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.

September 21, 2004

The Hockey News September 21, 2004

<div class="byline">Trevor Linden </div><div class="byline">NHLPA President</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011750/8297438-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021226/8297431-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="95" height="119"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03897/8297424-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="323" height="535"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>ith the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire and an owners&rsquo; lockout pending, I want to take this opportunity to write to fans about the players&rsquo; efforts to reach a new agreement with the league.</p><p>First of all, I want you to know that the players will not strike. We want to play NHL hockey this year and none of us want the owners to lock us out In fact, we&rsquo;ve pledged to play next season while we continue to negotiate, if a new deal can&rsquo;t be reached before Sept 15.</p><p>Unfortunately, the league has taken a different approach to these CBA negotiations.</p><p>The owners are only interested in negotiating a salary cap and will shut down hockey if they don&rsquo;t get their way. Five years ago they created a $300-million lockout fund. Now they have begun to lay off staff with more layoffs to come. The league is also engaged in a PR campaign to justify their lockout to fans.</p><p>In contrast, the players want a fair deal for both sides. We have offered very significant concessions, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, in response to the NHL&rsquo;s stated concerns. Last October we presented a proposal that included a luxury tax system, a proven success in Major League Baseball.</p><p>Our system would have taxed higher-spending teams and redirected those dollars to lower-revenue clubs. That, coupled with other elements in our proposal, such as a five per-cent salary rollback, revenue sharing and changes to the entry-level system, would give the league the drag on player salaries they want and provide revenues to teams that need it.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04741/8297417-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="1510" height="1038"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>STAND BY YOUR MAN <i>Trevor Linden, the NHLPA president, leads a union consisting of700-plus members.</i></b> <span class="photo-credit">(GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>As you can see for yourself, we are not looking to preserve the status quo in these negotiations, as the league likes to claim.</p><p>Regrettably, the league dismissed our proposal and responded with a one-page salary cap plan. Almost 10 months later they outlined six more concepts which, despite their denials, were all based on salary caps, something they know is a non-starter for the players.</p><p>Fans have asked me what&rsquo;s wrong with accepting a salary cap like the ones used in football and basketball. Besides imposing severe and artificial limits on the market value of a player, salary caps also handcuff team managements.</p><p>To stay under cap limits, clubs are forced to get rid of popular players or to take a pass on signing players who could help the club improve.</p><p>Fans take a back seat under salary cap systems, where accountants rule, players come and go and winning becomes secondary.</p><p>In all of the talk about the current CBA, one fact seems to get lost: when compared to other leagues, the NHL&rsquo;s current rules on player mobility are the most restrictive of all major pro sports. NHL teams have the ability to control a player&rsquo;s career path from the age of 18 to 31. Although this system is restrictive on player movement, it has produced the kind of roster stability fans favor and incredible competitive balance.</p><p>We believe that a marketplace system where owners determine a player&rsquo;s value, as they have for more than 80 years, is the best system for our fans and our sport. A player&rsquo;s value can both rise and fall in a marketplace.</p><p>So, where do we go from here?</p><p>For our part, the players will continue to meet with the owners in the hopes of finding some common ground to negotiate a fair deal.</p><p>The sooner the owners move off of their demand for a salary cap (or as they call it, &ldquo;cost certainty&rdquo;), the sooner we can engage in negotiations that will lead to a new agreement.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-01

COVER STORY

Cap too restrictive

<div class="byline">By Lany Humber</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04429/8299782-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg"></div><p>Answers in next issue and @ <i><a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></i></p><h2><b>ACROSS</b></h2><p>1 He succeeded Sergei Fedorov as Hart Trophy winner</p><p>4 Veteran center Jason, pictured___</p><p>7 Discuss, ___over</p><p>8 A one-time International League city (better known for its gambling)</p><p>10 Number worn by The Great One&rsquo;</p><p>12 Not dirty</p><p>13 Legal</p><p>14 Former Buffalo and Los Angeles defenseman known as &lsquo;King Kong</p><p>18 Show on TV</p><p>19 Tie</p><p>20 Take every game of a series</p><p>21 First games</p><h2><b>DOWN</b></h2><p>1 Allow to enter: 2 wds.</p><p>2 Michael___ represented Sweden in two Olympics</p><p>3 Former Ottawa Senator ___McEachern</p><p>4 He represented Canada at the World Cup</p><p>5 A video game maker</p><p>6 Hart and Art Ross runner-up in 2003</p><p>9 Hockey&rsquo;s &lsquo;Holy Grail&rsquo;</p><p>11 Ex-NHL president___ Campbell</p><p>12 Brett Hull&rsquo;s new club</p><p>15 Former Oiler and Whaler ___Siltanen</p><p>16 Chicago-born winger ___ Battaglia</p><p>17 Don Cherry&rsquo;s dog</p><h2><b>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION</b></h2><h3><b>ACROSS</b></h3><p>1 GARDENS, 4. WAYNE, 7. EACH. 8. GOODENOW, 10. GLADIATORS, 12. RADIO. 13. DRESS, 14. WEAKNESSES, 18. EIGHTEEN, 19. INGE, 20. SORTS, 21. SCHMIDT.<b>DOWN</b> 1. GREGG, 2. RICHARDS, 3. SCOTT. 4. WADE REDDEN. 5. YANK, 6. EDWARDS. 9. PIROUETTES, 11. HELSINKI, 12. RANGERS, 15. KNEES. 16. SWEAT, 17. IGOR<b>.</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05381/8299775-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="1632" height="672"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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IN THIS ISSUE

CROSSWORD

f0032-01

2004-05 ONTARIO LEAGUE SCHEDULE

<div class="byline">BY ROBIN SHORT</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>D</span>ave Cameron</b> appeared in just 50 American League games as a player, having spent most of his time in the Central League between NHL stints. And he has but? half-season of experience behind an AHL bench as an assistant to <b>Al MacAdam</b> on the 1999-2000 St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs.</p><p>But the new bench boss of the Binghamton Senators will have plenty of AHL knowledge to tap into now that <b>Mike Busniuk</b> has signed on for a second straight season as assistant coach in Binghamton.</p><p>Busniuk, 52, won four Calder Cup championships as a player, including one with the 1977 Nova Scotia Voyageurs and three with the Maine Mariners (1978, 1979 and 1984). He also won an AHL championship as an assistant coach with the 1999-2000 Hartford Wolf Pack.</p><p>Cameron spent the past four years coaching the St. Michael&rsquo;s Majors of the Ontario League, racking up a 145-87-30-10 record.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03686/8299080-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="313" height="412"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>AHL EAST NOTEBOOK</b></figcaption></div><p>Busniuk appeared in 143 games with the Philadelphia Flyers from 1979 through 1981.</p><p>He assisted John Paddock, who was promoted to assistant coach in Ottawa, last season. The duo also spent three seasons with the Wolf Pack.</p><p>Busniuk also spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the old Binghamton Rangers.</p><p><b>LIGHTNING BOOSTS FALCONS</b> The Tampa Bay Lightning provided more defensive help for the Springfield Falcons by signing Marc Busenburg and rookie Doug O&rsquo;Brien.</p><p>Busenburg, 26, led Hershey and tied for fourth among AHL defensemen last season at plus-24.</p><p>He performed a rare feat in January, 2002, by playing in two pro games in one day. Busenburg played for Rochester in the afternoon and later that day agreed to skate for an injury-depleted Adirondack team of the United League at the Glens Falls, N.Y. Civic Center, scoring a goal in a 5-4 win over New Haven.</p><p>Playing for Gatineau, O&rsquo;Brien was the top blueliner in the Quebec League last season - scoring 17 goals and 63 points in 66 games and was named a Memorial Cup all-star for a second straight year.</p><p><b>MORAN CRUNCHED AGAIN</b> The Columbus Blue Jackets re-signed Brad Moran, the second-leading scorer on the Syracuse Crunch, the Jackets&rsquo; AHL affiliate, last season.</p><p>Moran netted 24 goals and 59 points in 72 games with Syracuse and had a goal and two points in a two-game stint with the Blue Jackets. They were his first career NHL points.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04497/8299073-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="1091" height="1599"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Defenseman Christian Laflamme, an unrestricted free agent, played 16 games with St. Louis last season and 28 with Worcester.</b></figcaption></div><h2>EYE ON EUROPE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05368/8299066-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="572" height="223"></div><p>Here are some NHLers who&rsquo;ve signed to play in Europe during an NHL work stoppage, listed with their position, age, 2003-04 team, Euro team and league.</p><p><b>Players</b></p><p>Magnus Arvedson, LW, 33, Van Farjestad (Swe.)</p><p>Patrik Elias, LW, 28, NJ</p><p>Znojmo (Cze.)</p><p>Rico Fata, RW, 24, Pit</p><p>Asiago (Italy)</p><p>Sergei Gonchar, D, 30, Bos Magnitogorsk (Rus.)</p><p>Niklas Hagman, LW, 24, Fla Davos (Switz.)</p><p>Niko Kapanen, C, 26, Dal</p><p>Zug (Switz.)</p><p>Mike Knuble, RW, 32, Bos Linkoping (Swe.)</p><p>Ilya Kovalchuk, LW, 21, Atl Kazan (Rus.)</p><p>Slava Kozlov, RW, 32, Atl Voskresenks (Rus.)</p><p>Jason Krog, C, 29, Ana Heraklith (Aus.)</p><p>John-Michael Liles, D, 23, Col Kassel (Ger.)</p><p>Rick Nash, LW, 20, Clb</p><p>Davos (Switz.)</p><p>Ville Nieminen, LW, 27, Cgy Tappara Tampere (Fin.)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-03

DEPARTMENTS

Sens re-sign Busniuk to aid Cameron

<div class="byline">Jason Kay: Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021593/8296818-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="312" height="558"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011896/8296825-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="92" height="94"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031296/8296811-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="1062" height="2355"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DEVIL&rsquo;S DEAL <i>New Jersey lefenseman Scott Niedermayer is the summer&rsquo;s big arbitration winner.</i></b> <span class="photo-credit">(ANDY MARLIN/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span></b>f you&rsquo;re experiencing a cooler than usual summer, you&rsquo;re not alone. Meteorologists tell us the Western hemisphere is seeing its lowest average summer temperatures in more than a decade.</p><p>Curiously, NHL players haven&rsquo;t noticed the difference.</p><p>According to numbers compiled by The Hockey News, the average NHL salary in 2004-05, for the 591 players under contract through early September, is $1.86 million (the figures were taken from the NHLPA&rsquo;s website, <a href="http://nhlpa.com">nhlpa.com</a>). That&rsquo;s up from $1.81 million last season, an increase of about 2.7 per cent.</p><p>Meantime, as a group, the 200-plus restricted and unrestricted free agents who signed new deals during the off-season saw an average raise of more than 10 per cent.</p><p>So what happened? Wasn&rsquo;t this supposed to be the summer of restraint, where salaries leveled or dropped? And what does it mean?</p><p>Here are some points to consider:</p><p>The increase is relatively modest. It would be considered acceptable in most years, running close to the rate of revenue fluctuation. But given the labor situation and virtual unanimous acknowledgement of the need for a downward market correction, the increase gives pause for reflection.</p><p>The numbers aren&rsquo;t final. There are more than 150 free agents who need to come to terms and that could alter the final figure. In addition, &rsquo;it&rsquo;s important to note the average salary during the course of a regular season is impacted by injuries.</p><p>Virtually every time a player gets hurt and goes on injured reserve, he is replaced on the roster by a player who makes less money. That said, when The Hockey News did its salary survey at the beginning of 2003-04, it took into account all players on the roster and the average was $1.81 million.</p><p>Systemic changes need to take place. While the owners deserve most of the blame for fueling double-digit inflation, the current collective bargaining agreement features mechanisms that make it difficult to reduce player costs without gutting your team.</p><p>For starters, qualifying offers can hamstring a GM. As it stands, restricted free agents earning more than the league average must be qualified at 100 per cent of. their salary; those below the average must be tendered a 10 per-cent increase. Restricted free agents who don&rsquo;t receive qualifying offers become unrestricted. As such, without negotiating, restricted free agents are guaranteed to at least earn as much as they did the year before or be granted the freedom to get a job elsewhere.</p><p>One solution is to lower qualifying offers to 80 per cent of the previous season&rsquo;s value. Players would still have the ability to negotiate a raise or, if they qualify, file for arbitration. Their remaining leverage would be to withhold their services. This could act as a significant drag on salaries for players after their entry level years, but before unrestricted years.</p><p>Salary arbitration rights could also be squeezed. The system is complex, but generally speaking, a player&rsquo;s arbitration years are roughly from 24 to 30. If you cut a year from either end, it would decrease the number of players eligible to use a process which clearly favors the employee. Arbitration outcomes are reflections of market conditions that are heavily dependent upon comparable players and their existing contracts. When a player files, he typically believes he has a very strong case and the results fuel inflation. This past summer, for example, the 18 players whose cases were decided by an arbitrator saw their salaries increase by an average of 57 per cent. The other 200 free agents experienced an average bump of five per cent. Eliminate a couple years of arbitration eligibility and you have more players at the younger end of the scale who lose leverage and more players at the older end who qualify for unrestricted free agency.</p><p>And creating a bigger pool of UFAs shouldn&rsquo;t be cause for concern anymore. Gone are the days of believing you can win a Stanley Cup by purchasing high-priced talent. Tampa Bay, Calgary, Anaheim, Minnesota and their small market brethren have proven success in today&rsquo;s NHL can be achieved with youth, speed, discipline and relatively modest payrolls.</p><p>If the players were to throw in a sensible luxury tax system, the owners should have all the tools to control salaries and still be successful.</p><p>Or the players could just submit to a fair cap system. (There, we said it.)</p><p>The bottom line is, if we believe owner losses are anywhere near the amounts they claim, meaningful system changes need to occur. This summer is proving restraint alone isn&rsquo;t enough.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05856/8296804-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="440" height="228"></div><h2><b>SUMMER SALARY SWINGS</b></h2><p><i>Scott Niedermayer won a $3-mtllion raise in arbitration, the largest increase among players who received new deals this summer. Here are the biggest leaps and falls.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-041052/8296797-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="1050" height="858"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Salaries still on the rise

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021349/8296887-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>SNIPER SLACK</b></p><p><b><i>Brett Hull sounded off at the wrong time, but he deserves a break.</i></b></p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011899/8296894-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="92" height="94"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>B</span></b>rett Hull may not be ready to start the season, regardless of when it begins. He&rsquo;s going to require surgery to remove the skate that&rsquo;s embedded in his mouth.</p><p>The new Phoenix Coyote immersed himself in a vat of bubbling turmoil when he made his now infamous &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t give of&mdash;about the fans&rdquo; remark to a reporter in St. Paul during the World Cup. It was an inane comment and Hull should know better. Anything said in the presence of a reporter can find its way into print or onto the airwaves.</p><p>That said, we&rsquo;re willing to cut Hull some slack on this one.</p><p>Hull, a crusty individual at times, is also one of the NHL&rsquo;s few players who frequently speaks from the heart. We often applaud him for taking stands that can be unpopular - remember, it was just a year-and-a-half ago that he endorsed a salary cap in the pages of The Hockey News and said most players are overpaid - so it would be hypocritical to crucify him for the same trait.</p><p>So when he says he was taken out of context and didn&rsquo;t expect the words to be repeated, we&rsquo;ll accept the explanation.</p><p>Really, who among us hasn&rsquo;t said things in the heat of the moment we later regret? It&rsquo;s human nature to lash out when angry or frustrated in an attempt to minimize the hurt.</p><p>We&rsquo;ll give Hull a mulligan.</p><p>What should be more disturbing to the Coyotes, their fans and Hull is his play, and not just at the World Cup. Phoenix made a splash by signing Hull as an unrestricted free agent this summer, but the Golden Brett clearly has something to prove. His 2004 playoff performance with Detroit left much to be desired; he contributed just three goals and five points in 12 games. Moreover, some of his teammates privately grumbled about his play, pointing a finger at him for being partially to blame for the Wings&rsquo; early demise.</p><p>And clearly, Team USA coach Ron Wilson saw enough cracks in the armor to make Hull a healthy scratch.</p><p>We&rsquo;re not yet counting Hull out because he has proven too often over the years he&rsquo;s capable of coming up big when needed. And we hope he has gas left in the tank, because love him or hate him, Hull is good for the game.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>WORLD vs. NHL</b></h2><p><i>Here&rsquo;s how the first 16 games of the World Cup (WC.) compare to the NHL 2003-04 season, in goals per game (GPG) and shots per game (SPG).</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-05346/8296880-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg" title="f0005-05" width="946" height="613"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0005-02

We’ll give Hull a mulligan

<h2><i>Best of the Hockey World</i></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03873/8296932-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="272" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KEITH TKACHUK</b></figcaption></div><p><b>MR. AMERICA</b> Keith Tkachuk erupts for four goals (and adds an assist for good measure) in the U.S.&rsquo;s 5-3 quarterfinal win over Russia.</p><p><b>MO SETTER SCORING</b> The Swedes bow out in the quarterfinal, but Fredrik Modin leaves leading all World Cup scorers with eight points.</p><p><b>MY FAVORITE MARTIN</b> Canada&rsquo;s Martin Brodeur is 4-0 with a 0.75 goals-against average and .970 save percentage through four games.</p><h2><i>Worst of the Hockey World</i></h2><p><b>KEEP WALKIN&rsquo;</b> Defenseman danne Niinimaa walks out on Team Finland after a dispute with coach Raimo Summanen.</p><p><b>MAYBE NEXT TIME</b> Germany and Slovakia conclude the World Cup with a combined 0-8 record, eight goals for and 33 goals against.</p><p><b>ANDREI&rsquo;S DIGIT</b> Russian forward Andrei Kovalenko gives the middle finger salute on his way off the ice in Toronto.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04549/8296925-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="276" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JANNE NIINIMAA</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0005-03

PLUS MINUS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-07129/8296963-1-eng-US/f0005-072.jpg" title="f0005-07" width="304" height="490"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SCOTT NIEDERMAYER</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-06215/8296970-1-eng-US/f0005-062.jpg" title="f0005-06" width="183" height="155"></div><p>&bull; Slovak GM Peter Stastny had to take time off from his duties as a member of the European parliament to go to the World Cup. Stastny is following in the political footsteps of former NHLers Red Kelly, Howie Meeker, Bucko McDonald and Ken Dryden, who all have served in the Canadian parliament.</p><p>&bull; Asked what it is like to be a teammate of Mario Lemieux, Scott Niedermayer offered: &ldquo;It beats being his opponent.&rdquo;</p><p>&bull; Think everyone is caught up in the CBA? Only in our small world. A Google search for &ldquo;CBA&rdquo; turned up 1,570,000 Internet matches. A hockey-related CBA hit didn&rsquo;t occur until the ninth listing. FYI, <a href="http://www.cba.com">www.cba.com</a> belongs to Cheslock, Bakker & Associates, a privately held merchant bank firm. And <a href="http://www.cba.ca">www.cba.ca</a> belongs to the Canadian Bankers Association. And the folks at the Continental Basketball Association are tickled pink with this much media coverage on the CBA.</p><p>&bull; Despite announced attendance figures, actual turnouts for many of the preliminary and quarterfinal World Cup games were below expectations. The empty seats were startling for Canada&rsquo;s playoff game against Slovakia in Toronto, leading to speculation scalpers were taking a hit. Couldn&rsquo;t have anything to do with the exorbitant prices, could it?<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-07

SNAPSHOTS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012112/8297001-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="204" height="106"></div><h3>The Hockey News</h3><h2>FROM THE EDITORS</h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>e do not subscribe to the NHL&rsquo;s view that it is irrelevant how we reached the abyss. Like out-of-control shopaholics, NHL owners brought much of this mess on themselves. Anv attempt to pin all their losses on systemic pressures in the collective bargaining agreement will further alienate fans already fed up with the CBA blame game.</p><p>But even if owners as a group do appropriate penance in front of the mirror, that alone does nothing to help solve the NHL&rsquo;s labor woes. Players and owners share the responsibility of creating a healthy league because they both stand to benefit from it.</p><p>In that light, here are four principles that shape our thinking about solutions to the lockout.</p><p>There is nothing inherently wrong or unfair with a fixed relationship between league-wide revenues and player costs. How to define the pie is a matter for negotiation, but it is an eminently doable exercise as the NBA, NFL and countless publicly owned businesses can attest. The NHL Players&rsquo; Association has the right to insist on the broadest possible definition of hockey revenues. As for what share of the pie the players should receive, the question we ask concerns the <i>maximum</i> share players should receive. This percentage should be set at a higher limit than what the NHL says it needs to guarantee owner profits. Call it the owners&rsquo; life jacket: It would stop the ship from sinking, but can&rsquo;t promise that owners won&rsquo;t get wet. In this way the two sides would truly be sharing the risk because there would be risk; under a guarantee system there is none at all.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;<i>Players and owners must realize they are sharing in a $2-billion business in spite of themselves.</i></blockquote><p>The revenue-player cost link need not be a salary cap, either. Teams could collectively spend over a set percentage of revenue, with players paying back the excess the next season through an escrow account. We don&rsquo;t mean this as a proposal, more an illustration that the concept is not the bogeyman the NHLPA makes it out to be.</p><p>The NHL must introduce significant revenue sharing of proceeds from gate receipts and local television and radio contracts. If owners expect players to cut into their own profits from the game, big-revenue owners must be willing to do the same. The NHL does the least revenue sharing of any pro sport. That has to change.</p><p>No solution will be reached unless trust is improved on both sides. If the NHLPA has no real quibble with the NHL&rsquo;s numbers as the league insists, shame on the union. If it does, the NHL should earn their trust through transparency. If NHLPA concerns are shown to be well-founded, the NHL must come down hard on any owner who is jeopardizing the game&rsquo;s future for personal greed.</p><p>An NHLPA-NHL partnership is the best way to make the game better for players, owners and fans. As much concern as we hold for CBA negotiations, the ever-deteriorating quality of the on-ice product is no less serious. Players and owners must realize they are sharing in a $2-billion business in spite of themselves. Imagine what it can be if they find the good sense to work together.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-01

