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.

October 1, 2003

The Hockey News October 1, 2003

<div class="byline">BY THN STAFF</div>The Montreal Canadiens are one of the NHL&rsquo;s most progressive teams when it comes to eye protection, with 15 returning players on the NHL roster who wear visors.Unfortunately for Chad Kilger, he wasn&rsquo;t one of them.Doctors fear the 26-year-old left winger may lose the vision in his left eye after he was clipped with a high stick during a training camp practice Sept. 15.Kilger was taken to Montreal General Hospital with multiple fractures of the orbital bone around the eye and hemorrhaging in the eye area. His sinuses were also affected.Montreal team doctor David Mulder called the injury &ldquo;frightening&rdquo; and said it would take a few days for the bleeding and swelling in the area to clear before doctors could assess the full extent of the damage.Reached in hospital by the Journal de Montreal, Kilger declined comment.Defense prospect Francois Beauchemin, whose stick hit Kilger&rsquo;s eye, said the play was an accident.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02863/8486797-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="283" height="459"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHAD KILGER</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Kilger was behind me and while turning around I tried to lift my stick over him to avoid hitting him,&rdquo; said Beauchemin to the newspaper.&ldquo;Unfortunately I hit him at eye level. Right away I felt bad.&rdquo;The injury is sure to revive the debate over mandatory visor use. Fewer than one-third of NHL players wear visors and the overwhelming majority say the decision to wear facial protection should remain a player&rsquo;s choice.Montreal is Kilger&rsquo;s fifth NHL team. The fourth overall pick in the 1994 entry draft, by Anaheim, Kilger has also played for Chicago and Edmonton. He has 63 goals and 139 points in 459 career games. &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

Concern for Kilger

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011211/8487071-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="293" height="332"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dan Wood&nbsp;Anaheim correspondent</figcaption></div>Fresh from winning the NHL&rsquo;s Western Conference championship and coming within one victory of skating off with the Stanley Cup in their first visit to the final, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim have joined the league&rsquo;s elite.Or not.Are the Ducks poised to reach the level of perennial championship contention, or are they destined to go down as a one-hit wonder?A mighty solid argument can be made either way.On the plus side, the Ducks retooled nicely after losing longtime captain Paul Kariya to Colorado via free agency. The subsequent free agent signings of former Detroit center Sergei Fedorov and former Tampa Bay left winger Vinny Prospal-each of whom led his team in scoring last season-more than balances the absence of an anticipated Kariya-Teemu Selanne reunion, which instead will take place in Denver.Along with Petr Sykora, Steve Rucchin and Rob Niedermayer, Fedorov and Prospal give Anaheim the makings of two quality scoring lines. With Conn Smythe Trophy-winner Jean-Sebastien Giguere in net and veterans Keith Carney and Sandis Ozolinsh leading an underrated but effective defensive corps, the pieces are in place for another exciting season.&ldquo;We had a great run and we had great chemistry, so it&rsquo;s hard for me to say this team is extremely better,&rdquo; said Ducks GM Bryan Murray. &ldquo;But I think from a talent point of view, from a speed point of view, we are a better team at this point in time.&rdquo;The Ducks did lose some key components from last season, though. In addition to Kariya, Anaheim&rsquo;s roster no longer includes veterans Adam Oates, Steve Thomas and little-used but still valuable leader Fredrik Olausson. Whether the same kind of team unity can be built without those glue guys remains to be seen.Other danger signs include injuries that figure to sideline second line left winger Mike Leclerc for at least the first month of the season and grinder Dan Bylsma perhaps until January. And Rucchin, coach Mike Babcock&rsquo;s newly appointed captain, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery two weeks before training camp, though he was expected to recover before the season begins.The Ducks avoided one potential pratfall when they signed Giguere to a four-year, $20-million deal on the eve of camp, but they still figure to be heavily reliant on outstanding goaltending. Should Giguere&rsquo;s play slip, the domino effect could be devastating.While it&rsquo;s unlikely Anaheim will win the Pacific Division, a best-case scenario might include home ice in the opening round of the playoffs. Murray, The Hockey News&rsquo; pick for NHL executive of the year in 2002-03, turned the potential Kariya disaster into a boon by landing Fedorov and there is no reason to think Murray won&rsquo;t address any holes that might develop.Still the Ducks are vulnerable if key players suffer injuries and there remains very little margin for error in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. Landing a playoff berth won&rsquo;t be easy, but as Anaheim proved last season, anything is possible once a team reaches the post-season.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02814/8487064-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="353" height="281"><figcaption class="caption-body">STANISLAY CHISTOV&nbsp;Russian dynamo is sure to surpass his 30-point rookie year if he skates on a line with Sergei Fedorov.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04422/8487057-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="199" height="172"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03588/8487050-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="1071" height="995"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;There are openings due to the of departures of Paul Kariya and Adam Oates and injuries to Mike Leclerc (above) and Dan Bylsma. Youngsters Michael Holmqvist and Joffrey Lupul are among the candidates. (HENRY DIROCCO/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Anaheim&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05314/8487043-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="782" height="1572"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06249/8487036-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="762" height="269"></div> &#9632;

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NHL TEAM REPORTS

Can Ducks do it again?

As part of The Hockey News&rsquo; poll of our 30 NHL correspondents, beat writers were asked to submit an out-of-the-ordinary prediction for the upcoming season. Some are farfetched, but who knows, some could actually come true. Here is a sampling:&ldquo;After avoiding the bullet for the umpteenth time, Paul Maurice finally takes the hit in Carolina. He&rsquo;s replaced by Ted Nolan, who sheds more black balls than a bowling alley hosting a fire sale and says he&rsquo;s just grateful for the chance. He then rolls nothing but strikes and drives Carolina back to the playoffs.&rdquo;-Jim Kelley, Buffalo&ldquo;The Avs will win their third Stanley Cup on the shoulders of a veteran goalie: Arturs Irbe.&rdquo;-Luke DeCock, Carolina&ldquo;Hawks defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev will stay injury-free and appear in all 82 games.&rdquo;-Tim Sassone, Chicago&ldquo;Scotty Bowman will take over for the Rangers early in the year, lead them to the playoffs and retire again.&rdquo;-Adrian Dater, Colorado&ldquo;A return to Duckiness. Anaheim will be this year&rsquo;s Carolina, missing the playoffs entirely.&rdquo;-Aaron Portzline, Columbus&ldquo;When goalies David Aebischer and Philippe Sauve do not work out, Colorado GM Pierre Lacroix will pull a trade to bring over Jose Theodore from Montreal. Theodore will be the perfect fit.&rdquo;-Mike Heika, Dallas&ldquo;Players&rsquo; parking lots will be full of-gasp!-2003 luxury cars and SUVs. Hey, better not buy new now, though. Tough times ahead.&rdquo;-Nicholas J. Cotsonika, Detroit&ldquo;Like Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne and Ray Bourque, the entire Toronto Maple Leafs franchise signs with the Colorado Avalanche in order to get one last shot at a Stanley Cup.&rdquo;-Rob Tychkowski, Edmonton&ldquo;Despite a 3.50 goals-against average, the Avs&rsquo; David Aebischer becomes the first goaltender in NHL history to record 48 victories.&rdquo;-Brian Murphy, Minnesota&ldquo;A who&rsquo;s who of rookies consisting of Jordin Tootoo (Nashville Predators), Tuomo Ruutu (Chicago Blackhawks) and Fedor Tjutin (New York Rangers) will finish 1-2-3 in voting for the Calder Trophy.&rdquo;-Ken Campbell, Toronto&ldquo;The Rangers will find some chemistry among their many millionaires and sneak into the playoffs.&rdquo;-Elliott Pap, Vancouver&ldquo;Scotty Bowman will come out of retirement to take over the Buffalo Sabres as coach-GM.&rdquo;-Jason La Canfora, Washington&ldquo;The NHL players will take a vote and decide to defect en masse to the WHA2, forcing the owners to once again settle for a toothless CBA. Can you say Miami Screaming Eagles?-Wayne Fish, Philadelphia&ldquo;The Ducks and Kings will both make the playoffs for the first time in the 11-year history of the two-team Southern California market.&rdquo;-Dan Wood, Anaheim &#9632;

Who needs Patrick Roy when Arturs Irbe is still kicking about?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-011043/8489486-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"></div>2003-04 SEASON OPENERBig, Bad Bertuzzi Vows Best Yet to Come72-PAGE SPECIAL ISSUE!TODD BERTUZZIVANCOUVER CANUCKSPLUSTOP 20 PLAYERS BY POSITIONTHE VIEW FROM 30 NHL CAMPSEXPERT PREDICTIONS & FORECASTSLEADING ROOKIE & BREAKOUT CANDIDATES &#9632;

Cover-01

IN THIS ISSUE

READY to RUMBLE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011986/8486195-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Carolina rookie hopeful Eric Staal stretches to make a play during a three-team rookie tournament in Ottawa.(COVER: JIM MCISAAC/BBS CONTENTS: SPORTS ACTION/FREESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY)</figcaption></div><h2>QUOTE OF THE WEEK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021567/8486188-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="340" height="541"></div>I knew it wasn&rsquo;t on purpose&mdash;that&rsquo;s why I kept the elbow down.Rangers captain Mark Messier, on a training camp collison with center prospect Dominic Moore. Pg. 53. &#9632;

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NHL REACH

<div class="byline">BY SCOTT BURNSIDE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021635/8486233-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RARIN&rsquo; TO GO&nbsp;Joe Thornton and the Bruins charge into a new season, backed by new goaltender Felix Potvin. (SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div>From Detroit to Dallas, from Bruins to Blue Jackets, from the swamps of New Jersey to the swamps of Florida, there exists on the eve of this new NHL season a strange brew of urgency and unease, a sense of anticipation shot through with an equal part of dread.Beyond the debate over Sergei Fedorov&rsquo;s leadership skills in Anaheim and whether Mike Keenan&rsquo;s young talent in Florida is ready for the next big step, there remains ominous thumping and banging in the next room.A year from now, hours after the final game of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, owners are expected to lock out their players as the current collective bargaining agreement comes to an end, setting the stage for what both sides are warning could be a long and bloody labor battle.And so whether it&rsquo;s a discussion of the ageless grace of players like Mark Messier and Ron Francis who return for their 25th and 23rd NHL campaigns respectively, or the relative merits of Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton or Marian Gaborik as the standard bearer for the next generation of stars, every story, every milestone met or passed will be tinged with the knowledge the league is at a crossroads and that, perhaps, things will never be the same.<h2>AVS, WINGS SET TONE IN WEST</h2>Not in recent memory has a season approached with such a wide-open field of Stanley Cup hopefuls. Even in the dressing rooms of perennial contenders like Detroit, Colorado and New Jersey, questions abound. And in every other city there exists a belief they could be this year&rsquo;s Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Minnesota Wild or Tampa Bay Lightning.A year ago Colorado and Detroit were heavy favorites to meet in the Western Conference final with the winner fully expected to cart home the Stanley Cup. Both teams, however, were dispatched in shocking fashion in the first round of the playoffs.Although Dominik Hasek will once again patrol the Red Wings crease, much to the chagrin of $8-million backup Curtis Joseph, and the Detroit defense is the deepest in the league with the addition of Michigan native Derian Hatcher, the Wings are suddenly vulnerable up front. The classy Fedorov is now in Anaheim, Brett Hull is slowing and captain Steve Yzerman returns as questions about his durability linger.Meanwhile, Colorado GM Pierre Lacroix has assembled an offensive arsenal to rival that of the 1980s Oilers with Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne joining the NHL&rsquo;s top goal-scorer Milan Hejduk and the league&rsquo;s top point-getter Peter Forsberg. Throw in Joe Sakic, Rob Blake and Derek Morris and there&rsquo;s enough firepower to light up the Eastern seaboard.But with Patrick Roy lost to retirement and untested youngsters David Aebischer and Philippe Sauve in net, the Avalanche may be further from a championship this year than last.The rest of the West will be in hot pursuit, chief among them including the Mighty Ducks, out to prove theirs was no pumpkin ride to last season&rsquo;s Stanley Cup final.How well Fedorov and Vaclav Prospal, Tampa Bay&rsquo;s top scorer last season, acclimatize to the West Coast will have as much to say about the Ducks&rsquo; chances of a repeat trip to the ball as will the play of another Cinderella figure, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere who agreed to a rich, four-year deal just prior to the start of training camp.<h2>NEW FACES WELCOMED IN EAST</h2>The Eastern Conference isn&rsquo;t just home to the Stanley Cup, it&rsquo;s also home to the NHL&rsquo;s three newest coaches. Ed Olczyk makes the precipitous jump from the safety of the broadcast booth to the uncertainty of the Pittsburgh Penguins bench, while Mike Sullivan and Steve Stirling are trying to revive championship aspirations in Boston and Long Island, respectively.The Bruins are hoping Felix &lsquo;The Cat&rsquo; Potvin has at least one more life in him. Down the road in Philadelphia, GM Bob Clarke is once again playing goalie roulette by replacing enigmatic Jennings Trophy-winner Roman Cechmanek with injury-prone Jeff Hackett.In Toronto, where the angst never settles but simply hangs heavy in the air, Pat Quinn wears only the coach&rsquo;s hat after handing over GM duties to newcomer John Ferguson, who received the traditional welcome from Toronto media-that is, being savaged before he even took the job.Dealing with the media will be a snap, however, compared to trying to shore up the Leafs&rsquo; threadbare defense that begins the season without Glen Wesley (back to Carolina), Robert Svehla (finally retired) and Bryan McCabe (injured).Although there are no significant rule changes, the NHL has done more to ensure division rivalries with six matchups versus division foes, up from five last season.As well, the final six dates on each team&rsquo;s schedule will all feature conference foes.So that&rsquo;s the season. It might be the last one for a while.Bring it on.<h2>REMEMBER THESE DATES IN 2003-04</h2>Here are significant dates in the NHL&rsquo;s 2003-04 schedule:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011940/8486226-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="742" height="341"></div> &#9632;

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FEATURES & COLUMNS

Open field for Stanley

<div class="byline">BY MARK BRENDER &#x2022; Senior Writer</div>When players say hockey is a 12-month sport, they usually mean they have to hit the gym year-round to keep up with the guy one stall over.Todd Bertuzzi isn&rsquo;t into keeping up with anybody else. He wants to play leapfrog. He wants to keep on the puck, keep up the pursuit, pound the body, use his speed, see the ice, give-and-go, all to jump up the star charts. He thinks about it 12 months a year.&ldquo;Before, I&rsquo;d come into a season, I&rsquo;d play the season and go from there,&rdquo; says the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; hulking right winger. &ldquo;I think as I matured and got older, you&rsquo;ve got to accept the responsibility that it continues in the summertime. You&rsquo;ve got to mentally prepare yourself.&rdquo;He&rsquo;s big into self-analysis. Every summer he makes a list of goals for the upcoming year and the things he needs to improve on. As to exactly what they are, he&rsquo;s not saying, but his agent Pat Morris says Bertuzzi has developed an uncanny ability to predict his seasons. So what&rsquo;s coming next? By now, Bertuzzi has a good handle on the havoc created when his size and skill work in tandem. When he answers the question of his becoming the best player in the NHL, you know he has thought about it, too.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012156/8486330-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="576" height="1198"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021420/8486323-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="576" height="1197"><figcaption class="caption-body">THEN & NOW&nbsp;New York Islanders GM Mike Milbury says trading Todd Bertuzzi to Vancouver is the one deal he would most like to have back. (LEFT: BRUCE BENNETT/BBS RIGHT: SCOTT LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my mindset,&rdquo; Bertuzzi says. &ldquo;I think I can and I want to be. You can say it, but you&rsquo;ve also got to go out and prove it. There&rsquo;s a lot of guys out there with a lot more skill than what I have and all that, but the thing that I have is I can combine both and bring both assets to the table.&rdquo;Skill and size, size and skill. The analysis on the eve of the 2003-04 NHL season says nobody does it better than Bertuzzi.Back when Todd Bertuzzi was a man-child and Long Island was overrun with impostors, the Islanders naturally wanted Bertuzzi to be someone else. GM Mike Milbury, in his desperate struggle to get a slow-to-mature 21-year-old to turn 27, stumbled on the idea that Clark Gillies, the former Islanders great from the 1980s Stanley Cup teams, could help Bertuzzi become, well, Gillies.The mentorship never really got off the ground. Bertuzzi was being molded into an up-and-down grinder/banger with fairly good hands, the kind of guy who needed to stand in front of the net and be a fine complement to a talented center (which the Islanders didn&rsquo;t have) who would surely get the glory, if there was any to go around.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03830/8486316-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="4250" height="3279"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JIM MCSAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">You can say it, but you&rsquo;ve also got to go out and prove it.</blockquote>It&rsquo;s not as if the Islanders did a whole lot right in the 1990s, so their handling of Bertuzzi hardly stands out. Still, if someone at the time would have told the Isles the precise nature of their mistake, it would have seemed so ridiculous, so far away, that someone would have been laughed off the Island. But, with no disrespect to Gillies, a Hall of Famer, the mistake the Islanders made was aiming low.Gillies never scored more than 38 goals in a season. He never scored more than 21 goals in any season after he turned 28. Bertuzzi turned 28 last winter. Last season he hit twine 46 times. And his career path is still aiming skyward.In fairness, no one in New York was second-guessing the Feb. 6,1998, trade that brought in Trevor Linden as the latest savior. Neither was Bertuzzi.&ldquo;There were times where I didn&rsquo;t even want to play anymore,&rdquo; Bertuzzi recalls. &ldquo;I was starting to get scratched from games and I take things personal. I would sit at home and dwell on it and worry about it and it sucked. There were a lot of bad times there. But you know what, with the bad times come good times and you respect the good times a lot more when you&rsquo;re with them.&rdquo;Of all the deals Mike Milbury has made-trading Roberto Luongo, Ziggy Palffy, Zdeno Chara, the draft pick that would be Jason Spezza-moving Todd Bertuzzi is the one he says he most regrets.The dominant power forward in the game, Bertuzzi will wear an &lsquo;A&rsquo; this season, his seventh in Vancouver. He relishes the responsibility. He has found peace and happiness at home with his wife Julie, daughter Jaden, 4, and son Tag, 2. In the off-season the family lives in Kitchener, Ont., in a home backing onto an exclusive golf course. Bertuzzi takes the kids out in the cart a few times a week for romps down the fairway. The boy, he says, takes an awfully big rip.And during the winter, Bertuzzi treats the ice as his playground. Only linemate Markus Naslund (194) has more points than Bertuzzi&rsquo;s 182 over the past two seasons. Last year Bertuzzi was a first-team all-star for the first time. His 46 goals and 96 points were career-highs. He is a matchup terror for defenseman-in front of the net you can&rsquo;t move him, yet if you don&rsquo;t try, your goalie can&rsquo;t see. He has speed to burn you wide and the power to cut back in as bodies and sticks grope to pull him down.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012048/8486309-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="1192" height="1684"><figcaption class="caption-body">TAKING ROOT&nbsp;When Bertuzzi heads to the crease, it takes a Herculean effort to keep him out. (DALE MACMILLAN/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s good at blocking you out, clearing the defenseman behind him so you can&rsquo;t get to the puck or to his hands,&rdquo; says Dallas blueliner Teppo Numminen. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to try to be one step ahead of him so he doesn&rsquo;t outmuscle you. You try to play around him, not to get him in a wrestling match, because you know what&rsquo;s going to happen then.&rdquo;The interesting part of Bertuzzi isn&rsquo;t so much the end product we&rsquo;re seeing today, but how the transformation from question mark to remarkable came to happen. It&rsquo;s as if the ingredients got thrown into an oven in 1998-a touch of 20-some-thing maturity, a dash of extra commitment to off-season workouts, a happy sprinkle of parenthood, ongoing discipline from the Canucks brass-and came out three years later piping hot, brutally strong and soon-to-be frighteningly expensive. He&rsquo;ll be a restricted free agent next summer.Bertuzzi got out of a bad situation on Long Island just as he was beginning to mature as a person and a player. He credits then-Canuck coach-GM Mike Keenan for believing in him and giving him the ice time and confidence to succeed.Morris says things progressed because Marc Crawford handled Bertuzzi well when he took over from Keenan in January of 1999.&ldquo;Marc Crawford pushed some buttons, because I think when Marc got there he started him as a third line center and said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m going to make Todd more responsible and want it more,&rsquo;&rdquo; Morris says. &ldquo;And then it was after that he started to flourish.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">When he has the puck, he leads in our game. He&rsquo;s right at the very top. -Marc Crawford</blockquote>The 10-game suspension Bertuzzi received at the start of the 2001-02 season for leaving the bench to join a fight also played a role. He couldn&rsquo;t stand sitting out and getting browbeaten in practices to keep up his conditioning. And when he returned, he was more determined than ever to prove his hard work in the summer could help the Canucks win.Crawford says he noticed a change two years ago, when Bertuzzi took to the idea of being on the ice for key faceoffs in Vancouver&rsquo;s end late in games. He offered full buy-in on his play away from the puck, Crawford says, and he started to realize he would get the puck more as a result. The highlight-reel goals have always been there. These days they&rsquo;re supported by consistency everywhere else.&ldquo;He knows the payoff is he has got the puck more,&rdquo; Crawford says. &ldquo;And when he has got the puck, he leads in our game. He&rsquo;s right at the very top.&rdquo;Bertuzzi&rsquo;s off-ice conditioning has never been poor in Vancouver, but Crawford says it&rsquo;s now at the elite level. That could be one of the reasons why he can keep up so well with Naslund. The two have formed one of the league&rsquo;s tightest partnerships. They understand each other so well it&rsquo;s not uncommon to see them talking angrily to each other on the bench, pushing each other to be more aware of where the other is on the ice, something they feel should come naturally by now.&ldquo;We understand that during the game it&rsquo;s going to get heated and we have to understand sometimes you&rsquo;ve got to take a back seat and listen and understand where he&rsquo;s coming from and vice versa,&rdquo; Bertuzzi says. &ldquo;The best part about it, there&rsquo;s no grudges. We can get in an argument on the bench and right after the game we&rsquo;re back to just me and Markus.&rdquo;Bertuzzi is in his prime, the prime example of what wonders patience can bring for the team that can afford it. After all, the physically intimidating style Bertuzzi plays today is exactly what the Islanders were after, even if they never knew how to draw it out.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s finally figuring out what kind of player I am and what kind of player I have to be to be successful,&rdquo; Bertuzzi says. &ldquo;I think when I came to the conclusion this is the way I have to be to be successful, it made the transition a lot easier.&rdquo;And what would this &ldquo;way&rdquo; be, exactly?&ldquo;Basically knowing what I have,&rdquo; he concludes, &ldquo;and using every bit of it.&rdquo;<h2>DYNAMIC DUOS</h2>Here are the three sets of linemates that finished among the NHL&rsquo;s top 10 scorers in 2002-03, with points and rank: 2002-03<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021530/8486302-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="534" height="259"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-031072/8486295-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="533" height="257"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04559/8486288-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="535" height="257"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JIM MCISAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

COVER STORY

Where will BERTUZZI stop?

