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.

July 1, 2002

The Hockey News July 1, 2002

<div class="byline">-Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04437/8049552-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="222" height="259"></div>The New York Ranger housecleaning, which began with a new head coach and two new assistant coaches, continued up to the eve of free agent shop-ping season.Rangers GMpresident Glen Sather declined to exercise the team&rsquo;s option on right winger Theoren Fleury&rsquo;s contract. The option year, at $7 million, had a June 15 deadline. Fleury, who signed a three-year, $21-million contract in July of 1999, was thus set to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, though his rights-for a few days, anyway-were sent to San Jose June 26.It also was looking more and more likely that goalie Mike Richter would sign elsewhere as a free agent. Although Sather and Richter&rsquo;s agent, Mike Gillis, had conversations, it was expected Sather would offer Richter- the only Ranger goalie in the last 62 years to win a Stanley Cup-a paycut that Richter would turn down.The Rangers took the same tactic with Mark Messier in 1997, leading to his three-year Vancouver hiatus.In addition, Sather planned to cut loose defenseman Bryan Berard, who had a remarkable comeback from a devastating eye injury and 18-month retirement, but who was due three more years at more than $9 million if the Rangers picked up the option. Berard would also become an unrestricted free agent July 1.DRAFT IMPACT For the second time in three years, the Rangers went to the draft table without a first round pick, this one having been spent in the package for Pavel Bure. The Rangers added some size, particularly in second-rounder Lee Falardeau, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound center from Michigan State. Falardeau compared his style to Bobby Holik and Sather compared him to former NHLer Joel Otto.Sather&rsquo;s staff performed an oddity in the second day of the draft, picking three players from Green Bay of the United States League.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;What are you going to say about the way people performed? Nothing you can say is going to change anything.&rdquo; - Ron Low, on the day he was fired after two seasons as Rangers coach.NOTEBOOK Indications are center Mark Messier will return for a 24th NHL season, during which he will turn 42&hellip;The Rangers acquired tough guy Krzysztof Oliwa from the Pittsburgh Penguins for future considerations. &#9632;

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NHL TEAM REPORTS

Summer of change sees Fleury leave

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011137/8048689-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHOTO FINISHDominik Hasek played hard on the ice and played along in the studio. In photo shoots with The Hockey News over the years, he: 1. Saw the world through Jacques Plante&rsquo;s eyes (and mask); 2. Posed as the &lsquo;Sultan of Stop&rsquo;; 3. Demonstrated the &lsquo;Dominik Effect&rsquo;; 4. Gave us his rendition of &lsquo;Reign Man&rsquo; during his brilliant Vezina Trophy run; and, 5. Had us seeing double after back-to-back Hart Trophy wins in 1997 and 1998.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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SPECIAL SECTION

Goodbye Domindator

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011863/8047782-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div>THN gave a plus to Nicklas Lidstrom for being &ldquo;the first non-Canadian to win the Conn Smythe.&rdquo; (THN, June 28) Except Texas-born Brian Leetch won it in 1994 with the Rangers.Alex Campbell, Kent, EnglandYou don&rsquo;t have to be a Red Wings fan to appreciate the stellar coaching career of Scotty Bowman. He&rsquo;s the best there ever was and I think it&rsquo;s wonderful he got to go out on top. The NHL may never see another coach of his caliber.Brian Benway, Indianapolis, Ind.Before the NHL thinks it has captured the Carolina market, here&rsquo;s a blunt reminder: Florida made the final in 1996. Six years later, the Panthers can&rsquo;t draw flies.John Liosatos, Morton Grove, III.Congratulations to Detroit for a great season. It&rsquo;s great to see the city that rewards its players with the most devotion- and the highest salaries-gets the Cup. Proof that free enterprise still works.Nicole Belile, DallasFor sale: One silver mug named Stanley. Available each year to the highest bidder. Investments in overpaid athletes can be offset by higher ticket prices and merchandise costs. For more info, call 1-800-RED-WING.John Porter, Lakewood, Ohio<div class="sidebar"><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. &#9632;</div>

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DEPARTMENTS

Leetch first non-Canadian Conn man

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02782/8048882-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="354" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Chelios</figcaption></div><h2>1ST ALL-STAR TEAM</h2>Goalie Patrick Roy, ColDefenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, DetDefenseman Chris Chelios, DetCenter Joe Sakic, ColLeft Winger Markus Naslund, VanRight Winger Jarome Iginla, Cgy<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03571/8048875-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="357" height="422"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Pronger</figcaption></div><h2>2ND ALL-STAR TEAM</h2>Goalie Jose Theodore, MtlDefenseman Rob Blake, ColDefenseman Sergei Gonchar, WshCenter Mats Sundin, TorLeft Winger Brendan Shanahan, DetRight Winger Bill Guerin, Bos<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04392/8048868-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="343" height="424"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rostislav Klesla (Dan Hamilton/VPS)</figcaption></div><h2>ALL-ROOKIE TEAM</h2>Goalie Dan Blackburn, NYRDefenseman Rostislav Klesla, ClbDefenseman Nick Boynton, BosForward Dany Heatley, AtlForward Ilya Kovalchuk, AtlForward Kristian Huselius, Fla &#9632;

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NHL 2001-02 ALL-STAR & ALL-ROOKIE TEAMS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011896/8047517-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Reading up

<div class="byline">Editor's Notebook </div><div class="byline">Jason Kay Managing Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021519/8047548-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="288" height="341"></div>When Jim Rutherford was informed he was being named NHL executive of the year by The Hockey News, he smiled and said, &ldquo;Who do I make the check out to?&rdquo;Ah, the shrewd business mind never rests.Indeed, Rutherford&rsquo;s knack for making shoestring budget catches is among the reasons why he stood above the NHL suit-and-tie crowd this season. In our eyes, the Carolina GM edged Detroit&rsquo;s Ken Holland, Montreal&rsquo;s Andre Savard and the Islanders Mike Milbury for an honor that takes into account regular season and playoff performance. (See pg. 29 for more on THN award winners.)Rutherford&rsquo;s $33-million team, which ranked 18th in the paycheck parade entering 2001-02, conquered three higher-paid opponents in the spring before being quelled by the Wings.That said, the 53-year-old Rutherford is aware wallet size doesn&rsquo;t always matter.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s always about payroll,&rdquo; he said in late June as he faced the prospect of losing captain Ron Francis to free agency. &ldquo;You have to have a good coach, you have to have a good goalie and you have to have a real team concept and that&rsquo;s why we had the success we had this year.&rdquo;You also need a good architect and Rutherford was this year&rsquo;s Frank Lloyd Wright. After bowing out in the first round of the 2001 playoffs, Rutherford and his staff identified the team&rsquo;s needs, then filled them. &ldquo;Our forwards had to be bigger and stronger,&rdquo; Rutherford said. &ldquo;And we had to have more balance on our defense.&rdquo;Systematically, Rutherford traded for blueliners Aaron Ward, Sean Hill and Bret Hedican and won each deal.In their pursuit of scrappiness up front, the Hurricanes relied on inner strength. Young players drafted or acquired in the Rutherford era such as Erik Cole, Jaroslav Svoboda, Bates Battaglia and Josef Vasicek surprised not with their ability to play at a high level, but their deft navigational skills on a sharp learning curve.Backup goaltending, a weakness for the Hurricanes in 2000-01, became a strength, first with veteran free agent signee Tom Barrasso, followed by mid-season acquisition Kevin Weekes from Tampa Bay. Weekes was particularly pivotal in the firstround against New Jersey, the team that knocked out Carolina, both literally and figuratively, the previous post-season.&ldquo;The adjustments that we made in our team were to beat New Jersey,&rdquo; Rutherford said.The Devils slayed and the playoff demons, too, Rutherford now faces the task of maintaining success in Raleigh. And you know, it&rsquo;ll take a sharp business mind to make that happen. &#9632;

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Canes Rutherford cashes in without breaking the bank

<div class="byline">-Adam Proteau</div>As a member of Harold Ballard&rsquo;s Maple Leafs in the early 1980s, Dave Farrish witnessed his share of calamity. That he now guides his own team- and was named the East Coast League&rsquo;s 2001-02 coach of the year-shows he didn&rsquo;t base his strategies solely on his stay in Toronto.&ldquo;It was a turbulent time (with the Leafs),&rdquo; said Farrish, who will begin his third season as vice-president of hockey operations and coach of the Louisiana IceGators in September. &ldquo;It seemed to be very difficult to find any direction.&rdquo;Farrish pushed Louisiana in a promising direction this year, as the team set ECHL records for wins, points and shutouts.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011842/8047579-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="255" height="285"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Farrish (THN Credits)</figcaption></div>Now 46, Farrish played seven NHL seasons as a defenseman, finishing with 17 goals and 127 points in 430 games. He began coaching in 1989 with Moncton of the American League and continued in Salt Lake and Fort Wayne of the International League before heading to the IceGators.The varied experiences have only helped, Farrish said. &ldquo;I think coaches change their approach every year. I learn every time I&rsquo;m out there.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Farrish survived Ballard’s Leafs to thrive as coach

<div class="byline">-Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011850/8047634-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Roger Neilson</figcaption></div><h2>Night to remember</h2>Fitting salutefor mentor ofso manyIt started out as a small gathering of players he used to coach as kids in baseball and hockey-an opportunity for a cancer survivor to rekindle some long lost friendships.It wound up being a monstersized gala in honor of a man who has touched many, many lives.On June 19, the day Roger Neilson was announced as a new member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, 1,500 of his closest friends gathered in Toronto to honor the man who is best known in the hockey world as &lsquo;Captain Video&rsquo;. It was truly a magical evening. Former NHL coach Gary Green, ex-NHL goalie-turned broadcaster Greg Millen, broadcaster Jim Hughson and former NHL coach and Hockey Night In Canada commentator Harry Neale were among those taking turns at the microphone to applaud and poke fun at the man of the hour.Neilson, 68, has certainly given them plenty of ammunition over the years, from his shabby attire to his many colorful but tasteless ties, to his legendarycatnaps.The former high school teacher who once had a paper route with a thousand subscribers-he employed and supervised the kids he coached to make sure all the papers got delivered on time-first stepped into the hockey spotlight as coach of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Peterborough Petes in 1966. It was there he got the bright idea of pulling his goalie when his team was facing a penalty shot and replacing him with a defenseman, Ron Stackhouse, who would attack the puck g carrier and poke the puck away.Neilson also strategically placed kids in the audience armed with eggs, just in case he needed an impromptu time out at some point in the game. He would give a signal and suddenly an egg or two would splatter on the ice.Perhaps the most famous Neilson tale comes from baseball, where he had his catcher whip a peeled apple into left field, causing the opposing team&rsquo;s runner on third to dash for home. The catcher greeted him with the ball and tagged him out.Neilson has battled cancer the past two years, but said during his specialnight he feels well now. At the end of the proceedings, the frugal Neilson addressed his friends and promptly suggested the $125 ticket for the evening was a &ldquo;ripoff.&rdquo; He added: &ldquo;Once the NHL gets involved you know the ticket will be over priced.&rdquo;Neilson, the Ottawa S Senators assistant who has been a head coach flfl with eight NHL teams S and has stood behind the bench for 1,000 big-fileague games, closed the show by saying his flfl Christian faith, more than anything else, has been his guiding light.&ldquo;The plan for me included cancer,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There are jack-flpots as we go through life finance, family, jobs, health. I wonder how people handle it without faith. I recommend the Christian life to you. It&rsquo;s been great to I me.&rdquo;<h2>THN ONE-TIMERS</h2>Lewis&rsquo;s inspirational words keep Wings reading, reflectingIfDave Lewis becomes Detroit&rsquo;s next head coach, will he appoint someone next spring to be the team&rsquo;s new sign man? For the past eight years the associate coach has scrawled choice words of wisdom before each playoff game on a board in the dressing room. He tries to pick t sayings that fit the occasion. Before Game 1 of the final this year it was: Whatever it takes. After the Wings lost, they were greetedprior to Game 2 with this pearl of wisdom: You cannot build a reputation on what you are going to do. JUST PLA Y. Prior to Game 3: Beware thefury ofthe patient man. During the Colorado series, he came up with this beauty: It is better to have lived one day as a tiger than a thousand years as a sheep. &ldquo;They come from everywhere,&rdquo; Lewis says. &ldquo;People send them to me. Joey Kocur helps me. He looks on the internet. I&rsquo;ve got books.&rdquo; Sometimes with European players the message gets lost in translation, as when Lewis wrote: Before enlightenment: chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment: chopping wood and carrying water. &ldquo;Tomas Holmk strom,&rdquo; Lewis admits, &ldquo;didn&rsquo;t understand that one at all.&rdquo;NAME ON The Edmonton Oilers pride themselves on making their draft picks proud to be Oilers. Ideally that means even when mid- and late-round picks come to the stage or the draft n table, they get a sweater with their name on the back. The Oil-Mk ers came to the draft with 31 namebars in a duffle bag they kept hidden under the draft table. Of their six picks who attended the draft, Edmonton had namebars for four. One year they had namebars for eight picks. The big miss this year was goalie Jeff Deslauriers, taken 31st over-Roger Neilson THN ONE-TIMERS Lewis's inspirational words keep Wings reading, reflecting IfDave Lewis becomes Detroit&rsquo;s next head coach, will he appoint someone next spring to be the team&rsquo;s new sign man? For the past eight years the associate coach has scrawled choice words of wisdom before each playoff game on a board in the dressing room. He tries to pick t sayings that fit the occasion. Before Game 1 of the final this year it was: Whatever it takes. After the Wings lost, they were greetedprior to Game 2 with this pearl of wisdom: You cannot build a reputation on what you are going to do. JUST PLA Y. Prior to Game 3: Beware thefury ofthe patient man. During the Colorado series, he came up with this beauty: It is better to have lived one day as a tiger than a thousand years as a sheep. &ldquo;They come from everywhere,&rdquo; Lewis says. &ldquo;People send them all; the Oilers were sure he&rsquo;d be gone by then and hadn&rsquo;t prepared on being able to take him. Other names they had in the bag: Bouwmeester, Nash and Lupul. The printers, of course, are sworn to secrecy&hellip;Will the NHL fine Sabres management next season, knowing it would be taking money kW out of its own pocket?&hellip;The Wings say they didn&rsquo;t steal anything by getting sublimely skilled Czech forward Jiri Hudler with their first pick, 58th overall, but Hudler may prove otherwise. He&rsquo;s generously listed at 5-foot-9, but his attitude is definitely top-shelf. &ldquo;For me, small is better,&rdquo; he beamed. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy because I&rsquo;m in Detroit with champik ons.&rdquo; &hellip;If Curtis Joseph gets $9 million per year for four years from anyone, agent-turned-magician Don Meehan is the next Doug Henning&hellip; Adam Oates turns 40 in August. If it&rsquo;strue the Flyers turned down his request for a three-year, $15-million deal, we don&rsquo;t blame them. &#9632;

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POWER PLAY

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012059/8047665-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NHL commissioner Gary Bettman saysfans will quickly get used to protective nets. (Canapress)</figcaption></div>The NHL is in the business of safety nets, literally and figu ratively.Responding to a fan&rsquo;s death last season, the NHL has instructed its 30 teams to string safety nets across the ends of arenas next season. And in another safety-related move, the league also will raise the minimum height of the glass atop the boards around the ice to five feet-two feet higher than the minimum now.The NHL also decided to throw the financially-strapped Buffalo Sabres a safety net by taking over the day-to-day operations of the team from the Rigas family. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league will work with banks to establish a line of credit to cover the Sabres&rsquo; operating costs until a buyer is found.&ldquo;Operations will continue as usual as we seek a local buyer,&rdquo; Bettman said after a meeting of NHL governors in Toronto. &ldquo;The control of the operations resides in the league office.&rdquo;The decisions to improve safety came as a result of the death in March of a 13-year-oldgirl who was struck in the head by a puck at a Columbus Blue Jackets game. Brittanie Cecil was hit by a deflected slap shot and died two days later after an injury to an artery in her neck caused internal bleeding. Hers was the first documented death of a fan from being struck by a puck at an NHL game.&ldquo;Even though Brittanie Cecil was the first fatality in the 85-year-history of the league, and probably 800 mil--lion fans have attended games, we wanted to do the right thing,&rdquo; Bettman said.The ruling was received favorably by numerous NHL officials, particularly Blue Jackets president and GM Doug MacLean.&ldquo;Obviously, the tragic death has affected us tremendously, and we wholeheartedly support the league&rsquo;s mandate to go with the netting,&rdquo; MacLean said.NHL players welcomed the decision to install netting.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why it wasn&rsquo;t done sooner,&rdquo; said Phoenix goalie Sean Burke.While it is up to the individual clubs to decide which type of netting to use, Bettman said he prefers black netting to white because tests showed black was less distracting to viewers.&ldquo;In less than three minutes,&rdquo; Bettman said, &ldquo;people won&rsquo;t even know it&rsquo;s there.&rdquo;In Buffalo, the Sabres have been in limbo for the past two months because of the financial problems of John Rigas, whose fortune was tied to the debt-ridden Adelphia Communications Corp., the sixth-largest cable company in America.Rigas operated the Sabres separately from Adelphia, but used company money toward the purchase of the team. The Sabres reportedly owe Adelphia as much as $150 million-a figure Bettman did not dispute-making it the team&rsquo;s largest creditor.&ldquo;The league is not and will not be responsible for any of the Sabres debt,&rdquo; Bettman said.The Sabres player payroll was $33.9 million this season and GM Darcy Regier said he is operating on the premise his payroll will be slightly higher next season.We are pretty much in the same area as we were, but it may move a little bit,&rdquo; Regier said.Rigas technically remains the Sabres owner, but the move helps clear the way for the potential sale of the franchise. Buffalo businessman Mark Hamister is trying to form a group of investors to purchase the Sabres and keep them in Buffalo.While there has been speculation the Sabres will be sold and moved, Bettman said he has not talked to anyone about relocating the franaverage chise.In other moves:&#9632; The NHL approved rule changes that include a new procedure to speed up faceoffs and line changes. The time between faceoffs will be limited to 18 seconds. Visiting teams have five seconds to make a line change and the home team will get an additional eieht seconds. The linesman then will blow his whistle and drop the puck within five seconds, even if one center is not in the faceoff circle.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;The league is not and will not be responsible for any of the Sabres debt. Commissioner Gary Bettman</blockquote>If a player is offside at the drop of the puck, the offending team will get a warning. The next time will result in a delay-of-game penalty. The procedure will not be in effect during the final two minutes of regulation or in overtime. It is expected to shave eight to 14 minutes off the franaverage length of a game.&#9632; Any player who aggressively argues a penalty against a teammate now will be assessed a minor penalty. The current rule assesses players a misconduct penalty for abusing officials.&#9632; The high-stick rule was amended to clarify the point of contact on the stick will be the deciding factor when determining whether a puck was directed into the net with a high stick.&#9632; If the puck passes through or touches any part of the goal crease, icing will be called whether the goalie is in the net or at the bench. &#9632;

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League saves fans, Sabres

+ THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES Dominik Hasek takes his Cup and goes home; he&rsquo;ll be remembered as one of the best goalies in NHL history.+ THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT Montreal&rsquo;s Jose Theodore (Hart) and Calgary&rsquo;s Jarome Iginla (Pearson) win the NHL&rsquo;s and NHLPA&rsquo;s top individual honors.+ NASH AT NO. 1 The Columbus Blue Jackets create the only real stir of the entry draft by trading up to land Rick Nash first overall.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021374/8047696-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="363" height="623"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Nash</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PLUS

-DULL DRAFT Maybe we&rsquo;ve been spoiled by recent draft day blockbuster deals, but the 2002 entry draft in Toronto was a bore. And where were the fans?-SURVIVAL MATCH We&rsquo;d love to lock Brendan Shanahan (118 PIM) and the dough-head who gave him a Lady Byng vote in the same room for an hour.-STARS DROPPING It&rsquo;s only the start of the off-season and already we&rsquo;ll be without Chris Pronger, Michael Peca and Gary Roberts for the first half of 2002-03.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03806/8047727-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="363" height="627"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gary Roberts</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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MINUS

Congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings, an amazing group of individuals who came together, made the necessary adjustments-both personal and professional- and achieved their goal.I hope the agists and naysayers who have plagued the Wings with negativity, insinuations and envy will recognize this team earned the Stanley Cup with intelligence, perseverance and skill.Yes, you can buy big-name players, but you can&rsquo;t buy a cohesive, caring, well-honed unit: a team.Debra Wells, St. Clair Beach, Ont.<h2>Money doesn&rsquo;t equal success</h2>As a Dallas Stars fan, I know spending a lot of money doesn&rsquo;t guaranteeplayoff success. The Stars and Flyers had two of the highest payrolls in the league and look what happened to them-Dallas missed the post-season entirely and Philadelphia went out in the first round.The big-market, big-money teams such as Dallas, Detroit and Colorado will always have an advantage, but the recipe for winning hasn&rsquo;t changed: you need a good coach, a hot goalie and intensity. So, to everyone who says Detroit bought the Cup-wrong! They bought themselves a chance to win the Cup and that&rsquo;s all!Scott Broghammer, Auburn, Wash.<h2>Detroit&rsquo;s Cup no surprise</h2>For the first time in more than 30 years I was not excited for the Stanley Cup presentation. It was inevitable all season Detroit would win. It was nice to see Scotty Bowman win one more and Steve Yzerman was great, but the Cup was bought. Congratulations to the Detroit Yankees!Joe Capriotti, Pilesgrove, N.J.<h2>Lidstrom perfect MVP pick</h2>It was nice to see Nicklas Lidstrom receive the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVPHe deserves the recognition. He&rsquo;s the best defenseman in the NHL, but has been underrated for years. Sorry, Steve Yzerman, you played like a true warrior, but Lidstrom was the right choice.Colin Miller, Guelph, Ont.<h2>Got something to say?</h2>MAIL: U.S.A.: Letters, THN, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947. Canada: Letters, THN, 25 Sheppard Ave. W, Suite 100, Toronto, Ont., M2N 6S7E-MAIL: <a href="mailto:mccaigs@transcontinental.ca">mccaigs@transcontinental.ca</a> or visit <a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">www.thehockeynews.com</a>. Include name, hometown, province/state and phone number. Submissions will be edited. &#9632;

Red Wings worthy champions

Enjoy this great game while you can, hockey fans. Come 2004, there&rsquo;ll be no hockey for a long time.Who&rsquo;s to blame? A lot of people. Gary Bettman for starters. The NHL&rsquo;s beloved commissioner looks a lot like baseball&rsquo;s Bud Selig. They both complain publicly about the economic structure and competitive balance of their game. What commissioner in his right mind would say that almost half of the teams in his league have no chance to win a championship? How does that motivate fans in those cities to support the team? It just doesn&rsquo;t make sense.Baseball is heading towards a nasty labor battle and, unfortunately, so is the NHL.Kevin Smith, Farmingdale, N. Y.<h2>Makarov deserves the Hall</h2>Sergei Makarov was considered the Wayne Gretzky of Russian hockey, anchoring the famous KLM line and consistently performing at an elite level. He was also the firstRussian to make a real impact in the NHL.Yet, Makarov must watch as Clark Gillies and Bernie Federko are voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, while he&rsquo;s left on the outside. Gillies and Federko were very good players, but not Hall of Famers. Makarov, meanwhile, was a world-class performer who changed the game by paving the way for the likes of Pavel Bure.Makarov deserves better, as do all hockey fans.Grant Farhall, Calgary<h2>IHL&rsquo;s forgotten stars</h2>The Hockey Hall of Fame should change its name to the NHL Hall of Fame.What about great International League players such as Len Thomson, Jock Callander, Dave Michayluk and Scott Gruhl? They had excellent careers in the IHL, but because they never made it to the NHL they apparently aren&rsquo;t worthy of the Hall.Would they have racked up as many points in the NHL? Probably not. But that doesn&rsquo;t lessen what they accomplished as players. Vladislav Tretiak was never in the NHL, but he&rsquo;s in the Hall. No one disputes his greatness and legacyBrad Larocque, Winnipeg, Man. &#9632;

Doomsday prediction for 2004

<h2>Hall awards</h2>Journalists Kevin Dupont and Gilles Tremblay were honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame for their contributions to the game. Dupont, from the Boston Globe, was selected as the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award recipient as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association. Tremblay, from La Soiree du Hockey in Montreal, was given the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award by the NHL Professional Broadcasters&rsquo; Association.<h2>Rucchin dies</h2>Larry Rucchin, the older brother of Anaheim center Steve Rucchin, lost his battle with cancer and died at age 35. The Thunder Bay, Ont., native died June 20 in Hamilton following a two-year fight. He was first diagnosed with cancer in 2000. Rucchin played five seasons for Milan in the Italian League before going to Germany to play for Dusseldorf and Berlin. He represented Italy at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano and in four World Championships.<h2>ASSIST deadline</h2>The NHL has extended the deadline for youth hockey organizations interested in applying for an ASSIST grant. The league&rsquo;s ASSIST program (Assists Skaters and Shooters Intent on Succeeding Together) helps youth hockey organizations defray the costs of equipment ice time and travel expenses. The program will award grants up to $100,000. The application deadline is July 31. More information is available at <a href="http://www.nhl.com">www.nhl.com</a>.<h2>Best of U.S.</h2>Seven returnees are among 47 players invited to the U.S. junior team evaluation camp. The group will skate in Lake Placid Aug. 1-10. Returning from last year&rsquo;s 4-1-2 fifth-place team are goalie Dwight Labrosse, defenseman Ryan Whitney and forwards Dustin Brown, Dwight Hehninen, Chris Higgins, Ryan Hollweg and Eric Nystrom. (See pg. 43 for roster.) The team is preparing for the 2003 World Junior Championship.<h2>Sutter charity</h2>The Boys and Girls Club of Lethbridge, Alta., is the 2002 recipients of the Sutter Brothers Foundation. The golf classic begins July 11 with a silent and live auction. It&rsquo;s followed the next day by a round of golf at the Paradise Canyon Golf Club. The Viking (Alta.) celebrity golf classic is July 12-13 and the Sutter Fund Classic is July 26-27 in Red Deer. Since 1985, the foundation had raised almost $400,000 for charities in Alberta. &#9632;

THE INSIDE REPORT

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011944/8047861-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="549" height="1669"></div> &#9632;

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UFAs looking for top dollar

<div class="byline">By THN staff </div><div class="byline">-</div><div class="byline">with file from Paul Shaheen</div>A former player of junior coach Graham James has decided to take the matter to court.A lawsuit stemming from the sexual abuse of the player by James will be heard next spring after talks aimed at reaching a settlement failed.Lawyers for the victim, whose identity can&rsquo;t be disclosed due to a court-ordered publication ban, met with lawyers for the Swift Current Broncos, the Western League and Canadian Hockey Association in April.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a number of issues that have not been resolved, so it will proceed to trial,&rdquo; said lawyer Aaron Fox, who represents the defendants named in the lawsuit.The case will be heard in Swift Current over a six-week period in the spring of 2003.The suit, which was filed in January, 1999, calls for upward of $1 million (Cdn.) along with compensation for mental suffering and lost economic opportunity. The former player claims the defendants knew James was abusing players and could have prevented him from coaching and managing in the WHL.The defendants have denied they were aware that James &ldquo;sexually assaulted&rdquo; players.USHL MANDATE Just as the Memorial Cup brings out the best in major junior talent, one of the USA&rsquo;s top junior leagues is looking for notoriety of its own.The United States League-an 11 team midwest-based circuit that has sent players such as Rotislav Klesla (Columbus) and Ruslan Fedotenko (Tampa) to the NHL-is hoping to compete with the Canadian Hockey League by obtaining Tier I status from USA Hockey by next season. The league gained USA Hockey&rsquo;s preliminary approval in June.The notion of Tier I was intended to create a level of junior play in the U.S. which could rival the CHL.&ldquo;The difference,&rdquo; said USHL commissioner Gino Gasparini, &ldquo;is our players would maintain college eligibility.&rdquo;Presently, CHL participants forfeit their rights to U.S. college hocke, and must appeal for NCAA reinstatement.Obtaining Tier I status would require league members to be well capitalized, attract 2,500 fans per game, provide its players room and board, and like the CHL, minimize the use of imports and 20-year-olds.Tier I proponents say this could prevent the USA&rsquo;s top talent from heading north.&ldquo;Some kids are selecting a fasttrack to the NHL by leaving the country (to play major junior), and I don&rsquo;t believe they have to,&rdquo; Gasparini said. &ldquo;We could create that same level of competition here without forcing someone to make a decision (between major junior and college) at age 16.&rdquo;There were 22 USHL graduates taken in the 2002 NHL draft, including Keith Ballard by Buffalo in the firstround. Sixteen of the 22 played in the UHSL this season. &#9632;

Player goes to court

<div class="byline">-Rob Mueller</div>The upstart Atlantic Coast League is gearing for its inaugural season, scheduled to begin in late October.The brainchild of East Coast League founder Bill Coffey, the ACHL has eight charter cities on board and could have up to 12 by mid-summer.Five franchises are based in Florida, including Orlando, Jacksonville, St. Petersburg, Lakeland and Tallahassee, with two more in Fayetteville, N.C. and Knoxville, Tenn.Other cities being discussed include Winston-Salem, N.C., Asheville, N.C., Macon, Ga., and Savannah, Ga. The league is headquartered in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. It is expected to be on par with the United, Central and West Coast Leagues and one step below the ECHL.At the heart of that game plan are three main components: shorter schedule, smaller roster, and lower payroll.Team will play a 60-game schedule which is shorter season than other minor-pro leagues. ACHL teams will carry 16 players, as opposed to the ECHL&rsquo;s 20-man rosters. There will be no salary cap. &#9632;

ACHL new league in the south

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021455/8047940-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="583" height="1670"></div> &#9632;

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Restricted field require payback

<div class="byline">By THN staff</div>The woman recognized as the best female player of the 1990s has called it a career at the international level.The worst-kept secret in women&rsquo;s hockey was confirmed in mid-June when Geraldine Heaney retired from Canada&rsquo;s national team. Heaney has played the most games (125) with Canada&rsquo;s national team and leads all defensemen with 27 goals, 66 assists and 93 points.She is recognized in hockey circles as the top player in the first decade of women&rsquo;s hockey. The first women&rsquo;s World Championship was held in 1990 and Heaney led the charge for Canada.&ldquo;It has been a tremendous 13 years, full of great memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life,&rdquo; Heaney said. &ldquo;Any time you get to represent your country on the international stage, it&rsquo;s an incredible feeling.&rdquo;The Belfast native was raised in Weston, Ont. She was a member of seven World Championship teams and won one Olympic gold and one silver medal.&ldquo;Geraldine has been a pioneer for women&rsquo;s hockey in Canada,&rdquo; said Canadian Hockey Association president Bob Nicholson. &ldquo;Her dedication to the program has established a standard of excellence to which young players can aspire for years to come.&rdquo;Heaney, 34, is fifth among all-time Canadian scorers behind Hayley Wickenheiser (164), Danielle Goyette (154), Nancy Drolet (112) and Jayna Hefford (95). She will continue to play with the senior AAA Beatrice Aeros. &#9632;

Pioneer Heaney retires from national team

<div class="byline">Brian Costello </div><div class="byline">Senoir Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011799/8047995-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bernie Federko St. Louis Blues 1976-89</figcaption></div>The Hockey Hall of Fame wants it to be made crystal clear that it is not softening its standards for entry into the sacred shrine.&ldquo;Absolutely not,&rdquo; said selection committee chairman Jim Gregory. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been making it tougher for 15 years.&rdquo;The announcement June 19 that former Hall rejects Bernie Federko and Clark Gillies joined Rod Langway as this year&rsquo;s inductees in the players category raised a lot of eyebrows.Gillies, 48, retired from a stellar 14-year NHL career in 1988. He was Hall eligible for the first time in 1991, the same year Denis Potvin and Mike Bossy were inducted. The perfect storyline script was there to be gobbled up that year:Three Islanders in one year. The committee said no, Gillies wasn&rsquo;t quite Hall material. Instead, Bob Pulford got the green light for the final opening.In 1992, Marcel Dionne, Bob Gainey and Lanny McDonald occupied the maximum three spots.In 1993, Steve Shutt, Billy Smith and Guy Lapointe filled out the scorecard.But in 1994, the selection committee deemed no one worthy and the class was empty. Larry Robinson was the lone inductee in 1995. Gillies was turned down for a second time that year.The story is much the same for Federko, who retired in 1990 and was eligible for the first time in 1993. The committee rebuffed Federko three times-in 1993,1995 and 1997 (when Mario Lemieux and Bryan Trottier got inducted).At the time, the Hall had a bylaw that stated once a candidate has been turned down three times, he must wait at least five years to be reconsidered. That bylaw has been scrapped.So how is it Gillies and Federko get in now in the midst of the Hall&rsquo;s mandate to make it tougher to qualify?&ldquo;It might be a combination of things,&rdquo; Gregory said. &ldquo;The selection committee is constantly changing and some (new) members may have different perspectives&ldquo;And if a player fell one or two votes short one year, a change in the committee might make a difference.&rdquo;The 18-member selection committee has a maximum turnover of three members per year. For a player to gain Hall acceptance, he needs at least 75 per cent approval (14 of 18 votes). The results aren&rsquo;t made public, nor since 1999 are the names oi me prayers turned down.So that explains how Gillies and Federko got approved. New committee members liked them better than panelists in the 1990s. Fair enough.Gillies and Federko V were very solid players. ' No major awards, but they were darned good.Yet the Hall&rsquo;s mantra has always been for the greatplayers. Not just the very good. It&rsquo;s a space strictly for the game&rsquo;s elite, the truly special players.Now they&rsquo;re letting in very good players as well.There are ramifications to opening the door to Gillies and Federko. For one thing, their lack of &ldquo;greatness&rdquo; means other bubble players turned down over the years are back in the picture.Rick Middleton. turned down in 1991 and 1995, was much the same player as Federko.Dave Taylor, eligible for the first time in 1997, was a verv good player playing alongside an exceptional linemate in Los Angeles. Kinda like Gillies in New York, except without the Cups.Some argue John Tonelli, Butch Goring and Brent Sutter were just as valuable to the Islanders&rsquo; Cup success as Gillies. They&rsquo;re not in the Hall.Doug Wilson, Cam Neely, Mark Howe, Steve Larmer, Glenn Anderson, Sergei Makarov, Pat LaFontaine, Bobby Smith, Dale Hunter, Brian Propp, Dino Ciccarelli, Bernie Nicholls, Randy Carlyle, Kevin Lowe, Brian Bellows, Andy Moog and Neal Broten were all on the same very good/great bubble that Gillies and Federko were on. And they&rsquo;ve all been A overlooked during this I &ldquo;toughening&rdquo; period.So shall we expect them &lsquo;to filter in over the next decade?Hopefully, the committee didn&rsquo;t induct Federko strictly because of stats. At 1,130 points, he was the highest scoring NHLer, among those eligible, not in the Hall.By establishing 1,130 as a barrier, future bubble candidates such as Doug Gilmour, Adam Oates, Luc Robitaille, Nicholls, Dave Andreychuk, Ciccarelli, Pierre Turgeon, Vince Damphousse, Pat Verbeek, Mark Recchi and soon to be many others, all must be put over the top, too. They&rsquo;ll outscore Federko. But how many from this group are special.Combine all these names with the huge throng of surefire Hall of Famers set to retire in the next few seasons and they&rsquo;ll have to allow more than the maximum of four per year.Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Larry Murphy, Dominik Hasek, Patrick Roy, Mark Messier, Chris Chelios, Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Ron Francis, Grant Fuhr, Al Maclnnis and Scott Stevens are all shoo-ins who will more than clog the induction field for the next several years. So Gillies and Federko getting approval just doesn&rsquo;t make sense.<h2>RODLANGWAY</h2>Bom May 3,1957, Maag, Formosa, Taiwan Pos. Defense Hall Credentials Won Norris Trophy as NHL&rsquo;s top defenseman in 1983 and 1984. Was first-team all-star in 1983 and 1984 and second team all-star in 1985. Represented U.S. in 1981, 1984 and 1987 Canada Cup and was tournament all-star in 1984. Won Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1979. Had 51 goals and 329 points in 994 NHL games with Montreal and Washington. Currently Works in family Heat Treating business in Richmond, Va.<h2>BERNIEFEDERKO</h2>Born May 12,1956, Foam Lake, Saskatchewan Pos. Center Hall Credentials Had 369 goals (88th all-time) and 1,130 points I (41st all-time) in 1,000 NHL games with St. Louis and Detroit. Had four 100-point seasons in NHL. Led St. Louis in scoring nine! times. First player in NHL history to get at least 50 assists in 10 I straight seasons. Led NHL playoff scorers with 21 points in 19 games in 1985-86. Currently TV color analyst for the St. Louis Blues.<h2>CLARKGILLIES</h2>Born April 7,1954, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Pos. Left Wings Hall Credentials Was NHL first-team all-star in 1978 and 1979. 9 Had 319 goals and 697 points in 958 NHL games with New York I Islanders and Buffalo. Won four Stanley Cups with Islanders (1980-83). Played left wing on line with Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy. Represented Canada in 1981 Canada Cup. Scored 30 or more goals six times. Currently Financial advisor with Raymond James on Long Island,<h2>ROGERNEILSON</h2>Born June 16, 1934, Toronto, Ontario Builder I Hall Credentials Pioneer recognized as the first NHL coach to use video as a teaching tool. Head coach for eight NHL teams: Toronto, Buffalo, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York Rangers, Florida, Philadelphia and Ottawa. Assistant coach for Buffalo, Chicago, St. Louis and Ottawa. Led Vancouver to Stanley Cup final in 1982. Runner-up as coach of the year in 1992. Currently Assistant coach with Ottawa Senators. &#9632;

