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.

December 23, 2003

The Hockey News December 23, 2003

<div class="byline">- DAN WOOD</div>Mighty Ducks of Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere found himself pulled from games twice in the early part of December.Giguere, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy while leading the Ducks to Game 7 of last season&rsquo;s Stanley Cup final, made early exits during blowout losses at Detroit and Atlanta, and then watched as backup Martin Gerber began his second run of multiple starts this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03630/7900707-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="286" height="385"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS</figcaption></div>Only 4-12-2 with a 2.91 goals-against average and .905 save percentage, Giguere bore the brunt of Anaheim&rsquo;s early season defensive deficiencies.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04450/7900700-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="345" height="756"></div>&ldquo;The numbers look terrible and I have barely any wins, but there are many variables,&rdquo; Giguere said. &ldquo;I have to make saves. I feel like I&rsquo;m working hard. The worst thing I could do is feel sorry for myself. I&rsquo;m just going to keep working hard and things will turn around.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH Team chemistry. With nearly a third of the season in the books, the Ducks haven&rsquo;t come close to recapturing the chemistry that carried them to the brink of winning the Stanley Cup last season. Whether it is a matter losing Paul Kariya, Steve Thomas and Adam Oates, or that newcomers Sergei Fedorov and Vinny Prospal haven&rsquo;t found a comfort level there simply hasn&rsquo;t been a sense of togetherness. Expect GM Bryan Murray to tinker, or more, with the roster in search of the missing ingredients.NOTEBOOK Anaheim earned its first come-from-behind win of the season, 3-2 over visiting San Jose, after having spotted the Sharks two first period goals Dec. 10&hellip;The triumph over San Jose was also the first this season in which Anaheim center Sergei Fedorov did not generate a point&hellip;Ten different Ducks had game-winning goals in the team&rsquo;s first 10 victories this season. &#9632;

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NHL TEAM REPORTS

Giguere getting hook for flat performances

<div class="byline">by KEVIN ALLEN</div>Coach Mike Eaves may be the first American coach in World Junior Championship history to be forced to tip-toe around the question of whether his team is the tournament favorite.&ldquo;People are saying that because we won the world under-18 tournament (in 2002),&rdquo; Eaves said. &ldquo;But I think we all know there will be a few good teams here.&rdquo;True enough, but there is no denying this team has a strong chance to become the first U.S. squad to win a gold medal at the WJC.To appreciate the historical significance, consider the U.S has won only three medals in the tournament&rsquo;s 27-year history and hasn&rsquo;t had a medal of any color since it took the silver in 1997.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02837/7900534-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="296" height="306"></div>&ldquo;I think they are ready to reap the benefits of having an experienced team,&rdquo; said Detroit Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill. &ldquo;Most of the guys have played three or four years and one of the reasons why Canada has been successful is that they make sure they have two, three or four (17-year-olds) every year so they can-pass the torch.&rdquo;This is a confident bunch of Americans still feeling good about how they posted a 7-1 record against the world in 2002 as 17-year-olds.The Americans went 4-3-0 in the 2003 WJC, losing to Finland in the bronze medal game. There are 10 returning players from the Halifax tournament, but more importantly, there are 13 who played for the American team that won the 2002 world under-18 championship.STRENGTHS Depth. Eaves, who coaches at the University of Wisconsin, has a cast of two talented scoring lines and two dependable hard-working lines.The Americans should be one of the higher-scoring teams, but their defense shouldn&rsquo;t be overlooked. In addition to Ryan Suter, Nash-ville&rsquo;s 2003 first round pick, they&rsquo;ll be counting heavily on Boston&rsquo;s 2003 first-rounder, Mark Stuart, a smooth defender with a knack for making the right play at the right time.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03620/7900527-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="245" height="757"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011155/7900520-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="2471" height="1880"><figcaption class="caption-body">SET FOR SEQUEL Chicago-prospect James Wisniewski is one ofseveral U.S. players back for another shot at WJC gold. (DAVE SANDFORD/HHOF)</figcaption></div>Suter is the glue that holds the defense together. He plays a style similar to Chris Chelios.New Jersey Devils prospect Zach Parise averaged better than a point per game last year at the WJC and Minnesota Wild draft pick Patrick O&rsquo;Sullivan could also end up among the leading scorers in the tournament.Goaltending also is considered a strength, with incumbent Jimmy Howard competing with University of Michigan sophomore Al Montoya. Howard, a Red Wings draft pick, is known for his composure and Montoya is known for his athleticism.&ldquo;(Montoya) also handles the puck very well,&rdquo; Eaves said. &ldquo;It won&rsquo;t be an easy decision.&rdquo;VULNERABILITY Eaves points out that chemistry will be crucial. Teams in Europe have been able to come together during breaks in their season, while the North Americans will have to find their cohesiveness on the fly.&ldquo;A lot will depend on how quickly we come together,&rdquo; Eaves said.The Americans do face some potential problems because they don&rsquo;t know for sure whether the Los Angeles Kings are going to loan Dustin Brown and the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; decision to call up Ryan Kesler could mean he, too, won&rsquo;t play for the U.S. Kesler, with good speed and size, was among the Americans&rsquo; best offensive threats last year.&ldquo;If he is still up here he won&rsquo;t be going to the world junior tournament,&rdquo; said Vancouver GM Brian Burke.&ldquo;If we send him down, we will make the decision then. Certainly, it would be good for his development to go over there, but we also have to look at what is the best for our organization.&rdquo;DON&rsquo;T BE SURPRISED IF Parise leads the tournament in scoring, flashy Montoya is the top goaltender and Team USA wins the gold medal. &#9632;

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2004 WORLD JUNIOR PREVIEW

U.S. golden boys early favorites

<div class="byline">BY ROBIN SHORT</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0050-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02137/7902594-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEXANDER PEREZHOGIN</figcaption></div>Rookie Alexander Perezhogin is hitting the books this winter and while the final marks aren't yet in, we can tell you the Montreal Canadiens prospect is receiving a passing grade on the ice.Montreal's second pick in the 2001 draft (25th overall) is fitting in nicely with the American League's Hamilton Bulldogs after signing a three-year contract with the Canadiens last summer.It's a step forward, considering Perezhogin is still taking baby steps in English-as-a-second-language classes.&ldquo;He's slowly coming along,&rdquo; said Bulldogs coach Doug Jarvis of the 20-year-old native of Kazakstan, &ldquo;but we can already see a difference as far as communication goes.&ldquo;But as far as the hockey language is concerned, when you go to the blackboard with Alex, he picks things up very quickly whether you're describing a drill or whether you're talking to him about his own play. He's a very coachable player.&rdquo;The Canadiens raised more than a few eyebrows at the draft table two years ago in Sunrise, Fla., when they selected Perezhogin late in the first round after taking big defenseman Mike Komisarek seventh overall.At the time, Perezhogin was a relative unknown, a player who toiled in the Russian second division with Avangard Omsk's second team.But he soon graduated to Avangard's Superleague club and last year helped lead Russia to a gold medal at the World Junior Championship, finishing with three goals and nine points in six games. He added 15 goals in 48 games with Avangard, playing against men.Perezhogin was ranked No. 10 in The Hockey News Future Watch ranking last March.Jarvis, the former Canadiens' center and NHL ironman, said the 6-foot, 185-pound right winger is a prototypical Russian forward - fleet on his skates, gifted with the puck.&ldquo;One-on-one, he's a strong player&hellip;if he gets himself alone against a defender, he'll make you pay,&rdquo; Jarvis said. &ldquo;And he's a player who wants the puck, which is good.&ldquo;But with all young players, he has to play a lot, get used to the number of games over here and get used to the smaller ice surface.&rdquo;<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01211/7902587-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="139" height="165"></div>Perezhogin and Alexander Svitov, assigned to the Bulldogs by Tampa Bay, are the only two Russian-speaking players in Hamilton this season.&ldquo;We try and include him in everything we do, even if it's just going out for a beer,&rdquo; said Hamilton captain Benoit Gratton. &ldquo;He likes to have fun. Sometimes you see guys from Europe come over here and they're shy. They don't want to be a part of the team. But this guy wants to. He wants to hang out with the guys and that's a good thing.&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0382/7902580-1-eng-US/f0050-032.jpg" title="f0050-03" width="714" height="1033"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0468/7902573-1-eng-US/f0050-042.jpg" title="f0050-04" width="278" height="439"></div>The HockeyNews scout says:&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a strong player, if he gets himself alone against a defender, he&rsquo;ll make you pay.&rdquo; &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Perezhogin learns Canadien way

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011776/7900071-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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SUBSCRIB AND YOU WIN!

<div class="byline">EDITOR&#x2019;S NOTEBOOK Jason Kay Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021546/7899681-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="391" height="707"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011816/7899688-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="117" height="123"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>HOME BLAME</h2>Robert Lang is having a terrific offensive season, but his Capitals have struggled badly, particularly at if homeThis NHL season, much like the Christmas holidays, is about the children. Competition for the Calder Trophy is unusually strong, headlined by players who put the puck in the net (Jason King, Trent Hunter) as well as those who keep it out (Andrew Raycroft, Marc-Andre Fleury). Meantime, &ldquo;seasoned veterans&rdquo; Rick Nash, 19, and Ilya Kovalchuk, 20, are tied for the lead in goals (18) and Kovalchuk is the t leading All-Star Game vote-getter.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031257/7899674-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="1408" height="1901"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BRUCE BENNETT/BBS)</figcaption></div>Peel back the layers and you find 21-and-younger kids such as Patrice Bergeron, Joni Pitkanen, Alexander Frolov, Dan Ham-huis, Raffi Torres, A Eric Staal, Matthew Lombardi and Jay Bouw-meester making impacts beyond their experience. It&rsquo;s a bright storyline F in a relatively drab year and provides a slice of cheer. So, while we&rsquo;re still feeling festive, we&rsquo;ll give out holiday gifts from The Hockey News. Batteries not included.To Gary Bettman, a YMCA membership. He&rsquo;ll need to broaden his shoulders to carry the load for management in collective bargaining agreement talks, r To the Nashville Predators, Fight Club DVD. Hey, they&rsquo;re starring in the sequel, why not get them the original?To Marian Gaborik, a train set. So he can get back on track.To Jeremy Roenick, oven mitts. His willingness to speak his mind is out-of-the-oven fresh.To Marc-Andre Fleury, a bottle of lacquer. He&rsquo;s going to need a tough outer shell to help get him through a potentially shell-shocking year.To Curtis Joseph, a trampoline. It&rsquo;s time for him to bounce, bounce, bounce back.To Bob Goodenow, an Etch-a-Sketch. It&rsquo;ll allow him to erase any lines he may draw.To Mike Babcock and Jacques Lemaire, tickets to the next Barbra Streisand concert If nothing else, they&rsquo;ll be able to hear a performance of The Way We Were.To Mike Milbury, a fire-retardant jacket. Just in case the photos no longer work.To the Washington Capitals, a recipe book. With just three wins in 10 games at MCI Center, they need a crash course on home cooking.To Mike Comrie, Monopoly, the classic version. The languishing forward needs to get his hands on a &ldquo;get out of jail&rdquo; card.To Doug MacLean, an orienteering set. The Blue Jackets have no direction away from home, failing to I win in their first 11 attempts.To all NHL players, hockey sticks. We mean the old-fashioned wooden kind, the ones that don&rsquo;t fall to pieces when given an angry stare.To Chicago Blackhawks management, marbles. To replace the ones they&rsquo;ve lost.To Brett Hull, lifetime manicures. Hockey&rsquo;s best hands need special care.To Martin Brodeur, binoculars. The view must be special from his perch on top.To Mario Lemieux, scuba gear. You can only hold your breath under water for so long.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-041019/7899667-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="556" height="306"></div> &#9632;

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FEATURES & COLUMNS

Kids shine at holiday time

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05828/7899726-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="393" height="621"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAT LEAHY</figcaption></div><h2>MILESTONES</h2>Brett Hull &bull; RW, 39Detroit, Dec. 8 vs. Los Angeles, Passes Marcel Dionne for third all-time with 732 career goals.Martin Gelinas &bull; LW, 33Calgary, Dec. 9 at Minnesota Achieves NHL Milestone Award with 1,000th regular season game.<h2>NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS</h2>Igor Larionov &bull; C, 43New Jersey, Dec. 4 vs. Washington Became the first 43-year-old to play in NHL since Gordie Howe.Brendan Shanahan &bull; LW, 34Detroit, Dec. 8 vs. Los AngelesTies Maurice Richard for 19th place with 544 career goals.Chris Levesque &bull; G, 23Vancouver, Dec. 9 vs. Pittsburgh Third-string university goalie dresses as emergency backup for Canucks.<h2>NHL DEBUTS</h2>Jeff Hamilton &bull; C, 26Islanders, Dec. 2 vs. Washington Bridgeport goal ace played sparingly after an early defensive mistake.Pat Leahy &bull; RW, 24Boston, Dec. 6 vs. Philadelphia Boston-area native averaged 4:00 ice time in first three games.Jeff MacMillan &bull; 0, 24Dallas, Dec. 7 at Anaheim Called up when Matvichuk hurt his knee, fifth-year pro plays 13:18.Niklas Kronwall &bull; D, 22Detroit, Dec. 10 at Buffalo Got his chance due to injuries, but Wings think he&rsquo;s ready for NHL now.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06492/7899719-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="390" height="623"><figcaption class="caption-body">NIKLAS KRONWALL</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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WORTH NOTING

<div class="byline">MARK BRENDER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021286/7899781-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">TAKING PARTIncluding players in talks &rsquo;rover the on-ice product would be a good thing. (ANDY MARUN/BS)</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011818/7899788-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="105" height="117"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>For now, the specifics don&rsquo;t matter. It doesn&rsquo;t make a difference whether they spend more time discussing making the nets bigger or the lines wider, or cracking down harder on obstruction or goalie equipment. What&rsquo;s important is that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman seems to believe the exercise matters.Bettman spent much of the time at recent board of governors meetings in Florida updating teams on collective bar-gaining talks. The most interesting news, though, was Bettman&rsquo;s hinting that there are more changes in the wind than simply the CBA.Bettman instructed league GMs to take &ldquo;a good look at the game&rdquo; at their February post-all-star break meetings, which in truth is no different from what k they do every year. No matter The difference is what comes next.&ldquo;And then,&rdquo; Bettman told reporters, &ldquo;I think I may put together a group that represents all constituencies involved in the game to look at the game over the summer.&rdquo;That would include coaches, GMs, players (with NHL Players&rsquo; Association approval, we can only assume), and - hold onto your hats, folks - maybe even members of the media.&ldquo;If the players were sitting right there on the committee, I think that would be different,&rdquo; said Carolina GM Jim Rutherford. &ldquo;It never hurts. These are the guys that play the game.&rdquo;In Bettman&rsquo;s perfect world, any changes would be introduced along with a new CBA. &ldquo;I have a vision,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;where we can in effect, put everything behind us at one time.&rdquo;Not as stirring as Martin Luther King, though the sentiments are admirable. Rightly or wrongly, players believe they haven&rsquo;t been consulted on some of the game&rsquo;s more significant changes in recent years, including being shut out of the NHL&rsquo;s obstruction crackdown conference prior to 2002-03. If the two sides are going to come together on the CBA&mdash;and they&rsquo;ll have to eventually &mdash; there&rsquo;s no better time to join forces to improve the on-ice product.The fear, of course, is they might take a season off to do it. &#9632;

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Changes in the wind?

<h2>Best of the Hockey World</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03829/7899826-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="353" height="572"><figcaption class="caption-body">SHEAN DONOVAN</figcaption></div>HEY, THIS IS FUN Checker Shean Donovan of Calgary scores goals in six straight games, including la hat trick against Pittsburgh.SO THAT&rsquo;S HOW IT FEELS Pensacola&rsquo;s Brian Eklund becomes the seventh ECHL goalie to be credited with scoring a goal.NASLUND 4 PENS 3 Markus Naslund scores all four goals, his last one in overtime, to lead Vancouver to a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh.<h2>Worst of the Hockey World</h2>SO LONG, BUTCH Fired Washington coach Bruce Cassidy didn&rsquo;t do himself any favors when he told his players hockey comes before family.QUINTAL GETS THE BOOT Montreal defenseman Stephane Quintal is suspended one game for kicking Carolina&rsquo;s Bob Boughner.STRIKE THREE Florida Everblades tough guy Stu Pietersma is assigned his third suspension of the 2003-04 ECHL season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04511/7899819-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="354" height="562"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRUCE CASSIDY</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PLUS MINUS

1911-12 National Hockey Association eliminates rover, ushers in six-man hockey1929-30 Forward passing permitted in all three zones; goal-scoring more than doubles1943-44 Modern era of hockey begins with introduction of center red line1983-84 Five-minute sudden-death overtime introduced in regular season!1999-00 NHL introduces 4-on-4 play in regular season overtime &#9632;

BREAKING THE RULES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-06187/7899881-1-eng-US/f0005-062.jpg" title="f0005-06" width="396" height="657"><figcaption class="caption-body">JASSEN CULLIMORE</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-05313/7899888-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg" title="f0005-05" width="229" height="199"></div><h2>From around the NHL</h2>&bull; For the past seven years. Leaf forward Tie Domi has been giving holiday presents to kids living in Toronto hostels. He says he began his annual event after talking with a 12-year-old caught stealing from a department store. When Domi asked the boy why he did it, the boy said he wanted to ge.t Christmas gifts for his younger brother and sister.&bull; The best defenseman in the NHL you; don&rsquo;t know is Tampa Bay&rsquo;s Jassen Cullimore. He is dependable in his own zone, is quite physical in front of the net and makes a great outlet pass. Cullimore is a big reason why Tampa Bay is challenging for a second straight Southeast Division title.&bull; WHA commissioner Bobby Hull says: &ldquo;We have to get families back in the game, get back where Saturday night, everything stops. A case of beer comes out and a bottle of rye and anyone who comes to the house, they better want to watch hockey.&rdquo; Guess the kids are the bartenders.&bull; You can&rsquo;t blame a guy for trying, but Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe&rsquo;s request that Mike Comrie &ldquo;pay back&rdquo; some of his salary before the Oilers trade him is preposterous. Lowe wanted Comrie to pay the Oilers $2.53 million for their &ldquo;investment&rdquo; in him. Anaheim GM Bryan Murray, who had a deal worked out to acquire Comrie, can&rsquo;t be thrilled with Lowe&rsquo;s power play, either. &#9632;

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SNAPSHOTS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012027/7899919-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="247" height="139"></div><h2>The Hockey News</h2>FROM THE EDITORSWashington owner Ted Leonsis and GM George McPhee made the right move when they fired coach Bruce Cassidy.They had no choice, really. When Cassidy told his players, after they were outshot 41-9 in a 3-0 loss to New Jersey Dec. 4, that he didn&rsquo;t care if they had pregnant wives or sick children on their minds, and that they shouldn&rsquo;t use those things as excuses for playing poorly, he crossed a line from which there was no return.Defenseman Jason Doig&rsquo;s wife recently gave birth while blueliner Brendan Witt&rsquo;s wife nearly died of sepsis (blood poisoning) last year. Goalie Olaf Koizig&rsquo;s son is autistic. The players reacted negatively to Cassidy&rsquo;s comments, suggesting getting personal wasn&rsquo;t the right way to motivate them.Cassidy apologized to his team, saying his comments were made out of frustration, but the damage was done. There was never any indication Cassidy ever really had the trust and respect of his players during his one-plus seasons as coach of the Capitals, but after that comment, he had lost his team for certain. He becomes the second coach, following Mike Keenan, to be fired this year.Truth be told, Cassidy&rsquo;s inappropriate comments probably only sped up the inevitable. After enjoying success in the minors &mdash; he was American League coach of the year in 2001-02 &mdash; Cassidy was not able to push a team with considerable talent over the top.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Cassidy apologized to his team, saying he spoke out of frustration, but the damage was done</blockquote>After finishing a point out of first place in the Southeast Division with a 39-35-8-6 record last season, the Capitals were eliminated in six games in the first round of the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning.After opening this season by walloping the New York Islanders 6-1, Washington went winless in its next eight outings, losing seven and tying one. Since then, under Cassidy, the team won back-to-back games just once. Cassidy never won over the team&rsquo;s high-paid veterans, a key for any coach in today&rsquo;s NHL.Not all the Capitals&rsquo; woes can be blamed on Cassidy. The trade of captain and leader Steve Konowalchuk for huge under-achiever Bates Battaglia, regardless if it succeeded in lowering the payroll, has been an unmitigated disaster. The Jaromir Jagr trade rumors have added to the chaos.But still, the Caps ranked 29th in team defense under Cassidy, were 3-6-0-1 at home, 5-12-1-0 on the road and had won just three of their previous 10 games.Perhaps if Cassidy were a more established NHL coach with the respect of his players, or if this had been his first time stepping over the line, his momentary lapse of reason may have been overlooked. But Cassidy also alienated players when he dressed down rookie goalie Sebastien Charpentier in front of the team earlier this year and when he clashed with key defenseman Brendan Witt.By spouting off on players&rsquo; families, Cassidy made it easy for for management to fire him. He ultimately proved right the handful of detractors who believed he was the wrong man for the job all along. &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