Key principles to live by in NHL’s labor impasse

f0006-02

ELSTON

<h2><b>HULL&rsquo;S HUFFING HORRIBLE</b></h2><p>When he was made a healthy scratch in the World Cup, Brett Hull showed his true colors by stating that he didn&rsquo;t care about the fans.</p><p>Hull has always been arrogant. I for one am glad that he never played for Canada, his true home country.</p><p>Hull&rsquo;s antics are more akin to those of football or basketball players and not of hockey players.</p><p>And certainly, not those of a Canadian.</p><p><b>Gary Weishaar, Maple Ridge, B.C.</b></p><h2><b>MAKE LUXURY TAX EXTRA TOUGH</b></h2><p>So NHL owners want a salary cap and NHlers want a luxury tax. Why don&rsquo;t the owners work this luxury tax angle?</p><p>For years, the league has imposed penalties for signing other team&rsquo;s restricted free agents. The penalties are so stiff, few teams have ever done it. Why not set a threshold for a luxury tax and make the consequences for breaching it so severe, even the likes of the Rangers, Wings, or Leafs wouldn&rsquo;t dare?</p><p><b>William Brown, Douglasville, Go.</b></p><h2><b>WOODEN-N&rsquo;T YOU KNOW IT&hellip;</b></h2><p>Having read your Stick Buyers&rsquo; Guide, I wonder: when is your Wooden Stick Buyers&rsquo; Guide out? (THN, Aug. 31)</p><p>I was disappointed to see only two wooden sticks - high-end, I might add - in the entire 20 pages.</p><p>We who prefer the feel - and pricetag - of the wooden stick would sure appreciate consideration next time.</p><p><b><i>Spencer Hodes, Portland, Ore.</i></b></p><h2><b>LOCKOUT HURTS ALL FANS</b></h2><p>Many folks say they will continue to follow hockey in the event of a lock out. What about international fans? Without the NHL, we&rsquo;ve got no hockey in this part of the world.</p><p>The NHL isn&rsquo;t only letting down North Americans, but fans worldwide.</p><p><b><i>Lee Trotter, Downpatrick, Ireland</i></b></p><h2><b>DAIGLE LETTER A HOWLER</b></h2><p>I thought my love of shots at Alexandre Daigle would subside once he &ldquo;went legit&rdquo; in Minnesota last year. Since then, it&rsquo;s been hard to find any &ldquo;beer league&rdquo; or &ldquo;Hollywood production company&rdquo; references.</p><p>However, now trumping all Daigle references is Wes Wolfe&rsquo;s letter in which he was kind enough to mention Alexandre Daigle and the Hall of Fame in the same paragraph. (THN, Aug. 31)</p><p>Thanks, Wes. You made my day.</p><p><b><i>Jim Hayden, Exton, Pa.</i></b></p><h2><b>FAN ON FANS</b></h2><p>I had the good fortune to be lost in Montreal on the day before the Canada-U.S. game at the World Cup.</p><p>My sense of misdirection led me to a chance encounter with Martin Brodeur. However, the legions of people who were in the same place, holding huge folios of pictures and magazines to sign, left me feeling uneasy about asking him for an autograph. Watching them chase him down the street, I felt like a vulture.</p><p>But there was one guy with nothing to sign, who patted Brodeur on the shoulder and said, &ldquo;Good luck in the game tomorrow!&rdquo; It was the only time he smiled while running away.</p><p>People should learn being famous doesn&rsquo;t mean you&rsquo;re obliged to help others make a quick buck.</p><p><b><i>Ashley Payne, Kitchener, Ont.</i></b></p><h2><b>LETTER OF THE WEEK</b></h2><p>If you worked for the NHL and were fearful a lockout would negatively impact your sport in the eyes of the U.S. fans, wouldn&rsquo;t you be sure all of the World Cup games were at least broadcast here?</p><p>Well, nobody - not ESPN, Fox Sports Net, or DirecTV Center Ice - bothered to air Sweden vs. Finland, Russia vs. Canada, Slovakia vs. Russia, or Finland vs. Germany. Instead, viewers were treated to televised fishing, darts, &ldquo;pride fighting&rdquo; and a lot of poker.</p><p>Let&rsquo;s start with a basic concept: if you want fans, you must televise games, particularly if this is the only NHL-caliber hockey we&rsquo;ll see for some time. Your minds must still be on the &ldquo;small&rdquo; details, like keeping your real bread and butter happy while you&rsquo;re battling the NHLPA.</p><p>If not, it will only reinforce the idea the two sides don&rsquo;t care about the people who matter most - the fans.</p><p><b><i>Betsy Alexander Burbank, Calif</i></b></p><h2><b>Got something to say?</b></h2><p><b>U.S.A</b>.: Letters, The Hockey News, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947.</p><p><b>Canada:</b> Letters, The Hockey News, 25 Sheppard Ave.W., Suite 100, Toronto, Ont., M2N 6S7</p><p><b>E-mail:</b> <a href="mailto:aproteau@thehockeynews.com">aproteau@thehockeynews.com</a> or visit <b><a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">www.thehockeynews.com</a></b> Include name, hometown, province/state and phone number.</p><p><i>Submissions will be edited.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

<div class="byline">Eric Duhatschek </div><div class="byline">Columnist</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021269/8297101-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="326" height="548"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011912/8297108-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="204" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>here is a lot to like about the 2004 World Cup of Hockey - and not just because it may be our only chance this year to see the world&rsquo;s best players in action.</p><p>If there&rsquo;s one common element that ties together all high-end sporting events, it is the appetite for best-on-best competition. Until the World (nee Canada) Cup came along in 1976, there was no forum to bring together the world&rsquo;s best hockey players in a head-to-head competition.</p><p>The Canada Cup came along on the heels of the historic 1972 Summit Series between Canada and Russia. Apart from the desire to bolster NHL players&rsquo; pension funds, the tournament was designed to give the rest of the hockey-playing world a chance to get in on the fun.</p><h2><b>SOME OF HOCKEY&rsquo;S FINEST MOMENTS</b></h2><p>Ever since that inaugural tournament, when beefy Czech goaltender Vladimir Dzurilla alternately charmed and dazzled fans - one reporter suggested he closely resembled the Maytag refrigerator repairman - some of the finest moments in hockey history have occurred in these tournaments. There was Wayne Gretzky-to-Mario Lemieux for the memorable game-winning goal against the Russians in 1987&hellip;Paul Coffey&rsquo;s defensive play which led to Mike Bossy&rsquo;s tip-in for the semifinal winner over Russia again in 1984&hellip;Mike Richter&rsquo;s clutch goaltending as the Americans rallied from a one-game deficit to win two straight and grab the 1996 event over Canada.</p><p>Some critics argue the international hockey calendar is already too crowded, what with Olympics and world championship and the demands on the high-end players are far too great nowadays. That certainly might have been the case in the early years of the Canada Cup/World Cup, when training camps opened in early August, continued for nearly a month and players were asked to earn their spots on the team. One year, Canada cut</p><p>Steve Yzerman. Just about every year, Ron Francis showed up for the camps and didn&rsquo;t make the team.</p><p>Among players, the appetite for that sort of intense preparation disappeared quickly. Now that the NHL season spills over into June, players no longer want to go through a boot camp that costs them half their summer vacation.</p><p>The organizers of the 2004 tournament understood this, which is why each team named its 26-man roster, without conducting tryouts, and camps were limited to 10 days in late August. It&rsquo;s also why the three preliminary round games meant little other than to determine the seeding for the playoff round. In effect, the round robin gave teams a chance to build chemistry and develop systems to prepare for quarters, semis and the final.</p><p>For a time, it looked as if the Winter Olympics might displace the World Cup as the No. 1 event on the hockey calendar. The NHL shut down operations twice, in 1998 and in 2002, so its players could compete in the Olympics. There were some glitches along the way (forcing Slovakia to play qualifying matches when the majority of its top players were involved in NHL competition was a disgrace), but in the end, both the 1998 and 2002 Games were monumentally successful and captured the public imagination, especially in the home countries of the respective winners, the Czech Republic and Canada.</p><h2><b>NHL&rsquo;S OLYMPIC FUTURE CLOUOY</b></h2><p>It may well be if the NHL continues its commitment to the Olympics, the World Cup will become redundant. However, there is a strong feeling the NHL will not go to Italy in 2006 and it remains to be seen it if will bother to show up in Vancouver in 2010.</p><p>In the NHL&rsquo;s mind, it makes some sense to participate in the Olympics whenever they are held in North America because they are less of a logistical nightmare. Olympics scheduled for Europe or Asia</p><p>are less attractive and the suggestion here is the NHL will continue to be hit-and-miss in terms of its Olympic commitment for the foreseeable future. That, in turn, will ultimately force the International Ice Hockey Federation to decide if it can live with a wavering commitment on behalf of the NHL or if it wants to return the Olympic competition to juniors, college players and minor pros, the way it was up to 1994.</p><p>Ultimately, that uncertainty is why the World Cup needs to be preserved. The format could be tweaked so the event could be headquartered in Europe on an alternating basis, giving Stockholm or Helsinki or Moscow or Prague a chance to host a final.</p><p>With the NHL&rsquo;s Olympic participation in limbo, the World Cup cannot afford to go the way of the dodo because it would effectively put an end to best-on-best competition in hockey.</p><p>And that would just be plain wrong.</p><p><b>GAME&rsquo;S GROWTH</b> The number of countries registered with the IIHF has doubled since the 1976 Canada Cup.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03785/8297094-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="835" height="605"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-04506/8297087-1-eng-US/f0007-042.jpg" title="f0007-04" width="1226" height="2272"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE RICHTER: 1996 TEAM USA</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0007-02

World Cud worth it

<div class="byline">Mark Brender </div><div class="byline">Senior Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-031049/8297167-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011999/8297181-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="92" height="94"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021494/8297174-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="95" height="119"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>henever the deal gets done this time, it&rsquo;s going to be done in its entirety. They&rsquo;ll dot the i&rsquo;s and cross the t&rsquo;s and get the lawyers to sign off on each and every last collectively bargained word. Then and only then will the NHL owners take the padlocks off the rinks.</p><p>This, folks, could be a very bad thing. We car add it to the list.</p><p>It wasn&rsquo;t like this a decade ago. Even though a deal was reached to save the NHL season on Jan. 11,1995, and approved in a player vote on Jan. 13, many of the system elements hadn&rsquo;t been fully flushed out by the time players were back on the ice. As one GM recalls it, the season got under way Jan. 20 without GMs knowing the specifics of the entry-level system that would govern their negotiations with draft picks that summer, to give one example. The lawyers didn&rsquo;t agree on the specifics until the spring.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04545/8297160-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="317" height="545"></div><p>The NHL has passed the message on to the NHL Players&rsquo; Association that things work differently in 2004, or 2005, or whenever. This time the devil is in the details. The devil also happens to be in the big picture. The devil is everywhere.</p><p>To reiterate, no dry inky, no drop pucky. Some may believe this is simply another power play by the NHL, another gambit to try to put more heat on players who, despite their anti-cap rhetoric, don&rsquo;t look kindly on seeing a season&rsquo;s wages go up in smoke. (In case you haven&rsquo;t done the math, that&rsquo;s a collective $1.2 billion, gents.) But given the distrust between the two sides, we&rsquo;re not about to call anyone&rsquo;s bluff.</p><h2><b>SEASON&rsquo;S START ALREADY IN JEOPARDY</b></h2><p>So let&rsquo;s say the NHL is playing it straight this time. What it means in practical terms is Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow have far less time to save the season than many people assume. It means even if the basis for an agreement is agreed to tomorrow - those reading this in a movie theatre, feel free to roll in the aisles here - games have already been lost. The current CBA is 159 pages long. The next one, if it involves a luxury tax or a salary cap, will be far longer and more complex.</p><p>One GM who requested anonymity said he thought it would take up to 60 days to finalize a new agreement. NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly wouldn&rsquo;t go that far, but he did admit it will be a longer process than the 1994 precedent.</p><p>There are also four more teams today than there were in &rsquo;94-95. It takes longer to play the same number of games per team, so it&rsquo;s unrealistic to expect a season to start after the first week of January. Even that might be pushing things; the NHL has little appetite any more for hockey in late June.</p><p>So let&rsquo;s say, for the sake of argument, they have to have a deal done by the first week of December, absolute latest. They&rsquo;ve still got to solve the threshold salary cap vs. luxury tax issue first. They&rsquo;ve only been working on that one for the better part of two years.</p><p>On the bright side, a week before the lockout was to take effect they claimed to be working on it still, and the needle on the CBA progress meter inched forward from mediocre to middling.</p><p>&ldquo;I went through the lockout in 1994-95,1 went through the strike in April of &rsquo;92 and all I know is what you go into these things with and what you come out with are two different things and it&rsquo;s very hard to speculate on what that will be,&rdquo; says NHL Players&rsquo; Association senior director Ted Saskin. &ldquo;I think there&rsquo;s going to have to be some compromise on what would appear at this instance to be irreconcilable positions. We&rsquo;re prepared to engage in that dialogue to get to that compromise, but I guess it&rsquo;s how you create the dialogue.&rdquo;</p><p>Not by insisting on a link between revenues and player costs, the union says.</p><p>&ldquo;Owners have borne 100 per cent of the risk now for 10 years,&rdquo; counters NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly, &ldquo;and have assumed $1.7 billion in losses. I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s unreasonable to ask the players to join with us as partners in this business and share some of the risk with us.&rdquo;</p><p>So much for the bright side.</p><h2><b>PROPOSAL GOING NOWHERE</b></h2><p>On Sept. 8, NHL Players&rsquo; Association president Trevor Linden and the rest of the union executive flew to Toronto to confer with Goodenow and company in preparation for another meeting with the league. A proposal from the players, their first since the summer of 2003, was in the offing, and for what it was worth, Goodenow wanted to get the players up to speed on an offer that both sides were confident wouldn&rsquo;t go anywhere.</p><p>And how do we know it wasn&rsquo;t going anywhere? Because the latest CBA proposal wasn&rsquo;t the only thing the NHLPA was writing at the time. Linden was also preparing a message for NHL fans to be printed in this issue of The Hockey News. His piece appears on pg. 13. Daly was doing the same; his column is on pg. 12. <i>(Also see pgs. 10-11 for more CBA coverage.)</i></p><p>We are glad both parties took up our offer to engage our regular readers and the broader hockey world. You judge whose argument is more compelling. But don&rsquo;t flip the page just yet. There&rsquo;ll be plenty of time for that, before and after Sept. 15. The point here is that barring an about-face of Khadafi-like proportions by one side or the other, this lockout was bound to happen. Everyone saw it coming. No one ever attached much significance to Sept. 15 in the first place, least of all the parties who agreed to write these columns a week earlier.</p><p>The only ones who did see Sept. 15 as something real are the fans. That is the day fans already soaked to the gills with exorbitant ticket prices get furious over the second NHL shutdown in a decade. The league and the union? Nah, they&rsquo;re experts at this now.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-03761/8297153-1-eng-US/f0009-032.jpg" title="f0009-03" width="756" height="1256"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>BONUS POINTS</b></p><p><i>Under NHLPA boss Bob Goodenow, player salaries have increased from $370,000 in 1991-92 to $1.8 million last season.</i></p> <span class="photo-credit">(MARK WILSON)</span></figcaption></div><p>For one Western Conference GM, that expertise is the factor he is worried will wipe out the season.</p><p>&ldquo;I think now that (both sides) have got the experience of going through that challenge of who&rsquo;s going to blink, they&rsquo;re not even thinking about September,&rdquo; the GM says. &ldquo;So this January becomes September of &rsquo;94 and the fact that nobody blinked at that date, really I&rsquo;m fearful that nobody will blink in January and the whole year will be gone.&rdquo;</p><p>But 2004 is different from 1994 in plenty of other ways, none of them encouraging. The big cash from the stock market that padded owners&rsquo; pockets is gone, so they&rsquo;re less willing to treat NHL franchises as money-losing playthings. Teams find it much tougher to borrow money to cover debt servicing or finance new projects.</p><p>Bettman has a much closer rapport with the owners than he did 10 years ago. The majority of owners in the league today were granted entry into the league under his watch. When the most recent teams came in, including new ownership in Ottawa and Montreal, Bettman made promises about what he would get in the next CBA.</p><p>Owners may prove to be no more unified than they were last time and the players are counting on it. We wonder. Ownership is said to have lost $50 million the season before the last lockout. Now the league claims that number is $273 million.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve talked to a couple of the big-market teams, their GMs,&rdquo; says one smaller-market NHL executive, &ldquo;and they told me their owners are right in line with Bettman this time.</p><p>&ldquo;Players say they won&rsquo;t play under a cap. A lot of them are right because they&rsquo;ll sit so long and their careers will be done and they&rsquo;ll never play under a cap.&rdquo;</p><p>And what of the &ldquo;there&rsquo;s too much money to be lost&rdquo; argument for sanity on both sides? Another myth shattered.</p><p>Maybe it&rsquo;s that the players have saved too much to care about a season lost. The average salary in 1993-94 was $570,000. Last year it was $1.81 million. If the cost-of-living had gone up 300 per cent over the past decade we might be a lot closer to a deal.</p><p>A glass-half-full type might look at what New Jersey GM Lou Lamoriello is doing as evidence things aren&rsquo;t as bad as they seem. No GM is more tapped in to the NHL head office hierarchy and no GM&rsquo;s word is more valued there, yet Lamoriello&rsquo;s Devils stand today with a payroll in excess of $60 million, the third-highest in the league and some $20 million above a $40-million salary cap or luxury tax threshold, let alone the $31-million figure the NHL keeps on pushing. Perhaps Lamoriello is betting they&rsquo;ll get a deal done and it won&rsquo;t be heavily punitive.</p><p>Or maybe he&rsquo;s just hanging onto his players&rsquo; rights and already assumes the season is gone. The dollar figures don&rsquo;t much matter then.</p><h2><b>RIGHT & WRONG NO MATTER</b></h2><p>Beyond which side is right and which is wrong, here&rsquo;s the most infuriating thing: they&rsquo;re setting us up to hate them both. By the nature of their public lines in the sand, one side is going to lose. The NHL&rsquo;s &ldquo;cost certainty&rdquo; and the union&rsquo;s refusal to tie together revenues and player costs are fundamentally, unalterably incompatible.</p><p>Real progress in these negotiations will arrive with a bang of drums and a roar in the street, because someone will have won. That&rsquo;s the same reason real progress won&rsquo;t come any time soon. It&rsquo;s the same reason there&rsquo;s a part of us that wants the season to die out of spite, so both of them will suffer for setting us up, damn the consequences.</p><h2><b>THE LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-05435/8297146-1-eng-US/f0009-052.jpg" title="f0009-05" width="852" height="1185"></div><h3><b>GARY BETTMAN</b> NHL Commissioner</h3><p>In his 11th year, Bettman&rsquo;s drive for &ldquo;cost certainty&rdquo; has defined these negotiations.</p><h3><b>BILL DALY</b> V.P. & Chief Leqal Officer!</h3><p>Bettman&rsquo;s right-hand man is deeply involved in all areas and is the NHL&rsquo;s public face on CBA talks.</p><h2><b>KEY OWNERS</b></h2><p><b>Harley Hotchkiss, Calgary Hames</b></p><p><b>Mike Ilitch, Detroit Red Wings</b></p><p><b>Jeremy Jacobs, Boston Bruins</b></p><p><b>Peter Karmanos, Carolina Hurricanes</b></p><p><b>Craig Leipold, Nashville Predators</b></p><p><b>Bob Naegele, Minnesota Wild</b></p><p><b>Ed Snider, Philadelphia Hyers</b></p><p><b>Bill Wirtz, Chicago Blackhawks</b></p><h2><b>OTHER PLAYERS</b></h2><p><b>Bob Batterman, Labor Lawyer</b></p><p><b>David Zimmerman, NHL Counsel</b></p><h2><b>THE PLAYERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-06367/8297139-1-eng-US/f0009-062.jpg" title="f0009-06" width="837" height="1155"></div><h3><b>BOBGOODENOW</b> Executive Director</h3><p>He has presided over huge salary salary increases since 1991 for the players and has earned their trust.</p><h3><b>TED SASKIN</b> Business Affairs</h3><p>Matched up with Daly in the public rhetoric wars, Saskin is Goodenow&rsquo;s <b>I</b> closest confidant and advisor.</p><h2><b>NHLPA EXECUTIVE</b></h2><p><b>Trevor Linden, President</b></p><p><b>Daniel Alfredsson, Vice-president</b></p><p><b>Bob Bough ner, Vice-president</b></p><p><b>Vincent Damphousse, Vice-president</b></p><p><b>Bill Guerin, Vice-president</b></p><p><b>Arturs Irbe, Vice-president</b></p><p><b>Trent Klatt, Vice-president</b></p><h2><b>OTHER PLAYERS</b></h2><p><b>John McCambridge, Labor Lawyer</b></p><p><b>Ian Pulver, Associate Counsel</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