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FEATURES

The very good vs. the special

<div class="byline">By Bob Duff</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011915/8048026-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div>The moment he looked into Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s eyes, Rich Winter knew the answer.Winter, Hasek&rsquo;s agent, met with the goalie to talk over his NHL future shortly after the Detroit Red Wings captured the Stanley Cup. The meeting didn&rsquo;t last long.&ldquo;I saw that he was so at peace and so happy,&rdquo; Winter said of that get-together, at which he learned what the rest of the hockey world discovered June 25.&ldquo;I am here to announce my retirement from hockey,&rdquo; Hasek, 37, told a gathering at Joe Louis Arena, insisting the flame no longer burns.&ldquo;Let me explain,&rdquo; Hasek said. &ldquo;After 21 years of playing professional hockey at the highest level, I don&rsquo;t feel like I have enough fire left in me to compete at the level I expect of myself.&rdquo;With that, he hung up his pads for good and walked away from a contract which would have paid him $8 million next season.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s mental with him,&rdquo; Winter said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s being sincere. He&rsquo;s just not willing to go on the ice at 95 per cent, because he feels he would let his teammates down.&rdquo;In a era where the first thought most athletes ponder is, &ldquo;How much?&rdquo; Hasek&rsquo;s choice set this unorthodox netminder apart from everyone else yet again.&ldquo;My decision was never about money,&rdquo; he said.For that alone, it&rsquo;s easy to admire the man&rsquo;s character.&ldquo;You should commend his principles,&rdquo; said Wings captain Steve Yzerman, noting Hasek&rsquo;s unparalleled practice habits. &ldquo;When we won that triple overtime game against Carolina, most of the guys didn&rsquo;t get to bed until five or six in the morning. Not many of us made it to the rink the next day, but Dom was out there for afternoon practice. That&rsquo;s just the type of dedication he displayed. He felt that was what he needed to do to stay on top of his game and he wasn&rsquo;t going to miss it.&rdquo;Anyone who spent any time around Hasek knows his standards are as high as they get.&ldquo;Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s work ethic is legendary,&rdquo; said Detroit goaltending consultant Jim Bedard. &ldquo;Good isn&rsquo;t good enough for him. He has to be the best.&rdquo;There was no offer good enough to keep Hasek wearing the winged wheel. The Wings did everything within their power to convince &lsquo;The Dominator&rsquo; to maintain his Detroit domain. At the club&rsquo;s Stanley Cup parade, about 1.2 million Wings fans pleaded with him to stay. Teammate Chris Chelios called Hasek to make a daily lobbying effort. Detroit GM Ken Holland dined with Hasek the night before his announcement, making one final sales pitch to his goalie.&ldquo;After about two minutes, you could see there was no changing his mind,&rdquo; Holland said. &ldquo;We spent the rest of the dinner reminiscing.&rdquo;There were no carrots left to'dangle. The final piece of Hasek&rsquo;s puzzle- the Stanley Cup-had been achieved. It was time for him to set new goals.&ldquo;After winning the Cup, it wasn&rsquo;t a diffi-cult decision,&rdquo; Hasek said. &ldquo;Not many athletes get to go out on top.&rdquo;On top of the hockey world and possibly, on top of the goaltender rankings for his NHL tenure.&ldquo;Dom and Patrick Roy have been the top two goalies in the world in the last 10 years,&rdquo; Yzerman said.Winter, while admitting bias, cast his ballot in favor of Hasek in that debate.&ldquo;To me, he&rsquo;s the best,&rdquo; Winter said. &ldquo;In my opinion, he proved it in head-to-head competition against Patrick. He won at the (1998) Olympics. He won in the playoffs this year. I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any doubt he&rsquo;s one of the biggest big-game goalies.&rdquo;Hasek captured every NHL honor available to a netminder except the Calder and Conn Smythe Trophies. On top of his Stanley Cup and Olympic gold and bronze medals, there were six Vezina Trophies, two Hart Trophies, two Pearson Awards, two Jennings Awards, six first allstar team selections and six All-Star Game appearances. He was the goalie on the allrookie team during his first NHL campaign.&ldquo;Statistically, no one has been close to Dom,&rdquo; Winter said. &ldquo;We can only imagine what he would have accomplished with a team like (Detroit) or a team like Colorado over 10 years.&rdquo;We can also only imagine a career which is now a memory.Hasek is going home a champion, to a country where he&rsquo;s a legend. Hasek and his family-wife Alena, son Michael and daughterDominika-will return to live in their native Czech Republic. Hasek scoffed at a suggestion he&rsquo;d enter politics. Instead, he&rsquo;ll help operate his company, which produces the Dominator line of clothing, a popular product in his homeland and much of Europe and an enterprise he hopes to expand to North America.He&rsquo;ll also ensure his Hasek&rsquo;s Heroes program, which allows inner-citykids in Buffalo to play hockey, is maintained.Beyond that, he&rsquo;ll seek to resume a normal life. And most importantly, to be a husband and a father, helping his children adjust to life in the Czech Republic after growing up American.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve lost a great player, but Michael gets his dad back,&rdquo; Winter said. &ldquo;Dom spends as much time with his kids as any player I&rsquo;ve seen. Those with no life hang on for another year because they can&rsquo;t see being a husband or a father or anything else. He&rsquo;s so excited about helping his kids with their homework.&rdquo;An intensely private man, there&rsquo;s so little we learned about Hasek beyond his amazing puckstoppingskills. Few know that he&rsquo;s fluent in three languages-Czech, Russian and English- or that his first job was as a high-school history teacher.Of playing goal, he noted, &ldquo;My job is my hobby.&rdquo; Then Hasek let everyone in on a little secret.&ldquo;I liked everything about being the goalie except putting on the equipment,&rdquo; he said.Those famous pads which frequently foiled hockey&rsquo;s most deadly snipers are to be mothballed forever. Hasek will skate again, but his position on future goaltending is that it&rsquo;s time to try a new position.&ldquo;If I play hockey, it will be with my friends and I will be a forward,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want to score the goals.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel I have enough fire left to compete at the level I expect of myself. Dominik Hasek</blockquote> &#9632;

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Dominator goes out on top

<div class="byline">Mark Brender </div><div class="byline">Contributing Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011698/8048057-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"></div>Themost relentless player in hockey says he never wants to strap on the pads again unless he&rsquo;s teaching kids. And to think that when he arrived in North America 12 years ago, no sane goalie prospect would have dreamed of following this guy&rsquo;s example. Safe to say he won us over long before he won his Cup.So see ya, Dom. It&rsquo;s been fun watching.Dominik Hasek mused about turning his back on the NHL once before, as a member of the Buffalo Sabres, but that was when he didn&rsquo;t have his name on hockey&rsquo;s ultimate prize. Now he has no reason to come backFor a man who scripted his own departure in his mind long ago, that must be above all a great relief.The enduring image will be of Hasek jumping in the air with the seconds ticking down on his career in Game 5 of the 2002 Stanley Cup final, knowing the only team trophy to elude him was finally his. In the dressing room he was giddy like a school boy The joy released was the knowledge he could retire in peace.There are other images: Hasek stoning five Canadian snipers en route to gold at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Final shooter Brendan Shanahan turned into the corner, head down in disgust, as Hasek arched his head back toward the heavens in celebration. Another snapshot: Hasek leading a lunch-bucket Sabres crew all the way to Game 6 of the Cup final in 2000 before being beaten by Brett Hull&rsquo;s triple-OT foot-in-the-crease goal, and bitterly denouncing the tainted result afterwards.When he won his first Hart Trophy in 1997, he was so messed up with emotion he could hardly speak.We&rsquo;ll remember his quirkiness and his quickness and his acrobatic craziness. We&rsquo;ll remember him in the dressing room wearing nothing but underwear and black dress socks pulled up to his knees. We&rsquo;ll remember the way he slammed his stick on the ice during games when the puck was wasting away in the neutral zone, unaware he was the only person in the rink who knew why he was doing it.Most of all, though, it will be Hasek&rsquo;s relentlessness that lingers. Hasek quite possibly drove himself harder than any goalie who has ever played, perhaps harder than any skater who ever played. Relentlessness isn&rsquo;t a quality normally associated with goaltenders (but what about Hasek was ever normal?). Determined muckers in the corners, grinders on the forecheck, crease crashers undeterred by repeated cross checks to the back, these are the players we say are relentless. Yet in the same way, Hasek was always, always, always in the shooter&rsquo;s face, every time, every place.Everything was done with a purpose. On the morning of Game 5 of the final, Hasek was out on the ice late in practice, sweating heavily A bunch of Wings were crowded around the crease, trying to stuff the puck past him. Even in these goof-arouhd drills, Hasek never dogged it. Was he doing it because it was fun? Partly. And that&rsquo;s one of the things he said he will miss-stopping guys in practice. But one suspects fun was the byproduct of doing it because it was necessary.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve tried to score on him in practice every day and I can&rsquo;t do it,&rdquo; Czech teammate Martin Rucinsky said in Nagano. &ldquo;Usually in a situation like that (on a breakaway) I score about 50 per cent of the time, but I couldn&rsquo;t beat him. Not once.&rdquo;So when Hasek says he doesn&rsquo;t have the fire to continue, it&rsquo;s because he&rsquo;s already spent so much. Out of that fire Hasek created a mystique that only Wayne Gretzky in his prime could match. From the mid-1990s, on youknew Hasek would be the top goalie just as you once knew Gretzky would win the scoring title. Nothing else would have made sense.Six Vezinas in eight seasons? The only others to do that were Jacques Plante and Bill Durnan. Don&rsquo;t bet on it happening again. &#9632;

f0011-01

It’s hard work being Hasek

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Contributing Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011867/8048088-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Three for the roadColumbus hopeful and first overall pick Rick Nash takes center stage between goalie Kari Lehtonen (left), chosen by Atlanta, and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who is off to Florida. (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>Giventrade winds so soft they could barely topple a house of cards, the first three teams in line got what they wanted out of the NHL entry draft.For one of them, it could come with a heavy price.How big was the risk to the Columbus Blue Jackets involved in moving up two places, from third to first, to take London Knights left winger Rick (Nash)&ldquo;It could be real big,&rdquo; admitted GM Doug MacLean.For MacLean, draft day turned into a choice between seizing the ultimate gratification of the moment or settling for some lesser desire and possibly avoiding egg-on-the-face a year from now. Given the Blue Jackets&rsquo; 29th place finish this past season, perhaps it&rsquo;s not surprising MacLean chose the former and dove head first after all the quick relief he could find.In Nash the Blue Jackets get the power forward MacLean coveted all season. If he gets burned next year and loses out on a potentially electric scorer such as Russian forward Nikolai Zherdev in the richer and deeper 2003 draft as a result, then so be it.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt we wanted (Nash),&rdquo; MacLean said, &ldquo;and I didn&rsquo;t want to miss. I&rsquo;ll take my chances on missing out next year versus getting him.&rdquo;Florida held the first overall pick going in. While MacLean knew the Panthers were leaning towards Medicine Hat defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, it was Atlanta at No. 2 that scared him. The Thrashers made no secret they were looking to trade the pick and there was no shortage of clubs that shared MacLean&rsquo;s bullish take on Nash. So MacLean called Florida GM Rick Dudley at quarter to midnight the night before the draft, determined to make a move.The final dealing was completed on the draft floor about a half hour before the firstpick was announced. As previously arranged between MacLean and Dudley, Florida agreed to trade its first selection for the right to swap its top pick for Columbus&rsquo;s No. 1 next season. But to make it work, Dudley had to throw third and fourth round picks (in 2002 and 2003 respectively) Atlanta&rsquo;s way for a promise the Thrashers jjg wouldn&rsquo;t trade the pick and wouldn&rsquo;t select Bouwmeester.So the Jackets got Nash,Atlanta got highly touted Finnish goalie Kari Lehtonen and the Panthers wound up with Bouwmeester.It sets up a couple of interesting points to watch next season. Prime among them will be the points race between Columbus and Florida. If the Blue Jackets finish ahead of the Panthers-a highly doubtful proposition, it says here MacLean walks away with Nash for nothing. But it&rsquo;s entirely possible the Panthers could once again miss the playoffs and have two shots through the lottery at the No. 1 pick in 2003.The pressure will be on the Jackets to prove their GM&rsquo;s faith in them, but Nash, who says he wants to make Columbus next season, downplayed the possibility of duplicating the feats of last year&rsquo;s No. 1 overall pick as his contribution. Ilya Kovalchuk scored 29 goals and 51 points in 65 games with Atlanta.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to do everything I can this summer to play there next year&hellip;and have a great season,&rdquo; said Nash, a 6-foot-3,188-pounder. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s pressure, but as I say. I&rsquo;m only 18 years old. I&rsquo;m sure they&rsquo;re not looking for a Kovalchuk.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-01

COVER STORY

Draft splash goes to Nash

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011706/8048126-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="426" height="280"></div>What Nash showed in the Ontario League playoffs in just his second OHL season was more than enough for MacLean&ldquo;He picked the London Knights on his shoulders in the playoffs and beat the number one team, Plymouth, and he dominated that series and he almost knocked off the (OHL) champion, Erie,&rdquo; MacLean said. And of Nash&rsquo;s one perceived weakness, his skating, MacLean noted: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen him lose a foot race.&rdquo;Then there&rsquo;s the Bouwmeester-Mike Keenan pairing with the Panthers. Keenan praised the 6-foot-4,206-pound smooth skating defenseman, comparing him favorably with Chris Pronger at the same age. He&rsquo;s already talking about how Bouwmeester will eventually be able to eat up 30 minutes or more per game, on par with the best defensemen in the NHL. Of all the players in the draft,Bouwmeester is the closest thing to a sure bet to start the season in the NHL.&ldquo;I would suspect he has a better chance of making the club than he does not,&rdquo; Keenan said.Yet will their yin and yang personalities mesh? Pronger initially was given the labor camp treatment by Keenan and it will be interesting to see how hard Iron Mike comes down on his young star if the early performance isn&rsquo;t up to expected standards. But Bouwmeester is sure to win early points with his un-18-year-old-Pronger-like conditioning, which was among the best at Central Scouting&rsquo;s predraft testing.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021192/8048119-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="1528" height="696"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Bouwmeester (center, bottom) is the best bet to trade his junior sweater for NHL togs in 2002-03. (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;He can make you realize your potential, and hopefully, I can be in that same situation,&rdquo; Bouwmeester said.The real winner out of the draft could be the Thrashers. As an 18-year-old last season Lehtonen warmed up by being named best goaltender at the World Junior Championship, then led Jokerit to the league championship in the Finnish Elite League and walked away with playoff MVP honors. He is generally regarded as the finest goaltending prospect since Roberto Luongo.The Thrashers also made what could turn out to be the most significant trade of the day, acquiring vastly talented but enigmatic winger Slava Kozlov from Buffalo for two draft picks. Kozlov will slide in on the right side on a line with Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk. If he stays healthy and comes to play, it could make a deadly trio. The only problem the ever-versatile Heatley may have playing center full-time is in the faceoff circle.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt these three players can make a pretty good line here,&rdquo; said Atlanta GM Don Waddell. &ldquo;(Kozlov) is going to make our young players better, but those guys are going to make him better also. And he is capable of being that better player.&rdquo;Waddell said two teams made serious pitches for the No. 2 pick- and all but confirmed one of them was Edmonton-but neither offer had the top-line player he was seeking. He said the trade market was set the day before the draft when Tampa dealt its fourth overall pick to Philadelphia for winger Ruslan Fedotenko and two second rounders. Philly was thought by most observers to have received the better of the deal and used the fourth pick to take Finnish defenseman Joni Pitkanen.Asked if he was surprised how soft the market was set in the Philly-Tampa barter, Waddell responded: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s probably one I probably shouldn&rsquo;t comment on.&rdquo;We&rsquo;ll take that as a yes.The next significant trade of what was a dull dealing weekend saw the Islanders Mariusz Czerkawski go to Montreal for grinding winger Arron Asham and a fifth round pick. Islanders GM Mike Milbury, in his inimitable blunt style, gave Czerkawski a kick in the behind on his way out of town.&ldquo;He was a one-dimensional player,&rdquo; Milbury said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an excellent dimension to have, but&hellip;we just came out of a series in this very building about two months ago where heart was a lot to do with the outcome.&rdquo;Ouch.Whether we hear the same sound coming from Doug MacLean&rsquo;s office a year from now will be for Blue Jackets&rsquo; on-ice performance to determine. &#9632;

f0013-01

Big deals fail to materialize

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011849/8048157-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0014-01

FIRST ROUND

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021200/8048188-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="601" height="1509"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011685/8048195-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="216" height="213"></div>In an effort not to take a step backward, the Columbus Blue Jackets selected a leaguehigh 11 forwards at the 2002 entry draft at Toronto&rsquo;s Air Canada Centre June 22-23. Tampa Bay and Vancouver each picked three goaltenders, while Atlanta, Buffalo and Colorado had five defensemen each.Edmonton had the most draft picks, 14. Listed are each team&rsquo;s total number of picks, broken down by position: goalies (G), defensemen (D) and forwards (F). &#9632;

f0015-02

Teams address needs at NHL entry draft

<div class="byline">-Dan Wood</div>All of a sudden, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim can look forward to an infusion of young talent come training camp.If all goes well, the Ducks will welcome their past three firstround draft picks; hulking left winger Alexei Smirnov, diminutive offen-sive dynamo Stanislav Chistov and this year&rsquo;s top pick, sniper Joffrey Lupul of the Western League&rsquo;s Medicine Hat Tigers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03840/8048226-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="214" height="251"></div>Chistov, who had been largely idled in his native Russia because of a conflict involving the military, appears likely to sign this summer, and Lupul figures to be in camp regard-less of his contract status.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big plus,&rdquo; said Anaheim GM Bryan Murray, looking forward to the anticipated arrival of the gifted youngsters. &ldquo;Whether they are able to contribute immediately, this is huge for the organization.&rdquo;DRAFT IMPACT Anaheim&rsquo;s draft was notable for its emphasis on size and grit, two commodities the club has sorely lacked in recent years. In addition to Lupul, the Ducks grabbed St. Michael&rsquo;s center Tim Brent and Erie defenseman Brian Lee in the second and third rounds, respectively. Cape Breton right winger George Davis, a fifth round pick who piled up 274 penalty minutes in just 46 games last season, is an intriguingproject.QUOTE OF THE YEAR &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure who the little pipsqueak was that broke his stick over the glass, but they were all excited.&rdquo; - then-coach Bryan Murray, referring to Calgary left winger Scott Nichol&rsquo;s actions in the midst of a series of brawls late in a Dec. 8 game against the Flames.NOTEBOOK Chuck Fletcher, former assistant and interim GM in Florida, signed June 22 to become Anaheim&rsquo;s director of hockey operations. Fletcher, who had worked under Ducks GM Bryan Murray with the Panthers, and Anaheim assistant GM David McNab will share administrative and scouting duties&hellip;Guy Charron and Tom Watt, assistant coaches under Murray this season, will not return in that capacity under new coach Mike Babcock. Watt might return to the club as a scout&hellip;The Ducks signed left winger Alexei Smirnov June 17 to a threeyear contract. &#9632;

f0015-03

Draft picks igniting new breed of Ducks

<div class="byline">- Jeff Schultz</div>GMDon Waddell&rsquo;s primary objective entering the draft was to spin the team&rsquo;s first selection into a trade for a top veteran forward or defensetheFailing to get a trade offer of significance, Waddell drafted possibly the team&rsquo;s goalie of the future, Finland&rsquo;s Kari Lehtonen, second overall.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04615/8048264-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="214" height="240"></div>Buffalo then sent to Atlanta talented, but disgruntled winger Slava Kozlov and a No. 2 pick for a higher second and third round selection.The Sabres&rsquo; decision to move him was based in part on finances: The league is running the franchise and Kozlov is one year away from unrestricted free agency. That, in itself, should motivate Kozlov to contribute.DRAFT IMPACT Left winger Rick Nash (gone with the first overall pick) would have been a nice addition to the team, but GM Don Waddell believes goalie Kari Lehtonen will be the more valuable asset in the long run. He has franchise goalie potential. Two other players worth watching: Michigan State center Jim Slater (the final pick in the first round) and 6-foot-8 defenseman Lane Manson of Moose Jaw, a fourth round selection.QUOTE OF THE YEAR &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just telling (the players) how it is. This isn&rsquo;t good enough. Some changes are going to be made. We have to find a way to get better. There&rsquo;s only two (possibilities): You can&rsquo;t do it or you won&rsquo;t do it. We'll find out which one it is.&rdquo; - Coach Curt Fraser, at the tail end of a 0-7 road trip.notebook The decision to draft Kari Lehtonen left Atlanta with a glut of goalies. Pending roster moves, the organizational depth chart now includes Milan Hnilicka, Pasi Nurminen, Frederic Cassivi, Kari Lehtonen, Damian Rhodes, Norm Maracle, Scott Fankhouser, Michael Garnett and Zdenek fete. Smid.<div class="sidebar"><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05428/8048257-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="522" height="734"></div><h2>NO. 2 PICK</h2>Goaltender Kari Lehtonen, seen here in his Jokerit jersey, is the goalie of the future for the fledgling Atlanta Thrashers now stop to choose from. &#9632;</div>

