s St. Louis Blues.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re still very cautious, there&rsquo;s a lot of hockey left, lots of big tests,&rdquo; said coach Craig MacTavish, whose club returned from a three-game road trip four points clear of the Northwest Division field.&ldquo;But we&rsquo;re a very hungry team and we&rsquo;re happy with where we&rsquo;re at right now.&rdquo;The Oilers can thank net-minder Tommy Salo and a unwavering commitment to team defense for keeping them afloat without Smyth. They posted four shutouts in November and only gave up 10 goals in the seven games after Smyth&rsquo;s injury.&ldquo;Right now, we&rsquo;ve got a pretty good thing going,&rdquo; said right winger Anson Carter. &ldquo;A lot of guys are playing with confidence, feeling good about their game.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Their two front teeth. With Ryan Smyth out until mid-January, the Oilers absolutely can&rsquo;t afford to lose any more key players. The training staff has been instructed to add rabbit&rsquo;s feet and garlic necklaces to the equipment bags of Tommy Salo, Anson Carter, Mike Comrie and Jochen Hecht.2. A map to the back of an NHL net. The Oilers were held to two goals or less in 10 of 13 games in November. Thanks to spectacular netminding they were 7-4-2 in that span, but two goals a night won&rsquo;t get you far in this league for very long.3. A Sherpa guide. Todd Marchant, Ethan Moreau and Mike Grier have been searching for their lost hands all year. Last season their line counted for 42 goals. Through 27 games this year they had seven.NOTEBOOK Back-up netminder Jussi Markkanen got a shutout in his first NHL game, stopping 27 shots against Anaheim Nov. 28 for a 2-0 win. &#9632;

f0019-01

Winning ways stay without Smyth

<div class="byline">&#x2014;David J. Neal</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02962/7465607-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="218" height="249"></div>Way back in the 1990s, some teams looked at the Florida Panthers with envy for the diligence and intelligence throughout their lineup.The franchise&rsquo;s stated goal this season was to return to that kind of team. How short they&rsquo;ve come became apparent Nov. 29.That morning, Panthers&rsquo; coach Duane Sutter compared his own team to the second-year Minnesota Wild.&ldquo;Put Minnesota and us on paper,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;Put Chicago or Calgary and us on paper. Now, sometimes, paper&rsquo;s only good for wiping your butt. But, you look at it. Are we not similar to them as far as personnel? Or, slightly better, on paper? So, what&rsquo;s the difference? They&rsquo;re working together, shift after shift after shift.&rdquo;That night, the desultory Panthers were drummed 6-0 by the Wild. Afterward, Sutter admitted,&rdquo;We&rsquo;ve got three teams we want to be like, now-(Minnesota), Chicago and Calgary.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A forward mentor. Is there a top two lines veteran forward who can provide leadership and guidance for Florida&rsquo;s talented young forwards? The Panthers desperately need help in this department.2. A puck-moving defensive defenseman. The Panthers come out of the zone like molasses running uphill in February. The best teams are those who are built from the backline out.3. An expanded NHL playoff format. Otherwise, they can kiss the playoffs good-bye under the mistletoe. If they fail to make it into the post-season, it will be the second year in a row and fourth time since they shocked the hockey world and made it to the Stanley Cup final in just their third year in the league in 1995-96.NOTEBOOK The Panthers haven&rsquo;t scored a goal in the state of Minnesota. The North Stars moved to Dallas the year the Panthers began and Florida&rsquo;s first two road games against the Wild were a 0-0 tie and a 6-0 loss&hellip;After giving up one goal in 124 minutes and 75 shots against Montreal and Anaheim, goalie Roberto Luongo was slaughtered for 13 goals on 73 shots against New Jersey, Colorado and Minnesota&hellip;Defenseman Lance Pitlick, Minnesota born, raised and college educated, played his first NHL game in the state Nov. 29. &#9632;

f0019-02

Talent on paper doesn’t show on ice

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Matt McHale</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03646/7465638-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="219" height="245"></div>Adam Deadmarsh is back with the Los Angeles Kings after a dizzying stretch of injuries that put him in and out of the lineup during a 14-month span.He returned at the beginning of December after missing four games with a rib injury, which is not to be confused with the rib problem that cost him a game last month. And the wrist he broke in mid-November is better although it still aches on occasion.Although he has missed just five games, Deadmarsh has had a season&rsquo;s worth of trouble. He was sidelined all of camp after undergoing surgery last summer to repair a ligament in his left wrist. Then he developed groin problems after trying to come back too soon.Deadmarsh first was struck in the ribs Oct. 2 in Carolina. When he returned four days later he broke his right wrist in a freak accident. He was on the bench getting a drink when a loose puck struck his wrist.Last year, he missed the first month with Colorado after suffering a concussion. Then he took a puck in the eye and tore cartilage in his knee. Meanwhile his wife, Christa, gave birth to twins daughters two months premature.If that wasn&rsquo;t enough, Deadmarsh was traded to the Kings Feb. 21,2001 with defenseman Aaron Miller for Rob Blake.&ldquo;This has been the longest year of my life,&rdquo; said Deadmarsh, who was still among the Kings&rsquo; scoring leaders. &ldquo;When you play a certain way things happen, but now I think it&rsquo;s over. What other way is there to look at it?&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Better goaltending. Felix Potvin led the Kings to within a game of the Western Conference final, but this season he has been erratic and the club has been near the bottom of the standings.2. A No. 1 line. The top line has had several overhauls. Last year&rsquo;s leading scorer Ziggy Palffy has bounced between the first and second units.3. A winning streak. The Kings went more than two months without winning more than two games in a row. And they did that only once.NOTEBOOK The Kings are winless in two games when they have four days off and meet an opponent playing for the second night in a row. They are minus-17 in the second period and plus-14 in the third. &#9632;

f0019-03

Deadmarsh hopes bad days are over

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Tom Jones</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011199/7465669-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="231" height="233"></div>Manny is back.For the first two months of this season, Minnesota Wild goalie Manny Fernandez looked like a puppy on the side of the road: Lost and a little frightened.The puck looked like a pea as he struggled through one bad game after another. He lost his game and his confidence.But two straight solid performances give the Wild reason to believe Fernandez is on his way to providing his team with the type of play he did most of last season when he won 19 games and finished in the top 10 in goals-against average and save percentage.After shutting out San Jose Nov. 21, Fernandez came within 19.1 seconds of another shutout in his next performance when Minnesota beat Vancouver 2-1.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m playing the same game, but sure, my confidence is better now,&rdquo; Fernandez said. &ldquo;The team is playing so well defensively, but I know it&rsquo;s up to me to make saves and the more I make, the more confidence I have.&rdquo;After sliding down a six-game winless streak, Fernandez routinely spent an extra half hour after practices trying to find his lost touch.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen him in the back room doing pull-ups, doing extra stretching, things I&rsquo;ve never seen Manny Fernandez do before,&rdquo; said teammate Wes Walz. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I love-a guy who is professional to put in the extra work it takes to be successful.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK&nbsp;1. Even-strength goals. The power play is carrying the load and the Wild is struggling at 5-on-5. An extra goal or two at even strength would in some different looking scoreboards.2. A scoring winger. Someone to pick up the slack on a second line on the rare occasions when Marian Gaborik is having an off night.3. A taker for Jamie McLennan. The former Wild goalie is in the minors earning $1 million. The Wild could use that money to make wish No. 2 come true.NOTEBOOK Looking to add goaltending depth, the Wild signed free agent goalie Fredric Cloutier. The 20-year-old leads the ECHL in both goals-against average and save percentage. Last season, he was named top goalie in the Quebec League after going 42-82 with a.901 save percentage in 58 games for Shawinigan. &#9632;

f0020-01

Fernandez finds some old magic

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Sean Farrell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02835/7465700-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="222" height="224"></div>With his success in dealing with a full workload for the Montreal Canadiens, Jose Theodore might be looking to take on some new responsibilities.A 7-1-2-1 record in 11 straight games through Nov. 30 added Theodore&rsquo;s name to the mix of candidates vying for one of three goaltending spots on Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team.A day after Montreal extended its season-best winning streak to five games with a 5-1 win over Atlanta Nov. 28, Canadiens&rsquo; coach Michel Therrien said he thought Theodore deserved consideration for the Olympic squad, which must be finalized by Dec. 22.Therrien can&rsquo;t be blamed for boosting Theodore&rsquo;s longshot candidature, especially considering the lift the 25-year-old goalie provided his team since returning from a concussion Nov. 6.Montreal lost four straight to fall two games under.500 at 5-71-0 while Theodore was out after being kneed by Buffalo&rsquo;s Vaclav Varada Oct. 26. He made 31 saves and stretched his-and the team&rsquo;s-unbeaten streak to six in a 1-1 road tie against the New York Islanders Nov. 29 to put the Canadiens at 12-8-3-1.Theodore has the experience of leading Canada&rsquo;s junior team to gold in the 1995 World Junior Championship.HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A solid return by Jeff Hackett and a reprieve from injuries. The goaltending tandem of Hackett and Theodore could be the envy of the league.2. More production from Doug Gilmour. Likely to be realized now that he&rsquo;s paired with Brian Savage and Donald Audette.3. Nothing but improved health for Saku Koivu. And that has nothing to do with hockey. The Habs&rsquo; captain has been taking treatments for cancer and hopes to return to action for the playoffsNOTEBOOK Left winger Brian Savage and center Yanic Perreault drove the offense during the team&rsquo;s five-game winning streak. Savage had three goals and five points while Perreault scored in four straight games and added two assists for six points&hellip;The Canadiens went 5-for-16 on the power-play in right winger Donald Audette&rsquo;s first three games after he was acquired from Dallas in a four-player trade Nov. 21. &#9632;