NHL VS NHLPA

<div class="byline">by Mark Brender </div><div class="byline">Senior Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04602/8297254-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JAROMIR JAGR NEW YORK RANGERS S11.000.000</b> <span class="photo-credit">(JAGR. JIM MCISAC/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011969/8297275-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="92" height="94"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021425/8297268-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="95" height="119"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he NHL points to the Lower player shares of League revenues in other sports as proof that fundamental change is needed. But while a fixed Link between revenues and player costs remains the key stumbling block over a new CBA, it&rsquo;s hardly the only issue. Compromise, if and when there is any to be found, will involve a host of other elements. Here&rsquo;s a look at how the NHL compares to the other big four sports in key areas. NHL and NBA figures are from 2003-04, NFL from 2003 and MLB from 2004.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>NATIONAL <b>HOCKEY</b> LEAGUE</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03886/8297261-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="92" height="94"></div><p><b>BACKGROUND</b> Claiming losses of hundreds of millions of dollars (including $273 million in 200203 alone), the NHL is seeking a revamped deal that will bring &ldquo;cost certainty,&rdquo; or in other words, a fixed link between league-wide revenues and player costs. The players&rsquo; union says accepting a percentage of league revenues is a non-starter. This is the threshold issue that threat ends to make the lockout a long one. The current CBA was reached on Jan. 13, 1995, after a three-and-a-half-month lockout. The deal was extended in June of 1997, but spiraling salaries in the late 1990s and a host of other factors, including the end of expansion money and the failure of the NHL to capture the imagination of the U.S. TV market, have convinced the league it needs dramatic change.</p><p><b>TOP 2003-04 SALARY</b> $11 million (Jaromir Jagr, Rangers)</p><p><b>AVERAGE SALARY</b> $1.81 million</p><p><b>AVERAGE TEAM PAYROLL</b> $41.6 million (23 players)</p><p><b>PLAYER SHARE OF REVENUE</b> 75 per cent*</p><p><b>ESTIMATED ANNUAL NHL REVENUE</b> $2 billion</p><p><b>SALARY CAP</b> None. Owners have proposed a hard $31-million cap, which would equal a 28 per-cent salary reduction. They claim their proposals so far would guarantee players an average salary of $1.3 million and an overall share of greater than 50 per cent of revenues. The players&rsquo; union says any revenue-player cost Link is equivalent to a salary cap and will not result in a deal.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p><b>PAYROLL TAX</b> None. Last October the players reportedly proposed a luxury tax kicking in at $40 million, with a low tax rate that increases gradually at higher payroll amounts. The league says that proposal isn&rsquo;t enough to discourage the big spenders. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says he has no interest in a luxury tax.</p><p><b>REVENUE SHARING</b> National television revenues in Canada and the United States are split equally among all 30 teams. The total amounted to roughly $4 million per team in 2003-04 - a figure that is likely to be less in the future because the NHL&rsquo;s two-year U.S. network deal signed with NBC and ESPN doesn&rsquo;t offer guaranteed money up front. NHL teams do not share any of their revenues from gate or local television and radio contracts and there are wide disparities between teams in these areas. Bettman has said increased revenue sharing would be part of a new CBA deal that also includes cost certainty.</p><p><b>CONTRACTS</b> Contracts are fully guaranteed and can be bought out at two-thirds of their value. NFL-style non-guaranteed contracts are a non-starter for the union.</p><p><b>ENTRY LEVEL SYSTEM</b> Most first-year players are subject to a three-year entry Level system with a maximum annual salary for 2004 draft picks of $1,295 million. As a concession, the players have proposed extending the entry level system to four or five years. Owners want the elimination of the costly bonus structure that has allowed players to make millions of dollars by hitting minimum standards in two of six statistical categories.</p><p><b>FREE AGENCY</b> The NHL has the most restrictive free agency system in North American pro sports. Restricted free agency applies to most players before age 31. Restricted free agents rarely receive offers from other teams and rarely change clubs because of right-to-match provisions that make the exercise pointless. Speculation is the age for unrestricted free agency could move to 29 or lower in a new CBA.</p><p><b>QUALIFYING OFFER</b> Players making under the league average salary must be offered a 10 per-cent raise at the expiration of their contracts in order for a team to retain their rights. Players earning the league salary or above have to be offered their previous year&rsquo;s salary. Owners believe both provisions-contribute to salary escalation. They want qualifying offer conditions to be eased to better reflect performances of underachieving players. <b>ARBITRATION</b> Restricted free agents are generally eligible for salary arbitration after five years in the league, or at age 24 or 25. Only players can file for arbitration, which is partly why the process has been so good to them. Agents and the union are very careful about which cases they take to arbitration. Each side (the player and the team) presents a salary figure; an arbitrator can choose either figure or any point in between. The ruling is based on the salaries of comparable players league-wide. Owners complain this forces smaller market teams to keep up with salaries in cities with different market conditions or greater revenue streams. As a result, teams are forced to trade players they can no longer afford. No player has ever seen his salary decrease through arbitration and only Washington&rsquo;s Brendan Witt, in 2000, received less than his qualifying offer. At minimum, owners want the right to take players to arbitration. Owners are also upset that team success is not factored into the equation; a player may have strong statistics, but they don&rsquo;t help the team win. The union is willing to make concessions in this area.</p><h2>MAJOR LEAGUE <b>BASEBALL</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021245/8297247-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="1026" height="633"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>MANNY RAMIREZ</b></p><p><b>BOSTON RED SOX S22.500.000</b></p></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03827/8297240-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="268" height="134"></div><p><b>BACKGROUND</b> MLB and its players averted a strike and cancellation of the 2002 World Series by agreeing to a four-year collective bargaining agreement in September, 2002. It expires on Dec. 17, 2006. The previous CBA expired in November, 2001, but the players continued to work without an agreement. It was baseball&rsquo;s first contract settlement without a work stoppage in 30 years. Key features of the deal were an increased payroll tax and increased revenue sharing. The deal has slowed spending; player salaries have increased less than 10 per cent since 1991. A strike in 1994 wiped out the World Series for the first time since 1904 and dealt baseball a devastating publicrelations blow from which it didn&rsquo;t recover until the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run races of the late 1990s.</p><p><b>TOP SALARY</b> $22.5 million (Manny Ramirez, Boston)</p><p><b>AVERAGE SALARY</b> $2.5 million</p><p><b>AVERAGE PAYROLL</b> $68.1 million (25 players). (This figure is misleading because the payroll disparity between the New York Yankees and low-payroll teams can be $150 million or more.)</p><p><b>PLAYERS&rsquo; SHARE OF LEAGUE REVENUE</b> 63 per cent*</p><p><b>ESTIMATED ANNUAL LEAGUE REVENUE</b> $4.1 billion</p><p><b>SALARY CAP</b> None</p><p><b>PAYROLL TAX</b> The payroll tax has a significant impact on just one team, the Yankees, who have a payroll of roughly $185 million. As second-time offenders, the Yankees pay approximately $21 million in tax this season - 30 per cent of the $65 million the Yankees are above baseball&rsquo;s $120.5-million threshold. The money goes to help low-revenue teams. The highest payroll tax rate in subsequent years is 40 per cent.</p><p><b>REVENUE SHARING</b> Thirty-four per cent of each team&rsquo;s locally generated revenue, including gate receipts, goes into a central fund. The money is then split equally among all 30 teams. This is expected to result in a redistribution of $280 million in 2004 from large-revenue to small-revenue clubs.</p><p><b>ENTRY LEVEL SYSTEM</b> None</p><p><b>FREE AGENCY</b> Players with six or more major league seasons are unrestricted free agents at the end of their contracts. There is no restricted free agency.</p><p><b>QUALIFYING OFFER</b> Must be at least 80 per cent of player&rsquo;s most recent salary or 70 per cent of the annual average of his previous contract in order to retain rights.</p><p><b>ARBITRATION</b> Players with at least three seasons and less than six are eligible. Both parties must agree for arbitration to go ahead. Both sides submit a salary proposal; the arbitrator chooses one or the other.</p><p><i>* Numbers that appear for players&rsquo; share of league revenue may be based on different definitions of league revenue. They include major league salaries and benefits. All figures in U.S. dollars.</i></p><h2>NATIONAL <b>BASKETBALL</b> ASSOCIATION</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-04637/8297233-1-eng-US/f0011-042.jpg" title="f0011-04" width="1017" height="640"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>SHAQUILLE O&rsquo;NEAL</b></p><p><b>MIAMI HEAT</b></p><p><b>S29.500.000</b></p></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-05500/8297226-1-eng-US/f0011-052.jpg" title="f0011-05" width="155" height="369"></div><p><b>BACKGROUND</b> The NBA achieved its first salary cap in 1984-85 and has had one ever since. Its current CBA expires in 2005. The salary cap has increased from $26.9 million in 1997-98 to the new level of $43.87 million, the highest amount since the salary cap was established. During the current CBA, total player salaries and benefits have increased 57 per cent from $1 billion in 1997-98 to $1,573 billion in 2003-04. The current CBA, signed in January, 1999, after a lockout had wiped out half the 1998-99 season, was extended one year by the league and expires after 2004-05. <b>TOP SALARY</b> $29.5 million (Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, Miami) <b>AVERAGE SALARY</b> $4.92 million. Notably, NBA players can terminate the CBA if their average salary becomes less than any of MLB, NFL or NHL.</p><p><b>AVERAGE PAYROLL</b> $59 million (12 players)</p><p><b>PLAYERS&rsquo; SHARE OF LEAGUE REVENUE</b> 58 per cent* <b>ESTIMATED ANNUAL LEAGUE REVENUE</b> $3.1 billion <b>SALARY CAP</b> The NBA has a &lsquo;soft&rsquo; salary cap calculated annually as a percentage of league income. The cap is $43.9 million for 2003-04, but with various free agent exemptions, the average NBA payroll comes in at $59 million. Teams must spend at least 75 per cent of the cap on payroll, which amounts to $33 million. There are also individual player salary caps based on years of experience in the league. For example, the maximum annual salary available to a 10-year veteran in the first year of his contract was $15.4 million in 2003-04; subsequent years can be higher, but there are restrictions on the size of year-to-year raises (usually 12.5 per cent). Players can exceed their individual cap because 12.5 per-cent raises are allowed on the final year of old contracts, including those signed under the pre-1998 CBA.</p><p><b>PAYROLL TAX</b> Teams are taxed dollar-for-dollar at payrolls above $54.6 million, but only if league-wide player salaries exceed a specified percentage of revenue.</p><p><b>REVENUE SHARING</b> The ABC/ESPN TV contract which took effect with the 2002-03 season provides $4.6 billion over six seasons, or $25.5 million per team per season.</p><p><b>ENTRY LEVEL SYSTEM</b> Fixed three-year contracts, plus an option year, for first round draft picks, based on where they are selected. Dwight Howard, the top pick in 2004, will receive $11.2 million over his first three seasons.</p><p><b>FREE AGENCY</b> Restricted free agency, subject to right-to-match option by the player&rsquo;s original team, kicks in after the fourth season for first round draft picks and after the third season for all others. Unrestricted free agency applies in most other situations.</p><p><b>QUALIFYING OFFER</b> 125 per cent of previous salary to retain rights to players in certain categories.</p><p><b>ARBITRATION</b> None.</p><h2>NATION AL <b>FOOTBALL</b> LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-06430/8297219-1-eng-US/f0011-062.jpg" title="f0011-06" width="1028" height="637"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>BRIAN URLACHER</b></p><p><b>CHICAGO BEARS</b></p><p><b>S15DQQ.000</b></p></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-07384/8297212-1-eng-US/f0011-072.jpg" title="f0011-07" width="200" height="257"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RAMIREZ; STEVE BABINEAU/SPORTS ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY; URLACHER:CP IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>BACKGROUND</b> With a salary cap, gate-sharing and a four-decade-old tradition of equal television revenue splitting regardless of market size, the NFL strives for parity and stability above all else. The salary cap, tied to league revenues, has been in place since 1994. The current CBA expires after 2007, but the salary cap component expires after 2006.</p><p><b>TOP SALARY</b> $15.0 million (Brian Urlacher, Chicago)</p><p><b>AVERAGE SALARY</b> $1.25 million</p><p><b>AVERAGE PAYROLL</b> $71.8 million (53 players)</p><p><b>PLAYERS&rsquo; SHARE OF LEAGUE REVENUE 64</b> per cent*</p><p><b>ESTIMATED ANNUAL LEAGUE REVENUE</b> $5 billion</p><p><b>SALARY CAP</b> A hard cap is set at 64.8 per cent of defined gross league revenues, which worked out in 2004 to $80.6 million. A salary floor is set at $67.3 million. Teams can exceed the cap, but have to allocate a percentage of certain contracts to future years (in the form of signing bonuses or back-loaded contracts) to do it. Players want the definition of defined revenues to be expanded in the next CBA.</p><p><b>PAYROLL TAX</b> None<b>.</b></p><p><b>REVENUE SHARING</b> The NFL is in the seventh year of an eight-year, $18-billion deal with major TV networks that yields each of the 32 teams some $75 million per year. By comparison, this is more than the NHL&rsquo;s total annual revenue from all sources. Aside from television, 40 per cent of all gate receipts goes into a pool that is eventually divided equally among the teams. Once all income is factored in, it&rsquo;s estimated that two-thirds of league revenue is split equally. As a result, all franchises are profitable. Even so, annual revenue disparities between the biggest and smallest market teams, arising from differences in luxury boxes and other stadium income, are said to be approaching $100 million.</p><p><b>ENTRY LEVEL SYSTEM</b> Money paid out to rookies is limited by a complex &lsquo;rookie pool,&rsquo; but top draft picks still receive generous multi-year salaries.</p><p><b>FREE AGENCY A</b> tradeoff for players for accepting the salary cap, restricted free agency kicks in after three seasons and unrestricted after four. Team-designated &ldquo;transition players&rdquo; and &ldquo;franchise players&rdquo; are subject to right-to-match provisions if teams make a contract offer that makes the player paid among the top 10 or five same position players in the league, respectively.</p><p><b>QUALIFYING OFFER</b> 110 per cent for restricted free agents</p><p><b>ARBITRATION</b> None.</p><p><b>OTHER</b> NFL contracts are not guaranteed. Teams can cut players at any time with no future obligations except signing bonuses, which for salary cap purposes are pro-rated over the life of the contract even if they are paid up front.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-04

HOW the NHL stacks up

<div class="byline">Bill Daly </div><div class="byline">NHL Vice-president</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011922/8297327-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021510/8297320-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="92" height="94"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03982/8297313-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="327" height="547"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span></b>t is reasonable to assume that you buy The Hockey News to read about hockey - about the game on the ice, about the wins and losses, the streaks and the slumps. You buy The Hockey News to laugh at the Elston cartoon and to check up on your hockey pool picks. So when you buy The Hockey News and see a guest editorial from someone like me, you know that the news of the business has overwhelmed the news of the sport&hellip;and that&rsquo;s a shame.</p><p>In an ideal hockey world, this collective bargaining negotiation would have been completed long ago. In an ideal hockey world, this negotiation would have been conducted far from the spotlight, by people whose names you never needed to know. Ideally, this space would be devoted to the excitement of training camp, the anticipation of the 2004-05 season, the potential impact of new rules.</p><p>Unfortunately, because the hockey world is anything but ideal from the economic standpoint of our Clubs (nor has it been for quite some time), this space is being devoted to my views of the NHL landscape, and this is what I think: I think the future of the National Hockey League as we have come to know it is at stake in this negotiation.</p><p>I&rsquo;m not being glib. I&rsquo;m not being over-dramatic or melodramatic. I&rsquo;m not trying to scare anyone. I am stating a fact.</p><p>Of course! as a regular reader of this publication over the years, you probably have figured this out for yourself.</p><p>You have read the salary listings in the annual &ldquo;Bucks & Pucks&rdquo; issue. You have read, summer after summer, about predominantly inflationary arbitration awards, with.&rdquo; player salaries being determined not through negotiation, but through the application of statistics and testimony in a hearing room. You have read about the bankruptcies in Buffalo and Ottawa, in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. You have read, too often, about financial crises which threaten this market or that market - perhaps even your own market &mdash; as the business of our sport steals attention from the sport itself</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04585/8297306-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="1558" height="1081"></div><p><b>NHL&rsquo;S VISION</b>&nbsp;<i>Commish Gary Bettman, who represents the 30 NHL owners, is determined to achieve &ldquo;cost certainty</i>.</p><p>With an economic system that promises to stabilize our franchises economically, and actually enhances competitive balance and the competitiveness of the NHL&rsquo;s product, that is less likely to happen in the future. With a cost-certain economic system, making the playoffs and competing for the Stanley Cup will depend more on teambuilding and less on how much you pay. With a defined, enforceable relationship between revenues and player costs, our Clubs will have an easier time making ends meet, while also keeping ticket prices affordable.</p><p>And with a partnership between our players and our Clubs, this sport can reach new heights. As the game continues to grow, the players would share fairly (even disproportionately) in that growth. The players would receive more than 50 per cent of the revenues. The star players still would get bigmoney contracts and the average salary would be $1.3 million (U.S.).</p><p>At least as important, disparities among teams - both competitive and fiscal - would diminish significantly.</p><p>This is the NHL&rsquo;s vision for the future. This is how hockey can be made even better than it is today - better, more competitive and more entertaining. This is how the &ldquo;business of hockey&rdquo; can once again resume its rightful place in the deep background, far from the spotlight. And this is what we are so committed to achieving in this negotiation. Not only for the good of the League, its Clubs and Club owners, and for the players - but, most important, for you, the fans of our great game.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

Partnership sought

<p><i>We asked a rich guy, a retired NHLer, two rock n rollers and a lawyer for their take on the CBA.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-05419/8297386-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="289" height="227"></div><p><b>MARK CUBAN</b></p><p>Owner of the NBA&rsquo;s Dallas Mavericks and star of TV&rsquo;s <i>The Benefactor</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-06340/8297379-1-eng-US/f0012-062.jpg" title="f0012-06" width="291" height="229"></div><p><b>BRAD PARK</b></p><p>Legendary Bruins blueliner and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-07285/8297372-1-eng-US/f0012-072.jpg" title="f0012-07" width="285" height="225"></div><p><b>TYLER STEWART</b></p><p><i>Barenaked Ladies</i> drummer and lifelong fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-08241/8297365-1-eng-US/f0012-082.jpg" title="f0012-08" width="281" height="222"></div><p><b>JOHN ONDRUSAK</b></p><p>Lead singer of <i>Five For Fighting</i> and L.A. Kings season-ticket holder</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-09197/8297358-1-eng-US/f0012-092.jpg" title="f0012-09" width="284" height="230"></div><p><b>JEFF CITRON</b></p><p>Corporate sports Lawyer and former Associate Counsel for NHLPA</p><p>1. <b>How long do you think the lockout will last?</b></p><p><b>Mark Cuban</b> No idea.</p><p><b>Brad Park</b>&nbsp;<i>I don&rsquo;t think anything will get settled until January.</i></p><p><b>Tyler Stewart</b> Until Christmas. Xny longer and the game will suffer irreparable damage. That said, even if you cancel one game, it&rsquo;ll still hurt hockey fans and the league.</p><p><b>John Ondrusak</b>&nbsp;<i>Sadly, I think the lockout will last a few months. I think that by the holidays they&rsquo;ll be playing again.</i></p><p><b>Jeff Citron</b> Until January, 2006.</p><p><b>2. Will there be a salary cap when it&rsquo;s over?</b></p><p><b>MC</b> There should be. I have looked at hockey economics and they make the NBA&rsquo;s economics - which aren&rsquo;t great - look like a dream.</p><p><b>BP</b>&nbsp;<i>There will be some kind of salary cap structure. It may not be called a salary cap, but that&rsquo;s where they&rsquo;re headed.</i></p><p><b>TS</b> I think we&rsquo;ll have a soft cap/luxury tax scenario when it&rsquo;s all over.</p><p><b>JO</b>&nbsp;<i>Whatever the label, I believe there will be some modified version of a salary cap.</i></p><p><b>JC</b> No hard, NFL-style cap.</p><p><b>3. How long will it take for a labor war to do serious harm to the leagne/game?</b></p><p><b>MC</b> I don&rsquo;t think it can. The key isn&rsquo;t whether fans will love hockey, it&rsquo;s whether or not they will be able to afford to go to games. If the players and owners are smart, they will come to a solution that provides for much less expensive ticket prices. Cut ticket prices in half and fans will come back with a huge smile on their face. (By the way, this is the exact same feedback I gave the NBA.)</p><p><b>BP</b>&nbsp;<i>January. Hardcore fans won&rsquo;t be bitter early on, but their patience will be gone if there&rsquo;s no season.</i></p><p><b>TS</b> If it goes any longer than January, it&rsquo;ll be ugly. And the trickle-down effect on people tied to the game - the popcorn sellers, the people who sell merchandise - makes for bad business.</p><p><b>JO</b>&nbsp;<i>Hockey already is in trouble. We saw in the Stanley Cup final last year that interest is only driven by core hockey fans. The sport is sinking further into obscurity. There could not be a worse time for a work stoppage. Losing one game is damaging - losing the season could be catastrophic</i></p><p><b>JC</b> No serious long-term harm to the overall game, no matter how long it lasts. Some individual team: may be critically wounded.</p><p><b>4. Who has the most to lose - the players or the owners?</b></p><p><b>MC</b> The players. In the couple deals I have looked at as a potential acquisition (I would have been a passive investor), the owners save money by not playing. The players have to realize that The numbers are real The owners are getting killed. If the players don&rsquo;t realize there has to be a new set of financial standards in hockey, they are going to find themselves without jobs.</p><p><b>BP</b>&nbsp;<i>Td say both. Short-term, the players have more to lose; the owners have more to lose long-term.</i></p><p><b>TS</b> The players have the most to lose. Isn&rsquo;t that always the way with labor negotiations? It&rsquo;s the workers, not ownership, who seem to be worse off. Plus, owners of hockey teams usually have their fingers in other pies. They won&rsquo;t hurt nearly as much.</p><p><b>JO</b> As <i>usual, the fans have the most to lose.</i> As <i>someone who pays more for tickets to see the Kings than I do the LA. Lakers, I know hockey has financial issues to solve. I hope both the players and owners realize how long it took baseball to bounce back - and how many of us U.S. fans still have a bad taste in our mouth about our national pastime</i></p><p><b>JC</b> Neither side has more to lose than the other.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-05

CBA PREDICTIONS

<div class="byline">Mike Brophy </div><div class="byline">Senior Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021442/8297490-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b><i>MARTIN ST-LOUIS: TEAM CANADA</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011899/8297497-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="158" height="113"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-031003/8297483-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="325" height="546"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>J</b>an Lasak didn&rsquo;t have a chance. Neither did the Slovak blueline, for that matter.</p><p>You would have had to been a mind-reader to stop them.</p><p>When Brad Richards and Vinny Lecavalier broke out of the Team Canada zone in control of the puck, it was more than just a World Cup rush. It was an exercise the two have performed together for a decade.</p><p>&ldquo;From the moment I gave Brad e the puck at the red line, I knew he was going to give it back to me,&rdquo; says Lecavalier. &ldquo;When the time was right he slid it over to me and all I had to do was shoot.&rdquo;</p><p>Lasak, meanwhile, had no idea what was about to happen. No goalie in the world could have done the splits wide enough to make the save on Lecavalier&rsquo;s shot. Lasak tried, but didn&rsquo;t come close as Lecavalier scored the only goal Canada required to beat the Slovaks 5-0 to advance to the World Cup semifinal. While Team Canada did an amazing job coming together quickly as a unit, it was obvious three players in particular &mdash; Richards, Lecavalier and Martin St-Louis &mdash; were especially familiar with each other&rsquo;s work. It showed in the numerous times the Tampa Trio made no-look plays to one another; Richards and St-Louis playing on a line with Simon Gagne and all three playing together on the power play.</p><p>In such an event where players are joining each other from different teams, it helps to have some familiarity. It&rsquo;s one of the big reasons why Team Canada named the renowned checking duo from Detroit, Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, though Maltby didn&rsquo;t wind up dressing in the first four games.</p><p>Lecavalier was originally left off Team Canada&rsquo;s roster when the team was announced last spring, but after leading the Lightning to the Stanley Cup, he was named to join Richards and St-Louis after Steve Yzerman pulled out because of an eye injury.</p><p>Through four games, Lecavalier was tied for the lead in team scoring with a goal and five points; St-Louis was next with two goals and four points, while Richards had two goals and three points.</p><p>Lecavalier, an offensive wizard as a junior and the top pick in the 1998 entry draft, makes no bones about the fact he was bummed out at not being named to the original team, even though a strong case could be made he kicked his game up a notch after being snubbed.</p><p>&ldquo;Obviously I was upset and disappointed, but I couldn&rsquo;t do anything about it,&rdquo; Lecavalier says. &ldquo;I knew I needed to focus on trying to win the Stanley Cup and that was my goal.</p><h2><b>SNUB MOTIVATED LECAVALIER</b></h2><p>&ldquo;I guess it did give me some motivation, but I kept it inside. There was nothing I could do about it. Actually, the only thing I could do about it was play better and prove people wrong.&rdquo;</p><p>Lightning coach John Tortorella said he felt the timing of naming the original team was not fair to those whose names had been mentioned as possible candidates. In Team Canada&rsquo;s defense, they were only following tournament guidelines.</p><p>&ldquo;Vinny didn&rsquo;t say much about it, other than, &rsquo;I&rsquo;m not concerned about that right now,&rsquo; because we were in the playoffs,&rdquo; Tortorella said. &ldquo;I thought he handled it well. And I thought the level of his play kept on growing after that. It may not have transformed into goals and assists, but I saw his level grow.&rdquo;</p><p>St-Louis and Richards were shoo-ins for the squad. The 5-foot-7ish St-Louis led the NHL in scoring with 94 points and was the Hart Trophy winner as MVP while Richards won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Both players said they felt bad for their chum when the announcement came and his name was not on the list.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021242/8297476-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="774" height="1018"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The fact Lecavalier was not only added to the team, but was among Team Canada&rsquo;s best forwards leading up to the semifinal, garnered little more than a shoulder shrug from Richards.</p><p>&ldquo;Hey, I&rsquo;ve been playing with the guy for 10 years,&rdquo; Richards says. &ldquo;I know what he can do. Nothing I have seen him do in this tournament surprises me. He is an awesome talent.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03873/8297469-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="774" height="1020"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Winning the Stanley Cup is the ultimate. But when you can win it and add another world title in the same year, like Ken Morrow did when he won an Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup with the Islanders in 1980, it is icing on the cake.</p><p>The Tampa Trio welcomed the opportunity.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-02