f0015-05

Goaltender fever takes over Atlanta

<div class="byline">- Nancy Marrapase-Burrell</div>When a team is picking as late as No. 29 the next to last selection in the firstround of the entry draft-their goal is to take the best player avail-able. In the Bruins case, they saw that as being 18-year-old Finnish netminder Hannu Toivonen.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06344/8048295-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="213" height="245"></div>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big goalie, a butterflier with great flexibility,&rdquo; said Scott Bradley, the team&rsquo;s director of amateur scouting.&ldquo;He covers a lot of net with his size. He has a good glove hand. He needs to work on a few things. His positioning is very good but sometimes he goes down a little early but that&rsquo;s correctable. We interviewed him in Toronto and he has the mental makeup to maybe be the No. 1 guy someday. We liked his mechanics.&rdquo;DRAFT IMPACT The Bruins were scheduled to have the No. 62 pick overall, but traded up. with St. Louis in order to take 17-year-old left winger Vladislav Evseev at No. 56. Boston swapped No. 62 and a fifthround pick (No. 165 overall) for No. 56. Evseev interviewed with the Bruins scouting staff and management but didn&rsquo;t think they were even interested in him. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very glad,&rdquo; said Evseev, who is said to have similar skills to the Islanders&rsquo; Alexei Yashin. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy.&rdquo;QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;Stuff like that happens. It&rsquo;s a game of hockey, a game of inches, but I didn&rsquo;t mean to hurt him.&rdquo; - Bruins Defenseman Kyle McLaren after his vicous hit on Montreal&rsquo;s Richard Zednik during the playoffs.NOTEBOOK Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, 51, will become the ninth Bruin to have his jersey raised to the rafters. &ldquo;This is an honor Terry truly deserves,&rdquo; said president Harry Sinden. &ldquo;He epitomized the Boston Bruins and the game of hockey to a generation of fans with his combination of talent, toughness and effort on every shift. I don&rsquo;t think there was a player who wore the uniform of his team with more pride and passion than O&rsquo;Reilly.&rdquo;&hellip;Boston obtained goaltender Steve Shields from Anaheim for a third round pick. &#9632;

f0015-06

Bruins Finn-ish big with late round pick

<div class="byline">- Bucky Gleason</div>Here&rsquo;s how confident defenseman Keith Ballard was about being taken among the top 20 picks in the NHL Entry draft: He barely made it back to his seat with a box of popcorn when the Sabres took him 11th overall.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-07290/8048326-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="217" height="251"></div>Ballard figured he would be selected somewhere between the 20th and 40th picks, but the Sabres had the University of Minnesota sophomore-to-be in their top 10. The Hockey News had him pegged as the 28th-best prospect.&ldquo;The first thing I heard was &lsquo;University of Minnesota,&rsquo; and I thought they were taking Barry Tallackson, my teammate,&rdquo; Ballard said. &ldquo;I thought he&rsquo;d go a lot higher than me. It didn&rsquo;t set in right away. I kind of thought for a second and it was unbelievable.&rdquo;Ballard is a smooth-skating offensive defenseman who had six goals and 18 points as a freshman for the NCAA champion Gophers. Ballard, 19, has no plans to leave college this year.&ldquo;One of our objectives was to identify and get the powerplay defenseman, someone who can create offense and has some character,&rdquo; said Sabres GM Darcy Regier.DRAFT IMPACT The Sabres addressed their need for defensemen, taking five blueliners among their nine picks. The selection of John Adams gave them two defenseman in their first four picks for the first time since 1994.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;We can call guys out, but it shouldn&rsquo;t need to be done. I think everyone should be able to recognize where they&rsquo;re at, what they&rsquo;re contributing and what they have to do to make this team good. Take a look in the mirror.&rdquo; - Sabres&rsquo; defenseman Rhett Warrener.NOTEBOOK The Sabres won&rsquo;t know for a few years how their draft picks will fare, but they effectively became younger and stronger when they acquired left winger Jochen Hecht from Edmonton and traded right winger Slava Kozlov to Atlanta&hellip;Left winger Erik: Rasmussen was hoping he would get traded on draft day. He has been unhappy with his role and ice time&hellip;Defenseman Jason Woolley could also be leaving unless he becomes a fixture among the top six defensemen next season. &#9632;

f0015-07

Sabres sticking with defensive hockey

<div class="byline">- Eric Duhatschek</div>The father, Bob Nystrom, came out of the stands at the Air Canada Centre moments after his son, Eric, was selected 10th overall by the Calgary Flames. How, the elder Nystrom was asked, does his son&rsquo;s playmg style differ from his own?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011645/8048357-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="211" height="239"></div>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s his own player,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Once people see him play, they&rsquo;ll know he&rsquo;s not Bob Nystrom because he&rsquo;s not on his rear end all the time&hellip;As far as skills go, he&rsquo;s a far better skater and puck-handler and probably a better scorer than I was.&rdquo;The Flames believe Nystrom is a few years away from playing regularly in the NHL and he&rsquo;ll go back to the University of Michigan next year and perhaps beyond that. Nystrom grew up in Long Island, which, historically, isn&rsquo;t known for its minor hockey system. Unlike his father, who played a lot of hockey outdoors growing up, Nystrom stuck mainly to the indoor rinks and organizedprograms.DRAFT IMPACT Calgary&rsquo;s draft strategy was clear from the moment they traded down a place in the first round: quality through quantity. GM Craig Button Skilled young Nystrom first of 12 selections ended up swapping his third and fourth round picks in addition his first-rounder in order to add extra picks late in the draft. The result: even though they gave up a ninth-rounder to land backup goalie Jamie McLennan from Minnesota, the Flames ended up selecting 12 players. After Nystrom, the Flames chose Boston University center Brian McConnell, a graduate of USA Hockey&rsquo;s national team development program, at 39th overall.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;It means easily as much. It&rsquo;s a physical and intense game and to think that, at the end of the day, your peers and the people you go to war against put all that aside and honored me with that award, well, it&rsquo;s a huge honor.&rdquo; - Jarome Iginla, after NHL players voted him the Lester B. Pearson Award as the league&rsquo;s top player. Iginla finished second to Jose Theodore in Hart Trophy voting.NOTEBOOK Center Rob Niedermayer re-signed for the same amount ($2.1 million) he earned in 2001-02. Projected as the No. 2 center back in training camp, he struggled offensively and finished with just six goals in 57 games. More is expected of him next year. &#9632;

f0016-01

Skilled young Nystrom first of 12 selections

<div class="byline">- Luke DeCock</div>The coach often described as &ldquo;most likely to be fired&rdquo; became the one with five more years on his contract when Paul Maurice picked up a 50 per-cent raise for leading Carolina to the Stanley Cup final.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021279/8048388-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="213" height="218"></div>Maimice accepted owner Peter Karmanos&rsquo;s offer in &ldquo;about 60 seconds,&rdquo; the coach said. Carolina&rsquo;s season ended on Thursday; the deal was done late the next Monday.&ldquo;What I really appreciated was the priority they put on it,&rdquo; said Maurice, who&rsquo;ll make about $725,000 per season, up from $500,000 this year. &ldquo;It got done the day. after the weekend (after the end of the season). I really appreciated how quickly it was taken care of.&rdquo;GM Jim Rutherford also got a new five-year contract and assistant coaches Randy Ladouceur and Kevin McCarthy had their pacts extended four years.The coach&rsquo;s new deal completes a topsy-turvy year for Maurice, who is in a unique position. With Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s retirement, Maurice has the longest tenure of any coach despite being the NHL&rsquo;s youngest bench boss at 35.In his seventh season with Carolina, Maurice was one loss away from being fired in December because the team was not performing up to expectations. Those expectations turned out to be justified.DRAFT IMPACT Unhappy with the players available late, the Canes traded away four of their final five picks and only selected four players in the draft. They did achieve their main objective, though, which was to add depth in goal, with first round pick Cam Ward, 25th overall, and fifth-rounder Daniel Manzato, 160th.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;Weird things happen. Sometimes you throw into the ocean the puppy and tell it to swim and see if it can survive.&rdquo; - Goalie Arturs Irbe, Dec. 26, talking about winning for the first time in more than a month.NOTEBOOK The Canes signed right winger Jeff O&rsquo;Neill to a two-year, $7-million contract. O&rsquo;Neill led Carolina with 31 goals this season&hellip;Despite playoff success, the Canes were without TV and radio contracts for next year, though they were still in negotiations&hellip;Enforcer Darren Langdon agreed to a new twoyear deal. Terms weren&rsquo;t disclosed. &#9632;

f0016-02

Coach Maurice rewarded with five-year contract

<div class="byline">- Tim Sassone</div>After months of holding his tongue about his perceived poor treatment by Chicago Blackhawks GM Mike Smith, Tony Amonte finally let loose. Amonte, who was expected to bolt the Hawks as an unrestricted free agent July 1, blamed Smith for pushing him out of town.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03963/8048426-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="210" height="244"></div>&ldquo;Mike didn&rsquo;t like me from Day 1,&rdquo; Amonte said to the Chicago Tribune. &ldquo;I wish now that Mike had traded me during the season, but what happens if he gives me up and we don&rsquo;t make the playoffs? Instead of trading me he wanted to take the easy way out and make me look greedy and money-hungry and make my agent look bad.&ldquo;From the beginning Mike was holding the whole thing back. He tells me one thing, he tells (owner) Mr. (Bill) Wirtz another. He&rsquo;s not a truthful guy.&rdquo;Wirtz, meanwhile, has said he doesn&rsquo;t believe Amonte is worth $7 million a year despite being Chicago&rsquo;s most consistent scorer for the last eight seasons, in which he has averaged about 33 goals. &ldquo;No way either Tony or JeremyRoenick is worth $7.5 million,&rdquo; Wirtz said.DRAFT IMPACT The Hawks went to the draft looking for defensemen and came home with five, including top pick Anton Babchuk, the highly touted 6-foot-4,194-pound A Russian who was still available at 21st overall,QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not here for the chicks. I&rsquo;m here to play hockey.&rdquo; - Hawks left winger Kyle Calder about the constant pounding he took in front of the net.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Boris Mironov (shoulder) and center Igor Korolev (knee) underwent successful off-season surgery&hellip; Chicago re-signed forwards Bob Probert, 37, and Steve Thomas, 39, and defenseman Phil Housley, 38. Terms weren&rsquo;t disclosed&hellip;The Hawks also resigned blueliner Steve Poapst to a multi-year contract&hellip;Goaltending consultant Vladislav Tretiak will be back nest year.<div class="sidebar"><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04729/8048419-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="498" height="1274"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>SWEDISH DELIGHT</h2>Right winger Jonas Johansson, selected 28th overall by the Avs, will likely play in the Swedish Elite League next season. &#9632;</div>

f0016-04

Soon-to-be UFA Amonte sounds off on GM Smith

<div class="byline">- Jim Bentoi</div>Colorado Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy isn&rsquo;t ready yet to listen to talk about his retirement.In fact, Roy is talking about playing at least two more years and maybe more.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05530/8048457-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="212" height="231"></div>Roy, 36, has two seasons remaining-at $8.6 million a year-on his current contract. The second year is at the club&rsquo;s option.&ldquo;I would love to finish the time I have left on my contract and I would love to play after that,&rdquo; said Roy to the Denver Post. &ldquo;I still love to play the game and I feel I had the best year of my career this year. I feel like I can play a few more years at the level I want.&rdquo;Roy had a league-best 1.94 goalsagainst average, recorded a career-best nine shutouts and was one of the main reasons the Avs captured their eighth consecutive division championship. He won the Jennings Trophy for being the starting goalie on the team that allowed the fewest goals (169) in the league.&ldquo;While it&rsquo;s an individual award, it&rsquo;s truly a great team achievement,&rdquo; Roy said.DRAFT IMPACT After selecting Swedish forward Jonas Johansson with its first round pick, 28th overall, Colorado selected defensemen with its next &bull; i t it &bull; r six picks. In all, six of Colorado&rsquo;s e 10 selections were blueliners.quote OF the year we were 8 up 3-2 going into Game 6 of the Western Conferencefinal. Then " are going to be a lot of times we&rsquo;re going to think about that.-Goalie Patrick Roy, on what the team will ponder in the offseason.notebook GM Pierre Lacroix Tirill On said the Avalanche will not shop around the NHL free agent market this summer. He does, however, intend to try to re-sign one of his own unrestricted free agents, defenseman Darius Kasparaitis. &#9632;

f0016-05

Coming off excellent year, there’s no quit in Roy

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011471/8048488-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

2001-02 Season in Review

<div class="byline">Editor's Notebook </div><div class="byline">Sam McCaig Senior Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011525/8048519-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="285" height="347"></div>Tragedy struck the hockey world too often in 2001-02, but there was also triumph, of both the sporting and human varieties.On the eve of training camp last September, Saku Koivu fell ill on a transatlantic flight from Finland to Montreal. He was diagnosed with abdominal cancer, putting not merely his hockey career, but his life in jeopardy The NHL family was still reeling from that news when Sept. 11 sickened and saddened us all, and reminded us hockey is just a game. The NHL especially mourned the loss of Los Angeles Kings directorof pro scouting Ace Bailey and scout Mark Bavis, who were on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center.So, when Peter Forsberg-perhaps the best all-around player on the planet-made the pre-season announcement he was considering skipping the entire season in an effort to heal his battered body and &ldquo;regain enthusiasm for the game,&rdquo; the hockey world was shocked, but gave Forsberg&rsquo;s decision the proper perspective.Perspective, sadly, was gained again in March when 13-year-oldBrittanie Cecil died two days after being struck in the head by a deflected Espen Knutsen slapshot at a Columbus Blue Jackets game. It&rsquo;s the first time a fan was killed after being hit by a puck at an NHL game. The league is installing netting at the ends of arenas in time for 2002-03 in the hopes such a tragedy will never be repeated.But there were also stories of intrigue and inspiration this season. Superstars such as Jaromir Jagr, Eric Lindros, Alexei Yashin and JeremyRoenick, among others, joined new teams. Mario Lemieux was in uniform for his first opening night since 1996. And, O Canada!, the stars came out in Calgary, Montreal and Vancouver as Jarome Iginla, the NHL&rsquo;s goal and point leader, Jose Theodore, the Hart and Vezina winner, and rambunctious Todd Bertuzzi led a new generation of kids on the pond.The Brian Sutter-stampedChicago Blackhawks, Theodore&rsquo;s plucky Canadiens, the revamped New York Islanders and the youthfill Phoenix Coyotes, backstopped by Sean Burke, provided the pleasant surprises in the regular season, and then Hurricanes played the role of underdog to as in Trap-for four rounds of grind-it-outplayoff hockeyBut, after surviving the Western Conference postseason gauntlet and to the dismay of the NHL&rsquo;s Mom-and-Pop organizations the Stanley Cup was hoisted in June by the payroll-powered, all-starstudded, Hasek-injected Detroit Red Wings. Captain Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s team was the oldest to ever win the Cup, its third in six years, and smooth Swedish defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom became the first European player to be named playoff MVP. It was the first Cup for free agent signees Dominik Hasek, Luc Robitaille and Fredrik Olausson and a record ninth for coaching savant Scotty Bowman, who then retired as the benchmark for bench bosses.The NHL&rsquo;s most disappointing teams were the socalled Stars and Capitals. Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock was fired long enough to win a gold medal before bouncing over to Philadelphia&rsquo;s bench for 2002-03. And Jagr-wired Washington, in the East&rsquo;s laughable Southeast Division (that&rsquo;s a regular season reference only, folks) also underachieved costing Ron Wilson his job as coach. Both teams missed the playoffs. And don&rsquo;t forget Bob Clarke&rsquo;s Flyers, THN&rsquo;s pre-season pick for the Cup (hey, we did make Detroit our pre-playoffpick). It got ugly in Philadelphia, as Bill Barber, the previous season&rsquo;s coach of the year, was fired after a hasty playoff exit and public player revolt.And, upstagingthe continued brilliance-rise, even-of Patrick Roy; outshining the duo superstar sightings in Atlanta rookies Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk; rising above the seemingly increasing cries over officiating; and giving fans the world over the most passionate and exciting-simply, the best-hockey in years, was, of course, the Olympics.You remember February in Salt Lake City, don&rsquo;t you? The struggle for global ice supremacy that ended up being a North American grudge match? Canada scored its first Olympic gold in men&rsquo;s hockey in 50 years by beating the host Americans 5-2 in a thrilling final and the northern nation&rsquo;s patriotic pleasure was doubled with the women&rsquo;s 3-2 upset of the U.S.The 2002 Winter Games reassured Canada it still ruled the hockey world. They put Lemieux in a maple leaf for the first time in 15 years (and may prove to be a fittingcareer curtain call to No. 66&rsquo;s Canada Cup coming-out party in 1987). They turned the ever-cool Wayne Gretzky into a ranting Ron Caron and his diatribe was, indeed, a great one. They elevated understated superstars such as Joe Sakic and Yzerman, Adam Foote and Paul Kariya. Heck, Canada&rsquo;s $1 coin, the loonie, was even worth something for a while&hellip;at least the one they dug out of center ice. For the U.S., gracious in defeat, the 2002 Games were as successful as silvercan be, though the men&rsquo;s aging team will have a new face in 2006-assuming, of course, the NHL chooses to go to ItalyWhen the Olympics ended and the playoff stretch drive began-much to Calgary&rsquo;s chagrin-suspicion grew that the rumors of the demise of Forsberg&rsquo;s season were greatly exaggerated. Sure enough, the spring warrior returned to lead the post-season in points, though his Avs were eliminated by the Wings in the West final.The Habs didn&rsquo;t make it that far, falling to the Canes in Round 2. But their captain, his cancer in remission, was in the lineup for Montreal&rsquo;s first playoff foray in four years. In perhaps the most memorable moment of the NHL season, Koivu, bald and beautiful, returned April 9 against Ottawa to lengthy and thunderous applause at the Molson Centre. He ended up with 12 points in 15 regular season and playoff games; more importantly, he was back.This summer in Finland, Koivu is marrying fiancee Hanna, who saw him through his toughest times. And after signing a one-year, $3.3-million deal with the Habs, he&rsquo;s lookingforward to 2002-03.Life goes on; hockey does, too. &#9632;

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Scarred season had glory, too

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Recalling the gold rush

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy Senior Writer</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011147/8048720-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="955" height="1332"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sweden and goalie Tommy Salo were rocked by Belarus.</figcaption></div>Determinedto make the ugly memories of 1998 in Nagano disappear once and for all, the United states men&rsquo;s Olympic hockey team did and said all the right things in Salt Lake City.The Americans handled themselves with class and grace, winning four and tying one of their first five games and then losing a heartbreaker to Team Canada in the final.Even in defeat, the Americans held their heads high.&ldquo;Hey, they are a great team,&rdquo; said Team USA&rsquo;s Jeremy Roenick shortly after Canada won 5-2 in the gold medal game. &ldquo;How can you feel any shame in losing to a team like that?&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m on an unbelievable high just being part of it and having success as a team,&rdquo; said veteran defenseman Gary Suter.Added teammate Chris Drury: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very proud of the silver medal.&rdquo;It was in sharp contrast to 1998 when they trashed a dorm and were disruptive in the athlete&rsquo;s village after a poor on-ice showing.The Americans were hoping to make it three straight golds in men&rsquo;s hockey on home ice, but it was not to be.If Team USA felt bad, it was nothing compared to Sweden which shocked Canada 5-2 in the first game of the championship round only to be sent home by Belarus in arguably the biggest upset in Olympic hockey history, members of the team were vilified at home where their head shots ran in a &ldquo;wanted&rdquo; post office style poster on the front page of a major daily newspaper along with their NHL salaries under the heading: Guilty! They were accused of betraying their country.The game, a 4-3 victory for Belarus, was decided when Swedish goalie Tommy Salo had a puck deflect off his heat at 17:36 of the third period.Reality set in for the upstart Belarussians when they got spanked 7-1 by Canada in their next game and 7-2 by Russia in the bronze medal contest.After years of floundering and unrest among the players who were upset with the direction they were getting from the coaching staff, the Russians made a giant mark at Salt Lake City under the guidance of Slava Fetisov and Vladislav Tretiak.Although they did not have a scorer in the top 20, it was a solid team effort led by superstars Sergei Fedorov and Alexei Kovalev, not to mention cagey veteran Igor Larionov. The future looks bright for the once dominant hockey nation.Slovakia, which was unable to use its best NHLers because of scheduling, finished a disappointing 13th out of the 14 teams that competed at the Games. &#9632;

