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.

February 22, 2002

The Hockey News February 22, 2002

<div class="byline">-Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04295/8008704-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="746" height="1133"><figcaption class="caption-body">FIRST-TIMER Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle made his All-Star Game debut in L.A.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03458/8008711-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="220" height="252"></div>Two teams were hit by a devastating injury on the same day and each of them will miss defenseman Dmitry Yushkevich equally.The Toronto Maple Leafs found out Feb. 7 they will be without the services of Yushkevich indefinitely-from three weeks to the rest of the season-when a blood clot was discovered in his right leg. Yushkevich was immediately put on blood thinners and cannot absorb contact until he is finished taking them. The Russian Olympic team also lost a key defender in Yushkevich, who captured a gold medal with the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1992 and a silver with the Russian team in 1998.&ldquo;You know what? It was the biggest disappointment of my life,&rdquo; Yushkevich said. &ldquo;I talked to (Russian coach) Slava Fetisov (on the day he found out). He told me that he was really counting on me and I was going to be a really big part of the team.&rdquo;Yushkevich noticed his right calf was weak and numb when he was warming up on an exercise bike prior to the Maple Leafs&rsquo; game against the Minnesota Wild Feb. 5. He played the entire game, but had an ultrasound the next day and the blood clot was discovered. Yushkevich said at no time did he feel any pain.&ldquo;You know me,&rdquo; he said,&rdquo;no brain, no pain. I&rsquo;m not worried about it. This is not going to end my career. I&rsquo;ll be back as soon as I can.&rdquo;Yushkevich hopes to start skating with the Leafs after the Olympic break, but will not participate in contact drills.NOTEBOOK Center Nik Antropov, tore a ligament in his left knee while in St. John&rsquo;s (AHL) and will miss the rest of the season after having reconstructive surgery. He was a player who could have been used as an asset to get an NHL-caliber defenseman&hellip;Right winger Jeff Farkas was recalled by the Maple Leafs from St. John&rsquo;s Feb. 5, but he couldn&rsquo;t get out of Newfoundland because of a snowstorm. He joined the team the next day. &#9632;

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NHL TEAM REPORTS

Sidelined Yushkevich missed by two clubs

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HOCKEY’S BEST STATS

WESTERN LEAGUE STATISTICS

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>When the season began, the St. Louis Blues were anxious to see the real Justin Papineau stand up for the Worcester IceCats.As an American League rookie in 2000-01, Papineau scored just seven goals in 43 games during an injury-plagued regular season. Then in the playoffs, he scored seven goals in 11 games. So which was the aberration, the regular season or post-season?The 21-year-old is proving his playoff production was no fluke.Heading into February, Papineau was second in the AHL in goals with 30, one behind teammate Eric Boguniecki.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s an offensively amazing talent,&rdquo; said IceCats coach Don Granato. &ldquo;We knew he was as good as he is. He has unbelievable skills. You think you&rsquo;ve got him and he slithers away.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011127/8008966-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="274" height="348"><figcaption class="caption-body">Justin Papineau</figcaption></div>And once the 5-foot-11, 181-pound center is free, he knows what to do.&ldquo;He knows when a goal is going to be scored,&rdquo; Granato said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like nobody on the ice is in on the secret. He has amazing instincts.&rdquo;In junior with the Ontario League&rsquo;s Belleville Bulls, Papineau scored 133 goals over his final three seasons. He was drafted in the third round (75th overall) in 2000 after refusing to sign with the Los Angeles Kings, who drafted him 46th overall in 1998.The Blues weren&rsquo;t sure what they had last season when Papineau couldn&rsquo;t avoid injuries. He had a broken hand, missed more than a month after taking a slapshot off the foot and suffered a concussion.&ldquo;Every time I&rsquo;d step on the ice, I&rsquo;d get hurt after 10 games,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But the playoffs are when you have to turn it up. I really wanted to finish strong and I really wanted to show I could play here.&rdquo; &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

Papineau healthy and scoring goals

<div class="byline">By Jason Kay Managing Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011937/8007555-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">No offense, Mario: The World&rsquo;s Sergei Fedorov tries to slow down North America&rsquo;s Mario Lemieux during the All-Star Game. Lemieux believes the NHL still has a long way to go towards opening up the game. (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES-Some of the NHL&rsquo;s most prominent personalities believe the game is stuck in neutral and it&rsquo;s time for a jumpstart.That was the sentiment at 2002 all-star weekend, when the league&rsquo;s rich and famous got together to play and display their excesses of talent.For the record, the World beat North America 8-5 in a relatively entertaining game of shinny. But amid the frivolity, there was plenty of chatter about the woeful offensive flow in the real games. The goals-per-game average of 5.2 this season is among the lowest in decades.Mario Lemieux put the puck in NHL commissioner Gary Bettman&rsquo;s zone when the Pittsburgh Penguins superstar/owner cited the need for change. &ldquo;I think we should try to create a little more offense, excitement,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve come a long way the last couple years&hellip;(but) we still have a long way to go. Try to open up the game. Scoring is down a little this year. Even though it&rsquo;s just a goal-and-a-half (from the 1980s), it&rsquo;s a lot for our game.&rdquo;Lemieux proposed two possible solutions:1. Eliminate the red line to allow for long passes from the defensive zone through the far side of the neutral zone.2. Move the nets back to their former position on the ice and make the neutral zone bigger. Prior to the 1990-91 season, the NHL moved the nets, faceoff circles and bluelines one foot further out from the end boards to create 11 feet of space behind the net and shrink the neutral zone from 60 to 58 feet.&ldquo;Little adjustments we have to make in our game, and create more speed, especially in the neutral zone, would create a lot more offense and would be a lot better for the game,&rdquo; Lemieux said.Mighty Ducks of Anaheim right winger and Lemieux&rsquo;s AllStar Game linemate, Paul Kariya, is also a proponent of a bigger neutral zone.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know who decided to shorten the neutral zone and bring the (nets) in, but that has just hurt offensive hockey,&rdquo; Kariya said. &ldquo;The game&rsquo;s being played now below the goal line and behind the net. There aren&rsquo;t too many players who can score from behind the net.&rdquo;While not everyone agrees a (behind the) net loss or elimination of the red line are the answers, there is a consensus something needs to be done. And there is no shortage of suggestions. Here are some thoughts from a star-studded cast:MORE 4-ON-4 Detroit coach Scotty Bowman has seen inferior teams stymie his Red Wings more and more as the 2001-02 season has progressed. He says when opposing defensemen continually chip the puck out to the neutral zone it not only is a good cure for insomnia, it also frustrates his talented forwards.&ldquo;Our guys often yell at the other team, &lsquo;Why don&rsquo;t you make a pass. Stop flipping it,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Bowman, who coached the World team to victory at the All-Star Game.Bowman believes his players would flip out less if the NHL instituted more 4-on-4 situations during regulation time.&ldquo;No, not full-time,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Maybe on major penalties. Eliminate all the coincidental.&rdquo;Bowman acknowledges it may alter the way some teams play-the more talented teams might try to intentionally get to 4-on-4, while the less talented might try to avoid it&ndash;but feels the referees would adjust and punish the instigators more severely.While there&rsquo;s no evidence to suggest increased 4-on-4 play during regulation time would lead to a significant rise in scoring, it would create the desired effect of opening up the game.INCREASED VIGILANCE St. Louis Blues defenseman Chris Pronger, a frequent visitor to penalty boxes around the NHL, would like to see referees follow the letter of the law.&ldquo;If they just called the rulebook, the hooking and holding and all that stuff in the neutral zone, I think the game would open up,&rdquo; Pronger said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of hooking and holding going on.&ldquo;You watch other teams and they&rsquo;re doing it, so the next team does it and the next team does it. Sooner or later every team starts doing it and it just becomes 10 guys in the neutral zone instead of end-to-end.&rdquo;Pronger believes going by the book may be painful for a while, but like a parent trying to discipline a child, consistency is the key. &ldquo;If there are 25 penalties in a game, there&rsquo;s 25 penalties,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Eventually, players are going to start to getthe gist of it and coaches are going to say, &lsquo;Smarten up.&rsquo; If a team goes 0-and-10, tough crap.&rdquo;Tampa Bay Lightning GM Rick Dudley goes one step further. He says clearer rulebook definitions of obstruction infractions may be the way to go. If it&rsquo;s cut-and-dried, there is no room for misinterpretation.&ldquo;If you use the blade of the stick or the butt end of the stick to deter an opponent, it should be a penalty,&rdquo; Dudley reasons.Dudley said he raised the notion at a GMs meeting about a year ago, but, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a very conservative sport in terms of change. We don&rsquo;t like change.&rdquo;SIZE MATTERS Advances in goaltending equipment should not be underestimated. Goalie gear not only has gotten bigger, but significantly lighter over the past several years. And the product of increased goalie mobility was highly evident at all-star weekend. During the pass-and-score portion of the skills competition, where six groups of players had 3-on-0 breakaway chances on the six all-star goalies, the shooting stars went 1-for-18. The goalies were moving from side-to-side faster than Benedict Arnold.&ldquo;The equipment for goalies is a lot bigger now,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;If you look at photos from the &rsquo;70s and &rsquo;80s and (compare them to) photos now, it&rsquo;s totally different. The goal size has stayed the same throughout those years.&rdquo;A reduction in netminder equipment size doesn&rsquo;t make much sense from a protection perspective, especially considering the increasing velocity of players&rsquo; shots. The idea of increasing net size-they&rsquo;ve been four feet by six feet for eternity-is a subject which Dudley has broached in the past and one that NHL vice-president Colin Campbell acknowledges could merit further investigation. Campbell said two other NHL executives have wondered if a bigger net-perhaps two inches wider and taller-might be a solution.Don&rsquo;t count on radical change, however. Bettman said the league doesn&rsquo;t believe there is a goal-scoring crisis, but the powers that be are willing to consider tweaks. Bettman raised the notion that making the bluelines wider, which would give attacking teams a bigger cushion before going offside, is one area of potential investigation. (See pg. 3for more on Bettman.)&ldquo;On balance, I like the flow of the game,&rdquo; Bettman said. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t mean we can&rsquo;t make it better, but I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re having a problem.&rdquo;Before and after the power brokers were philosophizing on ways to increase scoring and improve game flow, the stars were doing a commendable job of putting on a show in the world&rsquo;s glamor capital. Here are some highlights and sidelights from all-star weekend:&#9633; Atlanta&rsquo;s Ilya Kovalchuk, who deserved a spot in the bigboy All-Star Game, dazzled onlookers and his playmates in the YoungStars Game. The super rookie scored six goals as Team (Barry) Melrose Thrashed Team (Jim) Fox 13-7 in a 4-on-4 event.&#9633; Carolina&rsquo;s Sami Kapanen opened eyes by outracing the field in the fastest-skater event in the skills competition. Kapanen finished with a one-lap time of 14.039 seconds. (See table for skills competition results.)&#9633; In what may be the crime of the century (hey, we&rsquo;re just two years into it), Tampa&rsquo;s Nikolai Khabibulin was robbed of the All-Star Game MVP award, which was given to Chicago&rsquo;s Eric Daze. Khabibulin turned aside 20 third period shots in an 8-5 come-from-behind victory by the World team. Members of the media were asked to vote on who&rsquo;d get the truck midway through the third and Daze had scored two goals for North America, which led 5-4 at the time. Detroit&rsquo;s Sergei Fedorov sparked the comeback by scoring the tying goal on a pretty play with four minutes left in the game while playing on an allRussian unit. World coach Bowman decided to go with the all-comrade combination in the waning minutes and put Alexei Yashin between Fedorov and Alexei Zhamnov. Sergei Gonchar and Alexei Zhitnik (a Ukrainian) were paired on the blueline and Khabibulin was the formidable last line of defense.A couple minutes after Fedorov&rsquo;s goal, Vancouver&rsquo;s Markus Naslund connected for the winner and Zhamnov and Kapanen added insurance goals.&#9633; Thanks to Jeremy Roenick, the All-Star Game was a one-hitter. The Philadelphia center nailed Buffalo&rsquo;s Zhitnik in the first period, marking the second time in four years Roenick has clobbered Zhitnik in an All-Star Game. Zhitnik was also a J.R. victim in 1999 in Tampa Bay Roenick said he wasn&rsquo;t targetting Zhitnik and the Sabre said he harbors no grudge. &ldquo;Nothing really serious happened,&rdquo; Zhitnik said.&ldquo;As long as it&rsquo;s on the highlights, I&rsquo;m fine.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011794/8007548-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="1895" height="3647"><figcaption class="caption-body">TIP OF THE HAP&nbsp;Sami Kapanen is the latest incarnation of the &lsquo;Finnish Flash &lsquo;after posting the fastest time in the skills competition.</figcaption></div><h2>World thrills at NHL skills</h2>World domination was one of the themes at NHL all-star weekend. Players from the World team bettered players from North America 12-11 in the skills competition the night before stealing the All-Star Game. Carolina&rsquo;s Sami Kapanen (fastest skater) and Detroit&rsquo;s Sergei Fedorov (hardest shot) won the glamor events. The top three finishers are listed on the right, followed by the all-time record-holder. (See pg. 36for full skills competition results.) &#9632;

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FEATURES

Time to open up, get offensive

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011889/8007245-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">No, goalies Jose Theodore, Patrick Roy and Sean Burke are not plotting strategy for Team Canada II. It&rsquo;s just a meeting of North America&rsquo;s best at the All-Star Game.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Three at home

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021512/8007276-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="288" height="349"><figcaption class="caption-body">Editor&rsquo;s Notebook Jason Kay Managing Editor</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&ndash;When Gary Bettman stepped onto the ice at Staples Center following the NHL All-Star Game, he was greeted with an obligatory chorus of &ldquo;boos,&rdquo; but they may just as well have been &ldquo;baahs.&rdquo; Sheeplike jeering of authority figures isn&rsquo;t unusual and Bettman has been a subject of blind unfaith for much of his time as NHL commissioner.Take a step back from the pack mentality, however and, even if you don&rsquo;t often agree with Bettman&rsquo;s policies and decisions, you have to appreciate the job he does.Since coming over from the NBA in 1993, Bettman has worked hard to shed the &ldquo;non-hockey guy&rdquo; image-and has had decent results. He&rsquo;s approachable, direct, quick with the facts and, when all else fails, can put a spin on things that would put Meadowlark Lemon to shame.During a news conference the day prior to the All-Star Game, Bettman spoke in glowing terms of the state of the NHL, then had to put out a small fire set by Mario Lemieux earlier in the day when &lsquo;Le Magnifique&rsquo; said the NHL &ldquo;still has a long way to go&rdquo; to open up the game.A well-prepared Bettman proudly defended the NHL&rsquo;s image. &ldquo;Acutally, what Mario said with respect to opening the game up, I believe his exact words were, &lsquo;We&rsquo;ve come a long way.&rsquo;&rdquo;And Bettman was right. Those were five of his exact words-never mind that Lemieux&rsquo;s point is the game needs an injection of excitement (see pg. 8 for more).Bettman followed up his stance with a slew of statistics when asked about the dearth of goalscoring. &ldquo;We are down 218 goals in 809 games,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That amounts to one goal every 3.7 games&hellip;This isn&rsquo;t just about goalscoring for the sake of goal-scoring. Seventy per cent of our games are decided by two goals or less&hellip;Seventy-five per cent of the actual playing time of our games is either tied or one-goal differential. We&rsquo;re having some very competitive, close games.&rdquo;Let&rsquo;s see&hellip;218, 809,1,3.7, 70 and 75 per cent. It all adds up to preparedness, even if it is a dizzying barage.Bettman spun similarly shiny views on:The compressed schedule. &ldquo;It amounts to one additional game every 13 weeks-I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re having a compression issue.&rdquo;&#9633; The new NBA TV contract with ESPN. &ldquo;ESPN has been consistently telling me&hellip;there&rsquo;s great opportunity for cross-promotion.&rdquo;&#9633; Sharing a weekend with the Super Bowl. &ldquo;We are unaffacted&hellip;I could count on one hand the number of guests we may have lost.&rdquo;&#9633; Judging by his ability to count and counter, we&rsquo;re guessing Bettman hasn&rsquo;t lost too many debates, either. &#9632;

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Love or hate his policies, Bettman deserves respect

<div class="byline">-Rob Mueller</div>Goalie Sandy Allan of the East Coast League&rsquo;s Pee Dee Pride is recovering in hospital after falling from a second-story balcony of his hotel on Super Bowl SundayThe 28-year-old native of Nassau, Bahamas, who grew up in Toronto, spent three days on a respirator and a medicated coma while in critical condition after suffering severe head trauma in the Feb. 3 fall.He was taken off the respirator Feb. 6 in a Fort Myers, Fla., hospital and started breathing on his own. He lapsed in and out of consciousness and has responded to questions from doctors and family, although he had yet to initiate any conversation.Doctors said Feb. 6 he could be moved out of ICU by Feb. 10 and may be transferred to a hospital in Florence, S.C, or Toronto.According to police reports, Allan was watching the Super Bowl at the hotel bar when the bartender stopped serving him. He reportedly was returning to his room from the bar when the accident happened.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard 10 different stories,&rdquo; said Pee Dee senior vice-president Jack Capuano. &ldquo;Our biggest concern is Sandy. The good news is doctors are optimistic.&rdquo;Allan is one of the ECHL&rsquo;s winningest goalies the past six seasons. &#9632;