Awful lapse in judgment Cassidy’s Capital error

<h2>MAKE NHL SCHEDULE FAIRER</h2>I love that the NHL wants more inter-divisional games during the season, but it is mind-boggling to me that the league can&rsquo;t find a way to get each of the 30 teams to visit every other city once a year. I don&rsquo;t want to be forced to wait two years or more to see Eastern Conference teams come to town.A balanced schedule would be more exciting for fans and would eliminate complaints that certain teams have easier seasons.Leo Demirtshian, Los Angeles<h2>YOU GO, GREENBERG</h2>I agree with Jay Greenberg&rsquo;s article &ldquo;No Heroes League". (THN, Dec. 2)Unfortunately, the game is becoming too boring for even a fan like me. There is little joy in watching a game where the most skilled players are interfered with every night while the referees look the other way.If things don&rsquo;t change soon, hockey will go the way of soccer, meaning we&rsquo;ll never get to watch it.Kurt Mathews, Roseville, Calif.<h2>LETTER OF THE WEEK</h2>I found it hilarious that Shaun Majumder, a Canadian comedian, managed to sneak into the official old-timers team photo at the Heritage Classic outdoor game in Edmonton.While I thought the event was awesome, the prank was equally refreshing and funny. Why? In today&rsquo;s NHL, players are bashed for speaking their minds and for celebrating goals. And everyone involved in the game utters the same cliches in interviews. So to me, a bit of levity didn&rsquo;t hurt.Plus, the indignant reactions of league officials to the news Majumder found his way into the photo, combined with their view of the &ldquo;history&rdquo; of the event, only underscored how stodgy the NHL can be.Lighten up, guys. You should never be in awe of what you do or who you are.As for the &ldquo;sullied&rdquo; picture, the photo-doctoring program on your computer should fix everything.Shawn Fulford, Outer Cove, Nfld<h2>R.I.P., BERT TEMPLETON</h2>With the death of Bert Templeton, hockey has lost one of its best-ever coaches and developers of players. His Ontario League record of 907-680-148 put him second in career wins to the greatest junior coach of all-time, Brian Kilrea.I think the hockey world should honor Bert for more than 25 years of service by inducting him into the Hall of Fame. I know he&rsquo;s got my vote.And to Bert&hellip;thanks for everything.Michael Scott, Sudbury, Ont.<h2>MILBURY MUST GO</h2>I think it&rsquo;s time Islanders GM Mike Milbury leaves town. To replace him, owner Charles Wang must get a guy who will be dedicated to winning games and not blaming other people for losing.Eric Busch, Oceanside, N.Y<h2>DEVILS ATTENDANCE WOEFUL</h2>In a recent issue, the Devils&rsquo; attendance problems were questioned by coach Pat Burns. (THN, Dec. 2)I don&rsquo;t feel their problems have to do with poor marketing or a bad arena location. Here&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s wrong: they win, but they do it in a manner that is boring to watch.That they win is fine, but their approach makes them more of a faceless machine than an exciting hockey team. When was the last time you heard of people falling in love with a machine?Natalie McGrath, Woodbridge, N.J.<h2>CAPITAL IDEA FOR CUJO</h2>The Washington Capitals are struggling and Detroit Red Wings goalie Curtis Joseph needs a new home. I think there&rsquo;s a match there. If the r Red Wings trade Joseph to Washington, it could get the Capitals back on their feet and Joseph back on the ice.Evan Kalik, Gold Canyon, Ariz.<h2>STRAKA TRADE A GOOD ONE</h2>Picking up Martin Straka from the Penguins was anther great move by GM Dave Taylor and the L.A. Kings.Now that Roman Chechmanek has settled in as L.A.&rsquo;s top goalie, the Kings are looking like contenders.Joseph Marx, Portland, Ore.<h2>Got something to say?</h2>U.S.A.: Letters, The Hockey News, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947.Canada: Letters, The Hockey News, 25 Sheppard Ave.W., Suite 100, Toronto, Ont., M2N 6S7E-mail: <a href="mailto:aproteau@thehockeynews.com">aproteau@thehockeynews.com</a> or visit <a href="https//:awww.thehockeynews.com">www.thehockeynews.com</a>Include name, hometown, province/state and phone number. Submissions will be edited. &#9632;

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011836/7899988-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="251" height="149"></div>Beware! Fat cats are on the loose. The Rangers, those long-de-clawed tabbies, assembled on a $77-million tabby, are off the sofa.They have bought in, you&rsquo;ll excuse the expression. The Rangers keep a third man high, and not just as a lookout in case the teller trips the alarm. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not that good when we dangle,&rdquo; says Eric Lindros. The multiple mea culpas that followed recent dumb penalties and bad horizontal risks in one-goal losses to first place teams indicate they haven&rsquo;t completely gotten the hang of not hanging themselves. But hard lessons can be the best lessons if your heart is in the right place.On the whole, the Rangers are playing with a greater purpose and the purpose of this column is to tell you that unless too many body parts break, they will earn a break from all the awful things everybody says about them by making the playoffs<h2>RANGERS WAKING UP</h2>It&rsquo;s been so long, the last time they got in, they were built around Mark Messier. What? They still are? Well, never mind. The Rangers don&rsquo;t mind doing the small stuff, like dumping the puck.&ldquo;Sixty minutes,&rdquo; Bobby Holik preaches, seemingly 60 minutes every hour, and the Rangers no longer hire personal assistants to take the body. To the grindstone have gone the bluenoses, so tired are they of smelling themselves.&ldquo;What has impressed me most is how much these guys care, how willing they are to work and support each other,&rdquo; says assistant coach Tom Renney.Of course, after all these years of watching the Rangers buy a whole lot of nothing, you are excused from not yet buying any of this.An organization that never drafted for grind under the previous regime had no choice but to overpay for it in declining 31-and-over players. But you had to believe bright neon lights actually gave off poison rays when Holik, maybe the most honest day&rsquo;s worker in the NHL for 12 seasons, crossed the river last year and seemingly got dragged into the money pit.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021224/7899981-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="404" height="667"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg&nbsp;Guest Columnist (BRUCE BENET)</figcaption></div>Now, Holik has a soul again, kicking butt on a line with Alex Kovalev, another guy brain-dead upon last season&rsquo;s arrival, and Martin Rucinsky. At $1.6 million, Rucinsky is proving to be - take us now, Lord, we have seen it all &mdash; a bargain.<h2>SATHER TAKING CONTROL</h2>Perceptions notwithstanding, the Rangers weren&rsquo;t really fully loaded for the playoffs until last year, when Glen Sather paid a heavy toll in credibility by hiring a coach, Bryan Trottier, who proved in over his head. After it was chopped off in late January, there was time to forget and move on, except that Lindros, healthy for the first time for an entire season, appeared to forget how to play.As a result, a late charge, led by Mike Dunham and Brian Leetch when he came off the DL, was like the plastic charges all these Rangers have in their big wallets. Larry Robinson turned down the coaching job in apparent wariness of some of these guys&rsquo; acts, so Sather went back behind the bench himself, doggedly insisting the Rangers play like the cheap teams.They are rolling four lines and not their eyes when asked to check. Lindros, still jerked around from unit to unit, and who still might wind up in Washington for Jaromir Jagr, has come back from a 10-game absence with two separate injuries to again play like the big jerk opponents have known him to be. It has taken awhile, but Leetch, coming off a bum ankle, is starting to be himself.Despite the organization&rsquo;s regeneration of some young talent, Sather plays Messier too much, insisting responsibility has to be earned. While there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with that JI concept, one wonders what Petr Nedved has earned to get time over Jamie Lundmark. But when the kid&rsquo;s knee blew in early December, W that became a 1 moot point for two &rsquo; months.There still is plenty here for at least eighth place, maybe better, if Chris Simon and Darius Kasparaitis keep it up, and Leetch, Lindros, and Kovalev play like they can.Easy does it expecting the Rangers to win anything before first, some respect, but at least they no longer are easy to play against.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03751/7899974-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="2047" height="2945"></div> &#9632;

f0007-01

Beware: Blueshirts buy in

<div class="byline">BY MIKE BROPHY Senior Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04532/7900033-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NASH DASH&nbsp;Rick Nash scored 17 goals in 74 games as a rookie last year. This season, his 17th goal came in just his 25th game.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011914/7900040-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="156" height="125"></div>The NHL doesn&rsquo;t hand out an award for sophomore of the year. If it did, Rick Nash would certainly be this season&rsquo;s leading contender.Not only is the 19-year-old left winger the league&rsquo;s best second-year " player, he has also found a way to do what very few others can in today&rsquo;s NHL - score goals.&ldquo;The puck is just finding me now,&rdquo; said the native of Brampton, Ont., who had 18 goals and 21 points in 27 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets. &ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s not going to last the whole season, as much as I&rsquo;d like it to.&rdquo; k There is some truth to that &ldquo;puck finding me&rdquo; thing.What the modest Nash fails to mention, however, is where he is standing when the puck gravitates his way. And that is right around the opposition&rsquo;s net&hellip;in and v around the paint, as it were. It is not somewhere for the faint of heart, but rather, a location where those who wish to score goals pay a price.Nash said you don&rsquo;t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out how goals are scored these days (or else Montreal&rsquo;s Joe Juneau, an RPI grad, would have more than one goal in 24 games, but that&rsquo;s a different story). All you have to do is watch TV.&ldquo;You Watch SportsCenter every night and I would say 75 per cent of the goals are scored right around the net,&rdquo; Nash said. &ldquo;All the goals are coming off JHH rebounds or quick passes. I find if I go to the net and take a little extra beating I get rewarded with goals. I&rsquo;m going to keep on doing it.&rdquo;The Jackets made some key acquisitions in the off-season, including goalie Fred Brathwaite, defenseman Darryl Sydor and forwards Todd Marchant and Trevor Letowski. But the results thus far have not been what coach-GM Doug MacLean had hoped. Closing in on the middle of December, Columbus was challenging for last place in the West rather than for a playoff spot. Luckily, the arrival of another teen sensation, Russian Nikolai Zherdev, and Nash&rsquo;s superb play was holding the fans&rsquo; interest.<h2>GM PLEASED WITH NASH</h2>On the strong recommendation of Don Boyd, the Jackets director of amateur scouting, MacLean traded up in the 2002 NHL entry draft to make Nash the first overall selection. Today, the Columbus GM is delighted with the progress of his star pupil.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s pretty amazing this year,&rdquo; MacLean said. &ldquo;Actually, he was amazing last year, too, but this year he has become a more important &rsquo; guy for our team. He&rsquo;s on the No. 1 line and plays on the No. 1 power play unit. I remember when he became the No. 1 guy in London, the Hunters (GM Mark and coach Dale) told me the sky is the limit for this kid.&rdquo;Nash said it wasn&rsquo;t until the middle of last summer that he was able to grasp what had happened to him as an 18-year-old in his first NHL season. He finished tied for second in the rookie scoring race with 17 goals and 39 points in 74 games and placed third in rookie-of-the-year voting behind winner Barret Jackman of St. Louis and Detroit&rsquo;s Henrik Zetterberg. &ldquo;I was happy with my season last year,&rdquo; Nash said. &ldquo;I thought it was a nice jump (from junior).&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-031019/7900026-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="699" height="1010"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021440/7900019-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="265" height="435"></div>The Hockey News&nbsp;Scout says: &ldquo;He is easily on track to become one of the game&rsquo;s most dominant power forwards.&rdquo;Nash said he was determined to be better defensively this season, adding his minus-27 was embarrassing, although he takes pride that &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t remember us losing a game because of an error I made.&rdquo; He was minus-5 through 27 games this year.MacLean feels Nash has superstar potential. At this point, he&rsquo;s not likely to get many detractors. If there was one knock on the youngster&rsquo;s game when he broke into the league it was his skating, but MacLean hasn&rsquo;t seen it that way. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen him lose a foot race for the puck. In fact, he has two or three breakaway goals this season.&rdquo;<h2>BIGGER, STRONGER</h2>That Nash has bulked up from 188 pounds when he was drafted to 210 now, with the potential to hit 220 or 225 as he matures, bodes well for his ability to drive to the net. He said he worked hard last summer on getting stronger.&ldquo;Last year I was getting thrown around a lot in front of the net,&rdquo; Nash said. &ldquo;There were a lot of bumps and bruises that came with it and it caused me to miss a few games here and there. I had to put on some extra muscle, a little extra meat&hellip;I feel a lot more solid standing in front of the net this season. I&rsquo;m not taking the beatings that I took last year.&rdquo;Nash, who started the year playing with Marchant and Letowski but more recently has been skating with Andrew Cassels and David Vyborny, grew up a huge fan of Mats Sundin and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He said he understands the role he now plays in the lives of young Blue Jackets fans.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s cool to hear little kids say they want to grow up and play with the Blue Jackets and Rick Nash,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very flattering. It reminds me of when I was a kid staying home every Saturday night to watch the Leafs on TV. It was a tradition, s almost like a religion.&rdquo;And now Nash is helping build a new tradition. &#9632;

f0008-04

Painting a masterpiece

<div class="byline">BY MARK BRENDER Senior Writer</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021376/7900130-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="251" height="192"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011883/7900137-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="115" height="122"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>Defenseman Karel &rsquo;Rice&rsquo; Pilar remembers his first practice with the Maple Leafs. Or rather, he remembers what happened after practice. The players clip-clopped their way into the dressing room. They sat at their stalls, took off their skates and equipment, changed and hung out. Then, en masse and without warning, they disappeared. Pilar didn&rsquo;t know what happened. The room had emptied like some after-hours club under siege by the cops and he barely had time to sneeze.&ldquo;The big guys, they leave the room in five minutes,&rdquo; Pilar recalled. &ldquo;I stayed in the room and then I saw all the media come on me. I was afraid that we had some workout or something like that. It was just the media.&rdquo;That was a few years ago. Trust us, nothing has changed.A bit of a gratuitous shot there at the beloved Buds. Even in good times, most of these guys can dodge reporters like the guy with the red cape teasing the bull. But 2003-04 Leafs shoudn&rsquo;t mind a few innocent body shots. They&rsquo;re not supposed to read any of this anyway. If they&rsquo;re true to their word, it will stay our little secret.Yes, Karel, it takes a while to get used to life in this place.Life in Toronto, the self-proclaimed hockey mecca of the universe, is a few hundred fans lining up for an autograph and picture with Wendel Clark 45 minutes before a home game against Detroit. There&rsquo;s no way all these people are going to make it inside the Air Canada Leafs shouldn&rsquo;t mind a few innocent body Centre in time for the puck drop. Heck, there is even a dozen or so people queuing up for Bob Nevin.Life in Toronto is no fewer than six television cameras waiting to get in to the dressing room after an early December practice on a nongame day, for crying out loud, and when you actually get in the dressing room it looks like two more cameras have arrived late. There are at least six reporters from the four Toronto daily newspapers, plus maybe a dozen or so more from the wire services, a handful of radio stations, various websites and all this when there&rsquo;s not a whiff of controversy in the air. When there is controversy, it doubles.What was in the air, incidentally, was an eight-game Leaf winning streak the second-best run in franchise history that came to an end with a 3-2 overtime loss to St. Louis Dec. 9. The Leafs showed pluck even in defeat, tying the game with 17 seconds left in regulation while playing shorthanded. It wasn&rsquo;t a lucky run: the defense corps was making the easy play instead of the risky one, the forwards were coming back, and Mats Sundin and Owen Nolan and Joe Nieuwendyk were all flying at the offensive end just as Belfour regained his top-notch form in goal. It&rsquo;s a big happy family in hockey&rsquo;s crazy town.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021454/7900123-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="3211" height="4485"><figcaption class="caption-body">COME TOGETHER&nbsp;The papers said Toronto had a splintered dressing room last season; this year, everyone wants to join the party. (STEVE BABINEAU/SA)</figcaption></div>For example, on Toronto&rsquo;s second goal in an impressive 5-2 win over the Wings, Tie Domi slammed home a cross-ice pass from Robert Reichel, circled the net with stick raised and skated into a waiting bear hug from Darcy Tucker, and then both of them at once opened their arms wide inviting Reichel to join the party. If the Leafs can make a Tucker-Domi-Reichel line work, anything is possible. All together now&hellip; We Are Fa-mi-ly!&ldquo;In my 11 years I&rsquo;ve never been with a group like this, what&rsquo;s happening, the bonding we have,&rdquo; Domi said. &ldquo;You get the results when you take short shifts and the energy&rsquo;s high and you rely on one another and that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;The streak was a stunning reversal from Toronto&rsquo;s middling play earlier this year, especially considering every team the Leafs beat during the run was over .500. Five of the wins came on the road. And they all came without injured offensive linchpin Alexander Mogilny. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve had reason to cheer these guys over the last five, six years,&rdquo; said coach Pat Quinn of the Leaf Nation&rsquo;s rabid following. &ldquo;These are just the times of elation where you can dream a little bit. The fact is we&rsquo;ve got a long way to go.&rdquo;Say what? Naturally, the locals were planning the parade route. Television host Paul Romanuk appeased the masses by opening The Reporters show on Toronto&rsquo;s digital channel Leafs TV with an easel and a marker: Okay, here it is, head out of the ACC north of Lakeshore, turn right up Bay Street&hellip;)Life in Toronto is a beat writer earlier this season waiting for Owen Nolan for a pre-arranged 1-on-l interview-which can be a tough thing to get with Owen Nolan and nearly coming to blows with a TV reporter who tried to make his own arrangements. Nolan waited around to see if they were going to drop the gloves and go.As you can see, everyone does a lot of waiting around here reporters, fans, players, the suits in the platinum seats lining up for their roast beef and dijon under the stands during intermissions. They wait for the seasons to change from summer to early fall to hockey, for the Cup to come and the roof to cave in, all at once.Other Leaf teams, such as last year&rsquo;s edition, which was consumed by the daily Shayne Corson-Darcy Tucker-Travis Green stories and endless trade rumors, have been destroyed by it. New Leafs have been perplexed by it.&ldquo;As soon as I signed with the Leafs,&rdquo; said defenseman Bryan Marchment, who has a summer cottage north of Belleville, Ont., in die-hard Leaf country, &ldquo;it was like a whole different world that I really hadn&rsquo;t done anything to achieve.&rdquo;<h2>MEDIA HOUNDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011682/7900116-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="1041" height="1696"></div>Life in Toronto is Tom Fitzgerald joining J Leaf Nation last season and not understanding why the media just didn&rsquo;t get it. It was mid-November, and the Leafs were five games under .500 and playing like it when they came back in j a game to earn a morale-boosting overtime win over Los Angeles.&ldquo;It was just a big boost for all of us,&rdquo; Fitzgerald recalled, &ldquo;and then the next day the cameras came in and it was &rsquo;What if you lost?&rsquo; But we didn&rsquo;t lose, we won. All that was brought up was the negative. It wasn&rsquo;t like, you know what, you came out, you fought back, you didn&rsquo;t quit. That&rsquo;s how we felt. And that game turned our season around&hellip; And that&rsquo;s when I thought, &rsquo;What&rsquo;s with all the negativity?&rsquo; &ldquo;Coming from Nashville (via Chicago) it was Fitzgerald who didn&rsquo;t get it. In _ Nashville Fitzgerald probably didn&rsquo;t get the questions Ed Belfour got before the St. Louis game. Things like, gee Ed, your team is playing so well and the forwards are finally helping out, so do you think you have to change your game to adapt to that?&ldquo;Uh, no,&rdquo; the habitually bland Belfour said, as Domi snored loudly off to one side, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t change my game too much.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021174/7900109-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="1072" height="1792"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOE NIEUWENDYK</figcaption></div>There&rsquo;s a reason Belfour isn&rsquo;t quoted much in the local papers.And Fitzgerald certainly didn&rsquo;t have a swath of ex-Predators around his former team to get the inside buzz circulating in the media. In Toronto, recently retired Leafs Nick Kypreos and Glenn Healy are prominent television hockey personalities and former captain Rick Vaive is a commentator on Leafs TV. And don&rsquo;t look now, but there&rsquo;s longtime Leafs executive and ultimate insider Bill Watters with the new best gig in town, co-hosting his noon-to-2 p.m. radio show, Leafs Lunch, on a local &ldquo;all-guys&rdquo; station. The show is also simulcast on Leafs TV.Best part is, it only takes one shot across the bow to set them all aflutter. The biggest shot so far this season, otherwise known as The Story That Shook A City, came in mid-November from Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons. While the Leafs were slumping through a dismal West Coast road trip, Simmons wrote that coach Pat Quinn had &ldquo;lost&rdquo; the team and that &ldquo;malcontents&rdquo; infused the Leaf dressing room. His source for the stunner was &ldquo;a well-respected agent.&rdquo;Never mind the piece could have been written virtually any time in the past few seasons, given the amount of round-the-clock innuendo and off-the-record, third-hand stories of discontent over Quinn&rsquo;s old-school, uncommunicative ways. Never mind Toronto&rsquo;s offensive guns (and the fans of Leaf Nation) have it good under Quinn, because there aren&rsquo;t many coaches left who share Quinn&rsquo;s crowd-pleasing philosophy: in short, when you don&rsquo;t have the puck, get it back; and once you&rsquo;ve got it back, make it dance, baby. Simmons&rsquo;s piece still had legs for weeks.GM John Ferguson calls the story, &ldquo;too convenient. Too convenient and premature.&rdquo;Quinn has other choice words. In a post-game press conference after the Detroit game, he started to speak on auto pilot K before the truth serum took hold. Something clicked in the talking head&rsquo;s head and the head unplugged the auto pilot and Pat Quinn became Pat Quinn again and corrected himself:&ldquo;I guess I understand your business. I think I do. No, I don&rsquo;t.&rdquo; The assembled scribblers roared.&ldquo;I guess sometimes I can understand it, but I can&rsquo;t understand it,&rdquo; Quinn continued. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s just something you have to deal with when you&rsquo;re working in this place. So you go ahead and deal with it and send the papers where they belong, the fish and chips store.&rdquo;Less publicized at the time of the Simmons story was a players-only meeting called the same day by Sundin. The captain said the Leafs had to start playing for each other. Sundin naturally played down his role, but it&rsquo;s probably no coincidence the Leafs began their winning streak two days later. The story tie-in was a coincidence, surely, since the Leafs no longer read the papers.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04717/7900102-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="2064" height="1790"><figcaption class="caption-body">MOVE ASIDE&nbsp;The Toronto Maple Leafs hope this will be the year they finally win their first Stanley Cup since 1967.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;This year to me, that&rsquo;s the biggest difference,&rdquo; Fitzgerald said. &ldquo;We said as a group, there&rsquo;s no more media talk in the (dressing) room. There&rsquo;s no newspapers allowed in here. We can&rsquo;t bring them in. Even if you want to read the football section, do it on your own time somewhere else outside the rink because it&rsquo;s not going to happen here. There&rsquo;s no, like, &rsquo;Hey, did you hear what they said, he&rsquo;s trade bait?&rsquo; That was the majority of the talk last year.&rdquo;Another change: there are no more post-game stat sheets in the dressing room, the kind that players used to gravitate to to find out how much ice time they received compared to the guy in the next stall.Defenseman Bryan McCabe points to the positive impact players such as Nieuwendyk, Marchment and Ken Klee have had on the room. &ldquo;Just to have a guy like Nieuwy around who has won three Cups, when he speaks guys listen,&rdquo; McCabe said.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing some pretty good hockey,&rdquo; Nieuwendyk added, &ldquo;and everyone&rsquo;s a part of it. There&rsquo;s no finger-pointing in the dressing room and that&rsquo;s what winning will do for you.&rdquo;But of course, every cynical Leaf fan knows they came by Nieuwendyk and Klee only because the two players were virtually begging to play in Toronto; that it took the Leafs until September to get them only shows how inept management truly is.Ferguson knows he can&rsquo;t win this kind of argument. His says this kind of talk will affect his ability to do his job only if he lets it. He vows he won&rsquo;t &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not complaining about the attention, let me assure you of that.&rdquo;On some level, Ferguson has accepted his work conditions: in a town that hasn&rsquo;t seen a Cup in 36 years - arguably the one town that yearns for it, craves it, is more desperate for it than any other - he knows there&rsquo;s very little that can be considered &ldquo;premature.&rdquo; From the Harold Ballard years to the tension-filled Mike Smith-Anders Hedberg-Ken Dryden management monster to the ridiculous GM hiring process last summer, where the coach helped select his future boss, dysfunction is no stranger to these parts.Said Fitzgerald: &ldquo;I totally respect that, I totally understand that, and again, being a Boston Red Sox fan I understand that too (well) actually, but when you&rsquo;re on this side of the fence&hellip;&rdquo;The new Leafs coping strategy, it seems, is not to make a point of enjoying the fishbowl when the water is warm and there&rsquo;s applause all around. It&rsquo;s not to make the best of the fish-bowl when the water stinks and hasn&rsquo;t been cleaned in weeks. Rather, it&rsquo;s trying to forget they&rsquo;re in a fishbowl at all.Good luck, fellas. &#9632;