f0020-02

Theordore’s play boosts Canadiens

<div class="byline">&#x2014;David Boclair</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03584/7465731-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="242" height="221"></div>The Nashville Predators as a high scoring team?Yeah, right.Well don&rsquo;t look now, but the Predators enjoyed their first sustained offensive surge ever in late November.They scored three or more goals in six straight games&ndash;a franchise record-capped by a 5-0 victory over Pittsburgh Nov. 23. Players credited a willingness by coach Barry Trotz to stick with line combinations as the primary reason behind the breakout.&ldquo;Guys are getting used to each other,&rdquo; said left winger Cliff Ronning, the team&rsquo;s leading scorer. &ldquo;Right now the lines have been stable. You know where guys are going to go.&rdquo; Trotz admitted he considered shuffling things when the trio of Denis Arkhipov, Martin Erat and Vladimir Orszagh-all under 25-went seven straight games without a point. The coach was rewarded for his patience, though, when Orszagh ripped the Penguins for a career-high three points (one goal).&ldquo;We have more younger, offensive-type players than we did in the past,&rdquo; Trotz said. &ldquo;Their games are a little more specialized so we have less flexibility with what we can do up and down the lineup. Hopefully, you get lines together when they&rsquo;re young and they play together for years&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A physical defenseman. When Cale Hulse returned from a broken hand, the team started winning more consistently. Another player of his stature would be a much-needed presence.2. A trip into the future. The development of young forwards David Legwand, Scott Hartnell, Denis Arkhipov and Martin Erat-all draft picks-has management salivating for the day when these guys are 27, fully matured and with a wealth of experience.3. Money. Owner Craig Leipold knew his was always going to be a small-market team unable to sign premium free agents. But hey, a guy can wish, particularly when he&rsquo;s stuck in a division with cash cows like Detroit and St. Louis.NOTEBOOK Nashville&rsquo;s 5-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins Nov. 23 extended its home win streak to five games, the team&rsquo;s longest ever&hellip;Center Cliff Ronning set a franchise record with an eightgame point streak (four goals and 12 points) from Nov. 8 through Nov. 23. &#9632;

f0020-03

Sticking with lines results in offense

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02572/7465762-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="718" height="972"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01958/7465769-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="219" height="253"></div>The hardest shot Martin Brodeur faced yet this season was a report the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; goaltender would bypass the Winter Olympics unless he is certain to play.That inaccurate rumor, coupled with a suggestion that Team Canada officials had decided not to pick Brodeur, infuriated the veteran goalie.&ldquo;Now I have to defend myself for no reason and I&rsquo;m not happy about it,&rdquo; Brodeur said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never said I wasn&rsquo;t looking forward to the Olympics. I really believe I belong there. I believe I&rsquo;ll be there, whether it&rsquo;s as the No. 1, No. 2 or whatever&hellip;I&rsquo;m excited that Patrick (Roy) has backed out.&rdquo;Roy&rsquo;s decision seemed to open the door for Brodeur, Curtis Joseph or Ed Belfour as Canada&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie.Brodeur did not help himself, though, by playing his worst game of the season in front of Canadian Hockey Association officials Nov. 27 in Pittsburgh. He allowed four goals on eight shots and was pulled in the second period, but Team Canada executive Steve Tambellini said it won&rsquo;t be held against him: &ldquo;One game doesn&rsquo;t mean anything.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A goalscorer. Everyone from GM Lou Lamoriello to the fourth line insists the Devils are capable of scoring goals, but they haven&rsquo;t done it. Shut out three times in five games Nov. 18-27, they underestimated the loss of Alexander Mogilny.2. Veteran backup goalie. This was supposed to be the year Brodeur played fewer games. It hasn&rsquo;t shaped up that way. The Devils like rookies J.F. Damphousse and Scott Clemmensen, but don&rsquo;t seem to have confidence in either.3. A muzzle for Bobby Holik. While fans love his honesty, some teammates would probably like to hear less from the outspoken center, an unrestricted free agent next summer.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Tommy Albelin, scratched from nine of 10 games, said he was told by GM Lou Lamoriello and coach Larry Robinson he still is in the team&rsquo;s plans.<h2>KEEPING PACE</h2>Third-year Devil Brian Rafalski was on track for a career-best 56 points. &#9632;

f0021-02

Olympic rumor mill burns Brodeur

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Peter Botte</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03343/7465800-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="217" height="248"></div>The party has just begun.New York Islanders&rsquo; owner/savior Charles Wang has assured GM Mike Milbury he will &ldquo;take a serious look&rdquo; at taking on additional payroll if the East-leading Isles remain in contention and if such a move &ldquo;can have a serious impact&rdquo; on the team&rsquo;s post-season chances.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re still open to anything that can make us better,&rdquo; Milbury said. &ldquo;I would dare say, if we&rsquo;re still in it&hellip;Charles will have a serious look at it.&rdquo;In what already has been the grandest shopping spree in team history, Milbury translated years of rebuilding into stars Alexei Yashin and Michael Peca and other useful components last summer.After Wang also permitted Milbury to take on goalie Chris Osgood&rsquo;s $3.75 million contract in the waiver draft, the team&rsquo;s payroll stands at a franchiserecord $34 million. With coach Peter Laviolette&rsquo;s squad (15-5-4-1) showing no signs of regressing through 25 games, average attendance at Nassau Coliseum had increased by more than 30 per cent to nearly 14,000 per game.HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A playmate for Alexei Yashin. The center&rsquo;s total of 15 goals and 28 points in 25 games is amazing when you consider usual linemates Oleg Kvasha, Brad Isbister and Mariusz Czerkawski have provided little support.2. Team toughness. Milbury talked about not wanting &ldquo;to get just any &ldquo;meathead,&rdquo; but he admitted several instances from the last month-such as Theoren Fleury&rsquo;s unanswered chicken dance-means &ldquo;the reality is we may need to look into&rdquo; getting tougher.3. Blueline depth. Even a minor injury to Roman Hamrlik (sprained left knee) meant Kenny Jonsson logged 38 and.&mdash;31 minutes in con secutive late-November games.NOTEBOOK With defensemen Roman Hamrlik (day-to-day) and rookie Marko Kiprus off (groin) nursing minor injuries, the Isles recalled defenseman Evgeny Korolev from Bridgeport (AHL). &#9632;

f0021-03

Owner will spend if team stays hot

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04249/7465831-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="219" height="249"></div>The streak was almost unthinkable.The New York Rangers had gone 213 games, since Feb. 26, 1999, without a shutout in this era when shutouts are a dime a dozen.That ended, mercifully, when goalie Mike Richter beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 on Nov. 29, ending his personal streak of 143 games without a shutout.&ldquo;To be honest,&rdquo; Richter said,&rdquo;I didn&rsquo;t know (how long) it was. I just knew it was a helluva long time.&rdquo;Of course, much of the Rangers&rsquo; streak had to do with Richter&rsquo;s two major knee injuries the last two seasons. That he has made it back to peak form isn&rsquo;t a surprise to those who know him best.&ldquo;I think there were a lot of people wondering if he could come back and play,&rdquo; said Mark Messier. &ldquo;Now he&rsquo;s come back and has probably been the best goalie, or one of the best goalies, in the league to this point&hellip;He has got a lot of respect for the work he&rsquo;s put in.&rdquo;Richter went through November on an 8-1-1 run, and has been the Rangers&rsquo; MVP so far. Somebody asked him if he had a bonus clause in his contract for shutouts. &ldquo;God, I hope not,&rdquo; he replied.Richter said he wasn&rsquo;t concerned about the shutout streak.&ldquo;No, but it is a matter of pride,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s also a matter of pride for the penalty kill, for the defense, for the entire team. And I do think we&rsquo;re playing better defensively.&rdquo;FinallyHOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Continued health and happiness. The Rangers need the former to have the latter, and in the first part of the season, all the big guys coming off injury-Eric Lindros, Mike Richter, Vladimir Malakhov and Tomas Kloucek-were doing fine.2. Improved penalty killing. Despite what should be worldclass talent, the Rangers have been among the worst on the PK for two seasons. Through 27 games, the Rangers held opponents without a power play goal just eight times.3. A playoff series. It has been four long years without one.NOTEBOOK Right winger Radek Dvorak lost an ironman streak of 293 consecutive games when he missed a Nov. 25 game against Anaheim with a sprained left knee. &#9632;