Goalie Allan recovering after fall from balcony

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011841/8007355-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">It looks worse than it is&nbsp;DalePurinton of the Rangers and Islander Jim Cummins trade punches in a Jan. 30 bout. Despite several high-profile incidents this season, fighting is actually down from last year.</figcaption></div><h2>Rivals Rangers, Islanders go to war</h2>There is a lot of love in New York these days. But there&rsquo;s no love lost between the Rangers and Islanders.That was never more evident than on Jan. 30, when the teams engaged in a fight-filled game that produced 172 penalty minutes. The visiting Isles took a 4-0 first period lead, so the embarrassed Rangers apparently decided if they couldn&rsquo;t beat them on the ice, they&rsquo;d beat them in the alley. Included among the many fights were a couple of line brawls and a rare Alexei Yashin bout, against Tomas Kloucek (Decision: Kloucek). With time running out, Dale Purinton (6-foot-3,214 pounds) of the Rangers took an unprovoked sucker shot at Jason Blake (5-foot-10,185), for which he received a three-game suspension. NHL senior vice-president Colin Campbell said both team&rsquo;s received a call from the league. telling them to cool it.&ldquo;Crazy things happen when you have rivalries,&rdquo; Campbell said. &ldquo;We promote rivalries. I&rsquo;d actually like to see more games scheduled between rivals and teams in the same division. From a selfish point of view, games between rivals make my job harder. Players tend to do things (chicken dance, flexing biceps at the bench) that normal adults don&rsquo;t do. You have to tell them, when it hits a certain point, &lsquo;Cut it out!&rsquo; But that&rsquo;s hard to do.&rdquo;In four meetings this year the Islanders and Rangers have averaged 86 penalty minutes per outing-30 more than the league average.The bottom line? &ldquo;Players need to be responsible and accountable,&rdquo; said Campbell.The Rangers and Islanders play once more this season, March 25 at Madison Square Garden.Remember boys, Big Brother will be watching.<h2>Fighting up&hellip;slightly</h2>No need to press panic buttonDon&rsquo;t be fooled by the brawls you&rsquo;ve witnessed this season-Calgary vs. Anaheim, Rangers vs. Islanders, Andrei Nazarov vs. anyone who will fight him-fighting is up, but only marginally.After 835 games there were 1,109 fighting majors, an average of 1.3 per game, or about.65 fights per contest. Last year, there were 944 fighting majors after 835 games (1.1 per game), or.55 fights per game.Why is fighting up this year? Is the compacted scheduled making players grouchier? Or, as one GM suggested, is it because,&rdquo;Mike Keenan&rsquo;s back in the league.&rdquo;He was joking&hellip;we think.Keenan&rsquo;s Florida Panthers led the league with 85 fighting majors, 26 more than the second-place Boston Bruins who had 59. Calgary is third with 53.Detroit had the fewest fighting majors, 15.Nazarov, who started with the Bruins but was traded to Phoenix, leads all fighters with 23 majors.<h2>THN ONE-TIMERS</h2>Being Mormon no ticket to Utah for Wild&rsquo;s GaveyMinnesota right winger Aaron Gavey may be the only Mormon in the NHL, but his religious beliefs weren&rsquo;t enough to earn him a trip to Utah as part of Team Canada. &ldquo;They said I could come, but I had to pay my own way,&rdquo; joked Gavey, who has five goals in 52 games this year. Gavey was raised Mormon, though he&rsquo;s not a regular at church because the NHL schedule makes it difficult to attend Sunday service. The biggest misconception about the Mormon religion, Gavey said,&rdquo;is the eight wives thing.&rdquo; For the record, Gavey has just one wife, Jennifer, and the couple has one son, Josh.THE REAL BRENT SOPEL Oops. Last week on this page we reported on Vancouver defenseman Brent Sopel&rsquo;s scoring exploits, but incorrectly ran a photo of Jason Strudwick with the feature. Sorry, Brent&hellip; Theoren Fleury of the Rangers throws a lot of punches and hands out his share of face washes in scrums, but do you know how many fighting majors he has had in his 14-year-career?One. That&rsquo;s right, just one&hellip;Apackof reporters is gathered arouna Boston&rsquo;s Joe Thornton on all-star weekend when a voice booms out from behind the crowd. The journalists turn around to see a man holding a camcorder. Behind the lens is Philadelphia&rsquo;s Jeremy Roenick. A quick exchange follows. Roenick: &ldquo;Oh my god, it&rsquo;s Joe Thornton!&rdquo; Thornton, laughing: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re gonna play some &lsquo;J.R. hockey&rsquo; tonight.&rdquo; Roenick: &ldquo;This is what it&rsquo;s like when you&rsquo;re a big stud in this league. All you kids in America, this is what you want to grow up and look like.&rdquo; Thornton, still laughing: &ldquo;Get out of here.&rdquo;&hellip;St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger says he&rsquo;ll go to Salt Lake City with a take-no-prisoners mentality, even if an opponent is a fellow Blue. &ldquo;What if I injure them and win the gold medal? You gotta win.&rdquo; Still with Pronger, he was asked to describe Team USA captain Chris Chelios in one word. &ldquo;Dirty,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

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Give peace a chance

<div class="byline">By Scott Burnside</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012050/8007386-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Kariya Team Canada (Bruce Bernett/BBS)</figcaption></div>They are there, waiting patiently in the shadows cast by the giants of the game. Lesser lights or once-bright lights waiting for their chance to carve out their place in Olympic history, to create a moment that will entrance an entire nation.In an Olympic tournament that boasts the finest players in the world, the term &ldquo;dark horse&rdquo; is a misnomer. But among the rosters of the top seven teams there are players who may be overlooked by the media and fans, but who have it within themselves to make a mark, to become an Olympic hero.Here then, in alphabetical order, are 10 heroes in waiting:Pavol Demitra, C, Slovakia Mark this down. Slovakia will earn a berth in the main Olympic tournament and they will shock one of the elite teams. When they do, don&rsquo;t be surprised if it&rsquo;s Demitra who plays a critical role. After a dismal 2000-01 that saw him play only 44 games, Demitra is back in top form, battling with Keith Tkachuk for the Blues&rsquo; scoring lead.Jiri Dopita, C, Czech Republic A Philadelphia writer earlier this season described the 6-foot-3, 213-pound Dopita as a fifth line center. But the 33-year-old first-year NHLer, considered one of the best players outside the NHL last season, is starting to earn his NHL stripes. Dopita is a seasoned international competitor having played in seven world championships, earning three gold medals. He outdistanced Jaromir Jagr as the most valuable Czech player last year and on a team that stresses system beyond personality, Dopita will shine.Phil Housley, D, USA If there is one glaring weakness on the American squad, it is along their aged blueline. And while Housley does not bring the physical game of Canada&rsquo;s Rob Blake or the completeness of Sweden&rsquo;s Nicklas Lidstrom, the soon-to-be 38-year-old will be integral to American chances.A veteran of 19 NHL seasons and the all-time leading scorer among American-born NHLers, Housley has enjoyed a renaissance under Brian Sutter in Chicago, where the Blackhawks own the NHL&rsquo;s second-best record and where Housley is averaging almost 22 minutes a game.He will be counted on to mastermind the American power play. Housley&rsquo;s soft hands and great vision will be a critical element of any American success.Jani Hurme, G, Finland Hurme is the David facing the Goliaths of world goaltending. Of the six teams given a pass through the preliminary round, Finland is the only country whose goaltender is not the No. 1 netminder on his NHL team. Hurme had played only 19 games with Ottawa. The Finns figure to be longshots to advance in the medal round. Yet teammates Sami Kapanen and Janne Niinimaa both said they feel Hurme, who boasts a.913 save percentage and was one of the top shootout goalies in the International League, matches up better than people might think over a short tournament.Paul Kariya, RW, Canada Kariya, along with long-time linemate and close friend Teemu Selanne, has fallen into some sort of abyss. A groin injury kept him out of the 1996 World Cup and a concussion prevented him from playing in Nagano-and likely cost Canada a medal-in 1998. But there is every reason to believe these Olympic Games will be a tonic for the quiet, focussed Kariya. The Ducks were on a roll heading into the break and Kariya has come on to score 22 goals. Nobody is more passionate about playing for his country and the larger international ice surface suits his game well.Igor Larionov, c, Russia The Russians surprised many with a silver medal in Nagano and may boast the most talented team in Salt Lake City. They are also the team most likely to suffer a massive, collective mental meltdown, as evidenced by their 11th-place finish on home ice at the 2000 worlds. At 41, Larionov is the oldest player in the NHL, but he is by no means a token addition. &lsquo;The Professor&rsquo; remains a skilled playmaker and his presence will help stabilize the team.Chris Pronger, D, Canada Despite earning both the Hart and Norris Trophies in 2000, Pronger has yet to fulfill his promise in critical situations, showing a lack of discipline in playoff losses to San Jose and Colorado the past two seasons. After a slow start, Pronger is producing another Norris-like season and St. Louis GM Larry Pleau says the Dryden, Ont., native is playing his best hockey. Pronger must deliver at both ends if Canada is to capitalize on the strongest defensive corps in the tournament.Brian Rolston, c, USA Quietly, the native of Flint, Mich., has developed into one of the best two-way players in the NHL. A former Olympian (1994) and a Stanley Cup champion (New Jersey, 1995), Rolston will be counted on to provide leadership while killing penalties and on the power play, where his cannon-like shot will almost certainly be employed from the point. He ranks second in the league this season in shots taken.Teemu Selanne, RW, FinlandStifled in Darryl Sutter&rsquo;s defense-first system in San Jose, the three-time NHL leader in goals seems lost with a mere 16 goals and 32 points in 54 games. But given free reign in the Finnish offense, Selanne tied for the tournament scoring lead in Nagano with countryman Saku Koivu.Selanne will carry an additional burden if the Finns are to medal for the fourth time in five Olympics. If the Finns, described by Vancouver writer Tony Gallagher as being criminally disorganized, are to get their act together, they will do so only with Selanne leading the way.Mats Sundin, C, Sweden The Swedes were medal favorites heading into Nagano in 1998, but went bust. Now, without Peter Forsberg, they appear poised once again for a non-medal finish. But coach Hardy Nilsson and GM Anders Hedberg must be delighted with the play of Toronto captain Mats Sundin, Sweden&rsquo;s only natural center with Forsberg out. Sundin has taken a more selfish approach to his game, driving to the net more frequently, using a deceptively hard shot and wicked backhand with great success. Some are talking Hart Trophy; Sundin is talking gold medal. &#9633; &#9632;

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10 dark horse Olympic heroes

<div class="byline">-Alan Adams</div>The women&rsquo;s hockey field consists of eight teams, but everyone knows it&rsquo;s a battle between Canada and the U.S. for the gold medal.The Americans are the defending Olympic champions, having beaten Canada 3-1 in the 1998 gold medal game in Nagano. The Canadians, meanwhile, have won every women&rsquo;s world championship ever held-seven.Here are a couple heroes in waiting:Caroline Ouellette, F, Canada Simply put, Ouellette is a big woman-she&rsquo;s 5-foot-11 before she dons skates and shoulder pads. And she uses her size as an asset, especially in the corners and in front of the net. She&rsquo;s difficult to move near the crease and loves to screen goalies. Ouellette, 22, has good hands, which she uses to shovel in rebounds.Tricia Dunn, F, United States Every team has its muckers and Dunn, 27, can take her place with the best of them. She&rsquo;s a workhorse along the boards and is one of the fastest skaters on Team USA. The ultimate reward for a player of her ability is to be on the ice late in the game protecting a lead and that&rsquo;s where you&rsquo;ll find her. &#9632;

Of ice and women

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04486/8007462-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg"></div><h2>Best of the Hockey World</h2>READY FOR OLYMPICS Anaheim&rsquo;s Paul Kariya celebrates his 500th NHL game by notching his seventh career hat trick in a 5-4 win over the Flyers.CAPTAIN CANUCK Vancouver&rsquo;s super Swede, Markus Naslund, registers points (21) in 13 of 14 games to spark the Canucks&rsquo; rise in the Western Conference.SCORING STAR Atlanta&rsquo;s 18-year-old sensation Ilya Kovalchuk lights up the YoungStars Game with six goals-and he passed once, too, earning an assist.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021366/8007455-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="376" height="633"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ilya Kovalchuk</figcaption></div><h2>Worst of the Hockey World</h2>PLEASE BE SEATED Rangers defenseman Dale Purinton is suspended three games for sucker-punching Islanders forward Jason Blake.STARS IN THE DARK Whose brighter, not-so-bright idea was it to dress both teams in dark jerseys at the NHL All-Star Game?WHEELIN&rsquo; AND DEALIN&rsquo; ECHL senior vice-president Troy Ward issued 40 games in suspensions following a brawl between Atlantic City and Wheeling.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-05385/8007448-1-eng-US/f0006-052.jpg" title="f0006-05" width="1115" height="475"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03798/8007441-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="375" height="633"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dale Purinton</figcaption></div><div class="sidebar">For Mike Brophy&rsquo;s daily Cheers & Jeers visit <a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a> &#9632;</div>

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PLUS MINUS

Here&rsquo;s a simple answer that will stop the headaches the NHL is having with the Olympics: make hockey part of the Summer Games.But, you say, you can&rsquo;t play hockey in the summer! Last year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup was awarded in June.But, you say, it&rsquo;s a winter sport! The NBA season is entirely within the NHL&rsquo;s hockey season, yet basketball is played in the Summer Olympics.Move hockey to the summer and the problems disappear: the NHL&rsquo;s compressed schedule; the inanity of having an All Star Game 10 days before the Olympics; the best players would be available for every country; excuses, such as Patrick Roy&rsquo;s of resting for the playoffs, are irrelevant; players would be fully rested; and, you could have camps.Ward Mallon, Ottawa<h2>Ranger ways disgrace NHL</h2>It&rsquo;s amazing the Rangers&rsquo; antics continue to be overlooked.Among his many transgressions, Theoren Fleury allegedly accosts San Jose&rsquo;s mascot, gives the &ldquo;finger&rdquo; to Islander fans and smashes an opponent&rsquo;s stick. Sandy McCarthy does the chicken dance after losing a fight to Islander Eric Cairns. Dale Purinton sucker punches Jason Blake.I don&rsquo;t watch the NHL for WWF tactics. These players are an embarrassment to the game. If Mark Messier is such a great captain, he should sit these guys down and teach them some respect.I wasn&rsquo;t a fan of Cairns before these altercations, but I am now. He plays the way your dad taught you.Ed Caesar, Manhattan, N. Y.<h2>Thornton for Fleury</h2>Canada should dump Theoren Fleury and instead take Joe Thornton to the Olympics.Fleury&rsquo;s antics have been off the wall. Do you want him doing the chicken dance in Salt Lake?Joe Thornton is proving he belongs on Team Canada by being one of the best players in the NHL this year. So get rid of Fleury and buy Thornton a ticket!Shane Patey, Iqaluit, Nunavut<h2>Few are picked-but they should go</h2>As a member of the Canadian Forces, if I&rsquo;m picked to be deployed, I go. It&rsquo;s part of my job. So I think it&rsquo;s wrong for NHL stars to turn down the AllStar Game. Otherwise, it wouldn&rsquo;t be called the &ldquo;All-Star&rdquo; Game.Reg Luce, Halifax, N.S.So the All-Star Game didn&rsquo;t provide 60 minutes of competitive hockey? So a few stars didn&rsquo;t want to go? Big deal. There were still highlight-reel plays-and it had to be more entertaining than a Columbus-Minnesota game.Anthony Cugliari, TorontoHow much longer can Washington coach Ron Wilson hold on? The Caps are floundering and Jaromir Jagr is his sulky self. Time is running out for Wilson.James Altman, Imperial, PaWhy was Nikolai Khabibulin not named the All-Star Game MVP? All he did was stop all 20 shots in the third period while his team came back from a 5-3 deficit! Look out for Russia if Khabibulin has the same game at the Olympics.Stanley Yuzuk, Staten Island, N. Y.With both teams wearing dark jerseys, it was hard to figure out which team was which at the All-Star Game. The only way to verify the player was when the cameras showed close-ups. Go back to white and dark jerseys.Scott Pabish, Dunellen, N.J.<h2>READERS&rsquo; ONE-TIMERS</h2>This is your place for quick comments on current hockey events. Readers&rsquo; One-Timers accepts opinions of 60 words or less, so please be concise.<h2>Tie games beat out shootout</h2>Contrary to popular opinion, tie games are not a scourge on the NHL.A close game between two teams can be exciting. It&rsquo;s the blowout that&rsquo;s distasteful. A game where one team gets on top by a big score and stays there is only enjoyable to the most rabid fan of the winning team.The shootout, however, is not the answer. Rather, it&rsquo;s a cheesy way to decide tie games.Imagine the NFL deciding tie games with a punt, pass and kick contest, or baseball with a home run derby, or the NBA with a round of H-O-R-S-E.Deciding a team game with an individual skills competition leaves me feeling cheated.Dave Osborn, Vallejo, Calif.<h2>No real damage done</h2>This in response to &ldquo;Grace before gold,&rdquo; which expressed outrage at Team USA&rsquo;s behavior in Nagano in 1998. (THN, Feb. 8) Sure, it might have been inappropriate, but &ldquo;outraged&rdquo; was hardly how I felt. If Team USA is going to be denounced for breaking a few chairs (and not even hurting anybody) in a hotel room in Japan&ndash;a nation in which Americans died while fighting a war-then patriotism is in short supply.Matthew Kalinka, Buffalo<h2>Iginla, Sundin better MVP picks</h2>I disagree with your pick of Patrick Roy for mid-season MVP. (THN, Jan. 25)The award should go to the player who is most valuable to his team. Roy has done very well, but his attitude towards the Olympics illustrates his true character and shows that he is not a team player. He knew he wouldn&rsquo;t be the No. 1 goalie on Team Canada. Instead of accepting that and trying to help his country any way he could, he bowed out.Roy is a lucky man. But I wonder, would he have three Conn Smythe Trophies and 500-plus wins without great teams Montreal and Colorado?Team players such as Jarome Iginla, Mats Sundin and Nikolai Khabibulin are far more deserving of MVP honors.Tom Gidlow, Benson, N.C.<h2>Got something to say?</h2>MAIL: U.S.A.: Letters, THN, PO. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947.Canada: Letters, THN, 25 Sheppard Ave. W., Suite 100, Toronto, Ont., M2N 6S7E-Mail: <a href="mailto:rnccaigs@transcontinental.ca">rnccaigs@transcontinental.ca</a> or visit <a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">www.thehockeynews.com</a>. Include name, hometown, province/state and phone number. Submissions will be edited. &#9632;

Summer hockey solution

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011857/8007517-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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THE NHL SCORING RACE

