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.

January 3, 2003

The Hockey News January 3, 2003

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Nancy Marrapese-Burrell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-08342/8002488-1-eng-US/f0011-082.jpg" title="f0011-08" width="601" height="1016"><figcaption class="caption-body">FIRING BLANKS The Bruins are among the top few teams in goals per game, no thanks to injury-riddled Martin Lapointe. He had one goal in 14 games.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-07375/8002495-1-eng-US/f0011-072.jpg" title="f0011-07" width="217" height="222"></div>When he signed with Boston in the summer of 2001 after eight years with Detroit, right winger Martin Lapointe was coming off a season in which he scored a career-high 27 goals.He was hoping to add offensive punch as well as some much-needed grit to Boston&rsquo;s lineup, but scored just 17 goals and 40 points last season.His objective of topping that this year was derailed when he broke his left foot against Calgary Oct. 17 and was sidelined the next 17 games. Since his return Nov. 29, Lapointe has struggled; He was held scoreless in his first 10 games back and had just one goal this year, against Colorado Oct. 14.Lapointe has tried not to let the slump weigh him down.&ldquo;Obviously, the chances are there,&rdquo; Lapointe said. &ldquo;It can be frustrating at times. But there&rsquo;s nothing you can do. Obviously, I want more numbers on the board, but we just want to get a win and from there, whatever happens, happens.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to do more, I know that and there&rsquo;s only room for improvement.&rdquo;LEADING MEN Martin Lapointe won two Stanley Cups with Detroit and brought instant credibility with him when he signed as a free agent. Although injuries have limited his play this season, Lapointe speaks softly but he&rsquo;s like E.F. Hutton, his teammates lean in to hear him.Brian Rolston, like captain Joe Thornton, is an upbeat presence in the dressing room. He&rsquo;s articulate, accessible, and no one labors harder on the ice.Surprise entry: P.J. Stock, who provides comic relief-for proof, read his journal on the team&rsquo;s web site-but his contributions go far beyond that.NOTEBOOK Center Brian Rolston potted two goals and an assist against Washington Dec. 19, halting his goalless streak at 10 games. &#9632;

f0011-08

NHL TEAM REPORTS

Extended goal drought continues tor Lapointe

<div class="byline">BY ALAN ADAMS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011905/8002305-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">USA&rsquo;s Dustin Brown</figcaption></div>You see them in the stands, their hands usually tucked into their jacket pockets, as they take in games at the World Junior Championship.They are NHL scouts, hockey&rsquo;s bloodhounds, and it is their job to scrutinize the teenagers on the ice in an ongoing effort to project what kind of NHLer they will become.For scouts, the World Junior Champion ship is their only chance all season to see best-on-best hockey. The scouts won&rsquo;t be alone in checking out the pool of players who have either been drafted or are draft-eligible. The WJC always attracts NHL GMs or assistant GMs and they too watch who is on the ice, with one eye on the present and the other on the future.What is it the eyes of the NHL are looking for?&ldquo;You look for (the players) to survive, if the good instincts are there and if they compete, if they have good hockey sense,&rdquo; says Hakan Andersson, chief European scout for the Detroit Red Wings.Because most of the players in the WJC have been drafted, the tournament serves as a barometer to measure where the prospect fits in the future plans of the NHL team that drafted him.&ldquo;What you are doing is evaluating the players you have drafted to see how they have developed and how they fit into the next step,&rdquo; says Atlanta GM Don Waddell.The tournament helps members of the scouting fraternity in other ways, too. It&rsquo;s easier to judge a player&rsquo;s talent when the game is being contested by teams of fairly equal calibre, as they are at the WJC. The games will be quick and play will swing back and forth. The drama is increased by how much the prize means to the players. Teams are well organized and well coached and there is a lot at stake in terms of national pride.When it comes to watching actual games, scouts are looking at, in no particular order, a) the players then-team has drafted; b) players drafted by other teams; and c) draft-eligible players.A scout can evaluate not only where a player is in comparison to the best teenagers in the world, but whether he has character. The WJC is a character check and, with a lot at stake, players need to rise to the occasion. If a player stands above the pack-and not just by scoring-it is a good indication of his character. And when the tournament is over, scouts leave knowing they have seen players multiple times in a relatively short span, which gives an idea of their consistency Then there&rsquo;s the wildcard factor. Nik Antropov was a bit of an unknown when he made his debut with Kazakhstan at the 1998 WJC in Finland. Few scouts knew where Kazakhstan was, let alone had seen Antropov play His performance helped him get drafted 10th overall by Toronto later that year.That said, scouts are careful not to read too much into what happens at the WJC. The tournament is widely accepted as one where 18- and 19-year-old players stand out. The number of 17-year-olds who have made a name for themselves at the WJC is very limited. Anaheim&rsquo;s Paul Kariya, for example, hardly saw the ice in his first tournament in Germany in 1992. Adam Graves of the San Jose Sharks and Colorado&rsquo;s Joe Sakic were on a checking line for Canada at the 1988 WJC in Moscow and even Mario Lemieux played a backseat role for much of the 1983 tourney.&ldquo;There is no such a thing as a make-or-break tournament or make-or-break game. When that happens, you are reaching for straws,&rdquo; says David Conte, New Jersey&rsquo;s director of scouting.Looking to Halifax and Sydney, the scouts will be busy. There are a lot of players of significance in the tournament who are eligible for the 2003 and 2004 drafts and each scout wants to find that one diamond in the rough.&ldquo;The pressure is on, wherever you pick,&rdquo; says Andersson. &ldquo;I remember some of the guys telling Kenny (Holland, Detroit&rsquo;s GM) he couldn&rsquo;t expect us to find a player because we didn&rsquo;t pick in the first round. He said, &lsquo;Well, you will have to find them in the other rounds.&rsquo; We realize now we had better know our guys.&rdquo;The WJC is one of many stops the scouts take on the winding road to knowing their players.&ldquo;It is knowledge-friendly. It is draftfriendly and it is internally-friendly in terms of your own prospects,&rdquo; says Conte.And you don&rsquo;t get that in any other tournament. &#9632;

f0010-01

COVER STORY

What scouts see at WJC

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011029/8005023-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01917/8005016-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="3146" height="3652"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01996/8005009-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="3091" height="3622"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01937/8005002-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="3142" height="2544"></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

IN THIS ISSUE

2002-03 NHL STATISTICS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011125/8004306-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

DEPARTMENTS

NHL DEPTH CHARTS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011605/8001726-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ice Fishing&nbsp;Atlanta goalie Pasi Nurminen comes up huge by keeping a low profile to make a sprawling stop against Toronto.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021352/8001719-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="289" height="340"><figcaption class="caption-body">EDITOR&rsquo;S NOTEBOOK&nbsp;Jason Kay Managing Editor</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s time to give Gary Bettman two minutes for obstruction-spinning.In a wide-ranging interview with contributing editor Mark Brender, the NHL commissioner says feedback on the implementation of the new obstruction rules has been &ldquo;overwhelmingly positive&rdquo; and the &ldquo;standard is holding.&rdquo; (See pg. 22 for more).The game&rsquo;s most powerful and influential man obviously didn&rsquo;t read the Dec. 6 issue of The Hockey News. In it, we conducted a players opinion poll, asking one skater from each team if he felt there had &ldquo;been a slip in the obstruction-crackdown vigilance.&rdquo;A full 50 per cent said they&rsquo;d been given the slip, 30 per cent were firmly on the fence, while only 20 per cent believed the standard had been applied evenly.The overriding sentiment shared by the players was confusion. The majority said they didn&rsquo;t know what to expect from the officials game-to-game.Meantime, a triumvirate of future and current Hall-of-Famers-Chris Chelios, Brett Hull and now Phil Esposito (see pg. 3)-has blasted the league for its officiating. We don&rsquo;t officially know how coaches and GMs feel because they&rsquo;ve been effectively gagged; any criticism of referees and the crackdown comes with a hefty fine these days.The obstruction initiative may yet prove to be a boon for the game, but for now the jury remains out and the players are still clearly confused. The declaration that all is sweet leaves a bitter taste in our mouths.Speaking of food, here are a few other morsels to chew on:&#9633; Love the tradition of the World Junior Championship at holiday time, but hate the fact the timing precludes the absolute best players from participating. How about moving the tournament to the end of summer when everyone, in theory, would be available? Imagine this year&rsquo;s Canadian team with Dan Blackburn, Jason Spezza, Rick Nash and Jay Bouwmeester. How about the Russians with still-eligible Ilya Kovalchuk?&#9633; Within the existing rules of the game, the NHL got it right when it suspended Jeremy Roenick two games for hitting Dallas&rsquo;s Mike Modano from behind less than a week after it didn&rsquo;t hand down supplemental discipline to Roenick for a crushing blow on Toronto&rsquo;s Robert Svehla. That said, the hit on Svehla-hard-capped shoulder pad to the head-was every bit as dangerous.&#9633; Apologies for not appearing in this space last issue. I was sitting at home with Kyle McLaren, Mike Danton and Boris Mironov awaiting a trade. &#9632;

f0002-01

Bettman most influential, but we’re not buying spin

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03962/8001771-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wild Child&nbsp;Marian Gaborik provides the Wild the &lsquo;game-breaker&rsquo; teams require for success, according to Blue Jackets GM Doug MacLean.</figcaption></div>Could a third-year team actually win the Stanley Cup?Probably not. But Doug MacLean, president and GM of the third-year Columbus Blue Jackets knows the dream can come true&hellip;almost. He was coach of the Florida Panthers when they went to the Stanley Cup final in 1996, their third year in the league, so he is something of an authority on the subject. Florida lost in four straight that year to Colorado.Now, as he watches his team steadily improving, he sees another third-year team, the Minnesota Wild, outdistance the Boston Bruins as the surprise team of the season.At the start of the year everyone acknowledged the Wild&rsquo;s amazing start, but did anyone really expect them to hang in there?&ldquo;It was probably the end of April before people started believing in us,&rdquo; said MacLean of Florida&rsquo;s year to remember.In many respects, the Wild has followed a similar path to respectability. Both teams were guided by defense-minded coaches, Roger Neilson with the Panthers and Jacques Lemaire with the Wild. And though both teams rose to prominence in Year 3, they were quite respectable in the first two years, too. Also, both teams were solid in goal. The Panthers rode John Vanbiesbrouck to the final while Minnesota is backboned by the dependable tandem of Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson.It should be noted the Panthers started their miracle season 22-8-2 while the Wild opened 178-6-1. However, the Panthers went into the tank, relatively speaking, after-wards, and in the second half finished 16-23-8. In fact, Florida won consecu-e tive games only three times in its final 47 games. Luckily, the Panthers remembered how to win in the playoffs.It remains to be seen if the Wild can play at the same high level for the remainder of the year.Here are some comparisons (and differences) between the Wild and the &rsquo;95-96 Panthers after their first 32 games:Goalies: Vanbiesbrouck was 14-7-1 with a 2.18 goals-against average and.919 save percentage while Fitzpatrick, who played against the weaker teams, was. 8-1-1 with a 2.70 GAA and.895 SP. Roloson was 9-2-5,2.26 and.930 I while Fernandez was 8-I 7-1, 2.26,.926.Scoring: Florida had four players with 10 or more goals, Minnesota just two. Marion Gaborik, the best 20-year-old in the league, had 19 while Andrew Brunette managed 12.MacLean said the biggest difference between the two teams is that in Gaborik the Wild has the game breaker the Panthers lacked. Both teams had success early, he says, by finding a formula for success, sticking to it and staying confident in their ability and potential to win.<h2>3rd year success</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011888/8001764-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="128" height="88"></div>After 34 games, the Wild had the best third-year winning percentage of recent expansion teams. Columbus is also in its third year.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021511/8001757-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="411" height="452"></div> &#9632;

f0003-03

FEATURES

Third year’s a charm

Former NHLer Phil Esposito, who does color commentary for some Tampa Bay games, told the Arizona Republic&rsquo;s,&nbsp;Bob McManaman the quality of officiating in the NHL is dragging the game down. &ldquo;The game is improving in a lot of respects,&rdquo; Espo said, &ldquo;but the one thing that isn&rsquo;t improving is the freaking officials. There&rsquo;s too many supervisors and they&rsquo;re upstairs not knowing what they hell they&rsquo;re doing and they were lousy officials when they were there. I know it&rsquo;s a difficult job, but I can&rsquo;t understand some of the things I&rsquo;m seeking from the refs out there today. Some of these guys were reffing in the IHL and AHL and they were lousy there. I know the NHL isn&rsquo;t going to like hearing me say it, but I don&rsquo;t really care. The reffing has been a joke this year. It&rsquo;s worse than ever.&rdquo;TONY, DON&rsquo;T CHANGE New Colorado coach Tony Granato was always forthcoming and down to earth as a player. Here&rsquo;s hoping he romains unaffected by those around him in his new duties&hellip;The Rangers, obviously short on toughness with only Ronald Petrovicky, Dale Purinton, Matthew Barnaby, Darius Kasparaitus, Sandy McCarthy and Krzysztof Oliwa in the organization, signed Billy Tibbetts, who entered this season with two goals and 257 penalty minutes in 71 NHL games. Just two questions: 1. Why? 2. How does Glen Sather keep his job?&hellip;Jean-Sebastien Giguere was showing his teammates an autographed picture of himself as a seven-year-old propped up on a net next to another up-and-comer, Mario Lemieux. On it, Lemieux wrote: Good luck. Giguere was flashing the photo after blanking Super Mario and the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-0 for his third straight shutout Dec. 15&hellip;The NHL&rsquo;s new jersey rule doesn&rsquo;t have us seeing red. In fact, it doesn&rsquo;t have us seeing any colors. With home teams soon required to wear a dark jersey for each contest, visiting teams will always be in white, depriving fans of any variety of color schemes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04537/8001802-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="249" height="359"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy Tibbetts</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0003-04

THN ONE-TIMERS

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Adam Proteau</div>As a kid, Doug Shedden dreamed of playing in the NHL for Toronto. But he never dreamed of getting injured in his first game as a Leaf.&ldquo;Wearing a Leaf jersey for the first time was the biggest thrill,&rdquo; said Shedden, coach of the Central Leaguechampion Memphis RiverKings. &ldquo;After Quebec bought my contract out, the first call I made was to (Toronto GM) Gord Stellick and I did my contract myself. It was fantastic to be a Leaf, but a downer to get hurt so quickly.&rdquo;Born in Wallaceburg, Ont., Shedden played eight NHL seasons, splitting his career between Pittsburgh, Detroit, Quebec and Toronto. The 6-foot, 185-pound center scored 139 goals and 325 points in 416 games; His best season was 1984-85 when he had 35 goals and 67 points in 80 games with Pittsburgh.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011834/8001833-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="242" height="253"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Shedden</figcaption></div>Following his retirement in 1993, Shedden embarked on a wildly successful coaching career that has seen him win CHL titles in Memphis and Wichita, Kan., and a United League championship in Flint, Mich.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been lucky as a coach,&rdquo; said Shedden, 41. &ldquo;I never won a Stanley Cup as a player, but I still hope to win one, only on the management side.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0004-01

Shedden winning more championships in coaching role than he ever did as a player

<div class="byline">BY ROSS McKEON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011840/8001902-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Teemu Selanne</figcaption></div>The end of Ron Wilson&rsquo;s first practice with the San Jose Sharks served as a perfect example what he, management and new ownership want to see from a group that forced Darryl Sutter and his assistants into unemployment by underachieving for two months.With goalies Evgeni Nabokov and Miikka Kiprusoff positioned at either end prepared to stop penalty shot-style breakaways, players had to choose if the designated shooter would make or miss. The group that guessed wrong skated from one side of the boards to the other. The rest held bragging rights and flaunted their good fortune. A fun time was had by all, exactly what Wilson hoped for.That&rsquo;s what ownership thought was absent under Sutter, and what they feel Wilson&rsquo;s colorful yet intense approach brings to the table. There&rsquo;s no question the talent is there, it&rsquo;s just a matter of players wanting to come to the rink and enjoy what they do.&ldquo;Ron Wilson is a very positive guy,&rdquo; Teemu Selanne said. &ldquo;He likes to have fun, but he&rsquo;s also very intense during the games. I think he will do a great job here.&rdquo;Within 72 hours of Sutter&rsquo;s firing Dec. 1, Wilson was occupying the same office space at the team&rsquo;s practice facility and quickly had a laptop on the desk previously reserved for Sutter&rsquo;s books and binders.There are changes in practice, too. Sutter preferred quick-paced, 45-minute skates on off days and usually no more than 20 minutes of mandatory skating on game days. Realizing he is going to take time to implement his systems, Wilson&rsquo;s! practices have all run longer, some up to 75 minutes.Wilson, who says he doesn&rsquo;t subscribe to one system, has tinkered with Sutter&rsquo;s approach. Ice time was up slightly for Selanne, Nolan, Vincent Damphousse, Adam Graves, Scott Harman and Mark Smith. It&rsquo;s down slightly for Mike Ricci, Marco Sturm, Mike Rathje, Niklas Sundstrom and Bryan Marchment.Ice time was relatively the same for Patrick Marleau and Brad Stuart. &ldquo;If you play hard and on top of your game, you&rsquo;re going to play a lot that night,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re having an off night, you might not get as much as ice time.&rdquo;Asked about what systems he employs, Wilson scoffed.&ldquo;Systems, that&rsquo;s such an overused word in the NHL,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;I hate this &lsquo;Ron Wilson System&rsquo; stuff or &ldquo;Ron Wilson&rsquo;s defensive system.&rsquo; I abhor that because you coach the team that you have, the individuals.&ldquo;There are some coaches that have a style or system, whether it&rsquo;s Jacques Lemaire or Pat Burns, that when they come in they have to build the team around the coach. I&rsquo;ve always prided myself on being flexible.&rdquo;Wilson experimented briefly with Nolan playing defense on the power play, a look that featured four forwards and one blueliner. But Nolan had a habit of pinching low too often so the idea was quickly scrapped in favor of Dan McGillis, who has a big shot and experience at the point.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021299/8001895-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="287" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Wilson</figcaption></div>Wilson has implemented other changes as well. He&rsquo;s encouraging the defense to join the rush more often and to try to make more plays rather than chipping the puck out of the zone as a first option.&ldquo;One of the things I wanted to do was instill a little more creativity, especially among the defensemen,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;You knew Brad Stuart could join the rush. Now you are seeing Mike Rathje and others jumping in more and more and producing.&rdquo;Like Sutter, Wilson concentrates on the forwards during games, allowing former NHL defenseman Rob Zettler to work with the blueliners. Fellow assistant Tim Hunter, an ex-Shark like Zettler, is on the bench during games and helps to coordinate Wilson&rsquo;s video work off of it.While by and large the players respected and liked the demanding Sutter, they have been open to Wilson&rsquo;s more relaxed, positive approach.&ldquo;He is real upbeat in his attitude and I think that will be good for everybody,&rdquo; Nolan said.&ldquo;For us, we&rsquo;ll do whatever makes us play to the best of our ability,&rdquo; Ricci added. &ldquo;As a coach, he just needs to tell us what he want us to do and we have to do it.&rdquo;&ldquo;I have a lot of respect for him,&rdquo; Selanne said. &ldquo;Being in the final, he knows how much it takes. He thinks this team can do things. It must mean a lot to him because he was making $900,000 to play golf. That is more than some pros.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03836/8001888-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="860" height="686"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tony Granato</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0005-01