f0021-04

Richter whitewash long overdue feat

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011050/7465862-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="227" height="245"></div>With the Ottawa Senators mired in a three-game winless streak, coach Jacques Martin made what amounted to a cabinet shuffle at the rink.While Martin isn&rsquo;t a man who likes to make changes, he felt after a 4-2 loss to St. Louis Nov. 27 something had to be done to get the Sens going.He left the top line of Magnus Arvedson, Todd White and Daniel Alfredsson alone. Everything else changed. Tough guy Andre Roy moved to the left side with Radek Bonk and Marian Hossa.That meant veteran winger Shawn McEachern was shifted to the left side with Chris Herperger and flashy sophomore Martin Havlat. Center Mike Fisher was on the fourth line with tough-guy Chris Neil and winger Bill Muckalt.McEachern, for one, knows he hasn&rsquo;t been producing the way he was expected at the start of the season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to have better numbers,&rdquo; said McEachern, who had five goals and 14 points through 23 games. &ldquo;How do you complain when we go 11 straight (without a loss)? But I&rsquo;d. like to get it going a little more now.&rdquo;Martin said some players-most notably Bonk and Hossa-have to play harder.&ldquo;Definitely some guys have to play with more determination to win the battles. That&rsquo;s the key.&rdquo;HOUDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Better play from Radek Bonk. It&rsquo;s a good thing unsung center Todd White has been on a role because Bonk has not. The Sens need him to anchor a second scoring line.2. Depth at left wing. Beyond McEachern and Arvedson, the Senators don&rsquo;t have any scoring threats on their left side.3. A power play that doesn&rsquo;t look like a turkey. Ottawa&rsquo;s 9.8 per cent success rate was fourth-worst in the NHL.NOTEBOOK Right winger Martin Havlat donated $25,000 and two season tickets to Ronald McDonald House. Havlat will also be a regular visitor to the home which helps families cope with children who have cancer. &#9632;

f0024-01

Coach Martin tries playing musical lines as team offense goes into hibernation

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02725/7465893-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="219" height="223"></div>It was late in a close game and Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; coach Bill Barber was scanning his bench for a center to take a critical defensive-zone faceoff.Keith Primeau? Jeremy Roenick? Jiri Dopita?How about Marty Murray, the 5-foot-9, 178-pound mighty mite with all of 26 NHL games prior to this season under his 26-year-old belt?Murray has been the surprise new player of the Flyers&rsquo; season, having already matched his career high for goals in a single season (a modest three) and giving Barber consistent play during the team&rsquo;s injury. riddled first quarter.In a 3-3 tie at Dallas Nov. 23, Murray was his team&rsquo;s best player and named second star of the game.That was a critical night for Murray, who began the season with the AHL Phantoms. Kent Manderville returned from a lengthy ankle sprain rehab and Barber could have taken Murray out of the lineup. Instead, Manderville was moved to wing.&ldquo;It felt pretty good,&rdquo; Murray said of his staying in the lineup. &ldquo;In my position, it&rsquo;s always in the back of your mind that when guys come back from injury, you never know what&rsquo;s going to happen.&rdquo;Murray makes up for his lack of size with speed, good positional play and a knack for being in the right place at the right time. He averaged 15 minutes a game, some of that comes from killing penalties.HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A power play that scores. The Flyers were supposed to have one of the top units in the league but were just 10 for their first 87, 25th in the NHL.2. Offense from defense. Through 23 games, the Flyers had just seven goals from a rotation of eight defensemen. Eric Desjardins and Dan McGillis, who each enjoyed career-high single-season goal totals last year (Desjardins 15, McGillis 14) had a combined total of one.3. Someone to win the draw. Once known for puck control and faceoff domination, the Flyers have slipped in that department. Primeau, Roenick and Manderville are all under 50 per cent.NOTEBOOK Goalie Brian Boucher&rsquo;s left hamstring injury has been healing a little slower than expected. After two weeks, the goalie was still not able to get on skates. &#9632;

f0024-02

Murray makes most of shot with Flyers

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03488/7465924-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="217" height="260"></div>Give blood, play hockey. It&rsquo;s a popular T-shirt you can find all over North America. Now they should enhance the image by adding a picture of Danny Markov.Markov, the Coyotes&rsquo; reckless and resilient defenseman, got drilled in the forehead by a slapshot from Blue Jackets&rsquo; forward Tyler Wright during a Nov. 27 game in Columbus.The puck narrowly missed his eyes, but he sustained a badly broken nose and a deep gash that required 25 stitches to close. It took the Nationwide Arena ice crew nearly five minutes to clean up the large pool of blood.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen that much blood in my life,&rdquo; said goalie Sean Burke.Markov&rsquo;s teammates were just as stunned when he returned to the game late in the third period, even though the Coyotes were trailing 3-0.&ldquo;If we had 20 more guys like that, we&rsquo;d win 90 per cent of our games,&rdquo; said right winger Claude Lemieux. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the toughest guys I&rsquo;ve ever played with.&rdquo;Markov, acquired from Toronto last summer for Travis Green and the rights to Robert Reichel, didn&rsquo;t have second thoughts.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my job,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see why I should sit in the dressing room while my team is losing.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A session with Ms. Manners.Penalties, especially in the first period, have plagued the Coyotes. Of the 27 power play goals they allowed through 24 games, 21 came on the road.2. A bona fide enforcer. Phoenix has a ton of scrappers, but not a legitimate heavyweight to keep the peace.3. Deep pockets to absorb more losses. Phoenix lost $28 million last season and won&rsquo;t be in the black until a new arena opens in nearby Glendale, Ariz., in time for the 2003-04 season. Slumping attendance isn&rsquo;t helping matters.NOTEBOOK Goalie Robert Esche was assigned to Springfield after enduring a 1-4-0 start with a 3.76 goals-against average. &#9632;

f0024-03

Markov bloodied, returns to scene

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05215/7465955-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="667" height="906"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04319/7465962-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="218" height="238"></div>Even the simplest English phrase at times eluded Ivan Hlinka during his time behind the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; bench. But he apparently is familiar with these two: &ldquo;Show me the money,&rdquo; and,&rdquo;The check&rsquo;s in the mail.&rdquo;Hlinka, fired as Penguins&rsquo; coach Oct. 15, claimed he had not been paid since then and hired two lawyers to address the matter. Hlinka, who had the rest of this season and next season remaining on his three-year contract, claims to be owed $845,000.His lawyers say the Penguins claim Hlinka breached his contract. The Penguins had no comment.&ldquo;All we&rsquo;re trying to do is find out why he is not getting paid,&rdquo; said attorney Mike Florio.&ldquo;The Penguins have stated to me that they weren&rsquo;t going to make further payments because of &lsquo;material breaches&rsquo; in his contract. They won&rsquo;t tell us what the material breaches are and there&rsquo;s nothing specific in his contract saying what constitutes a material breach.&rdquo;What could be at issue is Hlinka&rsquo;s refusal to take English classes last summer. At the very least, the Penguins strongly urged him to do so. Whether it was written into his contract could not be confirmed.Hlinka attorney Ron Del Duca said litigation is a possibility.HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s return to health. It&rsquo;s amazing that the Penguins have been able to flirt with.500 without their leader, even though they were averaging less than two goals in 13 games without him.2. No. 1 defenseman. It probably won&rsquo;t happen-expense and availability are two pretty big obstacles-but the Pens need a power play quarterback.3. Continued parity in the Eastern Conference. As long as other teams don&rsquo;t pull away, maybe the Penguins can make the playoffs without their top guns going.NOTEBOOK Rookie center Kris Beech finally scored his first NHL goal in his 27th game, Nov. 24 against Buffalo.<h2>LANG SLUMP OVER</h2>Robert Lang scored his first goal in 11 games in a 6-0 win over the New Jersey Devils Nov. 27. &#9632;