<div class="byline">BY DAVID J. NEAL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012015/8486361-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">SWEET SPEED&nbsp;Blueliner Lukas Krajicek, drafted by Florida in 2001, is a swift skater with strong offensive tools. (BBS)</figcaption></div>The day after Florida GM Rick Dudley praised the conditioning of the organization&rsquo;s youngsters, the team&rsquo;s prospect camp opened with the Panthers announcing their No. 1 prospect wouldn&rsquo;t be ready until the end of September, perhaps later.Swift offensive defenseman Lukas Krajicek, a first round draft pick in 2001, failed to get medical clearance after Cleveland Clinic doctors examined his right shoulder. That&rsquo;s the shoulder that underwent surgery in April to repair a problem with his rotator cuff.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s 90 per cent,&rdquo; said Krajicek of the injury. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to take the chance. The doctors said the same thing. I go into camp, take a hit from behind or any kind of hit, I&rsquo;d just dislocate it again and have to have the surgery again.&rdquo;It was expected Krajicek would be ready for training camp. Then, Dudley said they weren&rsquo;t even sure Krajicek would be ready for any pre-season games.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s behind where we&rsquo;d like him to be at this point,&rdquo; Dudley said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s disappointing because we had him in here, we gave him some direction and apparently&hellip;I don&rsquo;t know. I&rsquo;m not going to say anything. But he should be further along.&ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t under our direction,&rdquo; Dudley continued. &ldquo;To be honest, we probably should&rsquo;ve pushed harder for him to be here. (Trainer) Dave (Boyer) and (strength and conditioning coach) Chris (Reichart) are pretty damned good at what they do. They&rsquo;re very experienced at it.&rdquo;Krajicek did most of his rehabilitation in Tampa, where his agent, former NHL defenseman Petr Svoboda, is based.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that has anything to do with it,&rdquo; said Svoboda in a phone interview. &ldquo;(Krajicek) was working out every day, four hours a day.&rdquo;Svoboda said Krajicek was in Tampa for two months before returning to South Florida in late August. Svoboda didn&rsquo;t want to divulge the name of Krajicek&rsquo;s fitness coach until he had a chance to talk further with Dudley and Krajicek, but insisted, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s a well-known fitness coach who has worked with many athletes.&rdquo;Dudley said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just going to say I&rsquo;m disappointed. I think we all are because this is a guy who obviously has a chance to make an impact.&rdquo;A native of Prostejov, Czech Republic, Krajicek is a superior passer and skater. He had a strong enough camp two seasons ago at age 18 to make the Panthers roster. He played just five games, averaging 13:23 minutes of ice time before being returned to his Ontario League team, the Peterborough Petes. Last season, he was squeezed out by the number of Panthers veterans under contract and spent another year in Peterborough. He also saw three games with Florida&rsquo;s American League affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage.Krajicek scored 11 goals and 53 points in 52 games last season and OHL coaches voted him the best skater, fastest skater and best offensive defenseman in the Eastern Conference. The Hockey News 2003 Future Watch ranked Krajicek as the Panthers&rsquo; No. 1 prospect and the NHL&rsquo;s No. 26 overall.Dudley thinks Krajicek can be another Phil Housley, who Dudley coached in Buffalo and who scored 1,232 points in 21 NHL seasons.Krajicek said his shoulder bothered him for the past two years, so he decided to have the surgery this summer. Only time will tell if he can shoulder the load in Florida.<h2>ROOKIES TO WATCH</h2>Here are notable rookies, in alphabetical order, with position, team, age (as of Oct. 8) and draft information:RYAN BAYDA, LW, CarolinaAge: 22 Selected: 80th overall, 2000STEVE EMINGER, D, WashingtonAge: 19 Selected: 12th overall, 2002MARC-ANDRE FLEURY, G, PittsburghAge: 18 Selected: 1st overall, 2003JIRI HUDLER, C, DetroitAge: 19 Selected: 58th overall, 2002CHUCK KOBASEW, RW, CalgaryAge: 21 Selected: 14th overall, 2001MIKE KOMISAREK, D, MontrealAge: 21 Selected: 7th overall, 2001LUKAS KRAJICEK, D, FloridaAge: 19 Selected: 24th overall, 2001KARI LEHTONEN, G, AtlantaAge: 19 Selected: 2nd overall, 2002JOFFREY LUPUL, RW, AnaheimAge: 20 Selected: 7th overall, 2002PAUL MARTIN, D, New JerseyAge: 22 Selected: 62nd overall, 2000ANTTI MIETTINEN, LW, DallasAge: 20 Selected: 224th overall, 2000JONI PITKANEN, D, PhiladelphiaAge: 20 Selected: 4th overall, 2002IGOR RADULOV, LW, ChicagoAge: 21 Selected: 74th overall, 2000JANI RITA, RW, EdmontonAge: 22 Selected: 13th overall, 1999TUOMO RUUTU, C, ChicagoAge: 20 Selected: 9th overall, 2001PETER SEJNA, LW, St. LouisAge: 24 UndraftedEERO SOMERVU0RI, RW, Tampa BayAge: 24 Selected: 170th overall, 1997ERIC STAAL, C, CarolinaAge: 18 Selected: 2nd overall, 2003JARRET STOLL, C, EdmontonAge: 21 Selected: 36th overall, 2002SCOTTIE UPSHALL, LW, NashvilleAge: 20 Selected: 6th overall, 2002 &#9632;

f0010-01

Waiting for Krajicek

<div class="byline">BY MIKE BROPHY &#x2022; Senior Writer</div>Let&rsquo;s hear it for the kids.Although the top players at each position are veterans who have earned the honor deservedly through years of consistently excellent play, there is some impressive young blood on the rise.Hot shot youngsters such as Minnesota right winger Marian Gaborik and Atlanta&rsquo;s talented young duo, right winger Dany Headey and left winger Ilya Kovalchuk, are on the fast path to stardom.As always, The Hockey News&rsquo; annual Top 20 player rankings take into account what players have accomplished through their careers, their play of late as well as how they are expected to perform this season.GOALIE Welcome back to The Dominator. Although it is New Jersey&rsquo;s Martin Brodeur who tops our list of the 20 best goalies, Dominik Hasek made the greatest leap on the list He went all the way from retirement in the Czech Republic to No. 2. In at No. 3 is a netminder, Dallas&rsquo;s Marty Turco, who could top this list a year from now. Taking over as the Stars&rsquo; No. 1 stopper from Ed Belfour, who enjoyed a great year himself in Toronto, Turco led the NHL in both goals-against average (1.72) and save percentage (.932).Another goalie to keep an eye on is last season&rsquo;s Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Jean-Sebastien Giguere. He has been making noise for nearly two years and taking his team to the final last season is a good indicator that he is the real deal.DEFENSE Call it same old, same old. Our top three this season is identical to a year ago: 1. Nicklas Lidstrom; 2. Rob Blake; and 3. Chris Pronger. Of the three, Pronger is the one with the most to prove. He missed most of last season with ankle and wrist injuries and is so determined to get his game back in order, he turned over captaincy of the team to veteran Al MacInnis so he could concentrate on his duties on the blueline.CENTER The NHL&rsquo;s No. 1 player, Colorado&rsquo;s Peter Forsberg, is the center of attention. But when he peeks into his rearview mirror, he sees Boston&rsquo;s Joe Thornton coming up quickly. Minus his trusty left winger Sergei Samsonov, Thornton still finished third in league scoring in 2002-03.LEFT WING While the top portion in our list of best port siders features the usual suspects-Markus Naslund, Keith Tkachuk and Brendan Shanahan-there are nine on the list who were unrated last season including the bottom eight. Naslund enjoyed a career year in 2002-03 finishing second in league scoring with 48 goals and 104 points and was named winner of the Lester B. Pearson Award as the league&rsquo;s most valuable player as voted by his peers.RIGHT WING It is here that the NHL&rsquo;s real strength lies. Fifteen players on our Top 50 list in The Hockey News 2003-04 Yearbook are right wingers.They include Naslund&rsquo;s running mate, Todd Bertuzzi, enigmatic Jaromir Jagr, and the aforementioned Gaborik and Heatley. The league&rsquo;s top goal-scorer, Milan Hejduk of the Avalanche, and best defensive forward, Jere Lehtinen of the Stars, also play right wing.And, of course, there is the commissioner himself, Brett Hull.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021466/8486399-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="677" height="1525"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE MODAND (JOHN RUSSELL/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>THE TOP 50 PLAYERS IN THE NHL</h2>Here is our ranking of the NHL&rsquo;s top 50 players in 2003-04. The rule of thumb is, for this season, we wouldn&rsquo;t trade a player for anyone ranked below him. Included is last year&rsquo;s rank.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011937/8486392-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="1232" height="1062"></div> &#9632;

f0014-02

Make room for kids

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011765/8486451-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="919" height="1406"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARTIN BRODEUR</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021270/8486444-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="1601" height="978"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03892/8486437-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="623" height="747"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOMINIK HASEK</figcaption></div><h2>SAVE PERCENTAGE LEADERS</h2>Dominik Hasek&rsquo;s career SP is .924. Here are the &rsquo;02-03 leaders:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04658/8486430-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="437" height="503"></div> &#9632;

f0015-01

Top 20 NHL Goaltenders 2003-04

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05460/8486503-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="917" height="1363"><figcaption class="caption-body">NICKLAS LIDSTROM(BRODEUR: JIM MCISAAC/BBS; HASEK: BBS; LIDSTROM: BRUCE BENNETT/BBS; BLAKE: HENRY DIROCCO/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06368/8486496-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="1590" height="982"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-07310/8486489-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="740" height="714"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROB BLAKE</figcaption></div><h2>D-MEN POINT LEADERS</h2>Colorado&rsquo;s Rob Blake just missed this list, with 45 points last year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-08270/8486482-1-eng-US/f0015-082.jpg" title="f0015-08" width="438" height="466"></div> &#9632;

f0015-05

Top 20 NHL Defensemen 2003-04

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011724/8486555-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETER FORSBERG(FORSBERG: BRUCE BENNETT/BBS; LEMIEUX: JIM MCISAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021353/8486548-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="1822" height="1028"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-031023/8486541-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="425" height="668"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARIO LEMIEUX</figcaption></div><h2>LEADING CENTERS</h2>Among centers, Pittsburgh superstar Mario Lemieux ranked fourth in 2002-03 scoring.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04774/8486534-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="926" height="260"></div> &#9632;

f0016-01

Top 20 NHL Centers 2003-04

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011541/8486607-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="897" height="1397"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021202/8486600-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="1595" height="978"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03880/8486593-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="583" height="744"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEITH TKACHUK</figcaption></div><h2>LEFT WING POINT LEADERS</h2>Keith Tkachuk scored at nearly a point-per-game pace last year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04650/8486586-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="436" height="465"></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

Top 20 NHL Left Wingers 2003-04

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05456/8486659-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="897" height="1423"><figcaption class="caption-body">TODD BERTUZZI(NASLUND: SPORTS ACTION; TKACHUK; JOHN RUSSELL/BBS; BERTUZZI: JIM MCISAAC/BBS; JAGR: SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06352/8486652-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="1588" height="978"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07285/8486645-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="546" height="766"><figcaption class="caption-body">JAROMIR JAGR</figcaption></div><h2>RIGHT WING POINT LEADERS</h2>Jaromir Jagr was ninth among right wingers with 77 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-08235/8486638-1-eng-US/f0017-082.jpg" title="f0017-08" width="431" height="463"></div> &#9632;

f0017-05

Top 20 NHL Right Wingers 2003-04

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011370/8486697-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CLASH OF TITANS&nbsp;New Jersey and Ottawa could once again battle for the & Eastern Conference crown. (BRUCE BENNETT/BBS)</figcaption></div>The Ottawa Senators are definitely bulging around the middle. With Radek Bonk, Todd White, Bryan Smolinski, Jason Spezza, Mike Fisher and Shaun Van Allen at center, it&rsquo;s easy to see why so many pundits are predicting the Senators to win it all. Here&rsquo;s how we see things shaking down in the Eastern Conference this season:<h2>NORTHEAST DIVISION</h2>1. OTTAWA SENATORSKey arrivals: None. Key departures: Magnus Arvedson, Rob Ray.Off-season development: New owner Eugene Melnyk has deep pockets and is willing to use them.Burning question: Will Parliament Hill be the site of a Stanley Cup bash?2. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFSKey arrivals: Bryan Marchment, Joe Nieuwendyk. Key departures: Shayne Corson, Doug Gilmour, Jonas Hoglund, Phil Housley, Jyrki Lumme, Robert Svehla, Glen Wesley.Off-season development: Pat Quinn hands GM reins to&hellip;John Ferguson?Burning question: Can the Leafs possibly win with this defense corps?3. BOSTON BRUINSKey arrivals: Felix Potvin. Key departures: Bryan Berard, Sean Brown, Jeff Hackett, Ian Moran, Josef Stumpel, Don Sweeney.Off-season development: Mike Sullivan is the B&rsquo;s fifth coach in four seasons.Burning question: Is Martin Lapointe the most overpaid player in the history of sport?4. BUFFALO SABRESKey arrivals: Andy Delmore, Chris Drury, Derek Roy. Key departure: Rhett Warrener.Off-season development: Buffalo scored with Drury. But it won&rsquo;t be nearly enough.Burning question: Which of Martin Biron, Mika Noronen and Ryan Miller will emerge as the No. 1 goalie?5. MONTREAL CANADIENSKey arrivals: Mike Komisarek, Michael Ryder, Jason Ward. Key departures: Mariusz Czerkawski, Randy McKay.Off-season development: The hiring of GM Bob Gainey should lead to better days, but not today or tomorrow or the next day&hellip;Burning questions: Can goalie Jose Theodore put an end to his annus horriblus?<h2>ATLANTIC DIVISION</h2>1. NEW JERSEY DEVILSKey arrivals: Sean Brown, Igor Larionov, Erik Rasmussen. Key departures: Tommy Albelin, Ken Daneyko, Jim McKenzie, Joe Nieuwendyk, Richard Smehlik, Oleg Tverdovsky.Off-season development: The Devils lost a number of veterans and marginal players, but as always, they have ready replacements.Burning question: Can a team without a big-time scorer repeat its winning ways?2. PHILADELPHIA FLYERSKey arrivals: Jeff Hackett, Joni Pitkanen. Key departures: Roman Cechmanek, Marty Murray, Dmitry Yushkevich.Off-season development: The Flyers ditched Cechmanek for Hackett, but didn&rsquo;t convince many they actually improved.Burning question: Will John LeClair revive his moribund career?3. NEW YORK RANGERSKey arrivals: Greg deVries, Jan Hlavac, Jussi Markanen, Martin Rucinsky, Chris Simon. Key departures: Sandy McCarthy, Dave Karpa, Sylvain Lefebvre.Off-season development: More aging vets arrive to replace ones who left.Burning question: Shouldn&rsquo;t this team be able to make the playoffs in its sleep?4. NEW YORK ISLANDERSKey arrivals: Mariusz Czerkawski, Trent Hunter, Justin Mapletoft. Key departures: Randy Robitaille, Steve Webb.Off-season development: GM Mike Milbury had dressing room problems, so he fired Peter Laviollette and hired Steve Stirling. That&rsquo;s seven coaching changes in eight years.Burning question: Is Alexei Yashin the most overpaid player in the history of sport?5. PITTSBURGH PENGUINSKey arrivals: Drake Berehowsky, Marc Bergevin, Kelly Buchberger, Mike Eastwood, Marc-Andre Fleury, Konstantin Koltsov, Brooks Orpik. Key departures: Johan Hedberg, Hans Jonsson, Kent Manderville, Ville Nieminen, Jamie Pushor, Mikael Samuelsson.Off-season development: Mario returns.Burning question: Will 2004 draft gem Alexander Ovechkin like playing in Pittsburgh?<h2>SOUTHEAST DIVISION</h2>1. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNINGKey additions: Cory Stillman, Eero Somervuori, Pascal Trepanier. Key departures: Stan Neckar, Nolan Pratt, Vaclav Prospal.Off-season development: The Lightning did well to replace Prospal with Stillman.Burning question: Was last year a fluke or the beginning of something beautiful?2. WASHINGTON CAPITALSKey additions: Josef Boumedienne, Steve Eminger, Boyd Gordon, Nolan Yonkman. Key departures: Sergei Berezin, Calle Johansson, Ken Klee.Off-season development: None. All the time was spent trying to figure out who these &ldquo;key addition&rdquo; guys are.Burning question: Will the real Jaromir Jagr stand up and be counted for a full season?3. CAROLINA HURRICANESKey additions: Bob Boughner, Danny Markov, Marty Murray, Glen Wesley. Key departures: Jan Hlavac, Arturs Irbe, David Tanabe.Off-season development: The Hurricanes upgraded their defense big-time.Burning question: The Canes will bounce back, but will it be all the way to the playoffs?4. ATLANTA THRASHERSKey additions: Zdenek Blatney, Garnet Exelby, Ivan Majesky. Key departures: Lubos Bartecko, Tony Hrkac, Jeff Odgers.Off-season development: Management showed it is serious about contending for the post-season by re-signing Slava Kozlov.Burning question: Can Atlanta&rsquo;s five-year plan culminate in their first trip to the dance?5. FLORIDA PANTHERSKey additions: Valeri Bure, Todd Gill, Jonas Hoglund, Lukas Krajicek, Vaclav Nedorost. Key departures: Ivan Majesky, Stephane Matteau, Igor Ulanov, Peter Worrell.Off-season development: The Panthers used draft picks on hulking forwards Nathan Horton and Anthony Stewart.Burning question: Can Olli Jokinen repeat a 36-goal season?<h2>EASTERN CONFERENCE</h2>Here are THN&rsquo;S 2003-04 predictions for the East Division winners are listed in spots 1-2-3.1. Ottawa SENATORS2. New Jersey DEVILS3. Tampa Bay LIGHTNING4. Philadelphia FLYERS5. Toronto Maple LEAFS6. Boston BRUINS7. New York RANGERS8. Washington CAPITALS9. New York ISLANDERS10. Buffalo SABRES11. Carolina HURRICANES12. Atlanta THRASHERS13. Montreal CANADIENS14. Florida PANTHERS15. Pittsburgh PENGUINS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02995/8486690-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="867" height="268"></div> &#9632;

f0020-01

Sens: Class of the East

<div class="byline">BY TIM SASSONE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02719/8486735-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PERENNIAL THREAT&nbsp;Brendan Shanahan&rsquo;s Wings will have a different look, but they&rsquo;ll still be a handful. (JIM MCISAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div>Look around and you&rsquo;ll see many familiar faces, just in different places. Here&rsquo;s how we see things shaking down in the Western Conference this season:<h2>CENTRAL DIVISION</h2>1. DETROIT RED WINGSKey arrivals: Dominik Hasek, Derian Hatcher, Ray Whitney. Key departures: Sergei Fedorov, Luc Robitaille.Off-season development: Hasek and Hatcher have Wings hopping for joy.Burning question: With Fedorov gone and Yzerman&rsquo;s health iffy, is Detroit strong enough up the middle?2. ST. LOUIS BLUESKey arrivals: Murray Baron, Mike Danton, Peter Sejna. Key departures: Fred Brathwaite, Valeri Bure, Tyson Nash, Shjon Podein, Martin Rucinsky, Cory Stillman.Off-season development: Despite slashing payroll, the Blues believe they can compete.Burning question: Is Chris Osgood the solution to the Blues&rsquo; endless goalie woes?3. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETSKey arrivals: Fred Brathwaite, Todd Marchant, Darryl Sydor, Trevor Letowski. Key departures: Mike Sillinger, Ray Whitney.Off-season development: The Blue Jackets gave up &lsquo;O&rsquo; to add speed and defense.Burning question: Will Columbus finally play meaningful games in March?4. NASHVILLE PREDATORSKey arrivals: Dan Hamhuis, Jim McKenzie, Jordin Tootoo, Scottie Upshall. Key depar-tures: Andy Delmore, Cale Hulse, Karlis Skrastins, Oleg Petrov, Todd Warriner.Off-season development: Kid brigade arrives for another long year in Music City.Burning question: Will Tootoo land enough big hits to make fans forget all the losses?5. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKSKey arrivals: Ville Nieminen, Scott Nichol, Deron Quint, Igor Radulov, Tuomo Ruutu. Key departures: Mike Eastwood, Theoren Fleury, Andrei Nikolishin, Chris Simon.Off-season development: The Hawks charge ahead on their commitment to go young.Burning question: Will Ruutu emerge as Chicago&rsquo;s next great player?<h2>PACIFIC DIVISION</h2>1. DALLAS STARSKey arrivals: Antti Miettinen, Teppo Numminen, Steve Ott, Don Sweeney. Key departures: Ulf Dahlen, Derian Hatcher, Kirk Muller, Lyle Odelein, Darryl Sydor.Off-season development: The loss of Hatcher leaves questions about toughness.Burning question: Will Pierre Turgeon fight back or fade away?2. ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKSKey arrivals: Sergei Fedorov, Vinny Prospal. Key departures: Marc Chouinard, Paul Kariya, Adam Oates, Fredrik Olausson, Steve Thomas.Off-season development: Kariya bolts, Fedorov bites, Giguere signs. Not bad.Burning question: Anaheim won&rsquo;t surprise anyone this time. Are they up to the test?3. LOS ANGELES KINGSKey arrivals: Roman Cechmanek, Trent Klatt, Luc Robitaille, Jozef Stumpel. Key departures: Craig Johnson, Felix Potvin, Erik Rasmussen, Jamie Storr.Off-season development: The Kings put their trust in Roman.Burning question: Will the injury voodoo man pick on somebody else? Please?4. SAN JOSE SHARKSKey arrivals: Christian Ehrhoff, Alexander Korolyuk, Scott Parker. Key departures: Teemu Selanne, Adam Graves.Off-season development: GM Doug Wilson is charged with stopping the bleeding.Burning question: The penalty kill can&rsquo;t get any worse, but will it get better?5. PHOENIX COYOTESKey arrivals: Dan Cleary, Cale Hulse, Tyson Nash, Mike Sillinger, David Tanabe. Key departures: Drake Berehowsky, Kelly Buchberger, Danny Markov, Teppo Numminen, Scott Pellerin, Deron Quint, Paul Ranheim.Off-season development: Dealing Numminen is sign of youthful turn.Burning question: Can inexperienced blueline keep Phoenix in playoff hunt?<h2>NORTHWEST DIVISION</h2>1. COLORADO AVALANCHEKey arrivals: Paul Kariya, Andrei Nikolishin, Teemu Selanne, Karlis Skrastins, Peter Worrell. Key departures: Mike Keane, Bryan Marchment, Eric Messier, Vaclav Nedorost, Scott Parker, Steven Reinprecht, Patrick Roy.Off-season development: Kariya and Selanne, full stop.Burning question: Is David Aebischer a legit No. 1?2. VANCOUVER CANUCKSKey arrivals: Johan Hedberg, Jiri Slegr. Key departures: Murray Baron, Trent Klatt, Trevor Letowski, Peter Skudra.Off-season development: Hedberg arrives in town to push Dan Cloutier.Burning question: Will Cloutier have a better playoff?3. MINNESOTA WILDKey arrivals: Kyle Wanvig. Key departures: Cliff Ronning, Lubomir Sekeras.Off-season development: None. The Wild sticks to its big-picture plan to build from within.Burning question: Which comes first, a contract for Marian Gaborik or a two-goal game for the Gaborik-less Wild?4. EDMONTON OILERSKey arrivals: Ty Conklin, Jani Rita, Jarret Stoll, Raffi Torres. Key departures: Dan Cleary, Todd Marchant, Jussi Markkanen.Off-season development: Contract woes with Mike Comrie threaten to turn ugly.Burning question: Will the outdoor game be the highlight of Edmonton&rsquo;s season?5. CALGARY FLAMESKey arrivals: Josh Green, Krzysztof Oliwa, Steven Reinprecht, Rhett Warrener. Key departures: Bob Boughner, Chris Drury, Scott Nichol.Off-season development: Bodies in, bodies out&hellip;but not much really changes.Burning question: Can Roman Turek be the kind of consistent goalie that coach-GM Darryl Sutter demands?<h2>WESTERN CONFERENCE</h2>Here are THN&rsquo;s 2003-04 predictions for the West. Division winners are listed in spots 1-2-3.1. Colorado AVALANCHE2. Detroit RED WINGS3. Dallas STARS4. Vancouver CANUCKS5. Anaheim MIGHTY DUCKS6. St. Louis BLUES7. Minnesota WILD8. Los Angeles KINGS9. Edmonton OILERS10. Columbus BLUE JACKETS11. Nashville PREDATORS12. Calgary FLAMES13. Chicago BLACKHAWKS14. San Jose SHARKS15. Phoenix COYOTES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011112/8486728-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="866" height="260"></div> &#9632;