Changes galore with new coach

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Adrian Dater</div>Tony Granato is no longer better known to the general public as the brother of U.S. Olympian Cammi Granato.The 38-year-old Tony was hired as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, which fired Bob Hartley Dec. 18 on the heels of the team&rsquo;s 10-8-9-4 record.&ldquo;Things have definitely happened very fast for me,&rdquo; Granato said.Indeed. The native of Downers Grove, III., retired from the San Jose Sharks as a player after the 2000-01 season, and spent last year working as a TV analyst. He was hired, on Hartley&rsquo;s recommendation, as an assistant coach by the Avs this season; now he&rsquo;s responsible for restoring one of the league&rsquo;s powerhouse teams of the last nine years.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m ready,&rdquo; Granato said.His former coach, Darryl Sutter, agrees.&ldquo;Everything is based on experience, but if anybody can overcome (a lack of it) he can,&rdquo; Sutter said.Granato wants to get the previously uptight Avalanche under Hartley to loosen up on the ice.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s still just a game and I want guys to come to the rink every day with smiles on their faces while still coming ready to work hard,&rdquo; Granato said.Drafted 120th overall in 1982, Granato began his playing days in 1988-89 and went on to enjoy 13 NHL seasons, splitting time between the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks.In 773 regular season games, the chippy left winger scored 248 goals, 492 points and amassed 1,425 penalty minutes. &#9632;

Granato wants Avs to enjoy the game

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04515/8001978-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg"></div><h2>Best of the Hockey World</h2>THE LITTLE GUY WHO COULD Montreal&rsquo;s Doug Gilmour becomes just the 14th NHLer to reach the 1,400-point plateau.WINNING DEBUT Tony Granato makes his coaching debut a successful one as the Colorado Avalanche beats the Edmonton Oilers 2-1.HEY, OLDTIMER Equipment manager Joe Franke, 42, records a shootout win after entering the game in an emergency situation for UHL Fort Wayne.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-05315/8001971-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg" title="f0005-05" width="380" height="631"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Gilmour</figcaption></div><h2>Worst of the Hockey World</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-06190/8001964-1-eng-US/f0005-062.jpg" title="f0005-06" width="1104" height="449"></div>FLYER GROUNDED Philadelphia&rsquo;s Jeremy Roenick is suspended two games by the league for his dirty hit from behind on Dallas&rsquo;s Mike Modano.WHAT&rsquo;S UP? Two weeks after firing Greg Gilbert, the Calgary Flames had still yet to find a replacement coach in the season&rsquo;s most laughable scenario.NICHOL NABBED Calgary&rsquo;s Scott Nichol is suspended five games for butt-ending Hannes Hyvonen of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the head.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-07120/8001957-1-eng-US/f0005-072.jpg" title="f0005-07" width="377" height="624"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jeremy Roenick</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0005-04

PLUS MINUS

For a while now, my friends and I have been thinking that the Nashville Predators, who have some depth in goal and some scoring problems, ought to trade one of their goalies for a good scorer.When they finally traded the team&rsquo;s best player, Mike Dunham, all they received were two mediocre players and a minor-leaguer in return!It&rsquo;s not always easy being a Predators fan.Louis Brenton, Memphis, Tenn.<h2>Modano hit should cost Roenick</h2>After Jeremy Roenick&rsquo;s questionable hit on Mike Modano Dec. 17, it is time the NHL changes its rules again.Simply put, if a player injures another player, he should be suspended for as long as the injured player is out.Players are held accountable for their sticks. They also should be held accountable for their checks-by paying through their bank accounts.Jane Sheridan,&nbsp; Osterville, Mass.<h2>Durbano treated fans well</h2>I completely agree with the letter Corey Bryant wrote about one of the greatest fighters in hockey history, Steve Durbano. (THN, Dec. 20)I too was saddened to learn of my childhood hero&rsquo;s death; I thought he deserved help for his addiction problems instead of getting a prison sentence.Steve Durbano treated his fans extremely well. Trust me, I know. I just hope and pray he is in a better place. God bless Steve Durbano, and God bless you, Corey Bryant.Joey Biase,&nbsp; Berkeley Heights, N.J.<h2>Hartley&rsquo;s firing a mistake</h2>The &ldquo;Bah-Humbug&rdquo; award surely goes to the Colorado Avalanche for firing Bob Hartley seven days before Christmas.Firing a coach with Hartley&rsquo;s winning record in December is like tearing up your ticket when your horse is still on the back-stretch.Hideo Kobi,&nbsp; Mission, B.C. &#9632;

Being fan of Freds isn’t easy

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012049/8002033-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

ELSTON

I&rsquo;m amazed at how well the Vancouver Canucks are doing. (THN, Dec. 20) It&rsquo;s all thanks to them playing as a team and getting production from everyone-even the Sedins! GM Brian Burke really knows how to put a team together.John Griffin,&nbsp; VancouverIf someone like Scott Parker or Donald Brashear-and not Jeremy Roenick-hit Mike Modano, do you think the suspension would have been for more than two games? Me too.Brad Foster,&nbsp; Prince George, B.C.One of THN&rsquo;s most enjoyable features is Backchecking. I really enjoy reading about the accomplishments and current whereabouts of retired players.Neil G. Ferguson,&nbsp; Seattle, Wash.Congratulations to the Wild and Lightning for their performance this season. They may have been the two most under-estimated teams in the league, but things are looking a lot better now. Keep up the hard work guys!AdamFigula,&nbsp; Temperance, Mich.If you don&rsquo;t know who Jordin Tootoo is, you will after the World Junior Championship is over. With a heart the size of Canada and the ability to score in bunches, Tootoo will lead the Canadians to the top this year.Danny Scott,&nbsp; Dauphin, Man.<h2>READERS&rsquo; ONE-TIMERS</h2>This is your place for quick comments on current hockey events. Reader&rsquo;s One-Timers accepts opinions of 60 words or less, so please be concise. &#9632;

Burke does well building upstart Canucks

After seeing, for the umpteenth time, a video goal judge reverse the call of an on-ice referee who was much closer to the action, I have a proposal:The NHL should place a monitor in either the scorer&rsquo;s box or the Zamboni entrance; that way, the on-ice official who made the original call can look at it for himself, as happens in the NFL.This allows the referee to have the best of both worlds-his first-hand look at the play and a television replay. If the replay is inconclusive, the referee should stick with his original call, and not be forced to change because of someone else&rsquo;s opinion.Jim Ramlow,&nbsp; Miamisburg, Ohio<h2>Shame on Isles fans</h2>I can&rsquo;t understand why people want to kick a man when he&rsquo;s down. Specifically, the Islander fans who chanted &ldquo;Crackhead Theo&rdquo; to Theoren FleuryIf he had any other problem and made a comeback, would the fans&rsquo; chant have been the same, e.g. &ldquo;Bum Knee Theo&rdquo;? I think not.Congratulations, Islander fans, you&rsquo;ve sunk to a new low.Michael Weisenburger,&nbsp; Defiance, Ohio<h2>Kudos for Theo</h2>Kudos to Theo Fleury, who had three goals, four points and was a plus-5 in his first four games back from a suspension.Hopefully, he will continue to show he is still an elite player and can contribute to any team.More importantly, however, here&rsquo;s hoping he&rsquo;ll continue his recovery and stay clean. Way to go, Theo!Anthony Cugliari,&nbsp; Kleinburg, Ont.<h2>Lemieux&rsquo;s lesson lauded</h2>I completely disagree with Carl W. Yoder&rsquo;s comments about Mario Lemieux. (Dec. 20)I don&rsquo;t see how the fact a defenseman isn&rsquo;t allowed to hook a forechecking forward affects the physical side of the game. I want to see skilled players making great plays, not a bunch of goons holding on to each other.It was about time someone spoke up, and Lemieux was right in doing so.Bernard Dussault,&nbsp; Toronto<h2>Got something to say?</h2>MAIL: U.S.A.: Letters, THN, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947.Canada: Letters, THN, 25 Sheppard Ave. W, Suite 100, Toronto, Ont., M2N 6S7E-MAIL:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:aproteau@thehockeynews.com">aproteau@thehockeynews.com</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;

Referees should see TV replays

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011856/8002126-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Curtis Joseph</figcaption></div>As I sat in the press box of the Skyreach Centre in Edmonton over a year ago preparing to dissect my first game for Hockey Night In Canada, many thoughts were screaming through my head.Fear was the overwhelming thought as I tried to conjure up how effective I could be at analyzing from 100 feet above the ice versus between the pipes or on the bench (a more familiar spot later in my career). Familiar names came to mind-Kelly Hrudey, Greg Millen, John Davidson, Darren Pang and Jim Ralph-to help ease the panic.Then, the question: Why are so many goalies analysts in this game?Is it because it is perhaps the only employment available for mentally challenged athletes who have spent entire careers getting in the way of 100 miles-per-hour objects that hurt?The intellectual in me looks at it this way: Do you think that Tie Domi, as he pursues the red line in warmup, is analyzing the blades of the opposition&rsquo;s sticks to detect rocket launching curves, or rather, looking for witty goon talk from the opposition&rsquo;s knuckleheads? The latter is more likely.The reality is, most goalies must be analytical. A large portion of the game is recognizing tendencies of both teams and individual players. As an American League player, Boston Bruins coach Robbie Ftorek urged me to keep a book on all top guns for the shootout that followed a tie. The book was a great idea-it was just too bad most of the guys never made the NHL, or I might have been an all-star.Curtis Joseph and I, as goalie partners, would discuss before each game, the opposition and their tendencies. Cujo knew the West and I was the Eastern expert. We often thought of publishing a book on players&rsquo; tendencies, but in the end we decided Cujo had enough money-and after all, who would buy it?It was all necessary for the preparation of an NHL game. Which players shoot on 2-on-1 breaks and from where. Which players carry it into the zone and which ones dump it in for the goalie to retrieve. Power play tendencies of teams, penalty kill strategies, how coaches utilize top players, the boards, the glass, the lighting, the fans, face-off plays-all thoughts in preparation before puck drop.It should be exposed this analysis is common amongst players also. There have been many players who have helped me in pre-game preparation. Luc Robitaille once informed me that Wayne Gretzky would always pass on a 2-on-1 from my left side. Well, not one minute into the game, 2-on-1, Gretzky, my left side, no pass, shot, 1-0 Los Angeles. Thank you, Luc!<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021235/8002119-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="399" height="362"><figcaption class="caption-body">Glenn Healy&nbsp;Columnist</figcaption></div>Garry Valk once informed me before a mid-December game that Chris Drury always shoots and never dekes; As I established aggressive position, he deked me. Why? Garry had the Drurys mixed up, he meant Ted Drury, not Chris Drury. Never trust a forward!The color analyst in me performs the same task. It is the analyst&rsquo;s job to answer to the fan the how and why pf things. The 16 years of NHL experience within me tries to do that today, just as I did when I was a player. As a player, the how and why must be answered to eliminate repeat behavior either by the team or the goalie. The how and why analysis must be answered from the booth simply to fill in the time between goal and puck drop.Then it hit me. The real game is still whistle-to-whistle, and as an ex-goalie I&rsquo;m a sideshow there to fill time.A deep breath of relief comes over me in Edmonton. It is still about the live event, the game.Game on!<h2>GOALIES AT THE MIKE</h2>Glenn Healy joins a long list of formergoalies who now analyze for a living.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03759/8002112-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="509" height="610"></div> &#9632;

f0007-01

ON THE COVER

Why goalies make insightful analysts

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Bucky Gleason</div><h2>NHL considering bankruptcy for Sabres</h2>The Buffalo Sabres could be headed for bankruptcy in an effort to separate the club from financial problems connected to parent Adelphia Communications. NHL officials were working with company leaders to sort through the problem, possibly to keep the team from reaching Chapter 11 protection. The organization has been paying bills with revenue from ticket sales. Bankruptcy would ensure the Sabres wotdd not be liable for major outstanding debts related to Adelphia&rsquo;s problems. Bankruptcy proceedings could interfere with the potential sale to Mark Hamister and Todd Berman, who proposed purchasing the team for $65 million. Bankruptcy would also void contracts with front-office personnel, including GM Darcy Regier, a broadcast agreement with Adelphia subsidiary Empire Sports Network and the HSBC Arena lease. Regier is in the second year of a six-year deal signed with former owner John Rigas.<h2>Physicians covered</h2>An insurance broker retained by the six Canadian clubs has found medical malpractice insurance to keep team doctors on the job after Jan. 1. Montreal-based firm B.E Lorenzetti and Associates confirmed it had secured coverage, but wouldn&rsquo;t say how much. Last summer the Canadian Medical Protective Association, fearing multi-million dollar payouts, announced it would pull its coverage of pro sports doctors in 2003.<h2>Canada at Spengler</h2>Olympic silver medallist (1994) goalie Corey Hirsch headlines Canada&rsquo;s roster for the 2002 Spengler Cup, which runs from Dec. 26-31 in Davos. The team, coached by Mike Pelino and assisted by Doug Jarvis, will be made up mostly of Canadians playing in Europe, including ex-NHLers such as James Black, Brandon Convery, Mike Craig, Paul DiPietro and Mike Maneluk, Jean-Yves Roy and Yves Sarault.<h2>Advertising pulled</h2>The Canadian government is pulling advertising in NHL arenas worth a reported $1.2 million annually as part of a scaleback in sponsorship programs. Changes will take effect at the end of March, 2003. The government believes professional sports such as the NHL have a large pool of possible sponsors and federal money would be better spent promoting government involvement in smaller cultural and sporting events. &#9632;

INSIDE HOCKEY

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Bruce Garrioch</div>Roger Neilson is battling his two forms of cancer again, but his No. 1 concern is making sure the Ottawa Senators have success in their fight for a playoff spot.The much admired, widely respected Senators assistant coach declined comment on a New York Post report that said he is undergoing heavy treatment after cancer was found in three areas of his brain.&ldquo;The team was not happy that those reports got out,&rdquo; Neilson told the Peterborough Examiner. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not making any comment on those at all. My treatment has been ongoing for two or three weeks and there has been no change in that.&rdquo;Since Neilson has declined most interview requests, Senators president Roy Mlakar has been acting as the spokesperson for the club. Mlakar told reporters he would not discuss any of the specifics of Neilson&rsquo;s treatment. He has been battling two forms of cancer for the past three years.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011936/8002181-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="284" height="372"><figcaption class="caption-body">Roger Neilson</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Things are going well,&rdquo; Mlakar said. &ldquo;After a time, you have valleys and you come back. He&rsquo;s doing well now.&rdquo;Neilson has been in the office every day helping to prepare pre-game scouting reports, but has been unable to travel with the team on a regular basis.&ldquo;You just don&rsquo;t want people to worry about you and the team to worry about you. I just want to go about my business,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;We all know it&rsquo;s better for everybody if we just keep things to ourselves.&rdquo;Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November, the 68-year-old Neilson has served as head coach for eight NHL teams including a two-game stint with Ottawa last season when Jacques Martin ceded him the bench. He is known as an innovator in many areas, particularly in the use of video.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s in great spirits,&rdquo; Mlakar said. &ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t missed a day of work. He gets all his treatment on an outpatient basis. I&rsquo;d rather be doing this (talking to reporters) than him because he needs to do his job.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-01