f0024-05

Hlinka could sue in contract battle

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Derrick Goold</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02614/7465993-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Keane, frustrated by a slow start, dropped jersey No. 25 after a Nov. 23 loss and went back to his usual No. 12.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01942/7466000-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="226" height="240"></div>That glaring weakness at No. 2 center that was supposed to plague the Blues for the season and spell doom for them against the West&rsquo;s elite&ndash;well, they&rsquo;ve fixed it.Pavol Demitra has seized the chance to play center and bid adieu to his slow-start fears. He expressed his wish to start fast before camp. By the seasonopener, he was getting part-time work at center. In late November he scored five goals in three games and had a hand in every goal in a 4-2 win against Ottawa while centering the top line.When paired with Keith Tkachuk, the duo soared. &ldquo;He gives me so much room to get speed going,&rdquo; said Demitra, who had 28 points at November&rsquo;s end, two ahead of Tkachuk.Demitra&rsquo;s vision on the ice is better at center and his defense at the position has been solid.HOUDAY WISH UST&nbsp;1. Consistent effort. Coach Joel Quenneville would like nothing more than to find consistent effort, performance and output gift-wrapped in his dressing room. The Blues have yet to produce a 60-minute game and Quenneville said he has even seen the fluctuating effort in practice.2. Dynamic Doug Weight. Quenneville called Weight&rsquo;s play &ldquo;ordinary&rdquo; so far this season. The Blues need him to be extraordinary to challenge Detroit. Weight&rsquo;s self-doubt has led to less ice time.3. A defensive center. No checking line has truly developed and no defensive stalwart to stick on the opponent&rsquo;s top line has emerged. A solution could come from within-Jamal Mayers, perhaps-or down the chimney.NOTEBOOK Unhappy with their starts to the season, right winger Mike Keane and left winger Cory Stillman changed numbers after the Blues&rsquo; Nov. 23 loss to Detroit. Keane exchanged No. 25 for No. 12, the number he has worn most of his career. Stillman gave up No. 12 and wanted No. 16, but the Blues wouldn&rsquo;t let him have it. They expect to retire it when Brett Hull retires. Stillman chose No. 61&hellip;Defenseman Al Maclnnis missed four games with a bruised ankle, but returned against Columbus Nov. 29. &#9632;

f0025-02

Demitra fixes Blues’ pivot problem by filling void with goals, points

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Ross McKeon</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03400/7466031-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="224" height="252"></div>The longest restricted free agent contract showdown in franchise history ended when defenseman Mike Rathje signed a four-year, $8.25-million deal just days before the impasse stretched into a third month.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad to be back,&rdquo; said Rathje, who will earn $2 million this season, almost double his $1.1-million stipend last year. &ldquo;It has been a long three months. I&rsquo;m very happy and relieved.&rdquo;Rathje, 27, is expected to resume the role of matching up against opponents&rsquo; top lines and playing in all situations&hellip;and then some.&ldquo;He has to continue to show what he did in the playoffs,&rdquo; said GM Dean Lombardi. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s capable of more. I hope the determination he has shown through this (contract battle) translates on the ice.&rdquo;The negotiations finally ended in Vancouver when the Sharks amended an original five-year proposal to four and the two sides compromised on succeeding years of the deal to settle the issue of back pay this season.Lombardi felt secure that no one&rsquo;s feelings were hurt during the process.&ldquo;I feel very comfortable we&rsquo;ve come through this unscathed,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In fact, we&rsquo;re stronger for it.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH UST&nbsp;1. A linemate for Owen Nolan. Since Vincent Damphousse was moved alongside Teemu Selanne, Nolan has been left to fend for himself as Patrick Marleau and Alexander Korolyuk have proven no help.2. More production from center ice. Mike Ricci, Marleau and even fourth line center Mark Smith are not contributing enough offensively. Marleau is really the key. In his fifth year, the 22-year-old continues to lack preparation and consistency while he&rsquo;s being forced into the No. 2 spot.3. Depth on defense. Rathje to the rescue: The Sharks were lucky to stay above water without him while force-feeding Brad Stuart into a No. 1 role, opposing top lines most nights, and throwing rookie Jeff Jillson into the fire during his first season as a pro.NOTEBOOK Right winger Teemu Selanne scored six goals in seven games from Nov. 14 to 29. &#9632;

f0025-03

Rathje returns to stabilize blueline with four-year contract in hand

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Damian Cristodero</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02706/7466062-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tampa Bay goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was playing extremely well and was just one off the club&rsquo;s single-season record for shutouts.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011043/7466069-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="221" height="248"></div>The Tampa Bay Lightning has started to strike.Including a 5-2 victory over Atlanta Nov. 29, Tampa Bay won six of nine games and four straight at the Ice Palace, where it has a respectable 7-41-0 record.The win over Atlanta was the team&rsquo;s 10th, making it the first edition of the Lightning ever to have 10 wins after 24 games. Not even the 1995-96 playoff team did that.&ldquo;This is a great start for us,&rdquo; said coach John Tortorella.Much of the success can be attributed to good goaltending. Nikolai Khabibulin won nine games, with a.931 save percentage and four shutouts-one off the single-season franchise record held by Daren Puppa.Backup netminder Kevin Weekes had made just three starts, had a.932 save percentage and tied a team record with 45 saves in a 3-2 loss to Washington.The team&rsquo;s penalty-killing also has been stellar. Going into games of Nov. 29, the Lightning was sixth in the league with an 88.2 per cent efficiency.Tampa Bay scored just 53 goals in its first 24 games, but the Lightning feels it is at a point where it should beat the league&rsquo;s lower echelon teams.&ldquo;We want to move up from the bottom third,&rdquo; Khabibulin said. &ldquo;We want to be in the middle and this is one of those steps.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A scoring forward. No Tampa Bay player has shown himself to be a sniper. Without a go-to guy, the offensive scheme suffers.2. A top-notch defenseman skilled at passing. Tampa Bay&rsquo;s defense does a pretty good job of clearing out the slot and forcing the opposition to the sideboards. But getting the puck out of the zone has been a problem and that causes the transition game to fail.3. A rugged player. Matthew Barnaby, Cory Sarich and Nolan Pratt are willing to fight, but the Lightning has no one you could call an enforcer or even can deliver thundering bodychecks consistently.NOTEBOOK Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin gave up four goals to the Boston Bruins on 24 shots in his first game after being named NHL player of the week. He was pulled following the second period of a 6-3 loss&hellip;Center Vaclav Prospal had eight goals, three more than he scored in the entire 2000-01 season. &#9632;

f0026-02

Lightning forcing foes to run, hide

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03561/7466100-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="219" height="256"></div>Prevailing opinion among observers always has supported the notion Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; captain Mats Sundin would be a truly elite NHL player if he had the linemates and ice time that other stars receive.But facing criticism and pressure to give his stars more minutes, Leafs&rsquo; coach-GM Pat Quinn has made it clear he doesn&rsquo;t intend to give Sundin or any other player more action. Through late November, Sundin was averaging 18:39 per game, 64th among forwards and tied for 20th among No. 1 centers in the NHL.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in this to try to win a Cup,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;During an 82-game schedule, we&rsquo;re going to play 20 guys and that&rsquo;s a fact.&rdquo;Quinn reasons that the Leafs have worked very hard to improve their depth at forward-they&rsquo;re one of the deepest in the NHL up front-so it would be silly to burn out his star players during the season. Quinn said his evidence suggests that teams, which rely too heavily on star players, are not successful.Sundin had not complained about his ice time, but took issue with Quinn concerning his production versus playing time.&ldquo;I think the more I play, the better I play and I think that has been the case throughout my career.&rdquo; Sundin said.HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Tickle Me Al-Mo. Alexander Mogilny claims he is happy, but looked an awful lot like the brooding player he was in his final days with Vancouver. The Maple Leafs gave him a four-year deal worth $5.5 million (U.S.) per season, but he scored just six goals in 25 games.2. Booster cables. And it has nothing to do with harsh Canadian winters. Gary Roberts (no goals in 13 games), Shayne Corson (one in 18) and Robert Reichel (three in 20) also were struggling.3. A Monopoly game with real money. Goalie Curtis Joseph, who becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2002, wants the kind of money Sundin ($9 million US per year) is getting.NOTEBOOK Going into a home-and-home series with Chicago Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, the only, 500-or-better team the Leafs had beaten since midOctober was Boston. They had done that twice&hellip;After 25 games last season, the Leafs were 13-7-3-2 for 31 points, good for first place in the Eastern Conference. At the same point this season, they were 13-7-2-3 for 31 points and second in the conference. &#9632;

f0026-03

Sundin, Quinn clash on production ratio

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04396/7466131-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="220" height="259"></div>Peter Skudra has answered the dogging question of who was going to play backup goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks.In his first two starts for Vancouver, Skudra recorded a win and a tie while allowing four goals on 58 shots for a.931 save percentage. This is a far cry from the 0-3-0 performance of his short-lived predecessor Martin Brochu, who departed with a.856 save percentage and 4.17 goals-against average.&ldquo;I hope I can settle in Vancouver,&rdquo; Skudra said. &ldquo;I love it here in North America. I&rsquo;m excited about my life.&rdquo;The Canucks were interested in Skudra during the summer but the netminder opted to sign a tryout contract with the New York Rangers, never figuring the Blueshirts would go with 18-year-old Dan Blackburn as Mike Richter&rsquo;s backup. The Canucks are Skudra&rsquo;s 14th pro team in eight seasons.&ldquo;Nobody gave me a contract when I came here,&rdquo; said Skudra, who started in the East Coast League after emigrating from Latvia. &ldquo;I had to play for $200 a week. Having that in my past makes me appreciate this life more.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. Righthand shot point man for the power play. The Canucks had a beauty in Adrian Aucoin, but coach Marc Crawford didn&rsquo;t like the rest of his game and he was dealt in the Dan Cloutier trade. Drake Berehowsky isn&rsquo;t the answer.2. Right winger to go with the Sedin twins. Daniel and Henrik have not been able to getting-tracked all season and the coaching staff has not been able to find someone compatible to their style.3. Better health. The Canucks lost key forwards Andrew Cassels (knee) and Trent Klatt (inflamed pubic joint) for large stretches in the first half and their goals total plummeted by 20 over 28 games.NOTEBOOK Utility man Jason Strudwick broke a 69-game goal drought when he beat Chicago goaltender Jocelyn Thibault while taking a shift on left wing. It was only the third goal in Strudwick&rsquo;s five-year NHL career&hellip;Vancouver went 5-3-2 in its first 10 games with center Trevor Linden in the lineup&hellip;The Canucks completed their entire four-game series with Chicago by Nov. 28, but had yet to play Northwest Division opponent Calgary even once. They don&rsquo;t meet the Flames until after Christmas. &#9632;