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021388/8007628-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">1996 World Cup hero Mike Richter should get the starting job in goal for the U.S. despite his recent struggles. (Don Smith)</figcaption></div>We&rsquo;ve all heard the saying,&rdquo;You&rsquo;re only as good as your goaltending.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s true.There&rsquo;s no other position like it in hockey. A goalie can singlehandedly win a game. Just ask the members of Team Canada in the 1996 World Cup, who surely remember how Mike Richter stonewalled them in the deciding game. Many of the same Canadians were left in shock after Dominik Hasek shut the door on them at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano.And the biggest controversy on the road to Salt Lake City revolved around a goalie-Patrick Roy&rsquo;s announcement that he would not play for Canada. Roy&rsquo;s decision incited far more rage in Canadians, than, say, the omission of Joe Thornton or whether Theoren Fleury&rsquo;s emotional outbursts will end up costing Canada at the Games.Let&rsquo;s face it: it&rsquo;s the goalies who will be the difference between winning and losing in Salt Lake City.Barring an injury or unexpected development, we know who most of the starters will be. With the exception of Finland&rsquo;s Jani Hurme, the goalies expected to be the Olympic No. Is are NHL workhorses.Russia&rsquo;s Nikolai Khabibulin played 47 of Tampa Bay&rsquo;s first 55 games. The Czech Republic&rsquo;s Dominik Hasek was in net for 45 of Detroit&rsquo;s 56 games. Canada&rsquo;s Curtis Joseph started 47 of 55 games for Toronto. Sweden&rsquo;s Tommy Salo was 50-for-57 with Edmonton, while U.S. goalie Mike Richter started 42 of the first 56 games for the New York Rangers.Among that group, Hasek has the most international experience with 80 games. Salo follows with 62, then Richter with 35, Khabibulin 19 and Joseph 15.Here&rsquo;s a look at the goaltending situation for the seven teams in the medal hunt:CANADA Canada has arguably the best trio in Curtis Joseph, Martin Brodeur and Ed Belfour.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011906/8007635-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="164" height="194"></div>Belfour has been designated the No. 3 netminder, which means he can only be used if there is an emergency. That said, neither Joseph nor Brodeur have been especially sharp this season. At times they&rsquo;ve been mediocre. Joseph was sixth among Olympic-bound goalies with a.903 save percentage, followed by Brodeur at.901.While Joseph is seen as the No. 1, both he and Brodeur will play in the three-game round-robin portion of the tournament and whoever is the hottest come the playoff round gets the gig.CZECH REPUBLIC Four years ago, Dominik Hasek was the best goalie in the world. The Czechs knew it and they built their team around him. It was a soccer mentality on ice-play for a tie and win in a shootout.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03863/8007621-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="151" height="195"></div>This time, Hasek is one of the best netminders on the planet, but his shadow is not quite as imposing. Hasek goes to Salt Lake City second in save percentage (.917) and second in goals-against average (2.18).Either of Hasek&rsquo;s backups, Philadelphia&rsquo;s Roman Cechmanek and Calgary&rsquo;s Roman Turek, would be an adequate replacement in the event of an injury. The question is whether the Czechs would play a less confident game without Hasek behind them.FINLAND Ottawa&rsquo;s Jani Hurme is in for the time of his life. He has zero international experience and heads to Salt Lake City with fewer than 50 NHL games under his belt. But there&rsquo;s little pressure on the 27-year-old because the Finns are considered a notch below the top five contending teams, but ahead of Slovakia.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04586/8007614-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="154" height="196"></div>Hurme&rsquo;s main backup is Pasi Nurminen of Atlanta. Nurminen has only seen action in two games with the Thrashers, but he won a silver medal at the 2001 World Championship, where he finished with a 6-2-0 record, a 1.75 GAA and.938 save percentage.Jussi Markkanen of Edmonton will likely watch from the stands.RUSSIA Nikolai Khabibulin spent almost two seasons out of the NHL because of a contract dispute, but you&rsquo;d never know it to watch him now. Khabibulin is tied for first in save percentage (.929) in the NHL, an incredible accomplishment given the quality of his defense in Tampa Bay This obviously bodes well for Russia and there&rsquo;s a strong feeling that he&rsquo;s at least on level with Hasek as the goalie to beat.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-05427/8007607-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="162" height="198"></div>Khabibulin missed the 1998 Games in protest of his experience in Albertville, France, in 1992. He was the No. 3 goalie for the Unified Team that won the gold-but never got his medal. It was taken from him and handed to coach Viktor Tikhonov instead.But if Khabibulin gets hurt, the Russians have no established backup to take over. Anaheim prospect Ilya Bryzgalov, an AHLer, is expected to be named to the team after Evgeni Nabokov was ruled ineligible, while Russian Leaguer Yegor Podomatsky is also on the roster.SLOVAKIA It was at last year&rsquo;s world championship that Slovak coach Jan File said his country was paying the price for not developing goalies. His comments were not a direct criticism of starter Jan Lasak, but they give an indication of where Slovakia stands compared to the rest of the world in terms of goalie depth.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-06325/8007600-1-eng-US/f0010-062.jpg" title="f0010-06" width="158" height="190"></div>Lasak plays for Milwaukee in the American League and has &lsquo;plenty of work left to do before cracking an NHL roster.He does have international experience, however, and he has proved that he can win big games. He led Slovakia to a bronze medal performance at the 1999 World Junior Championship in Winnipeg and to the silver medal at the 2000 World Championship in Russia.SWEDEN Tommy Salo likes lots of work and that&rsquo;s exactly what he&rsquo;ll get. He&rsquo;ll see every minute of action from the time Sweden plays its first game against Canada until they go home.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-07232/8007593-1-eng-US/f0010-072.jpg" title="f0010-07" width="149" height="189"></div>Salo remains one of the most underrated goalies in the NHL and the one intangible he has is Olympic experience. He backstopped Sweden to gold in 1994.&lsquo;Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Johan Hedberg is a more than capable backup.UNITED STATES Goaltending is definitely an issue as the U.S. prepares to host its third Games since 1960. Mike Richter has been in a tailspin over the past two months and his game is plagued by inconsistency.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-08176/8007586-1-eng-US/f0010-082.jpg" title="f0010-08" width="146" height="190"></div>The would-be No. 2 man on the depth chart, Carolina&rsquo;s Tom Barrasso, has also struggled. The only bright spot is Mike Dunham of Nashville, who was among the first players named to the team last spring and finally has his game back on track after a slow start.Team USA coach Herb Brooks has not yet tipped his hat about who his No. 1 goalie will be. The safe bet is thre veteran Richter, but if he shows any signs of faltering, look for Dunham to get the call. &#9632;</div>

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Elite goalies battle for gold

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011859/8007666-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">New scoring champion?&nbsp;Boston&rsquo;s Joe Thornton knows goals are something to get excited about now more than ever. The 22-year-old center is one of just eight NHLers on pace for 80-pluspoints.</figcaption></div>THE HISTORY OF THE MENS&rsquo; TEAM CANADA HOCKEY JERSEY &#9632;

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Who Wants It?

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Contributing Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011699/8007718-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Like old times Chicago&rsquo;s Stan Mikita, battling Detroit defenseman Bill Gadsby, was the last player to win the scoring title with fewer than 90 points. That was in 1967-68. It could happen again.</figcaption></div>So this is what they call a scoring race. That&rsquo;s good to know. Like an old-fashioned straight-bladed stick, we haven&rsquo;t seen the real thing in a long, long while.Oh, there has been the odd interesting duel. Jaromir Jagr and Joe Sakic battled into the final week last year before Jagr prevailed by three points. It was Jagr by two points over Pavel Bure the previous season. And in lockout-shortened 1994-95, Jagr and Eric Lindros tied, though Jagr took home the Art Ross because he had more goals.But those were mostly two-man battles. Even then they are exceptions. Of Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s five titles, the second-place finisher was never closer than eight points behind. When Wayne Gretzky won seven straight from 1981-1987, his average margin of victory was 66 points.This season is a whole new bag of pucks. Fewer are going in the net, but it&rsquo;s a fine battle all the same. We&rsquo;re weeks away from watching what should be the tightest dash to the finish in modern NHL history.Heading into the Olympic break, there are some 30 players within 12 points of the lead. Since 1967-68 expansion, the smallest end-of-season distance between the top scorer and the 10th overall scorer was 17 points, in 1994-95. That&rsquo;s about to change. Calgary right winger Jarome Iginla, Vancouver left winger Markus Naslund and Boston center Joe Thornton are the only players to have held the scoring lead since the end of October and no one has been able to pull away from the heel-biting pack.Said Colorado center Joe Sakic: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even know who&rsquo;s in the pack.&rdquo;The answer: Everyone you wouldn&rsquo;t expect. This eclectic mix of playmakers, power forwards and slick shooters include a 22-year-old, Thornton, and two 39-year-olds, Adam Oates and Ron Francis. The pack includes two players, Sami Kapanen and Glen Murray, so anonymous they&rsquo;d need nametags at the NHL awards gala.It also features some rich trivia possibilities. Next autumn, as poolies get together with sharpened pencils and wits in time for the 2002-03 season-the first one in 22 years, it says here, when the defending scoring champ will not be Gretzky, Lemieux or Jagr-they could be asking, &lsquo;Who is the NHL Art Ross Trophy winner who was traded for the Alek Stojanov?That would be Naslund, from Pittsburgh to the Canucks in 1996.Or, should St. Louis stay hot, how about: What GM in 1996 traded a future Art Ross winner (Pavol Demitra) for, er, Christer Olsson?Er, that would be you, Pierre Gauthier.There are at least five other players-Iginla, Brendan Shanahan, Mats Sundin and Bill Guerin among them-who have more goals than assists for much of the season and will likely finish that way. No Art Ross winner has been more scorer than helper since Bobby Hull in 1965-66.&ldquo;Nobody seems to have really gotten out to the year you thought they&rsquo;d have,&rdquo; Sakic said. &ldquo;You look at anybody up there, anybody who has a good stretch can do it&hellip;It&rsquo;s a funny year.&rdquo;Even more so because of who isn&rsquo;t leading: Lemieux and Jagr.The Hockey News set up the expected battle with our Nov. 9 cover asking: &ldquo;Who would you pick?&rdquo; But because of injuries to the two stars, it hasn&rsquo;t materialized.Even though he has the best points-per-game in the league at 1.33, Lemieux would need to average close to three points per game and play in every game postOlympics to have a shot. He doesn&rsquo;t.Jagr, the wounded four-time defending champ, is more of a threat, lurking just off the radar screen with 46 points in 43 games. &ldquo;If Jagr&rsquo;s only 14 behind, that&rsquo;s pretty good for him,&rdquo; Sakic said. &ldquo;He can do that in three weeks.&rdquo; Naslund, for his part, likes Sakic. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if Sakic turns it on in the second half and gets up there,&rdquo; Naslund said. &ldquo;I think he would be my pick.&rdquo;The secondary question is whether anyone can turn it on enough to avoid being the lowest-scoring leader in three decades.Based on points per game, and assuming he will play all remaining games, Iginla was on pace to hit 88 points. That will be the lowest total since Stan Mikita bested all challengers with 87 points in 1967-68, which came in a 74-game season.Incredibly, just eight players are on pace to reach even 80 points.Scoring has sunk to such a sluggish level that Sakic can go a career high 18 games without a goal and still be within striking distance.It&rsquo;s even possible Gretzky&rsquo;s 163 assists in 1985-86 could be more than double anyone&rsquo;s points this season. Remember, goals are tougher to come by in the stretch drive.And it remains to be seen who will have the advantage following the Olympics: Salt Lake City participants who at least return with their timing intact to go with their dog-tired legs; or players such as Oates who get a two-week layoff to rest and rust.&ldquo;Look at teams that have a couple players (in the race to help each other out),&rdquo; suggests Boston GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell. &ldquo;It also depends on the system the team is playing. Vancouver is playing a pretty wide-open style right now.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021186/8007711-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="637" height="977"><figcaption class="caption-body">Markus Naslund Vancouver Canucks</figcaption></div>Sakic insists players don&rsquo;t pace themselves; they can&rsquo;t afford to. But perhaps coaches are doing it for them and that might account for part of the drop. Sakic, Alexei Zhamnov and Peter Bondra are the only top-30 scorers averaging 22-plus minutes a game. In Jagr&rsquo;s last three years in Pittsburgh, he averaged 25:51, 23:12 and 23:19.No matter the cause, the 100-point mark, once reached by such notables as Bob MacMillan (108 points, Atlanta, 197879), John Ogrodnick (105, Detroit, 1984-85) and Mike Bullard (103, Calgary, 198788) is depressingly out of reach.Ask O&rsquo;Connell who he sees bursting from the pack and he says, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anyone can.&rdquo; The players insist the Art Ross Trophy isn&rsquo;t something they&rsquo;re gunning for anyway. Not yet.&ldquo;Just getting the Bruins back to the playoffs is my goal,&rdquo; Thornton said.Circumstances being what they are, maybe the NHL should change the name of the award to the Endurance Ross, in honor of the ship Endurance commanded by famed Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. In 1914, Shackleton and crew were forced to abandon ship after getting stuck in an ice pack.Closing ice-there&rsquo;s something today&rsquo;s top players know all too well. Endurance, far more than Artistry, is what this year&rsquo;s scoring champ will need most of all. &#9633;<h2>Colorado&rsquo;s Joe Sakic</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03868/8007704-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="308" height="509"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04721/8007697-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="3173" height="695"></div><div class="sidebar">If Jagr&rsquo;s only 14 behind, that&rsquo;s pretty good. He can do that in three weeks. &#9632;</div>

f0013-01

Race is on for the Ross

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021392/8007756-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="622" height="2533"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011840/8007763-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="220" height="222"></div>St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger leads the NHL in average ice time per game (29:04), but Islanders blueliner Adrian Aucoin owns five of the top eight single-game highs, including 40:13 in a 6-6 tie with Florida Feb. 4. Florida&rsquo;s Pavel Bure leads all forwards, averaging 25:22. Listed are each team&rsquo;s leading defenseman and forward in average ice time per game.<h2>Team-by-team Ice Time Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03963/8007749-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="1203" height="1369"><figcaption class="caption-body">Center Jason Allison is the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; leading scorer as well as their ice time leader among forwards.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-02

Pronger gets most ice, but Aucoin catching up

<div class="byline">-Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04665/8007794-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="218" height="250"></div>When the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim return to action following the Olympic break, they hope to have erstwhile first-line center Steve Rucchin in the lineup for the first time since Nov. 11&hellip;It was that night, in a 2-2 tie with visiting Dallas, that Rucchin suffered a stress fracture of his left tibia when struck with a slap shot.An injury that originally figured to sideline him only for a few weeks turned into a much lengthier process when rest and rehabilitation did not mend the bone. Rucchin wound up undergoing surgery Dec. 21.Rucchin, who had four goals and 11 points in 17 games before being hurt, played in only 16 games last season because of a broken hand and concussionlike symptoms that resulted when a deflected shot off the stick of ex-teammate Teemu Selanne struck him in the jaw.&ldquo;Hopefully, he can help us down the stretch,&rdquo; said Ducks coach Bryan Murray. &ldquo;Hopefully, we can win some games with him in the lineup. For him, I think it&rsquo;s just important that he feel good about getting through the balance of the year. If he could play the last 20 or so games, I think for him more than anything, it&rsquo;ll be a chance to kind of feel good about himself.&rdquo;Rucchin, 30, is in the final season of a contract that pays him $2.55 million this year. With Rucchin being another year away from unrestricted free agency, Anaheim will retain his rights after this season, but seeing a healthy Rucchin on the ice would no doubt ease the process of resigning him.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s an NHL player,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;People like that, unless there&rsquo;s something awfully wrong and awfully strange, you have to re-sign them. It&rsquo;s not my decision, but NHL players are hard to get in this day and age.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Right winger Paul Kariya celebrated his 500th NHL game with his seventh career hat trick in a 5-4 victory over visiting Philadelphia Feb. 6&hellip;Defenseman Ruslan Salei opted against playing for Belarus in a Feb. 11 Olympic qualifying game against France because it would have meant Belarus could not have replaced him on the roster for its other two games during the qualifying round&hellip;After playing a hectic schedule of 13 games in 22 days leading up to the all-star break and 30 games in a 57-day span from Dec. 5 to Jan. 30, the Ducks were set to play their final 25 games over a 68-day stretch. &#9632;

f0014-04

Hard-luck Rucchin hopes to get back

<div class="byline">-Jeff Schultz</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05450/8007825-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="220" height="271"></div>The emergence of rookie goalie Pasi Nurminen could force the Atlanta Thrashers into an interesting roster situation once the oft-injured and erratic Damian Rhodes returns from injured reserve.Rhodes is expected to be back following the Olympic break from a groin strain that has kept him sidelined since Jan. 11.But Nurminen, a sixth-round draft pick last June, has been impressive in the early stages of his NHL career. The native of Finland stopped 25 of 28 shots off the bench in a loss to Toronto in his debut, then made 39 saves in a 3-2 win over Edmonton in his first start.Nurminen rehabbed from knee surgery for the first few months of this season before reporting to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, where he posted back-to-back shutouts.Nurminen said of his first start,&rdquo;I wasn&rsquo;t nervous at all. I felt comfortable.&rdquo;No celebration?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s only one game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to get too excited. It means trouble for me.&rdquo;Nurminen, 26, spent the past three seasons in Finland&rsquo;s elite league with HPK Hameenlinna and Jokerit Helsinki.Rhodes has one year left on his contract at $2.75 million. If the Thrashers are able to work out a trade, they likely would have to pick up a significant portion of his salaryNOTEBOOK The 3-2 win over Edmonton Feb. 5 moved Atlanta out of the 30th position in the standings. The had sat in last place for 87 days, starting after a 3-0 loss to Washington Nov. 10&hellip;After scoring one goal in a span of seven games, rookie left winger Ilya Kovalchuk scored 13 in an 18-game stretch&hellip;Center Ray Ferraro ended a 16-game goal slump when he scored with two seconds left in a 3-3 tie with New Jersey. &ldquo;I went 18 games once in Hartford,&rdquo; Ferraro said. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t going to shave until I scored and I ended up growing a full beard. That&rsquo;s why I have a hockey card with a full beard.&rdquo;&hellip;Slumping Patrik Stefan was moved from center back to left wing, where he started the season&hellip;Right winger Jeff Odgers, hardly a scoring machine in his career, had three goals in eight games after returning from a broken ankle. &#9632;

f0014-05

Hot rookie Nurminen proving he belongs

<div class="byline">-Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06354/8007856-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="221" height="259"></div>It was such a quiet, consistent streak that hardly anyone except Jozef Stumpel&rsquo;s wingers seemed to notice.The 29-year-old center, obtained by Boston with right winger Glen Murray in the Oct. 24 trade of Jason Allison and Mikko Eloranta to Los Angeles, struggled early in his second stint as a Bruin. But from Dec. 26 through Feb. 5, Stumpel produced as steadily as anyone on the team with four goals and 22 points over 21 games.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really know why,&rdquo; said Stumpel, who managed just one assist in his first eight games after the trade. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s probably just a time where everything&rsquo;s going right, everything&rsquo;s going in.&rdquo;Not much went in for Stumpel, but that was understandable: He took only 29 shots over the 21-game stretch. In seven of the games he didn&rsquo;t take any shots at all, and in six others he only shot once.Coach Robbie Ftorek, who moved Stumpel off a line with Martin Lapointe and Bill Guerin and onto a unit with Sergei Samsonov and Murray (the latter two had been Joe Thornton&rsquo;s wingers) in the midst of the streak, wasn&rsquo;t complaining.&ldquo;(Shooting) is not his first priority,&rdquo; Ftorek said. &ldquo;Sometimes that&rsquo;s a fault, but he knows what he&rsquo;s doing out there. He&rsquo;s had success at it, so I&rsquo;m not going to change it. He&rsquo;s pretty sharp.&rdquo;Stumpel hoped to maintain that edge through a busy February. Given permission to leave the team for a day between games, he planned to play a Feb. 10 Olympic qualifying game for Slovakia in Salt Lake City. With the Bruins playing Feb. 8,11 and 12, it meant four games in five days.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Gord Murphy, signed through the rest of the season Jan. 29, was a busy man. After playing his first NHL game since last April 6 with Atlanta Jan. 30 at Montreal, the 34-year-old blueliner played four games in five nights: Two were with Boston&rsquo;s AHL affiliate at Providence, R.I., followed by back-to-back appearances for Boston Feb. 45&hellip;Right winger Martin Lapointe missed his first game of the season Feb. 5 against Buffalo because of a tight hamstring. &#9632;

f0014-06

Stumpel emerges after slow beginning

<div class="byline">-Bucky Gleason</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021194/8007887-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="509" height="1160"><figcaption class="caption-body">LONE STAR Alexei Zhitnik leads Buffalo in assists-27 as of Feb. 7&ndash;and was the only Sabre at the All-Star Game. But he may have wished he stayed at home after being on the receiving end of the game&rsquo;s only hit, delivered by Jeremy Roenick. (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011679/8007894-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="219" height="254"></div>The Sabres&rsquo; success for years revolved around their goaltending and this season is no different. Martin Biron, considered the main source of their early problems for the first two months, has since become part of the solution.Biron has overcome a difficult start and appeared to be coming into his own while going 7-4-2 with a 2.20 goals-against average and.929 save percentage in January.&ldquo;You can look back at that whole stretch and you don&rsquo;t see a lot of goals &lsquo;you&rsquo;d like to have back,&rdquo; said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.&ldquo;His save percentage during that stretch was right up at the top of the league. That gives us a chance to win every night. If Marty continues to play like that, I think we are a playoff team.&rdquo;Biron struggled through the first half of the season. He allowed too many soft goals in crucial situations and his defense did riot play well around him. The result was a Buffalo team lacking the confidence and stability it had for years when six-time Vezina Trophy winner Dominik Hasek stood guard.Biron went nearly a month without a win and allowed more than two goals six times in 10 games in December. He began picking up the pieces before the all-star break and allowed two goals or fewer 10 times in a 12-game stretch since Jan. 6.&ldquo;I can feel I&rsquo;m moving better and I&rsquo;m seeing the puck better,&rdquo; Biron said. &ldquo;But I didn&rsquo;t change any thing.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Defenseman Richard Smehlik was inserted back into the lineup after he was scratched for three games based on poor play&hellip;Captain Stu Barnes has started wearing a visor after he was struck above the eye with a puck Jan. 31&hellip;Left winger Erik Rasmussen returned Feb. 5 after missing seven games with deep bruise just above his left knee&hellip;Left winger Slava Kozlov was expected to have a splint removed from his left leg. He could be ready after the Olympic break after suffering a severed Achilles. &#9632;

