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.

November 29, 2002

The Hockey News November 29, 2002

<div class="byline">BY ROB VANSTONE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04384/8022137-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="397" height="276"></div>Scottie Upshall&rsquo;s first thought when he was told Nashville was returning him to Kamloops had nothing to do with hockey. It had to do with weather.&ldquo;When I got the word I was going back, the first things that went through my head were travel and winter,&rdquo; Upshall said. &ldquo;In Nashville, I was getting excited about not having a chilly, snowy winter. I&rsquo;m from Fort McMurray, Alberta, so I was looking forward to not seeing white - not for a while, anyway.&rdquo;The Predators returned the 19-year-old left winger to the Blazers Nov. 5. Upshall figured in all five goals in his first two games with the Western League team.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been able to change my focus pretty quickly. As soon as I was told I was coming back to Kamloops, that&rsquo;s where my priorities were.&ldquo;I was very fortunate to get some experience at (the NHL) level,&rdquo; said Upshall, the sixth overall pick in 2002. &ldquo;I also got my first goal out of the way, which was very nice.&rdquo;Upshall, who had one goal and one point in eight games with the Predators, scored Oct. 19 in a 22 tie with the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.&ldquo;Nashville put the puck up on a plaque, with the date and place and time it was scored,&rdquo; said Upshall, who blasted a slapshot past Rangers goalie Mike Richter.&ldquo;I gave it to my parents. It was amazing. The rush you get, even stepping out on the ice, was something else. During our pre-game skate, I looked up in the stands and it was amazing. I walked through the hallways and saw pictures of people like Muhammad Ali and Madonna.&ldquo;To think of the people who had played there and sang there and to be in one of the most famous arenas in hockey was pretty mind-blowing.&rdquo;MOOSE JAW LESSON A humiliating defeat may have been a good thing for the Regina Pats.The Pats went undefeated in five games after suffering a 10-0 loss to the Moose Jaw Warriors Oct. 26.&ldquo;What (the game in Moose Jaw) did was open our eyes and show the guys we can&rsquo;t take nights off,&rdquo; said Regina GM Brent Parker. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve scratched and clawed in our games since.&rdquo;After the drubbing they took from the Warriors, the Pats went on to beat Kootenay, Lethbridge and Calgary and tie Prince Albert and Medicine Hat.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve filed that Moose Jaw game away,&rdquo; Parker said. &ldquo;You have to tip your hat to Moose Jaw, because they gave us a whupping, but you have to move on. Hopefully, the Moose Jaw game is a blip.&rdquo;TOUGH BREAK Kamloops right winger Jonas Johansson sustained a broken ankle Nov. 9 while playing for Sweden at the Four Nations Cup in Pardubice, Czech Republic.The following day, the 18-year-old Johansson underwent surgery in Stockholm. He isn&rsquo;t expected to return to the Blazers until late January.At the time of the injury, Johansson was the WHL&rsquo;s top rookie scorer, with seven goals and 28 points in 19 games. He was the Colorado Avalanche&rsquo;s first round pick (28th overall) in 2002. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Upshall’s stint with Preds provides warm memories

<div class="byline">WITH MIKE RICCI </div><div class="byline">&#x2013;Adam Proteau</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-05122/8022732-1-eng-US/f0045-052.jpg" title="f0045-05" width="363" height="547"></div>San Jose SharksPos: Center Age: 31Birthplace: Scarborough, Ont.What CDs are in your stereo?&ldquo;George Thorogood and Metallica.&rdquo;If you weren&rsquo;t in the NHL, what career would you have chosen?&ldquo;I would&rsquo;ve been a pro bass fisherman.&rdquo;What three famous people would you like to have dinner with?&ldquo;Jesse James, Frank Sinatra, and The Godfather, Marlon Brando.&rdquo;What are your pet peeves?&ldquo;Drivers who hit their brakes on green lights and when they&rsquo;re turning.&rdquo;If you were NHL commissioner, what would your first act be?&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like the refs to call the same penalties on good players that they call on bad players.&rdquo;Who are your closest friends in the league?&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say - I don&rsquo;t have any friends.&rdquo; &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

TIMEOUT

December 6, 2002<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0696/8022846-1-eng-US/f0046-062.jpg" title="f0046-06" width="820" height="844"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Zherdev: Bruce Jessop; Jokinen: Sport Action Photography)</figcaption></div>&#9668; 2003 Draft Update: Scouts sky-high on Russian prospect Nikolai Zherdev.&#9658; Bryan Berard&rsquo;s remarkable comeback continues on Bruins blueline&#9668; Holiday Book Special: Our annual review of the latest, hockey books. &#9632;

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Next Issue

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06289/8021537-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="217" height="226"></div>When a team gets off to the second fastest start in franchise history, why worry about a little thing like not having either special team ranked in the top 20? The Flyers were cruising along with a 9-12-0 mark (only a 10-1-1-0 getaway in 1979-80 was better) when inept performances on the power play and penalty kill finally caught up.Coach Ken Hitchcock&rsquo;s crew was bogged down in an 0-for-17 and 2-for-39 skid on the power play. On the flip side, the Flyers allowed a power play goal in 12 of 15 games. Those numbers helped produce the season&rsquo;s first slump (0-2-1-0).With a three-day break in the schedule, the Flyers spent two days in school as Hitchcock conducted Special Teams 101 classes on the ice.&ldquo;His message was we still have lots of energy, but mentally we&rsquo;re slipping in certain situations, whether it&rsquo;s clearing the puck on the kill or winning a 1-on-1 battle on the power play,&rdquo; said captain Keith Primeau. &ldquo;We need to rectify them quickly&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07242/8021530-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="236" height="291"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pavel Brendl</figcaption></div>ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Dennis Seidenberg, D. A surprise addition for opening night, the 21-year-old German Olympian has impressed coaches with his hard, accurate shot as well as skating and passing ability He can give or take a hit, is strong on power play and scored in back-to-back games.Pavel Brendl, RW. He reached a high-water mark Nov. 13 when coach Ken Hitchcock used him to quarterback the first power play unit. Brendl says his improved play is a product of feeling more comfortable and confident on the ice. He works well with Michal Handzus.Radovan Somik, LW. A nagging groin injury has stopped Somik three times already The Flyers like his savvy - he&rsquo;s 25 and a vet of the Czech and Slovak leagues - as well as his defensive awareness.NOTEBOOK The Flyers had a six-game winning streak against Washington snapped in a 4-1 loss at the MCI Center Nov. 9&hellip;The crowd of 18,834 attending the Flyers&rsquo; Nov. 13 game vs. Florida was the smallest at First Union Center since Oct. 22, 1996&hellip;Flyers center Jeremy Roenick was scheduled to play his 1,000th NHL game at home vs. Boston Nov. 16. &#9632;

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NHL TEAM REPORTS

Poor special teams cause for concern

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01992/8022877-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARIO LEMIEUX PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</figcaption></div>THE FROSH FILES: 64 ROOKIE REPORTSJORDAN LEOPOLD, CALGARYIS NHL TAKING DIVE ON TOUGH CALLS?FLORIDA&rsquo;S JOKINEN FINALLY BUSTS OUTOLLI JOKINEN. FLORIDACAN YOU BELIEVE YOUR EYES?Stats for all 55 junior teams NHL needs in-your-face TV &#9632;

Cover-01

SUPER MARIO THE SEQUEL!

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011891/8020185-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Edmonton defenseman Steve Staios makes like a falling tree after taking a shoulder from Carolina&rsquo;s Josef Vasicek.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Timberrr!

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021514/8020216-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="288" height="337"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jason Kay Managing Editor</figcaption></div>Canadian patriotism is sometimes only detectable by X-ray, but that shouldn&rsquo;t be confused with apathy. We may not wave the flag much, but we&rsquo;re proud of it and what it represents.That said, we devour American culture in super-size proportions. We may be force-fed on occasion, but mostly we eagerly swallow down the Krispy Kremes, Wal Marts and J. Lo&rsquo;s.One Yankee tradition we haven&rsquo;t quite gotten the hang of in the Great White North is Thanksgiving. No four-day weekend, no football marathons and precious little partying. Like our dollar, Canadian Thanksgiving is devalued.So, in the spirit of cross-border relations, The Hockey News is hereby adopting the U.S. version of the holiday. In no particular order - and with a big assist to the boys in the editorial department - here are 40 hockey-related things for which we give thanks.1. When Walter met Phyllis2. Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s comebacks3. The Howes4. The Hulls5. The Sutters6. Hockey Night in Canada7. The Zamboni8. Saku Koivu&rsquo;s good health9. 198010. 197211. Road hockey12. Pond hockey13. Peter Puck14. Jeremy Roenick&rsquo;s mouth15. That Peter Forsberg doesn&rsquo;t need a spleen16. Bad bounces off the glass17. The sound of pucks hitting iron18. Penalty shots19. The Winnipeg/Phoenix &ldquo;Whiteout&rdquo;20. Quadruple OT21. 4-on-422. Cammi Granato23. Hayley Wickenheiser24. No more FoxTrax25. The Original Six26. That the NHL is a true league of nations27. Ilya Kovalchuk&rsquo;s fire28. Saturday doubleheaders29. The first round of the playoffs30. Buffalo&rsquo;s excitable play-byplay man Rick Jeanneret31. Open-ice collisions32. Russ Conway33. Old-school nicknames like Toe, Punch, Hap and Boom Boom34. NHL participation at the Olympics35. The classy and dignified Hall of Fame36. That Bill Muckalt&rsquo;s goal drought ended with a flood37. That Martin St-Louis doesn&rsquo;t play for St. Louis and Dallas Drake doesn&rsquo;t play for Dallas38. The resiliency of players such as Jamie McLennan and Jeff Hackett39. The Stanley Cup40. That 56 years later, hockey fans still like to curl up with their favorite hockey publication rather than stare at a computer screen. &#9632;

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EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

<div class="byline">BY ADAM PROTEAU</div>During his 14 pro seasons, Joel Otto won a Stanley Cup, a World Cup, played in two Canada Cup tournaments and was a U.S. Olympian in 1998.Not too shabby for a guy who says his impressive career is an example of &ldquo;being in the right place at the right time.&rdquo;&ldquo;I really have been lucky,&rdquo; said the 41-year-old native of Elk River, Mich. &ldquo;Throughout my career, everything seemed to fall into place for me.&rdquo;Case in point: after four seasons at Bemidji State - which was an NCAA Div. II school when Otto was there, but is now Div. I - that included a Hobey Baker Award nomination, Otto went undrafted, but with the help of then-agent and current Canucks GM Brian Burke, he signed as a free agent with Calgary in 1984.&ldquo;I still remember, I was No. 71 out of 72 guys at training camp,&rdquo; Otto said. &ldquo;Coming from a Division II school, getting the chance to play in front of 18,000 people - even if it was only pre-season - was special for me.&rdquo;A 6-foot-4, 210-pound center, Otto spent his first pro season with Calgary&rsquo;s American League affiliate in Moncton, N.B., and impressed during a late-season NHL call-up. The following season-1985-86, Otto&rsquo;s rookie campaign - proved to be a breakout year as he scored 25 goals and 59 points in 79 games, numbers that would stand as career bests.However, most remember Otto&rsquo;s showdowns with Edmonton captain Mark Messier more than any statistic. The clashes between the two centermen were perfect examples of the ferocity that was the calling card of the Battle of Alberta.Rivalries aside, though, Otto believes he owes a debt of gratitude to Messier.&ldquo;Having Messier in Edmonton got me in the league,&rdquo; Otto said. &ldquo;He was so physically dominant and most of our centers in Calgary were smaller than he was, so we needed someone to offset his presence.Again, right place, right time.&rdquo;Regarded as an elite faceoff man and tough two-way competitor, Ofto won a Cup with the Flames in 1989; his biggest contribution that post-season came in the in Game 7 of the first round, when he scored the overtime goal that pushed Calgary past Vancouver.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t kick it - I didn&rsquo;t even see the pass,&rdquo; said Otto of the play, where a pass from Jim Peplinski glanced off his skate and beat goalie Kirk McLean. &ldquo;It was big for us in Calgary because we dodged a bullet and found our game after that series.&rdquo;Otto&rsquo;s previous run at the Cup ended when the Flames lost in the final to Montreal in 1986, but he believes the adversity helped better prepare the team for the future.&ldquo;Watching Lanny McDonald after that final game in Calgary wasn&rsquo;t fun,&rdquo; Otto said. &ldquo;Seeing how disappointed he was - devastated might be a better word - we realized how much we&rsquo;d have to sacrifice to win it all.&rdquo;Weary from the punishing travel schedule associated with the Western Conference, Otto left Calgary in 1995 and signed with Philadelphia, where he spent the last three seasons of his career. He retired in 1998 with 195 goals, 508 points and 1,934 penalty minutes in 943 games.After his playing days ended, Otto returned to Calgary, his wife&rsquo;s hometown. The self-described golf fanatic has assisted the University of Calgary men&rsquo;s hockey team and now works for a firm that makes custom-made golf clubs. He also works with the Flames&rsquo; alumni association, a labor of love for a city and team that provided him so many treasured memories.&ldquo;The city of Calgary has always embraced both the Flames and NHL alumni,&rdquo; Otto said.&ldquo;I was extremely fortunate to play here. I mean, I look back now through the rosters and see the caliber of players we had in those days and I just get chills.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011837/8020247-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="805" height="1651"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joel Otto (THN Archives)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Otto, Messier forever linked

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021301/8020309-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al MacInnis</figcaption></div>If opponents aren&rsquo;t outscoring St. Louis after two periods, they can pretty much forget about beating the Blues.That&rsquo;s because St. Louis, one of this year&rsquo;s surprise teams in the early going, gets stronger as games wear on. In fact, through 14 games, the Blues had scored twice as many goals in the third period as they did in the first. St. Louis&rsquo;s period-by-period scoring was 12 in the first, 19 in the second and 24 in the third.&ldquo;I think if you looked at our team a year ago, it would be the opposite,&rdquo; said Blues GM Larry Pleau. &ldquo;We took leads, but we just couldn&rsquo;t hang on to them. This year we have fallen behind a few times, but we&rsquo;ve been able to fight back. When you fall behind early, you&rsquo;d better be able to fight back or you&rsquo;re not going to win too many games.&rdquo;The Blues were one of only five teams whose scoring increased in each period. Anaheim (11-12-14), Colorado (1114-20), Ottawa (7-13-14) and San Jose (11-15-18) are the others.&ldquo;When you come back in games after felling behind, it gives your players the confidence to know they can do it,&rdquo; Pleau said.Nashville (13-10-9) and the Islanders (14-13-11) get less productive as games progress.Some teams, Chicago (9-18-8) and the Rangers (10-26-8) in particular, start poorly, score big-time in the second period, then fade in the third. Then there&rsquo;s the Toronto Maple Leafs, who scored 16 goals in each of the three regulation-time periods. (Scoring in the overtime period isn&rsquo;t illustrated in the chart below, though &lsquo;Total&rsquo; includes all goals.)Below is each team&rsquo;s period-by-period scoring of Nov. 13, in order of total goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011844/8020302-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="751" height="1341"></div>Note: bold numbers indicate highest-scoring period &#9632;

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FEATURES

Blues better in final frame

From the &ldquo;no concealed weapons longer than six feet&rdquo; dumb-law department, we present Rule 73 (b) of the NHL Official Rules 2002-03: &ldquo;Players shall not use profane language on the ice or anywhere in the rink before, during or after a game. For violation of this Rule, a misconduct penalty shall be imposed except when the violation occurs in the vicinity of the players&rsquo; bench in which case a bench minor penalty shall be imposed.&rdquo; We eagerly await the profanity-by-the-bench crackdown. As a public service to those who would otherwise tug on Mike Ricci&rsquo;s locks, we offer Rule 41 (n): &ldquo;A minor penalty shall be imposed on any player who is guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct, including, but not limited to hairpulling, biting, grabbing hold of face mask, etc.&rdquo;LOOK AT VINCE NOW It wasn&rsquo;t so long ago Rick Dudley wanted to trade Vincent Lecava-lier, but lost the tug-of-war with Tampa management and wound up in Florida with Mike Keenan. Yes, Lightning GM Jay Feaster is a vindicat-ed man&hellip;Dominik Hasek, retired? Not true. He has returned wearing a No. 31 sweater for Ottawa. Hasek, er, Martin Prusek stopped penalty shots in consecutive games in mid-November. It&rsquo;s worth watching him play just to see the resemblance. He will be a starter somewhere in two years or less&hellip;Caps blueliner Sergei Gonchar no longer cares about the hurry-up line changes. &ldquo;You get used to it. Now it seems like it&rsquo;s normal.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Why had the Rangers already played six more games than the Devils barely one month into the season?&hellip;Eric Lacroix, once shunned in the Colorado dressing room for being the son of GM Pierre Gauthier, is now Avs director of hockey operations&hellip;&rdquo;Funny world, huh?&rdquo; says former NHL tough guy Kris King on his duties with the league&rsquo;s front office. &ldquo;They put me in charge of obstruction.&rdquo;&hellip;If Pat Quinn intends to stand in the way of Bob Gainey replacing him as GM in Toronto to allow him to concentrate on his coaching chores, might Neil Smith, a Toronto native who brought the Stanley Cup to the Rangers, be a logical candidate for the position?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03837/8020340-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="248" height="305"><figcaption class="caption-body">Martin Prusek</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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THN ONE-TIMERS