f0021-02

Dogfight in wild West

<h2>OLYMPIC FORMAT SETTLED</h2>HERSONISSOS, Greece There will be no preliminary round at the 2006 Olympics, meaning countries such as Slovakia and Latvia will be on equal footing with traditional powers if the NHL decides to participate in the Games. Twelve countries will play in the round-robin portion of the event. Eight countries, plus host Italy, will receive automatic entry based on a to-be-determined ranking system. The other three teams must qualify through other international tournaments. The 12-team format means the NHL may have to shut down for up to two weeks if it takes part. In other news from the International Ice Hockey Federation, Canada was awarded the 2006 World Junior Championship and is hoping to host the first World Championship on North American soil in 2008. Canada was seeking the 2007 tournament, but marketing agreements would have made it a costly venture for the IIHF. Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson said the IIHF indicated Canada&rsquo;s bid would receive better support in 2008, which is also the 100th anniversary of the IIHF.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011208/8486766-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="292" height="158"></div><h2>THRASHERS, ARENA SOLD</h2>ATLANTA AOL Time Warner has sold the Atlanta Thrashers, as well the NBA&rsquo;s Atlanta Hawks and operating rights to Philips Arena, to a group of eight investors, including the son-in-law of original Thrashers owner Ted Turner. AOL Time Warner wanted to sell the assets to reduce the company&rsquo;s debt.<h2>FATHER CHARGED WITH ASSAULT</h2>PICKERING, Ont. A Windsor, Ont., man is facing an assault charge after police say he grabbed his 10-year-old daughter&rsquo;s facemask, shook her and knocked her against the boards following a minor hockey game. The man, who will appear in an Oshawa court Oct. 14, has been barred from seeing his family until the court date. Newspaper reports suggested the father was upset with his daughter&rsquo;s play. &#9632;

f0024-01

HOCKEY WORLD IN BRIEF

<div class="byline">-MARK BRENDER</div>Bobby Smith&rsquo;s idea for a line change has found support in the NHL&rsquo;s executive suites.Smith&rsquo;s idea, explained in The Hockey News 2003-04 Yearbook, is to widen the bluelines and center ice red line from one foot to six feet. When combined with a minor adjustment to the offside rule, the effect would be to create more space in all three zones without expanding the actual playing surface.&ldquo;I know that Gary Bettman likes the idea. He likes the idea of giving ice back to the neutral zone,&rdquo; said Mike Murphy, NHL vice-president of hockey operations. &ldquo;It has been talked about. I can&rsquo;t say we&rsquo;ve closed the door on it.&rdquo;Murphy said the idea would have to be taken first to the GMs and ultimately to the NHL board of governors before it could be implemented. He suggested it would be tested first in a lower league.Smith is a former GM of the Phoenix Coyotes. He recently purchased the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec League. &#9632;

SMITH’S LINE PITCH GATHERS STEAM

The Hockey News&rsquo; 30 correspondents are regularly asked their opinion on things from who will win the Stanley Cup to who will win the Hart Trophy to how much ice Mike Keenan munches in a game.We asked them to predict the 2003-04 conference champions, the Cup and the major award winners, as well as who will be the first coach fired and the first coach hired.Interestingly, among those who received votes to be the first coach hired were Mario Lemieux (as if being Pittsburgh&rsquo;s scoring ace and owner aren&rsquo;t enough) and Mark Messier, who is set to play his 25th NHL season. Watch your back, Glen Sather.The votes have been tabulated and the predictions are:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02873/8486943-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="550" height="875"><figcaption class="caption-body">DANIEL ALFREDSSON (SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>STANLEY CUP OTTAWA SENATORS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011224/8486936-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="266" height="608"></div>2nd choice: Colorado Avalanche3rd choice: Detroit Red WingsThe Senators were one goal away from making the Stanley Cup final last season. Thirteen of 30 correspondents picked Ottawa to win it all this year, which was easily more than Colorado (five votes) and Detroit (four votes).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03709/8486929-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="177" height="98"></div>CHAMPION(PLAYOFFS)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04519/8486922-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="177" height="99"></div>EAST OTTAWA SENATORSWEST DETROIT RED WINGSCALDER TROPHY<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05388/8486915-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="177" height="206"></div>TUOMO RUUTU, Chicago2nd Joni Pitkanen, Philadelphia3rd Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06320/8486908-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="177" height="98"></div>CHAMPION(REGULAR SEASON)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07274/8486901-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="177" height="99"></div>EAST OTTAWA SENATORSWEST COLORADO AVALANCHEROCKET RICHARD<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-08221/8486894-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="177" height="208"></div>MARIAN HOSSA, Ottawa2nd Markus Naslund. Vancouver3rd Paul Kariya. ColoradoHART TROPHY<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-09190/8486887-1-eng-US/f0026-092.jpg" title="f0026-09" width="178" height="209"></div>PETER FORSBERG, Colorado2nd Joe Thornton. Boston3rd Mike Modano, DallasART ROSS TROPHY<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-10170/8486880-1-eng-US/f0026-102.jpg" title="f0026-10" width="178" height="209"></div>PETER FORSBERG, Colorado2nd Joe Sakic, Colorado3rd Ice Thornton, BostonVEZINA TROPHY<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-11156/8486873-1-eng-US/f0026-112.jpg" title="f0026-11" width="177" height="207"></div>MARTIN BRODEUR, NJ2nd Dominik Hasek, Detroit3rd Marty Turco DallasCOACHING MOVES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-12140/8486866-1-eng-US/f0026-122.jpg" title="f0026-12" width="176" height="206"></div>1st Fired Bruce Cassidy, Washington1st Hired Peter LavioletteNORRIS TROPHY<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-13134/8486859-1-eng-US/f0026-132.jpg" title="f0026-13" width="177" height="205"></div>NICKLAS LIDSTROM, Detroit2nd Rob Blake, Colorado3rd Ed Joyangyski, VancouverCOMEBACK PLAYER<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-14122/8486852-1-eng-US/f0026-142.jpg" title="f0026-14" width="178" height="209"></div>DOMINIK HASEK, Detroit2nd Jason Allison, Los Angeles3rd Chris Pronger, St. Louis &#9632;

f0026-02

Senators win it all!

OTTAWAFresh off the ice and dripping with sweat, 22-year-old Dan Sullivan removes his hockey glove to exchange greetings. Shaking hands with him leaves the right hand reeking like an equipment bag for hours.Sullivan is a hulk of a right winger, standing about 6-foot-2, weighing 245 pounds. He skates extremely well for a small mountain. A few of those pounds will have to disappear if he wants to raise his game, but at an NHL rookie tournament at the Corel Centre, he&rsquo;s a steamroller. He plays three games and has more hits than the Detroit Tigers have had all summer and scares some of those Montreal Canadiens prospects silly.<h2>LOOKING FOR A CHANCE</h2>Sullivan works back home in Toronto in the off-season. In the winter he plays hockey and waits for his big break. So here he is, wearing an NHL uniform, as big as breaks come for kids like him.You notice him because of the way he barrels down the wing on one of those 3-on-2 drills and picks up speed and cuts to the net. In the stands, a handful of scouts and minor league coaches raise eyebrows and look down at their roster sheets. You love him because, after just his first practice as a Carolina Hurricane, he knows how lucky he is, in spite of everything.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011212/8487005-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="287" height="382"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Brender&nbsp;Senior Writer</figcaption></div>An NHL rookie camp isn&rsquo;t about the NHL. Most of the players here will never see an NHL rink in November unless they pay to get in. It&rsquo;s about the bus leagues and hockey kids and hockey dreams, and the kids come in all numbers and shapes and sizes and more varied backgrounds than you ever imagined.Sullivan is wearing No. 67. The second overall pick in last year&rsquo;s draft, Eric Staal, is wearing No. 12. Sullivan was never drafted. Staal&rsquo;s dad built him a backyard rink at home in Thunder Bay. Sullivan&rsquo;s dad was barely ever home at all.Dad was a biker who never saw his son play. He did his time in all kinds of places and lived five years longer than he was supposed to. Not many guys make it through seven heart attacks. Sullivan saw him in the hospital before he died this summer. He had cirrhosis of the liver, gangrene in both legs, who knows what else. He told his son if he had it to do all over again, he&rsquo;d do it exactly the same.<h2>NO MORE FEAR</h2>A few days later, Sullivan was invited to NHL rookie camp.And then the funniest thing happened. He wasn&rsquo;t scared anymore, just went out and played. When he was a rookie pro in the East Coast League last season, Sullivan would sweat before games thinking about who he would have to fight. He dreaded it. And he had more to worry about. During the season his coach told him, oops, you know that contract you signed? We can&rsquo;t pay you that much. You can stay or go home. Then they traded him.Hit hard by injuries, Carolina&rsquo;s farm team in Lowell picked him up for the final six games of the season. He cried before his first American League game. Coach Ron Smith liked him, which led to the rookie camp, which leads to him heading back to Lowell in hopes of winning a twoway AHL-NHL contract down the road.&ldquo;When I&rsquo;m on the ice, it&rsquo;s the only time I can really forget about everything,&rdquo; Sullivan says. &ldquo;It has been a long go, but I&rsquo;m still here.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02843/8486998-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="985" height="1414"><figcaption class="caption-body">DREAM LIVES ON&nbsp;Carolina prospect Dan Sullivan has been through a lot, but his ultimate goal is still ahead of him. (SPORTS ACTION/FREESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0028-01

Hockey heart in trying times

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011187/8487137-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="291" height="327"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Manasso&nbsp;Atlanta correspondent</figcaption></div>The Thrashers thought they had the personnel last year to make a run at the playoffs. Turns out they were right.What it took Atlanta GM Don Waddell too long to realize was that those players needed a different coach.Waddell now has his man. After firing Curt Fraser last January, the Thrashers went 1914-5-1 under ex-Avs boss Bob Hartley.Building on that finish, which resulted in a 10th-place finish in the Eastern Conference, the Thrashers are in a good position to qualify for the postseason for the first time in franchise history.Scoring won&rsquo;t be a problem for Atlanta. With Dany Heatley, Slava Kozlov and Marc Savard on the top line and Ilya Kovalchuk, Shawn McEachern and Patrik Stefan on the second, the Thrashers should have a balanced, even potent scoring.The makeup of the third line is up in the air. Either prospect Kamil Piros, acquired for Donald Audette in 2001, must show he is ready to make the jump from the American League, or Tommi Santala, who excelled in the Finnish league, must make the transition from Europe. One of the two, or free agent signee Randy Robitaille, will be given the assignment of replacing Tony Hrkac, who was let go after last season.With Jeff Odgers and Hrkac gone, Heatley will have to step up and help captain McEachern and others in leading the team. Lengthy losing and winless streaks have been Atlanta&rsquo;s bane in the past.Since their inception in 1999, the Thrashers&rsquo; most glaring weakness has been keeping the puck out of their net. Expect Byron Dafoe-in possibly the best shape of his career and with much to prove-to bounce back. Should Pasi Nurminen pick up where he left off-21-19-5 with a .906 save percentage last year-the Thrashers look good in net.Under Hartley, the Thrashers were able to make great strides in playing team defense. That&rsquo;s critical, because the performance of the unheralded defense corps is key to Atlanta&rsquo;s success does this season.The only significant blueline addition is Ivan Majesky, who came over from Florida for a second round draft choice. Andy Sutton will have to pick up where he left off before missing the final 27 games of last season with an ankle injury. Yannick Tremblay made big strides under Hartley and ate up plenty of minutes towards the end of the year. Daniel Tjarnqvist and Frantisek Kaberle must show they can play at a high level the entire season without wearing down. Veteran Chris Tamer is a steady presence.Hartley&rsquo;s biggest blueline challenge will be in getting rookies Kirill Safronov and Garnet Exelby, who showed promise as a physical force late last season, to be consistent, stay in position and not make costly turnovers.The Thrashers, in the midst of an ownership change, chose to stand pat on salary and not add a high-priced D-man. Whether that decision will cost the team remains to be seen.If the defensive unit holds up, the playoffs are more than possible. If it doesn&rsquo;t, the Thrashers will have another high draft pick in 2004 to add to a team full of first-rounders.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02793/8487130-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="349" height="281"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANDY SUTION&nbsp;Cast off by the Wild last January, Sutton has shown leadership and grit since arriving in Atlanta.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04416/8487123-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="198" height="171"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03579/8487116-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="1066" height="992"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Center Dan Snyder had surgery on his ankle a few days before training camp and will miss the start of the season. Snyder&rsquo;s absence opens up a spot for one of Atlanta&rsquo;s other young forward prospects. (JIM MCISAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Atlanta&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.,<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05320/8487109-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="775" height="1564"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-06268/8487102-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="754" height="264"></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

Atlanta looks to make leap

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03568/8487203-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="293" height="342"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nancy Marrapese-Burrell&nbsp;Boston correspondent</figcaption></div>The Boston Bruins rocketed out of the gate last season, posting the best record in the NHL through the first third of the schedule. Then the bottom fell out.After opening 194-3-1, the Bruins fell on their face, posting a 17-27-8-3 mark the rest of the way. No one was surprised when they were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round.GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell did some retooling this summer, trading second line center Jozef Stumpel back to Los Angeles for a couple draft picks and walking away from blueliner Bryan Berard&rsquo;s arbitration award.The biggest acquisition was the signing of goalie Felix Potvin to a one-year deal.So, where does all this put the Bruins?It&rsquo;s likely their commitment to financial caution in the last year of the current collective bargaining agreement means they&rsquo;ll be competitive, but their fortunes will rest on Potvin. If he can provide consistent goaltending, it will go a long way towards stabilizing Boston&rsquo;s defensive zone.On offense, the team has plenty of punch. Right winger Glen Murray and center Joe Thornton form a potent combination and now that left winger Sergei Samsonov is healthy and signed, the three will form one of the best lines in the league.Below the top line, things are murkier. The Bruins are weak at center. They didn&rsquo;t fare well on faceoffs last year and that issue hasn&rsquo;t been addressed. Rookie Andy Hilbert is expected to challenge for Stumpel&rsquo;s vacant spot, but he needs to get grittier. Brian Rolston is likely to center the third line with P.J. Axelsson and right winger Marty Lapointe, but if other centers emerge in camp, it&rsquo;s possible coach Mike Sullivan could move Rolston back to the wing, putting him with Hilbert and Mike Knuble.Veteran enforcer Sandy McCarthy will provide some of the toughness the B&rsquo;s lacked last year.On defense, the Bruins have four tried-and-true blueliners in Dan McGillis, starting his first full year with the team, Hal Gill, Sean O&rsquo;Donnell and Nick Boynton (who remained unsigned as training camp began). Ian Moran also brings a lot of experience.Boynton logged the most minutes of any skater on the team last season, averaging 22:40 per game. An cadre of young talent-Jeff Jillson, Shaone Morrisonn and Milan Jurcina-will vie for a regular spot as well.What will the fans think? The Bruins&rsquo; loyal fan base has been eroding and it will take a winner to lure them back. Owner Jeremy Jacobs said he&rsquo;s optimistic that&rsquo;s what he has.&ldquo;I think we can build on what we had last year,&rdquo; Jacobs said. &ldquo;We had one of the highest-scoring teams in the NHL. We had more players with over 30 goals than any other team (except Detroit, also with three). We can build on that.&ldquo;We had a couple of years (in 1988 and 1990) where we were in the Stanley Cup final and those were better years than they are when you&rsquo;re not. This community will react to a winner.&rdquo;The question is, do the Bruins have enough talent on their roster to ice a winner?Sure&hellip;in the regular season. But NHL success is decided in the playoffs-a time of year in which the B&rsquo;s current cast is unproven.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04449/8487196-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="353" height="285"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARTIN LAPOINTE&nbsp;After an injury-filled 2002-03, Lapointe brings a renewed committment and eagerness this season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06326/8487189-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="198" height="173"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05373/8487182-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="1072" height="1002"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Boston wasn&rsquo;t resilient last year, folding when adversity hit. New coach Mike Sullivan wants veterans Sean O&rsquo;Donnell and Martin Lapointe to aid Joe Thornton (above) in giving the team a strong identity. (JIM LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Boston&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011071/8487175-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="780" height="1581"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02727/8487168-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="762" height="267"></div> &#9632;

f0033-03

B’s searching for right mix

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011206/8487269-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="289" height="357"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim Kelley&nbsp;Buffalo correspondent</figcaption></div>Know this about the 2003-04 Sabres: they are decidedly different from any team that Buffalo has iced in recent years.That doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean these Sabres are better; they have, after all, missed the playoffs the past two seasons and haven&rsquo;t yet recovered from their recent absence of stable ownership.But they have come back from bankruptcy with a number of experienced young players, some new faces and an owner who-so far, at least-can talk a pretty good game.Where it all goes from here is still up in the air.The Sabres appear deep, though not large, up front and could ice three lines capable of scoring on a more frequent basis than the team that hit a franchise-low in that area last season (190 goals).Newly acquired center Chris Drury is set to anchor a line with five-time team leading scorer Miroslav Satan and emerging left winger Ales Kotalik. Daniel Briere, brought over from Phoenix late last season, showed a scorer&rsquo;s touch and found success passing to Jochen Hecht and J-P Dumont. Should either Taylor Pyatt or Maxim Afinogenov break through and play up to their potential, the Sabres might have an offense that can finally get to the three-goals-per-game mark.Buffalo would also benefit if center Tim Connolly comes into his own. The 22-year-old pivot took a step back last season, scoring 20 fewer points than the year before, but is poised to break out this campaign.The defense is reasonably solid, with a good mix of veterans (Alexei Zhitnik, Jay McKee, James Patrick) and emerging talents (Henrik Tallinder, Brian Campbell, Rory Fitzpatrick and Dmtri Kalinin).The power play, abysmal last season, should see an uptick via the contributions of Drury, who can play forward and the point, and newly acquired Andy Delmore, a Nashville castoff who tied for the lead in goals scored by a defenseman last season, with 18.Of course, it will be all for naught if the goaltending doesn&rsquo;t keep up.The Sabres are loaded in potential at the position with Martin Biron and Mika Noronen, both first round draft choices, and former Hobey Baker winner Ryan Miller. Biron, who just turned 26, is the senior.The trio has talent, but no one yet has emerged as the No. 1 go-to guy. Biron has decent NHL numbers and could be poised for a breakthrough, but he still has to show he can handle the starter&rsquo;s role. The same can be said of Noronen (Miller appears to be a year or two away), but if the duo doesn&rsquo;t break through this season the Sabres are looking at a third year out of the playoffs.That will be a true test for new owner Tom Golisano. So far it has been a fun ride for the Rochester businessman, with fans grateful that he bought the team and kept it in Western New York.That glow will fade quickly, however, if the Sabres continue down the path they have traveled the past two seasons. Even with the threat of a lockout looming, Golisano needs the Sabres to show serious progress or fans won&rsquo;t be buying what he&rsquo;s selling.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02816/8487262-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="356" height="282"><figcaption class="caption-body">MAXIM AFINOGENOV&nbsp;Afinogenov is fast-quick and has a blistering shot. Entering Year 4 in the NHL, he&rsquo;s ready to deliver.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04508/8487255-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="197" height="171"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03645/8487248-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="1070" height="988"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;If Tint Connolly has long-term hopes to remain in Buffalo, he needs to show more tenacity and force his way onto one of the top two lines. An impressive camp and productive October would be a good start (JIM LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Buffalo&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05411/8487241-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="779" height="1559"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06367/8487234-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="752" height="265"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

Sabres begin to re-emerge

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011096/8487335-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="294" height="359"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Duhatschek&nbsp;Calgary correspondent</figcaption></div>When the Calgary Flames appointed Darryl Sutter to replace Craig Button as GM last spring, it seemed both risky and unnecessary.Risky because although Sutter had compiled a fine record as an NHL coach, he had no management experience. Unnecessary because after Button struggled through the growing pains that invariably accompany a firsttime GM, it looked as if he were growing into the job.Sutter is the ultimate no-nonsense type. As a result, it was easy to imagine him using the same blunt approach to contract negotiations that he employs as a coach, a method that could have resulted in half-dozen unsigned players heading into training camp.So what happened? Sutter actually breezed through his offseason to-do list. First, he got Robyn Regehr, the team&rsquo;s most important young defenseman, signed to a five-year contract. As soon as it became clear he couldn&rsquo;t pull the same rabbit out of his hat with Chris Drury, Sutter traded him to Buffalo in a deal that netted Calgary center Steve Reinprecht and defenseman Rhett Warrener. Sutter eventually got both players signed, in addition to locking up all his other restricted free agents, so that when camp opened, he had all his players inked.This was necessary because Sutter will need all hands on deck now that he switches hats and goes back to being the team&rsquo;s coach.In Sutter&rsquo;s 46 games behind the bench last season, the Flames were a modestly improved 19-18-8-1. Unfortunately, a record just a touch over .500 still doesn&rsquo;t get you into the playoffs in the competitive Western Conference.Even so, Sutter did some good things last season in making the Flames a tougher opponent to play against (the home record, seven games under .500 before he arrived, was five games above .500 afterwards). More importantly, he didn&rsquo;t stop when the season ended. Instead, he sat down No. 1 goalie Roman Turek for four hours and told him, in no uncertain terms, that Turek&rsquo;s up-and-down netminding contributed greatly to the team&rsquo;s up-and-down results. Sutter made the point that Turek needed more consistency-and Turek, to his credit, agreed.Sutter made a similar point with Jarome Iginla, the NHL&rsquo;s 2001-02 scoring champion who produced a respectable 35-goal total in a year marred by wrist, back and abdominal injuries. Together, Turek and Iginla gobbled up $11.5 million in salary, or roughly one-third of the team&rsquo;s $34-million payroll, so much is expected of both of them.Sutter can&rsquo;t score goals (not anymore) and he was never much good at stopping pucks (in the Sutter family household, that duty was relegated to the twins, Rich and Ron, because they were the youngest).For all that, he has put a definite stamp on the team in a short period of time-and if the Flames ever manage to shake out of their endless non-playoff doldrums (seven years and counting), it&rsquo;ll be because of the course Sutter set. It&rsquo;s early, but a managerial change that looked like a reckless gamble in the beginning may turn out to be a safe play after all.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02715/8487328-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="354" height="290"><figcaption class="caption-body">OLEG SAPRYKIN&nbsp;Skillful, speedy winger is finally showing signs of maturing after an awkward start to his pro career.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04458/8487321-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="198" height="176"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03594/8487314-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="1065" height="1004"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;There&rsquo;s a sense of urgency as coach-GM Darryl Sutter pared down the invitees and planned to make cuts quickly. This allows players such as Jarome Iginla time to develop chemistry with his linemates. (SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Calgary&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05384/8487307-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="762" height="1586"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06335/8487300-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="755" height="267"></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