Neilson quiet on latest battle

<div class="byline">BY JUSTIN COHN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021451/8002212-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Franke&rsquo;s diving glove stop in a shootout drew raves. Said a Fort Wayne teammate: &lsquo;You won&rsquo;t see NHL goalies make that save.</figcaption></div>Through 51 seasons of existence, perhaps no member of the Fort Wayne Komets franchise has enjoyed the star treatment bestowed upon Joe Franke.Hundreds of fans surrounded the locker room Dec. 15, repeatedly chanting Franke&rsquo;s name, in an hour-long vigil honoring the man who guided the United League team to a 4-3 victory that night.That man was the Komets&rsquo; 42-year-old equipment manager, called into late-game action as an emergency goaltender against the visiting Elmira Jackals.&ldquo;Everybody has that dream or that thought, &lsquo;Boy, what if I was able to be put in that position?&rsquo;&rdquo; said team president Michael Franke. &ldquo;Joe had his 15 minutes of fame that all of us as sports fans can dream about.&rdquo;Joe Franke, no relation to the Franke family that owns the Komets, was pressed into action under unusual circumstances. Fort Wayne&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie, Tom Lawson, had been called up to the American League&rsquo;s Milwaukee Admirals the previous night. Backup Pokey Reddick, on the verge of collapse, had to exit the game because of a stomach virus.That left Franke to skate into a 1-1 game with 11:03 remaining in the third period. He had dressed as an emergency backup 28 times throughout his many years with the Komets, but never saw action.He had eaten two hot dogs and drank four Mountain Dews during the first two periods. He had been at the rink since 8 a.m. tending to equipment and players.&ldquo;I went in the room, said a little prayer, and just came out on the ice,&rdquo; said Franke, believed to be the oldest player to appear in a UHL game. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have any time to think about it. I was getting nervous though, when they started putting shots in.&rsquo;He stopped four of six shots in regulation, assisted on a. goal and turned aside three of four attempts in an overtime shootout, including one dramatic diving glove save. &ldquo;You won&rsquo;t see NHL goalies make that save,&rdquo; said Komets Fort Wayne Bobby Stewart.The victory, seen by a crowd of 6,497, set off pandemonium in Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The players stormed off the bench to tackle the middle-aged rookie goalie. On-ice officials patted him on the back. Off ice officials gave him a standing &lsquo;O&rsquo; in the press box.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t heard that building so loud in years,&rdquo; Michael Franke said.The proud owner of a Stanley Cup ring earned as an equipment man with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991, Joe Franke plays in a senior league twice a week while tending to his private landscaping business and his duties with the Komets.&ldquo;The players were complaining because as soon as I was done talking to (reporters), I started wiping off the stalls and cleaning up,&rdquo; Joe Franke, said.Asked if he wotdd capitalize on his newfound fame by seeking a goaltending contract, Franke said: &ldquo;Hell no! I hope this is a one-night deal and that&rsquo;s it. I&rsquo;ll go out like Wyatt Earp and Clint Eastwood, out through the valley on a horse. I&rsquo;ve had enough. I can&rsquo;t do this. I&rsquo;m 42 years old.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-02

UHL trainer turns show stopper

<div class="byline">THN STAFF</div>He didn&rsquo;t change how the game was played, just where it was played.Bill Hunter, who helped found the World Hockey Association and was largely responsible for the birth and early evolution of the Edmonton Oilers, died in Edmonton Dec. 16 after a three-year fight with bone cancer. He was 82.Wayne Gretzky said it was Hunter who knew the WHA had to make a splash to be successful after it was founded in 1972.That splash turned out to be hockey&rsquo;s first $1-million contract, which the Winnipeg Jets used to lure away NHL superstar Bobby Hull from the Chicago Blackhawks.&ldquo;He was the catalyst to bringing hockey to Alberta and maybe more importantly, in convincing the WHA owners to go out and sign Bobby Hull for the WHA,&rdquo; Gretzky told <a href="http://globeandmail.com">globeandmail.com</a>.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011793/8002243-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="389" height="540"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Hunter</figcaption></div>&ldquo;That gave the league instant credibility. He was the one who said we need someone to go out and sell this league.&rdquo;Hunter earned the nickname &lsquo;Wild Bill&rsquo; after one particularly heated argument with a referee while coaching a minor league team in 1949. The nickname stuck.Hunter was a Spitfire pilot in World War II, then returned to Western Canada and began his love affair with coaching, managing and owning prairie hockey teams. He won the Memorial Cup in 1966 with the Edmonton Oil Kings.After failed attempts to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins and land an expansion NHL franchise, Hunter jumped at the chance to help start a pro league that would rival the NHL. Hunter was GM of the WHA&rsquo;s Team Canada that faced off against the Soviet Union in a 1974 eight-game series.The WHA started out with 12 franchises and lasted seven seasons before four teams-the Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets-merged with the NHL in 1979-80. The Oilers are the only franchise still in its original city.Hunter&rsquo;s ownership group sold the Oilers in 1976, but the team always remained close to his heart, even to the point that, this season, he refused to give Phoenix GM Mike Barnett his assessment of an Oiler player said to be available for trade.&ldquo;I picked the name. I picked the colors. I picked the uniforms,&rdquo; Hunter once said. &ldquo;To see the team I started become five-time Stanley Cup champions was unbelievable.&rdquo;Among Hunter&rsquo;s post-Oilers life projects was an attempt in 1983 to get the NHL to relocate the St. Louis Blues franchise to Hunter&rsquo;s hometown of Saskatoon. The NHL&rsquo;s board of governors blocked the move.A member of the Edmonton, Alberta and Canadian Sports Halls of Fame and the Order of Canada, Hunter is survived his fourth wife, Vi Hunter. They had been married for 30 years. &#9632;

f0009-01

‘Wild Bill’ gave lite to Oilers

Former NHL defenseman Garth Butcher appeared in a Toronto court on charges of sexual assault and administering a noxious substance.Butcher, 39, is accused of drugging and assaulting a Toronto woman. He was released on $40,000 bail during his Dec. 13 appearance and is scheduled to return to court Jan. 14.Police said the charges stem from an early-morning incident Dec. 12 in which a 23-year-old woman went with a man to a hotel. The two had been at a party earlier in the evening. The woman was offered a drink, passed out and woke to find herself being sexually assaulted, police said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021236/8002274-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="271" height="381"><figcaption class="caption-body">Garth Butcher</figcaption></div>Butcher played 14 seasons with Vancouver, St. Louis, Quebec and Toronto before retiring in 1995. He is now living in Bellingham, Wash., where he coaches and helps run a minor hockey program.STILL GLASSY Seven teams will not have new glass shielding systems in place by the NHL&rsquo;s original Jan. 1 deadline.Calgary, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, Ottawa, Phoenix and Vancouver still have rigid seamless glass systems in place instead of the more forgiving plexiglass systems now found in most NHL rinks. The NHL mandated the change after recommendations from the league&rsquo;s injury panel.Colorado has a specially designed seamless system that meets flexibility standards. Seventeen teams have switched to all-plexiglass systems while five have plexiglass-glass combinations.WJC ONLINE For the first time ever, all U.S. games at the World Junior Championship can be heard live on online audiocasts at <a href="http://usahockey.com">USAHockey.com</a>. On cable and DirectTV, the YES Network will also carry up to three U.S. games in the qualification and medal round.CORRECTION The Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; average attendance after 14 home games last season was 16,868. After the same number of games this season they were averaging 4,195 fewer fans per game. Incorrect information appeared in the Dec. 27 issue. &#9632;

f0009-02

Butcher faces assault rap

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021387/8002343-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="727" height="1724"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ivan Majesky</figcaption></div>Saturday, December 28NY Rangers at Florida 7:30pmETNew York will still be without Pavel Bure as it travels to Florida to take on the Mike Keenan-led Panthers. Both teams are within arm&rsquo;s length of the final playoff position.Tuesday, December 31Toronto at Vancouver 10:00pmETThe Maple Leafs are on the final leg of a three-game in four-night post Christmas West Coast road trip. Fans on the east coast can watch this game spill into 2003.Thursday, January 2Chicago at St. Louis 8:00pmETThis is the first meeting of 2002-03 between these long-time rivals. Hawks coach Brian Sutter always gets pumped for games in St. Louis, where he played for 12 NHL seasons.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03862/8002336-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="1561" height="1800"></div> &#9632;

f0010-02

BIG THREE GAMES OF THE WEEK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021210/8002381-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="569" height="810"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jaroslav Modry</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011689/8002388-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="219" height="226"></div>Jaroslav Modry&rsquo;s nine goals through 32 games is more than he had the pre vious two seasons combined. He&rsquo;s a big reason why the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; defense leads the NHL with 21 goals through Dec. 19 action. Their defense corps has supplied 23 per cent of the team&rsquo;s offense, also a league high. Modry and teammate Mathieu Schneider (seven goals) have more goals apiece than the defense of the Minnesota Wild and Buffalo Sabres. Information includes GP (games played by team); GF (goals by team) and and DG (goals from defensemen).<h2>NHL defensemen scoring</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03807/8002374-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="617" height="1342"></div> &#9632;

f0011-02

All the Kings’ D-men providing offense, too

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-04623/8002419-1-eng-US/f0011-042.jpg" title="f0011-04" width="217" height="226"></div>It was nice while it lasted, but Mighty Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere knew his historic scoreless streak couldn&rsquo;t go on forever.St. Louis Blues defenseman Al MacInnis beat Giguere with a blast from the right-wing faceoff circle during a 5-on-3 power play late in the second period of a 5-2 Ducks victory Dec. 18 in Anaheim. The goal snapped Giguere&rsquo;s streak at 237 minutes and seven seconds, third-longest in NHL history.Only Bill Durnan of the Montreal Canadiens, who went 309:21 without allowing a goal in 1949, and Turk Broda of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who went 245:33 in 1950, have posted longer shutout streaks since 1943.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know it was the third-longest,&rdquo; said Giguere, who established a career high with 44 saves in the game. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s pretty sweet. I was just happy it wasn&rsquo;t a bad goal. It was a good scorer who scored a good goal.&rdquo;LEADING MEN In addition to team captain Paul Kariya, alternates Steve Rucchin and Keith Carney and former alternate Dan Bylsma shoulder the bulk of the leadership responsibility in the Anaheim dressing room.Rucchin&rsquo;s return this season from two injury-marred campaigns has served the Ducks well not only on the ice, but off, where his voice demands accountability from everyone.Kariya and Carney are relatively quiet but effective leaders, while fourth-liner and penalty killer-supreme Bylsma&rsquo;s work ethic is an inspiration to all. It&rsquo;s hard to give less than 100 per cent after watching Bylsma repeatedly throw his body in front of opposition shots with abandon.NOTEBOOK With two assists in a 5-4 loss at Los Angeles Dec. 19, center Adam Oates ran his career points total to 1,369, tying John Bucyk for 16th place on the NHL&rsquo;s alltime list&hellip;Left winger Paul Kariya matched a career high with five points, including two goals, in a 5-2 victory over visiting St. Louis Dec. 18&hellip;The triumph over the Blues lifted the Ducks to 14-9-6-3, marking the sixth time in team history that Anaheim had been five games over the.500 mark. &#9632;

f0011-04

Giguere’s buffo streak ends at third all-time

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Jeff Schultz</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-05490/8002457-1-eng-US/f0011-052.jpg" title="f0011-05" width="214" height="221"></div>In their quest to tighten up the NHL&rsquo;s most porous defense, the Thrashers turned into an anemic team on offense.After a 7-6 overtime loss in Washington Dec. 6-which included awful defense and even worse goaltending-the Thrashers scored only five goals in their next six games. The lack of offense was becoming a major concern for a team that had enough problems in other areas.&ldquo;You aren&rsquo;t going to win scoring one goal a game,&rdquo; said maligned coach Curt Fraser.Part of the problem could be attributed to the absence of leading scorer Dany Heatley, who triggers the power play from the point.But there were other problems. Slava Kozlov had no goals in 10 games and one in 14. Ilya Kovalchuk had not scored in six straight after getting 17 in 24. Marc Savard was goalless in nine games after being acquired from Calgary Shawn McEachern also had gone nine in a row without finding the net.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-06421/8002450-1-eng-US/f0011-062.jpg" title="f0011-06" width="234" height="286"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jeff Odgers</figcaption></div>LEADING MEN A lack of veteran _ leadership and a fragile locker room has been a big problem for the Thrashers in their history. What else would you expect for a team with four captains in four seasons?The team is not without some leaders, though. Rugged winger Jeff Odgers tends to be the most vocal leader and also is the player most likely to keep the team loose with a joke. Shawn McEachern has been a strong influence this season, both in the room and on the ice, where his work ethic has been an example for younger players.Dany Heatley evolved into a team leader as a rookie; Expect him to one day take over as captain. One name you wouldn&rsquo;t expect: Chris Tamer. The veteran defenseman doesn&rsquo;t talk a lot-Ray Ferraro used to joke, &ldquo;For him, &lsquo;hello&rsquo; is a speech,&rdquo;-but when Tamer speaks, players listen.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Richard Smehlik, who missed eight games with a groin strain, returned for only three games before leaving again with a contusion to his chest wall. He went back on injured reserve. &#9632;

f0011-05

Anemic offense a worry for sad-sack Thrashers

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Bucky Gleason</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-09325/8002526-1-eng-US/f0011-092.jpg" title="f0011-09" width="217" height="221"></div>Chris Gratton has been in the NHL for 10 seasons and the reasons for his inconsistency remain a mystery.Gratton was the Sabres&rsquo; best player through six weeks of 200203, but along came the inevitable slump that has plagued him throughout his career. He had eight goals and 18 points in 18 games, followed by no goals and three assists in 11 games, followed by a goal and three assists in a 4-2 win over Boston Dec. 18.&ldquo;He garners a lot more attention now,&rdquo; said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. &ldquo;Typically, he&rsquo;s seeing the other team&rsquo;s top checking line or a line that they call their safest line and that makes it a lot tougher. That means that you&rsquo;ve got to go the extra mile.&rdquo;The Sabres have been struggling the entire season and need all the help they can get. Gratton already has proven he can be a dominant power forward, but there&rsquo;s no way of taking over when he disappears for prolonged stretches.LEADING MEN Nobody is more vocal than 14-year veteran Rob Ray, who accomplishes far more in the dressing room than on the ice. Ray is usually the first man talking when things go wrong.Captain Stu Barnes leads more by example, leaving the speeches to Ray and defenseman Rhett Warrener. However, Barnes often will speak up when necessary.James Patrick&rsquo;s experience gives him a voice, while Chris Gratton is a former captain who will not hesitate to speak his mind. The problem for the Sabres: It&rsquo;s difficult for anyone to say anything when everyone is playing poorly.NOTEBOOK Backup goalie &ndash; Mika Noronen was banned from practice Dec. 16 | after oversleeping and missing half the workout&hellip;, Recent rumors had Right winger Maxim Afinogenov missing the season with a concussion he sustained in September&hellip;Left winger Jochen Hecht is out indefinitely with a concussion. &#9632;

f0011-09

Inconsistent Gratton sinks Into slump again

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011858/8002557-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="214" height="220"></div>It wasn&rsquo;t a job he asked for and it ended up lasting much longer than he suspected it would, but Al MacNeil always was the good company man.MacNeil, who coached the Calgary Flames for three years between 1979 and 1982 before giving way to the legendary Bob Johnson, found himself back in his old job some 20 years later after the Flames fired Greg Gilbert in early December.Because Calgary didn&rsquo;t immediately replace Gilbert-the organization, according to president Ken King, couldn&rsquo;t find &ldquo;unanimity on the current options&rdquo;-it was left to MacNeil to handle duties in the interim.In their first eight games under their new coach, the Flames were a respectable 3-3-20. MacNeil, who stepped into the breach last season during Gilbert&rsquo;s NHL-imposed two-game suspension, said the transition went smoothly because he&rsquo;d been with the team for years and was on a first-name basis with the players.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as if it were an unfamiliar dressing room,&rdquo; said MacNeil, 67. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I would have had the same impact if I hadn&rsquo;t been there. The continuity is already there. We already knew each other.&rdquo; How long will MacNeil&rsquo;s interim posting last? GM Craig Button was noncommittal, saying only that he would not rush into a decision.LEADING MEN The Flames&rsquo; leadership group essentially revolves around four players-Craig Conroy, Bob Boughner and younger talents Denis Gauthier and Jarome Iginla, the last two representing the team&rsquo;s longest-serving members.Iginla spreads his words around judiciously, but because of his on-ice contributions and uncommon good sense, commands players&rsquo; attention.Gauthier is articulate and sensible, gaining high marks from his teammates for his stand-up style, his willingness to deal with the downs as well as the ups of a season.Boughner is similar in many respects, willing to share his memories and perspective from previous NHL stops, when the teams he played for won more than they lost. Conroy, the captain, is Mr. Positive, able to find silver linings, even when the clouds appear darkest.NOTEBOOK Right winger Scott Nichol was suspended five games for for butt-ending Blue Jacket forward Hannes Hyvonen in a 3-0 loss to Columbus Dec. 19. &#9632;