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USA makes amends

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy Senior Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02804/8048751-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jayna Hefford&rsquo;s goal with one second left in the second period stood up as the winner in Canada&rsquo;s 3-2 gold medal victory over the U.S. (Compress)</figcaption></div>Maybe it&rsquo;s just a simple case of good luck.Jayna Hefford doesn&rsquo;t think so, though.When Team Canada needs a big goal, just keep an eye on the 25-year-old power forward. Good things happen when she&rsquo;s on the ice.Hefford scored the biggest goal in Canadian women&rsquo;s hockey history, the one that gave her team the 2002 Olympic gold medal in a 3-2 victory over the favored Team USA, in Salt Lake City Feb. 21. The goal, scored at 19:59 of the second period, restored the honor of a team that had won seven straight World Championship titles, but had also lost eight consecutive tune-up games to their American rivals heading into the Olympics.It was also Hefford who scored a pair of third period goals at the 2000 World Championship to draw her team even and force overtime in a game Canada eventually won. And she got the clinching goal in a shootout at a Four Nations game, another nail biter over the U.S. Without a doubt, though, her gold medal game goal in Salt Lake City was the biggest of her career.The first time I looked at the clock was when my line went on the ice for the faceoff with 13 seconds remaining in the period,&rdquo; Hefford said. &ldquo;We were playing 4-on-4 and Vicky (Sunohara) won the faceoff cleanly to Therese Brisson who passed it to Becky Kellar. Becky then made a great pass to me. Suddenly the puck was in the air and I swatted at it. It was just a reaction. Their goalie got a piece of the puck, but it kept going. It was the slowest-bouncing puck ever.&rdquo;Until it crossed the line, that is.&ldquo;When we lined up for the faceoff, I looked up and there was one second showing on the clock,&rdquo; Hefford said.Canada held on for the win, despite the fact so much was going against it, not the least of which was an American referee, Stacey Livingston, who nailed the Canadians with eight straight penalties.The Canadian women completed the Olympics with a perfect 5-0 record and outscored their opposition 35-5. They were presented championship rings June 17 in Toronto and each player got a $20,000 bonus from Molson Breweries.Hefford, who finished the Olympics with three goals and seven points in five games, believes there is a reason why she has been responsible for so many big goals for Canada.&ldquo;I have always prided myself on playing better in big games,&rdquo; Hefford said. &ldquo;In women&rsquo;s hockey we play a lot of weaker teams, even in our club games. There are a lot of blowouts.&ldquo;Getting four points in a blowout is not nearly as satisfying as scoring a goal in a big game.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Hefford clutch for Canadians

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011093/8048782-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">With his contract up for renewal, Jose Theodore couldn&rsquo;t have picked a better time to shine.</figcaption></div>Jose Theodore was Montreal&rsquo;s secret last season. But now, the entire league has started to notice and is understanding the level of his greatness.The 25-year-old Canadiens goaltender stole the show at the NHL&rsquo;s annual awards presentation in Toronto, capturing both the Hart and Vezina Trophies, given to the most valuable player and top netminder, respectively&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t tell you how I felt,&rdquo; Theodore said. &ldquo;I was shaking, I was so excited. To think that something like this could happen. I still don&rsquo;t believe it happened.&ldquo;I knew 1 had one chance in three to win, but I didn&rsquo;t have a speech prepared. Now my legs are weak. I came here as a young player looking at this as an experience, to see how it all works. And now I&rsquo;m going home with two trophies.&rdquo;In the closest votes ever, tie-breakers were required to determine both awards. Theodore tied with Calgary right winger Jarome Iginla in the Hart balloting, conducted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association. But Theodore got the nod, based on 26 first-place votes, compared to Iginla&rsquo;s 23 (See pg. 43 for full voting).Iginla didn&rsquo;t return home empty-handed. He captured the Art Ross Trophy for most points; the Rocket Richard Trophy for most goals, and was named the mostvaluable player by his peers, winning the Lester B. Pearson Award, after leading the NHL with 52 goals and 96 points in 82 games. The NHL&rsquo;s GMs had Theodore and Colorado&rsquo;s Patrick Roy tied for the Vezina, but Theodore again received more first-place votes-15 to 12. Roy still managed to win the Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed-122 in 63 games.The Canadiens made the playoffs for the first time in four seasons and there&rsquo;s no doubt they wouldn&rsquo;t have qualified for post-season play except for the heroics of Theodore. Despite playing for an offense-challenged team, Theodore had a winning record of 30-24-10 in 67 games. He also recorded seven shutouts, a goals-against average of 2.11, and a league-leading .931 save percentage.Theodore becomes the first goalie to win both the Hart and Vezina since Dominik Hasek. Hasek, who recently announced his retirement after helping to lead the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup, captured the double honors in both 1997 and 1998. The last netminder before Theodore and Hasek to win both trophies was the Canadiens&rsquo; Jacques Plante, in 1962.Theodore becomes the first Montreal player since Guy Lafleur in 1978 to win the Hart. As well, no Canadiens goalie has captured the Vezina since Roy, in 1989,1990 and 1992. Roy, Theodore&rsquo;s boyhood idol, was traded to the Avalanche in 1995.&ldquo;When I&rsquo;m in my stall in our dressing room, I&rsquo;m facing the Wall of Fame,&rdquo; said Theodore, referring to the portraits of many Canadiens players who have been named to the Hall of Fame.&ldquo;I saw that the last one to win (the Hart) was Guy Lafleur, who is another of my idols. I&rsquo;m happy to be a Montreal Canadien right now.&rdquo;Theodore couldn&rsquo;t have picked a better time to walk away with his satchel of silverware. Like Iginla, Theodore became a restricted free agent July 1. Theodore earned $1.65 mil-lion (U.S.) last season and is said to be seeking between $6 and $7 million in a new deal.Detroit&rsquo;s Nicklas Lidstrom was named the Norris Trophy winner for the second consecutive season. The 6-foot-2,185-pound Swede edged teammate Chris Chelios in the balloting after scoring nine goals and 59 points in 78 games.As expected, Atlanta&rsquo;s Dany Heatley was named the Calder Trophy winner as the league&rsquo;s top rookie. Heatley selected second overall by the Thrashers in 2000, led his team in scoring with 26 goals and 67 points in 82 games.Heatley&rsquo;s teammate, Ilya Kovalchuk, was a finalist for the award and might well have been declared the winner except for a season-endingknee injury in early March. Kovalchuk scored 29 goals and 51 points in only 65 games.The Islanders&rsquo; Michael Peca received the Seike Trophy as the best defensive for-ward for the second time since 1997. Peca scored 25 goals and 60 points in 80 games.Carolina captain Ron Francis captured the Lady Byng Trophy as the league&rsquo;s most gentlemanly player. The ageless wonder, who turned 39 last March, was assessed only 18 penalty minutes in 80 games while leading the Hurricanes in scoring, with 27 goals and 77 points.Phoenix&rsquo;s Bob Francis captured the Jack Adams Award as the outstanding coach. Francis, in his third season with the Coyotes, led the team to a record of 40-27-9-6. Phoenix was sixth overall in the Western Conference after missing the playoffs the previous year.Montreal captain Saku Koivu was named winner of the Bill Masterton Trophy, for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication. Koivu, diagnosed with abdominal cancer last September, overcame the dreaded disease and made a triumphant late-season return.<div class="sidebar"><h2>THEO&rsquo;S MAGIC</h2>&bull; Finished atop the NHL in save percentage at .931. &bull; Posted 34-20-10 record on team with 20th-best offense in league. &bull; Tied for second with seven shutouts. &bull; Third among No. 1 goalies with 2.11 goals-against average. &bull; Led Montreal to playoffs for first time in four seasons. &#9632;</div>

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Theodore: Show stopper

<h2>HART TROPHY</h2>(Most Valuable Player, selected by PHWA)Jose Theodore, Montreal Tied with Jarome Iginla, but won because he had more first-place votes. Became just second goalie since Jacques Plante to capture Hart.<h2>VEZINA TROPHY</h2>(Best Goaltender, selected by GMs)Jose Theodore, Montreal Posted a league-leading save percentage of .931; awarded Vezina after tie with Patrick Roy on basis of more first-place votes.<h2>NORRIS TROPHY</h2>(Best Defenseman, selected by PHWA)Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Repeat Norris winner had another standout season, tying with Sergei Gonchar for most points by a defenseman with 59.<h2>CALDER TROPHY</h2>(Best Rookie, selected by PHWA)Dany Heatley, Atlanta Never let up after running-mate and roommate Ilya Kovalchuk was injured in mid-March. Led all rookie scorers with 67 points.<h2>SELKE TROPHY</h2>(Best Defensive Forward, selected by PHWA)Michael Peca, Islanders 1997 Seike winner set tone for Islander revival and was plus-19, tops among team forwards. Led league with six shorthanded goals.<h2>LADY BYNG TROPHY</h2>(Most Sportsmanlike, selected by PHWA)Ron Francis, Carolina Three-time Lady Byng winner combined 77 points with just 18 PIM; beat out 2001 winner Joe Sakic and perennial candidate Nicklas Lidstrom.<h2>JACK ADAMS TROPHY</h2>(Best Coach, selected by NHL Broadcasters)Bob Francis, Phoenix Third-year coach guided no-star club to a 95-point season (second-best total in club history) and surprising playoff berth with strong post-Olympic charge.<h2>MASTERTON TROPHY</h2>(Perseverance, Dedication)Saku Koivu, Montreal Habs center, diagnosed with cancer prior to training camp, made courageous, heroic recovery and returned to action in final week of season.<h2>ART ROSS TROPHY</h2>(Leading Scorer)Jarome Iginla, Calgary<h2>RICHARD TROPHY</h2>(Most Goals)Jarome Iginla, Calgary<h2>PEARSON TROPHY</h2>(Most Valuable Player, selected by NHL players)Jarome Iginla, Calgary<h2>KING CLANCY TROPHY</h2>(Humanitarian/community work, selected by media panel)Ron Francis, Carolina &#9632;

AND THE 2001-02 NHL AWARD WINNERS ARE…

<div class="byline">By Sam McCaig Senior Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011134/8048837-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jarome Iginla&rsquo;s soft hands did heavy damage during breakout season.</figcaption></div>Thefirst thing you notice upon meeting Jarome Iginla are his silky-smooth, baby-soft hands. Fifty-goal scorers are supposed to have soft hands, but this is ridiculous. Here&rsquo;s one of the NHL&rsquo;s most menacing power forwards, a guy who&rsquo;ll hit you, stick you and score on you all in the same shift, and he has hands like a lotion salesman.But there&rsquo;s more to like about the Calgary Flames right winger than his velvety mitts. On this June afternoon, in which he captures the Pearson Award as the players&rsquo; choice for league MVP, Iginla is friendly and frank with the media hordes. His face is honest, open and youthful. He talks about wanting to be a role model, for Canadian kids, for black kids, for all kids. He thanks God, as well as his family and fiancee, for giving him strength and direction. He thanks his NHL brethren for voting for him, then apologizes for playing the rough-and-tumble style that earned him the kudos in the firstplace: &ldquo;For all the accidental slashes and facewashes and trash-talkingI did this year,&rdquo; he says, looking at the Pearson, &ldquo;now I feel a little bad.&rdquo;But he doesn&rsquo;t really feel bad. If he did, he&rsquo;d stop smiling, wouldn&rsquo;t he?His breakout season all began, Iginla says, with his late invite to Team Canada&rsquo;s orientation camp, held just prior to NHL training camps. Ultimately, it led to an Olympic gold medal and hero status at home-especially after a two-goal effort in the final against the U.S. But first, it gave him the opportunity to share the ice with Canada&rsquo;s best. &ldquo;It gave me a huge boost of confidence to be invited to the camp,&rdquo; says Iginla, 25. &ldquo;And the chance to practice and work out with&hellip;and to just watch guys like (Mario) Lemieux, (Steve) Yzerman and (Joe) Sakic, well, that really helped get the season started off right.&rdquo;Iginla started the season off right, all right, scoring at will from the get-go. Wait a second, he says, that&rsquo;s not quite correct. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t score in my first four games.&rdquo; Actually, he did score in Game 4, but was stuck on one goal through his first six games. Fortunately, he found the net 16 times in the next 14 games, a stretch that also saw him amass 29 points and assume first place in the NHL scoring race, a position he owned virtually all season. The coldest this Flame ever got was a five-game point drought in December and a sixgame goal slump in March-which, by the way, came on the heels of a six-game goal streak immediately after the Olympics.Still, Iginla credits the hot starts of linemates Craig Conroy and Dean McAmmond with keeping him positive through his (alleged) early scoring funk. &ldquo;I went from playing with all-stars at the Olympic camp to playing with all-stars on my line (in Calgary),&rdquo; Iginla beams. &ldquo;It was great!&rdquo;Great, too, were his conquests of the Art Ross Trophy-he&rsquo;s the first player in 21 years not named Gretzky, Lemieux or Jagr to win it and the Maurice Richard Trophy-he became the first Canadian to capture the four-year-old award by scoring 52 goals, 11 more than the runners-up. And, though he lost the Hart to Montreal goalie Jose Theodore by the narrowest of tie-breaking margins, Iginla can take solace in his debut on the NHL&rsquo;s first all-star team. He was a first-ballot winner, you could say, by earning the firstplace vote on all 60 ballots cast for right wingers-no tie here, thank you very much.Joining Iginla on the first team are Colorado goalie Patrick Roy, Detroit defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios, Vancouver left winger Markus Naslund and Colorado center Sakic.The second team features Theodore in goal, Washington&rsquo;s Sergei Gonchar and St. Louis&rsquo;s Chris Pronger on defense, and Boston right winger Bill Guerin, Toronto center Mats Sundin and Detroit left winger Brendan Shanahan up front. (See pg. 43for complete voting results.)The all-star teams marked a changing of the guard as Gonchar, Guerin, Iginla, Naslund, Sundin and Theodore were all selected for the first time.The question now is, can Iginla do it again with Calgary and lead the Flames to the post-season?&ldquo;With this season, he has raised the standard for himself,&rdquo; says Flames GM Craig Button. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll expect more of himself and we&rsquo;ll expect more, too. But he&rsquo;s still young, he can still improve in some areas and he wants to consistently play at a high level.&rdquo;<div class="sidebar"><h2>IGGY IS A STAR</h2>&bull; Led NHL in goals with 52-11 better than next closest shooter and points with 96. &bull; Second in power play goals (16), fourth in shots on goal (311), tied for seventh in plus-minus (plus-27), tied for ninth in game-winning goals (7). &bull; 15-game point streak in October and November tied for NHL's longest run. &#9632;</div>

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Iginla soars to stardom

<div class="byline">By Bob Duff</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011005/8048913-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran Chris Chelios proudly celebrates his second Stanley Cup victory.</figcaption></div>Between them, they&rsquo;ve collected enough hardware to open a Home Depot. And enough accolades to last a lifetime. Detroit Red Wings defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios are certain Hockey Hall of Famers when their playing days are done. Coach Scotty Bowman is already there, havingearned induction to the hockey shrine in 1991.All three of these hockey legends, each a key component in Detroit&rsquo;s return to Stanley Cup glory, received recognition in this season&rsquo;s THN awards.Bowman, 68, made his record ninth Stanley Cup win as a coach his swan song, announcing his retirement moments after the Red Wings had annexed the Carolina Hurricanes in the Cup final. He was named coach of the year. Say what you want about the likes of Brian Sutter, Bobby Francis and Robbie Ftorek making an impact with their teams-which they most certainly did-winning the Cup has to count for something.&ldquo;There are very few times in sports that you can watch something unfold and say, &lsquo;We&rsquo;re never going to see that happen again,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice of Bowman&rsquo;s illustrious career, which also includes NHL records for games coached (2,141), wins (1,244), playoff wins (223) and Stanley Cup final wins (36). &ldquo;I&rsquo;d have to coach 50 years to match what Scotty has accomplished.&rdquo;His performance this season must rate among the most impressive in an unparalleled career. Bowman took a superstar-laden squad and convinced them self-sacrifice was the only way to play the game, that team goals were the only targets worth pursuing. Detroit players believed in Bowman and in turn, he believed in them. And why not? He suited up enough stars to populate a galaxy.Among those was the steady Lidstrom, 32, who after more than a decade in the league, is finally receiving some long overdue recognition. He has won two Norris Trophies and a Conn Smythe Trophy in the last two years and is THN&rsquo;s choice as the top performer in this year&rsquo;s playoffs.&ldquo;Nick is as close to a perfect player as you&rsquo;ll find,&rdquo; Bowman said, drawing comparisons between Lidstrom and seven-time Norris Trophy winner Doug Harvey. &ldquo;You just put them out on the ice and never had to worry about them. The more they played, the better they played.&rdquo;In key situations, Bowman often paired Lidstrom with Chelios, THN&rsquo;s choice as the NHL&rsquo;s best defenseman. Chelios penned an impressive comeback story, displaying his resiliency and reliability by turning the unique double of leading the NHL with plus-40 in the regular season and plus-15 in the playoffs.The three-time Norris Trophy winner returned to the form which most recently saw him earn that award in 1995-96, proving that life does indeed begin at 40.&ldquo;It did for me,&rdquo; suggested Chelios, who turned 40 diming the season. &ldquo;I know I liked 40 much better than 39.&rdquo; Chelios missed most of the 2000-01 season following ACL surgery. &ldquo;Last year was rough. After the way I felt this year, I want to play another 10 years.&rdquo;By winning the Stanley Cup, Chelios established another unique standard. It was his first title since he won with Montreal in 1985-86 and the 16-year gap between Cups is a record. Headed into unrestricted free agency, Chelios knows exactly where he wants to be next season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got four kids, four guys and they don&rsquo;t want to move again,&rdquo; Chelios said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never been greedy, so that won&rsquo;t be a problem.Dany Heatley is another who isn&rsquo;t greedy The Atlanta Thrashers right winger is THN&rsquo;s top rookie, but wished he could share the award with teammate and linemate Ilya Kovalchuk. &ldquo;Ilya is a big reason why I got this honor and I want him to know that I think of it as much being his award as mine,&rdquo; said Heatley, who led all rookies with 67 points.Jarome Iginla and Jose Theodore also share something the same destiny. Each THN award winner is in position to capitalize on their honor, considering they are headed into restricted freeagent status.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good timing for me, that&rsquo;s for sure,&rdquo; said Theodore, who backstopped Montreal to the playoffs for the first time since 1997-98, leading the NHL with a .931 save percentage.After leading the NHL in both goals (52) and points (96), Iginla is THN&rsquo;s MVR He won both the Rocket Richard Trophy and Art Ross Trophy, the first player ever to turn this double and also helped Canada win Olympic gold in Salt Lake City.&ldquo;It was an unbelievable year,&rdquo; Iginla said. &#9632;

f0029-01

In honor of a champion

<h2>NHL MVP</h2>Jarome Iginla, Calgary Unlikely Art Ross winner was Mr. Everything for Flames.<h2>NHL PLAYER OF YEAR</h2>Jarome Iginla, Calgary Eleven-goal margin in goal race proves dominance over competition.<h2>NHL ROOKIE OF YEAR</h2>Dany Heatley, Atlanta Rookie point leader played all forward positions, plus points on PR.<h2>DEFENSEMAN OF YEAR</h2>Chris Chelios, Detroit Veteran has outstanding comeback year from injuries.<h2>NHL GOALIE OF YEAR</h2>Jose Theodore, Montreal NHL save percentage leader main reason Habs made it to playoffs.<h2>NHL PLAYOFF MVP</h2>Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Mr. Smooth scored, logged heavy minutes in dominant showing.<h2>NHL COACH OF YEAR</h2>Scotty Bowman, Detroit Banding gang of all-stars into cohesive team no small achievement.<h2>NHL EXECUTIVE OF YEAR</h2>Jim Rutherford, Carolina Getting Hedican, Hill, Adams, Weekes (and losing Ozolinsh) great moves.<h2>MINOR PRO COACH</h2>Steve Stirling, Bridgeport Little-known players&rsquo; coach guided expansion team to Calder Cup final.<h2>MINOR PRO PROSPECT</h2>Jani Rita, Hamilton Two-way winger earned rave reviews in rookie minor-pro season.<h2>MAJOR JUNIOR PLAYER</h2>Brad Boyes, Erie Toronto draft pick took game to next level at OHL and World Junior stage.<h2>U.S. COLLEGE PLAYER</h2>Jordan Leopold, Minnesota Puck-moving defenseman capped NCAA career with Hobey and title.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02668/8048944-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="721" height="554"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jose Theodore</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-02