<div class="byline">BY MARK BRENDER &#x2022; Contributing Editor</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03801/8020385-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Trip or travesty? (Don Smith/BBS)</figcaption></div>Break your stick over a crossbar in frustration, you get a penalty. Get in the way of a forechecking winger without moving your feet, you get a penalty. Stop your opponent from going where he wants to go off a faceoff, you get a penalty. Excessive heavy breathing intended to push an opponent over the blueline and force an offside? You might get a penalty for that, too.The sin bin doors need grease every other game, they&rsquo;re used so often. So why is it that trying to make a penalty too obvious - and instead making an embarrassment of the game - is the one infraction not getting called?From the NHL Official Rules, Rule 41 (o), page 91: &ldquo;A minor penalty shall be imposed on a player who, in the opinion of the referee, blatantly embellishes a fall, a reaction or feigns an injury in an attempt to draw a penalty by his actions.&rdquo;It stands to reason that players, knowing more penalties are being called and exactly what types of plays are getting whistled, would try to help referees with the decision. Many around the league believe they&rsquo;re doing it more than ever.Yet through the first 231 games this season, NHL referees called 2,802 minor penalties. Care to guess how many of them were for unsportsmanlike conduct diving? Hint: you need to take off both gloves to count them, but just barely.That would be 11 - and to break another stereotype, eight against North Americans and just three against Europeans. Of the 11, there were just four occasions when a diving penalty was called without a player on the other team also taking a penalty (See chart at right.) Outside of fighting, it may be the only penalty call that is actually down significantly from last season. There were 81 diving penalties called in 2001-02. At the current pace there will be just 59 this year.And at least two of the calls already made, penalized sources insist, were bad calls!Calgary GM Craig Button said a Nov. 2 diving penalty against Flames defenseman Denis Gauthier was a simple case of mistaken intentions. Gauthier had been serving a minor when he stepped out of the penalty box with five seconds left in the period, picked up a stray puck and found himself on a breakaway against Colorado goalie Patrick Roy.Unfortunately, Gauthier pushed the puck out in front of him too far and had to dive in an attempt to get a shot on goal before the period expired. With Rob Blake in pursuit, it looked to referees Dennis LaRue and Brad Meier like a half-gainer.When Gauthier spoke to Button later, he said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get breakaways - I&rsquo;m not taking dives.&rdquo;Though Button was diplomatic toward the refs, saying, &ldquo;Hey, listen, they&rsquo;re not perfect either,&rdquo; the Gauthier example perhaps gives a hint as to why some refs are reluctant to make the call. If they get it wrong - if it wasn&rsquo;t a dive and actually should have been a penalty - the penalized team gets burned twice.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve gone from one extreme of a team getting a power play or a free shot (through a penalty shot) to the other team getting the penalty,&rdquo; admitted director of officiating Andy Van Hellemond.&ldquo;The hard part is it happens quick. You don&rsquo;t know when they&rsquo;re going to pitch themselves off the rink.&rdquo;But Los Angeles coach Andy Murray said he knows who won&rsquo;t be doing the pitching. &ldquo;Our team doesn&rsquo;t dive,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;so there&rsquo;s no way for us to get burned with it.&rdquo;Except they did. Bryan Smolinski was nailed in a Nov. 2 game against Nashville - a blatantly incorrect ruling through Murray&rsquo;s somewhat biased eyes. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about respect,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you respect the game and you respect your opponents, you&rsquo;re not going to be flopping out there.&rdquo;Murray doesn&rsquo;t believe players are diving any more or less this season, but he would like to see the interference crack-down extend to the divers.&ldquo;I wish they would call it more often and I wish they wouldn&rsquo;t call (both players). If it&rsquo;s a dive, just call one guy.&rdquo;Van Hellemond said the issue will be discussed at the first meeting of the penalty-screening committee at the 20-game mark of the season. While not wanting to be seen as giving a knee-jerk reaction, he gave warning to those showmen who have taken up the practise that their theatrics won&rsquo;t be tolerated much longer.&ldquo;We will be addressing it as a group because we don&rsquo;t want to reward people that fall down,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They should be aware that they are going to be getting a little more attention in the future.&rdquo;Button agreed. &ldquo;If players want to think they&rsquo;re going to draw penalties by diving, the vigilance with which the diving calls will be applied will be every bit as vigilant (as the interference crackdown),&rdquo; he said. - &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not the way to draw penalties.&rdquo;Determining whether Paul Kariya contributes to his downfall is no easy task for refs.<h2>DIVING CLUB SURPRISINGLY EXCLUSIVE</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012053/8020378-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="106" height="111"></div>Through 231 games, referees called just 11 diving penalties. Listed below are the offenders, the opposing player who took a coincidental penalty, if any, the period the call was made and whether a goal resulted.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021369/8020371-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="1241" height="558"></div> &#9632;

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Diving: The unpunished crime

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04488/8020437-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg"></div><h2>Best of the Hockey World</h2>BRYAN&rsquo;S FLYIN&rsquo; Boston defenseman Bryan Berard, visually impaired in one eye and dropped by the Rangers last summer, has five goals in 16 games.GREAT GRATTON Buffalo&rsquo;s Chris Gratton is the brightest light on a struggling Sabres club - the bigsized center is averaging more than a point per game.STINGY YOUNG CUB Maine Black Bears freshman goalie Jimmy Howard records three straight shutouts during a goalless streak of 187:43.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-05387/8020430-1-eng-US/f0006-052.jpg" title="f0006-05" width="375" height="636"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bryan Berard</figcaption></div><h2>Worst of the Hockey World</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-06272/8020423-1-eng-US/f0006-062.jpg" title="f0006-06" width="1107" height="456"></div>GOON COACH Rangers rookie coach Bryan Trottier is suspended two games for sending a line of thugs out in a game&rsquo;s dying seconds, resulting in a brawl.BAD, BAD BOYS A total of 23 players are ejected and 488 penalty minutes assessed following a Quebec League brawl between Baie-Comeau and Halifax.MISSING IN ACTION Rangers center Eric Lindros is playing like a shadow of his former self, with a mere two goals and eight points in 18 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-07158/8020416-1-eng-US/f0006-072.jpg" title="f0006-07" width="378" height="633"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bryan Trottier(Berard: Steve Babineau/SA; Trottier: BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

<h2>Rayner more than just player</h2>When hockey loses a great such as Chuck Rayner, news accounts measure him in hockey terms, such as his years with the New York Rangers, his MVP season in 1950 and his Hall of Fame induction.But that&rsquo;s just a part of how I&rsquo;ll remember him.To me, he was &ldquo;Uncle Chuck,&rdquo; the burly, wavy-haired gent at my grandfather&rsquo;s kitchen table in Winnipeg. He was always in good humor, friendly to all and incredibly kind.Chuck Rayner, a legendary goalie on the ice, was also a legend off the ice. He was a class act whose passing brings back many cherished memories.Kevin Roseborough, Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.<h3>Rudeness equals ratings</h3>After years of patience, I was finally able to purchase the NHL&rsquo;s Center Ice satellite package. I couldn&rsquo;t wait for my first chance to see Hockey Night in Canada and Don Cherry.I was not prepared for what I saw and heard.Cherry is a rude, opinionated xenophobe who would reduce hockey to pro wrestling if he had the chance. But I wouldn&rsquo;t miss the show for the world!Kurt Mathews, Roseville, Calif.<h3>NHL costlier than Disney World?</h3>The Bruins&rsquo; attendance problems have nothing to do with either the club&rsquo;s performance or resentment towards management. It has everything to do with price.It is cheaper for me to purchase a ticket for the Magic Kingdom in Disney World than it is to get a decent seat at the FleetCenter.Fifty dollars for a three-hour event that occurs at lease 41 times a year is a bad investment.Mike Truman, Biddeford, Me.<h3>Lindros blowing another chance</h3>Eric Lindros was brought in to revive the struggling Rangers, but he has been a disappointment. He had every opportunity to win in Philadelphia and now he&rsquo;s blowing another chance in New York. What a shame!John Fenter, Santee, Calif.<h2>Hatcher proves foot speed isn&rsquo;t everything</h2>Wasn&rsquo;t the obstruction crackdown supposed to hurt players such as Derian Hatcher? Yet, he had one obstruction penalty through 14 games and leads the Stars in plus/minus. The moral is, there&rsquo;s a lot more to hockey than foot speed.Sonya Holcomb, Mishawaka, Ind.Ever since I watched Mike Danton - he was Mike Jefferson then - at the 2000 Memorial Cup, I&rsquo;ve realized all the guy does is talk. Why don&rsquo;t these young players let their play speak for itself?George Gubb, OttawaUpon seeing the picture of the streaker at the hockey game in Calgary I&rsquo;m thankful the rink doesn&rsquo;t have seamless glass. (THN, Nov. 1)Jim Valenziano, Chandler, Ariz.If Buffalo GM Darcy Regier doesn&rsquo;t have the guts to fire coach Lindy Ruff, maybe he should practice by firing himself - preferably before they become the Seattle Sabres!Scott Hayes, Farmington, N. Y.Hayley Wickenheiser is an embarrassment to women&rsquo;s hockey From her post-Olympic gloating to her recent questioning of U.S. players&rsquo; patriotism by playing for their college teams instead of the Four Nations Cup, there isn&rsquo;t a foot large enough for her mouth.Kathy Weber, Dallas<h2>READERS&rsquo; ONE-TIMERS</h2>This is your place for quick comments on current hockey events. Reader&rsquo;s One-Timers accepts opinions of 60 words or less, so please be concise.<h2>Oliwa&rsquo;s act disgraces Rangers</h2>As a diehard Rangers fan, I&rsquo;ve seen a lot of bad things happen over the years. But for the first time in my life I can say I&rsquo;m not proud after watching Krzysztof Oliwa disgrace the New York Rangers sweater.He is an embarrassment to the NHL and a cancer to his team. Oliwa was suspended five games for his stickwork on Columbus&rsquo;s Grant Marshall, but I beg the NHL to make the suspension longer, or for Rangers management to trade him.It&rsquo;s hard to wear a Rangers sweater with pride as long as this no-talent goon is on the team.Brian Chiandusse, Mahwah, N.J.<h3>Physical play endangered</h3>The latest rule changes regarding obstruction might be opening up the game, but at the same time the physical element has been completely diminished.What happened to good, solid bodychecks and, in general, &ldquo;oldtime hockey&rdquo;? Would anyone watch the NFL if they changed from tackle to flag football?If the NHL doesn&rsquo;t loosen up its new rules a bit, I&rsquo;ll resign myself to watching figure skating.Joe McCarthy, Holmdel, N.J.<h3>Fix refs before rules</h3>ESPN has done fans a favor by showing fewer hockey games this year, as the officiating is so bad each game is worse than the last.In the past, what was called a penalty in the first period wasn&rsquo;t called a penalty in the third period. This season, it seems whatever was a penalty in one game isn&rsquo;t a penalty in the next.Next time the NHL decides to fix its rules, they should remember to fix the officials first!Chris Hulshof, Weston, Fla.<h3>Quinn needs to win</h3>As a player, Pat Quinn didn&rsquo;t win any Stanley Cups. As an assistant or head coach, he didn&rsquo;t win any Stanley Cups. As a coach-GM, he hasn&rsquo;t won any Stanley Cups.Throughout the Leafs&rsquo; struggles this season, Quinn keeps saying his players have to &ldquo;learn how to win.&rdquo;Why? So they can teach him what it feels like?Paul Deane, Hamilton, Ont.<h3>Got something to say?</h3>MALL: 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:proteaua@atranscontinental.ca">proteaua@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;

LETTER OF THE WEEK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011860/8020492-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0007-01

ELSTON

<div class="byline">by Mike Brophy &#x2022; Senior Writer</div>There are a number of things that bring a smile to the face of Mario Lemieux these days.For starters, he says he&rsquo;s completely healthy. When was the last time he could make that claim? Back problems that plagued him through his first incarnation as an NHLer and ultimately led to his early retirement at age 31 are under control.Then there is the spectacular start to his season. After missing the last half of 2001-02 because of hip problems, Lemieux is back stronger than ever, scoring at a rate comparable to that in his prime. The game&rsquo;s most entertaining, if not intriguing, player, is once again ruling the ice. The league&rsquo;s only player-owner was pointless in the Pittsburgh Penguins opener, which basically amounted to his pre-season since he hadn&rsquo;t skated in any of the team&rsquo;s seven exhibition games, but he has been virtually unstoppable ever since. Super Mario, enjoying yet another comeback, was leading the league with 30 points (eight goals, 22 assists). And he was second among forwards in the league averaging 24:04 minutes per game.Yes, life is wonderful.But if you want to see Lemieux&rsquo;s grin turn to laughter, run this one past him: have you noticed a relaxing in the stan-dard for calling obstruction?No answer - just a hearty chuckle.We&rsquo;ll take that as a yes, Mario.There was a day when Lemieux had no qualms discussing things he considered to be problems in the game or the people who ran the NHL. Perhaps it comes with maturity - or maybe it&rsquo;s because he&rsquo;s now management, too - but these days Lemieux chooses his words carefully.His message, however, remains loud and clear. Obstruction has crept back into the game. Though the league promised it wouldn&rsquo;t happen, the standard has relaxed, just as it has in the past when the NHL attempted to eliminate clutching, grabbing and interference. That doesn&rsquo;t mean there will be full-blown clutch-and-grab hockey by Christmas, but when No. 66 speaks, the league had better listen.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011939/8020544-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="984" height="1292"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Claus Andersen/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Hopefully things will get back to where it was early in the season and they&rsquo;ll stick with it,&rdquo; said Lemieux, a Hall of Famer since 1997. &ldquo;I think players were just starting to adjust, so hopefully they can go back to the standard that was established in the first few weeks of the season.&rdquo;For the first month, NHL hockey was played the way Lemieux thinks it should be. And when Mario is happy, the entire sport benefits. Officials cracked down on obstruction, particularly in the neutral zone, bringing a fresh flow to the game that summoned memories of the high-scoring 1980s when wide-open play was the norm. Cheaters no longer prospered and nobody took more advantage of the freedom than Lemieux and his Penguins.That Lemieux is still capable of dominating offensively should come as no surprise. Whenever he has been healthy, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound center has been an automatic candidate for the scoring title. Now it looks as though a seventh Art Ross Trophy is within his grasp. What is surprising, though, is the fact through Nov. 14, he had skated in every Penguins game. When Lemieux said prior to the season he hoped to play 75 games, he was thinking best-case scenario. And playing in the second of back-to-back games was thought to be a long shot. But when the Penguins played Buffalo Oct. 26, the day after a 7-3 loss in Detroit, Lemieux dipsy-doodled his way to two assists in a 5-2 victory.Lemieux attributes his health to a change in off-season workout habits, as well as a reduction in his other passion, golf. There was a day when he used to fantasize about playing golf professionally.&ldquo;I know now I&rsquo;m not going to be on the PGA tour,&rdquo; he said.After stunning the hockey world with his comeback two years ago - joining the Penguins midway through 2000-01 and scoring 35 goals and 76 points in 43 games after sitting out 3-1/2 seasons - last year was something of a bust, Olympic gold notwithstanding. It got people wondering if, in spite of his good intentions, would he ever be able to dominate again?<h2>MARVELOUS, MARIO</h2>Mario Lemieux is well ahead of the next highest-scoring NHLers over the past 82 individual games played, representative of a full NHL season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021453/8020537-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="632" height="506"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;During the Olympics, I was playing at about 50 per cent. I knew my season was over at that point and I was just trying to hang on&hellip;I have deceptive speed&hellip;I concentrated on working out to make sure I would be strong the whole season.&rdquo;</blockquote>&ldquo;We shouldn&rsquo;t be surprised by anything he does,&rdquo; said Tom McMillan, vice-president of communications and marketing for the Penguins. &ldquo;I mean, how many ridiculous things does he have to do before we start to expect it from him?&rdquo;Lemieux injured his hip last season in a pre-season game against the Penguins&rsquo; American League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre, but refused to pull himself from the contest because he didn&rsquo;t want to disappoint the fans. He continued to play as the pain grew worse until it was unbearable. Knowing the Olympics were just around the corner and he was captain of Team Canada, Lemieux opted for surgery, hoping for a quick fix.&ldquo;It got to the point where I couldn&rsquo;t lift my leg,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;It was pretty bad.&rdquo;He went under the knife Oct. 29, but returned too early. Despite 14 points during a remarkable five-game stretch in midJanuary, he knew his days were numbered.&ldquo;During the Olympics, I was playing at about 50 per cent,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I knew my season was over and I was just trying to hang on and help the team as much as I could.&rdquo;Lemieux, at 50 per cent, was good enough to help lead Canada to a gold medal. But as he worried it would, his season ended prematurely He played his final game Feb. 27 and the Penguins missed the playoffs.There were those in Pittsburgh who were upset he chose to put all his eggs in an international basket, living out a dream and mining gold at the Olympics knowing it could affect his ability to help the Penguins. Never mind the fact he is solely responsible for NHL hockey still being played in Pittsburgh and at quite a considerable personal cost. Mario the owner pays Mario the player $5.25 million a season. On the open market, he&rsquo;d make $15 million.Though Lemieux said he&rsquo;d be back this season - and for a few more beyond if all goes well - many wondered how effective he&rsquo;d be. He put up credible numbers last year, six goals and 31 points in 24 games, but clearly was not the player he had been in his youth. Not even the player he was the year before when he ended his retirement. Like Wayne Gretzky near the end of his career, Lemieux relied mainly on his superior skill and vision to become a pre-dominant playmaker. He rarely carried the puck or drove to the net, but he was effective. It just wasn&rsquo;t as much fun to watch.And if his first game this season was an indicator, maybe the magic was gone. Lemieux was sluggish in a season-opening 6-0 loss to Toronto. In Game 2, though, he scored twice and set up another in a 6-0 win over the Rangers and it was evident his summer regime was paying off. He didn&rsquo;t skate, he danced. The next game it was two goals and two assists in a 5-4 victory in Toronto. Lemieux steamrolled past all scorers with points in 11 straight games.&ldquo;I think last year he wasn&rsquo;t feeling 100 per cent and he tried to protect himself,&rdquo; said Tampa Bay defenseman Jassen Cullimore, who had the misfortune of facing Lemieux three times in first 14 games. &ldquo;Now he&rsquo;s right in the mix.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s unbelievable, just so skilled,&rdquo; said Toronto goalie Ed Belfour. &ldquo;Anytime you give him space, he&rsquo;ll make plays and score goals. He looks faster now than before.&rdquo;Increased speed and foot movement have been the most noticeable differences in Lemieux&rsquo;s game. His improved conditioning, coupled with the league&rsquo;s determination to cut the skilled players a break, have allowed him to look more like the freshfaced kid who broke in at 18 in 1984-85. Back then he would blow past opponents unabashedly, as he did to Ray Bourque for his first NHL goal. As his back problems increased, though, his foot speed decreased. That was then, this is now.&ldquo;I would say I have deceptive speed, moreso this year than in the past,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m quicker because of the training I did in the summer. I prepared myself for this season accordingly I didn&rsquo;t play much golf, I concentrated on working out and lifting weights to make sure I would be strong the whole season.&rdquo;Typically, when Lemieux is playing well, he enhances those he plays with. Alexei Kovalev, who scored 44 goals two years ago, but slipped to 32 last year, was on pace for 55. Aleksey Morozov, who hit the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his five-year career last season, was on pace for 38. Even nondescript defenseman Dick Tarnstrom, picked up on waivers from the Islanders, was riding along with three goals and 13 points in 14 games.&ldquo;What he does better than anything is draw defenders in his direction,&rdquo; Cullimore said. &ldquo;Teams have a tendency to overplay him and as soon as he gets two defenders coming his way, he spots the open ice and makes the pass. He scores, but he&rsquo;s more dangerous as a playmaker.&rdquo;Much of the Penguins success this year has come on the power play where they ranked first at 26.3 per-cent efficiency through 15 games. With teams getting increased time with the man advantage - at least early in the season - Lemieux saw an opportunity for his club to cash in. They made adjustments.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011796/8020530-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="1830" height="2952"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Claus Andersen/BBS)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011909/8020523-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="1210" height="1066"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s Penguins have the NHL&rsquo;s most efficient power play.</figcaption></div><h2>Always expect unexpected when No. 66 is involved</h2>&ldquo;For us to be successful on the power play we have to move the puck quickly,&rdquo; said the rightshooting Lemieux. &ldquo;Most of the time I line up on the left side (at the faceoff circle) because I can see the play better and it allows me to make better plays. A few weeks into the season we started moving around more on the power play and it worked well. We tried to give the team a different look and not be predictable. In this day and age, teams are so prepared, you have to throw things in they don&rsquo;t expect.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s the thing about Lemieux, you never really know what to expect. He was so disenchanted with the game upon retiring in 1997, nobody figured him to make a comeback. And when he did, skeptics said it was just to recover money he was owed. Had that been the case, which it wasn&rsquo;t, he was justified. Owed $32.5 million when the Penguins filed for bankruptcy in 1998, he knew his chances of ever seeing any of it was in danger. That&rsquo;s when Lemieux put together an ownership group to purchase the financially crippled team. He swallowed $7.5 million that he was owed and was given $20 million in equity in the team as well as $5 million cash, which he invested back into the team.Lemieux, the owner, said he first started thinking about skating again while watching the Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers battle in the 2000 playoffs while sitting in the owners box. If you watched the games, you could see it on his face.Also, he wanted his children, particularly son Austin, to see him play. When Austin was four years old, he stood in the Penguins dressing room looking at a picture of his father and asked equipment manager Steve Latin, &ldquo;Was my dad a good player?&rdquo;&ldquo;I was around the team all the time and that&rsquo;s when I started thinking about playing,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;I was still young so I knew it wasn&rsquo;t too late. I started training on my own twice a day for a couple of months to see if I could get in shape and I felt I had a shot at it.&rdquo;The hockey world is an infinitely better place with Lemieux playing again. Everywhere he has played since his comeback, buildings have been sold out.&ldquo;For one day it felt like we were in Toronto,&rdquo; said then-Phoenix GM Bobby Smith after No. 66&rsquo;s return when Lemieux came to town. &ldquo;Everybody was talking about hockey.&rdquo;The Blackhawks even put a rare home game on TV when Lemieux played in Chicago.And he loves the fact Austin, now six, gets to see him in action. Lemieux prays his health holds out for a few more years. The hockey gods owe him one&hellip;or two. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m having a lot more fun since I came back,&rdquo; said Lemieux, who, publicly anyway, acts 99 per-cent player and one per-cent owner during the season. &ldquo;I enjoy the practices and being at the rink. I&rsquo;m having a good time with the guys. I don&rsquo;t know how many years I have left, so I&rsquo;m enjoying every day&rdquo;Hear that Mr. Commissioner? About that obstruction creeping back into the game&hellip; &#9632;