f0012-01

‘Good company man’ holds reins in Calgary

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Luke DeCock</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021466/8002595-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="213" height="224"></div>In November, the Hurricanes&rsquo; top executives skipped out of Boston the night before a game to watch Carolina&rsquo;s American League affiliate in Lowell, Mass.While the game was a waste-Lowell lost 5-1-Carolina coach Paul Maurice was quietly impressed with the poise of 20-year-old defenseman Tomas Malec, an AHL rookie the Canes picked up in last January&rsquo;s Sandis Ozolinsh trade.Less than a month later, the Canes called up Malec as a seventh defenseman. Less than a week later, he made his NHL debut.Malec could be in Raleigh for a while after Bret Hedican suffered a concussion. He isn&rsquo;t expect him back before Christmas.Malec was on the ice deep into the third period in his debut at Minnesota Dec. 15 and picked up an assist on Carolina&rsquo;s only goal in a 2-1 loss.&ldquo;I felt like there was a big difference from the (AHL),&rdquo; said Malec, a Slovakian with no qualms about jumping into the play. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very fast. But the guys here make it easy for me. It&rsquo;s easy to play with these guys.&rdquo;LEADING MEN Without question, Ron Francis sets the tone in the Carolina locker room. Weight-room warrior Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour and reliable Glen Wesley also wear letters, but they&rsquo;re quiet and lead by example.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03949/8002588-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="231" height="281"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Francis</figcaption></div>&ldquo;When a player complains about having to work too hard,&rdquo; said Carolina coach Paul Maurice, &ldquo;all I have to do is point at Brind&rsquo;Amour.&rdquo;Sean Hill is the most vocal among the rank and file, with Bret Hedican not far behind. When veteran role player Jeff Daniels speaks, which isn&rsquo;t often, everyone listens.In the end, the burden of leadership falls squarely on Francis, whom many credited with creating the mentality in the room that got them to the final last season.NOTEBOOK Losing patience with center Josef Vasicek, the Canes told him to either have surgery on his injured back or return to action. Vasicek was consulting with specialists before making a decision. He had missed 24 games&hellip;Left winger Jaroslav Svoboda, an early Calder candidate based on his play in the playoffs last year, has gone scoreless in 24 games. &#9632;

f0012-02

Highly touted Malec makes most of call-up

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04559/8002626-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="212" height="222"></div>Struggling left winger Chris Simon hit rock bottom when he was a healthy scratch for a Dec. 17 game against Vancouver.Simon had gone 15 games without a goal, getting just 13 shots. He had two goals in his first 22 games with the Blackhawks since being acquired from Washington.&ldquo;With someone like Chris, who is a solid individual with great work habits, he has come to a new situation and wants to be an important part of the team,&rdquo; said coach Brian Sutter. &ldquo;When it doesn&rsquo;t go the way he wants it to, sometimes you start questioning yourself.&rdquo;While Simon had slumps before in his 11-year career, he believed this to be his worst. Simon was not only failing to score, he wasn&rsquo;t being as physical as Sutter wanted.&ldquo;Not to be conceited or anything, but this is the worst stretch I think I&rsquo;ve gone through where I&rsquo;m just not myself,&rdquo; Simon said. &ldquo;I was pretty upset that I wasn&rsquo;t playing, but I&rsquo;m not going to feel sorry for myself or complain. I&rsquo;d be lying if I told you I thought I was playing well. I know that I&rsquo;m not where I should be, but it can only get better.&rdquo;LEADING MEN There is no shortage of leaders in the Hawks&rsquo; dressing room. Alex Zhamnov, Theoren Fleury, Lyle Odelein, Phil Housley, Jon Klemm and Steve Thomas are respected veterans who aren&rsquo;t afraid to say what needs to be said, and that also goes for goaltender Jocelyn Thibault.Zhamnov is a quiet captain, but he has plenty of support. Odelein is most vocal when it comes to rallying the troops and Fleury&rsquo;s presence has loomed large since his return from suspension.It might be that in a matter of weeks the Hawks turn into Fleury&rsquo;s team. Several teammates already have spoken highly of his leadership, particularly in helping the team prepare for games.Of the Hawks&rsquo; younger players, 21-year-old defenseman Steve McCarthy appears headed for a prime leadership role, though likely not for several years to come.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Boris Mironov remained AWOL with teams showing little interest in trading for him. Mironov was out $293,328 in salary for the first 16 days away from the team&hellip;Right winger Theoren Fleury had five points in his first seven games and was plus-4. &#9632;

f0012-04

Struggling Simon sits, reflects on poor year

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011698/8002657-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="215" height="225"></div>There is a harsh reality about being a coach in the NHL: After four or five years, their messages to players are regarded as no more than spam or credit card offers in the mail.Bob Hartley became the latest victim of the tuning out process that has become commonplace in recent years, getting fired by the Colorado Avalanche after 41/2 years behind the bench.Tony Granato, with no previous NHL head coaching experience, was named his successor (see pg. 5 for more on Granato).&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious that this team is not showing any emotion,&rdquo; said GM Pierre Lacroix. &ldquo;The team is not doing the things that it needs to do in order to fulfill expectations. I am convinced it was the right time for me to make a call.&rdquo;The Avs had just three fewer points (36-33) after 31 games than the previous season, but there was a consensus the team wasn&rsquo;t playing with as much passion. While players accepted responsibility for their play, they indicated they weren&rsquo;t having any fun anymore under HartleyLEADING MEN It may surprise many, but role player Dan Hinote is one of the more influential people in the Avs&rsquo; dressing room.Hinote isn&rsquo;t afraid to stand up and speak his mind. He doesn&rsquo;t spare himself or the team overall from harsh criticism, but others don&rsquo;t take it personally because of his team-first, good-guy nature.Hinote is a frequent target of locker-room joking about his good looks and college (he played two years at Army) background, but it helps keep the room loose.Hinote isn&rsquo;t an alternate captain yet, but that should happen some day if he remains with the Avs. Other influential players in the room: Mike Keane, Adam Foote and Joe Sakic.NOTEBOOK Left winger Peter Forsberg suffered the third serious concussion of his career Dec. 13 in Edmonton, missing three games. But the injury wasn&rsquo;t as bad as first feared and he was ready to play the following weekend&hellip;Left winger Alex Tanguay broke a 16-game goal slump with a marker in a 2-1 victory Dec. 20 over Edmonton. &ldquo;I feel like I just lost 50 pounds,&rdquo; Tanguay said&hellip;GM Pierre Lacroix did not rule out another major trade if the team doesn&rsquo;t improve soon. &ldquo;With our organization, you never know what might happen,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

f0013-01

Hartley pays price for underachieving Avs

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Aaron Portzline</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021185/8002695-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="219" height="225"></div>It was a such a great game, the Columbus Blue Jackets didn&rsquo;t want to leave the ice.&ldquo;We were so happy to get that shutout for (goaltender) Marc (Denis),&rdquo; said center Mike Sillinger after the Jackets beat the Calgary Flames 3-0 Dec. 19. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been our backbone all season, so to finally get him a reward like that was great. Everybody had a little more to say.&rdquo;It was Denis&rsquo; fifth career shutout and second with the Blue Jackets, but his play this year could have resulted in at least a few more.As of Dec. 20, no NHL goalie had played in more games (30), more minutes (1,780), faced more shots (969) or made as many saves (884) as Denis. His 12-15-3 record and 2.87 goals-against average are not good indicators of how he has played.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s kept us in every game, even in games where we didn&rsquo;t play very well in front of him,&rdquo; said left winger Jody Shelley. &ldquo;To be able to return the favor-if only for one night-was great for all of us.&rdquo;LEADING MEN There is no letter on Tyler Wright&rsquo;s jersey, not even an alternate&rsquo;s &lsquo;A.&rsquo; Even so, Wright is the heart and soul of the Blue Jackets.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03867/8002688-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="233" height="284"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tyler Wright</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We certainly miss him when he&rsquo;s not in the lineup,&rdquo; said coach Dave King.The numbers support King&rsquo;s sentiments. They&rsquo;re 10-8-2-1 when he&rsquo;s in the lineup and they were 2-6-1-1 when he was out with a broken hand.Wright is among the club&rsquo;s biggest clowns off the ice, but once the puck drops, nobody is more serious and this year he&rsquo;s being repaid for his efforts. He had 11 goals in only 21 games. His career high is 16.NOTEBOOK A bruised tailbone landed rookie left winger Rick Nash on injured reserve Dec. 19. The injury lingered longer than expected, causing Nash to miss four games and maybe more&hellip;Right winger Tomi Kallio scored his first goal (in his 12th game) as a Blue Jacket in a 3-0 win over Calgary Dec. 19. &ldquo;I was trying not to think about it too much, or put to much pressure on it,&rdquo; Kallio said. &ldquo;But, oh, it feels good to get one.&rdquo;&hellip;Back-up goalie Jean-Francois Labbe was sent to Syracuse of the American League for a three-game conditioning stint. &#9632;

f0013-02

Teammates celebrate goalie Denis’ success

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Chuck Carlton</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04720/8002726-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="217" height="223"></div>His fourth-or was it his fifth?-concussion gave Mike Modano a lingering headache.The Dallas Stars center wondered why concussions are a recurring problem in the NHL and what can be done to prevent them.Philadelphia Flyers center Jeremy Roenick gave Modano his latest concussion during a Nov. 17 game. Modano had to be helped off the ice after being checked from behind into the unforgiving glass at First Union Center.It was the second time that a questionable Roenick hit has sidelined Modano. The other came back in March 1999, when Roenick was a member of the Phoenix Coyotes.Modano offered his own solution to combat an increase in concussions, one borrowed from pro football.In short, he would adopt zero-tolerance on hits to the head, while still preserving the physical nature of the game.&ldquo;There should be no blows to the head, nothing of that nature,&rdquo; Modano said. &ldquo;We should address it that way. Even shoulder hits to the head should be fines or suspensions.&rdquo;LEADING MEN After hearing many fans ask if defenseman Derian Hatcher would remain captain of the Stars when he took over as head coach, Dave Tippett looked at Hatcher&rsquo;s behind-the-scenes work in inte-grating holdovers and top free agents into a team during training camp.While the Stars have lead-byexample types (Mike Modano and Sergei Zubov) and the occasionally vocal leader (Bill Guerin), Hatcher &ldquo;is the leader of this team,&rdquo; Tippett said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s done it with his play, his attitude and his performance.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Right winger Aaron Downey, one of the team&rsquo;s enforcers, took a weird route to the second goal of his NHL career. Downey walked the three miles from the team hotel in Chicago to the United Center for the morning skate on the day he scored&hellip;Former Stars coach Ken Hitchcock, now in Philadelphia, said he was interested in returning to Dallas as head coach when he talked last spring with owner Tom Hicks and GM Doug Armstrong. &ldquo;But I think after we talked, we all knew it was time to move on,&rdquo; Hitchcock said&hellip;Despite battling a broken right finger, center Jason Arnott scored seven goals in a recent 12-game stretch. &#9632;

f0013-04

Modano calls for ban on all blows to head

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Nicholas J. Cotsonika</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011839/8002764-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="215" height="222"></div>Curtis Joseph hasn&rsquo;t looked like one of the NHL&rsquo;s best goalies this season, though that&rsquo;s exactly what the Detroit Red Wings had expected him to be when they signed him to a big contract in July.After allowing two soft goals in the first period Dec. 17 against the New York Islanders, Joseph was pulled and didn&rsquo;t start two nights later against Dallas. He was 13-7-4 with a 2.65 goals-against average and.903 save percentage.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen him unstoppable and then other times we&rsquo;ve seen him where I&rsquo;m sure he&rsquo;d like maybe a shot back,&rdquo; said coach Dave Lewis.In Joseph&rsquo;s defense, he has had to adjust to the Wings, just as Dominik Hasek had to last season. In fact, Hasek posted similar statistics through the same number of games last year. When he was pulled, Joseph was making his 10th straight start.&ldquo;I know I can be better,&rdquo; Joseph said.LEADING MEN The Red Wings have perhaps the most respected captain in the NHL, Steve Yzerman. No one is wearing the &lsquo;C&rsquo; while he recovers from knee surgery but several of his teammates would be worthy candidates. Chris Chelios? He captained Chicago, Montreal and the U.S. Olympic team. Igor Larionov? He captained Russia. How about Brett Hull? He was captain in St. Louis, and instead of rocking the boat in Detroit, he has helped guide it. There&rsquo;s Nicklas Lidstrom and Brendan Shanahan and don&rsquo;t forget the Grind Line guys-Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Darren McCarty-examples of character players.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021391/8002757-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="234" height="286"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Chelios</figcaption></div>NOTEBOOK The Red Wings signed left winger Kirk Maltby to a four-year extension&hellip;Detroit lost defenseman Mathieu Dandenault to an orbital fracture until early January&hellip;Associate coach Barry Smith said Calgary contacted him via a third party to see if he would be interested in the Flames&rsquo; vacant coaching job. He told them he wasn&rsquo;t. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s right to jump off in the middle of the season unless something drastic comes up,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

f0014-01

Joseph’s play as Red Wing not living up to expectations

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Rob Tychkowski</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03962/8002795-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="215" height="224"></div>Mike York didn&rsquo;t exactly arrive in Edmonton in a blaze of glory after the Oilers acquired him at last season&rsquo;s trade deadline. In fact, he scored just three goals in his first 33 games with the team.He&rsquo;s making up for lost time now. York scored 10 goals in a 12-game span just before Christmas.&ldquo;It was a little bit frustrating, especially at the beginning of this year when we weren&rsquo;t doing so well,&rdquo; said the 5-foot-10,185 pound center of his slump. &ldquo;Now the pucks are starting to go in and Lthink confidence is starting to come.&rdquo;Coach Craig MacTavish can certainly use the added offense, but he says he liked what York was bringing all year.&ldquo;Even when he&rsquo;s not on the scoresheet he&rsquo;s all over the ice,&rdquo; MacTavish said. &ldquo;He has been a huge contributor for us each and every night. He and Todd (Marchant) are maybe the best penalty killing tandem in the league right now, they&rsquo;re exciting to watch.&rdquo;LEADING MEN Jason Smith doesn&rsquo;t say much, which is why his words carry so much weight in the room when he does. Ethan Moreau, Todd Marchant and Janne Niinimaa also command a great deal of respect through their willingness to play hurt, their strong play and their competitive fire.Mike Comrie, 22, is stepping into a leadership role without saying a word. In a 4-3 overtime loss Dec. 17 at Minnesota, he took a shot in the face, spit out the tooth and a mouthful of blood, got up and finished the shift. Then he went to the room, got the root yanked out, then returned to score a goal. That&rsquo;s the kind of stuff that gets teammates&rsquo; attention.NOTEBOOK Center Anson Carter did not argue when the referees gave Vancouver back-to-back five-on-three power plays in a span of nine seconds. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got Christmas shopping to do and I don&rsquo;t want any money taken away.&rdquo;&hellip;Left winger Georges Laraque, sporting 16 stitches after getting a skate blade in the face, was stunned when Minnesota&rsquo;s Brad Brown challenged him to a scrap: &ldquo;I said what are you a (bleeping) idiot? When I didn&rsquo;t have stitches you didn&rsquo;t want to go. Now that he sees that I can&rsquo;t fight, he wants to.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-03

York regains scoring touch, adds goals to defensive game

<div class="byline">&#x2013;David J. Neal</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04664/8002833-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="216" height="226"></div>Right winger Juraj Kolnik shouldn&rsquo;t have been surprised when he was traded to the Florida Panthers in October or when he was called up in December.After all, defenseman Branislav Mezei was there.&ldquo;He says that I won&rsquo;t ever get rid of him,&rdquo; Mezei chuckled. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like he follows me wherever I go.&rdquo;Kolnik was born 36 days after Mezei in 1980 in Nitra, Slovakia. They lived two houses from each other, played hockey together and went to the same hockey school. Both played in the Canadian Hockey League and were drafted by the Islanders in 1999-Mezei in the first round, Kolnik in the fourth.They were teammates in and out of the minors until Mezei was traded to the Panthers July 3. The Panthers traded for Kolnik Oct. 11 and placed him in the minors. Mezei suffered a broken ankle the next day, so he&rsquo;s only played three games as a Panther without Kolnik as a teammate.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05449/8002826-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="231" height="283"><figcaption class="caption-body">Olli Jokinen</figcaption></div>LEADING MEN The NHL&rsquo;s youngest team looks up to center Olli Jokinen, fourth-line center Ryan Johnson and left winger Marcus Nilson because they regularly put in a hard day&rsquo;s work and don&rsquo;t spare anyone the verbal rod when necessary.Johnson was the first to call out superstar right winger Pavel Bure last year. Veteran blueliner Sandis Ozolinsh&rsquo;s career accomplishments also give him stature in the room.NOTEBOOK Young teams usually have a tougher time on the road than at home. But during a stretch, where they played six of seven games at home, the Panthers went 1-3-2-0 to lower their home record to 4-6-5-1 (14 points). On the road, they had played one fewer game than they had at home, but had two more points&hellip;The Panthers have surrendered a league-high seven shorthanded goals. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a young team syndrome,&rdquo; said veteran defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, &ldquo;where we think we have a one-man advantage and our intensity level goes down.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-04