f0010-02

ONTHE COVER

NO-RING CIRCUS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021377/7900168-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GNAT NASH?&nbsp;When you want to get the other team mad, Tyson Nash says hitting their best player works every time. (ANDY MARLIN/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011824/7900175-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="113" height="117"></div>Phoenix forward Tyson Nash is one of the NHL&rsquo;s top pests - just ask anyone who ever played against him. THN&rsquo;s Mark Brender chatted with Nash about what his older brother Dallas did to him growing up in Edmonton and what he must do to stay in the game - and get opponents off theirs.THN&nbsp;So how do you get to be a pest? I imagine this is the kind of thing you start when you were a kid.NASH Yeah, no question. You have a personality and this is the personality I was born with. If you ask my brother (Dallas), I used to bug that guy and he used to beat the tar out of me constantly. He likes to take a lot of credit for me making the NHL.THN&nbsp;Was there ever any question that maybe him beating you up would stop you from doing stuff?NASH (laughing) You know what, I don&rsquo;t know if I was born all that smart because I kept coming back for more. There was one time he dragged my face across the carpet and gave me a rug burn from my forehead to my chin. I deserved every ounce of pain that I ever got from the guy. I used to take his car to school without him knowing about it. It was one thing after another.THN&nbsp;When did you start carrying this into hockey? Was it right from the beginning?NASH Not necessarily. I always loved a physical style of game, I used to love to hit and stuff, but I think it was when I got my chance to play in the NHL. Joel Quenneville, he told me I proved I could play with these guys, but to stay I had to be the most hated guy in this league. He kind of gave me a job to do and something to take pride in and that&rsquo;s what I did.THN&nbsp;Do people start yapping at you right away in games or do you have to get them every game to hate you all over again?NASH I think every new game you&rsquo;ve got to get guys to hate you all over again. Sometimes they like to let guys (who play) like me sleep a little bit and see if I start something up. It&rsquo;s usually after that first hit they tend to start yapping.THN&nbsp;Are there two or three or four guys that you&rsquo;ve had a running feud with?NASH I think when I was with St. Louis we always had good rivalries against Detroit. Those were always really good games and my job was not necessarily to get guys like (Darren) McCarty and those guys off their game, it&rsquo;s the (Steve) Yzermans and (Brendan) Shanahans and guys like that. I don&rsquo;t know if Steve Yzerman is too fond of me.THN&nbsp;It&rsquo;s well known fighters talk to other fighters, there&rsquo;s respect there, the scorers have their own little club. Do guys like you reach out? Do you and say, Darcy Tucker or whoever else&hellip; is there a bond there?NASH No question I think there&rsquo;s a bond there. I have a lot of respect for guys who do what I do because I know it&rsquo;s not easy. The toughest job is fighters and then guys like us who have got to get punched in the face every night. You look at a guy like Matthew Barnaby, I mean, he&rsquo;s been doing it forever, I&rsquo;ve got a ton of respect for that guy. Darcy Tucker is another guy, they show up every night and they&rsquo;re huge pains in the butt. Dan Hinote has done a really good job in Colorado, Ian Laperriere in L.A., he&rsquo;s a tough guy to play against.THN&nbsp;Outside of hitting guys, are there one or two things that really get guys?NASH I think the biggest thing is hitting the other team&rsquo;s best player. You want to get theother team (angry), that does it every time. Or after the whistle you grab his face with your stinky glove. That one never seems to fail.THN&nbsp;Do you ever feel bad about doing it?NASH You know what, I do&hellip;And it&rsquo;s hard for me. I mean, we&rsquo;re talking about Steve Yzerman, a guy I idolized my whole childhood life and now I&rsquo;ve got to go out and run the guy? But if I don&rsquo;t go out and run the guy and do my job, I&rsquo;m not going to be in the NHL. And if I don&rsquo;t run this guy, he&rsquo;s going to really make me look stupid and dance around me and put one top shelf in the net. When I stop doing my job, it&rsquo;ll be the first bus ticket back to the minors.THN&nbsp;Are you friends with any of the guys you have to go after?</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>NASH Yeah, I find the best is when you play old friends, you tend to boost your competitive spirit and it just makes it that much more fun. We always talk about it after. And I&rsquo;m not a dirty player, I&rsquo;ll never hit a guy from behind, but I will play hard and I will try to knock you flying with a hit.THN&nbsp;Have you ever crossed the line?NASH Yeah, I have. There&rsquo;s no question, you get so intense and guys are chirping at you and you chirp back. I&rsquo;ve apologized to a few guys after a game, and just said that was too far&hellip;They understood, they know what it&rsquo;s like. And they&rsquo;re ripping me, saying things like, &ldquo;go back to the minors&hellip;you&rsquo;re a diver&rdquo; or whatever. And that hurts, because I take pride in what I do and not diving. I try to earn respect for what guys like me around the league do.THN&nbsp;Phoenix has played St. Louis twice this season. How were those games for you?NASH Obviously it was pretty tough, pretty emotional. But the guys were really good. They &rdquo;, know all my tricks, that was the funny part. They&rsquo;re like, &ldquo;What are you doing, I&rsquo;ve seen that 3 a thousand times, who are you kidding?&rdquo; We J had a good laugh. &#9632;

f0014-02

The life of an NHL pest

<div class="byline">BY WILLY PALOV</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021253/7900206-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="402" height="642"><figcaption class="caption-body">GILLES COURTEAU</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011616/7900213-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="135" height="183"></div>Gilles Courteau is finally convinced quick action is the only way to solve the Quebec League&rsquo;s drug problem.The league commissioner issued a swift reaction to reports out of Montreal saying the use of ephedrine, creatine, amphetamines, marijuana and various relaxants is out of control. It&rsquo;s alleged a high number of players are taking stimulants before games and relaxants afterwards to help them sleep on the bus.Courteau said he intends to accelerate his plan to implement an anti-doping policy, complete with sanctions for players who are tested and caught.Courteau proposed a three-to-five game suspension for first time offenders and further testing later that season with the threat of harsher discipline if the player is caught again.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>&ldquo;The new QMJHL anti-doping policy rests on a zero tolerance approach and anticipates improved preventive and testing mechanisms,&rdquo; Courteau said.The league used to have a program that featured random testing, but it fell by the wayside three years ago because there was no punishment for offenders.Halifax Mooseheads GM Marcel Patenaude was the league&rsquo;s director of operations between 1997 and 2000 and he was in charge of administering the old program.&ldquo;All you had was that you knew that Joe Blow got caught and you could talk to him and you could try to help him out,&rdquo; Patenaude said. &ldquo;You could tell him about programs or (educate) him and get him to understand the problems it could cause, but that was it.&rdquo;Some critics say Courteau&rsquo;s first proposal still needs more teeth.&ldquo;We agree with the league&rsquo;s policy, but not its sanctions,&rdquo; Quebec Remparts part-owner and GM Patrick Roy told the Canadian Press. &ldquo;They can suspend a player for three-to-five games, but on our team, that player would not play again for the Remparts.&ldquo;This way, a Remparts player knows exactly what he has to do from Day 1.&rdquo;Player agent Gilles Lupien went public with the drug-use allegations Dec. 9 and wasn&rsquo;t backing down from his claim use is rampant in the major junior ranks. He estimates 40 per cent of players in the Canadian Hockey League use various kinds of drugs. &#9632;

f0016-02

QMJHL acts on drug-use claim

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div>Bert Templeton fought cancer the way he approached a game - he battled to the very end.Templeton, the second-winningest coach in Canadian Hockey League history, died Dec. 5 in Sudbury, six months after being diagnosed with kidney cancer. He was 63.Templeton spent 26 years in the OHL, beginning with the Hamilton Fincups in 1974. He was coach of the year that season.He coached the Fincups to the Memorial Cup in 1976 and a silver medal at the 1977 World Junior Championship. He also coached Niagara Falls, North Bay, Barrie and Sudbury.&ldquo;The Ontario League lost a great friend,&rdquo; said commissioner David Branch. &ldquo;Bert&rsquo;s legacy as a teacher of the game is unparalleled.&rdquo;Templeton was fired after last season, the first time in his career he missed the playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03944/7900244-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="392" height="638"><figcaption class="caption-body">BERT TEMPLETON</figcaption></div>His junior record of 907-678-148 is overshad-owed only by 67&rsquo;s coach Brian Kilrea, who won his 1,000th game last season against Templeton. Templeton was the first &rsquo; person across the ice to congratulate Kilrea.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a moment I&rsquo;ll always remember,&rdquo; Kilrea said. &ldquo;If you played for Bert, you learned respect, you learned discipline and you became a better person.&rdquo;Templeton returned to the WJC in 1987. Canada was kicked out of that tournament along with the Soviet Union for their bench-clearing brawl. It&rsquo;s dubbed &ldquo;The Punchup in Piestany&rdquo; and Templeton and assistant Pat Burns, now with New Jersey, took criticism.&ldquo;I really had fun with Bert and I really appreciated him,&rdquo; Burns said. &ldquo;We took a lot of heat and Hockey Canada always stamped us as the bad boys, but that wasn&rsquo;t fair.&rdquo;There were suggestions the Soviets, out of medal contention, instigated the brawl as the Canadians were in position to win gold.Templeton always kept his suit jacket with a sleeve that ripped as he attempted to hold back players on the bench. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re convinced in our minds that what we did was right,&rdquo; Templeton said at the time.Templeton coached many current and former NHLers, including Nick Kypreos. &ldquo;Bert&rsquo;s passion for the game is right up there with some of the great names like Brian Kilrea and Roger Neilson,&rdquo; Kypreos said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a lifer.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-03

Templeton had passion for game

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05517/7900275-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="841" height="827"></div>Who do you think is the most consistent referee in the NHL?It&rsquo;s understandable that hockey players are reserved when it comes to asking them about referees. Kinda like making them choose between brussel sprouts and artichoke hearts. You serious, man?In a poll of 30 players, one from each NHL team, 13 (43 per cent) selected - reluctantly - venerable Kerry Fraser.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, Kerry Fraser, I guess,&rdquo; said Edmonton&rsquo;s Ryan Smyth.&ldquo;He has been around a long time and he&rsquo;s very competent,&rdquo; said Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Kelly Buchberger. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s well-regarded and is always chosen for the big games.&rdquo;&ldquo;He lets the game go along,&rdquo; said Philadelphia&rsquo;s Eric Weinrich. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not inconsistent with his calls.&rdquo;Bill McCreary was second with six votes.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I think I&rsquo;ve heard some guys say,&rdquo; an anonymous Nashville player said. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know anybody&rsquo;s name.&rdquo;- FOR COMPLETE PLAYER POLL RESULTS, VISIT <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM</a> &#9632;

f0016-05

The Hockey News PLAYER POLL

<h2>McCREARY DIES AT 63</h2>Keith McCreary helped two expansion teams get off on the right foot as a player, but his biggest legacy was helping former players get what was rightfully theirs. The Sundridge, Ont., native died Dec. 8 after a battle with cancer. He was 63. McCreary was a Montreal Canadiens farmhand until expansion doubled the NHL size to 12 teams. He was a mainstay at right wing for five seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had 25 goals and 48 points in 70 games in 1968-69, his best season. McCreary was claimed by Atlanta in 1972-73, named captain and spent his last three seasons with the Flames. McCreary formed his own insurance company in 1982, was active in the NHL Alumni Association and was one of seven ex-players who successfully sued the NHL in 1991 for misappropriated pension funds. The 1992 settlement was $45 million. &rsquo;There were times of darkness and great worry during that time,&rdquo; McCreary told The Hockey News in April 2003. &ldquo;We proved we hadn&rsquo;t been fairly treated during our playing&rsquo; days.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04713/7900306-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="352" height="687"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEITH MCCREARY</figcaption></div><h2>WHA UNVEILS PLANS</h2>Organizers of the proposed World Hockey Association gathered in Toronto for a media conference to discuss plans for its first season next December. Commissioner Bobby Hull and co-founder Al Howell are aiming for a minimum six-team league that will coincide with a looming NHL work stoppage. Each team will have a $10-million salary cap with a $3-million marquee player exemption. The first season will run about 50 games and the average ticket price will be $26. &ldquo;We have to get families back in the game, get back where Saturday night, everything stops,&rdquo; Hull said. Six potential cities have been identified, with six to 10 operational next season. European expansion is also a consideration. Possible markets include Birmingham, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Hamilton, Los Angeles, Oakland, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, Quebec, St. Louis, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver. Hull feels North America is ready for another top-tier pro league: &ldquo;(The) NHL is not playing the game the way it should be played.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-04