f0015-02

Biron starts to fill Hasek’s skates and has Sabres thinking playoffs

<div class="byline">-Mike Board</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03835/8007925-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="220" height="247"></div>If nothing else, Flames head coach Greg Gilbert isn&rsquo;t afraid to make bold decisions.His latest was to strip the captaincy from veteran Dave Lowry, a move that gravely disappointed Lowry and surprised the rest of the dressing room.The C-section, which also involved naming defenseman Bob Boughner and center Craig Conroy co-captains, occurred right after the all-star break as the Flames headed into an important five-game stretch of games against Western Conference teams.Gilbert said the decision was made because he felt that Lowry&rsquo;s leadership had run its course and some new blood was needed to take the Flames to the next level.&ldquo;They are two players that epitomize what our team is about-relentless work ethic and doing what they have to do, paying the price, to help the team win,&rdquo; said Gilbert of his appointments.Lowry expressed his disappointment in the coaching decision but said he had no intentions of asking for a trade out of Calgary.&ldquo;Do I understand it? Not really. But, obviously, he wasn&rsquo;t happy with the way the team was playing and unfortunately someone has to take a hit for it. If this can jump-start it and get it turned around, then it is a great decision,&rdquo; said Lowry, now in his 17th NHL season.The Flames, however, lost their first game under new leadership, a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the San Jose Sharks Feb. 6.NOTEBOOK Goalie Roman Turek, did not skate for five days in and around the all-star break after suffering an elbow injury. He was been taking cortisone shots for the injury and was listed as day-to-day. He missed the Flames first game after the all-star break, Feb. 6 against San Jose. Turek had made appearances in 21-straight games&hellip;Center Clarke Wilm, who was speared in the eye in a game against Vancouver Jan. 26, returned to the Flames&rsquo; lineup following the all-star break. He didn&rsquo;t wear a visor despite being pressured by his mother to don some protection. &#9632;

f0015-03

Flames strip Lowry of captaincy; replaced by Boughner and Conroy

<div class="byline">-Luke DeCock</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04612/8007956-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="240" height="229"></div>Are the Carolina Hurricanes the hardest-working team in hockey? You could try to make that case since they&rsquo;ve played more games than any other team in the NHL.Or you could simply point to the fact the Hurricanes are in the habit of playing overtime.A 3-3 tie with Pittsburgh Feb. 5 was Carolina&rsquo;s seventh draw in 18 games and 11th of the season. The Hurricanes have played an NHL-high 21 overtime games and were just seven short of the NHL record with 22 games to play&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to be upset or excited after a tie,&rdquo; said Carolina coach Paul Maurice. &ldquo;There have been so many of them. You need those wins to drive you and keep you going. We&rsquo;ve got to start winning some games.&rdquo;That was never more imperative than after a 2-1 loss to Los Angeles Feb. 7. After that game, the Hurricanes had won only once in their past 10 games (1-3-6-0)&ndash;a stretch almost as bad as that which provoked an early December crisis. The Canes won two of 12 in that skid.Most of the ties have come in Raleigh. The Hurricanes had tied four straight home games and maybe it&rsquo;s a good thing they don&rsquo;t play at home again until March 8. They&rsquo;ve won just once there since Dec. 26, a span of 10 games.Things have been much better on the road, where they went 7-2-2-2 in a 13-game stretch from Dec. 8 to Jan. 30. Combined, it has been good enough to keep Carolina&rsquo;s lead over Washington in the Southeast Division well into double digits.&ldquo;All I know is, it&rsquo;s better than losing,&rdquo; said Carolina right winger Jeff O&rsquo;Neill.NOTEBOOK After 60 games, Carolina had 62 points-two behind their 60-game pace of a year ago&hellip;The Hurricanes made their only appearance on American national TV when their Feb. 7 game at Los Angeles&ndash;a 21 loss-was televised on ESPN2. Carolina made one appearance on CBC and is scheduled to make two on SRC in March&hellip;Defenseman Bret Hedican (strained back) and left winger Martin Gelinas (concussion) are expected to return after the Olympic break. Neither had progressed as quickly as hoped. Center Tommy Westlund (sore back) is available if needed&hellip;Center Ron Francis achieved yet another milestone when he tied Alex Delvecchio for fifth on the all-time games played list with 1,549 Feb. 8. &#9632;

f0015-04

Hurricanes working overtime, fit to be tied playing at home

If the Olympic hockey players in Salt Lake City get a bad case of the munchies at 2 in the morning, there&rsquo;s no room service.But they&rsquo;ll have no trouble finding a place to eat. They won&rsquo;t be going through the Yellow Pages.&ldquo;The dining hall at the village is open 24 hours,&rdquo; said Team USA trainer Ray Barile, who was in Nagano and marvelled at the wide array of food for the players. Nobody will go hungry, and they won&rsquo;t be wolfing down a cold pizza after a game because that&rsquo;s all there is.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05425/8008001-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="300" height="379"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Barile Trainer St. Louis Blues</figcaption></div>Barile won&rsquo;t be planning special meals for his guys, although Oiler defenceman Tom Poti will have to be on alert, as he is in every city about what he eats because of his allergies. When he&rsquo;s on the road with the Oilers at pre-game meals, he has the chef prepare stuff that won&rsquo;t hurt him. No spicy stuff, no sauces, nothing with nuts in it. Poti is a master at finding food to eat, and, Barile is well aware of Poti&rsquo;s condition. They&rsquo;ll let the village dining room personnel know of his allergies. But Poti can pick and choose his own food there.&ldquo;From our experience in Nagano, the fare was excellent, the players enjoyed seeing different food stuffs, trying ethnic dishes, and they loved the camaraderie of the dining room, being able to meet athletes from other countries,&rdquo; said Barile. &ldquo;At this level, NHL players are in tune with their bodies, too. They know what they have to stay away from, but McDonald&rsquo;s is a sponsor and there&rsquo;s no problem if they want a Big Mac, a comfort food.That&rsquo;s important for them psychologically, as much as healthy foods. I don&rsquo;t want them eating hamburgers every day, though.&rdquo;Barile says the 24-hour dining at the village is a boon to hockey players.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have to worry about proper nutrition post-game,&rdquo; said Barile, who&rsquo;ll make sure Powerbars are in the dressing room, too. For games and practices.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06342/8007994-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="476" height="182"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-07288/8007987-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="237" height="189"></div>POWERBAR&hellip;THE ENERGY TO PERFORM &#9632;

f0015-05

FROM THE ST. LOUIS BLUES & TEAM USA’S LOCKER ROOM:

<div class="byline">-Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011636/8008032-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="222" height="244"></div>Few teams can match Chicago&rsquo;s top two lines when it comes to scoring.The A to Z line of Tony Amonte, Alex Zhamnov and Kyle Calder have been consistent since Day 1 while the second line of Eric Daze, Steve Sullivan and Michael Nylander chip in key goals.It&rsquo;s after that where coach Brian Sutter is searching for answers. The third line of Igor Korolev, Mark Bell and Mike Peluso fell off the map offensively in 2002, going without a goal for more than a month until Bell scored into an empty net in a Feb. 6 win at Phoenix.That snapped a 16-game goal drought for Bell. Korolev was without a goal in 19 games. Peluso was finally bumped to the fourth line and replaced by Ryan VandenBussche.&ldquo;This is the time of year when you need people to step up,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;Those other guys (on the top two lines) can&rsquo;t keep carrying the load.&rdquo;Korolev has made most of his contributions as a penalty killer. He hasn&rsquo;t been an offensive threat since third-line anchor Steve Thomas went down with a broken ankle in November.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s too much focus by the press here on points,&rdquo; Smith said, referring to both Korolev and fourth-line center Peter White. &ldquo;The reason (the third) line stopped scoring is Thomas hasn&rsquo;t been there.&rdquo;White took over the fourthline job in November after Pascal Rheaume was waived and claimed by Atlanta. Rheaume has played well for the Thrashers, bringing some criticism on GM Mike Smith.&ldquo;They (the media critics) miss what Peter White does,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s so much better than Rheaume. Pascal is playing with (Dany) Heatley and (Ilya) Kovalchuk. You and I could get goals playing with those guys; just go to the front of the net and wait.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not criticizing Pascal Rheaume, but he didn&rsquo;t get the job done here. Peter White has done a better job.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Goalie Jocelyn Thibault hit the all-star break having started 51 of 56 games&hellip;All-Star Game MVP Eric Daze was left wondering how to claim the truck he won so he could give it to his dad. &ldquo;Nobody said anything to me,&rdquo; Daze said. &ldquo;They gave me a key to take a picture, then they took it back.&rdquo;&hellip;The Hawks traded versatile forward Steve Dubinsky to Nashville Feb. 6 for future considerations. &#9632;

f0016-01

No scoring punch past top two lines

<div class="byline">-Jim Benton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021271/8008063-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="220" height="244"></div>After a sparkling performance last season in the Stanley Cup final, high expectations were established for Colorado Avalanche forward Alex Tanguay.However, this has been a frustrating season for the third-year pro.He missed six games with sinus problems in November, sat out another four games with a bruised ankle and was sidelined for two games with a hip bruise he suffered during a one-on-one drill at the end of a practice session.When he has been on the ice, his play has been inconsistent. Tanguay had eight goals and 31 points in 44 games, but had suffered through stretches of eight games and six games without scoring.&ldquo;I think I can help this team a lot more than I have so far this year,&rdquo; Tanguay said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s in my hands. It&rsquo;s up to me to make sure I work hard and hopefully get healthy.&ldquo;This has been the toughest year I&rsquo;ve ever had. My first year, the playoffs were frustrating, but the year was pretty good. It was a learning process. Last year things got better, but not as much as I would have liked. This year has been a struggle. It has been awful. But I&rsquo;ve got plenty of time to redeem myself.&rdquo;Tanguay improved from 17 goals and 51 points in 76 games as a rookie to 27 goals and 77 points as a sophomore. He added six goals and 21 points in 23 playoff games last season and was invited to the Canadian Olympic team&rsquo;s orientation camp last summer.NOTEBOOK Enforcer Scott Parker, playing with two black eyes and a sprained thumb he suffered in a fight, scored his first goal of the season and third of his career Feb. 4 against Dominik Hasek and the Red Wings. It the right winger&rsquo;s first goal in 60 games&hellip;The Detroit-Colorado rivalry isn&rsquo;t the same as when right winger Claude Lemieux was playing for the Avalanche. Even Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman, who once confronted Lemieux in the parking lot and often complained about Colorado&rsquo;s former home, McNichols Arena, has received Mile High plaudits. &ldquo;He was coaching the Montreal Canadiens when I was growing up so it&rsquo;s always fun to match yourself against Scotty,&rdquo; said Avalanche coach Bob Hartley. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got every record in the book and he&rsquo;s the best coach this sport will ever have.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-02

Tanguay struggles to find scoring form

<div class="byline">-Aaron Portzline</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03957/8008094-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="224" height="246"></div>The Blue Jackets, bringing up the rear in the NHL with only 14 wins and 36 points after 55 games, sorely needed something to smile about.Enter left winger Geoff Sanderson, who returned Feb. 4 after a sevenweek layoff. He was the Blue Jackets leading scorer last season with 30 goals and 56 points, but missed 36 of Columbus&rsquo;s first 55 games because of a lower back injury and hernia surgery.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a long time,&rdquo; Sanderson said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to get back into the grind of playing. I&rsquo;m sick of watching hockey, that&rsquo;s for sure.&rdquo;Only Tampa Bay (110) had scored fewer goals than Columbus (111) as of Feb. 8, so the Blue Jackets will welcome Sanderson back with open arms.&ldquo;He gives us options,&rdquo; said coach Dave King. &ldquo;We have two lines that can score again. It&rsquo;s been a situation where we&rsquo;ve been sputtering offensively Now we&rsquo;ve got two lines that can generate some offense.&rdquo; Sanderson returned to play with center Espen Knutsen and right winger Robert Kron. The trio flourished in the second half of last season.The hope was that the addition of left winger Ray Whitney, center Mike Sillinger and right winger Grant Marshall to this year&rsquo;s team would give the Blue Jackets two offensive lines. Instead, Whitney and Sanderson-because of injuries-have been in the lineup for only 10 games together.&ldquo;Just the fact he&rsquo;s out there, other teams can&rsquo;t take away one line and say they&rsquo;ve got us covered,&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;His presence gives us more depth, and more depth helps our team.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK The Blue Jackets&rsquo; 80 loss to Boston Feb. 4 was the worst defeat in franchise history&hellip;Rookie defenseman Rostislav Klesla&rsquo;s sprained shoulder has been slower to heal than expected. He may be out until after the Olympic break&hellip;Right winger Robert Kron was recalled from Syracuse after playing six games with the Crunch. He had two goals and four assists&hellip;Center Brett Harkins broke a foot when he blocked a shot on Feb. 4. He&rsquo;ll be back in early March. Before Harkins&rsquo; call-up on Dec. 29. the Blue Jackets&rsquo; power play was 14 of 164 (8.5 per cent). In the 17 games before his injury, the power play was 19 of 78 (24.4 percent)&hellip;Defenseman Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre was a healthy scratch Feb. 6 for the first time this season. &#9632;

f0016-03

Sanderson returns, gives Jackets hope

<div class="byline">-Chuck Carlton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011462/8008125-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="243" height="241"></div>All Darryl Sydor wanted was the chance to stay a Dallas Star for an extended period of time.He got that, thanks to a five-year, $15.8-million contract extension he signed with the team.Sydor, 29, would have been a restricted free agent following this season and could have qualified for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2003 if he had signed a one-year contract.That&rsquo;s not what he wanted.&ldquo;You might go somewhere else and get more money, but you might not win a championship either and I really think we can win another championship,&rdquo; Sydor said.Uncertainty over what might happen when the current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2004 played a part in Sydor&rsquo;s decision.&ldquo;You never know what&rsquo;s going to happen and&hellip;it had something to do with it,&rdquo; Sydor said.&ldquo;I just look at it as I&rsquo;m a guy that likes security. I don&rsquo;t want to break records or be the guy to hit home runs. I think it&rsquo;s fair for what I do. I never imagined I would be able to make money like this as a little kid.&rdquo;A two-time participant in the All-Star Game, Sydor has recorded at least 46 points in four of his first five seasons in Dallas.The signing follows the Stars&rsquo; pattern of locking core players into long-term deals, something they had done previously with Mike Modano and Sergei Zubov.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s really an underrated player,&rdquo; said GM Doug Armstrong. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been between 46 and 48 points every year. We know exactly what we&rsquo;re going to get from him and he&rsquo;s providing strong leadership.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK The Stars will take a wait-and-see approach with their six potential unrestricted free agents, including goaltender Ed Belfour. Don&rsquo;t expect any decisions until after the season. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see us doing anything now,&rdquo; said GM Doug Armstrong&hellip;Once one of the NHL&rsquo;s best penaltykilling units, the Stars had fallen to 15th in the NHL. They allowed power play goals in seven straight games and were 26-of-35 in that span. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no secret,&rdquo; said defenseman Sergei Zubov after a 2-1 loss to Nashville Feb. 6. &ldquo;You have to go out there and work hard.&rdquo;&hellip;Coach Rick Wilson hopes to form a reliable third defense pair from two of Brad Lukowich, John Erskine, Dave Manson and Sami Helenius&hellip;A stat to remember: Since 1996-97, the Stars have been the NHL&rsquo;s best team after the all-star break. The schedule definitely isn&rsquo;t working in Dallas&rsquo;s favor this year, though: the Stars play their final 25 games in 48 days, with just one break of more than one day&hellip;Center Pierre Turgeon was in the midst of a stretch of just one goal in 27, games. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve talked to Pierre and I think we&rsquo;re pretty much on the same wavelength,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;Maybe how we use him and how he can accept being used, between marrying those two things together, hopefully we can see the Pierre Turgeon that we hoped would be there and that we still believe can be there.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-01

Sydor’s take on security, winning lead to Star contract extension

<div class="byline">-Nicholas J. Cotsonika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03820/8008156-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="890" height="906"><figcaption class="caption-body">HAPPY HASEK Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek played in the All-Star Game and the Olympics. The playoffs are next. As long as he&rsquo;s healthy, he says he doesn&rsquo;t mind being busy.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021135/8008163-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="227" height="254"></div>Since joining the Detroit Red Wings in July, goaltender Dominik Hasek has been enjoying himself. He can breathe easier than he did in Buffalo.The biggest difference between the teams, Hasek said, is that with the Wings &ldquo;you can make a mistake.&rdquo; The Wings have Sergei Fedorov and Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille and Brendan Shanahan and Steve Yzerman. All those superstar snipers make him a better, more relaxed goaltender.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to make a mistake,&rdquo; Hasek said. &ldquo;But on this team, if the guys need it, they can score four goals, maybe even five. We haven&rsquo;t played well every game, but we usually find a way to win. You can give up two, sometimes even three goals, and we still win these games.&rdquo;Hasek said he liked &ldquo;to be busy,&rdquo; and he has been busy at times this season, but added he didn&rsquo;t mind facing fewer shots.&ldquo;My job is to stop the puck and I have to adjust to what the team in front of me is doing,&rdquo; Hasek said. &ldquo;Sometimes you have to win the game 1-0 and sometimes you win 4-3 and that&rsquo;s OK. I liked to play for Buffalo.&ldquo;I like this team even more because we win more games and that&rsquo;s important.&rdquo;The day after Hasek made these comments, he badly misplayed a puck behind his net and San Jose capitalized for its second goal of the game. But Hasek&rsquo;s words rang true: Hull soon answered for the Red Wings with his second goal of the game and the teams tied 2-2.NOTEBOOK To some, Detroit right winger Brendan Shanahan has become the standard of comparison for Calgary power forward and right winger Jarome Iginla. &ldquo;I really like the way he plays, so I take that as a compliment,&rdquo; said Shanahan, 33. Iginla, 25, said while in junior he looked up to Shanahan, how Shanahan combined scoring with physical presence&hellip;Asked about his heavy schedule, goalie Dominik Hasek looked on the bright side. &ldquo;I feel healthy If I feel healthy, I can play lots of games no problem,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;What is good is Olympics are in February and playoffs start toward the end of April, so we have two months to recharge and get ready.&rdquo;&hellip;The Wings have signed goaltender Joey MacDonald to a three-year entry-level contract that takes effect next season. MacDonald plays for the Toledo Storm (ECHL) and will probably be the backup in Grand Rapids (AHL) next season. The Wings are looking for a starter&hellip;Left winger Brent Gilchrist scored for the first time in 68 games Feb.7 against the Rangers. &#9632;

f0017-03

To make mistakes is human; now Hasek can afford to be one

<div class="byline">-Rob Tychkowski</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04600/8008194-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="217" height="245"></div>A year ago this month the Edmonton Oilers made franchise history with a nine-game winning streak.They just set another benchmark this season, but it&rsquo;s one they&rsquo;d just as soon forget.A 3-2 loss to the last-place Atlanta Thrashers Feb. 5 was Edmonton&rsquo;s ninth consecutive road defeat, tying a team record. Two nights later they broke it with a 3-1 loss at St. Louis.It&rsquo;s a slump that began Dec. 18 in Long Island.&ldquo;Misery, with a capital M,&rdquo; said coach Craig MacTavish, describing the mood after Edmonton tied the dubious standard of futility&ldquo;It was an absolutely unacceptable loss. You don&rsquo;t trivialize a loss to the Atlanta Thrashers at this stage of the game.&rdquo;MacTavish sent Rem Murray to the press box after the Atlanta defeat and threatened more veteran players would follow if things didn&rsquo;t turn around.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an indication to everybody that we&rsquo;re not going to stand pat with a losing hand.&rdquo;The road woes are only half the problem for an Edmonton team that has been listing for weeks. The Oilers were 2-8-3-0 from Jan. 10 to Feb. 7 and held to three goals or less in 12 of those 13 games.&ldquo;I think the guys in the room know that if we keep struggling we&rsquo;re going to be in a whole lot of trouble,&rdquo; said captain Jason Smith, after a players-only meeting to address the problem.&ldquo;We have to realize that if we don&rsquo;t get things turned around we&rsquo;re going to go from sixth spot to eighth spot to 10th spot and it&rsquo;s going to get a whole lot worse. But we&rsquo;re still in a situation where we can get things going.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Defenseman and heavy metal fan Janne Niinimaa, who spent the all-star break hanging out with Ozzy Osbourne, returned to Edmonton with his hair dyed straw yellow. Turns out he lost a bet to the team optometrist. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m starting to get used to it,&rdquo; said &ldquo;Niinimaa.&rdquo; Besides, I want to be a little different.Everybody looks the same in here. Somebody has to create his own image.&rdquo;&hellip;In a Feb. 5 game, Atlanta rookie left winger Ilya Kovalchuk stepped out of the penalty box, took a pass and scored on a breakaway after being penalized for an illegal curve. Then he skated by the Oilers&rsquo; bench, pointed to the scoreboard and asked &ldquo;Is this stick good enough?&rdquo; Oilers&rsquo; coach Craig MacTavish responded: &ldquo;I guess he&rsquo;s too young to have learned that what goes around comes around. He&rsquo;s a cocky and arrogant kid, but he stuck it up our rear end. There&rsquo;s a lot of hockey to be played against him. This is something we&rsquo;ll keep filed away for a long time.Hopefully he&rsquo;ll learn a painful lesson for it.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-04

As road woe descends on Oilers, are roster changes far behind?