f0026-04

Skudra just happy to be part of NHL

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05290/7466162-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="218" height="253"></div>The loss of two defensive stalwarts-left winger Steve Konowalchuk and defenseman Calle Johansson was hindering Washington&rsquo;s at tempts to fully recover from its usual early season swoon.The main problem: opposing forwards who camp out, in and around the crease, with little or no interference.&ldquo;We are a little out of position, then you get exploited,&rdquo; said coach Ron Wilson, illustrating the recent developments which saw Buffalo throw an almost uncountable number of odd-man rushes at Caps&rsquo; goalie Olie Kolzig.Then the New York Islanders got to know Washington&rsquo;s backup man Craig Billington really well, recovering from a 3-0 deficit to gain a 5-5 tie.The checking of Konowalchuk and Johansson would force opponents to alter their strategy, keeping them closer to the perimeter and giving Washington goalies more room and time. As it is, Cap defenders are being overwhelmed and at times over-reacting to one side, resulting in gaping open lanes for the opposition.HOLIDAY WISH LIST&nbsp;1. A large hostile defenseman. One who can clear the crease area. Mark Tinordi was the last Cap to do a good job of giving his goalie proper vision lines.2. A very large, hostile center. One with Adam Oates&rsquo; hands and Mark Messier&rsquo;s disposition. Oates is 39 and still plays 25 minutes. But while he is angry, he ain&rsquo;t large or hostile.3. A magic pill. To make large, but not-angry-or-hostile-enough youthful defenders, down on the farm into larger men who will mature overnight so some of the Caps&rsquo; loyal but aging defensemen can retire gracefully.NOTEBOOK Left winger Peter Bondra tied Hall of Fame right winger Mike Gartner&rsquo;s club record for goals-397-in a 5-2 loss to Buffalo Nov. 28&hellip;Center Adam Oates and right winger Jaromir Jagr are both within a point of major career point-scoring plateaus-Oates 1,300 and Jagr 1,100&hellip;Right winger Dainius Zubrus snapped out of a scoring drought with goals in back-to-back games&hellip;The Caps were down to three healthy defensemen during the third period of the Nov. 27 game with the Islanders, but held on for a tie. One of the injured players, defenseman Sergei Gonchar, was leading the team in scoring at the time. &#9632;

f0026-05

Caps need to ban parking near net

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01992/7466193-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

NHL DEPTH CHARTS

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Over the blueline and through the slot, to grandmother&rsquo;s house we go.OK, so that&rsquo;s not exactly how the song goes, but that&rsquo;s the version Matt Herr knows now that he&rsquo;s playing hockey virtu-allyin his grandparents&rsquo; backyard.Herr, a center, is the third-leading scorer for the Hershey Bears and his presence means games at Hersheypark Arena often turn into a mini-family reunion.&ldquo;Usually when you grow up, you move far away from your family, so I&rsquo;m very lucky that I&rsquo;ve moved close to them,&rdquo; said Herr, a fourth-year pro who had 10 goals and 16 points in 19 games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m learning a lot about my family history.&rdquo;The Bears are affiliated with Colorado, but Herr is on their roster through a loan from Florida.For Herr, an off-season free agent signee of the Panthers, it was the perfect arrangement. His mother and father both grew up in neighboring Palmyra, Pa., and while they moved to New York three decades ago, his father&rsquo;s mother, Nellie Herr, and his mother&rsquo;s parents, Bob and Irene Helt, are still in Palmyra.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011029/7466224-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="275" height="346"><figcaption class="caption-body">Matt Herr</figcaption></div>&ldquo;They live seven blocks from each other and my apartment is five minutes from my grandmother&rsquo;s house,&rdquo; said the 25-year-old Herr, who played two games for Florida in late November.His home rink is the place where grandpa Herr once ushered and where, as a kid, he went to see games during Christmas visits. Grandma Nellie already has bought her own &lsquo;HERR&rsquo; No. 10 Bears&rsquo; jersey.&ldquo;My grandma is probably the happiest because, not having my grandfather here anymore, I look very much like my grandfather and my dad and I think I remind her of him,&rdquo; Herr said. &#9632;

f0028-01

Herr’s biggest fans? His grandparents

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Hannes Hyvonen may have the fastest gun in the West. And the East. Or at least the fastest shot in the American League.The Cleveland Barons&rsquo; right winger, who has surprised several goalies with his hard slapshot, had nine goals and 15 points in 21 games.&ldquo;He probably has the best shot I&rsquo;ve seen,&rdquo; said Barons&rsquo; coach Roy Sommer, who watched defenseman Shawn Heins unload cannon slapshots during his days with Kentucky. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s right there with Heins.&rdquo;Hyvonen, 26, is in his first season in North America, but isn&rsquo;t considered a rookie because he played eight seasons in the Finnish League. He was a ninth round pick by San Jose in 1999.&ldquo;He has NHL legs, he just has to learn his 1-on-1 game,&rdquo; Sommer said.MORE LIKE IT He led the International League in goals with 38 in only 58 games last season for Cleveland. The year before, he scored 43 goals and an AHL-best 104 points for Hershey.But seven weeks into the 200102 season, right winger Christian Matte had just two goals for Rochester-and they were both into empty nets.The seven-year veteran finally broke through Nov. 23 in a 3-2 overtime win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He scored the tying goal early in the third period and game-winner in overtime.&ldquo;It was tough on me since the start of the season, I put a lot of pressure on myself,&rdquo; Matte said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been thinking a lot about what&rsquo;s going on and what I&rsquo;ve been doing. I need to stop thinking and get my head empty and play the way I used to.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02696/7466276-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="364" height="419"></div>NOT FORGOTTENWhen Pittsburgh traded Jaromir Jagr to Washington in July, the Penguins loaded up on kids, landing three just-leaving junior prospects-centers Kris Beech and Michal Sivek, and defenseman Ross Lupaschuk.But Shane Endicott, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s second round pick (52nd overall) in 2000, is making sure the parent team doesn&rsquo;t forget about him.The rookie center had 10 goals and 17 points in 22 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He was second on the team in goals and third in points, behind Martin Sonnenberg in both categories.NOTEBOOK Norfolk rookie goaltender Craig Andersson made 34 saves for his first pro shutout, a 1-0 whitewash at Hershey Nov. 25.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03498/7466269-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="1317" height="1883"><figcaption class="caption-body">The AHL-leading Philadelphia Phantoms have done a lot of celebrating this season. Kirby Law congratulates Maxime Ouellet after a recent win.</figcaption></div><h2>AHL</h2>TEAM PROFILE8 of 27<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04339/7466262-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="468" height="366"></div>SYRACUSE CRUNCHNHL AFFILIATIONColumbus Blue JacketsARENAWar Memorial, cap. 6,230 Syracuse, N.Y.Tickets: 315-473-4444HISTORYSyracuse, where Slap Shot was filmed, has had eight pro teams-five of them in the AHL. The Stars were charter members and 1937 Calder Cup champions.COACHGary Agnew, 2nd yearCHIEF OPERATING OFFICERVance Lederman, 2nd yearNOTABLE PROSPECTS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05260/7466255-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="450" height="200"></div>2001-02Columbus has had only two drafts, so its farm team is stocked mainly with veterans and depth players. &#9632;