HOCKEY WORLD IN BRIEF

At least hockey fans will have basketball to fall back on if there is an NHL work stoppage.The NBA and its players&rsquo; union agreed to extend their collective bargaining agreement one year, but wasn&rsquo;t celebrating at the expense of hockey.&ldquo;I fully expect what is coming in hockey is going to have a (harmful) impact on all of sport-on TV, on fan loyalty, on merchandise sales, just generally on the state of sports,&rdquo; said NBA commissioner David Stern, who worked with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman for 12 years.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07384/7900337-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="503" height="473"></div> &#9632;

f0016-07

Hockey stoppage bad for all sports

<div class="byline">by ALAN ADAMS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011495/7900375-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="681" height="277"></div>When it comes to a tight tournament like the World Junior Championship, the deeper your lineup, the better your chances, especially when you consider that the two finalists must play six games in 10 nights.Depth is the reason why the United States is favored to win gold in the prestigious 28-year-old tournament for junior-aged players. The WJC begins Dec. 26 in Helsinki and Hameenlinna, Finland.The Americans have 10 players who came within a goal of going to the championship game in Halifax last January and that&rsquo;s why The Hockey News is picking the U.S. to win its first gold medal on the world junior stage.&ldquo;I really like their depth and this is as good a team as they&rsquo;ll probably ever have,&rdquo; said Barry Trapp, head scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs.Russia, by comparison, has just a handful of players back to defend its world junior title, while the Czechs also are lean on experience.Canada, which has finished second two years in a row and not won gold since 1997, also is considered a medal contender. It has three returnees, including defenseman Ian White who missed six weeks earlier this season because of a broken ankle.Here&rsquo;s our predicted order of finish:<h2>1. UNITED STATES</h2>COACH Mike Eaves2003 RECORD 4-3-0, fourth placePLAYER TO WATCH Zach Parise, son of former NHLer J-P Parise, had eight points to lead the Americans last year. Brady Murray, son of Los Angeles coach Andy Murray, is Parise&rsquo;s linemate at North Dakota and they have great on-ice chemistry.OUTLOOK The gold is theirs to lose. The Americans have the goaltending and there&rsquo;s no shortage of defensemen who can play on both sides of the puck. Scoring won&rsquo;t be a problem. Eaves had a dozen players play for him on the U.S. team that won the world under-18 championship two years ago.<h2>2. RUSSIA</h2>COACH Rafail Ishmatov2003 RECORD 6-0-0, gold medalPLAYER TO WATCH While the focus will be on Alexander Ovechkin, fans also should keep an eye on Evgeny Malkin. He&rsquo;s a power forward who will likely go No. 2 in the 2004 NHL draft behind Ovechkin.OUTLOOK The decision by Nikolai Zherdev to bolt to the Columbus Blue Jackets will hurt. The Russians, however, remain strong. The once cash-strapped Russian hockey machine now has more than enough coin to support player development.<h2>3. CANADA</h2>COACH Mario Durocher2003 RECORD 5-1-0, silver medalPLAYER TO WATCH Sidney Crosby, just 16, possesses instincts beyond his years. He does everything at top speed and he&rsquo;s more than a scoring machine. The Rimouski Oceanic center loves 1-on-1 battles.OUTLOOK The Canadians are light on returning players, but there&rsquo;s no shortage of talent with international experience. Canada won the 2003 world under-18 championship. The Canucks will have to battle hard at both ends of the ice, but they should never be counted out.<h2>4. CZECH REPUBLIC</h2>COACH Alois Hadamczik2003 RECORD 2-3-1, seventh placePLAYER TO WATCH Rostislav Olesz is a top prospect for the 2005 draft. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound right winger, a regular in the Czech Elite League, plays the game all-out and can create scoring chances in a variety of ways. Pint-sized Jiri Hudler, a Detroit prospect in his first season in North America, also is a huge offensive threat.OUTLOOK You look at the Czechs on paper and you think there is no way they can miss out on a medal. But chemistry can be a problem and the players haven&rsquo;t always seen eye to eye with the coaching staff.<h2>5. FINLAND</h2>COACH Hannu Aravirta2003 RECORD 4-2-1, bronze medalPLAYER TO WATCH Valtteri Filppula was a third round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2002. He has not looked out of place centering the second line for Jokerit in the Finnish League.OUTLOOK It&rsquo;s too bad the Finns didn&rsquo;t play host to the tournament last year. If they had played in front of their fans with the team they had, they might have won the world title. That&rsquo;s not to say Finland will be an easy two points on home ice.<h2>6. SWITZERLAND</h2>COACH Jacob Kolliker2003 RECORD 3-3-0, sixth placePLAYER TO WATCH Tim Ramholt of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles could be the first Swiss player who is not a goalie to make it as an NHL regular. He was drafted in the second round by Calgary last June.;OUTLOOK The Swiss have yet to yield a great WJC result despite pouring millions of dollars! into their junior program. They&rsquo;re not likely to advance past the quarterfinal.<h2>7. SLOVAKIA</h2>COACH Jozef Fruhauf and Robert Spissak2003 RECORD 3-3-0, fifth placePLAYER TO WATCH Defenseman MichelSersen of the Rimouski Oceanic is being touted as a sure-bet first round draft pick in June.OUTLOOK The Slovaks are getting better at pulling together a team from various outposts | on the international hockey map and then getting the juniors to play for their flag. But it&rsquo;s not enough to get them into the medal round.<h2>8. SWEDEN</h2>COACH Torgny Bendelin2003 RECORD 2-4-0, eighth placePLAYER TO WATCH Alexander Steen, a Toronto first-rounder in 2002, impressed at a November tournament with the Swedish national team.OUTLOOK Sweden remains on hard times as far as player development goes and it will be another few years before the Swedes challenge for a medal. They have not won a medal at the WJC since 1996.<h2>9. AUSTRIA</h2>COACH Herbert Pock2003 RECORD 5-0-0 (B pool, promoted to A pool)PLAYER TO WATCH Left winger Thomas Vanek of the University of Minnesota was draft-I ed fifth overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2003.OUTLOOK The Austrians are making their first WJC appearance since 1981 and they &rsquo; better enjoy the ride because it won&rsquo;t last long.<h2>10. UKRAINE</h2>COACH Sergei Lubnin2003 RECORD 4-0-1 (B pool, promoted to A pool)PLAYER TO WATCH Winger Sergei Chernenko has size and international experience.OUTLOOK The Ukraine is back in the A group for the first time since 2001. The Ukrainians are small and fast, but will have a hard time avoiding relegation because they lack depth.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021137/7900368-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="3889" height="3280"><figcaption class="caption-body">GOING FOR IT&nbsp;Depth, defense and experience are the driving forces behind the U.S.&rsquo;s medal hopes.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-01

U.S. depth chart has foes fretting

<div class="byline">by KEN CAMPBELL</div>As other countries continue to approach the World Junior Championship with more vigor and commitment, something the Canadian Hockey Association claims is unacceptable in one breath is trumpeted as a true accomplishment in another.On one hand, officials from the junior program claim Canadian hockey fans are wholly justified in holding their junior team up to the gold medal standard and that nothing short of the top bauble is an acceptable result. But they then point out with a certain amount of pride that Canada is the only country which has finished among the top three teams in each of the past five tournaments.All of which is of little consolation to fans who invest a good part of their holiday season watching this event and take losing at any level on the international stage quite personally.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02908/7900420-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="301" height="304"></div>With six straight years without gold, the five-year Canadian WJC win streak that ended in 1997 is beginning to seem far in the past.There&rsquo;s no guarantee Canada will end that drought in 2004 and, in fact, it doesn&rsquo;t even enter the event as the favorite. The Canadian entry, coached by Lewiston Maineiacs mentor I Mario Durocher, goes into this tournament with more size and grit than the group that finished second to a behemoth Russian team last year in Halifax.&ldquo;We want to have a fast team, M we want to have a skilled team and we&rsquo;d obviously love to have a / big, competitive team,&rdquo; said Canadian head scout BlairMackasey. &ldquo;Do we have those elements here? I think so.&rdquo;STRENGTHS The Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; decision to release Marc-Andre Fleury for the tournament gives Canada the strongest goaltending. Fleury was voted the top goalie in last year&rsquo;s event.Contrary to what many observers believe, Canada has produced more than its share of skilled players in this tournament and this year will be no exception.The Canadians have a ton of panache in players such as Jeff Tambellini, Corey Perry, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and, of course, 16-year-old phenom Sidney Crosby up front.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03644/7900413-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="245" height="760"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011273/7900406-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="2565" height="2025"><figcaption class="caption-body">GOLD DIGGER&nbsp;Dan Paille is Canada&rsquo;s lone forward with world junior championship experience</figcaption></div>The Minnesota Wild also released NHL rookie Brent Burns to parti ipate.Canada is much bigger on defense this year, led by 6-foot-5,217-pound Atlanta Thrashers prospect Braydon Coburn.Until Wayne Gretzky built an Olympic team with skilled players, the CHA used to approach the WJC with a ghost roster template and found players to fit specific roles. But seeing Gretzky&rsquo;s success and picking up on previous Canadian coach Stan Butler&rsquo;s philosophy, the deep thinkers are more apt to find the best players available, which gives them an ability to create offense with all four lines.VULNERABILITY Canada will have no more than three returnees from last year&rsquo;s silver medal-wirming team. Fleury and winger Dan Paille are locks and defenseman Ian White will play if he has sufficiently recovered from a broken ankle he sustained playing with Swift Current of the Western League.The Canadian team -, will be young, with 14 of the 30 skaters invited to the final selection camp just 18 years old. It certainly doesn&rsquo;t help that Canada will almost certainly be without NHLers Rick Nash, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Eric Staal, Nathan Horton and Patrice Bergeron, most of whom are making significant contributions with their clubs.DON&rsquo;T BE SURPRISED IF Crosby emerges as Canada&rsquo;s go-to offensive player and outplays Russia&rsquo;s Alexander Ovechkin, the No. 1 prospect for the 2004 NHL draft. The only 16-year-old Canadian to dominate in this tournament was Gretzky in 1978.Nobody is suggesting Crosby will score eight goals and 17 points in six games, as Gretzky did, but his exploits in the first half of his first Quebec League season suggest he&rsquo;s capable of leading the team in scoring in Finland. &#9632;

f0020-02

CANADA turning to young studs

<div class="byline">-KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04437/7900451-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BOTH DAVE SANDFORD/HHOF)</figcaption></div>There are no guarantees that goalie Marc-Andre Fleury will lead Canada to a gold medal at the 2004 World Junior Championship, but he should be able to cover a team dinner.The first overall pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2003 returns for a second tour of duty with the Canadian junior team in Finland. That surely will enhance Canada&rsquo;s chances of winning its first gold medal since 1997 and make the Canadians the strongest at that position in the tournament.The Penguins made things much easier for Fleury when they announced they would continue to pay his NHL salary while he&rsquo;s playing for gold in Helsinki. With a base salary of $1.25 million (U.S.), Fleury will make a total of $179,111.14 for the 26 days he&rsquo;s with the Canadian team.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;ll look back on this three months from now, six months from now, two years from now and say, That was the best thing for me to do,&rsquo; &rdquo; said Penguins GM Craig Patrick.Although he was just 18 during last year&rsquo;s tournament in Halifax, Fleury led all No. 1 goalies with a 1.57 goals-against average and .928 save percentage. He was a large factor in Canada&rsquo;s second-place finish.Fleury is one of just three returnees winger Dan Paille and defenseman Ian White (if he&rsquo;s back from an ankle injury) are the other two. But Fleury&rsquo;s status as an NHLer doesn&rsquo;t provide any assurance he will even be the best goalie in this tournament. That pre-tournament designation belonged to Kari Lehtonen of Finland last year and he turned in a middling performance.Canadian head scout Blair Mackasey said getting Fleury is a big boost for the Canadians.&ldquo;Not only does he have exceptional talent, he represents a huge confidence booster for the whole team,&rdquo; Mackasey said. &#9632;

f0020-04

Fleury’s return boosts Canada’s confidence

The World Junior Championship is supposed to be a springboard that launches players towards long, successful NHL careers (see: Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Markus Naslund, Jarome Iginla, Pavel Bure, Jose Theodore&hellip;).For many, but not all. Instead, the WJC itself turns out to be the summit of success for some players. That&rsquo;s not a sad thing, either. It&rsquo;s more of a feel-good thing. Many players appreciated then - and now - how wonderful it all was. A time when they stood at the top of the mountain, with emotions raw and pure and life never felt so good.PAT PEAKE (USA, 1992) was junior player of the year in 1993 and played for the U.S. in two WJCs. It was on the bronze medal-winning team in 1992 in Fussen, Germany, that Peake was at his best. With Keith Tkachuk, Mike Dunham and Steve Konowalchuk as teammates, Peake stood out. He led the U.S. with five goals, including the winning goal in a 3-2 win over Czechoslovakia to clinch the bronze. Peake also has fond memories of a 5-3 win over archrival Canada.&ldquo;They had that all-star lineup,&rdquo; Peake says, &ldquo;but we put a pretty good beating on them. I also remember the game against Sweden. They won 8-6. It was, &rsquo;OK, go over the boards, stand in the defensive zone and watch (Michael) Nylander and (Peter) Forsberg.&rsquo; They were so good.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02639/7900489-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="404" height="674"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Romanuk Columnist</figcaption></div>Peake&rsquo;s NHL career was limited to 134 games with Washington. He retired in 1998 due to complications &rsquo; from a shattered heel bone he suffered in 1996. He&rsquo;s just now recovering from his 13th heel operation.&ldquo;I tell younger guys now how much fun (the WJC) was and how you&rsquo;ll look back in 10 years and see how big it was,&rdquo; Peake says. &ldquo;If I had another chance, I&rsquo;d savor it a bit more.&rdquo;DAVE CHYZOWSKI (Canada, 1990) laughed a bit at the question.&ldquo;There were a lot of things I wasn&rsquo;t cognizant of in 1990,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;but one thing I was very cognizant of was how special and how great it was to play for my country (in Helsinki). I remember everything. It was one of the most exciting times of my life.&rdquo;These days Chyzowski, the second overall pick of the Islanders in 1989, makes his living in Graz, Austria, playing for the local team.Chyzowski played on Canada&rsquo;s top line with Mike Ricci and Dwayne Norris. He scored nine goals and 13 points in seven games and was a tournament all-star. His finest game came against a powerful USSR team that boasted Pavel Bure, Slava Kozlov, Alexei Zhamnov and Sergei Zubov.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011026/7900482-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="1318" height="1256"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAULI JAKS (Switzerland, 1991)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We watched them practise the morning of the game,&rdquo; recalls Chyzowski, &ldquo;and they were so good. We looked at one another and thought, &rsquo;OK, we&rsquo;d better be ready.&rsquo; &ldquo;Chyzowski was great. In one of the biggest games of his life, he scored twice and set up another to lead Canada to a 6-4 win.The Edmonton native played only 126 NHL games.&ldquo;Sure, I wish I&rsquo;d played more in the NHL. But I have a beautiful wife, Cindy, and two beautiful boys, Nicholas and Ryan. I play hockey for a living. Life is good.&rdquo;PAULI JAKS (Switzerland, 1991) had the herculean task of back stopping a team that wasn&rsquo;t expected to win a game. It was one of the most spectacular WJC goaltending performances. He ended up being strafed with shots, earning the respect of opponents and the hearts of the Saskatoon fans.&ldquo;It was very special for me,&rdquo; says Jaks from Ambri, Switzerland. &ldquo;We were a bunch of nobodies and all of these great fans were cheering for us. We had to beat Norway to avoid being relegated. We won 2-1 and the fans cheered us like we were playing for Canada.&rdquo;Jaks was named the top goalie the only time that award has gone to someone who won just one game. He was drafted by Los Angeles in 1991, but played only 40 NHL minutes in 1994-95. He returned to Switzerland the next season and now plays for Ambri-Piotta.MARTIN GENDRON (Canada) has learned a lot since 1994, when he was the go-to offensive player on Canada&rsquo;s gold medal-winning team. For example, he has since learned to speak other languages.&ldquo;I remember I couldn&rsquo;t speak English so well (back then),&rdquo; recalls Gendron. &ldquo;Since then I&rsquo;ve learned English and I&rsquo;ve learned a little Italian and some German.&rdquo;The German comes in handy in his adopted home of Olten, Switzerland, where he plays for a club in the second division.&ldquo;Everything was so focused on winning the gold (in Ostrava, Czech Republic),&rdquo; Gendron says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the first time you really get treated like a pro and you have all of the scouts and agents and media there.&rdquo;The highlight came against Sweden in the final. Gendron scored two goals, including the winner.&ldquo;I remember getting the medal and the whole experience. Being part of those winning teams (he also won gold in 1993) is one of the top highlights.&rdquo; Gendron was drafted by Washington in 1992, but played only 30 NHL games.<h2>PAUL&rsquo;S FAVE FIVE</h2>Here are Paul Romanuk&rsquo;s favorite venues from the 12 WJCs he has attended:SKELLEFTEA, Swe. 2000 Roaring fire by the river to herald new millenniumFUSSEN, Ger. 1992 German ski village like living on a postcard MOSCOW, Rus. 2001 Saw Russian ballet perform &rsquo;Nutcracker Suite&rsquo;GENEVA, Switz. 1997 Greatest TV crew New Year&rsquo;s Eve party everHELSINKI, Fin. 1998 Did I mention the Finns like to party? &#9632;

f0021-02

WJC a summit for junior heroes

<div class="byline">- KEVIN ALLEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04439/7900565-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JIM MCISAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div>The magic in Dustin Brown&rsquo;s hands extends beyond his knack for finding the upper corners of the net with his accurate shot.The U.S. not only is expecting the Los Angeles Kings rookie to be among the team&rsquo;s leading goal-scorers, it&rsquo;s also counting on him to put on a show with his impressive array of card tricks.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s really good,&rdquo; said USA Hockey publicist Chuck Menke. &ldquo;He entertained everyone, including the coaches. He shows you the card one moment and then all the sudden he&rsquo;s pulling the same card out from behind your back.&rdquo;Brown, who played for Guelph in the Ontario League, started his hobby after watching pro David Blaine work his magic. Brown picked up information on the Internet and mastered the craft on long bus rides.&ldquo;It takes a lot of practice,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;At first you don&rsquo;t get the manipulations and you have to keep doing it. I&rsquo;m not as good anymore because I haven&rsquo;t had time to work at it.&rdquo;The U.S. is hoping Brown is the ace up its sleeve when it heads to Finland for the 2004 World Junior Championship. He was named to the team in the hope he will be one of its offensive leaders. He&rsquo;s known for being strong on the puck and for a good shot release. But those traits are the reason he made the NHL in his draft year - L.A. picked him 13th last June - and why U.S., officials weren&rsquo;t positive he would be there.Like most junior-aged players. Brown said the most difficult adjustment to NHL hockey is the speed, size and strength of the players. But he doesn&rsquo;t embrace the cliche of saying he had to adjust to moving up a level. &ldquo;The NHL is like two or three levels up from juniors,&rdquo; he says.As he waited to find out for sure whether the Kings would Let him go, he had mixed feelings.&ldquo;I want to play for my country,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But what I want most is to be in the NHL.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-04

U.S. hopes Brown will make fantastic Finnish

<div class="byline">by MATTHEW WUEST</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011112/7900631-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">SIDNEY &rsquo; CROSBY, ALEXANDER OVECHKIN</figcaption></div>Last year&rsquo;s WJC was a coming out party for top 2004 draft prospect Alexander Ovechkin. This year, it&rsquo;s Sidney Crosby&rsquo;s turn.Crosby is the clear favorite to go No. 1 overall in 2005. He can weld his standing with a good showing for Canada at the world juniors, much like Ovechkin did at last year&rsquo;s event with two three-goal outbursts.Although Ovechkin and Crosby are at the top of their draft classes, they excite scouts in different ways.Ovechkin, a 6-foot-2, 203-pound left winger, has terrific talent and plays an explosive game. But it&rsquo;s the 18-year-old&rsquo;s all-around capability that separates him from the rest.&ldquo;He plays at both ends of the ice and you don&rsquo;t often find that in a player with dynamic offensive ability at such a young age,&rdquo; said Al Murray director of amateur scouting for Los Angeles. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the most complete players available.&rdquo;Ovechkin, already in his third Russian Elite League season, has nine "g goals and 17 points in 28 games with Dynamo Moscow. Scouts say he has the poise and maturity to step into the NHL next October.While he has good size and isn&rsquo;t afraid to get involved physically, scouts don&rsquo;t define him as a power forward.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a thumper, but when called upon, he&rsquo;ll finish his check,&rdquo; Murray said.Having played in Russia&rsquo;s top league for three years, Ovechkin has never been called upon to be a team&rsquo;s go to player. That will change at the WJC, where more than 100 scouts want to see Ovechkin seize the reins for the Russians.&ldquo;I want to see if he can carry a team on his back,&rdquo; said Scott Bradley, &Iacute; Boston Bruins director of amateur scouting. &ldquo;The Russians are going to lean on him big time. How much can he dominate?&rdquo;The book on Crosby is different: many scouts see the 5-foot-l 1, 185-pound center as more offensively gifted than Ovechkin.&ldquo;Crosby&rsquo;s got flash and dash,&rdquo; Bradley said. &ldquo;He has I that extra sense, like a third &rsquo; eye, and he can make plays all over the ice. He&rsquo;s just a treat to watch.&rdquo;The 16-year-old has I established himself as the best scorer in junior hockey. He leads the QMJHL with 33 goals, 76 points and a 25.2 shooting percentage in 33 games with Rimouski.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s as good as there&rsquo;s ever been at his age,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Kids who have put up those numbers at that age are few and far between.&rdquo;Crosby&rsquo;s name is sometimes mentioned in the same breath as Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s, but Bradley and Murray liken him more to Joe Sakic. Similar to the Colorado captain, Crosby is a gritty, hard-working competitor.&ldquo;He never quits on a chance,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll do what it takes to keep the offensive chance alive.&rdquo; Despite his offensive flair, Crosby doesn&rsquo;t have Ovechkin&rsquo;s all-around game or size. Murray said Crosby doesn&rsquo;t initiate physical contact and must continue proving his lack of size won&rsquo;t be a hindrance as he moves up through the ranks.Scouts want to see Crosby make an impact at the WJC &mdash; even though he&rsquo;s three years younger than other top players.&ldquo;(We) want to see him continue to be a top offensive player,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;I hope he puts up points and is one ofCanada&rsquo;s top contributors.&rdquo;Ovechkin succeeded in that regard for Russia last year, collecting six goals and an assist in six games en route to a gold medal. But it&rsquo;s difficult to compare the two because Crosby is 11 months younger than Ovechkin was at this time last year.While Ovechkin and Crosby will be under a microscope, scouts will take a step back and take in what two of the brightest young stars b. have to offer.. &ldquo;Both have A the ability to be elite offensive NHL players / down the road,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll just k sit back and A enjoy the show.&rdquo;<h2>DRAFT ALERT</h2>Here are some 2004 NHL draft prospects to watch for at the WJC in Finland.F Alex. Ovechkin, Rus.F Evgeni Malkin, Rus.F Lauri Tukonen, Fin.F Pasi Salonen, Fin.F Rostislav Olesz, Cze.F Jakub Sindel, Cze.F Karel Hromas, Cze.D Dmitri Vorobiev, Rus.D Johan Fransson, Swe.D Jeff Likens, USAG Al Montoya, USAG Marek Schwarz, Cze.G Magnus Akerlund, Swe.<h2>Selection Camp Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01997/7900624-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="1442" height="2716"></div><h2>Tournament Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02667/7900617-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="1420" height="1966"></div><h2>2004 Television Schedule</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03444/7900610-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="1404" height="729"></div><h2>2004 WJC Schedule/WJC MEDAL COUNT</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04283/7900603-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="1228" height="2722"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-05202/7900596-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="3319" height="1002"></div> &#9632;