THE HOCKEY NEWS 2001-02 AWARDS

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender Contributing Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-07" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-07183/8049059-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Long an offensive force, Sergei Gonchar also puts in hard work at the other end of the ice.</figcaption></div>The next generation made its great push to prominence during 2001-02, a reality that wasn&rsquo;t lost on crack THN readers.Four 28-and-under players are first-time members of The Hockey News Readers Choice All-Star Teams. Calgary right winger Jarome Iginla (25) and Montreal goalie Jose Theodore (25) were selected to the first team. Washington defenseman Sergei Gonchar (28) and Vancouver right winger Todd Bertuzzi (27) made the second all-star team.Of course, some of hockey&rsquo;s biggest names are recognized here as well. Also on the first team are Colorado center Joe Sakic, Vancouver left winger Markus Naslund and the dandy Detroit defense duo of Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom. Rounding out the second unit are Toronto center Mats Sundin, Detroit left winger Brendan Shanahan, Colorado defenseman Rob Blake and goalie Patrick RoyThe over-30 crowd has ruled the roost for a good while now, so it shouldn&rsquo;t be a huge surprise to finally see the influx of new blood. Theodore has been knocking on the door of greatness for several seasons and although nobody expected Iginla to break out the way he did, the scoring champ has been on a steady, upward climb the past four seasons.Bertuzzi has often been mentioned as a power forward-in-the-making. In 2001-02 he was finally able to put his formidable physical gifts and talents to maximum effect.Of the rising stars of the game, though, it is Gonchar who perhaps receives the least attention, given that he led all defensemen with 26 goals and 59 points. He had 57 points a year ago, but when goals were even tougher to find in 2001-02, Gonchar didn&rsquo;t stop.Stop jumping into the play, that is.The native of Chelyabinsk, Russia and a member of Russia&rsquo;s 2002 Olympic team. Gonchar has outstanding offensive instincts, frequently appearing in the offensive zone in the right place and at exactly the right time to pounce on a loose puck and blast it home with a hard, heavy shot.&ldquo;The addition of Jaromir Jagr helped me a lot because he&rsquo;s creating so much and it opened up ice for me,&rdquo; Gonchar said from France, where he was vacationing after the season.On a personal level he was happy with his season, &ldquo;but the team didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs so it&rsquo;s a big disappointment.&rdquo;Too often the Caps were hurt by defensive lapses, which just happens to be one of the knocks on Gonchar. But it&rsquo;s an impression he&rsquo;s determined to shake.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s part of the game that I work on. I constantly work on it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When we start playing better as a team it&rsquo;s going to come along. With the team success I should change that opinion about myself&hellip;1 don&rsquo;t want to keep scoring and we're losing the hockey game because of me.&rdquo;<h2>FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011134/8049052-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="293" height="446"></div><h3>Joe SAKIC</h3>CENTERKey stat 79 points 23 more than next closest teammate Highlights Sixth in scoring I despite no Forsberg, injuries I to Tanguay and Hejduk&hellip;22 mins/game tops among Avalanche forwards&hellip;Third in playoff points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02760/8049045-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="290" height="453"></div><h3>Markus NASLUND</h3>LEFT WINGKey stat Back-to-back 40-goals seasons for first time Highlights Second in NHL scoring with 90 points, a personal best&hellip;Fifth overall with 302 shots on goal and 31 power play points&hellip;Teamleading plus-22.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03539/8049038-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="299" height="452"></div><h3>Jaromel BINLA</h3>RIGHT WINGKey stat Won Rocket Richard Trophy with 52 goals Highlights Only player to crack 50-goal mark&hellip;Led league with 96 points, second with 16 goals on power play&hellip;Scored 31 points in one 15-game stretch<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04376/8049031-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="291" height="450"></div><h3>Chris CHELIOS</h3>DEFENSEKey stat League-leading plus at age 40. Highlights Oldest player named to first all-star team since Gordie Howe in 1970&hellip;Second in playoff scoring among defensemen with 14 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05278/8049024-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="292" height="452"></div><h3>NickJas LIOSTROM</h3>DEFENSEKey stat Tied for defenseman points lead with 59 I Highlights Captured second straight Norris Trophy as top blueliner&hellip;Averaged incredible M 31:30 ofice time per game in playoffs&hellip;Became first European to win Conn Smythe.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06219/8049017-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="288" height="447"></div><h3>Jose THEODORE</h3>OALTENDERKey stat .931 SP easily NHL's top mark Highlights Joined Dominik Hasek as only goalies to win Hart Trophy as MVP since I Jacques Plante in 1962&hellip;At 25, youngest Vezina winner since 1996 (Jim Carey).<h2>SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS</h2><h3>Mats SUNDIN</h3>CENTERKey stat Led Leafs in scoring (80 pts) eighth straight year Highlights Recorded top season as a Leaf&hellip;Tied for second in goals (41), second in game winners (9), fourth in scoring&hellip;Eighth in NHL in faceoff percentage<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-08155/8049010-1-eng-US/f0030-082.jpg" title="f0030-08" width="292" height="447"></div><h3>Brendan SHANAHAN</h3>LEFT WINGKey stat Led Wings in goals (37), points (75) Highlights 118 PIM most among top 15 point getters&hellip; Led Detroit in shots with 277&hellip;Scored game winner and insurance goal in Stanley Cup-clinching Game 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-09137/8049003-1-eng-US/f0030-092.jpg" title="f0030-09" width="288" height="451"></div><h3>Todd BERTUZZI</h3>RIGHT WINGKey stat Posted 85 points despite 10-game suspension Highlights 15-game point streak tied for tops in NHL&hellip;Third in league scoring&hellip; One point every 16.6 minutes of ice time best ratio in NHL<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-10124/8048996-1-eng-US/f0030-102.jpg" title="f0030-10" width="289" height="452"></div><h3>Sernei GONCHAR</h3>DEFENSEKey stat Tied for defenseman points lead with 59 Highlights Career-best 26 goals most by a defenseman since Al Maclnnis in 1993-94 (28)&hellip;23:51 highest ice time on Caps&hellip;Fifth among blueliners in shots on goal<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-11113/8048989-1-eng-US/f0030-112.jpg" title="f0030-11" width="292" height="447"></div><h3>Rob BLAKE</h3>DEFENSEKey stat 56 points secondbest on Avs Highlights Led Colorado with 27:34 average ice time and 10 power play goals&hellip;Second on team in hits (229) and plus-minus (plus-16)&hellip;Six goals in 20 playoff games<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-12105/8048982-1-eng-US/f0030-122.jpg" title="f0030-12" width="290" height="451"></div><h3>Patrick ROY</h3>GOALTENDEKey stat 1.94 GAA best of 17-year career Highlights First in shutouts with nine, second in save percentage at .925&hellip;Pushed alltime regular season win record to 516, playoff win record to 148<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1396/8048975-1-eng-US/f0030-132.jpg" title="f0030-13" width="290" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Bruce Bennett Studios)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0030-07

Fans’ stars sparkling

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>Thekids were grown up, finished college and moved out on their own, so Steve Stirling figured he, too, should make a change.Life on the collegiate campus for 18 years as a coach-at Babson College and at Providence-had been great. But still burning within was a yearning to tackle the challenges of pro hockey.So Stirling told his wife, Francesca, he&rsquo;d like to give pro coaching a try.&ldquo;I really wanted to push myself,&rdquo; he said. Even if it meant working for free. When Stirling approached the New York Islanders about a scouting or coaching job at the minor-pro level in 1997, he was told there was no money in the budget.His response? So what, I&rsquo;ll scour the minors and evaluate talent, just pay my expenses. They agreed.His price tag is a little higher these days. For guiding the expansion Bridgeport Sound Tigers to the American League&rsquo;s best record (43-25-8-4) and runner-up finish in the Calder Cup final, the 52-year-old Stirling is The Hockey News minor pro coach of the year.&ldquo;I enjoy teaching and at I the college level there&rsquo;s an I awful lot of teaching &gt; involved,&rdquo; Stirling said, &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I like about the American League-you&rsquo;re a teacher.He has been teaching the Islanders prospects for I four years. He was assis-| tant in Lowell when the Lock Monsters were the Islanders affiliate, and was a roving instructor when the NHL team had players scattered through the minors. Last spring, he joined Lorne Henning on the Islanders bench after Butch Goring was fired.&ldquo;That seven or eight weeks with the big club really gave me a better understanding of what it takes (for a player) to stay there and that&rsquo;s consistency,&rdquo; Stirling said. &ldquo;When I send a kid up, if I&rsquo;ve done my job, I&rsquo;m not going to see him anymore. They&rsquo;re up for good.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011045/8049090-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="480" height="634"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Stirling</figcaption></div>When the Islanders became the sole parent for the new AHL team across the Long Island Sound in Bridgeport, Conn., Stirling was named a pro head coach for the first time.The four-year learn- and wait apprenticeship was finally over. When he had made the decision to leave Babson in 1997, it wasn&rsquo;t as if there were a dozen pro teams waiting.In Stirling&rsquo;s case, he knew Isles GM Mike Milbury and sidekick Gordie Clark.Nearly a quarter century earlier, Stirling was one of the sage veterans playing for the AHL&rsquo;s Rochester Americans, and Milbury and Clark were just breaking in to the pro game. Stirling made his mark on the kids with his ability to teach and lead.They remembered. They also knew what he had done in college and hired him for a scouting role, then as the assistant coach with the development team. He could lead and communicate. He wasn&rsquo;t the iron-fisted ruler, but rather a man who likes to ask, &ldquo;what do you think.&rdquo;&ldquo;Nine of 10 times before I make a decision, I ask myself, &lsquo;If I was a player, would this be OK with me or would it be stupid?&rsquo;&rdquo; he said.He wasn&rsquo;t wrong often. Bridgeport won its debut 6-0 in Rochester, in a rink Stirling called home as a player in the mid-1970s. They were still winning seven months later, until the season ended with a five-game loss in the Calder Cup final.&ldquo;This team knew when to laugh, knew when to joke and knew when it had to be very business-like,&rdquo; Stirling said. &#9632;

f0031-01

Stirling year earns Bridgeport coach THN kudo

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02691/8049121-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jani Rita was selected the top prospect in the minor pro ranks.</figcaption></div>At mid-season, Hamilton Bulldogs coach Claude Julien had legitimate worries that rookie Jani Rita, the Edmonton Oilers prized first round possession of 1999, would be the victim of his own overeagerness.Julien had no doubts about the 20-year-old left winger&rsquo;s abilities and work habits.They were on display most every day, both practice and game, during Rita&rsquo;s first season with the AHL team. Never having gone through the grind of an 80-game pro season, however, the jump from between 40 and 50 games in Finland to the pre-season, regular season and post-season marathon figured to be a major assignment for the 13th overall pick of the 1999 NHL entry draft.&ldquo;He worked at his game every day and was determined every day,&rdquo; said Julien. &ldquo;From Day 1 when he went to camp in Edmonton, he was that way.&ldquo;But about three-quarters of the way through the season, he did start looking tired and we had to deliberately slow him down, to get him to pick and choose his spots and his time for off-ice conditioning. When you&rsquo;re only playing 40 or 50 games a year and you&rsquo;re used to working out hard like that all the time, it&rsquo;s a big, big adjustment.&ldquo;He did make that adjustment and he came back in the playoffs and picked it up.&rdquo;Rita&rsquo;s impressive rookie season in the AHL earned him the honor of The Hockey News minor pro prospect of the year.After tailing off to finish with a 25-goal, 42-point season, Rita wound up the team&rsquo;s leading goal scorer in the playoffs, firing eight in 15 games as Hamilton made it to the league&rsquo;s final four.&ldquo;He really surprised a lot of people, coming into the playoffs and being such a contributor right to the end of our run,&rdquo; Julien said. &ldquo;It was a quite an accomplishment for him.&rdquo;While there were concerns about Rita&rsquo;s adaptability, it&rsquo;s not like the fatigue erased all his abilities. Rita&rsquo;s explosiveness and his speed won the day.&ldquo;We knew he could score,&rdquo; Julien said. &ldquo;He just likes to challenge opponents 1-on-l. I believe he&rsquo;ll be knocking on the door next year and he probably has a great chance of starting the season in Edmonton.&rdquo;Rita was named the No. 12 prospect outside the NHL in THN&rsquo;s Future Watch 2002. The ranking was determined by a panel of NHL executives. Ranking ahead of Rita from the AHL were Hershey Bears center Vaclav Nedorost at No. 4, Cleveland Barons defenseman Jeff Jillson at No. 5 and Bridgeport Sound Tigers goalie Rick DiPietro at No. 7. Nedorost and Jillson ended up playing a good chunk of the season in the NHL with Colorado and San Jose.Rochester Americans goalie Mika Noronen ranked No. 13 in Future Watch. He was THN&rsquo;s minor pro prospect of the year in 1999-2000 and 2000-01.Rita was No. 3 overall in Future Watch 2001.He is seen by the Oilers as a third-line forward, whose size, ability and overall potential could turn him into a second-line skater.&ldquo;We all know what he&rsquo;s capable of with his speed and size, so the defensive game is what we worked on a lot,&rdquo; Julien said. &ldquo;A lot of it was how European players will angle off an opponent on the big ice, forcing a pass and then turning away. There&rsquo;s not that room over here, so we emphasized how important it is to finish off a check most of the time.&ldquo;Jani&rsquo;s such a coachable player, it didn&rsquo;t take him long to pick these things up and we saw results.&ldquo;We just put him in situations where he had to be accountable, where he had to do things differently if he was going to be a better player, an NHL player, and he took advantage of the situation.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0031-02

Edmonton top prospect Rita shows he fights to the Finnish

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello Senior Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011117/8049152-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Memorial seasonJarret Stoll was one of a select group of captains who led their teams to league or national championships. The fourth-year center guided the Western League&rsquo;s Kootenay Ice to the Memorial Cup title. (Campress)</figcaption></div>By now we&rsquo;re all well aware of the exploits of Dominik Hasek, Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom and the rest of Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s merry men with the Detroit Red Wings.But just in case you&rsquo;ve forgotten which teams and players skated off with other championships and hardware, here&rsquo;s a recap of the 2001-02 season.From Bogie&rsquo;s MVP season with the American League&rsquo;s Worcester IceCats to Karel Horny&rsquo;s scoring exploits in Poland&rsquo;s top league, here&rsquo;s our panorama of champions and intriguing storylines filed by THN correspondents.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>Top team Chicago Wolves beat Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4-1.Top player Eric Boguniecki, C, Worcester IceCats.Most intriguing storyline Charles Dickens wrote a tale of two cities. Coach Mike Foligno&rsquo;s Hershey Bears wrote a tale of two hockey teams. From Dec. 26 to Jan. 26, the Bears went 0-12-2-2. The 16-game winless streak included 12 consecutive losses, a record for the 64-year-old franchise. Then in March, the team set another record, this time for victories with 10 straight in a 12-0-1-0 streak.<h2>EAST COAST LEAGUE</h2>Top team Greenville Grrrowl beat Dayton Bombers 4-1.Top player Frederic Cloutier, G, Louisiana IceGatorsMost intriguing storyline The Greenville Grrrowl was an average club at Christmastime. Simon Gamache was also going nowhere in late December, stuck on the bench with the AHL&rsquo;s Chicago Wolves. That&rsquo;s when the 21-year-old asked the Wolves and Atlanta Thrashers for a demotion to Greenville. Great move. Atlanta&rsquo;s 2000 ninth-round pick led the Grrrowl to the Kelly Cup title, scoring 34 goals and 62 points in 48 games (regular season and playoffs).<h2>UNITED LEAGUE</h2>Top team Muskegon Fury beat Elmira Jackals 4-2.Top player Sylvain Daigle, G, Muskegon Fury.Most intriguing storyline The Quad City Mallards won their third straight regular season title and fourth in five years while winning at least 50 games a sixth straight season, a North American pro record. But the Mallards had their streak of five straight appearances in the Colonial Cup finals end when the Muskegon Fury beat them in a semifinal. Muskegon, second during the season, went on to win its second Colonial Cup in four years by beating Elmira.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>Top team Memphis RiverKings beat Austin Ice Bats 4-1.Top player Don Parsons, LW, Memphis RiverKings.Most intriguing storyline The Central League and the former Western Pro League feuded for years before a merger brought the two rivals together. Despite similar talent levels, the two leagues often claimed superiority over the other. For the record, CHL teams went 96-69-21 against former WPHL teams. The CHL&rsquo;s Memphis RiverKings made short work of the former WPHL&rsquo;s Austin Ice Bats for the league title.<h2>WEST COAST LEAGUE</h2>Top team Fresno Falcons beat Idaho Steelheads 4-2.Top player Mark Woolf, F, San Diego Gulls.Most intriguing storyline The WCHL makes a pitch to merge with the ECHL to form what would become a 35-plus team double-A league encompassing the whole of the United States. The ECHL, which consid-ered the merger more of an absorption, rejected the plan.<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>Top team Kootenay Ice beat Red Deer Rebels 4-1.Top player Dan Hamhuis, D, Prince George.Most intriguing storyline The Kootenay Ice overcame various forms of adversity en route to the WHL and Memorial Cup titles. Goalie ' Dan Blackburn did not return after making the New York Rangers at 18. Kootenay also lost two games at home to Prince George to begin the playoffs, but rallied to win.<h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>Top team Erie Otters beat Barrie Colts 4-1.Top player Brad Boyes, C, Erie Otters.Most intriguing storyline Hockey&rsquo;s most colorful figure, TV analyst Don Cherry, bowed out of the OHL after four woeful seasons. Cherry was a part-owner of the Mississauga IceDogs, who won only 27 games while losing 222 during their first four years, and he even went behind the bench this season<h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>Top team Victoriaviile Tigres beat Acadie-Bathurst Titan 4-2.Top player Pierre-Marc Bouchard, C, Chicoutimi Sagueneens.Most intriguing storyline It was a season of dizzying personal highs for Chicoutimi center Pierre-Marc Bouchard. The puny playmaker won the scoring title with 140 points, was named QMJHL and Canadian Hockey League MVP and was selected eighth overall by the Minnesota Wild at the 2002 draft.<h2>NCAA DIVISION I</h2>Top team Minnesota Golden Gophers beat Maine Bears 4-3 in OT.Top player Jordan Leopold, Minnesota.Most intriguing storyline with its backyard as the staging area, Minnesota won its first NCAA title since 1979 by knocking off Maine 4-3. Winger Grant Potulny scored in overtime as the Gophers thrilled a crowd of 19,324 at the Xcel Energy Center. It was the fourth national title overall for Minnesota, but the first for third-year coach Don Lucia.<h2>INTERNATIONAL</h2>Austria top team Heraklith SV Villach. Top scorer Ryan Foster, EK Zell am See Icebears.Czech Republic Extraleague chamj pion HC Sparta Prague. Top player Petr Cajanek, HC Continental Zlin.Denmark top team Rungsted Cobras. Top player Leonid Trukhno, Rungsted.Finland SM-Liiga champion Jokerit Helsinki. Top player Janne Ojanen, Tappara Tampere.France top team Flammes Bleues Reims. Top player Guillaume Besse, Rouen Dragons.Germany DEL champion Cologne Sharks.Top scorer Brad Purdie, Krefeld Penguins.Italy league champion HC Milano Vipers.Top player Anthony lob, Vipineto Broncos.Norway Elitserien champion Frisk-Asker IF. Top scorer Kyle McDonough, Frisk-Asker IF.Poland league champion Unia Oswiecim. Top scorer Karel Horny, GKS Tychy.Russia Superleague champion t Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Top player Andrei Kovalenko, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.Slovakia Extraleague champion HC Slovan Harvard r Bratislava. Top scorer Richard Sechny, HKm Zvolen.Slovenia League champion Olimpia Lublin. Top scorer Nik Zupancic, Acroni Jesenice.Sweden Elitserien champion Farjestads BK Karlstad. Top player Henrik Zetterberg, Timra IK.Switzerland League champion HC Davos. Top scorer Christian Dube, HC Lugano.United Kingdom Superleague champion Sheffield Steelers. Top player Joaquin Gage, Ayr Scottish Eagles. &#9632;