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COVER STORY

The MAGIC is BACK!

<h2>Slegr in Russia</h2>Defenseman Jiri Slegr is taking the second one-year break of his NHL career. The 31-year-old unrestricted free agent accepted an offer with a Russian team rather than reduce his salary demand for an NHL team. Slegr will make $1 million in Russia this season. His asking price to play in the NHL was $1.5 million. Slegr played four seasons with Vancouver and Edmonton before spending a season in Sweden in 1996-97. He won a Cup with Detroit last season.<h2>8 hours in PIMs</h2>The biggest brawl of the season took place in Halifax where the Mooseheads and Baie-Comeau Drakkar combined for 488 penalty minutes in a Quebec League game. Referee Thane Arsenault issued 24 minors, 28 majors and 30 misconducts during the Nov. 13 game. Three players and Baie-Comeau coach Richard Martel were suspended. The league doesn&rsquo;t keep penalty minute records, but the NHL record is 406 between Boston and Minnesota in 1981.<h2>Canada wins gold</h2>Canada&rsquo;s national team won the Deutschland Cup after a 2-0 win over the host Germans in the Nov. 10 final. Canada also beat Switzerland 4-1 and Team USA 3-1. The Americans finished second by beating Germany 2-0 and Switzerland 1-0. Canada was coached by former Washington coach and TV analyst Gary Green and was made up of players from mainly the German league. Defending champion Switzerland lost all three games. &#9632;

INSIDE HOCKEY

<div class="byline">BY THN STAFF</div>Canadian courts are having their fill of disorderly hockey parents and hockey fans this season.The latest incident occurred at an NHL game in Vancouver Nov. 12 when an intoxicated fan got a boost from a friend and climbed the protective netting in the Canucks&rsquo; zone and hung upsidedown 25 feet above the ground. He remained out of reach of arena security during third period action and caused an on-ice distraction.&ldquo;The things that hold the boards together kept falling off and I was wondering what it was and I turned around and saw him up there,&rdquo; Vancouver goalie Dan Cloutier told reporters.&ldquo;Did you see that?&rdquo; added Vancouver&rsquo;s Brendan Morrison. &ldquo;He was like a monkey.&rdquo;&ldquo;We just tried to keep focussed,&rdquo; said coach Marc Crawford. &ldquo;I was laughing at (defenseman Brent) Sopel because he was carrying the puck and yelling at the referee at the same time because the referee hadn&rsquo;t noticed.&rdquo;The deranged 20-year-old fan altered his Spiderman hang and was pulled down by security personnel. He was dragged from the arena by his hair and is facing mischief charges.Less than a month earlier in Calgary, a fan took a dare and doffed his clothes and jumped on the ice wearing just red socks. He slipped on the ice, hit his head and was knocked unconscious. Tim Hurlbut, 21, will make a court appearance in December.Also going to court is the father of a 16-year-old New Brunswick player. Michael Croteau is suing the local hockey association because he says his son, Steven, was deserving of the league MVP award. He wants it stripped from the winner and given to his son, along with $300,000 in damages. The case is still pending.In October, a Toronto judge dismissed a suit that accused a coach of putting a bounty on the head of an opposing team&rsquo;s player.While the court cases and mischief charges are completely unrelated, NHL players and management are concerned with the liberties some fans are taking.&ldquo;The thing you worry about is people in the stands and it could become a big liability issue for the building,&rdquo; Morrison said of the Spiderman incident.&ldquo;We can only ask that he be charged and we&rsquo;ve said please throw every charge at him you can,&rdquo; Canucks GM Brian Burke told radio listeners of CKAW. &ldquo;If he has season tickets, they&rsquo;re gone. If we can ban him from the building, we&rsquo;re going to do that.&rdquo;CANADIAN WIN Hayley Wicken-heiser performed like a player in search of a better league.Canada&rsquo;s top women&rsquo;s player - who indeed is still looking for a secondary men&rsquo;s league in Europe to test her skills - guided her nation to an unbeaten record and gold medal at the Four Nations Cup in Kitchener.Wickenheiser scored the winner, her second of the game and sixth of the tournament, with 54 seconds remaining to lift Canada to a 4-2 win over the United States in the Nov. 10 finale.Wickenheiser beat goalie Erin Whitten after being sent in alone by Danielle Goyette. Caroline Ouellette added an empty net goal and Cassie Campbell also scored for Canada. Sami Jo Small was the winning goalie.Jessica Tabb and Katie King replied for the Americans, who were without many of their star players from the 2002 Olympics. The U.S. iced a roster that included just nine Olympic veterans.With the victory, Canada has now won all but one of the Nations Cup tournaments, dating back to 1996. Finland beat Sweden 5-0 in the bronze medal game.Wickenheiser is hoping a hockey offer from a men&rsquo;s team will come soon.&ldquo;If it doesn&rsquo;t happen this season, I think it will happen eventually,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It just takes a little time. You have to be patient and understand that these teams and leagues are not sure of women&rsquo;s hockey. They don&rsquo;t see a lot of high-level women&rsquo;s hockey.So I can understand their hesitation.&rdquo;PUCK AUCTION The puck said to be used for Bobby Orr&rsquo;s dramatic 1970 Stanley Cup winning goal is up for sale.<a href="http://Lelands.com">Lelands.com</a>, a Seaford, N.Y, on-line auction website, claims to have the puck Orr swept past Glenn Hall May 10, 1970, to win the Cup for Boston in a four-game sweep over St. Louis. The sale is set for Dec. 6.What makes the goal so memorable is the photographic image that captured it. The shot of Orr flying through the air after getting tripped by Noel Picard is among the most riveting photos in hockey history.&ldquo;The puck has an extremely strong provenance,&rdquo; said Joshua Leland Evans, the company&rsquo;s founder and chairman. &ldquo;For many years it resided with the late John &lsquo;Frosty&rsquo; Forrestall, the team&rsquo;s trainer and close confidant of Orr&rsquo;s.&rdquo;Also for sale are the skates used by Hall of Famer Howie Morenz in his final game, Jan. 28, 1937. It was during that game Morenz broke his leg after catching a rut along the boards. He died in hospital six weeks later.<h2>Hey, Mom! I&rsquo;m in the NHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021391/8020599-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="743" height="486"></div>Weekly report of players making their NHL debuts.Mike Cammalleri, C, 20, LA, Nov. 8 at Ott. Played on the first line in Allison&rsquo;s absence and had an assist on a power play goal by Modry.Ramzi Abid, LW 22, Pho, Nov. 12 at Car. Recalled to sub for Nagy, played an uneventful three minutes, then sent down the next day. &#9632;

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Drunken fan climbs netting during game in Vancouver

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011692/8020637-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="287" height="356"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Brender&nbsp;Contributing Editor</figcaption></div>The latest piece of brilliance from NFL Films caught a cheesed-off Dallas running back Emmitt Smith on the sidelines, huddled with his offensive line during the game when he later broke the National Football League&rsquo;s all-time rushing record. Out on the field, some Seattle lineman was lipping to Smith like he was the Hall of Famer.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s talkin&rsquo; trash like he&rsquo;s an all-pro guy!&rdquo; Smith railed, helmet off and veins bulging. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s talkin&rsquo; trash like he&rsquo;s a straight all-pro, ninety! I tell you what, in this next series when we get the ball, we need to drive it down their throat and break their freakin&rsquo; back!&rdquo;Now that&rsquo;s what you call good television. Fans won&rsquo;t remember the 60 four-yard runs on second-and-eight they see every Sunday, but that Smith clip, they won&rsquo;t soon forget.Every week NFL Films ships five minutes of these wonderful sights and sounds to network rights-holders and other cable subscribers, who can splice and dice them whichever way they want. Showing the stuff every hour on the hour would be fine, thank you much.By comparison, the NHL&rsquo;s promotions leave us wanting.Enquiring minds want to know why. Put a mike on Patrick Roy for a game, show clips of his best-of-the-night cocky-talk and you don&rsquo;t think people would be glued to the sets?<h2>Say what?</h2>Putting a microphone on Ottawa&rsquo;s Zdeno Chara would do wonders for NHL promotions.Those in the television sports industry say the NHL-NFL comparison is apples and oranges. NFL Films is the grandaddy of pro sports promotion. Its budget could fund a national daycare program. Its cameras and boom mikes can get you inside a locker room during a coach&rsquo;s hissy-fit and into a player&rsquo;s helmet as he dislodges the grass divot from his eyes. When networks want to get stock footage, they don&rsquo;t go to their own libraries, they have to go to NFL Films.Equally important, the size of the NFL audience - and this goes for the NBA and Major League Baseball as well - gives it a range of repurposing outlets for the NFL Films product that the NHL can only dream about.Let&rsquo;s accept that NHL Productions can&rsquo;t live up to that standard. Let&rsquo;s also accept it needs to find a way to try.The NHL says it does something similar through its Cool Shots TV program and its year-end Stanley Cup video. Unfortunately, Cool Shots, no disrespect intended to the product, has all the reach of a cable show in Kabul. The Stanley Cup video has appeal only to fans of the team that wins the Cup. They&rsquo;re both preaching to the converted. If you go find them, you already love the stuff.Nothing wrong with that, but the up-close, up-tight look in wide distribution to rights-holders first and the rest of the world a few days later would be the best promotional vehicle for attracting new fans. Right now, the NHL isn&rsquo;t taking advantage.It would work for the same reasons people pay big money to be close to ice level at games. Down there scoring chances appear out of nowhere and are gone as fast. When a goal is scored at the other end, the guy sitting at the glass can no sooner tell who made the play happen or who messed up than he could fly. It&rsquo;s impossible to know if a team is playing well because it&rsquo;s impossible to see how players work together.And yet people can&rsquo;t wait to sit there because of what they get to hear, what they get to feel.They learn how Scott Stevens sounds when he yells to his defense partner, &ldquo;Go, go, go!&rdquo; Maybe they see Jeremy Roenick and Mike Modano talking to each other in the faceoff circle and grinning. Darius Kasparaitis jabbering incomprehensibly at Jaromir Jagr? Sign me up, and while you&rsquo;re at it sign up the guy in Atlanta and the one in Albuquerque, too.None of this is cheap. Putting a microphone on two players for one game costs in the $2,000 range. Do it for 20 games per week for one month, which might be necessary to come up with enough high-caliber footage to make the venture worthwhile, and we&rsquo;re talking $400,000 before production costs. That&rsquo;s to say nothing of getting coaches and players to buy in.If they&rsquo;re smart, they won&rsquo;t think twice. And the NHL may come to believe that would be a far better investment than its new series of commercials, which try to convince fans it is hip to watch hockey because someone standing in the rain is doing the same thing. Isn&rsquo;t that highly educated, upper-income demographic the NHL is so proud of smarter than that?With footage used after the fact, the league could put out exactly the image it wants. If they do it right - if they realize what sells the game is the color of its stars, up close, sometimes the more the rough and passionate edges the better-I&rsquo;ll even buy the video.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021213/8020630-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="1751" height="1195"></div> &#9632;

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COLUMN

Sounds of NHL yet to be heard

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03810/8020668-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ON THE COVER

BLADEMASTER

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>Jordan Leopold&rsquo;s game is all about skating, for which he credits his father who, when Leopold was four, enrolled him in a figure-skating program.&ldquo;To teach me how to use my edges,&rdquo; explained Leopold, 22. &ldquo;Because no hockey coach is going to do that, not when you&rsquo;re four or five years old. They&rsquo;re more worried about teaching you to play the game.&rdquo;Leopold learned how to play the game, too, but that came later, in high school and then university, where the Minnesota senior won the Hobey Baker award last season as the top player in U.S. college hockey.Together with right winger Chuck Kobasew, a 20-year-old who played last season for Kelowna of the Western League, Leopold is making a relatively smooth transition to the NHL. It couldn&rsquo;t come a moment too soon for a Calgary Flames team that has tried unsuccessfully for years to integrate their highly rated prospects into the line-up - think Daniel Tkaczuk or Rico Fata.Of the two, Leopold, whose rights were acquired in a trade with Anaheim for a second round draft choice and Andrei Nazarov, is making the most visible impact. He had two goals and five points in 12 games while logging nearly 2 minutes of ice time nightly. Kobasew had three goals and five points in 13 games, averaging about 12 minutes.Watching Leopold during the first three weeks of training camp convinced GM Craig Button he could part with his No. 1 defenseman, Derek Morris, to Colorado in the deal for Chris Drury.Unhappily for Leopold, within 72 hours he was on the sidelines, recovering from a concussion suffered in the next-to-last exhibition game against Edmonton.It took Leopold two weeks to recover and another two weeks to get his skating legs back. But the Flames were committed to him and demonstrated their confidence in Leopold by making him the point man on the power play.&ldquo;To be the quarterback of the power play, that&rsquo;s a lot of pressure on a rookie defenseman, but it doesn&rsquo;t seem to bother him at all,&rdquo; said Jarome Iginla. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t have an attitude. He wants to be better. But at the same time, he knows what he wants to do out there&hellip;He&rsquo;s aggressive. You can tell he&rsquo;s going to a be a point guy in the NHL. And he&rsquo;s not a liability defensively.&rdquo;Leopold is a fluid skater and says there were times in the past when that was mistaken for a lack of effort. More than any-thing, the quality that emerges in him is an unshakable confidence in his own playing ability. He tries and sees plays that other players would shy away from.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011862/8020706-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="335" height="367"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chuck Kobasew</figcaption></div>&ldquo;If your emotions are up and down, probably your playing ability is going to be up-and-down too,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Of course, there&rsquo;s consistent games and you hope there&rsquo;s a peak game in there once in a while. My goal is to avoid the valleys.&rdquo;As for Kobasew, he found himself playing with NHL scoring champ Iginla in mid-November. Iginla, a natural right winger, switched to the left side to accommodate Kobasew.&ldquo;With Chuck, you can tell he&rsquo;s a natural scorer,&rdquo; Iginla said. &ldquo;He finds the holes. He has a good shot. He&rsquo;s strong. You always hear about an intangible quality that you can&rsquo;t teach. Well, he has that. He finds ways to score goals.&rdquo;Flames coach Greg Gilbert said both rookies need to improve their strength, but he likes what he has seen of them.&ldquo;Chuck thinks the game well,&rdquo; Gilbert said. &ldquo;He has got good speed, he likes to shoot, he&rsquo;s a competitive guy.&rdquo;As for Leopold, Gilbert observed: &ldquo;Very rarely does he put himself in a bad position. He makes the first simple play that&rsquo;s there and available; he knows that that&rsquo;s the play to make.&rdquo;<h2>TEEN SPIRIT</h2>Four of the past six Calder Trophy winners won the rookie-of-the-year trophy as a teenager.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021468/8020699-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="3143" height="2404"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jordan Leopold</figcaption></div><h3>ROOKIE REPORT</h3>Calgary&rsquo;s Jordan Leopold and Chuck Kobasew are two of 64 rookies and first-year players highlighted in this week&rsquo;s team reports. See pgs. 13-20. &#9632;