<div class="byline">-David J. Neal</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021157/8008225-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="828" height="1181"><figcaption class="caption-body">NEW CAT Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh had three goals and nine points in 11 games with Florida after coming over from Carolina. He was also voted a starter for the World team at the All-Star Game.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011517/8008232-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="218" height="260"></div>Except for one season, Florida Panthers center Viktor Kozlov&rsquo;s whole always has seemed less than the sum of his parts throughout his NHL career.And it&rsquo;s making him the veteran whipping boy of Panthers coach Mike Keenan.&ldquo;Viktor has been given more than a fair chance here, as far as I&rsquo;m concerned,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s probably averaged 22 to 25 minutes of ice time per game and given us very little results for that kind of ice time.&rdquo;Kozlov, 27, was fourth in team scoring with nine goals and 27 points in 49 games. Since Keenan took over from Duane Sutter Dec. 5, Kozlov has just nine points in 23 games despite a big increase in ice time.Keenan has gotten so fed up watching Kozlov getting pushed off the puck and generally not using his abilities in a forceful manner, he has exiled Kozlov to the fourth line during several games.Asked what he thought of his play, Kozlov said,&rdquo;If you don&rsquo;t have the ice time, it could be better.&rdquo;Kozlov said Keenan had talked to him about being more physical and being tougher to play against.Kozlov is big at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds. He moves at good pace and does so with the puck seemingly soldered to his stick as he slaloms past the first defender always, the second defender sometimes and the third defender occasionally. His wrist shot can whoosh past a good NHL goaltender from 50 feet and, if stopped by a pad, produces a juicy rebound.But, there&rsquo;s much less than meets the eye. Even if Kozlov was healthy for all 82 games-and he never has been-he&rsquo;d be below the 20-goal level.NOTEBOOK Goalie Roberto Luongo is learning about life between the pipes with Mike Keenan as your coach. Luongo started 25 of 28 games under Keenan, who replaced Duane Sutter behind the bench Dec. 5, and was yanked in seven of those starts. Luongo said the only time Keenan said anything to him after being yanked is he wanted Trevor Kidd in a game the Panthers were losing because Kidd&rsquo;s puckhandling gets the offense going more quickly&hellip;A recurrence of the gastrointestinal infection that felled left winger Kristian Huselius for three games in December would suggest to doctors Huselius might have Crohn&rsquo;s disease. The disease affects the intestinal walls and makes it difficult for food to be absorbed by the body. Huselius is 6-foot-1, but just 185 pounds, at least five pounds off his playing weight. Huselius is third in rookie scoring with 17 goals and 32 points in 53 games. &#9632;

f0018-02

Lack of productivity earns Kozlov stay in coach Keenan’s doghouse

<div class="byline">-Matt McHale</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03832/8008263-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="216" height="255"></div>Despite injuries to Mathieu Schneider and a sub par season from Lubomir Visnovsky the Los Angeles Kings have the league&rsquo;s top scoring group of defensemen.Led by first time All-Star Game participant Jaroslav Modry, who was leading the team with 28 assists, the Kings have received balance scoring.&ldquo;It is a smart group,&rdquo; said Kings coach Andy Murray &ldquo;They know when to jump into the play, but not get caught out of position. Our offense has struggled at times and the defense has stepped in with some key goals.The Kings did not have a scorer in the top 50 heading into the Olympic break. Jason Allison spent much of his first few months with the team learning to play with new teammates. Schneider was leading the team in scoring in November when he was forced to undergo abdominal surgery. He returned after seven weeks, but was shelved for three more games in late January with a strained shoulder.In his first game back, Feb. 7, Schneider scored the first goal in a 2-1 victory over Carolina.Although he is 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, Modry is not necessarily a physical player and that hurt him early in his career. He was stuck in the minors under coach Larry Robinson and was scratched a whopping 52 times under Murray during the 1998-99 season.But when Rob Blake was traded to Colorado last February, much of his playing time fell to Modry.&ldquo;They told me to keep working hard and good things would happen,&rdquo; Modry said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I did and it paid off.&rdquo;Boucher has been another find from the Kings minor league system. Last season, he split time with the Kings and Manitoba of the IHL. The year before he played just one game after undergoing two ankle operations.He has the hardest shot on the team, but did not score a goal this year until his 89th shot. He did, however, have 19 assists after 53 games.NOTEBOOK Center Kelly Buchberger, who played in his 1,000th NHL game Jan. 7 in New Jersey, scored his 100th goal Feb. 7, a game-winner against Carolina. Buchberger played in his 236th consecutive game before the Olympic break, fourth longest in the league&hellip;Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, a member of the all-rook ie team last season, was benched for sluggish play. He had just three goals in 49 games. &#9632;

f0018-03

Kings defense comes to rescue, provides much-needed offense

<div class="byline">-Tom Jones</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04550/8008294-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="250" height="253"></div>As the Minnesota Wild came out of the all-star break, it was riding a lengthy losing streak, struggling on offense, giving up key goals at the worst times.And Wild coach Jacques Lemaire smiled throughout.While Lemaire might be known as a steel-faced tactician, he also is starting to gain the reputation in Minnesota as being a patient teacher who is understanding of the Wild&rsquo;s woes.Instead of dwelling on losses, Lemaire chooses to keep Minnesota&rsquo;s long-range goals in his daily planner. All he wants from his team is to keep improving each day as it sets a sound foundation for the future.In the meantime, the losses pile up.&ldquo;You try to deal with it,&rdquo; Lemaire said. &ldquo;You would love to get what, say, Washington has with a (Peter) Bondra or a (Jaromir) Jagr who will put the puck in the net. But we don&rsquo;t have that. We have to play as a team.&rdquo;That team has been a bit more inconsistent this season than it was in a successful expansion season when it amassed 68 points. The Wild is pretty much on the same pace as last season, but it hasn&rsquo;t been as competitive. Last season, the Wild was blown out in only a couple of games. This season, already it has been blown away a handful of times. Now the Wild is in a rut where it can&rsquo;t overcome one critical goal against, and is losing the 2-1,3-2 games.For Lemaire, though, it&rsquo;s all part of the building process.&ldquo;I like a lot of what I see,&rdquo; Lemaire said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing hard and that&rsquo;s what is important.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK The Wild, continuing its tradition of rotating captains by month, chose right winger Andrew Brunette to be captain for February. Brunette said it is the first since bantam that he will wear the captain&rsquo;s &lsquo;C&rsquo;&hellip;The Wild refused to release center Sergei Zholtok to play for Latvia in the Olympic qualifying tournament even after a written appeal to Wild GM Doug Rise-brough from Latvian Prime Minister Andris Berzins. Risebrough said he understood Zholtok&rsquo;s desire to represent his country, but said he could not justify allowing Zholtok to miss games to play in the Olympics. Risebrough also took the same stand with Slovakian natives, winger Marian Gaborik and defenseman Lubomir Sekeras. Risebrough&rsquo;s feeling is the players&rsquo; responsibility lies with the owners and shareholders who invest in the organization&hellip;Right winger Sergei Zholtok has rebounded nicely from last year&rsquo;s disappointing five-goal output, but will it be enough to keep him in Minnesota? Zholtok, who scored 26 goals for Montreal two years ago, was on pace for 20 goals, but is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. Teams looking for help on the power play might be interested in making a pitch for Zohltok before the March 19 the trade deadline&hellip;Columbus center Espen Knutsen (eight goals, 31 points, minus-18) got the nod over Gaborik (18 goals, 45 points, minus-4) to pay in the All-Star Game. Gaborik missed out on a $100,000 bonus. &#9632;

f0018-04

Lemaire prefers to concentrate on good, not the bad and ugly

<div class="byline">-Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011395/8008325-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="218" height="226"></div>Saku Koivu is winning his battle against cancer.Montreal Canadiens team doctors David Mulder and Vincent Lacroix announced Feb. 7 the abdominal cancer that has sidelined Koivu since training camp is in remission. The 27-year-old Finnish centre hasn&rsquo;t ruled out a return to the ice this season, although it&rsquo;s unlikely.&ldquo;Getting the news is such a great relief,&rdquo; said Koivu, the Canadiens captain. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m anxious to get back to normal life and join the team soon, whenever I&rsquo;m ready.&rdquo;Koivu fell ill on the plane trip back to Montreal last September. It was subsequently discovered he was suffering from non-Hodgkin&rsquo;s lymphoma. He underwent eight cycles of chemotherapy treatment, completing the procedure in mid-January. Then, in early February, a PET scan-the final test necessary before declaring the disease to be in remission-was administered. Koivu received the uplifting news five months to the day after the cancer was originally discovered.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gone through a series of tests-bone scans, blood work, everything we can do,&rdquo; Mulder said. &ldquo;There was no evidence of the disease. He now enters the next step, rehabilitation to restore him as an elite athlete.&rdquo;Mulder was quick to note Koivu&rsquo;s fight isn&rsquo;t over. The term remission is used when all tests known to medical science show no signs of disease, but a patient isn&rsquo;t totally cured until he&rsquo;s in remission for five years. Koivu&rsquo;s progress will be monitored over the coming months and years to ensure the cancer doesn&rsquo;t return.&ldquo;But we&rsquo;re all acting positive that we&rsquo;ve got this beat,&rdquo; Mulder said.Koivu, the Canadiens&rsquo; first pick (21st overall) in 1993, hasn&rsquo;t played a full season since he was a rookie, in 1995-96. Last season he missed 28 games alone with a knee injury that required surgery.&ldquo;I expected good news,&rdquo; Koivu said. &ldquo;But, at the same time, I was scared.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK The Canadiens won their first game in New Jersey since Oct. 26, 1993, when they blanked the Devils 1-0 on Feb. 5. It was Montreal&rsquo;s first win in 16 games (0-12-3) at the Meadowlands&ndash;a stretch that dated back to the days of Patrick Roy and Guy Carbonneau&hellip;Defenseman Patrick Traverse, who hasn&rsquo;t played since suffering a concussion Jan. 10, was cleared to play. But the Canadiens are playing so sound defensively Traverse couldn&rsquo;t crack the lineup&hellip;Rookie left winger Marcel Hossa, who scored twice in four games with Montreal before sustaining a wrist injury, was assigned to Quebec (AHL). &#9632;

f0019-01

Koivu informed his cancer is in remission, now hopes to make it back this season

<div class="byline">-David Boclair</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-021048/8008356-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="242" height="223"></div>If you read the stats sheet, you might think the Nashville Predators have a pair of equal scoring threats in David Legwand and Denis Arkhipov.&bull; In reality though, while Arkhipov&rsquo;s 13th goal of the season Feb. 6 in a 2-1 victory over Dallas tied him with Legwand for the most scored by a Nashville draft pick in a single season, the 22-year-old Russian had surpassed Legwand in terms of his offensive role with the team weeks earlier.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a force every game,&rdquo; said coach Barry Trotz. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t let plays die. He&rsquo;s not going to let a hook or a grab keep him from getting to the open spaces.&rdquo;At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Arkhipov is using his size and skating ability effectively in his first full NHL season. He was Nashville&rsquo;s second draft pick ever-behind Legwand-and was an unknown commodity to many members of the organization until he finally came to North America in July, 2000, for the team&rsquo;s conditioning camp. Before that week was up, he was signed to a contract.He had 13 points in 40 games last season and started slowly again in 2001-02 with six goals in the first 36 games. He started on a tear with a goal Dec. 30 at St. Louis.Between then and the all-star break he went more than two games between goals just once. Players, coaches and management wondered why he was not included in the all-star weekend YoungStars game.&ldquo;Denis is playing real good right now,&rdquo; said right winger Vladimir Orszagh. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s probably the best guy on our line right now. We&rsquo;re getting points because of his play&rdquo;NOTEBOOK In the second game of a two-game conditioning stint at Milwaukee after being claimed off waivers from Montreal, left winger Reid Simpson scored a goal and earned three fighting majors, the last of which resulted in a game misconduct. &ldquo;He gives us a little bit of bang that we haven&rsquo;t had,&rdquo; said Nashville coach Barry Trotz&hellip;Right winger Mark Mowers was recalled for the fourth time this season Feb. 5, less than a week after he had been assigned to Milwaukee (AHL). &ldquo;I think the more you do it, the more it wears on you,&rdquo; Mowers said&hellip;Center David Legwand sat out Feb. 6 against Dallas with lower back pain. It was the first time in nearly two years he missed a game because of injury It snapped a streak of 126 consecutive games played&hellip;Center Steve Dubinsky was already on loan to Milwaukee when Chicago traded him to the Predators Feb. 6. When he was sent down by the Blackhawks early in the season, he asked to play at Milwaukee to be close to his family back in Chicago. &ldquo;In this case, Chicago did him a little bit of a favor,&rdquo; said GM David Poile. &#9632;

f0019-02

Arkhipov’s value as offensive catalyst not lost on Predator coaches, teammates

<div class="byline">-Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02926/8008387-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="799" height="805"><figcaption class="caption-body">LOOKING GOOD New Jersey left winger Patrik Elias recorded one assist in the 2002 All-Star Game.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011293/8008394-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="222" height="250"></div>If Ray Bourque can win a Stanley Cup, maybe it&rsquo;s in the cards for John Vanbiesbrouck.It wasn&rsquo;t the $500,000 that he will get to give Martin Brodeur a rest in a halfdozen games down the stretch that brought Vanbiesbrouck out of retirement. It was the realization that he wasn&rsquo;t ready to walk away from the game at the age of 38 and the belief that the New Jersey Devils can win the Cup.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, I guess I wasn&rsquo;t ready for (retirement). I guess I was too young,&rdquo; said Vanbiesbrouck after accepting the Devils&rsquo; offer to come back. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t have come back unless I thought this team could win the Stanley Cup. I think this team can absolutely win the Cup. It&rsquo;s wide open.&rdquo;GM Lou Lamoriello, who said he never tried to talk Vanbiesbrouck out of retirement, but kept in touch with the goalie. Vanbiesbrouck hung up his pads after the Devils lost Game 7 of the finals last year to Colorado.Vanbiesbrouck attended a Devils-Islanders game at Nassau Coliseum Jan. 29 and let it be known that he was interested in playing again. He agreed to a contract for the remainder of this season Feb. 3 and began working out with the team a few days later. He expected to be activated soon after the Olympics.&ldquo;In my mind we needed a veteran backup at a certain point,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;John is the best player for our situation. The timing is great with the Olympic break. He&rsquo;s in great condition and he&rsquo;s in a great frame of mind.&rdquo;Vanbiesbrouck laughed about the claim he was in top shape.&ldquo;Was I working out? If you call walking the dog, a 100-pound lab, working out.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK During the all-star break, defenseman Mike Commodore was assigned to Albany of the American League on paper and served two games of his three-game AHL suspension. He did not have to report&hellip;Defenseman Brian Rafalski missed the All-Star Game because of a sprained right knee, but he sat out only four games and was ready for the Olympics. &#9632;

f0020-02

Vanbiesbrouck back for final shot at Cup

<div class="byline">-Peter Botte</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03659/8008425-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="221" height="247"></div>It began out of necessity, but morphed into a distinction based on merit.With as many as four regular defensemen out of the New York Islanders&rsquo; lineup on a given night, Adrian Aucoin began a stretch of 11 games in which he spent more time on the ice than on the bench, averaging nearly 35 minutes of ice-time.In those 11 games, he also scored eight goals after he had notched just one in the Isles&rsquo; first 44 contests.&ldquo;Some guys thrive with the more minutes you give them and he appears to be one of them,&rdquo; said coach Peter Laviolette.Through Feb. 6, Aucoin had totalled three of the four (and five of eight) single-game icetime highs in the NHL this season, including the top-ranked 40:13 in a 6-6 tie Feb. 4 against Florida. Defense partner Kenny Jonsson&rsquo;s 38:09 Nov. 27 against Washington ranks third.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t even think about being tired,&rdquo; said Aucoin, who scored 23 goals for Vancouver in 1998-99.Averaging better than 28 minutes per game for the season, Aucoin had played the third-most minutes in the NHL, behind only Chris Pronger and Nicklas Lidstrom.Aucoin will be a restricted free agent when his one-year $1.6-million contract expires after this season.Aucoin&rsquo;s agent, Larry Kelly, said he&rsquo;d had no discussions with GM Mike Milbury about a contract extension as of early February.NOTEBOOK Veteran defenseman Kevin Haller, who has missed all but 31 games with chronic abdominal and groin injuries since signing a three-year, $5-million free agent contract before last season, said he&rsquo;s considering season-ending abdominal surgery Haller, 31, admitted fearing that his injuries might be career threatening. If he&rsquo;s L. forced to retire, the Isles likely will recoup much of his salary through insurance&hellip;Veteran center Kip Miller had 10 points in his first 10 games after the Isles signed him out of the AHL. &#9632;