Team CANADA’S Tampa Trio

<div class="byline">- NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA</div><p>ST. PAUL, MINN.</p><p><b>T</b>he sign stretched the length of a row, in front of a fan wearing an old Soviet sweater. In red letters, it said: &ldquo;MIRACLE IS OVER.&rdquo;</p><p>But by the end of Team USA&rsquo;s 5-3 victory over Russia in the 2004 World Cup quarterfinal, the sign had drooped so badly only &ldquo;MIRACLE&rdquo; was visible.</p><p>Yes, it has been 24 years since the &ldquo;Miracle on Ice,&rdquo; the stunning upset of the Soviet Union that ted to gold for the U.S. at the 1980 Winter Olympics. But what happened here seemed something of a minor miracle.</p><p>Less than a week before, the Americans seemed headed for a quick, inglorious exit. They came out flat in their first two games - a 2-1 loss to Canada and a 3-1 loss to Russia - and were outshot a combined 35-10 in the first period and 77-45 overall.</p><p>The only positive was a position that was supposed to be questionable: goal. Robert Esche was excellent.</p><p>Something had to be done, something drastic, so coach Ron Wilson shook up his lineup as much as he possibly could. All five reserve skaters went in. Five guys came out - including Brett Hull, the leading scorer in the 1996 World Cup and the third-leading goal-scorer in NHL history.</p><p>&ldquo;Our team doesn&rsquo;t have time to wait for people to kick it into gear and get going,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s my job as a coach, to make some changes that with some people probably won&rsquo;t be popular. I mean, you can&rsquo;t play on your reputation. You have to play on the ice and that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ve got to do here.&rdquo;</p><p>Wilson also stopped forechecking aggressively and had his team sit back defensively, like everyone else in the tournament was.</p><p>There was a verse put on the board in the U.S. dressing room: &ldquo;When doing a job/large or small/do it right/or not at all.&rdquo; The Americans did a much better job with the little things, playing smarter, more patient hockey, and they beat Slovakia 3-1. &ldquo;We wanted not just to win,&rdquo; said right winger Bill Guerin, &ldquo;but to win the right way.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04642/8297528-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="635" height="1089"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KEITH TKACHUK: TEAM USA</b> <span class="photo-credit">(STEVE BABINEAU/SPORTS ACTION)</span></figcaption></div><p>Hull wasn&rsquo;t happy - especially when he came to the next practice to find he had been assigned a green sweater, signifying he was still a reserve. He had this infamous exchange with a Canadian Press reporter:</p><p>&ldquo;Got a minute to talk to reporters, Brett?&rdquo; &ldquo;What would I have to talk about?&rdquo; Hull replied.</p><p>&ldquo;Fans want to know how you&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t give a (expletive) about the fans anymore.&rdquo;</p><p>The Hull-abaloo blew up into a big story - Hull later told the Arizona <i>Republic</i> his comment was taken out of context - but it didn&rsquo;t blow up the team. <i>(See pg. 5 for more on Hull.)</i></p><p>Wilson kept the same lineup for the quarterfinal, and Keith Tkachuk took over, scoring four goals - each assisted by Mike Modano - and assisting on another in the best performance of his Team USA career. &ldquo;It was special,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;It was a big game for us. There&rsquo;s no way we wanted to go home like this.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-04

U.S. shakeup pays off

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05447/8297594-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="197" height="119"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>G</span>ERMANY</b> A case could be made the Germans accomplished what they set out to do at the World Cup: they kept games close. With little NHL experience in the lineup, the Germans did what they generally do in international games - they played a strict 1-4 defense and hoped for a miracle on offense. In doing so, they nearly upset the Finns in the quarterfinal. After going 0-3-0 in the preliminary round, the Germans lost 2-1 to Finland in the elimination round. One thought: if the Germans are going to Lose anyway, why not try to open things up and develop an offensive system?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06357/8297587-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="195" height="119"></div><p><b>SWEDEN</b> With all the offensive firepower in the world, lack of goaltending once again did in the Swedes. The Tre Kroner haven&rsquo;t had a star goalie since the late Pelle Lindbergh. The Swedes, 2-0-1 in the preliminary round, were spanked 6-1 by the Czech Republic in the quarterfinal. In three games, including the loss to the Czechs, goalie Mikael Tellqvist had a 4.03 goals-against average and .895 save percentage.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-07299/8297580-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="192" height="126"></div><p><b>CZECH REPUBLIC</b> They said from the outset they only cared about games in which they could be eliminated and the Czech Republic proved it with a stunning 6-1 win over Sweden to earn a trip overseas to the semifinal. After looking decidedly lackluster in the preliminary round (1-2-0), the Czechs got two goals from Milan Hejduk, a healthy scratch in an earlier game.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-08262/8297573-1-eng-US/f0015-082.jpg" title="f0015-08" width="194" height="119"></div><p><b>SLOVAKIA</b> What can you say about the Slovaks&rsquo; performance, other than four games, no wins, four goals. While they held up defensively for the first period of their quarterfinal match against Canada, there was never really a sense they had enough offensive pop to win. In the end, they lost 5-0.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-09237/8297566-1-eng-US/f0015-092.jpg" title="f0015-09" width="191" height="119"></div><p><b>FINLAND</b> Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff is clearly the player on whom the Finns rely most heavily, but what about defenseman Kimmo Timonen? The Nashville Predator was leading the team in scoring with a goal and six points in four games. All the news wasn&rsquo;t good on the Finnish front, however. Defenseman Janne Niinimaa divorced the team after the preliminary round, citing irreconcilable differences with coach Raimo Summanen.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-10211/8297559-1-eng-US/f0015-102.jpg" title="f0015-10" width="197" height="121"></div><p><b>RUSSIA</b> You have to feel for the Russian players who attended the World Cup determined to prove they could get along just fine without the noshows. They gave it their all. While the Russians were bounced in the quarterfinal, they left us with some memories: Ilya Kovalchuk&rsquo;s speed, Maxim Afinogenov&rsquo;s shiftiness (too bad he can&rsquo;t finish), Alexei Kovalev&rsquo;s breathtaking deke on Tony Amonte before scoring the tournament&rsquo;s prettiest goal and Alexander Ovechkin&rsquo;s monumental backhand goal in his debut.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-05

WORLD CUP BUZZ

<div class="byline">BY MIKE WYMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-031000/8297625-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MASKED MAN This goalie&rsquo;s identity is under wraps, but he&rsquo;s at the final camp in &ldquo;Making the Cut</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021324/8297632-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="172" height="105"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>C</span></b>anada leads the world in hockey players who could have, should have and would have made it to the NHL, given half a chance. Every town&rsquo;s minor hockey organization has players who took a job, blew out a knee, developed other interests or were unfairly trimmed from rosters. All that many of them want is one more shot at making the grade.</p><p>That&rsquo;s what the reality show <i>Making The Cut</i> is all about. The CBC program offered thousands of Canadians the opportunity to catch an NHL scout&rsquo;s eye, with some players earning an invitation to a two-week professional training camp under the direction of coaching heavyweights Scotty Bowman and Mike Keenan.</p><p>Conceived by Derik Murray, the man responsible for the acclaimed documentary series <i>The Legends,</i> and scheduled to begin a 13-week run Sept. 21, <i>Making The Cut</i> shows every sign of being a Canadian ratings winner. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hockey. It&rsquo;s Canada. What&rsquo;s not to like?&rdquo; said spokesman Court Elliott.</p><p>Thousands of players registered online to try their luck and show their skills at seven locations across Canada, shelling out $55 to be put through an hour-long series of drills by career hockey men.</p><p>Most were simply out for the experience, a chance to spend a day like the pros without having to come up with fantasy camp fees. Alongside the balding beer-leaguers and guys who haven&rsquo;t made a team since bantam were undrafted juniors, college players, unsigned minor-leaguers hoping to step up and a few ex-NHLers looking for a way back.</p><h2><b>NO VOMITING ALLOWED</b></h2><p>&ldquo;I saw a lot of familiar faces,&rdquo; said Detroit scout Joe McDonnell, who evaluated talent at several of the eastern tryouts and coached at the camp. &ldquo;There were some that I scouted, some that I coached and even some that I played against.&rdquo;</p><p>The initial workouts were made up of four drills. They had been posted online so participants had the opportunity to become familiar with them. There were also a few rules. Drop your gloves and you were gone, no ifs, ands, buts or refunds. Decapitating goaltenders was forbidden - as was vomiting on the ice.</p><p>Jack Birch, since hired by Florida as the Panthers&rsquo; head of hockey operations, performed the same job with the show.</p><p>&ldquo;There was the event side and there was the hockey side,&rdquo; Birch said. &ldquo;Certainly the event side attracted everybody from 20-year-olds right through to the 58-, 59-year-olds. That&rsquo;s what the major sponsors wanted.</p><p>&ldquo;What we did from a hockey point of view was select the best players from the skills portion and bring them back into a hockey environment.&rdquo;</p><p>The handful of players selected from each group moved on to hourlong 3-on-3 sessions.</p><p>Jeff Cutter, a 19-year-old goaltender from Toronto, had been to tryouts before, but not like this one.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a different level of tryout because everybody is serious and everybody knows what they&rsquo;re doing,&rdquo; Cutter said. &ldquo;You only have about 55 minutes to make an impression on guys and you don&rsquo;t even know if they&rsquo;re watching.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>68 PLAYERS AT FINAL CAMP</b></h2><p>They were watching. NHL scouts were hired to rate the players. An email went to those that didn&rsquo;t make the grade. On July 1, 68 hopefuls got a call telling them they were to report to Vernon, B.C.</p><p>&ldquo;It was grueling; probably tougher than an NHL camp is today,&rdquo; said McDonnell about the two weeks supervised by Bowman and Keenan, a couple of coaches most associated with hockey&rsquo;s old-school approach. &ldquo;It was a hard-nosed camp, but they treated the players with respect and I would assume that they would all say that it was the best experience of their life.&rdquo;</p><p>In Vernon the group was pared down to a final 17 players. The Canadian NHL teams each chose or will choose a player from those remaining and tender invitations to the 2005-06 training camps.</p><p>The names of the final selections as well as most of the events of the camp are shrouded in secrecy and protected by a confidentiality agreement.</p><p>&ldquo;<b>MAKING THE CUT&rsquo; AIRS IN CANADA ON TUESDAYS ON CBC. RDS OFFERS A FRENCH VERSION ON WEDNESDAYS</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-03

One last shot

<div class="byline">BY MARK BRENDER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021180/8297663-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="429" height="316"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CBATRACKER</b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011512/8297670-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="94" height="126"></div><p><b>I</b>f 20 teams are losing money as the NHL claims, open the books and prove it.</p><p>Things got heated as NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Ted Saskin put that challenge to NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly during a panel discussion at a sports business conference in Toronto.</p><p>&ldquo;Any time you are ready to stand up here and list the teams that are losing the money, no one in this room would believe any of that,&rdquo; Saskin charged. &ldquo;So if you&rsquo;re ready to stand up and list those teams, I&rsquo;m happy to go through them in detail.&rdquo;</p><p>When Daly said people would believe it very easily, Saskin countered: &ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;re not going to find out because you won&rsquo;t do it.&rdquo;</p><p>Saskin was explaining why players are reluctant to tie themselves to a revenue-player cost formula that would cut their average salary from $1.8 to $1.3 million in a business that generates $2 billion in revenue. Wher Daly interrupted with &ldquo;and $300 million in losses,&rdquo; Saskin pounced.</p><p>Daly said the NHL can&rsquo;t release individual team figures because they are private businesses. The NHLPA has seen team financial statements and went through an examination of all 30 teams in recent sessions, but is prevented from disclosing information by confidentiality agreements.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>FRUITLESS BARGAINING TALKS</b></h2><p>Not surprisingly, little points of agreement were found at the forum, put on by <i>SportsBusiness Journal</i> Sept. 8. The next day, the NHL and the union met in private for another round of talks.</p><p>From the league&rsquo;s perspective, Daly said any new CBA needs to meet four conditions. It must put an end to the magnitude of financial losses sustained by owners; establish a rational and sensible relationship between revenues and expenses; drastically reduce disparities in player payroll; and provide &ldquo;guarantees&rdquo; the formula will work.</p><p>That guarantee inevitably comes in the form of a fixed tie between league revenues and player costs, something the union rejects.</p><p>Saskin said a salary cap system has two problems. One is defining what revenues should be included in the hockey business. Several years ago the union examined in detail the books of four teams and found a $52 million discrepancy between the team&rsquo;s financial reports and actual revenues (the NHL disputed the union&rsquo;s findings). The other problem, Saskin said, is selecting the proper share of that business that ought to go to players. Because of both reasons, the salary cap is not an option, he said.</p><h2><b>IMPACT ASSESSMENT STUDY</b></h2><p>The panel was supposed to examine the broad impact on the game of a labor stoppage, but neither side went into detail about the potential damage. Daly said the league has done impact assessments of a lockout for the league and for individual teams and admitted a work stoppage could cause attendance to fall even further in troubled U.S. franchises. It&rsquo;s a risk the league has to take.</p><p>&ldquo;It comes down to a simple equation. We do less damage to our business by doing what is necessary to get the right deal than we do by continuing with the status quo,&rdquo; Daly said.</p><p>Saskin said the cost-benefit analysis the league should be doing is between offers that are on the table from players versus the cost of a lengthy struggle trying to get what may not be attainable no matter what the league does. &ldquo;I think with that calculation the dynamics change a lot,&rdquo; Saskin said. &ldquo;Frankly I think they&rsquo;re underestimating the devastation associated with a lockout&rdquo; particularly to the U.S. market.</p><p>Asked about the possibility of teams folding as a result of the struggle, Saskin said if the choice came down to losing one team or agreeing to a salary cap, players would overwhelmingly vote for the former.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-02

Saskin returns fire at business forum

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03859/8297701-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="324" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PAUL SHMYR</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>L</span>EADER SHMYR DIES</b> Paul Shmyr, an earb star in the old World Hockey Association and an unsung leader, died after a battle with throat cancer at age 58. The Cudworth, Sask., native played parts of three seasons with Chicago in the late 1960s before leaving the NHL for</p><p>the WHA. He was the league&rsquo;s top defenseman in 1976 and a first-team allstar three times in stints with Cleveland, San Diego and Edmonton. Shmyr served as captain for six WHA seasons, including 1978-79 in Edmonton, when Wayne Gretzky broke into pro hockey. After the NHL absorbed four WHA teams, Shmyr played three more seasons with Minnesota and Hartford before retiring at 36 in 1982. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s street-wise in the game, a tough player and a great team man,&rdquo; former Minnesota GM Lou Nanne said after acquiring Shmyr in 1979.</p><p>&ldquo;Paul was a terrific teammate and pound for pound, probably one of the toughest guys to play hockey,&rdquo; former teammate Al Hamilton told the Edmonton Sun. &ldquo;He had a zest for life, which carried right through to his courageous bout with cancer over the last 10 years.&rdquo;</p><p><b>POLICE QUESTION SAVARD</b> Hall of Fame defenseman Serge Savard was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving following a minor traffic accident in downtown Montreal. Media reports say Savard, 58, was involved in a fender bender with two other cars Sept. 7.</p><p><b>WOLFMEYER TRIAL BEGINS</b> Katie Wolfmeyer, the accomplice to disgraced NHLer Mike Danton in his murder for hire plot against agent David Frost, had an opportunity to walk away from the plan, but didn&rsquo;t, FBI special agent Martin Feely said in federal court. Her trial began Sept. 7, but it&rsquo;s not expected Danton will have to testify. According to testimony, Wolfmeyer put Danton in touch with would-be hit man Justin Levi, who turned out to be an FBI informant. &ldquo;(Wolfmeyer) had an opportunity when Levi said he&rsquo;d gone to pick up a gun to say &lsquo;What, are you crazy? I don&rsquo;t want any part of this,&rsquo; &ldquo;agent Feely testified.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-03

HOCKEY WORLD IN BRIEF

<div class="byline">- DAN WOOD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021209/8297739-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="240" height="307"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011572/8297746-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="92" height="94"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>ith Martin Gerber gone to the Carolina Hurricanes in an off-season trade, the table is set for highly regarded Ilya Bryzgalov to seize a job as the Mighty Ducks&rsquo; backup goalie.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>Bryzgalov, 24, got a jump start on his big chance by appearing and looking good with Team Russia in this year&rsquo;s World Cup.</p><p>&ldquo;Bryz has the capability of one day being a star in the league,&rdquo; said Ducks coach Mike Babcock. &ldquo;He has put in the time.&rdquo;</p><p>A second round selection (44th overall) in the 2000 draft, Bryzgalov has appeared in only two NHL games, winning one, but has made 163 appearances with Cincinnati of the American League the past three years.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m learning,&rdquo; Bryzgalov said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve played lots of games in the minor leagues and it has been a great experience. I think (Anaheim) believes in me. I know I can play in the NHL.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>Obviously, it&rsquo;s the most exciting time of the year right now. You&rsquo;re getting ready for a new season and everybody feels they have a great chance. The only thing this year is we&rsquo;re all hoping we get that opportunity. We&rsquo;re hoping that between the NHL and the Players Association, they get it worked out.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- coach Mike Babcock</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Anaheim added another prospect Sept. 1 by signing center Zenon Konopka to a two-year, entry level contract. Konopka, 23, had seven goals, 11 points and 198 penalty minutes in 43 games with Utah of the American League last season, as well as six goals, 28 points and 82 penalty minutes in 23 games with Idaho of the ECHL&hellip; With J-S Giguere, Ilya Bryzgalov and minor-leaguer Eddy Ferhi the only goaltenders under contract, the Ducks are looking to sign another, likely to carry the load with AHL affiliate Cincinnati.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03879/8297732-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="280" height="606"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-02

NHL TEAM REPORTS

Bryzgalov prepared to take next big step

<div class="byline">-JOHN MANASSI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05399/8297777-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="281" height="602"></div><p><b>T</b>he Thrashers don&rsquo;t exactly have a tradition of defensemen with illustrious pedigrees.</p><p>Free agent signing Jaroslav Modry represents a change in that regard and the 33-year-old hopes to help impart leadership to the team&rsquo;s young players. A graduate of the Devils&rsquo; developmental system Modry was mentored by some of the game&rsquo;s best defensemen: assistant coach Larry Robinson, Scott Stevens and Slava Fetisov, his roommate on the road.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04591/8297784-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="235" height="304"></div><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll try to give (young players) a tap on the shoulder and pull them aside and try to get them not to repeat the same mistakes,&rdquo; Modry said. &ldquo;Ask them what they feel at the time and try to show them at times that less is more.&rdquo;</p><p>Among the team&rsquo;s young defensemen will be rookie Braydon Cobum, 19, and second year pro Garnet Exelby, 23, who was among the team&rsquo;s best last season.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>I&rsquo;m optimistic things will get solved. You still have to prepare yourself. (Playing in Europe) has crossed my mind. It&rsquo;s one of the options. Once I get my family settled down and get my kids in school, I&rsquo;ll go from there&hellip;Is it worth it to go there and relocate my whole family?&rdquo;</i></p><p>- defenseman Jaroslav Modrj</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Right winger <b>Ronald Petrovicky</b> was a late addition to Slovakia&rsquo;s World Cup team. Defenseman <b>Ivan Majesky</b> was also on Slovakia&rsquo;s team until he broke his wrist in one of its final exhibition matches. Thrashers GM <b>Don Waddell</b> said Majesky&rsquo;s injury shouldn&rsquo;t keep him from starting training camp on time. Waddell said he was told it was the type of injury Majesky could play with and the defenseman has shown a high level of pain tolerance in the past&hellip;The Thrashers re-signed left winger <b>Kip Brennan</b> to a one-year, two-way contract worth $450,000 at the NHI level.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0018-05

Modry brought over to help development

<div class="byline">- NANCY MARRAPESE-BURRELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07257/8297815-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="278" height="600"></div><p><b>A</b>fter a disappointing ending to the Bruins&rsquo; 2003-04 season, Joe Thornton found his first chance to put it behind him at the World Cup.</p><p>Thornton said the torn rib cartilage that put a cramp in his postseason was fully healed and he was only looking forward.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06311/8297822-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="207" height="297"></div><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m putting it behind me to start a new year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough because we had such a good team (last year)&hellip;We were on such a high and obviously I got hurt and it just kind of spoiled the post-season for us. I hope next year we&rsquo;ll kind of get the same opportunity as (last) year.&rdquo; After the season ended, there was speculation Thornton wanted to be traded out of Boston, but he denied the rumors.</p><p>&ldquo;There wasn&rsquo;t too much hockey around, so they just wanted to start talking about something,&rdquo; he said of the media reports. &ldquo;It was all speculation. Me and (GM) Mike O&rsquo;Connell had a meeting at the end of the year and we didn&rsquo;t say anything about that.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>We&rsquo;ve had a terrible eight or 10 years from a financial standpoint - league-wide. I&rsquo;m not talking about the Bruins necessarily, but the league has and they&rsquo;ve got to rectify this. It&rsquo;s not going to be done as a quick fix&hellip;People are going to be uncomfortable and angry and dislocated (if there is a lockout), but that&rsquo;s a short-term issue. The long-term (outlook) tells us we have to fix it and fix it right.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK Patrice Bergeron,</b> the Bruins&rsquo; rookie sensation scheduled to be their No. 2 center this season, told the team&rsquo;s website he didn&rsquo;t indulge in much despite his newfound wealth. &ldquo;I bought more clothes - that&rsquo;s the main thing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If it was something nice, I was able to buy it. But other than that, I just tried to do the same stuff I was doing.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0018-07