f0024-01

All eyes focus on Ovechkin, Crosby

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02782/7900662-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">J-P DUMONT BUFFALO SABRES</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011120/7900669-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="215" height="221"></div>This is one of the good years for Buffalo&rsquo;s J-P Dumont. So far, anyhow. At 25, the Sabres right winger is still looking to add consistency to his game.With 10 goals and 23 points in 28 games, Dumont is on pace to establish single-season highs in both goals and points with 27 and 67. His previous highs were 23 goals, twice, and 51 points.After back-to-back seasons of 23 goals and 51 and 44 points, the Montreal native slipped to 14 goals and 35 points in 76 games last year. His resurgence in 2003-04 has come at a time when the Sabres are desperate for scoring. (The Sabres are averaging 2.24 goals per game, 21st in the league.)Dumont was in on 23 of Buffalo&rsquo;s 63 goals (as of Dec. 10), a team-leading 36.5 per cent.HOLIDAY WISH In the spirit of the festive season, each club&rsquo;s biggest holiday wish is featured in the NHL team reports (pgs. 26-38). Find out what has been lacking so far this season for each team and what the club needs to I do to make amends in the new year.PERCENT OF OFFENSE IN SPOTLIGHT The &lsquo;Spotlight&rsquo; boxes in the NHL team reports show the five top scorers on each club and the percentage of their team&rsquo;s total goals that they have either scored or assisted on. Washington center Robert Lang leads the way, with 35 points on the 70 goals scored by the Capitals (50 per cent) as of Dec. 10. The player who is in on the highest percentage of his team&rsquo;s goals is pictured. &#9632;

f0026-02

<div class="byline">- JOHN MANASSO</div>Byron Dafoe, a three-time, 30-game winner and the Thrashers&rsquo; highest-salaried player along with Slava Kozlov, started in goal for just three of Atlanta&rsquo;s first 27 games this season.The only starts Dafoe earned were in back-to-back situations, with Pasi Nurminen leading the league in games, minutes and ranking second in the Eastern Conference in wins with 13.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05334/7900745-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="293" height="384"><figcaption class="caption-body">ATLANTA, THRASHERS (JIM MCISAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div>However, coach Bob Hartley altered his strategy after a recent stretch in which Nurminen admitted he might be tiring. Dafoe won his second game in a row 4-3 in over-time over Los Angeles Dec. 10 by stopping 29 of 32 shots.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06271/7900738-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="347" height="750"></div>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s the time of year now where you have to keep both goalies sharp,&rdquo; Hartley said. &ldquo;I think Byron has responded with some very good performances. At the same time, it&rsquo;s a reward for Byron, it&rsquo;s a well deserved reward, just making sure we keep the two goalies focused and making sure we give ourselves a chance to be successful.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH Hartley often must thrust forwards into the center position even if they haven&rsquo;t played it in years. The move is necessitated by the drop-off in quality at the position after Marc Savard. The Thrashers could use a second offense-minded center to set up Ilya Kovalchuk, who often finds his only time with Savard on the power play.NOTEBOOK GM Don Waddell said right winger Dany Heatley would &ldquo;definitely&rdquo; be skating by Christmas and agreed that two months for a return once on the ice is a fair assumption, meaning Heatley could be back by the end of February. Waddell also said he expected more clarity on the legal charges facing Heatley by Jan. 1&hellip;Goalie Byron Dafoe, who was born in England and was a landed Canadian immigrant, became an American citizen Dec. 8. &#9632;

f0026-05

Nurminen gets a rest; Dafoe picks up pace

<div class="byline">- NANCY MARRAPESE-BURRELL</div>Struggles bring changes and Boston&rsquo;s first major shift of the season was when coach Mike Sullivan elected to sit out young defense-man Jeff Jillson for a game against the Florida Panthers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02707/7900783-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="260" height="387"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOSTON BRUINS</figcaption></div>Sullivan thought Jillson was struggling and would benefit from some time watching the Dec. 10 tilt from the press box.&ldquo;He has to be more prepared to play,&rdquo; Sullivan said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t take anything for granted in this game and it&rsquo;s a competitive league. We know Jeff is a very good player and we expect he&rsquo;ll be a big part of this team. I think it&rsquo;s just sometimes players benefit from watching and maybe getting a different perspective on how the game is being played out there.&rdquo;By no means was Sullivan saying Jillson was the only inconsistent player, but he felt the blueliner needed to refocus his energies.Jillson was unhappy about having to sit out, but tried his best to understand it.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just got to handle it the best way possible and not let it affect me in a negative way,&rdquo; Jillson said.HOLIDAY WISH An identity. The Bruins were terrific at the start of last year and then were mediocre the rest of the way. Through the middle of December, they showed signs of having the same thing happen.They&rsquo;ve been excellent on some nights against good teams and completely ineffective other nights. Against lower-echelon teams, too often they play down to the other team&rsquo;s level, showing a lack of a killer instinct. Will the real Bruins please stand up?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03489/7900776-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="350" height="764"></div>NOTEBOOK For the first time all season, coach Mike Sullivan gave one of his goalies three starts in a row. Andrew Raycroft was in the pipes for contests against Philadelphia, Ottawa and Florida, all of which ended in ties. Sullivan said he&rsquo;d still use the tandem, but Raycroft has emerged as the No. 1 netminder with Felix Potvin reduced to backup. &ldquo;Obviously, it&rsquo;s almost a nice compliment that they&rsquo;ve given me three starts in a row,&rdquo; Raycroft said&hellip;. Defenseman Sean O&rsquo;Donnell picked up his first point of the season (in 28 games) by assisting on Ted Donato&rsquo;s game-tying goal Dec. 10 against Florida. &#9632;

f0027-02

Jillson sent to press box in effort to regain his focus

<div class="byline">- JIM KELLEY</div>Chris Drury&rsquo;s goal production has been a I little less than expected. Andy Delmore hasn&rsquo;t been able to crack the lineup on a regular basis. Jochen Hecht has struggled to find t consistency both before he broke his arm and afterward.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04334/7900821-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="291" height="401"><figcaption class="caption-body">BUFFALO SABRES</figcaption></div>Daniel Briere, however, now there&rsquo;s a deal that has paid off big-time for the Buffalo Sabres.The diminutive forward, brought over from Phoenix late last season for Chris Gratton, has been everything the Sabres could hope for. He is challenging for the club scoring lead with 10 goals and 23 points in 29 games through Dec. 10. He&rsquo;s second only to Miroslav Satan in power play goals (three). He is among the team&rsquo;s most consistent players and enjoys playing in Buffalo.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t be happier,&rdquo; Briere said. &ldquo;For my career, it was the best thing that ever happened, no doubt about it. You come here and they want you to assume more leadership than 1 what was expected in Phoenix. They give you more responsibility. You become the go-to guy. 1 As a hockey player, that&rsquo;s what you want.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s what the Sabres wanted as well.HOLIDAY WISH Having Satan come even close to form would be a reasonable request, but as long as it&rsquo;s Mr. Claus on the other end of the line, a true No. 1 center would be nice. Buffalo is offensively challenged at all areas on the ice, but is especially small at center. A big centerman who can lug the puck, hold onto it in traffic and make plays would also open up room for the team&rsquo;s smallish wingers, who can&rsquo;t create opportunities because their lack of size prohibits them from driving the net.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05223/7900814-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="343" height="768"></div>NOTEBOOK The Sabres continue to play the revolving goalie game. Mika Noronen appears to have moved toward the No. 1 spot, but Ryan Miller has been recalled from Rochester (AHL) for a look-see. On the surface, Martin Biron has gone from being the perceived No. 1 to possibly the odd man out, though Miller was blitzed in a 7-2 loss to an injury-riddled Red Wings team Dec. 11 and his role with the team is still in doubt. &ldquo;I think Marty has struggled,&rdquo; said coach Lindy Ruff. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like where his game is and I&rsquo;ve talked to him about that&hellip;It&rsquo;s what Ryan has done at the (AHL) level that warrants bringing him up.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0027-04

Briere blossoms in Buffalo with more responsibility

<div class="byline">- ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>Jarome Iginla has been around for most of the bad old days - the seven years in a row out of the playoffs, the constant need to address what was wrong with the Calgary Flames.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02742/7900859-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="277" height="377"><figcaption class="caption-body">CALGARY FLAMES</figcaption></div>So understandably, when things did finally turn the corner for the struggling NHL franchise, he was also front-and-center to discuss the good times.Calgary went on a stretch through early December in which they registered a point in 10 consecutive games to vault into a playoff position in the tough Western Conference. In the second week of the month, they earned the offensive (right winger Shean Donovan) and defensive (goalie Miikka Kipru-soff) player-of-the-week awards.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03524/7900852-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="339" height="747"></div>&ldquo;It feels really good, with the success we&rsquo;re having as a team,&rdquo; Iginla said. &ldquo;Personally, it felt like a little bit of relief to get a goal at home and contribute on the scoreboard. Every fine is feeding off (Donovan&rsquo;s) line. This is fun. We want to keep this going.&rdquo;After scoring just two goals through 19 games, Donovan scored nine in the next six, including three game-winners and one on a penalty shot.HOLIDAY WISH Calgary&rsquo;s top wish is for an injury-free second half. With all hands on deck, the Flames just might be able to stay in contention for a Western Conference playoff spot, but the loss of centers Steve Reinprecht, Craig Conroy and Blair Betts leaves them desperately short down the middle.NOTEBOOK Left winger Martin Gelinas played his 1,000th career game Dec. 9 against Minnesota and produced the only Calgary goal in a 2-1 loss&hellip;Lost in the fuss over the Flames&rsquo; revival was the strong play of goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, who joined Calgary in a mid-November deal with San Jose. &#9632;

f0030-02

Long-suffering Iginla enjoying turnaround

<div class="byline">- LUKE DECOCK</div>Carolina&rsquo;s season hit a crossroads after a loss in Montreal, prompting two players-only meetings and a punishing practice as the Hurricanes tried to turn things around.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04362/7900897-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="292" height="329"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAROLINA HURRICANES</figcaption></div>After earning just one point in a home-and-home series with the Canadiens, including a 3-1 loss in Montreal Dec. 6, the Canes shut the doors to the dressing room, then returned the next day for a brutal hour-long skate coming on the heels of three games in four nights.With only seven wins in 26 games, the Canes decided it was time to release some tension and regroup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05270/7900890-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="350" height="749"></div>&ldquo;We have to just stay in the fight,&rdquo; said veteran Rod Brind&rsquo; Amour, who is the team&rsquo;s highest-paid player, but who had scored only two goals this season. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to let it get too far away, so it&rsquo;s too hard to get back in there.&rdquo;Early results were promising with a 3-2 win over the equally woeful Oilers Dec. 9.HOLIDAY WISH While the Canes could benefit from talent upgrades just about everywhere, what they really need is some confidence.Their baffling inability to score, particularly players with proven offensive abilities, has less to do with generating chances and everything to do with not converting them.What the Canes need more than anything is for their scorers to start believing they can score again and then to start lighting it up.NOTEBOOK After seven NHL seasons as a penalty killer, Kevyn Adams got his first regular season shorthanded goal. He had one for Toronto in the 2000 playoffs&hellip;The Hurricanes played the Predators Dec. 3 for the second straight year. In the intervening 364 days, they went 17-46-14-3&hellip;Carolina scored only 15 goals in a 10-game span, going 2-4-3-1. &#9632;

f0030-04

Carolina gets serious after Montreal loss

<div class="byline">- TIM SASSONE</div>His team ravaged by injuries and on a pace for 57 points, Chicago Blackhawks GM Bob Pulford nevertheless vowed to continue with the youth movement with an eye to the future.&ldquo;To a fan, I know it&rsquo;s hard to swallow, but that&rsquo;s where we are,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s going to take a year. It&rsquo;s hard when you lose not to be annoyed, but I always felt when I coached that if you got the effort, that&rsquo;s all you can ask for. And we&rsquo;re getting the effort.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06211/7900935-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="289" height="379"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</figcaption></div>Pulford stressed the Hawks will I not trade its core of prospects or youngsters such as Kyle Calder or Mark Bell for a quick fix.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-07179/7900928-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="345" height="745"></div>&ldquo;Our ownership says we&rsquo;re going to keep the kids and in time we&rsquo;ll have a better team because of it,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re certainly not going to trade our young players and prospects - the ones we feel will eventually play here.&rdquo;Pulford believes the Hawks still an make the playoffs if they stay close enough until Alex Zhamnov, Eric Daze and Jocelyn Thibault return from their injuries.HOLIDAY WISH What the Black-hawks need more than anything is the return to health of their big three &mdash; Thibault, Daze and Zhamnov. But Thibault and Daze are gone until February, at the earliest. Zhamnov was set to return before the end of December.In the interim, a more consistent power play would help. Having lost nine one-goal games to go with fiveties in their first 29, a better power play could have meant more points. NOTEBOOK Defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev was lost for until February after ankle surgery to repair bone chips&hellip; Karpovtsev became the fifth Hawk to have surgery this season, joining left winger Eric Daze (back), center Alexei Zhamnov (back), goaltender; Jocelyn Thibault (hip) and defenseman Jason Strudwick (wrist). &#9632;

f0030-06

Chicago determined to stick with youth

<div class="byline">- ADRIAN DATER</div>Who could have possibly predicted this?That a veteran castoff from the Chicago Blackhawks might be the most indispensable player for the start-studded Colorado Avalanche after the first third of the season?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02672/7900973-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="295" height="363"><figcaption class="caption-body">COLORADO AVALANCHE</figcaption></div>Nobody would have, but that arguably describes the value of center Andrei Nikolishin to the Avs so far. Not only has Nikolishin been the Avalanche&rsquo;s top penalty-killing forward, he has been one of the NHL&rsquo;s best at winning faceoffs - a category the Avs did not excel in last season. &ldquo;He has gotten more minutes with some of the injuries we&rsquo;ve had and he has made the most of them,&rdquo; said Avs coach Tony Granato. &ldquo;He has been great for us.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03497/7900966-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="345" height="757"></div>Acquired for a third round draft choice from Chicago last June, Nikolishin ranked third in the NHL in faceoff-winning percentage at nearly 62 per cent and has even chipped in offensively. On the penalty kill, he has helped improve Colorado from 21st to a top 10 team.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a really, really solid player,&rdquo; said teammate Teemu Selanne.HOLIDAY WISH Better health. After their first 26 games, the Avs were second to Los Angeles in man-games lost to injury, at 134, all but eight of them to the forwards. Peter Forsberg and Paul Kariya had played a combined total of 18 games.After that, the Avs could use some help when they get 5-on-3 power-play advantages. The Avs finally converted a 5-on-3 opportunity Dec. 6 against Columbus after five failed attempts.NOTEBOOK Center Peter Forsberg skated pain-free Dec. 8 and the team hoped for a return from his abdominal injury by the end of the month&hellip;Center Joe Sakic recorded seven points (one goal, six assists) in consecutive wins over Columbus and Washington Dec. 6 and 8. &#9632;

f0031-02

Nikolishin’s efforts not going unnoticed

<div class="byline">- AARON PORTZLINE</div>The Blue Jackets ran out of patience and roster spots for oft-injured center Espen Knutsen, assigning him to Syracuse of the American Hockey League in early December.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04370/7901011-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="295" height="381"><figcaption class="caption-body">COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS</figcaption></div>It marked a dramatic tumble for Knutsen, one of the few Norwegian players ever to make COLUMBUS an impact in the NHL, as well as the first Blue Jacket to play in an All-Star Game (in 2002).He had 53 points and 42 points in his first two seasons in Columbus, but injuries all but wiped out the past two seasons.&ldquo;He had two really solid years for us,&rdquo; MacLean said. &ldquo;But he had a hard time staying healthy.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05295/7901004-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="343" height="753"></div>The Blue Jackets and Knutsen couldn&rsquo;t agree on a contract buyout and the club couldn&rsquo;t find any takers for him. But Knutsen and his agent, Don Meehan, were trying to find a spot for him in Sweden or Switzerland.HOLIDAY WISH The Blue Jackets need the gift of health. Early in the season, top forwards Geoff Sanderson, Tyler Wright and Trevor Letowski all were hurt. Once that cleared, the blueline was bitten by the injury bug. As of mid-December, Luke Richardson (broken finger), Jaroslav Spacek (groin), Duvie Westcott (bruised foot) and Rostislav Klesla (knee) - four of the top five - all were on the shelf. They may all be back by Dec. 26. That would be a nice gift.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Jamie Pushor signed a two-way deal for the remainder of the season, his second tour of duty in Columbus. Pushor was traded to Pittsburgh in 2002, for a fourth round draft pick&hellip;Left winger Nikolai Zherdev said he will stay in North America, even if an arbitration case rules him ineligible to play in the NHL because of a military commitment. If necessary, Zherdev could play in the American League with Syracuse. &#9632;

f0031-04

Knutsen era ends; will he go to Europe?