f0032-01

International panorama on ice

<div class="byline">-Aaron Portzline</div>It was not easy to trade away popular goalie Ron Tugnutt, but the timing was right.Not only that, the Columbus Blue Jackets are convinced Marc Denis is at the stage in his young career where he is capable of playing the majority of games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011013/8049190-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="211" height="241"></div>&ldquo;It was very difficult to trade Ron Tugnutt, for all he has meant to this franchise,&rdquo; said GM-president Doug MacLean. &ldquo;But, tough as it was, this was the time to do it.&rdquo;The move frees up the No. 1 goaltending job for Denis, TUgnutt&rsquo;s understudy the past two seasons. Columbus expects Denis to play upwards of 60 games in 2002-03. &ldquo;At his age (Denis turns 25 on August 1), we&rsquo;ve got to find out if he can be the goalie he has the potential to be,&rdquo; Maclean said.Denis had a 9-24-5 record, 3.11 goals-against average and .899 save percentage this season.In the trade, the Blue Jackets sent Tugnutt and a second round pick to Dallas in exchange for the Stars&rsquo;s first round pick. In essence, Columbus moved up 12 spots, from 32 to 20.Columbus also wants to give Pascal Leclaire a few NHL starts next season, but he&rsquo;ll spend most of the year with Syracuse in the American League.DRAFT IMPACT The Blue Jackets left Toronto with the player they wanted in left winger Rick Nash. The hope is he&rsquo;ll provide some much-needed offensive firepower as soon as next season. Two other players might be able to contribute soon-forwards Mike Pandolfo (acquired with the 30th overall pick from Buffalo for the 20th pick) and Ivan Tkachenko, selected in the fourth round.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;All of US, we feel just awfulfor the family. Tragedy is not a big enough word for what has happened. We&rsquo;ll go on, but we&rsquo;ll never forget. We&rsquo;ll be thinking about Brittanie for a long, long time, for sure.&rdquo; - Blue Jackets left winger Ray Whitney, on the death of fan Brittanie Cecil after she was hit by a puck.NOTEBOOK Columbus re-signedrugged right winger Grant Marshall to a reported two-year deal&hellip;The Jackets sent defenseman Mattias Timander to the Isles for the 119th pick.<div class="sidebar"><h2>BLUELINE BUZZ</h2>The Stars project second-rounder Trevor Daley to be a puckrushing defenseman from the Darryl Sydor school.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02692/8049183-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="469" height="1098"></div> &#9632;</div>

f0033-02

Jackets place trust in goaltender Denis

<div class="byline">- Chuck Carlton</div>The odds are Marty Turco will exit training camp as the Dallas Stars No. 1 goaltender, then and now the heir apparent to Ed Belfour.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03534/8049221-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="211" height="217"></div>He&rsquo;ll still have to earn his starts, though, because he&rsquo;ll have competition for the spot.Veteran Ron Tugnutt joins Turco as a reminder to the young goaltender that he must play well and as an insurance policy for a team that may be pushing $60 million on its payroll.The Stars acquired Tugnutt and the 32nd pick from Columbus at the NHL draft in exchange for the 20th pick.&ldquo;There will be strong competition for the No. 1 spot,&rdquo; said GM Doug Armstrong. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve talked to Ron about that and he&rsquo;s comfortable competing with Marty and also comfortable supporting Marty.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to give Marty a level playing field. For it to be level, it has to be level for the other guy, too.&rdquo;At 34 and with his seventh NHL team, Tugnutt has been in almost every conceivable situation. Two years ago, he played well enough to set an NHL record for wins (22) by a goaltender on an expansion team. And he&rsquo;s mature enough to accept the coaching staff&rsquo;s verdict.&ldquo;I love the competition between my goalie partner and myself,&rdquo; Tugnutt said.DRAFT IMPACT The key for the Stars came between picks No. 26 and No. 43, when they made five selections. They hope first pick Martin Vagner, along with second-rounder Trevor Daley, can become puck-moving defensemen in the mold of Darryl Sydor and Sergei Zubov.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m more motivated than ever to prove to everybody who has doubted me and not been in my corner or betrayed me or not been loyal to me&hellip;I&rsquo;m more motivated than ever to prove to those people and the doubters how wrong they are. I&rsquo;ve done it before and I&rsquo;ll do it again. Goalie Ed Belfour after his fifth and final season in Dallas.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Brad I Lukowich, who I seemed to regress this I season after leading I the Stars in plusfl minus in 2000-01, was traded to Tampa Bay H at the draft for the 34th pick. &#9632;

f0033-03

Vet Tugnutt arrives to give Turco push

<div class="byline">-Nicholas J. Cotsonika</div>First Scotty Bowman, then Dominik Hasek. First the coach, then the goaltender. First the Hall of Famer, then the future Hall of Famer. The Detroit Red Wings didn&rsquo;t have much time to celebrate their Stanley Cup before two retirements forced them to think about the future.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04422/8049252-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="214" height="233"></div>When Bowman stepped down minutes after winning the Cup, he wrote a romantic ending to his storied career. But he also put the Wings in a difficult position. Had they known his decision when he made it in February, they might have been able to line up a successor-say, Ken Hitchcock-quietly.GM Ken Holland said he would consider promoting one of his associate coaches, Dave Lewis or Barry Smith, and Lewis appeared to be the leading candidate of the two. Asked if he was ready to be a head coach, Lewis said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m ready. I know I&rsquo;m ready.&rdquo;Said Smith: &ldquo;Hopefully, we&rsquo;ll have a chance to prove ourselves for one year&hellip;I don&rsquo;t care if we&rsquo;re co-coaches or working together whatever our situation is, because as far as I&rsquo;m concerned I&rsquo;ve worked with Dave for nine years and we&rsquo;ve been successful, so why would we want to change it now?&rdquo;DRAFT IMPACT Detroit&rsquo;s first pick was 58th and they were thrilled when skilled Czech center Jiri Hudler was still available. They figured he would go in the first round, but he fell because of his size: 5-feet-9,178 pounds. They also hoped they had found a sleeper in sixthrounder James Cuddihy, a Quebec League center.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;We were too old, too slow, too rich-fat cats. That&rsquo;s what we were told and these guys were unbelievable&hellip; They won the Presidents&rsquo; Trophy and they won the Stanley Cup. What else can you ask for? There&rsquo;s nothing else to win. They won it all.&rdquo; - Red Wings associate coach Barry Smith on Detroit naysayers.NOTEBOOK The Wings want to keep defenseman Chris Chelios and center Igor Larionov- and Chelios and Larionov said they want to stay in Detroit-but money was an issue. Chelios is 40 and made $5.5 million this season, but his value was set to increase on the open market because he was a Norris Trophy runner-up. Larionov is 41 and made nearly $2 million including bonuses, but he wants a raise. &#9632;

f0033-04

Replacing legends: Bowman, Hasek gone

<div class="byline">-Rob Tychkowski</div>According to his birth certificate, Jesse Niinimaki is from Finland. According to almost everyone at the NHL entry draft, he&rsquo;s from straight out of left field.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011142/8049283-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="213" height="242"></div>It&rsquo;s not often a team uses its first round pick to take a flyer on a prospect, but the Oilers dropped jaws at Toronto&rsquo;s Air Canada Centre when they used the 15th pick to select a player ranked 82nd among European skaters by Central Scouting and 84th overall by THN. Needless to say, the Oilers hope they know something nobody else does about the 6-foot-2, 183-pounder.&ldquo;He fit the bill for us as far as needing a big center,&rdquo; said Oilers vice-president of hockey operations Kevin Prendergast. &ldquo;We saw him in two different tournaments this year and he was, by far, the best player in both tournaments. I don&rsquo;t know how much of a sleeper he was. He had 23 interviews. I think a lot of teams were trying to get him late in the first round.&rdquo;The Oilers think Niinimaki, who has been playing for Tampere in the Finnish Elite League, is ready to make the NHL in two years.And speaking of big Flyers, Edmonton added some muchneeded size down the middle by acquiring Philadelphia&rsquo;s Jiri Dopita before the draft for a third round pick in 2003 and conditional fifth-rounder in 2005. Dopita, 34, struggled in his first North American season after starring for years in his native Czech Republic, but the Oilers hope a change of scenery will breathe new life into himDRAFT IMPACT The Oilers turned a seemingly stark draft into a potential blue-chipper by dealing left winger Jochen Hecht to Buffalo for the 31st and 36th picks, which they turned into Jeff Deslauriers, the top-ranked North American goalie in the draft, and Jarrett Stoll, captain of the Memorial Cup-championKootenay Ice.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;Losing at home is tough, being shut out is tough, losing to Calgary is tough. Right down the list it&rsquo;s a horrible feeling. We&rsquo;re on the outside looking in and it&rsquo;s pretty tough to swallow.&rdquo; - Anson Carter, after the Flames ended Edmonton&rsquo;s playoff hopes in the second-last game of the season.NOTEBOOK The Oilers lost their fourth round pick because Robin Kovar, an 18-year-old Western League center, wasn&rsquo;t eligible despite appearing on the NHL computer as an available player. It was a league error and the Oilers may be compensated with a pick in 2003. &#9632;

f0034-01

Oilers roll dice on Finnish pivot

<div class="byline">-David J. Neal</div>The Florida Panthers came out of the draft with the guy they felt was No. 1 this year, Jay Bouwmeester, and at the same time gave themselves a chance at gettingeverybody&rsquo;s No. 1 guy next year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02778/8049321-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="211" height="259"></div>But getting Medicine Hat defenseman Bouwmeester and the option of flip-flopping first round picks with Columbus next year- the NHL entry draft&rsquo;s version of having the whole cake and eating it too-doesn&rsquo;t change the fact Florida is a 60-point team that needs immediate help if it wants to be competitive next season.Bouwmeester is expected to make the team in 2002-03-Florida GM Rick Dudley sees no benefit to the kid spending another year in junior-but he&rsquo;ll be a 19-year-old playing maybe 15 minutes a game in the NHL. There are other questions.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in a situation where we have a lot of unknowns and it&rsquo;s completely a case of development, particularly at forward,&rdquo; said Panthers coach Mike Keenan.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03614/8049314-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="218" height="274"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Keenan</figcaption></div>Budget is also a concern. The Panthers won&rsquo;t play in the tall weeds with the big dogs in the free agent chase this summer.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re going to get into some of the names that are about to be out there,&rdquo; Dudley said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s such a market that it sounds, at least, like they&rsquo;re going to be ridiculously overpriced.&rdquo;DRAFT IMPACT Some Florida picks suffered slippage from their final pre-draft ranking. One was forward Greg Campbell, son of NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell, who THN rated as a mid-secondrounder, but dropped to 67th. Dudley thinks he&rsquo;ll be an NHL player more than a gold-plated Get Out of Jailcard for Keenan.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;Anyfan or anybody that doesn&rsquo;t think the organization did the right thing by trading Pavel, if they spent five minutes in the dressing room, they wouldn&rsquo;t be speaking negatively about the trade. Goalie Trevor Kidd, the day after Pavel Bure was traded to the Rangers.NOTEBOOK Winger Peter Worrell was arrested June 15 on various charges, most seriously driving under the influence, stemming from a traffic situation. Coach Mike Keenan said Worrell&rsquo;s status with Florida wasn&rsquo;t affected. &#9632;

f0034-02

Cats get their man with eye to future

<div class="byline">-Matt McHale</div>For the second time in three years, the Los Angeles Kings went to Russia for their first round pick, selecting 18-year-old defenseman Denis Grebeshko.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04480/8049352-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="214" height="249"></div>Two years ago, it was Alexander Frolov, who&rsquo;s the 14th-rated prospect in THN Future Watch 2002. The Kings hope to sign him this summer and bring him to training camp. Frolov is looking for a guarantee that will put him in the Kings uniform opening night.One thing is sure. The Kings upgraded presence in Russia is paying dividends. Three years ago they had no scouts there. Now there are two.In addition to Grebeshkov 18th, the Kings selected left winger Sergei Yanshakov with their second round pick, 50th overall.&ldquo;With the added scouting we feel we have a good grasp on the game over there,&rdquo; said Los Angeles GM Dave Taylor. &ldquo;Our scouts have good relationships with the coaches in the league and that helps us evaluate the players beyond just their stats.&rdquo;Grebeshkov played in 27 games last season with Yaroslavl of the Russian League and had one goal and three points. The 6-foot-l, 193-pounder also helped Russia capture a gold medal in this year&rsquo;s under-18 world championship.&ldquo;Denis has excellent mobility and good offensive skills,&rdquo; said Taylor, who compared him with a young Mathieu Schneider. &ldquo;He is the type of defenseman who can rim or quarterback a power play.&rdquo;DRAFT IMPACT Unlike last year when the Kings were hoping second-rounder Jaroslav Bednar could help right away, this year&rsquo;s draft is geared more toward the future. Right winger peter Kanko, however, taken 66th, is a bull and might be ready sooner. He has drawn comparisons to Toronto&rsquo;s Darcy Tucker and Buffalo&rsquo;s Vaclav Varada.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;This was an insult to every parent who took their kid to play hockey at 5:30 in the morning just the way their parents did. A lot of these players are reverting back to the players they were before we got here. Coach Andy Murray after the Kings managed a franchise-low 10 shots on goal in 4-2 loss at Detroit Nov. 17.NOTEBOOK Los Angeles exercised its option on the contract of goaltender Felix Potvin for next season. He&rsquo;ll earn $3.3 million. &#9632;

f0034-04

New Russian scouts paying dividends

<div class="byline">- Tom Jones</div>The Wild made a little splash on draft day, but it had nothing to do with its selections. The Wild used the draft to stockpile for the future, but also swapped a fourth round pick to acquire immediate help.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011067/8049390-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="223" height="232"></div>Minnesota added an offensive weapon to it roster, bringing in 16-year NHL veteran Cliff Ronning from Los Angeles.The Wild likes Ronning&rsquo;s ability to hover around the 20-goal mark and his expansion experience in Nashville. &ldquo;We saw a chance to pick up a toptwo line guy who can add offense to our team and we took it,&rdquo; said Wild GM Doug Risebrough.Added Ronning: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been around a long time and if I can add some leadership, then that&rsquo;s what I want to do.&rdquo;draft IMPACT In what many consider to be a down draft, the Wild decided not to play it safe and, instead, go for a home rim. That&rsquo;s why they selected skilled, but tiny (5-foot-9,155 pounds) Pierre-Marc Bouchard out of Chicoutimi in the Quebec League at eighth overall. Risebrough said Bouchard&rsquo;s size was never a concern. The Wild also addressed its lack of depth in goal by taking Western League netminders Josh Harding from Regina in the second round and Barry Brust from Spokane in the third round.QUOTE OF THE YEAR "We&rsquo;re building the way we want. You don&rsquo;t want to step on the accelerator just to get to the playoffs and then have nothing left in the tank&hellip; We&rsquo;re going to do this right and build a consistent winner.&rdquo; - WHd CEO Jac Sperling.NOTEBOOK GM Doug Risebrough said the Wild will use free agency to look for another 20-goal scorer and an NHL-experienced goalie to stock in the minors in case Manny Fernandez nr Dwavno or Dwayne Roloson get injured 1 next year&hellip;The team traded goalie Jamie McLennan to Calgary for a ninth round pick in 2002&hellip;The Wild resigned defensemen Sylvain Blouin and Travis Roche to multi-year deals.<div class="sidebar"><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02748/8049383-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="381" height="909"></div><h2>IVY LEAGUE HAB</h2>Center Chris Higgins, who was selected 14th overall by the Montreal Canadiens, had 13 goals and 26 points in 25 games for Yale University in 2001-02. &#9632;</div>

f0035-02

Wild uses entry draft to pick up veteran

<div class="byline">- Herb Zurkowsky</div>The Montreal Canadiens bolstered their tepid offense without mortgaging the farm.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03614/8049421-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="213" height="217"></div>In their most significant move at the entry draft, the Canadiens obtained right winger Mariusz Czerkawski from the New York Islanders for rugged right winger Arron Asham and a fifth round draft choice.&ldquo;We scored only 209 goals last season and felt we had to add more scoring,&rdquo; said Canadiens GM Andre Savard.The 30-year-old Czerkawski had 22 goals and 51 points in 82 games, putting him fifth on New York&rsquo;s scoring chart. He would&rsquo;ve been second on the Canadiens, behind Yanic Perreault&rsquo;s team-best 56 points.DRAFT IMPACT The Canadiens were determined not to let history repeat itself. Last year, Minnesota picked Mikko Koivu-younger brother of Montreal captain Saku Koivu-immediately before Montreal&rsquo;s selection, thwarting their plans. This year, the Habs switched spots with Edmonton, moving up one position to 14th overall to ensure they could select Chris Higgins, a 5-foot-ll, 188-pound center entering his sophomore year at Yale. Higgins is an offensive player with good speed and Savard likes his skills and competitive nature.quote OF the year "I definitely wasn&rsquo;t the best player out there, that&rsquo;s for sure. But it felt good to be back on the ice knowing what I&rsquo;ve been through and the battle with cancer. Canadiens center Saku Koivu after his first NHL game of the season on April 9 after being diagnosed with abdominal cancer last September.notebook Talks on a new contract for restricted free agent goaltender Jose Theodore were progressing slowly. Although Don Meehan, Theodore&rsquo;s agent, hadn&rsquo;t raised the demands since his client captured the Hart and Vezina Trophies, money remained the major issue. Theodore was reportedly seeking between $6 and $7 million per season. Those figures would elevate the 25-year-old, who made $1.65 million in 2001-02, into the league&rsquo;s top four or five highest-paid goalies. However, the two sides were apart by millions in late June. &#9632;

f0035-03

Czerkawski’s goals replace Asham’s grit

<div class="byline">- David Boclair</div>Not only will Nashville host the 2003 NHL entry draft, it has guaranteed it will be a major player that weekend.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04490/8049452-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="236" height="218"></div>In a series of deals primarily done at this season&rsquo;s trade deadline and at the 2002 draft in Toronto, GM David Poile accumulated a total of 15 picks for 2003, including 10 in the first four rounds. To do so, he traded away his second round choice and two third round picks this year, in what he and his staff considered a sub-par talent pool.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very bullish on the 2003 draft,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got assets-our presence will be felt in Nashville at this event next year.&rdquo;DRAFT IMPACT It was a rare draft for Nashville in that none of its eight selections were European. In 2001, seven of nine Predator picks were foreign-born and-trained. The year before it was seven of 12. But 2002 was typical in that the firstround selection-right winger Scottie Upshall, sixth overall-was from the Western League. It was the third year in a row the Predators&rsquo;s top pick was from the WHL. Three of the remaining seven picks also were culled from there, including fourth-rounder Brandon Segal, a right winger, and tough guy Steven Spencer, a ninth round pick.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;We've gone past the point of it being ridiculous in terms of the number of players who are out.&rdquo; - Predators GM David Poile, on the fact that of the 218 mangames Nashville lost to injury, 64 of them were during the final month of the season.NOTEBOOK After three years, management grew tired of trying to convince Petr Sy kora, the Czech League&rsquo;s goal leader in 2000-01, to return to North America and traded him to Washington at the draft. &ldquo;I have to believe they have had some conversations with one of their European scouts and they believe that they can get him to come over,&rdquo; said GM David Poile. &ldquo;In my mind, I guess, we&rsquo;re trying to cut our losses.&rdquo;&hellip; Poile plans to take the necessary steps to ensure that Nashville retains the rights to forwards Petr Tenkrat, Jukka Hentunen and Marian Cisar as well as defenseman Pavel Skrbek, but he expects all of them to play in Europe next season&hellip;Assistant coach Brent Peterson will be sent to Europe in July to spend time with the team&rsquo;s players and families who live there. &#9632;