Sutter instills new attitude

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011064/8487401-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="294" height="347"><figcaption class="caption-body">Luke DeCock&nbsp;Carolina correspondent</figcaption></div>It was only five months ago, but the Hurricanes&rsquo; precipitous fall and nightmare season already seems like a bad dream.It&rsquo;s as hard to believe Carolina fell all the way from the Stanley Cup final to last overall as it is difficult to catalogue the misfortune that befell the team last season. A few choice moments:In the first practice, the player who would become the No. 1 goalie suffered a seizure and collapsed. Their heavyweight was knocked out for the season with one punch. A player got called up, scored in his first game and hurt his shoulder celebrating.And so it went, beyond belief.The party line is the Canes were doing fine until injuries hit in January. The fact is, they were already sliding toward ignominy when Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour and Erik Cole were lost for the season. The stellar play of Kevin Weekes over the first two months of the season camouflaged the fact Carolina never played with the emotion or the grit that carried them to the 2002 final.That&rsquo;s what they must recapture this season, the grind-it-out mentality that made them so hard to play against two years ago. Because of the imperative to get off to a good start and erase any specter of last year, there is more pressure on Paul Maurice than in any October before. But if his team gets to Thanksgiving in decent shape, he&rsquo;ll extend the NHL&rsquo;s longest current coaching tenure.And he has the weapons at his disposal, especially on defense. The additions of Bob Boughner and Danny Markov to the blueline turns a weakness into a strength. It&rsquo;s a veteran group, with Bret Hedican, Glen Wesley and Sean Hill filling out the top five. There will be a fight for playing time between Aaron Ward, Niclas Wallin and Bruno St-Jacques, who was a pleasant surprise at the end of last season (far more impressive than the other half of the Sami Kapanen trade, the ponderous Pavel Brendl).But this team will go only as far as Weekes takes it in goal. Weekes was outstanding at times last season, but a series of injuries and the team&rsquo;s porous defense left him with mediocre numbers.Goals will continue to be a problem, especially if the Canes choose to go with an all-defense third line of Marty Murray, Kevyn Adams and Craig Adams.What Carolina needs most are bounce-back seasons from disappointing youngsters such as Josef Vasicek and Jaroslav Svoboda.Not to mention, the Canes are counting on another top-flight season from Ron Francis in his 23rd NHL campaign. Any dropoff in his game-he struggled with a back injury early last season-would be devastating.A healthy Brind&rsquo;Amour and Cole will also help, as should a full season from the impressive Radim Vrbata, but the team isn&rsquo;t overloaded with natural scorers.In the end, the Canes find themselves in the same position they always do. By both payroll and talent level, they&rsquo;re a bubble team for the playoffs-and no longer benefit from a weak Southeast Division.But their fans remain remarkably loyal, so merely competing for a playoff spot should keep plenty of butts in the seats.That&rsquo;s well within this team&rsquo;s reach. Last place shouldn&rsquo;t be.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02718/8487394-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="354" height="284"><figcaption class="caption-body">RADIM VABATA&nbsp;With five goals in 10 games after arriving from Colorado, Vrbata will get a lot of power play time.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04467/8487387-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="198" height="172"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03583/8487380-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="1071" height="989"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;The team wants rookie center Eric Staal to spend as much time as possible next to Ron Francis. Literally. They put the 18-year-old&rsquo;s dressing room stall next door to Francis&rsquo;s for training camp. (SPORTS ACTION/FREESTYLE PHPTOGRAPHY)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Carolina&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05370/8487373-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="763" height="1557"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06313/8487366-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="747" height="259"></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

Last season? Forget it!

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03496/8487467-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="290" height="335"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Sassone&nbsp;Chicago correspondent</figcaption></div>Remember when the Blackhawks developed their own players and watched them turn into very good pros, some of them even stars? It wasn&rsquo;t that long ago.There was Denis Savard and Doug Wilson, Steve Larmer and Troy Murray, Jeremy Roenick and Ed Belfour.Then the organization lost its way in an attempt to stay competitive. The Hawks drafted poorly from the late 1980s through the late 1990s, which led them to waste time and money trading for and signing veteran free agents, many on the downside of their careers. The strategy failed miserably.There was Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark, Paul Coffey and Valeri Zelepukin, Igor Korolev and Theoren Fleury.What a mess the Hawks had become.Now, there is hope better days are ahead. GM Mike Smith has stockpiled some highly touted prospects since 2000; the time is now for them to show their ability matches the hype.There is Tuomo Ruutu and Pavel Vorobiev, Mikhail Yakubov and Anton Babchuk, Michael Leighton and Igor Radulov. The Hawks are hoping the kids can play. Here&rsquo;s hoping the club gives them the opportunity and doesn&rsquo;t chicken out and revert to that stale formula of playing washed-up veterans for a quick fix and short-lived playoff run.Who&rsquo;s to say the Hawks can&rsquo;t make the playoffs with a young and energized team? Maybe Ruutu is as good as advertised. Maybe Radulov&rsquo;s five goals in the final seven games last season were no fluke. Maybe Babchuk is the big and strong defenseman they desperately need. Maybe Leighton can give them 25 quality starts to ease Jocelyn Thibault&rsquo;s workload.The Hawks never will know unless they play these kids. Perhaps by February they will be playing more like veterans than rookies alongside a nucleus of Thibault, Eric Daze, Alex Zhamnov, Steve Sullivan, Kyle Calder, Mark Bell, Tyler Amason and Jon Klemm that isn&rsquo;t too bad.This is a team that needs an injection of something new. A young and entertaining team might bring many of those fans who abandoned the team back to the mostly empty United Center.Even veterans such as Thibault and Daze endorse the youth movement as the way to go after so much failure, including missing the playoffs five of the past six years. &ldquo;Last year we had one of the oldest teams in the league and now it seems we&rsquo;ll have one of the youngest,&rdquo; Daze said. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t work with the old guys, so let&rsquo;s start over and work with the young guys.&rdquo;Added Thibault: &ldquo;Obviously, we don&rsquo;t have as much leadership as in the past in terms of veterans, but this team is going toward a new direction and I think it&rsquo;s a good way to turn things around.&rdquo;The Hawks aren&rsquo;t going to win the Stanley Cup this season. They likely won&rsquo;t make the playoffs in the rugged Western Conference. But when they do start making the playoffs with regularity in the next two or three years and perhaps even become Stanley Cup contenders, it will be names such as Ruutu and Radulov and Babchuk and Vorobiev in the forefront. Might as well start getting them experience now. The Hawks have little else to lose.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04409/8487460-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="353" height="282"><figcaption class="caption-body">TYLER ARNASON&nbsp;Chicago believes the 24-year-old has even more to offer offensively than he did as a rookie last season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06293/8487453-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="198" height="171"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05344/8487446-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="1076" height="989"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Can GM Mike Smith and coach Brian Sutter co-exist? Owner Bill Wirtz has stated emphatically Sutter is his coach, but Smith&rsquo;s future may rest with how his draft picks pan out. Stay tuned. (LISA MEYER/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here&rsquo;s the 32-player depth chart ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01987/8487439-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="772" height="1561"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02642/8487432-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="754" height="257"></div> &#9632;

f0039-03

Youth push for Hawks

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01683/8487533-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="293" height="331"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adrian Dater&nbsp;Colorado correspondent</figcaption></div>The Colorado Avalanche are gearing up for their ninth season in Denver. And by gearing up, we mean like how the Beach Boys sang in their classic tune, Little Honda:&ldquo;First gear, it&rsquo;s all right/Second gear, I&rsquo;ll lean right/Third gear, hang on tight/Faster, it&rsquo;s all right.&rdquo;Instead of a little Honda, however, the Avs are more likely to resemble a top fuel dragster in 2003-04.They may not win the Stanley Cup, but the Avs are almost sure to have the prettiest float in the NHL parade in this pre-lockout season. The additions of superstars Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne to a cast that already boasted the NHL&rsquo;s leading scorer (Peter Forsberg) and top goalscorer (Milan Hejduk) have sent Colorado fans into a tizzy.The team has sold out every home game since Nov. 9,1995, but Avalanche ticket personnel said they were averaging more than 300 calls per day much of the summer from hopeful ticket buyers.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s insane,&rdquo; said one worker.Maybe that&rsquo;s because there is a feeling this one-of-a-kind team will only be together for one year and people don&rsquo;t want to miss out. Those who are close to Forsberg say the NHL&rsquo;s best player is very likely to move back to his native Sweden after this season&hellip;maybe for good.Add in the potential labor war and any resulting &ldquo;cost certainty&rdquo; collective bargaining agreement implementations from the owners and it becomes difficult to see how the Avs could afford players such as Forsberg, Kariya, Selanne, Joe Sakic, Rob Blake and Adam Foote on the same team again.But for now, the Mile High hockey faithful are living for the moment, counting the days to what could be the greatest show on ice this year.What&rsquo;s missing, of course, is the greatest goalie ever. Patrick Roy&rsquo;s decision to hang up the pads has the fandom casting nervous eyes toward his Swiss successor, David Aebischer, whose demure demeanor is in contrast to Roy&rsquo;s haughty, imperious ways.Veteran observers of Pierre Lacroix feel sure the GM will deal for a proven veteran goalie come playoff time, but you never know. Lacroix loves to reward his &ldquo;kids&rdquo; for their loyalty and patience and Aebischer might just be given the chance to take Colorado all the way to its third Stanley Cup. But Lacroix has rarely been able to resist the trade deadline bazaars of March and he knows he&rsquo;ll likely never again have an offense this good assembled to risk not having a proven goalie in the playoffs.But who would that be? Jose Theodore? Would the Canadiens really take the public relations risk of trading away another Vezina Trophy winner to the Avs? Is there enough left in Sean Burke&rsquo;s tank? Curtis Joseph? With his salary and current employers, not likely.How about Roy? As tantalizing as it is to picture him rescuing the Avs, he would have to pass through waivers to return this year. It&rsquo;s difficult to imagine, say, Detroit GM Ken Holland allowing that to happen, considering he&rsquo;d be given a one-way ticket up 8 Mile Road and beyond by the Red Wing Nation.The Avalanche may have to win with offense and, boy howdy, they figure to have enough of that.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02418/8487526-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="356" height="286"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOE SAKIC&nbsp;Sakic&rsquo;s new linemates Kariya and Selanne should boost him back over the 100-point mark again.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04255/8487519-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="198" height="173"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03315/8487512-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="1066" height="987"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Everybody wants to see the stars, but insiders are also watching David Aebischer (above) and backup Phil Sauve. &ldquo;How will that Aebischer kid do?&rdquo; was asked often this off-season. (JIM MCISAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Colorado&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05222/8487505-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="772" height="1563"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-06197/8487498-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="753" height="260"></div> &#9632;

f0040-01

Avs’ offense a huge draw

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03286/8487599-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="294" height="335"><figcaption class="caption-body">Aaron Portzline&nbsp;Columbus correspondent</figcaption></div>By last June, Columbus coach-GM Doug MacLean had grown weary of questions regarding his franchise as compared to the Mighty Ducks and Wild.The implication was obvious: &ldquo;Hey, Doug, if these supposed have-nots can make it to the postseason-much less the conference final-what&rsquo;s your excuse?&rdquo; MacLean has been the team&rsquo;s GM since its inception. Last January, he took over as coach. In other words, there&rsquo;s nobody else to blame.The questions faded over the summer, but now, in a strange turn (or yet another master spin), MacLean welcomes the discussion. In fact, he has turned it around, making it a selling point, not only to the players in the dressing room, but the ticket-buying public.&ldquo;If Minnesota can make it to the conference final and if Anaheim can make it to the Stanley Cup final, why can&rsquo;t we do something special here?&rdquo; asked MacLean on the eve of running his first training camp since 1997-98 with Florida.&ldquo;I believe that we can. I believe we have that within us and I think a lot of our players in the room feel that way, too.&rdquo;Now, a leap from 15 th place in the Western Conference to at least eighth would be a dramatic improvement. It would require a jump of about 25 points, which means goalie Marc Denis will have to discover his own &lsquo;Jigginess&rsquo;-&agrave; la Anaheim&rsquo;s Jean-Sebastien Giguere-like never before.It also means the Jackets must take a new approach to defense. They need to stop acting like a maitre d&rsquo;-&ldquo;Here is your puck, sir. May I show you to the net?&rdquo;-and start acting like bouncers-&ldquo;Get lost, punk!&rdquo;And it means they must be as good or better offensively despite the departure of point-a-game guy Ray Whitney, the power play&rsquo;s former quarterback.That&rsquo;s a lot to ask. But three key acquisitions should aid all three areas.First, veteran backup Fred Brathwaite was signed to take heat off of Denis, who was sorely overworked last season. Brathwaite is a significant step up from last year&rsquo;s No. 2, Jean-Francois Labbe.Second, Todd Marchant was signed to play beside sophomore left winger Rick Nash. More than anything, the Jackets need Nash&rsquo;s line to be more responsible defensively. Whitney and Mike Sillinger, key players on the second unit the past two seasons, were a combined minus-104 in that span.Third, Darryl Sydor brings much-needed steadiness to the blueline. He&rsquo;s the best all-around defenseman the team has ever had.&ldquo;I think we carried a lot of questions into the off-season,&rdquo; said captain Luke Richardson. &ldquo;But (MacLean) answered them. I think we have all the pieces in place to be a much better hockey club.&rdquo;MacLean went a step further.&ldquo;Jobs are on the line,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want competition. I want to set the tone from Day 1. I told the guys we can do something special. I firmly believe that, but it has to be a common goal.&rdquo;Say this: the Blue Jackets will be better than the 69 points they had last season. A realistic goal is for the franchise to play meaningful games past March 15.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s fine,&rdquo; said winger Geoff Sanderson. &ldquo;But I think we&rsquo;re shooting for more than that.&rdquo;<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04245/8487592-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="356" height="288"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK NASH&nbsp;Nash moves up to the team&rsquo;s second line and will skate beside a big-time center in Todd Marchant.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06201/8487585-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="200" height="172"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-05222/8487578-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="1071" height="988"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;What happens to last year&rsquo;s top defense pairing of Luke Richardson (above) and Jaroslav Spacek? One of them figures to be bumped to make room for Darryl Sydor, so a ripple effect will be felt. (JIM LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here&rsquo;s the 32-player depth chart ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01581/8487571-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="774" height="1556"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02359/8487564-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="759" height="260"></div> &#9632;

f0041-03

Expectations on the rise

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01593/8487665-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="268" height="334"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Heika&nbsp;Dallas correspondent</figcaption></div>In less than two years, GM Doug Armstrong made the Stars his team.That could be a good thing or a bad thing-and only this season&rsquo;s results will reveal the answer.While former GM Bob Gainey built a team on character players who squeezed the most out of their limited talents, Armstrong has built a team that is bigger, stronger and faster. In his short term, Armstrong has brought in Jason Arnott, Bill Guerin, Scott Young, Philippe Boucher and Manny Malhotra. He has also pushed for the advancement of younger players to further increase the talent pool.But in doing so, Armstrong has bid farewell to players such as Joe Nieuwendyk, Kirk Muller, Jamie Langenbrunner and Darryl Sydor. Each had a leadership role on the team and now those roles must be filled.What&rsquo;s strange about the Stars is almost all of the 1999 championship team is gone. Mike Keane, Guy Carbonneau, Brett Hull, Craig Ludwig, Dave Reid and Brian Skrudland dotted that lineup, in part because Gainey believed so strongly in intangibles. Those players were a key reason why the team bought into a system harshly implemented by then-coach Ken Hitchcock.The end result was a team that struggled, sacrificed and grew together with a code.This year&rsquo;s Stars are somewhat different. Armstrong hired coach Dave Tippett last season, in part because he knew Tippett was a players&rsquo; coach who would take advantage of the Stars&rsquo; bountiful offensive skills. That created a mindset where the team was great while running ahead or coming from behind, but average when battling through a close game. The Stars lost four times in the playoffs when they were tied or ahead with less than three minutes remaining in the game.You can call that a learning experience, you can say the Stars had too many new parts and needed some seasoning. And you can look to the regular season and cite successful stats like 111 points and a plus-76 on goal differential (both second-best in the NHL). Or you can look back and say maybe this team is missing what it takes to win in the playoffs.There&rsquo;s talent, but maybe not enough grit. There&rsquo;s skill, but maybe not enough character.Armstrong spent much of the summer making difficult choices. He waived Pierre Turgeon, then tried to trade him. He offered up Guerin to try to clear his contract from the books. He watched Derian Hatcher leave via free agency, traded the popular Sydor and had an interesting arbitration battle with Richard Matvichuk.To top it off, Marty Turco and the team had locked horns in a contract dispute that delayed his appearance at camp. He reportedly agreed to a three-year deal Sept. 18.While the old team had similar skirmishes, the players always seemed to feel a part of a family. Now, it&rsquo;s simply business.That might not be the worst thing in the world. The Stars have talent and a great system. They&rsquo;ll be among NHL leaders in goals scored and power play success.The question is, will they have the character and heart to get it done in the playoffs? Will they forge their own brand of chemistry? That&rsquo;s something these &ldquo;new&rdquo; Stars have yet to prove.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02362/8487658-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="354" height="285"><figcaption class="caption-body">JASON ARNOT&nbsp;Mike Modano might move to the wing, elevating Arnott to No. 1 center. If so, his totals should skyrocket.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04230/8487651-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="199" height="175"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03287/8487644-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="1067" height="991"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Ron Tugnutt (above) and three kids-Jason Bacashihua, Mike Smith, Dan Ellis-battled in the early days of camp while Marty Turco and the Stars haggled over a new contract. Turco signed Sept. 18. (ANDRE PICHETTE/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Dallas&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-05199/8487637-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="774" height="1572"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-06184/8487630-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="760" height="265"></div> &#9632;

f0042-01

‘New’ Stars face big test

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01477/8487731-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="279" height="315"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nicholas J. Cotsonika&nbsp;Detroit correspondent</figcaption></div>Defense? Detroit is going to win with defense?The Red Wings, who led the NHL in goals last season, who are known for creativity and skill, who hate boring hockey?Well, yeah. But as Brett Hull says, it&rsquo;s not because coach Dave Lewis is suddenly going to start telling them to dump the puck in all the time.It&rsquo;s because when Colorado comes to town&mdash;and Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk and Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne come flying toward the Detroit net-they&rsquo;re going to have to go through Nicklas Lidstrom and Derian Hatcher and Mathieu Schneider and Chris Chelios and Jiri Fischer.Oh, and then they&rsquo;re going to have to beat Dominik Hasek.&ldquo;The seven &lsquo;D&rsquo; that we have are as good as any in the league, I think,&rdquo; said captain Steve Yzerman. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s very encouraging. I think we&rsquo;re pretty solid in goal. That&rsquo;s kind of an understatement.&rdquo;Offense? The Wings lost their leading scorer, Sergei Fedorov. They also lost legendary playmaker Igor Larionov. What&rsquo;s more, their captain, Yzerman, is 38 and playing on a gimpy knee. Needless to say, they have weakened considerably down the middle.But inside and outside the team, there is debate on how much that will affect them. They still have Hull and Brendan Shanahan. Pavel Datsyuk could be ready for a big year, Henrik Zetterberg should make a smooth transition from the wing to center and the team has high hopes for rookie Jiri Hudler. Plus, the Wings picked up Ray Whitney and still hope to acquire a big center for Curtis Joseph.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be a little less explosive,&rdquo; Yzerman said. &ldquo;Sergei had that ability to go end-to-end at any point in the game and make something happen really out of nothing. We lose a lot of explosiveness, but with the addition of Derian, we&rsquo;ll be a better team in the third period.&rdquo;&ldquo;See, I disagree,&rdquo; Hull said. &ldquo;Obviously Sergei is a talented guy. But Ray Whitney brings a completely different dimension. He&rsquo;s obviously not as explosive, but he moves the puck as well or better than 90 per cent of the guys in the league. When you move the puck, that&rsquo;s when you get creative and explosive&hellip;I think we&rsquo;re going to get more goals.&rdquo;In a way, the Wings hope Yzerman and Hull are both right, that the team will be a little less explosive, that they&rsquo;ll be better in the third period, but that they&rsquo;ll still do what they do, that they&rsquo;ll still score-that they&rsquo;ll be balanced, as they always have been, really.We&rsquo;ve said it for years: &ldquo;This is it for the Wings.&rdquo; But this time we might be right. As you may have heard, the collective bargaining agreement expires in a year, a work stoppage might wipe out the 2004-05 season and a new salary structure might be in place after that. Chelios is 41. Hull is 39. Hasek and Yzerman are 38.The next time the Wings open a season, things might be dramatically different. They are set up well for the future. Still, in that brave new world, they might not be able to use a huge payroll to their advantage. Many of their veteran stars might be gone.Defense? Offense? The Wings have to win with both-and they have to win now.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02266/8487724-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="356" height="284"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAVEL DATSYUK&nbsp;With Sergei Fedorov and Igor Larionov out, the skilled pivot will have plenty of ice time in his third year.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-04162/8487717-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="198" height="172"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03203/8487710-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="1077" height="997"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;After a season out of the NHL, Dominik Hasek looks like, well, Dominik Hasek. And rookie center Jiri Hudler has been productive between Brendan Shanahan and Tomas Holmstrom. (BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Detroit&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-05139/8487703-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="765" height="1561"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-06123/8487696-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg" title="f0044-06" width="760" height="262"></div> &#9632;