f0020-03

Aucoin plays his best when he plays most

<div class="byline">-Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04447/8008456-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="218" height="247"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>It has been a long and difficult road for New York Rangers winger Theo Fleury, and now he&rsquo;s learning to deal with another pain. Fleury is facing taunting related to his battle with substance abuse and personal family problems which have plagued him recently.In January the NHL fined Fleury $1,000 for making an obscene gesture toward fans who chanted &ldquo;Crackhead Theo&rdquo; after he scored the winning goal versus the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.On Feb. 6, Fleury claimed to have been verbally assaulted by Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios, whom, Fleury said,&rdquo;crossed the line.&rdquo;The argument began after Fleury took a jab at Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek, and it continued through an entire TV time out. Fleury could be seen pleading with the on-ice officials to make a report on Chelios.Afterward Fleury claimed Chelios made remarks about his personal life.&ldquo;You ask him, ask him what he said,&rdquo; Fleury said. &ldquo;Very, very personal. I&rsquo;ll be giving Mr. Campbell a call tomorrow. There&rsquo;s no place in the game for that at all.&rdquo;When Fleury was fined by NHL executive VP Colin Campbell for his gesture Jan. 22, he got the impression that Campbell agreed he shouldn&rsquo;t have to put up with such taunts.So Fleury wanted Campbell to know what Chelios said, although nobody knows exactly what that was.Chelios, who didn&rsquo;t completely deny it, snapped,&rdquo;It&rsquo;s none of your business.&ldquo;Theo&rsquo;s kind of bringing this upon himself. What&rsquo;s happened has happened. It&rsquo;s unfortunate what has happened to him over the past couple of years.&rdquo;Chelios, when asked if he appreciates the delicate nature of personal attacks, said,&rdquo;Well, we&rsquo;re on the ice, in the heat of the battle. What are you gonna do? A lot of things are said on the ice. There&rsquo;s no excuse.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Center Eric Lindros returned after missing just one game with a knee sprain. His return on Feb. 6 marked the first time he and center Mark Messier were in the same lineup since Dec. 12. Messier was to become the fourth player with 1,600 career games played on Feb. 8&hellip;Defenseman Dale Purinton was suspended for the third time this season, for sucker-punching the Islanders&rsquo; Jason Blake Jan. 30. &#9632;

f0020-04

Fleury cries foul after verbal attack

<div class="byline">-Lisa Burke</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011042/8008487-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="222" height="254"></div>The Ottawa Senators are probably wishing they could turn back time.Last summer the Senators had the chance to sign right winger Daniel Alfredsson to a two-year deal worth $7 million (U.S.), but at the time they felt that was too much. Instead, the two sides compromised and came to terms on a one-year contract worth $3 million.Now Alfredsson is playing the best hockey of his career and is seeking a more lucrative contract.The 29-year-old has set a career high in goals (27) and is on pace to set career highs in assists and points.Ottawa will likely find a way to sign Alfredsson to a one-year deal that would put him near or just above the $4 million mark, but after that his future with the Senators gets cloudyFollowing the 2002-03 season, Alfredsson will be an unrestricted free agent and the Senators might not be able to match offers that are bound to come the Swedish winger&rsquo;s wayWhen asked of his future in Ottawa, Alfredsson just smiles and says those are things to worry about once the season is over. His post-Olympic focus remains on helping the Senators gain ground in the Eastern Conference as they prepare for a lengthy playoff battle.There&rsquo;s no disputing Alfredsson&rsquo;s importance to the Senators. He has been the team&rsquo;s best player, putting in a consistent effort and performance every game.So why is Alfredsson doing so well?Health is probably the most significant factor. For the first time since his rookie season in 1995-96, Alfredsson has managed to stay off the injury list.In the past five seasons, Alfredsson has missed 88 games with a variety of injuries. So far this season, he has missed just four games due to a hip flexor.&ldquo;I think (health) has been the key,&rdquo; said coach Jacques Martin. &ldquo;He has also played with a lot of determination. He&rsquo;s shooting the puck more and getting the puck to the net.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Goalie Patrick Lalime set a franchise record with his 73rd win in an Ottawa uniform in a 6-4 win over Columbus Feb. 6. The man he passed, exSenator Ron Tugnutt, was at the other end for the Blue Jackets that night and took the loss&hellip;When center Mike Fisher scored his 15th goal of the season Feb. 6, the Senators became the first team to have six 15-plus goal scorers. Others in the club are forwards Daniel Alfredsson, Martin Havlat, Radek Bonk, Todd White and Marian Hossa&hellip;Right winger Jody Hull scored the winner against Columbus in just his second game back in Ottawa. &#9632;

f0021-01

Alfredsson at $3 million a bargain now, but what’s he going to cost next season?

<div class="byline">-Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02653/8008518-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="222" height="230"></div>It doesn&rsquo;t always take a big goal-scorer to put up a big plus-minus number. For example, take a look at Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Eric Weinrich.When Weinrich&rsquo;s first goal in 43 games turned out to be the gamewinner in a 3-1 victory at Los Angeles Feb. 4, the 35-year-old defenseman&rsquo;s plus-minus mark jumped to plus-26, fourth in the NHL and second for defensemen behind Detroit&rsquo;s Chris Chelios.Nary a soul on the Flyers is concerned about Weinrich&rsquo;s offensive output.What they rely on is his strong two-way play.Weinrich, signed as a free agent last summer, has been the Flyers&rsquo; most consistent defenseman and among the best in the NHL this year.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lucky stat, but it also means you&rsquo;re not on the ice for a lot of goals against,&rdquo; Weinrich said. &ldquo;For a defenseman, that&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;re trying to work on.&ldquo;I take pride in my goals-against, that&rsquo;s for sure.&rdquo;Five of the Flyers&rsquo; blueline crew are in double-digits on the plus side. That&rsquo;s why Weinrich can&rsquo;t understand the rumor that has the Flyers going after one more defenseman before the March trade deadline.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t judge a defense corps until you get into the playoffs,&rdquo; Weinrich said. &ldquo;One of our strengths is that we have a lot of veterans. Who else can we get? Maybe someone like (Rangers defenseman Brian) Leetch could help us. That&rsquo;s about it.&rdquo;Weinrich said he recalls finishing at about plus-20 one season. (His career-best was plus-19 with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1996-97.)The way things are going, that careerbest would appear to be in jeopardy.NOTEBOOK Center Jeremy Roenick apologized to Alexei Zhitnik after he gave the Buffalo defenseman an unexpected check into the boards early in the NHL All-Star Game at Los Angeles Feb. 2. But Roenick still had some fun with the incident. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m from Philadelphia and the Broad Street Bullies,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;I had to show him the Philly mentality early&rdquo;&hellip;The Flyers&rsquo; 3-1 win at Los Angeles on Feb. 4 was their 17th road win of the season, tying last year&rsquo;s total&hellip;Several Flyers said they were planning to bring their families to the Olympics, despite security issues. &ldquo;You have to keep on living your life the way you have,&rdquo; said defenseman Kim Johnsson, whose mother and fiancee will be in Salt Lake City&hellip;The Flyers 5-4 loss to Anaheim Feb. 6 was the first time the Flyers have lost this season when they have scored at least three goals. &#9632;

f0021-02

Weinrich doesn’t need to score many goals to have one of NHCs best plus-minus marks

<div class="byline">-Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011130/8008549-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="219" height="268"></div>Eric Lindros is nuts.That&rsquo;s the way Phoenix rookie Krys Kolanos sees it, anyway.The 20-year-old rookie, still coping with the after-effects of the first concussion of his career, can&rsquo;t understand how Lindros has been able to tolerate seven concussions of his own.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s kind of ridiculous to think,&rdquo; said Kolanos of the New York Rangers center. &ldquo;You almost wonder what&rsquo;s going through his mind.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s a lot running through Kolanos&rsquo;s mind and it&rsquo;s not all pretty. He remains adamant that Buffalo&rsquo;s Vaclav Varada threw a cheap shot in the Jan. 19 game that knocked Kolanos into the boards, headfirst, and left him unconscious with a Grade 3 concussion.He also said Varada should have been suspended and not just for two games because he had picked up one too many game misconducts.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t even see him coming,&rdquo; said Kolanos, who was sixth among rookie scorers with 10 goals and 20 points in 47 games at the time of the injury.&ldquo;It was a hit from behind, a late hit, and it was dirty. I think it&rsquo;s a poor judgement call from people saying (anything different). It shouldn&rsquo;t have happened in the first place.&rdquo; Complications will keep Kolanos sidelined through the Olympic break, meaning he will miss at least a dozen games, if not more. He was still experiencing frequent headaches three weeks after the hit and there are concerns about his availability for the rest of the season.None of the Coyotes retaliated against Varada, which both irked Phoenix fans and Kolanos, to a point. A few days after the incident, he said,&rdquo;Somebody could have stuck their nose in there,&rdquo; but added it&rsquo;s no longer an issue for him.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ve got to let go and move on from.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Left winger Andrei Nazarov scored just two goals in his previous 125 games with Anaheim and Boston, but a trade to Phoenix sparked his offensive instincts. Playing on a line with hot center Daniel Briere, Nazarov had three goals and an assist in his first five games as a Coyote&hellip;With 22 goals in 51 games, Briere had already surpassed his entire career total (21) from his first 112 NHL games&hellip;The Coyotes enjoyed the most successful road trip in franchise history by wining five games and earning 10 points during a recent seven-game stint. &#9632;

f0024-01

Concussed Kolanos angry over incident

<div class="byline">-Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02796/8008580-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="218" height="248"></div>When the Pittsburgh Penguins signed defenseman Mike Wilson to a three-year, one-way contract worth more than $2 million last summer, they didn&rsquo;t expect him to be playing in the minor leagues.Neither did Wilson, which is why he was so relieved to be recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American League after a 35-game stint.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the first time I&rsquo;ve been sent down to the minors,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;It feels good to be back up. I&rsquo;m going to do my best not to give them any reason to send me back.&ldquo;When I went down there, (Wilkes-Barre coach) Glenn Patrick said they were looking for me to be the top guy every night. I went down there and I worked hard. It was different hockey. It took a while to adjust. It&rsquo;s pretty tough to play down there, actually. It&rsquo;s a little scrambly. I played consistent every night. I think that&rsquo;s what they wanted from me.&rdquo;And that is what the Penguins want, but they didn&rsquo;t feel they got it earlier this season. Wilson, 26, had some good moments-he knocked out Islanders center Mike Peca with a huge hit-balanced by some bad ones. The Penguins sent him down after 12 games.Wilson, who had nine points and 33 penalty minutes at Wilkes-Barre, can help the Penguins with his ability to quickly move the puck up ice.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have (a defenseman) who&rsquo;s a real offensive guy who is going to carry the puck from end-to-end,&rdquo; said Penguins defenseman Ian Moran. &ldquo;We have to get the puck to the forwards and let them do their work. Having somebody 6-foot-6 around isn&rsquo;t going to hurt.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Goalie Johan Hedberg, after a rough outing against San Jose, brought back his blue &ldquo;Moose Mask&rdquo; for a game against Carolina. He wore the blue mask&ndash;a remnant from his days with the IHL&rsquo;s Manitoba Moose-after the Penguins acquired him last season at the trade deadline. He had great success with it, but, after a 3-3 tie against the Hurricanes, he went back to his new black-and-gold model. &ldquo;I wanted to give (the blue mask) a little workout, dust it off a little bit,&rdquo; Hedberg said&hellip;Left winger Martin Straka, out since October with a broken right leg, is progressing nicely. Straka still wasn&rsquo;t taking part in contact drills, but was skating hard, doing stops and starts. &#9632;

f0024-02

Penguins add muscle by calling up Wilson

<div class="byline">-Derrick Goold</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03551/8008611-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="218" height="246"></div>Even through a merry-go-round goaltender rotation, this much is clear: the St. Louis Blues are intent on grooming Brent Johnson to be their No. 1 goalie and want him to seize the greater share of the starts from now until the playoffs. But Fred Brathwaite continues to pop in, play solidly and make the Johnson campaign pause for a moment.On Feb. 7 against the Edmonton Oilers, Brathwaite made his third start of 2002-having sat while Johnson got every start in the Blues&rsquo; 10-game winning streak.It looked like a typical Brathwaite start: he was solid, the Blues&rsquo; offense was not.Edmonton doubled the Blues shots on net, 28 to 14, a season-low for St. Louis.But Keith Tkachuk scored twice and St. Louis won 3-1.Finally a win for Brathwaite, who had the league&rsquo;s best goals-against average (1.93) after the game and had only been supported with a total of two goals in his previous two starts.&ldquo;Freddy could probably sue us for lack of support,&rdquo; said coach Joel Quenneville.Especially when the rotation has been a win-and-your-in spin. With few exceptions, if the St. Louis goalie wins his previous game, he stays in net.Not yet this season has Brathwaite lost and started the next game.&ldquo;Obviously, I&rsquo;m not used to not playing as much,&rdquo; said Brathwaite, who made 27 saves versus Edmonton. &ldquo;I try to work hard in practice and do extra things after practice. Lately when I&rsquo;ve played we haven&rsquo;t been getting goal support, but (against Edmonton) we got some big goals at the right time.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Right winger Scott Young returned to the Blues&rsquo; lineup Feb. 5, against the New York Islanders, nearly a month after eye surgery to repair a torn retina. He wore a shield for the first time since his rookie season and played on Doug Weight&rsquo;s line&hellip;Al MacInnis missed three games with a deep bone bruise in his instep. He was expected to return Feb. 9&hellip;The Blues blocked 20 shots Feb. 7 versus Edmonton. Defenseman Jeff Finley blocked seven&hellip;Right winger Pavol Demitra got his 100th career penalty minute Feb. 5-in his 379th NHL game-and set a personal season-high with 28&hellip;Through 64 games, coach Joel Quenneville had yet to remove a goalie from a start. &#9632;

f0024-03

Brathwaite shines for Blues as backup

<div class="byline">-Ross McKeon</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011015/8008642-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="218" height="251"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>For the first half of the season, Matt Bradley was just looking to get into the lineup. Since just after Christmas, he can&rsquo;t be kept off the scoresheet.Amazing what happens when a player gains confidence.&ldquo;He has earned it,&rdquo; said coach Darryl Sutter. &ldquo;Those are the kind of guys you love to give an opportunity to.&rdquo;A healthy scratch for 22 of San Jose&rsquo;s first 24 games, including an agonizing stretch of 19 straight, the 6-foot-2,195-pound native of Stittsville, Ontario worked hard in practice, bided his time and remained patient. Inserted on the team&rsquo;s fourth line Dec. 28, Bradley has made it all but impossible to take him out.During an 18-game stretch through Feb. 6, Bradley had six goals and nine points. Only Adam Graves scored more for the Sharks, with seven goals. Over the same span, high-salaried offensive catalysts Teemu Selanne, Owen Nolan and Patrick Marleau had three goals each. Vincent Damphousse had two. And Mike Ricci (13), Nolan (11), Damphousse (10) and Niklas Sundstrom (10) were the only Sharks with more points than Bradley. And no one equalled the plus-11 rating the 23-year-old accomplished over those seven weeks.Consider, too, that Bradley sees a team-low eight minutes of ice time a night and he&rsquo;s not supposed to score in the first place.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a guy who stays after practice every day,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;He has learned how to prepare properly for games, he brings enthusiasm, knows his role and now he&rsquo;s getting rewarded a little bit on the scoresheet.&rdquo;Added Bradley, who was drafted in the fourth round (102nd overall) in 1996: &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re in and out of the lineup it&rsquo;s tough to have confidence. You&rsquo;re squeezing your stick a lot tighter and you&rsquo;re always worried about making mistakes. It&rsquo;s unbelievable right now. To come back in the second half and contribute like this is a great feeling.&rdquo;OTEBOOK Defenseman Marcus Ragnarsson returned Feb. 6 after missing 12 games with a broken right index finger. The Sharks went 5-6-1-0 in his absence&hellip;When Islanders enforcer Jim Cummins struck defenseman Shawn Heins during a fight, it was the second time Heins&rsquo; jaw was broken in the Jan. 17-game. Unbeknownst to him at the time, he suffered an initial break as a result of a high stick earlier in the game. &#9632;

f0025-01

Bradley’s solid play earns spot in lineup

<div class="byline">-Damian Cristodero</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02683/8008673-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="218" height="245"></div>The Lightning went more than half the season without feeling the sting of the injury bug too intensely. But as the team thought it might make a push for the East&rsquo;s final playoff spot, injuries have hit like a sledgehammer.A week before the Olympic break, Tampa Bay had six players hurt, including five on injured reserve. And all are key cogs in the machine: left winger Fredrik Modin (bone contusion in wrist), right winger Martin St-Louis (broken leg), center Tim Taylor (groin strain), right winger Sheldon Keefe (sprained knee), defenseman Nolan Pratt (broken leg) and forward Brian Holzinger (torn rotator cuff).&ldquo;Injuries happen to all teams, but we sure don&rsquo;t need this stuff going on right now,&rdquo; St-Louis said.Offensively, the injured group represents 36 of the 106 goals the Lightning had as of Feb. 5. That&rsquo;s 34 per cent of its offense. St-Louis had 16 goals, Modin 14.Defensively, the Lightning has lost Pratt&rsquo;s physical presence, Keefe&rsquo;s forechecking and bodychecking ability and Taylor&rsquo;s faceoff prowess (54.5 winning percentage).&ldquo;The way you handle it as a team when you go through the injury bug is to become tighter as a team and play within the team concept,&rdquo; said coach John Tortorella. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe in bringing up minor-leaguers. You have to fight through with the people have. When a team does fight through it, and we will, your team is better for it.&rdquo;Added left winger Dave Andreychuk: &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t feel sorry for yourself. For the young guys, it&rsquo;s an opportunity.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK GM Rick Dudley said three Eastern Conference teams have shown interest in goaltender Kevin Weekes, but he wouldn&rsquo;t reveal the teams&hellip;Dudley said he sent a fax to each NHL GM reminding them he had players available, most likely Weekes, as well as a defenseman and a defensive prospect&hellip;Alexander Svitov, Tampa Bay&rsquo;s top pick in the 2001 draft (third overall), cannot play for Moscow II, a Central Red Army team, until an eligibility hearing is conducted. Avangard Omsk coach Anatoly Bardin claims Svitov is under contract to his team; a Moscow newspaper reported Bardin would release Svitov for $500,000. The Russian military transferred Svitov from Omsk to a Central Red Army barracks. The Lightning hopes to see Svitov in training camp. &#9632;