Kolnik, Mezei linked together from birth to NHL careers

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Matt McHale</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06353/8002864-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="217" height="227"></div>Philip Anschutz, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Kings, is saying he will sell the team unless there is a major restructuring of the NHL&rsquo;s collective bargaining agreement, which expires in 2004.Anschutz, whose company Qwest has been under federal investigation, is angry with escalating salaries and claims to have lost more than $50 million since taking over the Kings.That contradicts a Forbes report that paints quite a different picture of the franchise. The report says the Kings are worth $205 million, which represents a $92-million increase in value since Anschutz and minority partner Ed Roski bought the team in 1996.&ldquo;We have a major problem,&rdquo; Kings president Tim Leiweke told the Los Angeles Times. &ldquo;We have to fix this because I&rsquo;m telling you, we will not continue. We won&rsquo;t. We either fix it or we&rsquo;re out.&rdquo;Among Anschutz&rsquo;s biggest complaints is the deferred salaries owed dozens of past players, including GM Dave Taylor.The Kings $52-million payroll is ninth in the league. Their biggest reported losses came during the 1998-99 season when they claimed to lose $20.5 million.LEADING MEN When he first came to the Kings from Boston, where he was captain, Jason Allison felt he had to pick his spots in the room. Now his influence in the room is wide reaching. When he talks players listen.Another leader is blueliner Mathieu Schneider, one of the few Kings players to play for a Stanley Cup winner (Montreal, 1993). His savvy and scoring touch have been critical to the Kings&rsquo; strong start. He is comfortable with the media, shielding teammates who aren&rsquo;t.Defenseman Ian Laperriere rallied the team when Rob Blake was traded to Colorado. His strong work ethic plus his passion made him the de facto captain and the emotional leader.NOTEBOOK Left winger Adam Deadmarsh, sidelined for 10 games with a concussion, returned Dec. 7 and leads the team in goals, but then missed two games with more wooziness. .A pair of 3-0 wins in Nashville and Dallas (Dec. 10-11) marked the first time in Kings&rsquo; history the team had back-to-back shutouts on the road. &#9632;

f0014-06

Kings’ owner will sell team if changes to CHA not made

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Tom Jones</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011678/8002902-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="217" height="230"></div>Few teams-successful ones, anyway-go through a whole season alternating their goaltending.But for now, that&rsquo;s exactly what the Minnesota Wild is doing. And as long as it&rsquo;s working, why change it?Through 30 games, goalie Dwayne Roloson and Manny Fernandez played 15 games each.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see any need to play (exclusively) one goalie,&rdquo; Lemaire said. &ldquo;If one guys slips and we weren&rsquo;t satisfied, or felt we couldn&rsquo;t win with him, it would be different. But that isn&rsquo;t the case.&rdquo;Fernandez started the season on fire, winning his first six starts. But Lemaire kept playing Roloson, too, and Roloson responded with an eight-game unbeaten streak (5-0-3) while Fernandez struggled behind a lack of support.If the Wild does make a post-season run come March, Lemaire might go with one goalie. For now, though, two is not a crowd in the Wild goal.LEADING MEN The Wild doesn&rsquo;t have a room of yellers and screamers, but there are a few veterans who have been with the team since Day 1 that speak up and catch the ear of young players such as Marian Gaborik and Pascal Dupuis. When Jim Dowd talks, when Wes Walz talks, when Brad Bombardir talks, the rest of the team listens.Instead of kicking players in the behind, though, the leadership style of these veterans usually involves pats on the back and words of encouragement. But one player who says little (in fact, he can hardly be heard in a conversation), but gets well-deserved respect for his tireless and selfless play is enforcer Matt Johnson.To show you how much respect, Johnson was named by Jacques Lemaire to captain the team for January. Quite unusual for a team tough guy.NOTEBOOK Right winger Bill Muckalt will have surgery on the shoulder he dislocated Oct. 22, and could miss the rest of the season. After going goal-less in 70 games with the Ottawa senators last season, Muckalt had five goals and eight points in five games with the Wild before being injured&hellip;After 12 unsuccessful tries, the Wild finally defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in overtime Dec. 17. The Oilers were the only Western Conference team the Wild had never defeated. And that game marked the first time in team history the Wild overcame a two-goal deficit to win a game&hellip;The Wild&rsquo;s first round pick, center Pierre-Marc Bouchard, was named an alternate captain for the Canadian national junior team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021193/8002895-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="239" height="289"><figcaption class="caption-body">Matt Johnson</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0015-01

Two-goalie system works for rising Wild, so why change it?

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03834/8002940-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="218" height="220"></div>Doug Gilmour&rsquo;s slow start this season is a distant memory.With two assists against the New York Rangers Dec. 19, Gilmour had seven points over a three-game span, increasing his season totals to 614-20 in 32 games. Also, with a goal at Ottawa, Gilmour became the 14th player in NHL history to record 1,400 points in his career.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s something that will mean something to me one day,&rdquo; said the 39-year-old veteran, now in his 20th season. &ldquo;Of course I&rsquo;m proud of it. It&rsquo;s a reflection of what I&rsquo;ve done in my career. Maybe when the season&rsquo;s done I can reflect on it a little more.&rdquo;Gilmour got off to his customary slow start, being held to a goal and five points in 16 games. Rather than benching him, coach Michel Therrien increased Gilmour&rsquo;s ice time, putting him at left wing on a line with Yanic Perreault and Randy McKay.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a guy who thrives on ice time,&rdquo; Gilmour said. &ldquo;The more I play, the better I am.&rdquo;LEADING MEN Gilmour, a good bet for the Hall of Fame, understands the game and has earned the right to talk.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great player and a great leader,&rdquo; said teammate Oleg Petrov. &ldquo;He gets points and he gets up in the room and is a leader when the team needs it.&rdquo;After a one-sided loss in early December at Dallas, a players-only meeting was held. Details haven&rsquo;t emerged, but it can be assumed Gilmour said his piece. Montreal has played with more energy ever since, going 5-2-0-1.Defensive center Joe Juneau, arguably the team&rsquo;s most intelligent player, doesn&rsquo;t speak often. But when he does, people listen due to his veteran presence.NOTEBOOK Right winger Oleg Petrov will miss between two and three weeks with a sprained ligament in his right knee. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m lucky it wasn&rsquo;t more serious,&rdquo; said Petrov, who missed 22 games when he tore the same ligament in December, 1999. He also injured the same knee in the penultimate game of the 2000-01 season. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the same knee, but it has nothing to do with the other injuries,&rdquo; he said&hellip;The goaltending controversy in Montreal subsided after Jose Theodore won three consecutive games following a slow start. At the same time, veteran Jeff Hackett, who carried the team for more than two months, has lost two straight for the first time this season&hellip;Defenseman Andrei Markov was quietly getting close to cracking the league&rsquo;s top 10 defenseman scorers with 21 points in 33 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04611/8002933-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="237" height="288"><figcaption class="caption-body">Oleg Petrov</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0015-03

Gilmour on hot streak, cagey veteran reaches 1,400-point milestone

<div class="byline">&#x2013;David Boclair</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011635/8002978-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="215" height="224"></div>December has been something of an historical month for the Nashville Predators.Just don&rsquo;t remind them of it.The Predators were beaten 3-0 by the Calgary Flames Dec. 17 marking the third time in a span of five games and nine days they had been held without a goal (3-0 each time), which made it their greatest concentration of scoreless games ever. During the 2000-01 season, they were shut out three times in nine days (Nov. 15 and 24,2000) and in 10 days (Dec. 6 and 16,2000), but both of those were over six games.As a result, Nashville was on pace to match the franchise record for most shutout losses in a season, 12 set in (not surprisingly) 2000-01.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been a little offensively challenged,&rdquo; said coach Barry Trotz. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been able to come back and create a lot of offensive flare. Last year we felt we could score goals. This year has been a tougher grind to get the puck to the back of the net.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021270/8002971-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="234" height="285"><figcaption class="caption-body">Greg Johnson</figcaption></div>LEADING MEN When Greg Johnson was named captain at the conclusion of training camp, it was understood the center would not be the most vocal guy in the room. The fact he has been sidelined by a concussion since the fifth game has created a bit of a void, which has been filled most often by veteran forward Brent Gilchrist. His good (a Stanley Cup) and bad (injuries) experiences give him credibility with the many younger players.Scott Walker, an original Predator, also has a lot of say, backed up by his play-six goals and three assists in his first 10 games back from a serious chest injury.NOTEBOOK Center Denis Arkhipov was scratched Dec. 19 having gone 20 games without a goal. It was the first time in 154 games, a streak which dated back to his NHL debut Nov. 11,1999, he was not in the lineup&hellip;Left winger Rem Murray became the 12th player in franchise history to record a point in his Predators&rsquo; debut when he had an assist in the first game after he joined Nashville in the trade that sent goalie Mike Dunham to the Rangers. &#9632;

f0016-01

Predators drawing blanks as 2002 draws to conclusion

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03956/8003009-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="216" height="223"></div>It wasn&rsquo;t a three-game losing streak that had New Jersey Devils coach Pat Burns in a funk, answering questions with uncharacteristically brief, colorless answers.Burns was upset that comments he made after a practice in Ottawa were perceived as if he was knocking the Rangers and Islanders by suggesting the Devils are held to a much higher standard than their area rivals.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t taking shots at anybody,&rdquo; Burns said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a common fact. It&rsquo;s factual that this team over the last five or six years has had high standards to live up to. I know what that is all about because when I was in Montreal, there were high standards. It was tough. Then, when I went to Toronto, there weren&rsquo;t those high standards because they weren&rsquo;t a playoff team.&rdquo;Center John Madden had his own view.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been ahead 2-1 in our building and when we don&rsquo;t get a shot on the power play we get booed out of our own building,&rdquo; Madden said. &ldquo;The fans in New York go crazy after (the Rangers) have a good shift. When&rsquo;s the last time that happened to us?&rdquo;LEADING MEN If there has been any criticism of Scott Stevens&rsquo; captaincy over the years, it has been that he rarely gives speeches or goes into a tirade. However, it happens. When the Devils lost in overtime to the Red Wings back in late November, the team seemed satisfied with the one point. Stevens erupted and ripped the team&rsquo;s inconsistency. They responded by winning three straight and four of the next five.Considering the fact Joe Nieuwendyk hasn&rsquo;t even been wearing a Devils sweater for an entire calendar year, he carries a lot of weight in the dressing room.The Devils feel Patrik Elias will grow into a team leader. While some felt he received departed Bobby Holik&rsquo;s vacated A&rsquo; as incentive, Elias has taken the honor very seriously and has welcomed the responsibility.NOTEBOOK Center Joe Nieuwendyk&rsquo;s 20-game goal-scoring slump, the longest. of his career, ended Dec. 19 in Pittsburgh. Scoring a goal with an assist, it was his first multiple-point game of the season. &#9632;

f0016-03

Cuach Burns says his team answers to higher standard

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Peter Botte</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04723/8003047-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="217" height="224"></div>Rick DiPietro might not be able to save the New York Islanders&rsquo; season.For now, Mike Milbury and Peter Laviolette will be elated if the young netminder simply saves the puck.Mired in 13th position in the Eastern Conference as Christmas approached, the Islanders finally believed they had no choice but to summon DiPietro to form a threeheaded goalie rotation with inconsistent veterans Chris Osgood and Garth Snow.The first overall selection in the 2000 entry draft earned a 4-2 victory and snuffed out a four-game winless skid for the Isles in his first NHL start since the end of the 2000-01 season Dec. 19 in Minnesota.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ve been waiting for for over a year and a half,&rdquo; DiPietro said.Laviolette said only &ldquo;games are up for grabs,&rdquo; until Milbury decides if the team plans to stick with DiPietro for the remainder of its purported playoff run.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t made up my mind what the end result of this is, but (DiPietro) has earned a look,&rdquo; Milbury said. &ldquo;And by the way, we&rsquo;re not winning enough hockey games. If somebody&rsquo;s nose is out of joint about this, I&rsquo;m sorry.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05525/8003040-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="231" height="284"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Di Pietro</figcaption></div>LEADING MEN Beyond Michael Peca&rsquo;s obvious locker room galvanizing traits on and off the ice, several of his lieutenants have emerged among those willing to take on a say-something or do-something role.Most notably, NHL ice-time leader Adrian Aucoin earned an alternate captaincy with an ability to back up the ridiculous minutes he logs with a strong and even-handed clubhouse voice. Osgood has a quiet been-there-done-that approach from his days in Detroit. Osgood and Mark Parrish also are the most candid with the media after games.NOTEBOOK Rookie right winger Mattias Weinhandl returned from a shoulder injury Dec. 17 after missing three weeks and immediately was reinstalled on center Alexei Yashin&rsquo;s top line. Left winger Oleg Kvasha (three points in 19 games) was a healthy scratch in three of five games in midDecember. &#9632;

f0016-04

Islanders turn to DiPietro In effort to turn year around

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Rich Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06437/8003078-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="215" height="227"></div>As news goes, this could have been much, much worse for the New York Rangers.Their Russian Rocket will miss four weeks, and not the rest of the season. Right winger Pavel Bure underwent double arthroscopic knee surgery Dec. 16 for minor repairs and for exploratory purposes.Team doctors Andrew Feldman and Tony Maddalo performed the surgeries to determine whether Bure had damaged either of his anterior cruciate ligaments. If either was torn, Bure would probably have been done for the season.Both were found to be intact, and Bure could be back by mid-January. Bure&rsquo;s left knee, injured Dec. 6 when he collided with Buffalo&rsquo;s Curtis Brown, had been examined by the team doctors and he then went to specialist Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., for a second opinion. Both exams came back inconclusive, so the scope was deemed necessary.Bure&rsquo;s right knee ACL had twice been reconstructed and underwent an arthroscopic procedure during the pre-season, never felt 100 per cent, so Bure wanted it checked too.Dr. Feldman said Bure, who began rehab almost immediately, could be back sooner than four weeks if he hadn&rsquo;t had the exploratory surgery done on the right knee.LEADING MEN The Rangers have been, are, and always will be Mark Messier&rsquo;s team as long as he&rsquo;s an active player. Messier is still the leader and the spokesman for the team, although it seems that the odd and new makeup of the pieced-together squad may have resulted in a less of an aura around Messier than in the past.Eric Lindros has tried to put his stamp on the team and it certainly seems he takes a major role in that area when he&rsquo;s playing well. Unfortunately for him, he didn&rsquo;t play well for a long stretch of the season.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Brian Leetch suffered a bruised tendon, which rims across the plate which was inserted in his broken left ankle in 1990, and the Rangers scored just 11 goals in the next seven games, going 1-5-0-1. At that point, the Rangers had won 40 of the 113 games Leetch had missed in his career. &#9632;

f0016-06

Good news for sniper Bure, season not over after all

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021134/8003109-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="242" height="291"><figcaption class="caption-body">Curtis Leschyshyn</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011461/8003116-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="217" height="228"></div>Curtis Leschyshyn could play his 1,000th NHL game this season and he&rsquo;d like to do it wearing an Ottawa Senators uniform.While the name of the 33-year-old veteran defenseman has surfaced in trade rumors, because of his $2 million salary and the crowd on the club&rsquo;s blueline, Leschyshyn is not going to be applying for a job transfer.&ldquo;My family is very happy in Ottawa and I don&rsquo;t want to pick up to move somewhere else,&rdquo; he said.Sources say the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals and New York Rangers have held talks with GM John Muckier about the possibility of getting a defenseman.But the reality is the Senators haven&rsquo;t had all their defensemen healthy often. Wade Redden, Chris Phillips and Shane Hnidy all have missed games because of injury.LEADING MEN While captain Daniel Alfredsson is the recognized leader of the Senators, he gets the support of alternates Wade Redden and Curtis Leschyshyn, and the return of Shaun Van Allen has made a difference in the dressing room. While Van Allen isn&rsquo;t the type of player who&rsquo;s going to wow anybody on the ice, he plays an important role killing penalties.Defenseman Zdeno Chara, also has stepped up. After watching how the 6-foot-9 Chara hits opponents with authority and does his job on the ice, blueliner Chris Phillips said, &ldquo;It has to rub off on you.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK Defenseman Wade Redden suited up for his 500th game with the club Dec. 19 in Ottawa against San Jose, while right winger Daniel Alfredsson hit the mark two games earlier on Dec. 16 against Montreal&hellip;A deal which would have sent center Radek Bonk to the Islanders in exchange for center Dave Scatchard and left winger Brad Isbister has been called off for the time being. While Isbister was being shopped around by Isles GM Mike Milbury, he has started playing well which means New York isn&rsquo;t nearly as willing to make a move. San Jose also is interested in Bonk. &#9632;

f0017-02

Leschyshyn anxious to remain in Ottawa

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03819/8003147-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="219" height="220"></div>If Ken Hitchcock could have had one wish for his 51st birthday, it would have been a faster game-like, say, five-second faceoffs and five-minute intermissions.That&rsquo;s because the Flyer coach&rsquo;s former team, the Dallas Stars, happened to be in Philadelphia for a much ballyhooed reunion Dec. 17, bringing back a lot of good old memories, but not helping him make any new good ones.As it turned out, both teams were able to celebrate a bit. The game ended in a 2-2 tie.&ldquo;I would like to move on now,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;Getting through this day was good for me. I&rsquo;m really enjoying the players on this team. This to me is the last chapter. It&rsquo;s closure.&rdquo;Captain Keith Primeau noticed the relief in Hitchcock after the game.&ldquo;Now not only does he get to move on, but we all get to move on and focus on what we have to do,&rdquo; Primeau said.LEADING MEN Alternate captain Mark Recchi has taken on a greater leadership role this year, in part, because of his longtime ties with coach Ken Hitchcock, dating back to Recchi&rsquo;s junior playing days in Kamloops, B.C.Jeremy Roenick drives the entertainment/keep-the-locker-room-loose division. Eric Desjardins has stepped in for the injured John LeClair as an alternate.Hitchcock has appointed captain Keith Primeau, Roenick, Recchi, LeClair, Desjardins and, in a bit of a surprise, Eric Weinrich, to a leadership committee.&ldquo;Sometimes he wants us to get the message out,&rdquo; Recchi said.Simon Gagne has future captain potential.NOTEBOOK Center Jeremy Roenick received a two-game suspension for hitting Dallas&rsquo; center Mike Modano from behind on Dec. 17. &ldquo;I called and apologized,&rdquo; Roenick said. Modano had to leave the game, but was not seriously injured and accepted the apology from his U.S. Olympic and World Cup teammate&hellip;Eric Desjardins played in his 1,000th NHL game at Atlanta on Dec. 18. Many consider Desjardins and Mark Howe the two best defensemen in Flyer history. &ldquo;If they (fans, media, etc.) say that, then I&rsquo;m flattered,&rdquo; Desjardins said&hellip;Through 31 games, the Flyers remained the only undefeated (12-0-5-0) NHL team when scoring first. &#9632;