f0044-01

Cup or bust for old Wings

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-03197/8487797-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="290" height="332"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rob Tychkowski&nbsp;Edmonton correspondent</figcaption></div>Anyone expecting GM Kevin Lowe to sound the bugle and summon a cavalry of free agent help over the crest does not know much about the Oilers and their shoestring budget. Not only are multi-million-dollar mercenaries completely out of Edmonton&rsquo;s financial wherewithal, the simple cost of a bugle would probably throw their payroll out of whack. Needless to say, there were no earth-shattering off-season trades, no jaw-dropping acquisitions.This year&rsquo;s team is last year&rsquo;s team, minus some very important veterans. So why do the Oilers think they have even a remote chance of improving on their eighth-place finish and first round playoff exit?Good question.By shipping away Anson Carter&rsquo;s 25 goals and Janne Niinimaa&rsquo;s 30 minutes a game at &bull; last year&rsquo;s trade deadline, then losing Todd Marchant to unrestricted free agency in the summer, the Oilers lost three well-liked, valuable veterans. That doesn&rsquo;t make any team stronger. The players who&rsquo;ve been brought in to replace them are largely unproven talents with big upsides and small price tags. Radek Dvorak, Brad Isbister and Raffi Torres will have to deliver above and beyond management&rsquo;s expectations if the Oilers are going to improve on last season.They&rsquo;re not alone. If the franchise is to take that next step everyone has talked about for ages (they haven&rsquo;t been to the second round of the playoffs since 1998), about, oh, 20 players must be better this season than they were last.That&rsquo;s an awfully big request, but this is an awfully young team and you&rsquo;d expect a lot of those second- and third-year players to be better simply because of added experience.But improvement must come from the veterans, too. If Edmonton is going anywhere this year-besides down-here&rsquo;s what has to happen:Tommy Salo must rebound from a so-so season (including a 2.71 goals-against average and a sub-par playoff) and deliver the kind of game-stealing performances worthy of the highest-paid Oiler ($3.9 million); Isbister must show he can contribute consistently and not just in cameo appearances; Mike Comrie must prove his slump down the stretch and in the playoffs last season was injury-related and that his career has not hit a wall; Dvorak must show his 31 goals two years ago in Florida were not a fluke and that, given the ice time and right linemates, he can replace Carter as a first line winger; and, Eric Brewer must take a big step forward in his development and truly emerge as the team&rsquo;s best defenseman.In short, a lot of things have to go just right in a season with very little margin for error or room for passengers. It is clear Lowe&rsquo;s plan is more long-term than short. He has assembled a group of young, talented players and wants them to develop together. They&rsquo;re not contenders this year-and there may not be a season next year-but if the new collective bargaining agreement enables Edmonton to keep this group together beyond 2004 there&rsquo;s every reason to believe they can be a power again in a fiscally responsible NHL.What does that mean for this year? A lot of growing pains, probably.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-04168/8487790-1-eng-US/f0045-042.jpg" title="f0045-04" width="349" height="283"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALES HEMSKY&nbsp;Hemsky, easily the most naturally talented Oiler, scored 17 of his 30 points last year in the final 18 games.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-06126/8487783-1-eng-US/f0045-062.jpg" title="f0045-06" width="197" height="172"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-05146/8487776-1-eng-US/f0045-052.jpg" title="f0045-05" width="1063" height="992"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Edmonton&rsquo;s weak playoff exit in 2003 had GM Kevin Lowe so angry he needed days to calm down before his end-of-year address. Vets such as Tommy Salo are advised not to test his patience again. (JOHN RUSSELL/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here&rsquo;s the 32-player depth chart ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01405/8487769-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="771" height="1561"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-02241/8487762-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="748" height="260"></div> &#9632;

f0045-03

Improvement from within

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01395/8487863-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="297" height="330"><figcaption class="caption-body">David J. Neal&nbsp;Florida correspondent</figcaption></div>Ladies and gentleman, fellow proud puckheads all, let us introduce you to the 2003-04, less-doubt-than-a-blundering-Bush, more-certain-than-a-JLo-breakup Stanley Cup champions: The Florida Panthers.Naw, just funnin&rsquo; ya. But you were waiting to see how we were going to justify that wacky pick, weren&rsquo;t you?Of course we can&rsquo;t. We don&rsquo;t even believe the Panthers will slip into the playoffs, where an Ottawa or a New Jersey would give them the what-for before you could say, &ldquo;Pass the gefilte fish.&rdquo;No, this is when South Florida transplants from Brooklyn will have to teach their puckhead neighbors that ancient phrase of solace, &ldquo;Wait &lsquo;til next year.&rdquo;For the playoffs. The Cup, that&rsquo;s at least three years away.Next year, Florida won&rsquo;t have the matchup problems down the middle they have now. In the East, New Jersey excepted, you need big centers or you watch your guys get dragged around like a chariot by Joe Thornton, Mats Sundin, Keith Primeau or those big Bolts in Tampa.The Panthers need two strong, super-sized centers, at least. One is Olli Jokinen, who needs to prove last year wasn&rsquo;t his &ldquo;You Light Up My Life.&rdquo; Former center Viktor Kozlov has been moved to Jokinen&rsquo;s right side, where they&rsquo;ve formed a symbiotic relationship.It should be said that 6-foot-2 Matt Cullen bulked up to 215 pounds and dazzled early in camp.But next year, powerful center Nathan Horton, the No. 3 overall pick in June, will be a rookie or maybe a second-year player muscling his way around the rink at a still growing 210 pounds. And 6-foot-3 Petr Taticek will be doing his combination of a poor man&rsquo;s Ron Francis and poor man&rsquo;s Bobby Holik.Oh, did I forget to mention Stephen Weiss, 200l&rsquo;s No. 4 overall pick? The Panthers are still trying to figure out whether he should be saying &ldquo;No habla espanol&rdquo; in South Florida or San Antonio. They&rsquo;ll know next year.Next year, the team&rsquo;s defense won&rsquo;t be divided between the callow kids and the ebbing elders. Perhaps the guidance guys like Todd Gill and Lyle Odelein give Jay Bouwmeester, Lukas Krajicek and Branislav Mezei will accelerate their development. Even if that&rsquo;s so, it&rsquo;ll really pay off next year.Bouwmeester came to camp with added size and strength to put into his physical game. And he was the team&rsquo;s No. 1 defenseman during the second half of last season, so that won&rsquo;t be new. If anyone slumps, left winger Eric Messier can be yanked back to his original position.Next year, nobody will question the goalie position. Actually, nobody with two synapses firing questions it this year. Roberto Luongo and Jani Hurme both came into camp in better shape than last season. Panthers coach Mike Keenan thinks this should be Luongo&rsquo;s breakout year.Next year will be the Panthers&rsquo; breakout year&hellip;if this year isn&rsquo;t.Come to think of it, after the top three, the East is a hardly a private party. Everybody has significant questions and weaknesses. The Panthers have more grit, bulk and maybe veteran guidance.So, maybe the playoffs? Could they, would they with a couple of breaks?Nah. Wait &lsquo;til next year.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02239/8487856-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="353" height="283"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENIS SHVIDKI&nbsp;Shvidki was as good as he has been in two years late last season. Dangerous from any angle around the net.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-04148/8487849-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg" title="f0046-04" width="199" height="173"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-03176/8487842-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="1073" height="990"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;The Panthers hope Valeri Bure&rsquo;s return to Florida will re-invigorate his career. Bure, who had five goals in 46 games with Florida last year before being dealt to St. Louis, hopes they&rsquo;re right, too. (SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Florida&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-05118/8487835-1-eng-US/f0046-052.jpg" title="f0046-05" width="769" height="1565"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-06104/8487828-1-eng-US/f0046-062.jpg" title="f0046-06" width="756" height="260"></div> &#9632;

f0046-01

Post-season a year away

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-03214/8487929-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="286" height="343"><figcaption class="caption-body">Matt McHale&nbsp;Los Angeles correspondent</figcaption></div>All summer, the signs pointed to a healthy Jason Allison leading the Kings back into the post-season.Now, those signs are pointed in a different direction.The Kings&rsquo; top center, who sustained three whiplashes during a 10-day span last February, did not respond well after a summer of almost complete rest.For a team trying to bounce back from missing the playoffs for the first time in four years, that&rsquo;s bad news indeed.Allison is the cornerstone of the Kings, a team leader on the ice and in the dressing room. If he&rsquo;s anything less than 100 per cent, the playoffs are in jeopardy.In his first workout in training camp, Allison became lightheaded and disoriented. He has since skated lightly on his own and has no idea when he would be back.Because Allison and left winger Adam Deadmarsh both sustained concussions last season, most figured their recovery would follow the same track. But Deadmarsh began serious skating almost two months ahead of Allison. Despite sustaining a groin strain in the first week of camp, Deadmarsh was a picture of health compared to Allison.While Deadmarsh&rsquo;s concussion was caused by a blow to the head-he will be wearing additional padding in his helmet this season-Allison sustained whiplash, which isn&rsquo;t as well understood by doctors.When it was time to start skating in early September, the workload was too intense. Allison&rsquo;s case might wind up changing the way the league looks at head injuries. Although the impact of Allison&rsquo;s health on the Kings&rsquo; fortunes is significant, the team can look to a number of positives. In goal, Roman Cechmanek replaces Felix Potvin. Cechmanek was impressive during the past three seasons in Philadelphia, but erratic in the playoffs.Deadmarsh appears ready to return to his normal gritty self and there finally are some exciting youngsters in the pipeline for a team that has always struggled to build from within. Defensemen Denis Grebeshkov and Tim Gleason and centers Mike Cammalleri and Jared Aulin have a lot of potential.This season, the Kings have to acknowledge there is another legitimate contender in southern California. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim blew by the ailing Kings last season and went all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. Though Paul Kariya has left, the Ducks-who picked up Sergei Fedorov and VaclavProspal during the summer-appear stronger on paper than they were last season.A real rivalry between the two teams should develop and this could be the first season both clubs make the playoffs in the same year.Also on the Kings&rsquo; radar screen-as it is on every other team&rsquo;s-is the expiry of the NHL&rsquo;s collective bargaining agreement next summer. Owner Philip Anchutz has vowed to sell the team if the NHL salary system isn&rsquo;t overhauled in the next CBA.When Allison came from Boston two years ago, he wanted to be the centerpiece or the Kings organization. Now, it is becoming clear just what a daunting task that might be.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-04161/8487922-1-eng-US/f0047-042.jpg" title="f0047-04" width="356" height="281"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEXANDER FROLOV&nbsp;Second-year winger has worked on his shot and the Kings believe he can score 30 goals this season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-06101/8487915-1-eng-US/f0047-062.jpg" title="f0047-06" width="198" height="169"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-05124/8487908-1-eng-US/f0047-052.jpg" title="f0047-05" width="1073" height="988"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;With 12 Czechs and Slovaks in camp, right winger Ziggy Palffy has taken on a much bigger leadership role. He had 37 goals last year and could reach the magic 50 for the first time in his career. (JIM MCISAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here&rsquo;s Los Angeles&rsquo; 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01405/8487901-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="780" height="1554"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02269/8487894-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="756" height="257"></div> &#9632;

f0047-03

Ailing Allison major worry

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01264/8487995-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="288" height="352"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Murphy&nbsp;Minnesota correspondent</figcaption></div>Marian Gaborik spent his summer vacationing in his native Slovakia. Nothing new there. He has been doing that since the Wild made him its first-ever draft pick in 2000.This time, though, there&rsquo;s a glitch. He was still in Slovakia when the leaves started falling and training camp opened in Minnesota.Gaborik was not the only one missing, either. Pascal Dupuis remained at his home in suburban Montreal.Both are restricted free agents who had rejected long-term contract offers from the Wild and were still unsigned as training camp began.And both of the disputes effectively doused the afterglow of the Wild&rsquo;s rocket ride through the post-season last spring.Even with Gaborik and Dupuis on board, Minnesota would be in tough for a return to the playoffs. But with Gaborik&rsquo;s and Dupuis&rsquo; combined 50 goals and 113 points sitting at home-and protracted standoffs a distinct possibility-the Wild could be wheezing by Halloween.&ldquo;I wish I was in camp and this thing could get done as soon as possible,&rdquo; said Gaborik, who is in his hometown of Trencin playing for his former team in the Slovakian league. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see how it goes. I&rsquo;ll be here until it gets done.&rdquo;OK, so how will the 20 players under contract follow up the greatest season of their professional careers? Will manage-ment retain all of them for the opener Oct. 8 at Chicago?The gauntlet has been thrown down entering Year 4, which finds the franchise at a crossroads. No longer an expansion patsy, the Wild is coming off an accomplished playoff run that has put a bull&rsquo;s-eye on its collective sweater.Draft choices that have been seasoned in the Wild&rsquo;s minor league system or had a whiff of the NHL during the past three years are poised to earn jobs.Gone are Cliff Ronning and Lubomir Sekeras, whom Minnesota let go via free agency.Arriving is Marc Chouinard, whom the Wild signed from Anaheim. At 6-foot-5 and 218 pounds, Chouinard gives the team some much-needed bulk in front of the net and a deft touch in the faceoff circle.Headlining the prospects are forwards Stephane Veilleux, Rickard Wallin and Kyle Wanvig. The trio formed the top line for Houston, who won the American League championship. Lest anyone forget, though, none of them was on the ice when the Wild upset Colorado and Vancouver en route to the Western Conference final.The veterans-led by Andrew Brunette, Sergei Zholtok, Wes Walz, Richard Park, Jim Dowd and Antti Laaksonen up front; Brad Bombardir, Brad Brown and Willie Mitchell on defense; and Dwayne Roloson and Manny Fernandez in goal-still comprise the core.Already saddled with the 24th-ranked offense with Gaborik and Dupuis, the Wild can&rsquo;t afford any fissures in the Roloson-Fernandez tandem, which combined for the fourth-lowest goals-against average in the NHL last year.Moreover, the Wild needs to stay healthy again, which was part of its success in 2002-03.But it all hinges on whether the Wild can get Gaborik and Dupuis to sign before the snow flies. Otherwise, the team and its fans could be in for a long winter.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-02169/8487988-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg" title="f0048-02" width="356" height="288"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIERRE-MARC BOUCHARD&nbsp;Bouchard added more muscle this summer and should easily surpass his 20-point rookie season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-04103/8487981-1-eng-US/f0048-042.jpg" title="f0048-04" width="198" height="172"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-03125/8487974-1-eng-US/f0048-032.jpg" title="f0048-03" width="1061" height="988"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Marian Gaborik, who led the Wild in points last year, made an impression in camp-by his absence. Minnesota&rsquo;s top two goal-scorers in 2002-03, Gaborik and left winger Pascal Dupuis, have yet to sign. (LAYNE MUROOCK/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Minnesota&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0580/8487967-1-eng-US/f0048-052.jpg" title="f0048-05" width="759" height="1551"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0667/8487960-1-eng-US/f0048-062.jpg" title="f0048-06" width="748" height="266"></div> &#9632;

f0048-01

New pressure after success

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-03112/8488061-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="289" height="341"><figcaption class="caption-body">Herb Zurkowsky&nbsp;Montreal correspondent</figcaption></div>Fans of the Montreal Canadiens can always hope&hellip;&hellip;that Saku Koivu will score 30 goals for the first time in his career and become the superstar management needs him to be&hellip;that Richard Zednik, who scored 30 goals for the first time in his career last year, will score 40 this time around.&hellip;that 6-foot-4, 223-pound defenseman Sheldon Souray, having recovered from a career-threatening wrist injury, will stay healthy while staying true to his physical style.&hellip;that fellow big blueliner Mike Komisarek will play as big as he is and earn regular NHL duty.&hellip;that Jose Theodore will regain his 2001-02 form, when he captured both the Hart and Vezina Trophies, and everyone will be able to overlook the fact his relatives are on trial for their alleged involvement in a loan-shark ring.&hellip;that right winger Jason Ward, who scored three goals and five points in eight games down the stretch last season, might finally receive a regular shift-and not just on the fourth line.&hellip;that coach Claude Julien, in charge of the Habs from the opening of training camp, will turn out to be the second coming of Toe Blake or Scotty Bowman.&hellip;and, finally, that Yanic Perreault won&rsquo;t swoon in the second half; that Mike Ribeiro will be persuaded to backcheck; that Patrice Brisebois won&rsquo;t take off for a European vacation; and that Donald Audette will score like there&rsquo;s no tomorrow.Just don&rsquo;t bet on it.The Montreal Canadiens have missed the playoffs in four of the past five seasons and it&rsquo;s hard to imagine that streak of futility ending.The appointment of former Montreal captain Bob Gainey as new GM was widely applauded. Gainey was one of the greatest leaders in franchise history and enjoyed success at Minnesota and Dallas when he made the transition from skates and shoulder pads to suits and ties.However, other than jettisoning Mariusz Czerkawski and Randy McKay, a pair of overpaid stiffs who both had a year remaining on their contracts, what has Gainey done to improve the team&rsquo;s talent level?Nothing.Certainly he can&rsquo;t expect this group to improve on its 30-35-89 record, which left them 10th overall in the Eastern Conference, six points out of the playoffs.If anything, Montreal will be hard-pressed to equal that mark.This is a team that doesn&rsquo;t score. The Canadiens&rsquo; paltry total of 206 goals last season was one less than the previous year. Incredibly, Montreal outscored 10 teams, although only two-Anaheim and Minnesota-made the playoffs.The Canadiens like to think of themselves as a defensive team, but they&rsquo;re outshot in most games. Only seven teams allowed more goals than Montreal did and just one, Boston, made the playoffs.Montreal&rsquo;s lack of size remains a glaring weakness. Perhaps that&rsquo;s why the Canadiens wilted in the third period last season, where they were outscored 96-58.Gainey has a huge rebuilding job ahead. What he must determine first, though, is where to start.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0498/8488054-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="356" height="286"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANDREI MARKOV&nbsp;He was the team&rsquo;s best D-man last year, with career-highs in goals and points. And he&rsquo;s only getting better.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0655/8488047-1-eng-US/f0049-062.jpg" title="f0049-06" width="199" height="173"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0567/8488040-1-eng-US/f0049-052.jpg" title="f0049-05" width="1076" height="993"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;All the focus has been on Jose Theodore and his family&rsquo;s legal woes. As much as he&rsquo;ll try to duck the issue, the loan-sharking trial will continue to haunt Theodore-and the team-once it begins. (SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Montreal&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01235/8488033-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="764" height="1558"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-02161/8488026-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg" title="f0049-02" width="758" height="259"></div> &#9632;

f0049-03

Habs hoping stars align

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01229/8488127-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="289" height="335"><figcaption class="caption-body">David Boclair&nbsp;Nashville correspondent</figcaption></div>From the beginning, the Nashville Predators have maintained-correctly-that goaltending has been the strength of their organization.This season they&rsquo;re going to find out just how strong.Tomas Vokoun emerged from a four-and-a-half year battle with Mike Dunham as Nashville&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie. At times in 2003-04, however, Vokoun likely will feel as if he&rsquo;s the only one on the team trying to keep the puck out of the net.A complete overhaul on defense has opened the floodgates for a blueline youth movement-which also could leave plenty of openings for opposing forwards to test Vokoun&rsquo;s mettle. For a team that has seen its offense decline in the past two years from an already low starting point, the possibilities are not exactly promising&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a risk that we&rsquo;re going into the season with our defense the only will Vokoun be asked to minimize the impact of the growing pains, but two of the key newcomers, Tomas Kloucek and Marek Zidlicky, were acquired by Nashville in the deal that sent Dunham to the New York Rangers. Dunham clearly had the way it is,&rdquo; said GM David Poile. &ldquo;The risk is always worth the reward if the players we kept continue to develop and can be better players than the ones we let go.&rdquo;Poile felt his team had gotten stale in the back end. It probably had. Bill Houlder and Cale Hulse weren&rsquo;t going to get any better. Andy Delmore never convinced anyone he was going to become any more reliable in his own end. And Karlis Skrastins&hellip;well, he was just getting to the point that the Predators couldn&rsquo;t afford him.So here come the fresh faces and if this thing works out it will be because of the goaltending&mdash;in more ways than one. Not best market value of any Predator and Nashville needed to get a return on that asset.Kloucek, 23, plays with the sort of edge the Predators desperately need in front of their own net and has the size to occupy the area that attracts opposing forwards. Zidlicky, 26, will be asked to pick up Delmore&rsquo;s offense yet provide reliable coverage as well. At 5-foot-11, 187 pounds, he gives away size that Delmore had (6-foot-l, 200 pounds, not that he used it often).Beyond that there is Robert Schnabel, who is big (6-foot-5, 230 pounds), but has not been able to grab coach Barry Trotz&rsquo;s attention in call-ups the past two seasons, and there is Dan Hamhuis, who has to prove he can play at the NHL&rsquo;s pace and can translate his savvy into solid contributions at both ends.Others will get their chances, too, as the Predators roll the dice for the first time with an untested defense.Up front, David Legwand took a big step forward, scoring 17 goals and 48 points in only 64 games to lead the Predators.Journeyman Andreas Johansson should add to his totals from last year. Johansson, 30, tied his career-best in production with 20 goals and 37 points in 56 games.If the coaching staff doesn&rsquo;t hit on the right combinations from the outset, Vokoun might not know who he&rsquo;ll be seeing in front of him from night to night, but he will be certain to see a lot of rubber.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02150/8488120-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="356" height="284"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVID LEGWAND&nbsp;Legwand proved he can dominate games last season, leading the Preds with 48 points in 64 games.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0477/8488113-1-eng-US/f0050-042.jpg" title="f0050-04" width="197" height="172"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0391/8488106-1-eng-US/f0050-032.jpg" title="f0050-03" width="1066" height="988"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Right winger Jordin Tootoo stands 5-foot-9, but plays a fearless game. The challenge is for him to continue to be a physical presence in the NHL-and to avoid the injuries that can plague little big men.(TOOTOO: JOHN RUSSELL/BBS; RUCCHIN: SPORTS ACTION; FRANCIS: SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Nashville&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0551/8488099-1-eng-US/f0050-052.jpg" title="f0050-05" width="773" height="1550"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0642/8488092-1-eng-US/f0050-062.jpg" title="f0050-06" width="753" height="256"></div> &#9632;

f0050-01

Little help for Vokoun

Steve Rucchin and the 2002-03 Mighty Ducks took flight, improving by 26 points over 2001-02. The same can&rsquo;t be said for Ron Francis&rsquo;s Carolina Hurricanes, who finished with 30 fewer points last year compared to the previous season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0733/8488186-1-eng-US/f0050-072.jpg" title="f0050-07" width="575" height="852"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE RUCCHIN</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0824/8488179-1-eng-US/f0050-082.jpg" title="f0050-08" width="588" height="468"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0919/8488172-1-eng-US/f0050-092.jpg" title="f0050-09" width="594" height="458"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-1015/8488165-1-eng-US/f0050-102.jpg" title="f0050-10" width="603" height="469"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-1111/8488158-1-eng-US/f0050-112.jpg" title="f0050-11" width="570" height="857"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON FRANCIS</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0050-07