<div class="byline">- MIKE HEIKA</div>The Stars backed themselves to the wall in December with their longest losing streak since 1995-96.Dallas lost five straight - all to Pacific Division opponents and fell four games below 500 for the first time in nine seasons. That drew a warning from owner Tom Hicks.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06239/7901049-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="287" height="331"><figcaption class="caption-body">DALLAS STARS</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to have one of the highest payrolls in the league and finish below .500. If we do, there will be changes,&rdquo; Hicks said. &ldquo;But what I hope will change before that is the players start playing better. We have players who can play better than they&rsquo;re playing right now.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-07208/7901042-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="345" height="739"></div>Coach Dave Tippett put blame on his skill players, who had just three goals in the losing streak.&ldquo;We have players who are high-end skill players that have to be difference makers in the game and they&rsquo;re not even close right now,&rdquo; Tippett said. &ldquo;They have something that other players don&rsquo;t. They have the ability to change the game.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH While Santa Claus&rsquo;s sleigh couldn&rsquo;t carry every-thing the franchise needs, a good start would be a new partner on defense for Sergei Zubov. He clearly is missing former Stars Derian Hatcher and Darryl Sydor, the two players with whom he has excelled over the past six seasons in Dallas.NOTEBOOK The Stars believed they had built a solid offensive team in the off-season, but through their first 29 games, they were shut out six times and had just 35 even-strength goals&hellip;In their five-game losing streak, the Stars went more than 300 minutes with just one even-strength goal&hellip; Defenseman Jeff MacMillan made his NHL debut Dec. 7 in a 4-0 loss to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. The Stars were missing blueliners Richard Matvichuk (knee), Teppo Numminen (foot) and Philippe Boucher (eye) in that game. &#9632;

f0031-06

Extended loss streak draws owner’s wrath

<div class="byline">- NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA</div>Brett Hull is proud of his new ranking as the NHL third all-time goal-scorer, but he&rsquo;s not about to stop now.Hull passed Marcel Dionne with his 732nd career goal Dea 8, an over-time marker that clinched a 3-2 win over L.A., and put him behind only Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-08171/7901087-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="308" height="355"><figcaption class="caption-body">DETROIT REO WINGS</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t put it into words what it means,&rdquo; Hull said, &ldquo;because one guy is known as the greatest ever and the other guy is known as Mr. Hockey.&rdquo;&ldquo;And what are you known as?&rdquo; Hull was asked.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; he said with a laugh. &ldquo;Kind of &rsquo; The Pain-In-The- (butt) of Hockey.&rdquo;Hull, 39, won&rsquo;t approach Gretzky&rsquo;s total of 894, but would like to take a run at Howe&rsquo;s 801.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I can do it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;d like to at least give it a try&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH The Redwings desperately need good health. In mid-December, they had 10 important players out of the lineup with injuries. The combined base salaries of the injured players was close to $32.3 million - more than the 2003-04 payrolls of seven NHL teams. In their place, seven players slated to be playing in the American League &mdash; eight, if you W include goalie Curtis Joseph - &rsquo; were in uniform &Iacute; for the Wings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-09148/7901080-1-eng-US/f0031-092.jpg" title="f0031-09" width="343" height="754"></div>NOTEBOOK Goalie Curtis Joseph cleared waivers and was sent to Grand Rapids (AHL), but returned a &mdash; few days later, driving a rented car from Cleveland to Buffalo and beating the Sabres 7-2 Dec. 10. Asked if the situation were his worst nightmare, Joseph said, &ldquo;I would say it&rsquo;s a year of uncertainty - uncertainty for myself and my family - and any time you go through uncertainty that is some-thing you have to challenge yourself with. Certainly it is a challenge, but you rise to the occasion.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0031-08

Hull says he’ll try to pass ‘Mr. Hockey’

<div class="byline">- ROB TYCHKOWSKI</div>As the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; perennial workhorse and four-time most valuable player, the last thing 32-year-old goaltender Tommy Salo expected to be doing this season is proving himself all over again.But that&rsquo;s the case after he struggled through October with an .866 save percentage and 3.42 goals-against average and spent most of November on IR with an injured hip - all the while overhearing whispers he was on the downside of his career.Now Salo is back, determined to prove he&rsquo;s still the man in Edmonton.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02735/7901125-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="262" height="388"><figcaption class="caption-body">EDMONTON OILERS</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s fun to be playing again, I&rsquo;m really happy about it,&rdquo; said Salo, who played 294 of Edmonton&rsquo;s 345 games over the past four seasons, but is being pushed for the first time by backup Ty Conklin, who shone in Salo&rsquo;s absence.&ldquo;You always want to be the guy, that&rsquo;s for sure,&rdquo; said Salo, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ve been the guy long term now. You know there are going to be younger guys coming up to challenge for the No.l spot, that&rsquo;s the way it is. It&rsquo;s up to me to play good and keep focused.&rdquo;Coach Craig MacTavish is hoping Salo&rsquo;s time away helped him clear his head and mend his body.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03529/7901118-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="349" height="758"></div>&ldquo;Tommy has always played a lot of hockey for us,&rdquo; MacTavish said. &ldquo;Now he&rsquo;s coming off a stretch of almost a month where he hasn&rsquo;t played. He&rsquo;s going to be well rested. It might have been good for him.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH Something nice for when the Oilers are naughty - better penalty killing. Their PK was 30th in the NHL at 73.2 per cent (while the league average was 83.6 and the 29th place team was 77.6). It was barely over 60 per cent in an eight-game stretch (six of them losses) in late November and early December, allowing 13 goals on 35 power plays.NOTEBOOK GM Kevin Lowe reportedly wants center Mike Comrie to pay the team $2.5 million before he&rsquo;s traded. The belief is Lowe wants to recoup some of the $9 million he paid Comrie with the understanding he was here for the long term. Comrie instead played three years and demanded a trade&hellip; Right winger Radek Dvorak was finally reunited with his wife and son (who was born in October, three months premature and weighing just two pounds), after they were finally given the green light to fly over from the Czech Republic. &#9632;

f0032-02

Goalie Salo returns from sick bay hoping to prove he’s still No. 1

<div class="byline">- DAVID J. NEAL</div>Ice time for left winger Kristian Huselius was a big sticking point between Florida Panthers GM Rick Dudley and former coach Mike Keenan.Keenan would bench Huselius for the least transgression, infuriating Dudley.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04373/7901163-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="283" height="387"><figcaption class="caption-body">FLORIDA PANTHERS</figcaption></div>Ironic, then, that Huselius was a healthy scratch twice in 14 games under Dudley when he was a healthy scratch just once in his 147 healthy games under Keenan.A stretch of one goal in 24 games preceded his recasting as a Black Ace. Once the Panthers most dangerous goal scorer who didn&rsquo;t carry the surname Bure, Huselius now often looks hesitant and timid. Confidence is low, repeat, confidence is low. &ldquo;(I have to) try to find the net and shoot the puck,&rdquo; Huselius said. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t think too much. When you don&rsquo;t score, you think too much.&rdquo;Huselius scored 23 goals and 45 points in 79 games as a rookie with the Panthers in 2001-02 and then managed 20 goals and 43 points in 78 games last year.Through 27 games this season he had three goals and 10 points in 27 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05288/7901156-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="343" height="758"></div>HOLIDAY WISH Topmost on the Panthers&rsquo; wish list is a killer instinct. It isn&rsquo;t just that the Panthers have been the cure for many slumping teams, it&rsquo;s that in a league where two-goal leads are more secure than Patrick Roy&rsquo;s Hall of Fame spot, the Panthers have blown four two-goal leads, leaving them with three losses and a tie. One of those two-goal leads was actually a 3-0 lead, which they turned into a 4-3 loss at Buffalo.Night after night, the Panthers leave points on the table by letting opponents hang around, then choking.NOTEBOOK With NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in town for a Dec. 10 game, the Panthers goosed Office Depot Center attendance by offering four free tickets to each season ticket holder. The crowd was announced at 17,465. What should be worrisome is the Panthers felt this had to be done for a game against Boston, which almost always draws well&hellip;Despite being the only rookie, right winger Nathan Horton wasn&rsquo;t hit too hard by the Panthers&rsquo; rookie dinner. The night at Miami Beach&rsquo;s The Forge restaurant cost Horton just $3,300. &#9632;

f0032-04

Dudley coming over to Keenan’s way as coach benches slumping Huselius

<div class="byline">- MATT MCHALE</div>Jozef Stumpel could be the wildcard in the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; efforts to remain near the top of the Western Conference. Stumpel returned to the Kings for his second tour of duty this season, but did not exactly shake the injury-prone tag that has dogged him in the past. The 6-foot-3,225-pound center missed a month with a bruised chest muscle that seemed to take forever to heal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-06241/7901201-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="270" height="361"><figcaption class="caption-body">LOS ANGELES KINGS</figcaption></div>But he is back, anchoring a top line of Martin Straka and Ziggy Palffy. With the future of Jason Allison (whiplash) and Adam Deadmarsh (concussion) uncertain, the Kings need Stumpel to provide stability.&ldquo;When he is healthy, he is a point-a-game producer,&rdquo; said Kings GM Dave Taylor, who has twice traded for Stumpel. &ldquo;He is a strong presence in the middle.&rdquo;Last summer, the Kings reacquired Stumpel, 31, from Boston, where he was sent in the October, 2001 trade that brought Allison to L.A. He played with the Kings from 1997-98 to early 2001 and had 21 goals and 79 points in his first season.But his frequent injuries made it difficult to keep him as the No. 1 center. Taylor brought him back hoping the No. 2 center spot would provide less pressure and more results.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-07204/7901194-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="347" height="745"></div>The Kings have tried Derek Armstrong and Mike Cammalleri in the top role. Armstrong has been injured and Cammalleri is emerging as an offensive talent. But after acquiring Straka they need someone to set the table.&ldquo;We have developed great chemistry right away,&rdquo; Stumpel said. &ldquo;After all we&rsquo;ve been through, this team has a good chance to go a long way.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH The Kings wish for no more easy goals for Roman Cechmanek. Though his numbers are fine and he is among the league leaders in shutouts, Cechmanek has been inconsistent. He has frustrated coaches by giving up a soft goal per game. During a two-game stretch, he allowed four and lost both games even though L.A. had outshot opponents by a wide margin.NOTEBOOK Kings trainer Peter Demers worked his 2,500th straight game Dec. 18 when the Kings played Edmonton&hellip;After extending his goal drought to 14 games, newly acquired left winger Martin Straka scored goals in each of his next three games. &#9632;

f0032-06

Kings banking on veteran Stumpel to pick up slack for injured mates

<div class="byline">- BRIAN MURPHY</div>The Wild had a change of heart about rookie Brent Burns joining the Canadian world junior team in Finland.A rash of injuries to his forwards forced GM Doug Risebrough to turn down Team Canada&rsquo;s initial inquiries about the 18-year-old winger. But the wounds healed, making Burns&rsquo;s role as a regular tenuous and diminishing the pressure to hold onto him.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02676/7901239-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="299" height="343"><figcaption class="caption-body">MINNESOTA WILD</figcaption></div>Moreover, the experience that Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Nick Schultz gained playing for Canada in previous championships helped their development in the NHL. Why turn down more free education?&ldquo;Both guys came back with a lot of confidence and a noticeable improvement in their games,&rdquo; Risebrough said. &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s a chance for (Burns) to make their team and be in the lineup a lot and maybe give him a chance to see improvement at the same level he played last year.&rdquo; Risebrough told Burns the decision was in his best interest, but he expressed mixed feelings.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to go and hopefully have a chance to play for my country. But at the same time, it&rsquo;s tough to go,&rdquo; said Burns, who had one goal and four assists in 15 games with Minnesota. &ldquo;I was having a good time here and leaving all these guys is tough.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH A game breaker. Through the first third of the season, the Wild again were thirsting for goals. During one pro-longed drought, they scored one goal in six straight games. Marian Gaborik, Minnesota&rsquo;s money player in every aspect, only had three goals in 16 games since re-signing. Last season, even as Gaborik poured 30 pucks into the net, others would fire in a third period coffin closer, a power play rally starter or an overtime winner. The Wild need that offensive initiative in the second half if they expect to return to the playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03520/7901232-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="339" height="753"></div>NOTEBOOK Center Jason Wiemer lost three front teeth after being kicked by a skate at practice Dec. 8, which led to this telephone conversation with his mother later that night: &ldquo;She asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said my three front teeth,&rdquo; Wiemer said. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you mean two?&rdquo; she responded. &ldquo;No, mom, I&rsquo;m going to need three."&hellip;Calgary scored a pair of third period goals in a 2-1 victory Dec. 5, ending the Wild&rsquo;s 47-game undefeated streak when leading after two periods. &#9632;

f0033-02

Wild do rapid about-face on Bums, hope for WJC confidence boost

<div class="byline">- HERB ZURKOWSKY</div>Mike Ribeiro got the message.After Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien proved his point by scratching the team&rsquo;s leading scorer for a home game against Tampa Bay, Ribeiro proved his point by changing his game. Since serving his penance, Ribeiro has kept his shifts shorter while continuing his offensive production. Ribeiro has two goals and three points in his next four games, giving him totals of 5-13-18 in 28 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04409/7901277-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="291" height="329"><figcaption class="caption-body">MONTREAL CANADIENS</figcaption></div>Ribeiro said he wasn&rsquo;t surprised over his healthy scratch - one of his shifts in a game against Florida lasted 1:40 - but he never expected the maelstrom it produced.&ldquo;I guess it&rsquo;s nice to see the fans and the media behind me, but I think this whole thing was blown up too much,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s the way things are around here.&rdquo;Ribeiro was reluctant to stir the pot. Long shifts are a bad habit he has suffered from since his days in junior, he explained.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of the things I have to work on,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what they told me at the end of last season. The important thing is for the team to do good and make the playoffs. And thatmeans I have to do better.&rdquo;Just another overblown crisis in Montreal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05343/7901270-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="341" height="745"></div>HOLIDAY WISH The Canadiens suffer from I their share of problems, including a lack of size and offensive talent. Montreal likely can overcome the former until the playoffs, provided it gets that far. But with no scorers about to materialize out of thin air, the Canadiens will have to make do with what they have.That means Richard Zednik, who led the team in goals, with nine, will have to continue his torrid pace of late. After being held to only two goals in his first 18 games, Zednik had seven in his next 10.But others must also contribute. In posting a 13-12-3-1 record, the Canadiens were averaging 2.1 goals a game, but had allowed an average of 2.2. Their margin for error is razor thin.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Stephane Quintal was suspended for one game after being assessed a match penalty for attempt to injure against Carolina, Dec. 6. Quintal got into a fight against defenseman Bob Boughner and tried to kick Boughner from behind while both players were being restrained by the linesmen. &#9632;

f0033-04

Shorter shifts, same production in Ribeiro’s post-doghouse world

<div class="byline">- DAVID BOCLAIR</div>The plan at the start of the season was for goalie Tomas Vokoun to play somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-to-65 games.Based on the team&rsquo;s success in the early going, however, the coaches have decided to ride him for as long as possible.At his current pace he will play close to 75.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s become Secretariat,&rdquo; said coach Barry Trotz said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a chance to be the winner of the Triple Crown, as far as I&rsquo;m concerned. He&rsquo;s the guy.&rdquo;The 27-year-old who played 57 of the final 58 last season started 24 of the Predators&rsquo; first 26 and had a lot to do with the fact they were off to the best start in team history at 14-11-1-0. His 14 victories already was the second-highest total of his career and was tied for the league lead.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06297/7901315-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="291" height="331"><figcaption class="caption-body">NASHVILLE PREDATORS</figcaption></div>&ldquo;If we were in a different situation, where we knew we were going to make the playoffs like some teams do, then maybe you give him a night off to try and shake things up and keep guys from getting complacent,&rdquo; Trotz said. &ldquo;We need to get as many wins as we can.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-07268/7901308-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="341" height="759"></div>HOLIDAY WISH If only the Predators had a way to speed up time. Youngsters such as Dan Hamhuis, Jordin Tootoo and Wade Brookbank (and even Scottie Upshall during a four-game stint earlier in the season) regularly make the sort of plays that distinguish them from the more pedestrian veterans on which the team relied in previous seasons.However, they also make the sort of mistakes that players barely out of their teens &Iacute; are bound to make. Typically it&rsquo;s about one bad one for every good one. Once they get enough experience that the ratio is heavily slanted in favor of the great plays, Nashville will be a much more consistent team overall.NOTEBOOK Nashville&rsquo;s franchise-record win streak reached six games before it ended with a 4-1 loss in St. Louis Dec. 6. &ldquo;All good things come to an end, but maybe we&rsquo;ll do something better down the road,&rdquo; said coach Barry Trotz&hellip;The Predators won six of their first nine games against Central Division opponents, including two against Detroit. They won six division games all of last season. The only team from the Central they had yet to defeat was Chicago. &#9632;

f0033-06

Predators to ride steady Vokoun as far as star goalie can carry them

<div class="byline">- RICH CHERE</div>While it&rsquo;s true New Jersey has long been known for its stingy defense, the current team has a credible shot at being the best defensive squad in franchise history.In fact, averaging a league-low 1.5 goals-against per game through 26 games, the Devils are contenders for the best defensive teams in NHL history.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s early,&rdquo; said blueliner Scott Stevens. &ldquo;You can have some bad spells&hellip;We&rsquo;re doing good so far. We&rsquo;re not giving up many quality scoring chances, but things can change.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-08221/7901353-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="247" height="369"><figcaption class="caption-body">NEW JERSEY DEVILS</figcaption></div>Last season, while sharing the William Jennings Trophy with the Flyers, the Devils allowed 166 goals. That tied the team record for fewest allowed set in 1997-98. This season, the Devils were on pace to finish with 126 goals against, which would shatter the record. Goalie Martin Brodeur has never had more than 10 shutouts in any of his 10 seasons, but he posted six in 26 games.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the personnel, the people that come and go,&rdquo; said center John Madden. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the way the team is committed to defense. It&rsquo;s the way we work together. Also, it&rsquo;s Marty.&ldquo;Our goal is to have the lowest goals against. We feel if we play low-scoring games, we have the best chance of winning.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-09190/7901346-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="347" height="747"></div>HOLIDAY WISH Imagine how much more dominating the Devils would be if they could control the puck right from the face-off. While John Madden and Erik Rasmus-sen have had some success, the Devils were lacking a dominant faceoff man. Winning draws would take a lot of the heat off the defense and would also improve the team&rsquo;s offense, which has relied on forcing turnovers to generate scoring chances.NOTEBOOK The breakup of YankeeNets, the corporate partnership that ran the Yan-kees, Nets and Devils, was viewed as positive for the hockey team because it would eliminate red tape. But one potential unrestricted free agent, center John Madden, said, &ldquo;My concern is, is the franchise going to move? Part of the decision of me staying here is because I want to stay here in New Jersey. That might be the difference in me staying or going."&hellip; Left winger Patrik Elias&rsquo;s penalty shot (unsuccessful) in a Dec. 10 game against the Islanders was his second career overtime penalty shot, an NHL record. The other penalty shot, taken Dec. 1,2000, was also against the Islanders and also unsuccessful. &#9632;

f0033-08

Devils aim for goals-against record riding Brodeur, focus on defense

<div class="byline">- PETER BOTTE</div>Not quite a third of the way into his first NHL season, New York Islanders right winger Trent Hunter isn&rsquo;t ready to look ahead. But others already are doing it for him.With 10 goals through 21 games - nearly putting him on a 40-goal pace - Hunter has positioned himself among front-runners for the Calder Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s top freshman.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02765/7901391-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="273" height="384"><figcaption class="caption-body">NEW YORK ISLANDERS</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great honor to even be mentioned, but I&rsquo;m not thinking about that yet. I can&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said the 23-year-old Hunter. &ldquo;I take a glance once in a while how some of the other (rookies) are doing, but it&rsquo;s not something I&rsquo;m too worried about. The second I start worrying about what other people are doing, it will affect my game.&rsquo;Despite a slew of youth movements the last several years, the Isles haven&rsquo;t boasted a Calder winner, or even a finalist, since Bryan Berard claimed the award in 1997. Hall of Earners Denis Potvin (1974), Bryan Trottier (1976) and Mike Bossy (1978) are the other Isles to have copped top-rookie honors.Hunter, who has played most recently on a new variation of Michael Peca&rsquo;s Lucky 7&rsquo;s line, was one goal and two points off the team scoring leads through Dec. 12 with 10 goals and 16 points. Philadelphia&rsquo;s Joni Pitkanen, Vancouver&rsquo;s Jason King, Boston&rsquo;s Patrice Bergeron, Carolina&rsquo;s Eric Staal and others have also made impressive debuts this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03604/7901384-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="345" height="749"></div>HOLIDAY WISH These are just a few hopeful things that will appear under the Isles&rsquo; tree this year: Captain Michael Peca, the subject of recent trade rumors and fan abuse, wants to know whether he&rsquo;s staying or going.Defenseman Roman Hamrlik (no goals through Dec. 12) wants to rediscover the shot that has abandoned him. Mariusz Czerkawski, still the team&rsquo;s leading scorer despite a recent slump, wants to know what he has to do to not get benched after every defensive mistake. And GM Mike Milbury wants a psychology degree to figure out exactly what the next step should be for his &ldquo;why-can&rsquo;t-we-just-get-along?&rdquo; roster.NOTEBOOK Gritty center Dave Scatchard returned to the line-up Dec. 6 following a seven-week absence due to a dislocated shoulder and posted three points in two games, both victories following a seven-game losing streak. &#9632;

f0034-02

Hunter’s start has people whispering Calder Trophy is within his reach

<div class="byline">- LARRY BROOKS</div>Despite their obvious commitment to defensive awareness and a system stressing positioning without the puck, the New York Rangers&rsquo; play through 28 games represented nearly a copy image of the 28 games they played under Glen Sather last year after the GM replaced Bryan Trottier behind the bench. Following a home 2-1 loss to Montreal Dec.10, the Blueshirts fell a game below breakeven at 10-11-5-2, a mark reminiscent of their 11-10-4-3 record under Sather a year ago. What&rsquo;s more, the Rangers scored 75 goals while allowing 72 this season as opposed to 74 scored and 66 surrendered last year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04473/7901429-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="251" height="369"><figcaption class="caption-body">NEW YORK RANGERS</figcaption></div>And most critical of all, after 28 games the Rangers were on the outside looking in at the East&rsquo;s playoff seeds, just as they were last year when the season came to an end - just as they have been the last six years. Frustration was becoming evident during a stretch in which the team lost four of five games.&ldquo;We play like a .500 team, which is exactly where we sit,&rdquo; said center Mark Messier after the team failed to protect a third period lead against Tampa Bay Dec. 8 and thus dropped to break even. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s because we don&rsquo;t do the things it takes to win on a regular basis.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05384/7901422-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="346" height="737"></div>HOLIDAY WISH Nothing would delight the Rangers more than to wake up on Christmas morning with the Pittsburgh edition of Alex Kovalev stuffed in their stocking. Kovalev, who developed into one of the league&rsquo;s most dangerous snipers as a Penguin, had scored just four goals through 28 games, giving him 14 in 52 since returning to Broadway Feb. 12. Prior to the trade, Kovalev had 27 goals in 54 games last year in Pittsburgh, and 149 goals in 345 games in his five years as a Penguin.NOTEBOOK Center Jamie Lundmark, who&rsquo;d been skating on the fourth line after being scratched for three straight games, sustained a complete tear of the right MCL after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Islanders captain Michael Peca Dec. 4. The Rangers charged that Peca, who wasn&rsquo;t disciplined by the league, had intended to injure Lundmark, who is expected to be out of the lineup until February. &ldquo;He likes to hit late and when players don&rsquo;t see him,&rdquo; said center Bobby Holik, hardly a Lady Byng contender himself. &ldquo;I know (Peca). I don&rsquo;t need to see the hit to know it was dirty.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0034-04