f0017-03

Hitchcock gets closure In meeting with Stars

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Bob McManaman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04599/8003185-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="219" height="226"></div>Landon Wilson went back on his word. Sadly, it nearly cost him the use of his left eye and may profoundly affect the rest of his hockey career.After suffering cuts in and around his eye from a high stick delivered by San Jose&rsquo;s Niklas Sundstrom, the Coyotes&rsquo; left winger vowed he would wear a protective visor for the rest of his playing days. But after skating with it for two games, he found the shield bothered his vision and led to headaches, so he ditched it.In the next game, Wilson was caught flush in the same eye with a hard shot by teammate Shane Doan that deflected off of Washington&rsquo;s Steve Konowalchuk. Now, his season likely is over and doctors aren&rsquo;t sure about his future.Wilson, 27, underwent surgery on back-to-back days, including an operation to reattach a large, lateral tear in his retina. Additionally, he suffered lacerations to his eyelid and non-displaced fractures of the orbital bone below his eye and on the nasal bone.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have an idea probably in the next month, but all bets are off until we see how things progress,&rdquo; said Dr. Jeffrey Edelstein when asked about Wilson&rsquo;s playing future.LEADING MEN The Coyotes&rsquo; most outspoken and up-front verbal player has spent most of the season on the injured list, recovering from a high left ankle sprain.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05417/8003178-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="237" height="290"><figcaption class="caption-body">Landon Wilson</figcaption></div>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s like E.E Hutton,&rdquo; coach Bobby Francis once said of goaltender Sean Burke. &ldquo;When he speaks, people listen.&rdquo;Veteran Claude Lemieux has some of the younger players&rsquo; ears, but his close relationship with Wayne Gretzky might minimize some of his leadership impact with other veterans. Another player who has matured into a viable team mouthpiece is Shane Doan, who has gleaned a lot from Burke, and says what needs to be said, whether it&rsquo;s to the media or his teammates.NOTEBOOK Left winger Brian Savage, who already had missed much of the season with a strained groin, bruised wrist and broken thumb, will be sidelined through January after a thundering hit by Los Angeles defenseman Dmitry Yushkevich Dec. 15 left him with a concussion, a strained neck and a broken nose. &#9632;

f0017-04

Wilson’s year In doubt after discarding visor

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Joe Starkey</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011516/8003216-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="213" height="224"></div>All indications were that coach Rick Kehoe&rsquo;s job was safe despite a 10-game losing streak (including an overtime loss) that was one short of the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; franchise record, set in 1982-83.Then again, whose job is truly safe when a team goes an eighth of a season without a victory and gets outscored 41-16 in that span?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if my job&rsquo;s safe,&rdquo; said GM Craig Patrick when he was asked about Kehoe&rsquo;s job security. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t answer that one.&rdquo;But Patrick did say he was satisfied with the coaching staff-&ldquo;they&rsquo;re doing a great job,&rdquo; he said-and he hadn&rsquo;t so much as thought of making a change during the losing streak. Lemieux laughed when he was asked if he still had faith in Patrick and Kehoe.&ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; he said.The Penguins won 39 of their first 110 games under Kehoe, who replaced Ivan Hlinka four games into last season. He has contended with a number of injuries. Six players, including key defenseman Dick Tarnstrom (broken foot) were out of the lineup the night the Penguins&rsquo; losing streak hit 10 with a 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils.LEADING MEN Several veteran players are not afraid to speak up. They include Mario Lemieux, Marc Bergevin, Martin Straka, Alexei Kovalev, Kent Manderville and Jamie Pushor.Bergevin was especially vocal during the losing streak. He publicly blasted the team for what he perceived was a lack of effort.&ldquo;You can fool a lot of people,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You can fool your buddies back home, your mom and dad, you can fool the media or the fans, but you know what? You don&rsquo;t fool your teammates or hockey people.&rdquo;Straka is a quiet leader who inspires his teammates by playing through injuries.NOTEBOOK An additional broken bone was discovered in right winger Aleksey Morozov&rsquo;s right wrist, which might cause him to miss more than the six-to-eight weeks originally predicted&hellip;Center Kris Beech remained in a Los Angeles-area hospital after an emergency appendectomy that was expected to keep him out of the lineup for at least two weeks. &#9632;

f0018-01

Double-digit loss streak not an issue for Patrick

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Derrick Goold</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021156/8003254-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="213" height="225"></div>Just when they thought the glaring weakness of the first quarter of the season was about to be fixed, the Blues headed west and their penalty kill went south.The addition of Martin Rucinsky and Petr Cajanek at the top of the penalty kill added an element of speed without sacrificing defense. The two combined for a crafty shorthanded goal in Nashville and had split the penalty killing load with stalwarts Dallas Drake and Shjon Podein.When opponents had 16 more power plays than the Blues during a recent stretch (35 to 19), the penalty kill held them to the same amount of power play goals the Blues scored-five.The penalty kill&rsquo;s climb from the dregs ended when, in the first four periods and 90 seconds of their three-game road trip, the Blues allowed six power play goals, three each to Los Angeles and Anaheim. The Blues scored two power play goals in each game, but lost both.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03831/8003247-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="231" height="284"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al Maclnnis</figcaption></div>LEADING MEN Al MacInnis, acting captain in Chris Pronger&rsquo;s absence, is and really always has been, the bedrock of the team. The Blues&rsquo; ability to remain cool under the barrage of injuries and absences is largely a reflection of Maclnnis.Scott Mellanby is the iron-willed motivator. Keith Tkachuk is the unifier. He and Doug Weight bring the younger and new guys into the fold. Tkachuk&rsquo;s boastful sarcasm is contagious.Dallas Drake and Shjon Podein are beloved and believed for their grit. Podein emerged as one of the commanding voices in the post-season.Rapidly rising is rookie defenseman Barret Jackman. Tough and poised, he is as natural a leader as the Blues have on their roster.NOTEBOOK Goaltender Tom Barrasso remained on the injured list after the holiday roster freeze, meaning the Blues will finish December with three goalies, one more than they wan ted&hellip;Goalie Brent Johnson&rsquo;s return started off well-a tie in Nashville and shutout at home. He experienced a blip Dec. 17 in Los Angeles when the Kings won 62, but appears ready to pick up where he left off in May. &#9632;

f0018-02

Solid penalty killing key to Blues’ chances

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Ross McKeon</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04549/8003285-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="213" height="225"></div>It may have taken some time, but Patrick Marleau is validating San Jose&rsquo;s decision to choose the speed-burning center second overall in 1997.After going without a goal, but doing everything else for the first 12 games, Marleau scored 15 goals and 23&rsquo; points over his next 20 contests to serve notice he&rsquo;s on his way to career bests all around.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s going to be one of the best players to ever play this game,&rdquo; said linemate Teemu Selanne. &ldquo;He has all the tools and he&rsquo;s a great kid.&rdquo;High praise for a player who for the better part of his first five years in the league struggled with consistency.&ldquo;It feels good to know you&rsquo;re going to get chances every night, that all the hard work is paying off,&rdquo; Marleau said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t take it for granted, but things are falling into place for us pretty good right now.&rdquo;The 23-year-old Marleau, who is the youngest player in league history to appear in 400 games, typically deflects attention from himself and keeps his comments focused on the team because he knows he&rsquo;s getting a lot of help.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unfair to say, but there are similarities to Mike Modano in the sense of how they skate and play the game,&rdquo; said coach Ron Wilson of Marleau. &ldquo;It took Mike Modano four or five years in the league to find his stride and become consistent.&rdquo;LEADING MEN Mike Ricci and Vincent Damphousse are Stanley Cup winners and command the respect they&rsquo;ve earned.Adam Graves doesn&rsquo;t wear a letter, but you&rsquo;d be hard-pressed to find a Shark who garners more respect. During a recent optional skate following games on back-to-back nights on the road, there was Graves participating with all the gen-. uine enthusiasm of healthy scratches and players lucky to log 10 minutes per contest.Fourth-year pro Brad Stuart is going to wear a letter some day. He&rsquo;s quiet and unassuming, but mature beyond his years.Teemu Selanne is a positive influence every minute of the day because of his fun personality.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Mike Rathje set a career high for points (18) in just his 32nd game of the year&hellip;Left winger Scott Thornton incurred a back injury when he collided with Washington&rsquo;s Brendan Witt Dec. 14 and missed the team&rsquo;s five-game trip before Christmas. &#9632;

f0018-04

Marleau goes on roll after sluggish start

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Damian Cristodero</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05369/8003323-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="212" height="221"></div>Forgive Shane Willis if he is feeling a bit snakebitten.The right winger seemed to finally be getting his game together with American League Springfield, but broke his left foot Dec. 14 in a game against Lowell. He will miss four-to-six weeks.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of those things,&rdquo; Willis said. &ldquo;It seems to me like digging yourself out of one hole and then digging yourself another. Things had been going well. And to have that happen, you just have to laugh about it and come back refreshed.&rdquo;Willis, who is making $615,000 on a one-way contract and was sent to Springfield as the Lightning&rsquo;s last cut, had five goals and six assists in 27 games.Willis said he was upset when the injury occurred, but sounded upbeat and said he would use the time to get stronger through rehab.&ldquo;I think the main thing will be to keep working hard,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just one of&rdquo; those things. You can&rsquo;t stay mad about it and grumble. And it&rsquo;s Christmas, so we can enjoy the holidays with the family.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06288/8003316-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="231" height="285"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Andreychuk</figcaption></div>LEADING MEN Tampa Bay gets the most input from veterans Dave Andreychuk, the captain, and Tim Taylor, an alternate. But the team also is doing a good job of cultivating leadership from younger players such as defenseman Jassen Cullimore, left winger Fredrik Modin and right winger Martin St. Louis.Andreychuk and Taylor take the bulk of those duties and they have fallen even more to Taylor since Andreychuk&rsquo;s injury. But Cullimore, Modin and St. Louis have been known to step up from time to time.Even then, most of the motivation among the Lightning is done through action rather than words. That&rsquo;s not surprising with what is the league&rsquo;s fifth-youngest team.NOTEBOOK How important is Dave Andreychuk to the Lightning in the faceoff circle? Before the left winger broke his right big toe, the team had won 55.5 per cent of its defensivezone draws in 25 games. In the next seven games without him, it won 51.9 per cent&hellip;Center Brian Holzinger had two goals and four assists in the first three games of a six-game conditioning assignment with American League Springfield. &#9632;

f0018-05

Willis breaks ankle, scuttles call-up bid

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011394/8003354-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="219" height="223"></div>Five years into his professional career, Ric Jackman has turned into a serviceable two-way defenseman still finding his way as an NHL player.Considering he&rsquo;s just 24 years old, that&rsquo;s neither entirely surprising nor a terribly bad thing.But it was never supposed to be this way. By now, he was supposed to have emerged as a dynamic offensive defenseman, not a minor pro fill-in content to knock the puck off the glass to clear it out of his zone. One assist in 20 games, is not exactly the stuff of legends, but Jackman is happy to accept it at this stage of his career.Everything hit a low point in terms of Jackman&rsquo;s life and his hockey career when he was suspended by the Boston Bruins for an off-ice incident that led to a broken ankle; he then took the bold step of entering a rehabilitation center to treat an alcoholism problem that had taken hold during his junior days with the Soo Greyhounds.Jackman is a much happier, more productive player and has been among the Maple Leafs&rsquo; top six defensemen since a callup in November.And while the Theo Fleury story has dominated hockey headlines, Jackman&rsquo;s is every bit as courageous. But he is reticent to talk about his past and how he dealt with his demons.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve turned a new page in my life,&rdquo; Jackman said. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s just leave it at that.&rdquo;LEADING MEN One reason for the Maple Leafs&rsquo; early-season struggles was that they were without their inspirational leader and heart and soul in Gary Roberts, who is out until mid-February following surgery on both shoulders. Roberts is unafraid to make teammates accountable and has been a fitness and conditioning guru for the team&rsquo;s younger players.Tie Domi has emerged as a team leader over the past few years. He is a player his teammates know will stand up for them and is the team&rsquo;s driving force off the ice.Mats Sundin is one of the most underrated leaders in hockey. He prefers to do his leading by example, but speaks in the dressing room when necessary and, although economical with his words, makes sure each one has an impact on his teammates.NOTEBOOK Assistant coach Rick Ley didn&rsquo;t accompany the team on a three-game road trip in mid-December because he was recovering from shoulder surgery &#9632;

f0019-01

Jackman finds home after off-ice struggles

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-021047/8003392-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="216" height="224"></div>Canuck forward Trevor Linden became another casualty among non visorwearing players to suffer an eye injury.Linden was raked across the face by teammate Trent Klatt&rsquo;s stick after the. latter was spun off balance by Calgary&rsquo;s Steve Begin, the collision occurring near center ice during a Dec. 15 game. The impact crushed Linden&rsquo;s nose, damaged his sinus cavity, gave him a mild concussion and left blurred vision in his bloody right eye.Linden was ordered to have five days of bed rest before any further evaluation could be done. How long he will be out of Vancouver&rsquo;s lineup remained a mystery, although two weeks was the optimistic guess.Merry Christmas, eh Trevor?&ldquo;It hit me so hard,&rdquo; Linden said. &ldquo;It felt like a baseball bat. It just clubbed me, the whole shaft. It crushed my nose and sinus and part of the stick hit me in the eye, too.&rdquo;Linden said he had no idea how long he&rsquo;d be sidelined.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s such a foreign thing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t see it being a longterm thing, but I can&rsquo;t say.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03720/8003385-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="235" height="288"><figcaption class="caption-body">Murray Baron</figcaption></div>LEADING MEN Captain Markus Naslund is obviously the team&rsquo;s most respected player, but he has a strong supporting cast that includes Trevor Linden (a former Vancouver and New York Islander captain), Ed Jovanovski, Todd Bertuzzi, Murray Baron and Trent Klatt.Baron and Klatt have won their respect through their work ethic and not necessarily high-profile performance. Baron never sees power play time and rarely scores, but his grit and legendary high pain threshold have been an inspiration to his teammates.Klatt is not gifted offensively either, but has a bulldog tenacity and fearless nature that also inspires. As well, Klatt is a media-friendly type who takes some pressure off Naslund and the Canucks&rsquo; other star players.NOTEBOOK The Canucks established a team record for power play goals in one game when they put four pucks past Edmonton goalie Tommy Salo in a 6-3 win Dec. 14&hellip;Left winger Markus Naslund netted four goals himself in the same game to tie a club mark jointly held by eight others. &#9632;

f0019-02

Linden out indefinitely following nasty injury

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Dave Fay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04550/8003423-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="217" height="222"></div>The Capitals&rsquo; goalie dilemma, what to do with one too many, has been resolved.Backup Craig Billington, a. 15-year NHL fixture, reached a financial settlement and retired after clearing waivers for a third time this season.The point where something had to be done came Dec. 16 when the Caps took Olie Kolzig off injured reserve. Sebastien Charpentier had been playing in Koizig&rsquo;s place, but the roster had no room left.&ldquo;This is honestly the nature of the sport when someone else comes along who is younger and cheaper and can do the job,&rdquo; said GM George McPhee.Kolzig described Billington as far more than a backup-&ldquo;we&rsquo;re good friends. He&rsquo;s very smart, very serious about the game. He&rsquo;s the consummate professional.&rdquo;LEADING MEN If goalies could be captains, Olie Kolzig would be Washington&rsquo;s. He is the team&rsquo;s unquestioned leader in every respect.Left winger Steve Konowalchuk is an intelligent, fierce competitor who shames others into trying harder with his work ethic.Defenseman Calle Johansson is known for shooting a glare across the room at mistake-prone teammates, while players see the way Jeff Halpern works and want to try harder.Since his acquisition from Edmonton this season, Mike Grier assumes a larger role almost daily. He takes a regular shift with Konowalchuk and Halpern, kills penalties, is a grinder on the No. 1 power play unit, and leads by example on the ice and in the locker room. His is a huge addition by GM George McPhee.NOTEBOOK After six fruitless tries, the Capitals finally won one in Phoenix, 4-3 over the Coyotes Dec. 13, ending a run of 0-3-2-0 since the franchise relocated from Winnipeg (where they didn&rsquo;t do much better.) Nevertheless, the Capitals went 1-3-1-0 on a five-game road swing, where they were shut out twice&hellip;Tim Hunter resigned from his player development spot with the team to rejoin Ron Wilson on San Jose&rsquo;s coaching staff; retired Capital defenseman Rob Zettler also ended up working for Wilson&hellip;Center Michael Nylander has picked up 28 points in 22 games and is plus-7 since the Capitals acquired him from Chicago Oct. 30, moving him into the team scoring lead. &#9632;