Thornton ends rumors he wants to be dealt

<div class="byline">- JIM KELLEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-09156/8297853-1-eng-US/f0018-092.jpg" title="f0018-09" width="272" height="605"></div><p><b>I</b>n an eyeball-to-eyeball showdown between Thomas Vanek and the Sabres, both sides blinked.</p><p>As a result, the 20-year-old Austrian, the Sabres&rsquo; first round pick (fifth overall) in the 2003 draft, is a newly minted millionaire and the Sabres have a player likely to be their best left-side scoring prospect since they drafted Dave Andreychuk back in 1982.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-08189/8297860-1-eng-US/f0018-082.jpg" title="f0018-08" width="224" height="302"></div><p>Vanek left the University of Minnesota after two seasons and agreed to a reported three-year deal that includes a $1.24-million signing bonus. If he plays in the NHL, he will get a base of $620,000 this season and again next season. In his third year he&rsquo;s slotted for $1.24 million.</p><p>Vanek had 31 goals in 45 games as a U.S. college rookie in 2002-03 and followed up with 26 goals in 38 games last year.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b></p><p>&ldquo;<i>It would be nice if the NHL (starts on time) and I can get a shot at it. I don&rsquo;t think (a lockout) will go on for more than a year.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- Right winger Paul Gaustad</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK Larry Carriere,</b> Sabres assistant to the GM, left the organization to take a pro scouting position with the Washington Capitals. Carriere, a former Sabres defenseman and veteran of 11 seasons in the front office, was originally hired by then-GM <b>Gerry Meehan.</b> He became expendable after the Sabres decided to incorporate <b>Jody Gage,</b> GM of their American League affiliate in Rochester, into their hockey department&hellip;With left winger <b>Thomas Vanek</b> signed to a contract, the Sabres payroll projects to more than $36 million. That total does not include their remaining unsigned players - including restricted free agents <b>Milan Bartovic, Andrew Peters</b> and <b>Ryan Miller</b>, and unrestricted free agents <b>James Patrick</b> and <b>Alexei Zhitnik,</b> all of whom played for the Sabres last season.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0018-09

Vanek agrees to deal that pleases Sabres

<div class="byline">- RANDY SPORTAK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-12114/8297891-1-eng-US/f0018-122.jpg" title="f0018-12" width="282" height="606"></div><p><b>T</b>he rash of injuries to Canada&rsquo;s defense corps during the World Cup proved a benefit for the Flames and one of their cornerstones.</p><p>Robyn Regehr, certainly playing the most intense and skilled international tournament of his life, became a bigger piece of the puzzle than expected. The 24-year-old would have likely been in a No. 5 or 6 role, but with Chris Pronger and Rob Blake out of action before the tournament began and Ed Jovanovski and Wade Redden missing significant time during the event, Regehr took top-four man minutes.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-11124/8297898-1-eng-US/f0018-112.jpg" title="f0018-11" width="227" height="309"></div><p>He fared quite well, too.</p><p>Known more for his size, Regehr has adjusted well to the quick pace with so many skilled opposition - and even earned kudos from Steve Yzerman.</p><p>As well, the hulking rearguard should improve his offensive game working alongside Scott Niedermayer and Adam Foote.</p><p>The Flames have long said Regehr can model his game after Foote; this event has given him a golden chance to see even more first-hand.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>They&rsquo;ve been pounding the exact same nail and it&rsquo;s not going any further into the wood. When that happens, try another nail. People say, &lsquo;Major League Baseball does this, so they should try it&rsquo;, or &lsquo;the NFL does that, so it would be the right way&rsquo;, but why does it have to follow those systems? Think outside the box and come up what&rsquo;s best for everyone.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- defenseman Andrew Ference</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Despite the expected CBA meltdown, the Flames expect to host their annual golf tournament Sept. 15. Considering the NHL could be in lockout phase by then, there could be some interesting developments. The players expect to play, and know it is in their best interests since proceeds go to charity and not attending would turn off fans.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0018-12

Regehr makes most of big role for Canada

<div class="byline">- LUKE DECOCK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03698/8297929-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="281" height="606"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011342/8297943-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="92" height="94"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span></b>fter two separate stints spread over 16 years in three different cities, the Ron Francis Era is now officially over for the Hurricanes - on and off the ice.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02969/8297936-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="231" height="249"></div><p>The Hurricanes told Francis, 41, earlier this summer they didn&rsquo;t want him back as a player after trading him to Toronto at the March deadline;</p><p>Francis told the Hurricanes in August he wasn&rsquo;t interested in the front office job they were offering, whether he continued his playing career or not.</p><p>&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t made any decisions about what I want to do, but if I decide to play, then obviously I can&rsquo;t take the job,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;And if I don&rsquo;t play, I don&rsquo;t think the timing is right to step in there.&rdquo;</p><p>And so the books are closed on the Francis Era, although he said he and his family plan to continue living in Raleigh. He leaves as the franchise&rsquo;s all-time leader in games played (1,186), points (1,175), goals (382) and assists (793).</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>It&rsquo;s the same old song and dance about a $31-million hard cap. It&rsquo;s ridiculous. (Bettman) is going to ruin it. Best of luck to him&hellip; Gary Bettman&rsquo;s not a hockey guy. He&rsquo;s a basketball guy. And he&rsquo;s going to ruin (the game).&rdquo;</i></p><p>- left winger Erik Cole</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Only left winger <b>Josef Vasicek</b> remains unsigned among Carolina players. GM <b>Jim Rutherford</b> said he would like to sign Vasicek before the current labor agreement expires. Vasicek aside, the Hurricanes are considering adding another forward to the mix, which currently has either <b>Pavel Brendl</b> or <b>Radim Vrbata</b> penciled in on the third line&hellip;Defenseman Frantisek Kaberle pulled out of the World Cup with a groin injury, leaving Vasicek and U.S. assistant coach Peter Laviolette as Carolina&rsquo;s only representatives.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0020-03

Francis’ homecoming vetoed by Hurricanes

<div class="byline">-TIM SASSONE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05284/8297974-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="279" height="604"></div><p><b>C</b>urtis Brown thought for sure he would be going to training camp with the San Jose Sharks.</p><p>But there was Brown at the United Center on Aug. 31 being formally introduced to the Chicago media wearing a Blackhawks sweater.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04482/8297981-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="229" height="298"></div><p>Despite playing well for San Jose down the stretch after being acquired from Buffalo, Brown didn&rsquo;t receive a qualifying offer from San Jose and found himself a free agent.</p><p>&ldquo;I was shocked,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;Basically, negotiations went to the midnight hour and we weren&rsquo;t able to get things where they needed to be.</p><p>&ldquo;Things happen for a reason and I&rsquo;m just super excited to have this opportunity to come to Chicago that really shouldn&rsquo;t have got to this point. Definitely there&rsquo;s somebody looking out for me and I couldn&rsquo;t be happier.&rdquo;</p><p>Brown got a four-year, $6.8 million deal from the Hawks, who see him as their top defensive center and a team leader.</p><p>&ldquo;It was kind of a coup that we even got him,&rdquo; said coach Brian Sutter. &ldquo;When we saw his name as being available, we jumped on it right away. We see him as a guy who can play 17 or 18 minutes a game for us and score 20 goals.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>Hopefully we&rsquo;ll be able to pass on savings to (the fans) if everything is right economically. They can come enjoy it for the right price.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- assistant GM Dale Tallon</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Normally more than 20 Hawks are skating at the team&rsquo;s practice rink in the two weeks leading up to camp. But this year only a handful were on hand, with most of them staying out of town until hearing one way or another about a lockout&hellip;Assistant GM <b>DaleTallon</b> said the Hawks have spoken to <b>Jason Allison&rsquo;s</b> agent, but noted the team won&rsquo;t sign any more free agents until a new CBA is in place.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0020-05

Brown’s new contract puts him in the black

<div class="byline">- ADRIAN DATER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-07192/8298012-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="277" height="603"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>D</span></b>oes Peter Forsberg&rsquo;s financial venture in a planned new hockey arena in his hometown mean he&rsquo;s through with the NHL? Or, does it mean he&rsquo;ll need to keep making big money with the Avalanche to make the payments?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06228/8298019-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="226" height="289"></div><p>It&rsquo;s a question for Avs fans to ponder, but as usual, Forsberg would shed no light on his future plans.</p><p>At the World Cup, Forsberg dodged questions about his short term future. As it stands, nobody knows if the former Hart Trophy winner has played his last NHL game or not.</p><p>Here&rsquo;s what is certain: the 31-year-old Forsberg entered into a partnership with his father, Kent, to finance a $23 million new arena in his hometown of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden.</p><p>Forsberg and his father will own 40 per cent of the building, which means they&rsquo;ll put up $9.2 million.</p><p>Forsberg is fast becoming the baron of Ornskoldsvik. Last summer, he opened a $5-million golf course there; he also owns a trotting horse named Tsar D&rsquo;lnverne.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>Theplayers will never agree to a salary cap, that&rsquo;s for sure&hellip;To me it just looks like (Gary) Bettman doesn&rsquo;t want to start unless he gets everything he wants. So I don&rsquo;t expect hockey. We all hope (a new CBA) gets done, but to be realistic, I don&rsquo;t see it happening right now.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- center Joe Sakic</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK Doug McLeod</b>, formerly the TV play-by-play voice of the Phoenix Coyotes, has been hired to do the same duties for the Avalanche. McLeod replaces <b>John Kelly</b>, who took the job as TV voice of the St. Louis Blues&hellip;What is former Avalanche defenseman <b>Alexei Gusarov</b> up to, you ask? &rsquo;The Goose&rsquo; lives in the Colorado mountains and owns several stock cars that race in the state.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0020-07

Forsberg keeps quiet about future plans

<div class="byline">- AARON PORTZLINE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0998/8298050-1-eng-US/f0020-092.jpg" title="f0020-09" width="273" height="604"></div><p><b>A</b>dam Pineault was not ready for college. At least not college hockey.</p><p>At 17, Pineault was the youngest player in NCAA Division I during 2003-04, but playing time was hard to come by at Boston College, a national power</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-08136/8298057-1-eng-US/f0020-082.jpg" title="f0020-08" width="225" height="300"></div><p>So a frustrated Pineault, a Holyoke, Mass., native, decided to change course.</p><p>&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t going too well, so I decided to go a different route,&rdquo; Pineault said. &ldquo;Right now, I&rsquo;m happy where I am. It&rsquo;s a starting point.&rdquo;</p><p>Pineault, taken 46th overall by Columbus in June, reported to the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec League.</p><p>The Jackets are pleased as punch.</p><p>&ldquo;He went to college as too young a player and his frustration grew because of that,&rdquo; said Blue Jackets GM-president Doug MacLean.</p><p>&ldquo;To get a player like this is in the second round&hellip;we had him at No. 12 on our list.&rdquo;</p><p>MacLean thinks Pineault, a 6-foot-1, 195-pounder, can play on a top-two line within a few seasons.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>I&rsquo;veplayed in Canadian cities where they think they know the game. I&rsquo;ve played in Philadelphia, where the fans are really opinionated, really up in your face. They&rsquo;d just lay it right out there: &rsquo;Go back to work, you overpaid, bum!&rsquo; But here in Columbus, they&rsquo;re a little more diplomatic. They&rsquo;re worried just like everybody else, but diplomatic.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- defenseman Luke Richardson</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> GM <b>Doug MacLean</b> has had little or no contact with agents for the Blue Jackets three unsigned restricted free agents - left winger <b>David Vyborny,</b> goalie <b>Marc Denis</b> and defenseman <b>Jaroslav Spacek</b>. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have any urgency to do anything,&rdquo; MacLean said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll sit tight.&rdquo; The three players likely won&rsquo;t sign contracts before a new labor deal is settled. No signings can take place during a lockout.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0020-09

Pineault exits college, prepares for junior

<div class="byline">- MIKE HEIKA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1160/8298088-1-eng-US/f0020-112.jpg" title="f0020-11" width="279" height="604"></div><p><b>J</b>ohn Erskine knows this is his last big chance to make it with the Stars.</p><p>So what happens if there&rsquo;s a lockout?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1076/8298095-1-eng-US/f0020-102.jpg" title="f0020-10" width="229" height="258"></div><p>Erskine, under contract for one more year, would have to clear waivers for the Stars to officially assign him to one of their minor league affiliates (Houston or Hamilton). Because of that, the 24-year-old blueliner must fend for himself if the season doesn&rsquo;t start on time.</p><p>&ldquo;We have talked to Johnny and I would highly recommend he find a place to play somewhere,&rdquo; said Stars coach Dave Tippett. &ldquo;I know he and his agent have been working on it, so I think it will take care of itself.&rdquo;</p><p>And if, through some miracle, the NHL goes off as scheduled, Erskine&rsquo;s challenge could be even greater, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big season for him, real big,&rdquo; Tippett said. &ldquo;John needs to come in and establish himself as an NHL player.</p><p>&ldquo;He has a job here and he needs to take it.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>I think it&rsquo;s pretty clear that the players won (the last CBA), they got what they wanted. But because they had such a clear victory, our sport is now in danger and we have to fix it. And really, this (CBA) is the one chance &mdash; the only chance - we have to fix it.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- Stars president Jim Lites</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Stars have established a new policy for season ticket holders that should help ease relations during a potential lockout. The team offered an early renewal plan with 50 per cent deposit and will refund deposits with interest if there is no season&hellip;Coach <b>Dave Tippett</b> had surgery to stabilize one of his vertebrae. Tippett was bothered by numbness in his arm and some residual pain that sprung up last season because of an old playing injury.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0020-11

Lockout could derail Erskine’s big chance

<div class="byline">-NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03442/8298126-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="280" height="601"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011082/8298140-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="92" height="94"></div><p><b>I</b>n dear, improved English, Pavel Datsyuk had encouraging words for nervous Red Wings fans.</p><p>&ldquo;I want to play in Detroit,&rdquo; he said.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02692/8298133-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="226" height="283"></div><p>Negotiations haven&rsquo;t progressed with Datsyuk, a restricted free agent who agreed to play for Moscow Dynamo in the event of a lockout. There is some confusion over his ability to return to the Wings if and when NHL play resumes.</p><p>Datsyuk&rsquo;s agent, Gary Greenstin, said he will play the whole season in Moscow no matter what happens with the NHL labor situation if he doesn&rsquo;t sign with the Wings before Sept. 15. That&rsquo;s when the collective bargaining agreement between the league and players&rsquo; association expires.</p><p>But Datsyuk, who broke out with 30 goals and 68 points last season, leading the NHL in scoring at one point, said he could sign with Detroit after Sept. 15 and still come back. &ldquo;Yeah,&rdquo; Datsyuk said. &ldquo;Doesn&rsquo;t matter.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>We&rsquo;re willing to bend a little bit, and they have to, too&hellip;. Obviously the cap is the stickler. There&rsquo;s a way to do it without having a cap. Owners have to be smarter. Management has to be smarter. Maybe it did get a little bit out of whack. But we&rsquo;re willing to make sacrifices if they are.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- defenseman Chris Chelios</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> When Team USA scratched right winger <b>Brett Hull</b> in the World Cup, the Red Wings felt validated in their decision not to offer him another contract over the summer. There have been questions about his conditioning, the consistency of his effort and whether he can keep up in high-tempo games at age 40. Hull was unhappy with his ice time last season. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re not allowed to go out and do what you&rsquo;re (able) to do,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it kind of sucks.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0021-03

Datsyuk wants back, pleasing Wings fans

<div class="byline">- ROB TYCHKOWSKI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05225/8298171-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="281" height="601"></div><p class="dropcap"><i><span>H</span>e</i> scored 101 points as a defenseman in his final year of junior and didn&rsquo;t get a sniff on draft day. He wasn&rsquo;t nearly big enough, shrugged the scouts.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04330/8298178-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="210" height="308"></div><p>Four years later, as he signs a new four-year contract with the Oilers, Marc-Andre Bergeron could say &lsquo;I told you so&rsquo; - not that he ever would. If he held a grudge against everyone who said he was too small to make it in a big man&rsquo;s game, there&rsquo;d be no one left to talk to.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even think about it anymore,&rdquo; said Bergeron, who has excelled everywhere he has played despite his 5-foot-10, 197-pound frame. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been through (the height questions) since I was in junior.&rdquo; Signed as a free agent by the Oilers in 2001, Bergeron started out as an underdog and worked his way up the system. Now he quarterbacks the team&rsquo;s power play and is one of Edmonton&rsquo;s most consistent offense-minded defensemen.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen him grow the past three years,&rdquo; said assistant GM Scott Howson. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got offensive upside and that&rsquo;s something we haven&rsquo;t had an abundance of.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>To say the CBA is not on your mind would be a lie. That&rsquo;s why at this point in time you&rsquo;re seeing a lot of one-year deals being done - just because the CBA hasn&rsquo;t played itself out yet and that&rsquo;s going to determine how contracts are negotiated.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- defenseman Eric Brewer</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Bill Tuele, the dean of the NHL&rsquo;s public relations men, is retiring after 24 seasons with the Oilers. Tuele has rode herd on the media for all five of the franchise&rsquo;s Stanley Cups, the trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings, several Canada Cup tournaments and the 2002 Olympic Games. &ldquo;He was one of the most professional and well-respected executives I have ever worked with,&rdquo; Gretzky said of Tuele.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0021-05

Bergeron bypassed, but thrives with Oilers

<div class="byline">- MICHAEL RUSSO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-07145/8298209-1-eng-US/f0021-072.jpg" title="f0021-07" width="280" height="602"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>H</span></b>e has been through blizzards and ice storms, but London, Ont., native Mike Van Ryn has new respect for one of nature&rsquo;s other beasts - the hurricane.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-06172/8298216-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="219" height="300"></div><p>Along with his mother and father, two sisters and girlfriend, the Panthers defenseman experienced his first hurricane by weathering Frances at his Davie, Fla., home.</p><p>Other than losing power for a few hours and having some branches knocked off his palm tree, Van Ryn was spared of the destruction Frances caused north of him.</p><p>&ldquo;It was crazy. It was intense. It was scary,&rdquo; Van Ryn said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just unbelievable how strong those things are. I couldn&rsquo;t believe it. All night, I swore I was hearing my shutters just getting ripped off the house. I didn&rsquo;t know what to expect. It&rsquo;s something else.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>Both (NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman) have to figure something out. It&rsquo;s unfortunate the process - the negotiations - it hurts the game to see both sides going back and forth so nastily. Nobody wants to hear that stuff. They just want to play hockey. They should just put the two guys in the room and let them stay there until a deal gets done. We&rsquo;re all optimistic. I hope there will be a season. Unfortunately, I don&rsquo;t see any light at the end of the tunnel.&rdquo;</i></p><p>&mdash; left winger Darcy Hordichuk.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> If training camp starts on time, right winger <b>Nathan Horton,</b> coming off season-ending shoulder surgery, won&rsquo;t be able to participate fully. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s getting stronger, but I just don&rsquo;t know about getting hit or shooting,&rdquo; Horton said&hellip; Former Panthers assistant GM <b>Grant Sonier</b>, who was offered a scouting job when <b>Mike Keenan</b> returned as GM, turned down the Panthers and instead signed a two-year deal to scout for the Los Angeles Kings.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0021-07

Van Ryn gets taste of Mother Nature

<div class="byline">- MATT MCHALE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0988/8298247-1-eng-US/f0021-092.jpg" title="f0021-09" width="278" height="603"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span></b>lexander Frolov was left off the Russian team at the 2004 World Championship because of an ankle injury. He returned this summer to become one of Russia&rsquo;s top players at the World Cup.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-08111/8298254-1-eng-US/f0021-082.jpg" title="f0021-08" width="224" height="293"></div><p>Frolov, who led the Kings with 24 goals last season, teamed with Alexei Yashin and Dainius Zubrus on one of Russia&rsquo;s top offensive lines. He showed no problem with the ankle, which forced him out of the final five games of the regular season.</p><p>&ldquo;He was dominant down low and was a great presence against some of the best players in the world,&rdquo; said Kings GM Dave Taylor. &ldquo;We were very pleased.&rdquo;</p><p>Frolov had a breakout season in 2003-04 at age 21. He spent the summer of 2003 conditioning in Los Angeles. His wife was expecting the couple&rsquo;s first child and decided the flight home would be too difficult.</p><p>With unrestricted free agent Ziggy Palffy unlikely to re-sign with the Kings any time soon, Frolov will play a bigger offensive role this season. With a huge hole at right wing, the team has spoken to Frolov about moving from the left side.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b>&nbsp;<i>&ldquo;Despite all that is coming in a very short time, I found the players very focused on hockey at the World Cup. There is a great unknown for everybody connected to the sport, but the players were very professional in the way they went about their business.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- GM Dave Taylor</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Left winger <b>Sean Avery</b> is dating supermodel <b>Rachel Hunter,</b> former wife of rock legend Rod Stewart&hellip;In Finland&rsquo;s World Cup victory over Germany Sept. 6, former King <b>Mikko Eloranta</b> scored the winning goal. Eloranta, who now plays in the Finnish Elite League, was assisted by <b>Kimmo Timonen</b> and <b>Olli Jokinen.</b> All three players were Kings property at one time.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0021-09

Frolov dominant for Russian squad

<div class="byline">- BRIAN MURPHY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1156/8298285-1-eng-US/f0021-112.jpg" title="f0021-11" width="279" height="602"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>H</span></b>ardly a stranger to the Xcel Energy Center, right winger Marian Gaborik became a guest in his own home when Slovakia played the United States in the preliminary round of the World Cup.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1070/8298292-1-eng-US/f0021-102.jpg" title="f0021-10" width="238" height="266"></div><p>The Wild&rsquo;s franchise player received a warm ovation Sept. 3 when he took the ice after donning his equipment in a spartan auxiliary locker room instead of the luxurious facility he has called home for four years.</p><p>&ldquo;It was weird to come into this room, but the World Cup doesn&rsquo;t happen every day,&rdquo; Gaborik said. &ldquo;I feel at home here always. The fans are great as always. It&rsquo;s just too bad for us.&rdquo; The struggling Slovaks lost 3-1 in a game the Americans dominated from beginning to end.</p><p>Gaborik twice has played for his country at the World Championship &mdash; after his rookie year in 2001 and again last spring. But this was his first marquee billing on the international stage.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>All the CBA stuff kind of took the flame of the World Cup and smothered it. This is hurting the game in more ways than one. With all the negative talk, you lose sight of the fact that this is a great sport. It&rsquo;s the best live sport out there to watch. We have to do a better job promoting the game. That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s important to get a deal done.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- defenseman Willie Mitchell</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Twenty-four hours after selling his off-season house in Sarasota, Fla., coach <b>Jacques Lemaire</b> held his breath as Hurricane Frances engulfed the state Sept. 4. Lemaire said the building suffered no serious damage after weathering the second major hurricane to slam Florida in three weeks&hellip;The Wild&rsquo;s tentative TV schedule features 70 games. The team also is anticipating four national broadcasts.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0021-11