f0025-02

Injuries take big bite out of Lightning

<div class="byline">-Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-05212/8008742-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="219" height="253"></div>It has taken Todd Bertuzzi nearly seven years to become an overnight success.The Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; hulking winger tied a team record when he recorded a point for the 15th consecutive game against the Phoenix Coyotes Feb. 4. The streak matched Petr Nedved&rsquo;s franchise mark, set in 1992, and equalled the league high for 2001-02 established by Calgary&rsquo;s Jarome Iginla.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty cool,&rdquo; said Bertuzzi of his streak, which included seven goals and 20 points.Playing the right side on a line with left winger Markus Naslund and center Brendan Morrison, Bertuzzi has become the model of consistency after tantalizing coaches and teammates alike for his previous six NHL seasons.Even his plus-minus, a ghastly minus-18 a year ago, was on the ascent. He was plus-6 after 47 games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sick and tired of winning the green jacket every year,&rdquo; quipped Bertuzzi, 27. &ldquo;You might want to win it in golf (in the Masters), but not in hockey. I was young and immature and looking for offense too much.&rdquo;Morrison was filled with praise for the 6-foot-3, 235-pound power forward.&ldquo;He is playing unbelievably for us,&rdquo; Morrison said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s also playing smart. In the past, when he got frustrated, he might take a penalty. Now he realizes how good he can be. When he has the puck down low and wants to go to the net, there is nobody who can stop him.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK The Canucks appear to have solved their backup goaltending problems as Peter Skudra went undefeated in six decisions (50-1) after Dan Cloutier was sidelined Jan. 21 with an ankle injury&hellip;The Canucks went 6-0-1-0 in their first seven games on home ice in 2002. &#9632;

f0025-05

Bertuzzi ties record, living up to potential

<div class="byline">-Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-06171/8008773-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="217" height="252"></div>The Washington Capitals have reached a point in the season where they are not only engaged in a life-or-death struggle to make the playoffs, they are also fighting for their jobs.To say the Caps&rsquo; sub-500 season has been a disappointment does not do justice to the term.Washington entered the campaign with the biggest off-season acquisition in its history, Jaromir Jagr, and had most of its key veterans signed to multi-year deals. Yet the team has failed to put together anything resembling a positive streak.GM George McPhee has been on the road scouting the rest of the league and that can only mean one thing-changes, possibly major ones, are probable if the team misses the post-season for the second time in four years.&ldquo;When you don&rsquo;t make the playoffs, people lose their jobs, whether it&rsquo;s coaches, players, your best buddy beside you who might not be there next year because changes are going to be made,&rdquo; said goalie Olie Kolzig, who has been warning his teammates to get their act together since Christmas.&ldquo;I hope the guys are starting to feel a little pressure from family and friends and start playing better,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got to realize we are in dire straits. We are out of a playoff spot and not making the playoffs is disastrous. Sometimes you don&rsquo;t get that feeling around here, that not making the playoffs is disastrous.&rdquo;The message has already been sent. Two young defensemen-J-F Fortin and Todd Rohloff-were recalled at midseason and have jobs that used to belong to two veterans.NOTEBOOK The Caps have told left winger Steve Konowalchuk (shoulder surgery in October) he can return when he is ready, but only if they are fully convinced he is 100 percent rehabilitated. Left winger Chris Simon came back early after similar surgery four years ago and was lost for another year after he re injured the shoulder&hellip;No date has been set yet for surgery on center Jeff Halpern&rsquo;s left knee. He is done for the season&hellip;Rookie left winger Matt Pettinger, an Edmonton native, missed practice after the all-star break when his passport papers weren&rsquo;t precisely in order and he wasn&rsquo;t allowed to re-enter the U.S. He was delayed for most of one day. &#9632;

f0025-06

Caps fight for jobs-and playoff spot

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011142/8008804-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

NHL DEPTH CHARTS

<div class="byline">By. Tim Campbell</div>Milwaukee Admirals right winger Jonas Andersson is not yet a mature hockey player, but being a quick study is going to make him one soon.The 20-year-old Stockholm native is playing his second full season of pro hockey after being drafted by the Nashville Predators 33rd overall in 1999. Before he started the season, he agreed to speak to the Predators&rsquo; pre-training camp participants about his rookie campaign with the Admirals, a season in which he scored just six goals and 13 points in 52 games.&ldquo;He talked to our young guys during an initiation camp,&rdquo; said coach Dave Allison. &ldquo;He said that (last year) was a lot harder than he thought it would be. It&rsquo;s the biggest adjustment for so many junior, college and European players, to realize this is a dam tough league.&ldquo;For some reason, we all go a little brain-dead when we graduate from junior or college. We think it&rsquo;s going to be so easy. But everybody has to experience it for themselves and the guys who pick it up the quickest seem to have the most success.&rdquo;Andersson has clearly picked up a lot and had 10 goals and 22 points through 47 games. Even those numbers are a far cry from his final junior season when he had 31 goals and 67 points in 67 games for North Bay of the Ontario League.Some of the biggest lessons Andersson has learned are how to play without the puck and how to best utilize his aboveaverage speed.Pure speed is no longer the tool it used to be and Allison said Andersson is learning that freelancing is sometimes part of being a productive, fast skater.&ldquo;With the defenses everybody plays right now, it&rsquo;s so difficult to score on the rush,&rdquo; Allison said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost like ballroom dancing. You have to create your own kind of creativity.&rdquo; &#9632;

No sophomore slump for Andersson

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>The American League&rsquo;s goalie of the month for January might soon be showing off his jade crystal trophy in Mobile, Ala.&ndash;a city in the East Coast League.Simon Lajeunesse earned the AHL honor after sensational play for the Grand Rapids Griffins, but his place on the depth chart becomes cloudy as Martin Prusek gets set to return from a knee injury.Prusek was an allstar before he was hurt (11-2-0, 2.39 goals-against average, .917 save percentage, two shutouts) and Mathieu Chouinard has been solid (10-11-1, 2.46 goals-against average, .895 save percentage). When Prusek was hurt, Lajeunesse was called up from Mobile and soon bulled his way into the No. 1 slot.He was 7-1-3 with a 1.78 GAA and.927 save percentage in January.&ldquo;I thought we were going to struggle when Prusek got hurt, but Lajeunesse came in, made the saves he had to make and gave us a chance to win,&rdquo; said Griffins coach Bruce Cassidy.The Griffins&rsquo; four veteran defensemen-Travis Richard, John Gruden, Jason Doig and Joel Kwiatkowski-help to make life easy for all the goalies.&ldquo;You can equate it to basketball: we rebound well,&rdquo; Cassidy said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s usually one shot and out. When you have young defensemen, a lot of times a mistake means you&rsquo;re facing off at center ice.&rdquo;<h2>AHL WEST NOTEBOOK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011087/8008866-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="364" height="425"></div>AMAZING TURNAROUND The Hershey Bears&rsquo; franchise-record 16-game winless streak apparently didn&rsquo;t have any lasting affects on goalie Phil Sauve.Sauve went 3-0-1 in his next four outings, posting two shutouts and earning player-of-the-week honors. He allowed just two goals in the four games.The second-year pro was 10-16-6 with a 2.50 GAA.DOUBLE TIME Someone should tell the Rochester Americans and Philadelphia Phantoms they don&rsquo;t get paid extra for overtime.&ldquo;I wish we did,&rdquo; said Rochester goalie Tom Askey.No kidding. As of Feb. 5, the Amerks and Phantoms each had played 19 overtime games, including five against each other.Rochester had the AHL&rsquo;s best overtime record (5-1-13), while the Phantoms were 3-4-12.NOTEBOOK Houston Aeros left winger Cory Larose was the rookie of the month for January after scoring eight goals and 15 points in 12 games.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02724/8008859-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="1309" height="1891"><figcaption class="caption-body">Luke Curtin&rsquo;s first-year Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies are among the top five ECHL teams. Curtin has 11 goals and 42 points in 40 games.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

Goalie of the month soon ECHL-bound?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03504/8008904-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="452" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHICAGO WOLVES</figcaption></div><h2>NHL AFFILIATION</h2>Atlanta Thrashers<h2>ARENA</h2>Allstate Arena, cap. 16,692 Rosemont, Illinois Tickets: 847-724-4625<h2>HISTORY</h2>The Wolves joined the International League in 1994 and won two Turner Cups in seven seasons. The Chicago Wolf is a four-time winner of THN&rsquo;s top logo competition.<h2>COACH</h2>John Anderson, 5th year<h2>GENERAL MANAGER</h2>Kevin Cheveldayoff, 5th year<h2>NOTABLE PROSPECTS</h2>Kamil Piros C 23<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04346/8008897-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="458" height="194"></div><h2>2001-02</h2>The Wolves&rsquo; leading scorer, Rob Brown, is closing in on 700 minor pro points in fewer than 450 games. &#9632;

f0027-03

AHL TEAM ANALYSIS 18 of 27

<div class="byline">By Rob Mueller</div>Greenville Grrrowl goalie Jayme Platt is paying his father the ultimate tribute.After the loss of his dad, Richard, who died of stomach cancer Nov. 14, Platt has been nothing short of spectacular in his first pro season. The 23-year-old Seattle native has piloted the East Coast League&rsquo;s Grrrowl to the top of the Southeast Division, going 19-3-0 with a 2.47 goals-against average and.921 save percentage.&ldquo;It has been a tough year, but it has been a lot easier thanks to the support I&rsquo;ve gotten,&rdquo; Platt said. &ldquo;The coaching staff, my teammates, the organization, they&rsquo;ve been a big help as I continue to deal with this. Fortunately, things are going pretty good now.&rdquo;<h2>NOTEBOOK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05231/8008935-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="302" height="321"></div>The former Lake Superior State star opened the season 1-1-0 with the Grrrowl before leaving the team in late October after learning of his father&rsquo;s cancer. He went six weeks between starts as he mourned his dad&rsquo;s passing.But for Platt, the tragedy was followed by triumph. He won his first nine starts after returning to the team and is among the league leaders in wins, GAA and save percentage.&ldquo;This team really plays well together,&rdquo; Platt said. &ldquo;Winning is a lot of fun and it has been nice just to be able to contribute.&rdquo;GENERAL BATTLE Former Greensboro Generals coach Jeff Brubaker is suing the team for breach of contract and fraud.The lawsuit alleges the team&rsquo;s owners fired Brubaker last April in violation of his contract, which said he could only be fired if found in violation of salary cap rules.Brubaker&rsquo;s contract with the Generals ran through the end of this season. He is suing for the $98,000 he would have been paid this season, plus punitive damages.NOTEBOOK Richmond goalie Rastislav Stana (Slovakia) and Greensboro forward Vlad Serov (Ukraine) are in Salt Lake City playing in the Olympics&hellip;ECHL senior vice-president Troy Ward issued 40 games in suspensions to nine players in the wake of a brawl between Atlantic City and Wheeling Jari. 27. &#9632;

f0027-05

Platt pays tribute to father with stellar play

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>A lack of scoring has caused the Hamilton Bulldogs to fall from grace in the Canadian Division.Hamilton was first for most of the first half of the season, but their lead disappeared when they scored only 20 goals in a 13-game span through early February and lost a franchise-record six road games in a row.Hamilton&rsquo;s three most prolific players were all in slumps. One-time American League leading scorer Brian Swanson had two goals in 11 games, Fernando Pisani had two goals in 16 games and Jason Chimera had three in 16 games since returning from a call-up to Edmonton.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt there are guys who are trying, but there&rsquo;s also no doubt there are guys who could put a little more into the effort to score some goals,&rdquo; said coach Claude Julien to the Hamilton Spectator.&ldquo;There comes a point in time when you have to talk about accountability. Well, if you&rsquo;re a goal-scorer, then you have to go out there and do it.&rdquo;BIG ADDITION Left winger Patrick Poulin, who spent 10 years in the NHL and had played only two minor league games in his career before this season, was a major addition to the Quebec Citadelles&rsquo; lineup when he was sent down by the Montreal Canadiens in late January.In his first six games with Quebec, Poulin, 28, scored six goals and had three game-winners, including one with 1:46 left in a key divisional matchup against Manitoba Feb. 5.<h2>NOTE BOOK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02779/8009004-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="352" height="348"></div>Poulin was Hartford&rsquo;s first round pick (ninth overall) in 1991.NOTEBOOK When right winger Jean-Guy Trudel scored three times and added an assist in Springfield&rsquo;s 7-1 pasting of Bridgeport Feb. 1, he became the Falcons&rsquo; all-time leading scorer with 219 points, passing Daniel Briere (217)&hellip;Hartford coach John Paddock made his first professional return to Winnipeg in more than five years, coaching the Wolf Pack to a split against the Manitoba Moose Feb. 1-2. Paddock, a Manitoba native, was the second-last coach and last GM of the NHL&rsquo;s Winnipeg Jets&hellip;Defenseman Kaspars Astashenko of Lowell joined Latvia for the Olympic hockey tournament&rsquo;s qualifying round&hellip;Manitoba&rsquo;s Herbert Vasiljevs was going to play for Latvia, but suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury in Quebec with 7:53 left in his final game before heading to Salt Lake.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03568/8008997-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="1303" height="1903"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Rupp, a first round draft pick in 1998, has surpassed his rookie scoring totals with the Albany Rivers Rats. He has 23points in 46games.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0028-02

Toothless Bulldogs lose divisional hold

<h2>PROVIDENCE BRUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04389/8009042-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="438" height="442"></div><h2>NHL AFFILIATION</h2>Boston Bruins<h2>ARENA</h2>Dunkin&rsquo; Donuts Center, cap. 11,909Providence. Rhode Island Tickets: 401-273-5000<h2>HISTORY</h2>The Providence Reds operated for 40 years-winning four titles-until moving to Binghamton in 1977. The Bruins arrived in 1992.<h2>COACH</h2>Bill Armstrong, 2nd year<h2>GENERAL MANAGER</h2>Mike O&rsquo;Connell, 2nd year<h2>NOTABLE PROSPECTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05296/8009035-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="448" height="194"></div><h2>2001-02</h2>The 1999 Calder Cup champions are led by soon-to-be AHL penalty minute king Dennis Bonvie. &#9632;

f0028-04

AHI TEAM ANALYSIS 19 of 27

<div class="byline">-Brendan Savage</div>The United League&rsquo;s Muskegon Fury ended more than two years of futility against the Quad City Mallards with a 3-2 road victory. The Feb. 3 game marked Muskegon&rsquo;s first victory over the Mallards since Oct. 23,1999, a span of 21 regular season games. Quad City went 19-0-2 versus Muskegon during that stretch&hellip;Quad City was fined $1,500 for refusing to take the ice for a Jan. 25 game in Flint. After a two-and-a-half-hour delay, the game was postponed due to poor ice conditions. Flint was fined $1,000 for having its second straight game postponed due to poor ice. The Generals were ordered to pay the B.C. Icemen&rsquo;s travel costs back to Flint for the Jan. 23 game that was postponed, but Quad City had to pay its own travel expenses. &#9632;

UNITED LEAGUE

<div class="byline">-Don Ruiz</div>There will be no All-Star Game for the best players of the West Coast League this season. For each of the past two seasons, the WCHL sent its stars against a team of all-stars from the Central League. The rival leagues split those two games and the quality of play was generally considered better than normal for an All-Star Game, as league pride seemed to stimulate a willingness to play defense. However, this season, the reorganized Central League chose not to continue the two-year experiment. With only eight teams and few appealing options, the West Coast League scrapped the all-star contest, saying a game between the league&rsquo;s Northern and Southern Division stars didn&rsquo;t make economic sense. &#9632;

WEST COAST LEAGUE

<div class="byline">-David Henry</div>All-Star Games are usually light-the-lamp fests, but Fort Worth Brahmas goaltender Kory Cooper broke with tradition diming the Central League&rsquo;s 2002 AllStar Game Feb. 1 in Corpus Christi. While the Northern Conference and Southern Conference allstars combined for 11 goals, Cooper earned MVP honors, stopping all 20 shots he faced. The Northern squad, behind the line of Memphis RiverKings left winger Don Parsons. Wichita Thunder center Travis Clayton and Amarillo Rattlers right winger Dorian, Anneck, beat the Southern squad 7-4. The trio combined for four goals and six assists. Anneck&rsquo;s stick, used to score the game-winner, was sent to the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with Cooper&rsquo;s game jersey. &#9632;

CENTRAL LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>Four years ago, Cory Pecker was wondering if he&rsquo;d play hockey again. Today, he&rsquo;s a symbol of what someone can accomplish if they put their mind and body to the task.He&rsquo;s also the Ontario League&rsquo;s active scoring leader with 137 goals in 262 games.Pecker, 20, with the Erie Otters after being traded from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds last season, was diagnosed with Crohn&rsquo;s Disease in November of 1997.That was his OHL rookie season and the right winger was only 16. A chronic inflammation of his bowel required two surgeries to remove of a portion of it.He was out of the lineup for three months, but Pecker was determined to make it back that season, which he did.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been pretty fortunate,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I take a few pills here and there every day, but for me it&rsquo;s pretty much in control. The one thing I took with me when I left the hospital was that I left. There were so many others who weren&rsquo;t as fortunate.&rdquo;Shayne Corson, with the Montreal Canadiens at the time of Pecker&rsquo;s stay in a Montreal hospital, paid him a surprise visit. He said Corson&rsquo;s ability to live and play with Crohn&rsquo;s Disease has been an inspiration.New York Rangers left winger Theoren Fleury and Columbus Blue Jackets right winger Kevin Dineen cope with Crohn&rsquo;s as well.&lsquo;A lot of guys in our league take things for granted, whether it&rsquo;s great ability or great family support, and when I got out of hospital I made sure I understood where I came from and how lucky I was to have what I have,&rdquo; said Pecker, who visits kids at the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Erie, Pa. &ldquo;I still remember how Shayne and some of the Canadiens came to visit and that allowed me to take my mind off what I was going through for a few hours.&rdquo; Pecker, who missed six weeks earlier this season with a broken arm, was leading his team with 35 goals and 67 points in 39 games. He had 16 goals and 23 points in 13 games in January and was named the OHL&rsquo;s player of the month.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01997/8009145-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="398" height="215"></div>He was drafted by Calgary in the sixth round (166th overall) in 1999.SHOWS LENIENCY Commissioner David Branch chose not to impose any supplementary discipline on London Knights forward Dan Buccella after he jumped Brampton Battalion forward Ryan Bowness off a faceoff Jan. 25.Buccella, 18, was suspended for 15 games earlier this season for jumping Dustin Brown of the Guelph Storm.&ldquo;Dan had some explanation for it, none of which justified his action,&rdquo; Branch said. &ldquo;He has to learn he can&rsquo;t address his concerns in that fashion. Hopefully we can work with Dan to correct his transgressions and get on with his career without further incident.&rdquo;Branch had a lengthy telephone conversation with Buccella, Knights presidentcoach Dale Hunter and GM Mark Hunter.&ldquo;Dan needs direction and we&rsquo;ve got to make sure we give him direction,&rdquo; was all Mark Hunter would say.When asked if other players might get the wrong message with no suspension to Buccella, Branch said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not concerned about our players&rsquo; interpretation of this. I think they have a pretty good idea about the value system in our league.&rdquo;IN THE HOUSE Sault Ste. Marie sold out for coach/part-owner Don Cherry and his Mississauga IceDogs Feb. 4. The game drew 3,948 fans for the Greyhounds&rsquo; 8-3 win. &#9632;