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Flame kids in flight

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE KARL</div><h2>Buzz in the biz</h2>The Business of HockeyIf it&rsquo;s true that any publicity is good publicity, the American League&rsquo;s Houston Aeros are pretty smart after all.The Aeros recently came under fire from AHL officials and the media for planning a &ldquo;Guaranteed Fight Night&rdquo; pro-motion, whereby fans would receive free tickets to another game if there wasn&rsquo;t at least one five-minute fighting major. Once the league found out, the idea was scrapped and the Aeros were portrayed as sinking to low marketing depths to attract fans.While it&rsquo;s true that any promotion guaranteeing anything smacks of desperation, the problem is the Aeros could well be the winningest pro sports team in Houston that no one is watching.Through Nov. 13, the Aeros were tied for first overall in the AHL, along with the Norfolk Admirals, with a 12-1-1-0 record and 25 points. Despite the stellar on-ice performance, Houston was drawing an average of only 4,854 fans per game, below the league average of 5,186.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very disappointing,&rdquo; said communications director Sandy Kirk. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in a city of four million people and many still don&rsquo;t know we have hockey team.&rdquo;Competing against the NFL&rsquo;s Texans, the NBAs Rockets and baseball&rsquo;s Astros, it&rsquo;s understandable the Aeros are frustrated. In this context, Fight Night makes a little more sense.&ldquo;We had some apprehension about it,&rdquo; Kirk said, &ldquo;but we had a sponsor that was really interested in promoting something like that.&rdquo;The excited company was none other than Hooters Restaurants, which was willing to part with upwards of $10,000 (U.S.) for the privilege. Instead, Hooters is now sponsoring two &ldquo;Guaranteed Win Nights&rdquo; and will employ its famous Hooters Girls to help sell game programs in the Aeros&rsquo; arena, Compaq Center.FAVORABLE EXCHANGE Finally, the currency exchange is good for Canadian hockey fans.The Buffalo Sabres recently held their first of three ticketsales promotions, accepting Canadian money at par from fans north of the border.The program allows Canadian residents to purchase tickets using Canadian money to pay for tickets priced in U.S. dollars.Not only did the first night of the promotion, Nov. 12, give Canadians a break, it helped the struggling franchise draw a season-high 13,573 fans for a game against Boston. The previous high had been 12,534, Nov. 9 against Atlanta.The Sabres will repeat the promotion Dec. 13 (vs. Chicago) and Feb. 7 (vs. Vancouver). Buffalo&rsquo;s average attendance after seven home games was 12,116.PARENTAL INDISCRETION Parents intent on suing their child&rsquo;s minor hockey association, as we&rsquo;ve seen with two high-profile cases in Canada recently, need to do one of two things.One is to visit the website <a href="http://www.gthlcanada.com">www.gthlcanada.com</a> to read about Andrew Mizzoni, an 11-year-old goaltender in Ontario who is battling a rare form of cancer. His story will quickly put minor hockey in perspective.Secondly, parents need to ask themselves: a) how such lawsuits will affect their children; b) how they will impact the affordability of the sport; and, c) whether the courts have better things to do.NHL AD PITCH The NHL is launching a new series of TV ads aimed at highlighting the &ldquo;unique attributes&rdquo; of hockey fans. Developed by NHL Productions in conjunction with Toronto-based ad agency Grip Ltd., the ads carry the tag line &ldquo;Hockey has it. Do you?&rdquo; and illustrate the courage and dedication of hockey fans.In one spot, an Avalanche fan gathers the courage to enter a Red Wings sports bar. In another, a fan shows his grit by standing in the pouring rain to watch an overtime period on a TV in a store window. &#9632;

Aeros promotion takes new tack

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021188/8020761-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="619" height="1954"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011702/8020768-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="222" height="224"></div>Here is each NHL team&rsquo;s top rookie so far, with other rookies and non-Calder eligible first-year players (*). See team reports for analysis, pgs. 13-20. &#9632;

f0013-02

Rookie Report 2002: The best & the rest

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04723/8020799-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="503" height="718"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03870/8020806-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="220" height="227"></div>The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim set the stage for the eventual arrival of another promising young player by signing right winger Joffrey Lupul, the seventh player selected in the 2002 draft, to a three-year, entrylevel contract.Lupul will receive the rookie salary cap of $1,185 million per season, plus performance bonuses. With Lupul spending this year with Medicine Hat of the Western League, his contract won&rsquo;t kick in until next season at the earliest.&ldquo;We think he has a bright future in the NHL,&rdquo; said Ducks GM Bryan Murray. &ldquo;To get this done now takes a lot of pressure off both parties.&rdquo;Lupul, 19, saw limited action in training camp after recovering from a stress fracture in his back.&ldquo;This puts me one small step closer (to the NHL),&rdquo; Lupul said, &ldquo;but my focus is to get better and get in the lineup with Anaheim next year.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Stanislav Chistov, LW. Among rookie scoring leaders since collecting four points on opening night, the diminutive Russian is a potential star in the making. Among current Ducks, only Paul Kariya has as much pure offensive talent.Kurt Sauer, D. Very steady for a young defenseman, Sauer averages nearly 19 minutes a game and often pairs with Keith Carney against opponents&rsquo; top lines.Alexei Smirnov, LW. The 6-foot-4, 218-pound Russian is averaging only nine-plus minutes per game, but has shown impressive strength.Martin Gerber, G. At 28, Gerber has the experience to be an ideal backup for Jean-Sebastien Giguere.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Pavel Trnka, idled by a strained groin, played his first game of the season in a 32 victory Nov. 14 at Columbus. &#9632;

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Signing top pick Lupul good sign for future

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Jeff Schultz</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-05572/8020837-1-eng-US/f0013-052.jpg" title="f0013-05" width="219" height="226"></div>It took a while this summer before Atlanta goalie Milan Hnilicka got a contract. Now all he needs is a starting job.Hnilicka, who performed well in less than ideal circumstances behind the Thrashers&rsquo; porous defense last year, strug-gled at the outset this season.The Czech Republic native lost his first eight decisions and, at least for now, his starting job. Pasi Nurminen started his sixth straight game in a 3-2 overtime win against San Jose Nov. 13. Thrashers coach Curt Fraser is not one to change anything when things are going well and the fact was the Thrashers were 4-1-1-0 with Nurminen in the nets after an 0-8-0-1 start.The team also had won three straight for only the second time in franchise history.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard, but that&rsquo;s why there&rsquo;s practice,&rdquo; said Hnilicka when asked about keeping his confidence up. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to keep sharp so that when I get the call, I can feel confident.&rdquo;Nurminen&rsquo;s play put the possibility of pursuing unrestricted free agent goalie Byron Dafoe on hold.&ldquo;They gave me a chance and now I have to prove I can play here,&rdquo; Nurminen said. &ldquo;I think the team is starting to get confidence in me and the defense is playing better.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Mike Weaver, D. He is undersized for an NHL defenseman at 5-foot-9, but in coach Curt Fraser&rsquo;s words, &ldquo;he plays like he&rsquo;s 9-5.&rdquo; Atlanta likes his aggressiveness, though it&rsquo;s uncertain if he can hold an NHL job long-term.Francis Lessard, LW. Atlanta moved Lessard from the blueline to left wing because they felt he lacked the foot speed to play defense in the NHL. The tough guy could stick if he avoids foolish penalties.NOTEBOOK Despite improved play, the Thrashers drew three straight home crowds under 11,000&hellip;Suspended right winger Tomi Kallio continued to ignore a reassignment to the minors and had asked to be traded.HEY, YOU LOOK LIKE&hellip;An undersized, super-skilled Mighty Duck not named Paul Kariya? Introducing Stanislav Chistov, one of the NHL&rsquo;s most exciting fresh faces. &#9632;

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Hnilicka in shadows as Nurminen steps up

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Nancy Marrapese-Burrell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-06476/8020868-1-eng-US/f0013-062.jpg" title="f0013-06" width="221" height="226"></div>Left winger P.J. Axelsson has been one of the NHL&rsquo;s top penalty killers and a valuable member of the Boston Bruins&rsquo; checking line since entering the NHL in 1997.Now Bruins coach Robbie Ftorek wants him to expand his repertoire.Axelsson has never been shy about shooting the puck, but too often when he had the puck in the attacking zone in past years, it seemed the goaltender was wearing a bulls-eye on his chest with a sign that said, &ldquo;Shoot Here!&rdquo; This season Axelsson might finally be turning things around. With five goals in his first 16 games, he could surpass his career-best of 10 by Christmas.&ldquo;He has been working not just on his shooting, but his goal-scoring and that&rsquo;s a big difference,&rdquo; Ftorek said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s starting to shoot to score and not just to shoot.&rdquo;Axelsson, 27, said he&rsquo;s being more patient this season. He also expects to score, which wasn&rsquo;t always the case.&ldquo;I think I had a lot more confidence coming into this year and that helps a lot,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Instead of hitting the post or the goalie, when it goes in, your confidence rises.&rdquo;It was only last fall that Axelsson asked for a trade from the Bruins, believing he wasn&rsquo;t in the team&rsquo;s plans.ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Ivan Huml, LW. The 21-year-old Czech started off strong before tailing off in mid-November, leading to a stint in the press box for a Nov. 12 game against Buffalo. &ldquo;I got a little bit away from the game I played at the start of the season,&rdquo; Huml said. &ldquo;I was losing my battles. It was simple things, but they make a big difference. I&rsquo;m going to get my chance to work even harder and be strong on the puck again.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Defenseman Don Sweeney played his 1,000th game Nov. 14 when the Bruins hosted the Islanders. The classy defenseman, who at 36 is in his 15th NHL season, all with Boston, received a sterling silver stick from the team and a watch from his teammates to commemorate the event&hellip;After going an abysmal 6-for-59 in their first 12 games on the power play, good for a next-to-last rating among the 30 NHL teams, the Bruins turned it around and converted eight of their next 24 chances over the next four contests. &#9632;

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Confident Axelsson finally hitting target

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Bucky Gleason</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-07435/8020899-1-eng-US/f0013-072.jpg" title="f0013-07" width="218" height="228"></div>Give the Buffalo Sabres credit for doing nothing halfway. Their scoring woes caused enough problems before goaltending troubles led them into complete disarray.Buffalo&rsquo;s winless streak reached nine games (0-7-2-0), after MartinBiron and Mika Noronen were pulled from consecutive starts in losses to Atlanta and Boston. The skid was the longest since 1993. They had one win in 12 games after starting this season with two victories.&ldquo;When we had the goaltending, we didn&rsquo;t have enough offense,&rdquo; said coach Lindy Ruff. &ldquo;Then we&rsquo;ve scored some goals and we give up too many.&rdquo;The Sabres were hoping Biron (3-5-2) would start the season strong after playing well in the second half last year. Noronen was winless in his first five appearances (0-41), including four starts. Combined, they were 3-9-3 with a 2.66 goals-against and a .894 save percentage through the first 15 games.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no way we can get any more down than this,&rdquo; Noronen said. &ldquo;I think we gotta put a smile on our face - or try to - and just keep playing.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Henrik Tal-linder, D. A bright spot early in the season before separating his shoulder, he makes few mistakes and has great instincts for a young player. He surprises opponents with his skating ability.Mika Noronen, G. Twice named The Hockey News&rsquo; top prospect, he has been inconsistent this season. His size and agility make convincing arguments he&rsquo;ll someday be a top player, but only if he maintains concentration.Ales Kotalik, RW. He&rsquo;s most effective in tight spaces around the net, which is what Buffalo needs. He doesn&rsquo;t possess breakaway speed, but he&rsquo;s capable of scoring 20 goals if he can get himself into the right spots. Will he? That&rsquo;s another question.NOTEBOOK The Sabres looked to shake up the lineup by waiving veteran defenseman Jason Woolley&hellip;Center Curtis Brown was a healthy scratch against Boston after starting the season with no goals and two assists in 14 games&hellip;Billionaire Tom Golisano and Buffalo businessman Mark Hamister appear to be the only remaining bidders to purchase the Sabres. &#9632;

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Sabres’ slide continues as goaltenders falter

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011843/8020937-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="218" height="230"></div>What&rsquo;s wrong with Jarome Iginla?The NHL&rsquo;s reigning scoring champion had been hearing the question for the better part of two weeks as he suffered through an 11-game stretch with just one goal.Iginla finally snapped a zero-for-November slump by scoring Calgary&rsquo;s lone goal in a Nov. 14 loss to the Rangers.It wasn&rsquo;t for a lack of shots on goal that Iginla was struggling. He had 60 through 16 games, an average of 3.75 per game compared to 3.79 last season. His shooting percentage, though, was hovering right at five per cent, a fraction of what it was last season when he scored 52 goals.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been through this before and as much as I hate it, I think I&rsquo;m at the end of it and it&rsquo;s going to start to go in again,&rdquo; Iginla said.Nor does Iginla believe he&rsquo;s getting any special attention from checkers. The reality is, he was more of a focal point last season when he and his linemates Craig Conroy and Dean McAmmond accounted for 100 of the team&rsquo;s 202 goals. This year, the team&rsquo;s scoring is spread out more evenly, thanks to the arrival of Chris Drury and Martin Gelinas.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021394/8020930-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="237" height="288"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mattias Johansson</figcaption></div>&ldquo;On the ice, I&rsquo;m not finding much different,&rdquo; Iginla said. &ldquo;In a lot of the games, I&rsquo;ve had lots of scoring chances and just haven&rsquo;t been able to put it in consistently yet.NOTEBOOK&nbsp;Jordan Leopold, D. A pure offensive defenseman who isn&rsquo;t afraid to jump in the play, Leopold is a smooth and fluid skater with a good shot and excellent instincts Chuck Kobasew, RW. A Dino Ciccarelli-type, Kobasew is good in traffic and shoots the puck well, but needs to be more effective in the defensive and neutral zones.Mattias Johansson, C. With his Elvis Presley-style sideburns, Johansson, 28, is an atypical Swede facially as well as in playing style. The Flames signed him primarily to help improve their penalty killing and he has fit in nicely.NOTEBOOK Center Marc Savard sat out six of eight games through Nov. 14 amid speculation about where he will eventually be traded. &#9632;

f0014-01

Iginla shooting often, struggling to score

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Luke DeCock</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03965/8020968-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="218" height="228"></div>While some teams have complained loudly about long homestands this season, the Carolina Hurricanes were just fine with their nine-game stretch at the RBC Center.The Canes went 4-0-1-1 in the first six games of the extended home spell, from Oct. 30 through Nov. 19, to complete a stretch of 10 games that saw them lose only once in regulation.Goalie Kevin Weekes and a resolute defense were the big reasons for the Canes&rsquo; success at home. Carolina was unde-feated (8-0-2) in games in which it scored more than one goal.Weekes, whose strong play relegated Arturs Irbe to the role of lonely backup, was 7-1-2 with a 1.57 goals-against aver-age and a .948 save percentage in 10 starts.He kept the Canes on track despite a few lackluster performances during the string of home games.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the danger of these extended homestands,&rdquo; said Carolina coach Paul Maurice.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s so difficult to get the same kind of emotional intensity because it&rsquo;s hard to manufacture fear sometimes.&rdquo;The nine-game homestand is tied for the longest in the NHL this season.ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Jaroslav Svoboda, RW. A shifty, skilled 22-year-old, Svoboda played in all 23 playoff games last season. His numbers dropped off after he was taken off the top line with Ron Francis and Jeff O&rsquo;Neill in early November, but he has the potential to score plenty, is difficult to knock off the puck and is responsible defensively.Jesse Boulerice, RW. Boulerice won over fans with his fists in the pre-season and won over the team with his strong skating ability. Popular with the home crowd, his play made tough guy Darren Langdon expendable.NOTEBOOK Center Josef Vasicek remained out with back spasms, but the team wasn&rsquo;t hurrying him back because center Kevyn Adams was playing so well centering the third line&hellip;Left winger Bates Battaglia finally scored his first goal in the 15th game of the season. &ldquo;I was pretty frustrated,&rdquo; Battaglia said. &ldquo;I think I was ready to step on my wrists with my skates.&rdquo; On the bright side, he is still ahead of last year&rsquo;s pace when he scored one goal in the first 20 games and 20 in the next 62. &#9632;

f0014-03

Canes cook up wins with homestand sizzle

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04667/8020999-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="219" height="224"></div>There is something about being captain of the Chicago Blackhawks that agreed with Alex Zhamnov.Off to one of the best starts of his career with 13 points in his first 15 games, Zhamnov was responding to getting the &lsquo;C&rsquo; exactly how coach Brian Sutter hoped he would.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say enough about Alex, he has been incredible for us,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;As well as Alex played last year, and he was one of the elite centermen in the NHL, he has been every bit of that this year and more.&rdquo;In his first six seasons with the Hawks, Zhamnov preferred to remain in the background while others such as Chris Chelios, Brent Sutter, Doug Gilmour and Tony Amonte got attention as the team leaders.That changed last summer when Amonte bolted town as a free agent. All of a sudden this became Zhamnov&rsquo;s team.&ldquo;Now before every game, I want to be the best player on the ice and lead because I think that&rsquo;s what captains should be,&rdquo; Zhamnov said. &ldquo;When I go on the ice, I think I have to be more responsible. Maybe that&rsquo;s why people say I&rsquo;m playing at a different level.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Tyler Arnason, C. Arnason has been better than even the Hawks expected him to be. He is strong on the puck, good in traffic, has excellent on-ice vision and a knack for being in the right place at the right time.Shawn Thornton, RW. Thornton beat out Bob Probert and Louie DeBrusk in training camp for one of the Hawks&rsquo; tough-guy roles. There&rsquo;s nothing fancy to his game.NOTEBOOK Left winger Eric Daze, sidelined since Sept. 25 back surgery, returned to the Hawks&rsquo; lineup Nov. 15 against the Capitals&hellip;Center Igor Korolev, who was placed on waivers Nov. 4 and went unclaimed, responded to the snub by scoring two goals, including the overtime winner, in a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Lightning Nov. 9. &#9632;

f0014-04

Zhamnov’s leadership reaches new heights

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05452/8021030-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="573" height="1091"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06355/8021037-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="220" height="231"></div>It had to be hard for Colorado Avalanche management personnel not to cringe every time they read Calgary Flames game summaries in the early part of the season.Every game, it seemed, Chris Drury&rsquo;s name was there, accompanied by stories about how he won another game for the Flames with a big goal. Stephane Yelle&rsquo;s name was popping up quite a bit as well.Meanwhile, the Avs were struggling along with a 4-4-4-3 record in their first 15 games, and the names Derek Morris, Jeff Shantz and Dean McAmmond weren&rsquo;t contributing much to the cause.But things were starting to change, at least when it came to Morris. The centerpiece of the Avs&rsquo; pre-season trade with Calgary, the defenseman was starting to establish himself after a first month of mostly hit-and-miss play.Morris started to look better as a point man on the power play and was acquitting himself well defensively while playing major minutes - about 27 a game.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good player,&rdquo; said forward Peter Forsberg. &ldquo;He helps us offensively, because he&rsquo;s a good passer and he gets the puck out of the zone. I think he&rsquo;s going to get better and better with us.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Vaclav Nedorost, C. The young Czech center started off slowly, then began to pick things up in midNovember, getting points in three of five games at one point. Nedorost has good skill with the puck, but stikll has the potential to develop considerably.D. J. Smith, D A longtime farmhand for Toronto, Smith was seeing regular action as a sixth defenseman, if not a whole lot of minutes. He earned his teammates&rsquo; respect by proving he was willing to sacrifice his body for the team and leading the club in fighting majors after the first month.NOTEBOOK The Avs&rsquo; surprisingly awful 77.1 per cent penalty killing efficiency as of Nov. 13 was the worst in the NHL and the lowest it had been since the club moved to Denver from Quebec in 1995.COLORADO KID Center Vaclav Nedorost, 20, played 25 games with the Avs last season. With one more he would have forfeited his Calder eligibility. &#9632;