Change of location ‘weird’ for Gaborik

<div class="byline">- HERB ZURKOWSKY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02898/8298330-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="266" height="208"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011223/8298337-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="92" height="94"></div><p><b>I</b>t was a long journey for Michael Ryder before making it in the NHL.</p><p>He spent three years in the Quebec League, playing for Hull, followed by two seasons in the American League with Quebec. The Newfoundland native even spent time in the East Coast League, playing for Tallahassee and Biloxi, before returning to the AHL with Hamilton.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>The right winger finally made it to the big leagues last season, scoring 25 goals and 63 points in 81 games with Montreal. He was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, won by Boston goalie Andrew Raycroft.</p><p>Ryder wants to build on his success, but is worried about the looming lockout.</p><p>&ldquo;If there&rsquo;s a long work stoppage, it won&rsquo;t help a guy like me,&rdquo; said the 24-year-old. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen, but I know there are people on both sides who know what they want. We have to be confident they&rsquo;ll come up with an agreement that&rsquo;s good for the game.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>I don&rsquo;t know if we&rsquo;ll start training camp on schedule, but I&rsquo;m doing everything I can to make this team competitive.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- GM Bob Gainey</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Habs had 24 players at a rookie camp, held Sept. 9-14 in the Montreal suburb of Pierre-fonds. The camp concluded with a tournament pitting Montreal&rsquo;s prospects against rookies from Toronto, Ottawa and Florida. Eighteen of the 24 who participated in the Habs&rsquo; development camp last July were asked to return&hellip;Director of player personnel <b>Trevor Timmins</b> believes the team pulled off a steal with the selection of <b>Kyle Chipchura,</b> a 6-foot-2,200-pound center, at 18th overall. Chipchura was ranked fourth overall by Central Scouting, but his stock dropped after a groin injury midway through last season. &ldquo;We got lucky again,&rdquo; said Timmins last June.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03679/8298323-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="281" height="604"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-02

Ryder’s rookie star took a while to rise

<div class="byline">- DAVID BOCLAIR</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05363/8298368-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="281" height="605"></div><p><b>J</b>im McKenzie is poised to do what no heavyweight has ever done - play two full seasons for Nashville.</p><p>The 34-year-old was one of the first players to return to the area this summer and again was considered a critical part of the team&rsquo;s plans after he played 61 games in 2003-04 and amassed 88 penalty minutes.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04491/8298375-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="230" height="259"></div><p>The heavyweights who preceded him in the team&rsquo;s first five years combined to play just 141 total games.</p><p>Patrick Cote played 70 games in the Predators&rsquo; inaugural 1998-99 season when he led the league in fighting majors (30), but appeared in just 21 the next season and soon was out of the league. He was replaced by Brantt Myhres, who played 20 games before he was sent to the minors and eventually traded. Stu Grimson came aboard the next season and gave the Preds 30 games before his career was ended by postconcussion syndrome.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>There has to be a change and the change has to be a correct change, financially&hellip; There&rsquo;s only two things that can happen: we&rsquo;re either right or we&rsquo;re wrong. If I&rsquo;m wrong, then I think with all due respect, the Nashville Predators franchise could be in some jeopardy.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- GM David Poik</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The scouting staff believes it found another <b>Marek Zidlicky</b> in defenseman <b>Janne Niskala,</b> a fifth round pick (147th overall) in the 2004 draft. Niskala&rsquo;s performance at the team&rsquo;s prospects conditioning camp in July went a long way toward making a believer of coach <b>Barry Trotz.</b> &ldquo;One thing they said is that he has great hands and he can do some really wonderful things with the puck,&rdquo; Trotz said. &ldquo;He looks like a really solid player."&hellip;The Preds resigned left winger <b>Jeremy Stevenson</b>, a player to whom they did not extend a qualifying offer. &ldquo;Pound-for-pound, he plays as tough as anyone,&rdquo; said GM <b>David Poile.</b></p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0022-05

McKenzie’s toughness part of Freds’ plans

<div class="byline">- RICH CHERE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-07233/8298406-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="275" height="599"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span></b>oon after his memorable 1999-2000 rookie season, which earned him the Calder Trophy, Scott Gomez began hearing rumors that he was on the trading block.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06284/8298413-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="201" height="292"></div><p>There were disagreements with coach Pat Burns and suggestions Gomez might actually welcome a trade from New Jersey. But the Devils always knew what they had in the playmaking center and, last month, Gomez put to rest the notion he was unhappy.</p><p>Having seen ex-teammate Bobby Holik&rsquo;s relationship with the Devils crumble after a nasty salary arbitration hearing in 2001, Gomez was relieved his award of $2.9 million didn&rsquo;t come bitterly.</p><p>&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t like the horror stories you hear about,&rdquo; said Gomez, who played for Team USA in the World Cup of Hockey.</p><p>&ldquo;There were no bad feelings. Not like in the past. I finally had some rights and I chose to use them. If anything, (the salary increase) will make me go even harder.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>We don&rsquo;t know what the lay of the land will be tomorrow, but we know there will be a major change. I know (the Devils) cannot survive under the present situation. It doesn&rsquo;t take a genius to see where this has put our payroll. There will be, in my mind, a major change (in the CBA). The New jersey Devils do need a new system. There has been a lot of rhetoric back and forth, but the bottom line is something has to change.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- GM Lou Lamoriello</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Officials indicated there was a snag in the push to start work on a new arena in Newark. A site plan showed the Devils intended to build less than half of the promised 275,000 square feet of private office space around the arena within five years. Critics said the arena might not make financial sense without the office space.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0022-07

Gomez’s arbitration not a ‘horror story’

<div class="byline">- PETER BOTTE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-09166/8298444-1-eng-US/f0022-092.jpg" title="f0022-09" width="276" height="599"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>hen a labor deal is signed and training camps eventually open, one player Islanders coach Steve Stirling will have a close eye on is maturing left winger Justin Papineau.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-08186/8298451-1-eng-US/f0022-082.jpg" title="f0022-08" width="223" height="307"></div><p>After meeting with him in Ottawa this summer, Stirling believes Papineau has a higher offensive ceiling than the player who had eight goals and 13 points in 64 games of limited ice time in his first full NHL campaign last year.</p><p>&ldquo;Justin showed signs of being the talented young goal-scorer that we believe he can be,&rdquo; Stirling said. &ldquo;He gained quality minutes while (Alexei Yashin and Mark Parrish) were sidelined and responded.&hellip;Like most young, developing players, he lacked the consistency necessary to perform at a high level night in and night out.</p><p>&ldquo;Justin wants an opportunity to take a regular shift on one of the top three lines and I see no reason why he shouldn&rsquo;t get that chance.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>(The World Cup) could be the last hockey for a while. It&rsquo;s a different feeling. Instead of starting to gear up for (training) camp, I&rsquo;m gearing up for this. And then, who knows?&rdquo;</i></p><p>- goalie Rick DiPietro</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> While goaltender <b>Rick DiPietro</b> and defenseman <b>Roman Hamrlik</b> remained unsigned restricted free agents as of Sept. 9, the Islanders signed a pair of 2004 draft picks to entry level contracts. Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) left winger <b>Steven Regier,</b> the team&rsquo;s fifth round draft pick (148 th overall) last June, signed a two-year deal and will attend training camp. And 20-year-old, puck-moving defenseman <b>Chris Campoli,</b> a seventh round pick in June (227th overall) also inked a two-year deal. Campoli skated for the OHL&rsquo;s Erie Otters last season.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0022-09

Islanders convinced of Papineau’s talents

<div class="byline">- LARRY BROOKS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-11133/8298482-1-eng-US/f0022-112.jpg" title="f0022-11" width="278" height="602"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>M</span></b>ake that an 0-for-2 summer for the Rangers in getting their past two top draft picks signed, out of college and into Hartford for the start of the American League season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-10148/8298489-1-eng-US/f0022-102.jpg" title="f0022-10" width="214" height="297"></div><p>With goalie Al Montoya, the sixth overall selection in June&rsquo;s draft, having already decided to return to Michigan for his junior year, the Rangers suffered another blow when winger Hugh Jessiman, their first round pick (12th overall) in 2003, opted to return to Dartmouth for his junior year.</p><p>While management said it hadn&rsquo;t been a priority to get Montoya under contract, they&rsquo;d made it clear they believed it important for Jessiman to step up in class by leaving the Ivy League for the pros.</p><p>The 20-year-old, 6-foot-5, 220-pound right winger, however, had other ideas.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel I have unfinished business at school,&rdquo; said Jessiman, who spent the summer working out at the Rangers&rsquo; training facility. &ldquo;The Rangers were great to me in giving me the opportunity to make up my own mind about what I wanted to do. And going back to Dartmouth, where I think we&rsquo;re going to have a great team, is really where my heart is at.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>Right now, I am going to keep playing hockey until someone tells me I have to stop. I hope that doesn&rsquo;t happen too soon.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- defenseman Darius Kasparaitis</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Rangers are checking to see whether they have the ability to assign goalie <b>Dan Blackburn</b> and center <b>Blair Betts,</b> both of whom finished last season on injured reserve, to Hartford (AHL) for indefinite conditioning assignments if the NHL season is delayed by a lockout&hellip;Waivers are required in order for the Rangers to assign goalie <b>Jason LaBarbera,</b> who won last year&rsquo;s American League MVP award while establishing a leaguerecord 13 shutouts, back to Hartford.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0022-11

Montoya, Jessiman going back to school

<div class="byline">- BRUCE GARRIOCH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03567/8298520-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="276" height="602"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011104/8298534-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="92" height="94"></div><p><b>S</b>enators defenseman Zdeno Chara has plenty of options if there is an NHL lockout.</p><p>In fact, there has been no shortage of interest in the league&rsquo;s tallest player. It would seem Chara will be able to pick a spot in Slovakia, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Switzerland or even North America if there is no NHL hockey in the 2004-05 season.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02771/8298527-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="232" height="297"></div><p>But Chara isn&rsquo;t going to go making any decisions on his future until the World Cup is completed - Chara and his Slovakian teammates were eliminated by Canada in the quarterfinal - and efforts to try to get a new labor agreement in place are exhausted.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s been a lot of interest,&rdquo; Chara said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure I&rsquo;m going to play somewhere, but right now it&rsquo;s not really something that I&rsquo;m thinking about.&rdquo;</p><p>Of course, Chara could opt to stay in his hometown of Trencin and play in the Slovakia Elite League. That team could be pretty good because they will already have a line of Minnesota&rsquo;s Marian Gaborik, Ottawa&rsquo;s Marian Hossa and former St. Louis Blues sniper Pavol Demitra.</p><p>If Chara decides to stay in North America, there&rsquo;s a chance he could play in the Original Six Hockey League - a four-on-four league being organized by an Ontario businessman - but there are concerns as to whether the league will get off the ground.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>I just hope that we play because there&rsquo;s a lot of excitement in this city. I wish the season were starting today.&rsquo;&rsquo;</i></p><p>- GM John Muckier</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Senators hadn&rsquo;t signed restricted free agent right wingers <b>Martin Havlat</b> and <b>Vaclav Varada,</b> but talks were continuing with both players in an effort to get them signed before the collective bargaining agreement expires Sept. 15th.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0023-03

Chara has options if NHL shuts down

<div class="byline">- WAYNE FISH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05300/8298565-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="276" height="601"></div><p><b>I</b>f only Simon Gagne could play with lightning-quick linemates like these year-round.</p><p>For years, the Flyers have been waiting for the left winger to experience a 35-40-goal breakout season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04411/8298572-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="237" height="275"></div><p>Maybe he just needs some speed burners such as his Team Canada partners Martin St-Louis and Brad Richards at the World Cup of Hockey. The unit had instant chemistry as Canada built a 4-0 record.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great experience for me to be able to play with two players like that,&rdquo; said Gagne, who has reached the 30-goal mark only once in his five year career. &ldquo;We have a lot of speed, created a lot of chances on that line.&rdquo; Gagne has worked with exceptional skaters such as Jeremy Roenick and Tony Amonte on the Flyers. But part of last season - in which he scored 24 goals - was spent on checking assignments with lumbering centers such as Keith Primeau.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>I&rsquo;m waiting to see what they&rsquo;re doing. I&rsquo;m not going to give them my money before they get a season going. I believe it&rsquo;s all about money. It always has been and it always will be. Hockey was the last sport to cross over. They used to play for the love of the game. Now they play for the money.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- Flyers fan Rick Borochaner</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Despite losses to Canada and Russia to begin the World Cup, starting U.S. goalie <b>Robert Esche</b> picked up where he left off in the playoffs last season. Esche underwent hip surgery in the off-season and originally was not scheduled to play in the tournament. After a strong effort in a 2-1 loss to Canada Aug. 31, Esche said: &ldquo;I felt a lot like I did going into the playoffs last season. I was kind of relaxed and I&rsquo;m feeling good about the way I rehabbed and the way I got back with everything.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0023-05

Gagne excels with Lightning mates

<div class="byline">- JERRY BROWN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-07197/8298603-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="276" height="601"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>ith several players who put in most of last season with the Coyotes already headed to the Utah Grizzlies in the event of a lockout, the Coyotes further fortified their new American League affiliate with a flurry of signings that added talent and experience. All six have seen recent time in the NHL.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-06237/8298610-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="207" height="302"></div><p>Defenseman Rick Berry and left wingers Martin Sonnenberg and Doug Doull signed two-year, minor league contracts, while center Erik Westrum, left winger Jon Sim and goalie Zac Bierk agreed to one-year deals. A seventh player, center Jason Jaspers, is expected to join that group.</p><p>The timing and language of signings were important. The players had to be under minorleague deals before Sept. 15 or they would be locked out with the rest of the NHL players.</p><p>Plus, the minor league deal precludes the players from passing through waivers on the way back to the NHL, which they would have to do if they signed two-way contracts.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>If it takes getting an independent arbitrator to settle the thing, I think it&rsquo;s got to be done. I don&rsquo;t see how anybody who cares about the games can let this situation fester like this because everyone knows the sport will be ruined by it. Both sides have valid points, but if they are smart enough to realize that, they&rsquo;re smart enough to realize which issues are the most important, cut through all the rest, and reach an understanding for the good of the game.&rsquo;&rsquo;</i></p><p>- right winger Brett Hull</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Play-by-play man <b>Curt Keilback</b> and analyst <b>Charlie Simmer</b> will return as Phoenix&rsquo;s TV broadcast team for a third straight season, but the team will abandon its simulcast format and hire a separate duo for radio. Post-game talk show host <b>Bob Heethuis</b> is a prime candidate for the play-by-play role.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0023-07

Spate of signings spruces up farm team

<div class="byline">- JOE STARKEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-09137/8298641-1-eng-US/f0023-092.jpg" title="f0023-09" width="277" height="604"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>O</span></b>ne way or another, it looks as if highly touted Penguins prospect Evgeni Malkin will spend a good chunk of time in Russia over the next few years.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-08165/8298648-1-eng-US/f0023-082.jpg" title="f0023-08" width="229" height="309"></div><p>Perhaps all of it. Malkin&rsquo;s agent, Dmitri Goryachkin, said Mettalurg Magnitogorsk, Malkin&rsquo;s team in the Russian Super League, wants to sweeten his four-year deal and thus make it harder for him to flee.</p><p>What&rsquo;s more, Malkin is expecting to be drafted into the Russian Army in September for a mandatory two-year term. He would continue to play for Metallurg while in the service.</p><p>&ldquo;Obviously, we are trying to limit this guarantee of years, but if he is drafted into the army, he will have to stay in Russia for two years,&rdquo; Goryachkin said, adding Malkin&rsquo;s offer could be &ldquo;way higher than what the top-drafted players sign for in the NHL.&rdquo;</p><p>The Pens aren&rsquo;t overly concerned, as Malkin just turned 18 and wasn&rsquo;t going to play in North America this season, anyway. That view might change if Malkin were to sign a four year deal to keep him in Russia.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>We have been very prudent in managing our bottom line. We&rsquo;re structured very well with a strong balance sheet and credit available. So we have taken the steps to make sure that we&rsquo;ll be here for the long term.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- president Ken Sawyer</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Penguins were preparing to publicize their bid for a downtown slots parlor. Several parties are expected to apply for the license, which will be awarded sometime next year. If the Penguins prevail, they will pledge to use revenues to fund their desired new arena&hellip; Defenseman <b>Brooks Orpik</b> remained the most significant of the Penguins&rsquo; unsigned players. The restricted free agent rejected the team&rsquo;s qualifying offer. The sides had not yet engaged in serious discussions.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0023-09

Army duty, big money could tempt Malkin

<div class="byline">- DERRICK GOOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-11102/8298679-1-eng-US/f0023-112.jpg" title="f0023-11" width="274" height="601"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>H</span></b>is second severe shoulder injury is nearly a full season behind him and defenseman Barret Jackman is looking to pick up where he essentially left off, as a rough-and-tumble Calder Trophy winner with his best days ahead. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a long time since I played,&rdquo; Jackman said. &ldquo;It feels like it&rsquo;s been a real, real long summer. I can&rsquo;t get frustrated with myself and I really need to keep things simple, but I have to prove to everyone the layoff isn&rsquo;t going to hurt my game.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-10121/8298686-1-eng-US/f0023-102.jpg" title="f0023-10" width="223" height="290"></div><p>Jackman&rsquo;s next game will be his 100th in the NHL.</p><p>Much has changed for the team since Jackman played in just 15 games last season after injuring his shoulder in a collision with Vancouver&rsquo;s Todd Bertuzzi. Jackman&rsquo;s longtime partner Al Maclnnis is expected to retire and the Blues have trimmed the payroll and gotten younger.</p><p>The Blues are also concerned about finding a balance for Jackman - keeping the 23-year-old&rsquo;s bigger-than-his-britches edgy play while reducing his susceptibility to injuries.</p><p>&ldquo;My physical play got me to the NHL,&rdquo; said Jackman, a restricted free agent who was in the process of negotiating a contract, &ldquo;and that&rsquo;s what is going to keep me there.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>Clearly we at the Blues are very tight-lipped about all aspects of our labor negotiations, but we have been very open talking about the importance of this process to the future of the Blues in St. Louis. I think our fan base clearly understands what is under way and it would be unfair to trivialize it with off-hand comments or hoped-for clever quotes.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- president Mark Sauer</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Punctuated by a four-goal game against Russia, left winger <b>Keith Tkachuk</b> scored five of Team USA&rsquo;s first nine World Cup goals.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0023-11

Jackman out to prove he’s back on track

<div class="byline">- ROSS MCKEON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03591/8298717-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="276" height="599"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011177/8298731-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="92" height="94"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span></b>s far as the San Jose Sharks are concerned, the highlight of the World Cup occurred early in Germany&rsquo;s first preliminary round game against Sweden.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02837/8298724-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="228" height="306"></div><p>San Jose winger Marco Sturm corralled a loose puck at center and broke free from the pack to score a shorthanded goal midway through the first period of the German&rsquo;s loss to the Swedes.</p><p>The key was Sturm displaying the same breakaway speed and confidence to execute that he had before a gruesome late-season injury ended his campaign with the Sharks five months prematurely.</p><p>Sturm sustained ligament damage and a broken bone in his left ankle when he went crashing feet-first at top speed into the end boards while racing with Colorado defenseman Adam Foote in Denver March 5. He underwent surgery and faced a long rehabilitation, knowing the first serious injury, besides a concussion, of his career could threaten his biggest asset - speed.</p><p>Sturm&rsquo;s breakaway goal and outstanding play in Germany*s four World Cup games suggests everything is fine.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>You&rsquo;ve got to prepare the same way. You&rsquo;ve got to be ready to go in September. If it goes, it goes. If it doesn&rsquo;t, you can relax for a little while longer and have some fun.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- defenseman Mike Rathje</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Sharks were to get their first look at 2004 first-rounder Lukas Kaspar when the 18-year-old Czech right winger participated with other San Jose youngsters (with less than 50 games of NHL experience) in a rookie tournament hosted by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Sharks selected the 6-foot-2, 202-pound Kaspar 22nd overall. The tournament also included squads from the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0024-03

Sturm’s solid play has Sharks smiling

<div class="byline">- TOM JONES</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05277/8298762-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="278" height="602"></div><p><b>N</b>othing big was ever expected from center Martin Cibak.</p><p>The Lightning took him in the ninth round of the 1998 entry draft and by end of 2002-03 - five years after he was chosen - he looked like he would never make a real impact in the NHL.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04407/8298769-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="234" height="299"></div><p>But the Lightning re-signed Cibak to a one-year deal and the team now believes he can muster a decent NHL career.</p><p>Last season, for the first time, Cibak started to show signs he could play at the highest level.</p><p>In 2001-02, Cibak had a 26-game stint with the Lightning, scoring a goal and six points. But he didn&rsquo;t return to the NHL the next season and came to camp last season looking like a player running out of chances.</p><p>Cibak responded with a career year. He scored only two goals and nine points, but he played in 63 games on the Lightning&rsquo;s fourth line - the energy line coach John Tortorella used to pump some life into the team.</p><p>&ldquo;Marty Cibak had a pretty good year for us and he earned some post-season time as well,&rdquo; said Lightning GM Jay Feaster.</p><p>&ldquo;When he is on top of his game he is a gritty, tenacious forechecker who finishes his checks and makes it tough for the other team in their zone.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>Despite winning the Stanley Cup, the current economic system would prevent us from being viable and competitive in the long term.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- president Ron Campbell</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Lightning continues to negotiate with restricted free agent right winger <b>Martin St-Louis</b> on a long-term deal. St. Louis turned down arbitration and is looking for a long-term deal&hellip;The Lightning is looking to add a third net-minder with NHL experience to play in Springfield (AHL).</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0024-05