f0035-04

2003 draft hosts collect future picks

<div class="byline">-Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011037/8049483-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="212" height="255"></div>Sitting down for dinner in a Toronto hotel with four fellow draft picks and the New Jersey Devils management team, Russian-born defenseman Anton Kadeykin spotted a familiar face entering the room.Kadeykin, barely two months past his 18th birthday, gulped as the NHL star joined the group.&ldquo;He looked up and said, &lsquo;Oh, my God, Scott Stevens, my favorite player,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Devils GM Lou Lamoriello. &ldquo;He sat next to Scott at dinner. He knew about him mostly from reading and from the Internet.&rdquo;Kadeykin, New Jersey&rsquo;s top choice (51st overall), is the team&rsquo;s latest entry draft surprise. Without a pick in the first round for the first time since the team moved to New Jersey in 1982, the Devils went off the beaten scouting path in search of a hidden gem.They found Kadeykin, who wasn&rsquo;t among the top prospects listed by either The Hockey News or the Central Scouting Service. He played for his hometown team of Elektrostal and taught himself to speak English.&ldquo;Russian hockey still has some areas that aren&rsquo;t wellknown,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;That was (European scout) Danny Labraatan&rsquo;s selection. He and our other European scouts were so strong on him that we tried to move up a few times in order to draft him.&rdquo;At 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, Kadeykin isn&rsquo;t a Stevens-like player. Lamoriello called him &ldquo;halfway between an offensive and defensive defenseman.&rdquo;DRAFT IMPACT As is typical, the Devils addressed size at the draft table. Right winger Barry Tallackson, a 6-foot-4, 196-pound punishing bodychecker from the University of Minnesota, was selected 53rd overall, while 6-foot-3, 205-pound left winger Jason Ryznar, from the University of Michigan, was chosen 64th.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;This is not a knock on Kevin Constantine, but you havefirst line players and then you have third line players who will only be third line players at their best. Pat Burns has the ability, so to speak, toplay on thefirst line. Some coaches have a limit to their ability.&rdquo; - Bobby Holik after the Devils changed coaches.NOTEBOOK GM Lou Lamoriello, who&rsquo;d prefer to have a veteran back up Martin Brodeur instead of one of the team&rsquo;s young prospects, was planning to search for a goalie after the big-name unrestricted free agents had been snapped up. &#9632;

f0036-01

Unheralded Russian joins Devil ‘D’ depth

<div class="byline">-Peter Botte</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02684/8049521-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="214" height="245"></div>Mike Milbury wasn&rsquo;t the star attraction at the June entry draft for the first time in years. It certainly wasn&rsquo;t for a lack of trying.Armed with the New York&rsquo;s lowest first round pick (22nd overall) in nearly a decade, Milbury attempt-ed in vain to move the Islanders back into more familiar territory near the top of the draft, but potential deals with Atlanta (No. 2 overall) and Tampa Bay (No. 4) fell through.Still, Milbury made two deals that could help the Isles take the next step towards Stanley Cup contention next season.He swapped inconsistent right winger Mariusz Czerkawski to Montreal for banging right winger Arron Asham and a draft pick. That trade freed up nearly $2.5 million m payroll and Milbury was hoping to pursue a marquee free agent forward, such as Chicago&rsquo;s Tony Amonte, during the post-July 1 free-for-all.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03568/8049514-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="224" height="274"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mattias Timander</figcaption></div>Milbury also began to address UUgCUl IV his team&rsquo;s need for defensive depth by acquiring veteran Mattias Timander from Columbus for a fourth round pick.DRAFT IMPACT The Isles hadn&rsquo;t selected so low in the first round since they got Todd Bertuzzi 23rd overall in 1993. With the 22nd pick, Milbury chose Finnish winger Sean Bergenheim, perhaps the fastest skater in the draft. The 5-foot-ll, 194-pounder spent the firstpart of 2001-02 with the junior team in Vantaa before joining Jokerit in the Finnish Elite League and ultimately capturing Finland&rsquo;s league championship. He had two goals and four points in 28 games for Jokerit.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;It certainly was a season of progress and of buildingpeople up and of people maturing, but I can&rsquo;t let go of thefact that we lost in the first round. Yes, we made it. It&rsquo;s an improvement. We scored a lot more points. Great. But we lost Game 7 to the Toronto Maple Leafs&hellip;Idon&rsquo;t want that to happen again.&rdquo; - Isles GM Mike Milbury.NOTEBOOK Assistant GM Gord Clark left the team after the Isles decided not to offer him more than a one-year contract extension. Clark reportedly also had requested raises for his scouting staff and was rebuffed. &#9632;

f0036-02

Islanders hope deals help take next step

<div class="byline">-Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06317/8049583-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="381" height="1029"><figcaption class="caption-body">FINE FINNThe Flyers landed I 6-foot-3 defenseman Joni I Pitkanen with the No. 4 pick, but he&rsquo;s expected to play at L least one more year in Europe.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05363/8049590-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="226" height="255"></div>In his new role as GM of the Ottawa Senators, John Muckier is going to reload, not rebuild.Hired by president Roy Mlakar to take over the position from Marshall Johnston, the 68-year-old Muckier is positive the Senators are going in the right direction and doesn&rsquo;t believe there needs to be massive changes.Instead, Muckier talked a lot with owner Rod Bryden about making sure the Senators get the right people in place so they can quench the fans&rsquo; thirst for a team that can compete- and win- the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;There are areas you want to improve,&rdquo; Muckier said. &ldquo;I said when I got here we&rsquo;d like to add more grit. But it&rsquo;s not like we have to be in a hurry to get something done. There&rsquo;s no sense of urgency for us to make something happen.&rdquo;One area you can rule out the Senators getting help is the high-priced free agent market. Muckier said he has to be fiscally responsible. Ottawa&rsquo;s payroll will increase only slightly from the $30 million (U.S.) last year.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re in a position where we&rsquo;re going to be signing a guy like Bill Guerin,&rdquo; Muckier said. &ldquo;I would think we might be able to look at some of those second-tier free agents who don&rsquo;t cost as much.&rdquo;DRAFT IMPACT The Senators picked forwards with seven of their eight picks in an effort to add depth up front. Included was Portland Winter Hawks center Jakub Klepis, chosen 16th overall.&ldquo;We watched him in April (at the under-18 championship in Slovakia) and we thought he was outstanding,&rdquo; said chief scout Frank Jay.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m thinking about applying for Canadian citizenship&hellip;I&rsquo;m just glad I&rsquo;m not in Sweden right now.&rdquo; - Sens captain Daniel Alfredsson after Team Sweden was upset by Belarus in the quarterfinals at the Olympics.NOTEBOOK GM John Muckier wants to make changes, but resisted all comers when the notion of moving defensemen Chris Phillips or Wade Redden was mentioned during the entry draft in Toronto. &#9632;

f0036-06

New GM Muckier plans to tweak Sens

<div class="byline">-Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07289/8049621-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="221" height="227"></div>Joni Pitkanen starred as a boy among men in the Finnish Elite League this season.And the Flyers believe he&rsquo;ll soon raise NHL eyebrows in a similar fashion.Pitkanen not only made the Karpat team as a 17-year-old, he became probably its best defense-man within a year.That&rsquo;s why there was little disappointment in GM Bob Clarke&rsquo;s expression after the Flyers watched coveted left winger Rick Nash, goalie Kari Lehtonen and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester go 1-2-3 in the NHL entry draft.Philadelphia likes the &ldquo;aim high&rdquo; attitude in Pitkanen. Clarke aimed high himself, dishing right winger Ruslan Fedotenko and two second round selections to Tampa Bay for the No. 4 pick on the eve of the draft, putting the Flyers in position to get Pitkanen.Scouts say Pitkanen likely needs another year in Finland to allow his 6-foot-3, 202-pound body to fill out. Chief European scout Inge Hammarstrom said Pitkanen has progressed quicker than did former Flyer Janne Niinimaa, who has excelled in Edmonton the last couple years.DRAFT IMPACT Aside from Pitkanen, the biggest development in the draft was the investment Philadelphia made for 2003. Through a number of deals, the Flyers stockpiled seven additional picks for next year, including a first-rounder and four third-rounders. This year&rsquo;s fourth-rounder, tough defenseman Rosario Ruggeri, fits the Flyers&rsquo;s physical mold and addresses a position that needs more depth.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;Unfortunately, it was not a pretty situation. We wanted to be taught and I think it never happened. We tried to correct some problems and they never got corrected.&rdquo; - Mark Recchi on the internal problems that led to the firing of coach Bill Barber.NOTEBOOK The acquisition of center Michal Handzus A in the Brian Boucher trade &rsquo; June made centers Adam Oates, an unrestricted free agent, and oft-injured Jiri Dopita expendable. The Flyers told Oates they would not attempt to re-sign him. Dopita was dealt to Edmonton for draft picks. &#9632;

f0036-07

Clarke makes move to acquire Pitkanen

<div class="byline">-Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01926/8049652-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="214" height="255"></div>If there&rsquo;s anyone out there who doesn&rsquo;t believe the NHL has become a year-round business, they aren&rsquo;t a member of the Phoenix Coyotes organization.Looking for every kind of edge possible, the Coyotes began holding a voluntary, month-long strength, fitness and conditioning camp June 24 for every player in the system interested in improving his physique, endurance and agility. More than two dozen skaters signed up right away, from rookies to veterans. And several others were on their way to Arizona.&ldquo;We believe we can accelerate the development of every player who sees fit to attend this camp,&rdquo; said GM Mike Barnett. &ldquo;The results will be very apparent. We will motivate, educate and activate the passion of these talented young players in our organization to challenge themselves, on a daily basis, to do the things necessary to best compete in the NHL.&rdquo;This season, Phoenix finished with the most points in the NHL after the Olympic break (33 in 28 games).&ldquo;Anything you can do to get an edge on the competition or make yourself better, you&rsquo;ve got to give it a try,&rdquo; said rookie center Krys Kolanos.DRAFT IMPACT Wayne Gretzky wants the Coyotes to get bigger and the scouts followed his directive with virtually every pick. With their two selections in the firstround, at No. 19 and No. 23, the Coyotes chose 6-foot-3 center Jakub Koreis of the Czech Republic and bruising 6-foot-2 left winger Ben Eager of Ottawa. Koreis has the potential to develop into a top playmaker and Eager reminds vicepresident of scouting Dave Draper of a young Bob Probert with far better wheels.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;I have to go through a couple pairs of shorts each game, but other than that, it&rsquo;s great.&rdquo; - Coyotes coach Bobby Francis, on the wild playoff race down the stretch in the Western Conference.NOTEBOOK GM Bobby Francis earned a $100,000 bonus and an anticipated threeyear contract extension from management afterbeing awarded the Jack Adams Trophy in Toronto&hellip;Goaltender Sean Burke, who was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson Award, said he will honor next season&rsquo;s $3.25-million contract, but he wants to renegotiate his $3-million club option for 2003-04. &#9632;

f0037-01

Coyotes work out off-season regimen

<div class="byline">-Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02627/8049690-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="219" height="252"></div>Boston University has produced a number of quality NHL players. Ryan Whitney, the Pittsburgh Penguins first round pick (fifth overall), hopes to be part of that legacy. But he wants even more than that.Just ask him. During an interview with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Whitney turned to Blue Jackets GM Doug MacLean and said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be the best defenseman in the draft.&rdquo;That includes, of course, the two blueliners taken immediately before Whitney: Jay Bouwmeester and JoniPitkanen.It&rsquo;ll be a tall order, but Whitney has the tools to make good on his prediction. At 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, he figures to fill out nicely He&rsquo;s quick, skilled, smart and hungry Just ask his agent, Bobby Orr.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve watched Ryan for three years and each &pound; year he just keeps I climbing and climbing,&rdquo; Orr said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any l question he could be a No. 1 defenseman if he keeps working as hard as he has been working.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03492/8049683-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="223" height="270"><figcaption class="caption-body">Johan Hedberg</figcaption></div>DRAFT IMPACT The Penguins appear to have gone a long way towards improving their defense over the past three drafts. They have picked defensemen with two of their past three first round picks-Whitney and his former high school teammate at Thayer Academy, Brooks Orpik, the 18th choice in 2000- and six of their top eight picks in the past two years.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen Craig mad, but I&rsquo;m sure he was probably mad. It hurts when a man like that talks to you in the way he did, when he&rsquo;s not happy.&rdquo; - Goalie Johan Hedberg, on GM Craig Patrick&rsquo;s season-ending address to the team.NOTEBOOK Center Mario Lemieux said he will play for approximately the same salary ($5.25 million) next season as he did this year. Lemieux, who missed all but 24 games this season due to injuries, said he felt &ldquo;fine&rdquo; after some light skating sessions in late June and that he hoped to play 60-70 games in 2002-03&hellip;Left winger Krzysztof Oliwa was traded to the Rangers for future considerations. The Pens were unlikely to make the $990,000 qualifying offer needed to keep Oliwa&hellip; Backup goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin signed a two-year deal worth about $1.8 million. &#9632;

f0037-02

Agent Orr lauds top pick Whitney

<div class="byline">-Ross McKeon</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05362/8049721-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Ricci was &ldquo;bored&rdquo; within two days of San Jose&rsquo;splayoff ouster.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04410/8049728-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="224" height="259"></div>In all five years Darryl Sutter has coached in San Jose, the Sharks have improved their point total over the previous season. Sutter and Al Arbour are the only two NHL coaches to accomplish the feat.So it was met with some surprise when Sutter and assistant coaches Lorne Molleken and Rich Preston were signed only oneyear extensions. &ldquo;To me, that&rsquo;s not a big deal,&rdquo; said Sutter, who likened the situation to four times in the past when he was in the final year of a contract. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t bother me at all.&rdquo;Sutter will again make $850,000, the same amount he earned last year to rank seventh among the NHL&rsquo;s 30 head coaches. Sutter was rewarded with a two-year extension after his debut with the club in 1997-98 and then received another two-year deal which was due to expire Aug. 1.DRAFT IMPACT It figures to be a while before either of San Jose&rsquo;s first two picks in 2002-right winger Mike Morris, 27th overall, and defenseman Dan Spang, 52nd, both recently graduated high schoolers-find their way into the lineup. Because both are bound for college, San Jose has even more time before having to make a financial commitment to either player than if the Sharks had chosen prospects from the juniorranks.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m bored.&rdquo; - Uttered by center Mike Ricci while cleaning out his stall less than 48 hours after the Sharks lost Game 7 of the second round to Colorado.NOTEBOOK Right winger Hannes Hyvonen, who appeared in just six games this year, has signed a contract to play in his native Finland next season. GM Dean Lombardi said it&rsquo;s still possible the rookie could opt out of the deal if he&rsquo;s re-signed by San Jose&hellip;The team is increasing ticket prices for the 11th time in 12 years. The boost will range from $3-$6 in lower-bowl seating while prices upstairs at The Shark Tank will rise from $l-$3&hellip;Team physician Dr. Arthur Ting denied charges made recently by the Medical Board of California that accuse the orthopedic surgeon of allowing aides to act as doctors and writing illegal prescriptions. Ting could face suspension or the loss of license to practice&hellip;The Sharks acquired the rights to left winger Theoren Fleury from the New York Rangers June 27 as part of a future-considerations deal. Fleury was eligible for unrestricted free agency July 1 &#9632;

f0037-05

Sutter, assistants sign one-year deals

<div class="byline">-Derrick Goold</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011005/8049759-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="215" height="182"></div>Stuck trying to do too much with too little, the St. Louis Blues entered the 2002 draft without a first round pick-again- and an urgent need to replenish the talent in their system while wading through a thin prospect pool.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s still vitally important to the franchise and to our future that we make the best pick available,&rdquo; said John Ferguson Jr., the team&rsquo;s director of hockey operations.For the ninth time in the last 13 drafts, the Blues were without a first round pick.This year&rsquo;s pick (No. 23) went to Phoenix to complete the Keith Tkachuk deal from 2001. With the first three of their nine picks- the highest being No. 48-the Blues took three 18-year-old forwards, all of whom are four to five years away, including top choice Alexei Shkotov.Deep in the draft, the Blues went after players with the potential to provide NHL depth. Both seventh-rounder Jonas Jonsson-at 32, the Swede was the oldest selection- and eighth-rounder Tom Koivisto, 28, a Firm, will be given ample opportunity to make next year&rsquo;s roster.DRAFT IMPACT With a quality group of defensemen in the minors, the Blues used seven picks on forwards. While they didn&rsquo;t get the goalie they wanted, they did add potential skill at other positions.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;We put the right components in place to be a good hockey team and the effort is not always as good as we would like it to be&hellip; You see the type of team we had this year when it has the ability to run (Dominik) Hasek off the ice and then goes up to Detroit and in eight of nine periods doesn&rsquo;t score a goal. You have to recognize consistency is a problem.-Team owner Bill Laurie after a 4-0 loss to Detroit in Game 5 of the second round ends the Blues&rsquo;s season.NOTEBOOK Playmaking center Bernie Federko, who spent 13 of his 14 seasons in St. Louis, became the eighth Blues player elected to the Hall of Fame. He&rsquo;s the franchise leader in games (927), assists (721) and points (1,073)&hellip;The Blues&rsquo;s original play-by-play man, Jack Buck, died June 18 at age 77. Better known as the voice of baseball&rsquo;s St. Louis Cardinals, Buck was hired in 1967 to broadcast the Blues&rsquo;s first season. It was his only season in the hockey booth&hellip;The team exercised its option on the contracts for goalie Brent Johnson and forwards Reed Low, Mike East wood and Eric Boguniecki. &#9632;

f0038-01

Blues move forward with draft strategy

<div class="byline">-Damian Cristodero</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02681/8049797-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="214" height="251"></div>The 2002 NHL draft capped a huge week for the Tampa Bay Lightning that began with the arrival of Alexander Svitov-last year&rsquo;s third overall pick, who had been stuck in the Russian military- and concluded with the acquisitions of defenseman Brad Lukowich and left winger Ruslan Fedotenko.Fedotenko came from the Philadelphia Flyers, along with two second round draft choices, for the No. 4 overall pick. GM Jay Feaster sent one of the second-rounders to the Stars for Lukowich.The Fedotenko deal, which Feaster made the day before the draft, was controversial. Many said he should have waited for the day of the draft to drive up the price. Others said he didn&rsquo;t get enough in return.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going X XXX XXUL to apologize to those guys,&rdquo; said Feaster of the media. &ldquo;Once you are in a situation where you have talked to all those teams and you have been there and lived it, then you can say you could get something more. It&rsquo;s great to say there&rsquo;s something more, but we tested the market.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03550/8049790-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="225" height="278"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ruslan Fedotenko</figcaption></div>Regardless, the additions have already changed the team&rsquo;s dynamic. Fedotenko will likely play with center Vincent Lecavalier and Shane Willis. Lukowich will be a top-four defenseman in Tampa and Svitov gives the Bolts more depth at center.DRAFT IMPACT Tampa drafted 13 players in what was considered a weak draft. The Lightning shored up the front line with seven forward picks. It also drafted Finnish goalie Fredrik Norrena, 27, who will, if signed, compete for the backup job with Kevin Hodson, who hasn&rsquo;t played an NHL game since February of 2000.QUOTE OF THE YEAR&nbsp;&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re interested, call me.&rdquo; - Former GM Rick Dudley to fellow GMs after Lecavalier asked for a trade in November. Dudley&rsquo;s willingness to entertain offers contributed to his firing.NOTEBOOK Tampa Bay exercised its one-year option on left winger Dave Andreychuk, who turns 39 in September. He played all 82 games in 2001-02 and led the Lightning in goals (21)&hellip;Defenseman Josef Boumedienne was dealt to the Senators for the seventh round pick that turned into goaltender Fredrik Norrena. &#9632;

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July 1, 2002

Summer of change sees Fleury leave

Goodbye Domindator

Leetch first non-Canadian Conn man

NHL 2001-02 ALL-STAR & ALL-ROOKIE TEAMS