Moving up and down the NHL standings

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-03109/8488252-1-eng-US/f0051-032.jpg" title="f0051-03" width="291" height="316"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rich Chere&nbsp;New Jersey correspondent</figcaption></div>John Madden was a key member of the 2001 Devils team which came within one victory of repeating as Stanley Cup champions.A Game 7 loss to Colorado was a bitter disappointment that still haunts the speedy center. But with that loss, Madden learned a lesson he believes will serve him well this year.&ldquo;I learned that in order to repeat you have to be twice as good as you were,&rdquo; Madden said. &ldquo;You have to be twice as focused and a little more thick-skinned because if you&rsquo;re not doing as well, there will be stuff said and written about it. Most important, you have to learn that last year is done.&rdquo;The Devils have twice failed to win back-to-back championships, but this should be the season in which they finally succeed. With a labor dispute looming and therefore some uncertainty about the future of captain Scott Stevens beyond this season, this will be a club focused on winning again at all costs.Two big questions hang over this team: are they deep enough down the middle and will a revamped defense be as good as the one which has helped goalie Martin Brodeur rack up such impressive numbers for nearly a decade? The answer to both questions is yes-and they may actually be better.First, the defense. Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Brian Rafalski and Colin White form an impressive core. Behind them, Brodeur finally won his first Vezina Trophy last year as the Devils shared the Jennings Trophy with the Philadelphia Flyers. But half of last season&rsquo;s eight-man defense is gone and there is no guarantee that three rookies and two newcomers on the blueline will be good enough.Free agent pickup Sean Brown will provide some of the physical play that the newly retired Ken Daneyko did. And among a trio of former college stars-David Hale, Paul Martin and Matt DeMarchi-surely one will be ready to play regularly in the NHL.Center has long been unknown territory for the Devils. While Joe Nieuwendyk will be severely missed in the dressing room, where he was the most popular and respected newcomer in years, the cold facts are that he struggled offensively last season and did not appear in the Stanley Cup final against the Mighty Ducks because of a tom oblique muscle.The addition of Igor Larionov, the oldest player in the NHL (he turns 43 in December), should help overcome the loss of Nieuwendyk Larionov is a solid two-way player who knows what it takes to win. If Larionov plays well, it may allow coach Pat Burns to move Patrik Elias back to left wing, where he has proven to be a more productive player.Some of the puzzle is easy. Madden will play with Jay Pandolfo and, probably, Turner Stevenson. Elias and Jamie Langenbrunner will produce no matter where they play. Jeff Friesen has become a big-game scorer.With Brodeur in the net, the Devils will never fall too far back in the pack But not even the workhorse goalie was able to help the team repeat in 1996 and 2001. This time, it says here, he will do it-and claim that elusive Conn Smythe Trophy in the process.It won&rsquo;t be a cakewalk. But as Lamoriello pointed out, he&rsquo;d rather be in the position to try to repeat than not.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0486/8488245-1-eng-US/f0051-042.jpg" title="f0051-04" width="355" height="284"><figcaption class="caption-body">JAY PANDOLFO&nbsp;If you saw his productive playoff, you know he&rsquo;s much more than a superb penalty-killer.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0653/8488238-1-eng-US/f0051-062.jpg" title="f0051-06" width="196" height="170"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0561/8488231-1-eng-US/f0051-052.jpg" title="f0051-05" width="1068" height="985"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Pat Burns set a no-nonsense tone at camp, which included veteran defenseman Tommy Albelin, who was an unsigned free agent participating just in case the big rookie defense experiment failed. (JIM MCISAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is New Jersey&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01219/8488224-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="771" height="1553"></div><h3>2003-04 R00KIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-02154/8488217-1-eng-US/f0051-022.jpg" title="f0051-02" width="755" height="263"></div> &#9632;

f0051-03

Devils’ sights set on repeat

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01208/8488318-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="291" height="346"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Bette&nbsp;Islanders correspondent</figcaption></div>The No. 1 overall draft pick was driving a Hummer to his games before he even established himself among his sport&rsquo;s elite.No, this isn&rsquo;t yet another article extolling the virtues of the NBA&rsquo;s 2003 first overall draft pick LeBron James.We&rsquo;re taking about Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro, who also has flashed his share of &lsquo;bling-bling&rsquo; despite mostly honing his craft in the minor pros since he was chosen first overall in 2000.But now it&rsquo;s time for him to back up the cash-and-flash with some old-fashioned results.This is the season DiPietro must justify the money and time spent on him and emerge as a true star on the ice, not just on paper.Last season&rsquo;s starter Chris Osgood was shipped off to St. Louis at the trade deadline last season, but DiPietro mostly got to watch career backup Garth Snow backstop the Isles to the eighth playoff spot in the East before the veteran also excelled in an otherwise forgettable five-game defeat to Ottawa.As popular as Snow remains among his teammates-and as well as he performed in Osgood&rsquo;s place late last season-several members of the organization still believe the only way the Isles will advance from fringe playoff team to legitimate contender is if DiPietro makes good on the combination of talent and brashness that charmed Milbury into gambling on him three years ago.Entering his ninth-ninth-season on the Island, Milbury&rsquo;s already placed the &ldquo;complete onus&rdquo; for this year on an almost identical roster from the one that won seven of its final 27 games (playoffs included) last season and complained enough to get coach Peter Laviolette axed.But this group clearly is a product of Milbury&rsquo;s constructive and deconstructive impulses.Center Alexei Yashin&rsquo;s contract-one agreed to by the Isles GM-is the immovable object affecting everything on the Island. Set to make $8.4 million this season, Yashin has eight years left on his deal and the common perception among fans, and some teammates, is the Russian forward hasn&rsquo;t earned the big bucks he has been awarded. Though Yashin was the team&rsquo;s leading scorer last season, they will need him to improve on the 26 goals and 65 points he managed in 2002-03.The task of motivating Yashin and the rest of the team will fall on rookie NHL coach Steve Stirling, whose biggest challenge will be forging an identity for the Isles. Stirling has built a long resume in the college and minor pro ranks and is well regarded by those Isles who played for him in Bridgeport of the American League.Despite last year&rsquo;s negatives, there are a number of positives for the Isles. The team is deep at center and team captain Michael Peca returns in full health. The team&rsquo;s four top defensemen-Adrian Aucoin, Roman Hamrlik, Kenny Jonsson and Janne Niinimaa-create two formidable defensive units.Still, many in the organization believe DiPietro is the linchpin to whether or not the Isles join the NHL&rsquo;s elite. If he learns to eliminate his lapses in concentration and play a more disciplined game, DiPietro may finally reward Milbury for his faith.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-02118/8488311-1-eng-US/f0052-022.jpg" title="f0052-02" width="357" height="284"><figcaption class="caption-body">ARRON ASHAM&nbsp;The Islanders believe the gritty winger will produce more than the 15 goals he scored last season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0467/8488304-1-eng-US/f0052-042.jpg" title="f0052-04" width="199" height="170"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0379/8488297-1-eng-US/f0052-032.jpg" title="f0052-03" width="1072" height="990"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Captain Michael Peca, healthy again after a miserable 2002-03, must help new coach Steve Stirling in developing a better dressing room environment among what was an often fractious group last season. (LISA MEYER/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is the Islanders&rsquo; 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0549/8488290-1-eng-US/f0052-052.jpg" title="f0052-05" width="767" height="1553"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0642/8488283-1-eng-US/f0052-062.jpg" title="f0052-06" width="756" height="264"></div> &#9632;

f0052-01

Isles relying on DiPietro

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0383/8488384-1-eng-US/f0053-032.jpg" title="f0053-03" width="293" height="334"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Brooks&nbsp;Rangers correspondent</figcaption></div>Fool us once, shame on us. Fool us six times, shame on the Rangers.Despite their best intentions (always, best intentions), despite an ownership willing to spend whatever it takes (always, willing to spend), the Rangers go into the season presumed guilty. The burden is on them to prove their innocence, to prove that after a franchise-record six consecutive years out of the playoffs they can turn the conference&rsquo;s highest payroll into at least an eighth-place finish.Let&rsquo;s be honest here. Despite a summer in which coach-GM Glen Sather resisted the urge to race out and add the biggest marquee free agent out there, there&rsquo;s no guarantee at all this year&rsquo;s Rangers will be equal to the sum of their parts. Actually, this time around, the individual parts are nearly as questionable as all of the attendant chemistry issues that have plagued this operation since the middle of the previous decade.It&rsquo;s remarkable, honestly it is, that the Rangers could have gone into training camp with a roster that was essentially set. Loaded with veterans-13 players on the team, including five defensemen, who will be at least the age of 31 by the end of February-the Rangers have pretty much put up a sign on their treehouse that reads: &ldquo;No Kidz Allowed.&rdquo;So there will be no young legs. No youthful exuberance. No push from rookies eager for ice time. No, none of that for the Rangers, who instead will again rely on veterans whose careers are on the wrong side of the parabola. You tell me: what Ranger is going to have the best year of his career in 2003-04? Then tell me: what team can prosper that way?The Rangers go into the year without Mike Richter, forced out of the game in the aftermath of the two concussions that prematurely ended each of his last two seasons. They enter the year without Pavel Bure, himself almost surely forced to retire because of the succession of right knee injuries he incurred during his 12-year career. Amazing, Bure&rsquo;s numbers: 58 goals or more in four of his eight full seasons.More to the point, however, the Rangers go into the season without a formidable physical defenseman to keep the crease clear in front of Mike Dunham, the incumbent No. 1 goalie who did just fine after coming from Nashville in December, but who has a penchant for putting the puck back into the slot on rebounds. And they go into the season without a formidable physical presence on the wing; without the grinders who win battles for the puck and wear down the opposition.It&rsquo;s so easy to be seduced, though-so easy to be seduced by the names. Eric Lindros. Alex Kovalev. Brian Leetch. Petr Nedved. Bobby Holik. Anson Carter. Mark Messier. But the names on the back of the sweaters don&rsquo;t win games. If the Rangers haven&rsquo;t taught us all that over the last six years, then perhaps the Wild and Mighty Ducks did so last spring.So maybe the glitter isn&rsquo;t so seductive this time. The Rangers do have talent-$70 million will buy talent. But it won&rsquo;t buy chemistry and it won&rsquo;t buy camaraderie and it doesn&rsquo;t buy youth.One other thing it can&rsquo;t buy: an acquittal.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0473/8488377-1-eng-US/f0053-042.jpg" title="f0053-04" width="354" height="282"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERIC LINDROS&nbsp;Lindros reported to camp 15 pounds lighter than last season, determined to resurrect his career.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0645/8488370-1-eng-US/f0053-062.jpg" title="f0053-06" width="197" height="170"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0553/8488363-1-eng-US/f0053-052.jpg" title="f0053-05" width="1076" height="993"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Rangers prospect Dominic Moore sent Mark Messier flying in an accidental collision at camp. &ldquo;I knew it wasn&rsquo;t on purpose,&rdquo; said Messier, who added, chuckling, &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why I kept the elbow down.&rdquo; (DAVID KAYE/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is the Rangers&rsquo; 32-player depth chart ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01196/8488356-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="779" height="1557"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-02124/8488349-1-eng-US/f0053-022.jpg" title="f0053-02" width="760" height="257"></div> &#9632;

f0053-03

Pricey stars must produce

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01202/8488450-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="290" height="336"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bruce Garrioch&nbsp;Ottawa correspondent</figcaption></div>The heartbreak hasn&rsquo;t been forgotten.Now, the Senators want to make one huge step.The Senators fell a minute short of advancing to the Stanley Cup final last spring after losing to the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final with a 3-2 defeat on a last-minute goal by Jeff Friesen.But as the team opened training camp Sept. 13 at the Corel Centre, they sounded like a group determined to get back to work to try and finish the job after becoming the NHL&rsquo;s regular season champions last year.&ldquo;That was definitely the most disappointment I&rsquo;ve felt in my life,&rdquo; said Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson. &ldquo;We worked hard as a team to get to that point. The loss with Sweden (to Belarus) in the 2002 Olympics was tough, but this was even more difficult. We were so close.&rdquo;The Senators were close to glory, but they won&rsquo;t be far this year either. That&rsquo;s why hope reigns supreme and the Sens are backed by The Hockey News, which has picked them to win the Stanley Cup.Brought to Ottawa to help put the Senators over the top in the battle for playoff respectability, GM John Muckier has had a positive effect on the organization by convincing new owner Eugene Melnyk to keep everybody in place.The Senators had one of the lowest payrolls in the league, but the team moved a lot closer to the middle by spending more than $10 million to retain their players. Only restricted free agent Martin Havlat remains unsigned.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the first time I&rsquo;ve seen that&hellip;a place where a team has been kept together,&rdquo; said goaltender Patrick Lalime.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have many changes at all. We&rsquo;re basically the same team and that&rsquo;s good. We want to go further as a team.&rdquo;The decision to let center Magnus Arvedson go via unrestricted free agency to the Vancouver Canucks won&rsquo;t hurt a bit. The Senators have plenty of depth up front.The Senators went a long way in earning league&rsquo;s respect with the way they performed in the post-season.Moving to the third round for the first time in team history was a huge monkey of the backs of many of the players.&ldquo;I think last year when we came into camp there were a lot of questions surrounding this team. It was almost like we didn&rsquo;t have a personality,&rdquo; Muckier said.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t know what we could do and we didn&rsquo;t know what we could accomplish. We showed we have a personality.&rdquo;Still, the Senators have to show improvement this year. Center Radek Bonk has to five up to expectations while right winger Marian Hossa must continue to develop into one of the top power forwards in the league.Defenseman Wade Redden is well respected as one of the league&rsquo;s top blueliners while Chris Phillips has to pick up where he left off as one of the better playoff performers. Zdeno Chara has to be a physical presence again.&ldquo;What I&rsquo;ve noticed is our players have shown commitment and maturity through the years,&rdquo; said coach Jacques Martin.Nothing but a Stanley Cup will satisfy in Ottawa.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-02111/8488443-1-eng-US/f0054-022.jpg" title="f0054-02" width="353" height="284"><figcaption class="caption-body">JASON SPEZZA&nbsp;Spezza will get an opportunity to stay in the NHL all season. He possesses a flair for the dramatic.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0455/8488436-1-eng-US/f0054-042.jpg" title="f0054-04" width="198" height="173"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0374/8488429-1-eng-US/f0054-032.jpg" title="f0054-03" width="1072" height="990"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Expect to see centers Bryan Smolinski (above), Todd White and Mike Fisher take their turns on the left side. If they can&rsquo;t get the job done, expect to see GM John Muckier make a trade.(SMOLINSKI: BRUCE BENNETT/BBS; JOHNSON: JIM MCISAAC; SULLIVAN: SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Ottawa&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0542/8488422-1-eng-US/f0054-052.jpg" title="f0054-05" width="769" height="1565"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0632/8488415-1-eng-US/f0054-062.jpg" title="f0054-06" width="754" height="260"></div> &#9632;

f0054-01

Sens expect Cup triumph

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0388/8488516-1-eng-US/f0055-032.jpg" title="f0055-03" width="295" height="328"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Fish&nbsp;Philadelphia correspondent</figcaption></div>Like the frustrated Wile E. Coyote&rsquo;s unrelenting chase after the Roadrunner, the Flyers&rsquo; decade-long pursuit of the Devils has taken on a cartoonish look.In the 1995 lockout-shortened season, the Flyers were the top point-getters in the East and bounced back from an 0-2 deficit against New Jersey in the conference final with two big road wins.But then, in Game 5, Ron Hextall let in a Claude Lemieux shot launched from somewhere around Camden, N.J., and the Flyers&rsquo; rocket, in Wile E. fashion, fizzled and crashed to earth.In 2000, the Flyers looked to have New Jersey cornered again. Up 3-1 in the East final, Philly approached with steely knives.But as you all remember, the Flyers just couldn&rsquo;t kill the beast.Fast forward to 2003. It&rsquo;d make an even better story to say the Devils did it to the Flyers again.But another team, the Senators, joined the hunt. While it&rsquo;s noted the Senators were the team which eliminated the Flyers from the playoffs in the second round, some wonder what would have happened if the Flyers hadn&rsquo;t finished just one single point behind the Devils in the Atlantic Division standings.Let&rsquo;s say the Flyers had won the Atlantic Division. They would&rsquo;ve avoided that draining first round, seven-game tilt against Toronto and probably would have had an easier time going the route New Jersey took through Boston and Tampa Bay.So you could say those Roadrunners from New Jersey completed a hat trick against their Pennsylvania pals.Which brings us to 2003-04.The theme this season, according to coach Ken Hitchcock, is for the Flyers not to show respect &ldquo;for teams either with us or ahead of us in the standings.&rdquo;To emphasize his point, Hitchcock cut a radio advertisement in which he&rsquo;s heard to say the Flyers plan to go back to the days when it was tough for opponents to play in Philadelphia. Can you say &lsquo;Broad Street Bullies&rsquo;?Make no mistake-in between Hitchcock&rsquo;s comments, audio clips of fights involving enforcers such as Donald Brashear and Todd Fedoruk are played.But nowhere is it mentioned in the ad the Flyers did little to improve during the off-season.Stuck with an aging roster dotted by high salaries (John LeClair, Jeremy Roenick, Keith Primeau, Mark Recchi and Eric Desjardins will make a combined $31 million this year), the best the Flyers could do to replace an exiled Roman Cechmanek was bring in Jeff Hackett.Aside from the assumed promotion of touted Joni Pitkanen to the roster, the Flyers stayed status quo on defense. No push for a Derian Hatcher or Brian Leetch.Ditto offense. While the Flyers picked up Tony Amonte, Sami Kapanen and Claude Lapointe late last season, they also made a 30-something team even older.In this decade-long chase, the Flyers have never enjoyed the services of a goalie the caliber of a Martin Brodeur or a leader on the level of a Scott Stevens. Few teams have. That&rsquo;s what makes it all so frustrating.And now there&rsquo;s another giant-Ottawa-looming from across the border with enough youth, speed and skill to supplant New Jersey when the time comes.Sounds like Beep Beep II.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0461/8488509-1-eng-US/f0055-042.jpg" title="f0055-04" width="354" height="282"><figcaption class="caption-body">RADOVAN SOMIK&nbsp;If his health holds up, Somik is set to double last season&rsquo;s total of eight goals and 18 points.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0631/8488502-1-eng-US/f0055-062.jpg" title="f0055-06" width="200" height="174"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0541/8488495-1-eng-US/f0055-052.jpg" title="f0055-05" width="1075" height="990"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Four D-men-Joni Pitkanen, Jim Vandermeer (above), Dennis Seidenberg, Jeff Woywitka-will vie for one or two jobs. Coach Ken Hitchcock may go with seven blueliners and sit a veteran each game. (SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Philadelphia&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01192/8488488-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="776" height="1560"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-02127/8488481-1-eng-US/f0055-022.jpg" title="f0055-02" width="749" height="260"></div> &#9632;

f0055-03

Flyers retool for Cup run

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-01155/8488582-1-eng-US/f0056-012.jpg" title="f0056-01" width="293" height="314"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob McManaman&nbsp;Phoenix correspondent</figcaption></div>They&rsquo;re not talking about it. They&rsquo;re not even whispering around the water cooler. Maybe they don&rsquo;t even know.Maybe they&rsquo;ve been too caught up in the excitement of having unveiled their new logo and brand new uniforms. Or maybe they&rsquo;ve been too giddy about their much-anticipated, late-December move into a new, swanky, 17,500-seat arena.Obviously, though, somebody forgot to tell the Phoenix Coyotes this is their 25th anniversary season in the NHL. Their silver anniversary.There&rsquo;s been no mention of it at all. And you know what? Maybe that&rsquo;s a good thing.The further this franchise distances itself from its past, the better.When you&rsquo;ve been in the professional sports market for a quarter-century, there&rsquo;s usually some history and tradition a team can hang its hat on. For the entity formerly known as the Winnipeg Jets and its step-child spin off now known as the Phoenix Coyotes, there has been nothing but disappointment.Two playoff series wins in 24 years? None since 1987?The Coyotes probably don&rsquo;t know this, either, but their streak of 16 consecutive years of failing to advance beyond the first round is the longest stretch of futility in NHL history. Not surprisingly, they are the team that now has been around the longest never to make an appearance in the Stanley Cup final.Wayne Gretzky once referred to the New Jersey Devils as a &ldquo;Mickey Mouse organization.&rdquo; Since then, the Devils have won the Cup three times and Gretzky, now a part owner and the managing partner of the Coyotes, is at the helm of Team Goofy.In the meantime, he has hired several friends and former teammates, put them in high-ranking positions throughout the organization, and authorized the departures of every last superstar the franchise has had, from Keith Tkachuk to Jeremy Roenick to Nikolai Khabibulin, not to mention Teppo Numminen and Tony Amonte.The club is losing money hand over first, reporting annual losses in the $20 million to $30 million range, and its fan base has been dwindling for five straight seasons.&ldquo;The way to get that back is to put an exciting team on the ice that wins,&rdquo; said right winger Shane Doan, the Coyotes&rsquo; newly-appointed captain.&ldquo;Problem is, last season, we took a step backwards. You can&rsquo;t do that and expect to keep the casual fans.&rdquo;Or even many of the diehards, who are growing more and more weary each year.After an 11th-place finish last season, hope isn&rsquo;t springing eternal in 2003-04. Though management has added more depth at forward, and the goaltending, led by Sean Burke, is solid, the blueline is young and untested and cracking the post-season appears to be a long shot.Minnesota proved last season you can win in the NHL without any true superstars, but with so many new faces on the roster, the Coyotes can&rsquo;t expect to duplicate the chemistry and team play that made the Wild so successful a year ago.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-02104/8488575-1-eng-US/f0056-022.jpg" title="f0056-02" width="353" height="286"><figcaption class="caption-body">LADISLAV NAGY&nbsp;Don&rsquo;t discount this Slovakian center, who is as good as he wants to be, and who is on the cusp of stardom.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-0448/8488568-1-eng-US/f0056-042.jpg" title="f0056-04" width="199" height="174"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-0360/8488561-1-eng-US/f0056-032.jpg" title="f0056-03" width="1069" height="993"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;There appears to be a communication problem between GM Mike Barnett and coach Bobby Francis (above). They both want to win, but differing agendas may prove to be their undoing. (SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Phoenix&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-0533/8488554-1-eng-US/f0056-052.jpg" title="f0056-05" width="772" height="1559"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-0626/8488547-1-eng-US/f0056-062.jpg" title="f0056-06" width="754" height="256"></div> &#9632;