f0028-02

Fantastic Finnish for Baron Hyvonen

<div class="byline">By Rob Mueller</div>The demise of the International League is having a positive effect on the East Coast League in more ways than one.The infusion of former IHL veterans-including Pensacola Ice Pilots&rsquo; center Greg Pankewicz, the leading scorer this year-and the fact there are fewer jobs at the next level have yielded the ECHL a bumper crop of rookies this season.Headlining the league&rsquo;s strong freshman class is Louisiana IceGators&rsquo; goalie Frederic Cloutier, Augusta Lynx center Patrick Yetman and Trenton Titans&rsquo; forward Ben Stafford.Cloutier, 20, was tops in goals-against average (1.50) and save percentage (.957). Yetman, a 21-year-old who led Moncton of the Quebec League in scoring last season, paced ECHL freshmen snipers with 11 goals.Stafford, a former Yale standout who turns 23 Dec. 18, was the second-leading rookie scorer, with 17 points.Pee Dee Pride center Gregor Krajnc led rookies in scoring with 18 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06224/7466307-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="304" height="314"></div>PETER PRINCIPLE The ECHL fined Trenton Titans&rsquo; coach Peter Horachek an undisclosed amount for blasting officials after a shootout loss to Reading.After the Titans drew 14 penalties Nov. 17, including two in the final six minutes, Horachek told the Trenton Times he was &ldquo;embarrassed to be in this league right now,&rdquo; adding that it &ldquo;was an intense game escalated by donkeys. We should go back to Slap Shot and have a donnybrook.&rdquo;BAD MOVE? After finishing 22nd in a 25-team league in attendance last season, the Greensboro Generals hoped to broaden its fan base by moving 10 home games 30 miles west to Winston-Salem, N.C.So far, not so good. In their first game in Winston-Salem Nov. 3 versus Charlotte, the Generals drew just 1,555 fans.BRAWLING GOALIES A pair of netminders, South Carolina&rsquo;s Jody Lehman and Richmond&rsquo;s Curtis Cruickshank, were suspended five games for fighting at the end of the second period Nov. 17 as both teams headed off to the dressing rooms. &#9632;

f0028-06

Charlotte owners aspire to move Checkers

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>Sometime last winter, it occurred to Kevin Brown that his career had taken a wrong turn. The talented 27-year-old right winger was a productive player with Manchester of the British League and Phoenix and Anchorage of the West Coast League, but a long way from his NHL days.&ldquo;I enjoyed myself, but I figured all along I should have been at a higher level,&rdquo; said Brown, who&rsquo;s trying to retrace his steps with the Hamilton Bulldogs. &ldquo;The money was good and I could make a whack of it in the West Coast League, but where&rsquo;s it really getting you if you&rsquo;re not playing at a level where you think you deserve to play?&rdquo;Brown and agent Jim Sedgewick contacted Hamilton GM Scott Howson about a return to the Bulldogs, for whom he had scored 59 points in 54 games in 1999-2000. After attending Edmonton&rsquo;s and Hamilton&rsquo;s camps, Brown earned another chance.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01910/7466338-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="278" height="351"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kevin Brown</figcaption></div>&ldquo;He mentioned to me that it&rsquo;s his last chance and he doesn&rsquo;t want to miss out on it,&rdquo; said Bulldogs&rsquo; coach Claude Julien. &ldquo;He has more commitment defensively than he ever has had. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. But he&rsquo;s on the right track to being a bigger impact player.&rdquo;Brown, a 1992 third round pick (87th overall) by Los Angeles, had 21 points in 17 games in Hamilton&rsquo;s excellent first quarter.&ldquo;There are definitely (NHL) opportunities,&rdquo; said Brown, with 64 NHL games in Los Angeles, Hartford/Carolina and Edmonton. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping I can work my way back.&rdquo;Julien wants that to be as a team player.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s more committed than ever,&rdquo; Julien said. &ldquo;Kevin has all the talent in the world to play in the NHL. You might see him in the NHL (again) one day. It&rsquo;s up to him.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0029-01

Bulldog Brown takes aim on NHL again

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>An amusing rivalry continues in the Eastern Conference between Worcester IceCats&rsquo; center Eric Boguniecki and Hartford Wolf Pack coach John Paddock.After Boguniecki&rsquo;s two goals helped Worcester win 3-1 Nov. 25 in Hartford, he said there was more verbal jousting between the two antagonists.&ldquo;I let Paddock off the hook last game (a Hartford win in Worcester) when he said he had a headache and to leave him alone,&rdquo; Boguniecki said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t do (anything), so I had to redeem myself.&rdquo;Paddock was amused by the latest exchange.&ldquo;It started a few years ago in Louisville when he got away with something on one of our players,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;There was some yapping then and it (has continued) ever since.&ldquo;I guess it shows the competitiveness in each of us, but in a way, too, it&rsquo;s sort of half funny.&rdquo;Hartford tried to acquire Boguniecki last year, but Kentucky dealt him to Worcester. Boguniecki has 18 points in 11 games against Hartford.FINNISH FLASH Rookie goalie Ari Ahonen helped Albany snap out of a funk, winning his first game against Rochester 3-1.Ahonen&rsquo;s 37-save performance Nov. 24 gave the River Rats their first win in 14 games and only their second win overall. The Eastern Conference&rsquo;s lastplace team, however, did pull out points in their previous four games with an overtime loss and three ties. Ahonen, born in Jyvaskyla, Finland, was New Jersey&rsquo;s first pick (27th overall) 1999.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02592/7466390-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="370" height="425"></div>GINO ALERT Veteran enforcer Gino Odjick made his presence known in his first two games for the struggling Quebec Citadelles.Odjick scored in his first game against Hamilton, then got into a third period scrap with Bulldogs&rsquo; goalie Marc Lamothe the next night. After a behind-the-net collision with the goalie, Odjick knocked Lamothe&rsquo;s mask off with a punch and cut him on the forehead with another, earning a fighting major and a game misconduct.NOTEBOOK En route to a 12-game unbeaten streak, Bridgeport beat Albany 2-1 in overtime Nov. 23. In that game, the Sound Tigers had to sit winger Marko Tuomainen and ice 16 skaters, one under the limit, because the parent New York Islanders&rsquo; assignment of defenseman Ken Sutton gave them too many veterans with over 260 games.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03392/7466383-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="1307" height="1885"><figcaption class="caption-body">Derek Wood is off to a slow start with the United League&rsquo;s B.C. Icemen. The captain has nine points in 17 games, coming off an 85-point season.</figcaption></div><h2>AHL</h2>SCOUTING REPORT<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04270/7466376-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="340" height="466"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Semenov</figcaption></div>VITAL STATISTICSBom: Murmansk, Russia Age: 20 Size: 6-6, 210LAST AMATEUR CLUBSudbury (OHL)POSITION Defense2001-02 SEASONHamilton Bulldogs<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05226/7466369-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="366" height="78"></div>NHL AFFILIATIONEdmonton OilersNOTEWORTHYDrafted 36th overall by Edmonton in 1999&hellip;OHL defensive defenseman of year in 1999-2000 and top OHL defenseman in 2000-OL&hellip;Ranked No. 17 prospect outside the NHL in THN Future Watch 2001.BOTTOM UNEFor such as big frame, Semenov is exceptionally coordinated. His skating, shooting and passing are above average and he loves to hit and get involved in the offense. He should be an NHLer for 15 years. &#9632;

f0029-02

Boguniecki’s turn to laugh at Paddock

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Brendan Savage</div>With one-quarter of the season over, attendance at United League games was down more than seven per cent. Average attendance was 3,132, compared to 3,349 last season. The team taking the biggest hit has been the defending champion Quad City Mallards, who have led the UHL during all six seasons of its existence. The Mallards averaged 7,679 last season, but were at 6,633 after eight home games-despite the fact Quad City had vaulted to the top of the standings with a sevengame winning streak. The move was impressive considering the Mallards had five of their top players on the injured list. Five of the UHL&rsquo;s 14 teams have experienced a rise in attendance, led by Fort Wayne, which went from 5,882 last year to 6,369 through seven games. &#9632;

UNITED LEAGUE

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Don Ruiz</div>The West Coast League is shaping up as a league of bullies and punching bags, without much in the middle. Only two of the WCHL&rsquo;s eight teams broke from the gates with losing records, but those two lost a lot. Fresno, projected to be a Taylor Cup contender, tumbled into its season of high hopes with a 5-12-1 pratfall. Similarly, Butch Goring&rsquo;s revamped Anchorage Aces opened 5-13-2. The Aces are the only apparent non-contender in a Northern Division in which Idaho, Colorado and Tacoma have all spent time at the top. Floundering Fresno set up a two-team Southern race between San Diego and Long Beach. That leaves Bakersfield as the league&rsquo;s one-team middle class, splitting its first 14 games. &#9632;

WEST COAST LEAGUE

<div class="byline">&#x2014;David Henry</div>Central League players gave the shirts off their backs and raised more than $100,000. Each team auctioned commemorative game-worn jerseys during their homeopeners, with proceeds donated to Sept. 11 relief efforts. The 16 teams raised $141,510, with about half that total donated to the Cantor-Fitzgerald Foundation, which aids family members of that company&rsquo;s 700 employees who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center. The remainder of the funds were donated to national relief organizations. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased to see the CHL family come together to have a significant impact on those most needing assistance,&rdquo; said CHL president Brad Treliving. Stuart Fraser, Cantor-Fitzgerald vicechairman, is owner of the CHL&rsquo;s Fort Worth Brahmas. &#9632;