Cibak finally delivers, gets one-year pact

<div class="byline">- KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-07176/8298800-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="277" height="603"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>J</span></b>ohn Ferguson celebrated his first year as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs in late August. Regardless of what observers think of his performance so far, they certainly can&rsquo;t claim he sat back and observed through Year 1. Ferguson, the youngest GM in the NHL, proved that he is not the least bit hesitant to make a deal or spend money. Some of his transactions - getting a future Hall of Famer in Brian Leetch without giving up a roster player in return - look terrific. Others - paying $700,000 to Calle Johansson and acquiring a very ineffective Ron Francis at the trade deadline - not so much. But Ferguson made it known early and often that he wasn&rsquo;t content to simply stay the course with the Leafs.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06216/8298807-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="209" height="307"></div><p>That was until this summer, when he basically reassembled last year&rsquo;s roster, which compiled 103 points before bowing out of the playoffs in the second round. Ferguson spent about $58 million doing so and faces a payroll of just over $61 million for next season.</p><p>Ferguson had no interest in selfassessment when it came to his first year as an NHL executive.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll leave that up to others,&rdquo; he told the Toronto <i>Sun.</i> &ldquo;This is a results-oriented business. My record stands up. We by no means were satisfied with our season last year, but we have many things to be proud of.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUUTE</b> &ldquo;<i>I think they can come to an agreement and I hope so, because otherwise a lot of damage could be done. All of the rhetoric has been tough and people have been laid off already.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- coach Pat Quinn</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> There had been no formal announcement as of early September, but the <b>Maple Leafs</b> have hired Shawn Simpson as a pro scout. Simpson worked the last decade for Washington as an amateur and pro scout.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0024-07

Ferguson’s first year open for analysis

<div class="byline">- ELLIOTT PAP</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-09123/8298838-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="277" height="600"></div><p><b>V</b>ancouver Canucks goaltender Dan Cloutier thinks he has found temporary employment in the event the NHL season doesn&rsquo;t start on schedule.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-08140/8298845-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="212" height="299"></div><p>Cloutier has committed to the Original Stars League, a 4-on-4 circuit that plans to operate for as long as the NHL wrestles with the Players&rsquo; Association over a new collective bargaining agreement.</p><p>&ldquo;I was planning on heading to Europe, but I changed my mind,&rdquo; explained Cloutier. &ldquo;This league sounds like it will be fun.&rdquo;</p><p>Cloutier is anxious to remain active after his playoffs ended prematurely with torn ligaments in his right ankle. He was injured in the first period of Game 3 of the Canucks series with Calgary. The Canucks went on to win that game and take a 2-1 lead in the series, but eventually lost in seven to the Flames.</p><p>In addition to rehabbing his ankle over the summer, Cloutier also found time to get married and sign a new $3-million contract.</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>I was among the more optimistic, but I guess I was naive. It doesn&rsquo;t look good.&rdquo;</i></p><p>&mdash;center Brendan Morrison</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Canucks held a prospects camp for minor-leaguers and drafted juniors from Sept. 1015, at the team&rsquo;s practice facility in Burnaby&hellip;According to <b>J.P. Barry,</b> agent for unsigned restricted free agents<b>Daniel</b> and <b>Henrik Sedin,</b> his clients face a Sept. 15 deadline from the Swedish league team MoDo to sign with them for the coming season. The twins played for MoDo before joining the NHL. MoDo is located in the twins&rsquo; hometown of Ornskoldsvik&hellip;Right winger <b>Todd Bertuzzi,</b> charged with assault causing bodily harm in the <b>Steve Moore</b> incident, will go on trial Jan. 17. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 18 months.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0024-09

Cloutier opens door to lockout 4-on-4

<div class="byline">- DAVE FAY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-11101/8298876-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="276" height="605"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he Russians have never been known for force-feeding youngsters onto their national teams so it was not unusual when Alexander Ovechkin, the ballyhooed left winger, sat out the first two games of the World Cup.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-10110/8298883-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="229" height="311"></div><p>But when the top overall pick in the June draft made his debut, a lot of eyes were opened.</p><p>The 18-year-old Ovechkin scored one goal and nearly had another as Russia defeated Slovakia 5-2.</p><p>Ovechkin&rsquo;s goal was Team Russia&rsquo;s final marker, but even before that he had captured the fans&rsquo; attention at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;d all like to see more of Ovechkin,&rdquo; wrote columnist Damien Cox in the Toronto <i>Star,</i> who said the teenager overcame early jitters by the third period and turned into &ldquo;one of his team&rsquo;s most dangerous-looking attackers.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I played against the best in the NHL and I feel good,&rdquo; Ovechkin said. &ldquo;I scored a goal and I&rsquo;m very happy.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CBA QUOTE</b> &ldquo;<i>Our 22,000-plus members&hellip; want this conflict resolved in short order. Our fear is the game we love will be spoiled by both your organizations&rsquo; resolute stances to win at all costs. Please remember you have an obligation to keep &lsquo;the game&rsquo; strong for fans.&rdquo;</i></p><p>- NHL Fans&rsquo; Association head Jim Boone, in letter to NHL and NHLPA</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Washington has added <b>Larry Carriere</b> to the team&rsquo;s pro scouting staff. He had served last season as assistant GM in Buffalo, where he spent 11 seasons in various capacities with the Sabres. The former NHL defenseman replaces <b>Brian MacLellan</b> who was promoted to director of player development and GM of Portland (AHL)&hellip;<b>Frank Costello,</b> the Caps&rsquo; strength and conditioning coach for 17 seasons, has rejoined the University of Maryland as a volunteer track and field coach.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0024-11

Ovechkin delights in World Cup debut

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011059/8298921-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="108" height="107"></div><p><b>M</b>att Carkner knows that if he&rsquo;s going to play with the San Jose Sharks on a regular basis, he must continue to improve his skating.</p><p>It&rsquo;s a process that began nearly a dozen years ago. &ldquo;Through my whole career I&rsquo;ve been told I have to work on my skating,&rdquo; said the defenseman. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not something that&rsquo;s a gift to me.&rdquo;</p><p>He doesn&rsquo;t mind doing the extra work in the summer, however. His motivation also came nearly a dozen years ago.</p><p>&ldquo;I worked in my dad&rsquo;s body shop (in Winchester, Ont.) one summer and I told myself there&rsquo;s no way I wanted to do this the rest of my life,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>He shouldn&rsquo;t need to, not the way his career is progressing with the American League&rsquo;s Cleveland Barons. Carkner, 23, has signed another contract with the Sharks after establishing himself as a solid depth player for the organization.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02722/8298914-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="239" height="386"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MATT CARKNER</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I am happy for Carkner (and) the organization that he signed,&rdquo; said Barons assistant coach David Cunniff. &ldquo;When he has been healthy, he has been real solid. He was always coming back from an injury, but now he&rsquo;s back.&rdquo;</p><p>A torn anterior cruciate ligament hindered his progress in 2002-03 and last season a separated shoulder cost him his first call-up. Still, he recovered from the shoulder injury and was a team-high plus-18.</p><p>&ldquo;The ACL injury was definitely a big setback, but I like overcoming obstacles,&rdquo; Carkner said.</p><p>The 6-foot-4,230-pound Carkner made an instant impact as a rookie - with his fists. He piled up 335 penalty minutes. But he had just 104 PIMs in 39 games in &rsquo;02-03 and only 115 in 60 games last season. For the first time he also produced moderately (two goals, 13 points).</p><p>&ldquo;My first year,&rdquo; Carkner said, &ldquo;I let everyone know I&rsquo;d be there and would fight and I still play that way. I just don&rsquo;t get as many offers.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-02

Carkner adding dimension beyond fists

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>E</span></b>ven though they lost former American League scoring champion Domenic Pittis, the Rochester Americans scoured the free agent market for defensemen, just as they did last season, and found more quality veterans.</p><p>The Amerks agreed to terms with <b>Todd Rohloff</b> and 1998-99 AHL first-team all-star <b>Brandon Smith</b> and resigned <b>David Cullen,</b> who quarterbacked their league-best power play last season. The trio are property of the Buffalo Sabres, while defenseman <b>Steve Lingren</b> was re-signed to an AHL contract.</p><p>Rohloff, 30, played most of last season in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals, collecting five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 59 games.</p><p>Smith, 31, scored five goals and 28 points in 74 games with Bridgeport, his fourth AHL team in a 10-year pro career. He has played 33 career NHL games for Boston and the New York Islanders, the majority coming with the</p><p>Bruins in 1999-2000 (22 games). Cullen, 27, was third in scoring for the Americans and tied for fourth among AHL defensemen with 12 goals and 47 points.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03493/8298966-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="313" height="412"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>AHL WEST NOTEBOOK</b></figcaption></div><p><b>GRIZZLIER VETERANS</b> The Utah Grizzlies complained right to the courtroom about the lack of quality players placed on their roster by their old parent team, the Dallas Stars.</p><p>Utah isn&rsquo;t complaining about its new parent, the Phoenix Coyotes. Phoenix recently signed forwards <b>Erik Westrum, Jon Smith, Martin Sonnenberg and Doug Doull, defenseman Rick Berry</b> and goalie<b>Zac Bierk</b> to AHL deals.</p><p>Westrum, 25, scored 14 goals and 32 points in 56 games with Springfield, then had a goal and two points in 15 games for the Coyotes. He continued to play in the spring for Team USA&rsquo;s bronze medal entry in the world championship, scoring three goals and five points in nine games.</p><p>Westrum is back in a depth role with the Coyotes after they added Petr Nedved and Mike Ricci as free agents.</p><p>Berry, 25, spent the past three seasons in the NHL with Colorado, Pittsburgh and Washington. He played 65 games for the Capitals last season.</p><p><b>PASSMORE PASSES</b> Goalie Steve Passmore, 31, declined a contract offer from the Edmonton Oilers to be the playing mentor for Jeff Deslauriers with the Edmonton Road Runners and instead signed in Germany.</p><p>However, goalie Tyler Moss, who played with the Roadrunners in Toronto last season, was re-signed to a one-year deal by the Oilers and will likely end up on the farm team.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04323/8298959-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="1075" height="1583"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b><i>German-born Christian Ehrhoff spent the second half of2003-04 in San Jose after playing 27 games in Cleveland to start the year</i></b></figcaption></div><p><i>.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-05230/8298952-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="592" height="1695"></div><h2><b>HOCKEY NATION AT A GLANCE</b></h2><p><i>The International Ice Hockey Federation is the world&rsquo;s governing body for hockey. In each issue this season, we profile some of the 63 national association members.</i></p><h3><b>SOUTH AFRICA</b></h3><p><b>Member of IIHF since</b> 1937</p><p><b>Pop. of country</b> 43,647,658</p><p><b>Registered players</b> 560</p><p><b>No. of ice facilities</b> 6</p><p><b>Major league</b> (five teams)</p><p>Premiere League</p><p><b>Association website/e-mail</b></p><p><a href="http://www.saicehockey.org.za">www.saicehockey.org.za</a></p><p><a href="mailto:saiha@iafrica.com">saiha@iafrica.com</a></p><p><b>2003 world ranking</b> No. 37</p><h3><b>LIECHTENSTEIN</b></h3><p><b>Pop. of country</b> 32,842</p><p><b>Registered players</b> 79</p><p><b>No. of ice facilities</b> 1 (outdoor)</p><p><b>Association website</b> <a href="http://www.leiv.li">www.Leiv.li</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-03

Americans bulk up on blueline

<div class="byline">BY MIKE MASTOVICH</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he heavy machinery began roaring this summer as land was cleared in anticipation of the construction of a $70-million hockey arena near Bradenton, Fla.</p><p>The ECHL will debut in Manatee County in &rsquo; 2005-06 in a proposed 220,000-square foot I arena to be built on a 60-acre site.</p><p>To address the matter of a team name, Larry i Kish, the senior vice-president of DVA Sports group, which owns the franchise, is asking the fans to choose a catchy name relating to the region. Kish used a similar strategy when Wheeling joined the ECHL in 1992-93.</p><p>&ldquo;I think the most significant thing is that we want to make it (the community&rsquo;s) team rather than our team,&rdquo; said Kish to the Bradenton <i>Herald.</i></p><p>Of course, Kish hopes Bradenton&rsquo;s &ldquo;name the team&rdquo; contest has a better ending than Wheeling&rsquo;s.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-06185/8298997-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="235" height="232"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NOTEBOOK</b> <span class="photo-credit">(GRAIG ABEL/BS/GETTY)</span></figcaption></div><p>Back in 1992, Wheeling&rsquo;s fans voted for the name Thunderbirds and the Wheeling Civic Center was renamed the Thunderdome. That lasted about two years until Kish, then the team&rsquo;s IM, was informed the T-Birds were being sued for using the nickname of the Western League team in Seattle.</p><p>The always resourceful Kish and his staff renamed Wheeling the Nailers.</p><p><b>CHAMPIONSHIP TIES</b> The Bakersfield Condors named <b>Bob Bartlett</b> as director of player personnel for coach <b>Marty Raymond.</b></p><p>Among his four decades of experience in pro, semi-pro, college and junior, Bartlett was scouting director when Fresno won the West Coast League title in 2002 and for Phoenix when it won the WCHL crown under Raymond in 2000. Last season, Bartlett worked for the Las Vegas Wranglers.</p><p><b>IT&rsquo;S A DATE</b> Regardless of the NHL&rsquo;s labor situation, some important ECHL dates will remain unchanged. Players register for training camp Oct. 7 and teams may begin to practise the next day. The season opens Oct. 20.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-06

New team starts name search, carefully

<div class="byline">BY ROBIN SHORT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02845/8299028-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="243" height="390"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KEN GERNANDER</b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011192/8299035-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="108" height="107"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>H</span></b>e may be old enough to know the words to <i>Video Killed the Radio Star,</i> but Hartford Wolf Pack veteran Ken Gernander still exudes the passion to play pro at 35.</p><p>Gernander signed a one-year deal with the parent New York Rangers this summer and is poised to start his 14th pro year, 11 of which have been spent in the Rangers organization.</p><p>While 35 is hardly considered old, Gernander could be regarded as a dinosaur in the youth-oriented AHL. For example: the Minnesota-born Gernander is only four months younger than Wolf Pack coach Ryan McGill.</p><p>&ldquo;I still enjoy the game,&rdquo; said Gernander, who has appeared in 27 regular season and playoff games with the Rangers. &ldquo;I enjoy competing, I enjoy the camaraderie of the team. If there wasn&rsquo;t any passion for the game, it would just be another job. Whatever that emotion thing is, it&rsquo;s what keeps you going.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>And Gernander has been going a long time. Entering this season, the right winger is 11th on the AHL&rsquo;s all-time games played list with 907.</p><p>&ldquo;Everyone on the team are all at different points in their career,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s the young prospects&hellip;and then we have some veterans who have been around a while. But it&rsquo;s all part of the team chemistry. We have a real fun group of guys here.&rdquo;</p><p>And every now and again, Gernander is reminded of his age by the whippersnappers.</p><p>&ldquo;You know those flashback lunches you hear on the radio with the &rsquo;80s music?&rdquo; Gernander says. &ldquo;The guys ask me who sings this and that song. And I usually know the answer.</p><p>&ldquo;A couple of years ago we had a kid who knew the &rsquo;80s groups. I asked him how he knew. He told me his mom listened to that music. That&rsquo;s happened more than once.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-02

Golden oldie Gernander still rocking

<div class="byline">- BRENDAN SAVAGE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06300/8299111-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="206" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>efenseman Kerry Toporowski had only seven goals and 65 points in 236 career games with Quad City, but he&rsquo;ll forever be one of the Mallards&rsquo; most memorable players. Team officials are making Toporowski&rsquo;s No. 77 the first number to be retired in the team&rsquo;s 10year history. &ldquo;I never dreamed that something like this would happen,&rdquo; Toporowski said. Toporowski, 33, spent parts of seven seasons with the Mallards. He helped them win two Colonial Cups and is the team&rsquo;s all-time leader in penalty minutes (1,338). Toporowski retired due to a wrist injury that limited him to 10 games last year. &ldquo;Topper is one of the most memorable, colorful characters in Mallards history,&rdquo; said Quad City GM Howard Cornfield. &ldquo;His stats don&rsquo;t come close to telling his value to our organization.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-06

NOTEBOOK

<div class="byline">- DAVID HENRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07258/8299142-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="180" height="99"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Oklahoma City Blazers have changed their logo to reflect more of Oklahoma&rsquo;s history, even if this piece of state history is only about two years old and not without controversy. For the first time since the rebirth of the team in 1992, the Blazers revamped their logo to feature the dome atop the state Capitol. The Capitol was originally designed in the early 1900s to include a dome, but according to legend, funds ran out. The Capitol remained without a dome until $21 million was raised for a dome project that was completed in 2002. The dome project had its detractors, who didn&rsquo;t consider it worth the cost. The Blazers aren&rsquo;t among the dome&rsquo;s opposition, though, as the team will keep the logo through Oklahoma&rsquo;s centennial in November, 2007.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-07

<div class="byline">- NICK GATES</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-08211/8299173-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="159" height="118"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JIM MCISAAC/BBS/GETTY)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>sheville coach-GM Jeff Brubaker is in no hurry to sign players for the Aces. &ldquo;Come crunch time, there are going to be a lot of players out there looking for jobs,&rdquo; he said. &rsquo;They all think they are (good enough) to be someplace else. Most of the really good players I ever had, I got the day before the season started.&rdquo; Brubaker compiled a 362-324-16 record in 11 years in the ECHL, mostly with Greensboro. The former NHL player returns behind the bench after a three-year layoff chomping at the bit. &ldquo;I think it was good to get away for a while,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got lots of energy."&hellip;The Orlando Seals, who lost their venue, were forced to suspend operations for 2004-05. The city terminated the team&rsquo;s lease at TD Waterhouse Centre. That left the Southern Pro League with eight teams.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-08

<div class="byline">BY WILLY PALOV</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02769/8299211-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="260" height="295"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011138/8299218-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="225" height="115"></div><p><b>T</b>he Acadie-Bathurst Titans mounting financial losses have led to the dismissal of <b>Pierre Roux.</b></p><p>Roux was fired as GM of the Titan after team owner <b>Leo-Guy Morrissette</b> crunched some numbers and decided he had to trim costs.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to let Pierre go, but I really didn&rsquo;t have a choice,&rdquo; Morrissette said. &ldquo;Our season tickets are down again and we couldn&rsquo;t afford him anymore. He is a good friend of mine and I think he is one of the best general managers in the league, but I saw this as my only solution.&rdquo;</p><p>Morrissette said his season-ticket base has dropped from 2,800 to 1,058 in the last three years and he doesn&rsquo;t see it spiking up in the near future. But he said he is committed to keeping the team in the northern New Brunswick town of 14,000, despite rumors he was considering a move to the larger city of Saint John, N.B.</p><p>&ldquo;When they closed the (zinc and lead) mine up here three years ago people didn&rsquo;t have as much money left for hockey,&rdquo; Morrissette said. &ldquo;We have very (loyal) fans, I TJ y I but people have to make choices when they I J t have money problems. I understand that and I am sure people will come back to watch the Titan play. I just have to be patient for that.&rdquo;</p><p>Morrissette will assume Roux&rsquo;s GM j duties, although many believe he was never too far from the player personnel side of the t operation in the first place. Morrissette was the Titan&rsquo;s GM until hiring Roux in 2001.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always loved being a GM,&rdquo; Morrissette said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to get back into it this way, but I have experience and I am sure our team will be fine.&rdquo;</p><p><b>URQUHART SIGNS</b> The P.E.I. Rocket have a huge hole to fill at forward now that <b>Cory Urquhart</b> has signed a three-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens. The 20-year-old will likely start the season with Hamilton of the American League.</p><p><b>TESSIER FINDS HOME Michael Tessier</b> has found a place to play, signing as a free agent with the AHL&rsquo;s Syracuse Crunch.</p><p>The 20-year-old left winger was told by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles he was not welcome back and he was free to try to engineer a trade to another QMJHL team.</p><p>When none of the league&rsquo;s other 15 teams expressed serious interest in him, Tessier signed a two-way contract between the AHL and ECHL.</p><h2>SPOTLIGHT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03548/8299204-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="276" height="737"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-02

Owner becomes GM in cost-cutting move

<div class="byline">BY JIM CHESSMAN</div><p><b>T</b>he University of Maine&rsquo;s loss could prove to be the Brampton Battalion&rsquo;s gain.</p><p>Left winger Luch Aquino left the school to play with the Battalion, who obtained his rights last season in a deal with the Oshawa Generals. Aquino, 19, joined the Black Bears after leading the Ontario Jr. A League in scoring in 2001-02 with 48 goals and 102 points for Wexford.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04383/8299256-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="283" height="230"></div><p>&ldquo;I expected a lot more at Maine,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t really fit there.</p><p>&ldquo;I think this is a good situation. The college game is somewhat overrated. In the (Ontario League), you can develop towards the next level by playing 68 games and practising every day.&rdquo;</p><p>His brother, Anthony Aquino, left Merrimack College to play with the Generals in 2002-03 and is currently in the Atlanta Thrashers organization.</p><p><b>BLOWS LAST WHISTLE</b> Referee Scott Hutchison has retired mfrorn the league after six years (he spent three years as a linesman) due to time constraints and the expectation the league has for its officials.</p><p>&ldquo;The OHL is running a big-time business, employing part-time officials, with full-time expectations,&rdquo; Hutchison said.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very satisfied with the time I spent with the OHL, but it&rsquo;s becoming increasingly difficult to get time off of work, travel as much as five hours to a game, four hours at the rink, then five hours home.&rdquo;</p><p>Hutchison will continue his development through the Hockey Canada program. He refereed the 2002 world junior and 2003 world championship.</p><p><b>BAD BREAK</b> Ixmdon Knights sophomore defenseman Ryan Pottruff could be sidelined until November or longer due to a broken leg he sustained in a pre-season game against Sarnia.</p><p>Pottruff crashed into the boards hard Sept. 3, snapping his leg in two places and also damaging knee ligaments. The impact popped the blade off the boot of his skate.</p><p><b>VETERAN SIDELINED</b> Ottawa 67&rsquo;s third-year defenseman<b>Kyle Wharton</b> will be sidelined until mid-October with a broken wrist after taking a two-handed slash from Ottawa Senators tough guy <b>Chris NeiL</b></p><p>Wharton was drafted by Columbus in the second round (59th overall) of the 2004 NHL draft. The incident took place Aug. 24 during an informal scrimmage.</p><h2><b>SPOTLIGHT</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05252/8299249-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="278" height="730"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-04