f0056-01

Desert Dogs lacking bite

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0371/8488648-1-eng-US/f0057-032.jpg" title="f0057-03" width="289" height="346"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Starkey&nbsp;Pittsburgh correspondent</figcaption></div>All the publications (including The Hockey News) that picked the Pittsburgh Penguins to finish last in the Eastern Conference likely did so before the summer heated up and will look awfully silly in April when this team shocks the world by finishing second last.Actually, the Penguins might do better than that-and no, I haven&rsquo;t been drinking.See, things would have been different around Mellon Arena the past few years if the Penguins had stayed relatively healthy. Instead, they were crushed by an spate of injuries that exposed a lack of depth and other weaknesses. Ultimately, attendance suffered and key players were jettisoned to cut payroll.The lack of depth still exists, which means the Pens are doomed again if the injury bug bites. Even a few nibbles, such as the early-camp shoulder injury to defenseman Josef Melichar, could prove fatal. He is expected to provide some much-needed muscle and his loss, if a lengthy one, could deal a serious blow to an already-ordinary defense corps.But if everything goes perfectly for the Penguins, a playoff challenge is not out of the question. Don&rsquo;t laugh. And please don&rsquo;t confuse that last statement with a prediction that Pittsburgh will make the playoffs. Just know that a lot of marginally talented teams wind up there. You think this team is less talented than last year&rsquo;s Minnesota Wild?All it takes these days is a defensive system, good special teams, and presto, you&rsquo;re a legitimate contender. If new coach Eddie Olczyk can provide the system, Mario Lemieux will take care of the power play.Whether you agree with the Olczyk hiring or not, he has pumped new energy into the organization. GM Craig Patrick did good things this summer. He finagled his way into the first overall pick, used it on prospective franchise goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, then brought in veterans who still had tread left on their tires: forwards Mike Eastwood and Kelly Buchberger and blueliner Drake Berehowsky.The Hall of Fame won&rsquo;t waive its mandatory waiting period for any of those three, but they add grit to a roster that won&rsquo;t be as young as people think. Throw in Martin Straka (31), Lemieux (37), Marc Bergevin (38), Brian Holzinger (30) and Steve McKenna (30), and we&rsquo;re not exactly talking Kiddie Corps here.Between the pipes, it&rsquo;s a different story. The Penguins likely will go with 23-year-old Sebastien Caron, but might opt for the 18-year-old Fleury. J-S Aubin, 26, also figures in the mix.So, the Pens have a new to the profession coach, unproven goaltending, few proven scorers and a rather pedestrian defense. But they also are likely to have a top line of Lemieux, Straka and Aleksey Morozov; a potentially lethal power play; two talented goalies; more experience than you&rsquo;d think; and a defense possibly bolstered by the additions of 2000 first round pick Brooks Orpik, Berehowsky and perhaps Melichar, who missed most of last season.Seriously, if the Pens stays healthy, they might cause some headaches around the NHL. No team with Mario Lemieux should ever be taken lightly.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0458/8488641-1-eng-US/f0057-042.jpg" title="f0057-04" width="354" height="286"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARTIN STRAKA&nbsp;Straka is healthy, in the prime of his career at age 31 and is slated to skate on Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s left wing.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0627/8488634-1-eng-US/f0057-062.jpg" title="f0057-06" width="195" height="171"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0536/8488627-1-eng-US/f0057-052.jpg" title="f0057-05" width="1070" height="996"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Rookie Marc-Andre Fleury, 18, allowed four goals in one period of a scrimmage during rookie camp, but rebounded spectacularly. Pittsburgh picked him first overall in the 2003 draft. (DAVE SANDFORD/CHL/HHOF)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Pittsburgh&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-01141/8488620-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="782" height="1559"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-02100/8488613-1-eng-US/f0057-022.jpg" title="f0057-02" width="750" height="257"></div> &#9632;

f0057-03

Pens poised to surprise

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-01151/8488714-1-eng-US/f0058-012.jpg" title="f0058-01" width="288" height="341"><figcaption class="caption-body">Derrick Goold&nbsp;St. Louis correspondent</figcaption></div>Whether it&rsquo;s part of his grand roster plan or just a trait he treasures on his team, Blues GM Larry Pleau has a knack for collecting employees with a reputation to shed, a season to forget or long-labeled potential to finally reach.Pleau often says he likes folks with something prove.If that&rsquo;s true, this is his dream team.Starting at the top with coach Joel Quenneville, trickling down to stars Chris Pronger and Doug Weight, touching goalie Chris Osgood and even reaching newcomers Peter Sejna and Mike Danton, there are few on this year&rsquo;s Blues without instant incentive. Toss in the franchise&rsquo;s embarrassing first round playoff loss to Vancouver last spring-and this being the last season the current Blues nucleus will be together-there&rsquo;s ample shared urgency.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re here to win,&rdquo; Quenneville said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been given the chance to progress as a group, but we&rsquo;re in this business to win. So let&rsquo;s win. Let&rsquo;s win now.&rdquo;Thing is, the team hasn&rsquo;t shown it can seize the opportunities to be as good as they should.In the past two seasons the Blues have played themselves into position to grab the brass ring-like first place in the Central Division, a shot at defeating Detroit or delivering a statement that this paper-lion lineup was ready to play to its rep. And almost every time, it missed the opportunity. Not being able to close out Vancouver with a 3-1 lead was shocking, but not out of character.Big-game success, they learned, cannot be bought. But it must be found. Now. Three Blues will determine their future with the franchise and in the NHL with their success and the team&rsquo;s performance this season: Quenneville, Pronger and Osgood. All three understand they will be judged by playoff success, but they must start by being a part of the Blues achieving what&rsquo;s possible, not just what&rsquo;s necessary.They each fit into Pleau&rsquo;s &lsquo;prove movement,&rsquo; too.Quenneville must become the coach his players and his bosses believe he can be. He said he wants to be less predictable as a coach, and some players would like to see him be more of a presence, a guy not to be trifled with. Osgood has a reputation to restore. He called last season a &ldquo;roller coaster&rdquo; of inconsistency. He has a very sturdy defense in front of him, along with a team that&rsquo;s developed a trust in him. All they&rsquo;ll ask is that he steals a few games and stay consistent.Pronger is at a crossroads in his career. A year ago he made the decision to have careerthreatening surgery performed on his wrist. His risk paid off when he returned to play, pain-free. But he doesn&rsquo;t want to just play. He wants to, he says, &ldquo;dominate.&rdquo; This is Pronger&rsquo;s chance to show he&rsquo;s as good a player as the Hart Trophy-winner and worth every penny of the salary he collects.Lacking depth on the wings, the blueline-with Barret Jackman, Al MacInnis, Pronger and newcomer Murray Baron-will again be the Blues&rsquo; strength. It is Quenneville&rsquo;s specialty. It is where Pronger excels. It will fortify Osgood&rsquo;s confidence.Once again, the Blues are presented with a chance to prove themselves. Prove away, guys.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0298/8488707-1-eng-US/f0058-022.jpg" title="f0058-02" width="354" height="297"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETR CAJANEK&nbsp;Cajanek had his breakout season curtailed by a broken leg, but he&rsquo;s back and ready for a big role.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0446/8488700-1-eng-US/f0058-042.jpg" title="f0058-04" width="198" height="181"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0358/8488693-1-eng-US/f0058-032.jpg" title="f0058-03" width="1076" height="1036"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;The camp&rsquo;s feistiness quotient is running high. With Tyson Nash gone, there&rsquo;s a pest to find-Mike Danton? Igor Valeev?-and brawler Reed Low (above) may have to fight his way through. (JIM LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is St. Louis&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0531/8488686-1-eng-US/f0058-052.jpg" title="f0058-05" width="778" height="1625"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0623/8488679-1-eng-US/f0058-062.jpg" title="f0058-06" width="760" height="274"></div> &#9632;

f0058-01

Veteran Blues under the gun

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0359/8488780-1-eng-US/f0059-032.jpg" title="f0059-03" width="292" height="340"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ross McKeon&nbsp;San Jose correspondent</figcaption></div>Let&rsquo;s get this out of the way right off the top: The Sharks are not going to win the Stanley Cup this season.That may sound presumptuous consid ering they&rsquo;re written off even before the first puck is dropped. But c&rsquo;mon, let&rsquo;s not get caught up in all that empty hype again.It was only a year ago San Jose was the chic pick to possibly win the West and even capture the Cup. This despite the fact the Sharks had never advanced past the second round in seven tries, and had a grand total of just two playoff-round wins in the previous five post-seasons.Without dwelling on the ugly details, it all went very poorly for San Jose last year. Along the way a good number of significant contributors to six straight years of point-improvement changed addresses. They included Owen Nolan, Teemu Selanne, Niklas Sundstrom, Marcus Ragnarsson and Bryan Marchment.Coach Darryl Sutter was unceremoniously dumped two months into the season. And Dean Lombardi, a front-office member from Day 1, was fired from the GM&rsquo;s seat late in the lost season.See what happens when a team falls well short of lofty expectations?What they can prove this season, however, is a team can still have a successful season even if it isn&rsquo;t in strong contention for a championship.The problem with the Sharks of the past is they were out of sync. The best players were their older players, who had too little left in the tank to pull the youngsters along to the Stanley Cup.San Jose was thought to be a team better than the sum of its parts. Aside possibly from New Jersey, exactly how many teams that fit that description win it all?It&rsquo;s time for a new approach, a new roster and a new beginning. Ideally, the team&rsquo;s young corps will grow together. And in two or three years, the Sharks will truly be Stanley Cup contenders.That means Patrick Marleau must end the inconsistency and emerge as a premiere No. 1 center. Brad Stuart must step up and be counted among Norris Trophy candidates. Evgeni Nabokov must regain the form he displayed in his first two NHL seasons.The Sharks need bounce-back years from forwards Scott Thornton, Alexander Korolyuk and Wayne Primeau. Marco Sturm, Jonathan Cheechoo, Alyn McCauley, Todd Harvey, Scott Parker and Mark Smith must play their assigned roles.Someone out of a group that includes Niko Dimitrakos, Brad Boyes, Miroslav Zalesak, Marcel Goc and Milan Michalek must emerge with a strong rookie year. Veterans Mike Ricci and Vincent Damphousse are important, but first the Sharks must determine if they want the high-priced vets. There&rsquo;s a theory that Lombardi was fired in part because he didn&rsquo;t deal them at the trade deadline.The defense appears solid, but only if that one special player jumps up. Mike Rathje, Kyle McLaren, Scott Hannan and Stuart are a formidable foursome. Youth is on its way in the form of Jim Fahey, Christian Ehrhoff and Doug Murray.No, the Sharks won&rsquo;t win the Cup. They might not even reach the playoffs. But they won&rsquo;t have a season like they had before. And this season could lay the foundation for better days ahead.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0449/8488773-1-eng-US/f0059-042.jpg" title="f0059-04" width="355" height="291"><figcaption class="caption-body">PATRICK MARLEAU&nbsp;Marleau&rsquo;s speed and maturity will finally peak and result in a career year for goals and points.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0627/8488766-1-eng-US/f0059-062.jpg" title="f0059-06" width="201" height="178"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0535/8488759-1-eng-US/f0059-052.jpg" title="f0059-05" width="1073" height="1016"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Veteran center Mike Ricci had surgery to repair a herniated disk in early July, a procedure disclosed only at the outset of camp. He is expected to be ready for the opening of the season. (BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here&rsquo;s the 32-player depth chart ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-01128/8488752-1-eng-US/f0059-012.jpg" title="f0059-01" width="771" height="1594"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0283/8488745-1-eng-US/f0059-022.jpg" title="f0059-02" width="756" height="267"></div> &#9632;

f0059-03

Future plans include youth

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-01119/8488846-1-eng-US/f0060-012.jpg" title="f0060-01" width="291" height="307"><figcaption class="caption-body">Damian Cristodero&nbsp;Tampa Bay correspondent</figcaption></div>There is talk the Lightning will take a step back this season; that the franchise, after getting to the playoffs for the first time since 1996, did not do enough to upgrade in the offseason. And while that&rsquo;s true-it got Cory Stillman to replace Vinny Prospal, but the top-four defenseman it so desperately needs never materialized-Tampa Bay will instead go forward.It will repeat as Southeast Division champs and again advance to the second round where&hellip;you know, the crystal ball is still a little fuzzy on that.This prediction is not made lightly. Never before has the Lightning faced such expectations. Never before have they had as big an X on their sweaters, and they play in a division that likely did the most to upgrade during the summer.Yet I have faith.I have faith in captain Dave Andreychuk and center Tim Taylor to keep this still-young, payroll-deprived team focused, as coach John Tortorella said, &ldquo;hour-to-hour&rdquo; instead of day-to-day.I have faith center Vinny Lecavalier, after getting a taste of success, will become the superstar everyone has predicted. I believe the core of the team, including Martin St-Louis, Brad Richards and an underrated defense led by Jassen Cullimore, will continue to mature.But most of all, I have faith in Nikolai Khabibulin. The goaltender&rsquo;s reputation took a bit of a hit last season. His glove wasn&rsquo;t nearly as fast, and he had trouble closing the five hole when it counted most. But Khabibulin propelled Tampa Bay to the playoffs with a marvelous, 16-game unbeaten streak. And, most importantly, his pride is hurt. Khabibulin was scratched in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinal against the Devils and watched as John Grahame sparkled and made 46 saves in a 2-1, triple-overtime loss that ended the Lightning&rsquo;s season.Khabibulin internalizes such slights. And if you know Khabibulin, you know he has shined when the pressure was on, the stage was big and he had something to prove.He did it in his first game with the Lightning after an almost two-year holdout with Phoenix. He did it in his first year with Tampa Bay, when critics said the rust would be too much to shake.He did it in the 2002 Olympics, when the IIHF named him the tournament&rsquo;s best goalie. And he did it in the 2002 All-Star Game, when a voting snafu stole the MVP award from him.One other thing will put a burr in Khabibulin&rsquo;s saddle: backup John Grahame. The two are friends, but Grahame wants a starting job, so he will push. At the same time, Grahame&rsquo;s competence will mean Khabibulin won&rsquo;t have to carry the entire load on his shoulders as he did through January last season when Kevin Hodson was the backup and Tortorella did not trust him enough to give him a regular turn. That&rsquo;s a lot of pressure on Khabibulin, a lot of pressure that has been eliminated.So there you go, a recipe for Lightning success. You may laugh, but I&rsquo;m on a roll.Remember, you read it first-here in the 2003-04 season preview-that Tampa Bay would make the playoffs.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0275/8488839-1-eng-US/f0060-022.jpg" title="f0060-02" width="356" height="289"><figcaption class="caption-body">RUSLAN FEDOTENKO&nbsp;He had 19 goals despite averaging just 16 minutes a game last year; he&rsquo;ll get more time this season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0439/8488832-1-eng-US/f0060-042.jpg" title="f0060-04" width="197" height="174"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0349/8488825-1-eng-US/f0060-032.jpg" title="f0060-03" width="1070" height="1007"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;The talk is that Vinny Lecavalier is going to have a huge season. The center is in extraordinary shape and wowed Lightning brass during two days of fitness testing before training camp. (SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Tampa&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0529/8488818-1-eng-US/f0060-052.jpg" title="f0060-05" width="772" height="1575"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0624/8488811-1-eng-US/f0060-062.jpg" title="f0060-06" width="756" height="262"></div> &#9632;

f0060-01

Bigger goals for Lightning

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0359/8488912-1-eng-US/f0061-032.jpg" title="f0061-03" width="293" height="344"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ken Campbell&nbsp;Toronto correspondent</figcaption></div>Perhaps the biggest misconception surrounding the Maple Leafs is the one that suggests they are an organization steeped in a tradition of excellence.Hate to break it to you, kids, but the Maple Leafs have been around for 77 years and havenever cultivated a true superstar. When the Montreal Forum closed, Rocket Richard passed a torch to Jean Beliveau, who dished off to Guy Lafleur. When the Boston Garden was condemned, Bobby Orr pushed Normand Leveille around in his wheelchair. When Maple Leaf Gardens closed, fans cheered Lou Franceschetti and Errol Thompson.Did we mention they&rsquo;ve haven&rsquo;t had a Norris or Art Ross Trophy winner in more than six decades? Has it really been 26 years since they had a first team all-star in Borje Salming? Did you know they&rsquo;ve only had two Hart Trophy winners, one of which was given to Ted Kennedy in 1955 as a parting gift when he retired?There&rsquo;s also the nagging fact they&rsquo;ve gone 36 years without winning a Stanley Cup-37 after this season, but we&rsquo;re getting ahead of ourselves.It&rsquo;s true that the 2003-04 Leafs are a team chock-full of players of accomplishment. They&rsquo;ve got a bevy of 50-goal scorers, some Stanley Cup rings, five Olympic gold medals and nine first round picks.If they could only use their enormous resources-don&rsquo;t believe the owners who&rsquo;d have you believe the team has somehow relocated to Calgary-to build a time machine, the Leafs would be able to go back to 1990-91 and they&rsquo;d have one formidable unit.Think about it. Ed Belfour would be starting his first season and on his way to winning Calder and Vezina Trophies. Mats Sundin and Owen Nolan, both first overall picks, would have far better hairlines and both would be rookies. Alex Mogilny would be a sophomore two seasons away from a 76-goal season, while Gary Roberts and Joe Nieuwendyk would be fourth-year pros and establishing themselves as impact players.Thirteen years later, the Leafs enter this season steeped in tradition all right-the only problem is the tradition and the excellence belong to somebody else. Now they&rsquo;re just one of the NHL&rsquo;s oldest teams, led by Pat Quinn, the NHL&rsquo;s oldest coach. There&rsquo;s a good chance the starting lineup the team uses this season will have 10 forwards over 30 and will have an average age of 31.3 years.How did things get this way? Firstly, the Leafs have done a dreadful job of drafting and developing young players. Because of that, they&rsquo;ve had to go outside the organization and pay players big money for what they&rsquo;ve accomplished for other teams. The other problem is the Leafs have become sentimental suckers, signing broken-down old guys from southern Ontario who cheered for Toronto when Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler were leading them to something almost meaningful. Too many guys want to end their careers with the Leafs and not enough of them want to play in Toronto in their prime.If everything goes right for the Leafs, there&rsquo;s a chance they could do something special. But we&rsquo;re betting that, come April (or May), it will be the same old story.And when we say old, we really mean it.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0448/8488905-1-eng-US/f0061-042.jpg" title="f0061-04" width="355" height="287"><figcaption class="caption-body">NIK ANTROPOV&nbsp;Antropov has put on 15 pounds of muscle and is coming off the first injury-free season of his career.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0632/8488898-1-eng-US/f0061-062.jpg" title="f0061-06" width="200" height="173"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0538/8488891-1-eng-US/f0061-052.jpg" title="f0061-05" width="1077" height="1005"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Defenseman Bryan McCabe, who injured his knee working out over the summer, accompanied the team on its pre-season trip to Sweden and is expected to be ready for the start of the season. (SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Toronto&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-01123/8488884-1-eng-US/f0061-012.jpg" title="f0061-01" width="780" height="1575"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0287/8488877-1-eng-US/f0061-022.jpg" title="f0061-02" width="757" height="261"></div> &#9632;

f0061-03

Aging Leafs past prime

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-01122/8488978-1-eng-US/f0062-012.jpg" title="f0062-01" width="293" height="332"><figcaption class="caption-body">Elliott Pap&nbsp;Vancouver correspondent</figcaption></div>The Canucks have learned to swim with the big boys in the NHL&rsquo;s Western Conference, but they appeared headed for a season of treading water.Canucks GM Brian Burke did little to improve his 104-point team during the offseason, unless you consider Magnus Arvedson, Jiri Slegr and Johan Hedberg impact players. (Sorry, we don&rsquo;t.)It was a deathly quiet summer, which was surprising given Vancouver&rsquo;s brightening financial picture. The small flurry of pre-training camp moves gave the masses something to ponder, but the aforementioned trio isn&rsquo;t likely to displace Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, Dominik Hasek, Derian Hatcher and Sergei Fedorov among significant moves made by the acknowledged Western Conference powers.Of course, major moves don&rsquo;t necessarily have to be made in the summer if they can be made in the fall and early winter, but there&rsquo;s no guarantee you&rsquo;ll be able to fill your holes then, either.Burke is playing a risky game here. With his building almost certain to be filled every night, the paying customers will demand a product that at least shows a hint it can contend for a Stanley Cup.On the plus side, Burke improved his goaltending picture with the addition of former Penguins No. 1 Hedberg. Incumbent Dan Cloutier is on the hot seat for his latest playoff meltdown and Hedberg appears to be a netminder capable of both pushing Cloutier or replacing him if need be.Burke&rsquo;s other significant move was signing the versatile Arvedson to replace well-respected veteran Trent Klatt, who left via unrestricted free agency. But Klatt was a bulldog, heart-and-soul performer with leadership skills; Arvedson is a completely different sort. Burke&rsquo;s third acquisition, journeyman defenseman Slegr, who played in Europe last year, will replace the much-loved and highly respected Murray Baron.Slegr, like Arvedson, is more skilled than the player he replaced, but it remains to be seen how he fits into the mix when the puck drops for real in October.Overall, this year&rsquo;s team looks less gritty, less intimidating and with less character. It also still lacks the proven second line scoring punch to take the heat off top-unit guys Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison, unless Arvedson suddenly starts popping points like Daniel Alfredsson.Burke and coach Marc Crawford are obviously banking on one thing here-improvement from within.They are especially hoping twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin start putting up second-liner numbers. After three NHL seasons, it&rsquo;s time they stepped up.Management is also counting on Naslund and Bertuzzi maintaining their outstanding level of production and that someone-Matt Cooke? Artem Chubarov? Brad May? Brandon Reid?-has a career offensive year.Defensively, the Canucks are a lot softer without Baron and their blueline struggled when Ed Jovanovski and Mattias Ohlund were out with injuries last season. Will prospect Bryan Allen ever grab a regular spot?In short, it will be a trying year in Vancouver. Or, better put, a year trying to match the performance of 2002-03.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0266/8488971-1-eng-US/f0062-022.jpg" title="f0062-02" width="352" height="282"><figcaption class="caption-body">DANIEL SEDIN&nbsp;After two years of declining numbers, Sedin is poised to again hit the 20-goal, 50-point mark.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0431/8488964-1-eng-US/f0062-042.jpg" title="f0062-04" width="196" height="169"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0341/8488957-1-eng-US/f0062-032.jpg" title="f0062-03" width="1068" height="987"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;There was more talk about the about the number of Swedes (seven) on the roster-including Mattias Ohlund (above)-than about the number of wins Vancouver might post this year. (SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Vancouver&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0519/8488950-1-eng-US/f0062-052.jpg" title="f0062-05" width="761" height="1552"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0616/8488943-1-eng-US/f0062-062.jpg" title="f0062-06" width="752" height="259"></div> &#9632;

f0062-01

Elite Canucks aiming higher

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0344/8489044-1-eng-US/f0063-032.jpg" title="f0063-03" width="289" height="314"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jason La Canfora&nbsp;Washington correspondent</figcaption></div>There was a time when the Capitals were utterly predictable, if not utterly boring. Each season they focussed on defense and work ethic. The roster was filled with dependable veterans who shunned glamour and celebrity; the team lacked star power yet always reached the playoffs (they missed just once between 198283 and 1997-98).Then, just as predictably, the Capitals would suffer erratic goaltending or a scoring drought and quickly exit the play-offs. Owner Abe Pollin would refuse to spend big bucks to improve the squad and the cycle would repeat itself the following season.Those were the franchise&rsquo;s salad days and while it may not have been much, it at least provided an identity. Players arrived in Washington knowing what to expect and so did the fans. But now, as Ted Leonsis begins his fifth season as owner, no one knows what to make of the Capitals. There are only two proven NHL defensemen on the roster and the attack-despite boasting Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra and Robert Lang-has been pedestrian under Leonsis.Special teams were dismal last season and there has long been a lack of powerful voices in the dressing room, other than the willful guidance of goalie Olaf Kolzig.The Capitals have lacked grit and intensity during the Leonsis era and haven&rsquo;t won a playoff series for him. About the only thing that recalls the past is the succession of postseason failures-Washington has lost twice to arch-nemesis Pittsburgh in recent playoffs (2000 and 2001) despite being the higher seed and blew a 2-0 series lead to Tampa Bay last spring-and an ever-worrisome slide in attendance. Leonsis spent millions on payroll before completely clamping down on spending; even that was done ineffectively and with little regard for the team&rsquo;s defense. The error of Leonsis&rsquo;s spending ways could hit home the hardest this season.With few sure things entering 2003-04, the Capitals seek to integrate more youth into the lineup and revamp the defense on the fly. They hope to open up the offense by freeing their gifted forwards of defensive shackles and letting them play exciting hockey. Of course, doing so during a time of unparalleled defensive play and in an era of intricate defensive systems could prove disastrous. Trying to win with promising yet woefully inexperienced defensemen may be even more damaging.Second-year coach Bruce Cassidy will certainly have his hands full. Kolzig, unquestionably the team&rsquo;s most important cog, cannot be pleased about the lack of qualified defenders. Jagr and Lang did not take kindly to being shopped around the NHL all summer and there were already serious fissures between the young coach and his veterans last season.With the Southeast Division much improved over last season and the Capitals failing to make any significant off-season moves, it is hard to envision success in Washington this year.It&rsquo;s ironic, then, that with Michael Jordan no longer in town and the city&rsquo;s true passion, the NFL&rsquo;s Redskins, unlikely to contend, the Caps might finally garner the spotlight this winter. Fans will probably see turmoil more than anything else. Abe Pollin&rsquo;s boys these are not.<h2>BREAKOUT PLAYER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0432/8489037-1-eng-US/f0063-042.jpg" title="f0063-04" width="356" height="285"><figcaption class="caption-body">JAROMIR JAGR&nbsp;The Caps plan to open it up offensively. It can happen if Jagr returns to his 100-plus point ways; if not, it won&rsquo;t.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0618/8489030-1-eng-US/f0063-062.jpg" title="f0063-06" width="200" height="174"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0521/8489023-1-eng-US/f0063-052.jpg" title="f0063-05" width="1072" height="994"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAMP BUZZ&nbsp;Washington imposed limits on fisticuffs at camp, but keep an eye on enforcers Alex Henry (above) and Stephen Peat. There may not be room for both on the roster, so competition is fierce. (ALL PHOTOS SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>2003-04 DEPTH CHART</h2>Here is Washington&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-01108/8489016-1-eng-US/f0063-012.jpg" title="f0063-01" width="777" height="1564"></div><h3>2003-04 ROOKIE CANDIDATES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0269/8489009-1-eng-US/f0063-022.jpg" title="f0063-02" width="755" height="262"></div> &#9632;

f0063-03

No identity for Capitals

How will the NHL scoring race finish up seven months from now? With two Vancouver Canucks on top of the heap. Here&rsquo;s our best guess for the top 30 scorers this season, as outlined in The Hockey News 2003-04 Ultimate Fantasy Guide.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0716/8489103-1-eng-US/f0063-072.jpg" title="f0063-07" width="575" height="836"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERIC LINDROS</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0814/8489096-1-eng-US/f0063-082.jpg" title="f0063-08" width="575" height="462"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0913/8489089-1-eng-US/f0063-092.jpg" title="f0063-09" width="592" height="462"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-108/8489082-1-eng-US/f0063-102.jpg" title="f0063-10" width="589" height="460"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-118/8489075-1-eng-US/f0063-112.jpg" title="f0063-11" width="573" height="844"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARKUS NASLUND</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0063-07