CENTRAL LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>The Canadian Hockey Association is hoping Erie Otters&rsquo; center Brad Boyes recovers from mononucleosis in time to play in the World Junior Championship.Although Boyes could be sidelined until after the Canadian team&rsquo;s final selection camp, the CHA invited the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; prospect to attend. The camp is Dec. 10-17 in Toronto, with the WJC opening Dec. 25 in the Czech Republic.The Canadian team will hold a spot open on the roster for Boyes, if it looks like he&rsquo;ll be ready to play.&ldquo;Brad was invited based on the medical situation because there is some opportunity he&rsquo;s going to be ready,&rdquo; said Ontario League commissioner David Branch, also a member of the national junior policy committee. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be close, but this is not a situation where an NHL team has to return a pro player for the opening of camp. This is a medical situation and in the discussions we&rsquo;ve had, and respecting the fact Brad played on the team last year, his situation is simply going to be monitored.&rdquo;Boyes, the Leafs&rsquo; top pick (24th overall) in 2000, was a member of Canada&rsquo;s bronze medal team in Moscow last year. He was diagnosed with mono in early November and later told by Leafs&rsquo; physician Dr. Michael Clarfield he won&rsquo;t be able to resume strenuous activity until about Dec. 21.&ldquo;At some point during the camp process, a hard decision is going to have to be made on his progress by the coaching staff,&rdquo; Branch said. &ldquo;No date has been set, but a level of confidence has to be attained that he&rsquo;s going to be able to perform at a level that would be required for the world junior event.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011029/7466493-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="390" height="220"></div>YOUNG HOPEFUL London Knights&rsquo; left winger Rick Nash, 17, is among the 36 players invited to Canada&rsquo;s national junior camp. Nash is the top-rated OHL player for the 2002 NHL entry draft and some scouts are projecting him as the first pick overall.&ldquo;One of my goals this season was to go to the (selection) camp,&rdquo; said Nash, who was eighth in league scoring with 19 goals and 38 points in 26 games. &ldquo;Now I guess it&rsquo;s in my hands.&rdquo;While Nash is only 17, Canada&rsquo;s national junior program has demonstrated in the past there are no preconceived ideas of who&rsquo;ll make the team. Players play themselves on and off the team at camp.CLASS OF 2003 The OHL placed 16 players on the 22-man Team Ontario roster for the World Under-17 Championship, taking place from Dec. 29 to Jan. 4 in Selkirk and Stonewall, Man. The London Knights have four players, including right winger Corey Perry, a first round prospect for the 2003 NHL draft. Perry was tied for third in OHL rookie scoring with nine goals and 26 points in 23 games.&ldquo;This tournament allows us to get the first framework for 2003 into place,&rdquo; said one NHL scout.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like the first proving ground for these kids. It gets all of them at the same time on the same stage. This is where players such as Jason Spezza and Stephen Weiss made their first impacts.&rdquo;Perry is 6-foot-1, but weighs only 168 pounds. Nevertheless, the scout said there&rsquo;s a place for a player like him in the NHL.&ldquo;With the hooking and holding being weeded out, the slighter, skilled players are finding a way to make it.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0030-01

Canada keeps spot open for Erie center

<div class="byline">By Willy Palov</div>The Montreal Rocket made Gaston Therrien the third coaching casualty of the Quebec League season after the team won only twice during a 13-game stretch.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02687/7466531-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="392" height="286"></div>GM Serge Savard Jr. said Therrien&rsquo;s abrasive style had lost its effect, so he gave him the pink slip Nov. 19. Therrien, the third-year franchise&rsquo;s first coach, had an 11-13-3 record at the time.&ldquo;The atmosphere around the team was very heavy,&rdquo; Savard said. &ldquo;Gaston is a very tough, demanding coach and I don&rsquo;t think the kids were having fun in the games. It&rsquo;s hard to play well like that, so we had to make a change.&ldquo;It was a hard decision. I liked Gaston and when I hired him I knew he was a tough coach. In junior hockey now you have to be firm with the kids, but there has to be limits.&rdquo;The Rocket promoted assistant coach Gilbert Delorme to head coach. The former NHL defenseman with Montreal, Detroit, Quebec, St. Louis and Pittsburgh then hired fellow ex-Hab Mario Roberge as his assistant coach.&ldquo;Gilbert is very respected in the dressing room,&rdquo; Savard said.Therrien&rsquo;s firing capped a six-week span that also claimed coaches Joe Canale in Sherbrooke and Tom Coolen in Moncton. Therrien had a 64-91-16 record during his two-plus seasons in Montreal.DRAFT SLEEPER Goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslaurier&rsquo;s stock continues to soar in Chicoutimi.An unheralded sixth round midget pick in the summer, Drouin-Deslaurier is opening eyes with his strong early season play. Red Line Report rated him 44th overall in its November issue and the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Service tabbed him the top QMJHL goalie in its preliminary rankings, ahead of projected blue-chipper Maxime Daigneault of the Val-d&rsquo;Or Foreurs.The lanky 6-foot-4,180-pound Drouin-Deslauriers slipped through the cracks at the QMJHL draft because he spent last season as Corey Crawford&rsquo;s backup with the Gatineau Intrepide, a midget AAA team. Crawford, 16, was a first round selection (14th overall) of the Moncton Wildcats and is eligible for the 2003 NHL draft.&ldquo;I have been telling people since training camp that Jeff will be a star in this league,&rdquo; said Sagueneens&rsquo; GM Marc Desforges.&ldquo;He has been our No. 1 goalie right from the first day of the season and now other people are noticing his talent.&rdquo;Deslauriers, 17, had a 10-7-1 record and 3.82 goals-against average this season.CASTOR QUITSThings just keep getting worse in Sherbrooke.Already the league&rsquo;s worst team with just five wins in 30 games, the Castors lost 20-year-old left winger Steve Morency, who scored 38 goals and 70 points in 2000-01.Morency quit Nov. 27 after his relationship with coach Jean Pronovost bottomed out.Pronovost scratched Morency against the Shawinigan Cataractes Nov. 13, then demoted him to the fourth line. Morency plans to join a Canadian university team after Christmas rather than accept a trade to another QMJHL club.He had nine points and was minus-15 in 24 games this season.<h2>WORLDWATCH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03478/7466524-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="177" height="170"></div>Future and former NHLers are among the top performers in Europe. Here are four of the hottest in 2001-02 with position, age and NHL rights.&#9633; Mike Fountain, G, 29 (free agent). Former NHL backup had a brilliant 1.40 GAA with Iada Togliatti near the midway point of the the Russian Superleague season.&#9633; Rickard Wallin, C, 21 (Minnesota). The Wild&rsquo;s eighth pick (160th overall) in 1998 had four goals and 19 points in his first 24 games with Farjestad in Sweden.&#9633; Derek Plante, C. 30 (free agent). Former Buffalo Sabre was lighting up the German League he was third in goals with 15 in 25 games with Mannheim.&#9633; Pavel Rosa, RW, 24 (Los Angeles). Talented Czech, who played briefly with the Los Angeles Kings, had 14 goals and 29 points in 26 games with Jokerit of the Finnish League. &#9632;

f0030-02

Ex-NHLer Delorme new Montreal coach

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Seldom does a Western League assistant coach change teams during the season, but Drew Schoneck was named the Prince Albert Raiders&rsquo; assistant Nov. 21 after being forced to relinquish his job with the Tri-City Americans.Schoneck, a Canadian citizen, stepped down in Tri-City after being unable to secure permanent immigration status in the United States. The Americans are based in Kennewick, Wash.&ldquo;The immigration wasn&rsquo;t coming through,&rdquo; said Schoneck, 28. &ldquo;Especially after Sept. 11, it&rsquo;s very tough to get. We were filing visas and it kept getting set back.&rdquo;Schoneck received permission from the WHL and Tri-City before exploring the opportunity in Prince Albert. He had been assisting Americans&rsquo; coach Troy Mick.The Raiders began looking for an assistant Nov. 3, when Wade Klippenstein was promoted to interim head coach. Klippenstein later was named Prince Albert&rsquo;s full-time coach.Klippenstein had been an assistant to Donn Clark, who left the bench to concentrate on the hockey operations side of the Raiders&rsquo; operation. Klippenstein was quick to hire Schoneck.&ldquo;When we were looking through the applications and resumes, we didn&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;d find someone with his experience who was currently involved in the league,&rdquo; said Klippenstein, 31.&ldquo;Luckily, the timing was good from our perspective.&rdquo;TRACKING THE COUGARS The Prince George Cougars&rsquo; 10-game winning streak-the longest in the B.C. city&rsquo;s WHL history-was snapped Nov. 23 by the Kelowna Rockets, who won 2-0.Until this season, the Cougars had not won more than eight straight games since owner Rick Brodsky moved the franchise from Victoria to Prince George in 1994.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not the least bit surprised,&rdquo; said Brodsky of his team&rsquo;s prosperity. &ldquo;We thought that if we could stay relatively injury-free, we&rsquo;d have a good team.&rdquo;The Cougars&rsquo; winning streak, while impressive, did not approach the franchise record.Victoria won 24 consecutive games over a two-season span in 1981.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04328/7466562-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="388" height="270"></div>INSTANT HITCalgary Hitmen goalie Sebastien Laplante earned a shutout in his first WHL game&ndash;a 4-0 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes Nov. 21.Laplante, 20, joined the Hitmen in midNovember after leaving Boston University. He had been red-shirted by the Terriers, meaning he would not play in the NCAA this season. So he headed to Calgary in search of playing time.Laplante became the fifth goalie to start for Calgary this year. Brent Krahn, the Hitmen&rsquo;s No. 1 netminder and a 2000 first round pick (ninth overall) by the Calgary Flames, is out until after Christmas with a knee injury.The Los Angeles Kings selected Laplante in the ninth round (277th overall) of the 2001 NHL draft.NOTEBOOK Right winger James Hiebert assisted on the Swift Current Broncos&rsquo; first six goals Nov. 23 in a 7-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers&hellip;Kelowna left winger Seth Leonard had three goals and five points in a 6-1 win over the Kamloops Blazers Nov. 24. Leonard entered the game with five goals and 13 points in 24 games. &#9632;