f0019-04

Billingtun’s retirement ends Caps’ goalie glut

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011041/8003461-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="294" height="371"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alan Adams&nbsp;Project writer</figcaption></div>Power takes many different forms and reveals itself in many ways. In hockey, we have the power forward who plays on the power play. The GM has power and so does the coach. We&rsquo;ve seen the emergence of player power in recent years. The trend of star players turning star own ers-that&rsquo;s you, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux gives new meaning to the phrase &ldquo;power suit.&rdquo;In assembling the fourth annual listing of hockey&rsquo;s 100 People of Power & Influence, The Hockey News talked to dozens of people about who has power and influence and why. What was interesting was listening to the arguments people put forward and then figuring out their agendas. People actually lobbied for themselves and on behalf of others to get on this list.In coming up with 100 names, there were some automatic entries-check the top 20 for the gimmes. But there&rsquo;s more to hockey than what happens in the league and union offices and corporate board rooms. There are other heavyweights who you don&rsquo;t see slashing and hacking on the ice. And that&rsquo;s where things get interesting.Dave Babych was a better-than-average defenseman who made more waves after he retired than he did on the ice. He successfully sued a former Philadelphia Flyers team doctor for malpractice and was awarded $1.37 million. The award will put a scare into U.S. physicians already unsure whether they have enough coverage to survive malpractice lawsuits from NHL players earning milliondollar salaries. And Canadian teams have been scrambling to find new insurance coverage for their doctors. The Babych decision has a definite influence on the NHL.Toronto broadcaster Bob McCown has never seen the inside of an NHL dressing room and admits hockey is not his strength. But the fact he&rsquo;s not timid about voicing his strong opinions on the sport to a faithful and hockey-crazed audience puts him on the list. What he says hits home with those listening to his nationally syndicated show on their car radios.Most people have never heard of T.R. Goodman and others in his profession, but if you don&rsquo;t think personal trainers keep the NHL growing bigger, faster, stronger, guess again. More and more players are turning to personal trainers to keep their bodies honed for hockey.Then there is the hockey parent. While the vast majority are decent people, there are some bad apples. Parents have loads of power and isn&rsquo;t minor hockey where all roads to the NHL begin?We could go on and on, but there&rsquo;s no reason to pore over every aspect of the top 100 and explain why each person has made it and why others didn&rsquo;t.So power up your coffee maker and have a latte, or power on down to the corner store for a power drink. Then sit back and be consumed by power.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02652/8003454-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="1800" height="2993"><figcaption class="caption-body">Power forward&nbsp;Pittsburgh center/owner Mario Lemieux moved up to fourth on THN&rsquo;s annual listing of power-brokers. He&rsquo;s still a force on the ice and was an early spark in the league&rsquo;s decision to crack down on obstruction.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

100 People of POWER & INFLUENCE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011173/8003506-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"></div><h2>The Interviews with Mark Brender</h2>The 2004 collective bargaining agreement was obvious common ground when Mark Brender of The Hockey News had separate Q&A sessions with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow. The edited versions of the interviews highlight our fourth annual eight-page special section profiling the top 100 people of power and influence in hockey. Alan Adams is the project writer and Brian Costello the project editor.THN&nbsp;This is several years in a row now you &lsquo;ve been at the top of the People and Power list. How does it feel?Bettman Uh, I don&rsquo;t know (laughs). No, let me begin again. It&rsquo;s obviously an honor to be so involved in a sport that so many care so much about.THN&nbsp;Let&rsquo;s talk a bit about 2004. Can you sum up what the league&rsquo;s goal will be in any collective bargaining negotiations?Bettman We need to have a system where there&rsquo;s a relationship between revenues and expenses so that all of our clubs can be economically stable and competitive, where they&rsquo;re currently located.THN&nbsp;Why do they have to be where they&rsquo;re currently located? No other business guarantees that if things don&rsquo;t work they&rsquo;ll manipulate the market to let them stay there.Bettman First of all, we owe it to our fans. And second of all, all our markets with the right economic system can support teams. In particular, this league needs to do everything possible to ensure that the small market clubs, particularly in Canada, stay right where they are. They are too much a part of the game.THN&nbsp;The players will argue that a Canadian dollar at par would either boost revenues or decrease payroll cost by 50 per cent and that&rsquo;s your problem.Bettman That&rsquo;s an oversimplification of the problem. This isn&rsquo;t solely about the currency issue&hellip;It&rsquo;s part of the problem, but the system itself is too inflationary and creates too many disparities.THN&nbsp;When the players say your owners, your bosses, pay what they can afford, that they all have their individual budgets and nobody is forcing their hand to do anything, how do you respond?Bettman That&rsquo;s rhetoric that isn&rsquo;t based on reality.THN&nbsp;In what way?Bettman I&rsquo;m not going to engage in a public negotiation. It just doesn&rsquo;t hold water. That&rsquo;s what you say if you&rsquo;re looking to hold on to the status quo which has been very good to you if you&rsquo;re the union.THN&nbsp;Has increased revenue sharing been discussed at the board of governors level?Bettman Revenue sharing without cost certainty doesn&rsquo;t work. Spreading around losses and feeding into an already inflationary system would only make the problem worse. Again, the revenue sharing angle is more rhetoric.THN&nbsp;Can it be part of a solution?Bettman Absolutely.THN&nbsp;You&rsquo;ve said fans will forgive the NHL for a work stoppage if it means fixing the game for good.Bettman Fans tell us overwhelmingly that a) the system is broken; b) the system needs to be fixed, and c) we need to do whatever is necessary to fix the system?THN&nbsp;Where have you heard that from fans-focus groups, research&hellip;Bettman All of the above.THN&nbsp;This said, do you think the league miscalculated when you agreed to extend the CBA (in 1997).Bettman At the time the CBA was extended it seemed to be working. Immediately after the extension, the inflationary rate exploded. The good news is by the time we get to 2004, we will have had a decade of labor peace. A) labor peace is good and b) we now know exactly what is wrong with this system so we don&rsquo;t have to be dealing with band-aids. We know what has to be fixed.THN&nbsp;Does that mean the league knows in what specific areas of the current CBA you would like changes made, arbitration versus free agency at 31 versus&hellip;Bettman The system needs to be overhauled. As I said, most fundamentally, there needs to be a relationship between revenues and expenses.THN&nbsp;What, if any, is the relationship between ticket prices and payroll.Bettman I think the fact of the matter is that since our biggest source of revenue is ticket sales and since our biggest expense is player salaries, the tremendously inflationary rate at which salaries have increased have had an impact on ticket prices.THN&nbsp;I&rsquo;m curious about the phrase &ldquo;cost certainty. &ldquo;It has become a very useful metaphor for you to convey what you want without getting into specifics of salary cap or luxury tax. Was this Gary Bettman&rsquo;s invention? Who came up with this?Bettman I don&rsquo;t know. But you&rsquo;ve hit it right because it does two things. It talks about costs in a certain way so that there can be a relationship with revenues. And at the same time it could be a salary cap, but it doesn&rsquo;t have to be one. The union tends to confuse it with a salary cap and that&rsquo;s not a fair characterization. While it could be a salary cap, it doesn&rsquo;t necessarily have to be.THN&nbsp;But there&rsquo;s no linguist in the NHL&rsquo;s backrooms, a linguist on retainer?Bettman There&rsquo;s nobody who has trademarked the term. If t-shirts come out, I don&rsquo;t know that anyone&rsquo;s getting a royalty.THN&nbsp;When was the last time you and Bob Goodenow sat down alone together?Bettman He and I last spring had lunch together alone. He and (NHL vice-president) Bill Daly and I had lunch over the summer, just the three of us. Depending on schedules, it&rsquo;s not unusual for us to get together for a meal.THN&nbsp;Can you identify other major challenges the league is facing?Bettman We are constantly working on TV, sponsorship and the league itself. We have had a lot of initiatives this year with respect to the hurry-up line change, a focus on forechecker interference and obstruction. And those are all priorities. That actually is the No. 1 priority because everything depends on the game itself.THN&nbsp;There has been criticism. We&rsquo;ve heard players like Brett Hull, Chris Chelios and other people have said various non-complimentary comments on how this has evolved. What is your opinion on the consis tency of calls from opening night until now and of the player reaction.Bettman First of all, overwhelmingly, from the fans, the media and players, over whelmingly the feedback has been positive. You get the occasional negative criticism either from somebody who has had trouble adjusting or from somebody who has had a bad game. But overwhelmingly, including from the most recent meeting of the screening committee of GMs, the feeling is the standard is holding and it&rsquo;s working exactly as it was intended.THN&nbsp;What&rsquo;s your ideal CBA scenario for a timeline to get something done. Is it inevitable things will come down to the summer of 2004 before meaningful talks occur.Bettman I am not a believer in having to do negotiations at the 1.1th hour, particularly when an industry has problems that are only getting worse. My hope would be that in the immediate future the union would choose to sit down and engage in serious discussions over how to solve the problems that are plaguing this industry.THN&nbsp;And when Bob says &lsquo;If Gary has a proposal then he should bring it forward&rsquo;&hellip;Bettman That&rsquo;s not what Bob says. What Bob says is &lsquo;If Gary has a proposal that the players are interested in.&rsquo; And that&rsquo;s union-speak for we want the status quo and we&rsquo;re not prepared to talk about anything else.THN&nbsp;Have you made a proposal to them?Bettman Absolutely. There&rsquo;s no dispute about that.THN&nbsp;Can you give me a time frame when that was made?Bettman It was not of recent vintage.THN&nbsp;That would mean a different thing with wine&hellip;Bettman Let&rsquo;s put it this way: A concrete proposal was made, but to use the union&rsquo;s^rhetoric on the subject, it wasn&rsquo;t something they were interested in.<h2>Falling off power list</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02852/8003499-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="859" height="162"></div>With 31 new names to THN&rsquo;s top 100 list of people of power, that means 31 names dropped off the ranking. Here are some of them and why.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03635/8003492-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="779" height="403"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

Gary Bettman power broker No. 1

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011056/8003551-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"></div>THN&nbsp;So, you&rsquo;re No. 2 for the fourth year in a row. Is there a glass ceiling for white guys from Harvard or what?Goodenow Ah, who knows. That&rsquo;s for experts like yourself to figure out, right?THN&nbsp;It seems Gary Bettman has an easier sell to the public because he&rsquo;s the one saying he wants to fix the game and you &lsquo;re the one that wants to maintain the status quo. Is that a fair statement?Goodenow When you answer that question the first thing you have to say is &lsquo;fix what.&rsquo; We know the economics are controlled singularly by the owners. They receive revenues and they disperse the revenues as they see fit, so that&rsquo;s the context in which this whole scenario unfolds.THN&nbsp;Some say there are, say, six teams driving the market, and the smaller markets are being forced to keep up with market conditions that are being created by a very small minority of teams.Goodenow I don&rsquo;t think any team is forced. No team is ever forced to pay a player or keep a player. So that&rsquo;s incorrect. The issue is the owners have an issue as to how they share their revenues. If there&rsquo;s a disparity there that concerns them, then they can make adjustments as to how they share their revenues that come in to the sport.THN&nbsp;Everybody knows in 2004 the CBA expires. There will have to be some new agreement.Goodenow Of course.THN&nbsp;Gary has said that he has made a proposal to the PA. Is that accurate?Goodenow No.THN&nbsp;You have not received anything formal, anything written, here is a proposal to begin talks?Goodenow That&rsquo;s correct. I&rsquo;ve said repeatedly if the owners&rsquo; commissioner has a proposal he thinks would be of interest to the players that he should bring it forward and we would give it all due consideration. To date he hasn&rsquo;t done that.THN&nbsp;Do you know what he is referring to when he says &lsquo;I have made a proposal?&rsquo;Goodenow Frankly, no. He made a comment recently about he gave me a verbal proposal a year and a half ago. Well, I don&rsquo;t remember the verbal proposal from a year and a half ago.THN&nbsp;We&rsquo;re going to hear a lot of talk about &ldquo;the good of the game.&rdquo; What does that mean to you and to the PA.Goodenow I think the good of the game goes to the game itself. Are the games competitive? Absolutely. The league has never been more competitive. The current agreement has provided a competitive environment and a balance the NHL has never experienced, That&rsquo;s good for interest, that&rsquo;s good for fans&hellip;THN&nbsp;But people are talking about the good of the game in the context of 2004. Looking ahead to the possibility of a work stoppage or no work stoppage&hellip;Goodenow A fan could say certainly if there&rsquo;s not an agreement and the games don&rsquo;t get played, that&rsquo;s not good, and I think both sides agree to that. But at the same token, we know how sometimes these situations work themselves out and sometimes there is interruption to play.THN&nbsp;Can you explain that to fans, why that has to be? Both sides know there has to be an agreement. What is it about the next year and a half that needs to be played out before we can sit down and have face-to-face talks? Because Gary has said I will sit down with Bob anytime, anyplace, anywhere.Goodenow And I have said if Gary has a proposal he wants us to consider he should bring it forward. And that hasn&rsquo;t happened. We have an agreement that runs to Sept. 15,2004, and we&rsquo;re prepared to fulfill all of our commitments pursuant to the agreement.THN&nbsp;Gary has said it&rsquo;s the league&rsquo;s goal to help all teams stay healthy in the cities where they are. Is this realistic?Goodenow From his perspective, if he&rsquo;s in the city where one of these teams is located that they are asking questions about its long-term viability, that would be a noble response. Is it always the realistic response given how businesses flow? Maybe not.THN&nbsp;If a salary cap is tied to a guaranteed percentage of revenue, let&rsquo;s say it&rsquo;s 58 per cent, 60 per cent, whatever, revenues go up, your salaries go up, what&rsquo;s wrong with that?Goodenow We don&rsquo;t see the environment for the marketplace as being tied to formulas like you just outlined. We&rsquo;re not asking for minimums, minimum payroll levels, that type of thing. Players-it may be hard for you to understand-but players don&rsquo;t want to get paid a dollar more than they&rsquo;re worth or a dollar less. And how best is a player&rsquo;s value decided? It&rsquo;s best decided by the 30 teams, looking at their budgets, deciding where their teams are&hellip;We think the markets best reflect the values that smart business people attach to whatever the contribution is by the players.THN&nbsp;Would there ever become a point where teams can no longer afford to compete with the salaries that rich clubs are paying, therefore they have lower quality players, they lose fan base, lose fan interest, team dries up. Do you ever foresee that scenario happening?Goodenow No. Should Carolina have not played in the playoffs last year? Should they have just not participated because of the relative relationship of their payroll and the Detroit Red Wings? Or you allude to the New York Rangers, who have paid their players whatever they&rsquo;ve decided to pay them and haven&rsquo;t made the playoffs in five years? So if the Ottawa Senators went to New York or the Edmonton Oilers went to New York, they can compete and they can win and they&rsquo;ve proven that, repeatedly. And so I think the question you posed is not supported by the reality.THN&nbsp;Fans who in effect pay the salaries of the players, they listen to this and they&rsquo;re getting very frustrated, they may say (players) are making so much money and they&rsquo;re not willing to&hellip;Goodenow You&rsquo;re missing two major points. The first is the fans bring revenues in to the owners. That&rsquo;s where it starts. And so if there&rsquo;s a frustration level with how the money the fans provide to the teams gets handled, maybe that frustration should be directed toward the decisions by the management as to how they sign players&hellip;This is a widely known fact, ticket prices have no correlation to salaries. It&rsquo;s all supply and demand and that&rsquo;s based on the market condition in the cities&hellip;I don&rsquo;t negotiate player salaries. I negotiate a marketplace in which the owners set players salaries. Owners always set player salaries. They&rsquo;re in control.THN&nbsp;Most realistic best-case scenario for 2004, what is it?Goodenow We expect to be able to put an agreement together which will provide for the continued growth and competitive balance just as the last agreement has done. The game has never been stronger and better and listening to the commissioner, the owners&rsquo; commissioner has said revenues have grown&hellip;and I believe we&rsquo;ll be able to find a way to make it work to everybody&rsquo;s best interest.THN&nbsp;It has become a talking point to say &ldquo;the owner&rsquo;s commissioner.&rdquo; Is that part of public relations, in that you want the public to see he&rsquo;s working for the owners?Goodenow No, it&rsquo;s always been the case, it&rsquo;s not a change or a public relations thing at all. He does work for the 30 owners, that&rsquo;s a fact, always has been.<h2>Power seekers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02726/8003544-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="864" height="161"></div>They didn&rsquo;t make this year&rsquo;s top 100 list, but here are some of the up-and-coming names in the hockey world that you&rsquo;ll hear from again.Hakan Andersson Detroit scout has unearthed gems<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03529/8003537-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="788" height="402"></div> &#9632;

f0023-01

PEOPLE OF POWER

Bob Goodenow power broker No. 2

f0024-01

PEOPLE OF POWER & INFLUENCE

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div>Like most goalies, Jason Bacashihua prefers action to boredom. He&rsquo;d like to see 12 to 15 shots come his way in a period rather than in a game.That said, he couldn&rsquo;t have picked a better team to play for. With the Utah Grizzlies giving up an average of nearly 37 shots a game-most in the American League-Bacashihua is having a ball in his first pro season.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re facing 20 shots a game, it&rsquo;s kind of hard to stay sharp mentally. When you face 40 shots, you get into a rhythm,&rdquo; said Bacashihua, 20, selected 26th overall by Dallas in 2001. &ldquo;Some goalies are different, but I&rsquo;d rather face 40 shots. You&rsquo;re in the game, you&rsquo;re involved in the action.&rdquo;The Grizzlies&rsquo; far-from-stingy defense is reflected in his goals-against average (2.78), but his.925 save percentage was the AHL&rsquo;s best through mid-December. A year ago he led the Ontario League with five shutouts for Plymouth, but it took him until Dec. 13 to post his first AHL shutout. That wasn&rsquo;t exactly a surprise.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011036/8004337-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="276" height="351"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jason Bacashihua</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Not the way our team plays,&rdquo; said Utah coach Don Hay. &ldquo;We give up some pretty good scoring chances. But he has handled everything we&rsquo;ve given him.&rdquo;Stars goalie coach Andy Moog has him working on taking more of the net away from shooters, something that&rsquo;s critical since he&rsquo;s only 5-foot-11 and J75 pounds.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m more of a reactionary goalie; I&rsquo;ll stay back in my crease and depend on my reflexes,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s amazing how smart the shooters are (at the pro level). They&rsquo;ll pick any little hole you give them so you have to challenge shooters more and make yourself look bigger. So I&rsquo;m trying to take that extra step out.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0031-01