2003-04: The top 30 projected scorers

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2003-04 NHL SCHEDULE ALL TIMES EASTERN

Transactions include NHL moves from Sept. 11-18.<h2>ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS</h2>Sept 14 Petr Sykora, RW, signed three-year contract Sept 17 Corey Perry, RW, and Nathan Saunders, D, returned to their junior teams.<h2>ATLANTA THRASHERS</h2>Sept. 13 Milan Hnilicka, G, traded to Atlanta for future considerations.Sept. 17 Anthony Aquino, RW, Paul Flache, D, Evan Nielsen, D Greg Hawgood, D and Michael Garnett, G, assigned to Chicago (AHL). Guillaume Desbiens, RW, Lane Manson, D, Brad Schell, C, and James Sharrow, D, returned to their junior teams. Danny Bois, RW, Brandon Dietrich, RW, and Kevin Doell, F, released.<h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2>Sept. 11 Sergei Samsonov, LW, signed one-year contract<h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2>Sept. 18 Branislav Fabry, F; Clarke MacArthur, F; Louis-Phillippe Martin, F; Daniel Paille, F; Michael Tessier, F; Michal Vondrka, F; Pavel Voroshnin, D; and Jeff Weber, G, returned to their junior teams. Mike Mole, G, released.<h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2>Sept. 12 Rhett Warrener, D, signed contract Sept. 17 Cam Cunning, LW, Ryan Donally, LW, Kevin Harvey, LW, Thomas Bellemare, RW, Darren Lynch, RW, Jamie Tardif, RW, Tyler Johnson, C and Tim Ramholt D, returned to their junior teams.<h2>CAROLINA HURRICANES</h2>None.<h2>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h2>Sept. 12 Signed an affiliation agreement with Indianapolis of the Central Hockey League.<h2>COLORADO AVALANCHE</h2>Sept. 17 Steve Brule, C, Brett Clark, D, Jeff Finger, D, Mark Jerant, D, Tim Wedderbum, D, Colin Forbes, LW, Mikhail Kuleshov, LW, Rob Voltera, LW, Bruce Richardson, LW assigned to Hershey (AHL). Jean-Michel Filiatrault G, and Tyler Weiman, G, Craig Kennedy, RW, Brad Richardson, C, and Darryl Yacboski, D, returned to their junior teams.<h2>COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS</h2>Sept. 16 Joakim Lindstrom, C, returned to MoDo of the Swedish Elite League.<h2>DALLAS STARS</h2>Sept. 18 Marty Turco, G, signed three-year contract<h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2>Sept. 17 Scott Horvath, RW, John Shouneyia, RW and Kevin Spiewak, F, released. Pierre-Oliver Beaulieu, D, Kyle Quincey, D Bryan Rodney, D, Bobby Chaumont RW, Jimmy Cuddihy, C, Tomas Fleishmann, C, Ryan Oulahen, C, Vladimir Kutny, LW, Derek Meech, G, Logan Koopmans, G, and Jeff MacDougald, G, to their junior teams.<h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2>Sept. 11 Georges Laraque, RW, Ethan Moreau, LW, Brad Winchester, F, and Joe Cullen, F, signed contracts.Sept. 17 Kristian Antilla, G, Joel Martin, G, Michael Morrison, G, Peter Hogan, D, Rumun Ndur, D, Mathieu Roy, D, Kenton Smith, D, Jay Legault LW, Chris Legg, F, Sean McAslan, F, Tomas Micka, F, and Jean-Francois Plourde, F, assigned to Toronto (AHL). Troy Bodie, F, Kyle Brodziak, F, Sebastien Courcelles, F, Jean-Francois Jacques, F, and Zach Stortini, F, returned to their junior teams. Gregor Baumgartner, LW, released.<h2>FLORIDA PANTHERS</h2>Sept. 13 Matt Dzieduszycki, C, Scott Kelman, C, Greg Jacina, C, Janis Sprukts, C, Mike Amodeo, LW, Josh Olson, LW, Ryan Jardine, LW, Sean O&rsquo;Connor, RW, Jonathan Gagnon, RW, David Morisset RW, Daryl Andrews, D, Michel Periard, D, and Paul Elliott D, assigned to San Antonio (AHL). John Hecimovic, RW, Martin Lojek, D, Jeremy Swanson, D, Martin Tuma, D, Stefan Meyer, LW, Dany Roussin, C, Kamil Kreps, C, returned to their junior teams. David Guerrera, G, released.<h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2>None<h2>MINNESOTA WILD</h2>Sept. 15 Chris Bala, F, Jeff Hoggan, F, and Ed McGrane, F, Jason Beckett D, Josh DeWolf, D, Mathieu Dumas, D, Chris Dyment D, Maxime Fortunus, D, Nick Greenough, D, Kevin Mitchell D, and Kyle Kettles, G, assigned to Houston (AHL). Adam Courchaine, F, Jean-Francois Cyr, F, Marcin Kolusz, F, Matic Kralj, F, Mathieu Melanson, F, Matt Zultek, F, Jamie Johnson, F, Patrick O&rsquo;Sullivan, F, Pascal Pelletier, F, Colt King, F, Joel Ward, D, Chad Starling, D, Barry Brust G, and Josh Harding, G, released.<h2>MONTREAL CANADIANS</h2>Sept. 16 Michel Bergevin-Robinson, G, Jean-Philippe Cote, D, Brent MacLellan, D, Philippe Plante, D, Matt Shasby, D, Steve Villeneuve, D, Jerome Marois, RW, Duncan Milroy, RW, Christian Larivee, C, and Marc-Andre Thinel, RW, assigned to Hamilton (AHL). Michael Lambert LW, Maxim Lapierre, C, Cory Urquhart, C, and Mark Rood, D, returned to their junior teams.<h2>NASHVILLE PREDATORS</h2>Sept. 15 Patrick Jarrett C, and Matthew Davis, G, returned to their junior teams. Jon Francisco, F, Darryl Lloyd, F, Pierre-Luc Sleigher, F, Bill Cass, D, and Kevin Young, D, released.Sept. 17 Paul Brown, F, Kevin Klein, D, Josh Morrow, D, Richard Stehlik, D, and Shea Weber, D, returned to their junior teams. Miroslav Hanuljak, G, and Rustam Sidikov, G, returned to their European teams.<h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2>None.<h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2>None.<h2>OTTAWA SENATORS</h2>None.<h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2>Sept. 16 Colin Fraser, C, Rick Kozak, RW, Stefan Ruzicka, RW, Nikita Korovkin, D, Alexandre Picard, D, Rejean Beauchemin, G and David Tremblay, G, returned to their junior teams.<h2>PHOENIX COYOTES</h2>Sept. 14 Darren McLachlan, LW, and Ladislav Kouba, LW, assigned to Springfield (AHL). Ben Eager, LW, Lance Monych, RW, Ryan Gibbons, RW, Tyler Redenbach, C, and Randall Gelech, C, returned to their junior teams.<h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2>Sept. 11 Ramzi Abid, LW, signed contract Sept. 16 Jim Abbott F, assigned to Wilkes-Bane (AHL). Stephen Dixon, C, Jonathan Rlewich, RW, Daniel Carcillo, LW, Maxime Talbot C, Ryan Stone, C, and defenseman Lukas Bolf, D, assigned to their junior teams.<h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2>Sept. 17 Brent Karasiuk named president of Worcester of the American League. Announced that GM Lany Pleau will assume the additional GM role of Worcester.<h2>SAN JOSE SHARKS</h2>Sept. 16 David Cloutier, D, assigned to Cleveland (AHL). Jonas Fiedler, RW, Jonathan Tremblay, RW, and Josh Hennessy, C, returned to their junior teams. Tyler Hanchuck, D, and Geoff Platt C, released.<h2>TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING</h2>Sept. 17 Jonathan Boutin, G, Gerald Coleman, G, Mike Egener, D, and Doug O&rsquo;Brien, D returned to their junior teams.<h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2>None.<h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2>Sept. 17 Jason Lehoux, LW, and Jesse Schultz, RW assigned to Manitoba (AHL). Marc-Andre Bernier, RW, and Lukas Mensator, G, returned to their junior teams.<h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2>Sept. 15 Garret Stroshein, F, Roman Tvrdon, F, Matt Libby, D, and Dwayne Zinger, D, assigned to Portland (AHL). Jevon Desautels, LW, returned to Spokane (WHL). &#9632;

TRANSACTIONS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0067-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0067-0177/8489203-1-eng-US/f0067-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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SCOREBOARD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0068-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0178/8489234-1-eng-US/f0068-012.jpg"></div>For advertising info please contact Tony Loria at: (P) 905-883-9215 &bull; (F) 905-883-6213Email: <a href="mailto:tonyloria@transcontinental.ca">tonyloria@transcontinental.ca</a> &bull; Website: <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a> &#9632;

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The Hockey News MARKETPLACE

<div class="byline">-ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0240/8489272-1-eng-US/f0069-022.jpg" title="f0069-02" width="295" height="314"></div>POS. Defense AGE 27 BIRTHPLACE Pointe-aux-Trembles, Que.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0169/8489265-1-eng-US/f0069-012.jpg" title="f0069-01" width="361" height="586"><figcaption class="caption-body">YANNICK TREMBLAY</figcaption></div>Start the clock&hellip;Best practical joke you&rsquo;ve seen?&ldquo;There was one guy on the team who hated anything to do with hunting or dead animals, so another guy got a real pair of deer hooves and put them in the guy&rsquo;s gloves before practice. He completely freaked out.&rdquo;Growing up, who was your hockey hero?&ldquo;Ray Bourque. Every time he played against the Canadiens was special to me.&rdquo;What&rsquo;s the worst movie you&rsquo;ve ever seen? &ldquo;A Night at the Roxbury.I left after 15 minutes.&rdquo; Hobbies away from the arena?&ldquo;I play guitar and have my own music studio at home, so that takes up a lot of my time.&rdquo;Most embarrassing CD you own?&ldquo;An ABBA CD. I try not to show it to anyone.&rdquo;Strangest piece of fan mail you&rsquo;ve received?&ldquo;Someone wrote to me asking for $10,000 to help him get out of prison. He said he was 16 years old, had never been in trouble before and hadn&rsquo;t had a fair trial. His prisoner number was on the letter, so I checked out his information on the Internet. It turned out he was in his mid-40s and was convicted of armed robbery and shooting a police officer. I didn&rsquo;t give him the money.&rdquo;Time&rsquo;s up! &#9632;

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TWO MINUTES IN THE BOX

<div class="byline">By Larry Humber</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0321/8489310-1-eng-US/f0069-032.jpg" title="f0069-03" width="978" height="970"></div>Answers in next issue and @ <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a><h2>ACROSS</h2>1 1980 Lake ___ Olympics4 Referee with a full head of hair9 The 2000 Smythe winner10 The Cup is hockey&rsquo;s Holy ___11 Added12 Terry ___ had a stint as Bruins&rsquo; coach13 Medal won by Canada at the last World Championship15 Long-ago Leaf ___ Stewart18 Clumsy21 Yvon ___ had his number seven retired by the Caps23 Hap Day was this club&rsquo;s first captain24 Bill ___ was with the Flyers when they were winning Cups25 Mel&lsquo;___ Death&rsquo; Hill26 There&rsquo;s one of Wayne Gretzky outside Edmonton&rsquo;s rink<h2>DOWN</h2>1 Jostled2 A player not under contract is a free ___3 Owen Nolan&rsquo;s country of birth5 Hooligan6 Allan ___ was named to the Hall of Fame back in 19817 Passes8 Where an Edmonton team won Olympic gold14 A 1967 expansion city15 Former Ranger Rod ___16 American Airlines Center city17 The second &lsquo;C&rsquo; in ACC19 Corridor20 Paul Kariya, pictured, was previously a Mighty ___22 One of the Sutters<h2>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION</h2>ACROSS1. BROOKS. 4. ST. PAUL, 9. SPENCER, 10. SHAFT, 11. ENNUI, 12. DANIELS, 13. KING, 15. HART, 18. CLOCKER, 21. GROVE, 23. SIMON, 24. CHARLIE, 25. PUNISH, 26. SHARKS DOWN 1. BUSHER, 2. OCEAN, 3. KICKING, 5. TYSON, 6. AMATEUR, 7. LATEST, 8. BRAD, 14. IRON MAN, 15. HOGWASH, 16. ACTS UP, 17. DEMERS, 19. KINGS, 20. RICK, 22. OILER<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0417/8489303-1-eng-US/f0069-042.jpg" title="f0069-04" width="1497" height="621"></div> &#9632;

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CROSSWORD

Have you spotted these two personalities in the same room at the same time? Suggested by Brad Hastings from Waldo, Ohio.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0510/8489348-1-eng-US/f0069-052.jpg" title="f0069-05" width="279" height="454"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEN HITCHCOCK</figcaption></div>Flyers coach went back to drawing board after 2003 second round playoff exit<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-068/8489341-1-eng-US/f0069-062.jpg" title="f0069-06" width="281" height="457"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB KEESHAN</figcaption></div>Children&rsquo;s entertainer played around using &ldquo;Magic Drawing Board&rdquo;Submit ideas for Separated at Birth to <a href="mailto:jhodgson@thehockeynews.com">jhodgson@thehockeynews.com</a> &#9632;

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SEPARATED AT BIRTH

<h2>DID YOU KNOW?</h2>Leafs winger Walter &lsquo;Babe&rsquo; Pratt was suspended from the NHL for life in January, 1946, for gambling on games. He was reinstated on appeal, but the damage was done. Toronto dealt Pratt to Boston at the end of the 1946-47 season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-077/8489379-1-eng-US/f0069-072.jpg" title="f0069-07" width="166" height="271"><figcaption class="caption-body">BABE PRATT</figcaption></div><h2>TRIVIA</h2>What is the highest sweater number ever worn by an NHL goaltender?a. 95b. 89C. 98d. 90<h2>NUMBER CRUNCH</h2>10 Consecutive one-goal wins by Ducks last season17 Consecutive games won by Penguins in 1992-93$9,999 Cost to attend Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s 2003 fantasy campThe correct answer to the trivia question will appear in next week&rsquo;s issue of The Hockey News and at <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a>&nbsp;Last week&rsquo;s answer: c. The NHL introduced the red line in 1943-44. &#9632;

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ON THE FLY

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0162/8489417-1-eng-US/f0070-012.jpg" title="f0070-01" width="295" height="386"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Brophy&nbsp;Senior Writer</figcaption></div>ALL ABOUT GOALSWill smaller goalie pads lead to more goals? Here is the average number of goals scored per game for the past five seasons:&rsquo;02-03 5.31&rsquo;01-02 5.24&rsquo;00-01 5.51&rsquo;99-00 5.49&rsquo;98-99 5.27When it comes to the start of a new NHL season, there are certain things you can pretty much guarantee will unfold, such as Dallas and Edmonton meeting in the first round of the playoffs. Then there are things you aren&rsquo;t so certain about, like will Pat Burns smile at least once this season? Here are a few sure things and a few questions regarding 2003-04:FOR SURE lack of scoring will continue to be a concern and there will be many suggestions on how to change the game to open things up. Nothing will be done, though, in a year when more attention will be paid to how the game operates off the ice than on it.WILL Mario Lemieux last the year playing on a team of fringe NHLers? It was sad to watch Mario ascend to his rightful place atop the scoring race early last season only to fall back as his Penguins traded away bona fide big-leaguers in an effort to tame the budget. The more Mario has to carry the team, the more his back aches.FOR SURE the coach of an underachieving team will be fired early in the year. If I&rsquo;m Barry Trotz in Nashville, I want to make sure my team gets out of the gate in a hurry, because regardless of his team&rsquo;s undying commitment to him, a sixth straight year out of the playoffs won&rsquo;t be tolerated.WILL Minnesota duplicate last season&rsquo;s run to the Western Conference final or perhaps beyond? Not likely. But don&rsquo;t fret, Wild fans. Even if the team takes a step back in terms of playoff success, it&rsquo;s still moving in the direction of becoming an elite team thanks to coach Jacques Lemaire and GM Doug Risebrough.FOR SURE Dany Heatley will continue to emerge as one of the game&rsquo;s dominant players. In fact, he will be a key member of Canada&rsquo;s entry at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.WILL Vancouver continue to rise? One would assume yes, given their superstar offensive punch and depth on &lsquo;D&rsquo;, but the Western Conference is so strong, making it out of the first round of playoffs is a challenge. Just ask DetroitFOR SORE we will see plenty of big names traded in the first half of the season. With the collective bargaining agreement about to expire and the near guarantee of &ldquo;cost-certainty&rdquo; around the corner, watch for teams that drop out of contention to start dumping high-salaried players.WILL Pat Quinn last as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs now that he&rsquo;s no longer GM? New boss John Ferguson insists his mandate is to win. For that to happen, Quinn must actually coach, not just stand behind the bench shaking his head when things don&rsquo;t go his way.FOR SURE we will discover the increase in the size of goalies&rsquo; equipment had nothing to do with the decrease in scoring. The fact netminders are better athletes than ever before and that teams concentrate more on preventing goals than they do on scoring them is the real reason behind the decrease in sales of red lightbulbs.WILL Jose Theodore withstand the pressure of trying to bounce back from an off-year while his father and stepbrothers stand trial for loan-sharking? Theodore will be heavily scrutinized as Montreal, under new GM Bob Gainey, tries to make it back to the playoffs.FOR SURE Barret Jackman will justify his selection as the NHL&rsquo;s top rookie last season. And with Chris Pronger back healthy, the Blues&rsquo; defensive zone will be one nasty place for opposing forwards to enter.WILL Glen Sather remain coach of the Rangers or will he kick himself upstairs? Despite the criticism he has faced since he took over as GM-president three years ago, there&rsquo;s the potential for the Rangers to be a good team this year. If the Blueshirts stay healthy, who knows, Sather could wind up coach of the year.FOR SURE people will squawk about the All-Star Game being nothing more than a waste of time. If the NHL is looking for a way to jazz up the exhibition game, we suggest pitting players 29 years old and younger against players 30 and older. There would still be no hitting, but if it were youth versus experience, might not pride be one the line?WILL Dominik Hasek be effective coming back into the league at age 38 after sitting out last year? Of course he will, not only because he is a great athlete, but because he&rsquo;ll be working behind the best defense in the NHL.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0230/8489410-1-eng-US/f0070-022.jpg" title="f0070-02" width="1178" height="2001"><figcaption class="caption-body">BLUE MEANIE&nbsp;Barret Jackman, the NHL&rsquo;s top rookie last year, is pivotal to St. Louis&rsquo;s tough defense. (JOHN RUSSELL/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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OVERTIME WITH MIKE BROPHY

The Dominator will excel

October 7, 2003<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0313/8489455-1-eng-US/f0070-032.jpg" title="f0070-03" width="607" height="614"></div>When you think of Colorado&rsquo;s cast of superstars, does sniper Milan Hejduk come to mind? He should.NCAA Preview: U.S. college team profiles, players to watch, predictions, schedules and more.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0410/8489448-1-eng-US/f0070-042.jpg" title="f0070-04" width="698" height="506"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jaromir Jagr&rsquo;s Washington Capitals play six road games in a 13-day stretch in October. (SPORTS ACTION)</figcaption></div><h2>Upcoming In The Hockey World</h2>Here&rsquo;s what to look for in the coming weeksTues., Oct. 7&nbsp;ECHL regular season beginsWed., Oct. 8&nbsp;NHL regular season beginsWed., Oct. 8&nbsp;AHL regular season beginsWed., Nov. 12&nbsp;Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s Penguins host Mark Messier&rsquo;s RangersSat., Nov. 22&nbsp;Edmonton hosts Montreal in outdoor game at 50,000-seat stadiumWed., Nov. 26&nbsp;New Jersey hosts Anaheim in Stanley Cup rematchFor the latest news, visit <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a> &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

October 1, 2003

Concern for Kilger

Can Ducks do it again?

Who needs Patrick Roy when Arturs Irbe is still kicking about?

READY to RUMBLE