f0014-05

Minute-man Morris starts to pay dividend

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Aaron Portzline</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-07279/8021075-1-eng-US/f0014-072.jpg" title="f0014-07" width="220" height="227"></div>Marc Denis waited long enough to a No. 1 goaltender in the NHL. He&rsquo;s not about to ask for time off now.By mid-November, Denis and New Jersey&rsquo;s Martin Brodeur were the only goalies to start all of their team&rsquo;s games. Denis was at 16 straight and still going strong.&ldquo;This is my opportunity,&rdquo; Denis said. &ldquo;I want to grab it and not let go of it. I want to seize it.&rdquo;So far, so good. It can be said that, at his worst this season, Denis has been good. The rest of the time he has ranged between very good and outstanding.On Nov. 12, Denis stopped 46 of 51 shots in a 5-4 loss to Colorado. Two nights later, he stopped 41 of 44 in a 3-2 loss to Anaheim.At 7-8-1, Denis was only two wins short of his total last season. He had a 2.89 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-08229/8021068-1-eng-US/f0014-082.jpg" title="f0014-08" width="236" height="288"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Nash</figcaption></div>ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Rick Nash, LW. So far his slick moves and puck sense have led to many chances and only a few goals, but Nash&rsquo;s &ldquo;ooh and ahh&rdquo; factor has been through the roof. Most of his chances have come on rushes. Once he learns how to finish, look out.Derrick Walser, D. Walser has been a pleasant surprise, especially with his play on the second power play unit. His skating and his offensive skills are NHL caliber, but his size (5-foot-10, 196) is a hindrance and his defense must get better.Lasse Pirjeta, RW. The Jackets still don&rsquo;t have a good read on Pirjeta, a 28-year-old Finn who played just three games before separating his shoulder Oct. 14. He could return at the end of this month.NOTEBOOK Columbus was able to hover around .500 in the early going partly because of strong work from the power play. The Blue Jackets were 22 of 93 (23.7 percent) with the man advantage after 16 games. They were seven of 88 (eight per cent) after 16 games last season&hellip;Left winger Geoff Sanderson scored his 10th goal of the year in a 3-2 loss to Anaheim Nov. 14. Sanderson had just 11 goals in 2001-02 when injuries limited him to 42 games. &#9632;

f0014-07

Opportunity to shine not lost on Denis

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Chuck Carlton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011682/8021106-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="222" height="228"></div>Of all the slumps the streaky Scott Young has had in his career, this one might have been the longest and most vexing.The right winger waited 17 games and 42 shots, bouncing from line to line, before finally scoring his first goal as a Dallas Star. Young beat the Washington goalie Olaf Kolzig on a wrist shot Nov. 13 to end the suffering.His last regular season goal had come April 14 against Detroit, when Young was still playing for the St. Louis Blues.&ldquo;Mentally, I come into every game positive and looking forward to playing,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;But there are a lot of times I get down thinking about the overall picture of things - how I wanted to come in here with a great start on a new team and establish myself.&ldquo;When you think about it, you get a little depressed because that isn&rsquo;t the way it went.&rdquo;No matter how much Young tried to block it out, reality intruded. He had wanted to do well immediately after signing a two-year, $7-million contract this summer as an unrestricted free agent.Now that the burden has been lifted, the Stars expect to see a more confident player on offense. Even during his long drought, Young managed a plus-5 rating.ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Niko Kapanen, C. Kapanen has been the one surprise on a veteranladen team. At 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, he&rsquo;s a skilled center with good enough instincts to play point on the power play and also kill penalties. He compiled a four-game point streak on a line with Rob DiMaio and Jere Lehtinen and had eight points through 18 games. But will he be able to take the NHL&rsquo;s physical punishment on a regular basis?NOTEBOOK Left winger Pierre Turgeon recorded his 1,200th career point Nov. 12 in Montreal, where he once served as the Canadiens captain. He became the 37th player to reach that plateau. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;m proud of,&rdquo; Turgeon said. &ldquo;I think it does mean something special being in Montreal.&rdquo;&hellip;Despite playing 12 of their first 18 games on the road, the Stars&rsquo; 10-4-3-1 start left them with 24 points, good for the top spot in the Western Conference&hellip;Equipment manager Dave Smith worked his 2,000th NHL game Nov. 10 against the New York Islanders. &#9632;

f0015-01

Young’s torment ends with first goal of year

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Nicholas J. Cotsonika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021197/8021137-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="219" height="224"></div>Detroit GM Ken Holland was exploring trade and free agent options after learning his third-best defenseman, the blossoming Jiri Fischer, could be out of action until the playoffs or beyond with a serious knee injury.&ldquo;There are a number of options out there that are intriguing, one or two guys are more intriguing than others,&rdquo; Holland said. &ldquo;I have had some teams call me. Some things have been thrown at me. We&rsquo;re wading through it.&rdquo;Fischer tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a Nov. 12 game against Nashville and is expected to miss four-to-six months.One possibility for Holland was signing former Wing Steve Duchesne. The Wings contacted former San Jose defenseman Gary Suter, but he wasn&rsquo;t interested in coming out of retirement.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s enjoying his family life too much,&rdquo; Wings defenseman Chris Chelios. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s too bad, because he could still play. But who knows? January or February, maybe he&rsquo;ll change his mind.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Henrik Zetterberg, RW. Sweden&rsquo;s player of the year last season has shown flashes of impressive skill. He had three goals and four assists through 12 games, but he sat out three games with a groin injury and has looked more comfortable at center.Dmitri Bykov, D. After missing training camp because of immigration problems, Bykov sat out eight games with a shoulder injury. He was minus-4 in seven games.Jesse Wallin, D. Wallin has been himself when he has played: solid, not spectacular. With Fischer out, he might pair with Chris Chelios and see his first significant ice time.Jason Williams, C. Williams has done everything from play on the power play to sit out as a scratch. He had two goals and three assists in nine games.NOTEBOOK When the Wings went to the White House, President George W. Bush said the roster. &ldquo;looks like the United Nations. It&rsquo;s a remarkable feat that you&rsquo;ve got all these stars from different parts of the world aiming in the same direction. Darren McCarty put it this, way: &lsquo;The bottom line is, we&rsquo;re all fighting to do it together.&rsquo;&rdquo; McCarty, a right winger, couldn&rsquo;t believe the president quoted him. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had some cool stuff happen to me in my life,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s right up there.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0015-02

Wings explore options after injury to Fischer

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Rob Tychkowski</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03837/8021168-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="218" height="224"></div>When they acquired Jiri Dopita, the Edmonton Oilers thought they had found the strong second-line scoring threat they had been searching for.Well, through 16 games this much is clear: The search continues.Dopita has been a near bust since Edmonton picked him up for draft choices in an off-season trade with Philadelphia. For his $1.75-million salary, Dopita produced no goals, three points and a minus-5 rating in 13 games. In that time he managed just 12 shots on net.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been totally dissatisfied with his play,&rdquo; said GM Kevin Lowe &ldquo;He just hasn&rsquo;t produced.&rdquo;Dopita was placed on waivers Nov. 11 to free up a roster spot and didn&rsquo;t get a sniff.&ldquo;In my mind, we didn&rsquo;t want to put any of our young guys on waivers,&rdquo; said Lowe, who moved Dopita to the injured list when he cleared. &ldquo;So he was the first candidate. It&rsquo;s not a shot at him.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Ales Hemsky, RW. A 19-year-old Czech with eye-popping skills, Hemsky has started to come around after a slow start. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s looking more comfortable lately,&rdquo; Lowe said. &ldquo;I like the chemistry on the line with Ethan Moreau and Marty Reasoner.&rdquo;Ales Pisa, D. Pisa had a disappointing training camp and started the year with Hamilton in the American League. He&rsquo;s back now and is looking more effective. He has good mobility, puckhandling skills and an eye for offense, although he had yet to show it on the scoresheet.Jason Chimera, LW. With great speed and decent size at 6-foot-2 and 204 pounds, Chimera looks very good some nights and isn&rsquo;t really noticed on others. If he can find the consistency that made him a minor pro all-star, he&rsquo;ll be a big addition.NOTEBOOK Center Todd Marchant made no attempt to hide his contempt for Minnesota center Cliff Ronning after watching what he felt were Ronning dives in a Nov. 12 Oilers-Wild game. &ldquo;Cliff Ronning is an embarrassment to the sport,&rdquo; Marchant said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s ridiculous he went down twice like that.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;The Wild has never beaten Edmonton in 11 attempts&hellip;The Oilers fell behind 2-0 in seven of their first 16 games&hellip;The Edmonton penalty kill dropped from third in the NHL (88.8 per cent) on Oct. 28 to 22nd (81.8) on Nov. 14. &#9632;

f0015-03

Pivot Dopita no answer to Oilers’ scoring woes

<div class="byline">&#x2013;David J. Neal</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011639/8021206-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="220" height="228"></div>Getting traded to the Florida Panthers just prior to the start of the regular season seemed to be a frying pan-into-the-fire deal for goalie Jani Hurme, at least until early November.Hurme wants to be a No. 1 and is a restricted free agent after this season. Roberto Luongo has the No. 1 job, projections of greatness and still has two more years on his contract. In addition, there was coach Mike Keenan, known for using his No. 2 goalie less often than most people floss.But Luongo was sidelined with a stiff back on Nov. 6, so got Hurme his second start of the season. He stayed in for the next four games.In his first six starts, the Panthers went 2-0-2-2. Not to mention, Hurme boasted a 1.57 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage over that span.&ldquo;They can compete and they can both contribute,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a good thing for the club. There&rsquo;s 82 games. You have to have spot-on goaltending to stay in the playoff hunt in this league.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Jay Bouwmeester, D. He plays conservatively, but Bouwmeester has shown he is fast enough to lead a rush, then get back to face the counter-attack. Smart forwards look for his pinpoint home run passes. Bouwmeester occasionally gets beaten wide as he adjusts to the overall speed of the NHL.Stephen Weiss, C. Weiss&rsquo;s intensity wavered early, but he has shown superior passing skills and above-average twoway sense. Unfortunately, he is often saddled with linemates who don&rsquo;t have his vision and he rarely looks at the net himself. Also, his slight 5-foot-11, 183-pound frame makes him easy to bump off the puck.Ivan Majesky, D. Majesky&rsquo;s improved lateral mobility over the last year has allowed him to be a strong, physical barrier to the net. He delivers at least one dump-on-your-bum hit per game. His passing skills are good, but he isn&rsquo;t an offensive factor.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021274/8021199-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="236" height="288"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stephen Weiss</figcaption></div>NOTEBOOK The point produced in Florida&rsquo;s 3-2 overtime loss to Ottawa Nov. 14 allowed the Panthers to gain a point in six consecutive games (2-0-2-2) for the first time since November, 1996. The Panthers lost two of the six games in overtime and beat the Calgary Flames 3-0 in the only 60-minute game&hellip;Centers Byron Ritchie and Ryan Johnson both passed through waivers unclaimed. Neither Ritchie nor Johnson were sent to the minors, indicating the Panthers were attempting to dump their salaries onto another team. &#9632;

f0016-01

Trade from Senators and injury to Luongo allows Hurme to shine

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Matt McHale</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04725/8021237-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="243" height="289"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexander Frolov</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03959/8021244-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="225" height="227"></div>Ziggy Palffy has a problem and does not seem to have a solution.Maybe if that shot had gone in against Toronto instead of hitting the crossbar, or the puck hadn&rsquo;t stopped under the goaltender in Vancouver, Palffy wouldn&rsquo;t be wondering why he had just one goal six weeks into the season.There are plenty of explanations for his slump: the strained groin that forced him to miss six of seven games in late October and new linemates in the absence of injured center Jason Allison. &ldquo;But none of that matters,&rdquo; Palffy said. &ldquo;I am the one that is supposed to step up. I am the one the other guys look to. I&rsquo;m just not seeing the other guys on the ice. This has been awful.&rdquo;Palffy acknowledges his strained left groin gets tight at the end of games. After opening the season on a line with Eric Belanger and Bryan Smolinski, Palffy has been playing with Adam Deadmarsh and rookie Mike Cammalleri.Palffy, who will earn $7 million this year, led the Kings with 32 goals last season even though he missed nearly two months with back and rib injuries. He had 38 goals the year before and scored 40 goals three times with the New York Islanders.&ldquo;We definitely need him,&rdquo; said Kings coach Andy Murray. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a better team when Ziggy is Ziggy He has not been the whole story But when Ziggy is playing like he can, he is always a threat.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Alexander Frolov, LW. The 6-foot-4, 191-pound Russian has shown great maturity at age 20. One of his five goals this season was a nifty wraparound effort in which he had the foresight to reach around the goalie and deposit the puck inside the far post.Jaroslav Bednar, RW. After disappointing in 22 games with the Kings last year, Bednar received regular ice time this season. The problem: the 26-year-old is playing on checking lines and not able to display the moves that made him a star in the Czech Republic.Mike Cammalleri, C. The Kings touted the diminutive pivot (5-foot-9, 180 pounds) as a strong candidate to make the team out of training camp. He left Michigan with one year of college eligibility remaining, but got off to a slow start. He was recalled in November to replace the injured Allison.NOTEBOOK Left winger Adam Deadmarsh was being treated for a sore neck that could be related to the torn disc he suffered in Game 4 of last season&rsquo;s first round playoff loss to Colorado. He was leading the Kings with nine goals, though seven came in three games. &#9632;

f0016-04

Plenty of explanations, but none good enough for Palffy’s poor play

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05527/8021275-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0016-05

NHL TELEVISION DIRECTORY FOR UPCOMING GAMES

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Chip Scoggins</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011465/8021306-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="222" height="226"></div>Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said repeatedly throughout the Wild&rsquo;s blazing start that it was only a matter of time before his team hit a few bumps in the road.Lemaire&rsquo;s club received its first dose of adversity in early November with losses in four of six games. The Wild players, however, believe they are better equipped - mentally and physically - to overcome discouraging moments before they snowball into prolonged slumps.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s happening is just normal,&rdquo; said Lemaire. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt we haven&rsquo;t gotten the breaks lately like we did at first. Now, we make one mistake and it&rsquo;s in the net. It&rsquo;s nothing to get excited about. We knew it (would) be like this.&rdquo;Lemaire has been especially pleased with his team&rsquo;s ability to bounce back after tough losses. The Wild lost consecutive games only once in their first 18 games, another sign of the club&rsquo;s maturity.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve talked about that a lot,&rdquo; said captain Brad Bombardir. &ldquo;Good teams are able to bounce back and nip things in the bud after losses. We&rsquo;re really focused on doing that.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Pierre-Marc Bouchard, C. The Wild had every intention of sending their 18-year-old first round pick (eighth overall) back to junior at the start of the regular season. However, Bouchard&rsquo;s confidence grew by the day and he earned a spot. The team is taking a careful approach to his development, playing him only in selected games to protect his confidence. What he lacks in size (5-foot-9, 162 pounds) he makes up for in intelligence and savvy.Stephane Veilleux, LW. Veilleux started the season in the minors, but got the call when Bill Muckalt went down with a shoulder injury. He cracked the lineup 11 straight games and has spent a lot of time playing on the checking line.NOTEBOOK Coach Jacques Lemaire initially wanted to ease defenseman Andrei Zyuzin into the lineup after the team claimed him off waivers Nov. 2 from New Jersey. But after sitting out the first game, Zyuzin has been one of the Wild&rsquo;s workhorses along the blueline. He is averaging 21 minutes of ice time per game and plays in every situation. &#9632;

f0017-01

First dose of adversity doesn’t trouble Wild

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021138/8021337-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="219" height="228"></div>The man who figured to be the undisputed first-string goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens this season claims he can live with being a parttime player.Jose Theodore said he and Jeff Hackett are comfortable with the current arrangement, which sees the two sharing the job.&ldquo;I enjoy having Jeff around,&rdquo; Theodore said. &ldquo;He has been a big help to me &ldquo;He has given us some important points in the standings.&rdquo;Hackett, 36, has done more than that. He has outplayed Theodore, who captured the Hart and Vezina Trophies, as the NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player and top goalie last season.Hackett is undefeated in seven games, with four wins and two ties. He has a 2.09 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. Although Theodore has registered the team&rsquo;s only shutout, he has a poor record of 2-5-2 after nine games, along with a 3.47 GAA and .888 save percentage.Hackett, earning $3.6 million this season and eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, still figures to be traded, but the team must retain him as insurance until Theodore ends his slump.ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Ron Hainsey, D. The 6-foot-3, 211-pound Hainsey displayed a good scoring touch during the exhibition schedule, but failed to register a regular season point before being assigned to Hamilton of the American League Nov. 8. He was a healthy scratch for four games and was averaging fewer than 11 minutes per game before his demotion. With the Canadiens carrying only six defensemen, Hainsey&rsquo;s minor league stint figures to be short, as the organization remains bullish on his talent.NOTEBOOK Captain Saku Koivu, who missed most of last season with abdominal cancer, launched a charitable foundation in his own name to raise $8 million for a PET/CAT Scan machine, vital both in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The province of Quebec has only two such machines. The closest one to Montreal is located in Sherbrooke, Que., 90 miles away. Koivu will donate $1,000 for every point the Canadiens earn during the regular season and said he&rsquo;d add $100,000 should they win the Stanley Cup. Team president Pierre Boivin promised to match the donations, dollar for dollar. It is estimated the foundation will still have to raise $2.5 million from the public. &#9632;