Bacashihua excels when facing more rubber

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02684/8004389-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="243" height="244"></div><h2>AHL WEST NOTEBOOK</h2>Right winger Alexander Zevakhin didn&rsquo;t make much of an impact during his first two pro seasons, but he&rsquo;s trying to prove he still has a future with the Pittsburgh Penguins.With five of the top 10 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scorers on recall to Pittsburgh, Zevakhin took advantage of vastly increased ice time and scored his first pro hat trick in a 6-3 win at Syracuse Dec. 14.A shoulder injury kept Zevakhin, 22, out of the lineup until Nov. 20; then, when he was healthy, he couldn&rsquo;t crack the Wilkes-Barre lineup. He had played just eight games (three goals, four points). After scoring just 21 goals and 48 points in 151 games over his first two seasons, this is the make-or-break final year of his contract.Zevakhin was a second round pick (54th overall) in 1998 by the Penguins.READY AND WAITING The Colorado Avalanche don&rsquo;t need a goalie at the moment, but Hershey&rsquo;s Phil Sauve is proving he&rsquo;ll be ready when they do.Sauve, drafted 38th overall by the Avalanche in 1998, was AHL player of the week after going 20-1, allowing three goals and posting a .961 save percentage. For the season, he was 12-4-5 with a 2.08 goals-against average (second-best in the AHL) and.924 save percentage.DOG-GONE GOOD The Chicago Wolves are teaming with Pet Smart and the Chicago Department of Animal Care and Control to find homes for dogs at eight home games.With defenseman Dallas Eakins as the program spokesman, about 30 dogs are brought to &lsquo;Daily&rsquo;s Dog Pound&rsquo; each game.Prospective owners must pass a screening process and pay a $56.50 fee for licensing, vaccinations and spaying or neutering.Started by team owner Don Levin, the program found homes for 100 dogs last season and 56 so far this year.NOTEBOOK With right winger Martin Paroulek unable to crack the Syracuse lineup, parent Columbus opted to send him back to the Czech Republic. Paroulek, a ninth round pick in 2000, had one assist in nine games&hellip;Cincinnati defenseman Mike Commodore went 126 games without a goal (AHL and NHL combined) before scoring at Chicago Dec. 13&hellip;Rochester rookie left winger Sean McMorrow keeps proving he knows his job. He continues to lead the AHL in fighting majors with 17.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03506/8004382-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="1274" height="1866"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Houston Aeros held down first place in the West Division thanks to the goaltending tandem of Dieter Kochan, above, and Derek Gustafson.</figcaption></div><h2>AHL</h2><h3>SCOUTING REPORT</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04378/8004375-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="343" height="466"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Smirnov</figcaption></div><h3>VITAL STATISTICS</h3>Hometown; Tver, USSR. Age: 20 Size: 6-3, 211<h3>LAST AMATEUR CLUB</h3>Dynamo Moscow (Rus.)<h3>POSITION</h3>Left winger<h3>2002-03 SEASON</h3>Cincinnati Mighty Ducks<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05300/8004368-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="405" height="115"></div><h3>NHL AFFILIATION</h3>Mighty Ducks of Anaheim<h3>NOTEWORTHY</h3>Drafted 12th overall by Anaheim in 2000&hellip;Had goal and assist in his pro debut, Anaheim&rsquo;s seasonopening 4-3 win over St. Louis Oct. 10. Went next 16 games pointless leading to demotion to AHL.<h3>BOTTOM LINE</h3>Smirnov has the size, strength and speed to compete at the NHL level, but he has been labeled as lazy by some scouts. He has the frame and skill to be a power forward, but so far, not the willingness. &#9632;

f0031-02

Zevakhin finds a groove after securing ice time

<div class="byline">BY ROB MUELLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06243/8004420-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="202" height="212"></div><h2>NOTEBOOK</h2>When Richmond Renegades coach Gord Dineen played for the New York Islanders in the 1980s, Bryan McKinney was that kid who always hung around the rink.Fifteen years later, that same kid was wearing a Renegades sweater, helping out his old buddy Dineen in a pinch.The short-staffed Renegades signed McKinney, whose father was head usher at Nassau Coliseum during Dineen&rsquo;s days there, Dec. 8 after a slew of call-ups.The 25-year-old forward retired last year after bouncing from team to team during his six-year pro career. He took a job as a landscaper in Richmond and Dineen didn&rsquo;t know he was in town until receiving an e-mail from his father, Dennis.In a Dec. 8 game against the Johnstown Chiefs, Dineen planned to give McKinney only the odd shift. But the 6-foot, 190-pounder was good enough to earn regular duty as a third-liner, finishing plus-1 in the Renegades&rsquo; 3-0 win.After the game, McKinney was off to the local rink for a beer league contest.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t going to play because I hadn&rsquo;t done it in so long, but they had another guy called up,&rdquo; he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a little winded.&rdquo;BRASS SUIT Former New Orleans Brass coach Ted Sator is suing his former team for wages and performance bonuses he says he is owed from last season.Now coaching in Finland, Sator claims the team didn&rsquo;t honor the second year of a two-year contract worth $72,000 in salary plus a $5,000 playoff bonus.The Brass suspended operations after the NBA&rsquo;s Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans.COACH BRAWL The East Coast League suspended Peoria coach Jason Christie three games and Johnstown coach Toby O&rsquo;Brien one game for their involvement in a bench scuffle.O&rsquo;Brien was upset that ECHL leading scorer Tyler Rennette stuck Johnstown enforcer Ryan Shmyr Dec. 14, which Christie said never happened. O&rsquo;Brien leaned over the glass to shout at Christie, who responded with a left jab to the face. &#9632;

f0031-06

Two games in one night just fine for former rink rat

<div class="byline">BY TIM CAMPBELL</div>Scott Barney, who spent the previous three years visiting specialists and surgeons, is now pain-free and playing.The 23-year-old Oshawa, Ont. native is a grinding rookie center for the Manchester Monarchs this season, scoring six goals and nine points in 21 games.Barney, who played junior with Peterborough in the Ontario League, was selected 29th overall in 1997 by Los Angeles. But shortly after turning pro in 1999, Barney encountered back pain so debilitating he could barely walk.Barney did extensive therapy and was on all kinds of medication. He took cortisone, then had surgery, but nothing helped.The frustration grew past the two-year mark, when Barney was referred to a Montreal trainer who helped him with a stretching program. Then another referral, this time to a Montreal osteopath at Concordia University, Dave Campbell, finally helped him begin to turn the comer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011108/8004451-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="275" height="349"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scott Barney</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I was driving back and forth from Peterborough, five hours, for his treatments and my back would still feel fine,&rdquo; Barney said.Barney continued treatment with Dave Wright last summer in Toronto and after a few months of pain-free skating, made it to Kings&rsquo; camp.&ldquo;I was unrestricted, but L.A. had been so good to me I felt obligated to try to show them,&rdquo; Barney said.Barney is happy about being back playing and has impressed the Monarchs this season. In his first five games with the team, he notched four goals.&ldquo;I think I have a new outlook on life,&rdquo; Barney said. &ldquo;Before, I used to take hockey for granted. Now, it&rsquo;s just a bonus every day to be able to play the game I love and get paid great money to do it.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0032-01

THN STATS

Barney begins again after three-year respite

<div class="byline">BY TIM CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02746/8004489-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="243" height="243"></div><h2>AHL EAST NOTEBOOK</h2>Manitoba Moose center Fedor Fedorov pulled off some overtime heroics in a mid-December win against Manchester, but it was going to take more than that to soothe the temper of disappointed Vancouver Canucks GM Brian Burke.Burke lashed out at Fedorov, 21, for poor play in the season&rsquo;s first half, to the point where he said Fedorov &ldquo;can start looking for a house,&rdquo; in Winnipeg.Fedorov, who made the Canucks out of training camp, but was sent to Manitoba Oct. 25, had six goals and 13 points through 22 AHL games.&ldquo;I generally don&rsquo;t interfere because I have faith in (Moose coach) Stan Smyl,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sick of getting phone calls after the Moose play and being told he has accomplished nothing. His performance has been dismal. One good game isn&rsquo;t getting him out of any doghouse.&rdquo;Fedorov, who has two OT winners for the Moose this season including Dec. 13 after Burke&rsquo;s verbal outburst, hardly sounded panicked.&ldquo;I think he does it to pump everybody up,&rdquo; Fedorov said. &ldquo;If he thinks that&hellip;you&rsquo;ve just got to improve, keep working hard and keep your head up.&rdquo;SHORT STAY Twins Chris and Peter Ferraro returned to the AHL after more than a month away from the Portland Pirates. The brothers took some time off after Chris&rsquo;s wife, Jennifer, died of stomach cancer in November&ldquo;We welcomed them back,&rdquo; said Pirates coach Tim Army. &ldquo;This is their second family here.&rdquo;Soon after his Dec. 10 return, Peter earned a three-game suspension for physical abuse of linesman Jack Millea Dec. 13 in Providence.The twins have been named co-captains of Team Planet/USA for the Dodge AHL All-Star Classic Feb. 3 in Portland. Veteran Manitoba defenseman Brian Chapman, who played his 1,000th pro game earlier this year, will captain Team Canada.NOTEBOOK Manitoba goalie Tyler Moss didn&rsquo;t care for referee Steve Kozari&rsquo;s questionable penalty-shot call, subsequently converted by Grand Rapids winger Bryan Adams for the game-winning goal Dec. 17. Said the goalie: &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t hand out those (penalty shots) like candy on Halloween.&rdquo;&hellip;Lowell&rsquo;s winless streak grew to 14 games (0-12-2-0) after a 5-1 loss to Manchester Dec. 15.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03539/8004482-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="1310" height="1879"><figcaption class="caption-body">Despite scoring two overtime winners for Manitoba this season, center Fedor Fedorov is squarely in the doghouse of Canucks GM Brian Burke.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0032-02

Canucks GM impatient with prospect Fedorov

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Pavel Barta</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04382/8004520-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="483" 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; Magnus Kahnberg, LW, 22 (Carolina). The Hurricanes&rsquo; seventh round pick in 2000 is on fire, scoring 10 goals and 24 points in 29 games with Swedish league Vastra Frolunda.&#9633; Dale McTavish, C, 30 (free agent). McTavish, who played nine NHL games for Calgary, is the top scorer on Rapperswill-Jona in the Swiss league with 11 goals and 35 points in 27 games.&#9633; Michal Sykora, D, 29 (free agent). Big Sykora played 267 NHL games over seven years. A driving force for Czech league Pardubice, Sykora has put up five goals and 19 points in 30 games.&#9633; Tommi Santala, C, 23 (Atlanta). Thrashers&rsquo; 10th pick in 1999 is among the Finnish league&rsquo;s top scorers, recording six goals and 29 points in 29 games with HPK Hameenlinna.&#9633; Keith Aldridge, D, 29 (free agent). Former Dallas blueliner has notched seven goals-including four gamewinners-and 17 points in 27 games with German league Berlin IceBears. &#9632;

f0032-04

WORLD watch

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Brendan Savage</div>Adirondack right winger Jason Bone is facing a long suspension after setting a UHL record of 62 penalty minutes in one game. Bone came out of the penalty box to fight during a brawl with 5:26 left in an 8-4 loss Dec. 14 to Flint. He received two fighting majors, one misconduct and three game misconducts. Earlier, he was hit with a hooking minor and misconduct. Leaving the box to fight carries an automatic 10-game suspension. His 62 PIM broke a league record of 57 set by Utica&rsquo;s Darren Miciak Nov. 9,1993 vs. Brantford. &#9632;

UNITED LEAGUE

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Chadd Cripe</div>Fred and Sandy Rice have had season tickets since the Idaho Steelheads began play in October 1997. Neither of them is the franchise&rsquo;s one-millionth fan, though. That would be their son, Bob Rice, who used his mother&rsquo;s ticket Dec. 16 and won a draw to become the lucky fan. Rice received two season tickets for next season, a trip to an Idaho game in San Diego, a suite for a night, a spot in a TV commercial and a lengthy list of other prizes. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to do it all,&rdquo; he said. The Steelheads sold 1,000,611 tickets in 213 games. &#9632;

WEST COAST LEAGUE

<div class="byline">&#x2013;David Henry</div>CHL expansion franchise Rio Grande Valley has announced its nickname-Killer Bees. The stinging moniker was inspired by Hidalgo, Texas&rsquo;s claim to fame: being the site of the first confirmed killer bee colony in the U.S. The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees will join the Colorado Eagles as expansion teams in 2003-2004&hellip;WD Sports Texas Inc. and businessman Doug Frank have bought the Corpus Christi IceRays. WD Sports, which also owns the New Mexico Scorpions, takes over from former IceRays owner Bill Davidsqn. &#9632;

CENTRAL LEAGUE

<div class="byline">&#x2013;Nick Gates</div>Stupidity will not be tolerated in the ACHL. In the wake of a bench-clearing brawl between Winston-Salem and Cape Fear Dec. 15, Parrots coach Bruce Ramsay and FireAntz Shawn Ulrich each received three-game suspensions for failing to control their players who left the bench to join the altercation. &ldquo;We hope these penalties will send the right message to all member clubs,&rdquo; said commissioner Jim Riggs. The Parrots&rsquo; Matt Holmes triggered the melee by elbowing Geoff O&rsquo;Leary, who lost a tooth on the infraction. &#9632;

ATLANTIC COAST LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011005/8004647-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="442" height="246"></div>When Kingston and Belleville met Dec. 14, it marked the first time since the Bulls entered the Ontario League in 1981 that the teams played each other without Larry Mavety behind a bench.Mavety stepped down as Frontenacs coach Dec. 13 after a 6-1 loss to the Mississauga IceDogs. Mavety, 60, is staying on as GM, but said his days behind the bench are through.&ldquo;I used to be able to walk away after a loss. Sure it would bother you, but the next day there was always something new to do. This year, I&rsquo;ve been up until four and five in the morning after games,&rdquo; said Mavety, who leaves a 22-season OHL coaching career with a 653-681-101 record.The Frontenacs were 10-18-0-3 when he turned the team over to assistant coach Greg Bignell.&ldquo;When I brought Bigsie in, it was with the intention this was going to happen,&rdquo; Mavety said. &ldquo;I just didn&rsquo;t think it would be during the season. It&rsquo;s not quite the way I wanted to do it, but I think maybe a change is best for the club. It&rsquo;s something that has been on my mind for a while.&rdquo;Mavety has heard the boobirds the last two years in Kingston, where attendance has dropped.&ldquo;The people who said they weren&rsquo;t coming to games because of me, now can put their money where their mouth is,&rdquo; Mavety said.He started in the OHL with the Bulls in 1981-82, went to Kingston the first time in 1989-90, but was back in Belleville the next year. He rejoined the Frontenacs in 1997-98.The best Mavety&rsquo;s teams did were three second-place finishes in the former Leyden Division. He has never won an OHL championship, although the Bulls did reach the 1986 final.Mavety is third in OHL wins behind Ottawa&rsquo;s Brian Kilrea (981) and Sudbury&rsquo;s Bert Templeton (899).JUST VISITING London fans were excited to see Columbus rookie Rick Nash at the John Labatt Centre before a Dec. 13 Knights game against Windsor. But Nash was there only to watch the game, not play.The Blue Jackets were scheduled to play in Detroit the next night. When the former Knights left winger heard some of the Columbus assistant coaches were going to scout the game in London, he went along.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the least I could do to repay (the Knights) for the two times they&rsquo;ve come to see me,&rdquo; Nash said. The Knights saw Nash play a game in Buffalo and then went to Columbus for a regular season game.COACH ON THE FLY Plymouth Whalers coach-GM Mike Vellucci bolted before the opening faceoff at Ottawa Dec. 13, heading straight to the airport to catch a flight home after his wife went into labor.&ldquo;We were just pulling into the arena at 6 when I got the call,&rdquo; said Vellucci, who made it to Ottawa airport for a 6:50 p.m. flight to Toronto, changed planes, then flew on to Windsor, where his father drove him to the Plymouth hospital by 1 a.m.Son Michael Ryan had arrived, &ldquo;but better late than never,&rdquo; Vellucci said. &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

January 3, 2003

Extended goal drought continues tor Lapointe

What scouts see at WJC

2002-03 NHL STATISTICS

NHL DEPTH CHARTS