f0029-01

Pecker battles through Crohn’s Disease

<div class="byline">By Willy Palov</div>It didn&rsquo;t take Joe Canale long to find another coaching job.The Drummondville Voltigeurs named Canale as Daniel Bissonnette&rsquo;s replacement Feb. 1, just two-and-a-half months after Canale was fired by the Sherbrooke Castors.The Voltigeurs axed Bissonnette after the team struggled to a 21-25-6 record.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02664/8009183-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="399" height="289"></div>Canale has coached in all three Canadian major junior leagues, won a gold medal at the world junior championship and guided five other Quebec League teams.&ldquo;Joe has a lot of experience and he has been a winner,&rdquo; said Drummondville GM Michel Georges. &ldquo;He will bring a lot of respect to our organization because everybody knows what he can do.&rdquo;Canale&rsquo;s biggest challenge will be to tame the Drummondville dressing room, of which Bissonnette lost control.&ldquo;Sometimes it&rsquo;s hard to know why things work for a coach one year and then the next year, it&rsquo;s no good,&rdquo; Georges said. &ldquo;The thing is, Daniel is a good coach. He&rsquo;s an honest guy and he works hard, but the work habits weren&rsquo;t there with the players and the team was not going to be ready for the playoffs. You could see the players weren&rsquo;t interested in giving 100 per cent.&rdquo;The Voltigeurs were picked by many in the pre-season to challenge for the league title, but have performed well below expectations.There have been three other coaching casualties in the QMJHL this year-Tom Coolen (Moncton), Guy Lalonde (Hull) and Gaston Therrien (Montreal).Canale is only under contract until the end of the season, but the Voltigeurs are prepared to offer him a longer deal if he turns the team around down the stretch.STREAK ENDS To call the Hull Olym-piques &ldquo;streaky&rdquo; would be the understatement of the QMJHL season.The Olympiques went on a 10-game winning streak just one week after snapping an 11-game losing run.The winning streak ended Feb. 3 versus the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, but allowed the Olympiques to reach the.500 mark for the first time this season and jump into the West Division lead.Hull is the only QMJHL team to have double-digit streaks for both wins and losses this season.&ldquo;We had that really long losing streak, but what was happening is we&rsquo;d go into places and get like 40 shots on the other team and still lose,&rdquo; said defenseman Jesse Lane.&ldquo;But when they fired Guy Lalonde right around Christmas and brought in Benoit Groulx, things started to turn around. It took a couple of weeks to get winning again, but once we did all the guys really started coming together.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been really hot ever since, which has felt great.&rdquo;INJURED TITAN The injury woes continue for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.One week after 20-year-old defenseman Antoine Bergeron went down with a severe concussion, the Titan lost second-leading scorer Jonathan Ferland to a broken thumb. He&rsquo;ll be out until at least early March. Bergeron is sidelined indefinitely.Ferland, 18, had 28 goals and 74 points in 55 games.<h2>WORLD WATCH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03455/8009176-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="180" height="173"></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.Jussi Tarvainen, RW, 25 (Edmonton). Oiler draft pick (95th overall) in 1994 led Tappara Tampere in scoring with 19 goals and 42 points in 45 Finnish league games.&#9633; Petr Klima, LW, 37 (free agent). The enigmatic 13-year NHL vet led Litvinov with 24 goals and 32 points in 45 Czech league games.Martin Gendron, RW. 27 (free agent). Small, 5-foot-8 sniper, who played with Washington and Chicago, dominated the Italian League with 25 goals and 51 points in 34 games with the Asiago Lions.&#9633; Marc Fortier, C, 35 (free agent). Former Quebec Nordique was the top scorer for the German League&rsquo;s Eisbaeren Berlin with 16 goals and 50 points in 48 games. &#9632;

f0029-02

Canale lands on feet with Drummondville

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Ryan Martin was a valued member of the Kelowna Rockets.&ldquo;For about four hours,&rdquo; said Rockets coach Marc Habscheid with a chuckle.While on loan from the Calgary Hitmen, the 17-year-old goaltender backstopped Kelowna to a 4-3 Western League win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes Feb. 3.Martin Calgary&rsquo;s third-stringer-became a temporary Rocket after Kelowna GM Bruce Hamilton exhausted every other option.&ldquo;It was a once-in-a-lifetime situation,&rdquo; Habscheid said.Kelowna experienced an acute goaltending shortage after first-stringer Shane Bendera injured a knee and backup Josh Lepp broke a finger.Hamilton summoned Gavin Holcomb from the Saskatchewan Jr. League&rsquo;s Melville Millionaires and Kelowna played him for five games-the maximum allowable for a roving affiliate player.&ldquo;I went to the league,&rdquo; Hamilton said. &ldquo;I asked if I could extend Holcomb to six games. If he played a sixth game, he&rsquo;d have to spend the rest of the year with us. I didn&rsquo;t want to take him away from his team for the rest of the year.&ldquo;(WHL vice-president) Richard Doerksen suggested I check with Calgary to see if we could use Martin.&rdquo;Calgary agreed to lend Martin, who had not played since Nov. 14, to Kelowna.Lethbridge coach-GM Bryan Maxwell also provided his blessing.&ldquo;Bryan was generous enough to let us use him,&rdquo; Hamilton said. &ldquo;I would do the same for him. Hopefully, if he needs a favor down the road, he&rsquo;ll get it.&rdquo;Martin did his Calgary teammates a favor by stopping 31 shots for Kelowna. Calgary is chasing Lethbridge in the Central Division standings.&ldquo;I give him a lot of credit because it was a difficult situation,&rdquo; Habscheid said. &ldquo;He went in with new teammates after not having played for a while and handled it very well.&rdquo;JUSTIN TIME Justin Kelly is still getting used to seeing his name among the WHL&rsquo;s scoring leaders.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04322/8009214-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="396" height="270"></div>The Saskatoon Blades right winger skyrocketed up the goal-and point-scoring lists with 13 goals and 24 points during an 11-game tear.Kelly reached fifth in the league in goals (33) and fourth in points (71) after 54 games.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of weird seeing my name up there with players who have been there the whole season,&rdquo; Kelly said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been consistent all year. I&rsquo;ve tried to be more consistent since the Christmas break.&rdquo;The 6-foot-4,218-pounder is in his fifth WHL season. As a 20-year-old free agent, he&rsquo;s hoping to attract NHL interest.RAPID RAIDERS The Prince Albert Raiders set a franchise record for the fastest four goals-83 seconds-during a 6-5 victory over the Regina Pats.The Feb. 1 feat bettered their previous mark of four goals in 106 seconds, set March 8,1985, in a 13-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings.Prince Albert was 31 seconds off the league record for the fastest four goals. Saskatoon (Feb. 9,1982, against Prince Albert) and the Lethbridge Broncos (March 23,1979, against Saskatoon) share the WHL mark of four goals in 52 seconds. &#9632;

f0029-04

Calgary goalie Martin Rockets in for win

<div class="byline">By Paul Harris</div>Mike Bishai only wanted to continue to help his team.That&rsquo;s why the Western Michigan senior center hid a condition that made it impossible for him to swallow most foods for much of the season.Bronco coaches didn&rsquo;t discover that Bishai, the top returning scorer in Division I hockey this season, had been hiding something until he finally approached coach Jim Culhane in late January. Bishai was simply too weak and tired to continue the cover-up.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011126/8009245-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="396" height="234"></div>The 5-foot-11, 205-pounder had been subsisting on milkshakes and noodles.&ldquo;I think the big thing that you look at was that Mike wanted to play so badly,&rdquo; Culhane said.Bishai went to a doctor about the condition-which affected one of the valves of his esophagus-when he was at home in Edmonton during the Christmas break. He had an examination and a few tests, but declined to take another test, which would have narrowed down his condition.When he finally went to the team with his problem, they sent him back to Edmonton for more tests. He was home for over a week and took medication to correct the problem. He returned to Kalamazoo before the end of the month and was in the lineup when the Broncos visited Bowling Green Feb. 1.The 22-year-old had two assists in the 5-4 overtime victory and got a goal the following night in an 8-1 win.Bishai had nine goals and 31 points in 24 games. Last season, he scored 23 goals and 68 points in 37 games.ANALYSIS What&rsquo;s in a loss? Maybe a lot.Lake Superior State coach Frank Anzalone was upbeat after his team dropped a 1-0 decision to Michigan Feb. 2 as freshman goalie Terry Denike was spectacular, stopping 28 shots.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s how we began in 1982-83 (when he took over the program the first time and went on to win the 1988 NCAA title),&rdquo; Anzalone said. &ldquo;We started with protecting our goaltender and asking him to make five-to-six big saves per game and he did that.&rdquo;SPOTLIGHT After consecutive shutouts against Lake Superior State (5-0 Jan. 31 and 1-0 Feb. 2), Michigan senior goaltender Josh Blackburn had only allowed seven goals in his last six games. But he credited the team&rsquo;s defense for the two shutouts-he only had to stop a combined 29 shots in the two games.&ldquo;Every time they&rsquo;d (Lake Superior State) come down the ice, we had guys picking up their guys,&rdquo; said Blackburn, who was 13-5-4 with a 2.00 goals-against average and.920 save percentage.NOTEBOOK Michigan had killed off 47 of its last 48 shorthanded situations through Feb. 6. &#9632;

f0030-01

Star finally treated for mystery ailment he hid from team

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>Hockey East may have to add the Purple Heart to the list of post-season awards it hands out. If it does, it already has a winner: New Hampshire sophomore goalie Michael Ayers.Ayers tore a tendon on the underside of his left arm near the wrist when teammate Mick Mounsey accidentally sliced him with his skate Feb. 1.New Hampshire was already shorthanded in goal because Matt Carney was out with a concussion. Third string goalie Tim Collins finished the game and would have started the next game a day later if it wasn&rsquo;t for the courageous and determined Ayers.Ayers received eight stitches at Bangor&rsquo;s Eastern Maine Medical Center Feb. 1 and saw a hand specialist the following day. He was told he required surgery as soon as possible and would be sidelined until mid-March.&ldquo;I asked if there was any way I could play and they told me since the tendon was already torn, I couldn&rsquo;t damage it further,&rdquo; Ayers said. &ldquo;So they fitted me with a splint. I went out for warmup Saturday night and it felt good.&rdquo;Although he couldn&rsquo;t close his glove hand, Ayers made 33 saves in an important 2-2 tie with Maine.&ldquo;I was happy with the way I played,&rdquo; Ayers said. &ldquo;It bothered me quite a bit. The guys did a great job in front of me as they have all year.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02757/8009276-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="396" height="234"></div>SPOTLIGHT Northeastern senior center Chris Lynch is one of the league&rsquo;s most underrated players. Overshadowed by captain Jim Fahey and Mike Ryan, Lynch has played a pivotal role in a 7-1-1 stretch that catapulted the team into contention for home-ice advantage in Round 1.Ryan had 13 goals and 31 points in 28 games to place him second on the team in scoring. &ldquo;He has meant a lot of things to us,&rdquo; Lynch said. &ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t recruited, he didn&rsquo;t play much as a freshman, but has improved himself to the point he&rsquo;s one of the better players in Hockey East.&rdquo;ANALYSIS Massachusetts-Amherst is the heartbreak team in U.S. college hockey because of its inability to score goals.The Minutemen have lost nine one-goal games this year. Once the Minutemen recruit offensive-minded players they&rsquo;ll start winning close games.NOTEBOOK Hobey Baker Award hopeful Darren Haydar of New Hampshire was held pointless in two games against Maine, the first time that has happened all year&hellip;Boston College&rsquo;s Tony Voce hit the 20-goal plateau, giving the Eagles a 20-goal scorer eight straight seasons. &#9632;

f0030-02

Injured but unfazed, Ayers proves axiom: ‘You’ve got to be crazy to play goal’

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggie</div>Many coaches like to have one dynamic power play unit, loaded up with the team&rsquo;s best players.Not Union coach Kevin Sneddon. He likes to spread the wealth around.For the second straight season, 12 different players have scored power play goals for the Skating Dutchmen (6-6-2 in league play, 11-9-5 overall), who were in the thick of the battle for home ice as the Eastern College Athletic Conference schedule entered the homestretch.Not only is there parity on the power play, but nine different players have scored game-winners.&ldquo;Coaching indecision,&rdquo; laughed Sneddon when describing his power play-by-committee. &ldquo;With the videotape exchange that we have in the league, you can see what teams do on the penalty kill and make subtle changes, use different players in different positions.&rdquo;Sophomore Kris Goodjohn, freshman Marc Neron and senior Doug Christiensen each had three power play goals to share the team lead.&ldquo;We had a clear-cut No. 1 unit when the year started, but now everyone has to be ready, because they know they could get the opportunity to be the key player or the key shooter,&rdquo; Sneddon said.The power play played a big role for the Dutchmen Feb. 1, when they defeated Vermont 4-0. Three of the goals came on the power play as Union won for the first time ever at Vermont&rsquo;s Gutterson Field House, ending a 10-game losing streak.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03536/8009307-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="398" height="234"></div>SPOTLIGHT One night after getting their first road win of the season, the Clarkson Golden Knights gave coach Mark Morris a milestone victory.Morris got his 300th career win Feb. 2 when Clarkson beat Princeton 3-1. Morris, in his 14th season at Clarkson, has had a trying year as the Golden Knights have been riddled with injuries.One night before the milestone win, the Knights scored four goals in the final 4:10 to defeat Yale in New Haven, Conn., snapping a 0-6-3 road streak.PROSPECT WATCH Freshman James Hakewill has become a key performer on St. Lawrence&rsquo;s blueline.A fifth round draft pick (145th overall) by Calgary in 2001, Hakewill played in 20 of St. Lawrence&rsquo;s 24 games, picking up two goals and four points. The 6-foot-5, 221-pound native of Wilmette, Ill., played for Westminster High School in the New England Prep League last season.NOTEBOOK Cornell and Harvard piled up 134 minutes in penalties, including 126 in the third period, in Cornell&rsquo;s 6-3 win over the Crimson Feb. 1. &#9632;

f0030-03

There’s strength in numbers for Union as power play-by-committee is scoring

<div class="byline">By Andy Baggot</div>A disputed goal and some disrespectful rhetoric were the sparks that lit the fuse to a bench-clearing post-game brawl between Wisconsin and Alaska-Anchorage.Six players received game disqualification penalties for fighting and seven others were assessed double minors for roughing after Anchorage skated to a controversial 3-2 Western Collegiate Hockey Association win at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., Feb. 2.The teams combined for 118 penalty minutes after the horn sounded. The Badgers set a school record for most penalty minutes in a period (59) and tied their record for most penalty minutes in a game (71).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04373/8009338-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="400" height="236"></div>The trouble began following the series opener Feb. 1. During Wisconsin&rsquo;s 5-4 win. the Seawolves&rsquo; standout defenseman Matt Shasby was assessed a game misconduct penalty for checking from behind in the second period. Asked about the development after the game Wisconsin scored three straight goals in the third period to erase a 3-2 deficit-Wisconsin defenseman Dan Boeser downplayed Shasby&rsquo;s exit, saying Shasby is &ldquo;nothing special.&rdquo;More fuel was added to the fire in the series finale. The teams were tied 2-2 early in the third period when referee Derek Shepherd first waved off, then allowed a goal by Anchorage winger Dallas Steward.When the horn sounded, at least a half-dozen fights broke out on the ice. Though players from both benches got involved, Anchorage coach John Hill publicly blamed Wisconsin&rsquo;s coaches for failing to control their players.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just the character of their team,&rdquo; said Hill of the Badgers. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re a classless bunch.&rdquo;WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod was considering further penalties that could result in more disqualifications and sanctions for the coaches.ANALYSIS Colorado College scored seven goals in its first five WCHA games, which explains why the Tigers started out in an 0-5-0 hole. But heading down the stretch, no team in the league was hotter. They were averaging 4.2 goals per game during a 9-1-0 run that improved their league record to 12-7-1.SPOTLIGHT With 12 goals and 40 points in 29 games, Minnesota-Duluth senior winger Judd Medak has already established career highs in those categories.He&rsquo;s the fastest Duluth player to 40 points since 1994 Hobey Baker Award winner Chris Marinucci did it in 26 games.NOTEBOOK Minnesota State-Mankato winger B.J. Abel set a school record, scoring eight seconds into a 3-2 win over Michigan Tech Feb. 1. &#9632;

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Post-game brawl caps series between Badgers, Seawolves

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011037/8009390-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011109/8009383-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="3103" height="3574"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011006/8009376-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="3095" height="2652"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011135/8009369-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="3127" height="3578"></div> &#9632;

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2001-02 NHL STATISTICS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011059/8009421-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

<h2>NOTE</h2>Unofficial game summaries provided by National Hockey League SA-shots against: GA-goals against: ENG-empty net goals: Dec-decision, charges to goaltenders of record when winning goal is scored.<h2>MONDAY, FEB. 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02745/8009564-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="514" height="2106"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03612/8009557-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="512" height="2410"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04488/8009550-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="502" height="642"></div><h2>TUESDAY, FEB. 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05411/8009543-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="506" height="1695"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06372/8009536-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="497" height="2412"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07339/8009529-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="503" height="616"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08301/8009522-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="504" height="1721"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09271/8009515-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="505" height="2407"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011030/8009508-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="500" height="2293"></div><h2>THURSDAY, FEB. 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02682/8009501-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="500" height="1181"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03566/8009494-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="501" height="3542"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04436/8009487-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="512" height="3530"></div><h2>MEN&rsquo;S OLYMPIC SCHEDULE</h2>Six countries qualified for men&rsquo;s final round competition at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. In order of finish at the 1998 Winter Games, they are Czech Republic (gold), Russia (silver), Finland (bronze), Canada, USA and Sweden.Eight countries qualified for Men&rsquo;s Preliminary Round competition. Austria, Belarus, Germany, France, Latvia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Ukraine. The top two teams advance to the Final Round.FormatPhase I: The teams finishing with the best records after round-robin play in Groups A (Austria, Germany, Latvia, Slovakia) and B (Belarus, France, Switzerland, Ukraine) advance to the Final Round. Slovakia and Switzerland are favoured. Phase II: Teams in Groups C (Canada, Czech, Sweden and Qualifier II) and D (Finland, Russia, USA and Qualifier I) play round-robins to determine seedings for the playoff round. Phase HI: Group cross-over quarterfinal play determines qualifiers for the bronze and gold medal games.Schedule Notes1. All times listed are Mountain Standard Time, which is two hours behind Eastern Standard Time, one hour behind Central and one hour ahead of Pacific.2. All games will be played at two venues-The Peaks Ice Center (P) in Provo (capacity, 8,000) and E Center (E) in West Valley City (capacity, 10,451).3. Ticket prices range from $45 (U.S.) for preliminary round games to $425 (U.S.) for the gold medal game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05362/8009480-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="748" height="1317"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06316/8009473-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="752" height="1323"></div><h2>WOMEN&rsquo;S OLYMPIC SCHEDULE</h2>Eight countries will play in the women&rsquo;s tournament at, the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Canada, Russia, Sweden, Kazakhstan make up Group A. China, Finland, Germany and the U.S. are in Group B.FormatThe first-and second-place finishers after round robin play in each group cross-over (A1-B2, A2-B1) for a one-game playoff round semifinal. The winners play in a one-game final for the gold medal.Schedule Notes1. All times listed are Mountain Standard Time.2. The CBC will show Canada&rsquo;s games live and in their entirety. The United States games will be shown live in their entirety on NBC, CNBC, or MSNBC,3. *TBD. Network coverage will be decided after seeding is determined.4. All games will be played at two venues-The Peaks Ice Center (P) in Provo (capacity, 8,000) and E Center (E) in West Valley City (capacity, 10,451).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09236/8009466-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="742" height="774"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08259/8009459-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="734" height="774"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07288/8009452-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="770" height="652"><figcaption class="caption-body">U.S inspirational leader Cammi Granato is looking for a repeat of Nagano glory.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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February 22, 2002

Sidelined Yushkevich missed by two clubs

WESTERN LEAGUE STATISTICS

Papineau healthy and scoring goals

Time to open up, get offensive