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April 12, 2002
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.
Whitehead leads Maine to berth in Frozen Four
He came into a very difficult situation, but Maine interim coach Tim Whitehead accepted ailing Black Bear coach Shawn Walsh’s plea to join the staff and direct the team if Walsh’s battle with kidney cancer sidelined him. When complications from the disease took Walsh’s life Sept. 24, Whitehead took over. And the 40-year-old guided the Bears to the school’s eighth NCAA Frozen Four appearance and third in four years, thanks to NCAA East Regional wins over Harvard (4-3 in overtime) and Boston University (4-3). By state law, a national search has to be conducted to fill the position. Maine athletic director Sue Tyler acknowledges Whitehead would be an excellent choice. Whitehead said he would like the full-time position. “If it’s in the best interest of the program that I stay on as coach, that’s great,”…
How Flames fizzled after excellent start
For six weeks, there was a lot of “I told you so” in the Calgary Flames dressing room, much of it directed against a particular publication that is sometimes described as the Bible of Hockey. After all, The Hockey News projected in its 2001-02 yearbook that the Flames, a team that had missed the playoffs in the five previous seasons, were heading down, not up, and would finish the 2001-02 season at the bottom of the Western Conference - trailing a trio of recent expansion teams (Columbus, Nashville and Minnesota) along with all the other clubs in perpetual rebuilding modes (Anaheim, Chicago, Phoenix). Then the Flames rattled off a first quarter unlike any they’d ever had before, even in the years when they were an NHL power. Only two losses in…
Kings in fierce battle for playoff position
It could be all or nothing for the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings are one of the teams in the scrum for playoff spots in the wild Western Conference, playing in a division where four teams could win, or not even make the playoffs. The Kings won six straight to move into first place in the Pacific Division for the first time in 11 years (1990-91, the only season they won a division title). Their power play and penalty killing units were first in the NHL. But then the Kings were blanked twice, by Phoenix and Vancouver. The power play was 0-11, and the penalty kill gave up three goals to the Canucks. The Kings rebounded with a 2-2 tie against Edmonton March 28, putting them back in fifth overall in the conference. “That’s hockey down…
Shanahan’s 500th goal hard to come by
After scoring his 499th goal March 2 at Pittsburgh, Detroit Red Wings forward Brendan Shanahan said No. 500 didn’t matter to him. Bad move. “I think I jinxed myself,” Shanahan said. After that, Shanahan had eight assists in eight games - but not a goal. Oh, he had chances. Glorious chances. But the puck slipped off his stick, struck iron or found a path with a dead end. Goaltenders were making ridiculous saves; Shanahan was skating back to the bench shaking his head. Thirty-eight shots on net, and nothing. Shanahan had to laugh. What else could he do? “Usually when you’re not scoring, you’re really frustrated and you want to change things and you’re down,” Shanahan said. But, Shanahan said, any time he looked at a teammate, the teammate would say, “Don’t change a thing.” He didn’t change…
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