Lackluster start to pivotal season mirrors middling squad from ’02-03

<div class="byline">- BRUCE GARRIOCH</div>Curtis Leschyshyn came into this season with a goal to play 1,000 games. Now he&rsquo;s having a hard time getting into the lineup.Sitting 10 games short of the mark, the veteran defenseman was a healthy scratch for eight straight games. While there has been talk the Senators could trade him - and Phoenix has inquired - Leschyshyn isn&rsquo;t about to complain.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02734/7901467-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="285" height="361"><figcaption class="caption-body">OTTAWA SENATORS</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not my nature to complain and it wouldn&rsquo;t do any good,&rdquo; said Leschyshyn, 34. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just going to keep working hard. I would think with this many games left in the season, I&rsquo;ll be able to get to 1,000.That&rsquo;s very J important to me.&rdquo;A shoulder injury to sopho-more Anton Volchenkov could open up the door.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t j want to go I somewhere else and be wrapping up the season before the playoffs,&rdquo; Leschyshyn said. &ldquo;I enjoy it here and so does my family.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06343/7901460-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="337" height="749"></div>HOLIDAY WISH GM John Muckier has been doing a lot of talking leading up to the Christmas roster freeze, but hasn&rsquo;t been able to take any action. Ideally, the Senators would like to add a little bit more jam up front, especially on the left side. That&rsquo;s why Muckier put in a claim for Isles&rsquo; winger Jason Wiemer before he was snapped up by Minnesota. The Senators want somebody who is strong on the puck and doesn&rsquo;t get beat in battles.NOTEBOOK The Senators have had a tough time keeping their goalies healthy. After losing Patrick Lalime with the flu for a week, backup Martin Prusek suffered back spasms in the warm-up before he was to start against Boston Dec. 5. Lalime had to play while still trying to gain back the 10 pounds he lost while sick. Lalime stopped 21-of-23 shots in a 2-2 tie&hellip;Paperwork was still being done on a new contract for coach Jacques Martin. &#9632;

f0035-02

Veteran Leschyshyn not batting 1,000 yet

<div class="byline">- WAYNE FISH</div>If this isn&rsquo;t the best goaltending Jeff Hackett has produced in his 15-year NHL career, it must be pretty close.After a brief slump in late October, Hackett went on a tear. Soon his record stood at 9-2-5, with a 1.71 goals-against average. Among No. 1 goaltenders, Hackett&rsquo;s GAA was second only to Martin Brodeur.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03602/7901505-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="285" height="345"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</figcaption></div>Hackett put together a 7-0-2 run after a loss to Brodeur Oct. 30, then found out Dec. 6 he might have more work to do after Robert Esche went down with a groin injury.&ldquo;Even though we were winning and getting low scores, I wasn&rsquo;t as comfortable,&rdquo; Hackett said of his early season play. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had a lot of injuries the last few years. I just haven&rsquo;t felt like I was in the groove.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04480/7901498-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="345" height="747"></div>&ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m feeling big and seeing the puck very well and when you feel that way, it&rsquo;s a totally different mindset out there.&rdquo;Hackett&rsquo;s best GAA was recorded in 1996-97 when he posted a 2.16 mark for Chicago.HOLIDAY WISH Does anybody have a spare center they can loan the Flyers until Claude Lapointe gets back from his time in a substance abuse treatment program?The Flyers have been using wingers as their fourth center. First Mark Recchi gave it a try, but his services were too important as left winger on the Jeremy Roenick-Tony Amonte top line. Then it was Simon Gagne&rsquo;s turn. Gagne had been performing well on Keith Primeau&rsquo;s line, but coach Ken Hitchcock was willing to give this experiment a shot because Gagne played center with success during his junior career.NOTEBOOK Left winger John LeClair registered his 602nd point as a Flyer, moving past Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour into seventh place on the franchise&rsquo;s all-time scoring list. &#9632;

f0035-03

Hackett ‘feeling big’ during standout run

<div class="byline">- BOB MCMANAMAN</div>The most exciting play in hockey?For most teams in the NHL, it&rsquo;s the penalty shot. For the Phoenix Coyotes, it&rsquo;s the freewheeling fire drill of 4-on-4 situations.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05404/7901543-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="264" height="378"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHOENIX COYOTES</figcaption></div>One third of the way through the season, the Coyotes were leading the league in 4-on-4 goals with 10. That&rsquo;s the same number of goals they had scored 5-on-4 in their first 26 games.Phoenix has managed to excel when both teams are down a man primarily because of its speed, particularly on the blueline with David Tanabe and Paul Mara. Tanabe likens it to a game of shinny on the pond when he was a youth.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06367/7901536-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="339" height="743"></div>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot more freedom and you can take a few chances out there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you beat one guy, it opens things up even more on the ice.&rdquo;He doesn&rsquo;t want to see the NHL ever resort to 4-on-4 full-time, however.&ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s a business now,&rdquo; Tanabe said, &ldquo;but hockey has a huge tradition and I think that would really be a disrespect to the game to make those kind of changes.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH Peace and harmony. For a club that relies mostly on energy, grit and a total team-first commitment, there are too many individual nervous breakdowns waiting to occur.Phoenix has carried three goal-tenders all season and Sean Burke, Brian Boucher and Zac Bierk are constantly deflecting trade rumors. Slumping forwards Chris Gratton and Brian Savage are trying to justify their salaries in the face of criticism. Others such as Brad Ference, Landon Wilson and Krys Kolanos (now in the minors) have clamored loudly for more ice time.NOTEBOOK The No. 99 Edmonton jersey worn by Coyotes managing partner Wayne Gretzky at the Heritage Classic sold for $26,600 during an Internet auction on eBay. &#9632;

f0035-05

Four-on-four fury heats up Coyotes

<div class="byline">- JOE STARKEY</div>Rookie goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury won&rsquo;t be pleased if he is returned to junior this season. He wasn&rsquo;t overjoyed to be loaned to Team Canada for the World Junior Championship, either.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02671/7901581-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="285" height="391"><figcaption class="caption-body">HTTSBURGH PENGUINS</figcaption></div>But Fleury wasn&rsquo;t angry and Penguins GM Craig Patrick said Fleury will someday view his second trip to the tournament as beneficial. Patrick also said Fleury would return to the Penguins afterward.Fleury&rsquo;s agent, Allan Walsh, was adamant his client wouldn&rsquo;t create a fuss if returned to junior before his 25th appearance, which would make Fleury eligible for $3 million in bonuses.Fleury won&rsquo;t lose money in the long run. Sooner or later, he figures to earn the maximum &rsquo;A&rsquo; level bonus money achievable - $8 million - on his entry-level contract.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03557/7901574-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="343" height="757"></div>HOLIDAY WISH Santa likely won&rsquo;t drop $3 million in the Penguins&rsquo; stocking this year, so Fleury likely will have to return to junior at some point this season. In the meantime, the Penguins sure could use a bundle of goals from Aleksey Morozov, once touted as the best player in the world outside North America. Now that the veteran stars are gone or injured, the pressure is on Morozov to produce. As well, others must pick up the scoring slack for a once-explosive team that suddenly is desperate for offensive skill throughout the organization.NOTEBOOK Left winger Ramzi Abid tore the anterior cruciate ligament, meniscus and some cartilage in his right knee seven minutes into the second period of a 6-1 loss to Calgary Dec. 6. It&rsquo;s the same knee he had surgically repaired late last season after sustaining a torn ACL. &#9632;

f0036-02

Fleury sent packing, but only for short-term

<div class="byline">- DERRICK GOOLD</div>One of the inconsistencies over the past two seasons that really gnawed at the Blues&rsquo; coaching staff was the team&rsquo;s struggles on the penalty kill. What was once a source of pride became a reason for losses.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04428/7901619-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="283" height="363"><figcaption class="caption-body">ST. LOUIS BLUES</figcaption></div>However, it has been the way they have won this season.The Blues erased all seven Maple Leaf power plays in a 3-2 overtime victory Dec. 9 and had stymied 35 of 36 power plays in five games.&ldquo;Guys are doing what we want,&rdquo; said assistant coach Mike Kitchen. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re having success at it and that makes them more confident.&rdquo;The Blues are finding success thanks to positioning and blocked shots. There were several games during which left winger Dallas Drake stopped more shots than goalie Chris Osgood.&ldquo;As D-men we take pride in that, in getting in there and blocking shots,&rdquo; Pronger said. &ldquo;We have to be willing to do that. The more shots we block the less chances they get&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05355/7901612-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="340" height="747"></div>HOLIDAY WISH The Blues would wish for better health (especially for injured defenseman Al Maclnnis), but something Santa Claus is more able to &rsquo; deliver is a 20-goal scorer no one expected. He did it last year with left winger Eric Boguniecki, but the Blues need one more scoring threat to fill out what could be a balanced attack. The team&rsquo;s lines are clicking, but too much is expected from the No. 1 unit.NOTEBOOK Defenseman Barret Jackman met with a specialist in Cleveland about his bum shoulder - which is still aching after he dislocated it Oct. 22 - and learned he is 4-5 weeks away from returning to the lineup. Jackman began a month-long rehabilitation process Dec. 5. &#9632;

f0036-04

Efficiency on penalty kill boosts Blues’ fortunes

<div class="byline">- ROSS MCKEON</div>Though San Jose&rsquo;s Mike Rathje narrowly avoided a serious eye injury when a deflected shot ramped up a teammate&rsquo;s stick and struck him in the face, the veteran defenseman returned to action without a protective visor. &ldquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06309/7901657-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="289" height="389"><figcaption class="caption-body">SAN JOSE SHARKS</figcaption></div>Everybody makes then-own choices. This is the choice I&rsquo;m making,&rdquo; Rathje said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure it&rsquo;s safer to wear a visor. But you could get hit by a car and die that way, too.&rdquo; Rathje spilled a puddle of blood from the cut suffered Nov. 28 at Minnesota, but didn&rsquo;t sustain any damage to the eye besides discoloration and minor swelling. He missed two games before returning to action.&ldquo;Everything nowadays is so blown up,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Sure, there&rsquo;s some bad injuries, but it&rsquo;s gone on for a lot of years. They&rsquo;ll probably make it mandatory anyway.&ldquo;Friends, yeah, they&rsquo;ve been harping on me to wear one,&rdquo; added Rathje, a native of Mannville, Alta. &ldquo;My family, they&rsquo;re fine with it. They grew up in that environment. They don&rsquo;t question anything.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07282/7901650-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="347" height="749"></div>HOLIDAY WISH The Sharks need a game-breaking, big-time scoring winner the kind of player who can bust out with 40 goals. They&rsquo;ve only had it once in team history - Owen No-lan&rsquo;s career-high 44 goals in 1999-00. Goal-scoring has been by committee this season, but a big-time game-breaker sure would come in handy if the Sharks reach the playoffs again.NOTEBOOK The Sharks snapped an eight-game losing streak (and seven in a row at home) by tying Colorado 2-2 Dec. 4&hellip;Goalie Vesa Toskala went 10 straight from Nov. 15-Dec. 8 not allowing more than two goals in any game. &#9632;

f0036-06

Rathje refuses to wear visor despite puck-in-face injury

<div class="byline">- DAMIAN CRISTODERO</div>The Lightning has tried to force feed center Alexander Svitov for two seasons at the game&rsquo;s highest level. But after a non-existent effort Dec. 2 against the Canadiens, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2001 entry draft was demoted aa ed to Hamilton of the American League.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08253/7901702-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="305" height="387"><figcaption class="caption-body">TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING</figcaption></div>Coach John Tortorella had, no patience for the lack of intensity that was at the root of Svitov&rsquo;s demotion.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care if he&rsquo;s the No. 1 pick, the No. 2 pick or the250th pick,&rdquo; Tortorella said, adding that if Svitov did not learn to play with some jam, he could &ldquo;go rot in the minors.&rdquo;Svitov, 21, began the season in Hamilton, but was called up Nov. 3 amid glowing reports he had learned to play with intensity. He showed flashes of good play, but was often bumped off the puck with ease and did not return the favor.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09231/7901695-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="343" height="743"></div>HOLIDAY WISH Another puck-carrying defense-man, specifically New York Islanders&rsquo; blueliner Roman Hamrlik. Tampa Bay has been searching for such a player for close to a year and a concussion suffered by Dan Boyle Dec. 6 against Buffalo highlighted the Lightning&rsquo;s lack of depth in that area and on the power play point.NOTEBOOK GM Jay Feaster still hopes to have an American League affiliate lined up by the end of December. He is speaking to both Howard Baldwin, who owns the inactive Louisville franchise, and the Utah Grizzlies, who will lose their affiliation deal with the Dallas Stars at the end of the season&hellip;When left winger Andre Roy missed the Dec. 4 game against the Senators because of a sprained knee, the Lightning became the last NHL team to lose a player due to injury this season.<h2>NHL TELEVISION DIRECTORY FOR UPCOMING GAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10212/7901688-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="4395" height="1103"></div> &#9632;

f0036-08

Svitov earns coach’s wrath due to lack of intensity

<div class="byline">- KEN CAMPBELL</div>The Maple Leafs have some of the most impressive individual talent in the league, but it was only when they stopped playing as individuals that they became one of the NHL&rsquo;s top teams.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03480/7901789-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="269" height="397"><figcaption class="caption-body">TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</figcaption></div>Leafs coach Pat Quinn said his team often plays &ldquo;one against the world&rdquo; and doesn&rsquo;t get much accomplished because of it. But during an eight-game winning streak that ended in a 3-2 overtime loss to St. Louis Dec. 9, that philosophy changed for the better.&ldquo;Guys are doing less by themselves and our team play was much better,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;When we play like a bunch of individuals, it shows.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04401/7901782-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="347" height="755"></div>The Leafs got at least one point in 12 of 13 games largely because their forwards bucked their reputation as defensive pushovers and began to exert effort in their own zone. A much-improved Ed Belfour was also a huge factor, as was the collective play of their oft-maligned defense corps. (See pg. 10 for more on Leafs.)HOLIDAY WISH More injuries for Alexander Mogilny. For reasons nobody could explain, the Leafs had a record of 11-1-1-1 without their most skilled player in the lineup.There&rsquo;s little doubt the Leafs are a far better team with Mogilny in the lineup than without, but there&rsquo;s something about the team that makes it a more difficult opponent when it is missing its top talent.NOTEBOOK As part of his Santa on Wheels program, right winger Tie Domi donated 4,000 new toys Dec. 9 to Toronto-area children who will spend the holidays in hostels and group homes. Most of the money for the toys is from Domi&rsquo;s charitable foundation, but he also pays several thousand dollars out of his own pocket&hellip;After being a healthy scratch for 10 straight games when Karel Pilar returned to the lineup, blueliner Ric Jackman was sent to St. John&rsquo;s (AHL) for conditioning Dec. 9.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05354/7901775-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="409" height="521"></div>Ed Belfour, Tor Age: 38 413 wins<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06314/7901768-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="400" height="520"></div>Curtis Joseph, Det Age: 36 383 wins<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07281/7901761-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="399" height="509"></div>Martin Brodeur, NJ Age: 31 380 wins<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-08238/7901754-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="407" height="509"></div>Sean Burke, Phx Age: 36 297 wins<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-09203/7901747-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="410" height="507"></div>Dominik Hasek, Det Age: 38 296 wins<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-10178/7901740-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="407" height="513"></div>Chris Osgood, StL Age: 31 288 wins<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-11149/7901733-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="407" height="513"></div>Felix Potvin, Bos Age: 32 258 wins &#9632;

f0037-03

Leafs impressive thanks to teamwork

<div class="byline">- ELLIOTT PAP</div>The Canucks have been through some bizarre evenings during their 34-year history and they added another chapter when they met Pittsburgh Dec. 9.During the team&rsquo;s morning skate, netminder _ Dan Cloutier injured a groin and could not dress that night. But all of the organization&rsquo;s other goalies - Alex Auld and Tyler Moss in Manitoba of the American League and Rob McVicar in Columbia of the East Coast League - were in the east and could not make it to GM Place in time.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02666/7901827-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="263" height="385"><figcaption class="caption-body">VANCOUVER CANUCKS</figcaption></div>So, Canucks management scoured the greater Vancouver area for an amateur to back up Johan Hedberg. They finally found their man, 23-year-old University of British Columbia student Chris Levesque, who was studying for a geography exam in the school library and had to be tracked down by his UBC teammates.At first, Levesque thought it was a prank. Two hours later, he was in a Canucks uniform taking warmup shots. &ldquo;It was surreal,&rdquo; said Levesque, who didn&rsquo;t see any action (despite a scary first period collision that shook up Hedberg). &ldquo;It was amazing. I had a great time.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH A tough guy who can play. The Canucks haven&rsquo;t had a true heavyweight since Donald Brashear was dealt away two years ago. Darren Langdon, a light heavy-weight, filled the breach last season, but was a very limited player who could not take a regular shift. The Canucks have no one to counter-act Northwest Division enforcers Matt Johnson, Krzysztof Oliwa, Peter Worrell and Georges Laraque and there have been times this season when goalie Dan Cloutier and the Sedin twins, in particular, have been manhandled without a response.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03537/7901820-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="350" height="746"></div>NOTEBOOK Left winger Markus Naslund netted his ninth hat trick in a Canuck uniform - actually a four-goal game in a 4-3 OT win over Pittsburgh Dec. 9 - to move to within one of Tony Tanti&rsquo;s franchise record of 10. Pavel Bure also had nine hat tricks during his days in Vancouver&hellip;Naslund had a four-goal game against the Edmonton Oilers almost one year ago to the day&hellip;Rookie right winger Jason King cooled off in late November and early December and was in the midst of a stretch of just one goal scored in 10 games. &#9632;

f0038-02

Canucks get backup goalie out of school, into uniform

<div class="byline">- JASON LA CANFORA</div>The Capitals fired head coach Bruce Cassidy after 28 games, with GM George McPhee citing the team&rsquo;s poor performance for the move. Cassidy took Washington to the playoffs in his first season in the NHL, but Washington was in last place in the NHL for much of this season and 8-18-1-1 at the time of his firing. Assistant coach Glen Hanlon was named to replace Cassidy for the duration of the season, with Randy Carlyle remaining as an assistant<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04425/7901865-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="291" height="382"><figcaption class="caption-body">WASHINGTON CAPITALS</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Butch did a real nice job for us,&rdquo; McPhee said. &ldquo;But we were in a spiral this season and I couldn&rsquo;t sit back any longer. We still have every intention of making the playoffs. It may be tough, but if we didn&rsquo;t do this (firing) now, we may not have been able to (make the playoffs).&rdquo; Hanlon, a former teammate of McPhee&rsquo;s, was set to coach his first NHL game Dec. 12 against Boston.&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t stand up in front of anybody and guarantee wins,&rdquo; Hanlon said. &ldquo;But I will certainly guarantee that we&rsquo;ll create an environment here where all players want to be responsible to the group.&rdquo;HOLIDAY WISH The Capitals appear doomed for years to come - especially if there is a salary cap on the horizon - because of massive financial commitments to Jaromir Jagr, Olaf Kolzig and Robert Lang well beyond this season. Capitals fans better hope Santa carries a contract-shrinking machine in his sack when his sled stops atop the MCI Center, and that the jolly old elf can halve the yearly commitment to those players from its current level of $22 million.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05335/7901858-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="343" height="748"></div>NOTEBOOK Goaltender Olaf Koizig&rsquo;s frustration boiled over after being yanked from a 7-3 loss against the L.A. Kings Dec. 6. Kolzig, who sported a 3.11 goals-against average and .890 save percentage after leaving the game, has not been himself this season and is having difficulty adjusting to playing behind an inconsistent defense&hellip; Center Robert Lang&rsquo;s 16-game point streak was snapped in Washington&rsquo;s 3-0 loss to New Jersey Dec. 4, falling one short of Mike Gartner&rsquo;s franchise record. Right winger Jaromir Jagr&rsquo;s 12-game point streak was also halted in that game. &#9632;

f0038-04

Cassidy fired as coach after brutal start to season

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01922/7901896-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0039-01