Brother’s footsteps just fine for Aquino

<div class="byline">BY HOB VANSTONE</div><p><b>M</b>edicine Hat Tigers defenseman Cam Barker welcomes the pressure and scrutiny to which NHL first round draft picks are subjected.</p><p>&ldquo;Since the draft, there has definitely been a lot more,&rdquo; said Barker, who was drafted third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks last June &ldquo;Everyone has been gunning for You and trying to beat you.1 think that&rsquo;s something you&rsquo;ve always got to keep in the back of your head when you&rsquo;re practising or training.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-06180/8299294-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="285" height="288"></div><p>Barker is another high draft pick produced by the Tigers. In 2002, the Florida Panthers chose blueliner Jay Bouwmeester third overall. Four picks later, forward Joffrey Lupul went to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.</p><p>&ldquo;All eyes are always on you now,&rdquo; said Barker, an 18-year-old Winnipeg native who helped Medicine Hat win the 2003-04 Western League title.</p><p>&ldquo;Lupul was the star when I got here and it was Bouwmeester before that, so you know that most of the eyes are on the older guys as we grow up. It just comes with age.&rdquo; &ldquo;So do the requests from fans and hockey card manufacturers.</p><p>&ldquo;Right after the draft, there were things like cards and a lot of fan mail all the time,&rdquo; Barker said. &ldquo;I appreciate that stuff, though. It shows that people are watching and that they support you and they care.&rdquo;</p><p><b>BOARD GAME</b> Rick Braden will not seek re-election as president of the Lethbridge Hurricanes&rsquo; board of directors.</p><p>The announcement came shortly after <b>Rich Sutter</b> and <b>Ron Sutter</b> went public with an ownership bid. The Hurricanes are community-owned.</p><p>&ldquo;The position of president is extremely demanding and timeconsuming both physically and mentally,&rdquo; Braden said. &ldquo;These past two years have taken a tremendous toll on both my family and professional lives. It is time to let someone else lead this great organization.&rdquo;</p><p><b>STAYING HOME</b> Left winger <b>Martin Hanzal,</b> selected 43rd overall by the Regina Pats in the 2004 Canadian Hockey League import draft, has decided to play with Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic this season.</p><p><b>MOVIN&rsquo; ON</b> The Kamloops Blazers traded center <b>Paul Brown</b> - a Nashville Predators draft pick (89th overall in 2003) - to the Saskatoon Blades for a pick in the 2005 bantam draft.</p><h2>SPOTLIGHT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-07146/8299287-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="280" height="728"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-06

Barker not squinting in glare of spotlight

<div class="byline">- PAUL SHAHEEN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-08122/8299332-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="416" height="123"></div><p>On the ice. Des Moines will soon be a very crowded house.</p><p>The United States League&rsquo;s Buccaneers are about to start their 25th season, the city will next year embrace the American League&rsquo;s Iowa Stars - the top farm club of the Dallas Stars - and there&rsquo;s a new rink: the 16,000-seat Wells Fargo Arena.</p><p>Yet while the Stars are still a year away, the Bucs are working to keep junior hockey fashionable for their fans. The Metro Ice Sports Arena was renamed Buccaneer Arena, received nearly $300,000 in improvements and signed a 15-year tease with the team.</p><p>As for the franchise itself, the Buccaneers are looking to improve on last season&rsquo;s pedestrian 29-26-5 record.</p><p>To achieve its goats, the Bucs will make youth its focus. Des Moines&rsquo;s top pick in August&rsquo;s underage draft was 17-year-old goaltender Brian Foster, already committed to the University of New Hampshire for the fall of 2006.</p><h2><b><i>SPOTLIGHT TEAM</i></b></h2><h3><b>BAIE-COMEAU DRAKKAR</b></h3><p><b>Arena</b> Centre Henry-Leonard <b>Capacity</b> 2,851</p><p><b>GM</b> Pierre Parent <b>Coach</b> Martin Laperriere</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-09109/8299325-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="1184" height="602"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-08

UNITED STATES LEAGUE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011179/8299398-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="283" height="230"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02819/8299391-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="285" height="288"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03602/8299384-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="260" height="295"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span></b>magine if you could say you saw Wayne Gretzky as a Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound in 1977-78? Or Mario Lemieux as a Laval Titan in 1983-84, when he got 282 points in 70 games?</p><p>Well, this season is likely the last opportunity you&rsquo;ll have to see much-heralded star Sidney Crosby show off his talents at the major junior level with Rimouski. Crosby is everyone&rsquo;s pick to be taken first overall in the 2005 NHL draft.</p><p>Crosby&rsquo;s Oceanic is just one of the 56 Canadian Hockey League teams we examine in our annual major junior preview.</p><p>In this section, you will find an in-depth look at all three major junior circuits - the Quebec League, Ontario League and Western League - and our predictions for how each Canadian Hockey League team will do.</p><p>We begin by giving you our top candidates for each league&rsquo;s MVP:</p><p><b>SIDNEY CROSBY, C, QMJHL</b> The Rimouski center took the league by storm as a 16-year-old rookie last year, winning the scoring title by 18 points (135 points in 59 games) and cruising to a league MVP title. Crosby also became Canada&rsquo;s youngest player to score a goal at the world junior tournament and capped his year by being named the Canadian Hockey league&rsquo;s MVP.</p><p>What can Crosby do for an encore?</p><p>&ldquo;Those individual achievements are nice, but I have really high hopes for our team in Rimouski this year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;All the guys are going to come back focused and ready to play. We want to win the league this year. We want to set our goals high.&rdquo;</p><p>The year in which he becomes eligible for the NHL draft, Crosby knows more eyes will be on him than ever.</p><p>&ldquo;The only pressure that matters is the pressure you put on yourself,&rdquo; Crosby said. &ldquo;I know my own expectations and I know what I&rsquo;m capable of doing&hellip;so I try not to change anything to meet expectations from other places.&rdquo;</p><p><b>COREY PERRY, RW, OHL</b> Perry says if you look after the team goals first, the personal goals will follow naturally. His ultimate goal this season is to help the London Knights win the Memorial Cup.</p><p>The Knights are assured of being in the tournament as the host team, but they want to enter through the &ldquo;front door,&rdquo; Perry said.</p><p>The front door means winning the OHL championship and Perry, a third-year right winger, will play a major role in that drive.</p><p>&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to be done halfway through March or April, waiting for the tournament to start (May 21),&rdquo; Perry said. &ldquo;The vets have to make sure everybody is ready to go every night. If the young guys see the older guys working hard, they&rsquo;re going to work hard.&rdquo;</p><p>London coach Dale Hunter said there&rsquo;s no worry there when it comes to Perry, who scored 40 goals and 113 points in 66 games last year.</p><p>&ldquo;The guys look up to him because he practises hard,&rdquo; Hunter said. &ldquo;Leading by example isn&rsquo;t always yelling, it&rsquo;s things like staying after practice to work on your shot You&rsquo;ve got to love the game and Corey does.&rdquo;</p><p>Hunter said Perry&rsquo;s strong point is he uses the players around him.</p><p>&ldquo;Look at the NHL and who wins the scoring race. It&rsquo;s not the guy who scores 50 goals and gets 30 assists. It&rsquo;s the guy who scores 40 goals and has 70 assists. You win the scoring championship and you&rsquo;re the MVP of the league.&rdquo;</p><p>In addition to winning the Memorial Cup, Perry has his sights set on making Canada&rsquo;s world junior team. He was cut from last year&rsquo;s squad.</p><p><b>NIGEL DAWES, LW, WHL</b> Nigel Dawes has accomplished virtually everything a junior player can imagine. And he&rsquo;s not finished.</p><p>The 19-year-old Kootenay Ice left winger is looking to punctuate his junior career by helping his team win its second Western League and Memorial Cup titles. And he wouldn&rsquo;t mind adding a most valuable player award to an already impressive resume.</p><p>&ldquo;Those are just feathers in your cap,&rdquo; Dawes said. &ldquo;You want to play well as a team and an individual, but if you get recognized with any sort of personal award, it&rsquo;s definitely a bonus.&rdquo;</p><p>Dawes is considered a favorite for WHL MVP honors, given his credentials.</p><p>As a 16-year-old, he had nine goals and 15 points in 22 playoff games to help Kootenay win its first WHL title and Memorial Cup.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06268/8299377-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="1628" height="1619"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>THEY&rsquo;RE READY</b> Calgary&rsquo;s Ryan Getxlaf, left, and the rest of the Hitmen have the opposition in their sights for the new season. <span class="photo-credit">(SEAN KILPATRICK)</span></figcaption></div><p>Back-to-back 47-goal seasons followed. Last winter, Dawes scored 47 times in only 56 games - a 60-goal pace over a foil 72-game schedule. He missed some games while playing for Canada at the World Junior Championship.</p><p>&ldquo;The ultimate goal is to try to move up to the next level,&rdquo; said Dawes, a New York Rangers&rsquo; fifth-rounder in 2003 who recently signed. &ldquo;Most likely, it&rsquo;ll be my last year in junior and I want to go out with a good year. I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s a better way to leave than by winning the Memorial Cup again.&rdquo;</p><p>- <b>WITH HIES FROM WILLI PALOV. JIM CRESSMAN & ROB VANSTONE</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04418/8299370-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="804" height="322"></div><p><i>The Hockey News top-10 ranking of Memorial Cup contenders was determined by our Canadian Hockey League correspondents: Willy Palov (Quebec League), Jim Cressman (Ontario League) and Rob Vanstone (Western League.) They&rsquo;ve determined the London Knights are the team to beat in 2004-05.</i></p><h2>The HockeyNews: TOP TEN</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05315/8299363-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="749" height="462"></div><p><b>DREAM FIRST LINE</b>&nbsp;<i>Below is The Hockey News&rsquo; projected most vnliinMe player candidates for flic QMJHL, OHL and WHL</i>.</p><p>Sidney Crosby Rimouski Oceanic, C, 17</p><p>Eligible for 2005 NHL draft</p><p>Corey Perry London Knights, RW, 19</p><p>Drafted: 28th overall 2003 (Anaheim)</p><p>Nigel Dawes Kootenay Ice, LW, 19</p><p>Drafted: 149th overall 2003 (Rangers)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-01

Superstar teen on center stane

<div class="byline">BY ROB VANSTONE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011047/8299457-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="283" height="230"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02704/8299450-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="285" height="288"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03487/8299443-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="260" height="295"></div><p><b>T</b>he Western League is going on the offensive in search of offense.</p><p>In the wake of the lowest-scoring season in WHL history, commissioner Ron Robison and many of the league&rsquo;s key officials are hoping to find ways to open up the game.</p><p>&ldquo;Anything we can do to increase the flow and provide more time and space for players would be beneficial,&rdquo; Robison said.</p><p>Like the NHL, the WHL has experienced a dearth of offense in recent years. Last season, WHL teams produced a paltry 5.54 goals per game. The previous all-time low was 6.60 in 1999-2000.</p><p>Here&rsquo;s our projected finish for 2004-05:</p><p><b>1</b>. <b>CALGARY HITMEN</b> The key is the availability of center Ryan Getzlaf, who was the final cut of Anaheim last season. The 19-year-old is a strong MVP candidate if he doesn&rsquo;t stick with Anaheim, which drafted him 19th overall in 2003. He had 75 points in 49 games last year.</p><p>Even without Getzlaf, the Hitmen are laden with talent. Left winger Andrew Ladd had 75 points in 71 games as a WHL rookie last season before being chosen fourth overall by Carolina.</p><p>The Hitmen are blessed with bountiful skill up front, along with a big, mobile defense - which includes 6-foot-6 Jeff Schultz and 6-foot-5 Andy Rogers, both 2004 first-rounders.</p><p>The question is in goal, where 19-year-old Scott Bowles is the incumbent. He had an .882 save percentage in 20 games. Calgary&rsquo;s depth may allow them to trade for a stopper.</p><p><b>2. VANCOUVER GIANTS</b> Like the Hitmen, the fourth-year Giants are loaded with talented returnees, who are likely to be augmented by two import-draft coups.</p><p>The Giants welcome two first-rounders from 2004 - goalie Marek Schwarz and defenseman Andrej Meszaros. Schwarz has elicited comparisons to Czech compatriot Dominik Hasek. Meszaros played for Slovakia in the 2004 World Juniors. He bolsters an already-impressive Giants&rsquo; defense, which includes Mark Fistric.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04348/8299436-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="285" height="288"></div><p>The Giants hope center Adam Courchaine, 20, will be returned by Minnesota. He has 82 goals the past two seasons. Without Courchaine, the top gun is last year&rsquo;s top rookie Gilbert Brule, a likely top-five draft pick in &rsquo;05. Left winger Mitch Bartley also returns after a 31-goal year.</p><p><b>3. PRINCE ALBERT RAIDERS</b> The Raiders turned the comer last year, posting a 38-23-6-5 record to end a streak of four sub-.500 seasons. The Raiders will take another big step this year.</p><p>Although 50-goal man Seth Leonard has graduated, a wealth of talent remains - including forwards Kyle Chipchura, Jeremy Colliton, Dane Byers and goalie Rejean Beauchemin.</p><p>If there is a weakness, it&rsquo;s on defense, where Mark Ardelan and Travis Young graduated.</p><p><b>4. MEDICINE HAT TIGERS</b> The defending league champions have lost key forwards Chris St. Jacques, Darren Reid and Ryan Hollweg, who starred as 20-year-olds, to graduation. Nonetheless, a strong nucleus remains. Consider defenseman Cam Barker, goalie Kevin Nastiuk and elite forwards Clarke MacArthur and Stefan Meyer.</p><p>&ldquo;All our defensemen are back and Nastiuk will be even better between the pipes,&rdquo; Barker said. &ldquo;Our expectations are even higher. We want to get back to the Memorial Cup.&rdquo;</p><p><b>5. TRI-CITY AMERICANS</b> Americans&rsquo; goalie Carey Price is an emerging gem.</p><p><b>6. RED DEER REBELS</b> Never count out a Brent Sutter-coached team.</p><p><b>7. KELOWNA ROCKETS</b> Two straight Cup berths have instilled a winning attitude.</p><p><b>8. PORTLAND WINTER HAWKS</b> Brandon Dubinsky leads a strong crew of forwards.</p><p><b>9. KAMLOOPS BLAZERS</b> Adept defensively and in goal, led by stopper Devan Dubnyk.</p><p><b>10. BRANDON WHEAT KINGS</b> Watch for Eric Fehr to score 50 goals again.</p><p><b>11. KOOTENAY ICE</b> Nigel Dawes could use a supporting cast.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05287/8299429-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="1623" height="2003"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>LEFT COAST LOCK <i>The Vancouver Giants, featuring center Braden Appleby, are sure to be a force in the WHL in 2004-05.</i></b></figcaption></div><p><b>12. SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS</b> Goal-scoring will be a problem.</p><p><b>13. SPOKANE CHIEFS</b> Hard-working Chiefs are never an easy opponent.</p><p><b>14. PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS</b> Decent team is stuck in a tough division.</p><p><b>15. MOOSE JAW WARRIORS</b> Aside from a few forwards, talent is lacking.</p><p><b>16. SWIFT CURRENT BRONCOS</b> Last season&rsquo;s top guns have graduated.</p><p><b>17. LETHBRIDGE HURRICANES</b> Coming off seven straight mediocre seasons.</p><p><b>18. EVERETT SILVERTIPS</b> Second-year franchise will face sophomore jinx.</p><p><b>19. SASKATOON BLADES</b> Will double 200304 win total - to 14.</p><p><b>20. REGINA PATS</b> Rebuilding from scratch after dismal season.</p><h2><b>WHL COACHES</b></h2><p><i>Here are all 20 listed with age and years with current franchise.</i></p><p><b>Brent Sutter</b> Red Deer, 42, 6th yr.</p><p><b>Mike Williamson</b> Portland, 31, 6th yr.</p><p><b>Peter Anholt</b> Prince Albert, 44, 3rd yr.</p><p><b>Al Conroy</b> Spokane, 38, 3rd yr.</p><p><b>Dean Clark</b> Kamloops, 40, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Cory Clourton</b> Kootenay, 33, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Kevin Constantine</b> Everett, 45, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Willie Desjardins</b> Medicine Hat, 47, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Lindsay Hofford</b> Lethbridge, 40, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Lane Lambert</b> Prince George, 39, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Kelly McCrimmon</b> Brandon, 43, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Don Nachbaur</b> Tri-City, 45, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Dean Chynoweth</b> Swift Current, 35, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Don Hay</b> Vancouver, 50, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Curtis Hunt</b> Regina, 37, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Kelly Kisio</b> Calgary, 45, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Lome Molleken</b> Saskatoon, 48, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Parry Shockey</b> Moose Jaw, 50, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Rob Sumner</b> Seattle, 34, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Jeff Truitt</b> Kelowna, 39, 1st yr.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0029-01

Hitmen, Giants ready tn rumble

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011178/8299516-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="283" height="230"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02794/8299509-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="285" height="288"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03570/8299502-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="260" height="295"></div><p><b>T</b>he London Knights&rsquo; strength on the ice was the deciding factor in the franchise being awarded the 2005 Memorial Cup.</p><p>The Knights beat out Sarnia, Kitchener, Barrie and Erie in a close fight back in May for the right to stage the 10-day Canadian Hockey League championship.</p><p>&ldquo;The quality of the team was a critical aspect,&rdquo; said Paul Beeston, a member of the OHL&rsquo;s site selection committee. &ldquo;This is putting a team in the Memorial Cup. You don&rsquo;t know if you&rsquo;re making a mistake, but you want to limit your mistakes if possible.&rdquo;</p><p>Here&rsquo;s our projected finish for 2004-05:</p><p><b>1. LONDON KNIGHTS</b> The Knights will repeat as division and conference regular season champs for the first time in history en route to their first league title.</p><p>Right winger Corey Perry will be London&rsquo;s go-to guy after finishing second in last year&rsquo;s scoring race. Perry will need to add leadership qualities to go with his scoring repertoire.</p><p>While other teams would be devastated to lose overage blueliner Dennis Wideman, the Knights prepared by building a solid blueline corps. Goalies Gerald Coleman and Ryan MacDonald are back after setting the record for fewest goals against.</p><p>The unknown factor is how London will deal with pressure. It didn&rsquo;t face much adversity in the regular season last year, but then fell to Guelph in the Western Conference final.</p><p><b>2. OWEN SOUND ATTACK</b> After a couple of injury-plagued years, center Patrick Jarrett is ready to show why he was picked first overall in the 2000 OHL draft. A class act, Jarrett has the goods to lead the team to its first division title.</p><p>Owen Sound has a great one-two punch in forwards Stefan Ruzicka, last year&rsquo;s leading rookie scorer in the OHL, and Bobby Ryan.</p><p>The Attack will be going with a young defense. Though import draft pick Andrej Sekera and rookie Bobby Sanguinetti will certainly help, they have to be ready to handle the firepower in the Midwest Division as the Attack battle London and Kitchener for that top spot.</p><p><b>3. KITCHENER RANGERS</b> While others from the class of 2001 get more press, Kitchener&rsquo;s star captain Mike Richards goes about his business quietly. It wouldn&rsquo;t be a surprise if the star center is captain of Canada&rsquo;s junior team.</p><p>Although only a few players now remain from their Memorial Cup championship season in 2003, the Rangers have good depth.</p><p>First round OHL pick Justin Azevedo will fit in nicely with a strong forward group. Andre Benoit, a candidate for top defenseman, will lead a blueline featuring Boris Valabik.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04406/8299495-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="283" height="230"></div><p>Goaltending is the one weak spot. If Carlo DiRienzo fails to nail down the starting role, coach-GM Peter DeBoer won&rsquo;t hesitate to make a deal.</p><p><b>4. MISSISSAUGA ICEDOGS</b> A magician with the puck, Mississauga&rsquo;s Patrick O&rsquo;Sullivan is the runaway leading scorer in franchise history and will be able to crack the 300 career point barrier by, oh, November.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05299/8299488-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="1628" height="2016"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KNIGHT MOVES <i>Sniper Corey Perry, a 2003 first round pick of Anaheim, will be key to London&rsquo;s drive for the OHL and CHL titles.</i></b> <span class="photo-credit">(CLAUS ANDERSEN)</span></figcaption></div><p>David Shantz is a strong candidate for goalie of the year. He was stellar last year in backstopping the IceDogs to an Eastern Conference title. Defense has always been the Achilles&rsquo; heel of this franchise and while it has been improving, the Dogs will lean on veteran Kyle Quincey.</p><p>The key to the team&rsquo;s success is how co-owner Mario Forgione fares in his new role as GM.</p><p>5. <b>OTTAWA 67&rsquo;S</b> Young defense starts to pay dividends.</p><p><b>6. SARNIA STING</b> GM Allan Millar and coach Shawn Camp are an effective management duo.</p><p><b>7. ERIE OTTERS</b> GM Sherry Bassin has team pointed in right direction.</p><p><b>8. BARRIE COLTS</b> Rookie of the year Bryan Little will lead cavalry.</p><p><b>9. KINGSTON FRONTENACS</b> Anthony Stewart has to be the go-to guy.</p><p><b>10. SUDBURY WOLVES</b> Return of goalie Patrick Ehelechner is huge.</p><p><b>11. ST. MICHAEL&rsquo;S MAJORS</b> Small rink always gives St. Mike&rsquo;s a Major advantage.</p><p><b>12. PLYMOUTH WHALERS</b> This Whale is used to higher waters.</p><p><b>13. PETERBOROUGH PETES</b> Legendary coach Dick Todd will put mark on team.</p><p><b>14. BRAMPTON BATTALION</b> Another workmanlike year at the Bunker.</p><p><b>15. SAGINAW SPIRIT</b> Lack scoring, but ready for a breakthrough.</p><p><b>16. SAULT STE MARIE GREYHOUNDS</b> Will Jeff Carter finish his career as a Greyhound?</p><p><b>17. OSHAWA GENERALS</b> Nathan Horton&rsquo;s return would be a big boost.</p><p><b>18. GUELPH STORM</b> In rebudding mode.</p><p><b>19. WINDSOR SPITFIRES</b> Will be a long year.</p><p><b>20. BELLEVILLE BULLS</b> On right track, but still a year away.</p><h2><b>OHL COACHES</b></h2><p><i>Here are all 20 listed with age and years with current franchise.</i></p><p><b>Brian Kilrea</b> Ottawa, 69, 28th yr.</p><p><b>Stan Butler</b> Brampton, 48, 7th yr.</p><p><b>Dave MacQueen</b> Erie, 45, 6th yr.</p><p><b>Peter DeBoer</b> Kitchener, 36, 4th yr.</p><p><b>Dale Hunter</b> London, 40, 4th yr.</p><p><b>Mike Vellucci</b> Plymouth, 38, 4th yr.</p><p><b>Mike Stothers</b> Owen Sound, 42, 3rd yr.</p><p><b>Marty Abrams</b> Sault Ste. Marie, 39, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Mike Foligno</b> Sudbury, 45, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Greg Gilbert</b> Mississauga, 42, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Sim Button</b> Kingston, 35, 2nd yr.</p><p><b>Daye Barr</b> Guelph, 43, 1st yr.</p><p><b>George Burnett</b> Belleville, 42, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Shawn Camp</b> Sarnia, 40, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Mike Kelly</b> Windsor, 53, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Dong Lidster</b> Saginaw, 43, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Bob McGill</b> Oshawa, 42, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Bud Stefanski</b> St. Michael&rsquo;s, 49, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Dick Tbdd</b> Peterborough, 59, 1st yr.</p><p><b>Marty Williamson</b> Barrie, 41, 1st yr.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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September 21, 2004

Cap too restrictive

CROSSWORD

2004-05 ONTARIO LEAGUE SCHEDULE

Sens re-sign Busniuk to aid Cameron