f0017-02

Outplayed by Hackett, Theodore rides pine

<div class="byline">&#x2013;David Boclair</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03823/8021368-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="219" height="228"></div>Injuries have had an effect on every aspect of the Nashville Predators&rsquo; season but none more than the penalty kill.With captain Greg Johnson (concussion), Scott Walker (chest), Vitali Yachmenev (thumb) and Denis Pederson (arm) all out indefinitely, the Predators lost their top four penalty-killing forwards - all within a span of three weeks.As of mid-November, the Predators had allowed at least one power play goal (11 in all) in nine straight games, four of which they lost by a single marker. Traditionally one of the team&rsquo;s strengths, the Preds&rsquo; penalty kill was at 80.3 per-cent efficiency as of Nov. 14 and has been in the bottom third of the league the entire season.Minor league right winger Wyatt Smith provided some relief, while offense-minded players such as David Legwand, Andreas Johansson and Vladimir Orszagh were thrust into double-duty on special teams.&ldquo;We&rsquo;d probably like to save some of their minutes for more offensive situations,&rdquo; said coach Barry Trotz. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s not a luxury we have right now.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Adam Hall, RW. The franchise&rsquo;s first college draft choice to make it to the NHL, Hall&rsquo;s strength and intelligence - along with injuries to teammates - have earned him plenty of opportunities early. With three power play goals in his first seven games, Hall, 22, was just two shy of Marian Cisar&rsquo;s franchise record for power play markers by a rookie.Vernon Fiddler, C. While management considers Fiddler, 22, a legitimate prospect, the feeling is the fact he has gone from a free agent in the East Coast League to playing in the NHL in a year - albeit, only because of injuries to other Predators - is too much to ask. He brings energy and aggressiveness.NOTEBOOK With only one assist through 15 games, right winger Scott Hartnell was off to the worst start of his three-year pro career. &ldquo;The trap you fall into is with higher expectations you think things are going to be easier,&rdquo; said coach Barry Trotz. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s (actually) harder.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Defenseman Kimmo Timonen&rsquo;s streak of 178 consecutive games played came to an end after he sustained a bruised right ankle when he blocked a shot Nov. 10 at Colorado. &#9632;

f0017-03

Penalty kill suffering with loss nf key vets

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011520/8021399-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="218" height="228"></div>While Joe Nieuwendyk struggled to find the net and Patrik Elias battled wavering confidence, the New Jersey Devils found a new gamebreaker.Right winger Jamie Langenbrunner stepped forward to score the winning goals in two key victories and establish himself as much more than just a checker.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not really a checker,&rdquo; said coach Pat Burns. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been playing on the power play That line (with John Madden and either Sergei Brylin or Jay Pandolfo at left wing) probably has been our most productive line. A lot of players would envy all the roles he is playing.&rdquo;The role Langenbrunner seemed to be playing best was that of a crunch-time sniper. His third-period shot past Roman Cechmanek was the only goal in a 1-0 victory over the Flyers. Two games later he scored twice, including the winning goal in overtime as the Devils came from behind to defeat Anaheim.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely satisfying,&rdquo; Langenbrunner said. &ldquo;I think this is a team that will have contributions from different lines. We have guys who haven&rsquo;t scored yet who you know will. That&rsquo;s encouraging for us.&rdquo;Langenbrunner had five goals in 13 games, tying Madden for the team lead. Only Madden and Scott Gomez had more points.&ldquo;Huge numbers can happen playing any role,&rdquo; Langenbrunner said. &ldquo;Do I go out to score big numbers? No. We go out to play defensive first.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Christian Berglund, RW. When injuries earned him a recall from Albany (AHL), Berglund impressed coach Pat Burns by bringing some energy to the Elias line and crashing the opposing net.Mike Danton, C. Able to change the tempo of a game with his crashing style, Danton surprised many with his accurate shot. The question is not whether he is good enough to stay in the NHL, but whether he can get along with GM Lou Lamoriello and coach Pat Burns enough to remain a Devil.NOTEBOOK The Devils failed to score a power play goal in nine of their first 13 games. Going 5-for-62 was easily dead last in the league&hellip;Looking to light a fire under Patrik Elias, coach Pat Burns moved him, at least temporarily, from left wing to center. &#9632;

f0018-01

Langenbrunner sizzles while others fizzle

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Peter Botte</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021160/8021430-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="219" height="225"></div>Michael Peca made another unexpected return to the ice for the New York Islanders. Once again, his stay was brief.Making his first full appearance since he underwent surgeries on his left knee and left shoulder in May, Peca played just 5:05 before he suffered a mild sprain in his right knee Nov. 14 in a 4-1 loss to Boston.The rehabbed captain got entangled with Boston forward P. J. Axelsson behind the net with the Isles on a power-play 1:10 into the second period. Peca awkwardly spun around and hobbled to the bench, where he smashed his stick in frustration. He didn&rsquo;t return and the team&rsquo;s training staff listed him as day-to-day.&ldquo;The surgically repaired parts of my body felt great,&rdquo; Peca said. &ldquo;The healthy side let me down.&rdquo;Peca, who wasn&rsquo;t slated to be back until early December, also had made a 27-second cameo Nov. 2 against St. Louis in a motivational stunt that admittedly backfired.Peca and coach Peter Lavio-lette strongly denied the Isles&rsquo; 5-10-1-0 record through Nov. 14 was a factor in Peca returning about three weeks before his originally stated target date.&ldquo;The doctors told me I&rsquo;m 100 per-cent medically cleared to go and that nothing is holding me back,&rdquo; Peca said.ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Eric Manlow, C. Last year it was Shawn Bates. This year, it&rsquo;s Manlow. Laviolette dipped into his AHL past again to aide his NHL present, and the 27-year-old Manlow has become the latest player to take advantage of that pipeline. A journeyman forward who had played 11 NHL games before this season, Manlow spent two of his seven minor league seasons playing for Laviolette in Providence. A smart player, especially defensively, he has been used in all situations. He even scored his first two NHL goals over two straight games for the Isles Nov. 11-13. Manlow was the only first-year player on the roster as of Nov. 14.NOTEBOOK Calder-eligible forwards Raffi Torres, Justin Mapletoft, Trent Hunter and Mattias Weinhandl were returned to Bridgeport after brief stints with the Isles&hellip;The Isles&rsquo; 5-11-1-0 start was their worst 17-game opening since 1995-96 (3-12-1)&hellip;Center Alexei Yashin, the team&rsquo;s top scorer last season, had just five goals and 11 points in 17 games. &#9632;

f0018-02

Islander captain Peca suffers another injury

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03835/8021461-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="219" height="231"></div>For the second time this season, New York Rangers rookie coach Bryan Trottier sent Krzysztof Oliwa onto the ice and precipitated a melee at the end of a lopsided loss.This time, Trottier, Oliwa and the team paid dearly for it.Trottier was suspended for two games, Oliwa for five and the team was fined $25,000 and winger Sandy McCarthy $1,000 for a post-game slugfest at Columbus Nov. 9. Oliwa, whose suspension was for crosschecking Blue Jackets forward Grant Marshall, will forfeit $24,305.55 in salary.&ldquo;We accept it,&rdquo; Trottier said, adding he was advised not to comment further.With 2.8 seconds left in the game, Trottier put Oliwa, McCarthy and Matthew Barnaby (no centers or defensemen among them) on for the final faceoff of a 4-on-3 Columbus power play.Referee Kerry Fraser warned Oliwa and his linemates the league would &ldquo;throw the book&rdquo; at them if there was any trouble. Oliwa, who earlier had his nose broken by Columbus winger Jody Shelley, immediately attacked Marshall. McCarthy pummeled Tyler Wright.ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Jamie Landmark, RW. After a terrific training camp, scoring six goals while playing mostly on a line with Bobby Holik, Lundmark rarely played with Holik when the season began and produced just one assist before being sent to Hartford of the American League.NOTEBOOK Goalie Mike Richter finally went to Montreal to see concussion specialist Dr. Karen Johnston Nov. 14. He had been sidelined with concussion-like symptoms after taking a knee to the mask from Oiler center Todd Marchant Nov. 5. Richter&rsquo;s season ended last March with a fractured skull and a severe concussion&hellip;Center Eric Lindros was in a career-high 14-game goal slump. Linemate Pavel Bure was on an eightgame pointless streak. &#9632;

f0018-03

Rangers pay big-time tor post-game brawl

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04553/8021492-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="720" height="806"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05372/8021499-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="217" height="227"></div>The defensemen on the Ottawa Senators are nervous these days - with good reason.With the signing of restricted free agent Karel Rachunek, the Senators have eight healthy defenders and GM John Muckier has made it clear it&rsquo;s not going to stay that way.Once the 23-year-old Rachunek returns from his two-week conditioning stint with the American League affiliate in Binghamton, somebody is going to be traded or waived.&ldquo;All you have to do is look at the numbers and you know that we&rsquo;re going to have too many when Karel gets back,&rdquo; said defenseman Chris Phillips.&ldquo;You know that he&rsquo;s been good for this team in the past and once he&rsquo;s ready to return they&rsquo;re going to have to find a spot for him. I&rsquo;m sure that his coming back has got everybody thinking about what&rsquo;s going to happen.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Jason Spezza, C. Given the opportunity to play on the top two lines, Spezza has shown flashes of brilliance offensively, but the club would like him to work on his awareness in the defensive zone.Martin Prusek, G. The 26-year-old Prusek, who plays like Dominik Hasek, had one start in the first 12 games of the regular season, but recorded a 5-3 victory over the Islanders in his Nov. 13 debut.Anton Volchenkov, D. He hasn&rsquo;t been as physical as he was during the pre-season, but that might be a case of not taking as many risks in the NHL. Volchenkov has shown he&rsquo;s willing to jump up into the play and he&rsquo;s quick enough to get back. Even with the crowd on the blueline, he&rsquo;s not going to be sent to the minors unless his play slips well below acceptable.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Karel Rachunek wasn&rsquo;t happy with the decision to send him to Binghamton (AHL) for a two-week conditioning stint. Asked if he minded going down, Rachunek told reporters: &ldquo;What choice do I have?&rdquo;SPECIAL SKILLS Ottawa rookie center Jason Spezza had two goals and six points - all on the power play - in his first 10 NHL games. &#9632;

f0018-04

Crowded blueline has defenders worried

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011398/8021568-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="221" height="225"></div>With just four goals in his first 17 games with Phoenix, Tony Amonte was getting frustrated, but he wasn&rsquo;t approaching panic mode.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s coming. It&rsquo;s coming slow, but it&rsquo;s coming,&rdquo; said Amonte, whom the Coyotes signed to a four-year, $24-million free-agent deal last summer.&ldquo;I can feel it starting to swing. I&rsquo;m getting a lot more scoring chances out there, so I know it&rsquo;ll start to turn around. I&rsquo;ve just got to keep working at it.&rdquo;Amonte was a minus-6, but he was still tied for the team scoring lead with 11 points and was beginning to show signs of emerging from his slow start.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing hard. He&rsquo;s playing well. He&rsquo;s just not getting the results,&rdquo; said coach Bobby Francis. &ldquo;But he can&rsquo;t get frustrated and let it affect his overall play.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Branko Radivojevic, RW. Scouting guru Dave Draper drafted the 21-year-old Slovak in Colorado and the Coyotes pounced on him when he became available as a free agent. GM Mike Barnett calls the power for-ward-in-the-making a clone of Esa Tikkanen, saying, &ldquo;He makes something happen on every single shift.&rdquo;Patrick DesRochers, G. The Coyotes aren&rsquo;t exactly sure what they have in DesRochers, whom they selected 14th overall in 1998. Sometimes, he&rsquo;s brilliant. Other times, he leaves you scratching your head. But he has size (6-foot-4) and decent technique. The scuttlebutt is that he needs to play with more passion and care more about making it in the NHL, even with a logjam in front of him.NOTEBOOK Left winger Ladislav Nagy was a healthy scratch for the first time in his Phoenix career Nov. 11 at Tampa Bay. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going on in his head right now,&rdquo; said coach Bobby Francis&hellip;The Coyotes were near the top of the league with 89 man-games lost to injury after their first 18 games&hellip;GM Mike Barnett continued to talk trades with several clubs about acquiring a center. Most clubs want forward Shane Doan in return, but Barnett has no plans to move him&hellip;Looking for a new home after signing as a free agent with Phoenix in the summer, right winger Tony Amonte wound up purchasing the house once belonging to pro golfer Phil Mickleson. &#9632;

f0019-01

‘Frustrated’ Amonte aiming to end drought

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-021051/8021599-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="223" height="228"></div>Four games into his comeback, Martin Straka hardly resembled a player trying to return from a broken leg and season-threatening back injury. He resembled the Straka of old, speeding all over the ice and filling the scoresheet.After missing 69 games in 2001-02 and the first 11 this season, Straka rejoined the Penguins Nov. 6 at Florida and had two assists. He had a goal and four points in his first four games, fulfilling Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s prediction that he would return at full speed.As an added bonus, Straka got to join Lemieux on the top line in his fourth game.&ldquo;Very good, no problems so far,&rdquo; Straka reported. &ldquo;I felt great to be out there. I was sore after the first game and the second game, but after the third game, I felt a little bit better. No complaints. It&rsquo;ll take a few more games before I can shoot the puck the way I want to.&rdquo;The only unfortunate part of Straka&rsquo;s comeback was that the team went winless. That was part of the reason coach Rick Kehoe shook up his top two lines. He moved Straka and Alexandre Daigle to Lemieux&rsquo;s line, and dropped Alexei Kovalev and a slumping Aleksey Morozov to the second line, where they skated with Jan Hrdina.The Lemieux-Kovalev-Morozov line started the season hot and had accounted for 57 per cent of the Penguins goals at the time they were broken up. Lemieux said the trio started standing around too much.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t go 82 games at the pace that we were on,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Guys get a little tired and stop thinking about what they have to do on the ice, and that&rsquo;s what happened. That&rsquo;s when you make changes.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT There are no rookies or first-year players on Pittsburgh&rsquo;s roster.NOTEBOOK Veteran center Kent Manderville, who sustained cuts near his eye and on his arm this season, was experimenting with a faoial shield&hellip;Defenseman Marc Bergevin scored his first goal in 45 games Nov. 14 at Minnesota&hellip;Right winger Vladimir Vujtek, who signed a $600,000 contract with Pittsburgh last summer, was released to play for HC Vitkovice of the Czech Extraleague this season. Vujtek had just one assist and was a minus-4 in five games with the Penguins. &#9632;

f0019-02

Injury-plagued Straka returns to past form

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Derrick Goold</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03723/8021630-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="222" height="225"></div>Based on his first game as a Blue, don&rsquo;t count on Tom Barrasso taking over that No. 1 job from Fred Brathwaite just yet.Barrasso made his Blues debut Nov. 12 in Vancouver and saw 18 shots in the second period alone, which is more rubber than he may see in some games with the defensively devout Blues. He was clearly rusty and allowed six goals on 35 shots. When the Blues needed to get risky to rally, Barrasso didn&rsquo;t weather Vancouver&rsquo;s counters.&ldquo;There were a lot of little sloppy errors that I know I can fix,&rdquo; said Barrasso, 37.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a different sense of urgency when you play in a game that&rsquo;s not there in practice.&rdquo;With Brent Johnson (high ankle sprain) oscillating from skating to aching, Barrasso and Brathwaite will share the goaltending chores. Coach Joel Quenneville interrupted Brathwaite&rsquo;s successful run of six wins in seven starts to get Barrasso in at the beginning of a Western Canada swing.ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Petr Cajanek, C. It&rsquo;s because of Cajenek&rsquo;s two-way ability that the Blues were able to branch into three scoring lines. Defensively scrappy, Cajanek has been assigned to shadow top centers and his role on the penalty kill is expanding.Barret Jackman, D. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t compliment the kid enough,&rdquo; said Al MacInnis of his partner. A defensively sound physical presence for the Blues, undaunted by enforcers and vets alike, Jackman is also remarkably poised. His teammates say he looks 13 seasons into his career, not 13 games into his first full season.Tom Koivisto, D. A 28-year-old Finn, Koivisto has impressed with his skating and puck-handling ability. Not the biggest of blueliners at 5-foot-10 and 194 pounds, he will likely blossom into a power play specialist whose skating skill will make him tricky to beat.NOTEBOOK Left winger Keith Tkachuk, who fractured his left foot Oct. 30, returned to the ice on the Blues&rsquo; Western Canadian road trip Nov. 12-16. He skated informally, but said the assigned four-to-six-week recovery time would be reached. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like watching,&rdquo; Tkachuk said&hellip;Center Doug Weight tied a career best with points in 10 consecutive games. He had 19 points during that stretch. &#9632;

f0019-03

Barrasso’s Blues debut doesn’t go as planned

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Ross McKeon</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02928/8021661-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="659" height="957"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011296/8021668-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="216" height="224"></div>In the end, Brad Stuart got his multi-year contract. But the 23-year-old defenseman will be earning less the first of three years than he would have made had he not held out and signed for San Jose&rsquo;s qualifying offer of $1,025,000 in training camp.Because Stuart&rsquo;s $1.25 million salary this season is prorated for the 16 games he missed while withholding services, Stuart will make less. All told, his three-year deal (both sides hold options for 2004-05) is worth approximately $5 million.&ldquo;In the end it&rsquo;s he and I who have to work together and the win-lose aspect doesn&rsquo;t help anyone in these situations,&rdquo; said GM Dean Lombardi.&ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t trying to prove anything from the start,&rdquo; Stuart said. &ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t trying to set a standard, we were just trying to get something we were comfortable with and what you think is right. That&rsquo;s all we tried to do.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Lynn Loyns, LW. A healthy scratch for most of the season&rsquo;s first month, Loyns was inserted on the fourth line in November and displayed a knack for strong forechecking and skating. As a bonus, he popped in the first two goals of his career Nov. 5. A long-shot during training camp, Loyns was singled out by coach Darryl Sutter as the only player who outright won a roster spot in pre-season.Jonathan Cheechoo, RW. Unable to contribute with more than one goal in the season&rsquo;s first month, Cheechoo first dropped to the fourth line then out of the lineup as a healthy scratch. He is best suited for the offensive end and is strong in the corners.NOTEBOOK Left winger Scott Thornton returned Nov. 11 after missing the team&rsquo;s first 14 games due to the second arthroscopic procedure on his injured left shoulder in six months&hellip;After dressing as a backup the first two games back in the fold, goalie Evgeni Nabokov played every minute of seven straight games from Oct. 27 to Nov. 9 before Miikka Kiprusoff finally started Nov. 11 against the Rangers.SLUMPING SHARK Rookie right winger Jonathan Cheechoo had just one goal through 11 games and was averaging 7:43 minutes per game. &#9632;