DEPTH CHARTS

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02386/7901927-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="301" height="483"><figcaption class="caption-body">DARRELL HAY</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01624/7901934-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="137" height="140"></div>It&rsquo;s tough enough when a coach tells you you&rsquo;re not good enough to play in the league. It&rsquo;s really tough when the coach who&rsquo;s telling you is your dad.So when Utah coach Don Hay told son Darrell he wouldn&rsquo;t be starting the season on the Grizzlies blueline, family ties were strained.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the talk went very good,&rdquo;Darrell Hay remembered. &ldquo;I kind of stormed out. But I thought about it for a couple hours and put myself in his shoes. It&rsquo;s not like him to make false promises and he didn&rsquo;t promise me anything going into camp. I went back and we had a good talk.&rdquo;As Don Hay says, he must separate family from business, even if it&rsquo;s difficult. He kept the best defensemen and Darrell went to Boise, Idaho, to play in the ECHL.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>The younger Hay has bounced between the ECHL and AHL for four pro seasons, but now he is getting another chance to prove he belongs in the AHL.Injuries in Utah and Dallas opened a spot on the Grizzlies and Don Hay knew just where to find a fill-in - even if he didn&rsquo;t let his son know right away.&ldquo;I knew they had injuries and I called my dad and tried to pick his brain,&rdquo; said Darrell, who played two seasons for his father with TriCity of the Western League. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t give me any hint. About two hours later he called and told me to pack He&rsquo;s got a good poker face.&rdquo;Darrell scored a goal and was plus-3 in his first three games as the Grizzlies strung together their first three-game winning streakEven better, the Grizzlies are giving up very few quality chances with a young defense. At 23, Darrell Hay is Utah&rsquo;s oldest blueliner.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just trying to make an impression while I&rsquo;m here,&rdquo; Darrell said. &#9632;

f0040-02

Hay trying to impress dad, er, coach

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div>Detroit has the Big Three in the automobile world. Milwaukee has the Big Young Three in the American League&rsquo;s prospect world.Right winger Scottie Upshall, 20, and left wingers Timofei Shishkanov, 20, and Libor Pivko, 23, may be first-year pros, but they have made an instant impact with the Admirals.&ldquo;They have to be three of the best young players in this league,&rdquo; said Milwaukee coach Claude Noel. &ldquo;They have a huge impact on games. They&rsquo;re all skilled, they all have size and they all have speed.&ldquo;It amazes me to see three players who are that good and are that young.&rdquo;Upshall was the sixth overall pick in the 2002 draft by Nashville. He had one stint in the NHL this season (one assist in four games) before heading to Milwaukee, where he has eight goals and 14 points in 15 AHL games.Shishkanov was the Preds second-rounder (33rd overall) in 2001 and leads the Admirals in scoring with seven goals and 16 points in 21 games. Pivko, Nashville&rsquo;s third round pick (89th overall) in 2000, played the past three seasons in the Czech league. He has three goals and 10 points and is plus-9 in 19 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03284/7901986-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="327" height="329"><figcaption class="caption-body">AHL WEST NOTEBOOK</figcaption></div>BIG REBOUND Second-year Utah goalie Mike Smith earned player-of-the-week honors after backstopping the Grizzlies to their first three-game winning streak since last March.The capper was a 3-0 win over Cincinnati for his first AHL shutout.A sixth round pick (161st overall) by Dallas in 2001, Smith had a 3-5-0 record and 3.18 goals-against average in October and November, but sliced his GAA to 2.55 and bumped his save percentage from .902 to .917 with his one big week.NO PAIN, NO GAIN Hamilton center Benoit Gratton sat out two games because of a condition called myo-fascia on the lower right side of his neck, which was causaing constant sharp pains. The condition is believed to be related to the separated shoulder he suffered in the Calder Cup playoffs.When he returned to the ice, Gratton merely caused pain, scoring two goals and two assists as the Bulldogs beat Binghamton 4-2.NOTEBOOK A day after being sent to St. John&rsquo;s, goalie Mikael Tellqvist made 27 saves in shutting out Cleveland. Tellqvist, a third-year pro, was demoted when Ed Belfour&rsquo;s backup, Trevor Kidd, returned to health in Toronto&hellip;Second-year Milwaukee defenseman Andrew Hutchinson has been even or better in plus/minus rating in 15 of 16 games. He has five goals, 10 points and is plus-10.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04229/7901979-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="1366" height="2028"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rookie pro Carlo Colaiacovo leads St. John&rsquo;s defensemen in scoring. The 20-year-old has three goals and 11 points in 25 AHL games.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05199/7901972-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="201" height="201"></div><h2>HOCKEY NATION AT A GLANCE</h2>The International Ice Hockey Federation is the world&rsquo;s governing body for hockey. In each issue this season, we profile one of 63 national association members.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-06176/7901965-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="773" height="375"></div>Member of IIHF since 1963Pop. of country 48,324,000Registered players 898No. of ice facilities 10Major league (eight teams) Korean League2003 champ Halla Winia2003 top scorers Kim Kyung-Tae, Hyundai Oilbankers Baek Seung-Hoon, Hyundai Song Down-Hwan, Dongwon DreamsAssociation website/e-mail <a href="https://www.kiha.or.kr">www.kiha.or.kr</a> <a href="mailto:hockey2000@korea.com">hockey2000@korea.com</a>Head office Seoul2003 world ranking No. 32 &#9632;

f0040-03

Milwaukee’s rookie crop turns heads

<div class="byline">BY ROB MUELLER</div>Davis Payne posted a 104-67-17 record and led his team to the playoffs in each of his three seasons behind the bench. The Florence Pride rewarded him with a kick to the curb.It didn&rsquo;t take long for Payne to find work and the Alaska Aces are reaping the benefits.For the first time in nearly four years, the Aces are a first-place team, taking over the top spot in the ECHL&rsquo;s Pacific Division with a 13-8-1 start. Alaska hadn&rsquo;t seen first since March, 1999, in the West Coast League.Payne, 33, took the job over the summer and assembled a team that exempli-fies the new ECHL&rsquo;s emphasis on youth.Rookies Charles Linglett (30 points) and Joe Talbot (29) and second-year forward Mike Scott (28) were in the top 10 in league scoring. Rookie goalie Lance Mayes, a University of Alaska-Fairbanks product, was among ECHL leaders with a 5-1-0 record and .927 save percentage, while Dan Murphy (9-7-0, .905 save percentage) has been the Aces&rsquo; workhorse.&ldquo;The state of Alaska doesn&rsquo;t get much (hockey) respect,&rdquo; Mayes said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to finally bring this kind of thing here.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-07161/7902017-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="297" height="293"><figcaption class="caption-body">NOTEBOOK (ROSE DETTMAN)</figcaption></div>GOALIE GOAL Brian Eklund of the Pensacola Ice Pilots became the seventh ECHL goaltender in history to score a goal in a 5-4 shootout loss at Mississippi.Eklund&rsquo;s Dec. 5 goal came at 5:35 of the first when the puck got past a Mississippi defense-man and slid into an empty net vacated because of a delayed penalty. Eklund was the last Pensacola player to touch the puck.Eklund, 23, who was 12-4-1 with a .930 save percentage and league-high 602 saves, is a 2000 draft pick (226th overall) by Tampa Bay.NOTEBOOK The Las Vegas Wranglers clearly haven&rsquo;t been distracted by the blackjack tables and show girls at their new home, opening 10-0-1 at Orleans Arena&hellip;Florida enforcer Stu Pietersma received a three-game suspension, his third ECHL ban this season, for his unprovoked run at a Florence player Nov. 30. &#9632;

f0040-07

Payne has Aces heating up in Alaska

<div class="byline">BY DAVE SOTTILE</div>Norfolk Admirals left winger Matt Ellison could have picked another path to the pros, but he&rsquo;s sure glad he chose the one he did.Before the start of last season, Ellison was set to attend the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he had been given a scholarship. But the Duncan, B.C. native decided instead to jump from his Jr. B team, the Cowichan Valley Capitals, to the Red Deer Rebels of the Western League.Ellison&rsquo;s decision looks pretty smart now. Last season, he won the Canadian Hockey League and WHL rookie-of-the-year honors, scoring 40 goals and 96 points in 72 games.And two months into his pro career, Ellison hasn&rsquo;t looked out of place in the American League. He scored twice and assisted on another goal opening night against Wilkes-Barre and has six goals and 15 points in 24 Admirals games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02323/7902048-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="315" height="495"><figcaption class="caption-body">MATT ELLISON</figcaption></div>Moving from Jr. B to major junior to the AHL in three seasons&rsquo; time doesn&rsquo;t happen very often.&ldquo;I guess it&rsquo;s all about working hard,&rdquo; said the 20-year-old, who was selected 128th overall by Chicago in 2002.This year, the AHL&rsquo;s tighter defensive-zone play has forced the 6-foot, 190-pound Ellison &ldquo;to work harder finding shots and open space every game,&rdquo; but the experience has been enjoyable.In addition to learning the nuances of the pro game, Ellison is also adjusting to a new life off the ice. He shares a place and household chores with Norfolk rookie forwards Carsen Germyn and Matt Keith, both of whom were teammates of Ellison&rsquo;s last season in Red Deer.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all part of growing up,&rdquo; Ellison said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re making a big step from junior to the pros. Hopefully we&rsquo;re learning well and going at it the right way.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0041-02

Ellison makes easy transition to pro

<div class="byline">BY DAVE SOTTILE</div>A pair of American League goalies recently rekindled an old Ontario League rivalry that boiled over into fisticuffs.Ray Emery of the Binghamton Senators and rookie Andy Chiodo of the Wilkes-Barre Penguins swapped punches in a Dec. 6 game the Pens won 4-1.Late in the third period, when Sens right winger Brian McGrattan and Pens left winger Reid Simpson got into a scrap, Emery decided to skate the length of the ice to engage Chiodo.&ldquo;That guy and I go way back,&rdquo; Chiodo told the Wilkes-Barre Citizens&rsquo; Voice. &ldquo;I knew we were going to fight. He asked me in the first period. He&rsquo;s kind of a loose cannon. He was waiting for any chance.&rdquo;The two fought in the OHL when Emery played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Chiodo was with Toronto St. Michael&rsquo;s Majors. Emery had seven fights during his final two seasons in junior.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03252/7902114-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="333" height="336"></div>&ldquo;I was frustrated with the game,&rdquo; said Emery to the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. &ldquo;We were all frustrated. I like to fight as a way to get some of that out.&rdquo;That could explain why Emery has a portrait of former world champion boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler on his mask.SPLASHY RETURN Worcester left winger Scott Pellerin made a triumphant return to Albany, where he once captained the River Rats.Playing his first game at Pepsi Arena in almost eight years, Pellerin scored a pair of goals Dec. 6 as Worcester beat Albany 3-0. His last game there came in 1996, a year after helping the Rats win a Calder Cup title.&ldquo;It felt great,&rdquo; said Pellerin to the Albany Times Union. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very familiar with the surroundings here - coming in on the ramp c". down behind the rink and going through all the memories of the success we had here when I was with the River Rats.&rdquo;ANOTHER MILESTONE Philadelphia center Peter White reached another career milestone picking up his 700th career AHL point with an assist on a Mike Peluso goal against Hershey Dec. 3. He&rsquo;s one of just 20 players in AHL history to reach the 700-point plateau.NOTEBOOK Providence goalie Hannu Toivonen, selected 29th overall in 2002 by Boston, posted his first AHL shutout Dec. 7. The 19-year-old blanked Lowell 3-0&hellip;Two Eastern Conference teams led the AHL in average per game attendance. Manchester led with 8,671 through 15 home games, while Wilkes-Barre was next at 8,280 through 10 games.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04215/7902107-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="1340" height="1997"><figcaption class="caption-body">After a hot start to the season, the Binghamton Senators and captain Chris Kelly have slumped in the East Division standings</figcaption></div><h2>EYE ON EUROPE</h2>Future and former NHLers are performing in Europe this season. Here are four such players with NHL rights in parentheses:&bull; Valtteri Filppula, 19, C (Detroit). Chosen 95th overall by the Red Wings in 2002, Filppula ranks among the top Finnish league rookies, recording 11 points in 28 games with Jokerit Helsinki.&bull; Stacy Roest, 29, RW (free agent). Played 244 NHL games with Detroit and Minnesota during the past five seasons. He leads Rapperswil of the Swiss league with 14 goals and 34 points in 27 games.&bull; Pavel Kasparik, 24, C (Phila-delphia). Chosen 200th overall by the Flyers in 1999, Kasparik leads the Liberec White Tigers of the Czech league with 16 points in 29 games.&bull; Nikolai Tsulygin, 28, D (free agent). Tsulygin, who played 22 games with Anaheim in 1996-97, is one of the Russian league&rsquo;s top blueliners, scoring 12 points in 24 games with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk.- PAVEL BARTA<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06179/7902100-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="255" height="145"></div><h2>NOTEBOOK</h2>Former NHL blueliner Ian Herbers has come out of retirement to give some much-needed experience to the Flint Generals of the United League. Herbers, who played 65 NHL games with Edmonton, Tampa Bay and the Islanders over 10 pro seasons, joined a Flint team that has had as many as 10 rookies on its roster this season. &ldquo;When you go to a real job,&rdquo; said the 36-year-old Herbers, &ldquo;you don&rsquo;t have that dressing room atmosphere. I missed being around that.&rdquo; Herbers, who manages a rink in suburban Detroit, last played pro two seasons ago in the British league.- BRENDAN SAVAGE<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-07164/7902093-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="258" height="158"></div><h2>NOTEBOOK</h2>Corpus Christi Rayz blueliner Mike Tilson didn&rsquo;t slip on a banana peel after a 2-1 overtime loss to the Amarillo Gorillas, but he did slip up. Tilson was fined an undisclosed amount by the Central League for an unusual violation - &ldquo;shooting&rdquo; a banana into the crowd with his stick. Amarillo fans have a tradition of pelting the ice with real and fake bananas following a home goal. According to CHL supervisor of officials Wayne Bonney, Tilson committed the fruit-related assault after the Gorillas&rsquo; winner, which resulted in the fine. No word on whether Tilson will a-peel.- DAVID HENRY<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-08135/7902086-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="188" height="173"></div><h2>NOTEBOOK</h2>The South East League hadn&rsquo;t announced its playoff format by early December, but all four coaches weren&rsquo;t in favor of every team advancing. &rsquo;That cheapens the season,&rdquo; said Knoxville&rsquo;s Jim Bermingham. Scott Rex, coach of last place Cape Fear, said: &ldquo;Three is fine. I&rsquo;m not adverse to that considering where we&rsquo;re sitting.&rdquo; Winston-Salem&rsquo;s Mike LaZazzera, whose team is in first place, prefers having two teams advance rather than giving the regular season champ a bye and thus an extended layoff. The SEHL was expected to announce its playoff format before Christmas.- NICK GATES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-09101/7902079-1-eng-US/f0041-092.jpg" title="f0041-09" width="214" height="163"></div><h2>NOTEBOOK</h2>Though the WHA2&rsquo;s inaugural season started only in November, the league already has tabbed Asheville, N.C., as an expansion site for next season. And that&rsquo;s not the only planned addition. David Waronker, interim league president and co-founder, said the league hopes to add a team in Tallahassee, Fla., and a couple of other teams in North Carolina as well. &ldquo;Realistically, we&rsquo;d like to double in size (to 12) for next year,&rdquo; Waronker said. &ldquo;By February, we&rsquo;re done expanding for next season so the teams all have enough time to get set up and get going.&rdquo;- SCOTT ANDERA &#9632;

f0041-03

AHL goalies duke it out once again

<div class="byline">BY WILLY PALOV</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01531/7902159-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="287" height="163"></div>The Gatineau Olympiques are exactly where they expected to be at the Quebec League&rsquo;s halfway mark in first place overall.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02331/7902152-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="311" height="361"></div>The Olympiques were tabbed by many to be one of the top teams in the Canadian Hockey League after going to the Memorial Cup final last year. They have not disappointed. They have set the pace in the QMJHL for most of this season and have occupied the No. 1 rank in the CHL for several weeks.&ldquo;We were pretty confident coming back this year because we had a lot of good players returning and there were a lot of guys who were young last year that were ready to play a bigger role this year,&rdquo; said high-scoring right winger Jean-Michel Daoust.But the Olympiques won&rsquo;t rest on their laurels. They treat each loss as though it was a personal insult and are constantly talking about improving.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03260/7902145-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="335" height="913"><figcaption class="caption-body">Maxime Daigneault</figcaption></div>&ldquo;There are a lot of really good teams in the league that we will never forget about,&rdquo; I Daoust said. &ldquo;Look at Cape Breton and P.E.I. and Moncton, for example. Those teams - and others - are going to be pushing all year, too, so we have to stay focused.&rdquo;FLEURY OF ACTIVITY Marc-Andre Fleury is going back to junior, just not to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.The cash-strapped Pittsburgh Penguins &Icirc; released the 19-year-old goaltender to play I for Canada&rsquo;s national junior team, but GM Craig Patrick said his prized prospect will return to the NHL once the tournament is over.The powerhouse Eagles said any team would love to have a superstar like Fleury back on its roster, but they have never operated under the assumption he would return.&ldquo;Martin Houle is up there in the league leaders in pretty much all the goalie stats,&rdquo; said coach-GM Pascal Vincent. &ldquo;We have always been comfortable with him in the net.&rdquo;Fleury stole the show at last year&rsquo;s World Junior Championship, winning MVP and top goalie honors en route to a silver medal with Canada. He was the top pick in the 2003 draft.PROMOTION FOR PARENT The Baie-Comeau Drakkar named Pierre Parent as their GM.Parent replaces Richard Martel, who left the team to take a dual position as coach-GM of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. Parent had been Baie-Comeau&rsquo;s chief scout since 1996-97. &#9632;

f0042-01

First-place Gatineau confident, not cocky

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div>Corey Locke feels he was burned by the Canadian Hockey Association when he was left off the list of 34 players invited to the national junior team&rsquo;s selection camp.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pissed off, I&rsquo;m bitter and I&rsquo;d be lying if I told you any-thing different,&rdquo; said Locke, adding that being named Canadian<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04209/7902197-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="379" height="274"></div>Hockey League player of the year last season obviously meant nothing.The 5-foot-9,175-pound center led the 56-team CHL with 63 goals and 151 points for the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s last season. His pace is down somewhat this season - he was fifth in Ontario League scoring with 18 goals and 41 points in 27 games.His former linemate, Scott Sheppard, now with the London Knights, couldn&rsquo;t figure it out either. &ldquo;He had 151 points last year and 41 this year&hellip;It makes you think, &lsquo;What&rsquo;s he not doing right?&rsquo; &rdquo; Sheppard said.Locke, drafted 113th overall by Montreal in 2003, was invited to Canada&rsquo;s junior camp last year and was one of the early cuts.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-05183/7902190-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="343" height="915"></div>Blair Mackasey, the CHA&rsquo;s head scout, said Locke had a disappointing summer evaluation camp. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m shocked in him saying that,&rdquo; said Locke, 19. &ldquo;If he&rsquo;s going to say someone didn&rsquo;t make the team through the (summer camp), then that&rsquo;s pretty disappointing hearing that coming out of him.&rdquo;ANOTHER NO GO London Knights center Rob Schremp also felt snubbed when he wasn&rsquo;t named to the U.S. team for the World Junior Championship.Schremp, 17, is expected to go high in the 2004 NHL entry draft.The OHL rookie of the year last season, with 26 goals and 74 points in 65 games for the Mississauga IceDogs, Schremp was among the league&rsquo;s top 20 scorers with 16 goals and 35 points in 27 games for the Knights. &ldquo;I have no idea what I had to do more to impress them,&rdquo; Schremp said. &ldquo;This is disappointing.&rdquo;ZERO TOLERANCE The OHL came down hard on the Plymouth Whalers and Sarnia Sting for their off-ice, post-game fracas.The Whalers were fined $1,000 and the Sting $500 after Whalers assistant Greg Stefan, the former Detroit Red Wings goalie, and Sting coach Jeff Perry got into a heated verbal exchange near the dressing rooms Nov. 27 in Sarnia.Sting center Reg Thomas was suspended six games for slashing Whalers center John Mitchell on the leg during the melee. Mitchell missed his next game. &#9632;

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December 23, 2003

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