f0030-04

Schoneck migrates north to Raiders

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div>The chemistry between two players has been a big reason for Ferris State&rsquo;s success this season.The Bulldogs were in a three-way tie for third place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association with a 5-5-1 record and senior center Rob Collins and junior left winger Chris Kunitz were leading the way.The linemates were 1-2 in conference scoring. Collins had six goals and 16 points, Kunitz 10 goals and 13 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01945/7466593-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="391" height="230"></div>Nebraska-Omaha got an eyeful of the pair when the Bulldogs defeated the Mavericks 7-2 in Omaha Nov. 23.Kuntz scored two goals and Collins had three assists.Needless to say, that impressed Nebraska-Omaha coach Mike Kemp.&ldquo;One of the things I really like about the two of them is the way they play off each other,&rdquo; Kemp said. &ldquo;Collins is such a crafty, clever puck-moving center and Kunitz is such a sniper.&rdquo;Thanks mostly to Collins, a native of Kitchener, Ont., and Kunitz, from Regina, Sask., Ferris State led the CCHA with 36 goals.ANALYSIS It took a Herculean effort by freshman goalie Matt Violin for Lake Superior State to win its second conference game of the season.The Lakers improved to 2-8-0 with a 3-2 victory over Bowling Green Nov. 24, as Violin stopped 49 shots. Outstanding goaltending was one of the bedrocks of the success the team had during coach Frank Anzalone&rsquo;s first tenure and the following regime of Jeff Jackson.If Anzalone can come close to equalling his success with the program from 1988 to 1994-including three NCAA titles-Violin will be one of the main reasons.SPOTLIGHT The CCHA went 2-1-1 against the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in the annual College Hockey Showcase Nov. 23-25 in East Lansing and Ann Arbor, Mich., which matches Michigan State and Michigan against Minnesota and Wisconsin.Both CCHA teams defeated Wisconsin as the Spartans beat the Badgers 2-1 and the Wolverines took a 5-3 decision. Minnesota defeated Michigan 5-2. The best game came Nov. 25 at Munn Arena as Michigan State and Minnesota skated to a 4-4 tie.&ldquo;It was the type of game for men only; the type of game we expected it to be,&rdquo; said Minnesota coach Dan Lucia.NOTEBOOK Both Michigan State and Ohio State had only given up three power play goals. Michigan State was first in conference penalty killing with a 91.2 percent efficiency rate in 10 games, Ohio State was second at 90.6 per cent in eight games. &#9632;

f0031-01

Collins, Kunitz team up to lead Ferris State

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>After playing just 12 games the last two seasons, Merrimack&rsquo;s Ryan Cordeiro is making up for lost time.Cordeiro, a center who sat out last year after transferring from New Hampshire, was tied for the Hockey East lead in goals with 11 in 12 games and also had six assists. Maine&rsquo;s Colin Shields also had 11 goals.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got tons and tons of confidence,&rdquo; Cordeiro said. &ldquo;That has been the main thing. The coaches have let me play and I&rsquo;ve played on a line with two real good players, Marco Rosa and Matt Foy.&rdquo;Cordeiro had 14 points in 39 games as a freshman at New Hampshire in 199899, but appeared in only 12 games the following year, notching four points.&ldquo;I tried to find out what I was doing wrong, but I couldn&rsquo;t get an answer,&rdquo; said Cordeiro, who chose Merrimack over Maine when he decided to transfer. &ldquo;(Merrimack coach) Chris Serino had recruited me when he was an assistant at New Hampshire. He already knew who I was and liked me.&rdquo;PROSPECT WATCH Maine right winger Colin Shields has made an immediate impact after sitting out last year, when it was ruled his time at a junior college in Cleveland constituted a year of eligibility, thus making him a transfer. The British national team player had 11 goals and 15 points in 12 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02614/7466624-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="394" height="232"></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to get a lot of shots on net,&rdquo; Shields said. &ldquo;If you look at all the NHL&rsquo;s top goal-scorers, they&rsquo;re also among the leaders in shots.&rdquo;Shields, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, was selected 195th by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2000 NHL draft. He had six goals to finish third in goals for Great Britain at the World &lsquo;B&rsquo; Pool Championship in Slovenia last spring.ANALYSIS UMass-Amherst, which has never finished higher than seventh in power play efficiency in the nine-team conference, is turning things around. The school stood fifth after 12 games with 11 power play goals in 50 chances (22 per cent), thanks to a 7-for-20 stretch.Coach Don Cahoon is stressing better puck movement and steady player movement away from the play. Six Minutemen have at least one power play goal apiece.NOTEBOOK UMass-Amherst goalie Mike Johnson had 55 saves in back-to-back shutout wins over Vermont (2-0) and Dartmouth (4-0)&hellip;New Hampshire senior Darren Haydar was MVP of the Dodge Dealers of New England Classic Nov. 24-25 in Durham, N.H., with two goals and an assist in two games. &#9632;

f0031-02

Confident Cordeiro joins Merrimack and brings scoring punch with him

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggie</div>Doug Murray&rsquo;s raging bull days are over.After spending his first two seasons at Cornell punishing opponents with his physical style of play, Murray is killing them with finesse this season.The 6-foot-3,220-pound junior defenseman is still one of the toughest players in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, but this year he has picked his spots.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s starting to understand he doesn&rsquo;t have to hit everything,&rdquo; said Cornell coach Mike Shafer. &ldquo;He realizes with all the hitting he does, he wears himself down, too. But he&rsquo;s still a very intimidating player.&rdquo;Despite his rugged style,&rsquo;Murray is usually able to stay out of the penalty box. He had just 38 penalty minutes in 32 games as a freshman and spent only 39 minutes in the penalty box in 25 games last season.Murray, selected by San Jose in the eighth round (241st overall) of the 1999 draft, is also one of Cornell&rsquo;s biggest offensive threats this season. Through eight games, he had a team-high six goals, including five on the power play, as the Big Red got off to a 6-2-0 start.His sixth winner came in a 4-2 victory over Boston University, a battle of eastern hockey powers Nov. 24.&ldquo;He has always had a great shot, but as he has gotten more mature, he&rsquo;s getting more shots on net,&rdquo; Shafer said. &ldquo;A lot of guys have big shots, but can&rsquo;t get them away. Doug can.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03448/7466655-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="389" height="229"></div>ANALYSIS Penalties are killing Clarkson, which fell to 4-6-1 after losing a pair of non-conference tilts against Northeastern (4-1) and Providence (4-2). The Golden Knights were averaging 20.2 minutes in penalties per game, 10th-highest in the nation and their penalty killers were operating at a 76.3 percent success rate.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to win from the penalty box,&rdquo; said Clarkson coach Mark Morris. &ldquo;That has to change if we&rsquo;re going to get things going in the right direction.&rdquo;SPOTLIGHT Cornell junior center Matt MacRae ended a drought when he scored his first two goals of the season Nov. 24 in the Big Red&rsquo;s win over Boston University. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s an issue of not having opportunities,&rdquo; said MacRae, referring to his seven-game slump. &ldquo;They just haven&rsquo;t gone in.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Losses to No. 2 Denver and Ohio State in the Dodge Dealers of New England Classic at New Hampshire dropped Vermont to 1-8-1, their worst 10-game start since coach Mike Gilligan came on in 1984. In fact, it&rsquo;s the worst start for the Cats since 1966-67, when they had a 1-9-0 record. &#9632;

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December 14, 2001

Upstart Finns lack Koivu, depth

Riding the pine doesn’t suit Kozlov

the CHRIS PRONGER STORY

Olympics bigger than NHL