f0020-02

Sharks sign Stuart, end contract impasse

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Damian Cristodero</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03661/8021699-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="219" height="224"></div>Pavel Kubina could not recall the last time he was a healthy scratch. &ldquo;When I was younger,&rdquo; said the defenseman. &ldquo;But in the last three or four years I can&rsquo;t remember. Maybe my first year as a rookie.&rdquo;Kubina was scratched Nov. 11 against Phoenix after a six-game stretch in which he had two assists and was minus-5. He has no goals, seven assists and is minus-3 on the season. He admitted trying to live up to the two-year, $4.75-million contract he signed over the summer has added pressure.&ldquo;I signed a great deal and you have to put a lot of pressure on yourself,&rdquo; Kubina said. &ldquo;When I started 10 games and we won seven of 10, I thought I played pretty well defensively, but the offense wasn&rsquo;t there.&rdquo;That lack of offense has contributed to a woeful power play that was in an 8-for-71 stretch over 11 games. Twenty of Kubina&rsquo;s 40 goals have come with the man advantage.&ldquo;The last resort you want to do is sit guys out, especially your core people,&rdquo; said coach John Tortorella. &ldquo;But if it&rsquo;s not working one way, it&rsquo;s got to be done another.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to watch the games and learn,&rdquo; Kubina said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all I can do.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Alexander Svitov, C. Svitov was considered the most NHL-ready player in the 2001 draft, but the 19-year-old Russian, the No. 3 overall pick, has struggled while averaging only 8:25 of ice time. To get him more minutes, Tampa Bay sent Svitov on a three-game conditioning assignment to American League Springfield. Svitov is positionally sound and defensively aware and his upside is enormous. But despite a rocket wrist shot, he has just one assist.NOTEBOOK Left winger Dave Andreychuk scored his 249th power play goal in a 4-2 victory over Phoenix Nov. 11, tying Phil Esposito&rsquo;s record. It was his fifth goal of the season and 598th of his career. &#9632;

f0020-03

Lucrative new contract affects Kubina’s game

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04449/8021737-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="218" height="224"></div>Shayne Corson has been called many things - mostly by opponents - during his 17-year NHL career, but he couldn&rsquo;t believe the things he was reading and hearing about himself as Toronto stumbled through the season&rsquo;s first month.Corson, 36, was a lightning rod for much of the criticism directed at the Leafs this season and with two goals and four points in 16 games, wasn&rsquo;t making a huge offensive contribution. But what really had him rankled were published reports that portrayed him as a malcontent in the dressing room and a player the team was trying to dump.One report, based on anonymous sources, maintained that Corson is not liked by his teammates and is a cancer in the dressing room. Another report suggested the Leafs were so eager to trade him that they were trying to deal teammate and brother-in-law Darcy Tucker in order to get Corson to waive his no-trade clause. There was also speculation the Leafs were trying to package Tucker and Corson together, but were having trouble getting a deal done because teams didn&rsquo;t want to take Corson.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05258/8021730-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="236" height="288"><figcaption class="caption-body">Karel Pilar</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s sad when things are reported that have no substance and that&rsquo;s what bugs us as players,&rdquo; Corson, 36, said. &ldquo;You (media) guys can write that we&rsquo;re playing badly and we are and we have to accept that, but the things that have been said in the papers (recently) are ridiculous.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Karel Pilar, D. The Leafs were counting on the 24-year-old to be their fourth defenseman, but Pilar faltered badly, especially in his own end, and was sent to the minors in mid-November.NOTEBOOK After seeing action in just two of Toronto&rsquo;s 15 games, defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo was returned to Erie of the Ontario League Nov. 11&hellip;Former Leaf defenseman Jim McKenny, 56, suffered a massive heart attack while on vacation in Jamaica Nov. 7 and was rushed by air ambulance to Miami, where he had an emergency angioplasty performed. He is expected to make a recovery. &ldquo;He should be dead,&rdquo; said his wife Christine Johnson. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t die because he&rsquo;s too stubborn.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0020-04

‘Ridiculous’ rumors frustrate Corson, Leafs

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06204/8021768-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="219" height="223"></div>An afterthought at training camp, Canucks forward Todd Warriner has been one of the team&rsquo;s most pleasant surprises in the first five weeks of the new season.Warriner was brought to camp strictly as a depth player, one who would be in and out of the lineup and maybe see limited minutes when he did dress.But Warriner, the fourth overall pick by Quebec in 1992, has become a productive regular in the Canucks&rsquo; forward corps.His resurrection included hitting the ice on Vancouver&rsquo;s second unit power play.&ldquo;Being on the power play is a good sign that they want me to do things,&rdquo; said Warriner, who took a huge pay cut - from $1.1 million to $500,000 - to remain with the Canucks. &ldquo;The puck seems to be following me around a little bit.&rdquo;The 28-year-old journeyman had four goals in his first 13 appearances, which doubled his meagre output of two accomplished last season split between Phoenix and Vancouver.Warriner also spent 32 games in the minors in 2001-02.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s fun here right now,&rdquo; Warriner said. &ldquo;I just want to win and be around this team.&rdquo;ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Fedor Fedorov, RW. The Canucks&rsquo; top prospect, 21-year-old Fedorov lasted seven games and had one assist before he was sent to Manitoba of the American League for more ice time and experience. With his skill and promise, Fedorov is expected back as soon as an offensive forward goes down with an injury or the team dries up completely and needs an energy boost.NOTEBOOK Canucks coach Marc Crawford finally split up the unproductive Sedin brothers, elevating center Henrik to a scoring line and relegating left winger Daniel to a checking unit&hellip;Goalie Dan Cloutier had his first meltdown on home ice when he went after the Blues&rsquo; Scott Mellanby. The Canucks won the game 6-3 and Cloutier was hailed as a hero for firing up both his teammates and the crowd&hellip;Center Trevor Linden moved within one goal of Stan Smyl&rsquo;s franchise record when he netted his 261st in a Canuck uniform against the Blues&hellip;The Canucks have been yo-yoing defenseman Bryan Allen between Manitoba and the big club to keep him game-ready. Allen is No. 7 on the Canucks&rsquo; depth chart. &#9632;

f0020-06

Warriner’s resurrection follows huge pay cut

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-07176/8021799-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="216" height="223"></div>The Capitals have some of the most skilled and explosive offensive players in the league, but a problem has developed.The power play is sputtering and the first two lines are not working as cohesive units. Plan B might be right around the corner.Coach Bruce Cassidy decided early on that he wanted his most skilled players to have a lot of freedom on the ice to be creative and improvise.It isn&rsquo;t working the way it was drawn up - it might even be backfiring.The problem is, with that much freedom there are few set roles. For instance, breaking out of the zone on the power play has become a chore far more difficult that it should be.The team does OK once it gets into the offensive zone, but getting through the neutral zone has become a challenge.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just trying to get them on the same page,&rdquo; said Cassidy after he and right winger Jaromir Jagr chatted for 45 minutes on the ice after practice.ROOKIE REPORT&nbsp;Steve Eminger, D. Eminger made the team in his first season and has the talent that goes with being drafted 12th overall last summer. He is not awestruck, but is taking it slow and isn&rsquo;t being rushed into situations beyond those a 19-year-old can handle. He is an excellent skater, good passer and will play physically if needed.Alex Henry, D. The Capitals grabbed Henry off the waiver wire after Edmonton gave up on him. He has great size (6-foot-6, 225 pounds), but is a diamond in the rough. Team brass wants him to try playing the wing.Brian Sutherby, C. Sutherby didn&rsquo;t have a great camp and ended up in the minors as a wakeup call (plus an injury). He returned a solid, serious-minded player.NOTEBOOK Right winger Stephen Peat injured a hand fighting the Flyers&rsquo; Donald Brashear; he is expected to be out of action until late December&hellip;Defenseman Brendan Witt has been sidelined with a bruised shoulder. Tests show no serious damage. The Capitals missed the physical Witt, who was expected back sometime in late November&hellip;No Capitals defenseman scored during the team&rsquo;s first 14 games this season; Sergei Gonchar broke the ice in Game No. 15. &#9632;

f0020-07

Pitiful power play topic of discussion

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011000/8021830-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

NHL DEPTH CHARTS

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div>His status as the eighth overall pick in the 2001 draft - and first goalie taken - brought instant pressure for Pascal Leclaire.Taking over in the crease where J-F Labbe starred for two seasons intensified the expectations. But the most trying times for Leclaire may not be on the ice with the Syracuse Crunch, but in the kitchen of his apartment. Learning the pro game is easy compared to learning how to cook.&ldquo;I burned some steaks the first week,&rdquo; Leclaire said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never had to cook before, I&rsquo;ve been spoiled. I had really good billets (in junior) and I&rsquo;m an only child, so when I was growing up my mom was always there.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m learning. Once you make something the first time, it&rsquo;s pretty easy after that.&rdquo;Like life on the ice for the rookie pro&hellip;sort of. Heading into his second month in the American League, Leclaire had humble numbers - a 2-5-0 record, 4.42 goals-against average and .869 save percentage.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011128/8021861-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="283" height="359"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pascal Leclaire</figcaption></div>&ldquo;At times the old lack of support has hurt him,&rdquo; said Crunch coach Gary Agnew. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the numbers are indicative of the goals being scored on him. He&rsquo;s learning how to read the rush, where the most dangerous guy is. There have been a couple instances where he let a goal in he shouldn&rsquo;t have, or he thinks he shouldn&rsquo;t have. But overall, he has been excellent.&rdquo;That was the case in Hamilton Nov. 6, when Leclaire stopped 18 of 19 shots in the third period to preserve a 5-3 win. He celebrated his 20th birthday the next day.&ldquo;Since I was a kid, I never really looked at numbers,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If I have a bad night, it&rsquo;s over, I forget fast. I don&rsquo;t focus on it, I just try to learn from my mistakes.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just trying to work hard and not worry about what people say.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0030-01

Leclaire sometimes burned in rookie season

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02759/8021913-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="248" height="251"></div><h2>AHL WEST NOTEBOOK</h2>Peter Budaj couldn&rsquo;t have been much worse in his first two pro games if he&rsquo;d just stood still in the crease and never moved. His save percentage was .833 and his goals-against average an unsightly 4.91 in two losses.But the Hershey rookie didn&rsquo;t lose confidence, nor did Bears coach Mike Foligno, and Budaj posted his first win by making 28 saves in a 4-1 decision over the defending Calder Cupchampion Chicago Wolves Nov. 9.Budaj, a 20-year-old native of Bystrica, Slovakia, was a second round pick by Colorado in 2001 (63rd overall).&ldquo;Peter was the winningest goalie in the OHL last year (26-9-5 for Toronto St. Michael&rsquo;s) and it was a matter of time for him to get comfortable and confident,&rdquo; Foligno said.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been fortunate in our organization that we&rsquo;ve had some good goalies come through here - J-F Labbe, Phil Sauve, David Aebischer, Marc Denis. With all of them, we&rsquo;ve had to have patience. They see a lot of rubber in practice and they see a lot of work before practice.&rdquo;BROWN FEELING BLUE Chicago Wolves right winger Rob Brown, third in American League scoring last season and first in the playoffs, could be out until late December after undergoing surgery on a broken left thumb.Brown sustained the injury when he was slashed by Hershey defenseman Jeff Paul while controlling the puck during a power play. Paul was assessed a major and game misconduct.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if it was intentional; I assume he was just slashing me to get the puck away,&rdquo; Brown said.FINALLY A WIN After going winless in 12 games (0-6-4-2), the Rochester Americans finally tasted victory, beating Cleveland 4-2 behind Jason Botterill&rsquo;s hat trick. Two nights later, Denis Hamel scored threegoals in a 5-2 win over Chicago. The start was the worst in the franchise&rsquo;s 47-year history. Stretching back to last season, the Amerks went 17 games without a win. &ldquo;Everyone in here (the dressing room) knows we have such a good team,&rdquo; said right winger Jaroslav Kristek.NOTEBOOK Philadelphia Phantoms right winger Mark Greig became the 37th member of the AHL&rsquo;s 600-point club&hellip;Milwaukee rookie defenseman Dan Hamhuis was suspended for three games after an elbow to the head of Barrett Heisten left the Utah left winger with a concussion.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03538/8021906-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="1316" height="1906"><figcaption class="caption-body">Philadelphia&rsquo;s Mark Greig, a 13-year pro, joined the AHL&rsquo;s 600-point club. He has also played for Springfield, St. John&rsquo;s and Saint John.</figcaption></div><h2>AHL SCOUTING REPORT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04375/8021899-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="349" height="473"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Jackman</figcaption></div><h3>VITAL STATISTICS</h3>Hometown: Minot, N.D.Age: 21 Size: 6-3, 190<h3>LAST AMATEUR CLUB</h3>Minn St.-Mankato (WCHA)POSITION Right winger<h3>2002-03 SEASON</h3>Syracuse Crunch<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05277/8021892-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="387" height="120"></div><h3>NHL AFFILIATION</h3>Columbus Blue Jackets<h3>NOTEWORTHY</h3>Drafted 38th overall by Columbus in 2001&hellip;Turned pro after two U.S. college seasons&hellip;Made Minnesota all-state high school team in 1999-2000 with Park Center&hellip;Had one goal in two NHL pre-season games.<h3>BOTTOM LINE</h3>Jackman has good offensive instincts and surely would have benefitted from two more college years. However, minor pro training will aid his development into a two-way winger. Still three years away. &#9632;

f0030-02

Foligno retains patience, has faith in rookie Budaj

<div class="byline">BY ROB MUELLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06218/8021944-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="205" height="213"></div><h2>NOTEBOOK</h2>David Wilkie never dreamed he&rsquo;d be an East Coast League coach six months removed from his playing career.That dream became reality when the Augusta Lynx tabbed the former NHL defenseman as their new coach, promoting the first-year assistant Nov. 8 to replace Jim Burton after a 3-7-0 start.Burton went 60-46-13 with the Lynx over parts of three seasons. He moved upstairs to become the club&rsquo;s new GM after owners fired GM Derek Bundy.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry this happened to Jimmy, but I think this is a good opportunity for him as a GM,&rdquo; said Wilkie, a first round pick of Montreal in 1992, who also played for Tampa Bay and the Rangers.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very excited. I&rsquo;m ready to go.&rdquo;Wilkie played his eighth and final pro season last year in Augusta before retiring to begin his quest to become a head coach. At 28, his break arrived earlier than expected.The Ellensburg, Wash., native becomes the ECHL&rsquo;s youngest coach and the second-youngest in league history. Despite an influx of talent by way of a new affiliation with the Phoenix Coyotes, the Lynx sagged under Burton, sealing his fate with a five-game skid in which they were outscored 29-6. &ldquo;If this is what they needed to get it going in the right direction, I&rsquo;m all for it,&rdquo; Burton said. &ldquo;I think Wilkie is going to be a good coach.&rdquo;VISOR ADVISOR For Florida Everblades defenseman Shaun Fisher, wearing a visor probably saved his right eye.In a game against South Carolina Nov. 2, Fisher was struck by a shot that shattered the visor and left a huge gash near the eye. He needed 20 stitches, but said the visor was the only reason it wasn&rsquo;t worse.NOTEBOOK Augusta trainer Brian Patafie, who spent three seasons with the Calgary Flames, was on the bench for his 1,800th consecutive pro game Nov. 8, spanning a 24-year career&hellip;The South Carolina Stingrays saw their season-opening six-game winning streak end Nov. 1; worse, they lost captain Brett Marietti until late January with a tom knee ligament. &#9632;

f0030-06

A decade after draft splash, Wilkie debuts as coach

<div class="byline">BY TIM CAMPBELL</div>There ought to be a sign in the visitor&rsquo;s dressing room at Portland&rsquo;s Cumberland County Civic Center: Pirates defenseman Nolan Yonkman is closer than he appears.&ldquo;He has tremendous size and because of that, great reach and great range,&rdquo; said Portland coach Tim Army of the 6-foot-6, 235-pound blueliner.&ldquo;You can see some of the defensemen around the NHL like Zdeno Chara and Hal Gill, these mammoth defensemen who are so effective. Nolan&rsquo;s in that size range.&ldquo;He has mobility to complement that reach. He moves laterally and pivots well. He&rsquo;s very efficient, a mobile, agile guy.&rdquo;This is Yonkman&rsquo;s second season as a pro and his second with the Pirates. Through eight games he had two assists and 12 penalty minutes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011040/8021975-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="275" height="352"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nolan Yonkman</figcaption></div>The Washington Capitals, who drafted him in the second round (37th overall) in 1999, have high hopes for the 21-year-old native of Punnicht, Sask.The Caps, in an injury jam late last season, had an 11-game look at the then-rookie defenseman.&ldquo;It was everything a kid would ever dream of and everything you want it to be,&rdquo; Yonkman said of his NHL debut. &ldquo;It was fast and it was hard and you have to really bring your emotions to that level.&rdquo;Army, an assistant coach with the Capitals last season, said Yonkman did fine at the NHL level.&ldquo;It was a real good job by a first-year pro and we were right in the thick of a playoff chase,&rdquo; Army said. &ldquo;We used him in a lot of situations.&ldquo;His personality is terrific. He wants to get better, he wants to be an NHL player and he&rsquo;s willing to listen and learn. &#9632;

f0031-01

Pirates pleased with blueliner’s size, moves

<div class="byline">BY TIM CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02687/8022013-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="249" height="249"></div><h2>AHL EAST NOTEBOOK</h2>The Manchester Monarchs were not only the Eastern Conference&rsquo;s hottest team nearing the quarter mark of the American League season, they were also excelling at supplying parent Los Angeles with hot prospects.Speedy center Steve Kelly earned a look in October and center Mike Cammalleri played his way into a Nov. 7 promotion with four goals and 14 points in nine games while the Monarchs were running up a 10-game unbeaten string following its opening night loss.The rookie&rsquo;s impact with the Monarchs was immediate as coach Bruce Boudreau had Cammalleri on the power play and the team&rsquo;s first line.&ldquo;He had a great resume coming out of Michigan and he&rsquo;s doing everything I thought he could do,&rdquo; said Boudreau of the Kings&rsquo; third round pick (49th overall) of 2001.Boudreau also had little concern about Cammalleri&rsquo;s compact 5-foot-9 size.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s strong,&rdquo; he told the Manchester Union-Leader. &ldquo;He competes very hard. He&rsquo;s very intelligent. He loves to win and loves to play&hellip;he comes to practice with a smile on his face.&rdquo;LOWELL LOCKED IN Gossip about the Lowell Lock Monsters leaving Massachusetts will die now that former minority partner Elkin McCallum has bought 100 per cent of the team.McCallum, a Lowell native, received AHL approval to buy out partners Gil Campbell and George Behrakis.&ldquo;I felt it important that the team stay in local hands,&rdquo; said McCallum, who will retain Jim Leahy as the team&rsquo;s president in charge of day-to-day operation.Lowell&rsquo;s attendance last season was the league&rsquo;s third-lowest, averaging 4,103 per game.TIGER ROARS Center Daniel Tkaczuk, loaned by the St. Louis Blues to Bridgeport, made an immediate impact with the Sound Tigers, scoring three goals and four points in four games.Demoted by St. Louis to Peoria of the East Coast League earlier this season, Tkaczuk refused to report. That&rsquo;s when St. Louis elected to loan him to Bridgeport.NOTEBOOK Manchester had to postpone a promising promotion when goalie Travis Scott bobblehead dolls were held up in a west coast longshoremen&rsquo;s lockout. The promotion is now to take place Dec. 20.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03509/8022006-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="1306" height="1885"><figcaption class="caption-body">Like he has in six of his seven pro seasons, center Steve Kelly is on the NHL-AHL shuttle, this season between Manchester and Los Angeles.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-02

Red-hot Manchester crowning newest Kings

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Pavel Barta</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04381/8022044-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="489" height="333"></div>Future and former NHLers are among the top performers in Europe. Here are five such players with position, age and NHL rights.&#9633; Kristofer Ottosson, RW, 26 (NY Islanders). Ottosson, the Islanders fifth pick in 2000, leads all Swedish league goal scorers with 10 and has 16 points in 17 games with Djurgarden.&#9633; Jean-Francois Jomphe, C, 30 (free agent). Former Mighty Duck was second in German league scoring with seven goals and 22 points in 17 games with ERC Ingolstadt.&#9633; Maxim Spiridonov, LW, 24 (Edmonton) He was selected by the Oilers in 1998. He shares top spot among Russian league goal scorers, with 10 in 19 games for Amur Khabarovsk.&#9633; Toni Porkka, D, 32 (free agent). Porkka is the third-best scoring blueliner in the Finnish league this season with two goals and 12 points in 18 games with Rauma.&#9633; Patrice Lefebvre, RW, 35 (free agent). Lefebvre is a small, but accurate, sniper. He leads the Italian league in scoring with eight goals and 20 points in 10 games for the Milan Vipers.<h2>UNITED LEAGUE</h2>The Fort Wayne Komets drew 10,009 to the newly refurbished Allen County War Memorial Coliseum to witness a 3-1 win over the Quad City Mallards Nov. 9. It was the Komets&rsquo; first home game of the year, after having spent more than a month on the road. By the time all the renovations to the 51-year-old building-are finished Dec. 31, capacity will be 10,500, making it the UHL&rsquo;s largest arena. The biggest crowd in league history is 10,076 at The Mark of The Quad Cities for the Mallards&rsquo; 6-3 loss to Flint Nov. 28, 1997.&ndash;Brendan Savage<h2>WEST COAST LEAGUE</h2>Bakersfield coach Paul Kelly issued a challenge to his team after the Condors squandered a third-period lead and lost 5-3 to Long Beach Nov. 6. He told the players he would shave his head if they could sweep their next three games. The team accepted the challenge, defeating Fresno twice and besting Idaho. After the Idaho game, players quickly set up a chair in the dressing room and grabbed the clippers. Kelly, who walked in to give a victory speech, talked his way into a reprieve. The clippers began buzzing later in the week.&ndash;Chadd Cripe<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>The Indianapolis Ice signed 7-foot-7 former NBA star Manute Bol. The 40-year-old Sudanese basketballer has never played hockey or skated. At the time of the signing, team officials were still trying to locate equipment that would fit him. Bol was expected to be dressed for the Ice&rsquo;s Nov. 16 game against the Amarillo Gorillas, but it&rsquo;s very unlikely he will play. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the business of selling tickets,&rdquo; said GM Larry Linde. In recent years, Bol has been raising awareness of the plight of his countrymen in war-torn Sudan.&ndash;David Henry<h2>ATLANTIC COAST LEAGUE</h2>St. Pete&rsquo;s Matt Holmes scored a hat trick as the Parrots beat Orlando 4-1 Nov. 9. The loss was the Seals&rsquo; first through eight games. Holmes, a member of 2002 UHL champion Muskegon, has five goals and nine points in three games. Holmes got a belated start to the season as a result of a family illness&hellip;There are no illegal sticks in the ACHL. &ldquo;People can play with all sorts of Gordie Howe creations,&rdquo; said commissioner Jim Riggs. &ldquo;(ACHL) GMs and coaches thought it was a bushleague to have stick measurements.&rdquo;&ndash;Nick Gates &#9632;

f0031-04

WORLD watch

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011111/8022075-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="435" height="243"></div>Ontario League goalies could use a set of eyes in the back of their heads when Kyle Wellwood is on the ice. The 19-year-old Windsor Spitfires center is as dangerous behind the net as he is in front.Wellwood&rsquo;s playmaking helps him be one of the most dangerous pivots in the league. Through 20 games, he had 20 goals and 41 points.&ldquo;He comes out with passes - you don&rsquo;t really know which way they&rsquo;re going to go because he&rsquo;s so shifty,&rdquo; said London Knights goalie Chris Houle.&ldquo;You really have to be aware when certain players are on the ice and he&rsquo;s definitely one of them. He weaves in and out.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough for the defense, too, he&rsquo;s so slippery. It&rsquo;s hard to track a guy like that.&rdquo;Wellwood tallied 35 goals and 118 points with the Belleville Bulls in 2000-01, earning him the scoring championship. He was a sixth round selection by the Toronto Maple Leafs that summer.Last January, the Bulls dealt him to the Windsor Spitfires in the Jason Spezza deal.Spitfires coach Tom Webster said it was tough for Wellwood to come in and fill Spezza&rsquo;s skates, &ldquo;but he handled it extremely well. He played his game and that&rsquo;s what was so encouraging&hellip;He really put in some quality time this summer in the gym preparing for this season.&rdquo;Wellwood&rsquo;s numbers were down in 200102, finishing with 30 goals and 75 points. He put added pressure on himself when he went to Windsor.&ldquo;Spezza was the best player in the OHL at the time and I wanted to strive to be just like him,&rdquo; Wellwood said.Webster said Wellwood is one of the most unselfish players he has coached. &ldquo;If he doesn&rsquo;t win a scoring title again, that wouldn&rsquo;t bother him. It&rsquo;s the farthest thing from his mind. He wants the team to do well&hellip;He&rsquo;s one of the great examples of a guy with a team-first attitude.&rdquo;The last player to repeat as scoring champion was Peter Sarno, winning with the Spitfires in 1997-98, then with the Sarnia Sting the next season.SIX-MAN SWAP The Erie Otters and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds pulled off a six-player deal.The Otters, struggling at the bottom of the Midwest Division, obtained center Rob Hisey, 18, right winger Mike Melinko, 19, and goalie Dwight LaBrosse, 19, Nov. 1.The Greyhounds, in the West Division cellar, received overage goalie Adam Munro, left winger Scott Dobben, 19, right winger Jeff Doyle, 19, and a fourth round midget pick in 2004.REVENGE IS SWEET Blueliner Michael Barrett enjoyed his return to the Hershey Centre. Barrett was sent home by Mississauga in early October for missing curfew. The IceDogs traded him Nov. 6 to Barrie.Two nights later, the Colts beat the IceDogs 4-0. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t see eye-to-eye,&rdquo; said Barrett of his relationship with IceDogs coach-GM Steve Ludzik. &ldquo;You could say he was trying to set an example, but I don&rsquo;t think he was.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0032-01

Playmaking Spitfire Wellwood scoring at sizzling pace

<div class="byline">BY WILLY PALOV</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02748/8022106-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="396" height="273"></div>Alain Rajotte is the first coaching casualty of the Quebec League season. The Chicoutimi Sagueneens fired him after the team stumbled to an 8-13-0 start.&ldquo;We had (high expectations) for this season and it wasn&rsquo;t going that good,&rdquo; said Chicoutimi GM Marc Desforges. &ldquo;We looked at it for two weeks before we made our decision. We kept losing during that time so we changed the coach.&ldquo;When you have good players like Christian Larrivee, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Yan Busque, Francis Lemieux, Rosario Ruggeri and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers in goal you should be winning more games. We had to start a new atmosphere in the room.&rdquo;Rajotte is seventh all-time for games coached in the QMJHL (687) and sixth in wins (344). He had stints with the Verdun College Francais, Granby Bisons, Laval Titan and Victoriaville Tigres before taking the Chicoutimi job in 2000.He had a 67-74-8 record with the Sagueneens, but had lost the attention of the players.&ldquo;Some players liked Alain and some didn&rsquo;t. It was maybe 50-50,&rdquo; Desforges said. &ldquo;I spoke to the players after I (fired) Alain and they thought it was OK.&rdquo;Assistant coach Rene Matte took over on an interim basis. Desforges said the team will take some time before naming a permanent replacement.GOALIE INKS DEAL A strong start to 200203 helped Sherbrooke goalie Drew MacIntyre&rsquo;s bargaining position as he signed a three-year contract with Detroit.Selected by the Red Wings in the fourth round of the 2001 draft, the 19-year-old made Detroit take notice by posting a .909 save percentage and 2.75 goals-against average in 20 starts.&ldquo;I said when they drafted me, they got a deal. Hopefully, I can prove I was right,&rdquo; MacIntyre said. &ldquo;I always thought we would talk closer to the signing deadline (June 1), but I guess they liked how I was doing so they got it done earlier.&ldquo;This means a lot to me because I&rsquo;m from P.E.I. and there haven&rsquo;t been many guys from there to make the NHL. This is another step towards getting there.&rdquo;BRIERE TRADED The Chicoutimi Sagueneens bolstered their attack when they acquired 20-year-old center Jean-Philippe Briere from the Rimouski Oceanic for a third round midget pick.The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Briere spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Oceanic and was part of the 2000 Memorial Cupwinning team. He scored 23 goals and 76 points in 72 games last year and seven goals and 17 points in 16 games this year.&ldquo;We were very happy to get Jean-Philippe because he has a lot of experience,&rdquo; said Chicoutimi GM Marc Desforges.&ldquo;We thought Rimouski was going to be trading some of their older players to prepare for a better season next year so we didn&rsquo;t (waste) any time to trade for Jean-Philippe.&rdquo;GOALIE INKS DEAL The QMJHL handed Chicoutimi Sagueneens winger Patrick Tessier a five-game suspension after he left the bench to start a fight. The incident occurred during a line brawl in a game against Rimouski. The Sagueneens were fined $1,000 and coach Alain Rajotte, since fired, was suspended for two games. &#9632;

f0032-02

Veteran coach Rajotte fired after Sags’ faltering start

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Paul Shaheen</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03541/8022168-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="436" height="135"></div>The USHL will send 11 players (one from each team) to the &lsquo;Top Prospects&rsquo; tournament, slated for Dec. 2-4 in Plymouth, Mich. The tournament annually features the best of U.S. Jr. A, including the Tier II America West and North American leagues.The USHL had said it wouldn&rsquo;t be sending a full team, claiming Tier I leagues needn&rsquo;t participate in Tier II events. The decision would have meant a reduction in revenue from USA Hockey, which passes along player development dollars received from the NHL.But having been asked to reconsider its position, the USHL agreed to the compromise. &ldquo;Given all the changes this past year, we&rsquo;re trying our best to be cooperative partners,&rdquo; said commissioner Gino Gasparini.The league had already forsaken grant money by withdrawing from the Gold Cup, U.S. Jr. As national championship event. &#9632;

f0032-03

UNITED STATES LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY PHILIP COLVIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011008/8022199-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="390" height="225"></div>Focus has never been a problem for Michigan freshman goalie Al Montoya.As a member of the U.S. national under-17 team last year, Montoya fast-tracked through his junior and senior years of high school with the sole intention of starting in goal for the Wolverines this season.Along the way, he won the gold medal at both the world under-17 challenge and the 2001 Four Nations tournament and participated in the 2002 U.S. national junior team evaluation camp.A veteran of international competition, the 6-foot-2, 180-pounder felt physically and mentally ready to make the jump to college.&ldquo;I thought I was ready and mature enough to take the next step,&rdquo; said Montoya, rated 90th overall for the 2003 NHL entry draft by Red Line Report. &ldquo;The extra school work was difficult, but a challenge. I learned to manage my time well.&rdquo; Montoya, 17, shut out Niagara 3-0 in his debut and was unbeaten through four games. He can join Josh Blackburn (1998-2002), Marty Turco (&lsquo;94-98), Steve Shields (&lsquo;90-94) and Warren Sharpies (&lsquo;86-90), as Wolverines who spent their entire college careers as starters.SPOTLIGHT Corey Rask&rsquo;s winning goal that gave Alaska Fairbanks its first Central Collegiate Hockey Association victory of the season came on the Nanooks&rsquo; 34th shot of the night.The 4-3 overtime win over Nebraska-Omaha Nov. 8 also came on the night the Nanooks wore No. 34 in white numerals on their helmets in support of sophomore center Aaron Voros.Voros was diagnosed with a bone tumor in his leg Nov. 4 and went home to Vancouver for blood tests, to consult with doctors and be with his family. After singing the Nanooks&rsquo; fight song to his teammates over the phone after the game, Voros flew back to Fairbanks to attend school until he can have a biopsy done on the tumor.DRAFT WATCH Coming from the USA Hockey national team development program, a lot was expected from Michigan State freshman Evan Shaw.A big, physical stay-at-home defenseman who is at his best when he keeps things simple and clears the front of the net, Shaw has struggled and didn&rsquo;t dress for two of the first four games.&ldquo;Evan has had more difficulty than I expected adjusting to the speed of the college game,&rdquo; said coach Rick Comley. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s learning more each game.&rdquo;Shaw is rated 78th for the 2003 NHL draft in October&rsquo;s Red Line Report.NOTEBOOK Bowling Green sophomore goalie Jordan Sigalet made 48 saves, assisted on his team&rsquo;s only goal and earned first-star honors as the Falcons earned their first conference point with a 1-1 tie against Michigan Nov. 9. &#9632;

f0033-01

Michigan’s goalie factory adds Montoya

<div class="byline">BY LARRY MAHONEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02689/8022230-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="392" height="224"></div>Every rookie wants their college career to get off to a good start. But Maine goalie Jimmy Howard&rsquo;s initiation has been extraordinary.Howard, who led the U.S. national development program&rsquo;s under-18 team to a gold medal at the World Championship in Slovakia last, year, racked up three consecutive shutouts and had a scoreless streak of 187:43 after his 20-save, 1-0 win over UMass-Amherst Nov. 9.No goalie in Maine&rsquo;s 26-year history had had three straight shutouts and the previous record for scoreless minutes was 147:53 set by Blair Allison in 1996.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what to say&hellip;I&rsquo;m having fun right now,&rdquo; said Howard, a 5-foot-11, 225-pound native of Ogdensburg, N.Y.&ldquo;I never thought any of this would happen this year. I&rsquo;m taking it with a grain of salt and I just hope I can keep it going.&rdquo;Said UMass-Amherst coach Don Cahoon: &ldquo;He won&rsquo;t be around here too long because I&rsquo;m going to tell every pro scout in North America how good he is.&rdquo;Howard, who is ranked 135th for the 2003 NHL draft by Red Line Report, said the most important component in his success has been the play of his teammates.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve played good defense; they haven&rsquo;t given up many Grade A chances,&rdquo; said Howard, an angle goalie who calmly patrols the top of his crease.SPOTLIGHT Boston College coach Jerry York picked up his 650th coaching win in a 7-0 triumph over Merrimack Nov. 7.York was previously at Clarkson and Bowling Green and is in his ninth season at his alma mater. The victory gave him a 650-462-58 record and the Eagles&rsquo; 6-0-1 start is the team&rsquo;s best since 1983-84.PROSPECT WATCH Northeastern freshman right winger Mike Morris, a first round pick of San Jose last June (27th overall), got off to a productive start with 11 points in nine games while playing on the top line with center Jason Guerriero and Dallas Stars prospect Mike Ryan.&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t do anything really well, but he does everything well,&rdquo; said Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not going to win a lot of races and doesn&rsquo;t have the hardest shot, but he&rsquo;s a complete player. He keeps things simple and he has great instincts.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK UMass-Lowell senior center Ed McGrane strung together a 15-game point streak dating back to last season (12 goals, 26 points)&hellip;Providence senior right winger Jon DiSalvatore had at least a point in each of the Friars&rsquo; first nine games (six goals, 23 points). &#9632;

f0033-02

Maine freshman stopper Howard shutting the door on opposition

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03531/8022261-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="392" height="226"></div>An alleged physical confrontation with a player has put Clarkson coach Mark Morris&rsquo;s job in jeopardy.Morris, who is in his 15th season at Clarkson, was put on administrative leave Nov. 5 following an incident in a 3-on-3 game after a team practice Nov. 2.Junior right winger Zach Schwan filed a complaint with the university after Morris allegedly retaliated against him for a bodycheck during the 3-on-3 game.In a statement released by Clarkson officials, &ldquo;&hellip;the university will determine what action is warranted after the investigation is complete.&rdquo;Officials said there is no timetable for the decision, which is in the hands of the university&rsquo;s board of trustees. Morris and Schwan were advised not to discuss the situation.Schwan played in just 13 games in his first two seasons at Clarkson. This year, he played in three of five games, picking up two assists.In Morris&rsquo;s absence, assistant coaches Fred Parker and Jason Lammers are running the team, both in practice and during games. Parker served as the interim coach when the Golden Knights went on the road and defeated RPI and earned a tie with Union Nov. 8-9.Morris has a 306-153-42 career record at Clarkson and guided the Golden Knights to the Frozen Four in 1991.ANALYSIS HOW important is a veteran lineup? In Brown&rsquo;s first three games, coach Roger Grillo didn&rsquo;t use any freshmen and the Bears won all three. But don&rsquo;t accuse Grillo of discriminating against first-year players - of the five Bears who graduated last year, only Josh Barker was a regular in the lineup.DRAFT WATCH Dartmouth freshman right winger Hugh Jessiman, one of only two Eastern College Athletic Conference players to be listed in Red Line Report, is living up to his reputation.In four games, Jessiman, 18, had two goals and five points. He&rsquo;s ranked 47th for the 2003 NHL draft. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound native of Darien, Conn., scored 27 goals and 52 points in 18 games during his final year at The Brunswick School, a college prep school in Greenwich, Conn.NOTEBOOK It didn&rsquo;t take Vermont freshman goalie Travis Russell long to get into the record book. In just his third start, Russell tied a school record by making 52 saves in a 4-2 loss to Harvard&hellip;Brown junior goalie Yann Danis began the season with back-to-back shutouts and had a streak of 127:15 scoreless minutes before giving up a goal to Dartmouth in the third game of the season. Danis had an incredible .979 save percentage. &#9632;

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November 29, 2002

Upshall’s stint with Preds provides warm memories

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